Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - TRE WHITE DEEP DIVE: How Would Jayhawks Fit White Next to Tyran Stokes & Current Kansas Roster?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Trey White trying to get eligible, Kansas would love to reunite with him. Well, why don't we deep dive into what happened in his one season with Kansas and how exactly he would fit in with the Jayhawks should they make the reunion happen? You are locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. What's going on? Derek Johnson here, this is Lockdown Jhawks. And on today's episode, we're deep diving into Trey White, who, of course, this would be a returner for Kansas. Like, hey, I know him, right?

Starting point is 00:00:42 But even though he's a returning player, I figured, hey, let's do a deep dive, you know, and how his season went, what this would mean for KU if it does happen. And the review, Nysian does end up working between the two. So we'll get to a scout and report what the fit with KU would be like, even though we just saw what it would be like. It is a different team now for KU of how he. would fit in. He is a 6'7 wing in shoes. I think you measured like 6'5 and a quarter or something as some of the NBA offseason stuff. So you can probably assume about 6-6-6-7 in shoes. 6-9 wingspan. He, of course, started his career at USC after being an early commit when he was like a sophomore, junior in high school, the KU, ends up going to Louisville for a year,

Starting point is 00:01:27 then Illinois for a year. And then this past year as a fourth-year player for Kansas, he averaged 13 and a half points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game, shot 45% from the floor, over 40% from three, and taken four of those per game, 87% at the foul line. There were, you know, it was very interesting season because there were points in time with Trey White at Kansas where it felt like he was your best player. Like when Darren Peterson was out, it felt like Trey White was KU's best player against Duke. It felt like in the Missouri game, like even Darren Peterson back, the Trey White in that game was your best player, right?

Starting point is 00:02:04 There were games where he was your best player. And then early moments in Big 12 play, he seemed to just be this consistent force that you could count on really every game. But over the final, I guess, I don't know, like two and a half months of the season, there were a little bit more ups and downs. There were some inconsistencies.

Starting point is 00:02:23 So from January 16th on through the rest of the season, for instance, he had six games where he scored 16 or more points, which is good. He also, though, had five games, so about the same amount of games where he had six or less points. So it was very much boom or bust kind of game to game. And there were some big moments in there. You think of the home game against Houston in which you beat them. But then there were some struggles certainly in the postseason. And, you know, for instance, he finished the regular season with six consecutive games of double digit scoring. And that was capped off by a 23 point game against Kansas State on senior day. But that momentum of the six straight double digit point games did not carry over into big 12 play or big 12 tournament play, I should say, only six and a half points per game in the big 12th tournament. And then in the NCAA tournament, it was only eight points per game during the postseason there on around 30% from the floor.

Starting point is 00:03:17 And obviously, you know, the St. John's game was, it was gross, right? It was only four points for Trey White. It was struggling to inbound the basketball. It certainly left a lot of people with a bit of a sour taste in their mouth. But if you can take a step back, and have kind of an overarching view of the entire season for Trey White and what Kansas got from Trey White away from that one moment. It was a really good season for Trey White,

Starting point is 00:03:43 and it was a really good addition for KU in general. And metrically, like this is a good way of looking at that that's taking in the all encompassing everything, 83rd percentile in RAPM, 93rd percentile in windshares per 40, 86th percentile in PER, 94th percentile in wins above replacement player. Those are all elite numbers for Trey White, right?

Starting point is 00:04:06 And so the question here just kind of becomes like, can K you get him eligible? I get it. There's like a very, a very, very vocal minority. This isn't even like a vocal minority that's 10% of something. This feels like a vocal minority that's like 2% of something. There's always going to be, you know, people against.

Starting point is 00:04:24 There's still a few people out there that's like, oh, no, you don't want Trey White and Melvin counsel. I just like, I don't understand. You have a wing who, again, like 93rd percent on win shares per 40, 94 percent on wins above replacement player, 40 percent from three, has good sizes, a wing, rebounds the basketball, knows the self-system is at least a decent defender. And there's still the occasional person. Again, I think like 98 percent of the fan base, like, yes, like, let's get Trey White back, right? But unlike the Melvin Council situation, I think there's more avenues to Trey White getting eligible here. And I also think that, you know, so Trey White,

Starting point is 00:05:00 didn't enter the portal unlike Melvin counsel. So even though the expectation would be the council would be back at KU, I think Trey White is stuck being back at KU regardless. Now, obviously, you could still sue and be like, oh, I want to enter in the portal late and who knows what would happen there. But I think the whole idea

Starting point is 00:05:16 would be to reunite if he does come back to college basketball, right? So White went undrafted in the NBA, ended up playing very well at Summer League against some of the better, you know, different young players that are out there. And ended up signing, well, He was supposedly going to sign an exhibit 10 contract with the Miami Heat,

Starting point is 00:05:35 but that actually hasn't come through yet. It hasn't actually officially been signed. And because of that, he sees some of these guys going back to college basketball. And he's like, hey, I can actually make more money going back to Kansas than I could, you know, playing in the G League, for instance. And so why not stave off this NBA thing another year? And who knows? Maybe I go back to college and I improve even more.

Starting point is 00:05:54 And then I do get drafted or something. Or I do earn instead of an exhibit 10, I earn a two-way contract, which is going to make more money from that realm, right? And you could say, oh, you're another year older. Okay, well, Derek White was like 24 years old and he was like a first round pick and he's a great NBA career. So, you know, you just do what you can and be the best player you can and you see where that puts you. So what about the scouting port for Trey White? You saw it with your own eyes. Let's dig into some of the numbers and exactly what the strengths and weaknesses are of Trey white next. This episode of the show is brought to you by Indeed. When Workplace Chaos hits and

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Starting point is 00:07:41 Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. This is a job for Indeed, sponsor jobs. We're also brought to you by Kalshi. Before the season even kicks off, everyone is making predictions. For instance, who's going to win the division? Who's going to make the playoffs?

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Starting point is 00:09:02 apply event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. CalShe products are not available in all jurisdictions. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see calshy.com slash regulatory. Thanks for joining us on Locked on Jayhawks. Let's get to Tray White's scouting report here. Again, you saw this with your own eyes, but let's back it up with some numbers and just a bit of a refresher here. The strengths here, I mean, three point shooting was one of them. It's funny because going into the year, that was not a question mark. You knew. he could at least be okay at it but that was kind of thought it's like okay he'll just be an average

Starting point is 00:09:40 three point shooter you know shot like 32 percent in illinois on a bit lower volume he ends up like doubling his volume in terms of attempts per game and shoots 40 percent from three point range right um and everybody remembers him being like really good from the corner it's actually funny because um from the right corner if you're looking at it from an offensive perspective right so so you know the the baskets in front of you the right corner and the right corner He was only 3 of 18 last season, according to CBB shot charts. It's the left corner where he shot over 50% from three. He actually, though, also shot 52% from three from the top.

Starting point is 00:10:18 So he was able to hit those trailer threes or pick and pop type of threes. And he even shot really well from deeper threes, 25 plus footers. He shot 38.5% that was a bit lower volume. And overall, he wound up in the 85th percentile in adjusted efficiency as a perimeter sniper. Well, doesn't that seem like it can work well off of Tyron Stokes? I certainly think so. Then you look at rebounding the basketball. That was a big strength for him, right?

Starting point is 00:10:44 He was classified on CBB analytics as a guard. They don't have a wing classification. I wish they did. It's like guards and forwards as kind of the option there. But among guards, he was in the 93rd percentile in offensive rebound rate, 87th percentile in defensive rebound rate. Now, if you view him as more of a four, that looks more like an average rebounding foreman.

Starting point is 00:11:05 Whereas if you look at him, though it's funny because when he was playing the four, he was rebounding even better, right? But when you view him as a three, he becomes a solid rebounder. If you're viewing him as a like two, which is entirely possible once we get to the fit and the potential starting lineup with him, then he's an incredible rebounder for a two man, right? Now, he was also a really good pick and roll passer. He was actually in the 99th percentile. I was surprised when I saw it.

Starting point is 00:11:29 He was in the 99th percentile in adjusted efficiency as a pick and roll passer. Now, that might have to do more to do. with, you know, when he was throwing him, he's throwing Alley Ups to Florida Bedunga. That's going to help anybody's percentage there. But that actually does, to me, become interesting because you do have a little bit of on ball creation there with Trey White. He was also awesome in transition. Ninety-ninth percentile in adjusted efficiency on very good volume there.

Starting point is 00:11:55 Did a really good job of spotting up from three in transition, but also taking the layups and dunks when he could get them. And then he was really good at getting into the free throw line. That was a number that dipped a bit as the season went on. It was better early on in the season. It was better when Derek Peterson was not on the floor. But in general, he still finished in the 80th percentile in free throw attempts per 40 minutes. Now, some of the weaknesses, shooting at the rim, he really struggled actually attacking the rim.

Starting point is 00:12:23 He was only 57% on twos. He was only 28% on short mid-range shots, according to CBB shot charts. And specifically, if we just look at his two-point shooting in half, half court settings. So he's not getting those easy runout layups and dunks in half in the full court. Trey White only shot 35% on two point shots in the half court, right? He actually was about average when you look at layups. The biggest reason why was he took too many mid-range shots. He took too many short mid-range shots like floaters and didn't make them.

Starting point is 00:12:58 So if I'm looking at what can Trey White improve this year, can he improve the short mid-range? can he improve the floater type of shots and as a driver in general, right? He also really struggled from the mid-range where he rated out in the 30th percentile and adjusted efficiency. I will say, I do think this Kansas team has more options to who can shoot the three. And in theory, I think there could be more spacing on this year's team than last year's team, which would help in some of these areas for Trey White as well. And then the lack of defensive playmaking.

Starting point is 00:13:27 I do think in general he's a solid defender. I would say he's a solid defender at the collegiate game. I don't think he's the quickest twitch or the quickest laterally in the world, but overall he's at least an average defender to an above average defender in general. I do think he struggles a little bit more when a guard switches on him. But in general, guarding threes and fours, I feel, you know, okay about it. But you're not getting steals out of it. You're not getting playmaking out of it.

Starting point is 00:13:54 He was only in the 10th percentile in steel rate. So that's not really something you can bank on there. Okay, so how does this all fit in for KU? What does it look like if they do add him? We'll get to that big question next. Our episode today is brought to you by Odu. Running a business should not feel like you're trying to connect a bunch of systems that were never designed to work together.

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Starting point is 00:15:11 And that's why you should get O-D-O-D-O-D-com. Slash Locked-on. That is O-D-O-O-O-O-com slash locked-on. Thanks you have for joining us here on Locked on Jayhawks. I thought this was a really cool quote. I forget the name of the executive or not executive person and player personnel or development or whatever it was from Miami Heat. But they said this about Trey White

Starting point is 00:15:37 and why they were excited to get signed him. He said, quote, and he was the first one in the gym and always wanted to get an extra rep afterward, right? What that tells you is that Trey White is a very hard worker. And I think sometimes we can get caught up in the idea that every player who has been to, because again, Tray White was a player who came to Kansas, his fourth school in four years,

Starting point is 00:15:57 that every player who has done that is A.J. Store, right? and derogatory there, right, in a negative way. But that some guys, it is about situation and fit and some different things that are out of control. And I think the way Trey White plays where he does play like a dog, and when you see that quote from Miami people who, listen, Miami is known as being the culture that represents that, the hardworking, the griminess, the grinded out mentality.

Starting point is 00:16:26 So for them to say that about Trey White speaks highly to it, where it's just a cool to see but be i think what that tells me is that hey do you have to worry it all about making an addition this late let alone a guy who's here last year who's going to come back and like it's not just making a late addition it's making an addition of a guy who's going to feel like big man on campus when he arrives for good reason um and is there going to be any headbutting and doing that but you know what makes it easier for everybody on a team to accept the player is when they work really, really hard and earn everything. And so I mentioned that to bring that up that I think it would be okay with Trey White coming back, right? Beyond that, it is easier to integrate

Starting point is 00:17:08 wings into a lineup than say a center where they're playing one position or maybe even a point guard. Wings can play two through four, right? And I go and look at last year's team. They didn't have enough wings. Trey White was like your only wing that you were playing in the rotation. So when you played other wing heavy teams, it became more difficult. And in general, wings are going to make you a more versatile roster. Now you look at potentially having, if you get Trey White back as a fifth year player who's a potential all conference pick, Tyrant Stokes, the potential number one pick in the draft, you can play Cole Rosario as like a two, three wing. You play Dennis Parker is, you know, in a lot of different spots. Like, you go from having not very much wing depth to having a good

Starting point is 00:17:47 amount of wings to throw at different teams. And I love that. That's how Kansas won the title in 22. That's how Kansas got a one seed in 23, despite, you know, having Dwan Harris, KJ Adams as your one in five, which didn't work in later years. It did on a team that played three wings around them, right? So how would this impact the rotation in a big way? How would it impact the starting lineup? Trey White would start, right? So it would have big impact in that specific area.

Starting point is 00:18:14 You could play big where you have Trey White at the two, Tyrone Stokes at the three and on and on and on, or, you know, if you want to say Stokes of the two and whites, three, that's fine too. Or you can play small, where you have Stokes at the four, Daws at the five, white at the three, and then two guards at the one and two. You would have options, but it would make your team better, and I would be all about bringing Tray White back, and I hope it happens. All right, that'll do it for this episode of Lockdown, Jayhawks. You can find your show, our show, anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page or you can like and subscribe. See you next time.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - TRE WHITE DEEP DIVE: How Would Jayhawks Fit White Next to Tyran Stokes & Current Kansas Roster?

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