Thus far in the summer league, Keaton Wagler has been exceptional. On both ends, he’s holding his ground and proving to the LA Clippers that they made no mistake in drafting him fifth overall. However, despite his excellence, one flaw in his skill set has become evident: a weak inside game. Wagler has done minimal damage in the paint, and it’s clearly a concern. If the rookie can’t make an impact around the rim now, how will he perform in the regular season?
Rest assured, Wagler will be just fine. How so? Well, his role in Tyronn Lue’s rotation for the forseeable future will simply be to shoot three-pointers, hustle on defense, and make plays when needed.
Attacking the paint won’t be required of him, as Lue will leave that job to Darius Garland, Brandon Ingram, Derrick Jones Jr., and others who are capable of excelling in that area right away.
This buys Wagler some time to build some muscle, fill out his frame, and learn how to use his size at the NBA level, so that when he’s expected to succeed inside, he’ll have the tools to.
Keaton Wagler’s scoring and playmaking will help him prosper
Doing work down low and scoring/playmaking within a couple feet from the basket may not be a strength of Keaton Wagler’s, and that’s completely okay.
As long as he can shoot from beyond the arc at a high level and help in other ways, the Clippers will need him. And, based on what’s been on display so far in the summer league, that’s the type of player LA is getting.
Through three games, in which context matters as his debut was extremely rough in terms of efficiency on each level, Wagler has logged six made threes on 17 attempts.
That’s extremely solid, and the looks he’s been making haven’t been easy. Some have been from deep, others contested, and even a couple that were created off the dribble.
Then, when taken into account how good of a passer he’s been, with consistent, precise reads, it’s pretty clear there’s nothing to worry about with Wagler.
He’s doing everything right, and will end up being viewed as good as advertised in a couple seasons down the line.
It’ll just take a second for the 19-year-old to get there, as he didn’t gain a ton of college experience, unlike others, and is just beginning his professional career against the best competition in the world.
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