Introduction

After a successful two years at High Point, Austin earned a transfer up to the ACC’s Pittsburgh Panthers. He carried enough weight as an All-Big South member who scored over 14 points per game in both seasons. Hereafter, Austin had to adapt to a role with fewer ball touches. Despite good flashes as a junior, he embraced his role as a versatile wing and guard defender while collecting over two stocks per game. The production declined by over 50%, as he scored less than seven points per game.

But it didn’t matter. NBA franchises won’t ask Austin to showcase his scoring, as his role as a versatile defender and catch-and-shoot fits seamlessly with the role he’ll play in the NBA. That’s the emphasis of this scouting report while showcasing the untapped potential for NBA franchises to develop and support him to continue to grow into a niche role that could keep him in the league for years to come.

Physical Profile

At 6-foot-6, Austin has a well-filled and strong frame with broad shoulders. He can effectively play as a two and a three while strong enough to be a four in shooting-heavy lineups. The most vital part is his excellent core strength. This helps him to maintain balance regardless of how physical it gets. Austin is a good athlete but a substance-first-styled player who doesn’t shy away from contact. However, he doesn’t actively seek it if it doesn’t benefit him.

His excellent leaping ability, verticality, and decent footwork help him to switch from defending against quicker guards to stronger wings and forwards. There is no official measurement available, but it looks like he has a wingspan around 6’10”. His length has more value, considering how quick his hands are, allowing him to impact passing lanes and deflect passes.

Defense

Catch-and-shoot

Austin’s combination of great defensive awareness, twitchiness, and footwork makes him one of the better closeout defenders in college basketball. He’s barely caught overhelping and doesn’t ball-watch while making timely and consistent rotations. These good habits add comfort to an NBA scout’s assessment, as it’s feasible his presence will support a team’s defensive rating.

Despite the above-the-break three in the first play below, Austin’s process of keeping the threat of help defense alive was the right decision. He pivoted his right foot well in the entire play, as he anticipated the kickout pass with how much the opponent in the post was looking at his teammate. With long strides, he decently contested the eventual shot. In the second possession, Austin sees the opening drop-off opportunity for the play-finisher at the rim. By keeping one foot inside the paint, he can pivot between providing extra help to the strong side, or close out when the kickout occurs to the spot-up shooter on the weak side. Regardless, his defensive read and execution were consistent.

The third possession is an interesting one. He’s rotating well after his team presses in the halfcourt. However, despite making a quick second rotation, Austin has to ensure he’s active in the defensive box-out for the rebound, which he didn’t show. There were some instances this season, where NBA scouts need to focus on adding this to his developmental plan. Franchises win games in the margins, and an extra rebound by more bodies in box-outs makes a difference. Austin’s also tough while using his strength and upper body well in not allowing much motion to his assignment. In the fourth play, he tagged his opponent well in the SOB. Hereafter, he had full control, whereafter he could launch himself to block the shot with the shot clock winding down.

For the NBA, the combination of twitchiness, and decent verticality has much more value with proper footwork. That’s the case with Austin, as in the last play below, he’s compensating for his overhelping by pivoting his right foot well which allowed him to use his fluid hips and spin and close out to the elbow with long strides. His verticality rewarded his hard work with the blocked shot.

Catch-and-drive

Despite the earlier-mentioned strengths, when Austin sees the perimeter assignment will shoot, he’s not showing the same results when closing out against opponents using dribble penetration. His main area of development is to not touch the perimeter line on his closeouts while putting himself at 180 degrees of his assignment at all times. One of Austin’s main deficiencies is that he’s rushing his closeouts, but the effect of that makes it easier for opponents to catch him without his feet set and attack his closeouts.

In the first play, he does well to offer help to close the driving lane in the middle. But he was too slow to rotate after the kickout pass occurred. This led to him not fully covering his opponent at 180 degrees and thus giving up the driving lane on the weak side. In the second possession, we see Austin focus on blocking the opponent’s driving lane, but he pivoted his left foot too far out in his last step and thus got burned on the dribble penetration to the weak side.

His main area of development on this end is to focus on the ball handler’s feet rather than rushing his closeouts. Austin plays with enough composure to make the correct closeout while forcing ball handlers to beat him off the dribble. His good verticality is his leverage, as he’ll be more comfortable heavily contesting shots when they don’t attack his closeout.

In the third play below, he instructs his teammate to rotate as he is in a better position to cover the corner. When that didn’t happen, he showed more composure and thus was more comfortable when he dropped his coverage while decently contesting the pullup midrange jumper. The fourth play below is one of his other habits he might need to lessen. Understandably, he gambled for the steal as he was in the passing angle. But his last step wasn’t enough to ensure his balance to make it back to the interior to stop his assignment.

Screen-offs

For Austin, his size and multipositional defensive profile make it essential he’s comfortable navigating through screens. He’s consistent on that end, but at times he’s too aggressive. Regardless, more experienced players developed their feel for the game to recognize good fouls. With 1.7 personal fouls in 30 minutes per game, Austin shows he can play within control at all times. Therefore, he can afford to be more aggressive when he’s fighting through screens. Considering his strong frame and broad shoulders. That’ll improve his chances of effectively doing the same on an NBA floor.

In the first play below, Austin immediately recognizes the play around him and doesn’t get lured by the motion around him. That’s a testimony to his awareness. He took the assignment on the perimeter after that, recognizing his size advantage and thus being more comfortable using his size to contest the shot. In the second possession, he feels the tag from behind, but immediately responds with his fluid hips by turning around and making the opponent earn the two points from the line instead of banking on the wide-open lane and non-guarded rim after a successful baseline out-of-bounds play.

The details prove Austin’s consistent screen navigation. In the third play below, he sees the screen on his right, and thus, Austin moves his right foot a bit to the front to ensure a better balance on the bump against the screen. Hereafter, he timely made it to the corner, rewarding his good read with the blocked three. One of Austin’s advantages is that on the next level, he’s surrounded with better rotation-recognizers than at Pitt. In the fourth play, his teammate had to take over Austin’s assignment, but when that didn’t happen, Austin had to ensure getting through the screen. Despite giving away the shot, the context around it is that Austin’s feel for recognizing screens makes it less likely he’ll be put in situations, as in the last play below.

Pick-and-roll

Austin’s pick-and-roll defense is the differentiator in his profile. His screen navigation and good defensive reads help him to defend against ball handlers while using his strength decently when he’s switched against roll men. But when he has to be in the second line of defense to offer help to his defense collapsing. In the first play below, Austin allows the separation after the ball screen but responds well by focusing on closing the passing angle, rather than the classic guarding players from behind to focus on taking away their balance. That rewarded his efforts with the steal. At one steal per game, most of these are a result of his good defensive reads.

In the second possession, Austin’s covering the weak side but he keeps well track of the play. He sees that the passing angle to his assignment is closed, thus recognizing he can afford to ensure the crowding of the paint rather than staying attached to the weak side. This eventually helped him to dive to the ball after the ball handler bailed him out with the dropoff pass near the rim. For NBA scouts, Austin’s quick hands are another intangible they seek to strengthen their perimeter defense. In the third play below, he’s again using his left foot well to strengthen his balance from the bump of the ball screen. Hereafter, he sees his opponent’s loose handle as a chance to cleanly poke the ball away despite giving up the separation in the ball screen prior.

Another promising part is how comfortable Austin is to ensure his balance after ball handlers bump in against him. In the fourth play, the ball handler rejects the screen, and Austin’s quick feet immediately slide and keep up with the scorer who had no other option than to try to take away Austin’s balance as he successfully denied entry to the paint. This led to Austin balancing himself and heavily contesting the stepback three off the dribble. He immediately ran in the transition of the correct read after that, as it kept a chance of easily converting the easy two after his team grabbed the rebound.

The last play below is another example of how well Austin guards in both lines in the pick-and-roll. He recognizes the switch and immediately adjusts to where Austin uses his strength to force the stop and his long arms and verticality to swat away the ball. At 1.8 blocks per game, he’s one of the more successful wing defenders in college, as the film proves most of these stops come via consistent defensive reads, adding more value for an NBA scout’s expectation from him at the next level.

 

Offense

Catch-and-shoot

Austin shoots over 40% on over four attempts per game. Compared to his lower-30s-shooting seasons, the biggest takeaway is less responsibility to be a shot-creator on the perimeter. During his successful underclassman years at High Point, those were a part of his shot profile. However, after his transfer to Pittsburgh, Austin was put in a better position to play to his strengths and focus more on shots off the catch, naturally improving his numbers.

NBA scouts will feel comfortable seeing how consistent his form is. Despite moving his feet too much at times, Austin sets his feet quickly, whereafter he bends his knees well enough to lessen pressure on them to ensure durability. He’s en route to play over thirty games in each of his four seasons, proving how consistent his availability is.

In the first play below, his footwork is impressive. He pivots far out with his right to jab more space for himself, whereafter he keeps the baseline driving lane much more open for himself to ensure he can launch the wide-open corner shot. Perhaps attacking the closeout was a better decision here, but Austin eventually did the right thing, considering he didn’t have many options inside the paint to potentially drop the ball to as his opponent crowded the interior.

His shot is consistent, and the release is decent in height, but his shots have a high arcing point, making it more likely he can adjust to playing against quicker and taller NBA defenders and thus lessen the odds of his shots getting blocked. In the second play below, Austin does well to actively move and demand the ball when he’s in the corner. He’s vocal and uses motion to ensure he’s always in the ball handler’s passing angle, thus raising the odds of him getting found. That’s the base for volume shooters to master, which Austin does. However, one of the areas of development is that he lowers the ball to his hips before powering back up. He could experiment with a higher catching point, such as the level of his chest. Austin is strong enough to consistently catch the ball high and shoot without having to power up. Powering up for shots takes time, and in a quicker NBA game, that’s giving defenders more time to adjust and contest his shooting.

In the third and fourth plays, Austin’s watching if his shots go in or not. On an NBA floor, motion is everything, and Austin could use these seconds to either bet on crashing the offensive glass and box out or to relocate and put himself in a good position to move back to defense or anticipate a teammate’s offensive rebound. That’s the main area of development in his shooting process. Other than that, the catch-and-shoot heavy style fits seamlessly into his NBA role, as the returns and shot consistency make it feasible he’s an above-average shooter right after college.

Catch-and-drive

In a role with fewer ball touches, NBA front offices still seek the factor of offensive creativity. That’s vital to effectively make plays out of closeouts while using the shooting as gravity to find angles to attack closeouts. In Austin’s case, his shooting-heavy profile is a result of his right-shot selection. He doesn’t force shots and is comfortable making the extra pass as a ball mover. But as the shot chart above shows, he’s best used as a shooter. When Austin drives inside the lane, his handles are decent but still a bit loose to consistently make plays in crowded areas. This puts more comfort in focusing on three-point production instead.

The first play below shows an example. Creativity isn’t always meant to be flashy. The substance in Austin’s game shows how well he recognizes angles and is thus able to create space for himself when the opponent already knows he’s going to take the shot. The excellently timed shot fake helped him to clear the floor. Hereafter, he successfully launched the side-step three.

In the second possession, Austin’s jab helped him to create the wide-open driving lane through the elbow side, where he used long dribbles to get two feet inside the paint. Long strides are good, but the other side of the coin is that it often causes struggles to ensure balance. Despite the good angle, the hook-finish was forced and thus had a lower chance of going in. The intrigue around Austin is his old-school approach to the game. He doesn’t waste dribbles and uses deception as his weapon to find space. He doesn’t rely on his speed or strength and still finds angles to score. Considering his strength, that’s his untapped potential for NBA franchises to develop in the next few years.

The third play shows an example. He uses the fake and reverse pivots very well to elevate his burst and thus get to the interior with a clear path to shoot the midrange jumper. Seeing it bank in adds more to that old-school feeling. In today’s era, there’s more focus on flashy finishes, but with Austin, it’s all about substance, and that gives more value and evidence to how much he’s focusing on being a team-first player who focuses on winning.

Despite the focus on substance, it doesn’t take away anything from Austin’s athleticism. He’s a good athlete, especially when he has a launching pad available. In the fourth play, he recognizes the wide-open driving lane in the middle and thus uses fakes to open up the driving lane. While seeing a straight-line path, Austin’s attempt to dunk it home is understandable. Despite the miss, that’s a good play on his end, as on an NBA floor, it’s more likely he’ll get a foul call his way, considering the contact before the finish. At 12 dunks in 20 games, it’s about 40% of his made field goals at the rim, proving how much he values high-quality finishes inside the lane.

Ball-moving, passing and playmaking

At 8 assists to 10 turnovers in 20 games so far this season, the numbers indicate zero playmaking. However, context always matters. Austin has embraced his role as a wing and guard-defending shooter—the same role he’ll play in the NBA. In previous years, when he had more ball touches, the assist-to-turnover ratio was also negative. But that doesn’t take away anything from Austin’s feel for the game to recognize open teammates. It’s mostly due to the role that forces him to play as a ball-mover rather than someone who executes playmaking reads.

NBA scouts look behind the numbers. They want to see advantage-creation and the willingness and vision to find open teammates. In the first play below, Austin uses the shot-fake to draw away the help defender in the corner, ensuring his teammate in that same corner finds a wide-open three after the simple side pass after he draws two defenders toward him. That continues in the second possession, where the pass shouldn’t have been an assist. Regardless, it shows that Austin doesn’t force anything. He jabbed and faked himself to an angle, but it wasn’t enough to get to the rim, nor did he get his three, and thus, he kept the ball moving. Sometimes, moving the ball and not forcing a play helps a team maintain its momentum.

Passing reads don’t have to be complicated. In the third and fourth plays below, he’s quick to execute his reads with the kick-out pass to the elbow and with the quarterback-esque pass where Austin attacks the other side in transition in the ‘grab-and-go’ sequence after securing the team rebound. His role as a ball-mover and quick execution could lead to more playmaking opportunities on better-spaced NBA floors. He has all the basics. The last play below shows how quickly he seeks other teammates when the shot isn’t there. The overhead pass to the center, which had the mismatch, was the right execution. Therefore, I expect Austin to be a much better passer and playmaker on an NBA floor, as his role gives him more opportunities to make plays out of closeouts more in his role where he has to make the most out of fewer ball touches.

NBA Draft Projection

Based on the strengths and areas of development mentioned in this scouting report, I project Zack Austin to be a lock as a call-up for the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. Every NBA team seeks a low-usage shooting-heavy wing with the defensive habits and awareness he has. Versatility with his pick-and-roll defense while using his athleticism to effectively block shots away from the rim adds value to a team’s defensive rating. With over 130 collegiate games on his resumé when it’s all said and done, Austin is a plug-and-play low-usage option to support teammates who carry more usage.

I eventually expect Austin to be undrafted, but fight himself to a two-way contract with a winning franchise that seeks personnel on cheap contracts who improve their teammates while supporting a defensive rating and ensuring more opportunity to play NBA minutes.