Viktor Lakhin: Eat Your Vegetables
Stephen Gillaspie analyzes the Clemson big man, Viktor Lakhin, and how he projects as an NBA player.
The NFL Draft is one of the biggest events in sports. Yes, I said the N-F-L Draft. I’m a fan of football, too; it’s the sport that I can be more biased about and less involved in covering the games. My fandom of the coverage of the NFL Draft has grown substantially over the past year, as I can appreciate the effort that the talent evaluators and content creators put into their content. I can relate to and borrow from the way that their shows are run, but one thing that I have noticed in the way football prospects are described is fairly different than how we as basketball talent evaluators break down talent.
I know: ”No duh, Stephen.” It seems like a very “on-the-nose” piece of wisdom I just dropped. Just bear with me. While the way football players are described is of a completely different vernacular, the root skills and “traits” are remarkably similar.
For example, a football prospect can be said to get past a defender “in a phone booth.” Look it up if you don’t know what a phone booth is. That parallels nicely with how basketball prospects can be analyzed for their “separation ability.” Two different phrases, similar skill. A defensive back can be said to have elite “closing speed,” while big man in basketball can be said to have elite “ground coverage.” Again, it’s the same—but different.
One of my favorite football analogies when it comes to draft philosophy is when a team is advised to “eat their vegetables.” This essentially means that they should avoid selecting a skill position—wide receiver, running back, tight end, or cornerback—and go for a pick “in the trenches”—offensive lineman, edge rusher, or defensive tackle. I love this analogy because we (or someone we’ve known) can all relate to it at some point in our lives. You have to eat your Brussels sprouts before you eat your cake—or, at least, you should.
This phrase got me thinking: “What is the basketball equivalent to that saying?”. The majority of the best players in the NBA are perimeter players. I’m aware that Nikola Jokic is the best player in the world, and I respect the work Joel Embiid put in over the past several years. But even they are skilled bigs in the sense that Jokic is a seven-foot point guard, and Embiid can hit step-back threes better than many guards, wings, or forwards. The most popular players in the league—LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Jayson Tatum—are all perimeter-oriented players. They are your dessert—at least, in this analogy.
Big men—your centers and paint-based forwards—are the proverbial vegetables. Steven Adams is a giant green bean. He’s not going to be the player that soothes your sweet tooth, but he is going to make your team big and strong. Ivica Zubac is a huge stalk of broccoli. He is going to make your team easier to digest, and he’ll improve the vision of your ball-handler. These players aren’t going to be taken in the first round of your fantasy draft, but you make the playoffs because you have them.
If that is the case, which players in this draft class would be a healthy investment? Derik Queen, Khaman Maluach, and Danny Wolf are considered to be the premier big men, and are all but guaranteed to be taken in the lottery. Outside of them, Thomas Sorber, Joan Berringer, Johni Broome, Ryan Kalkbrenner, and Maxime Raynaud are the next group of big men that many feel will be drafted.
I’m not here to convince you that today’s featured prospect is better than all of those aforementioned big men, but I have a hard time believing he will not be better than quite a few of them. Why? Let’s see…
The Crunch
To dive into what Viktor Lakhin has done this season, I think it’s important to establish a baseline. Below are the numbers on what Lakhin has done for Clemson this past season:
Minutes Percentage - 57.8
BPM - 7.7
Offensive Rating - 114.6
Usage Percentage - 25.8
Effective Field Goal Percentage - 54.7
True Shooting Percentage - 57.1
Offensive Rebounding Percentage - 11.6
Defensive Rebounding Percentage - 20.7
Assist Percentage - 13.4
Turnover Percentage - 15.5
Assist : Turnover- 1.0
Block Percentage - 7.3
Steals Percentage - 2.7
Free Throw Rate - 31.1
Dunks - 14/16 (87.5%)
Two Point Percentage - 54.3 (126/232)
Three Point Percentage - 37.5 (24/64)
When looking at how Viktor’s numbers compare to all of the players in the BartTorvik database, I smoothed the pool to avoid “cooking the books”—shoutout Corey. I wanted to adjust the database to players with a minimum height of 82 inches. Within all players of that height, I set the following metrics:
Minutes Percentage: At least 55
BPM: At least 7
Usage: At least 20
Offensive Rebound Percentage: At least 8
Defensive Rebound Percentage: At least 15
Block Percentage: At least 7
Made Two Pointers: At least 125
Made Three Pointers: At least 20
Three Point Percentage: At least 35
This list consists of players who have competed in the NBA, or Johni Broome last year—and he is largely viewed as a borderline first round pick. While there are NBA players listed, their career paths have varied. Mfiondu Kabengele has floundered. Jalen Smith has had an up-and-down start to his NBA career. Chet Holmgren obviously was a Top 3 pick, and is a major focal point for the Oklahoma City Thunder. What separates Viktor’s output compared to Kabengele and Smith, is that there is a feel that has become a large part of his game—as evidenced by the assist percentage. He also boasts a higher usage percentage than either of them had, which speaks to the role and trust that his team put on him offensively compared to the two of them. Lakhin also has the highest steal percentage of any of the listed players.
The Dive
This season has consisted of huge leaps in multiple areas within Viktor’s game. Back in July of 2023, my guy Maxwell Baumbach wrote about Lakhin in that year’s “No Stone Unturned” column. In his breakdown, Maxwell wrote that Lakhin’s:
“…offensive game feels a bit dated. He doesn’t even look at the rim from the elbow or the nail…Lakhin tends to be a bit of a black hole on offense…there needs to be some level of offensive dimensionality added to Lakhin’s game to warrant more NBA attention”.
While Maxwell was spot-on in his analysis of him almost two years ago, Viktor has grown tremendously in multiple aspects of his game, on both sides of the ball. That’s what we are going to analyze in this section of this piece.
The Offense
With the NBA game placing an emphasis on playing through their bigs, it’s important to account for a prospect’s ability to at least string the play along. This is one of the areas where Viktor has shown the most improvement. Last season at Cincinnati, Lakhin had an Assist Percentage of 13.4 and a Usage Percentage of 23.1. Those numbers jumped to 15.1 and 25.8, respectively. At the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, I saw—first hand—Viktor bring the ball up the floor and initiate offense along the perimeter. This was not something he was doing when Maxwell wrote about him.
Extending and Kicking Out
This clip will be a bit longer than normal, but I feel that it shows multiple areas of how Viktor (#0 in white) can have the offense flow through him. For starters, look at where Lakhin is getting the ball—along the right wing. This immediately shows a level of comfort our guy has operating along the perimeter.
As Viktor gets the ball on the wing, he rejects the handoff and puts the ball on the deck, dribbling his way to the top of the key. Viktor then hands the ball off and creates space on the screen. As the ball handler starts to create, Lakhin flashes down to the right block, which removes immediate help on the dribble. Viktor recovers the ball on a bad entry pass and takes his man into the heart of the paint. Lakhin has more help gravitating toward him as he gets up into his shot. He recognizes that his teammate, Jaeden Zackery (#11 in white), is open on the strong-side wing. Lakhin passes Zackery the ball while he is in a shooting motion, which keeps the help on him long enough for Zackery to have a clean shot for three points.
The key takeaways from this play:
Lakhin’s comfort level operating on the perimeter
Lakhin’s skill to reject the handoff and dribble the ball to another teammate
Lakhin’s recognition of spacing—taking his man to the block and away from the ball
Lakhin’s ability to have a large “catch radius”, recovering a bad entry pass
Lakhin’s paint gravity, drawing in additional help
Lakhin’s fluidity to pass out his shooting motion, and accuracy to get the ball to his open teammate
Perimeter Assist
This clip is a bit shorter than the previous one, but it’s impressive nonetheless. Lakhin is used in a Spain set on this play, as Ian Schieffelin (#4 in white) sets a ball screen for Zackery. As Schieffelin rolls to the rim after the screen, Viktor flashes to the top of the key. Viktor gets the ball and immediately looks to get the ball inside to Schieffelin, who seals his man to his left.
Look at the perfect placement of this ball, as Lakhin layers the ball over the top of the defense. His teammate gets the ball and converts for two points. The quick decision-making, soft touch on the pass, and just overall fluidity in his movement is evidence that Viktor has made a significant jump in his offensive feel and skill. However, this is not the only area Viktor has made major strides in his game.
Unconventional Relocation Three
What makes Viktor’s comfort level operating on the perimeter viable moving forward is that he is a legitimate threat to score from the outside. Last year with the Bearcats, Viktor shot just under 26% from deep. This year on similar volume, he shot 37.5% from deep. While the volume isn’t super spectacular—shooting 4.9 threes per 100—he has been consistent. I saw him warmup and perform in Portsmouth, and the form is clean, fluid, and repeatable.
In this clip against Boston College, we see how Lakhin can weaponize his three-point shot beyond just a set shot. We start with our guy actually getting the ball at the top of the key. Viktor gets into a DHO set with Chase Hunter (#1 in orange) on the right wing, setting up on Hunter’s left. Lakhin actually slips the screen, setting up on Hunter’s right. Hunter drives right, which forces the defense to adjust their positioning.
Viktor sees the defense adjusting and relocates himself to the three point line. With Hunter keeping the defense honest in their commitment to his drive, Lakhin creates an abundance of space to get the three ball off. He is able to take his time—getting into his motion. He has a solid shooting base, fluid energy transfer in his mechanics, and smooth release.
Maintaining Space
One of my favorite things about watching Viktor Lakhin is how he just seems to always be in the right place at the right time. His growth as a shooter allows him to occupy varying areas on the court, and that gave Clemson flexibility in their sets. This play shows multiple spots Lakhin can be impactful.
To start, Viktor is on the left block. We haven’t yet (oh, but we will!) touched on his interior finishing, but Viktor is a solid scorer on the inside. That forces the defense to take his post up seriously. That’s what makes plays like this possible. Zackery gets the ball from Schieffelin, who then rolls to the paint. Lakhin then comes up to the perimeter.
Zackery gives the ball to Lakhin, who then moves the ball to Dillon Hunter (#2 in orange). Hunter drives to the left block, which keeps his man on him, but also draws in Viktor’s man to help. Look at how much space is opened up due to Viktor’s floor spacing ability. Viktor cannot be left open, but he is. Our guy is able to knock down the open three all because he knows when and how to occupy different areas of the court. It’s worth noting that Lakhin ranks in the 90th percentile in open catch-and-shoot opportunities, shooting 48.7% on his open threes.
He isn’t just a floor spacer, though. Lakhin can also do big man things.
Post Polish
Lakhin’s ability to score on the block brings the level of balance to his offense that is required to succeed at the next level. In this clip, we get a chance to see how he can make the opposition pay with his hands and feet.
Viktor gets the ball on the right block. He is defended by Anthony Robinson (#21 in white), who is of similar listed dimensions. Our guy starts off by establishing great position and getting himself open. Upon receipt of the entry pass, Lakhin takes a power dribble, drop-stepping baseline and finishing with a slick reverse layup. Those sorts of moves will allow him to be respected when he decides to post up.
Lakhin ranked in the 53rd percentile at the rim—and in the 78th percentile in dunks.
Drive and Finish
One of the reasons I was so high on Quinten Post last season was that he showed a propensity to do some work on the bounce. There was just such an ease with him operating outside that it affords him the studio space to surprise the defense with his handle. He does that in this clip against Louisville.
The play starts with Hunter getting the ball on the left wing. Our guy flashes up to get the ball from him on the right wing. Viktor faces up his man and is able to force his way to the paint. Viktor is able to hit a hop step and float a nice lefty push-shot up that finds its way to the bottom of the basket.
Lakhin ranked in the 56th percentile on runners and in the 62nd percentile on hook shots.
The Defense
As impressive as the growth Viktor has shown on the offensive end, the work he’s put into his defense may be even more noteworthy. For those of you who are into Defensive Box Plus/Minus (I know you’re out there!), Lakhin went from a 2.4 DPBM in Cincinnati to 4.0 with Clemson. His overall activity and awareness all took major strides in the right direction. Per Synergy, Lakhin ranked in the 42nd percentile this past season, allowing a Field Goal Percentage of 43.9%. As I typically state, there is no perfect or ideal metric to account for a player’s overall defensive impact. That’s where the film comes in.
Perimeter Defending
The eye test shows that Viktor Lakhin keeps his feet moving on defense, staying light on his toes in order to stay with anyone. That includes perimeter-based players.
On this clip, we see McNeese State push the ball past halfcourt, getting the ball to Sincere Parker (#21 in blue). Parker is a guard in open space, and should be able to take advantage of Lakhin on the perimeter. Parker goes into a dribble sequence and crosses to his left.
Look at how Viktor is able to flip his hips with ease. There is no crossing of feet, no wide turning of his body—just a seamless transition of position. Parker realizes that he does not have the space he was hoping for on the cross. Feeling Lakhin on his right, Parker goes into a step-back move to create adequate separation to shoot over our guy.
Parker gets into his shooting motion, but Lakhin stays with him the whole time. Parker rushes the shot and misses wide left, anticipating the contest from our guy. The only gripe I could point to on this play from Viktor would be that the contest comes a beat late. It didn’t hurt him here, but that could have been two points from a pro guard. Regardless, Lakhin shows some impressive hip and footwork to stay with a quicker guard in open space.
Post Contest
Defending perimeter players in open space is impressive, but those plays won’t be the majority of Lakhin’s defensive responsibilities. This clip shows our guy matched up against Samet Yigitoglu (#24 in red)—a 7’2”, 260-pound big man from Turkey.
We’ll start with SMU’s B.J. Edwards (#0 in red) bringing the ball up the court for the Mustangs. Edwards tries to blow by Ian Schieffelin, driving to the right block. Ian cuts off B.J.’s driving angle, forcing the dribble to be picked up. Samet actually does a good job of carving out space against Viktor, giving the ball handler a clear path for an entry pass.
Samet attempts to get the ball deep in the paint, but Lakhin is able to shoot up to deflect the entry pass. Yigitoglu recovers the loose ball and tries to get the shot off. After a pump fake, Samet goes up for the shot, but Viktor skies up to block it. Viktor doesn’t have the most insane measurables or athleticism, but he uses the tools he has and moves well to maintain position.
Defending a Shooting Big
Defending bigs in the post is a huge part of Viktor’s evaluation, but there will be times when Lakhin will need to defend floor-spacing big men. This next clip will show how our guy defends one of the better floor spacing big men, Maxime Raynaud (#42 in red).
This clip starts with Maxime getting the ball at the top of the key. Lakhin does a great job of taking any breathing room away from his assignment, pressing him as soon as he catches the ball. Raynaud faces up to get some sort of space. Raynaud dribbles to his left, handing the ball off to Ryan Agarwal (#11 in red).
Ryan and Maxime go into a pick-and-roll set, with Maxime setting a screen to Ryan’s right. Lakhin does a great job of sliding in front of Agarwal, helping his teammate regain position on his man. Once Agarwal is properly defended again, Lakhin gets back into position to defend Raynaud on the outside. Agarwal moves the ball to Oziyah Sellers (#4 in red), then shallow cuts with Maxime.
Maxime gets the ball on the left wing and dribbles up to the line. Lakhin has Raynaud’s dribble cadence timed perfectly. Notice when our guy goes up to contest his man’s shot. Right as Raynaud begins to pick up his dribble, Viktor skies up to reject the would-be three.
The key takeaways from this play:
Lakhin pressing Raynaud to remove any comfort
Lakhin’s show-and-recover ability on the pick-and-roll
Lakhin’s constant churning of feet to stay light
Lakhin’s anticipation to block the shot
More on Maxime Raynaud
We just saw Viktor defend one of the better big man prospects, Maxime Raynaud, along the perimeter. Now, we’re going to see him defend Maxime in the mid-post.
We can see the the ball is moving along the perimeter while Raynaud is looking to establish position in the paint against our guy. Once the ball reaches left corner, the entry pass is made to Maxime. Maxime gathers the pass and faces up on the left mid-post. Raynaud actually gets Viktor to bite on the initial pump fake, then drives to his right.
Viktor recovers off the first jump beautifully and keeps his feet pumping to cut off Maxime’s driving angle. Maxime—who is listed at 7’1”—goes to the restricted area and floats up a right-handed push shot. Lakhin gets vertical again, climbs the ladder, and rejects Maxime’s shot with his right hand. Once the shot is blocked, Lakhin tip-toes baseline to save the ball before it goes out of bounds, ensuring his team gets possession of the ball.
This is just another example of Lakhin’s improved technique and core strength keeping him in plays on the defensive side of the ball.
Curtains
To close the loop on the “vegetable” bit, I would say that Viktor Lakhin is a potato. I can hear glasses sliding up noses, and throats clearing for a “well, actually” here. I’m aware that potatoes are considered a “starch” or a “grain” by some people, but there are plenty of accredited people who still classify them as a true veggie. It actually works well for Viktor's projection because some people do not look at him as an actual NBA prospect. I do.
Like a potato, Lakhin is versatile. He can definitely “mash” in the paint. He can “fry” you from deep. He can “scallop” defenses with nice passing. He can be a “wedge” as an interior defender. You get the point. He’s versatile.
After getting to see Viktor in person, and talking with scouts in the building, there is a strong probability that he will play in the league. There just comes the question: “Should he be drafted?” That really depends on who stays in the draft and who withdraws, but I believe Viktor should be drafted.
He listed at 6’11.5” in shoes in Portsmouth, with a 7’1.5” wingspan. He’s plenty big enough to play in the league, and he weighed in at 252 pounds. Being that big and moving that well, paired with increased shooting and feel, puts him ahead of some current NBA bigs, to be quite honest. He doesn’t have the “sexy” prospect profile of some of the more “theoretical” prospects, but there is a reason NBA teams aren’t filling up with sweets like that. They are winning with players who can contribute on the margins. They’re eating their vegetables.
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