Who is Johni Broome? | The Prospect Overview
Auburn's Johni Broome is obscenely productive. The 2025 NBA Draft prospect might be the best player in college basketball. But when it comes to the NBA, who is he? PLUS: Quick Hits!
When I first started to follow NBA Draft coverage, I always wanted to know which current NBA player a prospect projected to be like in the league. It was a quick, shorthand way to get an idea of how someone played and what their impact in the league would resemble. Then, I got older. I got deeper into the scouting weeds. I grew to dislike player comps. Like snowflakes, no two players are identical. It felt too cheap and lacking in nuance. Eventually, though, the horseshoe theory would win out. I’ve come back to enjoying player comparisons. The first reason for that is that, simply put, it’s important to identify if how a player produces is replicable in the NBA. Secondly, I think it’s handy from a statistical research standpoint. If you’re telling me a guy is the next Draymond Green, I can look at what Draymond Green did in college and how that player stacks up next to him. It’s important to compare a prospect’s pre-NBA production to those in their archetype who found success at the NBA level.
But sometimes…guys are weird. Johni Broome is one of those guys. Auburn’s graduate big man is arguably the best player in all of college basketball. There is no doubt that he is an exceptionally talented and productive player. But his production, paired with his age and body type, is definitely a little funky. Broome stands 6’9” with a 7’0” wingspan, and he’s listed at 240 pounds. He’s a little bit stubby for an NBA center, and he’s not super bouncy. But for a four, he’s not a lights-out shooter, nor is he laterally explosive. He doesn’t fit neatly into one box, nor does an easy player comp come to mind. Yet, when going across the statistical board, his BPM, rebound rates, assist numbers, and incredible shot-blocking resume make him appear like a surefire long-term NBA player. So, who is Johni Broome?
Floor Spacing
Johni Broome spent his first two college seasons at Morehead State. There, he predominantly beat up on overmatched mid-major big men on the interior. But once he got to Auburn, he began to take the occasional three. Since then, he’s increased his volume year over year. Between this season and last, Broome has made 33.1% of his threes on 5.2 attempts per 100 possessions.
On paper, that may not sound like anything to write home about. But for a big man prospect, he grades out really well in terms of three-point shooting volume and pretty well in terms of efficiency. In particular, Broome thrives when left alone. During these past two years, he’s made 40.9% of his unguarded catch-and-shoot threes, per Synergy. Far more often than not, defenses end up closing out on Broome. This year, 63.3% of his catch-and-shoot triples have been classified as “guarded” attempts. Given his overall percentage, Broome will need to get better at shooting over contests in order to maximize his value.
But at the bare minimum, the fact that he can punish defenses and provide drivers with a safety valve bodes well for his NBA prospects, particularly as it pertains to lineups where he would play alongside another big man. In the video above, we see players like Jaylin Williams, Kelly Olynyk, Jalen Smith, and Wendell Carter knocking down open jumpers. All four of those guys faced similar 4/5 tweener questions coming out of college, similarly to Johni Broome. They might not be deadeye snipers, and they often don’t draw hard closeouts, but they can keep defenses honest and provide an additional wrinkle of spacing. This also opens up other elements of their game that they share in accordance with Broome, which we will get to later on. But for Broome, being good enough at making the open ones may be all he needs in order to find a place in a rotation, given the well-rounded nature of his skill set. Lastly, I think that it’s worth noting that we’ve only really seen him take threes for the past two seasons. If his career efficiency was what it is and he’d always been shooting, I’d be more concerned. Instead, what we’ve seen is a steady upward trajectory in terms of both shot confidence and difficulty.
Interior Finishing
Still, Broome possesses a lot of the necessary “garbage man big” traits. Broome is an efficient dive man who shoots 70.6% on his twos as a roller. He’s also comfortable in the dunker spot and acting as a cutter, making 68.8% of his shots on those play types, per Synergy. What makes Broome special, though, is that he is an absolute force on the offensive glass.
His 15.2 ORB% is truly an elite figure. It’s even better when you consider the fact that he often shares the floor with another great offensive rebounder in Dylan Cardwell. For context, Broome’s ORB% tops the marks that glass cleaners like Jalen Duren, Walker Kessler, and Daniel Gafford posted during their pre-draft seasons. Per Synergy, putbacks are Broome’s second most common play type this season. His tenaciousness, feel, and timing enable him to consistently generate second-chance opportunities for his team and easy looks for himself.
When scouting, I always ask myself about the scalability of a prospect’s strength. Given Broome’s lack of traditional big man size, I wondered about how this might translate to the next level. But we’ve seen it work! Above, you’ll see Nets big man Day’Ron Sharpe and Kevon Looney feasting on the offensive glass. These two aren’t always the biggest dudes on the floor. But similar to Broome, their intellect and want-to enable them to punch above their weight on the offensive glass. These two have consistently provided value to their teams due in large part to their ability to add efficient, low-maintenance scoring possessions to the stat sheet.
Area for Growth: Driving
Broome has shown an ability to knock down the occasional three, and he’s a punishing force around the basket. His biggest room for growth from a scoring standpoint comes from tying those two skills together. Right now, he’s sort of an “either/or” proposition. He’s not much of a threat in the gray area between the two when he has to go from the perimeter to the basket. His driving game has a few issues. The first is that when he’s faced up, he has a lumbering first step. He’s not going to be dusting his fellow NBA big men. Broome’s slow downhill speed doesn’t allow him to slam the door shut on defenders who close out hard on him. Additionally, it gives defenses ample time to recover, and there’s not much polish to his handle. He doesn’t have counters or go-to moves to beat the help that comes his way. Instead, he often settles for difficult looks with a deeper takeoff point than desirable. If Broome can maximize his speed off the line and add in a few dribble moves to get cleaner angles at the rim, it would really round out his scoring arsenal in a meaningful way.
Playmaking
Johni Broome is a phenomenal playmaking prospect for a big man—like, really phenomenal in a way that we’ve yet to truly reckon with. There were always shades of upside in this department. Even back in his Morehead State days, Broome could recognize a double team and kick the ball out to an open shooter. As his shooting blossomed at Auburn, he began to demonstrate flashes of offensive orchestration on the perimeter. This year, Broome took things to another level. He’s one of the highest usage players his size in the country, ranking fourth overall among players 6’9” and above per BartTorvik, with a seismic 30.8 USG%. Along with that, he’s posting an outstanding 23.5 AST% and a microscopic 7.3 TOV%.
Broome can do everything NBA teams ask for out of a big man in terms of passing. The basic double-punishing stuff on the block is still there. At the top of the key, he’s able to wire the ball to cutters going at a 45-degree angle or baseline with well-executed dishes. He’s also shown an ability to make snappy reads out of the short roll, maximizing the 4-on-3 situations created in those predicaments. Broome has also grown more comfortable whipping longer, cross-court passes to open shooters in the weakside corner. His combination of floor mapping, vision, and poise allow him to make deliveries that few his size can while also making him a shockingly low-mistake player.
All of this has NBA functionality! Let’s highlight four guys we’ve already discussed—Kevon Looney, Day’Ron Sharpe, Kelly Olynyk, and Jaylin Williams. These four players are all a hair undersized for the center position in one way or another. But the value that they add as passers has still allowed them to carve out rotation spots. Their ability to make plays out of the short roll, read the floor from the perimeter, and make longer passes that others their size can’t make has led to NBA organizations valuing them as players. Johni Broome has that same arsenal at his disposal.
Defense
Johni Broome’s defensive projection is a fascinating one. If you’d never heard of Broome, based on the start of this article, you may assume that he’s more of an offensively-tilted player. Most 6’9” big men without ideal length and athleticism tend to be more skill-oriented. These “tweeners” tend to get into muddy waters when it comes to the defensive side of the ball. And to be fair, Broome does have some shortcomings here. His lack of bounce can hinder him as a rim protector. A few players, such as Collin Murray-Boyles, have managed to overpower him en route to clean looks at the basket. Broome’s lateral agility is solid, but he doesn’t have great recovery tools when he’s beaten. Still, in spite of all of this, Broome has been a tremendously impactful defender for Auburn over the past few years.
He might not be the tallest, and he might not be the most vertically explosive, but at the end of the day, production is what matters. And folks, is Johni Broome productive. Broome has a 9.3 BLK% on the year, an excellent number for a big man prospect. Again, I must also remind you that he’s posting that figure while spending a significant amount of time at the four-spot. In drop coverage, Broome uses his hands and feet well to dictate angles that make it difficult for the offense to create advantages. He thrives as a shot blocker deep when teams do manage to get deep in the paint. Broome uses his chest well to stay vertical, and he has the outstanding hand-eye coordination needed to pin-point blocks while avoiding foul troubles (only 3.9 fouls per 100 possessions!). Off the ball, his rim rotation instincts are strong, enabling him to get into position better than most of his peers. Even when he doesn’t nab a block, his ability to stay big and play physically hampers his opponents and their efforts to get clean looks inside. Per Synergy, opponents are shooting a brutal 37.0% at the rim in the halfcourt against Broome. He’s a serious glass eater on this side of the ball, too, posting a 26.8 DRB% on the year. Still, he can hold his own in space and switch out on the perimeter. Broome might not be the twitchiest, but he does a good job of sitting and sliding while avoiding opening up his hips. He’ll also mix in some bumps to make life difficult for smaller players and prevent them from getting to their spots. This allows him to contain the ball on the perimeter, or at least force opponents into tough shots.
When I think about how Johni Broome wins on defense, I think back to Daniel Theis’s time with the Boston Celtics. Theis wasn’t the biggest or the bounciest, but he was sturdy, rugged, and coordinated. This enabled him to flip between the four and the five spot, depending on the lineup. His timing and precision as a shot blocker allowed him to turn opponents away at the basket, even if he wasn’t a highflier. Plus, his physicality and ability to stay in his stance helped him stay above board when he had to guard on the perimeter. There is a blueprint here for Broome.
Conclusion
For weeks, I’ve been pondering the question—who is Johni Broome’s NBA player comparison? It’s a question that I steadfastly believe is always important to ask. In Broome’s case, it’s a tricky one, because he has such an odd blend of skills you don’t normally see together. He’s a solid shooter for a big man, but not an elite one. He thrives on the offensive glass, but he’s a little bit undersized. He’s a great shot blocker, but he’s not toolsy. He is undoubtedly a stellar, high-feel playmaker.
I can’t quite say he’s Kelly Olynyk, because he’s not that type of shooter, and he projects to be a better defender. It’s tricky to compare players to Kevon Looney, because Looney was such a different prospect coming out of college. The Jaylin Williams and Wendell Carter parallels are there, but they entered the league at a meaningfully younger age. Conversely, Daniel Theis is a weird one because he didn’t come to the NBA until he was much older than Broome. Broome is more perimeter-oriented than someone like Day’Ron Sharpe. It’s hard to fit him into any one box.
But at the end of this exercise, I came to one conclusion. But first, let’s talk about how I got there. I dug into Broome’s shooting, how it stacks up historically to big men pre-draft, and the types of threes that NBA bigs often take. I thought, “yeah, he can do that.” I looked at how he finishes inside and generates high-efficiency shots on the offensive glass, then I dug into similarly sized NBA players who do the same. I was wowed by Broome’s playmaking. Defensively, his blend of timing and toughness has proven itself again and again. I came to the conclusion that while Johni Broome can’t be put neatly into one box, his exceptional production and the NBA functionality of his key traits cannot be ignored. So, who is Johni Broome? Johni Broome is a damn good basketball player, and those guys tend to stick around the NBA for a long time. He’s a Top 20 prospect.
Quick Hits
-I wrote about SMU wing Matt Cross earlier this season, and I continue to love what I’m seeing from him. The 6’7” graduate is shooting 38.5% from three on a career-high 4.2 attempts per game. The shot was always his swing skill, and this year, he’s drilling them. The rest of his game is exactly what you’d want from a role player. He’s a menace on the glass (10.3 ORB%, 20.2 DRB%), a productive defender (career 2.4 STL%, 2.1 BLK%), and a reliable decision-maker. Cross’s high-intensity, ultra-physical style also bodes well for his next level translation. I believe him to be one of the most underrated prospects in this class.
-I was gutted to hear that Morez Johnson Jr. will miss the remainder of the season. The 6’9” Illinois freshman is a handful around the basket on both ends of the floor. He makes great rim rotations and soars for blocks, he’s a potent offensive rebounder (16.8 ORB%), and he’s an awesome lob target. He’ll end the year as one of the highest BPM freshmen in the country. If he can add some ball skills to his arsenal, he could thrive as a modernized version of an “energy big” at the next level.
-I’m late to the party, but Donovan Dent had a fantastic performance last week Sunday against Utah State. He was disruptive defensively, nabbing two steals and three blocks (including a rejection of Utah State’s attempted game-tying heave). Dent has always been a great passer who can whip razor-sharp passes on a rope with ideal placement. But what I thought made this performance particularly interesting was Dent’s scoring. He hit a nice mid-range step back and went 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. His anemic volume from three (1.8 attempts per game this season) has always concerned me, but the decisiveness he showcased on those difficult shots stood out. I can’t help but feel like he gets the short end of the stick relative to buzzier small guards. He has exceptional feel (35.7 AST%, 6.5 APG to 2.9 TOV), he lives in the paint, and he’s a stellar defensive producer (2.4 STL%, 3.0 BLK%). The shot does indeed worry me, but I cannot help but see TJ McConnell when I watch Donovan Dent.
-I checked in on Ernest Udeh Jr., and he’s intriguing. The 6’11” junior at TCU has begun to find his identity as a guy who dunks everything on offense and disrupts everything on defense. On offense, he goes up with the intention of tearing down the backboard. I also love how he gets contact on his screens. Defensively, he’s posting a 3.4 STL%, which is exceptionally high for a center. Udeh does a great job of reading opposing offenses, tipping errant passes, and digging into dribbles. Few big men are as good with their hands as him. Plus, his 6.0 BLK% is a step in the right direction. If he can show more offensive firepower (6.8 PPG, 1.3 APG), he could get over the hump as a senior.
-East Tennessee State’s Jaden Seymour is an interesting sleeper. The 6’9” graduate stuffs the stat sheet, averaging 16.5 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.1 BPG, and 0.9 SPG. Offensively, Seymour has a smooth handle and the wiggle to dice through traffic. He’s also a smart passer who sees the floor well. Defensively, he uses his length, timing, and bounce to act as a disruptive force. His jumper (32.4% from three on 4.1 attempts per game) remains a question. Also, similarly to past SoCon prospect Jalen Slawson, his offensive game can be a little too “back to the basket” for my liking at times. In spite of that, his combination of size, skill, and feel are all intriguing. I’d love to see him in the Portsmouth Invitational mix.
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