Meet Jerry Deng

Will Wade is back on the transfer portal scoreboard with the out-of-left-field addition of Jerry Deng. This was, of course, only out of left field to us laypeople, which should serve as a reminder that this staff seems to heavily value a tight ship, and a lot of stuff is happening that isn't public.

Deng spent his freshman season at Hampton and his sophomore season at Florida State. He's 6'9, 220, and he brings shooting. This is a good shooter with pretty decent range beyond the three-point line. He's a big wing who spaced the floor a lot last year, and he fits an off-ball shooter role for the Pack with great size.

Role wise, Deng likely epitomizes the concept of “3 and D” for Will Wade. He did very little dribbling of the basketball in Tallahassee. Deng’s impact came as a floor spacer, and his catch-and-shoot ability is easily his strongest asset. During his sophomore season, the 6’9 wing shot 119 threes and just 56 twos. 

Deng has a pretty stroke. He has a high release point and is unbothered by contests, making him a difficult closeout for defenders that have rotated off him. He also understands how to move and relocate on the perimeter. He is a skilled off-ball player who can use space effectively without structure. If you plug him into a pure floor spacer role where he’s not involved in many actions, he’s a very obvious and clean fit. I think Wade may have bigger plans than that, but offensively, the floor is relatively high in that role. 

This is what the man does. It's hard to help off him and be able to recover.

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He doth not command much space.

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What Deng could be beyond a floor spacer is more of a mystery, but I'm curious. Florida State did not use him in a lot of screening actions at all, but it’s possible that he could be a pick-and-pop problem for Will Wade. He’s also flashed some ability as a movement shooter who can come off a flare screen. I personally want to see if a higher usage as a screener or movement piece in actual actions results in a new level of play for Deng, or if he’s just a floor spacer at heart. There might be a budding back to the basket game here, but there's just not much of it on tape. He doesn't really handle the ball well, but more opportunities as a movement shooter could be of value.

Deng isn't a great ball handler and isn't super willing to attack a closeout. The above should be a baseline drive. It's just not really in his bag to this point.

The junior transfer fits a definite mold for Will Wade as a long, tall wing who can shoot the ball. 3 and D for Wade includes an ability to switch. Deng is obviously long at 6’9 and he’s not a twig. I feel pretty comfortable with his ability to be physical in the paint and guard bigs. His ability to guard the ball on the perimeter is a little more of a question. 

He doesn’t have the fastest feet and can get beat off the dribble, and his use of the arm bar from bad angles can get him whistled for fouls. This is definitely not an elite switch defender, especially against versatile guards who can make him respect the three.

His ability to switch onto quicker guards and stay in front of the ball is my biggest concern with Deng. He comes from Florida State, a switch-one-through-five team, so he’s got plenty of experience in this type of system. He’s a smart player too. I like his defensive tape off the ball against UNC, where he showed a great understanding of that team’s scouting report and when he could afford to help hard. UNC had some good shooters but it also had Elliot Cadeau, and he was good about knowing who he was guarding and how much gravity that player should have. 

While he does get beat off the dribble, he has good court awareness, and while he’s not a terrifying help defender, his help rotations are usually on time. He sees things well and isn’t responsible for outright busts. He doesn’t get lost defensively.

I expect higher usage for Deng in Raleigh. He only averaged 15 minutes per game at Florida State, and while I think he's a bench piece, those minutes could definitely increase. He’s a high energy guy and it shows up on the court a lot. I often talk heavily in the Xs and Os but that matters too and can be an asset playing 20 minutes or more off the bench. Overall, this is a strong add.