National Basketball Association

Brooklyn Nets: Will Isaiah Whitehead Be a Star or a Bust?

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 8:59 p.m. ET

foxsports

Sep 26, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Isaiah Whitehead (15) poses for a portrait during media day at HSS Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Nicole Sweet-USA TODAY Sports

The Brooklyn Nets traded for Isaiah Whitehead the day of the NBA Draft. What can we expect from Whitehead?

After trading up with the Utah Jazz, the Brooklyn Nets selected Isaiah Whitehead with the 42nd pick in this year’s draft.

The combo guard came into the draft after a successful senior year at Seton Hall, one in which he averaged 18.2 points, 5.1 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game.

Want your voice heard? Join the Nothin' But Nets team!

In that senior year, Whitehead showed impressive growth and anchored a Seton Hall team that won the Big East Conference championship and appeared in the NCAA tournament.

More from Nothin' But Nets

With the selection, Whitehead joined a crowded backcourt of the Nets. This consists of a stash of young players, including Yogi Ferrell, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Bojan Bogdanovic, Caris LeVert, Sean Kilpatrick, and Joe Harris, all of whom Whitehead will be competing for playing time with.

Since Whitehead is a mid-second round pick, it’s hard to tell what his role on the team will be. It’s likely that he will be a backup for both the point guard and shooting guard position, but Kenny Atkinson mentioned last week that Whitehead would “likely” be spending time in the D-League this season.

Further, Whitehead faces a lot of competition, so his role as a backup could fluctuate if another player were to outplay him.

Let’s take a deeper look into Whitehead’s game and determine whether he will be a star or bust.

Mar 12, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Seton Hall Pirates guard Isaiah Whitehead (15) celebrates against the Villanova Wildcats in the second half of the championship game of the Big East conference tournament at Madison Square Garden. Seton Hall won, 69-67. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

What Can He Do?

For starters, Whitehead has a body that is fit for the NBA. He stands at 6-foot-4 and weighs 210 pounds, with a wingspan of 6-foot-9. This wingspan is approximately two and a half inches longer than the NBA average for guards (6’6.5”).

Most obviously, though, Whitehead’s biggest threat has always been his scoring ability and overall athleticism.

When Whitehead has the ball, it’s hard to tell what he’s going to do with it. He has proven he can drive and take the ball to the rim, but at the same time, he can just as easily pull up and shoot, especially from mid-range.

Furthermore, Whitehead is able to score in a variety of ways. He’s quick in transition, excels on pick-and-roll plays, is a solid ball-handler, and if needed, he can work past his defender in an isolation situation.

On the defensive end, Whitehead is efficient. In his two seasons at Seton Hall, Whitehead averaged 3.7 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game. Those are well-rounded defensive numbers.

Whitehead fits into the jack-of-all-trades category, and this is largely due to his athleticism.

His dynamic play and multiple skills make him a threat on the floor at all times, hence why he put up such big numbers in college. This also explains why Whitehead is the perfect example of a combo guard.

Feb 25, 2016; Newark, NJ, USA; Seton Hall Pirates guard Isaiah Whitehead (15) shoots over Providence Friars guard Kris Dunn (3) during second half at Prudential Center. Seton Hall Pirates defeated Providence Friars 70-52.
Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

What Does Whitehead Need to Improve?

For Whitehead’s entire career, shooting has always been his biggest weakness.

In college, despite his high-scoring ability, it came at the cost of a high volume of shooting. Whitehead averaged 15.8 points per game off of 13.6 shots per game in his two seasons at Seton Hall. His career field goal percentage was 37.5 percent, which is below mediocre.

His inconsistent shooting seems to have followed him into the NBA, as Whitehead has severely struggled from the field this preseason. Through three games, Whitehead has shot a miserable 21.1 percent, averaging five misses out of every 6.3 attempts. Whitehead’s struggles are tied for second-to-last on the team in field goal percentage, ahead of only Egidijus Mockevicius.

To put that number in perspective, the NBA-average field goal percentage per player was 45.2 percent last season – more than double Whitehead’s current percentage.

To make matters worse, he’s the only Net to appear in more than one game and not hit a three-pointer, yet he attempts 2.3 threes per game.

Luckily for Whitehead, this is an area of the game that can be improved with practice. If he wants any chance of being an efficient NBA player, he’s going to need to improve his shot and raise his field goal percentage.

Besides that, Whitehead looks inexperienced and is having trouble matching up against veteran guards this preseason. Again, though, this could easily be a rookie thing and is something that Whitehead will work through with experience.

Mar 17, 2016; Denver , CO, USA; Seton Hall Pirates guard Isaiah Whitehead (15) in the first half during Seton Hall vs Gonzaga in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Verdict: BUST

After a weak preseason showing so far, Whitehead has asserted himself behind almost everyone on the depth chart.

His main competition, which mainly consists of Caris LeVert (who has yet to play), Joe Harris, Sean Kilpatrick, and Yogi Ferrell, has clearly outplayed him so far.

In order to be categorized as a star, Whitehead would need to be ahead of those guys and fighting for added playing time. Instead, Whitehead is going to be fighting just to see the floor.

At this point, the D-League is where Whitehead belongs. Until he can unleash his NBA potential, Whitehead doesn’t provide much more on the Nets bench than the alternatives do.

If Whitehead continues to shoot as poorly as he has and look as lost as he has during the preseason, he’s going to have a tough time seeing the floor. Without playing time, it makes it a lot tougher for Whitehead to truly develop.

Needless to say, Whitehead will have opportunities to prove that he is an NBA-caliber player. These preseason woes could be a trend, or they could simply just be a slump. Regardless, we will have to wait and see what he does with his other opportunities to get a true feel.

The potential for Whitehead is there, as we saw how dominating he could be at Seton Hall and we know how athletic he is. Until he proves he can take that game to the NBA level, though, Whitehead is ultimately going to be a bust.

This article originally appeared on