Kingsfans 2013 Scouting Report: Trey Burke

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#1

Trey Burke
Position:
PG
Hgt: 6'1"
Wgt: 187
Age: 20
Projected Draft Number: #6 NBADraft.net/#7 Draftexpress.com
College: Michigan
College Stats 2012-13: 35.4min 18.6pts (.460FG% .383TPt% .805FT%) 3.2reb 6.6ast 1.6stl 0.5blk 2.1TO

Baja's Review: In my humble opinion, Burke is the best PG in this draft. I saw him play as much as any other player, if not more. He's being condidered a little undersized, and I guess when compared with the new breed of PG that might be true, but if you looked up the height of every PG in the NBA, I think you'd find that there are probably more 6'1" and under PG's than there are 6'3" and over. At any rate, Burke is a little over 6'1". He's almost the precise height of Chris Paul, and Paul is doing just fine. Despite scoring 18.6 PPG, I still consider Burke a pass first PG. There were times throughout the year when his teammates hit a drought, and he had to carry the load himself. He's an excellent shooter, either as a spotup, or off the dribble. His overall range is beyond the NBA three point line. He's an excellent ballhandler with the ability to change directions, change speed, and with hesitation moves that freeze the opposition. He's more quick and crafty than fast, but he has the ability to get anywhere he wants on the court. Unlike many players that like to go either left or right, Burke will attack in any direction and with either hand. He has great court vision and is a very good passer, whether it be the simple pass, an alleyopp, or the long difficult bounce pass. He has them all in his arsenal. He's extremely patient, and plays with confidence. If he has a weakness on offense, its finishing at the basket, where many times he'll go to his floater instead of taking it all the way. But he's not afraid of contact, and gets to the line often. And by the way, he hardly ever turns the ball over. He averaged 6.6 assists a game this past season. Defensively is where scouts seem to have most of their question marks. Burke is a good athlete, but not a freak athlete. And despite his 6'1" height, he does have a very nice wingspan of 6'5.5", which does help him on defense. He averaged 1.6 steals a game.. There were times when I thought he tried to rest a little on the defensive end, and considering that he averaged 35 minutes out of 40 a game, and handled the ball a large portion of the time, I can understand to some extent. Thats not to say he was a bad defender! He wasn't! Its to say that I think he can be better. Burke isn't John Wall, but he's far more skilled than Wall was coming out of Kentucky. I think he's going to be a solid starter in the NBA and it wouldn't surprise me to see him in an all star game sometime in the future.

Gilles's Review: Sophomore. Is 6'1" with 6'5.5" wingspan. Above average athlete. Improved a lot in running the team: assist% jumped from 28.7% to 37.3%, while TOV% dropped from 16.7 to 11.9. Playing with very good offensive players helped, but most of them were finishers, so he had to take advantage of the situation. His scoring efficiency improved too, but later in the season he had to take scoring burden as teams stopped leaving his teammates open, so he had to create for himself and that didn't go as smoothly. Excellent P&R player that's probably going to be his main weapon. Not going to be more than average defender, but he won't be on the floor to defend.
Obviously a PG.

Capt.'s Review: The best PG in the draft. Burke has been dogged all along for height issues but measures out to a legit 6'1" in shoes so he's not as small as folks have made out. As a PG I can't quite nail down Burke's passing ability - he's a good passer, but I'm not sure whether or not he's a great passer. What is clear is that he's a great scorer, with the ability to hit a jumper both set and off the dribble from anywhere on the court. On top of that, he can get around his man to the rim (or often settle for a floater). As a floor general, Burke has a good ability to recognize what's not working and to move away from it, and he has the ability (or is it a tendency?) to create his own shot and take over a game late. I suspect that if you were to watch a highlight film composed from the last ten minutes of Burke's games, it would be more exciting than a film composed from the first 30 minutes, and by a long shot. That does, however, translate into a bit of hero-ball now and then. Defensively, he puts the effort in and gets in his man's face pretty often. He's not the greatest at preventing his man from getting by (the difference between his defense and the bigger Hardaway's on the same man was striking) but in a team concept I think he'll fare just fine on D. Burke is a pretty good candidate for the Kings' #7 pick,and a lot of what I see is a bigger Isaiah Thomas with better D. Burke ought to be a starting PG in the NBA, but the question facing team as they draft him is whether he's a top-ten PG or not.

 
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#2
If you don't mind, I'd like to give my own summary:

Burke has a lot going for him. His measurements (6'1, 6'5.5 wingspan) are encouraging for a player previously thought to be undersized. His wingspan and height, coupled with his good instincts and understanding of the team defense concept, give him nice defensive potential. However, the real prize in Trey is his beautiful offensive game. He has truly excellent handles, and can move virtually wherever he wants on the court. His passing ability and basketball IQ are upper-echelon, as he led the Big Ten in assists and the nation in Assist/Turnover ratio. His jumper is polished, and already he has NBA range. And both off the court and well as on it, he's an unselfish player and natural leader who brings intangibles that can't be coached. But for all his pros, he still has many cons. One of these concerns is his finishing ability; though his height issue was overstated, he's still too small and inathletic to finish against NBA bigs. Athleticism is another potential red flag. At the draft combine, he put up solid numbers, but his court agility and overall speed were below average. Most likely, his handles will negate this issue, but it is still troubling, and it may be exposed against the bigger, more athletic NBA PGs of today. Overall, though, Burke presents a low risk, high reward type of prospect who can step up immediately and lead a team.

Well, there it is. If it's unwelcome, I'll remove it.
 
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Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#4
If you don't mind, I'd like to give my own summary:

Burke has a lot going for him. His measurements (6'1, 6'5.5 wingspan) are encouraging for a player previously thought to be undersized. His wingspan and height, coupled with his good instincts and understanding of the team defense concept, give him nice defensive potential. However, the real prize in Trey is his beautiful offensive game. He has truly excellent handles, and can move virtually wherever he wants on the court. His passing ability and basketball IQ are upper-echelon, as he led the Big Ten in assists and the nation in Assist/Turnover ratio. His jumper is polished, and already he has NBA range. And both off the court and well as on it, he's an unselfish player and natural leader who brings intangibles that can't be coached. But for all his pros, he still has many cons. One of these concerns is his finishing ability; though his height issue was overstated, he's still too small and inathletic to finish against NBA bigs. Athleticism is another potential red flag. At the draft combine, he put up solid numbers, but his court agility and overall speed were below average. Most likely, his handles will negate this issue, but it is still troubling, and it may be exposed against the bigger, more athletic NBA PGs of today. Overall, though, Burke presents a low risk, high reward type of prospect who can step up immediately and lead a team.

Well, there it is. If it's unwelcome, I'll remove it.
No need to apologize. These threads are after all primarily to inspire discussion. The official reviewers are just trusted voices, not the only ones.

I myself have a scouting report on Burke:

Burke has a lot going for him. He has two legs for one thing. Or maybe that's two things. And having two legs let's him walk and move about. He is also very tall. Well, at least compared to my grandmother Rosie, who was really quite short even while she was alive. But in any case Burke is taller, and that means its easier for him to hit a layup than my grandmother. Especially since she's dead. Although really it might be possible for a dead person to hit layup, if they were a zombie. And zombies are in vogue right now, so eventually we might see a new ZBL Zombie Basketball League with strict rules about not eating off your opponent's arm when he or she is tying to shoot. In any case, he has two arms too. Which is really quite nice and convenient because it means that he has the same number of arms and legs, which helps balance and makes it easier to eat a hoagie.
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
#5
Burke has a lot going for him. He has two legs for one thing. Or maybe that's two things. And having two legs let's him walk and move about. He is also very tall. Well, at least compared to my grandmother Rosie, who was really quite short even while she was alive. But in any case Burke is taller, and that means its easier for him to hit a layup than my grandmother. Especially since she's dead. Although really it might be possible for a dead person to hit layup, if they were a zombie. And zombies are in vogue right now, so eventually we might see a new ZBL Zombie Basketball League with strict rules about not eating off your opponent's arm when he or she is tying to shoot. In any case, he has two arms too. Which is really quite nice and convenient because it means that he has the same number of arms and legs, which helps balance and makes it easier to eat a hoagie.
OK, I'm sold.
 

Glenn

Hall of Famer
#6
It seems like the difference between Trey and MCW is that Trey will have a very fine NBA career and MCW probably will not. He also fits better on the Kings. In fact he fits just fine. If we draft him, we can back up the moving truck to the arena and carry away several of our PG wannabes. Perhaps the moving truck will come back with a defensive minded center and we can get maximum value from our mini chuckers.

He should not be available at #7 and that's the major problem.
 
#7
I think a lot of the board would want him or would be satisfied with him, given who will probably be around at #7. Whether or not he falls to us could, as of today, go either way, and you wish we didn't fall a spot from our record-projected position
 

Glenn

Hall of Famer
#9
I think a lot of the board would want him or would be satisfied with him, given who will probably be around at #7. Whether or not he falls to us could, as of today, go either way, and you wish we didn't fall a spot from our record-projected position
The difference between Noah and Hayes, right? We've been through this before.
 
#13
It seems like the difference between Trey and MCW is that Trey will have a very fine NBA career and MCW probably will not.
Main differences are that Trey Burke has a good handle, can score the ball, has a great basketball IQ and isn't an explosive athlete, while MCW has trouble scoring, has a poor handle and disregards basketball IQ in favor of trying to make a highlight pass. Oh, and he can dunk. :p
 
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rainmaker

Hall of Famer
#18
No need to apologize. These threads are after all primarily to inspire discussion. The official reviewers are just trusted voices, not the only ones.

I myself have a scouting report on Burke:

Burke has a lot going for him. He has two legs for one thing. Or maybe that's two things. And having two legs let's him walk and move about. He is also very tall. Well, at least compared to my grandmother Rosie, who was really quite short even while she was alive. But in any case Burke is taller, and that means its easier for him to hit a layup than my grandmother. Especially since she's dead. Although really it might be possible for a dead person to hit layup, if they were a zombie. And zombies are in vogue right now, so eventually we might see a new ZBL Zombie Basketball League with strict rules about not eating off your opponent's arm when he or she is tying to shoot. In any case, he has two arms too. Which is really quite nice and convenient because it means that he has the same number of arms and legs, which helps balance and makes it easier to eat a hoagie.
Well that settles it, Burke is a fully functional human being who can help old women getting food off the top shelf at Safeway.
 
#21
BTW, we need another guard about as much as we need a Maloof to come back and get involved with the organization.
While this is certainly true ...

We were told by just about every source everywhere that when Vivek takes over we'd be seeing a massive roster turnaround.

While we don't need another guard now, it's entirely possible that we can draft a guard we like better and deal off the other guards who have similar skill sets. Thomas, Jimmer, and Thornton are too similar to have all 3 of them. And you know what, I would put Burke in that group (to a lesser extent, sure) but I would. Mostly offensive players, shooters, and scorers.. who can play average defense at best.

And that is one of the many reasons why I like MCW over Burke. I've listed other reasons in a lot of different posts around here. I know I'm in the minority, that's ok. In Thomas, Jimmer, Thornton, and Burke - Like I said before, you have smaller players, average to below average athletes, offensive / scoring oriented. MCW is not those things. He is a very good athlete with very good size. His offensive game relies on setting others up rather than his own scoring. His defensive potential is very high, although unproven. I think it's actually a fairly safe assumption to say he will be a better defender than Jimmer, Thornton, Thomas, and Burke. Others will disagree.

I don't want Burke because we already have so much work to do unloaded our other 'similar' guards. I would agree with you there. With MCW, I think we'd be getting something entirely different.
 
#22
For me Burke would be such a better pick than MCW... but unfortunately either of those guys might spell the end of Tyreke. I say that because at this point in his career Reke has shown he needs to be the primary ball handler the majority of the time he's on the floor to be effective. A traditional point guard just doesn't work well next to him... Burke would be better than MCW imo based on his ability to shoot but either of those guys will need the ball in their hands most of the time. Like I keep saying, if we're drafting a guard at #7 my money is on McCollum.
 
#23
If I didn't know better I'd say you were trolling Kingsfans. It's entertaining though so please carry on. I thought I saw an article of GM talking like KT9 wanted to make a comeback and he was looking good, you wouldn't happen to know where I saw it would you ;)

I appreciate all the scouting reports though and reading this it seems like Burke would be a solid fit with Tyreke assuming we keep him and he stays at the 2. Thus far I'd say he's probably my favorite if he's there. Keep up the good work guys!
 
#25
Burke is 100% P&R and P&P player. He runs it very well. In fact Michigan was probably as close version of last decade Phoenix Suns as you can get in college. And no, he's not Nash: doesn't change direction as well as the Master and is worse shooter by a margin. Kings on the other hand have a bunch of players who is most comfortable with the ball in their hands. People seem to forget that Kings had second most effective offense after ASW. It's not scoring second-most points per game, they were second in points per 100 possessions in the entire League. And it all coincided with arriving of 3 players who were willing to play without touching the ball a lot and find other ways to contribute than hogging the ball. Kings need more such players, not another ball-handler, unless he's better offensive talent than Cousins and Evans, and Burke isn't.
 

Glenn

Hall of Famer
#26
We also need a shot blocker and SF. Adams might eventually turn out to be a very good player. He is raw as he started out as a rugby player but is very athletic and intelligent. He is a muscular 7 ft. 255 pt. defensive player. We don't have a defensive big guy. I doubt if Adams could play point guard.
 
#27
Burke is 100% P&R and P&P player. He runs it very well. In fact Michigan was probably as close version of last decade Phoenix Suns as you can get in college. And no, he's not Nash: doesn't change direction as well as the Master and is worse shooter by a margin. Kings on the other hand have a bunch of players who is most comfortable with the ball in their hands. People seem to forget that Kings had second most effective offense after ASW. It's not scoring second-most points per game, they were second in points per 100 possessions in the entire League. And it all coincided with arriving of 3 players who were willing to play without touching the ball a lot and find other ways to contribute than hogging the ball. Kings need more such players, not another ball-handler, unless he's better offensive talent than Cousins and Evans, and Burke isn't.
like you say, Kings doesnt need another ball handler, so how is Trey Burke moving without the ball??

if Burke cant play without the ball, he is not good pick for Kings.
 
#28
He never played off the ball as Michigan didn't have guys that could create other than him, so no one knows about his off the ball ability. His combined Ast%+Usg% is 65.6, i.e. when he was on the floor more than 2/3 of offensive possessions ended either in his hands(shot or TO) or after a basket assisted by him.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#30
He never played off the ball as Michigan didn't have guys that could create other than him, so no one knows about his off the ball ability. His combined Ast%+Usg% is 65.6, i.e. when he was on the floor more than 2/3 of offensive possessions ended either in his hands(shot or TO) or after a basket assisted by him.
First let me say that I'm not promoting the drafting of Burke. The only way I draft him is if I think he's the best player available, which I guess is possible. But since you mentioned Turnovers, I feel the necessity to point out that Burke hardly, and I mean hardly ever turned the ball over. He did play off the ball on occasion, but for the most part, as you pointed out, he was the only guy that could create anything for someone else. So the ball was in his hands most of the time. That wasn't his fault!

I think I should also point out that Burke was a pretty good defender at Michigan. Far better than Jimmer at BYU, and better than IT at Washington. How that translates to the NBA is anyone's guess. He's 6'1" in shoes, so he certainly PG height. People are trying to paint him as some sort of midget. I was listening to Jay Bilias today and when asked about Burke, he said he was the best PG in the draft, and he could see him as a future all star at some point. And trust me, he knows talent.

That said, the last thing I'm interested in is another guard. If we want another PG, then get one through a trade or freeagency. Someone already proven. I'd rather take a small reach and go for Adams in the draft. Its time to add some size to the roster. Adams is currently projected at the 10 spot, so from 7 to 10 isn't much of a reach.