Flory Bidunga making headlines for NBA Draft Combine measurements, but not in a good way

Flory Bidunga is the reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, and many considered him to be the top available player in the Transfer Portal this offseason. That doesn’t mean, however, that he’s a perfect prospect for the NBA, as the league learned on Monday at the Draft Combine in Chicago. 

Bidunga opted to go through the draft process while retaining his eligibility, and every expectation is that he will withdraw and return for his junior season. Any hint of doubt about his draft status was washed away when he measured at just 6-foot-7 ¾. 

Bidunga was listed at 6-foot-10 on Kansas’s roster, but barefoot, he doesn’t even crack 6-foot-8. While he has an impressive wingspan and standing reach, he will have very little chance of translating to the NBA with his combination of size and play style as a true interior big. While that’s bad news for Bidunga, it could be good news for Louisville fans hopeful their newest star will be around longer than just one year. 

Flory Bidunga measured 6-foot-7 ¾ barefoot at the NBA Combine

The size limitations haven’t been an issue for Bidunga at the college level. His 9.0% block percentage was 95th percentile last season, and when he was on the floor, opponents shot just 52.9 percent at the rim, a 98th percentile mark (per CBBanalytics.com). 

He’s a true defensive anchor with enough mobility to survive on the perimeter and against smaller guards. In many ways, his unique build, with incredibly long arms and a lower center of gravity, enables him to be such an outstanding defender, but unless he develops an outside shot to space the floor, he won’t be considered a real NBA prospect. 

Pat Kelsey is prepared for Bidunga’s limitations

Even in college, Bidunga is best playing alongside another big, something that Kelsey obviously considered when constructing his roster. After adding Bidunga, Louisville still brought in 6-foot-10 Alvaro Folgeuiras, 6-foot-10 five-star freshman Obinna Ekezie Jr., who can both shoot the three, and 7-foot-4 center Gabe Dynes. 

Last season at Kansas, the Jayhawks’ numbers were much better with two bigs, Bidunga and Bryson Tiller, on the floor together, posting a net rating of +18.1 and a defensive rating of 97.5 to +12.2 and 101.2 in Bidunga’s 722 minutes without the 6-foot-10 former McDonald’s All-American in the front court. 

Much of that discrepancy, no doubt, is more a reflection of Kansas’s glaring lack of front-court depth than it is a referendum on Bidunga’s limitations. Still, while opponents hardly shot the ball any better at the rim in Bidunga’s minutes as the lone big (53.4 percent), Kansas’s defensive rebound percentage fell to 69.4 percent from 70.6 percent, a 14 percentile difference. 

At Louisville, Bidunga, who had a fantastic season last year, will be even more insulated and even more free to defend the rim and use his length to be disruptive. Not that teams often pound the ball into the post, but Bidunga is best when another big man can handle those possessions. That way, he can defend ball-screens or lurk on the weak side, hunting blocks and steals. 

Who knows, in the right system in the NBA, with a true stretch five, he could excel in that same role. It just won’t be next season, and maybe not the year after either.

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