2024 Future Watch: Assessing Trentyn Flowers in a High School Basketball Game

August 25^th, 2023

Trentyn Flowers is a 6-8 forward that will play in Australia’s top league, the NBL, and he’s regarded by some as a first-round prospect for the 2024 draft. I decided that it was time to watch him play for Combine Academy in a March 18^th basketball game against Winston Salem Christian National, with thanks to YouTube via Elite Platform. Here are my thoughts on how he fared, as well as how his game may translate to the NBA.

Trentyn Flowers is a 6-8 forward that will playing in one of the toughest professional leagues from around the world, and he will play in Australia in the NBL for the 2023-24 season, and a strong season there would probably enable him to be a lottery pick for the 2024 draft.
(Photo: Jim Dedmon/USA Today Sports, via SB Nation’s Card Chronicle)

Trentyn Flowers is a fairly athletic, energetic swingman that was able to help his team get a win over Winston Salem Christian National in this game. He can score the basketball in a variety of ways, and he is an unselfish player that will make team plays to help his team on the court.

Flowers shot the ball well, especially from beyond the arc. He was able to make threes both off the catch and dribble, as he was able to make a spot-up three over a smaller defender, and he also utilized a pump fake to score on a wide-open, step-back corner three. He did miss on a long two off the dribble despite getting a defender to bite on a pump fake another time, but generally Flowers showed a fairly solid ability to knock down outside shots.

Also, Flowers is an energetic player that can score on hustle plays. He was able to finish one play to score around the basket once, but he also had his shot blocked on a put back another time. Plus, he also did a good job of scoring out of the post. Flowers showed a knack for being able to post up smaller players on the block. He has good shooting touch and would use strong moves to score, as he was able to do so on a drop step and on a jump hook another time. On the other hand, he struggled to consistently score off the dribble. On one good play, he was able to score on a quick, left-handed drive to the hoop. However, he didn’t always get a great burst to the rim, and he would sometimes miss on contested shots at the rim.

Plus, he also showcased decent playmaking skills in this game. Flowers is an unselfish player that will make the extra pass to find the open man, and he would throw accurate, drive and kick passes to get the ball to shooters. However, he would struggle to handle the ball on drives at times, which would lead him to commit traveling violations. He also didn’t really look to handle the ball very much, especially when pressured, so he might not project to be a primary ball handler at higher levels.

He also did a solid job of rebounding the basketball. Flowers would crash the glass to get boards, especially on the defensive end, and sometimes he would push the ball quickly up the floor. Defensively, he looked to be about average at best. Flowers is a long and active defender that will use his length and timing to close out on shooters to get stops. He was able to block a couple of shots off drives due to possessing good timing and leaping ability, and he was able to close out on a three-point shooter to force a miss another time. On the downside, he tended to struggle to defend opponents off the dribble. Sometimes, he would have trouble staying in front of quicker players, and other times he would get outmuscled when defending around the basket. He also would sometimes be late on his rotations, which would lead him to be out of position on occasion.

Overall, Flowers played fairly well in his team’s win in this game. He is a skilled, sharpshooting wing that can knock down shots from the outside, and he also showed that he excelled at making hustle plays to help his team on both ends of the floor. On the other hand, he’ll need to improve his ball-handling and on-ball defense, but Flowers is a talented prospect that could end up being a late first round pick in the 2024 draft, as he could project into a 3 and D role in the NBA.

Other Notes:

There were also other players who I thought played well in this game in addition to scouting Trentyn Flowers to assess his skills. Here are my thoughts on how the other top performers fared in this game.

Richmond’s 6-6 freshman swingman, Collin Tanner played extremely well for Combine Academy in his team’s win over Winston Salem Christian National. He is an athletic, skilled player that did a great job of shooting and scoring the basketball, and he also defended well.

He shot the ball very well, and Tanner thrived at making quick, open corner threes from the perimeter. He also excelled at scoring off the dribble and on fast breaks, and he showed good touch to knock down shots from the mid-range. He was a willing rebounder that would push the pace off defensive boards. He also did a great job of getting steals and blocks, as he would get his hands on balls to force turnovers, and he also rotated to block a shot hard off of a cut another time.

Overall, Collin Tanner turned in a strong showing to lead Combine Academy to a win in this game. He is an underrated prospect that could make an impact at Richmond for the upcoming season, and he could be a prospect to watch in the future.

Winston Salem Christian National’s 6-9 forward, Kany Tchanda also played very well in his team’s loss to Combine Academy. He is an athletic, high-motor big man that played well on both ends of the floor, and he did a great job of making shots to help his team on offense.

Tchanda showed a knack for scoring and drawing free throws when he would look to score off the dribble or out of the post. He has a solid spin move that he can use to get past his man, and he can also score using strong drop step moves and on right-handed hook shots. He also will score on hustle plays around the basket due to possessing a good motor. He also showed some range by making an open, spot-up three off the catch another time.

He also displayed decent playmaking skills in this game. Tchanda was able to pass out of the post to notch an assist. He also set a good, off-ball screen to help his teammate get an open jump shot. But he also was called for traveling when making a move when attempting to score out of the post once.

Also, Tchanda showed a fairly solid ability to rebound the basketball. He also defended well. He did a very good job of blocking shots, and he would swat them hard to help his team protect the paint. He also was able to run in to poke a ball away to get a steal. He also contested a shot in the paint to force a miss. On the downside, there was one play where he got beat off the dribble that led his team to allow a score.

Overall, Kany Tchanda played very well, and he is an athletic big man that showed off versatile scoring skills, and he also played very good defense in this game. He is an underrated prospect that could make an immediate impact in college basketball, and he could be an NBA draft prospect to watch sometime down the road.

Winston Salem Christian National’s 6-5 guard, Lewis Walker also played very well in his team’s loss to Combine Academy. He is a fairly athletic, energetic player that thrived at attacking the hoop to score the basketball. He was able to run in to score on a tip slam off of an offensive rebound, and he thrived as a finisher around the basket. Walker did a great job of barreling his way to the hoop to draw many free throws on aggressive drives to the rim. He showed a knack for scoring on hustle plays and off the dribble, and he was able to get to the free throw line often.

He also displayed adequate playmaking skills. Walker is an unselfish player that would make the extra pass to find the open man. On one play though, he was called for pushing off with his arm, which led to a turnover. Also, Walker showed some defensive skills. On one play, he ran in to tie up an opposing ball handler in the backcourt to get a steal.

Overall, Lewis Walker turned in a solid showing in this game. He excelled at scoring the basketball, and he showed that he can make hustle plays on both ends of the floor. He could look to add more range to his game to be a better jump shooter at higher levels, but his ability to score and defend could allow him to thrive at the collegiate level, and he could end up being an NBA draft prospect to watch in the future.

Middle Tennessee’s 6-8 freshman forward, Torey Alston played well for Winston Salem Christian National in his team’s loss to Combine Academy. He is an athletic, high-motor big man that thrived at making hustle plays on both ends of the floor, and he excelled as a finisher around the basket. He showed good balance and touch to score at the rim, and he also was able to swoop in to score on a tip slam. He also managed to score on a sweeping jump hook out of the post.

On the downside, he was a bit turnover prone. He telegraphed a pass that ended up getting tipped and intercepted. Another time, after getting a pass on the break, he ended up having the ball stolen away from him.

He also showed a fairly solid ability to rebound the basketball. He also played solid defense. He did a great job of blocking shots to help his team protect the paint, and he would consistently challenge shots in the paint to force misses.

Overall, Torey Alston had a solid showing in this game, and he thrived as an interior player against Combine Academy. He’ll need to add more range to his game and work on his jump shot, but he could be a player to watch in college basketball sometime down the road.

Combine Academy’s 6-5 guard, Rakease Passmore had a decent showing in his team’s win over Winston Salem Christian National. He was up-and-down as a shooter on offense, but he passed the ball well, and he is an athletic player that was able to make some really good defensive plays in this game.

Passmore was able to make a couple of long-range shots early on, as he was able to do so off the catch and dribble, and showed good footwork to do so. He also showed the ability to score off the dribble and in transition. However, he tended to miss his three-pointers as the game wore on, and he was too streaky with his outside shot.

He also showcased solid playmaking skills. Passmore threw solid interior passes as he showed that he can get the ball to the post and find teammates on the move, and he is an unselfish player that will make the extra pass to find the open man. However, sometimes he would over-dribble and get the ball knocked out of his hands, which would lead him to commit turnovers.

In this game, he was able to get his fair share of boards. Passmore also played solid defense. He was able to stay in front of an opposing ball handler on a drive to block the shot to a teammate due to possessing solid length, athleticism, and timing. He would also poke balls away to get steals and deflections, and was able to jump on a deflected pass to help his team get a steal another time. He also would consistently contest threes to get stops. Sometimes though, he would play too far off his man or struggle to stay in front of his opponent, and he would end up allowing his man to get space to score. Another time, he tried to gamble for a steal but missed, which led him to be out of position defensively.

Overall, Passmore is an athletic guard that has a variety of skills that could help him at the collegiate level. He’ll need to be a more consistent shooter in games, but his long-range shooting potential combined with his playmaking and defensive skills could enable him to be an effective role player in the NBA someday.

Georgia’s 6-4 guard, Silas Demary Jr. quietly played well for Combine Academy to help his team get the win. He’s an agile, table-setting point guard that passed the ball well, and he particularly showed a knack for throwing sharp, accurate passes on the break and on the move to set up a wealth of scores for his teammates. While he didn’t shoot the ball very often, he showed that he can knock down outside shots, and he also has enough foot speed to put it on the deck to score off the dribble. A couple of times though, he would get careless when handling the basketball, which led to a couple of turnovers.

Demary also rebounded the ball well, and he was able to get boards on both ends of the floor. He also defended well, and he would jump on passes to get steals for his team. Overall, Demary is a playmaking point guard that has solid playmaking skills. He’ll need to show NBA teams that he can do other things at a plus-level at higher levels, but his ability to run the point combined with having above average athletic gifts could enable him to make his way to the NBA someday, especially if he can be a consistently solid shooter at higher levels.

All in all, those are my thoughts on how Flowers and other top performers played in this game. Thanks for reading.