Yannick Kraag | Scouting Report
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Height: 6'8'’
Born: 16.10.2002
Nationality: Netherlands
Position: Forward
Team: Joventut Junior
Dominant hand: Right
Running vertically: 38 inches
Parents: Not tall, between 5'10'’-6'1'’
Here is a quote from his teammates on Netherland: “Yannick is a cheerful person despite he’s very cold-blood on the court. He’s one of the best players in the team, but he knows he’s not the leader. He’s not selfish, he’s sharing the ball. He always talks to us. His English is good, his biggest dream is to play in the NBA. Disciplined and hard-working guy. When he was at the camp in 2018, he was not that disciplined, sometimes he joined training late, but in 2019 he was the hardest-working name of the team. I am proud of his progress.”
Physical
Standing 6-foot-7, with a skinny 179-pound frame and a 7-foot wingspan, right-handed Yannick Kraag has good length for his age but lack of strength is a problem. Here is my reason: Kraag is an athlete who can highlight dunks and plays with fluidity. I mean, in first look, his athleticism package good in terms of explosiveness, vertical pop and hip turn but lacks of strength create these problems: He doesn’t finish in traffic, last touch is problematic, pop in mechanics and all of defensive package. I will explain these problems next titles. His shoulders wide, core muscles looks, also, arms are long but not strong. In the lower body, I can say that he is a quick forward thanks to his feet-hip coordination and reaction. He has to be stronger. Needs a lot of room.
Offense
An instinctual scorer who is aggressive looking to find ways to make things happen, Yannick Kraag’s offensive game is predicated on his ability to use his quickness with the ball to use wings channel, play as a cutter and force opponents to leave a cushion that gives him extra attack zone to get his shot off around the perimeter. At the 2019 FIBA U18 European Championship and 2018 FIBA U16 European Championship, his main scoring weapon was off-ball motions. In two tournaments, he scored 48 points while playing as an off-ball player with 75%FG. In doing so, Kraag made excellent use of channels from wings in general. He created a weakness on the team defenses of his opponent with his burst and go-stop-go-stop techniques. Dutchman used the big’s screens well in off-ball. When picked up the ball, Kraag finished positions, sometimes with after one-two dribble in the three to four seconds, sometimes with a quick dunk or fluid athleticism. Running on the transitions well, Yannick Kraag can dribble open court and finishes positions with quickly. Also, good dribbler on half-court as a secondary option. However, I think his handling&passing package and general on-ball offense are bad. He isn’t a bad handler or passer, however, except he did drive&dish nine times, his passing and handling are no shifty/creativity. Read and reacts passer. He can’t play as a handler or roller in pick-and-roll games. He needs weapons on his arsenal. Last notes. Shooting and my concern about his athlectisim tools. Yannick Kraag is a cold-blooded player. He can shot against pressure. He has that mentality. Reads game and uses or not uses his shot. I think Kraag has a high extension and release making it difficult for most players to contest or block his shot but his mechanics look inconsistent. Sometimes solid, sometimes smooth, I think his lack of strength hurt his shooting, also, his volume is not high in 3-pointers. He can create his shooting around the perimeter and baseline but as a three-pointer, no. He just hit these shoots as a CnS player. As I mentioned, he has BSIQ but has to choose his role as a shooter. As I said again, he is an explosive and smooth athlete but lacks of strength and elite handling package hurts his on-ball athleticism. I mean, he is not a prospect who can finish in traffic or create his floaters. It’s a big concern for me.
Defense
The lack of elite athleticism and strength might hurt his defensive stock. Dutchman forward needs to work on his overall defensive performance but, yes, there are some good things. Showing great reaction on the ball defensively, Yannick does a pretty nice job putting pressure on shooters. I think he isn’t a pesky defender in general but when I look his closeouts runs and eye-hand coordination, yeah, he is a decent pesky defender. YK knows how to give bad angles to his opponent’s thanks to his BBIQ, lateral movement and body control. Showing a good stance, he is an aggressive defender and you can see his aggressiveness last summer. However, that’s it. I think he is bad at all of the other defense things. He has a great vertical pop but doesn’t use this to protect the rim consistently. He reads screens well but not runs well around the screens. Not switchable, not running through passing lanes well, just steal the ball on-ball defense thanks to his quick hands and stance. I think he needs a TON of work on his defense.
Summary
I think Yannick Kraag is not ready for the NBA right now. Should stay in Europe or review NCAA-G League options because his talents are raw. Kraag can do good on offense, he is smart but his arsenal needs weapons. Good athlete, but lack of strength is a problem. Needs to fully work on defense. I think he has the potential to be a good NBA player because he’s disciplined and likes to work, his talent ceiling is good but he needs time to do so.