Overview:  

Arthur Kaluma is a playmaking versatile wing who is also an advanced passer and play maker.  With more experience his shooting and decision making will certainly improve. He is also a strong finisher in transition but needs to improve his shooting across the board.  International experience and an increased role at Creighton should show marked improvement in the coming 2022-23 season.  Kaluma played well for Uganda during the 2022 AfroBasket tournament where Uganda advanced to the quarter finals.  2022-23 will be Kaluma’s sophomore season for the Creighton Blue Jays.  

NBA skill:  Play making and defensive versatility.

Note:  Prospects compared to statistical averages of drafted NBA players (2017-2022), by position, from their last college season.

Guards = Below 6’5″

Wings = 6’6″ to 6’9″

Posts = Above 6’10”

Blue      Comparable to average drafted NBA players by position.

Green  Exceeds the average drafted NBA players by position.

Red      Below the average of drafted NBA players by position.

Darker color signifies a greater statistical variance.

Offense:

Arthur Kaluma is a big versatile wing who has shown some shot making glimpses. 

Kaluma splits 44/26/67 splits signals he can score efficiently from the field – 44% FG%. It’s the 3 point shooting and free throws that is letting him down.  67% free throw shooting is not a good sign either.  This pattern emerges in players who were often bigger and stronger in their early development and never focused on shooting because they didn’t need to.  This is further  evidenced by Kaluma’s Jumpers (.6 points per play Below Average) and his Finishes at the Rim and Post Ups (Both are 1.1 PPP, Very Good).  

Kaluma’s shooting will eventually need to be reworked.  He is often off balance, and goes back and forth between split foot landings and shots with lots of leg swing. As a result, at least for now, he will need to correct these basics before he can raise his shooting percentages. The silver lining is that Kaluma is confident shooting the ball. “Shooters shoot” and “Open shots must be taken.”  It’s a testament to Kaluma’s IQ that he puts himself in position to make the right basketball play even if that means running to the spot that shoots a shot that he needs improving in.  Respect the IQ.  With hard work, Kaluma’s shooting accuracy will catch up to his confidence.

Wanna sees:

Improve free throw shooting

Improve three point shooting

Add cutting and off ball movement 

Assists and Decision Making

Kaluma is an exceptional passer.  Don’t be fooled by the 1.3 assists per game.  He shows great touch with over-top post entry passes, interior passes along with drive and kicks.  He doesn’t play around with the ball.  Most of the time he plays .5 basketball.  Good teams usually don’t give a lot of passing responsibility to turnover prone freshmen but Kaluma shows signs of being an elite passer.  His assists numbers will rise with his increased role on the team during his sophomore year.  

Kaluma’s 2.5 turnover per game is a concern, but as the season progresses those should decrease a bit with more experience.  Playing 28 minutes again Kaluma’s fouls are a bit high. He will need to be smarter with his foul management next season.

Wanna sees

Continued high level playmaking

Grab and go transitions as the ball handler

Rebounding and defense.  

Kaluma started 30 of 31 games but logged the 5th most minutes averaging 26.8 minutes per game.  Given those minutes we see in his rebounds rates  TRB% (11.0%), DRB% (15.8%), ORB% (5.2) are all in line with NBA drafted wings.  Rebounding percentage is the percentage estimate of rebounds a player gets relative to all available rebounds when that player is on the court.  Kaluma’s high rebound rate reveals that he could be an exceptional rebounder, despite his relatively lower per game averages.  

Kaluma has relatively low steals and blocks.  Like most players, lower defense numbers could be attributed to the role the college coaches wants him to play.  Kaluma’s defensive positioning and overall basketball IQ suggests he would have a higher defensive ceiling that has yet to be explored. 

Wanna Sees:

Increase in rebounding production

Increase in steall and blocks

Better off ball defensive positioning and rotation

Tier of 2023 draft prediction: Mid first round