Point guard extraordinaire out of Michigan, Trey Burke has his work cut out for him for a Utah Jazz team that’s desperate for a quality floor general.

Taken with the No. 9 pick in the draft, Burke is believed to be the most NBA-ready point guard in this year’s lottery. The expectations on Burke are high, but he has proven to have leadership qualities in this past year’s NCAA Final Four.

In his second Summer League game in Orlando, Burke delivered 11 points on a mere 5-for-15 shooting performance, including 1-for-6 from long-range. He also tallied up five fouls and four turnovers, making this a game to forget for the young man.

Contrary to what his stat-line shows, there were quite a few positives to see from his performance against the Houston Rockets. 

Firstly, Burke is a great shooter from all areas on the floor. A significant number of his shot attempts were great looks. Unfortunately for him and his team, he missed many of the same looks he was drilling last season for the Wolverines. His arsenal includes a variety of different shots that he makes on a consistent basis: floaters, step-back jumpers and set jump-shots. He is also quite adept at creating for himself - 2-for-2 in those situations against the Rockets - and shooting off the dribble. In terms of his off-ball play, he moves very well and is very active. We can also add that he makes the right decisions on fast breaks, leading into a number of transition baskets for his team. Finally, he shows great expertise at splitting screens and finishing near the rim or dishing the ball to the open man.

He definitely has the ability to score, but he is also an excellent distributor, excelling at finding the open man. Unfortunately against Houston, his teammates were unable to capitalize on many wide open looks.

During the game, the Jazz ran this same particular play over and over again to try and get Burke some open looks in order for him to find his rhythm: Burke pass to the wing, followed by him running under the rim to set a screen on the baseline, and he would finally curl on a screen by Jeremy Evans or Rudy Gobert to the weak side for an open shot. If his defender was able to fight through the screen quickly enough, Burke generally had enough space to work and create a shot for himself. He got good looks, but couldn’t capitalize and went 0-2 on this set play, as well as racked up two of his four total turnovers while running it.

He did not play against the Brooklyn Nets, his coach having chosen to give him a rest and keep him close to one of the scouts to really give him a chance to observe the offense they run. It is probably safe to say he will play against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday morning, but two games in, he is still looking to get in a rhythm offensively. Many of his shot attempts should begin falling according to history.

Defensively, like most NBA newcomers, he must bulk up and add strength to his build. He is very quick and moves his feet well when defending his man. He also has great defensive awareness, rarely losing sight of his man or sagging off too much. However, his size is his enemy at 6’1. Becoming a future All-Star isn’t impossible, but is definitely more an obstacle for someone of his size. He also gets caught in screens often, leading to his man getting open looks.

He is a promising young point guard with great potential. What history teaches us is that those who find the most success in the NBA have the best work ethics. Don’t let it come to a surprise to you if Burke goes far, because he works extremely hard.