It's 2003, and President George W. Bush has just walked into his office for a briefing with his intelligence team.
Somber looks adorn the officers' faces as they prepare to relay yet more heartbreaking news in what has already been years and years of heartbreak.
With bated breath, President Bush looks across the table at his team, preparing himself for the information.
"So..." he begins, pauses, then continues. "...Who have we lost?"
The intelligence team gathers itself before responding.
"We lost a British Intelligence officer," the leader of the team said, "and two Brazilian soldiers."
George W. Bush, used to horrible news, was still taken aback, mouth agape with horror.
"My god..." he said. "...How many is two Brazilian?"
Trevon Brazile is an athletic forward playing for the surprisingly down Arkansas Razorbacks of the SEC, who have struggled mightily this year. Though injured recently with "right knee soreness" suffered in a 25-point loss to Ole Miss on Jan. 24, Brazile has still been one of Arkansas' better players this season.
This isn't necessarily saying much considering how bad the 'Backs have been in 2023-24. With the standards by which Arkansas athletics views its basketball program, a guy going to the NBA off of a losing team probably doesn't mean all that much.
In Fayetteville, there have been suspensions, rumors of coaches and players leaving, and internal turmoil that has ruined any on-court chemistry that may have ever existed with this team. It has been a failure of a season thus far, as they sit at just 2-7 in conference and 11-11 overall.
But enough dissecting Arkansas.
This piece is on a versatile four, whose size and skillset look the part of a typical NBA forward. So how does his skillset stack up?
Pluses
Brazile stands at 6-foot-10, which is always a positive, regardless of position. Factor in that he's not really a post player and more of a perimeter actor and his size advantage becomes that much more helpful when being guarded by wings or smaller forwards. He creates mismatches all over the court with his size and skillset,
The shooting is another thing to really like. His higher release point combined with his height makes his shot very difficult to contest, and he is an elite off-the-catch shooter when unguarded, considered 90th percentile by Synergy Sports in this category at a very impressive 1.50 points per shot.
Though he will likely be unable to really create off the bounce consistently early on in the NBA, he is working on this skill, which will go hand-in-hand with his shooting ability. An improved handle will allow him to more effectively attack closeouts and get to the rack from the perimeter with less traffic in front.
Outside of offensive aptitude at his size, the most impressive thing about Brazile might be his pure straight-up athleticism. Watch some of these clips below to get a real feel for what the man can do not only with dunks and blocks, but in the open floor in transition as well.
Concerns
Before this section, it's important to note that Brazile was asked to perform a different set of on-court tasks from last year to this. He played less as a combo forward and more as a wing, even taking on guard duties at some points. This no doubt affected his production, so it's important to take that into account.
But this was far from his only problem.
The primary concern for Brazile is lacking motor, effort, and defensive presence. These are all three issues that could share some DNA, and may have the same root problem.
Rebounding is all about desire – Brazile has been a decent, not great, rebounder this year for the Razorbacks, but as conference play started, his numbers began to drop off in multiple categories.
He hasn't scored in double digits since their loss to Auburn on Jan. 6, and in his five conference games since, has scored an average of 6.0 points per game. For a guy whose entire draft stock relies on his ability to score, this is a pretty concerning development.
In 25 minutes played against South Carolina, he managed just three points on two field goal attempts.
While probably a combination of tougher competition, bad offensive sets, and frustration leading to poor effort occasionally, Brazile has had issues scoring since conference play tipped off.
The last thing to point out is his problem in the post playing defense. As a writer that covers Arkansas pointed out, Brazile has had a lot of issues in post-iso situations, where he's tasked to guard a big one-on-one.
He gets bullied down low due to a slighter frame, and despite being 6-foot-10, averages just 0.8 blocks per game. This will be an issue at the next level if he's used in the power forward slot.
Draft Position
Sitting at 34 on the Draft Digest Big Board, Brazile has slipped since the preseason, where many had him around 8-to-10 spots higher. His changing role with the Razorbacks (less pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop) absolutely affected his production.
34 is pretty much right for Brazile as a forward with some upside but with some pretty glaring flaws as well. It will be interesting to see where he ends up and how he's used at the next level.
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