[The following scouting report is part of a series on potential 2025 draft prospects from Sports Business Classroom alumni.]

Kanaan Carlyle
Frame: 6’3”,  182 lbs
Position: Guard
School: Indiana Hoosiers
2025 Draft Age: 20
Stats via kenpom.com, sports-reference.com, and geniussports.com

Offense

The attraction to Carlyle has been there for years, as he entered the collegiate landscape as a top-50 high school recruit. He joined Overtime Elite as a senior, averaging 9.0 points, 3.7 assists, and 3.2 rebounds per game to earn the fifth-ranked combo guard honors for the 2022-23 class.

Carlyle had a strong freshman campaign in 2023-2024 at Stanford, followed by a disappointing season this past year at Indiana. He saw his usage, efficiency, and overall metrics regress across the board. Still, the shades of excellence Carylyle put out in his first season at Stanford and his elite speed/quick first-step give him the promise of developing into a potential NBA player. It may not be this season, as he seems destined to return to school at a new location via the transfer portal, but he poses as a very intriguing prospect nonetheless. 

For starters, his passing has made him a capable playmaker for others. As a freshman, when he carried more of the offensive load, he generated 2.7 assists (strong 16 percent assist rate), but committed 2.9 turnovers (sloppy 15 percent turnover rate) per game. This left him as one of the most volatile shot-creating freshmen in the country. At IU this past season, he wasn’t used nearly as often to create for others, but he was very effective when called upon. His assist rate dropped to 12 percent (still an above-average passer) while his turnover rate dropped to just six percent (extremely ball secure). If he could pair his high-level passing from his freshman season with his strong ball security displayed this year, he would make for a very strong low-risk/high-reward facilitator.

As a scorer, Carlyle poses almost entirely as a jump shooter, with about 10 percent of his shot attempts coming at the rim. Away from the rim, he has split his attempts almost evenly between the three-point line and midrange jumpers off the bounce (not a very analytically sound shot diet). While he showed potential as a jump shooter during his year at Stanford, this is what held him back this past season at Indiana, where he really struggled to connect. 

As a freshman, Carlyle shot 32 percent from deep on 4.3 attempts per game–a fairly average rate and promising for his future. However, as a Hoosier, he shot just 24 percent from deep on 2.8 attempts per game, ranking in the bottom-10 percentile nationally as a three-point shooter. Similarly, as a freshman, he converted at a 43 percent clip on a high volume of pull-up middies. However, this rate regressed to a highly inefficient 23 percent clip this past season at Indiana, once again, ranking in the bottom-10 percentile nationally as a midrange shooter on high volume during his minutes. One last big difference between his two years in college was his free-throw production. At Stanford, Carlyle got to the line at a very high rate and shot 78 percent to boost his scoring and overall efficiency. However, this production was non-existent during his sophomore season, as he found almost no offense for the Hoosiers at the rim or free throw line. 

Lastly, the overall team impact made during Carlyle’s minutes this past season at Indiana is worth noting. The Hoosiers’ offense was a top-75 unit playing against strong competition; however, they were far worse with Carlyle on the floor on the offensive end. Undoubtedly, Carlyle’s inability to affect the game as a scorer from any level brought down IU’s overall efficiency as a team during his playing time.

 

Defense

Yet again, Carlyle’s speed and athleticism pose as encouraging attributes on this end of the floor. With that being said, he hasn’t been a statistically impressive defender during his time at Stanford or Indiana. 

Despite his quickness, he’s forced a very low steal rate for a guard in back-to-back years. This may partially come from the defensive systems he was in (neither emphasized ball pressure much), but he hasn’t proven an ability to be disruptive on the ball. On the other hand, he has posed as a decent shot blocking guard–certainly not a rim protector by any means, but affected some shots by opposing guards. That said, he was a bit foul-prone this past season. All in all, he appears to have some work to do on this end to become a lockdown defender, but the tools are there.

Looking Ahead

A selection in the 2025 NBA Draft is a stretch for Carlyle. With that said, he has had and will have eyes on him moving forward, and has shown glimpses of what could be at the next level. He has fantastic quickness and is a proven creator for others, but work still needs to be done on the jump shot and defensive end. If he can put it all together, he gives shades of a Tre Mann or Malik Monk at the next level.