NBA Draft Scouting Report: Arizona’s Ivan Kharchenkov

Even one season after making the Final Four and seeing multiple players drafted in the NBA Draft’s first round, Arizona is likely to remain a college basketball titan.

Sophomore Ivan Kharchenkov will be a major reason why, fitting in snugly between talented guards and bigs.

Here is the quick scouting report for Kharchenkov ahead of next season:

Position: Wing

College: Arizona

Class: Sophomore

Height: 6-foot-7

Weight: 230

Draft age: 20.7

Strengths:

Size and Athleticism

At 6-foot-7 with a sturdy build, Kharchenkov is well-sized for both the college and professional levels of basketball. In addition to having a good blend of strength and speed, he also has the requisite athleticism to play on the wing in the NBA.

Positional Malleability

Kharchenkov is likely slated to play an off-wing role more often than not, but should have the ability to moonlight at a few different positions one through three. He won’t ever be a primarily on-ball player, but can play-make and stuff the stat sheet in a variety of ways.

Defensive Impact

Kharchenkov was an impact defender in his freshman season at Arizona, going for 1.4 steals per game while playing pesky point-of-attack defense in tandem with the rest of the roster. He and five-star Caleb Holt should be a fearsome perimeter duo this season.

Connective Passing

For an off-ball wing, Kharchenkov has great passing instincts, even showing those off in his freshman season without a massive amount of usage. He averaged 2.3 assists to just 1.5 turnovers, and will likely look to improve on both numbers next season.

Areas of Improvement:

Shooting

For Kharchenkov to be a viable play at the NBA level on the wing, he’ll simply need to take and make more 3-pointers. As a freshman, he shot 2.7 per game at a 32% clip. He’ll need to improve both his volume and efficiency in Year 2.

Consistent Scoring Punch

Kharchenkov averaged over 10 points per game in his freshman season, but still needs to find a replicable scoring niche to carve out for both Arizona and his future NBA teams. Last season he primarily did so spotting up and getting out in transition, but could stand to boost his numbers slightly in both areas.

Outlook:

Kharchenkov isn’t the flashiest player in the 2027 class, but could be set to offer NBA teams an impactful role player with good size, positional malleability, workable defense and some feel for the game.

He isn’t likely to hear his name called in the lottery without a big boost in Year 2 at Arizona, though it’s not totally out of the question given the roster’s talent-level.

Projected Range: Mid-First to Early-Second

NBA Role: Impact Wing

Swing Skills: Shooting

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