UNC Basketball: Armando Bacot looks to take his game to the next level

Sophomore big man Armando Bacot hasn’t been very secretive about his NBA aspirations. However, the duality of the situation is that he also hasn’t been secretive about wanting to return to Carolina for his junior season. While his name is entered into the NBA Draft process, Hubert Davis fully expects one of his best players on the Carolina roster to return, and there’s no reason to doubt that fact considering both Bacot’s tweets and his draft stock.

Make no mistake, though: there is still one massive unknown that exists when it comes to Armando Bacot. Under Roy Williams, Bacot only attempted one three-pointer in his first two years with the Tar Heels. We can debate whether or not Williams handcuffed his bigs to prevent them from shooting from deep, but really the point here is that Bacot lived and died inside the arc. This is why the video that was retweeted today is an interesting one.

Former teammate Garrison Brooks retweeted a tweet from Matt Irving that showed Armando Bacot knocking down numerous three-pointers in a row. Check it out:

Bacot working on his jumper shouldn’t be a huge surprise to anybody. In the modern NBA, it’s no secret that your draft stock as a big shines brighter when you are able to knock down shots from 15 feet and beyond. Anthony Davis, Nikola Jokic, Nikola Vucevic, and to perhaps a lesser degree, Giannis Antentokounmpo are all notable bigs that are able to knock down shots consistently enough to stretch the floor. It also shouldn’t be a surprise to see Bacot working on his jumper considering the fact that Hubert Davis is not only leaning heavily into a more shooter-heavy scheme, but has brought in Brady Manek from Oklahoma in hopes of doing just that.

It’s great to see Armando Bacot working on evolving his game, though it’s also worth noting that things can and probably will look completely different during an actual college basketball game. Still, as someone who can probably shoot at a 20% clip on my best day, the results of his hard work so far are impressive. It’ll be extremely interesting to see what Bacot’s game looks like this fall, along with the rest of the Carolina roster. What do you think of this video, and what do you you think Armando Bacot’s NBA Draft stock will look like when he is officially ready to take the next step? Let us know in the comments below.