INDIANAPOLIS — It bothers Trey Kaufman-Renn a little that he had to take every single step to get to the biggest stages in the NBA pre-draft process.
The former Silver Creek High School star was a first-team All-Big Ten pick as a junior and was part of the winningest class in Purdue basketball history, starting on three straight teams that made it to at least the Sweet 16 including the 2023-24 team that played in the NCAA championship game and this year’s that made it to the Elite Eight. He finished in the top 20 in Purdue history in both points and rebounds.
So Kaufman-Renn would have hoped to not have to appear at both the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament and the G League Combine before finally earning an invite to the NBA Draft Combine in May. That being said, he did earn one with strong performances in both events to earn a combine invite, which has led to further draft attention and now eight workouts with NBA teams.
“In one sense it’s really cool because you had to fight your way in the spots that you wanted to be in,” Kaufman-Renn said Monday after his workout with the Pacers. “In another sense, the competitor in me says that I’m as good if not better than everybody who was in the spots ahead of me. So I guess it was bittersweet. There were some good things and some things that was frustrated about. But it was really good to experience all of those events, and they were well-organized.”
Kaufman-Renn has had to take those spots because he has so far displayed a center’s game in a power forward’s body. He was listed at 6 foot 9, 240 pounds at Purdue, but at the combine in Chicago in May he measured 6-7 3/4 without shoes and 241 pounds. His 6-10 1/2 wingspan allows him to play a little bigger and so does his physical nature, but it puts him at a disadvantage in a league where most of the best centers are 6-11 or taller and the big man considered the future of the league — Victor Wembanyama — is listed at 7-4.
So Kaufman-Renn sees it as necessary to both accentuate his positives and try to show that he’s working on eliminating his negatives in the draft process. He was an excellent paint scorer, passer and rebounder at Purdue, averaging 14.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game as a senior while shooting 57.8% from the floor. He also averaged 20.1 points per game as a junior on 59.5% shooting on higher shot volume. So he’s trying to show he still he can play with good footwork, force and touch.
However, he’s also trying to show he has more of a perimeter game on both ends than he ever showed at Purdue.
“I think I’m a better defender than a lot of teams think,” Kaufman-Renn said. “And I think I shoot it a lot better. When I get in front of NBA teams I can show that.”
He made just 18 of 64 career 3-pointers at Purdue while making 665 of 1125 2-point shots. As a senior, he knocked down just 2 of 13 3-point attempts, so he’s focusing on proving that he’s a better shooter than the numbers say. He made over 60% of his field goals at the Portsmouth Invitational including 2 of 7 3-pointers and he made 15 of 25 3-pointers in the 3-point star drill at the G League Combine.
“If you look at the PIT, playing there, and then playing two games in the G League showcase there and then, I was shooting well at the G League combine,” Kaufman-Renn said. “Then going to all these workouts and being able to shoot there, (has helped).”
And defensively he’s tried to put himself in more stressful situations on the perimeter. At Purdue throughout his career, he stuck to guarding bigger, more physical players around the rim. In the NBA he knows he’d have to be able to switch assignments and defend on the perimeter, so he’s trying to prove he could do that.
“A lot of times in college in our system, we didn’t switch a lot,” Kaufman-Renn said. “When I come into these workouts, I have to guard guards and switch and it’s really important. … It’s nothing special. It’s literally just that if I’m doing a workout, guarding a guard. When you’re in the season you’re focused on your team’s defensive coverage. I just didn’t get reps guarding guards. I’ve been able to do that during the offseason.”
Purdue point guard Braden Smith, who also worked out for the Pacers on Monday, said he’s seen enough of Kaufman-Renn’s work ethic to know he can make the adjustment. He might be able to operate as a small-ball center even if he doesn’t but it would help him a lot if he could prove that he can play either frontcourt position.
“He’s a super hard worker,” Smith said. “… I hope some team gives him a chance because he’s a winner, he plays the right way, he’s smart and he knows how to just play basketball.”
Dustin Dopirak covers the Pacers all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Pacers Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Trey Kaufman-Renn impressing during NBA Draft process by showing more than he did at Purdue
Reporting by Dustin Dopirak, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dustin Dopirak, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
