Boogie Fland: Cal's Next Star?

John Calipari is widely known for attracting and developing the top guards in the country. Will Fland follow in the footsteps of greats like Devin Booker and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?

Johnuel "Boogie" Fland is a peculiar case. On the one hand, we know Cal’s track record with guards. Derrick Rose, John Wall, De’Aaron Fox, the list goes on. If you draft a guard from him, you expect a winner, a great player who can lead your team. But, I have my trepidations about Fland, and with his thumb injury, his draft stock to me is getting more and more volatile every day. Here’s my comprehensive report on what works and what doesn’t work with his game.

Fland celebrates a dunk in an exhibition game against the Kansas Jayhawks (Caleb Grieger/NWA Democrat-Gazette).

Basic Stats (2024-2025): 34.1 MPG, 15.1 PPG, 5.7 APG, 3.4 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 0.1 BPG, 1.6 T/O, 39.1% FG%

PROS

• Extremely tight handle combined with solid speed and a nice first step

  • Changes direction very nicely using his quickness and keeps his pace through the change using his great handle. Displays incredibly fluid hips that allow him to create angles.

  • Attacks angles very nicely, which allows him to get great driving lanes to the rim

    • Cal used him in a couple of high isolation plays this season (almost at the logo), and he displays that first step nicely.

• Solid playmaker with vision and a low TOV% at a high usage (1.4 TOV/Game at a 23.3% Usage PCT)

  • Makes solid reads, plays with patience, and being collected when the defense throws looks at him.

  • Makes some nice feeds mid-drive and hits the perimeter nicely in drive and kick

  • Passes with high velocity and displays high-level of quickness with his hands

• Great shot-creator with volume off the dribble (97th %tile Time Rank with a 39th %tile PPS Rank)

  • Utilizes his dribble well to generate space, giving him high-percentage looks. Can get to his spots effectively as well.

• Great defensively (87th %Tile for all defensive possessions)

  • High level lateral speed allows him to be great in isolation, and he can keep up with any assignment

  • Plays passing lanes well, forcing turnovers (1.5 SPG at a 2.5% STL PCT)

• Solid defensive rebounder (2.8/Game)

  • Grabs long rebounds and can instantly start transition through outlet passing or speed alone

• Very effective in the PNR (74th %tile PPP Rank for PNR Including Passes)

  • Hits the big or the perimeter players nicely, and knows how to manipulate defenses.

• Remarkable yet unexpectedly great spot-up/catch-and-shoot shooter (97th %tile!)

  • Collects himself nicely and settles his feet, bends his knees, and releases quickly.

CONS

• Is prone to over-dribbling, which makes his shot selection worse

  • Passes up good looks off the dribble for worse ones.

• Off-the-dribble shooting needs some work for sure

  • By far his most common shot type and it is a cause for concern. Shots typically look rushed, and he typically will try to play hero ball and over-dribble himself into a worse look instead of taking the one the defense gave earlier.

  • Misses don’t have a consistent place that they hit every time; there is a very high variance in terms of where the shots land at the rim

    • Considering how much of his game is predicated off that off-the-dribble shooting, it is definitely a cause for concern.

• At the rim finishing is not where it needs to be, considering a guard of his quickness (3rd percentile for PPS Rank At The Rim)

  • Creativity and talent below the rim is there, but he is yet to find any sort of success. The next bullet point should explain why.

• Will need to add strength to make his game more effective

  • I think a lot of the issues that he faces that the college level are a result of a lack of strength or weight. He isn’t a good finisher because he can’t go up and absorb contact, and he isn’t a good shooter off the dribble because he can’t absorb contact and maintain balance, which compromises his ability to create space and get an effective shot off under pressure.

• Impacting winning: After Fland went down with a thumb injury, Arkansas took their play to the next level, raising questions on how Fland’s play suppressed the strengths of his team.

  Final Take: Solid handle, quickness, and playmaking with flashes of defensive brilliance are undermined by a lack of strength, inconsistent off-the-dribble shooting, and limited finishing ability under contact.

  Draft Projection: Late 1st to Mid 2nd Round.

  Player Comp: Tre Mann; impressive ball-handling, quickness, and shot creation, but struggles with physicality.