Michigan kick-started a roster overhaul when former Alabama guard Nimari Burnett announced his transfer to Michigan two weeks ago. 

It's been a long road to Ann Arbor for Burnett, spending his freshman campaign at Texas Tech prior to landing at Alabama via the portal at season's end. A torn ACL cost Nimari his sophomore season with the Crimson Tide and he was once again limited this year with wrist surgery that forced him to miss a month of action after starting the first nine games of the season.It's fair to say this addition isn't quite the splash it would've been in 2020 when Burnett was a 5-star HS prospect, but it is a move that projects to give the Wolverines some much needed perimeter defense.

SCOUTING

Nimari's role at Alabama was very much that of a catch + shoot floorspacer. Of Burnett's 125 FG attempts last season, 84 were from beyond the arc, with only 8 of the aforementioned being of the pull-up variety. 

While a 32% mark from distance doesn't do much to move the needle independently, there were some nice flashes of movement shooting across multiple games to suggest some upside there.

While I think Nimari is a better shooter than the percentages indicate, the ability to finish at the rim is also intriguing. Burnett is very lengthy for a guard, with a reported wingspan of 6'9.5 and some explosiveness when going off two feet. It doesn't appear the ACL injury compromised the verticality based on film review as seen below, as he can finish over bigs with authority. 

There's enough flashes in tandem with the HS pedigree to suggest he's a good release valve against a compromised defense, particularly in a B10 conference that is limited from an athletic perspective. 

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest]

Let's be clear, Nimari isn't going to be a primary on-ball option with a Michigan squad featuring Caleb Love and Dug McDaniel. But that doesn't mean he can't recapture some of his playmaking chops that we saw in HS, and occasionally at Alabama. 

As a more ancillary option, Burnett won't be tasked with running ballscreens in volume. Against a compromised defense though, his vision and passing ability can have a lot of utility once he draws a secondary defender as we see in the clips above. 

Much of the offensive projection comes down to betting on an increased role being the driving factor that allows the aforementioned flashes and HS pedigree to become a consistently productive upperclassmen. But Burnett seems like more of a sure thing on the other side of the court. 

Nimari has incredible length at the guard position, a developed frame and above-average agility. From a physical perspective, he checks all the boxes generally associated with an impact POA (point of attack) defender at the college level.

Burnett certainly didn't blow anyone away with his offensive production at Alabama, that he was able to carve out 15 minutes per game for the #3 defense in the country per Kenpom is a testament to his defensive prowess. Coach Nate Oats had four guards getting real rotational minutes exclusive of Nimari, so depth was not an issue in the backcourt. Burnett forced his way on to the court because of his defense, period. 

PROJECTION

Things are fairly simple on the offensive end considering the surrounding backcourt personnel. Nimari's primary role is to be a play-finisher as opposed to a shot creator. Most of Burnett's shots in the half-court are going to come via catch + shoot triples, attacking closeouts and off-cuts/screens. He's not going to be a volume on-ball type in Ann Arbor, but will likely see limited reps in bench units or when matchups are favorable. 

Depending on how the roster fills out with the potential for more attrition/portal additions, Nimari seems like a safe bet to be third-fourth option. A fully optimized version of Burnett probably looks something like 9-12ppg on 35% from distance. Don't think he gets more than 7-8 FGAs per game in the box score, but he does draw fouls at a solid clip (32.8 FT rate last season), so double digit scoring isn't unreasonable. 

Defense is where Nimari can make a real difference. He's going to be one of the better athletes at the guard position in the B10 and should be able to give the Wolverines a much-needed perimeter stopper to a certain extent. He's probably slated to defend the opposition's best scoring guard on a nightly basis next season. And while Burnett is a bit undersized to defend wings from a sheer size perspective, the length in tandem with his agility and strength will likely him a viable option against that positional group at the college level. Michigan was #351 in defensive TO rate last season, and Nimari should provide some immediate help in that area, particularly with Tarris Reed the last line of defense on the backend.