There has been a lot of questioning why Carter Bryant played 19.3 minutes per game in his sole season with Arizona and why he was not a starter. Bryant being selected 14th in the 2025 NBA Draft does not mean he should have played more minutes for Arizona or been a starter.
Bryant averaged 6.5 points per game, 4.1 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 0.9 blocks and 1.0 steal per game, while shooting 46.0 percent from the field, 37.1 percent on three-point attempts and 69.5 percent from the free throw line with a 57.1 eFG percentage.
Bryant was eighth on Arizona in games started, seventh in minutes played, ninth in points per game and sixth in rebounding. Guard Anthony Dell'Orso, who started for Arizona on the wing and forward Trey Townsend, more of a post player, are the two players Bryant most frequently competed with for minutes.
Diving deeper into the numbers, Bryant had his best month in January, then regressed somewhat over the final two months of the season except in rebounding. Bryant averaged season highs of 8.4 PPG, shot 67.6 percent from the field, 77.8 percent from the free throw line and 57.9 percent on three-point attempts.
One of my guys in the early teens is Carter Bryant. Ideal size for wing at 6’7 and 7 foot wingspan and has great finishing numbers at the rim and from 3. 99th %tile BLK%, 80th %tile STL% and 95th %tile Def Reb%. Screams that he’ll be a great starting role player for years. pic.twitter.com/ZZkOf3nMZD
— Ryan Miele (@BuckAnalytics) June 11, 2025
Bryant averaged 13.6 points per 40 minutes played, 8.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.1 blocks. Townsend averaged 15.7 points per 40 minutes, 7.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.5 blocks and 0.4 steals. Dell'Orso averaged 15.9 points per 40 minutes, 3.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.2 blocks.
Dell'Orso was a more efficient shooter than Bryant and Townsend, with a 5.75 eFG percentage, 41.3 on three-point attempts and 90.2 percent from the free throw line. Townsend had a 52.3 eFG percentage, shot 33.3 on three-point attempts and 79.4 from the free throw line.
Bryant and Townsend were unquestionably better defensive players than Dell'Orso. In his sole season with Arizona, Bryant had a block rate of 6.0 and a steal rate of 2.7. Tyler Metcalf of the No Ceilings blog reported Arizona had a defensive rating of 94.1 (15th [nationally]) with Bryant on the floor and 97.3 (35th) without him.
In the five games Bryant started, he averaged 4.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 1.2 APG, 0.8 SPG and 1.0 BPG while shooting 30.0 percent from the field, 10.0 percent on three-point attempts and 61.7 percent from the free throw line. Bryant was primarily used as a rim runner and three-point shooter.
Metcalf went significantly more in-depth on Bryant. College basketball metrics expert Evan Miya has Bryant as his second-best player behind Henri Veesaar on the 2024-25 Arizona roster and part of the best four and five-man lineups during the season.
Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd and his staff would have access to multiple metrics showing them which players and lineups performed most efficiently. Lineup decisions have to be adjusted for opponents and game flow. Bryant averaged more minutes than Dell'Orso but less than Townsend.