Jordan Bachynski looks down, then looks forward to landing NBA employment

By Devin Gray

The tallest player at Detroit Pistons training camp bends down low, holds his shorts at the knees while he catches his breath and looks down at his shoes for motivation. There, scrawled in the curve of the swoosh, are the letters M and K, for his wife Malia and his son Kawika, which is Hawaiian for David.

For Jordan Bachynski it’s a reminder to keep pushing for that NBA roster spot, and of the dedication it’s taken to get him this far.

“I’m going to be the guy who guys look to for support,” Bachynski said recently during a phone conversation. “Obviously I’m going to keep working hard to be the best I can be on the floor but wherever I go I want to make my teammates better on the court, cheering from the bench or in practice working with players and frustrating them to make them better.”

As a 26-year-old one year out of college, the Calgary native has earned more perspective than most rookies by staying all four years at Arizona State following a post-prep two-year basketball sabbatical to complete his Mormon mission. Two years with no basketball, no working out, no dating, no TV, no movies, an email home once a week, and a call home only twice a year allowed Bachynski to learn a lot about himself while in the service of others.

Some chose to look at his departure from the game as harmful to his development but Bachynski says it spared him two years of bruising and allowed him to come back completely rejuvenated. It also taught a selflessness that’s hard to engrain but that he brings to every team he plays for now.

“I didn’t miss any games in college for any injuries so it was a benefit,” said Bachynski. “On my mission if anybody needed any kind of help we would help them out. I was in Miami during a tropical storm at a disaster shelter and people would come for help and we were around the community helping clear everything up.”

After the 7-foot-2 centre led the NCAA in blocked shots his senior season at Arizona State, Bachynski surprisingly wasn’t picked in the 2014 NBA Draft. From there he played professionally in Turkey and played last season in the NBA’s Developmental League with the Westchester Knicks where he appeared in 18 games and averaged a respectable 6.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks in just 18.6 minutes per game.

“In order to be an NBA guy there’s a lot of talk about how you have to have one skill, but it is so much more than that,” said Bachynski. “You need to be 10 times better than everybody else as a guy trying to break into the league.”

It’s also harder than ever for NBA big men to hold down a roster spot when the phenomenon of “playing small” has swept the highest level of basketball, with coaches benching their post players in favour of mobile, mid-sized players with a bit more skill. Golden State took the 2015 NBA title with 6-7 Draymond Green holding down the middle after head coach Steve Kerr put seven-foot centre Andrew Bogut on the bench.

Those few bigs who do crack NBA rosters have plenty of value. A mobile young centre in the small-ball era is spoiled by lack of competition and have reaped the contractual rewards this offseason. The Toronto Raptors gave Jonas Valanciunas a four-year, $64-million deal before the start of training camp. Brook Lopez (three years, $60 million), Enes Kanter (four years, $70 million) and Omer Asik (five years, $60 million) have received similar deals.

Westchester assistant coach Jamaal Benjamin has helped develop several players into NBA players and has sat for extensive film study with Bachynski to deconstruct the game of the aforementioned players, along with established stars like Pau Gasol and Tim Duncan.

“We just watched their catching and finishing moves and moves around the basket. For the most part, he shot the ball better than I thought out to 15-17 feet,” said Benjamin. “Defensively he was great right off the bat with his timing, communication and ability to defend the rim really blows people away.

“I really think with small ball it’s personnel driven. He’s a hard worker and I don’t think Jordan should have any trouble playing in the NBA.”

Bachynski trained in Los Angeles this summer with Clippers star centre DeAndre Jordan who led the NBA in rebounds and finished third in defensive player of the year voting the past two seasons in a row (though he was elected by the players at their own awards this summer). The two make a pair of imposing interior rim-protectors, but Jordan also can teach offensive efficiency – he led the league by a wide margin last season sinking 71% of his shots.

An efficient offensive game and the ability to negate interior attempts are vital for a centre in today’s NBA, and Bachynski seems to have both. He’s also mobile enough to challenge a shot then scramble into position for a rebound, or switch defenders off a pick and stick with the guard around the perimeter.

With 20 players in training camp and 17 owning guaranteed deals, the Pistons would have to cut three players they owe money to in order to sign Bachynski. The numbers aren’t in his favour but Detroit’s front line could use some size, currently with just fellow Canadian Joel Anthony and Drummond as centres and a glut of power forwards.For Bachynski, he’ll just keep looking down to remind himself he’s really looking ahead.