NC State’s DJ Burns Jr. has become the surprise star of the NCAA Tournament. It’s hard not to root for the underdog Wolfpack, who have made a stunning run to the Final Four as a No. 11 seed behind the broad shoulders of their dominant big man.
Burns has been a delight to watch, moving surprisingly well for a player of his size. His post play has invited plenty of comparisons to some of the league’s great big men, including Shaquille O’Neal and Zach Randolph.
Burns has had some fun with those. He once told reporters, “I watched a lot of Hakeem Olajuwon growing up. I just ended up with a Zach Randolph body.”
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Some of Burns’ most popular NBA comps are pretty good, and some miss the mark. Here are three of the more popular ones, ranked in order of how accurate they are from worst to best.
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DJ Burns Jr. height, weight comparisons
Burns stands at 6-9 and 275 pounds. He uses every ounce of that size to punish players down low.
Here’s how he measures up physically against some of the biggest NBA players:
Player Height Weight (lbs) DJ Burns Jr. 6-9 275 Shaquille O’Neal 7-1 325 Zach Randolph 6-9 250 Robert Traylor 6-8 284 Mike Sweetney 6-8 270 Kenneth Lofton Jr. 6-6 275
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Ranking best DJ Burns Jr. NBA comparisons
3. Shaquille O’Neal
Burns is a great college scorer, but let’s not get this twisted: Shaq is easily a top-five center of all time.
O’Neal was an athletic freak at his size, with unparalleled agility and strength. They couldn’t make rims strong enough to hold his power. Burns muscles through players as well, but his 13.0 points per game as a senior pales in comparison to Shaq’s 24.1 in his final season at LSU.
We have never seen a player like Shaq, and maybe never will again. The comparison is a fun one, but let’s not make Diesel Burns a thing.
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2. Robert “Tractor” Traylor
Like Burns, Tractor Traylor was a college star — he led Michigan to a win in the 1997 NIT and a second-round finish in his junior year.
Traylor was selected sixth in the 1998 NBA Draft and is better known for being the guy who was traded for Dirk Nowitzki these days.
Traylor could never keep his weight down, leading to an NBA career that lasted just seven years. His size wasn’t quite the weapon that it was at the college level, and he wasn’t a well-rounded enough player to lean on any other types of advantages.
If Burns wants to succeed at the next level, he needs to use Traylor as a cautionary tale. He has a nice midrange jumper that he should try to expand to the 3-point line to give him more scoring versatility. He also needs to do everything in his power to increase his mobility.
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1. Zach Randolph
Kenneth Lofton Jr., another popular Burns comp, has already popularized the Gen-Z Bo nickname. The two might have to duke it out in a one-on-one post battle because both guys fit it pretty well.
Burns has one of the most beautiful post spin moves in college basketball. He’s gone to that well over and over during the NCAA Tournament, and nobody has been able to stop it. The move is very reminiscent of Randolph’s during his NBA career. They each share a special touch near the rim.
Where Burns has all of these comparisons beat is with his passing vision. He makes some delightful reads in the post that show how high-feel he is on the offensive end of the floor.
As good as Burns has been on offense, he is going to need to show that he can stay on the floor defensively to have a spot in the NBA. He doesn’t offer much rim protection, and he can’t move his feet well on the perimeter.
That makes him a likely undrafted free agent. If he can slim down a bit while maintaining that power game, then there could be an NBA future for him as a change-of-pace bruiser off the bench.
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