Newest Oregon Duck Wei Lin can fill it up

Oregon Ducks head coach Dana Altman reacts to a missed three point basketball Friday, March 14, 2025, during the third round of the men's Big Ten tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Oregon Ducks head coach Dana Altman reacts to a missed three point basketball Friday, March 14, 2025, during the third round of the men's Big Ten tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. | Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

NCAA veterans Jackson Shelstad and TK Simpkins are likely to be the starting guards when Oregon hosts Utah on October 24, but new Duck signee Wei Lin is bound to get some playing time off the bench.

With the Nanjing Monkey Kings last season Lin, 22, poured in 21.8 points a game, hit 37.8 percent from three and 88 percent from the line. It'd be easy to see him gain a role as a microwave shooter off the bench.

It's a boost for the Ducks because last year's team suffered from some scoring droughts. Guard TJ Bamba was a tenacious defender but lost confidence in his shot, especially from distance.

Lin has good size at 6-4, 190. He shoots well off screens and gets the jumper off quickly with range out to 25 feet. He averaged 5.0 assists per game with the Monkey Kings, scoring a season-high 36 points against the Sichuan Blue Whales, five 30-point games in all.

The dude can score the basketball. He'll have some adjustments, but the basket is ten feet high all over the world.

One encouraging thing is that Lin appears to have the shooter's mentality, the confidence that the next one is going in. The fact that he's an 88 percent foul shooter could make him a valuable asset at the end of games.

The shot is pure, too. So many of the attempts in the clip are nothing but net with nice ball rotation.

Seems weird to say with football not yet halfway through their season but basketball is just three weeks away. After the home tilt against the Utes the Ducks travel to Stanford on October 30. followed by home games against Hawaii, Rice and South Dakota early in November.