JD Davison

[Hal14]

A recent mock has Davison going 8th. I actually think that's a pretty good ranking for him and I can even see him going higher, like possibly in the 5 to 7 range.

He's been officially listed at 6'3" at Alabama, which helps his stock. I was thinking before that he was maybe 6'1" or 6'2".

Here's some cool videos on Davison for those who aren't aware of him:

Scouting report:

Watch on YouTube

Senior season mixtape:

Watch on YouTube

Game highlights vs a cross-town rival where he had 37 points and 16 rebounds:

Watch on YouTube

Footage of a game where he dropped 48 points:

Watch on YouTube

I'm honestly not seeing any red flags here. 6'3" which is good size for the PG position, slightly above the average height of an NBA PG today which is 6'2.5". He's arguably the fastest, move explosive, bounciest, most athletic player in this class with a 44.5" vertical leap and shifty moves. Gets high above the rim on dunks and blocks which get his team and the crowd all pumped.

Solid looking jumper which he hits with good volume and has shown some crazy range. Crazy motor, high energy player. Kind of like a Lillard/Westbrook hybrid. Davison is a decent on ball defender but has shown lots of flashes as a really good help defender, coming over to help defensively to trap the opposing player with the ball to get steals and also coming over from help side for some crazy blocks at the rim. Really good handle as well. Also shows flashes of elite passing/play making/court vision.

I heard he's like 11th ranked recruit coming out of the high school class of 2021 which seems low to me.

Obviously we'll have to see how he does when facing better competition and a more structured system in college but this kid is fun to watch, he's got crazy talent - I'm rooting for him and will be watching closely..

I'm high on this kid. I've got him ranked no. 7 in the 2022 draft class as of now.

Thoughts?

[babyjax13]

Honestly he seems like he has a poor attitude every time I watch highlights of him. That could be completely unfair, and he's also a kid, so his personality is going to undergo a lot of changes --- but I see a lot of the irrational confidence guys like Dennis Schroder and Dion Waiters have on the court. If he shows that he plays within himself and a system at Alabama, then I will be a lot more interested, because the physical tools are absolutely there to play in the league.

[clyde21]

Honestly he seems like he has a poor attitude every time I watch highlights of him. That could be completely unfair, and he's also a kid, so his personality is going to undergo a lot of changes --- but I see a lot of the irrational confidence guys like Dennis Schroder and Dion Waiters have on the court. If he shows that he plays within himself and a system at Alabama, then I will be a lot more interested, because the physical tools are absolutely there to play in the league.

that confidence can both be a good and bad thing, hard to say right now, but biggest problem right now for him imo is that I don't see any outlier PG or shooting skills from him, he kinda reminds me of Collin Sexton a bit with a bit more vertical pop but yea, it's a wait and see for me...wouldn't have him top10 at this point until further notice.

[Hal14]

Honestly he seems like he has a poor attitude every time I watch highlights of him. That could be completely unfair, and he's also a kid, so his personality is going to undergo a lot of changes --- but I see a lot of the irrational confidence guys like Dennis Schroder and Dion Waiters have on the court. If he shows that he plays within himself and a system at Alabama, then I will be a lot more interested, because the physical tools are absolutely there to play in the league.

that confidence can both be a good and bad thing, hard to say right now, but biggest problem right now for him imo is that I don't see any outlier PG or shooting skills from him, he kinda reminds me of Collin Sexton a bit with a bit more vertical pop but yea, it's a wait and see for me...wouldn't have him top10 at this point until further notice.

Ok, I suppose that's fair. I said Davison is kind of like a cross between Westbrook and Lillard. But what it sounds like you're saying is, that can't be true because Westbrook is outlier-good passing and Lillard is outlier-good shooting so Davison needs to be outlier-good at at least 1 of those.

I suppose I can buy that, but was Lillard that good at shooting prior to his freshman year of college? And was Westbrook that good at passing prior to his first year of college?

I'm seeing flashes of really good passing in Davison's tapes and I'm seeing flashes of really good shooting too. Plus flashes of good defense. Good size for the PG position at 6'3" with a decent build (looks like a kid who could be a scary good football player, probably a WR) And he does at least have 1 outlier-good trait, which is his insane bounce/explosiveness/athleticism/motor which is not super common for PG's in today's NBA - I mean, who else at the PG position has Davison's bounce/explosiveness/athleticism/motor other than Westbrook and Morant?

Obviously it's still very early in this draft cycle and the guys in the 5-15 range at this point are pretty fluid IMO. Davison is definitely in that 5-15 range IMO and I am comfortable putting him (for now) at no. 8. Had him at 7, but just moved Nzosa up a few spots the other day..

In terms of Davison's swag/attitude, I agree that it could be a good or bad thing. I think the college/pro game is much different. I expect him to tone it down a little bit at Alabama. But a little bit of flash/pizazz/flair can be a good thing to get his teammates and the crowd all pumped up. Also, one of the videos of his on YouTube that shows a bunch of game footage, apparently he was playing against a cross-town rival and his cousin was on the other team so he may have been extra pumped up for that game and turned on the "show" a little bit more than normal.

I mean, it's not like we've heard any stories come out about Davison getting in fights with coaches, opponents, teammates, getting suspended form school, getting arrested, or even any stories that hint about him having an attitude problem - so nI'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now..

[clyde21]

Honestly he seems like he has a poor attitude every time I watch highlights of him. That could be completely unfair, and he's also a kid, so his personality is going to undergo a lot of changes --- but I see a lot of the irrational confidence guys like Dennis Schroder and Dion Waiters have on the court. If he shows that he plays within himself and a system at Alabama, then I will be a lot more interested, because the physical tools are absolutely there to play in the league.

that confidence can both be a good and bad thing, hard to say right now, but biggest problem right now for him imo is that I don't see any outlier PG or shooting skills from him, he kinda reminds me of Collin Sexton a bit with a bit more vertical pop but yea, it's a wait and see for me...wouldn't have him top10 at this point until further notice.

Ok, I suppose that's fair. I said Davison is kind of like a cross between Westbrook and Lillard. But what it sounds. like you're saying is, that can't be true because Westbrook is outlier-good passing and Lillard is outlier-good shooting so Davison needs to be outlier-good at at least 1 of those.

I suppose I can buy that, but was Lillard that good at shooting prior to his freshman year of college? And was Westbrook that good at passing prior to his first year of college?

I'm seeing flashes of really good passing in Davison's tapes and I'm seeing flashes of really good shooting too. Plus flashes of good defense. Good size for the PG position at 6'3" with a decent build (looks like a kid who could be a scary good football player, probably a WR) And he does at least have 1 outlier-good trait, which is his insane bounce/explosiveness/athleticism/motor which is not super common for PG's in today's NBA - I mean, who else at the PG position has Davison's bounce/explosiveness/athleticism/motor other than Westbrook and Morant?

Obviously it's still very early in this draft cycle and the guys in the 5-15 range at this point are pretty fluid IMO. Davison is definitely in that 5-15 range IMO and I am comfortable putting him (for now) at no. 8. Had him at 7, but just moved Nzosa up a few spots the other day..

i don't think Westbrook has outlier passing skills tho, what Westbrook has as an outlier is top tier (like, maybe top 5 ever at the PG position) athleticism paired with an unrivaled offensive motor, something we've never really seen out of anyone in NBA history, so I think we have to be careful about comping anyone to that even if you do like JD's athleticism/motor.

you can't really rely on that from a scouting perspective, sure you may want to take a flier on it in the middle of R1 because the raw talent is enticing and u think u can harness some of the package he brings but if he doesn't bring any real PG or shooting skills to the position i'm not sure he'll be much more than some version of Collin Sexton, which is a good player but obviously flawed and don't think really scalable enough to take in the top10.

but again, it's a wait and see for me...I like the mentality and obviously the athleticism and he shows glimpses of some ball skills as well so there is potential there...but way too soon for me to say either way.

[Hal14]

that confidence can both be a good and bad thing, hard to say right now, but biggest problem right now for him imo is that I don't see any outlier PG or shooting skills from him, he kinda reminds me of Collin Sexton a bit with a bit more vertical pop but yea, it's a wait and see for me...wouldn't have him top10 at this point until further notice.

Ok, I suppose that's fair. I said Davison is kind of like a cross between Westbrook and Lillard. But what it sounds. like you're saying is, that can't be true because Westbrook is outlier-good passing and Lillard is outlier-good shooting so Davison needs to be outlier-good at at least 1 of those.

I suppose I can buy that, but was Lillard that good at shooting prior to his freshman year of college? And was Westbrook that good at passing prior to his first year of college?

I'm seeing flashes of really good passing in Davison's tapes and I'm seeing flashes of really good shooting too. Plus flashes of good defense. Good size for the PG position at 6'3" with a decent build (looks like a kid who could be a scary good football player, probably a WR) And he does at least have 1 outlier-good trait, which is his insane bounce/explosiveness/athleticism/motor which is not super common for PG's in today's NBA - I mean, who else at the PG position has Davison's bounce/explosiveness/athleticism/motor other than Westbrook and Morant?

Obviously it's still very early in this draft cycle and the guys in the 5-15 range at this point are pretty fluid IMO. Davison is definitely in that 5-15 range IMO and I am comfortable putting him (for now) at no. 8. Had him at 7, but just moved Nzosa up a few spots the other day..

i don't think Westbrook has outlier passing skills tho, what Westbrook has as an outlier is top tier (like, maybe top 5 ever at the PG position) athleticism paired with an unrivaled offensive motor, something we've never really seen out of anyone in NBA history, so I think we have to be careful about comping anyone to that even if you do like JD's athleticism/motor.

you can't really rely on that from a scouting perspective, sure you may want to take a flier on it in the middle of R1 because the raw talent is enticing and u think u can harness some of the package he brings but if he doesn't bring any real PG or shooting skills to the position i'm not sure he'll be much more than some version of Collin Sexton, which is a good player but obviously flawed and don't think really scalable enough to take in the top10.

but again, it's a wait and see for me...I like the mentality and obviously the athleticism and he shows glimpses of some ball skills as well so there is potential there...but way too soon for me to say either way.

Fair enough. I guess I'm moreso just looking at the entire package (skill set + physical tools relative to his position, motor, age, attitude, work ethic, etc.) and comparing the entire package to the other prospects in this class - rather than saying "oh, this type of player I would take middle of round 1 but not top 10" because then it's like wait a minute, who is in your top 10, ya know?

Again, it's still very early in the draft cycle and 5-15 are pretty fluid. But at this point the only guys I have over Davison are Holmgren, Banchero, Hardy, Duren, Griffin, Nzosa and Jabari Smith. I think Davison at least has a case over everyone else.

Like you said, we'll see..

[EvanZ]

Davison looking real good so far. Very different stats than I would have expected based on reputation. Distributing the ball much more and scoring very efficiently.

[babyjax13]

Davison looking real good so far. Very different stats than I would have expected based on reputation. Distributing the ball much more and scoring very efficiently.

Yup, just needs to get those freethrows up. Gonzaga game was really a coming out party for him, and he has embraced playing in a role which bodes well for his prospects at the NBA. I was really unimpressed to start the year, but he's really trending up. Also, Nate Oates is a really underrated college coach, I love what he is doing here (Avery Johnson also did a nice job before him).

[The-Power]

I'm intrigued by what I've seen from him (and I've watched a bunch of Alabama games this year). He's sometimes frustratingly passive and has problem areas such as not being a high-level ball handler in traffic for a PG, and he's definitely not a natural shooter. But his shot is workable and even though he's not the most accurate passer, his reads are definitely next level. And of course then there's the athleticism – he's really explosive and powerful in transition or when there's an open lane to the rim.