Jordan Hawkins - UConn

[SeattleJazzFan]

that was such a fun game to watch. so many times he could have settled for long jumpers, but he chose to attack and it paid off with FTs. and i just love his energy. they were face guarding him and denying him whenever possible, but his energy off the ball is so good and he seems to never get discouraged even when he works so hard to get open and teammates don't or can't find him. such a badass.

[clyde21]

that was such a fun game to watch. so many times he could have settled for long jumpers, but he chose to attack and it paid off with FTs. and i just love his energy. they were face guarding him and denying him whenever possible, but his energy off the ball is so good and he seems to never get discouraged even when he works so hard to get open and teammates don't or can't find him. such a badass.

yea, his energy/movement off ball is just unbelievable, i hate to make this comp but off ball he's like the college Steph with all his movements and cuts and off-screen/pin down shooting.

if his live dribble game continues to improve and he learns how to consistently attack closeouts and makes defenses pay for pushing up on him with attacking, he'll be pretty filthy.

[jezzerinho]

that was such a fun game to watch. so many times he could have settled for long jumpers, but he chose to attack and it paid off with FTs. and i just love his energy. they were face guarding him and denying him whenever possible, but his energy off the ball is so good and he seems to never get discouraged even when he works so hard to get open and teammates don't or can't find him. such a badass.

yea, his energy/movement off ball is just unbelievable, i hate to make this comp but off ball he's like the college Steph with all his movements and cuts and off-screen/pin down shooting.

if his live dribble game continues to improve and he learns how to consistently attack closeouts and makes defenses pay for pushing up on him with attacking, he'll be pretty filthy.

He's just missing an extra.gear of burst, but maybe that's something he can work on. Big fan.

[TB]

He seems decent SG size to me when I watch him. Do people expect him to measure similar or worse than Poole or Bouknight? He seems like a 6'4 barefoot guy with better wingspan than Poole. I dunno, thats just the eye test, but I'm not really worried about his size based on how he plays.

[EvanZ]

Hawkins is a better shooter right now but I wonder if Bufkin has more upside.

[Jamaaliver]

A week late, I know...but damn I like this kid.

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[Hal14]

1 level scorer, average defender, not great passing feel. Not great size for a wing at 6'5".

If the shots don't fall, could be hard for him to see an NBA court..

[eminence]

1 level scorer, average defender, not great passing feel. Not great size for a wing at 6'5".

If the shots don't fall, could be hard for him to see an NBA court..

I don't really disagree with any of the actual positions, but you say this as if folks are too high on him.

Being just a shooter (and a good one) is worth being in the top 20 pick range in todays NBA.

There's a ton of guys in the NBA who make a lot of money doing basically nothing other than shooting.

[clyde21]

1 level scorer, average defender, not great passing feel. Not great size for a wing at 6'5".

If the shots don't fall, could be hard for him to see an NBA court..

not a wing, strictly a 2-guard, and he's a + defender who's one of the best off-ball guards we've seen recently with a filthy shooting arsenal.

everything you're talking about is already priced in, almost no one has this guy in the lotto, except maybe me and it's towards the bottom of the lotto b/c he's positionally locked @ the 2 right now.

[clyde21]

and 'if the shots don't fall' argument can be made for pretty much every player or position at this point. what's gonna happen to Miller if his shots don't fall? the Twins? Whitmore? etc.

[Big J]

1 level scorer, average defender, not great passing feel. Not great size for a wing at 6'5".

If the shots don't fall, could be hard for him to see an NBA court..

I don't really disagree with any of the actual positions, but you say this as if folks are too high on him.

Being just a shooter (and a good one) is worth being in the top 20 pick range in todays NBA.

There's a ton of guys in the NBA who make a lot of money doing basically nothing other than shooting.

Yea, but if that's all you can do as a wing your ceiling is 8th man Terrance Ross.

[eminence]

1 level scorer, average defender, not great passing feel. Not great size for a wing at 6'5".

If the shots don't fall, could be hard for him to see an NBA court..

I don't really disagree with any of the actual positions, but you say this as if folks are too high on him.

Being just a shooter (and a good one) is worth being in the top 20 pick range in todays NBA.

There's a ton of guys in the NBA who make a lot of money doing basically nothing other than shooting.

Yea, but if that's all you can do as a wing your ceiling is 8th man Terrance Ross.

Nah, good shooters, meh everything else guys make very solid 4th/5th starters in todays league.

[Hal14]

1 level scorer, average defender, not great passing feel. Not great size for a wing at 6'5".

If the shots don't fall, could be hard for him to see an NBA court..

not a wing, strictly a 2-guard, and he's a + defender who's one of the best off-ball guards we've seen recently with a filthy shooting arsenal.

everything you're talking about is already priced in, almost no one has this guy in the lotto, except maybe me and it's towards the bottom of the lotto b/c he's positionally locked @ the 2 right now.

Semantics. I consider the 2 to be a wing position. He projects as an average at best defender IMO, especially with how skinny he is. Had a few plays in UCONN's game the other night where the defense was nonexistent.

IMO, wings are 2's, 3, and depending on the player and how they're being used - sometimes 4's. If a guy is locked in to only 1 of those positions - can't play more than 1 - it lowers their value. That's the case with Hawkins.

A PG brings the ball up the court, he's got a 2 on one wing and the 3 is on the other wing. Wings are defending both the 2 and the 3..Used to be the 4 and 5 on the 2 low blocks but now teams typically play 4 (or even 5) out..

[Hal14]

1 level scorer, average defender, not great passing feel. Not great size for a wing at 6'5".

If the shots don't fall, could be hard for him to see an NBA court..

I don't really disagree with any of the actual positions, but you say this as if folks are too high on him.

Being just a shooter (and a good one) is worth being in the top 20 pick range in todays NBA.

There's a ton of guys in the NBA who make a lot of money doing basically nothing other than shooting.

Yea, but if that's all you can do as a wing your ceiling is 8th man Terrance Ross.

Terrence Ross can at least get to the rim and handle the ball a little bit. And is 6'7", not 6'5"

[clyde21]

1 level scorer, average defender, not great passing feel. Not great size for a wing at 6'5".

If the shots don't fall, could be hard for him to see an NBA court..

not a wing, strictly a 2-guard, and he's a + defender who's one of the best off-ball guards we've seen recently with a filthy shooting arsenal.

everything you're talking about is already priced in, almost no one has this guy in the lotto, except maybe me and it's towards the bottom of the lotto b/c he's positionally locked @ the 2 right now.

Semantics. I consider the 2 to be a wing position. He projects as an average at best defender IMO, especially with how skinny he is. Had a few plays in UCONN's game the other night where the defense was nonexistent.

IMO, wings are 2's, 3, and depending on the player and how they're being used - sometimes 4's. If a guy is locked in to only 1 of those positions - can't play more than 1 - it lowers their value. That's the case with Hawkins.

doesn't really matter what you consider to be a wing - positional/archetype rules apply regardless if understand them or not. 2s CAN be wings - but not all 2s are wings. Hawkins is a traditional off-ball 2 in every sense of the word. he's a guard, because he guards 1s and 2s, not 3s or 4s.

now, if you're evaling him as a wing, that just means you don't know what you're doing. and I think you do know what you're doing so maybe you should step back here and think this twice.

[The-Power]

Here's my take: I've become increasingly high on Hawkins over the course of the season and pretty much agree with all the concerns that have been voiced (not really a multi-level scorer at this point, limited as a defender despite trying, not great size, not anything notable as a passer). And yet I like him. Why? Because the one aspect of the game he excels at is really valuable.

And I don't just mean shooting per se. It's the off-ball activity COMBINED WITH the ability and willingness get his shot off from all kinds of angles and motions COMBINED WITH fairly high levels of accuracy. That combination means that even NBA teams will have to react to him and that opens up space for teammates. If he can even tread water on defense, that's very valuable to NBA teams and even if he turns out to be a below-average defender (but one who gives effort), he has a chance to help teams especially off the bench.

That being said, he has to hope to land in an offense that is predicated on ball and off-ball movement. The Nuggets, Kings, Warriors, Pacers, perhaps the newly formed Nets – those are the kind of teams that I see as natural fits on offense (defense is a different question). If he's asked to space the floor by standing in the corner and catch-and-shoot, he'll be able to do that but you're not maximizing his impact and there are likely better options available who can also convert these kinds of shots reliably but offer more in terms of ancillary skills or defense.

[clyde21]

again, the concerns should already be priced in - lack of handle, lack of strength which leads to inconsistency at the rim, and not a sophisticated scoring repertoire off the dribble or in the mid range.

if those weren't issues today, we'd be looking at a much higher pick. right now, at least to me, he's in the 14-20 range which seems pretty reasonable.

Power is absolutely right in saying he needs to be in the right system that'll allow him to flow and cut off-ball and to get on rhythm off screens and pin downs, but if a team drafts him to put the ball in his hands and have him create on his own or run some PnR sets it's not gonna be a great time.

the fact that he can be such a high level contributor without overdribbling or needs to be on-ball is why he's actually so valuable. you need these types of dudes to build out your team outside the primary handlers and creators.

is his shooting and off-ball prowess gonna translate? we'll wait and see I guess but he's as good of a bet for an off-ball guard/scorer as you're gonna see coming out of the NCAA.

[SeattleJazzFan]

hawkins i so unique because he is the only player in the tournament and honestly the only player i've seen this season who gets face guarded 40 minutes a game. it makes it nearly impossible to compare his numbers against other players - the degree of difficulty he faces vs other NCAA shooters vs what he will face in the NBA is night and day. he has to work so hard to get looks and only gets open looks on the very rarest of occasions, when a play breaks down, off an offensive rebound, etc. but just the fact that opposing coaches are so concerned, shows what an elite shooter he is.

[clyde21]

hawkins i so unique because he is the only player in the tournament and honestly the only player i've seen this season who gets face guarded 40 minutes a game. it makes it nearly impossible to compare his numbers against other players - the degree of difficulty he faces vs other NCAA shooters vs what he will face in the NBA is night and day. he has to work so hard to get looks and only gets open looks on the very rarest of occasions, when a play breaks down, off an offensive rebound, etc. but just the fact that opposing coaches are so concerned, shows what an elite shooter he is.

look @ how they are chasing him around for the 2nd/3rd shots

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1st a transition pull up

2nd/3rd just insane off ball movement (almost Steph-like it's crazy)

4th off the dribble

[Big J]

Terrence Ross is an archetype in the league, but not one that should excite anyone.