UcanUwill wrote:The-Power wrote:76ciology wrote:Would he have been considered top 3 if not for his left hand injury?
I have him 3rd in my big board for quite a while.
That depends on how much you believe his injury contributed to his struggles. I was very high on him and if his shot looks great in workouts, he will rise again. The injury was not responsible for his very lackluster defense and his propensity to turn the ball over a ton, so teams will have to assess what caliber of offensive player he is. Is he a top 2 offensive player on a playoff team down the road? If so, you can justify picking him 3rd. But if he's anything less than that, his value takes a nosedive.
But what is his ceiling really? From what I know, he is PG who does not really blow pass his men, can't really get to the paint because of that, and is turnover prone. KOC compared him to Haliburton, but to me, he looks more Ty Jereme level prospect than Haliburton, who for starters does not turn the ball over at all. I don't know, I am not that aware of all these prospects, but it feels to me like his ceiling is just not high enough at all to warrant a top 5 or maybe even top 10 pick.
I think your characterization of him as a scorer is not doing him justice. The reason for him rising a lot on my personal draft board (before I bumped him down again) was precisely because his scoring arsenal was so intriguing. Sure, his shooting ability mattered a ton. But for me, it was his ability to finish in a variety of ways and draw fouls that convinced me that I needed to rank him higher. He finished the season shooting 56% on his 2s on decent volume and a FTr of almost 0.5 (converting almost 85% of his foul shots). Those are elite numbers for a lead Guard.
What I do agree with that he's definitely not Haliburton. Very different player not only in terms of quality but also play style. I also don't mind comparing him to NBA Ty Jerome. Which might not sound intriguing at first, but if you get the Ty Jerome from last season earlier into Jaku's career then that's a solid outcome for a pick late in the lottery. And I think that's certainly attainable.
I don't have him as a top 5 pick anymore. But top 10 or late lottery? I think that's perfectly reasonable even if you're not his biggest fan. But as I said, the offense needs to not only translate but look like earlier in the season or else his value drops dramatically primarily because he was really limited on defense.