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Thoughts on Blake Wesley? Looks like a freshman that will rise come draft night. I could see him cracking the lottery.

this guy is a baller. he's rising up my board fast. Another really good game tonight vs western michigan.

Check out the steal and dunk at 4:00

Anyone else on board yet?, I need to sit down and fill out my rankings but I got him pretty high at the moment. Top 10. I'm not sure how high.

I think he'll end up in the lottery when all is said and done - he just has all the desirable tools and traits imo - size and lenght, not a top tier, but really fluid athlete (not exceptional vertical burst, but has speed), good shooter and ball handler, and developing playmaker. As a youngest player on decent team, he has established himself as more or less go to player. He is really young and will only turn 19 in mid-March. Lotto talent imo.

He’ll probably sneak into the 1st round because it’s an awful class for guards, but Wesley is not good. His basketball IQ is extremely low, he has no feel for the defensive end of the court. He’s actually not a good shooter at 31%, and takes some really questionable contested jumpers. Averaging more turnovers than assists as a guard.

He’s more of a 3 year college guy that goes mid to late 2nd and ends up in the g-league or at the end of a bench in the NBA. Not a true NBA prospect.

NatP4 wrote:He’ll probably sneak into the 1st round because it’s an awful class for guards, but Wesley is not good. His basketball IQ is extremely low, he has no feel for the defensive end of the court. He’s actually not a good shooter at 31%, and takes some really questionable contested jumpers. Averaging more turnovers than assists as a guard.

He’s more of a 3 year college guy that goes mid to late 2nd and ends up in the g-league or at the end of a bench in the NBA. Not a true NBA prospect.

Not sure where you are getting that he has no defensive feel, beyond the fact that he gambles a ton. He has very good hands and habitually turns TOs into fast break layups. That is one of his better skills I noticed.

I am not thrilled with his profile and see him as more of a 2nd round pick (at best) this year and long term. Straight line driver and his shot is not great.

definitely worth drafting, but second round guy. with his inefficient shooting, pedestrian rebound/assist numbers and not having elite height, length and athleticism, he's a second round talent at this point. that could change if he were to stay until his sophomore season and make a significant leap, but the shooting is the elephant in the room rn.

Wesley is easily a first round talent. You want a guy like him locked up on a first round contract. Kid isn't even 19 yet and he has a rare combination of vision, quick-twitch athleticism, and skill.

Shameless plug here, but I broke down Wesley's game versus Georgia Tech here for a glimpse into what he is capable of:

Bizarre take. Wesley is good at literally nothing. He’s currently posting a 52% TS with as many turnovers as assists.

NatP4 wrote:Bizarre take. Wesley is good at literally nothing. He’s currently posting a 52% TS with as many turnovers as assists.

1) So what you're saying is, you've never seen him play - you just looked at the stat sheet.

2) Pretty funny that the best player on the no. 36 team in college basketball who's only 18 yrs old could be "good at literally nothing"

3) Since you like stats so much, check out these:

He’s not the best player on that team. Not even close. That’s a laughable take from someone that obviously hasn’t watched Notre Dame play a single game. Goodwin is posting a 50/50/90 season. Laszewski is shooting 45% from 3. Paul Atkinson has had some monster games and has also been efficient and posted 17&10 per40.

Wesley is just a spark plug freshman that comes in and gets a steal here and there and provides some athleticism. He has little to no offensive instincts or basketball IQ. He just puts his head down and forces everything.

Wesley’s TS% has now dipped below 50%. He’s played himself out of any 2nd round consideration even. His last 4 games:

3-16
2-12
3-15
2-13

I’m not sure if you are serious with those obnoxiously obscure and irrelevant statistical groupings that you listed that put him in some very underwhelming company.

this guy went from underrated to overrated real quick, what are we talking about here? combo guard who's not really a good shooter at all at this point, barely has a 1:1 AST/TO ratio, shoots 67% from the line, barely treading water at 40% from the field, and in-conference his TS% has dipped to 46%

he has some physical tools but he doesn't have a clearly defined role right now, is an inefficient scorer, no scalability at this point as a playmaker. maybe you draft him as a raw flyer at some point in the late first/early second range and put him on ice for a year or two but the lotto talk right now is way too rich.

i guess maybe people see him as the Josh Primo of this class, but Primo was even younger, 18 @ time of draft, shot 75% from the line, was much more efficient overall as a scorer and played in a more athletic conference.

It's pretty simple, he clearly has the physical tools and movement to score in the league. If you think as a freshman he doesn't improve then don't draft him. I see nothing wrong with 48% 2pt, 31% 3pt, 67% ft as a freshman. He gets to the line at a pretty good rate for his role as a freshman, steal rate is solid, 2.5 assists in 27 min as a freshman. Work on his shooting and ball handling mainly and he will play in the league. I dont see any reason he can't improve in those areas.

EMG518 wrote:It's pretty simple, he clearly has the physical tools and movement to score in the league. If you think as a freshman he doesn't improve then don't draft him. I see nothing wrong with 48% 2pt, 31% 3pt, 67% ft as a freshman. He gets to the line at a pretty good rate for his role as a freshman, steal rate is solid, 2.5 assists in 27 min as a freshman. Work on his shooting and ball handling mainly and he will play in the league. I dont see any reason he can't improve in those areas.

nobody is saying he 'can't improve'...what I (or some) are disagreeing with is you saying he's a lotto pick.

clyde21 wrote:this guy went from underrated to overrated real quick, what are we talking about here? combo guard who's not really a good shooter at all at this point, barely has a 1:1 AST/TO ratio, shoots 67% from the line, barely treading water at 40% from the field, and in-conference his TS% has dipped to 46%

he has some physical tools but he doesn't have a clearly defined role right now, is an inefficient scorer, no scalability at this point as a playmaker. maybe you draft him as a raw flyer at some point in the late first/early second range and put him on ice for a year or two but the lotto talk right now is way too rich.

i guess maybe people see him as the Josh Primo of this class, but Primo was even younger, 18 @ time of draft, shot 75% from the line, was much more efficient overall as a scorer and played in a more athletic conference.

Ya Primo was much further along than Wesley is currently. At the moment Wesley has going for him that he is young, long, and moves well. Everything kind of falls apart after that.

Dont get me wrong Im not saying he has no potential. But we are talking about a pretty empty slate at the moment. He is horribly inefficient, he isnt a consistent defender, the jumper and FT has a weird like delayed kind of push motion to it. He seems like the 2 years away from being 2 years away kind of player at the moment.

I get the what ifs with him, and maybe after another year the what ifs become a little clearer and he moves up the draft board. But at the moment just too many what ifs with him for me to consider him as a 1st round kind of prospect. I get maybe a late 1st if a team is fine taking a random shot that might pay off in a few years. But ya he isnt even a thought for me in the lotto and top 20. And ya not really even sure you can sell me on the late 1st idea either haha. Again strictly speaking about this year's draft. He could easily improve the next year and solidify himself as a 1st round pick.

clyde21 wrote:

EMG518 wrote:It's pretty simple, he clearly has the physical tools and movement to score in the league. If you think as a freshman he doesn't improve then don't draft him. I see nothing wrong with 48% 2pt, 31% 3pt, 67% ft as a freshman. He gets to the line at a pretty good rate for his role as a freshman, steal rate is solid, 2.5 assists in 27 min as a freshman. Work on his shooting and ball handling mainly and he will play in the league. I dont see any reason he can't improve in those areas.

nobody is saying he 'can't improve'...what I (or some) are disagreeing with is you saying he's a lotto pick.

That's fine. I would take him in the lotto. I won't argue with someone wanting to take him later in the 1st. If you think 2nd or he shouldn't even come out this year, you as in anyone not you specifically then that is where you will have my disagreement. I also think he is doing well as a freshman and with his role.

EMG518 wrote:

clyde21 wrote:

EMG518 wrote:It's pretty simple, he clearly has the physical tools and movement to score in the league. If you think as a freshman he doesn't improve then don't draft him. I see nothing wrong with 48% 2pt, 31% 3pt, 67% ft as a freshman. He gets to the line at a pretty good rate for his role as a freshman, steal rate is solid, 2.5 assists in 27 min as a freshman. Work on his shooting and ball handling mainly and he will play in the league. I dont see any reason he can't improve in those areas.

nobody is saying he 'can't improve'...what I (or some) are disagreeing with is you saying he's a lotto pick.

That's fine. I would take him in the lotto. I won't argue with someone wanting to take him later in the 1st. If you think 2nd or he shouldn't even come out this year, you as in anyone not you specifically then that is where you will have my disagreement. I also think he is doing well as a freshman and with his role.

Im always up for a little fun disagreement haha. Honestly I wouldnt take him in the 1st this year and I think he probably shouldn't come out.

Im a Duke and ACC guy and Ive seen a lot of him. Again he is a solid blank slate, but not much more in my opinion. I also dont think he's been good, especially in conference play. He is struggling from everywhere on the court when it comes to scoring in the ACC.

38% from 2
28% from 3
68% from the line

Those are some really rough numbers.

The thing is, Im all for taking that raw project in the 1st if you can point to me a clear elite attribute. For instance I still have Kendall Brown late lotto. But Kendall Brown has fantastic size and elite athleticism. Or how I was very high on Kuminga last year, just a freakish combination of size, and overall explosiveness (first step quickness, lateral movement, top end speed, jumping ability).

That is my issue with Wesley and why I personally dont view him as a 1st rounder. I dont see that elite attribute he can fall back on. He has good size and length for the guard spot, but nothing crazy. He moves well and is a good athlete, but again nothing that is really going to stand out on the NBA level.

Again I think he is a solid blank slate and if he doesn't have an elite attribute, what exactly am I hoping he becomes? I think if he comes back next year and shows improvement in defense, shooting, or facilitating, I can be on board with him as a 1st round pick. I just dont think he has the raw physical tools to take a flyer on him when he doesnt excel at any aspect of the game yet.

That was a good post Duke. Exactly my sentiments on him. Maybe the elite attribute is defense, but it isn't enough to move the needle when you have many very good young prospects where it is clear what they would be bringing to the table.