Klomp wrote:minimus wrote:Can anyone explain how Herbert Jones was drafted with 35th pick? I also believe that our current offensive system built around Towns-Ant-DLo can easily use another defensive minded big wing in place of Vando. I can imagine Vando, Herbert Jones and MCD playing 48 minutes at PF/SF spots.
Similar to how Jarred Vanderbilt fell to 41 (Vanderbilt was also aided by injury). In the 6-foot-6 to 6-9 and 200-230 lb range, GMs are often looking for offense first, and specifically perimeter skills. In some ways, it was an overcorrection that may have started around a decade ago after Michael Kidd-Gilchrist flamed out as the No. 2 pick, again with a similar skill set and build.
Side note: Just realized that one player born about 15 years too soon was Tyrus Thomas. He could've had a nice career in this current era. Another in that same build.
I think Jones' problem was more age and shooting questions.
It's not like the 35th pick is the same as going undrafted, so he wasn't TOTALLY slept on. And given he was nearly 23 by draft night and wasn't a good shooter (he was average to be fair) it makes some sense that teams might look at him and see, say, Josh Okogie. I.e. a great defender that's anemic enough offensively to get played off the floor. Luckily for them (and unluckily for us in Josh's case) Jones has been just good enough offensively (34% from 3) to allow him to remain on the floor and shine defensively.
In terms of who might be this year's version? Well, I threw a stat filter into the college BBref (STL% and BLK% >= 3, DBPM >= 4, Defensive Rating <= 96...basically Jones' career numbers, though his senior year was better than that) and after filtering out guys that don't look like they'll declare (Alex Fudge) or who we know might not be available to us (Tari Eason) the name that popped out to me was Matthew Mayer from Baylor.
And they are very similar statistically. Comparing their senior seasons;
They're basically the same age
Mayer is bigger in terms of both height (6-9 vs 6-7) and weight (225 vs 206)
Can't find a reported wingspan, but most say Mayer's is 6-10 vs Herb's 7ft
Steals/blocks are similar (slight edge to Herb)
Herb was more efficient, but oddly Mayer both improved his FT% and worsened his 3pt% his senior season
Herb has significantly more assists (4.3 vs 1.6) but also turnovers (3.7 vs 1.5)
Advanced stats are basically a wash
Keep in mind I haven't watched any tape of Mayer so a lot of this might just be college domination but still, were I in the FO this is definitely a guy I'd get in for workouts with an eye for an undrafted contract.
Also, Vince Williams Jr from VCU only barely missed the cut (2.9 STL%) and is a significantly better shooter than either. He's shorter though and certainly not a great athlete by NBA standards. Still, this guy's my sleeper for this draft and someone I'd take at 40 easy.
