I Just Can't Drive #55
The most challenging draft I've ever come across
If you haven’t had a chance yet, I touched on a lot of prospects on the Laker Film Room podcast.
Special thanks to Jeanie for an excellent (as usual) production and making a list of the prospects talked about or at least mentioned briefly.
Derik Queen
Khaman Maluach
Thomas Sorber
Yanic Konan Niederhauser
Hansen Yang
Maxime Raynaud
Ryan Kalkbrenner
Bogolijub Markovic
Jahmai Mashack
Amari Williams
Dylan Caldwell
Kobe Johnson
Javon Small
One of the players I didn’t mention is Jamir Watkins, but for what it’s worth, I’ve written about him for two consecutive years and in a recent post, so he’s been well covered.
Also, special shout out to the College Basketball Scouting on YouTube. It’s a great source.
The real challenge of this draft is, with a good group of players going the NCAA route with NIL contracts paying well, is just finding anyone.
This means digging into players that I would normally have ranked 75-90 on a big board, and typically, over 90% of these guys don’t make the NBA. A lot of them end up roster cuts, even after a good Summer League showing. Some may get two-way contracts and end up in the G-League.
But, we still try right?
Tyrese Proctor - You’d think that I’d be a big fan of a 6’4”+ point guard out of Duke University, but I’ve struggled with who he is as as player outside of being a 3-point shooter. He increased his arc percentage over his three years at Duke, from 32% to 40% on roughly 6 attempts per game. He competes hard defensively, but isn’t a positional playmaker.
I’ve mentioned how the bar gets raised for guards all the time, and this is where the cut is. If he was a dynamic shooter with that percentage, there’s a path. If he was more of a defensive playmaker, there’s a path. Ideally, he’d be both and be a Top 7 player on a roster.
Brooks Barnhizer - A less popular name that should have gotten more attention is Brooks Barnhizer. He’s listed at 6’4.75” w/o shoes with a 6’11” wingspan and 8’6.5” standing reach (Sam Vecenie’s draft guide), and helped run the offense for Northwestern. He’s not the most explosive vertical player nor is he a deadly 3pt sniper at 31% NCAA career shooting behind the arc, but he has a mind for the game for being well rounded. He rebounds like a power wing, finds the open man underneath the basket, and is a defensive playmaker with a high steal rate (3.8%) and block rate (3.7%) during his senior year, 2.9% steal rate 2.8% block rate for his career.
He just has remarkable defensive feel along with being a physical defender. He just plays bigger than his listed size.
Considering his increase in usage he stayed as a relatively low turnover rate player as well. Maybe, he doesn’t stick in the league because he needs to really set his feet and not be too rushed to shoot behind the arc, but at the same time, players get the most reps with shooting.
If you want a bench player that can be a positive on defense, and can help keep offense moving in the halfcourt IQ and processing, he’s the guy.
Every team needs a wing-sized, high level processor with defensive ability. I’m thinking something like, a Kenrich Williams-role in full assumption that he improves his shot?
Jahmai Mashack - Upon first glance on his page, you might think that a guy that never averaged 6 points per game may never stick in the league. But, this isn’t the reason why I’d draft him.
He is a defensive specialist.
He’s listed at 6’4.75” w/o shoes and 6’7.75” wingspan with an 8’4” standing reach (Sam Vecenie Draft Guide), which is basically the size of a standard NBA level combo guard.
It’s just guys that have good free throw rate, high defensive stocks, low usage, with average turnover rates get my attention. All of these things translate to varying levels of physicality on both ends of the floor, a certain level of defensive IQ, and not needing the basketball to contribute in a positive way.
His career NCAA stats at Tennessee include a .437FTr, 11.8% assist rate, 3.8% steal rate, and 2.2% block rate at 16.9% turnovers on 13.5% usage. Clearly, he needs to be an off-ball player, and he’s about as selective on offense as Jordan Goodwin, but like all defensive guards, they’re all a great 3-point corner shot away from getting real playing time. Unlike Vanderbilt, he’s shot 34.3% behind the arc at low volume, but when he’s open, he absolutely takes the shot.
He’s just an NBA-level point of attack and chase defender from the jump. He defends with his feet first, chest second, and uses his hands to get a ton of deflections. He fights over the top of screens. He gets so many deflections on off-ball defense, even when he’s really close to another player with the ball. He understands how to cut off driving angles on the ball handler. He just flat out defends.
He may not be Caruso, where Caruso was a legitimate college guard and playmaker in the G-League with a great vertical, but, what if he was in the mold of someone like twilight Tony Allen? Does twilight Tony Allen stick in the modern league? Is a “Willing to shoot Jarred Vanderbilt-guard,” such a bad choice this far late in the draft?
But the Lakers Just Need Any Big, Right?
Vladislav Goldin - Here’s a player with legitimate NBA size at the 5 spot. He’s 7’ w/o shoes, 7’5.25” wingspan, 9’3” standing reach at 253 lbs. He has some of the largest hands in the draft class at 9.5” by 11.75(!).”
Earlier in the draft process, I was counting him out, but I overlooked some things.
He’s actually a strong, fluid, coordinated athlete. He’s not a leaper like YKN, or runs the floor like Zikarsky, but he’s a good enough athlete to stick at the NBA level.
He screens well, runs the floor hard, and makes his presence felt in the paint. He’s not an outrageous leaper to be a lob threat or top floor rim protector, but he will contest shots and played on one of the best NCAA defenses this past season.
What I like most is, he makes the best of his athletic attributes and competes at both ends of the floor. Shots do get contested. Passes will be caught. Soft shots will be taken at the rim. He’s clearly comfortable playing next to a playmaking power forward in Danny Wolf, but it’s a giant upgrade playing next to LeBron James.
If the Lakers are just looking for a competent center, he might be the guy. He sets screens for the playmakers, does the same off ball, doesn’t commit a lot of fouls, doesn’t turn the ball over much, and doesn’t seem to make a lot of mistakes. He’s just not really projected to be a switch defender, or a guy that covers a ton of ground to shooters, or be a great drop coverage defender. But at this point, the Lakers just need a competent center that can do simple things; screen, rebound, be a post defender, provide adequate help defensively in the paint, and be a solid finisher.
He can absolutely do those things.
It’s going to be tough to find an NBA player at #55, but there’s always a chance. It’s more likely that it’s going to be a player that’ll get a two-way contract and have a chance to get a lot of experience on the South Bay Laker team.
If a player falls, that’d would obviously be great. It’s just tough to see that happening with my current draft philosophy, though each team has different priorities, and that’s how players slip in the draft.
Admittedly, it would definitely be interesting to not just select one of Amari Williams, Barnhizer, Mashack, or Goldin, but give the team multiple opportunities with Kobe Johnson, Eric Dixon, or Javon Small on the summer league team. I’d love to get them all a shot. I’d love to have them all on the Summer League team and then eventually onto the South Bay Laker team. I do believe in Amari’s ability to pass and rebound. I do believe in Barnhizer’s processing and defensive ability. I do believe in Mashack’s NBA defensive ability at either guard slot. I do believe in Goldin’s ability to be a presence in the paint and maybe expand his shooting range. I do believe in Javon Small’s combo guard ability offensively with great motor, and then developing defense to carve out an NBA role.
After all, if an NBA player doesn’t slip to #55, then we’re looking at guys who are at least close, and just need some refinement, whether it’s skills or building more of an NBA body.
Hopefully, new Laker ownership sees this upcoming draft and undrafted free agents as an opportunity for South Bay to be even more of an extension of the Laker team.
Who knows. Maybe they add a great player development program for South Bay, and the Lakers bench starts cooking with real gas.
Thanks Mike!
Barnhizer!!!