Updated Draft List, Nikola Djurisic, and Jalen Slawson

The Upcoming Draft is a Bit Trickier

Apr 12, 2023

I recently released a 2023 NBA Draft Big Board. This early in the process, it is a bit of a placeholder through 40 players as more information about prospects, the interview process, pre-draft camp, and player size and measurements come out.

Photo by TJ Dragotta on Unsplash

I didn’t expect Kyle Filipowski to return back to Duke for the next season, but the list has roughly remained the same since February.

Generally speaking here’s an updated list of players I'm eyeing for LAL with a few minor changes:

Jett Howard

Sidy Cissoko

Nikola Djurisic

Jalen Slawson

Kris Murray

Rayan Rupert

Maxwell Lewis

Julian Strawther

Ricky Council IV

Kevin McCullar Jr

Andre Jackson Jr.

Grant Nelson

With this list, I admit, I’m a bit indecisive between two schools of thought when it comes to the NBA draft. One school of thought is tied to the idea of drafting a more ready NBA player, especially on a playoff caliber NBA team. The other, is to draft for upside and potential. Ideally, you get both; a productive NBA player from the jump with a development path to become a higher impact player, but that isn’t always available at the #17 and #47 pick.

Frankly, what has worked for me is finding the guys with triple threat skills (like Jalen Williams and Austin Reaves) that have provided immediate impact and through their combination of skills and IQ, not necessarily their athletic tools. As it turns out, their projected upside is higher than originally perceived.

This leads me to a couple players that have caught my attention.

Possibly NBA Ready?

If I were to make a list of players that I felt were more NBA ready, it would include Nikola Djurisic, Jalen Slawson, Kris Murray, Sidy Cissoko, Kevin McCullar Jr., and Andre Jackson Jr.

But for this post specifically, I’m going to focus on a couple of favorites. Boths have been mocked as high as the late-1st round to undrafted. It’s a large variance, but we’re still months away from draft day.

I just feel confident about what I’ve seen from each of these players so far.

Nikola Djurisic

Every time I watch him, I think he looks like a first round player, especially with his handle, pick-and-roll play, and pull-up shooting ability. It’s like watching Bogdan Bogdanovic all over again. On almost every mock draft I see, he’s placed in the mid-2nd round or worse. I think there’s too much focus on the 3-point shooting, which unfortunately, is just over 22% for the season. But, when you watch him play, he doesn’t give the impression of a bad shooter. It’s not like the form is bad. He’s on balance despite strong defensive contests. He takes a lot of pull-up jumpshots, which tend to lead to lower accuracy numbers, but I’m far more willing to take a chance on a guy that needs shooting reps for range, and has the ball-handling, decision-making, and shot creation within extended two-point range.

He hits perimeter shots against tough defensive contests. While he had 6 turnovers in this game, he was up against one of the best defenders and athletes in the 2023 draft, Ausar Thompson. While one can argue the level of competition, it’s tough to describe the activity of his footwork, the constant engagement in trying to read the defense both on-and-off the ball, trying to make live passes off-the-dribble, and the willingness to draw some contact along the perimeter when committing to an offensive move.

Adam Spinella of The Box And One did a great breakdown of his game vs. the Overtime Elite, a team that included Amen and Ausar Thompson.

While there aren’t advanced numbers listed on his Basketball Reference profile we can create one that I like to focus on. The one that stands out to me the most is 10.7 total field goal attempts per game and 5 free throws per game. That is a .467 free throw rate. This appears to be NBA translatable, because he sees defensive pressure as an initiator, has a decent first step, but more importantly, is very consise with how he changes direction with the dribble, how quickly he decelerates, uses a hang dribble to change the timing, utilizes a side step, and is on-balance with this shot.

This, is a lottery move.

Pay attention to the 0:25 to 0:35 second mark of this clip:

The whole video is a highlight reel of him being the lead initiator making plays on both ends of the floor.

He’s also doing these moves in the Liga ABA league. The Liga ABA league does have some familiar names with NBA talent, that include Yoga Ferrell, Dante Exum, Facundo Campazzo, and lesser known NBA players such as Nemanja Nedovic and Alen Smailagic of the Golden State Warriors.

He’s 19 years old, roughly 6’8” 210lbs. with a strong frame, and has had plenty of reps as a creator, playmaker, and is comfortable as a spot up shooter as well.

Jalen Slawson

If there was a player that I felt was Larry Nance Jr. in wing size, it would be Jalen Slawson. He’s a two-way player that is comfortable with physicality, defending bigger players, and able to make reads from the high post area. Larry Nance Jr. is a more explosive finisher at the rim in terms of real verticality, but Slawson has an ability to extend for a dunk at a slightly farther distance from the hoop.

While he has some offensive limitations, if a role player has enough ball-handling ability to attack a closeout and is comfortable from three-point range, that’s enough for a role player to stay on the floor offensively. He has a .499FTr. I don’t necessarily think that it’ll directly translate to the NBA level unless there’s vast improvement with ball-handling, but it does show he is willing to be aggressive against mismatches and play up to his physicality on the offensive end, something I can’t say out of a player like Matisse Thybulle.

More importantly, his best skill is the ability to provide impact defensively, switch comfortably, rotate effectively, and make reads on both ends of the floor. He is age 23 at the time of this post, but there are some NBA veterans that don’t make his defensive reads or his playmaking reads. This is translatable, and it’s also what I think leans into his NBA readiness. So, what’s wrong with a two-way wing-sized player that is comfortable playing up a lineup defensively, makes good and timely defensive reads, protects the rim, and facilitates to other teammates while having a decent 3-point shot? Isn’t that the point of drafting a wing in the first place? To get the skill versatility?

He may not have the offensive upside by age of other wing players in his draft class, but if you told me there was a player that could do those things as a rookie, I’d argue he’s an NBA rotation player from the start.

While it appears that I’m overrating Djursic and Slawson, I’m nowhere near halfway done with my research on players. These two stood out to me, making reads on both ends of the floor, having NBA level size by position, and having a certain level of competency with offense (Djurisic) or defense (Slawson) that would lead to getting playing time with NBA teams.

They may not have the traditional idea of a projected upside, but their skill combinations tend to line up with productive NBA players and guys that can be in positive lineups.

We still need to see more information on both of them and the rest of the draft-eligible players, but for now, I’m optimistic on what both of them can do at the next level.