Ineptimusprime
Well-Known Member
Vecenie has mocked Herb Jones to us at 30 in his most recent mock draft.
2021 NBA Draft Preview (new thread)
- Thread starter Ferguson_Mellochill
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I think Primo is more or less the Anfernee Simons of this draft, the difference being that Primo plays some defense.
Jazz have to be looking at Ayo, Christopher, Thor, Todd and Butler for #30. I'd like to think they're also looking at Vrenz. No way Preston is close to that range. That has to be a trade-back scenario. Even then, I wouldn't look at Preston. Jazz need size, toughness and defense.
Handlogten's Heros
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I would have thought the same thing with Udoka last year… big time reach in the first and not at all what we need. It isn’t about what we need right now… it’s best available player but you also consider positional need and roster needs a year from now or long term. Very few rookies fill a need on a playoff team. We dealt we get one that can play 10
Minutes a night and survive and develop. Then in a year they are a full blown rotation player. The only guy I feel can play 15 minutes a night and be really effective that is in our general range is Butler. He may not be possible. Vice or has him mocked at 18. I’ve not seen anyone that mocks him after like 28. I wish we could trade up a few spots and nab him but our meager assets likely don’t allow that to happen.
It wouldn't shock me at all if Preston is their pick. Even if Conley stays, he's only got 3 more years left probably. Getting a PG would be a good idea. Jason Preston has a lot of upside in that he's never been in a serious program. He's completely self-made. Get him in a NBA training program and he could have big physical and skill jumps.
But backup PG is an actual Jazz need though, so Preston would fit a need. He's not my favorite prospect, but he's a fun player who plays with flair and has a great story. He's got great size for the PG position if he can fill out his frame.
Also, Ingles might retire next year. He's essentially our backup PG and why we can afford to run Mitchell at Quasi-Backup PG. The Jazz have a bigger need that I think we realize to reload on some potential (at least) secondary playmakers.
Miggs
Well-Known Member
The idea that we are going to compare a guy who played 22 minutes a game with two other players from a different draft class who didn’t excel in the NBA is silly. I’m sure there are players who had similar numbers as freshman as those you mentioned (or worse) and yet have excelled in the NBA. Does that prove or not prove anything?
Having said that, I’ll play a long a bit. Their numbers are quite similar in many ways. Admittedly, Primo had a far worse turnover rate than Dotson. Primo however had a far better three point shooting percentage, eFG%, and TS% than Dotson. In a league in which shooting is so huge, that’s pretty damn important to me. Moreover, Dotson was 18.5 years old basically exactly (born in May) when he played his first college game at Oregon. Primo was still 17 years old when he played his first college game and had to play that season in the midst of COVID, a disadvantage, as you yourself have said.
Lastly, while their wingspans are basically identical, Primo has a standing reach of 8’6.5 as compared to Dotson’s 8’4”. Primo also has a hand width of 10.00 inches while Dotson had 9.25. This seems arbitrarily pointless but NBA teams care about this. Why? On the defensive end, these are valuable traits.
At the end of the day, each of us probably only “hits” on about 30-40% of our guys. I like Primo a lot. You don’t. And that’s fine. But this comp to Dotson and the other ******* is flimsy at best.
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I'll also add that I'm pretty sure Preston has the best advanced PNR stats in the draft. I'm sure that's high on the Jazz's indicators list.
His flaws are definitely worrying. He had a huge drop in free throw rate this year and his FT% absolutely tanked. He was a bad defender in the MAC. But his strengths really fit the team well. Elite rebounding from a guard spot would be huge for this team. His passing is up their with the top passing prospects in the class (Giddey/Cooper). He's a dangerous 3pt shooter who scores efficiently despite not being a foul drawer.
His flaws are definitely worrying. He had a huge drop in free throw rate this year and his FT% absolutely tanked. He was a bad defender in the MAC. But his strengths really fit the team well. Elite rebounding from a guard spot would be huge for this team. His passing is up their with the top passing prospects in the class (Giddey/Cooper). He's a dangerous 3pt shooter who scores efficiently despite not being a foul drawer.
What about Josh Primo really makes him standout to you outside of age? How high would you be willing to draft him? Is this purely an eye-test thing because his advanced indicators outside of shooting are mostly garbage?
Miggs
Well-Known Member
I’d start with age. He won’t even turn 19 until December. This allows a **** ton of time for improvement under the leadership of the best coaches, training staffs, and players in the world. We’re not talking an old 20 year old coming out (a little older but not super older) , we’re talking about someone almost 2.5 years younger than that.
I also like the physical profile. The height, wingspan, standing reach, hand size, which is strong in and of itself, but looks smooth on an NBA court. He’s quite coordinated and smooth. There’s no awkwardness there. We see this in how he moves, how he dribbles. There’s an obvious level of comfort there.
I then look at the numbers. He had strong shooting numbers as a freshman. Not elite but quite strong. For someone with his length, I like his handle. I’d say it’s slightly above average and given his age, is something he could improve upon so that it’s even better over time. His rebounding numbers are pedestrian and passing is an area of concern both so far as assist and turnover numbers are concerned. I don’t know if those were the result of minimizing ball handling (lower assist numbers) or rookie jitters and/or bad decision making that led to the turnovers. I’d have to watch full games more to know. But that’s not a huge concern for me probably in a way that it’s not for you with Christopher. That’s something that can develop with good coaching.
In short, I don’t see any glaring weaknesses that can’t be improved upon, even drastically, and I see a lot of upside with shooting, defense and handle. He looks smooth. My biggest concern (other than passing I guess) would be his temperament. Does he have any fire in him to be the best player he can be? Given his length and skill set, I’d like to see him fill out his body in a way Hayward did (though not that much and much of that is out of his control and genetics) and be more physical on the court to where he grabs more rebounds, gets more steals (and maybe more blocks), and uses it at both ends of the court to his advantage.
Miggs
Well-Known Member
As far as where I’d draft him, I don’t know. Right around 30. Maybe as high as 25. The mock/analysis that I’ve seen that is most in line with my thoughts is that box and one site that someone posted yesterday. I like Primo more than others, don’t like the UVA kid as much, like Garuba more, etc.