With such a deep draft class and the season coming into a end, I'll go out of my way (I'm not a good draft guy lol) to write about prospects that will likely be available after the 14th pick and might have similar talent to those guys picked in the lottery. I already have 5 guys that I want to research a bit and write about so it'll probably be a 5 posts series, let's start with Hardy.
At the end of the 2021 high school basketball season, ESPN's top-rated player was Holmgren. Banchero was the fifth prospect, and Smith was the sixth. The second player in that class, Jaden Hardy, decided to take the G-League route. He had a shaky season that hurt his stock with mainly bad shooting splits and considering where he was at the end of last year, many will view his G-League season as a mistake. The good news for some NBA fans with a pick in the 15-30 range is that he will possibly be on the board when the team makes their selection.
A high caliber scorer with a good offensive package due to a combination of scoring range on his pull-up jumper (walks into his own triple with ease and has a quick release when receiving the pass out of an off-ball screen) and a great step-back move (smart at getting his feet behind the 3 pt line in the middle of a move). Play at his own pace with a strong handle, capable of pulling out creative ways to score the basket over and around defenders. His offensive game can translate into a dangerous iso/1v1 scorer capable of pull-up from 3 pt range, while also being effective in the mid-range while driving not needing much space to pull up. Can make him really hard to stop, preventing teams from going under screens or playing drop coverage.
Show flashes of manipulating defenders coming off handoffs/screens. Great hesi to go past bigs on perimiter for straight drives and flashes of drawing contact from guards and finishing through it. Not the fastest, but show tight handles at times and is great at getting to the basket by playing at his own speed. Show flashes with his fake pass + pull-up middy, but will have to become a feared playmaker to unlock that part of his game in the NBA. Became better at finding the open man as a PnR playmaker, still needs to work at passing on tight windows but there's upside with shooters around him (that Ignite team had some brick collectors like Daniels). Some good signing at hitting the big man too, both on pocket passes and over the top, still need to cut turnover but making quicker reads can come with time and with better spacing.
If he can translate his ability to score off the PnR and add good passing to his change of pace and body control, will become a really good scoring guard in the league. This man is a microwave badge walking before our eyes, can get hot very quickly, and has a fluid way of getting into his shot when catching the ball. Can become a deadly off-ball scorer in a system where he can go off screens (he's mainly going off his right atm). Needs to improve his floater and left hand handle to become less predictable in the NBA and a more complete weapon, his finishing with the left is also questionable. Still finds it difficult to finish when getting bumped by bigger and stronger guys which makes him avoid contact when driving against paint protection. Will probably need more balance/strength and develop the ability to draw fouls in those scenarios. The fact that he tries to slow the game down to use his handle makes him in some cases lack burst speed to get around guys or find a clean shot when he's in the paint. Will need to become less predictable and with a greater burst to create separation consistently against good defenders since he lacks vertical athleticism.
All-around bad defender. He's flat-footed most of the time which makes him easy to beat and when that happens usually gambles trying to go for the steal. Accepts screens and doesn't recover on the play with a tendency to watch the play when he gets beaten or caught in a pick. Not being good at keeping sight of his man and on the ball at the same time, coupled with his tendency to quit on play can turn him into a negative on that end. His lack of burst speed also is noticed on that end, not being too much of a presence when contesting as the low man.
Main questions going into the draft:
Did playing against grown-men in a system not tailor-made for him artificially made his year look bad and enhanced his weaknesses?
Can his playmaking and burst improve to the point where he plays PG in the league?
Is it possible to correct his defensive lack of discipline and effort for him to be more than a bench scorer?
Best Fits:
Bucks (could be BPA, they could use his scoring)
Twolves (could become a better/cheaper Beasley, can fit next to a Ant/KAT duo)
Wizards (could be their guard of the future, why isn't this team rebuilding lol)
Mavs (if they lose Brunson, start Spencer and play Hardy off the bench)
Heat (need scoring, trade Herro + draft a new one = profit?)
Spurs (have 2 late firsts, Pop can fix his defense? Primo still there?)
Teams that can use a scoring guard off the bench (he can play that role from day 1 and develop from there)
Give me your thoughts on that man. Do you want your team to draft him? Are you high or low on him compared to his current draft stock?