Actually, the center that I wanted to put on this series was Koloko, and I might still do it if I have time. But, after reading so much draft junkies stuff on Jaylin, I buy some of his stock and think would be more interesting for a player that might be getting overlooked and it's more of a spicy take. One of the most improved players in the country as a sophomore, Jaylin Williams broke out at Arkansas, earning All-SEC and SEC All-Defense honors. On the year, Williams averaged 11 PPG, 10 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.3 SPG, 1.1 BPG, and 1.8 TOPG on shooting splits of 46/24/73.
If it is this close to the draft and you haven't heard about Jaylin's ability to take charge, like a jumbo version of Kyle Lowry, you're probably not having enough fun reading and watching this year's prospects. Simply elite charge-taker and foul-baiter which can be helpful with the evolution of bigger ball handlers, charging is always a nice strategy to force the ref's hand against guys like Giannis, Siakam, Simmons, and Doncic.
His impact is felt, but not in ways that give a direct translation to the modern NBA center. Elite at reading pick and roll as a drop defender, he's just positionally sound and great at baiting the opposing ball handler to pass and creating a turnover. He plays angles well and has quick hands which lead to a big amount of steals out of bounce passes. He's good at catching lazy passes on the perimeter and keeping up with slower guys, but not much more to say about his (in)ability to defend outside the paint. Is a very good post defender, making it hard for the pass to reach the big man.
His size alone made him show some glimpses of his protection, but being vertically athletic is not his strong suit. What's good is that he does a good job at contesting without fouling which can translate to staying on the court at the next level. Speaking of his projection, the main issue for him being a good defender is his lack of lateral quickness. That's bad because it makes him mainly usable on drop coverage as of now, but most importantly in his film, it's infuriating how slow he is on closeouts on catch and shoot 3s when he has to recover. It seems he doesn't trust his quickness, he's usually too far from his man for fear to get blown by (and yes he still does get beaten in those cases).
On offense, his passing is a big sell, with quick reads out of short rolls. Not fancy, but knows how to find the open guy and deliver in a good way. Very good from the top of the key quickly finding cutters, to unlock that even more will need to improve his ability to keep the dribble alive (he's patient enough for cutters, just stop dribbling earlier than desired when pressured). Also, use his quick thinking to make some touchdown passes out of rebounds.
His finishing needs work, I don't like guys that usually go for scoop shots being a big boy. His lack of lateral quickness also is shown when he attacks better athletes, this would also be beneficial for him to improve his patience on dribbling and keeping the ball alive instead of going for contested drives. He's also a very common case with modern big men prospects, you'll find the film of him hitting 3s and showing stretch 5 potential but the shot doesn't fall consistently and is pretty much a work in progress.
His ability to improve as a shooter on the pick and pop is what will define his longevity in the league and how dangerous he'll be in a 2 man game. If you buy his shot, he's close to a lottery pick. If you don't, he's a mid 2nd round pick at best. He needs to improve his shot and get strong enough to really leverage his superior footwork for 1 on 1 defense against big men and rebounding. If he can do those 2 things he is a rotation level center. Those two things are a lot easier to improve at the NBA level that at the college level. All the skills he is good at (rebounding, BBIQ, playmaking) are things that almost always translate to the next level, so that's not really the question with him. Give him an NBA level strenght and conditioning program and shooting coach, and you have at least an above average backup center with Jaylin.
Main questions going into the draft:
Is he a multi-positional defender due to his size + skill combinations, or is he a tweener?
Can he develop a more polished and confident shot where teams won't dare him to shoot?
At best, is he the definition of a glue guy and nothing more than that?
Best Fits:
Knicks (Can Thibs make him have a similar impact of Noah?)
Raptors (Nurse can get the best out of a really unique guy in this class)
Mavs (might be a better center than Powell from day 1)
Thunder (a late first/early second center that can be a long-term glue guy even if a better C prospect (wemby music) comes in)
Kings (can be a decent Sabonis backup letting them play similar sets)
Blazers (another team needing a backup big badly)