Until now, I’ve never taken Nix seriously as a prospect or done a deep dive into his background. But recognizing the troubling lack of PG depth behind Conley combined with Dilly’s position on the development curve, and recognizing how well Daishen has played in our first three summer league games, I think Nix has to be considered as a potential #1 backup to Conley at least for the first half of next season until Dilly develops his game enough to fill that role. To that end, I took the sort of deep dive into Daishen that I usually take into the background of viable Wolves draft prospects. What I’ve found has been impressive.
Let’s start with physical tools. I knew is was a wide body but I didn’t really appreciate how well built Nix is until I saw him up close 10 feet away in this year’s summer league. It looked a bit like baby fat on TV, but in person you see he’s a solid block of muscle. I looked up his combine measurement - an 8’4 standing reach, 6’6.75 wingspan with a 225 pound frame. He’s big for a SG and absolutely huge for a PG. You’d think a round 225 pound 6’3” PG would be slow, but he registered a 3/4 sprint time of 3.00 with a 36.5” max vertical. He’s wide, tough, strong, fast, and aggressive.
What has he done with those physical tools before coming to the NBA? What I’ve uncovered is impressive. First of all, he’s an elite rebounder - a skill that translates from lower levels to the NBA. He averaged 10.4 rebounds as a sophomore, 9 as a Junior, 9.4 as a senior and 7.0 in the G-League last season. We could call him the mini-round mound of rebound.
. He averaged 1.7 steals and 1.3 blocks as a senior at Tennessee and 2.9 steals in the G-League. He’s was a 20 + PPG player his last two years of college and averaged 25 PPG last year in the G-League. His assist numbers were low in college, which supports Q’s view that he’s really not a PG, but he averaged 6.4 assists in his G-League games last season, which suggests he’s developed that part of his game significantly. I don’t know whether he’s the right guy to be Conley’s #1 backup next season, but I think there’s enough there to seriously consider him for that role. I’m glad we have him on another two-way deal. It probably makes sense to keep him on a two-way unless and until he solidifies his position as Mike’s main backup, in which case he could be moved into our 15th roster slot. But I wouldn’t be opposed to giving him the 15th slot right now and giving his two-way slot to Hifi or someone else.
Anyway, those are my thoughts on Nix. Some like Q might find Nix painful to watch while others like me find it fun. But the important question is: can he be Conley’s main backup next season, at least until Dilly’s ready to assume that role? I’m beginning to think he can.
