Thanks for the insight, Cool. I liked the pick but as you know I was a bit disappointed we didn’t get my guy Bruce Thornton. . I always like getting your take on prospects because you see them through the eyes of a coach so you see the game at a level I don’t. After doing some more post-draft research on Evans, it’s clear we drafted a guy at 33 who was widely regarded as a first-round talent.
Here’s some of the analysis about him that I found:
“According to major pre-draft scouting guides, talent evaluators were split on his immediate readiness:
Elite Shooting Trait: Scouts universally rated him as one of the best movement and catch-and-shoot prospects in the class, highlighted by his 15.0 points per game and 36.1% shooting from deep as a Duke sophomore.
Physical Concerns: The primary factor that lowered his rating out of the lottery was his thin frame (6'6" and 186 pounds), which raised question marks regarding how well he could handle physical play and defend at the NBA level”
He didn’t fall in the draft because of concerns about his talent, skills, attitude or competitiveness. He slid because he’s 186 pounds. I get being concerned about a buy like Dillingham who weighed in at around 165 lbs in the combine. But I don’t hear alarm bells when I think about a 6’6” 186 pound guard. How much did Reggie Miller weight when he came into the League?
So I’m pretty high on Evans.
I listened to Tyler Metcalf from No Ceilings on Dane's pod about him and he said while he is skinny he likes to mix it up and didn't back down when the opponent got physical. Of course the NBA will be another level of physical and there is probably a ceiling (pun intended) on how much he can handle.
The closest physical profile he is, height and weight wise, is Corey Brewer and he made it work.
Reggie Miller came into the League at 185 pounds when the League was far more physical than it is today. Reggie is in the hall of fame. We just need Evans to be a good rotation shooter and decent defender off the bench. Here are some other more SG comps (weight/height)
AJ Johnson 167 lbs 6’5”
Jalen Green 180 lbs 6’5”
Keon Johnson 185 lbs 6’5
Malik Monk 190 lbs 6’3
James Bouknight 190 lbs 6’5
Joshua Primo 190 lbs 6’5
Tyler Herro 195 lbs 6’5
My take is that Corey brewer was a Different type of athlete than Evans but that doesn't mean Evans can't be successful. Brewer was fast but also had issues with body control. He one elite skill was his ability to disrupt of take the ball away from just about anyone. He played his ass off and was good in transition. Eventually he just ended up being a good player regardless of his flaws. Okogie is kinda similar and I can see Clark becoming that kind of guy. Those guys are pretty useful if you are paying them not a whole lot of money.
Back to Evans his Skill is 3 point shooting. You don't need to weigh much to do that. As for being physical he sets screens he isn't afraid of doing so and based on what I have seen he is good at it. He has kind of a high center of gravity (this has been noted by other draft people's takes too so that can hurt some of his physical ability to hold up and I think can hurt his lateral movement. On the other hand he can teleport himself around when he is looking to make a shot. Of the Wolves young wings he is very different in that he is a shooter and has the general game of a guy that make compliment others on a roster. I like that about him.
Kaufman also is different too. He is lunchpail physical dude.
I listened to Tyler Metcalf from No Ceilings on Dane's pod about him and he said while he is skinny he likes to mix it up and didn't back down when the opponent got physical. Of course the NBA will be another level of physical and there is probably a ceiling (pun intended) on how much he can handle.
The closest physical profile he is, height and weight wise, is Corey Brewer and he made it work.
Reggie Miller came into the League at 185 pounds when the League was far more physical than it is today. Reggie is in the hall of fame. We just need Evans to be a good rotation shooter and decent defender off the bench. Here are some other more SG comps (weight/height)
AJ Johnson 167 lbs 6’5”
Jalen Green 180 lbs 6’5”
Keon Johnson 185 lbs 6’5
Malik Monk 190 lbs 6’3
James Bouknight 190 lbs 6’5
Joshua Primo 190 lbs 6’5
Tyler Herro 195 lbs 6’5
My take is that Corey brewer was a Different type of athlete than Evans but that doesn't mean Evans can't be successful. Brewer was fast but also had issues with body control. He one elite skill was his ability to disrupt of take the ball away from just about anyone. He played his ass off and was good in transition. Eventually he just ended up being a good player regardless of his flaws. Okogie is kinda similar and I can see Clark becoming that kind of guy. Those guys are pretty useful if you are paying them not a whole lot of money.
Back to Evans his Skill is 3 point shooting. You don't need to weigh much to do that. As for being physical he sets screens he isn't afraid of doing so and based on what I have seen he is good at it. He has kind of a high center of gravity (this has been noted by other draft people's takes too so that can hurt some of his physical ability to hold up and I think can hurt his lateral movement. On the other hand he can teleport himself around when he is looking to make a shot. Of the Wolves young wings he is very different in that he is a shooter and has the general game of a guy that make compliment others on a roster. I like that about him.
Kaufman also is different too. He is lunchpail physical dude.
Good analysis, Monster. I especially like your point about weight not really being important to Evans’ specialty, which is 3-point shooting. I checked their combine numbers, confirm what we already know - namely that these two are almost exactly the same size. Evans is actually slightly longer but had the exact same weight measurement. Interestingly, the combine results show that they are almost equally athletic. Evans had a slightly faster sprint time than Brewer - 3.18 v. 3.22. But Corey had a slightly higher max vertical - 36.5 v. 35.5. They had very similar agility scores with Corey’s only slightly faster at 11.69 v. 11.87.
. I always like getting your take on prospects because you see them through the eyes of a coach so you see the game at a level I don’t. After doing some more post-draft research on Evans, it’s clear we drafted a guy at 33 who was widely regarded as a first-round talent.
