Elite Eight High Motor Prospects

[Lipoli390]

Here's my recent post from another thread. I thought it would be a good intro to a new thread devoted to the importance what's generally referred to as "motor" in assessing NBA draft prospects.

Based on everything I've read and seen, the top 15 prospects that also have great motors appear to be: Okongwu, Avdija, Haliburton, Vassell, Saddiq Bey, Isaac Okoro, Precious Achiuwa, and Patrick Williams. Achiuwa might have the best motor of these 8, but that's splitting hairs. They all appear to have elite motors that they show consistently on both sides of the ball when they're on the court. First I'll provide my assessment of these eight high-motor prospects in six separate categories: (1) defense, (2) shooting, (3) skill level, (4) hustle stats, (5) basketball IQ, and (6) overall upside. Then I'll reveal my favorite.

DEFENSE: Best: 8-Way Tie. Interestingly, but perhaps not surprisingly all of these 8 high-motor prospects are regarded as good to great defenders by all or nearly all the draft analyses I've read. The video I've seen seems to confirm that assessment. This underscores the connection between motor/intensity and defense. The most athletic prospect in the draft is probably Edwards, yet he's regarded as one of the worst defenders in the League. He should be a great defender. Motor matters. It matters on both sides of the ball, but especially on the defensive side.

SHOOTING: Best: Saddiq Bey. Runner Up: Vassell and Haliburton. Of these 8 high-motor prospects, the best perimeter shooters are Vassell, Bey and Haliburton. I know that Haliburton has a funky-looking shot, but his plus 50% FG shooting and plus 40% shooting in both of his two years in college deserve substantial weight in evaluating his NBA shooting potential. He also hit 82.2% of his free-throw attempts as a sophomore. On the other hand, Haliburton was a terrible shooter off the dribble, which tells us that his funky-looking shot with its slow release might impede his shooting at the next level. I think Patrick Williams has tremendous potential as a shooter. He already has a very nice mid-range shot and ended up hitting 46% of his 7 field goal attempts per game as a freshman. Moreover, he hit a respectable 32% of his 1.7 three-point attempts and, more notably, he hit nearly 84% of his 2.7 free-throw attempts. And again, he did that as a young freshman. As for the best shooter among these 8, it's a close call between Bey, Vassell and Haliburton. But I'm going with Bey largely based on the numbers. Bey had better FG and 3-point percentages than Vassell when comparing their respective sophomore stats. Bey also had better 3-point and free-throw percentages on more attempts than Vassell when comparing their freshman stats. Haliburton had the best shooting stats overall in his two years combined, but his funky form places him in a tie for second behind Bey.

SKILL LEVEL: Best: Haliburton. Runner Up: Avidja. It's a fairly close call between Haliburton and Avidja in this category, but in the end giving this one to Haliburton was pretty easy for me. Haliburton is superb ball-handler and passer with an elite basketball IQ. Runner up goes to Avidja, who also possesses excellent ball-handling and passing skills. Both Haliburton and Avdija are good rebounders as well. Interestingly, Avidja's shooting form is really nice and much better than Halliburton's, but his Deni's form isn't reflected in his Euro-League shooting stats.

HUSTLE STATS: Best: Okongwu. Runner Up: Haliburton. Since the are all high-motor prospects, I tried to distinguish them from one another by looking at their do-shit stats, namely rebounding, blocks and steals. Okongwu takes the honors in this category with his 8.6 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and 1.2 steals per game. All three are excellent for a college freshman. His 2.7 blocks is elite his combination of 2.7 blocks and 1.2 steals is rare. Haliburton is runner up in this category with 6 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game.

BASKETBALL IQ: Best: 3 way Tie Between Haliburton, Vassell and Deni. Every analysis I've read praises all eight of these guys for their basketball IQs. It could easily be an eight-way tie, but I ended up viewing Haliburton, Vassell and Deni as the three best in this category. I'm just basing that generally on what I've read and the video I've seen. But any or all of these eight could be considered equal to or better than one another in this category.

OVERALL UPSIDE: Best: Patrick Williams. Runner Up: Okongwu. Here's my attempt to extrapolate from the numbers, the reviews and what I've seen to identify who, among these high-motor elite eight, has the highest upside. I know it's highly subjective and certainly open to argument, but I think the prospect with the highest upside among these eight is Patrick Williams. This selection stems more than anything from watching his video highlights and video reviews. He has a combination of size, athleticism, skill, toughness and feel for the game that seem special to me. He'll likely take longer to develop than the other seven, but I think the wait with this guy will be well worth it. More than any other player in this draft, he reminds me of Kawhi and Giannis, although not quite as big as either of those two guys. I encourage everyone to watch this guy. He exhibited some really impressive play even in his purportedly weakest areas, namely ball-handling and passing. Note that he's only a freshman and a relatively young freshman who just turned 19 this month. My runner up in this category is Okongwu. He produced at an elite level in multiple impact categories as a freshman. It's rare to find a college freshman who blocks 2.7 shots while also pulling down 8.6 rebounds and scoring over 16 points per game - not to mention getting 1.2 steals per game as well. His quick-twitch athleticism in a 245 pound frame also signals a high upside. His size is very similar to Bam's and his college stats were actually better than Bam's college stats across the board.

MY CHOICE: Okongwu or Williams. Selecting Okongwu at #1 would raise a few eyebrows and ideally the Wolves would be able to trade down a few slots and draft him while also getting another value able asset in return. However, that's easier said than done and it might behoove the Wolves to take him with their #1 pick. Taking Williams with the top pick would be a huge reach and I don't see that happening. Yet, I don't see Williams falling to #17. I'm sure Vassell, Haliburton and Deni will be gone by #17 and I'm worried that Williams and Bey will also be off the board by that time as well. Ideally, I'd like to see the Wolves end up with two of these eight high-motor prospects by the end of this year's draft.

Then what about the 3 highest upside prospects in this draft who did not make my high-motor list? The more I've watched, the more convinced I am that Edwards and Ball are the highest upside players in this draft and that Wiseman is probably a close second to those two guys. But draft analysts have raised motor questions about all three. That's why I'd be reluctant to draft any of them. Of these three, I consider Edwards the most problematic. The more I watch him, the more I see JR Rider. I'm not as troubled by Ball's motor as I once was. But I'm still concerned about his attitude on the defensive end. I'm less concerned about Wiseman's motor than Edward's or Ball's.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Here's my recent post from another thread. I thought it would be a good intro to a new thread devoted to the importance what's generally referred to as "motor" in assessing NBA draft prospects.

Based on everything I've read and seen, the top 15 prospects that also have great motors appear to be: Okongwu, Avdija, Haliburton, Vassell, Saddiq Bey, Isaac Okoro, Precious Achiuwa, and Patrick Williams. Achiuwa might have the best motor of these 8, but that's splitting hairs. They all appear to have elite motors that they show consistently on both sides of the ball when they're on the court. First I'll provide my assessment of these eight high-motor prospects in six separate categories: (1) defense, (2) shooting, (3) skill level, (4) hustle stats, (5) basketball IQ, and (6) overall upside. Then I'll reveal my favorite.

DEFENSE: Best: 8-Way Tie. Interestingly, but perhaps not surprisingly all of these 8 high-motor prospects are regarded as good to great defenders by all or nearly all the draft analyses I've read. The video I've seen seems to confirm that assessment. This underscores the connection between motor/intensity and defense. The most athletic prospect in the draft is probably Edwards, yet he's regarded as one of the worst defenders in the League. He should be a great defender. Motor matters. It matters on both sides of the ball, but especially on the defensive side.

SHOOTING: Best: Saddiq Bey. Runner Up: Vassell and Haliburton. Of these 8 high-motor prospects, the best perimeter shooters are Vassell, Bey and Haliburton. I know that Haliburton has a funky-looking shot, but his plus 50% FG shooting and plus 40% shooting in both of his two years in college deserve substantial weight in evaluating his NBA shooting potential. He also hit 82.2% of his free-throw attempts as a sophomore. On the other hand, Haliburton was a terrible shooter off the dribble, which tells us that his funky-looking shot with its slow release might impede his shooting at the next level. I think Patrick Williams has tremendous potential as a shooter. He already has a very nice mid-range shot and ended up hitting 46% of his 7 field goal attempts per game as a freshman. Moreover, he hit a respectable 32% of his 1.7 three-point attempts and, more notably, he hit nearly 84% of his 2.7 free-throw attempts. And again, he did that as a young freshman. As for the best shooter among these 8, it's a close call between Bey, Vassell and Haliburton. But I'm going with Bey largely based on the numbers. Bey had better FG and 3-point percentages than Vassell when comparing their respective sophomore stats. Bey also had better 3-point and free-throw percentages on more attempts than Vassell when comparing their freshman stats. Haliburton had the best shooting stats overall in his two years combined, but his funky form places him in a tie for second behind Bey.

SKILL LEVEL: Best: Haliburton. Runner Up: Avidja. It's a fairly close call between Haliburton and Avidja in this category, but in the end giving this one to Haliburton was pretty easy for me. Haliburton is superb ball-handler and passer with an elite basketball IQ. Runner up goes to Avidja, who also possesses excellent ball-handling and passing skills. Both Haliburton and Avdija are good rebounders as well. Interestingly, Avidja's shooting form is really nice and much better than Halliburton's, but his Deni's form isn't reflected in his Euro-League shooting stats.

HUSTLE STATS: Best: Okongwu. Runner Up: Haliburton. Since the are all high-motor prospects, I tried to distinguish them from one another by looking at their do-shit stats, namely rebounding, blocks and steals. Okongwu takes the honors in this category with his 8.6 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and 1.2 steals per game. All three are excellent for a college freshman. His 2.7 blocks is elite his combination of 2.7 blocks and 1.2 steals is rare. Haliburton is runner up in this category with 6 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game.

BASKETBALL IQ: Best: 3 way Tie Between Haliburton, Vassell and Deni. Every analysis I've read praises all eight of these guys for their basketball IQs. It could easily be an eight-way tie, but I ended up viewing Haliburton, Vassell and Deni as the three best in this category. I'm just basing that generally on what I've read and the video I've seen. But any or all of these eight could be considered equal to or better than one another in this category.

OVERALL UPSIDE: Best: Patrick Williams. Runner Up: Okongwu. Here's my attempt to extrapolate from the numbers, the reviews and what I've seen to identify who, among these high-motor elite eight, has the highest upside. I know it's highly subjective and certainly open to argument, but I think the prospect with the highest upside among these eight is Patrick Williams. This selection stems more than anything from watching his video highlights and video reviews. He has a combination of size, athleticism, skill, toughness and feel for the game that seem special to me. He'll likely take longer to develop than the other seven, but I think the wait with this guy will be well worth it. More than any other player in this draft, he reminds me of Kawhi and Giannis, although not quite as big as either of those two guys. I encourage everyone to watch this guy. He exhibited some really impressive play even in his purportedly weakest areas, namely ball-handling and passing. Note that he's only a freshman and a relatively young freshman who just turned 19 this month. My runner up in this category is Okongwu. He produced at an elite level in multiple impact categories as a freshman. It's rare to find a college freshman who blocks 2.7 shots while also pulling down 8.6 rebounds and scoring over 16 points per game - not to mention getting 1.2 steals per game as well. His quick-twitch athleticism in a 245 pound frame also signals a high upside. His size is very similar to Bam's and his college stats were actually better than Bam's college stats across the board.

MY CHOICE: Okongwu or Williams. Selecting Okongwu at #1 would raise a few eyebrows and ideally the Wolves would be able to trade down a few slots and draft him while also getting another value able asset in return. However, that's easier said than done and it might behoove the Wolves to take him with their #1 pick. Taking Williams with the top pick would be a huge reach and I don't see that happening. Yet, I don't see Williams falling to #17. I'm sure Vassell, Haliburton and Deni will be gone by #17 and I'm worried that Williams and Bey will also be off the board by that time as well. Ideally, I'd like to see the Wolves end up with two of these eight high-motor prospects by the end of this year's draft.

Then about the 3 highest upside prospects in this draft who did not make my high-motor list? The more I've watched, the more convinced I am that Edwards and Ball are the highest upside players in this draft and that Wiseman is probably a close second to those two guys. But draft analysts have raised motor questions about all three. That's why I'd be reluctant to draft any of them. Of these three, I consider Edwards the most problematic. The more I watch him, the more I see JR Rider. I'm not as troubled by Ball's motor as I once was. But I'm still concerned about his attitude on the defensive end. I'm less concerned about Wiseman's motor than Edward's or Ball's.

Lip I'm with you on the Okongwu plan. He's the guy we need but not at #1. If he's gone at 3 or 4 then we adjust just like last year.