NBA Draft: What Kinds of Players Should the Hornets Target With the 32nd Pick? Part 2
2. Mystery centers
Recent picks in this mold:
- Hassan Whiteside (33rd)
- Ivica Zubac (32nd)
- Richaun Holmes (37th)
- Mitchell Robinson (36th)
This category is more of a grab bag of issues that caused each player to fall:
- Whiteside—didn’t do well in pre draft interviews, played low minutes for a mid-major program at Marshall.
- Zubac—like Marc Gasol before him, scouts never seem to be able to project which big European centers will be able to compete in the NBA.
- Holmes—undersized at 6’9”, played for mid-major Bowling Green.
- Robinson—was committed to play for mid-major Western Kentucky before dropping out to focus on the draft. Very little film of him to scout.
In the modern NBA, being 7 feet tall with the wingspan of an eagle is still enough to draw interest from teams. There are just a limited number of semi-coordinated human beings of that physical stature in the world.
It’s inarguably less important now than it used to be though—the value of a prospect who’s best skill is size has gone down considerably as players move the game further away from the basket.
If you travelled back in time and showed an NBA front office from 1994 highlights of players like Rudy Gobert, Clint Capela, Mitchell Robinson, Hassan Whiteside, Ivica Zubac, or Jusuf Nurkic, they might assume they’re watching half of this year’s all-star team. In reality, all of these players were picked outside of the lottery, and most either late into the first round or early in the second.
All this to say: while the zeitgeist has pushed these big, lengthy, paint-focused players later and later into the draft, they still represent great value at the picks they can generally be found nowadays.
I won’t bother selecting a single representative from this group because, truth be told, they all have very similar draft profiles and they all contribute to their teams in a comparable way.
The centers who loosely fit this profile and will likely be available in this range for the Hornets are two: Vernon Carey out of Duke, as well as:
Center. Kansas Jayhawks. UDOKA AZUBUIKE. Senior. <h2>Pre-Draft Strengths</h2> <ul> <li>7’ tall, 260 lean pounds with a 7’7” wingspan. Has a strong, unmovable body from the gate.</li> <li>Elite finisher and rim-runner who can set monolithic screens and has some feel in pick and roll. Also has a modest set of post moves.</li> <li>Insanely explosive with high potential as a rim protector.</li> </ul> <h2>Pre-Draft Weaknesses</h2> <ul> <li>While he’s not a klutz, he will get burned consistently by quick guards on the perimeter</li> <li>Shoots abysmally from outside of the restricted area, and shows little sign of developing a midrange game or beyond with a career FT% of 41.6. Will be a late-game hack target.</li> <li>Has almost no passing ability</li> </ul> <p><em>Draft profile courtesy of NBAdraft.net</em></p>
It’s easy to overthink things when it comes to the draft. Never has that been truer than this year when the process has dragged on an additional five months without much else to do. Front offices have no doubt talked themselves into and out of players several times in that span.
Vernon Carey is an interesting young player with adequate size and who’s shown flashes that he may be able to stretch his developed post-game out to midrange and possibly even the 3-point line. It’s just as easy to envision him as a good scorer off the bench a la Montrezl Harrell. However, he may not make it out of the first round, and most of his skills you’d be banking on to translate or develop in the NBA are based mostly on flashes of potential. He’s the guy you pick if you truly think the traditional center position is dead, but you still need one.
With Azubuike, you know what you’re getting. He’s a behemoth. Just eyeing him near the paint will make a lot of guards think twice about entering. He’s got a strong body and an intimidating presence. When he dunks (which is most of the time), he’s trying to send the ball into the Earth’s core. When he blocks, he’s trying to send it into orbit.
He’s also not just a boulder you throw on the court. At the Combine, he registered a 37” standing vertical. For perspective, that’s 5 inches higher than the average center and half an inch higher than the average guard, allowing him to reach an astounding 12’6”. He’s not exactly switchable, but you’ll see worse defenders in space at his size. He’s not the kind of athlete that gets run off the court necessarily.
His offensive skillset is limited, but highly-effective. Historically effective, in fact—he’s the record holder for career field goal percentage in NCAA Division 1 basketball at 74.6%. He can catch lobs, dunk, shoot a little spin hook over the shoulder on occasion, and set strong screens then roll to the basket. He can also put back offensive rebounds. That’s it for now, and it’s likely all you’re getting.
Will he ever be a playmaker? No. Will he ever be a good shooter from the floor or the line? Not likely. Might he get burned on switches? Yes, he might. However, at just 21 years old and with the attitude and work ethic he possesses, he could be a good, maybe even great defender and a reliable guy to put under the basket at both ends.
For a team like the Hornets, who lack a real physical presence in the paint and ranked near last in most defensive rebounding categories in 2019-20, Azubuike could be a great anchor in the rotation. He also has the potential to be even more. If James Wiseman is off the board at the number 3 pick, they could do worse than to take Azubuike as a center they could develop into at least a good backup out of the second round—maybe even a starter.
Next. Why an Al Horford trade makes perfect sense. dark