Future Friday Jalen Duren Show Transcption

Future Fridays- Jalen Duren

[00:00:00] All right, everybody. Welcome to the 279th edition of the holy backward podcast. I am Dustin here in rip city and got my man Sage here to talk about a very interesting center prospect in this year’s draft, because he is slated in a place where the Portland trailblazers are projected to go it. And we had to talk about them.

[00:00:34] He has a very interesting prospect. Um, so. And if you’re tuning in it’s Sunday, you’re like, Hey, where’s, where’s my regular holy Blackboard. Well, it was a short week for the blazers. There is no Portland representation at all star weekend. There are a lot of prospects we need to discuss. So we thought, why not throw in a bonus future?

[00:00:57] On a Sunday for ya. Uh, because we are [00:01:00] going to have to start getting really picky on who we feature because before you know, it, uh, it will be combined time, March madness and drafted me right around the corner. And so there are a lot of prospects where Portland could potentially, uh, Two pigs. Uh, they could have as many as four pics.

[00:01:16] Uh, they have two second rounders and two first rounders at the moment. So there are a lot of players to look at and you really have to, uh, you have to cover Jalen Duran. Like he is right now considered the top center prospect in the NBA draft. He has a center from the university of Memphis. Six eleven two hundred and fifty pounds with a seven, uh, excuse me.

[00:01:42] A seven five wingspan. He was a five-star class of 2021 by rivals he reclassified. So he could be part of the class of 2021. Um, his Memphis bio says he was the. Basically the [00:02:00] prospect, the number one prospect, I don’t know how accurate that is considering and Paolo Benchera were part of that, but regardless, one of the blue chip of a blue chip prospects, um, he was a 2022 preseason, um, American conference rookie year.

[00:02:17] He’s a 2022 priests. He’s an all American conference first team as a freshmen, there wasn’t a. Uh, in terms of his bio on the Memphis site. So I don’t know much about his family, however, Through 19 games for the Memphis tigers, uh, Jaylin is averaging 11.4 points, 7.7 boards. He is shooting, uh, just a blistering 63.6% from the field.

[00:02:45] He does not shoot threes 0% from downtown. Uh, he is inaccurate from the line shooting 58.5%, but he will give you 2.2 blocks, uh, 0.7 steals, uh, does that in 25 minutes per game. And [00:03:00] he has a player efficiency rating of 23.9 at the moment. Memphis is 15 and eight, which is third in the American conference.

[00:03:10] They’ve had really big wins, um, against Alabama who was number six at the time. And they defeated, uh, Houston, who was number six at the time as well. And that was Houston’s first home defeat in over two years. So that was a really strong win for that Memphis tigers team. And. This will be a little bit different of a future Friday as Sage alluded to on our last episode, which featured Walker, Kessler and Tara ease-in in that the YouTube channel that we used to go to for full entire games was taken down.

[00:03:46] So unless we’re able to catch a team in the moment we’re having to fall back on. Scouting, uh, videos, which could range between 10 to 15 minutes or, you know, slimmed down clips. So, you know, there were two games we watched, I think they [00:04:00] average somewhere between 22 minutes. So you don’t really get to see any of the lows.

[00:04:04] You’re really only seeing them when they do well. So you really have to, to mix what your eyes are, seeing, what you’re seeing on tape and what you’re seeing in these scouting reports, because those kind of go into a deeper dive of where the weaknesses are. But Sage, what were your initial thoughts when, when you saw, uh, Jalen during, so also adding into the, the clips that we watched from Matthew loves ball.

[00:04:28] You can’t really see defensive plays because most of the clips are offensive baskets. So you have to really like digest very small portions of the game and think, okay, I can make a very bad, you know, Educated guests because I don’t see much. So luckily for me or unluckily, because Memphis is a very difficult team to watch.

[00:04:49] I’ve watched a few Memphis games and have some notes written down about it. But I mean, I think before I talk about the goods, you have to talk about those Memphis team. They don’t have a [00:05:00] real point guard and they don’t do what’s best for their blue chip talent. Um, doesn’t what would you say. Offensive role will be a lob, a pick and roll guy that finishes at the rim at a very high clip and might pass his offensive role is programmed Deandre, Jordan you’re catching LOBs, and maybe put backs.

[00:05:25] So that’s how much get so much pick and roll that the Memphis team. It’s 20%. Their best player is a pick and roll dunker. And they only run the, the offense 20% from pick and rolls. And I know that they don’t have a point guard, so it was a lot harder to do pick and roll, but you got to do something to get this athletic freak the ball.

[00:05:50] So it’s really hard. I think project bigs are the toughest. Types of prospects to [00:06:00] scout and kind of project to the MBA level. When all you have is college tape to go off of, I go back to Andre Drummond. This was 10 years ago where he still had, had a role in the league. He looked at times unenthused, unmotivated.

[00:06:16] Well, he wasn’t getting the ball. They weren’t running any set place for him. He was getting either LOBs or offensive rebound and put backs. And so. There was a lot of talk. When, when Drummond Drummond slid on draft night and thinking like ninth or 10th, 10 foot of a new Orleans, I think he went maybe eighth.

[00:06:35] Yeah. He went afternoon. Oh, Harrison Barnes was seven. So he must’ve went eighth to the tray and people were kind of all over the board on him. Cause he had all of the physical traits, but there wasn’t that production. And that’s hard because you do have to kind of go to the right, um, collegiate where the right team is huge.

[00:06:51] Like absolutely. Yeah. I think you also need. Um, so I think for a project, and I think Portland’s going to see this in their [00:07:00] own project with Keon Johnson, you have to have a few factors going for you in terms of, are you going to hit your ceiling? Are you going to just even get that second contract? The first is you have to have buy-in from the organizational level.

[00:07:13] You have to know that they are willing to put in, at least for you. At least, and you have to go with the good and the bad. Like you have to let these players play through some of their mistakes. You have to also know when it’s time to sit them on the bench and have them watch from the sidelines. You have to have a really strong vet who was into mentoring.

[00:07:32] Um, I think one of the reasons Damian Lillard was so productive. His rookie year in Portland was he had a lot of buy-in from not only Terry Stotts, but if you remember, Earl Watson wanted to be a head coach and he was the third string point guard and Terry. Watson to kind of run some practices and kind of get his feet wet before he went into coaching.

[00:07:52] So Dame had not only Ronnie price who had been around the block, but he had Earl Watson. So you need a vet who is not going to feel threatened [00:08:00] by the drafting of, of Jalen Durran, who is going to be there and kind of take them under his wing and show them the ropes and let them know. No, this is how it’s done.

[00:08:09] Not only on the court, but how it’s done off the court. We got to get our diet, right. We got to get our workouts in. I mean, this is, you know, you see the biggest thing with young players. I mean, you go back to Derek rose. I think Anthony Edwards had the same thing. They just want to eat their candy. Like, that’s just what they’re used to, that their bodies can, can eat whatever.

[00:08:25] But as you get a little bit older, you have to be. You can be mindful of what you’re putting in your body because you have to stay at this peak, elite athletic condition. So you have to have, you know, uh, just a huge amount of buy-in in terms of the resources you’re putting in the time. Uh, the people, everything has to go right.

[00:08:44] To get a player who has a project. Like I was, I was telling you I was texting. I was like, he’s cookie dough to me. He’s. You can see what it can be, but it’s really raw right now. You can’t expect to draft him and start jail. And during that day one, like. He’s not only [00:09:00] he’s he’s he’s the two years from being two years away, type of prospect.

[00:09:03] When I think of a prospect at the big level where it works was Jermaine O’Neal and Jermaine was drafted right out of high school, um, skinny, extremely raw, but you saw, saw the talent and he was able to really blossom underneath some solid bigs prank grant, Rasheed, Wallace, or beat as a bonus. And he was killing those dudes in practice.

[00:09:25] It took him. Four to five years before he reached, you know, most improved player level. And then he went to all star level and then he went to MVP candidate. So you just have to really understand what you’re getting yourself into. If you’re trying to win. Now, this is not the prospect for you. If you’re trying to take the best possible player with the best possible ceiling, he’s gotta be up on your list.

[00:09:49] Absolutely. I mean, I remember you saying that Tanka, Fon or ESPN had them at six 11, but when he did the, a fever pre-draft measurement [00:10:00] or not pre-draft, but like, you know, the competition, they did the measurement, he measured out at six nine. So I kind of think that he is actually six, nine. Cause when you look at post ups and I think there was one in the Bama game where he posted up.

[00:10:16] He w got put in jail because he’s so much shorter than a normal center, but the things that make up for the lack of size is that his wingspans incredible, like you said, the vertical leap, and then he is just legitimately a unbelievable athlete. Again, like he, he can’t show off how good it was. Uh, like a pick and roll guy is because of the orphans, but when you watch him roll through the hoop, set some hard screens, he slipped a few screens in that Houston game where it was just like a slip and just branded the hoop and blamed it.

[00:10:51] You see the potential of him just as that pick and roll, roll, or dunking it on everybody. I mean, his offense is [00:11:00] limited because of the team that he is on because he’s on a team with new Playmakers and no real shooters. It’s just athletic freaks, playing basketball. So it’s hard to get to, to see what his process is on the court since it’s so not made to benefit him.

[00:11:19] I’ve seen like some really good. On the roll passes, they were slower than I would like, but he hits guys in traffic and can play make a little bit. So I think that there’s potential of him being like a DHO operator. There are things that he does offensively that is just so exciting. But, uh, do you have anything on the offense that you’d like to add?

[00:11:39] Or can we go into the defense, which I think. The tools there is what makes me very excited for him. I don’t, when you project during you, he’s not going to be an old world center, just because I don’t think he’s ever going to be offensively what you want out of. MVP all-star type of center. Um, he’s going to be a log [00:12:00] threat in any rim runner and a guy around the basket.

[00:12:03] Um, shot needs a lot of work, and there’s a lot of, I don’t even project him as a shooter whatsoever. So that’s when I, when I mentioned your burying, O’Neil like, that’s, I don’t think that’s his ceiling. I don’t think he has the touch that that Jermaine had or even the, the form. I mean, when, when I say he he’s raw, he’s incredibly.

[00:12:21] Rah, like that’s when you you’re wondering like, well, how can the player be so raw and be like the top two or three high school player in the nation? Well, he’s just bigger, quicker, stronger, faster than, than everyone else. You know, if you want to look at a floor, it could be cliff Alexander cliff Alexander was the absolute number one player coming out of college.

[00:12:40] Didn’t get to play at Kansas. You know, everyone is raving about him. When he came to Portland, Chris came in saying he should have been a first round pick. He didn’t do anything. Like he was just bigger than everybody else in high school. So he was dominating. That’s where you can. It gets tricky with, with during, because it’s high ceilings.

[00:12:58] Super low floor. So [00:13:00] I would argue that he has a high floor actually, because of his athleticism. You know, Moses brown is going to get a job. Nerlens. Noel is going to get a job. He’s going to stay in the NBA for a while, just because teams are going to, if he hits the floor, teams are going to bet on the, the tools and the athleticism.

[00:13:19] I would argue that he’s not going to be cliff. Cause yeah, he is bigger than everybody, bigger and stronger, but he’s also really fast and athletic too. If he bottomed out, you know, the teams are going to continue to offer him. I, I don’t, I don’t know. I think you have a little bit higher on during the night.

[00:13:41] I think I think of a Willie Callie Stein coming out of Kentucky and he got, took taken in the lottery. A lot of similar tools had a lot of the measurements you wanted, but I don’t know what it was, but it never worked out for colleagues sign and he got, he got booted, um, for Mavericks, you know, if he did stay around a while.

[00:13:58] Um, so maybe [00:14:00] his floor isn’t quite cliff Alexander, but I don’t think. Much higher. I think he’s a, he’s a prospect of that. He can get a GM fired for passing on him and he can get a GM fired for taking him. Um, but you mentioned that the offensive side, but let’s look at the defensive side where I think there’s a lot more reason to be excited about the prospect of.

[00:14:22] Dean, uh, Jalen Durham type of player. And, you know, w we just discussed, I think, two really high level defensive players last time in Walker, Kessler of Auburn and Tara ease-in of LSU, who I think I have a much better feel for the game. One thing that stood out to me with, um, Jaylin and really cemented the fact that he is a long-term prospect, he jumps at a lot of things.

[00:14:49] So his feel for the game’s not there yet. He’s gonna be. 18 late 18, early 19 when he’s going to be drafted. So super young, uh, draft eligible prospect [00:15:00] that probably needs a good summer league probably needs to play with a good, solid, better point. Guard probably needs a better in that’s going to show him, um, the ropes, because right now, when I watch him, he’s just relying on his athleticism, just pure athleticism.

[00:15:13] I don’t think there’s a whole lot. Else that’s working for him right now. Um, but I think it can get there. So that’s, that’s where I, I don’t see that the shop block. I have a Walker like Walker Kessler’s instinct is off the charts. I think Darren has to work on that where I see Duran’s, uh, MBA potential and how we can stay on the floor.

[00:15:36] It’s his ability to defend a modern day offense. I think he’s got really good switch ability. Um, he’s gonna need to get better at that, but you see it. You see the athleticism, you see his ability to move laterally. I think once he learns the defense and learns help side on ball. You could really start to see some special things come from, from Jalen on the [00:16:00] defensive side of the ball.

[00:16:01] Everything you said about him at this current moment is, is correct. Like he doesn’t know how to properly position himself in terms of making the correct week sidebar. I would much rather try and teach them that than try to teach a, a ground bound center, how to, how to jump higher. The tools that he has is incredible.

[00:16:24] You mentioned his mobility. Like I, I will admit that his hips are really high and slow, but the fact that he has such quick feet, it kind of makes up for the fact that his hips are. I see him just blowing up plays with that athleticism, forcing the opposing point guard into mistakes, like the way, the way that he moves and the way that he can defend in multiple ways.

[00:16:49] It’s just so damn special. And one thing that I’m a huge fan of with bigs. Is using your hands defensively, especially on help side. I even put it in my notes. [00:17:00] Miles Turner took four years to do what, uh, Jalen is doing already using his hands. He doesn’t know, he doesn’t have the best feel for the game and I get that that’s important, but the way that his feet and hands and his ability to make up for his mistakes with that athleticism.

[00:17:21] There’s going to be a team that just falls in love with all of these tools. These are, he might be the most toolsy player in this game. I don’t, I don’t see his peak defensively being Chet, but there are a lot of, uh, potential things that he could do on the floor that make him extremely valuable. The, the, the, the ability to do help side the ability to switch on almost anybody.

[00:17:45] I don’t think he’s bam. Switch mobility, but he is very, very good. And compared to everybody else in this league, the offense is going to be very, very pick and roll dunking, heavy to start and probably in [00:18:00] his, at his peak, but the defense and what he can do to help a team with that defense. Just the, uh, the, the physicals and the, the, uh, the way that he moves is going to help a team so much more.

[00:18:13] And it’s going to keep him in this league because of the defense. He can, he can be the, just the X factor that does everything for a team. And I am a humongous fan of what Jaylen can do as a player, especially on the defense. And, you know, he does, has shown some ability to pass. So there might be something.

[00:18:34] We just can’t see because of the Memphis, uh, offense. Like if it’s just like Kentucky, he’s pigeonholed into a, uh, to a skill set and can’t show everything else he can do. I am a big fan of what Jalen can do for, uh, for a team. And if the, if that team has a young guard that needs somebody to be a pickerel partner, I push him up my list quite, quite a lot.

[00:18:59] I think it’s all gonna [00:19:00] depend on where he gets strapped. Yeah. I, as I said earlier, the team has to have a plan in place for him. Like you go to the spurs or Raptors and you get that development and you’ve got that coaching staff, and you’ve got that front office. He’ll be just fine. You go to Sacramento, you go to OKC, like I’m in OKC cause of the Playmakers, I think.

[00:19:20] Okay. So he’s got too many young guys they’re not ready. That’s not a winning culture. Um, I think. Uh, good point guards that are make a big look so much better. Yeah. And I think Josh giddy is a fantastic point guard. I just, I don’t know what the thunder, I think they’ve got too many young. I forgot the young guys.

[00:19:36] I think they need more, more vets. So what I’m saying is I think he just needs to go. Where he can take his time and not feel rushed to, oh God, we just drafted this kid. We gotta win now. Uh, cause I, I do. I think you’re going to wait awhile before the jury is out on Jaylen Cortland, the team that can afford to wait a while.

[00:19:58] I think Portland is. [00:20:00] A horrible fit. And it’s only because Sage who on our team throws a lob pass. I I’ve never seen, I’ve seen games where like three in his 10 year career and pretty sure as hell doesn’t throw a Wattpad. Like if we act, if we actually ran that offense, if we had Chris ball, I think you take a chance on it because that is such, that’s two points every time down the floor, especially if you have a point guard who was a masterful, uh, just architect at running that, that pick and roll, uh, Trey young.

[00:20:28] I mean, unfortunately, uh, Atlanta already has two dominant, uh, really big and yeah. And on Yessica and also John Collins, um, Yeah. And now that you mentioned, I really love Josh giddy, uh, with, with OKC, uh, a mellow ball in Charlotte. Like if even Luca, like if, if Dallas was able to get their hands on. I, I would watch out, uh, Portland.

[00:20:52] I just don’t love the fit because we don’t have that. Quote-unquote pure point guard with good vision. I think you need someone that’s [00:21:00] gonna spoonfeed Jaylen and be like, make, make his life easier on the offensive end. He’ll make your life easier on the defensive and you need that, that symbiotic relationship where each is helping each other.

[00:21:11] And. You know, on one hand, I think it would be fine because he could, you know, back up near catch for, you know, a couple more years NERC, which is still like 26, 27. And then he’d be ready to kind of take the reins from that. On the other hand, I don’t know what he would do free on the offensive end with, with our guards, our guards.

[00:21:29] I don’t know how they’re allergic to throw in a law pass. And I think that’s the easiest way to get him going off offensively. I think Dane could make it work. I have zero faith that Anthony can make it work. But if we said we’re choosing game to build around for this next, this next part of our franchise, and we had the dedication from the.

[00:21:51] I would feel much better about drafting Jalen, because I know that those two could make it work. It wouldn’t be seamless and beautiful, but they can make it [00:22:00] work because of all the tools that he has. But do you think those timelines would match up? No. No, but yeah, so it’s, it’s a tough prospect for Portland, but if he was there with the new Orleans pick at like 11, 12, I, I, he’s probably the best player.

[00:22:16] Available at that time. Yeah. If Portland gets two lottery picks and they’re not able to package them and move up and you maybe get a card with the first one, if he’s there, like. Uh, I’m not going to complain if they pick them. I am not certain if I like Walker Kessler more, not like I go back and forth. I think Kessler is the safer pick and I really love his defensive instincts, um, shot blockers like that don’t come around very often, but I do, I do see the potential and the reward in taking a player like during, and it’s always easier to take a risk when you have multiple pics.

[00:22:50] Um, you can also go a little bit safer. Portland does have two second round picks and we will be doing a second round steals, um, episode coming up shortly, where [00:23:00] we just, you know, briefly discuss, uh, a list of our, uh, players that were, we would target in the second round in the MBA history. You can get really good talent in the second round, especially in more recent drafts.

[00:23:11] So if you have three or four picks, it’s not really the worst idea to take a chance on a player with a high ceiling, especially a mobile defensive big that, you know, the pick and roll is the most prevalent and difficult offensive set to stop in, in the NBA, especially with so many elite point guards that if you have a big backing kind of anchor that and.

[00:23:34] On both sides of the floor, really, you know, run it to perfection and then stop it with precision. That’s going to give you that’s worth five to seven points, maybe more every single night. They’re either on the floor. I had this in my notes. Jaylen is what people thought James Wiseman was as an actor. I think Wiseman has a better chance of being that cliff Alexander, where he’s just bigger and stronger than [00:24:00] everybody, but he didn’t have the athleticism to like compete.

[00:24:03] I think Jaylin is a better prospect than Wiseman and has the athleticism that will keep them in the league. Whereas Wiseman is just huge. So what do you see? What do you need to see from Jalen? Whether it’s the rest of the season at the combine. Well, what do you need to see to see what is real high? So, yeah, every, every site lists Memphis is bio tank.

[00:24:28] Ethan, ESP, everyone listen at six 11. It would be that some shoes, I don’t know if that’s true or not. I mean, he got his wingspan measured, I think, last summer. So he still could be growing, which is. Crazy thing to think about. I mean, look at the Milwaukee bucks when they took, he honest, he continued to grow and that’s, if you’re honest, was that not his, not his weight, but if he was at his current height, when he was draftable, he probably goes up three or four more spots.

[00:24:54] So there, there is definitely some, some vision that you have to have when you’re drafting [00:25:00] players. And if they’re super young, you have to be able to see, okay, what are they going to look like five years from now? And to think about and to think about that. When Portland drafted Anthony Simons and Gary Trent junior in 2018.

[00:25:13] That’s not even five years from now, but both of those players probably go top 10, top 15 in a redraft. So you have to think of a player like clay and how can they be molded. And obviously they have to have their own motor and the will to, to improve, but with the right system and the right vets in the rights, you know, scheme and personnel.

[00:25:35] They can really kind of punch above their draft weight. And what I mean by that is like Anthony and Gary were taken late in the first round, early second round. That doesn’t happen if there’s a redraft and same thing, you, when you, when you make a pick, you want other teams to be like, damn. Four years ago.

[00:25:52] Why didn’t we take that guy like Milwaukee? Why, why didn’t nobody take you us? Why didn’t nobody take Rudy to go bare bat late. Sometimes you got to take, take a swing and miss. [00:26:00] Sometimes you gotta take a swing and hit it out of the park, especially if you’re a small market franchise and mobile. There’s a lot not to like, but there is a lot to love because what they do is so rare, especially in today’s pace and space where you need, you need defense.

[00:26:16] I mean, Portland’s always going to have orphans, orphans for days. You got Dame for however many years than Anthony. Like you’re going to have offense, Josh Hart, as a young player, you’re going to have offense. What has been Portland’s bugaboo since 2000. Defense. They’ve never been able to stop the other team and they haven’t really adapted personnel-wise to the modern NBA.

[00:26:36] This is a chance for them to do it. So there’s, I’m really torn honestly, on during, just because of what he doesn’t do, but what he does do and really what the finished product looks like. It’s, it’s almost like you’re playing Wordle and you’ve put in three answers and you don’t have any yellows or any greens.

[00:26:54] And you’re just like, shit. I don’t know. I could get this. I can solve. I take a stab in the dark or I could just, you know, flunk [00:27:00] out. So it’s, it’s really like a gambler. And if anyone says, otherwise, I think they’re kind of lying because when a PR, when there’s a prospect like Jaylin, Durran, sometimes it’s a coin flip and sometimes it’s, if you’re a small market team, I think it’s worth it to risk that, that coin flip.

[00:27:17] I think the second, the fact that we have as a potential second or a second, It is a, another reason why it helps. It helps a lot. I would feel much more scared if I only have, especially if you’re in Portland and you haven’t had a first round pick and since 2019, and this is like your one, that’s really terrifying to take it on Jaylen.

[00:27:36] But if you have to, you know, you only have so many rotation spots. Yeah. You can take a project. I mean, cause if you get that first one and it’s a pro player ready to go. Fantastic. Then you get to just, I think you’d feel so much better if we had Johnny, babe, like, let’s just say we score Johnny Davis and then you take a cha chance on jail and Durham.

[00:27:57] I think I can’t expect him to do [00:28:00] much in college because the team just doesn’t do anything to help him really. So you gotta, you gotta just expect him to stay even. In college and then during the combine and all of the pre-draft workouts, I think he’s going to be the guy that skyrockets past everybody else because of the tools and what he, uh, shows.

[00:28:21] I think he is one of the best effort players in the, in the NCAA. It’s just that. Sometimes he makes some mistakes and, but his athleticism covers up for it. So I’m, I’m, I’m almost there on him with our second first round pick. If that, if it, I think there are some things that I could see from him in college, especially on the defense event.

[00:28:47] Don’t jump as much. Like, can he start to show a little bit more improvement just with his discipline on defense? I think that’s something that can be, if he has any teammates, that’s all on him. Like, can he hold his ground [00:29:00] on these pump fakes, can you stay solid, continue to stay vertical? Um, I can definitely watch out for that, but also at the combine.

[00:29:07] How, how tall actually is he? W what is that wingspan? How has it, has it grown? How are her shovel numbers, you know, because he looks quick, do those numbers add up? So there are little things, but it’s really just going to be you ready to roll that dice? You know, are you putting all your money on black? Are you putting all your money on red?

[00:29:26] Like what, what are you doing? Um, you might be the one banging on the table for Jaylin. I think you would be telling, uh, Cronin. I I’m indifferent on Jaylen. I don’t love him. I don’t, I don’t hate him. If we had only one pick, it would be an absolute no for me. Um, but we have to potentially to, so depending on what you do, like if you, if you say you have eight and 10 and you can’t package those and get yourself one of those top five players in the draft, whoever lands to you with.[00:30:00]

[00:30:00] If you want to roll the dice with, with him at a T that’s fine. Um, I, I, you’re not going to have me here, you know, moaning and groaning, like, like we were on the 2017 draft night when, when we kind of, you know, craft the bed, but, um, I I’m really interested to monitor those bigs, you know, Tara eats and, uh, Jalen Durran and Walker, Kessler, how they continue because they all do something a little bit different and you know, different sizes.

[00:30:28] Um, they can play different schemes. So I want to see how they continue to progress. There was a big from Florida who I’m. One of the announcers mentioned kind of gave Walker Kessler the work, uh, today. So when he was seven too, so obviously Kessler is not a finished product either. There’s a lot room, a lot more room for him to grow.

[00:30:47] Eastern gives you that defense at the four, which can be really important, especially since there’s not a whole lot of. Uh, dominant true centers left, but, um, Sage, instead of just giving me a, you know, a [00:31:00] middle, bottom and high, kind of just give me a couple of players that, that jump out to you when you’re describing Jalen Duran and whether it can go, you know, the, the, the boom or the bust, uh, uh, Robert Williams from Boston, they’re both the same size.

[00:31:16] Yeah. Robert Williams is his ability to erase a lot of things. The bad landlord. Yeah. The bad Celtics perimeter defense gives up, you know, he can erase some of that stuff. Um, I, I feel like Clint, Capella is a really good comparison, especially on the offensive end. Both of them have that elite rolling to the basket ability and they both play really good defense.

[00:31:44] So click Capella is a good one. I think Jaco Pirtle from the spurs would be a really good comp for. And then if we want to just deal with pie in the sky, and I don’t think this is there’s a chance, but he could be a, a bam out of [00:32:00] bio just stronger, but he would have to take a huge uptick to become. But bam, didn’t show that in a Kentucky.

[00:32:10] Uh, I, I would say, I don’t know if that’s my pie in the sky for him, his young Deandre who can defend on the. Um, I think that the bus is Willie Cauley Stein. I think you’re going to get a limited, offensive, big who could either be a game-changer defensively or added league after his first contract. So if you were the coach and your main goal was to optimize him defensively, would you have him do like all the stuff that blazers are having use of doing the pick and roll?

[00:32:43] The hard hedge and try and make a stop that way with high-risk stuff. Or would you put them in drop and force the opposing guard to try and shoot over him or attack them offensive? How would you deploy Jaylen in the defensive and. [00:33:00] As your center. Well, it depends on your personnel, right? Like who are you going up against?

[00:33:05] I don’t think you should have a once, you know, one size fits all a defensive scheme. Like if you’re going up against like a staff or a tray who can. You know, just cook from downtown and that’s where they want to live. I think you need to pressure them and get the ball out of their hands, make them make another pass.

[00:33:22] Um, if you’re going up against, you know, another type of point guard that maybe a drama rant, maybe you want to make him see if he can hit that jump shot, you can play off a little bit and see if he can close out. Um, drop coverage is so risky in today’s NBA with so many good shooters. Um, and it, it just, it all depends on how elite he is at hedging.

[00:33:42] Can he really make it work? And can you get, can you get there? Can you show and then get back to his man? Um, if he’s able to defend like, bam, that’s how I would want him to defend, like that’s, that’s the pie in the sky defensive player that I would aspire for him to be. If you can defend like [00:34:00] bam, where you’re just disrupting the shit out of the ball handler, but you’re still able to get back and cover your own.

[00:34:05] That’s the best of both worlds, right? Yeah. I want to sit. I want them to have the successes first and then we can add on to his, uh, his game as he shows that he can prove, you know, what he can do. But I honestly think that he can do a lot of, a lot of special stuff defensively. So. I mean, I think he hustles a lot.

[00:34:30] Yeah. I look at, look at, in this year when, when he was in there and having his success just kind of out there, like organized chaos and just trying to disrupt, I think a lot of good things coming from just effort and hustle. And I think it’s contagious. I think Portland needs more players, uh, of that, of that nature and mentality.

[00:34:48] So that first and foremost, just, just play, play hard. And I think it will, will rub off on the entire. So, is he a tier four, tier [00:35:00] three? Where is he in your tiers list? He’s not top five, maybe low tier three high tier four. Okay. We’re not that far away because I would have him in my tier three. Like he, he’s not getting into the top.

[00:35:21] Six, but I could absolutely see him at seven. Like, I don’t think he’s better than J but I, I could see him being better than who’s at seven right now on Thankathon. Fuck. I don’t think he’s better than AGA, but I could see him the spot after him for sure. Uh, I’m looking, oh, I think he’s much better than.

[00:35:43] Keegan Murray or Benedict or brown. So I would have them at, I haven’t seen sharp, so I can’t really decide, but I would have him after Johnny Davis and AGA Griffin on my personal board, Keegan had a really good game. [00:36:00] Nice good for him. Yeah. He’s also the recipient of not playing on a very talented Iowa team.

[00:36:10] It’s it’s tough in college, man. Like you, we saw Ben Simmons not even get LSU to the tournament and that was a knock against him. We saw Anthony Edwards. Uh, Georgia to the tournament. And that was a perceived knock on him. I’ve kind of removed that from my thought process on prospects, because it really does take an entire team.

[00:36:28] Like if you don’t have any talent around you, it’s hard to look good, regardless of the level. So just keep that in mind when you watch him, like really just see how he moves. Um, I don’t think he’s going to blow your socks away offensively, but you have to project, like, how is this player going to look like this player is 18 years old, already got an MBA body, uh, get in with the right coaching, put him in a film room.

[00:36:53] A good big man coach. I think wherever he goes, he must have a good big man coach that you suggest [00:37:00] going to. Teach him the ins and outs of the modern game rod. If he goes to the blazers, Roy Rogers is spending all of his time with him, especially on like the foot work and where to beat places, places, athletics.

[00:37:18] Yeah, that’s I would say low tier three high tier four, like there’s some players I want to get to get to know more. Uh, but I think Mather in an Arizona hosts, Oregon tonight on ESPN. So I’ll definitely be watching that. I watched a little bit of Keegan Murray against Michigan. Um, had a chance to tie the game with a pickup.

[00:37:35] Three w in and out, um, but bounced back with a great road to victory over Ohio state. I mean, he’s really been picking up his play as of late, so that’s another place for them to continue to, to really watch on, and then on our Twitter for holy Blackboard. Like, what do you want to see the next Friday? Our future Friday player B and I put, uh, there’s shade in sharp.

[00:37:58] Who’s not going to play this year for [00:38:00] Kentucky, but, uh, was the number one overall player in the class of 2022. He also reclassified Keegan Marie power forward from Iowa. Say reclassified by the way. Thank you. Um, Uh, Patrick Baldwin Jr. Lottery pick, uh, from Milwaukee and AGA Griffin. We talk about them a lot.

[00:38:21] We did power Benchero early. Um, probably duke second best prospect. Duke is always on ESPN. So it’s not a game that we really have to, uh, find an old clip up. We can just say, Hey, Duke’s playing UNC coming up. Let’s let’s watch that game. So, uh, we’ll take that feedback into consideration and voted for. Or, uh, you know, you can’t thank God.

[00:38:44] Guess who I’ve heard it’s for obviously. Yeah. I just put afraid Jager up and I mean, if there’s dealer’s choice, I’m just going to say Jay girlfriend one, but, uh, thank you so much for list. [00:39:00] Do you have anything else or do you want to wrap this bad boy? We’re available on iTunes, Stitcher, Himalaya podcast.

[00:39:09] Major shout outs to, uh, Brandon. He followed me on Twitch. Shout out to you. We had a really nice discussion about the Portland trailblazers on my Twitch twitch.tv/this age. He wanted to shout out and you got it. Thank you for the, uh, for the sub .