[00:00:00] Dustin Hawes: all right, everybody welcome to the 289th edition of the holy Blackboard podcast. I am Gustin here in Rick city and I got my man say
[00:00:19] Dillon Sage: chillin here, live and direct in my own apartment for this episode, which means. I have a much better microphone than I do at my mother’s house. So without further ado, let’s talk about the man of mystery in this year’s draft cycle.
[00:00:36] Dustin Hawes: You called that correctly. Uh, we will be discussing Shaden sharp and he really is the man of mystery. So we’re going to try and. Just get into his game as much as possible because there’s really not a whole lot out there. But the reason that we wanted to do this episode is we’ve covered really [00:01:00] every lottery pick outside of Ty Washington.
[00:01:03] And that’s really because he’s a pure point guard. Portland already has two of those on the roster. It just didn’t seem necessary at the time. Maybe we’ll get down to Tai Tai, um, later on down the road, but the, the, the one missing person. In our future Friday series so far has been shade and sharp. And really when we started doing these, these episodes back at the beginning of the new year, uh, I don’t even think he had mentioned that he was going to come into the draft.
[00:01:32] Um, he still hasn’t declared yet, but now it’s starting to become more. Uh, likelihood that that sharp puts his name in the draft. Um, at the moment he is a shooting guard from the university of Kentucky stands, six sticks with a seven foot wingspan, uh, 200 pounds. Uh, he is 18 at the moment. He will be 19, uh, by the time the draft takes place, uh, is born on May 30th, 2003, [00:02:00] another Canadian Hooper.
[00:02:01] Um, From London, London, Ontario, we’ve already seen guys like Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins. The number on overall picks. RJ Barrett was the third overall pick a shake. Gilda Alexander was a lottery picks. So a lot of great hoopers are coming from the. The great white north, and this is really where it gets interesting for shade and sharp.
[00:02:24] He is a five-star rated by rivals, uh, the number one player in the class of 2022 by all major recruiting outlets. Um, ESPN 2 47 sports rivals, uh, I believe rivals now has them nationally. Number three for the class of 2021, because keep reclassifying. Um, little bit into his, his personal history, uh, parents, uh, Julia and Robert.
[00:02:50] He has two siblings, uh, ni Shane and Omari his cousin, uh, Shawn brown plays for the Toronto blue Jays. So there is, uh, you [00:03:00] know, there is that DNA, which we have been seeing in a lot of these prospects. They have professional sport background. Um, it’s something fun I found because we, we do like to talk about food on this podcast.
[00:03:11] The university of Kentucky in his bio says his favorite food is a jerk chicken sandwich. It’s H have you ever had a jerk chicken sandwich? Yeah,
[00:03:19] Dillon Sage: definitely. Have
[00:03:20] Dustin Hawes: you? I’ve had jerk chicken before, not in sandwich form. So I assume it would still be a pretty tasty it’s kind of hard to go wrong. Um, but the reason we are really doing.
[00:03:32] This episode is because sharp has been mocked to Portland in quite a few mock drafts. Um, he’s currently number seven on the Ringer’s big board. Um, if you want to look at his stats, you really have to look at what he did in the AAU circuit. And that’s really where he started to blossom. And so there are two.
[00:03:57] AAU circuits that are supposedly [00:04:00] the, kind of the best in the business. That’s where the high school players really go to make a name for themselves. You know, it’s been this way for probably 20, 25 plus years, but what you do almost in your own high school, it doesn’t matter as much. They want to see how you play on the AAU circuit.
[00:04:14] And so there were, there were two, um, the Nike peach jam and the Nike, um, E Y E L. Yes. And. Is Nike elite youth basketball league stats. He averaged 22.6 points, 5.8 boards, and 2.7 assists in the 2021, uh, circuit. And in his last three games of the Nike peach jam average 28 points and eight rebounds a game.
[00:04:46] So there is, um, A little bit of statistics to go off of. I also found something from, um, I believe I sports illustrated where it says, uh, the 20, 21 summer, which was the summer of sharp. [00:05:00] Um, he had a really dominant season in his junior year at dream city Christian in, in Glendale, Arizona, he averaged 25.4 points shot 45% from the three.
[00:05:12] And grab the 6.4 rebounds per game. And here’s where it really becomes that man of mystery. And there’s just not a whole lot of information out there about him. And I was watching, you know, uh, scouting videos and highlight clips and some, you know, highlights from games. And one of the, the creators made a really good.
[00:05:32] Why is nobody talking about the number one high school talent in America? Usually. I mean, you hear about the Zions. You hear about Anthony Davis, you heard about LeBron James Grego. And like you heard about these names and I think maybe that’s because usually you hear about these high school phenoms from their freshmen sophomore year.
[00:05:52] Shaden sharp was unranked. After his sophomore year, he had a really interesting route to where he currently is now. [00:06:00] He started his freshman year in Canada. He moved to sunrise Christian in Bel-Air, Kansas, where he didn’t play his sophomore year transferred to dream city Christian in Glendale, Arizona.
[00:06:14] For his junior year. And then he really used this summer, um, in the AAU circuit, like we mentioned, um, the elite youth basketball league and the Nike peach jam. To boost his stock and that’s where he decided, okay, I’m not going to go back to dream city. I’m going to enroll in Kentucky. And he enrolled at Kentucky midway through Kentucky season.
[00:06:38] And I was just watching a game where the date was just October 21st of this past year. So you, you think of a player who was playing high school basketball, maybe five, six months ago. And now is potentially going to the NBA draft. Um, it it’s. It’s super interesting because. [00:07:00] This is really what Scouts were up against when the Kevin Garnett’s of the world were coming into the league, you had to go off of nothing but high school clips, and you’re not seeing them play against better competition.
[00:07:12] You really have to trust how this player is going to develop even more so than, than a freshman in college or a sophomore in college. Um, the upside is, is unbelievable Sage, but. It reminds me a lot of, you know, when people were scouting Yonis, and he’s dominating these, these smaller players in some random Greek league, it worked out really well for the Milwaukee bucks, but it also can go the opposite way when they took a similar risk with Thon maker.
[00:07:47] Just a couple of years later at number 10 and he’s already out of the NBA. So, I mean, You think of chat home Greer as a boomer bust? I personally think [00:08:00] given the scouting sample and the level of competition, I think Shayda and sharp is the most boom or bust prospect just because he’s been so unknown for the majority of his high school career, he burst out of nowhere and you have.
[00:08:17] Three four months sample of really significant improved play. But is it just the heater? Is he on a hot streak or is this really the player that can continue to grow and evolve? And how do you play the Kentucky next year? Are we talking about, you know, the number one or number two picks. So if you’re a team in the draft, you could get really good value taking him, you know, five.
[00:08:41] Rather than, you know, if you were to become into the league that the following year. So there is a lot of risk involved, but there could be a lot of reward. Uh, before we get into his game, a couple of other points I want to discuss. Um, he was 6, 4, 180 coming out of high school. He’s now listed as 6, 6, 200.
[00:08:59] [00:09:00] So he’s already grown to. And he has all of the physical attributes that, that wingspan is fantastic for a wing player, especially in today’s NBA. And, uh, just a shout out to, uh, one of my favorite, uh, creators on YouTube who does good scouting reports, floor and ceiling. So if you’re trying to get into the, the scouting game or just want to learn more about the prospects, you know, we try to give our best.
[00:09:26] Opinion and spin on, on who we’re scouting. And it’s much easier for the collegiate prospects where we can watch games, uh, and really form a hundred percent our own thoughts. I can’t, you know, lie and say, everything I’m saying is, is from my word of mouth. Like I watched his scouting video and he, he put in a lot of work.
[00:09:45] So, um, shout out to floor and ceiling and in all of the content creator, Out there because there is not a lot of footage to go off of on, on sharp. So, you know, even though we’re, we’re [00:10:00] doing this because it’s necessary to, to cover, but there’s, I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s so unknown. I mean, it’s,
[00:10:08] Dillon Sage: he’s an international prospect in the mid two thousands.
[00:10:12] It’s not 2022. And like, you’ve talked about the kg scouting. Well, kg. There was no global pandemic. COVID makes it so much harder to predict what he’s going to do because of the lack of tape and the lack of being able to speak to him. And he hasn’t really played competitive ball in two years. And like we, when we talked about Paulo, we were.
[00:10:42] Pretty harsh about it, but then he had one year of COVID ruining, you know, his, his, the, his judgment of the game, how fast he interpreted, interpret stuff. Sharp. Hasn’t done it for two years. So if you draft them that first year might just [00:11:00] be a wash because he’s just getting back into competitive basketball.
[00:11:04] So there’s so many question marks with him, with what he decided to do and the scouting process that, that, uh, takes effect after that. Ivy might be one of your favorite prospects. How many Purdue games did you watch easily? Like 5, 6, 7 plus at game five, you didn’t really write anything down about Ivy.
[00:11:26] Cause you’ve had this relationship with him of watching him play basketball for, you know, like 10 hours. Right? So with him, there is a 10 hours of film on him and the internet. It is such a difficult challenge to try and predict it. I’m trying to make rash judgments on clips and everybody’s had good cliffs playing basketball if you’ve played basketball long enough.
[00:11:52] Like I remember I made a three pointer over a Portland state, uh, basketball player in 2010. [00:12:00] Like that one highlight. I remember it like, so it’s easy to manipulate clips to make a, a. Make a point on your narrative. So this one’s going to be a lot of shooting from the hip because there really isn’t that familiarity with them because there just isn’t that, that tape.
[00:12:18] And I’m not, I’m not trying to watch stuff. He’s grown so much and has gotten so much older in the last year. It’s like, does this tape really matter? So it’s a tough one. I feel like when I thought about shading sharp, I thought he was going to be like higher year being skilled. And then when I watched him in the limited clips, I’m like, no, this is, this is a completely and totally different.
[00:12:44] I think the number one thing about him is that athleticism. I don’t think it’s freakish. Like I think of the Greek freak or Vince Carter as a level of athletics, athleticism. Equaling freak, but he is a very, very high [00:13:00] level.
[00:13:00] Dustin Hawes: Yeah. I think if there’s a tear, your freak, I think he’s elite. I think he’s just one rung below.
[00:13:10] One thing that floor and ceiling mentioned, and I didn’t pick up on this, but then I. I was watching a game. It was a dream city was playing California basketball club. It was broadcast on ESPN. Sharp loves jumping off of two feet for him to get that high off of two feet. Like just even if you’re go outside and just run and jump it’s you get much more lift off of, you know, if you’re, I think if you’re right-handed you get much more lift off your left foot and vice versa.
[00:13:39] He goes up off of two feet and he is really powerful. There was a log in the first half where his point guard threw it to him, the balls at the top of the back board. And he just grabbed it and finished it. So it’s not Vince Carter level athleticism, but I think it’s like in the top 2%, like Vince’s top one.
[00:13:58] I think he could be in the [00:14:00] top two or three. And like you said, he’s still growing. There’s still room for him to continue to get even more bounced. So, um, I, I think you’re right, right off the bat, like the athleticism is, is S tier four for this draft class. Um, yeah.
[00:14:16] Dillon Sage: Cause I, I, as much as we’d like to think, like a Jay and Johnny Davis are super duper bouncy, they haven’t really shown it, but you know, the first clip that you see of Shan, uh, of sharp.
[00:14:28] Oh, okay. This is what he can do. So there was a lot of like, I think cutting craft that he has shown that is really high level. Like the things that I can believe in is he can, he can get to the basket. He can run off of flare screens and get to the basket efficiently and fast for those LOBs. Now, do we have somebody that can actually make those passes?
[00:14:54] That’s a question, mark. Do we have the coaching staff [00:15:00] that can utilize his two main things, being his athleticism and his cutting ability. If you watch the Portland, TRO is there’s a really isn’t that much off ball cutting. How many times I can really remember it is, you know, the, you know, the play that duplex run with Paulo, Mark Williams, and then AIJ runs through the element.
[00:15:23] They did that a little bit in the first half of the year when CJ was healthy, like they really haven’t shown the, the craft offensively to utilize shading skills at all with the, with the cutting and the, the transition. Like, I think Shaden, and Nasir would be like two of the nastiest transition players in the league, but we don’t really.
[00:15:48] Have the, the, the coaching personnel that really utilize all of those athletic gifts.
[00:15:55] Dustin Hawes: Yeah. I think he’s one of, I think right now authentically. [00:16:00] He is going to impact the game off the ball. He, he really cuts well, um, clearly he’s a lob threat with that athletic system and, and the Wayne’s man, you can throw it damn near anywhere and he’ll go up and get it.
[00:16:12] So I think right off the bat, he is going to be, um, essential, just moving without the ball. Um, I think what everyone wants to see more of is. How can he create his own shot, especially if he’s going to be a two garden. I think it’s a little different. And one thing I, I came into and this is probably just a little nostalgia or old school thinking is like, oh, he’s a shooting guard.
[00:16:43] He’s only going to be a two. Um, he’s six, six. He can’t play three. Well, I think he can play the three given the wingspan. And if he is playing the. You want him playing alongside some, some shot creators and some, some Playmakers. But if he is going [00:17:00] to be that secondary guard alongside of a, of assignments or a Lillard.
[00:17:06] I think everyone wants to see. Okay. Can he break his man down off the, off the dribble? Like he’s, he’s not quite there yet. Um, he does like to do that, that Dame, Anthony stepped back. That’s that’s all the rage, um, in the MBA and his jump shot is pretty solid form. I would say watching some of the, the AAU clips, it almost looked like he had a little bit of a, the knuckle ball rotation, kind of like Bonzie Wells reminded me a bit, not the form, just the spin on the ball and it didn’t go through.
[00:17:35] Kind of like, you know, just whispering through it, but then watching that, that game in October, um, but high school game, dream city versus a California basketball club. And when he was shooting with, with much more confidence, just pulling up, um, off of screens and showed MBA range on at least one of the attempts.
[00:17:53] Um, and then the ball of like, it was moving off of his fingertips a lot better. So that’s one thing when you, when you’re watching a player of [00:18:00] this age is. It’s not a finished product by any stretch of the means. I mean, you could still basically clay and whatever, uh, scenario key, he walks into that, that staff and organization is going to be able to mold him.
[00:18:13] I mean, you got, you have a lot of really good clay to work with when you’re talking about, um, a prospect of, of Shaden Sharp’s caliber. Do you
[00:18:21] Dillon Sage: think is his dribble creation is close to being adequate? Cause I, I think it’s pretty, pretty bad for. The 20, 22 guard classes that we’re seeing with the ball handling skills of a lot of these players.
[00:18:38] Like I think I texted you like this dude’s ball handling packages is normal. One in two K all of it. Like I don’t see the creation that he can get to the cup and make plays for himself and others. Like I’m pretty down on his potential of. Creating offense for himself and others.
[00:18:57] Dustin Hawes: It’s just 18. [00:19:00]
[00:19:00] Dillon Sage: I mean, you’ve seen 18 year olds create, create for themselves in AAU.
[00:19:06] And like, I just that’s that part of
[00:19:10] Dustin Hawes: his game is limiting play devil’s advocate. Here are those players with those crazy, you know, packages, are they needing that to get by their defender? Because when I watch sharp play, he doesn’t need it. Like he, he makes the game. Look easy. Like everything comes easy to them.
[00:19:26] And I think that’s when you’re watching a player against lesser competition, that’s the first box that has to be checked. Like does he make the game look easy? And that’s kind of when I knew Brandon, Roy and Damian Lillard were going to be a specialist, they were, you watched them in summer league. It was lesser competition.
[00:19:44] Not only did they dominate, but they made it look really simple. I mean, it was just like effortless and. All of the great players who dominate, you know, lesser competition. That’s what they do. And that’s what I saw for from sharp. And so, you know, again, [00:20:00] to play devil’s advocate, I don’t know if he needs these dribble packages to get where he wants to go.
[00:20:04] Like he was getting every spot he needed to get
[00:20:06] Dillon Sage: to playing with the point guard to, uh, set them up for. Uh, defensive reacting. Yeah. So I know he needs, he needs a guard to he’s like a, to steal a common, common phrase that draft hood or loves is he’s a Lincoln player. He needs somebody to make that creation happen, then he’ll attack it.
[00:20:29] But I don’t think that he’s going to be able to create that dysfunction on defense with the limited handle that I’ve seen. And I’ve seen, like, I’m sure that we saw the same clips. He got walled up a lot, defensively. It kind of remind me of a fuck. Who’s the Baylor guy that we don’t like Kendall brown, Kendall brown.
[00:20:48] It reminded me of Kendall brown getting balled up defensively and he didn’t have the counters to create that space to go to the hoop again, it’s all clipped. So. You know, the negatives and the [00:21:00] positives really don’t matter until we actually seen him play, but I saw him get walled up a lot. So again, like, I, I think the biggest question mark is the handle, but I’ve seen some nice pull-up craft from him, but I just don’t know if him being the alpha on the court ever is going to result in positive plays for the offense.
[00:21:23] Dustin Hawes: I would say what I love most about sharp as a prospect. Is his ability to play both sides of the ball? Um, I, I think, and that’s why he could work in Portland as a three. Like I said, he’s six, six could continue to grow, has the great wingspan. He has all of the physical tools that you want to be a lockdown defender.
[00:21:48] And from everything I’ve read, he is a willing defender. Like he, he’s not one of those. I think sometimes when you think of like high school, all Americans. I think you could even look at [00:22:00] Palo bank hero as someone like this. Maybe too cool for school for defense. Like, I’ll do it when I want to, like, from everything I’ve read this guy locks in and can put the clamps down.
[00:22:12] Um,
[00:22:13] Dillon Sage: I mean, there’s definitely highlight clips of him doing some nice reading of the passing
[00:22:18] Dustin Hawes: lanes. Yeah. He plays the passing lanes, like really well. That’s important. That’s going to be really important for him. Um, too, he’s going to be a transition player early on in his career. Like whether it’s on the receiving end of a log or playing the passing lanes and getting out and, uh, finishing with his, uh, you know, athleticism that that’s where he’s going to, I think get on the floor for him for an NBA coach right off the bat is just like, Can you, can you turn your defense into offense?
[00:22:48] Like, can you be a low usage player and then slowly start to bring the offensive game, like getting more responsibilities on that end of the floor. But you know, you look at the size. [00:23:00] He has everything you want. It he’s just super duper tools. Yeah. It’s just all about, can you get those tools to function as one and you just haven’t seen the sample size.
[00:23:13] So again, there is a risk, but we’re arguing
[00:23:16] Dillon Sage: over like 15 clips that both of us have seen in the last 48 hours
[00:23:22] Dustin Hawes: clips. Yes. But you know, I’ve, I’ve done as much reading as, as there is on, on sharp. I think. I think to two things, one, he could be a player where you look back five years from the draft and say, why did we pass on him?
[00:23:38] But like a lot colada teams did with, you know, uh, Yonis, like you just like, why, why did that guy slip that or Devin Booker like that player should have gone that low exactly. Into, I think outside of the big. and Smith, I think sharp has the ability to rise the highest in [00:24:00] this draft. And I say that because.
[00:24:03] There is no collegiate tape on him. There there’s, there’s nothing but a mysterious potential. And we we’ve discussed this quite, quite a bit Sage it’s like, if you’re a GM and you’re making a trade, would you rather have the number 10 overall pick or the player that gets selected with that number to an overall pick in 10 times out of 10?
[00:24:25] You want that pick? Because that could be anything like it’s like having a lottery ticket. If these numbers. But then when you finally get your lottery ticket and looking at numbers like, oh, I don’t know how I feel about those numbers. It’s just, it’s all mental. But I think when he gets into these workouts, teams are going to get an up close and personal look.
[00:24:44] You know, all these workouts are basically solo nowadays, but if he has a workout similar to Damian Lillard in Portland, where it’s just like, oh, he shot the shit out of that basketball. He looks like he moves really, you know, sleek and smooth. You can kind of get a [00:25:00] better glimpse into shade and sharp the person as well.
[00:25:02] So if he tests well in these, these workouts, like, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go as high as like for,
[00:25:12] Dillon Sage: uh, where are you slotting him on your personal board right now?
[00:25:17] Dustin Hawes: Um, I haven’t done that quite yet.
[00:25:21] Dillon Sage: Once you’re ready. Let’s let’s put it on Holi, backward.com.
[00:25:25] Dustin Hawes: But I think, I mean, he’s easily a top 10 prospect for me. I
[00:25:28] Dillon Sage: have them behind, during, on my board. Like he’s a tier two, just because I don’t know, like in the during level of confidence level,
[00:25:41] Dustin Hawes: I will say this after seeing Johnny Davis struggle a little bit, I would be if it came down to our pick and it’s like, okay, you can have Johnny Davis or Shadan sharp.
[00:25:52] I might roll the dice on. Um, I’m, I’m coming around to him. It it’s [00:26:00] very risky, but I’m also a sucker for the mysterious. And I too would have liked to have taken Yonis in the 2013 draft. Like you don’t get many chances. Um, like why did Kobe slip in the 90, 96 draft? Like you just, you want to be able to say we, we got.
[00:26:20] And is it worth that, that, that lottery pick? I don’t, it might be. And I’m, I’m kind of a sucker for, especially if you’re a small market team. Sometimes you have to take those added risks to get that superstar player on a team friendly deal. You get the bird rights to try to, um, I think
[00:26:42] Dillon Sage: that having two picks this year lessons pretend to potential.
[00:26:46] Yeah,
[00:26:46] Dustin Hawes: exactly. That’s another reason why I’m starting to warm up to him is because you do potentially have two picks and if you have two picks, you’re like, okay, I can really start to, I can take this [00:27:00] risk, like w we can be okay. Going after sharpen and grooming him and seeing what, what he becomes. But yeah, I mean, there are so many great, uh, wings in this class that the, the necessity to take that risk, I think is lower than in previous classes where if sharp were a point guard, I think he would be through the roof.
[00:27:24] And that
[00:27:26] Dillon Sage: would be a top five. He would
[00:27:27] Dustin Hawes: be the clearly the best point guard prospect. Everyone needs a good point guard, but since there’s so many great shooting guards, you have to. NBA teams. I think you’re going to be tested because whether you love them or not, there are high caliber prospects. There’s Ivy, Griffin, Davis, madarin, uh, you name it and a bunch of G league players who we haven’t got into yet.
[00:27:49] I’m excited about that. So you, if it comes down to your pick, are you going to say, okay, we’ve seen the growth of Jayden Ivy and Benedick Mather in from freshmen to sophomore year. [00:28:00] We’ve seen Adrian Griffin potentially helped duke win an actual champion. Is that enough? And what do we like that more than what shade and sharp has shown in our workouts?
[00:28:11] How he’s, you know, just rose, uh, had just a meteoric rise or are you going to say, no, I’m going to, we’re going to take shade into the moon. Like you’re really going to double down.
[00:28:22] Dillon Sage: I fi I find him to be like dose point right now. I am very, very, uh, I don’t want to say pessimistic because he is like the seventh guy on my board, but I am not, I’m not ready to commit to putting my, uh, my precious, precious cash into a, uh, a shade in sharp coin yet.
[00:28:42] I feel much more confident in the Aja and the IVs and the math origins than, than him like. Even in those clips where you show, they showed that he’s super good defensively. It was like, oh, there’s some, there’s some pretty [00:29:00] big flaws in his defensive game. I, again, it’s, it’s like 40 minutes of clips on the internet, so it’s not like, it’s
[00:29:09] Dustin Hawes: just,
[00:29:11] Dillon Sage: yeah, it’s not like I’m not doing my work.
[00:29:13] It’s just so difficult to find those clips. So if. If all of those shooting guards are gone. Sure. I’ll take that shot on sharp, but I’m not, I’m not like I’m not jazzed about this yet, but again, I am willing to be moved if he does well and you know, things that we can actually watch him do well.
[00:29:39] Dustin Hawes: Did you have any comparisons?
[00:29:42] Uh, I didn’t bother with comparisons, um, too little a footage, but, um, here’s what the ringer put out. And they usually do when they do their, their big board. He has number seven on their big board. Hey, they usually put like shades of not exact copies of.[00:30:00]
[00:30:02] Like, if you’re putting a dish together, you’re going to use a little bit of this, a little bit of that. So the ingredient list for shade and sharp, they have Paul George, a taller Bradley Beal in Jalen green. So if, if Shaden sharp ends up in, in that realm, a lot of teams are going to be pissed off. They didn’t take him.
[00:30:21] I’m not saying he’s going to be that, but if he does become that, who are they again? Sorry, Paul. George. Taller Bradley Beal Jalen green.
[00:30:31] Dillon Sage: I’m sorry that just from the limited clips that I’ve seen, no, that’s not the right comp again, limited clips for sure. Bradley Beal and Paul Georgia, some of the best dribblers at their size and shadings using normal one crossover.
[00:30:48] Now that I just don’t see it in the, that evaluation. And I get it. We’re not really using that much tape, but the way that I saw the [00:31:00] sharp dribble, nada. Like I was thinking,
[00:31:05] Dustin Hawes: fuck it. And shades of Sage, like he’s not a finished product. Well then I’m
[00:31:08] Dillon Sage: shades of fucking Bruce Lee. Cause my middle name’s Lee, like,
[00:31:12] Dustin Hawes: here you go.
[00:31:15] Dillon Sage: Yeah. Uh, me and spike Lee are our cousins. Nah, like Isaac, a coral. That would be my comp for right now. Uh, worst ball handling Isaac.
[00:31:27] Dustin Hawes: I think I’m, I think I’m, I’m more intrigued in, in sharp than you are. Oh, absolutely.
[00:31:32] Dillon Sage: Yeah. Yeah. I, I don’t, I don’t see, I don’t see the Bradley Beal come my GS. I see Isaac Coro, but not beautiful Playmaker.
[00:31:44] Dustin Hawes: I can see the Jalen green.
[00:31:46] Dillon Sage: Okay, good. The athleticism, but I think, oh, question. I know we were kind of keep this short, but question Jalen green or Jayden.
[00:31:57] Dustin Hawes: Jalen
[00:31:57] Dillon Sage: green. I [00:32:00] did not
[00:32:00] Dustin Hawes: think you were going to say that earlier in the year. I have said Jayden Ivy, Jalen green is living up to that number two overall pick like he’s he’s nice.
[00:32:09] Real, real, real nice. And he’s got the size. Now if Jayden Ivy were 6, 6, 6, 7, maybe Ivy, but green, I believe is younger age. He’s just doing it now. And he’s younger and he’s taller. Like it’s it’s as much as I will survive you like I’d have to be real. I would take green.
[00:32:26] Dillon Sage: Is it a, is it a question in your mind or is it straight?
[00:32:28] No thinking I, uh,
[00:32:31] Dustin Hawes: green, sorry. I’m pretty, I’m like 90% solid on that.
[00:32:34] Dillon Sage: Damn. Okay.
[00:32:36] Dustin Hawes: Okay. And green has been playing well as, uh, the second half of the season. And that’s really what you want to see from a rookie is like, yeah, they may have some speed bumps early on, but like, do they start looking like they belong in.
[00:32:51] I mean, certainly does. So
[00:32:53] Dillon Sage: as we here right now in wrapping up on sharp, is there any takes from the tournament that, uh, [00:33:00] cross your mind that you want to talk about Friday instead of Sunday?
[00:33:07] Dustin Hawes: I mean, there’s so many of the prospects got knocked out early. It’s kind of a, uh, a little bit of a bummer and then there’s no more basketball to watch, uh, to, to Scouts. So it’s like this weekend is, is it.
[00:33:21] Dillon Sage: Um, do you watch, did you watch the games with the volume on or not
[00:33:28] Dustin Hawes: what games? Uh, the
[00:33:29] Dillon Sage: college games.
[00:33:31] Yeah. Okay. Did you notice that in the Auburn game, they were saying Javari needs to drive to the lane and get into the paint and score? I’m like, you guys don’t watch enough or that’s not what
[00:33:43] Dustin Hawes: he does. He’s lucky to get the basketball, but those two guards. Yeah. I
[00:33:48] Dillon Sage: mean, it’s just like, Damn these, these announcers that aren’t college basketball focused don’t really know these prospects, the way that people that watch Jabari actually.[00:34:00]
[00:34:00] Oh, no. He usually makes these shots. It’s not, it’s not like he’s in a funk. No, he takes a mix, these shots at a high level, but, uh, I think, I think. A little bit negative on Paulo. He’s shown a lot in these, in these games. I remember him roasting and toasting the Michigan state power forward. Uh, he is, he is showing a lot of craft in these, uh, these games.
[00:34:25] And, uh, it’s definitely
[00:34:26] Dustin Hawes: about Paolo. And this is the first thing I noticed when I watched him even. I think he was the Madison square garden, gave him, gets him Chucky. I was like, this is a big, big, big. NBA player sitting court side, he still was just like, I’m kind of going through the motions. And like, I finally feel like it took the Michigan state game from me, like, oh, we’re in the NCA tournament.
[00:34:45] Like I’m going to start playing basketball now. And it’s like, Okay, that’s great. But are you a player we’re going to have to coach up to play big games? Like there’s 82 games. Like you’re going to have to go to OKC and fucking January on the second night of a back-to-back. Are you going to be able to bring it for me?[00:35:00]
[00:35:00] So I still have that, that red flag about him. Yes. He’s been playing much more inspired and he’s showing why he’s probably going to be a top three pick. So I like him a little bit more, but that, that red flag is still. Is there for me, is it in somebody brought up a adjacent Tatum, like Tatum kind of showed the same things at duke and he’s clearly, that’s not
[00:35:19] Dillon Sage: a bad comp to be
[00:35:20] Dustin Hawes: completely grown in the league in terms of, you know, turning it on.
[00:35:24] Um, I just always liked players that no matter the competition, they’re just like, they’re ready to go. And I, so there is some risk there. Um,
[00:35:35] Dillon Sage: if we got fourth, would you be upset if we took him? I honestly, that that’s a, that’s a better, uh, that’s better than, uh, we’ve heard all year where it was a question, mark.
[00:35:47] I think that he is solidly in the top four for me. And there’s no way that, uh, my beloved AGA Griffin can poke into five or into four. So. Yeah, I think that Paulo’s shown some stuff. Like if I was [00:36:00] his coach, I would want him in the perimeter all the time. Like Mark Williams, ain’t leaving that paints there.
[00:36:05] So you gotta, you gotta create outside and we know that you have the skillset to do so. So, um, I was thinking while I was taking a shower today, who would you rather have Mark Williams or your beloved Jaylen Williams?
[00:36:24] Dustin Hawes: Uh, Yeah,
[00:36:25] Dillon Sage: that’s me. That’s me too. If I did my, if I wrote out my mock I would have J London, I
[00:36:31] Dustin Hawes: had a much more mobile, um, better offense, uh, taking charges.
[00:36:36] He can shoot from the outside if you need them to, um, you show them that potential. I just think he’s more nimble. Mark Williams is more of a, uh, a dinosaur in terms of a nineties type of big. And I just think Jaylen he’s got that switch ability that you need for a modern big,
[00:36:52] Dillon Sage: where would he be in your? I have met 1700.
[00:36:56] No Jaylen.
[00:36:58] Dustin Hawes: I think Jaylin’s probably going to go to the second [00:37:00] round. At least, at least I hope he does. Where would you have them in your, I would be comfortable taking them in the second round. Really.
[00:37:06] Dillon Sage: I would be, if we traded with the spurs, I would, I would expect to take him in the, uh, twenties, but we’ll be going to save the rest of our draft talk for Sunday.
[00:37:20] Um, thank you so much for listening to the. Probably the shortest episode of the holy backboard ever. Um, we will see you in a few days, salute to the blazer, stay safe, everybody purse.
[00:37:34] Dustin Hawes: All right, bud.
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