Justin Zanik and Dave Morway are describing Udoka like he's the next Shaq--like he's so big, so athletic and so powerful that he's basically a cheat code.
Jazz select Udoka Azubuike with pick 27 & trade Tony Bradley + pick 38 to the Pistons
- Thread starter Jason
- Start date
You sound like the Jazz's front office. He doesn't have a 41 vertical btw, but it might be 37".
Pastramiking
Well-Known Member
If Jazz were going for a center would’ve rather had Vernon Carey as he brings a different skill set. UA is basically Gobert insurance.
I don’t like the pick. It’s just dumb. You’re doubling down on something the entire league is moving away from. A big guy who can’t shoot. It clogs the lane on Donovan. You take an athletic wing who can hopefully grow. You take someone who can shoot. Go pick up a tall rim protector as a FA for nothing. Don’t waste draft picks on them. Just stupid.
Joncolton
Well-Known Member
Azubuike, after dropping 14 pounds, recorded a max vertical of 41 inches and a standing vertical at 37 inches. The Angola native also measured a 7-foot-7 wingspan. ESPN's Jonathan Givony also reported Azubuike's standing vertical leap was the “highest in NBA Combine history among centers.” 8 hours ago
seattlejazzfan
Well-Known Member
37 inch standing vertical, 41 inch - which is a record for centers - two step vertical.
seattlejazzfan
Well-Known Member
The entire league is moving away from big guys who can’t shoot- so Rudy? Right?
It's too bad the Jazz didn't have any other picks to address that.
Oh wait.
That's exactly why you don't double down. Rudy does have limitations and when he's dragged from the paint, we don't have a solvent defense.
Some cool strengths but some catastrophic weaknesses that can easily keep him off the court. The second he becomes a problem for the other team, they're just going to swarm and hack him every time down the floor. They will force a turnover or yield less than a point per possession when he touches the ball which will force the Jazz into a rather literal 4 on 5 situation.
zyzz
Well-Known Member
Sam Vecenie's scouting report
BACKGROUND: Born in Nigeria. Parents are Fibian and Florian. Father passed away when he was 10. Moved to the United States when he was 13 after getting noticed by recruiters. Doesn’t really speak much about his past because it was filled with poverty and violence in Lagos. Got noticed at Basketball Without Borders in Nigeria. From there, was placed in Florida at Potter’s House Christian Academy. While he was there, his guardians became assistant coach Harry Coxsome and his wife. Started for four years at Potter’s House, improving his skill level every year as opposed to just being big and being able to carve out space. Made the McDonald’s All-American game, the Nike Hoop Summit, and Jordan Brand Classic. Smart kid who worked hard on his grades. Was a consensus high-end four-star recruit who was ranked in the top-40 of his recruiting class. Chose Kansas over North Carolina and Florida State. Played a limited role as a freshman and was ineligible for the NBA Draft as a 17-year-old, but emerged well as a sophomore. Became the team’s starting center, and worked his way into a third team All-Big 12 selection. Team made the Final Four and was demolished by Villanova. He declared for the 2018 NBA Draft, and set high marks at the NBA Draft Combine with a 7-foot-7 wingspan. Ultimately decided to return to school, though, because he didn’t quite get the assurances he was looking for. He missed a large portion of his junior year with torn ligaments in his right hand and had season-ending surgery in January. Couldn’t participate at any pre-draft event, and therefore decided to return for his senior season. Azubuike dominated as a senior, and was arguably a top-five player in the country after spending the previous offseason getting into the best shape and conditioning of his life. He was named Big 12 Player of the Year, was a consensus second-team All-American, and rightly won the NABC Defensive Player of the Year award after he was snubbed for the Naismith DPOY finalists list. He finished his career as the all-time NCAA leading in field goal percentage at 74.6 percent. Above that, he was a three-time All-Academic team member in the Big 12. He’s a senior, but has only just turned 21 years old.
STRENGTHS: Elite measurables for the center position. At near 7-foot tall with a 7-foot-7 wingspan, Azubuike will immediately be one of the longest players in the league. Additionally, he’ll be one of the strongest. He is an absolute force at carving out position inside. His lower half looks closer to that of an offensive lineman than the typical high-waisted center in the NBA, although he’s really worked hard over the last few years to improve his frame and conditioning. Early in his career, Azubuike struggled to play for longer than five-minute stretches. This year at Kansas he played over 30 minutes per night and was effective throughout.
So where does he make an impact? The big one is on defense. As I wrote at the end of last season, Azubuike would have been my pick for national defensive player of the year. His impact was just so monstrous on the court for Kansas. He carried the No. 1 defense in college basketball. When he was on the floor for Kansas, they gave up just 86.5 points per 100 possessions per Pivot Analysis. When he was off the floor, they gave up over 106 points per 100. When he was on the floor, Kansas was the second-best rim protection team last year, and allowed only the ninth-highest percentage of shots at the rim. When he was off it, they were below-average in both categories among high-major teams. He’s an absolute force around the rim that uses his length and strength exceedingly well. His understanding of verticality is tremendous, and he’s gotten much better at playing without fouling. He’s smarter in space with his angles to where it’s tougher to blow by him in drop coverages. Real threat in recovery due to his length. Impossible to deal with on the block. Can’t move him, can’t post against him. Can’t carve out any space once he touches you. In college, that ability to shut down the paint was enormous.
Offensively, Azubuike is similarly a force around the basket. Again, he’s the all-time leader in field goal percentage for a reason. First, it’s because he can dunk everything. He’s actually pretty explosive vertically off of two feet. When combining that with his length, it means that he can dunk just about anything if he’s rolling toward the rim, or if he’s a dump-off option in the dunker spot. If you give him any angle of position, he’s elite at sealing off defensive players with his strength, presenting a big target at the rim with his length. On half court attempts at the rim on non-post-ups, he made 84.5 percent, which is the highest number of any prospect in the years I’ve been scouting the draft. Even on post-ups, an inherently much more difficult shot, Azubuike has made 65.9 percent, which is about what Onyeka Okongwu made on non-post-up shots around the rim. Azubuike is also tremendous as an offensive rebounder due to that ability to carve out space wherever he wants around the rim.
Basically, Azubuike will be an elite finisher at the rim, and should be a high-level rim protector.
WEAKNESSES: There are two critical ones for me. First, does he move well enough in space to deal with NBA athletes and the more well-spaced court? He did much better this year with his angles, but still had a propensity to get beat and have to go into recovery. Guards can turn the corner on him. The bigger problem is that he’s terrible at the moment dealing with bigs who can shoot and space it out. Doesn’t play that gap well at all. Guys like Kristaps Porzingis or even Myles Turner, who spend a lot of time just spotting up versus picking and popping, will tear him apart. He’ll have problems with pick-and-pops. Guards will also try to string him out and get him on an island. He can’t hold up on an island right now because his feet are too heavy. Purely effective in space as a drop-coverage big in pick-and-roll. It’s critical he keeps getting in better shape. He was down at 259.6 at the NBA Draft Combine. If he can get down to even 250 while maintaining his elite levels of strength, it would really help.
The second one is the free throw shooting. Right now, he’s such a bad free throw shooter that Hack-a-Doke is a viable strategy, especially once he gets any semblance of positioning. Teams would be smart to simply just foul him on the catch and don’t let him finish at the rim. It’s easier said than done, but the matchups he’ll get in the NBA should be strong enough to not allow him to finish. Once he’s there, Azubuike only made 41.6 percent from the foul line in his four years at Kansas. Teams fouling Azubuike can expect that he’ll make under 0.85 points-per-possession right now on foul shots. He needs to get that up into the 55 percent range so he doesn’t just become a foul magnet for opposing teams.
I’ll also note that I don’t really trust Azubuike to do anything with ball-in-hand, either. He never has looked particularly comfortable if he’s not turning and dunking or turning and taking one or two dribbles into a hook shot in the post. He’s absolutely not a passer, having posted a 1-to-3 assist rate over the course of his career at Kansas (a number that was largely representative of his senior year, as well). But he can also be prone to turnovers or simply stopping to process what is happening around him. Needs to improve that dramatically. He’s never going to shoot, so if he’s going to be even mildly effective on the perimeter in any way, he has to be able to make a short-roll pass, or at least operate in dribble-hand-offs in a way that we haven’t really seen from him thus far.
SUMMARY: Basically, Azubuike is a situational guy. If you don’t play a drop coverage scheme, I’m not sure he should even be on your board at all. He can’t play any other defensive coverages in the NBA. But if you’re a team like the Trail Blazers, Bucks or Jazz, I think Azubuike has a case to be higher than this on your board. Those teams could get the most out of Azubuike’s ability to really control the paint defensively. This one all comes down to fit and belief in him continuing to develop as a free throw shooter. His singularly dominant skills are higher level than many other players’ singularly dominant skills in this class. He’s just not anything resembling a complete player, and I find it unlikely that teams will be able to close with him on the court at any point. Still, there’s a role here as a backup big man in the right spot. I don’t think I’d take him in the first round even if I was one of the positive fits I mentioned above, but he’d be a guaranteed contract guy for me under those circumstances.
GRADE: Second rounder, worth a guaranteed deal in the right situation.
BACKGROUND: Born in Nigeria. Parents are Fibian and Florian. Father passed away when he was 10. Moved to the United States when he was 13 after getting noticed by recruiters. Doesn’t really speak much about his past because it was filled with poverty and violence in Lagos. Got noticed at Basketball Without Borders in Nigeria. From there, was placed in Florida at Potter’s House Christian Academy. While he was there, his guardians became assistant coach Harry Coxsome and his wife. Started for four years at Potter’s House, improving his skill level every year as opposed to just being big and being able to carve out space. Made the McDonald’s All-American game, the Nike Hoop Summit, and Jordan Brand Classic. Smart kid who worked hard on his grades. Was a consensus high-end four-star recruit who was ranked in the top-40 of his recruiting class. Chose Kansas over North Carolina and Florida State. Played a limited role as a freshman and was ineligible for the NBA Draft as a 17-year-old, but emerged well as a sophomore. Became the team’s starting center, and worked his way into a third team All-Big 12 selection. Team made the Final Four and was demolished by Villanova. He declared for the 2018 NBA Draft, and set high marks at the NBA Draft Combine with a 7-foot-7 wingspan. Ultimately decided to return to school, though, because he didn’t quite get the assurances he was looking for. He missed a large portion of his junior year with torn ligaments in his right hand and had season-ending surgery in January. Couldn’t participate at any pre-draft event, and therefore decided to return for his senior season. Azubuike dominated as a senior, and was arguably a top-five player in the country after spending the previous offseason getting into the best shape and conditioning of his life. He was named Big 12 Player of the Year, was a consensus second-team All-American, and rightly won the NABC Defensive Player of the Year award after he was snubbed for the Naismith DPOY finalists list. He finished his career as the all-time NCAA leading in field goal percentage at 74.6 percent. Above that, he was a three-time All-Academic team member in the Big 12. He’s a senior, but has only just turned 21 years old.
STRENGTHS: Elite measurables for the center position. At near 7-foot tall with a 7-foot-7 wingspan, Azubuike will immediately be one of the longest players in the league. Additionally, he’ll be one of the strongest. He is an absolute force at carving out position inside. His lower half looks closer to that of an offensive lineman than the typical high-waisted center in the NBA, although he’s really worked hard over the last few years to improve his frame and conditioning. Early in his career, Azubuike struggled to play for longer than five-minute stretches. This year at Kansas he played over 30 minutes per night and was effective throughout.
So where does he make an impact? The big one is on defense. As I wrote at the end of last season, Azubuike would have been my pick for national defensive player of the year. His impact was just so monstrous on the court for Kansas. He carried the No. 1 defense in college basketball. When he was on the floor for Kansas, they gave up just 86.5 points per 100 possessions per Pivot Analysis. When he was off the floor, they gave up over 106 points per 100. When he was on the floor, Kansas was the second-best rim protection team last year, and allowed only the ninth-highest percentage of shots at the rim. When he was off it, they were below-average in both categories among high-major teams. He’s an absolute force around the rim that uses his length and strength exceedingly well. His understanding of verticality is tremendous, and he’s gotten much better at playing without fouling. He’s smarter in space with his angles to where it’s tougher to blow by him in drop coverages. Real threat in recovery due to his length. Impossible to deal with on the block. Can’t move him, can’t post against him. Can’t carve out any space once he touches you. In college, that ability to shut down the paint was enormous.
Offensively, Azubuike is similarly a force around the basket. Again, he’s the all-time leader in field goal percentage for a reason. First, it’s because he can dunk everything. He’s actually pretty explosive vertically off of two feet. When combining that with his length, it means that he can dunk just about anything if he’s rolling toward the rim, or if he’s a dump-off option in the dunker spot. If you give him any angle of position, he’s elite at sealing off defensive players with his strength, presenting a big target at the rim with his length. On half court attempts at the rim on non-post-ups, he made 84.5 percent, which is the highest number of any prospect in the years I’ve been scouting the draft. Even on post-ups, an inherently much more difficult shot, Azubuike has made 65.9 percent, which is about what Onyeka Okongwu made on non-post-up shots around the rim. Azubuike is also tremendous as an offensive rebounder due to that ability to carve out space wherever he wants around the rim.
Basically, Azubuike will be an elite finisher at the rim, and should be a high-level rim protector.
WEAKNESSES: There are two critical ones for me. First, does he move well enough in space to deal with NBA athletes and the more well-spaced court? He did much better this year with his angles, but still had a propensity to get beat and have to go into recovery. Guards can turn the corner on him. The bigger problem is that he’s terrible at the moment dealing with bigs who can shoot and space it out. Doesn’t play that gap well at all. Guys like Kristaps Porzingis or even Myles Turner, who spend a lot of time just spotting up versus picking and popping, will tear him apart. He’ll have problems with pick-and-pops. Guards will also try to string him out and get him on an island. He can’t hold up on an island right now because his feet are too heavy. Purely effective in space as a drop-coverage big in pick-and-roll. It’s critical he keeps getting in better shape. He was down at 259.6 at the NBA Draft Combine. If he can get down to even 250 while maintaining his elite levels of strength, it would really help.
The second one is the free throw shooting. Right now, he’s such a bad free throw shooter that Hack-a-Doke is a viable strategy, especially once he gets any semblance of positioning. Teams would be smart to simply just foul him on the catch and don’t let him finish at the rim. It’s easier said than done, but the matchups he’ll get in the NBA should be strong enough to not allow him to finish. Once he’s there, Azubuike only made 41.6 percent from the foul line in his four years at Kansas. Teams fouling Azubuike can expect that he’ll make under 0.85 points-per-possession right now on foul shots. He needs to get that up into the 55 percent range so he doesn’t just become a foul magnet for opposing teams.
I’ll also note that I don’t really trust Azubuike to do anything with ball-in-hand, either. He never has looked particularly comfortable if he’s not turning and dunking or turning and taking one or two dribbles into a hook shot in the post. He’s absolutely not a passer, having posted a 1-to-3 assist rate over the course of his career at Kansas (a number that was largely representative of his senior year, as well). But he can also be prone to turnovers or simply stopping to process what is happening around him. Needs to improve that dramatically. He’s never going to shoot, so if he’s going to be even mildly effective on the perimeter in any way, he has to be able to make a short-roll pass, or at least operate in dribble-hand-offs in a way that we haven’t really seen from him thus far.
SUMMARY: Basically, Azubuike is a situational guy. If you don’t play a drop coverage scheme, I’m not sure he should even be on your board at all. He can’t play any other defensive coverages in the NBA. But if you’re a team like the Trail Blazers, Bucks or Jazz, I think Azubuike has a case to be higher than this on your board. Those teams could get the most out of Azubuike’s ability to really control the paint defensively. This one all comes down to fit and belief in him continuing to develop as a free throw shooter. His singularly dominant skills are higher level than many other players’ singularly dominant skills in this class. He’s just not anything resembling a complete player, and I find it unlikely that teams will be able to close with him on the court at any point. Still, there’s a role here as a backup big man in the right spot. I don’t think I’d take him in the first round even if I was one of the positive fits I mentioned above, but he’d be a guaranteed contract guy for me under those circumstances.
GRADE: Second rounder, worth a guaranteed deal in the right situation.
zyzz
Well-Known Member
Vecenie’s scouting report: So yeah, I totally get what Utah is going for here, at least. Azubuike was the most impactful defensive player in college basketball last season because he was just absolutely enormous at 7-foot with a 7-7 wingspan. He also made a drastic improvement with his conditioning to be able to not be a liability on the perimeter, and he’s an elite finisher at the basket, holding the NCAA field goal percentage record. This is early for me, though. That ability to defend away from the basket might not hold up in the NBA, and he’s one of the worst free throw shooters to enter the draft in history.
Ranking: No. 44
Hollinger’s team fit: Utah has done a great job developing oversized centers – just look at Rudy Gobert and Tony Bradley – and Azubuike is cut from the same cloth. But the game is tilting away from this type of player, and I was surprised to see a team that already has Gobert and Bradley choose another behemoth 5. The Jazz did trade Bradley today to clear room for this pick.
I would have picked…
Vecenie: Desmond Bane | Hollinger: Paul Reed
Ranking: No. 44
Hollinger’s team fit: Utah has done a great job developing oversized centers – just look at Rudy Gobert and Tony Bradley – and Azubuike is cut from the same cloth. But the game is tilting away from this type of player, and I was surprised to see a team that already has Gobert and Bradley choose another behemoth 5. The Jazz did trade Bradley today to clear room for this pick.
I would have picked…
Vecenie: Desmond Bane | Hollinger: Paul Reed
The Jazz Wonderbra
Well-Known Member
I mean... my first reaction was WTF!?!?!
My second reaction was... this is a tony Bradley repeat where the analytics say blah blah blah but WTF!?!?!
I am now 2 hours in and I kind of get it. Our bench SUCKED last year and what this signals to me is that the Jazz:
A. Really think Rudy is so essential to our success that we suck mostly when he sits hence the bench was one of the worst in the league and we need more Rudy.
B. When everyone in the league yins, why not yang for the cost of a late 1st? I mean the Lakers had 3 x 7 footers again this year. So...
C. We dont think that the Paint protecting 5 is dead like most of the league does and we are willing to back that up.
D. FG% is a major factor for the Jazz strategy.
But then again...
1. We stole the 38th pick from the Knicks yesterday by dropping 4 picks only to have them flip it for the 25th and 33rd.
2. This pick looks like a serious reach that could have been had at the 38th pick.
3. And can he REALLY stay on the floor? I have major doubts.
Prove me wrong please. But you didn't with TuBerculosisley.
My second reaction was... this is a tony Bradley repeat where the analytics say blah blah blah but WTF!?!?!
I am now 2 hours in and I kind of get it. Our bench SUCKED last year and what this signals to me is that the Jazz:
A. Really think Rudy is so essential to our success that we suck mostly when he sits hence the bench was one of the worst in the league and we need more Rudy.
B. When everyone in the league yins, why not yang for the cost of a late 1st? I mean the Lakers had 3 x 7 footers again this year. So...
C. We dont think that the Paint protecting 5 is dead like most of the league does and we are willing to back that up.
D. FG% is a major factor for the Jazz strategy.
But then again...
1. We stole the 38th pick from the Knicks yesterday by dropping 4 picks only to have them flip it for the 25th and 33rd.
2. This pick looks like a serious reach that could have been had at the 38th pick.
3. And can he REALLY stay on the floor? I have major doubts.
Prove me wrong please. But you didn't with TuBerculosisley.
It's the type of pick a good playoff team makes. He fills a huge hole for us that we would have had to spend part of our mle on. Let's hope he can be a Rudy light player. One nice thing is that strong bigs that can push Rudy around and wear him out we can put him on.
Now we need to a solid fa pickup at the wing/ forward position and we are set.
We were a really good team last year despite two huge misses in free agency that left our bench in rumbles. We fix that and we are great. Backup center is huge for us.
Now we need to a solid fa pickup at the wing/ forward position and we are set.
We were a really good team last year despite two huge misses in free agency that left our bench in rumbles. We fix that and we are great. Backup center is huge for us.
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The Jazz Wonderbra
Well-Known Member
Maybe someone has mentioned this already, but... did lightning strike twice at #27?
I mean we basically drafted the same type of player as we did with Gobert at the same position in the draft.
There is a rule about two players having the same number? But there should be an exception since they won't be playing on the court at the same time ever.
If not,, then I propose he wears number #72 as a motivation for the draft position hr would have had if the jazz didn't drafted him.
I mean we basically drafted the same type of player as we did with Gobert at the same position in the draft.
There is a rule about two players having the same number? But there should be an exception since they won't be playing on the court at the same time ever.
If not,, then I propose he wears number #72 as a motivation for the draft position hr would have had if the jazz didn't drafted him.
Udoka is much more modern than Bradley. Bradley was pretty much a finesse player that was below the rim with no mobility. There were semblances of mid-range game. He had to go to the basket in various ways because he would just get stuffed. There are no worries about how Udoka will get his. He will put pressure on the rim for the 2nd unit which was lacking outside of Rudy.
If Udoka is half the player of prime Deandre Jordan, that's great.
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LogGrad98
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Yeah but how has this draft affected you?
Ok, Udoka is only 21 years old (just turned in September) that makes me like the pick a bit more. This dude's body is going to be insane if he continues to put in the work.