May 2, 2023·edited May 2, 2023Liked by Maxwell Baumbach
Hey Max, good stuff like always, man. Just a piece of feedback. You do a good job articulating Coleman Hawkins' strengths and weaknesses. You just lost me at the end where you say that if he has a strong combine, he could maybe be a draftable guy (paraphrasing). IMO, he is a draftable guy now, and if he has a strong combine, he could move up into early 2nd round (or maybe even late 1st round).
You say how he's almost there in a few different areas and needs to get a little bulkier to play full-time at the 5. But you also point out the many things he does well, that make him an intriguing prospect. A 6'10" guy who can potentially guard 1-5 defensively, give you some weak side rim protection, plays with a toughness/edge to him, can be a really strong passer for a big, with flashes of draining 3's and handling the ball out on the perimeter.
Isn't that exactly the type of guy you take a swing on in the 2nd round?
As a general observation, it seems like you're much more risk averse when evaluating/ranking prospects. For example, you seem to be very high on Trey Alexander. He seems to be a very safe pick. High floor. Low bust potential. It seems like when you evaluate players, you really look deep to find flaws, and then you really drill into those flaws and point out how big they are. Which is fine. But with someone like Alexander (or someone like Bufkin), one might say they don't really have any flaws. Or they have very few flaws..or the flaws they do have are smaller.
But if I'm a team picking in the 2nd round, I look at Alexander and I say to myself, "where's the upside here?" Same thing with Bufkin if I'm picking in the lottery.
I'm not saying this risk averse draft philosophy is wrong. I'm simply offering a different viewpoint. Personally, I'm taking Coleman Hawkins over Trey Alexander 10 times out of 10 (depending on the team context, and how both guys do in workouts, interviews and stuff, of course). Just like I'm taking GG Jackson over Bufkin..
I feel like outside of the top 20 or 25 picks, I'd rather take an upside swing. That's just me. I feel like the odds are pretty good Coleman Hawkins can bulk up a little bit (haven't researched it, but I'm pretty sure most bigs over the past 10-20 yrs or so add at least 15 lbs or so after arriving in the NBA, especially ones who are 21 or younger on draft night. And I think the odds are pretty good that he can improve in some of the areas he's not as strong in, considering a good % of a player's development takes place after he is drafted.
Hey Max, good stuff like always, man. Just a piece of feedback. You do a good job articulating Coleman Hawkins' strengths and weaknesses. You just lost me at the end where you say that if he has a strong combine, he could maybe be a draftable guy (paraphrasing). IMO, he is a draftable guy now, and if he has a strong combine, he could move up into early 2nd round (or maybe even late 1st round).
You say how he's almost there in a few different areas and needs to get a little bulkier to play full-time at the 5. But you also point out the many things he does well, that make him an intriguing prospect. A 6'10" guy who can potentially guard 1-5 defensively, give you some weak side rim protection, plays with a toughness/edge to him, can be a really strong passer for a big, with flashes of draining 3's and handling the ball out on the perimeter.
Isn't that exactly the type of guy you take a swing on in the 2nd round?
As a general observation, it seems like you're much more risk averse when evaluating/ranking prospects. For example, you seem to be very high on Trey Alexander. He seems to be a very safe pick. High floor. Low bust potential. It seems like when you evaluate players, you really look deep to find flaws, and then you really drill into those flaws and point out how big they are. Which is fine. But with someone like Alexander (or someone like Bufkin), one might say they don't really have any flaws. Or they have very few flaws..or the flaws they do have are smaller.
But if I'm a team picking in the 2nd round, I look at Alexander and I say to myself, "where's the upside here?" Same thing with Bufkin if I'm picking in the lottery.
I'm not saying this risk averse draft philosophy is wrong. I'm simply offering a different viewpoint. Personally, I'm taking Coleman Hawkins over Trey Alexander 10 times out of 10 (depending on the team context, and how both guys do in workouts, interviews and stuff, of course). Just like I'm taking GG Jackson over Bufkin..
I feel like outside of the top 20 or 25 picks, I'd rather take an upside swing. That's just me. I feel like the odds are pretty good Coleman Hawkins can bulk up a little bit (haven't researched it, but I'm pretty sure most bigs over the past 10-20 yrs or so add at least 15 lbs or so after arriving in the NBA, especially ones who are 21 or younger on draft night. And I think the odds are pretty good that he can improve in some of the areas he's not as strong in, considering a good % of a player's development takes place after he is drafted.
P.S. I think you know who this is haha