Blind Player Comparison (Stats Only) #1
I think it's a good exercise to think about players without the hype or bias that comes with knowing their name or team. Therefore, I created a little blind resume, and will reveal the player names below and discuss my thoughts. Try not to spoil the exercise by looking at the player names before analyzing the different players!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The three players listed above are Jordan Nwora of Louisville (Player A), Kouat Noi of TCU (Player B) and KZ Okpala of Stanford (Player C). Looking at the numbers and attributes only, to me at least it seems that Nwora is the top guy, and Noi and Okapala follow behind him pretty closely to each other. I would put Okpala a little bit ahead of Noi looking at these numbers just because of Noi's advanced age and Okapala's potential as a three level scorer shown by his free throw rate. But, it's pretty close between those two, as Noi shows the potential to be a pretty good 3 and D prospect.
This exercise might be pretty surprising for some people, as Okapala is generally discussed as a top 15 or 20 prospect, while Nwora and Noi usually go undrafted in mocks or at least very late in the 2nd round. I think Nwora is a clear 1st round prospect with the potential to be an elite 3 and D NBA player. He has a great height, weight and length for a NBA SF, and has very good rebounding potential as well as the potential to be a great 3 and D player in the NBA. He is pretty elite shooting wise (lots of 3PA, great 3P%, solid FT %) and defense wise as an NBA prospect, which is very rare. He also has some potential as a creator based on his ability to make plays and shoot off the dribble.
Noi is also definitely draftable likely as a early to mid 2nd round guy. Guys with his ability to shoot the ball at 6-7 with a solid frame and also good instincts and lateral quickness defensively are awesome NBA 3 and D candidates. For a contending team such as the Lakers or Rockets, Noi could be a solid 3 and D role player from day 1, which is very valuable.
Lastly, Okapala. While he's often mocked in the late lottery or mid 1st round, I think KZ is more of a early to mid 2nd round type of prospect. NBA teams tend to love long SFs who can score (for their "potential") but personally I wouldn't touch him in the first until he shows more on defense (especially as an off ball defender) or as a distributor/ball handler. He's not even that good of a college player, even though he is almost 20 years old, so I think it might take a while for him to make a positive impact in the NBA. He probably doesn't have much creation ability and that is a skill that prospects like Okpala rarely develop. Therefore, he projects as another 3 and D guy, but isn't as good of a defender as Noi or Nwora, and based on his FT% and lack of 3PA, is likely not as good of a shooter either.
Here are the ranges of these guys on my Big Board right now (using these ranges as my big board is not finished quite yet):
Jordan Nwora: 16-22 range
Kouat Noi: 35-45
KZ Okapala: 30-40
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The three players listed above are Jordan Nwora of Louisville (Player A), Kouat Noi of TCU (Player B) and KZ Okpala of Stanford (Player C). Looking at the numbers and attributes only, to me at least it seems that Nwora is the top guy, and Noi and Okapala follow behind him pretty closely to each other. I would put Okpala a little bit ahead of Noi looking at these numbers just because of Noi's advanced age and Okapala's potential as a three level scorer shown by his free throw rate. But, it's pretty close between those two, as Noi shows the potential to be a pretty good 3 and D prospect.
This exercise might be pretty surprising for some people, as Okapala is generally discussed as a top 15 or 20 prospect, while Nwora and Noi usually go undrafted in mocks or at least very late in the 2nd round. I think Nwora is a clear 1st round prospect with the potential to be an elite 3 and D NBA player. He has a great height, weight and length for a NBA SF, and has very good rebounding potential as well as the potential to be a great 3 and D player in the NBA. He is pretty elite shooting wise (lots of 3PA, great 3P%, solid FT %) and defense wise as an NBA prospect, which is very rare. He also has some potential as a creator based on his ability to make plays and shoot off the dribble.
Noi is also definitely draftable likely as a early to mid 2nd round guy. Guys with his ability to shoot the ball at 6-7 with a solid frame and also good instincts and lateral quickness defensively are awesome NBA 3 and D candidates. For a contending team such as the Lakers or Rockets, Noi could be a solid 3 and D role player from day 1, which is very valuable.
Lastly, Okapala. While he's often mocked in the late lottery or mid 1st round, I think KZ is more of a early to mid 2nd round type of prospect. NBA teams tend to love long SFs who can score (for their "potential") but personally I wouldn't touch him in the first until he shows more on defense (especially as an off ball defender) or as a distributor/ball handler. He's not even that good of a college player, even though he is almost 20 years old, so I think it might take a while for him to make a positive impact in the NBA. He probably doesn't have much creation ability and that is a skill that prospects like Okpala rarely develop. Therefore, he projects as another 3 and D guy, but isn't as good of a defender as Noi or Nwora, and based on his FT% and lack of 3PA, is likely not as good of a shooter either.
Here are the ranges of these guys on my Big Board right now (using these ranges as my big board is not finished quite yet):
Jordan Nwora: 16-22 range
Kouat Noi: 35-45
KZ Okapala: 30-40
Comments
Post a Comment