Luka

Following NBA Draft prospects from prep to pros. (📧: [email protected])

[Adrian Wojnarowski @wojespn]

Source: NBA Draft will be on October 16, with early entry deadline on August 17.

[tribjazz @tribjazz]

Interesting tidbit from the NBA’s announcement on the BOG vote. Lottery odds will be tied to teams’ records only through March 11. Teams that resume but wind up not making playoffs won’t have these extra eight games count toward their lottery odds.

[Adrian Wojnarowski @wojespn]

NBA has set an August 25 Draft Lottery and October 15 Draft, sources say.

[Luka @preptopros]

Haliburton's game profiles well in any situation. He's low maintenance, highly efficient and has shown excellent production.

With the atypical draft process, I can see teams valuing that they know what they're getting with him and it'll be a productive NBA player.

[Luka @preptopros]

I have a feeling Tyrese Haliburton may get drafted higher than expected. Despite a deep PG class, Haliburton offers certainty in an uncertain draft.

- High level, 2yr collegiate production
- International experience
- High floor
- + Character

Medical check on wrist will be key

[Luka @preptopros]

This is some pretty impressive candor from Avdija re: his development on defense, and what led to his attitude change on that end.

https://t.co/S6YQXfKCOB

[Luka @preptopros]

The complete Deni Avdija video scouting breakdown.

⚡️ “Deni Avdija deep dive”

https://t.co/u6eejiZMmd

[Luka @preptopros]

So what's the deal with Avdija?

Here's my report.

[Luka @preptopros]

To end things for the evening on a positive note with Avdija, this is a little clip I'll leave here...

[Luka @preptopros]

One final note on Avdija I forgot to share: he's really good in transition, especially on look aheads.

This is something we saw from LaMelo Ball a lot, and Avdija does it just as well.

He's especially dangerous off of defensive rebounds and initiating a quick break.

[Luka @preptopros]

Avdija does a good job of staying disciplined when going vertical to contest shot attempts.

However, he has a habit of leaning a bit too much on the player when doing so which can lead to some easy spinoffs/turnoffs to shot attempts.

[Luka @preptopros]

One place he really needs work on is closeouts.

He tends to be overaggressive and undisciplined, flying by shooters which leads to an easy pump fake and drive, or free throw attempts.

The effort is there, but the execution is not.

[Luka @preptopros]

I believe Avdija is somewhere in between the good and the bad tape as a defender. I don't think he's 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘥 as some of his tape but it still exists.

He should be a competent defender + useful for positional versatility but I'm not sure he'll ever be a high-end defender.

[Luka @preptopros]

And on the other side of the defensive film...

There's the bad Deni where the motor runs cold, the rotations are late and he doesn't boxout.

[Luka @preptopros]

On defense, teams will need to decide between the tale of the tape.

There's the good Deni where he's attentive, actively rotating to weakside help and playing with energy.

[Luka @preptopros]

Perhaps it's from watching Dion Waiters too much, but Avdija had a similar off-ball habit to continuously call for the ball instead of moving.

This was more so at youth and international levels, but it's something that players today used to playing on the ball fall victim to.

[Luka @preptopros]

Similar to a strong armed quarterback being too confident in fitting the ball into windows, Avdija can get into trouble being overaggressive/trusting his passing ability too much.

This isn't a concerned trend but something to watch as it led to the majority of his turnovers.

[Luka @preptopros]

@N_Magaro 100%. The feel, BBIQ and style of play all (should we also mention the international connection?) all fit the Spurs M.O.

Teams I'd watch out for: Warriors (filling the Iggy role), Cavs (they've spent a lot of time on him) and Hawks (they need secondary playmakers).

[Luka @preptopros]

Let's talk Deni Avdija.

[Luka @preptopros]

@TrevorWrites I would clarify see Anderson has a low-end outcome for Avdija. Their shot efficiency and style of play seemed to parallel but Avdija's scoring and athleticism should take him farther.

I do like the Turkoglu and Batum one's I've seen floating out there too.

[Luka @preptopros]

His shot looks better in-rhythm or off-the-dribble, but overall he's simply not a reliable shooter.

FT% is typically indicative of how much improvement can be expected, so that's concerning. But... with his shot form not being unbearable, there's some hope but help is needed.

[Luka @preptopros]

Where Advija really needs to improve on offense is no secret: shooting.

His shot doesn't look broken, some adjustments like footwork and follow-thru need to be made, but hovering around 30% 3p% and 50 ft% won't cut it.