Continuing our previews of players in the NBA draft that the Knicks have been looking at... today's edition is Nick "Forever" Young (that's Poasting and Toasting's nickname for him, which we liked over Nick "The" Young, which only really works if he plays with someone whose nickname is "The Restless"). FYI, P&T's preview of Daequan Cook is posted here.
Oh, one final note before we get into this: SML wrote a Draft Preview for the NY Knicks over at Daily Basketball, go check it out please. It's basically a summary of the Knicks' draft plan, as I see it.
Nick Young is a 6'6, 209 lb SG from USC. He is a junior, 22 years old.
Last season he averaged 17.5 ppg, 1.4 apg, 4.6 rpg. He also averaged 2.42 TO/game, which is pretty damn high for a college SG who doesn't handle the ball that much. His % are outstanding, though: 52.5 FG%; 78.6 FT%, and 44.0 3PT%.
He wears the #1. Expect him to kill Steve Francis, dump his body in South Jersey forest, and wear the #1, at least until the day Cat Mobley gets his revenge. Always watch out for loved ones left behind, yo.
He's gone as high as #13 in mock drafts, and is considered a top player. If he ends up at #23, it's because something went wrong - he is ranked 6th among juniors, and 2nd among SG.
Nick Young has great mechanics. He puts a good touch on his jumper, has a great mid-range game, solid shooter from the outside, very consistent release point on his jumper. Young has a nice arsenal of pumps, fakes, spins, and uses a turnaround jumper a lot. He has a quick first step which he can use to shake his man if he plays too tight, and blow past him to get to the basket. Don't believe me... check out the highlights:
Physical traits: Long wingspan, really good vertical leap (44 inches with a running start, which is pretty damn explosive). He's skinny, but putting on weight - he's gained 10 lbs of muscle since the season ended.
Game traits: Tends to fade in and out of games, needs to maintain his energy more. According to "some scouts" he lacks a "killer instinct". Okay defender, but has lousy footwork. Doesn't create shots for his teammates - notice his low apg rate - and in fact, turns the ball over too much when he starts forcing the issue... again, because he doesn't pass the ball enough on offense.
For an example of him at his worst, look at his last NCAA game (a Sweet 16 game against UNC), a game that ended with him putting up 0 assists, versus 6 turnovers. He also had 15 points, and 7 rebounds (6 in the 1st half).
But for an example of him at his best, look at the game before that. Young went 8-13 (including 2-3 3PT) and scored 22 point, with 7 rebs and 0 assist (3 TO) against Kevin Durant and Texas, knocking them out in the 2nd round.
"Basically, there's nothing you can do against Durant," Young said. "You just focus on the other two guys, Augustin and Abrams."
In the 2nd half, with Texas within 4 and having momentum, Young helped turn the tide, hitting a three, blocking Augustin's shot, getting a putback layup, later getting fouled, hitting both free throws, and finally dunking the ball on a pass from teammate Gabe Pruitt on a fast break. After all was said and done, Texas was down 15 points.
Bottom line: His quick first step is probably not quick enough for the NBA yet. He'll end up settling for putting up contested jumpers, and that's not going to work. Maybe if he comes off screens he might be more dangerous in the NBA. He got to the line 4.3 times per game. That's not as much as he needs to. He lacks focus. His % are freaking awesome, though, as is his mechanics, pump fakes, vertical leap, and mid range game.
He's basically a young Allan Houston with even less inclination to take it to the hoop, and less of a "killer instinct". The best case scenerio, according to Draft Express, is "Jamal Crawford"; the worst is "Flip Murray". We'll go a bit further - Jamal can at least pass the ball well. With his talent and athletic ability, Young could be an Allan Houston with more ups, if he focuses hard enough.
But focus is the one trait that you can't count on, and it's never a sure thing for a prospect to develop it (see Lamar Odom). Therefore we see him being a risk for a team to take in the 10-20 range, yet almost impossible for anyone to pass up, too. He'll be gone before we gets to the Knicks' pick, but if he is around he might be worth taking a flyer on. He seems like a perfect instant offense off the bench type of guy, but not a future starter. He's too limited in what he can do right now - he needs to improve his defense and passing/ball-handling before he can become a real contributor to a team, like a Corey Brewster will. Still, there are lots of teams that could use a scorer coming off the bench, and a scorer Nick Young definitely is. He'll be perfect on the Clippers if they trade Corey Maggette.
Bonus stuff: Nick Young is the star of a document about his senior year of high school, called "Second Chance Season". See the You Tube preview below:
Nate Jones also has an interview with Nick Young after the recent workouts in LA. It sounds like the kid has a leaning towards staying home in LA.
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