James Young

admin

Among the 12 prospects that worked out at the Lakers facility on June 4 were eight underclassmen and four upperclassmen. Of the potential draftees, five were freshman - part of a group that has been heralded as one of the strongest draft classes in recent memory.

But weighing the potential or upside of an 18- or 19-year old versus someone who can come in and contribute right away is one factor among many in the Lakers decision as to who they will select come June 26.

"I still think we’ll get a good player," Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak said. "Hopefully we pick the right player. But there’s a lot of talent. Some of the talent is young and (takes) a couple years (to develop). Based on the player, yeah, you might wait."

Freshmen Tyler Ennis (Syracuse), Aaron Gordon (Arizona), Zach LaVine (UCLA), Noah Vonleh (Indiana) and James Young (Kentucky) all played key roles in their program's success during the last year.

Gordon and LaVine, in particular, impressed athletically at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago, as well as in individual workouts with prospective teams selecting in the lottery.

Gordon showed a 39-inch vertical (two step lead-in) at the Draft Combine, third highest recorded for a power forward/center behind Miles Plumlee and Tyrus Thomas. In front of Lakers brass, the 6-foot-8 forward leaped 43 inches (four or five step lead-in).

"I think I just have to show people that I’m not losing what got me here, which is my athleticism, my motor and my intangibles," he said. "Everything else is just icing on the cake. I’m shooting the ball a little bit better and people are finally seeing how well I can dribble the ball and how well I can pass the ball."

LaVine, meanwhile, topped out at 46 inches - the highest vertical jump recorded for a Lakers workout. The 6-foot-5 guard was also the only prospect to test in the top five of every strength and agility drill - lane agility time, shuttle run, three quarter sprint, standing vertical jump and max vertical jump - in Chicago. The Washington native played in all 37 games at UCLA, but tapered off during the latter half of the year. He's out to prove there's more to his game than just his sheer athleticism.

"People haven’t really seen me play the point guard position that much or handle the ball," LaVine said. "They know I can score, jump and run. But for me, showing my facilitating abilities and being able to create will definitely help me a lot."

Ennis is one prospect who showed he can facilitate and lead a team as point guard for a Syracuse team that started off 25-0. The Canada native also led the ACC in assists (5.6) and steals (2.1). He also ranked ninth nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.24). What Ennis wants to show comes from the defensive end, as well as fine tuning some offensive skills.

"Personally, coming from Syracuse, it’s tough to see how you can play 1-on-1 defense so I’m trying to show I can defend another point guard, and show I can shoot the NBA three," he said. "They haven’t seen us shoot from NBA range in college so coming out and being able to shoot the ball and sticking to what I do best, make plays for others, work off the pick-and-roll, work off isolation and just sticking to my game."

Vonleh, who can play both inside and outside, has a unique skill set coveted in the NBA today. He led the Big 10 Conference in rebounding (9.0), but also shot 48.5 percent from the three-point line (16 for 33).

"I’m trying to show my versatility, showing I can take guys off the dribble, finishing above the rim, footwork in the post when I have a smaller guy, showing I can rebound and things like that," Vonleh said.

Aside from his versatility, Vonleh's measurements at the Draft Combine also turned heads, as he boasted the largest height-to-wingspan differential (8 feet, 0.25 inches) and measured the biggest hands in terms of length (9 feet, 0.75 inches) and width (11 inches, 0.75 inches). His hand width was second best all-time behind Greg Smith, who measured 12 inches.

Young, a sharpshooter, made 82 three-pointers during his freshman campaign at Kentucky - second most in a single season by a UK freshman. According to ESPN Insider Chad Ford, scouts see a lot of potential in Young with his youth, size, athleticism and shooting touch.

There are a number of possibilities for draft prospects that will be available at No. 7. We'll find out soon enough whether the Lakers pick youth and upside or experience.

taking-a-look-at-the-freshmen

Taking a Look at the Freshmen

Mike Trudell

ESPN.com Insider Kevin Pelton joined us to continue our Prospect Breakdown series, taking a closer look at several of the prospective draft picks that worked out for the Lakers last week:

Mike Trudell: How much time are you spending covering the NBA Finals and preparing for the upcoming NBA Draft and analyzing prospects?
Kevin Pelton: It’s a pretty decent split, especially now that there’s not a game every night once we’ve gotten through the Conference Finals. Lately I’ve been working on international translations for guys. That’s been my project. I worked on something for Dante Exum, using his university game stats and lately, I have been trying to translate the domestic leagues in Europe so we can compare those guys on a relatively similar scale with the college players we’ve seen all year long.

MT: How would you describe Dario Saric and Dante Exum, who are the two international players about whom we’ve heard the most?
Pelton: Exum is the most difficult because he hasn’t played in any sort of professional league. It’s hard to translate Australian high school basketball stats. I have no conversion of that to the NBA. What I did was I compared guys that played in the U-19 World Championships last summer like he did for the U.S. and Canada and then also played in college and looked at how their stats in that tournament compared to what they ended up doing in college, and applied that to Exum’s stats in the same tournament. One of the interesting things Chad Ford and I looked at this last week is all the top point guards in this year’s draft were in the U-19 games. Tyler Ennis played for Canada and Marcus Smart was on the USA team. Smart came out as the best player in the tournament, by my metrics, but Exum was not far behind. When you incorporate his age into that, he does look like an elite prospect.

MT: How tricky is it to analyze prospects and their games when you don’t necessarily have a big sample size of how they play and their performances? Is that part of the difficulty when trying to see the whole picture?
Pelton: Absolutely. It’s nine games (Exum) played there. One of the things my projection system in college is designed to do is it regresses your stats to the mean and the average of players at your position coming into the league based on how many minutes you’ve played, how many field goals you’ve taken, things like that. It’s set up to deal with that. Basically, it’s designed to bring outliers towards the average.  The fact that Exum comes out as well as he does with such a small sample size is kind of a statement in and of itself. I compare it to Kyrie Irving a couple years ago when I think he only played 11 games his one season at Duke. People were saying: ‘How can you project a guy as the No. 1 pick based on such a small thing?’ But he was so good during that period of time that he still came out I think No. 2 on my statistical draft board that year.

MT: What comes up, by your metrics, in Exum’s game in such a small sample size and what does he do well?:
Pelton: The biggest thing is his ability to get to the free throw line. He averaged more than nine free throw attempts in that competition. Didn’t shoot the ball particularly well there but also there are questions if he’s really a point guard especially at his height. His assist to turnover ratio in that competition was outstanding. Smart played well. He really dominated at the defensive end, on the glass, things like that. Tyler Ennis, in that tournament, struggled. He had a relatively poor tournament before he played so well at Syracuse.

MT: Ennis was in to work out for the Lakers on Wednesday. How do you break down from what you saw from him during his rookie season at Syracuse?
Pelton: It makes sense now why he started out lower on scout’s boards. His performance at the All-Star Games and AAU and things like that also played into it because he wasn’t as effective in that setting. When you put him in the collegiate setting, he was much better. He really did an effective job of running the Syracuse offense and his turnover rate was outstanding – really low turnovers, a guy that takes good care of the ball and makes good decisions. The questions still center around his explosiveness. His steal rate is very good, but you wonder if that’s a legitimate indicator in his case because in the Syracuse 2-3 zone, some of their guards tended to have inflated steal rates that really didn’t reflect their athleticism.

MT: Can you briefly explain steal rate and how it can be used to pinpoint their defensive acumen and how it can reflect on their athleticism?:
Pelton: Basically if you look at guys that rate well for their position, they tend to be very successful in the league. Guys who rate poorly for their position tend to struggle more than expected. It’s an empirical finding based on the history. Explaining it is a little more difficult. Part of it is steals may be undervalued in general. Benjamin Morris had a piece on 538.com a couple months ago looking at how people may underrate steals because of the fact that not only do you get the benefit of the stop on the defensive end, there’s also a boost to your offense because of the fact that it’s usually creating a transition opportunity for you. Both of those things go into making steals potentially valuable but there’s also this position that it could be an indicator where it shows guy’s athleticism and how that’s going to translate when they get to the NBA.

MT: Speaking of steal rate, Marcus Smart is someone who performed particularly well on the defensive end at Oklahoma State. How have you evaluated Smart and what about his game stands out?
Pelton: Steal rate is a big factor and there are a few other things. He’s a really good rebounder for a point guard. That, historically, has been a factor that has translated well. A lot of the guys who have emerged as star point guards, even somewhat surprisingly, have tended to be very good defensive rebounders in college and indicates their ability to play against bigger players, their athleticism, things like that. The other thing about Smart is his free throw rate is similar to Exum’s. He gets to the basket. Guys with that kind of quickness to beat somebody one on one off the dribble or get to the basket in pick and roll situations and then also the size and strength he has to finish around the rim, those guys tend to be more effective in the NBA than they have been in college. Smart came out well as a freshman, came out well as a sophomore, came out well in the U-19 games. There’s enough of a sample size for me to think that it’s not a fluke.  He legitimately is an underrated prospect and deserves to be in the discussion with this year’s freshman guys.

MT: Did Smart improve from his freshman year to his sophomore year, either based on your metrics or from watching him play?
Pelton: There was some incremental growth. He did improve his outside shooting. I don’t think as much as scouts hoped and his turnover rate was a little better as a sophomore.  It wasn’t a dramatic change and I think that’s often what guys need when they come back for their sophomore season, which is why it’s probably a good decision to go out as soon as possible if you’re a lottery pick.

MT: Smart, along with Ennis and Gary Harris were at the Lakers workouts on Wednesday. What does Harris have to offer and where do you see his strengths?
Pelton: Definitely see him as a two guard at the NBA level. A little bit on the small side for that position but I see him as a multi-dimensional two guard kind of the Bradley Beal vein. He’s not as big as Beal and he’s not as good as creating his own shot so that overstates his ability a little bit too much and probably gets people too excited based on Beal’s postseason. But he’s a guy who can run pick and rolls, be a spot up shooter, come off screens, help your offense in a variety of different ways. He struggled a little with his shot this year, but based on what we saw his freshman year, his stroke and his free throw shooting I think he’ll be a very good three-point shooter in time.

MT: James Young is another player whom the Lakers just saw up close and personal. What do you think of Young’s game and what can he bring to the table?
Pelton: This is the ultimate example of a guy who has a better reputation as a shooter than the numbers indicated. He kind of found the range during Kentucky’s run to the championship game during the NCAA tournament. A lot of scouts are inclined to believe that what we saw during those six games in March is the real James Young more than the guy we saw in the previous 25 to 30 games.

MT: Davion Berry, Jeremy Evans, Brendan Lane and Elfrid Payton were among the others that were at the facility on Wednesday. Do any of those prospects stand out to you in terms of what they were able to do in college and how their game could translate to the NBA?
Pelton: Payton is a guy who really is moving up draft boards. If you listen to my colleague Chad Ford and other people who are plugged into what he’s doing. It’s notable he’s working out with guys like Ennis and Smart. That’s an opportunity for him. For them, it’s nothing but downside. For him, it’s an opportunity to showcase: ‘Hey, I’m as talented as these guys even though I wasn’t playing on a national stage because I was in a smaller conference. He’s an excellent athlete, some questions about his outside shooting ability, but major defensive potential. He’s one of those guys that because of the importance of strength of schedule to projecting him to the NBA comes out differently in the various statistical systems.

MT: Aaron Gordon was very impressive in his workout, as expected. How do the 18-year-old's numbers potentially transfer from Arizona to the NBA?
Pelton: The surprising thing about Gordon's college numbers is that his defensive statistics -- in particular his steal rate -- aren't as good as would be expected from a player so obviously athletic. But Sean Miller's version of the pack-line defense tends to be awfully conservative, and Gordon averaged two steals a game in the U-19 Championships, where he was the MVP, so I think he'll be an impact defender.

The question is Gordon's offense, and in particular his shooting. There's not really any track record of non-centers who shoot free throws as poorly as Gordon did reaching the NBA in recent memory. That makes me skeptical Gordon can shoot well enough to play small forward, and even that his shooting will be an issue as a small forward.

MT: Noah Vonleh has been really impressive in his workouts, from Chicago to Wednesday for the Lakers. How does he come out in your numbers?
Pelton: Vonleh's an interesting case where the athletic measurements backed up what the numbers already indicated as far as his potential. Teams can't expect big production from Vonleh right away, but his finishing, rebounding and shot blocking are all strengths, and as he develops I think he's got the potential to be the best of the group of freshmen power forwards in this year's draft.

MT: What about Julius Randle's freshman season and subsequent workouts informs you about his NBA future?
Pelton: Randle's steal rate was a red flag early in the season. It got better as the year went on, but was still relatively poor for a power forward. Offensively, while he showed the ability to create his own shot, he struggled with finishing over bigger defenders in the paint -- something I think will be a problem for him early in his NBA career. Eventually, Randle can overcome it.

prospect-breakdown-with-kevin-pelton

Prospect Breakdown with Kevin Pelton

nbaplatformservices

post-workout-james-young

Post Workout: James Young

The Lakers hosted their second predraft workout session of the day at the team's practice facility in advance of the June 26 Draft.

Among the players participating in the second group were: Aaron Gordon (Arizona), Doug McDermott (Creighton), James Young (Kentucky), Elfrid Payton (Louisiana Lafayette), Davion Berry (Weber State) and Jerry Evans (Nevada).

*Note: Nik Stauskas did not participate in session one and Rodney Hood did not participate in session two as originally scheduled.

Below is a transcription of quotes from the respective prospects:

DOUG MCDERMOTT | VIDEO | PHOTO GALLERY
Q: On his thoughts on when he sees the retired jerseys and championship banners hanging on the rafters:
McDermott: It’s pretty crazy. It’s a dream come true. It’s my first workout so I was a little nervous to start, especially it being the Lakers, but it went really well. It’s a privilege to be here.

Q: On what he plans to work on the next few weeks before the NBA Draft:
McDermott: Ballhandling mainly and lateral quickness. I feel like my jumper will always be there. I just have to work on the in between stuff. I have a long ways to go in that area, but I feel like I’ll improve every day.

Q: On if he’s heard any comparisons to current NBA players:
McDermott: It’s a tough comparison but guys like (Kyle) Korver. I’m really good at coming off screens, I’m a great shooter. I watch a lot of Ray Allen, guys like that. I feel like I can really find a role in this league and maximize that.

Q: On what position he’ll defend in the NBA:
McDermott: I could get a lot bigger. I’m not going to grow any more so I definitely have to hit the weight room hard and that’ll allow me to guard a four at times. But I guarded a lot of strong guys in college so I think I can adjust once I get a little stronger, but as of now, I’m going to have to guard three’s and possibly two’s, and I think I can do it.

Q: On what it was like being a four-year guy competing and being around multiple underclassmen in workouts:
McDermott: It’s pretty crazy. I couldn’t imagine being 18 or 19 going through this process. I feel like I’m still a young guy, but I’m three years older than them. I like to give guys like that advice, too. Obviously they’re good guys and they’re open to listening to older guys.

AARON GORDON | VIDEO | PHOTO GALLERY
Q: On his thoughts on working out here in Los Angeles:
Gordon: The trophies back there, I went up and asked somebody: ‘Are those real?’ I thought it was pretty interesting. It would be amazing to play here, but like I said, I’m just excited to be picked by any team.

Q: On what he wants to show teams in these workouts:
Gordon: I think I just have to show people that I’m not losing what got me here, which is my athleticism, my motor and my intangibles. Everything else is just icing on the cake. I’m shooting the ball a little bit better and people are finally seeing how well I can dribble the ball and how well I can pass the ball.

Q: On what position he sees himself playing in the NBA:
Gordon: Point forward. Forward as of right now and then developing into a point forward. I’ve played point forward my entire life but at the next level I want to be a forward and then develop into that.

Q: On possibly playing with Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash:
Gordon: Kobe is psychotic about basketball and I am too. That would be absolutely incredible learning from a great, just the little intricacies of the game, the details. I’d love to see his work ethic. Kobe is the definition of a true pro as well as Steve Nash. Being around those two guys would help me tremendously.

JAMES YOUNG | VIDEO | PHOTO GALLERY
Q: On if he proved himself in just one year at Kentucky:
Young: Definitely. I showed I can score, rebound and just go out there and compete.

Q: On his more natural position, whether that be shooting guard or small forward:
Young: More of a two. I’ve been playing the two most of my career until I got to Kentucky.

Q: On if playing at Kentucky prepared himself for the NBA:
Young: Our practices were two or three a days and it was always hard and long. It definitely prepared me for something like this.

ELFRID PAYTON | VIDEO | PHOTO GALLERY
Q: On how he would sum up or describe his game:
Payton: I like to get out there defensively and get up and down. I like to live in the paint and make plays for my teammates or myself, whether it’s dropping it down to the big man or kicking it out to the open shooter, or having to finish a the rim myself.

predraft-workouts-wednesday-session-2

Predraft Workouts: Wednesday (Session 2)

draft-workout-james-young

Draft Workout: James Young

James Young appeared in all 40 games and started 39 as a freshman at Kentucky towards averages of 14.3 points (second on team) and 4.3 rebounds (fourth on team). He was voted to the All-SEC Freshman Team and All-SEC Second Team by the coaches, and made 82 three-pointers (second most in a single season by a UK freshman).

On Wednesday, June 4, Young was one of 12 prospects to go through a pre-draft workout in front of Lakers brass at the team's practice facility. PHOTO GALLERY

Below is a transcription of his comments to assembled media members:
Q: On if he proved himself in just one year at Kentucky:
Young: Definitely. I showed I can score, rebound and just go out there and compete.

NBA Draft Combine Measurements
Hand Length: 9.0 inches
Hand Width: 9.5 inches
Standing Reach: 8 feet, 8 inches
Wingspan: 7 feet

*Young did not participate in the drills portion at the NBA Draft Combine.