Happy Friday, everyone. The NBA Draft was last night, and after a long wait we finally heard JD Davison’s name called in the late second round, 53rd overall to Boston. Sam Vecenie of The Athletic believes that Davison’s decision to enter the draft was the worst made by any player this season.
More than any other player, I thought Davison made a substantial mistake leaving college for the NBA Draft. He has upside to play in the NBA at some point, but his skill set and tools are so raw. It doesn’t feel like he has a great understanding of what he’s doing out there against high-level talent, which is a function of playing against it less often than most elite-level prospects due to his high school experience against lower-level competition. It’s possible Davison could eventually figure it out. He has the athleticism to do so. But I think he’s multiple years away from that, and I’m not sure it’s worth investing in a smaller guard with defensive and shooting concerns with a guaranteed contract. He’s a two-way contract player all the way for me, the kind of guy who is worth a developmental flier but not actual substantial investment at this stage – something that he would have received had he stayed in school at Alabama.
Regardless, Davison is now with a NBA franchise that will look to develop his raw talent.
“And then JD, all you have to do is turn on a couple minutes of clips and you can see the upside. So now it’s about making it so that he gets accustomed to the NBA game. He’s not going to have, barring anything crazy here, he’s not going to have a ton of pressure to come in and impact us right away or move the needle for us right away. He’ll be able to compete for minutes just like anybody else. At the same time, he can grow, develop, focus his attention on improving. I think that’s really an important place to be for a young player. We got a really good team. He’ll be able to put some heat on us with his speed on both ends of the floor that I’m looking forward to.”
Davison will make his summer debut with the Celtics on July 11th in Las Vegas.
Best of luck to him. Jaden Shackelford and Keon Ellis went undrafted, which just goes to show that in hindsight the talent on last season’t roster probably wasn’t as good as projected. Nate Oats will run it back this year with a completely overhauled roster that he seems high on, likely to be led by two potential one-and-dones in PG Jaden Bradley and wing Brandon Miller.
Eli Ricks paid a fine to settle his arrest.
Ricks, a junior who transferred from LSU, was arrested May 1 by the Mississippi Highway Patrol and charged with possession of marijuana, not having insurance and speeding.
A hearing in his case was scheduled for Thursday morning in Jones County Justice Court. A clerk for the court said Thursday afternoon that Ricks’ possession of marijuana charge was dismissed and, through his attorney, Ricks pled guilty to the speeding ticket and received a fine.
I wouldn’t expect any additional repercussions here. Ricks will be in a heated battle with Khyree Jackson for the right to start opposite Kool Aid McKinstry.
Bryce Young seems intent on not wasting a failure.
His disdain for losing hasn’t changed. The difference is in how he responds.
“I think the maturity comes in how you apply what happens to not make things go in your favor,” Craig said. “How do you objectively look at those things? And then how do you make adjustments? And how do you use that to improve? I think that’s where his maturity is because I think he’s done a really good job of being internally motivated.”
Young and Will Anderson are the key reasons that the rat poison continues to flow. Yet another national title projection for the Tide is in.
Alabama is Athlon’s pick in this rematch. The presence of Anderson on the edge should help keep Ohio State’s top strength — its passing game led by Stroud — in check to some degree. Having said that, TreVeyon Henderson leads an elite run game for the Buckeyes. The scarlet and gray will still score its fair share of points.
Ohio State brought in former Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to fix things on that side of the ball, but will Knowles singlehandedly turn around the defense? If so, then the Buckeyes could well win this. Right now, however, Athlon goes with the slightly safer pick considering Alabama’s collection of top-end talent on both sides of the ball and championship track record under coach Nick Saban.
Last, Arch Manning has made the decision that we all expected for months.
“He made this decision on his own. This was his decision to make,” Nelson Stewart, Manning’s high school coach, told ESPN. “I’m just happy he’s where he needs to be. He’s an 18-year old kid. There was a lot on his shoulders. Took his time and showed a lot of maturity.
“When it comes to that family, the choice was his.”
He went on to say Arch Manning has “a huge ceiling in front of him.”
Georgia’s offense isn’t a great showcase for quarterbacks and, with Quinn Ewers draft eligible after 2023 thanks to his reclassification while Ty Simpson is merely a freshman in Tuscaloosa, the quickest path to likely playing time is in Austin. The fit makes sense, and we will now see what kind of team Sark can put around him.
That’s about it for today.
Have a great weekend.
Roll Tide.
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