Driving to the Basket: A Detroit Pistons Podcast - Episode 151: 2023 Draft Profiles - An In-Depth Look at Taylor Hendricks

Episode Date: June 7, 2023

This episode takes a close look at UCF's Taylor Hendricks, an intriguing three-and-D prospect who will most likely fall out of Detroit's draft range - but one never knows! 

Welcome back. I'm ready to listen to another episode of Drive Into the Basket. I'm Mike, your host, coming back at you with another draft profile episode. I've almost lost track of how many we've done. Anyway, back here with Price, once again, Price always a pleasure to have you on the show. Yeah, Mike, it's pretty much just the usual now that we're in this fifth pick hell. We're just kind of working our way through all of the plethora of options. So, yeah. Yeah, happy to, you know, sit through another one with you. Yeah. Well, I think that, unfortunately, I think we're down to, you know, a smaller number of options, which may or may not include Taylor Hendrix, is the guy we're talking about today, but we're going to talk about them anyway. So let's get rolling on Taylor Kendrix, or Taylor Hendricks, rather,

without further ado, 6-8 and a quarter and height, wing span of 7 and 1⁄2 inches, 213 pounds. Big hands, more than anybody else who's going to get drafted in the first. drawn at least, but Leonard Miller, most likely anyway. His stats at UCF, University of Central Florida, 35 minutes per game, about 15.7 rebounds, 1 and a half assists, one and a half blocks, one and a half steals. Only two fouls per game, one and a half turnovers, and a split's were 48% from the field, about 39 and a half percent from 3, 78% from the free throw line, averaged about two and a half offensive rebounds per game and a little over three free throws. Pretty middling in the athletic

the category as the combine, except for max vertical, which, excuse me, just standing vertical, which he was quite strong. In terms of his overall shooting stats, 59.5% true shooting, shot profile, attempted 35% of his shots at the rim, shot 66% on those, about 47% of those were assisted. Two-point jumpers, accounted for about 25% of his shots, shot 37% on those, insisted on about 54%. And then, a plurality of his shots, about 40%. Came from 3%. point range and as I mentioned about 40% from three point range as well in terms of a shooting and assisted out about 85% of those so yeah Taylor Hendricks kind of came out of nowhere he was not a heralded prospect at all and now he is virtually certain to be a top 10 pick so uh let's head right

into it and start as usual with his athletic pros so where would you start price uh yeah it's really for me it it really begins and ends with his combination of length at the position. He's a forward mostly, and he is very capable of being shifty, while at the same time very bursty as well. Good bounce, fast, quick twitch athlete, long. Honestly, he is a tremendous physical package outside of a... relatively slight frame, although he does have the makings of probably a guy who can put on another 20, 25 pounds. So he's thin right now, but I would say there's real potential for him to

round out physically. Yeah, I think he's a pretty darn good athlete, not really elite in terms of his burst, but he's a good leber, especially off two feet. He's a very good two feet, the two-foot lever, which really helps in terms of his rebounding, helps in terms of his ability to vertically space the floor, in terms of his ability to contest and block shots. His lateral mobility is quite good, not in terms of him moving his feet super fast, but he uses his stride length really well to stay with guys. I feel like he is pretty good in the open floor as well. If he has a runway to accelerate, he can really get going. Yeah, I wouldn't say that he's necessarily the most elite first step athlete.

But the speed is real. He definitely moves quite well. And I think he's overall just a tremendous athletic prospect. And that's a huge reason for his rise up the ranks is that guys who are 6'9, who are this fast, who are this quick twitch, not necessarily the most explosive laterally, but he's got a good jump to him. Yeah, you get a very good jump. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. No problem finishing above the rim either in transition with two feet.

I have no problems projecting him in that role either. Probably a good cut or two seems pretty active and willing to get to the rim. Yeah. In that situation as well, it has the athleticism to beat guys. And yeah, it's honestly, other than the strength, he's got a lot to like. Yeah, definitely his length and his leaping ability, especially off of two feet and his overall size and instincts make him a good rebounder as well. He is an aggressive rebounder. He weeps up real high to catch them. He wrestles them down, pursues them on the floor. So a fan of that as well. And just the more on the mental side of things, he's got a strong work ethic and really plays to his role and doesn't force stuff, whether it be, well, on the drive, he forced a little bit, but doesn't force bad passes, doesn't force a ton of bad shots.

Yeah. Yeah. So on the con side, I can disagree with you about the bursty part, at least in terms of his ability to get past guys. I feel like that the first step really isn't all that great. And in the half court, I think when he's attacking the rim, you know, he's got solid balance, but he's not really blowing by guys. So I personally rank that as one of his weaknesses.

He's an overall good athlete. But from on the ball, trying to beat guys with the first step, I feel like he's a little bit week. I don't think he's the best first step athlete by any means, but I would say that this is a guy who's going to spend a lot of time off the ball. And in that regard, I have just zero worries about his athleticism being functional. But you're right. On the whole, his on ball lateral ability isn't that great at present. Yeah, that too. Yeah, it's his straight line as well. I mean, if you let him explode through a lane, he's going to get there and dunk the ball. Yeah, he can absolutely do that.

It's, if the lane's there, he can definitely exploit that. Yeah, for sure. Also, I would say not the fastest. It's not a weakness. It might limit him positionally in terms of his positional versatility. Now, he moves around well. You know, his speed is not a weakness per se. But it's kind of a mix of, at least in the half court, pretty good speed.

and just long stride length and good coordination. But I think he's unlikely to play down to the three very much. I think he's solidly a power forward who can play up the center in some situations. And your average forward these days is a combo forward. Right. And he's going to be able to hang with them athletically without much issue, in my opinion. Yeah, I think so too. I mean, that's another thing you can file in the pros category.

I agree that he's got room to grow in terms of putting on quite a bit of muscle. and if he can manage to do that, I think, you know, he'll be able to hang, you know, with the average center pretty well. He's strong in the core. He takes bumps well. He's strong in the legs as well. Yeah, he's just, he's got a frame that lends itself and not being easily moved. So could be a valuable, a valuable guy to throw out in small ball lineups. You can still hold his own defensively. Absolutely. Yeah. So, yeah, sorry. He's 19. He's 19. That's another thing that can't be, uh, understated when we talk about certain things in his game. very young still. And I think especially at least muscle, if there's just the will, you can at least add a little bit of muscle. And he, I think there's, there's no lack of will on his part. So he's probably going to be just fine from the strength department in just a few years. Yeah, he's a hard worker. You know, it just seems like a very strong work ethic. And, and again, tends to stick to what he's good at, which is also a good sign, because plenty of guys get into the NBA and we've seen it, even in college. One of you guys in college just want to do more than they're necessarily capable of.

And he seems to just stick to his strengths. So let's move on to offense. Yeah. And, you know, you can take the first, you know, as usual, very most obvious strength that Taylor Hendricks has, which is going to be no surprise to anybody. Yeah, his on ball create, sorry. On ball creation. Yeah, I don't know about that. No, it's, it's shooting. Taylor Hendricks is. a tremendous, tremendous catch and shoot shooter. And he's got just great, and I mean great form, pretty much from the feet all the way up through his shoulders. Solid base, very fast mechanics, gets set quickly, is pretty comfortable grabbing the ball, loading, and springing up on a dime.

He's very willing to shoot. He knows when to take his shot and not force it. That's huge. So in large part, I would say this is a guy who has one of the highest floors of a shooter in this entire class, and he's nearly 610 with 7 foot plus wingspan. He's going to be super hard to actually block on the perimeter. That shot is going to get up. It's going to be high. It arcs well. Good location.

And if you watch like the misses, that's a really big. big tell is how bad are the bad misses. Some guys, they airball that. They look like me out there. It's Jaris Walker. Geris Walker, right. He airballed a lot of threes. Yeah. Where did the balls hit? Tends to actually really indicate what's the problem. Is there not enough power or through the legs? Is there too much movement in the arms? How much is being lost in that? It really ends up being told more from the misses than from the makes in my opinion in general it looks like yeah yeah in in general taylor seems like he he has very good foundations with his shooting mechanics yeah his footwork isn't ideal but other than that i mean you're you're getting a super super good shooter yeah he's uh i think he's a natural

shooter the kind of guy you look at and you say this is the this is the kind of guy you want finishing plays. This is the kind of guy you want to get the ball to and you can really rely on him. I wouldn't call him necessarily from my side a sort of like super elite shooter, the guy who's like just otherworldly, like a Clay Thompson sort of guy. But he's definitely, I completely agree with this form. You know, he's got a high release, good elevation, extremely difficult to block. He shoots it quickly. You know, he can catch the ball and just in one motion, get it ready to shoot and put up a high percentage shot. He can shoot through contests. He's very confident. And then this is all stuff that's going to serve him well.

Yeah, as far as his actual shooting numbers, 41% on catch and shoots, 40% on guarded threes, which is impressive. Yeah. Yeah, 42% on guarded. And he's got some promise in transition, three-point shooting and pick and pop. He didn't do those really on high volume, but that looks like the skills that he could certainly develop. And he's a smart positioner off the ball, not just on cuts and on lobs. he just tends to know where to go to get open in the flow of the offense. Yeah, and he has a lot of the hallmarks we like looking at for potential shooters.

His shot diet is over four and a half shots from beyond the arc, a game made almost two of them for 39% for just raw shooting numbers. That's a really good sample. This isn't a guy who's shooting 40% on less than two attempts, game, which shows that his team, like, isn't trusting him to take those shots, or he's not trusting himself to take those shots. Oh, he's very confident in a shooting. Yep. Very confident, which is great.

Very natural. Yes, and that's huge. That shooter's mentality where they have to be able to just shoot through bad stretches, because sometimes that happens with just the volatility of the three-point shot. And I think that that is the most appealing part of his offensive game at present is just you're you're getting a guy who's really going to maximize his shooting. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And it's not just shooting through slumps. He has the confidence to taking tested threes, for example, and make them.

You know, defenders don't really phase him all that much. Of course, the defenders in the NBA will be longer. Yeah. And we'll get in his face more. Yeah. But it's still a good skill to have. Yeah, beyond his shooting, I feel like he still offers quite a bit off the ball, you know, beyond just his vertical spacing, which is very real.

And is cutting, which is helpful if certainly a low volume source of offense in the NBA. I was looking at the stats just to solidifying my numbers, I believe it was yesterday. And the best perimeter players, because you can look at cut stats for bigs, but they're catching a lot of lob so they're just hanging out the dunker spot, which barely qualifies as a cut. Yeah, so if we're talking perimeter players, the best perimeter players out there averaged about 2.6, I believe, points per game on cuts. And the vast majority of players did not even reach the two-point marks. So a little volume, but still a good thing to have.

Something I think is underrated is his role potential. You know, a guy can set picks, roll hard on the baskets, and jump pretty darn high. Yeah, it feels like that was a component of UCF's offense that they didn't really get to unlock with him because he is such a late riser through this process. He and his brother were fairly unheralded prospects. I probably should mention he has a twin brother. Oh, I didn't know that. I had no idea.

Yeah. Yeah. As a twin brother, Tyler, I don't think he played. But again, late rising prospect here in Taylor Hendricks. And he didn't really get into actual sets of offense, just sort of go out there, shoot threes, catch layups, or sorry, catch lobs, excuse me, that type of thing. Whereas as the season goes on, you watch footage from. later on, this is a guy who's actually getting more involved in the offense. I think with more strength, he could be a really, really nasty pick and pop guy.

Yeah. It's a good set really good screens with his length and potential strength. It's going to be interesting seeing him in that role. Yeah, and as a small ball five, he's a guy who might believe could both roll and pop, which is an available thing to have. It's a valuable thing to have, even if he's playing at the four. It just gives you another option. Like his small ball offense, excuse me, a small ball potential on offense, I feel like it's pretty good.

Yeah. Yeah. In terms of obviously he's going to be able to shoot the ball and participate and be versatile and pick actions. You know, when it comes to operating down low, you know, if he gets the ball down low, tends to do pretty well with it. He's good at clearing out space. He does that before he takes a shot and he goes up hard to dunk it. That includes on putbacks. He's a pretty solid offensive rebounder.

This is a guy who overall makes expert use of his height, his length, and his leaping ability, and his strength as well. Though, again, he could definitely stand to put on some muscle. So it's always the positive guys who just know how to maximize what they have physically. No, agreed. And another thing that I think is important is he's going to be a good rebound or two on offense. Yeah, just like I mentioned. Yeah, absolutely.

I agree. Just he's going to be able to track down balls and generate. extra possession. So even if he's not going to be necessarily this big creator, well, if he's grabbing boards and getting extra possessions, that can, and getting it to, you know, the lead creator on whatever team he's on, then, hey, that's, that's really all you can ask for for a guy in his type of archetype to, to not just be the singular three and D, to be that three plus player who's doing so many other things on the margins that really set up a team for success. Yeah.

Yeah, when you're talking on the margins, I think it should be a small, excuse me, a solid and willing off-ball screener as well. That's always a good thing to have. Certainly a physical player. Yeah, it does not shy away from contact at all. Should be able to close out to make basic passes. He wasn't so much of a passer at UCF, but I think he's a guy who's going to be conscientious and should be able to make the basic pass.

And also fairly safe with the ball. I mean, that did help that he wasn't handling it very much, but he averaged a very low turnover tally. And he didn't make bad passes. He didn't force bad passes, kind of kept within the realm of what he was able to do. Yeah. All right, anything else in terms of pros on offense? No, I think that is the general story.

I guess I would say I'm a little more optimistic about some of the on-ball stuff than other people are. What do you see? It's, again, we can talk through the cons in a second, but I think that he has better feel than he gets credit for when the ball's on his hands, not necessarily to be this great pass or anything, but it feels like he has this developing confidence in his ability to get to the rim and just be bigger, more athletic. than the guy he's coming up against. And obviously that's going to be less true in the NBA, but that sort of mentality, I think he was just starting to unlock as he got more involved in UCF scheme. And I think that it's not necessarily going to be a skill right away,

but if there is the ability for him to be a driver, then that could make him very appealing. not to say that it's going to happen super quickly or anything, but I'm optimistic. Mm-hmm. Gotcha. Well, let's take that and move it on to the cons. Yeah. So, and the cons, the primary con, you know, the primary downside of Taylor Hendricks is, you know, what is going to be his offensive ceiling.

Yep. So at this point, I mean, I think you're higher than I am. So we'll put it this way. I mean, some guys get it together, like in terms of handle and whatnot. More guys do not than do. Like at this point, as I see it, he's not much of a creator at all. Poor handle, bad touch on the drive. Struggles to get to the rim, sometimes can, this is the only time when he forces some bad shots.

Bad touch when he gets there. Like, only 51% of the rim in the half courts, and that's a large part because he shot 40% at the rim on wayups. So, and his in-between game is not really exist in either. He doesn't shoot pull-up threes either. Not many. He just typically stuck to catch and shoots. So it's like what can he do additionally on the ball that would justify taking him at the fifth pick?

Like if the pistons were up like the ninth pick, I would say this is a no-brainer. Take this guy. But we can get to that later. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's basically, yeah, just this on-ball touch, not an explosive driver. Just, yeah, I just went over to it. It just went over it. Yeah, it's just his creation potential is, in my opinion, pretty low.

That's what it looks like at this point. I think that that's totally fair. This is a kid who has, it sounds like, has really only recently sort of begun to discover more aspects of his game. And if this, he doesn't go to the right developmental situation to hone those skills, then I think it's pretty possible for him to not ever really get there. he needs a situation where he can really have get some reps just doing simple offensive drives where he gets to the rim makes a guy miss because he's athletic enough to be dangerous in that role improve the handle just all of the little things that come out of it because the handle isn't very good right now No, not at all.

And the footwork isn't very good at getting to the rim at all. I think that's a huge part of it. He definitely loses some positioning battles in that regard. Straight line driver. Yeah, make shots more tough than he needs to. There is a bit of, I think he's a bit right-hand dominant driving to the rim. Without a doubt. And that obviously is a weakness, because that,

then they just let you, they take away the right and they force you to go left. Yeah. Or they force you to your rights when you're driving, just because they know you're going to throw up a bad floater in that case. Yeah. Either or, you're kind of, pick your poison at that point. And it's just there are definite weaknesses that might seriously limit his offensive ceiling. Yeah.

As a Taylor Hendricks truther, that I'm fully aware of that limitation. Yeah. For sure. Yeah, it's possible that he could go to the perfect developmental situation and still top off is just a fully off ball guy. So I think maybe the best thing we could reasonably hope for in kind of like a middle ground case would be the movement shooting. Yeah. It can his handle just get just better enough?

Can his ability to get his feet just better enough? to actually be a legitimate movement shooter. And then at that point, you have a tremendous shooting threat that would be unbelievably difficult to guard. Yeah, it'd be real difficult to guard for sure. That's one of the actions that, and we were talking about this earlier today, is impossible to guard in the NBA today, just because of the freedom of motion rules.

Yes. Yeah, you send a guy around a screen and give him a handoff, and he shoots a motion three. It's basically impossible to defend against, you know, if a guy just dashes just dashing around the perimeter to get there. So yeah, that would definitely be a good aspect to his game. And I don't think it's necessarily as much handle. It's just something that some guys just never really become able to do.

That's a skill. It's a skill that most guys don't have for all of you who are watching back in a 2019, 2020 season. Like Spie McIlook back then was one of the best shooters in the NBA in terms of just perimeter shooting up all perimeter shooting. And part of that was that he was very dangerous on just catching the ball, turning and shooting right away and doing a good job at it. So it's definitely, it's a very difficult shot to stop.

If you can do it on a high percentage, it's an extremely valuable skill. But yeah. So let's move on to his defense, which is definitely another big selling point. Huge selling point, yeah. Yeah. And in this, maybe we can compare a bit to Jaris Walker, who is just getting all the hype as the defensive guy. And I feel like Taylor Hendricks is almost as strong as him

and everything that Walker is better than Hendricks at and is significantly stronger than him in some. categories. So, agreed. Yeah, I'll kick it off. I mean, number one, his instincts are quite good, rotates well, repositions well, knows where to go and rarely makes mistakes. Great shot blocker. Yeah, that too. Tremendous shot blocker. Yeah, his rim protection, you know, both on and off the ball is very good. Again, this is a guy who expertly uses his physical assets, his leaping ability, his length, you know, he has, he has a shot blocking instincts. So whether he's doing it head on, I mean, he's a fantastic, you know, off ball, excuse me, weak side defender.

We'll just fly in and get blocks, you know, from the side, from behind, including in transition. Definitely a strong aspect to his game. And just versatility, you know, on ball, switching, off ball. He does all of those well. Yeah, I agree. Taylor, to me, is the, is far in away the more intriguing defensive prospect than Jaros Walker. And I know that's a hot take. And I could be completely wrong, et cetera.

etc. But when I watch Taylor, I just view him as the more switchable player than Jarus Walker. Oh, without a doubt. And he provides better length, similar athleticism. Well, better length. I think Jarus is a little bit longer. I think he's seven foot two, but comparable length, I would say. Well, the other thing is that Taylor being taller gives him more standing reach. Yeah, he's about an inch and a half dollar. Yeah. On that length, where that's part of the calculus, right, where it's like the, because in the NBA, it's a game of inches, and Taylor will be able to affect more shots on the perimeter with his length because he is taller. Yeah.

And then Jarus Walker. And not to dunk on Jarus by any means. I'm very confident in a lot of his defensive potential. It's just that you're getting a guy who is even twitchier. And even better at reacting on the ball. Not necessarily as creatively as Walker, perhaps. Walker is a very good basketball mind. Hendricks's processing isn't quite to that extent, but... It's still very good. It's still very good. You're comparing great with good. Yeah. Or very good. It's a very slight drop off. And you're just getting a guy who I think is the better small ball five option while at the same time providing more versatility in terms of who he can guard not a guy i would want on the perimeter full time but that's fine yeah yeah

you're great weak side room protector yeah i mean i's are always in demand so i want to go a little bit deeper into the various aspects of his defense because this is a guy who is strong in most ways and does not really have, does not project, in my opinion, to have really any weaknesses in any actions at the NBA level. So just talking about his switch defense, which is the area in which I think he is, and you mentioned this, quite a bit stronger than Jaros Walker. Yeah. Who, you know, his chief calling card as defense yet he very well may struggle on, may struggle at switch defense against guards. And I use this analogy or I used this reference earlier when we were talking. But for those of you who have seen Blue Harvest, which came on a long time ago,

We got parody of Star Wars A New Hope, so the first, the original Star Wars movie. And, you know, Stooey as Darth Vader is in, you know, that famous scene on the Death Star with the, you know, I find your lack of faith disturbing. And, you know, Mayor Adam West, the dearly departed Adam West is, is Grand Moff Tarkin and such and such, some secondary guy is talking about how the Death Star is the, you know, the primary power in the universe. And Stewie's like, oh, so no weaknesses, right? He's like, oh, not really. He's like, well, what is it? It's like, well, there's this little thermal exhaust port. And if you shoot a torpedo down it, then, you know, then the station explodes.

And Stuy's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, that's a pretty big weakness. And Jarvis Walker, it's kind of like, okay, it's supposed to be the super strong defensive prospect, but suddenly he can't really switch into guards, which I think is a bigger deal than it's being made of. But when it comes to Taylor Hendricks, yeah, use this stride length and latter mobility very well in his length to, and his instincts, to stick with guys to stay with them while also having very good timing in terms of extending to block shots when they're trying to do it and also finds, excuse me, when they're trying to shoot, also finds a good medium when he's on the perimeter between guarding the shot and still being in position to contest the drive.

So I wouldn't call him an elite switch defender, but very much a guy who can hold his own. And what was funny is I actually was watching a lot of Jaros Walker tape on the perimeter and almost all of his highlights were coming against bigger players. Because he has very good athleticism and speed against that type of player in the NCAA, but the difference is that Hendricks is actually able to keep up with smaller players and actually knows how to guard that type of player much more effectively at this stage. Yep. and really exploits the size mismatch to his advantage because while he does give up speed relative to a shorter player,

he does gain back a lot with his length and just makes it very difficult at times for smaller players against him. Now, does he get beat? Yeah, absolutely. It's not like he's this elite switch defender who can guard one through three and hang out there the whole game. game, but he can switch. But he holds his own. Yeah. And that's in at the end of shot clock.

Sometimes that's all you need. Yeah. I mean, I think even in common situations, like this is a guy who you will be able to comfortably switch out on the perimeter, certainly not a guy who's going to be hunted by any means. Nobody's going to want to hunt Taylor Hendricks in the perimeter, like in the postseason or otherwise. It's just not a good idea.

So, yeah, he's not perfect. But I think he's certainly fairly strong, especially for a guy his size. I feel obligated to bring this up. I mean, for all that is said about Isaiah Stewart's weaknesses. I mean, that guy is genuinely a switch defender, you know, for a big. It's really something else, his ability to move his feet and rotate his body. But I digress. So, yeah, the switch defense is definitely there.

I'd say considerably, like, much better than Janice Walker, who could be hunted in the postseason. So we already talked about his weak side defense. He repositions quite well, needless to say. But let's talk about a zonball defense. Yeah. I feel, yeah, I feel like he moved. Moves his feet well to stay with guys.

And we're not talking switch defense. Just guys closer to his size. He's defending more traditionally. He moves his feet well to stay with them. Takes bumps, not easily shaken, and stays in contest position. He is excellent at keeping his arms up to contest shots while moving laterally. Yes. I was about to say the hand and arm positioning is very, very good at this level.

That's a hidden factor to the shot blocking is he doesn't, he's not getting a lot of foul calls on his contests. No, not at all. Yeah, two personal fouls per game. Yeah, not bad at all. And that is a huge indicator of future success because you can get your arm up all you want, but in the NBA, if your hands are in the wrong spot

or your arms are in the wrong spot, guys are going to exploit the ever-loving crap out of that. Yeah, for sure. So, yeah, I just feel like he's impressive in that respect. He will either prevent a guy from shooting or he'll either alter the shot, prevent him from shooting, or quite often get a hand.

on it. Jump if necessary. And yeah, he can test. He goes straight up. You know, he doesn't let his arms come down and hit guys, you know, across the hands and, you know, across the forearms. So definitely good in that capacity. And I just want to go back to his ability just to rotate. He knows where to go. He knows where to reposition. This is a guy who is not going to be caught, you know, unawares and end up in the wrong place when there are just a lot of guys switching when he needs to make repeated rotations. He knows where to go. And he knows how to use his length. also to disrupt in the interior. Yeah.

And then the REM protection, which I think could serve him well, even as a small ball five. Oh, yeah. This is a guy who is bringing a lot of ability to get in front of players, stay square, stay disciplined, not give up the easy shot without contest.

And obviously in the NBA, sometimes a guy is just going to flip it over your head and create a highlight real play. But he's usually well positioned. He's usually giving a very good effort and can stay with players who are sometimes far stronger physically than he is. And as he said several times,

takes contact very well. This isn't a guy who gets bumped easily and can actually hang in there. Yeah, for sure. There's so, so much to like about his defense. And that's kind of what really sold me on him. The shooting, obviously, was what got me interested, but it was actually, this is a very complete defender, defensive prospect, at least at this stage. Obviously, who knows what happens, given however many years in the NBA. But at this point, this is a very, very good defensive prospect, not an all-time great defensive prospect or anything. This isn't Jaron Jackson. But this. This is a very, is a guy with a really, really, really high floor on defense. Yeah. No weaknesses.

Yeah. And it's just going to be useful for any team. Yeah, useful in any situation. And I just want to briefly revisit his rim protection. This is a guy who might be good really at all three forms of rim protection, whether it's help rim protection, you know, repositioning to contest a guy head on, more traditional rim protection when he's just the primary rim protector, potentially when he's playing center.

And also, of course, the weak side coming out of, you know. know, just coming out of, out of the blue to block a shot. But yeah, I agree. Just very versatile. I think he's one of these guys who would just be a strong defender without making all defensive teams. I don't necessarily think he'll be elite, but very complete, which is very, very valuable.

So, yeah, just. He might get enough blocks. He might get enough blocks to get into an all-NBA defensive conversation. Yeah, it's possible. I think he'll hover on the fringes. Like maybe, yeah, I don't think that he's going to be quick. like that far up there, but you don't have to be an elite defender to be a strong defender. No, no.

Yeah. Very true. Yeah. So, I mean, only 10 guys make all defense every year. And they're far more than 10 strong defenders in the NBA. So, yeah. When it comes to cons, again, positionally restricted, he's not a guy you really want guarding threes, I think, full time. He's more of a dedicated four, which is definitely not a 4.5 like Walker, which is another, I think,

defensive weakness of his. and just needs to put on a bit of weight at this point to hang with some of the stronger guys in the NBA. I can't think of anything beyond that. Yeah, and even then, no one's keeping up physically with Embed or Yokic. It's just, at least in the strength department. But I know what you mean. You got to at least not look laughable out there. I don't think he's laughable at this point.

I mean, he's definitely pretty slim, but I think just filling out a bit gives him a greater ability to bang with the average center. And also to take a bump from the larger guys in the league and not get knocked out of position, which will be harder at the NBA level. So, yeah, but like you said, I agree. He has space to fill out. He's not a naturally lanky player. He's just, I would say, more physically immature at this point. Yeah.

And he's a pretty young player for this class. So that at the very least we know is going to change. Yeah, definitely could. And like some of the things we're saying about him, I didn't bring this up when it came to handle. I mean, being, I mean, he's about nine to be about 19 and a half on draft nights. And that's different from, say, like, like you and I, you know, you were, you were guesting on the Keegan Murray episode last summer. And yeah, with Keegan, it's like a guy when he's 21. And actually, we'll believe this to the, you know, to the floor ceiling section, which is coming up soon.

Let's talk fit, which is the interesting thing. Because I feel like, my opinion, I don't know if I've stated this before and done a recent episode, but it's like, You know, once you have more of your core BPA can change, like the pistons desperately. And, you know, some guys are more valuable to specific teams and others. And the pistons, of course, desperately need defense in the front, you know, defense, forward defense, put it that way. And high-level shooting. So he's a guy who could provide a lot of value to this team in particular. Yeah.

Again, I'm sky high on Taylor Hendricks's fit. And I know he's another four. I know he's another big into the mix. I don't care. I said this earlier today. He fits with the two youngest slash most probable long-term pieces on the defensive front court with, not defensive front court, just the front court in general with Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart. Yeah.

They both. They both need a guy who can help them on that weak side, who can help them cover up for just things in general. Yeah. Excuse me. Yeah. For Duren, I mean, Duren, say pretty much unequivocally is the more complete defender, as opposed to Isaiah Stewart, just because Isaiah is both undersized and a poor leper.

But Taylor Hendricks is going to help out any center, you know, and he's going to fit well next to Duren on offense, Duran being a traditional center. You want a guy, when you're playing with a traditional center, you don't want another interior focus player. And Hendricks can operate quite well on the perimeter to just finish plays next to Caden Ivy. on defense with Isaiah Stewart, Isaiah benefits a great deal from having a weak side rim protector

who can kind of help when he's not able to reposition in time. And yeah, and potentially a guy, you know, when Isaiah Stewart is in the four, you can run a five, just a full spread offense, and Hendricks can actually be the role man a little bit as well.

Yeah, exactly. That's the thing that really intrigues me is while Jarus's walk, sorry, Jaris Walker's multipositional flexibility is talked about a lot. This is a guy who, you know, he can fit in tons of different schemes and lineups and let his handle and IQ take over. On the other hand, Taylor Hendricks actually presents for me even more game diversity with the Pistons because he can be both the small ball five, he can play the four next to the other bigs,

and he can stretch the floor for the hopeful tandem of Cade Cunningham and Jalen Ivy. Jayden Ivy. Yeah, Jalen. Too many Jalens and Jadens around. Yeah, easy to mix up. Sorry, my bad, my bad. Yeah. Yeah.

I think it was the coach. Yeah, I don't know what you're talking about. No, the intro press conference. It was the coach. Casey? Casey, yeah, Casey was joking about coming up with the name. You forget so quickly. He's only been around for five years. I know. I know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So he mixed up the names. Yeah. So, yeah, I completely agree with the fit.

I completely agree that he's got more versatility than Jaris Walker. And just a much better fit overall. I mean, you really want to put Jaros Walker on the floor with Caden Avi with, you know, just his uncertain shooting. That's not an issue for Taylor Hendricks. Like, Jaros is going to do well, I would say next to Isaiah Stewart in terms of weak side rim protection. But next to Jalen Durran, again, not ideal at all on offense. And so, yeah, just the fit all around, I would say, is very good. You know, he's not giving you that extra creator, of course, but, you know, the fit, the fit is very good, which I think really enhanced. He ticks a lot of boxes for the pistons.

yeah and i think he'd be a good guy to just help sort of steady things for hayd cunningham and and ivy because what does he do he stretches the floor he covers up weaknesses and deficiencies on defense really well and that can take off a lot of pressure be like i don't have to make this shot all the time i have a good guy to dump an outlet to yes we have bow yon at present who knows if we keep him after the draft, but the idea is that what if you have both? What if you have two plus shooters next to your guards? Whoa, what a concept. Yeah, that would be nice. Yeah. So definitely a guy will help out Caden Ivy, a guy will help out Duren, a guy will help out Stewart. And, you know,

poor Marvin Bagley is not going to find minutes anywhere, but I don't really care. Marvin who? Yeah, exactly. So let's talk for, and I think this is definitely an intriguing part. I mean, Yeah. And if any of the guys who in the Pistons could take, I'd say without hesitation, well, any of the guys from the Pistons would be a likely to take. Yeah. I don't think A-Mann will be there. So that would be Whitmore, Hussar, and Joris Walker.

And, you know, if we want Pendrickson that group, I'd say he's unequivocat the highest for a big, strong, long, versatile defender without any real holes in a strong shooter. We'll always have a place in the NBA. Everybody wants this kind of player. Yeah, you're getting a guy who's at worst going to be a long, term fifth starter for teams for as many years as he's healthy. Yeah, big minute playoff guy. Oh, yeah.

I mean, this is a guy who fits into any playoff lineup, almost out of the gate. I would be confident in saying. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, the ceiling, of course, is the question. Yes. Yeah. And it's like some guys get it together. Some guys, I feel like if you take him at five, you have to be confident that he's,

He's going to be one of the guys who do vastly exceeds his projection as a creator. And some guys do it. The trouble is that, you know, for every guy who does it, you got another five who don't. You know, there's always the can and then there's the likelihood of it happening, which I don't think is, which, you know, I think you're a little bit higher on than I am. Yeah. So. I don't want to say that he's going to turn into like the modern day version of Paul George

with the development of his handle or things like that. but it's if he can get it together enough. I saw just this rising confidence in his ability to put the ball on the deck and just attempt to make something happen. Even if it didn't look very good, there seemed more intentions, more self-confidence that he can do. It's kind of like a guy like Isaiah Stewart,

we watched sort of learn to grow as a shooter and be more confident in doing that and adding that to his game in a real way. I felt like we saw just a kernel of that. And that's why I feel very confident taking him at five. Yeah, I think, I'm not sure if I saw it the same thing, but like, let's say it's there. The city issue is that defenses are about to get 10 times more difficult to beat. Yes, this is true.

But to expand on what I was saying before, before I cut myself off and decided to put another section, I do have more confidence than I wouldn't say Keegan Murray, who was two years older than Taylor Hendricks when he came. came into the draft and still was basically did not have the handle or the burst, but certainly not the handle to beat bad NCAA defenders off the dribble. He was a guy who just did most of his creation by bullying bad weak NCAA defenders down low with the offense that would never transfer to the NBA. So I feel better about it than that. But yeah, that's just the question. Are you willing to take this kind of guy at number five? Or do you want to gamble on a guy who has more probable upside. You know, this player who would fit super well with the Pistons, but your question is

upside. You want to take a 3-&D guy who may never be a creator at number five. That's the question. And I think that's what will keep him ultimately out of consideration for the Pistons if they stay at 5. Right. And the problem is that the more likely trade-down candidates who have extra second-round picks are going to be after teams like Indiana who the fit with Taylor Hendricks is just so tremendous. Too good. That it's hard imagining him being there at nine or being there at 12. It's just that that type of player is so in demand and he's so young that you'll have him for long time. And if there is anything there, you'll have a lot of room and a lot of time for him to grow. It's weird. I agree. It's this weird situation where he might not be worth the top five pick,

but you're not going to get him anywhere else. Yeah, for the pistons. Yeah, yeah, I don't see him falling past Indiana unless, like, maybe Asara's there and they just be really good about him. Yeah. But I think he'd just be too good of a fit there next to Miles Turner and next to Tyrese Halliburton. I mean, that would be an absolutely horrifying power forward center combo to go up against. And then you have Tyrese Halliburton to, you know, pass them open.

Okay, yeah, good luck. Yeah, and so you can play easily a spread out off. if you want to. Yeah, because Miles Turner can shoot. Miles Turner, he really did not like playing offense next to Sabanus because he was basically just relegated to perimeter shooter. He really proved he could be a lot more this season, you know, when he was out from under Savonis's shadow. So I don't think the magic would really have much interest with Boncaro and with then with Franz Wagner really being their forward combo, forward duo over the future, like unequivocally speaking. But, and I don't think

Washington would be that interested either. So let's say the Pacers have somebody who interests them more like you know maybe his sard drops and maybe he gets to number nine there is not the faintest chance that he would ever get past number 10 you know that's even you know even even even number nine i mean uh if i were the jazz i would really consider taking him putting them putting him next to mark and it just gives you a lot of spacing punch at the four stronger defense and the mavericks this would be their dream match if hendricks fell to them this would lead them absolutely ecstatic but it's never going to happen. Yeah. No, no. This would be almost the ideal archetype of player for them to trade the number 10 pick for. So if he's just there at 10 anyways, why even trade the pick? Yeah. Just, you know, that that would

work out tremendously in their favor. And yeah, it's very, very tough to imagine him falling outside the top 10, whereas it's a little much to expect him to be like a top five pick with the lack of creation and lack of sort of being a real difference maker in the scoring department outside of his shooting. But hey, we saw Keegan Murray go number four last year. So I wouldn't entirely rule out Hendricks at five either. Yeah, I'd give it like an 8% chance of happening. This is a completely arbitrary figure. It's not like I'm calculating this in my head.

I'm just going by what my instinct says. Like, I would give some consideration to taking him in number five. I don't think the pastons will give strong consideration to take him in number five. Do you? No, I think that the tantalizing upside, so to speak, of, you know, what if Walker puts it together? Or what if one of the Thompson twins' shot actually arrives in a real way? What if Whitmore develops better?

offensive acumen and isn't in a complete black hole. That type of thing I think is the more likely bet also these got all four of them are great athletes as well. Not that Hendricks isn't, but that all four of them also have a really high athletic floor to their games that I really think that those are the guys who are going to be more in consideration at five. And probably Amen is going to be the guy at four for Houston if it goes chalk. So I just don't think that we take him at five, we would have to find that trade back. Yeah. And you wouldn't want to trade back further than seven.

No, you'd want to trade back with Indiana for Indiana, hopefully to grab somebody else over Orlando, exactly Orlando in that case. Yeah, yeah, for sure. All right. Well, I think we're reaching about the end here. Any closing thoughts? I mean, again, I'm a huge fan. I would take him at five.

I know that's probably not how it's going to go, but this is a guy who whichever team does end up with is going to be really, really happy. Yeah, I agree. It has all the makings of a guy whom assuming good health is going to stay in the NBA for a long time. And be effective. Yeah, for sure. So, all right, folks, that'll be for this episode.

I haven't decided what's going to be next week. I was thinking Anthony Black, but I think the chances of the Pissons actually drafting him are quite low unless they trade down and even if they trade down. because it really looks like the pistons are going to be looking for, you know, for help it forward. Stronger more, I don't know, more athletic guy. I don't think. Whatever. Don't need to get into, into a profile on him right now.

May revisit Assar. We went over this in the first draft episode and we're pretty hard on the guy. And I would continue to be hard than the guy. But he's looking like a likelier pick for the pistons. I would probably say he's the second likeliest to be drafted by the pistons after Whitmore. What do you think? Yeah. I'm kind of feeling that way too, given the.

that we don't know exactly what Houston is going to do and with Amen. And even then, it feels almost like Asar might fit us a little bit better than Amen does. So in that case, yeah, I would say with the work ethic and all of the other pros we hear about the Thompson Twins character, maybe Asar is the second choice or likely second choice. Yeah. Yeah, who knows? So in any case, well, yeah, I don't know. I don't know why I even said that.

Yeah, I think that it goes Whitmore. And then a SAR at this point, that would be my guess just based on, you know, what would best suit the Pistons needs in terms of both upside and, well, with the SAR, it's not really floor because floor would look pretty ugly. But yeah. In any case, as always, folks, thank you for listening. Price, thank you once again for guesting. For sure.

Yeah. And whatever the next episode is. and we'll catch you then.