Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Jayhawks Portal Target? Allen Graves is THE BEST Player in the Portal But Would it Work at Kansas?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Today we're going to talk about my very favorite player in the transfer portal, Alan Graves. You are locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. What's going on? Derek Johnson here with another episode of Lockdown Jayhawks, another player deep dive. We're going to get into Alan Graves, who is my favorite player in the Transfer Portal. Breakdown his game. Does he make sense for KU at this point? probably would come with a pretty hefty price tag if you did land Alan Graves. So he went from, I mean, this is one of those players that they, I don't know what it is. Like Santa Clara, how do they keep getting these kids who were like unheralded, then just blow up?

Starting point is 00:00:46 Like Brandon Podgiamski, I think he was a transfer from like, I don't know, it was Illinois or something like that. He ends up being like a first round pick to the Warriors and now he's having a fine NBA career. Jalen Williams at Santa Clara goes to the thunder. And now he's, you know, the, I don't know, depending on what you want to say with him. or Chet Holmgren, the second or third best player on the NBA champions. You know what I mean? Like, what is Santa Clara doing? Because now they got another one here in Allen Graves, who went from unranked prospect

Starting point is 00:01:13 to five-star transfer prospect on 24-7 sports. He is a legit pro prospect who could be, if he stays in the NBA draft, an early second round pick, maybe even a late first round pick, but he's also in the transfer portal. He is six foot nine, 225 pounds. He's got a seven-foot wingspan. he can play the four or the five now i've seen some people say could you play him at the three there's some some uh you know he's in the analytics darling and there's some similarities potentially to like what yaxel lenderberg was coming from going uab um to that michigan could you do the same

Starting point is 00:01:48 thing with graves playing the three i don't think graves is as mobile as lendeberg you could if you want to play big but um i don't know he'll be a redshirt sophomore uh as well so he has a lot of years left though, good chance that he'll be off to the NBA if he doesn't just stay in it this year. Now, interestingly enough, he was actually the Gatorade player of the year in Louisiana, so I don't know how he was unrated on 24-7 sports out of high school, but he goes to Santa Clara. He red shirts his first season on campus, and then this season as a redshirt freshman, he was a star on Santa Clara. That's a team that earned an at large berth into the NCAA tournament.

Starting point is 00:02:23 Obviously, if not for Otega O.A's miracle, they would have won a tournament game. And the crazy thing is, because he was coming off a redshirt year, He started the season, you know, maybe not playing as many minutes per game. And then it's like rising as the season goes on. And it's like by the season's end, it's like this dude is a star. So he ends up only playing 22.6 minutes per game because of some of the earlier season where he's playing as much where they're trying to figure out what they got here. And even in just 22.6 minutes per game, he puts up 11.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 2.8 stocks per game on 51% from the floor, 41% from 3 and 75%. at the foul line. He was the West Coast Conference freshman of the year. He was the sixth man of the year in the

Starting point is 00:03:06 conference. And he was first team all West Coast Conference. Again, though, if he's playing, you know, 30 minutes all season long, what is he putting up? Like 16, eight or nine, three assists, four star, like just unbelievable numbers, right? And his final game of the season, obviously came in the NCAA tournament that lost to Kentucky. He played well in that game. He had 17 points, seven rebounds in a block. And he was the one who hit what would have been the game-winning shot for Santa Clara before O.A. banked in that deep three. Overall, nine games played for Alan Graves against Ken Palm Top 50 competition, and he still shot 54% on twos and 36% on threes.

Starting point is 00:03:44 And the NCAA tournament game was just him capping off what was an unbelievable finish to the year. I mentioned how he's starting to rise in his play by the season end over the final three months of the season. So January, February, and March, these were his averages, 14, 3,000. points, six and a half rebounds, one and a half assists, two point seven stocks on 55% from the field, 42% from three and 82% at the free throw line. As you'd imagine, the metrics are amazing. I mentioned how he's an analytic darling, 85th percentile in RAPM, 99th percentile in winchairs per 40, PER, and wins above replacement player. Incredible. He is also the number one player by Evan Mia Cowah's BPR available in the portal.

Starting point is 00:04:29 And again, there have been some comparisons to Axel Lendeberg and that worked out to Michigan, right? So Evan Mia has him number one. He's top six on all the rest of them, the athletic 24-7 and on three. But this is my favorite player in the transfer portal. I think he's the most impactful edition when you look at his combination of that he just does everything. He can score on the post.

Starting point is 00:04:53 He can pick and pop. He can hit threes. He can pass a little bit. He gets blocks. He gets steals. He gets rebounds. He's a pro prospect. So you're bringing out a pro.

Starting point is 00:05:02 You can play him at different positions. He's a versatile piece that can basically play three through five. Like unload the brings truck here, right? And I'll tell you why I have more next when we get to the scouting report. This is locked on Jayhawks. Today's episode is brought to you by Rocket Money. If you've ever opened your bank account thought, where'd all my money go? Well, you're not alone.

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Starting point is 00:07:03 Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. This is a job for Indeed. Sponsored jobs. Thanks you for joining us here. Alan Graves. Let's get to his scouting report and what he brings to the table beyond some of those

Starting point is 00:07:17 awesome metrics. The strengths, he's incredibly skilled. He's got great touch. He's got really good footwork. He's got good passing ability off the post. He actually wound up for forwards having an 87th percentile assist rate and a 98th percentile assist to turnover rate. So he does it without turning the ball over too, right?

Starting point is 00:07:38 Very good hands, which I think after watching a year of Bryson Tiller, seeing the hands of Allen Graves would, like grading on a curve, it would look like we had never, something we had never seen before. That has really good awareness to get a 96 percentile turnover rate. He had a 93rd percentile Hakeem rate, which is steel plus block rate, 100th percentile steal rate for forwards. So he was as good as any forward in the country at getting steals. You do that by having really good basketball awareness.

Starting point is 00:08:06 Also 76 percentile block rate, right? The rebounding, 93rd percentile in offensive rebound rate. Okay, that works. 84th percentile in defensive rebound rate. Okay, so he's a very good rebounder too. And then he just scores in so many ways. Like it's amazing like how many different areas this guy like, okay, 92nd percentile in fast break points per 40 minutes,

Starting point is 00:08:30 96th percentile in second chance points per 40. So he can score on the fast break. He's scoring getting offensive rebounds and putbacks. He's above the 80th percentile in efficiency on cuts. So he's a good off ball player, inside out game, big's cutting and rolling and transition play, right? So you want to run pick and roll with him. You want to run an inside out game with him.

Starting point is 00:08:54 You want to have him just cut off the ball. Oh, he's also in the 94th percentile on pick and pop. And that's like the worst offensive play style that KU had last year. He's really good at it. Oh, what about posting up? KU didn't have enough postup. So let's say 94th percent on posting up to. And he saw it at the ram.

Starting point is 00:09:12 He shot 61% at the rim. He has good midrange touch. He shot 45% in the mid range. And 38% or better from four of the five three point zones. So he's making threes from everywhere. 41% from three, you know, pretty high rate for forwards too. That just tells the story there.

Starting point is 00:09:31 Also shot well at the foul line. So if he foul him, 75% of the line. I mean, this dude is complete, man. And he works well out of the high post. On the high post, he can make it work. He can face up. He can hit a jump shot. He can pass.

Starting point is 00:09:43 You want to work it with short rolls. You want to work him on the low post and have him post up and either pass out of it or go to work. like this dude this dude is everything i would want in a basketball player at the collegial level right uh some of the weaknesses if you if you play him as a five he's a little undersized right he's 6 9 225 does have seven foot wingspan but if you're playing him at the five he's a little undersized if you play him as the three is he athletic enough is he fast enough right um because he's a good not great athlete he needs to get stronger but if now you're playing

Starting point is 00:10:19 him at the three, he's not going to be as quick or fast as some of the other guys. Now, can you make up for it with what clearly seems to be a good basketball IQ, good positioning, good fundamentals, good length and awareness? Yeah, I think you can. But then the other question is, how would you do playing up in competition every game? You know, the West Coast Conference is pretty good this year. St. Mary's made the tournament. Gonzaga, you know, wasn't one of the better Gonzaga years, but still at least a decent team. They played some good teams in the non-con. So, you know, It's not like he's coming up from the Miak, but it is a difference when you're playing a good team every night as opposed to, you know, every couple nights or something like that. So as you can see, I love Alan Graves.

Starting point is 00:10:59 He's my favorite player in the portal. It's clearly a take. I think the bigger question is what would the fit be at KU because they do have a four man in Keanu Dawes. We'll get to that next. The NHL playoffs are here where every shift matters, every moment's intense and the pressure is at its highest. And just like performance matters on the ice, it matters off the ice too. That's where Rouguet comes in. Ruggiat offers treatment designed to help you get ready and stay ready when it matters most.

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Starting point is 00:12:01 Just go to locked on Jayhawks.supercast.com. That is locked on Jayhawks. Dot supercast.com. Okay, so Alan Graves is a clear take for me. For me, he's the number one player available in the portal. I think whoever gets him would be very, very happy. Of course, he could stay in the NBA draft. And that complicates things, right?

Starting point is 00:12:16 Because are you sitting there holding all this money for this guy and then he stays in the NBA draft? I think you would have to, if you're bringing him in, would you almost have to overpay him an extra, I don't know, million dollars to be like, pull out of the draft process so that we know for sure you're coming here. And that certainly does complicate it. Now, Michigan made that risk with the actual Lenderberg and it worked out. Sometimes if you want to, you know, win a title, you have to take high risks, right? I like him more as a four in general next to a big five. And that makes things complicated here for KU because KU does have Kiyom.

Starting point is 00:12:51 Donu Daws. I do think you could make that work. I know a lot of KU fans don't want, like they want to be oversized right now, but how Baltimore has gone and based on how this last year went where KU did have more of an undersized center and how that did against other teams. I think two six, nine dudes who rebound the crap out of the basketball and, you know, I think you'd be just fine in a lot of the areas there. And both of them are so skilled and can stretch it out. It wouldn't be a problem when you're playing, playing bigger bigs. So I I would be okay with that, where you have one of Dawes, where you have Graves at the five and Dawes at the four.

Starting point is 00:13:28 But he's such a good player. He wanted to try it out with him at three and have Dawes at the four and have a Paul and B at the five. I'd be cool with that too, right? From a money standpoint, it take a huge investment. So obviously this is one that there are questions about. There are questions about the money. There are questions about how you.

Starting point is 00:13:51 can make it work with the draft. There's some questions about fit. But he is such a good player, I'd be willing to take the risk and try to figure it out. And he's a versatile enough player that I would say, hey, we can try to make it work somewhere. Let's just get like, and especially if you do want to play big, then you shouldn't have a problem with him playing the three. You know, he certainly shoots the three ball well enough. So I'd be all over this, but we'll see where he ends up going because I do think this is an all American level player wherever he winds up.

Starting point is 00:14:23 If he does decide to stay in college. All right, that'll go for this episode of Lockdown Jayhawks. You can find us anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page, we can like and subscribe to the show. See you next time on LOJ.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Jayhawks Portal Target? Allen Graves is THE BEST Player in the Portal But Would it Work at Kansas?

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