Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Jayhawks Portal Target? Dedan Thomas is QUICK and an Elite Passer | Does He Make Sense for Kansas?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, you's looking for a guard. What about Dayton Thomas? Does he make sense to fill a roster hole on KU? 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, with a bonus episode of the show. We're going to deep dive on to Dade and Thomas on, maybe it's D Dan Thomas on today's episode of Locked on Jayhawks. What would his fit be with KU, Scouting Report?

Starting point is 00:00:33 who is he, all that, and more. Just kind of interesting here, I feel like there's more lefties in the portal this year than I can ever remember that are potential KU targets. I don't know if this will be one, but Tyrone Riley, who's an interesting wing, who we're going to have a deep point soon. He's a lefty.

Starting point is 00:00:48 We just did the episode on Wes Enis. He's a lefty. There are a couple other lefties that are in the port. I mean, Florey's obviously a lefty too. I don't know what it is. But Thomas is a quick guard who's 6 foot 1, 178 pounds, although got to be honest and looking at him when he's on the floor. It might be one of those where he's closer to 5 foot 11,

Starting point is 00:01:07 but he's going to be a senior in the 2026 to 2027, one year left to play. And this is interesting because I was going back and I was looking at his offer list from high school. I didn't see Kansas on there, but I don't know. I could have sworn that KU was at least somewhat interested. Maybe I'm thinking back to last offseason when I thought that there was some sort of interest at some point between Kansas.

Starting point is 00:01:31 and the camp that nothing ever materialized. But nonetheless, Kansas is clearly in the market for Guard. And Thomas is one of the better guards that is available out there. He was a top 40 recruit out of high school. He had a high ranking four star in the recruiting rankings. Then goes to UNLV where he earns Mountain West Conference co-freshment of the year. And then he was on the second team All Mountain West after putting up 13.6 points, over five assists on 45, 36, 74.

Starting point is 00:02:01 shooting splits, his second year there, or that first year there when he was, you know, the freshman of the year as well. And then his sophomore year, he earns third team all conference when he goes for 15.6 points per game, 4.7 assists per game on 41, 3572 splits. And then he transfers to LSU last season. And he got off to a good start, 15.3 points per game, six and a half assists per game. He was averaging over a four to one assist to turnover ratio. The show, Shooting splits, good field goal percentage, 46%, not great three point percentage at 30%. Really good free throw percentage at 83%. And then he had a left foot injury.

Starting point is 00:02:41 By surgery, derailed his season after just 16 games. Didn't get off to a normal three-point shooting start. It was coming around by the time his season had to come to close. Like he finished the year six of his last 14 from three. And given that he shot 36% from three, his freshman year 35 is sophomore. I feel like if you were to finish out the season, that number would have probably found its way right around that number again. But notable games from last year includes when he had 13 with zero assists on 5 of 14 against Texas.

Starting point is 00:03:13 So not a great game there. 16 points, 12 assists. That's a great game there against an SMU team that was playing in the first four. Against Florida, he struggled, two points, three assists on one of eight shooting. Then he against Arkansas was for 18.5 assists, but it did take seven of 20. and then his final game came against Mississippi Stadium 14 points four assists on 6 of 13 shooting. Metrically speaking, pretty good here. 94th percentile on RAPM.

Starting point is 00:03:39 He was in the 96th percentile in winchairs per 40 with a 99th percentile winchairs per 40 on offense. Only 25th on defense, though. 98th percentile in PER, 81st percent on wins above replacement player. Those are really good metrics to have there, right? And to add on to some of his UNLVE numbers, he wasn't quite as strong in some of those. but still, you know, 65th percentile or better and most of those with the defense closer to average.

Starting point is 00:04:05 From an on-off standpoint, UNOV was almost nine points better per 100 possessions offensively and about a point worse defensively, his sophomore season when he was on the floor. LSU, he had an incredible plus 25 net rating, though. I think a lot of that more has to do with a lot of the time he missed was more in the conference portion of the season when they were losing all these games, that net rating would have fallen had he played all those conference games and not been hurt. But I don't know why this matters. Like I was just reading his

Starting point is 00:04:38 LSU and it mentioned he loves to play video games and chess and he wants to coach basketball down the road. And I know that doesn't really matter, but it kind of matters at the same point in time because like it, I don't know, those are the types of things that make me think you would be an easy addition to any locker room. You know what I mean? Like if you want to be a co, which you're clearly going to be somebody you would think who is going to have a level-headed mind on some of this stuff. And so that can be a good thing when you do question, you know, what am I bringing into my team,

Starting point is 00:05:08 not just from a production standpoint, but from a meshing with the team standpoint. I don't know. That might not be the worst thing world. But let's get more into his scouting and poor strengths and weaknesses next. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by Mazda, moving the game forward by Mazda. For those who know the score never tells the whole story.

Starting point is 00:05:29 I was thinking back to some fun NCAA tournament moments all time for Kansas. And I was going back talking with a friend about that Seton Hall game in 2018 when Kansas wins in the second round. Angel Delgado had like 20 and 20. The Cadeen Carrington kid just made everything at the end of the game. For KU, it was not a great game for Devonte Graham, but they got through it and a game that Doak had to kind of play injured and didn't start the game. Leak Newman had a big game for Kansas. and there's this one play where I think they're up four, and I don't know how they barely avoid a steal.

Starting point is 00:06:02 Devante picks it up off the ground, throws it ahead, lightfoot, throws down the dunk, and that kind of seals the game. It's those moments, you know, more to these players and these plays than the highlights, right? The early mornings, the late night runs, constantly showing up for their squad on and off the court. The all-new Mazda CX-5 moves the same way, with more space to connect a bold new design and more intuitive technology so you can stay connected to the road in every position you play. Y'all new Mazda CX5, more to move every side of you. We're also brought to you by TurboTax.

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Starting point is 00:07:19 and some of the latest news right here on Locked on Jayhawks. So we're talking to Deidon Thomas, who is an interesting player to me who, like, as KU is clearly looking at some of these smaller guards, you know, Thomas fits that billing, but has some things that I think Bill Self would like and would make him an interesting fit next to Tailen Kinney to give him kind of a veteran presence, right? One of those things is his passing ability. Thomas is in the 99th percentile in assist rate and assist to turnover ratio this past season. Now, again, if he plays more of his conference games, some of those numbers drop a little bit more,

Starting point is 00:07:47 but how much are they dropping to? You know, he's still probably has really good numbers there. All three years of his collegiate career, he's been. 92nd percentile or better at both assist rate and assist to turnover ratio. So if you want a table setting point guard, Thomas is your guy. And he really excels specifically in pick and roll. Ninety-ninth percentile in pick and roll as a passer last year, his final year, I should say, UNLV.

Starting point is 00:08:10 He was 86th percentile at LSU, so that carried over. And KU was a team who used pick and roll at an 84th percentile frequency, right? Now, it might be a little bit different because the big reason you did that so much was because that was, you know, Florey's best part of his offensive game was running pick and roll as opposed to posting up. But we know Kansas, if they have it, we'll run it. And we know that Kansas likes to throw lobs and get dunks off that. Thomas is an excellent lob passer. And so that becomes kind of interesting, too.

Starting point is 00:08:39 He also gets to the free throw line, 78th percentile free throw attempt rate or better all three seasons. So despite his size, he is fearless. He'll attack, he'll kick out, he'll attack, he'll get to the free throw line. Those are good things to see. And I think a big reason why he's able to do that, despite the size, is his quickness. This is one of the quicker guards that's in the transfer portal. He was in the 90th percentile on rim attacks this year. He's always been above average to good in his career there because the free throw line

Starting point is 00:09:06 helps buoy some of those numbers. But he's also solid at attacking and kicking out and finding the open shooters. If you get the right lob threat next to him and the right shooters around him, he can be a really beneficial offensive player for you. He's also a good mid-range shooter, 71st percent out or better, all three seasons of college basketball there. And I think you could even argue there might be more meat on the bone here that there could be another big step coming for him. This isn't the case of your, oh, he's about to be a senior. He's 23 years old.

Starting point is 00:09:35 He's 22 years old. He was originally a reclass player who joined in an early class. He turned 20 last September. So by the start of this upcoming college basketball season, he'll be 21 years old. That's like the same age as Smeese Calderon. you know what I mean? So like even though he's a senior, realistically, he's more the age of a college junior, which A makes it a little bit more impressive what he's accomplished. B, to me, shows there's even more room to grow. The younger you are, you would think the curve of which

Starting point is 00:10:03 you can grow up, you know, becomes even better. So I think all of those are very interesting traits and skills for Thomas. Now, what are some of the weaknesses here? Vers bigger and better opponents, the efficiency has dropped, right? And that makes sense. For a smaller guard, you're playing bigger teams. So 34 career games against Ken Palm top 100 teams, which are always bigger teams, but are going to tend to be a little bit more. He's only at 45% on twos in those games and 32% on threes. That is basically a slightly better shooting version of Melvin Council without the size and without the defense that you're getting, right?

Starting point is 00:10:35 He also is somebody who needs the ball in his hands, right? Would that work? I don't know. Like, how much do you want the ball in Kenny's hands? And then who else are you bringing around the roster? Because if you're bringing this guy on, you need more. off ball players next to him as opposed to on ball players, right? Also, does he take enough threes?

Starting point is 00:10:55 You know, he was in the 11th percentile in LSU and three-point attempt rate, right? He's always been a fine three-point shooter again for his career. He's like 35 percent from three, but he's not taking a high. Right? He also doesn't really get blocks and steals. There are questions, what exactly is the defense? And if you have a defensive backcourt of Thomas and an incoming freshman and Kenny, are there going to be serious concerns there, right?

Starting point is 00:11:20 This feels like the type of player that works better if Flory Bedunga is your center for both ends of the floor because he can throw the lobs and also Flory helps with the defense back there. So Florey's not coming back that makes things a little more difficult here, right? He also is coming off a serious injury. He's not really a point guard that's going to get rebounds. And some of the best Billsoff point guards would get four or five rebounds per game. They would contribute there. So there are some serious flaws and concerns here.

Starting point is 00:11:43 But there's also some very interesting stuff with Thomas's game. Is this a fit? Does it make sense? We'll get to that next. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by Indeed. Workplace chaos, deadline stacking up, inbox overflowing, and the one position you have to fill is still sitting open. When the pressure's on, you need the right hire.

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Starting point is 00:12:56 com plus members-only Discord access. Okay, so I think this one's really interesting with Thomas because clearly KU is looking at some of these smaller guards. So clearly they're in the market for this type of player. I think there's a little bit of a better passing, worse, defensive, and not nearly as good as the rim version of Devon Dotson here. You're talking about a smaller guard who's really quick, has good agility, can get into the lane. Again, you're getting more passing here than you got with Devon. Devon, though, was the better defender and Devon was the better finisher at the rim, an overall player and stuff, right?

Starting point is 00:13:32 And Dodson's just another level faster, right? I don't mean to compare because what Dodson did at Kansas, his sophomore season was basically what, you know, Sharon Collins and Frank Mason were doing their upperclassmen seasons. He was excellent for KU, right? but just in terms of that style of player. I would be a little bit worried about the lack of like shooting volume, but I guess it's a little bit better than say like we did a deep dive on KJ. Lewis for instance, right?

Starting point is 00:13:57 And you do have the shooting with Kenny. Also the good passing gets others involved with room to improve as a player when you look at the age. I do wish he was averaging more steals per game and that, you know, he would be a pesky defender with the quickness. I do think he can use that quickness to do those things. but I guess where I'm at is like, are there bigger splashes available?

Starting point is 00:14:20 I do think there are good guards available. I keep saying that. You know, I don't know what the cost is. Like Kentucky seems to be kicking the tires on this. The cost is probably going to be pretty pricey. I'll just say this. Like, if they ended up with Dean and Thomas, I wouldn't be upset at it.

Starting point is 00:14:35 I think he's a good player. But I would certainly have some questions about how are you going to fill the roster around him, you know, because I think it's more of a peculiar fit. And like I said, like the perfect center for him would be a Flory Badunga. So if you have Flory back, then maybe this is more on the table. If you don't, I don't know if this is the direction I'd go. But I do think he's going to go somewhere and have a productive season.

Starting point is 00:14:58 All right, that'll do it for this. Anywhere you get a podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. And we'll see you next time for another player deep dive on LJ.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Jayhawks Portal Target? Dedan Thomas is QUICK and an Elite Passer | Does He Make Sense for Kansas?

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