Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks Basketball Transfer Portal Target Deep Dive: Florida State Wing Jamir Watkins

Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's Locked on Jayhawks deep dive into a possible transfer portal target, Jameer Watkins from Florida State. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. I'm Derek Johnson. You can give me a follow on Twitter at D Johnson radio. You can find our show here with locked on Jayhawks, anywhere you get your podcast,

Starting point is 00:00:30 including on our YouTube page where you can like, and subscribe to the show. And on today's edition of LOJ, we're talking Jameer Watkins, another player deep dive of another possible transfer portal option for KU to look into as things come closer to the NBA draft deadline and decisions having to be made and offseason decisions having to be made for KU. So we're going to get into Jameer Watkins, what's going on there, scouting report, possible fit with KU, and we'll get to the latest in the offseason and what the big week ahead lies for KU. First, this episode of the show is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook.

Starting point is 00:01:06 Make every moment more. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 with any winning $5 bet. Visit FanDuel.com slash locked on to get started today. Okay, so Jameer Watkins, who is he? What's going on? What about his game? All that sort of stuff for KU.

Starting point is 00:01:25 Well, Watkins is a wing transfer who is both in the portal and in the NBA draft process. Feels like we've been talking about those guys a lot here recently. And he was most recently at Florida State where he was playing in the ACC for them. Seems like he's more of one of those kind of 50-50 decisions of is he going to stay in the draft? Is he going to come back to school? By the time you you've listened to this episode, he might have already decided which one of those two he will have because that deadline decision is coming up here for everybody, including Johnny Furphy and

Starting point is 00:01:58 others. Anyway, currently there have been no connected public rumors with Kansas about Watkins, but as we've kind of talked about we've had some other deep dives where that's been the case you know maybe that's coming from okay maybe they're interested in somebody else but what happens if somebody else they're interested in ends up going somewhere else or staying in the immediate draft or something do they open up their horizons a little bit more and or is it just we there hasn't been any public connections but realistically like there actually is some interest there who knows you never know but i do think it's interesting going down this road in case you get there because this is a really good player in the portal he's

Starting point is 00:02:34 listed at six foot seven 210 pounds at the combine though he measured at a six foot five without shoes so with shoes you're looking at watkins being about a 6'6 wing, 212 pounds, good wingspan size, 6'11. So with the 212 pounds, with the 6'11 wingspan, that basically gives you the opportunity to play him at the three or the four. He originally out of high school went to VCU. He averaged seven points per game as a freshman. That was in the COVID season in 2020 to 2021 then the following season he had a knee injury and that kept him out of that full season so now you're going in

Starting point is 00:03:13 to the 2022 to 2023 season which is his third year his third I guess academic year at VCU but because of the COVID year and then a season-long injury, he was going into that third season as just a third-year freshman in 2022 to 2023. He ended up having a really good year for VCU, even coming off the injury. Nine and a half points per game for a solid VCU team, but considering you're coming off an injury, if you wouldn't have been coming off an injury, probably ends up averaging more because he ends up transferring after that season to Florida State and you know if you're a Florida State fan or you're somebody who's watching and you're going okay we brought on a transfer from VCU they're obviously a good basketball school and he averaged

Starting point is 00:03:56 nine and a half points per game they're like thoughts are probably okay maybe he can average six seven eight points per game here at Florida State. He ends up having an even better season, which I think probably coincides to me with the idea that it was after another year of him dealing with the injury and getting off that season-long knee injury at that point. And so in Tallahassee this past season, where he was, I guess, technically in his fourth season of college, where he would be a redshirt junior, I think is what he was listed at. But also he was actually technically a fourth year sophomore due to COVID rules that season, last season, meaning that if you're trying to count up, he has two more years of play this year and another one if he wants it for COVID year. So that's an added bonus if you bring him on.

Starting point is 00:04:39 But he started 33 games for Florida State this past season, played 28 minutes a night, and he averaged 15.2 points per game, six rebounds per game, 2.8 assists per game, 1.9 steals per game, and 0.8 blocks per game. So really filled up the stat sheet, did a little bit of everything for his team. And he did that all while shooting relatively efficiently from the field, 45.7% from the floor, 34.4% from three, and 79.5% on free throws. The one kind of note there, though, only 2.9 three-point attempts per game. We've had a lot of these conversations about Kansas needing players who, you know, not just shoot relatively efficiently from three, but also high volume because,

Starting point is 00:05:22 you know, DeJuan Harris isn't going to shoot high volume. Hunter Dickinson isn't going to shoot high volume. KJ Adams, when he's on the floor, isn't going to really shoot at all. So you need guys who are shooting efficiently and shooting at high volume. He shot it efficiently enough that's above average, you know, at 34.4%, not super high volume. Then again, the fact that you've brought in already guys like Zeke Mayo, and you're hoping that AJ Storr with better help around him can get

Starting point is 00:05:46 up to that more efficient level. Ryland Griffin certainly classifies for good shooter on high volume and efficiency, just like Zeke Mayo does, that maybe by adding those guys, it makes it okay to have more of an above average percentage on average to below average volume. I don't know. Either way, really good player, super productive player who in ACC-only games, Watkins wound up in the top 20 individually in ACC-only games in true shooting percentage, defensive rebound rate, block percentage, steal rate, fouls drawn per 40 minutes, throw rate and free throw percentage so I mean ultra productive player who did a lot of things that could impact winning unfortunately

Starting point is 00:06:32 Florida State didn't win as many games as maybe he would have hoped it wasn't you know a disaster or anything like that Florida State finished 79th on Ken Palm they were 17 and 16 above 500 so like that's one spot ahead Samford that's or Syracuse that's two spots ahead of Samford um you're ahead of like Georgia who won 20 games you're ahead of Yale who won an NCAA tournament game you're ahead of Indiana so um yeah it's not you know bringing on a player from top 25 team or bringing on a final four starter like Ryland Griffin but like it's not like they were a disaster that you have to worry about how much does this impact winning?

Starting point is 00:07:05 He's been on a lot of winning teams at VCU, and then Florida State was at least an above 500 team in the ACC. Here's some synergy numbers of note for Jameer Watkins. He was in the 80th percentile as a pick-and-roll ball handler, so really good. I mean, obviously this long athletic wing, you set him up with a ball screen, give him a lane to the rim, was really good at converting those into scoring chances for Florida State. He only ranked in the 37th percentile in transition, which that surprised me given the length and athleticism and wing ability. And typically when I think of Florida State under Leonard Hamilton, I think of teams that are going to do really well defensively,

Starting point is 00:07:46 do really well with their size, and get out in transition and score. Maybe aren't going to be the best half-court teams because they just have all sorts of athletes and size, but they haven't really been that classic Florida State the last two or three years, maybe even four years under the program, really since the COVID year. So I don't know. I found that a little bit interesting. A 57th percentile in isolation, so at least above average in some of those isolation scoring settings. He was in the 80th percentile on offensive rebound putbacks.

Starting point is 00:08:11 So he was somebody who was getting a good amount of offensive rebounds, and he was putting them back at a really high clip when he got them. A 50th percentile on dribble jumpers, so about average there. 42nd percentile on runners. And then 53rd percentile at the rim that's another number that i was surprised wasn't a little bit higher given you know lengthy wing who's able to slash and everything but i do wonder how much of the 53rd percentile at the rim um has to do with florida state just not being that great of a team. And that's something where maybe you just don't have the spacing

Starting point is 00:08:46 to kind of open up those lanes. Because Florida State finished 288th in the country last year, 31.7% from three in three-point shooting. And they were doing it on the 307th highest rate of basically how many threes are they taking per game? So you're not getting much spacing. The court's going to be condensed. So 53rd percentile at the rim.

Starting point is 00:09:09 If you get on a team that has better spacing, which that's the hope for Kansas this year with all the transfers they added, maybe you finish in the 75th percentile at the rim. And then that's a big difference. He was also in the 75th percentile as a spot-up shooter. He went 17 of 40. That's good for 42.5% from three. So it was good and more limited volume on spot-up shooter. He went 17 of 40. That's good for 42 and a half percent from three, so it was good and more limited volume on spot-up shooting. 69th percentile on catch-and-shoot three or catch-and-shoot all opportunities. Specifically on catch-and-shoot threes, he went 19 of 52.

Starting point is 00:09:35 That's 36 and a half percent. He was 10 of 20 on unguarded catch-and-shoot threes, which he would probably be getting more of at Kansas than he did at Florida State. The defense is an interesting conversation because he only ranked in the 12th percentile on synergy, but you look at the steals per game in which he averaged 1.9. You look at the blocks per game in which he averaged 0.8. You look at the steal rate and the block rate, both very good. And the synergy numbers not reflective of that only in the 12th percentile. Now, does that mean that he's just a gambler and not a sound defender? I do think sometimes people confuse, hey, you average a lot of blocks or steals or one of the other, whatever, and you're a great defender because of that. That doesn't always indicate that. That means that you're more of a risk taker. You're more of a gambler. Now, some guys like Marcus Garrett gets two plus steals per game and he was a lockdown defender, right?

Starting point is 00:10:26 Other guys were just more opportunist. Like I've heard Bill Self before rag on Mario Chalmers saying, yeah, you weren't a good defender. You just got steals. And Mario Chalmers won like Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year because people just looked at the steal numbers, even though Bill Self was like, no, you were not a very good defender. You were just an opportunistic defender, which you were allowed to because Brandon Rush was a good defender and Russell Robinson was a good defender so it was actually better to have that and it's it's like a corner in in football right it's like you have some guys who are you know they're going to get burned every now and then but they're also going to get a big pick six but sometimes that can be just as valuable because it's going to lead to

Starting point is 00:10:58 scoring the other way um so is he more of a gambler is he not a sound defender are those numbers tainted by Florida State not being a great team that went just 17-16? But then again, they were 75th on defense. Again, that's not great, but it's not an abject disaster. So I don't know. Then there's this to consider. He ranked in the 88th percentile on defense on synergy as a freshman at VCU, and then a 96th percentile in his final season with the Rams in the 2022-23 season on the defensive end.

Starting point is 00:11:26 So 96th and 88th percentile in those two years. I think I'm going to chalk it up as he is a very good defender. Maybe got a little lazier at times at Florida State with a bigger offensive role, not on a great team, but if you scale down the role and you see some of the length and the versatility, I expect him to be a good defender if you hypothetically brought him on. Let's talk more about the fit with KU on this episode of Locked on Jayhawks.

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Starting point is 00:12:50 you're sitting pretty, right? So visit FanDuel.com slash LockedOn and make every playoff shot count. FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook and official sportsbook partner of the LockedOn Podcast Network. All right, continuing on, possible fit with Jameer Watkins, if KU were to be interested, or if he were to wind up at Kansas, it becomes a little bit tougher when we're talking about the lack of that three point volume. Again, 34% from three is above average three attempts per game. That's not like, you know, one attempt per game, but it's, it's like DeJuan Harris was at 38% from three on 2.1

Starting point is 00:13:26 attempts per game. So it's, it's almost one extra three per game on a little lower volume, right? So then the question or a little lower efficiency, excuse me. So the question then becomes, have you added enough shooting elsewhere to make it work? Or is this a non-negotiable to bring on a kid like this, given that you do have the base of DeJuan Harris, KJ Adams, and Hunter Dickinson? To where, you know, whether KJ is going to start or not, he's still going to play starter level minutes. And so if you're throwing out those three guys on the floor, if DeJuan's playing 30 plus minutes a night and Hunter's playing 28, 30, 32 minutes a night,

Starting point is 00:14:01 and KJ's playing 24, 26, 28, 30 minutes a night, is there enough shooting there to make that work? That kind of becomes the question with how it fits on the court. But he is a really good player. He would be in contention to start. Certainly he'd be in the rotation. I think it would kind of come down to at that point, again, like DeJuan and Hunter in the starting lineup.

Starting point is 00:14:22 I expect AJ Storr, again, to be kind of a lock in the starting lineup. Then it becomes a question to me. I think Rylan Griffin will be a starter, but I guess you're in competition with Rylan Griffin. You're also in competition with, even though they're not the same position, with KJ Adams, although I guess technically Watkins could play some four, just as KJ would. Would KJ start?

Starting point is 00:14:40 Would he not? Would you start? You get into some of these different lineups of how you could possibly make it work. And I think when you look at what Watkins would bring to the table, you know, he would, in theory to me, be KU's best defensive player, maybe not named Juan Harris. And I think because he would be a wing that would have more switchability or ability to guard different positions, maybe a little bit better. Maybe he would end up being your best defender if you get back to those kind of VCU numbers in there. So that would be the additive of bringing him.

Starting point is 00:15:10 And I know, like I said, the transition numbers weren't great. I'm almost going to chalk that up to Florida State not having a well-spaced court or not being a great team that probably didn't handle those transition opportunities well. I think on a team that has Hunter Dickinson, who is an excellent outlet passer, has DeJuan Harris, who is obviously a very good passer, especially in the open floor, has KJ Adams, who even as a kind of 4-5 man can grab and go and lead a break. And we see KJ all the time come up with games with 3-4-5 assists, that he would be much better in transition with having that athletic wing. So I almost view him as a Kevin McCuller kind of of replacement I don't mean that you're going to get

Starting point is 00:15:45 the same production out of Kevin McCuller Kevin McCuller prior to the injuries was on pace to you know probably end up on the second or third team all-american list right and I don't know that would be the expectation here but the idea of okay an athletic wing who's 6'6 he actually has a bigger wingspan than Kevin does who averages about six rebounds per game good defensive rebounder that was the case of Kevin Watkins was averaging almost three assists per game. Kevin was a solid passer, right? You get a player who's not taking a ton of threes, just like kind of Kevin was,

Starting point is 00:16:12 except you actually have even better track record here from three, just a little bit over Kevin. I think you could make that work in a very real way, that it would be very interesting to me. And then you would have kind of different lineups you could throw out. You could play your all defensive lineup. If you're up late in the game where you have dewan harris at the point guard and jameer watkins at the three and who knows who ends up being the best you know two

Starting point is 00:16:31 defender maybe el marco jackson on paper right now and at the four you're playing kj and at the five you're playing hunter if they have a stretch five you're playing kj at the five or i don't know flory at the five to get a shot whatever it is is. You can mix and match in a lot of different ways. So I think for me, this would be a take. Again, we haven't heard any connections here with Kansas. There's also the part that he's a possible NBA draft pick. I think he was 73rd on Sam Vecini of the Athletic, his big board, meaning he could squeak into that late second

Starting point is 00:17:00 or at least get one of the top undrafted deals after the draft. Seems like it's more 50-50 whether he winds up in the draft or not then after that you're talking about okay does he wind up at KU or not uh if we're talking about who who to take I would take Jackson Robinson over him because you don't have to worry about the shooting now obviously I feel better about the defense here with Watkins than I would with Robinson. But I just think Robinson is that good of a scorer and a shooter that I would take that. I'd probably also still take Wuga Poplar over him because I know that Poplar can scale down the role.

Starting point is 00:17:35 We saw that when he was on a starter on the final 14 with Miami, where he was more of the fourth or fifth option when he was on the court. And I trust his defense as well, even though I think, I think Watkins is a higher ceiling for defense than Poplar but uh maybe the floor I don't know I guess that that would be debatable given Poplar kind of had up and down back-to-back seasons but um I think I'd probably take those two guys I but this would definitely be a take for me right with Watkins I think he'd be a very good player and even if it's not as seamless as a fit as maybe those two guys, it still is a fit that you could make work

Starting point is 00:18:07 and would just be adding a really good player to the roster. All right, let's talk about the latest in the transfer portal and the offseason for KU on Locked on Jayhawks. Talking the latest in the offseason and transfer portal here with Locked on Jayhawks here. Thanks for tuning into the show. And thank you to the everydayers tuning into each and every episode of the show. We're going to have an episode coming soon.

Starting point is 00:18:32 Could be tomorrow. Could be Thursday. Because Johnny Furphy is running out of time to decide. And again, by the time you listen to this, who knows? Maybe a decision has already been made. The deadline for players deciding whether they're staying in the NBA draft or withdrawing their name and coming back to college is May 29th at 1159 p.m., right? So basically midnight between Wednesday going into Thursday. So that means, you know, you listen to this on a Tuesday, Johnny Furphy has, I don't

Starting point is 00:19:05 know, 24, 36 hours, whatever it is to decide on what his future is going to be. Is he going to come back? Is he going to stay in the NBA draft? So we will have a more clear distinction on that, but it's not just Johnny Furphy where that decision comes into play. It's some of the other guys like Jackson Robinson transferring from BYU is he gonna stay in the draft or is he gonna come back certainly seems like that could be 50 50 and I think some of these players to a certain extent um probably try to play it as far as they can like even if if you're a player who's like you know I am gonna end up coming back and transferring it might not be the the worst thing in the world for you if you wait till

Starting point is 00:19:46 the very last minute to try to convince schools that, hey, I really am thinking about staying in the NBA draft, but I will come back if you can sweeten that NIL deal a little bit. You can give me an extra 100K on that NIL deal. Okay, I'll come back for that. And then maybe it's a little bit of a game of chicken there. I don't know how much that happens or how much that is happening, but I certainly wouldn't rule that out. The other bit of news of one guy who was going through that process and had to make a decision and since has, and now picked the school he's going to be going to

Starting point is 00:20:18 somebody, we did a deep dive on Chaz Lanier, the transfer from North Florida. He's going to Tennessee. So that'll be very interesting because they had Dalton Connect come from a smaller school who was putting up big numbers and he just went off. I'll be interested to see what Chaz Lanier, if he can kind of follow in those footsteps of Connect, that he's now going to the Vols. And one less transfer portal target is off the board, possibly for KU.

Starting point is 00:20:39 So stick around. We will make sure we get something on Johnny Furfew when that decision comes down, as well as Jackson Robinson and anybody else who's pertinent for you. So we'll get to all that here. Make sure you subscribe to the show anywhere you get your podcast with Locked on Jayhawks, including subscribing on our YouTube page. We'll see you next time with LOJ.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks Basketball Transfer Portal Target Deep Dive: Florida State Wing Jamir Watkins

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