Although after the 2021 draft, the 2022 draft does not seem to have a super rookie worth paying attention to. But these rookies are still talented, and if carefully cultivated, they may be able to become an important puzzle on the road to the team's revival.
Today's protagonist is Chet Holmgren, who is 7 feet tall and is known as the next "unicorn".
Rookie basic information
Height: 7 ft (2.13 m)
Weight: 195 lbs (88 kg)
Age: 20 years old
Stats: 26.9 minutes played; averaged 14.1 points, 9.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 3.7 blocks per game
Mock Draft
ESPN: 1st pick in the first round, NBA Draft: 4th pick in the first round, Bleacher Report: 3rd pick in the first round
Chet Homglen, who has been in the spotlight since high school, was unable to lead Gonzaga further despite being raided by a dark horse in mid-March. Excellent offensive and defensive performance has long been a big hit in the eyes of the executives of various teams, and it is also the best candidate for the top three picks in major media websites. With a supple shooting feel and excellent ball holding ability, as well as contributing on the defensive end, Chet Homegren is definitely one of the biggest focuses of this year's draft!
merit
Chet Holmgren is physically strong, with a 7'3 arm span, which allows him to moderately interfere with the shooting of offensive players through excessively long arm spans, and can even be expected to become the top blocker in the league. Chet Holmgren has demonstrated excellent blocking ability during his NCAA season, averaging 3.7 hot pots per game and making him one of the best defensive players of the years. Behind the excellent arm span is a keen sense of defensive smell and basketball IQ, able to reasonably control their own fouls (2.7 fouls per game this season). The ability to guard the basket will be one of the biggest selling points of the 7-foot long man on the defensive end.
In addition, Chet Holmgren has enough mobility, which can help him complete the defense anywhere on the court, not let him be limited by the height of the movement disadvantage, in the modern basketball rhythm is getting faster and faster, Chet Homegren's mobility can help him have an advantage in offensive and defensive conversion, and even reach the team's ability to play more and less.
And chet Homegren is most talked about is his excellent shooting feel. Since high school, he has possessed above-the-standard outside shooting ability, and has maintained a three-point shooting rate of about 40% and a 70% free throw shooting rate after coming to the NCAA D-1 field. For an elder with shooting ability, it can help the team to open up the offensive space to a certain extent, and create more shooting or cutting opportunities for themselves.
Most scouting reports also mention that Chet Holmgren has a certain level of basket organization and ball holding ability. This also allows him to share the pressure of the ball carrier on the field, while at the same time being able to become the team's point of departure from a high position. He can comb through the team's offensive ability after blocking and dismantling, and rely on his excellent basketball IQ to accurately find empty cut opportunities and complete the offense. In addition to acting as a ball-holding point, Chet Holmgren's awareness and sense of smell in the running position allows him to appear in the right place at the right point in time, and with his excellent scoring ability, it will pose a great threat to the opponent.
Weaknesses that need to be improved
Chet Holmgren is thinner, which is somewhat similar to Evan Mobley, who just entered the league last year. Despite his excellent card slot abilities, Chet Holmgren suffers considerably when faced with some physical confrontations. In addition, due to lack of stature, Chet Holmgren's finishing after the collision is quite unstable, and chet Homegren will play quite uncomfortable when encountering teams with more physical confrontations.
His thin stature may have allowed him to face injuries early in his career, while Chet Holmgren was slower defensively on the inside, which led to a rather weaker tonnage or technically large man (like Nikola Jokic) on the inside.
Chet Holmgren's ability to attack autonomously may be a problem, even if he has excellent basketball IQ and scoring ability, his singles ability and independent offensive ability still need to be strengthened, and if the team allows him to single, it will hurt the team's offensive space to some extent. In addition, Chet Homegren will be more hesitant to play the ball when he encounters the bag clip, although this may be a common problem for young players when they first enter the league, but the easy mistakes after the bag will be the shortcomings he needs to improve after entering the NBA.
Future development prospects
Prediction Template: Kristapus Porzingis with autonomous offensive capabilities
Chet Holmgren has quite good abilities at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, and with the existing projection ability, even if the offensive ability with the ball is not cultivated in the end, Chet Holmgren is definitely a qualified 3D player. The team that selected Chet Holmgren needs to develop more autonomous offensive abilities on top of the existing skill packs in order to unleash Chet Holmgren's potential and his excellent basketball IQ.
For now, Chet Holmgren is a player with a high ceiling, who will increase the likelihood of attacking the rebuilding team, and will also be the immediate power projected by any team on the periphery. Thin stature is certainly a big problem, but it is believed that after selecting his team and properly strengthening the physical strength, Chet Homegren will make the ceiling of the whole team rise, and even become an important puzzle piece of power.