The Pelicans and Nuggets are among the teams believed to have interest in Baylor forward Jeremy Sochan, while the Spurs are viewed as a “strong fit” for him, Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic writes in his recap of last week’s draft combine.
According to Vorkunov, one team executive put Sochan’s floor at the No. 12 pick, which means the Nuggets – who control No. 21 – would have to trade up if they want a shot at him. He’s far more likely to be available for the Pelicans (No. 8) or Spurs (No. 9).
Vorkunov’s article includes several more tidbits on the combine, including a look at some of the more outside-the-box questions teams asked in their interviews with prospects. According to Vorkunov, one club challenged Christian Braun to repeated staring contests, while the Nuggets told players during their meetings that if they could name enough players on the club’s roster, one of their team officials would do push-ups.
Here’s more on the 2022 NBA draft:
- Jeremy Woo of SI.com shares his impressions of 15 prospects who attended the 2022 draft combine, focusing on probable lottery picks like Shaedon Sharpe, Dyson Daniels, and Sochan as well as less heralded players such as Marcus Sasser, Darius Days, and John Butler. Like ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, Woo believes Daniels in particular boosted his stock at the combine.
- Josiah-Jordan James (Tennessee), Tykei Greene (Stony Brook), Osayi Osifo (Jacksonville), and Eric Hunter Jr. (transferring from Purdue to Butler) are all withdrawing from the 2022 draft after declaring as early entrants, per Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (all links via Twitter). James is coming off his junior season, while the others are seniors who will use their extra year of NCAA eligibility in 2022/23.
- Wisconsin’s Brad Davison and Wake Forest’s Alondes Williams are taking part in a workout today with the Nets, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News, who tweets that Davison previously worked out for the Hawks.
Spurs would love to find their next Bruce Bowen.
Picking guys like Sochan and Daniels in the top 10 takes all the fun out of drafting them. At that level, upside potential can morph into expectation. Right now, neither can shoot, and they shouldn’t be drafted with the expectation that they’ll learn over the summer. SAS has a good history redshirting guys, but doing it with two lottery picks in a row (Primo last year) is uncharted territory even for them.
For whatever reason, people expect players to shoot better next year, like they expect teams to get farther. It does happen often enough to keep hopes up.
Sochan though, “gravitates to the rebound”, per espn’s best-available. The Kentucky center won the Naismith award doing little more than that. Sochan, able to defend anyone, won’t have to shoot that well to get oncourt. I bet he roasts all these small 4s around, if he can overcome Coach Drew. He might sound smart to a foreigner.