Case to Draft Taylor Hendricks (Trade Down if Possible)

WEAKNESSES
The main concern is that, for a potential top-10 pick, Hendricks is limited in terms of what he can do off the bounce right now. He’s not really a shot creator for himself. Can dribble in a straight line and cover ground with his length but doesn’t have much in the way of change of pace. Can occasionally throw out a nice crossover, but everything is downhill. If it’s not, the odds are it’s going to be wild. His handle is quite loose and can get ripped. It’s out away from his body far too often. Even attacking closeouts, he doesn’t look totally fluid unless he’s being fully decisive. Has a long way to go if he’s going to be a shot creator, although the shooting gives him a chance if he can tighten things up.

He has some weird finishing issues right now in terms of touch at the rim. Made just 44.7 of his layup attempts at UCF. Looks really sped up after he puts the ball on the deck and is trying to beat everyone to spots. Brings the ball down too low, and it comes out incredibly flat without any soft release on these attempts at the rim. His release point on layups is seemingly lower than on his shot. He’s a bit of a contact avoider right now because of his lack of strength compared to other interior players. And if he does get bumped, he doesn’t have the strength to power through it and get to a solid finishing angle. He’s also very much just a right-hand finisher at this stage.

Shot creation off the bounce was hit or miss. Made some occasional pull-up 3s but still only shot 28 percent on those attempts. Outside of 17 feet, made just 11 of 42 jump shots. The mechanics look solid. But he did make 10 of 17 floaters as his counter attacking the midrange. Hendricks obviously has real touch and will likely improve as a scorer inside the arc. But everything here looks out of control in some respect. The polish is lacking, probably in part because he hasn’t been asked to do a ton of this before.
Given how loose things can be for him as a creator, Hendricks isn’t really a passer or playmaker for others. He doesn’t really look to make those plays for his teammates on his drives even when he does collapse the defense. But he also struggles to draw significant help defenders because he struggles to beat his own man off the bounce. Only averaged 1.4 assists per game. Needs to make some real strides and grow as a playmaker. Even from a standstill, he doesn’t always seem to read the run of play well.

Hendricks’ poor defensive rebounding will likely resign him more toward playing the four as opposed to sliding into the small-ball five in spurts like he did at UCF. Really struggles to end possessions. Can’t anchor at all on the interior. More of a crasher as opposed to someone who gets a body on players. Doesn’t box out all that often. Even when he does, he can sometimes get leveraged and driven out of the play due to his long limbs and higher center of gravity. Could stand to be more engaged even when he’s going to play the four. Only averaged about four defensive rebounds per game this past season despite being asked to play a real role there. UCF was a bad defensive rebounding team, and he played an integral part of that.

SUMMARY
I love Hendricks going to a team that is well-situated in terms of shot creation and thus could allow him to come along more slowly in that respect. He’s a ways off from being able to impact the game as a ballhandler or creator, but Hendricks possesses the kind of 3-and-D game that could be a real difference-maker to teams that need those skills. And almost every team with an established hierarchy of stars needs those skills. Hendricks is 6-foot-9 in shoes, he’s long and switchable, and he defends the rim well from the weak side. He has potential to be an awesome pick-and-roll defender due to his versatility, and his length will take up a larger portion of the court than the normal run-of-the-mill wing prospect. The number of players 6-foot-9 or taller who enter the league as plus defenders and plus shooters is extremely minimal. It’s Jabari Smith Jr., Franz Wagner, Trey Murphy III and Jaren Jackson Jr. since 2018. That’s why Hendricks is going to hear his name called in the lottery. It’s hard to see how this skill set fails, even with his faults. He does the three most important things a role player in the NBA can do: He shoots it well off the catch, he defends well in space and he plays well within help defensive concepts. Throw in that he’s still a teenager with real upside, and you shouldn’t be surprised if he hears his name called in the top 10.

 

The kid is a winner. Pick him.