Some new workouts with Julian Wright and Thaddeus Young just came out on Draftexpress:
Player Evaluations
Julian Wright, 6-8, Sophomore, Small Forward, Kansas
Wright obviously passes the eye test in person, with great size, an excellent wingspan, and plenty of room on his frame to continue to add weight. It wouldn’t shock at all if he measured out slightly taller than the 6-8 Kansas listed him at.
While Wright is clearly a 5 on 5 player who shines with his versatility and basketball IQ more so than with an array of polished skills, there was some things to take away from the drill-work we saw him conduct over two days. His shooting mechanics aren’t all that bad, and the 3-ball actually fell for him at a pretty solid rate with his feet set, even from NBA range. That’s not saying he is going to be some kind of Reggie Miller at the next level, but it is good to know that his shot isn’t broke and that with hard work he will likely become a credible threat from behind the NBA arc down the road. His shot flattens out at times and his elbow has a tendency to float, but Procopio and Grover are working extremely hard with him, and Wright seems to be soaking it up.
In the mid-range drills, Wright showed even more potential—tools that he should be able to use as early as this upcoming season. His footwork here is excellent, looking highly fluid with his jab-steps and step-drags and getting nice elevation on his jumper. It’s here that he looks the part of a 3-man the most, particularly when he decides to utilize a quick spin move to bump his man off and clear some space to get his shot off.
His ball-handling is a part of his game that still looks a little rusty, as his long arms make it a little difficult to keep control of the ball at all times, and he probably doesn’t have much practice, having played the 4-spot exclusively for the past two years.
Probably the most promising thing to come out of here is the way Wright conducts himself on the floor. He is an extremely smart, extremely coachable young man, always encouraging his teammates on during the drills and being very appreciative and responsive towards the coaching he’s receiving here. As I was interviewing him in the hallway of the entrance to the gym, Wright made sure to hold the door for every person that came and left, smiling at the children who stared at him with gazing eyes, greeting everyone, and being extremely polite and respectful. When he wasn’t playing doorman for the “Joy of the Game” gym, you could usually find him on the court, working on his jump-shot. It’s not hard to tell why people see the upside they do in him.
Thaddeus Young, 6-7, Freshman, Small Forward, Georgia Tech
Another player who seems to be working just as hard here is Georgia Tech freshman
Thaddeus Young. He also passes the “eye test” even more than Wright does probably, with an unbelievable frame and wingspan, huge shoulders, and solid athletic ability. He also reportedly has a similar attitude, although I did not get the chance to speak with him myself.
Young’s shooting mechanics are coming along very nicely, showing a high release point, good elevation on his jumper, solid arc, and very nice touch. It is a fundamentally sound shot, although a bit on the deliberate side. When pulling up off the dribble, he’s not nearly as fluid as Wright is for example. His shot at times fell very consistently for him, and at times didn’t. If he keeps working on it, it should steady out for him.
Young has been working on his ball-handling skills extremely hard in his time here—that much is not hard to tell. He’s polished up his technique considerably, to the point that he looks very smooth in the drills. There is a big difference between a “workout handle” and a “game situation handle,” when it comes to reacting to unexpected movements and being fluid changing directions and such, but this is something we really weren’t able to evaluate due to the non-competitive structure of the workout (like Wright, he did not play in the 5 on 5). Regardless, Young realizes what his biggest weakness is and is working very hard to improve on it. Procopio and Grover say they are most concerned with getting Young to maximize his excellent physical attributes near the basket more than he did in college, and from what they say, he is responding extremely well to their challenges. (Procopio: “I’m wearing a UNLV jersey Thad…show me what you got!”). They both mentioned on more than one occasion how much they enjoy working with him.
Young’s uncle, Kenneth Carter, is the one who is handling the NBA draft process for him. He does not seem to be rushing into things at all from what we can tell, saying that Thaddeus “needs to be a top 15 pick for him to stay in.” He understands the arguments for and against him staying in, and when we spoke, it seemed like he was still weighing both sides of the argument equally.
http://www.draftexpress.com/viewarticle.php?a=2078
Sounds like both guys know exactly what their weaknesses are and are improving them. Julian Wright especially it is encouraging that his shot looks so much better.