Three "Second-Draft" Names to Watch
Young NBA players may simply need a change of scenery to prove they can produce, much like Marvin Bagley and Jalen Smith have proven
In four games since joining the Detroit Pistons at the trade deadline, Marvin Bagley III has finally played with the freedom he’s always coveted. The former second overall pick in 2018 struggled in Sacramento, both production-wise and in personality clashes with the coaches. He seems to be playing more naturally in Detroit, and it looks great: 11.5 points and 5.5 rebounds on 51% shooting. As a springy big man who can play at the 4 or the 5 for spurts, his athleticism has been a welcomed addition for rookie superstar-in-training Cade Cunningham.
Jalen Smith has seen a similar breakout for the Indiana Pacers. The Phoenix Suns inexplicably declined his team option after only one season, and the Pacers came calling at the deadline. The former top-10 pick in 2020 is averaging 13.1 points, 8.0 rebounds and shooting 45% from deep in his first eight games with a new team.
Bagley and Smith’s relative success with the Pistons has us perusing the basketball landscape for other young players who just need the be freed from the shackles of their current situation. It’s a term that many internet-draft folks have started to describe as “second draft”.
Don’t think he knows about that, [Scottie] Pippen…
Second draft searches are really about holding onto hope from a player you liked years ago through the draft cycle and believing that, if only we were able to get our hands on him, we could salvage something from him. But there need be some set of criteria for what constitutes a second draft and what is simply targeting a young player in free agency or trade.
A few qualifiers to put on our criteria:
Still on their rookie contract
Still under the age of 24
Have underperformed or are not regularly in the rotation
With second draft players, usually, the cost of acquiring them is much less than a first-round selection. Thus the fruit these young players bear if they work out for the better is similar to striking gold with a cheap, young draft pick who you don’t give up assets to acquire. The players has to be young enough for this designation to apply, but also play poorly enough that it isn’t back-breaking to get them on a new team.
A few names stood out to us earlier in the cycle. Both Bagley and Jalen Smith were prime candidates for the designation prior to the trade deadline, as was Eric Paschall last summer for the Utah Jazz. Now, there are three players we have our eyes on who would greatly benefit from a change of scenery and may not come with an expensive price tag.
Nic Claxton - P, Brooklyn Nets
On a sputtering Nets team aiming to win a championship (side bar: that’s going great), experienced veterans like Andre Drummond, Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge or Paul Millsap have been above Claxton in the pecking order each of the last two years. Kevin Durant, when healthy, has logged a career-high 39% of his minutes at the 5 this season. The Nets are opting for skill over size, and have enough functional veteran bodies to fill in the minutes when they don’t go small.
Those minutes tend to squeeze Claxton, the 22-year-old out of Georgia who is an energetic bundle of high-risk, high-reward putty. The energy he plays with can make a lot happen. On a Nets team with enough offensive firepower and a great need for dependability and IQ, it’s understandable why coach Steve Nash opts for the vets.
Claxton is in his third season but has only played in 28 games. His numbers are fine — per 36 minutes, he’s averaging 15.4 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks while shooting 65% from the field. It often takes injuries for Claxton to play, though, despite showing enough promise and impact while healthy.
During the 2019 NBA Draft process, Claxton caught our eye as a first-round caliber big with great athleticism, agility and some offensive upside:
The shooting hasn’t materialized, but that’s ok. Claxton is efficient around the rim and active on defense. A team looking for mobility, perimeter pressure and some switchability out of the 5 could get a lot of mileage out of a test run for Claxton. Teams that come to mind are Toronto, Charlotte, Houston, Minnesota and Portland. An aggressive defensive style would suit him, and he that scheme. Someone ought to buy low on Claxton before he hits free agency.
Kira Lewis Jr. - PG, New Orleans Pelicans
Injuries are the damnest things. Just 24 games into his second season, the super speedster Kira Lewis Jr. tore his ACL. Now done for the year, Lewis is more of a speculative addition to this list. A top-five name on our 2020 draft board, Lewis needed time and reps for half-court refinement. He can’t get them while injured, which makes him a bit of an outlier in terms of projecting his improvement.
That said, the Pelicans themselves are in a strange spot. The uncertainty surrounding Zion Williamson, and the franchise’s perceived impatience around wanting to compete, mean the completion of Kira’s rehabilitation process may not happen in New Orleans. He’s an easy “what if” to throw into another trade or shake-up measure if the Pels want to become buyers and push for the playoffs.
If another team is skittish about acquiring a player built on speed after a torn ACL, don’t be. Very few players are unable to regain their athleticism after just one surgery. Lewis has been excellent at creating for others, would be fantastic in an up-tempo scheme with the ball in his hands and has improved drastically from first to second pro seasons as a finisher.
Theo Maledon - PG, Oklahoma City Thunder
Speaking of point guards, Theo Maledon is another former top-ten guy on our draft board who hasn’t necessarily panned out. Maledon was, quite frankly, awful at the start of year two. From the start of the season to January 2nd, Maledon scored 3.6 points per game on 26.0% shooting and 17.1% from 3. He only had 1.0 points and 0.9 turnovers, and looked like he didn’t belong on an NBA court.
With a stockpile of young players champing at the bit to get minutes with the big league club behind him, Maledon was removed from the rotation and supplanted by rookie Tre Mann, who has been a revelation for the Thunder. The downside of being on a rebuilding team with so many youngsters is that, if you don’t capitalize on an opportunity you’re given, the team will simply move on and try another young guy.
Maledon has played better of late. In the 8 games he’s played since February 9th, he’s averaging 9.6 points, 2.4 assists and 0.9 turnovers in the same amount of minutes per game — shooting 38.7% from deep. In the G-League this year, he’s averaging 22.0 points, 5.8 assists, 4.7 rebounds and shooting 56.4% from the field and 40% from 3. We’re feeling pretty comfortable at saying that Maledon is much better than the poor start to the season demonstrated.
The Thunder are pretty comfortable with rookies Josh Giddey and Tre Mann running the point. They’re also sitting on so many future draft picks that it’s easy to envision a consolidation trade coming at some point. Any wise team involved in that deal should target Maledon, a very competent off-ball point guard who can handle in the half-court, should be okay spacing the floor and makes really strong decisions.
Until such a deal occurs, Maledon will remain an injury fill-in playing a very limited role in Oklahoma City. There’s always someone who gets marginalized by the rise of other young players, and he’s a guy we’d love to bet on with our “second draft” acquisition.