Sam Vecenie
@Sam_Vecenie
Source: Georgia forward Nic Claxton has accepted an invite to the NBA Draft Green Room.
Big time riser through the pre-draft process. Believe he’s the 21st player to be invited.
He seems to be rising up the boards, is 14 to early to pick him? I'm not sure
Claxton hasn't really shown to be a good player. It's more that he has the game and tools to be able to become a good player, therefore he would not be on my priority list. So I would not pick him with #14, unless I would know that the guy I really want would still be available at #20 or #22, but that's a big gamble.
I mean he has shown to be a good defender on the perimeter at 6'11 and was trusted to be the lead ball handler in college. That won't be his role going forward but I think he has shown enough to believe he's more skilled than most players at his size. But I would be more comfortable picking him at 20 as well.
Pascal Siakam is the best comparison for Nicolas Claxton for what he could potentially become. And keep in mind that Siakam was absolutely terrible offensively in his first two year (averaging 4,2 and 7,3 PPG, while being giving a starting place).
I put in some stats (shot blocks, 3-point-makes, assists, rebounds) to look for other comparisons and I found:
Nemanja Bjelica
Daniel Theis
Bruno Caboclo
Jonathan Isaac
Guerschon Yabusele
Miles Bridges