For doubters about big men with little experience, well there's Mutombo and Olajuwon. Sure Jawai's neither, but if you've watched any of his clips, you'd know he's not short on fundamentals and won't be a bust because of it. And yes he is a Perkins with better athleticism, to me that's a bigger version of Powe.
I urge you, if you havn't already, to watch some clips of Jawai playing before doubting his skill level/fundamentals.
Really? I believe I have watched every single Jawai video available in the net and I have lots of doubts about his fundamentals. If you don't, allow me to make this questions, that you'll hopefully answer:
Can he do the outlet pass on the fastbreak?
Does he know how to hold a ball in traffic?
Can he dribble when he needs to? How high is his dribble?
Can he pass the ball with his left hand?
How's his basic defensive stance? Does he stays flat-footed, back on his heels or with the legs too closed?
Does he bite fakes? Does he focus on the waist of his opponent or in his arms/eyes? Or does he watch the ball?
How does he move laterally? Does he ever cross his legs? Can he slide consistently?
When moving in defense, does he keep his shoulders aligned with his feet?
Can he read his man? If he's asked to make an opponent go to his right, does he know what kind of foot-work he has to do?
Can he guard by fronting without taking his eyes off the ball?
When he tries to block, does he always use the hand closest to the basket?
Can he defend the passing lane and then get back behind his man? Can he play defense before his man receives the ball or only after?
Does he know what kind of pass he's going to get when fronted?
Can he catch and kickback?
Does he know how to do a V-cut to force the defender to reposition?
Can he make plays in the low-block? Drop steps, step outs, shoulder shimmies, turnarounds?
Does he know how to protect the pass to the weakside?
Can he spin? Does he know how to do a pindown screen?
How consistent are his shooting mechanics? Does he have a pure shooting form? Are his mechanics affected when his shot he contested? Does he execute the same way every time from every spot?
Does he get good lift when shooting? How high is his release? How fast? Can he execute a pick and pop midrange jumper? An elbow jumper?
How does he rebound? Can he block-out? Does he know ho to find, pivot, block, react?
Is he a good screener? Does he get good angles? Does he get low and wide?
Does he know how to execute a P'n'R? How does he play in the low post - screen and dive, power plays, etc?
What's his major problem with gaining position? Technique, toughness, will?
Can he contest shots with both his hands?
Can he stay focused on the game for long stretches?
Can he turn to his other side when holding a ball in traffic?
Does he go for a bounce pass when possible?
These are a few questions on some high-school level skills; I can make dozens of others - especially about team play.
Reading the various scouting reports on him one can see some consensual evaluations: bad off-hand, team defense, jump-shot, post moves. This doesn't scream Tim Duncan.
E.g., post players with a bad off-hand need to have tons of talent and athleticism to make up for it in the NBA because it's hard for them to score in the traffic at that level. Or they can just develop their off-hand touch, of course.
There are literally millions of players who can look like they are McHale or Hakeem here and there. It's really easy to make a player look great in a highlight video. But evaluating fundamentals can't be done that way. Fundamentals is about consistency and habit - a player can make 5 great screen'n'drive moves in a season and still be very poor doing it.
Now, this is not very serious and by no way means he can't be a good NBA player. Most of the kids in this draft seriously lack fundamentals. Tons of NBA players have poor fundamentals. But NBA teams have developmental coaches for a reason. And there are a couple of former players that never were solid on fundamentals and they were still great. But I think that Jawai is going to be drafted primarily because of his athleticism - and despite his fundamentals.