thoughts on TJ Leaf?

[coffee425]

I know Lonzo Ball gets all the credit from an NBA perspective, but one could argue that TJ Leaf is the most impactful player on this UCLA team.

I tried to look up some scouting reports on him, and couldnt find anything about his prospect as an NBA bigman. Just from what i watch, he's a very good stretch four with an undeniably great college 3 shooting ability (50% on 2.3 attempts a game). He has fantastic footwork in the post from the Michigan and UK games i saw, and also showed ability to play as the big in a pick-n-roll/pop with Lonzo.

On defense, he hustles his a$$ off and plays physical for a kid so skinny.

I think there should be more talk about him being a lottery pick, but still see none..

[Boris Badenov]

Maybe he's not discussed much around here because we will probably draft higher than that.

Not sure about the lack of info, though. DX seems to be covering him:

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/T.J.-Leaf-7242/

I don't know why DX doesn't have him in this draft, but nbadraft.net (which is suspect IMO - they have Lonzo Ball #1 for example over Fultz) has him at #13.

[saltlover]

He's a good shooter and could be a successful NBA player.  I don't think he has the strength to be impactful on the post, either offensively or defensively, at the next level.  So Ryan Anderson.  I also do question his shooting a little bit -- the percentages are fine, but at only 2 a game, he's really not a volume 3-point shooter, which is what he'd need to be in order to maximize his NBA value.  Also, with such a small sample-size, it's questionable how great of a shooter he is.  A bad three game stretch could knock him to 40%, which is good but not special at the college level.

I don't think he should be a lottery pick if he comes out this year.  If he stays longer and develops his body a bit more, he would look like a higher pick.  Consider that he's got 3.5 inches on Jaylen Brown, but weighs a few pounds less.

[alewilliam789]

Crazy to think, but I played against Leaf in High School!!

He's a pretty versatile big man. He can handle it pretty well, he can stretch the floor even though not consistently, and he's a very good passer for a big man. My problem with his game is that he doesn't have the explosiveness to become anything more than a role player and he isn't a great defender just yet. For me he looks like he will stay 4 years and end up being a solid late first round pick or 2nd round pick and become a nice role player a la Nick Collison

[tazzmaniac]

He's a good shooter and could be a successful NBA player.  I don't think he has the strength to be impactful on the post, either offensively or defensively, at the next level.  So Ryan Anderson.  I also do question his shooting a little bit -- the percentages are fine, but at only 2 a game, he's really not a volume 3-point shooter, which is what he'd need to be in order to maximize his NBA value.  Also, with such a small sample-size, it's questionable how great of a shooter he is.  A bad three game stretch could knock him to 40%, which is good but not special at the college level.

I don't think he should be a lottery pick if he comes out this year.  If he stays longer and develops his body a bit more, he would look like a higher pick.  Consider that he's got 3.5 inches on Jaylen Brown, but weighs a few pounds less.

If Leaf gets graded as mid 1st he should come out.  With Ball, Alford and Hamilton gone, Leaf may not be near as productive next season.  He'll do better developing has strength/weight on an NBA team.