{"id":8505,"date":"2023-06-23T03:25:07","date_gmt":"2023-06-23T08:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=8505"},"modified":"2023-06-23T03:25:07","modified_gmt":"2023-06-23T08:25:07","slug":"jalen-pickett-selected-in-nba-draft-by-denver-nuggets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/jalen-pickett-selected-in-nba-draft-by-denver-nuggets\/","title":{"rendered":"Jalen Pickett selected in NBA Draft by Denver Nuggets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Intimately familiar with the NBA and the style of basketball played within it, former Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry<\/a><\/strong> offered a straightforward assessment of Jalen Pickett<\/a><\/strong>\u2018s potential in the NBA. An assistant with Brad Stevens\u2019 term with the Boston Celtics from 2013 to 2019 before returning to Matt Painter\u2019s bench at Purdue, Shrewsberry insisted a singular element will dictate Pickett\u2019s potential in the league.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s got a place,\u201d Shrewsberry said last season. \u201cA lot of stuff in the NBA is, you gotta get somebody to believe in you, first of all. You got to have some person that believes in you and gives you a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thursday night, Pickett found that supporter. Taken with the 32nd overall pick in the second round of the NBA Draft, Pickett is headed to Denver Nuggets to continue his basketball career as a professional. <\/p>\n

Highly sought for his passing ability, his pick and roll proficiency, his defensive prowess and versatility, with physicality, Pickett brought to fruition a plan that took shape through the course of his Consensus All-American 2022-23 season with the Nittany Lions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he continues to play the way he\u2019s playing, he\u2019s starting to turn more heads. People are starting to take a little more notice. So maybe he is getting somebody to believe in him, and that\u2019s the biggest thing,\u201d Shrewsberry said, turning to Pickett\u2019s complementary strengths off the court. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of talented people that are not playing in the NBA because of a myriad of different reasons. Some of those reasons, you\u2019re not going to run up against with him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not gonna get in trouble, he\u2019s gonna do what he\u2019s supposed to do, he\u2019s gonna work on his game. That\u2019s who he is. He\u2019s a hard worker, So, he\u2019s going to earn a spot, I think. I think he can earn a spot, I think he can earn an opportunity. And then he has to take advantage of it when he gets there.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his selection in the NBA Draft on Thursday night, Pickett has cemented that opportunity.<\/p>\n

Jalen Pickett<\/h2>\n

6-foot-2, 209 pounds<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Athletic: No. 55<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Ringer: No. 60<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

ESPN: No. 64<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

What they\u2019re saying:<\/strong>\u00a0Pickett is tiered with the \u201cTwo-Ways, Stashes, Exhibit 10s\u201d by The Athletic. He\u2019s described as being \u201camong the craftier finishers\u201d in the draft class, using a toolbox of moves to keep defenders off balance and get his points regardless of the matchup.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those assets, his awesome basketball IQ and his unique scoring ability are highlights against the biggest \u201cweakness\u201d that The Athletic cites, over which Pickett has no control. He\u2019s \u201con the shorter end and isn\u2019t a major athlete,\u201d \u201cdoesn\u2019t have a ton of burst in terms of first step,\u201d and \u201cdoesn\u2019t have much lift or vertical pop around the basket.\u201d Oh, and he also \u201chas extremely small hands for his size.\u201d<\/p>\n

That leaves Pickett as having \u201ca challenge finding a fit\u201d in the NBA due to his \u201codd style of play.\u201d Still, credited with having improved his shooting throughout his career, Pickett has an overall game that is expected to be given an opportunity and utilized in the NBA.<\/p>\n

What we\u2019re saying:<\/strong>\u00a0The Athletic diagnosis of Pickett\u2019s game aligns well with what we saw at Penn State. It also aligns with how that might look for him moving on to the NBA. Using analytics, Pickett averaged eight post-ups per game last season. It was the most by any guard nationally. He then turned it into excellent assists to the perimeter and his scoring production.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Athletic\u2019s take: \u201cWon\u2019t be able to do this at the NBA level, so will have to thrive in ball-screen scenarios.\u201d Sounds about right for the NBA\u2019s length and size and the problems that could present for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What needs to be noted, however, is that Pickett\u2019s usage was an evolution at Penn State. He\u2019s versatile and can produce his points and assists in a variety of ways. He demonstrated that over his two seasons with the Nittany Lions.\u00a0Given the right opportunity, Pickett has the ingredients to stick in the NBA.<\/p>\n

The post Jalen Pickett selected in NBA Draft by Denver Nuggets<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Intimately familiar with the NBA and the style of basketball played within it, former Penn…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8505\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}