New York – Jordan Hawkins He walked into the Broadway room at The Westin on Wednesday for his day on NBA Draft Media in a plain white T-shirt, his NBA Draft cap on, no team logos, tipped back and slightly to the side. The last box on the goal-scoring checklist he put together in his iPhone notes app, Reaching the NBA, won’t be checked just one day and then he’ll make another list.
He sits excited, “not really nervous” at the moment he’s been looking forward to for as long as he can remember so close to fruition.
Hawkins He is expected to be selected Either late in the lottery or more in the middle of the first round, but to him, it “doesn’t matter at all” where he gets picked – as long as he does. He has no preference on any team, though he has mentioned how he loves playing with Steph Curry – “I’d steal everything he does as a shooter, he never stops running. If I can get his handles too, I’ll be good.”
If he goes in the lottery, his UConn picture will be blown up and hung from the wall at the Werth training facility on the right of James BucknightDan Hurley’s first and so far only pick.
“I think men are tired of seeing my face on the wall every day,” he said. “It would be funny to see my face there.”
He’ll be watching from the green room at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where he’ll “probably” be best dressed, though he doesn’t want to give any hints about what he’ll be wearing — “that’s a secret,” he said.
Hurley and assistant coach Kimani Young will bring with him as well as his high school coach from DeMatha Catholics, Mike Jones and family.
Hawkins, who calls himself the “best shooter in the draft,” an idea many NBA scouts have endorsed, feels like he can sway any team he lands on.
“Every team needs a shooter, a guy who can play off the ball. A lot of teams have got one or two players who are going to have the ball most of the time, but what about the other guys on the field? So I think that’s where I fit in really well.” With every NBA team I think there is one or two players in the draft who are likely to be a dominant player on the ball once he touches the league,” Hawkins said. “I’m going to have to expand my game, I don’t think I’m a specialist either. I feel like I could do more – if I were a specialist we wouldn’t have won the championship either.”
Most criticism of Hawkins’ game revolves around his physicality—he’s added about 10 pounds since starting the draft—and his ability to ground the ball.
“Our (UConn) team was so good and I had to sacrifice some things. I didn’t have to put the ball on the ground like I did in high school. It’s the sacrifice you make to be on the team. Every team I go to I fit in,” he said on Wednesday. .
Hawkins believes UConn teammates Andre Jackson Jr. and Adama Sanogo will also be inducted Thursday night (8 p.m. ESPN). The “Big Three” went their separate ways after a championship parade in Hartford but met up again at the NBA Draft Combine and kept in touch through the still-active team chat.
What lies ahead? UConn’s Big 3 took advantage of the pre-draft offer, and now the focus is shifting toward the future
“Andre just, he brings everything you need to the team. Adama? Adama is just a killer. So I’ll be waiting to recruit those guys too.” It would be really nice to see that.”
Hawkins looked relaxed after flying in from California, where he’s spent the past few months training. His national tour included stops in various NBA cities where he participated in individual team workouts. What’s the most underrated part of the process?
“Trying different foods around different cities, it’s really cool. They take me to different restaurants and strips and I just try different foods,” he said before renewing his NCAA Tournament pledge to “never touch calamari again.”
There was no stomach ache to turn him away on Wednesday — he was confident and calm, yet realistic. knows how valuable his skill is; Thursday night is all about who gets it first.
“I know I’ll have some learning to do, just like I did at UConn,” he said. “We all have this learning curve. My shots will put me on the court, but (I) become a complete player.”
Big East has three in a green room
Villanova Cam Whitmorelikely to be chosen between picks #5 and 10, and Marquette’s Oliver Maxence Prosperanother highly anticipated rounder, was also invited to watch from the green room on Thursday.
Prosper had kind words for his familiar opponents at UConn, especially Hawkins and Jackson, while he was at it Wednesday.
“(Hawkins) is one of the best pitchers in this test class. Just seeing what he did in the Big East and winning the National Championship—when we played them my job was to protect him and I did what I needed to do to get him out of what he wanted to do,” Prosper said. He will be a really good player in this league.”
And what about Jackson?
“His ability, especially with his size, handling the ball and passing and watching the game, he’s a great competitor and a really good defender,” said Prosper. “He’s a guy who likes to pass, who likes to distribute, to play in transition. For us, at Marquette, our strategy was to make him try to score more rather than what he likes to facilitate, just make him uncomfortable.
“But honestly, I think he’s a great player. I’ve played with him in combination and playing with him has been great because if you play against him and then you play with him you’ll see how good a player he is. I think he’s going to have a really good career in this league.”
Victor Wimbanyama is on trial
Victor Wimbanyamathe 7-foot-4 French player who has been called “the greatest prospect in the history of team sports” By ESPN’s Adrian WojnarowskiHe held his media presence on the fourth floor at The Westin on Wednesday—everyone was in groups on the third floor. But Wimpanyama, the No. 1 overall pick, was on his own.
He spent 20 minutes answering questions in English, and then some in French, to reporters who made the trek across the pond.
He said, “I don’t let all this stuff get into my head because I have very high expectations of myself.”
Wembanyama squeezed into a subway car to get to the Yankees game on Tuesday, where he is They threw the first pitch. The baseball was completely submerged in his hands, which proved as much of a hindrance as his ceremonial throw Just A bit outside and made his way to the backstop.
“I couldn’t really just walk into town, you know, because there’s always a lot of people outside the hotel and stuff, so it’s hard for me. Pretty much the only thing I did was take the subway and go to a Yankees game—that was so much fun, “He said. “Maybe I’ll try to sneak out at night sometime because I really want to see the city, I want to go to Times Square and other things.”
good luck.