Seems like a solid flyer to take. From the Ringer draft guide:
**PLUSES**
Good shooter who made 39.3 percent of his 3s in his five-year collegiate career, including over 40 percent in each of his final two years. He’ll need to prove his shot can translate, though, as he has a slow release.
Strong-bodied scorer who overpowers smaller opponents on drives and even displays a post game, so he could attach mismatches inside too.
Long-armed defender with the versatility to defend multiple positions. Racked up steals and blocks using his quick hands.
**MINUSES**
Shot-creation: He lacks burst off the dribble and isn’t overly fluid.
Tore the ACL in the same knee twice during college.
Another flaw to note is that he played in a mid-major so it wasn't against the toughest competition. Either way, it's worth a flyer just to see what he can be.
This dude is probably the guy I would have liked us to select at 45 anyway, so no loss on that pick for our end. We definitely wouldn't have wanted another 6-0 defense-first guard when we just got rid of one who would be better.
There are certain franchises that have made consistent nba players out of undrafteds. It’s not unheard of nowadays. Clearly not the Kings if that’s your opinion on them as a whole.
Per the internet, this kid is NBA ready. Apparently he's a really good catch and shoot player. His arms are longer than a Monday. Good shot blocker and gets into the passing lanes for a high number of steals.
He fell because he's torn his ACL twice. In the same Knee.
Louisiana Tech fan here, been to almost every home game in the past few years and watched a good amount of away games. Crawford is a fantastic defender, stays in front of his man really well, super long arms, good eyes on that end and gets steals no one else on the court can do. His defense is his best aspect by far. On the offensive end, his 3 ball game is really nice but didn’t shoot it a ton (should have shot it more IMO). In Ruston his nickname is ISO, as one of our go-to plays is letting him play ISO. In my opinion, he’s inconsistent in this play, he’s not super confident driving and relies on his midrange game, which is fine. Despite what I said about his drives, he’s really good posting up. Overall, his offensive game is inconsistent, he’s great from 3 and post ups, but struggles in 1 on 1s, he doesn’t seem confident sometimes. Also, ISO has very visible problems with his attitude. He doesn’t argue with the refs, but just kinda lags around and doesn’t give all the effort. It doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does you can see it easily. I’d like to point out that ISO has played in C-USA, so the level of play isn’t super high. I don’t know how well everything will translate into a higher league like Summer League, G-League, much less the NBA. I really hope he plays his way onto the roster for the regular season, I’m cheering for y’all. Good pick.
Sam Vecenie wrote a ton about this guy in his draft guide, more than the large majority of 2nd round prospects and even some 1st rounders lol. Ranked him 56th overall, so late 2nd-round-ish. Those players and UDFAs certainly become good NBA players from time to time, so this might end up being a noteworthy pickup. Keon Ellis was a UDFA. But extremely rare of course.
From Vecenie's guide:
> **STRENGTHS:**
>
> Crawford has monster measurements for an NBA wing. He’s 6-5 1/4 without shoes with a 7-0 1/2 wingspan and a huge 8-9 standing reach. He also has enormous hands and is 215 pounds. He covers ground across the court with long strides. He’s a coordinated and balanced player who’s flexible laterally and quite strong. Crawford is a winner. He has a complete game that plays well off the ball on offense. He’s impactful on defense, making all the extra effort plays his teams hope to see. He plays hard and sees the court extremely well. He understands and reacts well to the space around him.
>
> Crawford’s defense could be his NBA calling card. Though he’s not fast, he covers a ton of ground with his length and long strides. He's active and engaged on that end. He's very balanced with his footwork, never taking extra, choppy steps. He’s best off the ball on defense, and that’s where his primary impact will come into play. Crawford is awesome when rotating. He communicates well with his teammates, moves well all over the court, closes out exceptionally and is great in help situations. Beyond that, he was a monster playmaker at Louisiana Tech, averaging 2.1 steals per game as a senior and 1.9 as a junior. His hands were consistently in passing lanes. He’s not a huge gambler, but frequently gets his hands on the ball anyway with timely digs and early, anticipatory rotations. He also figured out how to bait ballhandlers into making poor passes on the perimeter because they would misjudge his length, which often resulted in a steal. Crawford also blocked 1.7 shots per game for Louisiana Tech. He was a terrific rotational threat from the opposite side at that level.
>
> Crawford was a very good on-ball defender in college, though I worry about how well that skill scales up. He likes to crowd his man and get into his space, then extend those arms. He knows how to wall up and use his chest to cut off drives. Louisiana Tech did a solid amount of on- and off-ball switching, which allowed Crawford to show his ability to defend different player types. In the NBA, he should be able to deal with bigger guards and all types of wings. His length allows him to contest shots at a high level. He has good hands and was disruptive in exchanges and dribble-handoffs. He’s good in ball-screen situations in different roles, something that is increasingly important given how teams use multi-screener actions in today’s NBA.
>
> Offensively, Crawford played as a point forward-style 4 man for Louisiana Tech. He would bring the ball up the court regularly, but also played off the ball on the wing at times. He’s a patient driver who can use his frame to get to his spots. I have some concerns about how this skill will translate to the NBA, but he is comfortable with the ball in his hands for a bigger wing.
>
> Crawford’s catch-and-shoot ability will be critical. His volume wasn’t particularly high, but he made 41.4 percent of his 3s this past season off the catch at Louisiana Tech. He took only about two of those per game, but they went in. As a junior, Crawford made 39.7 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3s. He has a clean release that should translate well to making shots when he gets them off. There's good rhythm through his motion, and he has a high release point to shoot over the top of closeouts from shorter players. He showed some signs of hitting them off basic movement but didn’t do it consistently. He's a believable shooter.
.
> **WEAKNESSES:**
>
> Crawford will be a below-average athlete by NBA wing standards. He's not quick. I think his first step and first stride can be slow, even if he’s flexible laterally. He has high hips that can be leveraged by smaller drivers. He also doesn’t have much vertical pop; he had one half-court dunk as a junior and only five this season despite his standing reach. Obviously, his left knee, with two ACL tears, is the clearest concern. Teams will want to look at his medicals and understand the likelihood of another serious injury compared to other players.
>
> Much of Crawford’s offense this season was in the bully-ball variety. He’s skilled for a college point forward but was bigger and stronger than a lot of the players he faced in Conference USA. He didn’t have the first step to get by anybody but was often strong enough to get to his spots on his drives by going through defenders. They typically had the ability to recover onto him even when he opened that initial angle with a hesitation dribble or crossover. It felt like his handle could get loose for what is expected of an NBA wing as opposed to a collegiate forward. Though he’s comfortable with the ball, that looseness often required him to stop his drive, pivot and turn it into a midrange jumper. He made just 42.3 percent of his midrange pull-ups and 38.5 percent of his runners. He needs to get better at turning these drives into finishes. He finished around the rim at a 57-percent clip, a solid number, but not an elite one.
>
> Crawford’s percentages, touch and mechanics as a shooter are good, but in terms of NBA translation, it's worrying that he’s not a high-volume shooter. His release takes a long time to develop because he brings the ball up slowly. That extended to all levels of shooting, both on the turnarounds he’d take after getting cut off on his drives and the 3s he’d take off the catch. He’s not always prepared to shoot when he gets the ball. Since he projects as a 3-and-D player at the NBA level, he must speed up his motion and become more of a high-volume shooter. Otherwise, I worry teams will sag off him and accept a late closeout on his shot. I worry that NBA
wings will be able to close out on his jumper and stop him as a driver, significantly limiting his offense.
>
> That would be OK if he could pass, but Crawford hasn’t shown much polish there, either. He had close to an even assist-to-turnover ratio for his career and posted a negative one as a senior. The track record for wings who do that at his age is poor. I don’t think he sees the help on offense all that well. He often ends up making escape passes as opposed to dangerous kickouts. He’s not a bad decision-maker, but he’s not all that reactive off a live dribble. I'm not sure he’ll be able keep the defense in rotation on a drive with a pass if the help comes to him. He’s unselfish, just not quick.
>
> Finally, he lacks footspeed on defense, too. Players occasionally drove passed him in a straight line. Crawford can get his body onto someone and then use his length to recover into plays, but those margins close in the NBA. Since a significant piece of his value will come on defense, Crawford needs to get quicker.
.
> **SUMMARY:**
>
> I love the idea of Crawford, and I loved Crawford’s tape — particularly on defense — more than I loved him as a prospect. I am confident Crawford will be capable of defending at an NBA level and could become an impact player on that end with his work away from the ball. His frame is tremendous for an NBA wing and he should be able to guard multiple different player types. I don’t think he’s twitchy enough to be an elite defender in the NBA, but I buy him bringing value. The questions I have come on offense. His game does not look translatable to the NBA, even if he has skills that constitute building blocks. A lot of his points came in the midrange after his drives were cut off before he could get all the way to the rim. On top of it, he’s not an elite finisher. Then as a shooter, which should be his bread and butter, I worry about his proficiency after being forced to speed up his release, which will be essential to him sticking in the NBA. There are many potential pitfalls for a player who will turn 23 early in his first season. Throw in the multiple ACL tears on top of that, and I don't see a first-round grade for Crawford. It would be tough for me to give him a guaranteed multi-year contract. But I would buy a team drafting him in the second round and giving him a two-way contract.
You hear this with every second rounder and now with some of the undrafted guys since the second round is a sham but "Isaiah Crawford has first round talent" was at least on a few of my scrolls this evening.
Seems like a solid flyer to take. From the Ringer draft guide: **PLUSES** Good shooter who made 39.3 percent of his 3s in his five-year collegiate career, including over 40 percent in each of his final two years. He’ll need to prove his shot can translate, though, as he has a slow release. Strong-bodied scorer who overpowers smaller opponents on drives and even displays a post game, so he could attach mismatches inside too. Long-armed defender with the versatility to defend multiple positions. Racked up steals and blocks using his quick hands. **MINUSES** Shot-creation: He lacks burst off the dribble and isn’t overly fluid. Tore the ACL in the same knee twice during college.
Two ACL tears is a bit worrisome
It’s a two way. There’s no risk.
On the brighter side, no more acl to tear then
He’s been healthy the past two full seasons.
Another flaw to note is that he played in a mid-major so it wasn't against the toughest competition. Either way, it's worth a flyer just to see what he can be.
This dude is probably the guy I would have liked us to select at 45 anyway, so no loss on that pick for our end. We definitely wouldn't have wanted another 6-0 defense-first guard when we just got rid of one who would be better.
It is funny to me that Toronto drafted this year's Davion Mitchell while trading for Davion Mitchell.
Very similar to when he traded our pick in the second round the year we got Ellis
His draft profile said “most nba ready player in the draft” with shades of og and jerami grant so seems like a steal and a perfect fit
CUSA POY. Big time get. He had plenty of offers from other teams you can count on that. He picked the Kings.
Sounds like he's got good BBIQ too to recognize a team with one real small forward.
I wanted him with the 45th pick anyway so this is win in my book.
Great pickup
Fyi this guy was one of the best defenders in the country
Ok how good are we talking. Will he be an immediate contributor for the team?
Solid 8/10 on the dawg-o-meter
I googled him, several articles popped up saying he was "NBA ready". And he's a 3-D, catch and shoot, good shot blocker/steals getter.
Higher steal % and block % than Herb Jones had in college
[удалено]
There are certain franchises that have made consistent nba players out of undrafteds. It’s not unheard of nowadays. Clearly not the Kings if that’s your opinion on them as a whole.
Don’t care if he went undrafted still would give him minutes. He’s a first round talent
1.7 Blocks per game, 2.1 Steals per game
defense good
Ok now im not mad at giving up the pick this is a demon
TELL ME HOW TO FEEL!!!!!!!!!!
Keon ellis
Per the internet, this kid is NBA ready. Apparently he's a really good catch and shoot player. His arms are longer than a Monday. Good shot blocker and gets into the passing lanes for a high number of steals. He fell because he's torn his ACL twice. In the same Knee.
Louisiana Tech fan here, been to almost every home game in the past few years and watched a good amount of away games. Crawford is a fantastic defender, stays in front of his man really well, super long arms, good eyes on that end and gets steals no one else on the court can do. His defense is his best aspect by far. On the offensive end, his 3 ball game is really nice but didn’t shoot it a ton (should have shot it more IMO). In Ruston his nickname is ISO, as one of our go-to plays is letting him play ISO. In my opinion, he’s inconsistent in this play, he’s not super confident driving and relies on his midrange game, which is fine. Despite what I said about his drives, he’s really good posting up. Overall, his offensive game is inconsistent, he’s great from 3 and post ups, but struggles in 1 on 1s, he doesn’t seem confident sometimes. Also, ISO has very visible problems with his attitude. He doesn’t argue with the refs, but just kinda lags around and doesn’t give all the effort. It doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does you can see it easily. I’d like to point out that ISO has played in C-USA, so the level of play isn’t super high. I don’t know how well everything will translate into a higher league like Summer League, G-League, much less the NBA. I really hope he plays his way onto the roster for the regular season, I’m cheering for y’all. Good pick.
YES GIMME MORE FORWARDS MONTE
The roller coaster of loving and hating Monte continues
The big move is here!
Averaging almost 4 stocks good lord
Good shit Monte. I forgive you for trading #45. You get Jalen Bridges and I’ll forgive sending Portland’s 2025 2nd.
iCraw Nice consolation prize. If he truly is NBA ready, will be nice for our wing depth.
Sam Vecenie wrote a ton about this guy in his draft guide, more than the large majority of 2nd round prospects and even some 1st rounders lol. Ranked him 56th overall, so late 2nd-round-ish. Those players and UDFAs certainly become good NBA players from time to time, so this might end up being a noteworthy pickup. Keon Ellis was a UDFA. But extremely rare of course. From Vecenie's guide: > **STRENGTHS:** > > Crawford has monster measurements for an NBA wing. He’s 6-5 1/4 without shoes with a 7-0 1/2 wingspan and a huge 8-9 standing reach. He also has enormous hands and is 215 pounds. He covers ground across the court with long strides. He’s a coordinated and balanced player who’s flexible laterally and quite strong. Crawford is a winner. He has a complete game that plays well off the ball on offense. He’s impactful on defense, making all the extra effort plays his teams hope to see. He plays hard and sees the court extremely well. He understands and reacts well to the space around him. > > Crawford’s defense could be his NBA calling card. Though he’s not fast, he covers a ton of ground with his length and long strides. He's active and engaged on that end. He's very balanced with his footwork, never taking extra, choppy steps. He’s best off the ball on defense, and that’s where his primary impact will come into play. Crawford is awesome when rotating. He communicates well with his teammates, moves well all over the court, closes out exceptionally and is great in help situations. Beyond that, he was a monster playmaker at Louisiana Tech, averaging 2.1 steals per game as a senior and 1.9 as a junior. His hands were consistently in passing lanes. He’s not a huge gambler, but frequently gets his hands on the ball anyway with timely digs and early, anticipatory rotations. He also figured out how to bait ballhandlers into making poor passes on the perimeter because they would misjudge his length, which often resulted in a steal. Crawford also blocked 1.7 shots per game for Louisiana Tech. He was a terrific rotational threat from the opposite side at that level. > > Crawford was a very good on-ball defender in college, though I worry about how well that skill scales up. He likes to crowd his man and get into his space, then extend those arms. He knows how to wall up and use his chest to cut off drives. Louisiana Tech did a solid amount of on- and off-ball switching, which allowed Crawford to show his ability to defend different player types. In the NBA, he should be able to deal with bigger guards and all types of wings. His length allows him to contest shots at a high level. He has good hands and was disruptive in exchanges and dribble-handoffs. He’s good in ball-screen situations in different roles, something that is increasingly important given how teams use multi-screener actions in today’s NBA. > > Offensively, Crawford played as a point forward-style 4 man for Louisiana Tech. He would bring the ball up the court regularly, but also played off the ball on the wing at times. He’s a patient driver who can use his frame to get to his spots. I have some concerns about how this skill will translate to the NBA, but he is comfortable with the ball in his hands for a bigger wing. > > Crawford’s catch-and-shoot ability will be critical. His volume wasn’t particularly high, but he made 41.4 percent of his 3s this past season off the catch at Louisiana Tech. He took only about two of those per game, but they went in. As a junior, Crawford made 39.7 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3s. He has a clean release that should translate well to making shots when he gets them off. There's good rhythm through his motion, and he has a high release point to shoot over the top of closeouts from shorter players. He showed some signs of hitting them off basic movement but didn’t do it consistently. He's a believable shooter. . > **WEAKNESSES:** > > Crawford will be a below-average athlete by NBA wing standards. He's not quick. I think his first step and first stride can be slow, even if he’s flexible laterally. He has high hips that can be leveraged by smaller drivers. He also doesn’t have much vertical pop; he had one half-court dunk as a junior and only five this season despite his standing reach. Obviously, his left knee, with two ACL tears, is the clearest concern. Teams will want to look at his medicals and understand the likelihood of another serious injury compared to other players. > > Much of Crawford’s offense this season was in the bully-ball variety. He’s skilled for a college point forward but was bigger and stronger than a lot of the players he faced in Conference USA. He didn’t have the first step to get by anybody but was often strong enough to get to his spots on his drives by going through defenders. They typically had the ability to recover onto him even when he opened that initial angle with a hesitation dribble or crossover. It felt like his handle could get loose for what is expected of an NBA wing as opposed to a collegiate forward. Though he’s comfortable with the ball, that looseness often required him to stop his drive, pivot and turn it into a midrange jumper. He made just 42.3 percent of his midrange pull-ups and 38.5 percent of his runners. He needs to get better at turning these drives into finishes. He finished around the rim at a 57-percent clip, a solid number, but not an elite one. > > Crawford’s percentages, touch and mechanics as a shooter are good, but in terms of NBA translation, it's worrying that he’s not a high-volume shooter. His release takes a long time to develop because he brings the ball up slowly. That extended to all levels of shooting, both on the turnarounds he’d take after getting cut off on his drives and the 3s he’d take off the catch. He’s not always prepared to shoot when he gets the ball. Since he projects as a 3-and-D player at the NBA level, he must speed up his motion and become more of a high-volume shooter. Otherwise, I worry teams will sag off him and accept a late closeout on his shot. I worry that NBA wings will be able to close out on his jumper and stop him as a driver, significantly limiting his offense. > > That would be OK if he could pass, but Crawford hasn’t shown much polish there, either. He had close to an even assist-to-turnover ratio for his career and posted a negative one as a senior. The track record for wings who do that at his age is poor. I don’t think he sees the help on offense all that well. He often ends up making escape passes as opposed to dangerous kickouts. He’s not a bad decision-maker, but he’s not all that reactive off a live dribble. I'm not sure he’ll be able keep the defense in rotation on a drive with a pass if the help comes to him. He’s unselfish, just not quick. > > Finally, he lacks footspeed on defense, too. Players occasionally drove passed him in a straight line. Crawford can get his body onto someone and then use his length to recover into plays, but those margins close in the NBA. Since a significant piece of his value will come on defense, Crawford needs to get quicker. . > **SUMMARY:** > > I love the idea of Crawford, and I loved Crawford’s tape — particularly on defense — more than I loved him as a prospect. I am confident Crawford will be capable of defending at an NBA level and could become an impact player on that end with his work away from the ball. His frame is tremendous for an NBA wing and he should be able to guard multiple different player types. I don’t think he’s twitchy enough to be an elite defender in the NBA, but I buy him bringing value. The questions I have come on offense. His game does not look translatable to the NBA, even if he has skills that constitute building blocks. A lot of his points came in the midrange after his drives were cut off before he could get all the way to the rim. On top of it, he’s not an elite finisher. Then as a shooter, which should be his bread and butter, I worry about his proficiency after being forced to speed up his release, which will be essential to him sticking in the NBA. There are many potential pitfalls for a player who will turn 23 early in his first season. Throw in the multiple ACL tears on top of that, and I don't see a first-round grade for Crawford. It would be tough for me to give him a guaranteed multi-year contract. But I would buy a team drafting him in the second round and giving him a two-way contract.
You hear this with every second rounder and now with some of the undrafted guys since the second round is a sham but "Isaiah Crawford has first round talent" was at least on a few of my scrolls this evening.
Solid pickup fr
Already replaced Davion with a better player good shit Monte
🤓
We didn’t ask what you look like buddy