Jalen featured in Klutch academy series

[Dnice]

He and about 5 other rookies are a part of the Rich Paul series on BET if anyone is interested. Episode 1 just came on.

[Final_quest]

8 hours ago, Dnice said:

He and about 5 other rookies are a part of the Rich Paul series on BET if anyone is interested. Episode 1 just came on.

This guy is a beast waiting to be unleashed.  Can't wait for him to get more opportunity.  

[kg01]

1 hour ago, Final_quest said:

This guy is a beast waiting to be unleashed.  Can't wait for him to get more opportunity.  

I mean, I want this to be true but ... to me, the guy's looked pretty bad as the comp has increased.  Not that he's bad, just that he's raw.

I don't want to see him in rotation minutes any time soon.  Am I wrong?

[Final_quest]

16 minutes ago, kg01 said:

I mean, I want this to be true but ... to me, the guy's looked pretty bad as the comp has increased.  Not that he's bad, just that he's raw.

I don't want to see him in rotation minutes any time soon.  Am I wrong?

I thought he might be ready for immediate contribution, but it doesn't look like he is prepared enough for rotation minutes on a team as deep as ours right now.  He missed out on the opportunity that draft picks before him got where they could develop on the job.  It's gonna be a slower process for him to get into the rotation.  

Dude just had the first 20/20 game in the G league since 2019.  I think he would have a rookie season similar to Josh Smith if we were in a position to give him the minutes.  Some really ugly mistakes mixed with a lot of "Did that just happen?" moments.  

His first minutes in the NBA flashed his mentality.  He got off 4 shots in like 2 minutes.  The guy thinks he is a dawg.  
 

[kg01]

21 minutes ago, Final_quest said:

The guy thinks he is a dawg.  
 

Well, I won't hold that against him. 

Thanks for offering perspective.  I agree he gets sorta hurt by being drafted to a playoff team.  I think Reddish suffers from the same affliction.  Being on a bad team, they'd get more opportunities.

Hopefully, for our sake, they can navigate things with one foot in the 'development' world and the other foot in the 'fit into a winning role' world.

I don't really see what that role would be for him for us unless he's basically our Ben Simmons (but one that shoots).

[marco102]

2 hours ago, kg01 said:

I mean, I want this to be true but ... to me, the guy's looked pretty bad as the comp has increased.  Not that he's bad, just that he's raw.

I don't want to see him in rotation minutes any time soon.  Am I wrong?

I think the G League is perfectly fine for him this season.  It allows him to make mistakes in low leverage situations while getting the time to develop he needs.  

Again, the area he most needs to improve on is team defensive concepts if he expects to get real NBA minutes.  The team defense can improve in the g league, but there's still a huge difference between that and real NBA defense. 

He's raw like you stated, but he has a ton of potential with his ball handling, rebounding, and potential to shoot.  His role will be a back up power forward.  I don't see that this season, but if Gallo isn't back, that'll be his role and that's how he gets minutes next season.

 

[kg01]

42 minutes ago, marco102 said:

I think the G League is perfectly fine for him this season.  It allows him to make mistakes in low leverage situations while getting the time to develop he needs.  

Again, the area he most needs to improve on is team defensive concepts if he expects to get real NBA minutes.  The team defense can improve in the g league, but there's still a huge difference between that and real NBA defense. 

He's raw like you stated, but he has a ton of potential with his ball handling, rebounding, and potential to shoot.  His role will be a back up power forward.  I don't see that this season, but if Gallo isn't back, that'll be his role and that's how he gets minutes next season.

 

Agree on all counts.  I truly see him as what Ben Simmons is supposed to be - which is a really good player.  Future's bright for us, if we handle it properly.

[marco102]

21 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Agree on all counts.  I truly see him as what Ben Simmons is supposed to be - which is a really good player.  Future's bright for us, if we handle it properly.

A big difference between Jalen and Ben is Jalen will have to earn everything and show improvement. 

Ben was just given the keys got tons of praise and never seemed to improve much from his rookie (2nd) season.

[Gray Mule]

Just think, if Atlanta was a "bottom feeder team," both of our draft picks this past summer would probably be on the team and in the rotation.

Slowly, over time, these Hawk players have been brought together.  And, when you look, how many of these players are on their last legs in the NBA?  Who do we expect to retire at season's end?  Perhaps two.  No one else is even close.

With a year in the G League these two probably move up.  Then, what about the next draft class.  Hawks are set to continue to grow and grow!

[RedDawg#8]

Just watched the episode. What I learned:

Jalen moved out to LA to train with Klutch. His brother's went with him. Younger brother is playing at USC, older brother just graduated and will be his manager.

Rich Paul touched on the relationship between the agency and the role Jalen's older brother would play. Basically that his brother will be in a learning capacity and communicate/explain all decisions regarding Jalen back to the family. Klutch is in the driver's seat, but would provide appropriate mentorship to Jalen's brother to bring him along in the industry and answer any questions he would have. They really emphasized the importance of the kid's families in their process. That even though the player's are the client, they treat them as if everything that is said and done will eventually come across Mom/Dad, and they keep that in mind at all times. (Basically, they work for the families and not just the individual)

One of the Klutch agents mentioned how Jalen has played out of position his entire life, likely referencing him having to be a big man, small center, when he has a ton of skill to play out on the perimeter. Said their primary emphasis prior to the draft was working on his shooting, as well as addressing the narrative surrounding his Duke exit (I think they did a good job of clearing that up) 

They described Jalen as the quiet kid compared to the other players (Moses Moody, Kai Jones, Brandon Boston JR, Scottie Lewis, Terrence Clarke rip)

A big portion of the first episode was dedicated to Terrence Clarke who died in the car accident before the draft. Brandon Boston was actually driving right in front of him when the accident happened, he was the first one at the scene trying to revive Clarke. Basically watched his best friend die first hand. All of the Klutch rookie class were at the funeral, including Jalen. They were training together everyday and were all close. I think this is important when seeing how hard he trains and how focused he is. You can tell he approaches it like tomorrow isn't promised.

Overall, pretty good stuff. I will definitely be tuning in to watch more.

 

[Spud2nique]

9 minutes ago, Gray Mule said:

Hawks are set to continue to grow and grow!

Yes sir Gramps!  Love it. We are building a Braves like farm system in a way that we had in the 90’s and again now. There is a lot of talent and we groom them as they come of age. Christian Pache immediately comes to mind, Cam, Hunter, Okongwu, and then waiting in the shadows like you said our 2021 steals.

This is the best time in history to be a Hawks fan.

If you are a new fan of the NBA picking a team, I’d go with the Hawks, or one of the geographically or two I should say other teams, Grizz and Hornets .