FanPost

Jaylen Hands and Kris Wilkes: Growing Pains

Almost every young basketball player holds a common goal: get drafted to the NBA. For a select few, that dream came to fruition this past Thursday during the 2018 NBA draft. UCLA’s own Aaron Holiday saw this dream come true when he heard Adam Silver announce his name as the Pacers took him with their No. 23 selection.

But for many, the draft process is simply a period of growth and learning. Players learn about areas they need to improve upon to potentially raise their draft stock and help their NCAA teams reach new heights. It’s a tough choice for players, to put your dream on hold for yet another year of development and guidance at the college level, but it’s one that makes sense for a lot of players. It was a choice made by two Bruins stars prior to the draft in Jaylen Hands and Kris Wilkes.

There’s a lot to like in both Hands and Wilkes, but after both players removed themselves from the NBA draft pool prior to the draft, it was clear they left scouts with something to be desired. That’s certainly not to say that neither of them will get drafted, I think there’s a strong case to be made that both players could be lottery-bound with the right development next season. But despite their bevy of strengths, they share common weaknesses: consistency, control, and physicality.

Hands is a treat to watch. With blazing-fast speed, athleticism, and an ability to finish inside, Bruins fans have a lot to look forward to with the 6’3" guard returning to school. But if Steve Alford hopes to bring Hands to the next level, he’s going to have to find a way to instill some control to his game without putting out the fire that makes Hands so special. As a guard, Hands put up 2.6 APG last season while averaging 1.8 TPG…obviously not a great ratio. His 9.9 PPG on 40.5 FG% also had him looking like a young Nick Young at times, and not in a good way, but to appreciate the promise Hands offers to any team, you have to look past his stats and see the potential he shows on a night-to-night basis.

Hands showed his ability to score in a myriad of ways against lesser programs like Washington State and Detroit Mercy, but to be fair I think Detroit Mercy looked into signing Air Bud as a backup guard and he passed away in 1998. Against programs with strong guard play like Arizona, Hands looked rattled by the physicality of the matchup and struggled to find consistency. But the tools are certainly there, and his confidence never wavers for too long - proven by his sensational highlights at the NBA combine against top-level competition. Adding muscle this season along with an improved maturity as a playmaker will go a long way not only in Hands’ draft stock, but in his ability to be a program-leading guard for the Bruins this season.

Wilkes faces a similar predicament as Hands - he has all the tools to succeed, but he needs to hone certain aspects of his game in order to become the dominant force the Bruins hoped they were getting when they initially signed the former five-star. When Wilkes first arrived at UCLA, I hoped he would be a quicker, less physical Wendell Carter Jr., who went from Duke to the Chicago Bulls with the No. 7 pick in the draft, but that didn’t quite end up being the case for Wilkes in his rookie season.

Wilkes put up promising scoring numbers at UCLA, scoring 13.7 PPG on a decent 44.1 FG% while shooting 35.2% from beyond the arc. But he also ranked fifth in the Pac-12 in turnover percentage which, for a guy who wasn’t the primary or secondary ball handler, is pretty discouraging. Wilkes went to the combine as one of three Bruins alongside Hands and Holiday, scoring 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting in 27 minutes of action throughout his scrimmage - not too shabby, but it wasn't anything scouts were too enamoured with.

Wilkes is unique in so far that at 6’8", he can handle the ball and shoot like most guards, but despite how skilled he is, at this point in his college career, his attempts to play outside his position often result in turnovers for the Bruins. The thing about both Hands and Wilkes is that they seemed simply too young to leave UCLA this year. They have the skills and potential to be lottery picks in the future, but a lack of physicality and control is often a product of youth. Give them one more year of Alford’s system, strong college competition, and introduce them to a weight room and hopefully the Bruins can field two superstars while making a splash in the tournament come spring.

Sure, we can critique and pick apart players all day - it’s easy. But the truth is, having two returning sophomores with NBA combine experience, a year of NCAA competition under their belts, and near-limitless potential is something that makes UCLA one of the most intriguing programs in the country heading into next season. There’s always going to be growing pains for young players, but if the pair of former five-stars make slight adjustments to their approach to the game, it could just make all the difference for the Bruins next season.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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