Atlanta Hawks 2017 NBA Draft Film Breakdown: Michigan’s D.J. Wilson vs UCLA’s T.J. Leaf
By Nile Goodwyn
Good: D.J. Wilson’s Offense in the first half
8 points, 3-3 FG, 2-2 3PT, 1 rebound (0 offensive), 2 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 1 turnover, 2 personal fouls
This game was DJ Wilson’s first game where his opposition was an NBA prospect. T.J Leaf was a McDonald’s All-American in 2016 and came to UCLA as a five-star prospect. During one of UCLA’s opening possessions, Leaf took Wilson out to the three-point line, and used two dribbles to penetrate the lane, where Wilson met him and contested his layup enough to force a miss.
In the first half, Wilson made three of his three attempts. At 5:32 in the video, Wilson catches a inbound pass and takes a dribble into a pull-up wing three-pointer. His pull-up shot looked extremely fluid, especially for a 6’10 player projected as a power forward. After an assist on the next possession, Wilson did nothing for the next nine minutes. After a portion of time on the bench, he threw a low, uncatchable pass to Zak Irvin. At 24:26 in the video, Wilson takes an inbound pass and nails a catch-and-shoot three-pointer in nearly the same place as his first.
Off of the ball, Wilson tended to stray around the perimeter, roaming from the corners to the wings and back. His comfortability on the perimeter is a positive with the NBA becoming much more perimeter-oriented. The Hawks showcased Paul Millsap in the post much more than Michigan used Wilson in this game, who rarely posted up en route to nailing 14 of their 26 three-pointers attempted.