According to a New York Post column this week, the Knicks are interested in UCLA guard Jrue Holiday with the eighth pick in this month’s NBA draft.
Not bad for an 18-year-old whose freshman campaign failed to meet expectations.
After impressing scouts last week at the draft combine, some mock-draft boards slot him as high as No. 4 to Sacramento.
But I have reservations about Holiday.
Sure, the potential is there. We saw glimpses of it this year. But only glimpses.
He disappeared for stretches, never really stepping into the limelight or putting his fingerprint on a game in key moments.
Indeed, there’s nothing wrong with staying in the draft if the lottery and a large bank deposit are in the cards.
However, Holiday’s case has a wrinkle.
Like Stephen Curry a year ago, Holiday played off guard this year but will run the point in the NBA.
Curry returned to school, honed his ball-handling skills, and is now a projected lottery pick in a point guard-heavy draft.
Holiday could have done the same.
Although unlike Curry, Holiday is a natural lead guard.
His brightest moments this year were when he orchestrated the offense from the top of the key and demonstrated Jason Kidd-like legerdemain, slipping brilliant passes off the bounce and wheeling into the lane before laying it off to a teammate for an easy two.
Holiday looked most comfortable there, but it’s not like he logged heavy minutes against other elite point guards.
In his last game as a Bruin ““ on the biggest stage of his career ““ Holiday produced a four-point, four-turnover, 1-for-6 shooting clunker.
That came against Villanova, a team stacked with the type of strong, athletic guards Holiday is bound to match up with at the next level.
By contrast, last year’s sexy pre-draft Bruin Russell Westbrook established that he was ready for The League after tackling Memphis’ NBA backcourt of Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts in the Final Four.
Westbrook flew up the draft board and was chosen fourth by a team called the Seattle SuperSonics.
Whoever they are.
Only Westbrook harnessed his potential and exploded in the second half of last season, becoming a dominant defensive player on the wing, developing a big-time jumper, and overflowing YouTube with vicious He-Did-What dunks.
Holiday has yet to do anything of the sort. At least not yet.
He may very well become a solid professional, even a star. After all, there’s a reason NBA teams love him; his toolbox is rife with gadgets most young players simply don’t have.
But given what we saw this past year, it’s hard to see how he is ready, right now, to perform at that level.
Too many players bolt early only to find a short and frustrating home on an NBA bench when they could have developed their skills in college.
NBA teams don’t focus on player development and hands-on tutoring, and the lifestyle adjustment can be difficult and lonely for someone so young.
Let’s not call Holiday’s decision to leave a mistake. It isn’t.
He just could have used another year.
If you want to see Jrue stay another year, e-mail Taylor at btaylor@media.ucla.edu.