Before Jacob Evans’ name was linked to the Warriors in numerous mock drafts, the majority of Golden State fans knew little about the Baton Rouge native who played his college ball at Cincinnati. Playing for a team in the American Athletic Conference, and posting subpar numbers for a first-round pick, clouded him from the national radar.
Early into his junior season, though, the Warriors targeted Evans as a potential option with the No. 28 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. They sought an athletic, two-way, wing capable of stepping in and contributing immediately. They got that when they selected Evans Thursday night.
Most scouting reports label Evans under the ‘3-and-D’ umbrella. He lacks one or two outstanding traits, but he does just about everything well on both ends of the floor. Those characterizations are accurate but not all-encompassing.
Many of the NBA’s top ‘3-and-D’ players — whether Trevor Ariza, Wesley Matthews, or Danny Green — shoot the majority of their attempts beyond the three-point line. Evans steadily used the three-point less as his career progressed. As a freshman, Evans shot 53.2 percent of his shots from three, 46.5 percent as a sophomore, and 42.9 as a senior. He made 37 percent from three-point range as a junior, dipping from his 41.8 percent clip his sophomore season. By college standards, those are above-average marks.
By the 2017-18 season, Evans had developed into one of the conference’s best players, which meant drawing more attention from opposing defenses. They regularly chased Evans off the three-point line. Evans had little issue adjusting, consistently scoring from all three levels— whether catch-and-shoot, pulling up into a jumper, pump-faking into a mid-range look, or attacking the rim, where he finished with both finesse and power. The first-team All-American Conference performer is as good of a shooter off the dribble as he is off the catch, as you’ll see in the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwKcDa8sRiA
Cincinnati ran sets that featured Evans running off baseline screens, then curling into mid-range pockets where he could either attack the rim or elevate into a jumper. He may not possess one or two elite traits, but he has enough wiggle to score in isolation, enough athleticism to score in transition, and a quick enough release to catch and shoot in tight windows. You can discern those traits in one of his performances like his Mississippi State one below.
His lack of prolific numbers (he averaged 13 points per game last season) can be attributed to a couple things: Cincinnati’s well-dispersed attack and his willingness to defer. Evans only averaged 9.9 and 10.5 shots per game in each of his final two college seasons. The Bearcats had four players who averaged at least 11.3 points per game during the 2017-18 season, which does not include transfer Cane Broome, one of the better sixth-men in the country. The AAC’s Most Outstanding Player went to Evans’ teammate, Gary Clark, who signed a two-way contract with the Houston Rockets Friday.
Evans plays unselfishly, at times to a fault. Take the latest Xavier game for example, in which the Musketeers cruised to a 13-point win this past season. Evans made little impact for 75 percent of the game until he woke up in the final stretch. Evans scored 18 of his 23 points in the last 10 minutes. When he attacked, he had the ability to take over.
Evans will not be asked to shoulder the offensive load with the Warriors. He will find points via transition and spot-up opportunities. Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry ranked first and fourth in points on catch-and-shoot opportunities this past season. The gravitational pull they create will create open looks for Evans, who can either shoot or use his effective pump-fake to score in the lane.
Evans’ catch-and-shoot release is not at the warp speed of Curry or Thompson— whose is? — but Evans’ stroke is simple and compact. His release is much quicker than Warriors guard Patrick McCaw’s, a convenient comparison because of the 3-and-D label.
We haven’t mentioned his defensive abilities, which originally captivated Warriors general manager Bob Myers. He scouted Evans as he scored three points against UCF, statistically his worst game of the year. He played only 25 minutes because he hurt his finger, yet Myers walked away convinced. He called Evans a ‘serious player’ who approaches both ends of the floor with equal intensity.
Evans, a 6-foot-6 guard with a 6-foot-9 wingspan, is quick and long enough to guard multiple spots. He is a tremendous shot-blocker at the two-guard spot, averaging one block per game in the 2017-18 season. His ability to switch is a major plus, especially in the playoffs, when mismatches are exploited ad nauseam (See: Just about every Warriors opponent attacking Curry off switches in recent years).
The Warriors wanted a two-way player who can step in and contribute immediately. They got one. Their shrinking luxury tax emphasized the importance of the nailing NBA Draft, where they could add a contributor through the draft for cheap as their front office works to reward their franchise cornerstones with lucrative, newly structured contracts this offseason.
In Evans, the Warriors got the two-way, NBA-ready player they coveted, whom long-time Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin called one of the smartest players he has ever coached.
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