NBA Draft 2018: Warriors take Jacob Evans at No. 28
The back-to-back NBA champion, Golden State Warriors, have added Jacob Evans to their roster with the No. 28 overall pick.
The Golden State Warriors didn’t really need much given the amount of talent their Hamptons’ 5 lineup brings on a nightly basis, but at the back end of the first round, the rich get richer as the defending champions add Jacob Evans of Cincinnati to the team. Evans is the most NBA-ready 3-and-D wing in this draft. Evans cut his teeth with the Bearcats, helped to establish the defense-first mentality that Mick Cronin made the team’s modus operandi during his tenure as coach there.
Despite being a prospect who could find his way onto an NBA court tomorrow, Evans is only 21 years old. He was under-recruited out of Louisiana and ended up in Cronin’s lap. Over the course of his three seasons, Evans steadily improved and made himself into the player he is today. Evans is comfortable making plays with the ball and has a sweet shooting stroke to go along with it. At 6-foot-6 with a 6-foot-9 wingspan, Evans has the looks of a modern-day wing and despite the Warriors taking home the last two titles, they definitely needed some youth inserted into their wing rotation.
Much like Patrick McCaw a couple years ago, Evans could find himself getting steady minutes in the rotation as a rookie. After the tumultuous year, the Warriors had just to get through the regular season in 2017-18, I’m sure the superstars wouldn’t mind getting some extended breaks over the course of the season–which would open time for Evans. With the ability to just put his head down and play in year one, expect some fireworks from Evans on random nights this upcoming season.
LeBron James commented on the amount of high-IQ players that Golden State possesses during this year’s NBA Finals, and by taking Evans at 28 they just added another player to that list.