AJ Griffin Scouting Report | 2022 NBA Draft Breakdowns

Duke's AJ Griffin put together a great freshman season showing off his elite 3PT shooting ability, creation upside and advanced frame. As one of the youngest players in the draft, he's set to be a lottery pick. Although he might have some slight injury concerns and questions about his athleticism, especially in reference to his defense, AJ has a ton of upside and an elite skill worth betting on.
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#NBA #NBADraft #AJGriffin

[@johnmarlan9238]

Every team that passed up on AJ Griffin will regret it. Mark my words

[@vs5264]

Surely, you got that right. Had a good game today.

[@UmoInvesting]

You were right on the money

[@coopers4657]

Any player with that frame that has that good of three point shooting at 18 is a player most teams would be willing to bet on for sure. Love the Desmond Bane comp.

[@25chrishall]

Minus the t-rex arms

[@chaseh013]

I tried telling NBA draft Reddit that he was more explosive in high school than what he showed this year. I hope he regains all of that back because he’s a special player

[@cameronbolden5064]

Agreeed yoy could tell watching aj in hs abs at duke he wasn’t the same guy. If he gets back that athleticism he might be the best player in the draft of not he might be a good role player

[@jrbone5662]

i’m betting more on him being a Buddy hield with Desmond Bane upside over a Jimmy butler/Jaylen brown type. His defense is overrated imo. He def has the tools but he hasn’t shown that will be an strong part of his game

[@boshix8130]

He compared him to Jimmy offensively not defensively

[@splashgod2509]

Those guys are shooting guards and AJ has legit wing size. I honestly see Cam Johnson with self creation upside.

[@seanpowlesland1703]

@@boshix8130 I fell the only similarity between Butler and Griffin is the way they dribble. Griffin is primarily a 3 point shooter which is something Butler isn’t.

[@boshix8130]

@@seanpowlesland1703 duh that why he compared him to bane. but unlike bane how ever he is a more explosive of athlete and has more creation upside similar to jimmy butler

[@scotty4473]

Is this dude fast because you can't really tell here

[@beardgangman]

Surprised Duke doesn't have more Chips with the amount of talent that comes from there

[@FahimKhan-qj9zg]

they are always freshman and vet experience usually outweighs talent on the college level

[@yourhomie7568]

And the good talent they have leaves after one year lmao

[@GameChanger-xi4iy]

I swear coming out of high school, he was touted as a good defender.

[@kenm4390]

It’s because of his wingspan. Whenever scouts here about a wing with a 7 foot wingspan they say he’s a good defender

[@tonemoney1733]

Injury

[@Thrashyourhead]

Please do a breakdown on Dyson Daniels next.

[@DeBeard]

imho He could hardly develop into players like Jimmy and Desmond cuz he ain't a natural gym rat type of bulky talent which both of the players had been when they entered this league, instead, tho AJ still young, i've seen more of a thirty-something wiggins (who already lose his once elite athleticism, first step and vertical explosion) in him, that is more mature, brilliant outside strokes, system friendly type of defender. Since he has been traded to you town, as a rockets fan, hope I'm wrong. Welcome on board AJ.

[@chrisdadda]

Your stuff is always sharp and high level.

[@demariowilliams12345]

Give him more time to re-strengthen that knee he’ll be valuable to who ever drafts him

[@Tell-lie-vision]

Miami calling it now

[@tonemoney1733]

Facts

[@PMckenzieFilms]

Hawks

[@DEMI-sq5uf]

I think the injury really effected some strengths he had in his game like defense and he was one of the most athletic guys in the dang class before they injury. Just tells u he would’ve looked even more dangerous prolly potenial #1 pick with those 2 things in his bag.

[@taximan031]

what injury & how long was he out? sorry very unaware of that

[@DEMI-sq5uf]

@@taximan031 had a injury in hs that kept out begining of duke season

[@rcash001]

He tore his acl in hs I believe then Covid hit before he went to duke. But before all that he had incredible bounce and was more aggressive I definitely understand him protecting his legs and stuff for the year bc a second tear could’ve been catastrophic

[@DEMI-sq5uf]

@@rcash001 yep. honestly when he was athletic he opted for the drive over the 3 he was a slasher who was a efficent shooter like close to 50% but not high volume for stepiac till his junior yr. i’m thinking if he gains the athletism back no telling what he’ll be offensive honestly i could see us looking back like how did he only go #5 #6 #7

[@rcash001]

@@DEMI-sq5uf I pray for it to happen bc. He’s a good kid and to see him reach his full potential would be crazy. Acls are just one of those things that can sometimes take so much out. Like Harry Giles and Jabari

[@REAL0223]

Widest base I’ve ever seen on his jumpers

[@xBulletproof1]

Which kills his first step. You can't have a long/quick first step to cover distance when you're already that wide. He's going to have to change that, or be Kyle Korver at best.

[@foundsheepcjd6528]

We have all sinned and fallen short of Gods glory sin is terrible because of sin we are separated from God but gladly here is the good news Jesus Christ came and walked this earth for everyone taught us the perfect way to live and how we should live and he died for our sins because we need a sacrifice to pay the price for our sins since our sins deserve hell if we live in sin but also more good news Jesus rose from the dead three days later we have to leave the sin behind and put it away and live new with Jesus this world is like a vapor it passes away but your eternity is forever and it is up to you what you want to do with it Jesus Christ is coming soon….

[@Geep1778]

Got the best looking shot of everyone I’ve seen in this draft class. It’s just super pure and I recall a shot he put behind his back twice then just pulled it w a lil fade from the foul line and I said ok ok that’s why he’s so up there on boards. Got a high release too which makes him tough to block which is big. Won’t have to change that at next level. Sometimes guys shoot too much from the hip or push it from chest up and it’s easy to strip on the way up. I also think he only played at 80% most times in order to protect his knee long enough to get a deal. Don’t blame him and think he’s got way more athleticism in the tank and will show it at the next level. Idk who he’ll end of becoming but a more athletic Bogdonavic is what comes to mind. He’s a pure shooter and even if he’s used as a spot up his rookie year I think whomever drafts him will be happy w the extra he surprises them with.

[@shadux5587]

Jabari???

[@frankl3518]

@@shadux5587 lol, I think he's got the ugliest shot. It's that super wide base. He makes them tho

[@bronxroots6668]

I’m just not sold on his game. Lack of athleticism, coming off a knee injury doesn’t bode well for regaining any vertical explosion he mite have had in HS. That wide base on all his jumpers isn’t in outraging at all. Handle is weak also. Risk involved in drafting him too high and expecting him to be a major contributor.

[@jehem2239]

Look at hardens scouting report in his draft class, it is very much similar to AJ's crafty offensively and weak at defense, similar body structure with no explosiveness but ueses strength and body very well. Sound like the college harden to me.

[@sandrocolumbu1271]

Except harden was going to the rim at will, a way better ball handler and defender. Easily more explosive too

[@ArkbladeIX]

the only similarity is size

[@jonathanyaney6110]

Haliburton and Griffin would be a deadly combo on the perimeter. If Griffin can be a plus defender, Pacers would be nasty.

[@pinkfloyd36123]

man i would've loved for the raptors to get him, basically no chance of that happening tho

[@gerarda8926]

Best basketball series on KZbin

[@irepJamGoonz]

He has a good hanndle and it can be even better given the chance to develop. The team that drafts him should stash him in the G league and have him play point. That will give him a chance to play as facilitator and number 1 option. I like the upside, All Star caliber player. If I could like him onto a player it'd be Tyreke Evans.

[@Tell-lie-vision]

That's not a bad take honestly he also needs to work on his defense though he should be a really good defender giver his build

[@samcar2724]

Imagine thinking any team should stash a lottery pick in the lottery lmao

[@hawktalk432]

Liked for the on-point analysis. Subbed for the Dom at the end. Still Me🔥

[@lnd1998]

I don’t watch a ton of college but I get super into prospects in March madness and as the draft nears. Can someone PLS explain how duke wasn’t like one of the greatest college teams ever. Paolo with griffin, mark williams AND Trevor keels seems like a roster destined for a title (they came kinda close) but man that’s a lot of talent

[@cameronmurray6330]

been waiting for this

[@scootover7]

Mock draft I seen has him going 6th, I think he'll go in the 10-14 range though. If he had great defense I'd say the Blazers should take him,

[@warlockmagic3416]

I feel like he'd be great in Philly alongside Embiid. With his strong frame and ability to catch and shoot. They need as much of that as possible. If they can add as many off-ball player's. They will be at their strongest ever.

[@zachDH85]

Philly has the 23rd pick dog, he’s not sliding that far

[@zamiahizayah329]

Anybody else notice his wide shooting base? His legs looks like he's about to do the splits.

[@bjyrad785]

Reminds me of Donovan Mitchell's jumpshot

[@drop3]

Future Pacers Hall of famer

[@jongray8313]

The 7 foot wing span yes at 6 6 yes indeed and he can shoot, we gone make his ass play Defense, yes he goes early

[@rakhunuhepptaylor2135]

Potential Rookie of the year and Steals of the Draft 1Mark Williams will surprise many !, Mark Williams is a potential perennial All Star and potential Hall of Famer. He will Probably have his jersey retired at end of career. He will likely Eventually be a go to scorer on the team he is drafted to and then back down to 3rd option on a Championship Team. His Shooting will improve. Steal of the Draft. 2 Shaedon Sharpe likely the best NBA player career out of this year's draft. Perennial All Star, honorable mention: AJ Griffin, closest thing to Stephen Curry in this year's draft, will likely be a number one option scorer will have a good NBA career will have a chance to be a Finals MVP and to win a NBA Finals Championships. Ochai Agbaji , closest thing to Klay Thompson in this year's draft, will likely be a good number 2 option on a Championship Team will have a chance to win NBA Finals Championships and a chance to win NBA Finals 🏆 MVP will have a chance to have his jersey retired by a Team he will have played for. That's my story and I am sticking to it 😊

[@dc9847]

AJ a man of god, he can’t lose

[@raizen4271]

Duke players now in the nba is just role player real talk i said now! now in the NBA

[@derrickctv1820]

He’s average at best in the league. Shpuld be a solid role player in the mold of a Harrison Barnes, TJ Warren type

[@tyshakur8803]

The way he drives with physical and step back jumpers and space creation giving me that jimmy butler/james harden vibes

[@warlockmagic3416]

He reminds me of a stronger James Harden, with a better release lol. If I'm Philly, I'm going after him. He could learn a lot from Harden. Hopefully only the good things lol, before he leaves in a year. 🤔

[@quadirsheffield4895]

He back up deAndre Hunter for a year and lean from him AJ might be a Kawhi Leonard level player but he got to put in the work 💯

[@bigdubzey237]

If he goes Pelicans thats scaryyyy.... and its very possible to happen too

[@matthewliu6987]

1:50

[@bobcheddar8089]

Don’t let the warriors touch him my turn him into draymond 2.0 with a jump shot

[@MrSplat1972]

i noticed that on his drives he gets to The restricted area, stops and looks for the bailout ,,needs to keep moving to draw the defense and kick ..plenty of time to coach that out

[@sesho4439]

He has Klay Thompson’s base and Al Horford’s upper

[@halsnipesii1466]

Welcome to Atlanta where the players play!! ❤️🖤

[@OrangeChikin37]

He’ll be a top 3 player from this class. Underrated asf

[@canadianchungus701]

I hope raptors pick him up by making some trades

[@Freddy-kw5hq]

3 and d player that’s it I actually went to the same school as him crazy

[@ShawnBayyyyy]

Can I request Johnny Davis. I’ve been making a case for him being the best 2 guard in the draft.

[@TheHabitualLineSteppers]

gained a sub here. Great video

[@godollaproductions1361]

He kinda got a James harden rookie season game

[@poppachampa281]

Hope my cavs trade up to get him,he would fit perfectly.

[@vionjefferson5229]

AJ gives me huge jimmy butler vibes just with a better shot can't wait to see em in the league!

[@WW-ik7vr]

thats as wide a stance as ive ever seen on a jumper

[@Nasrou5]

His release is to slow they gonna run out the line

[@sweetnessdabutta9985]

I have no clue what yall see...I dont see a Baine or a Jimmy Butler or none of that. Maybe it was because of his injury and he legs wasnt back yet...but to me his game reminds me of A Klay Thompson / Norman Powell style of play...not going to overwhelm you with his athleticism but just knows how to get his shots

[@bamtwoxl1855]

If hes there wizards take him

[@marksamuel1785]

Any team that desperately needs spacing should draft him, best 3pt shooter in the draft byfar

[@gatsby456]

Thanks for the most accurate and to the point comment in the chat. The others in here have been horrendous 😆

[@sengolini]

Are these your beats ??

[@biggeststepper1390]

Do Ben Mathurin

[@TheSpeakEZPodcast]

Man great content

[@MrTerrell966]

Lets go Hawks!

[@CaucasianCactus1]

Buddy Hield feels like a perfect comp. If his athleticism comes back and it helps with defense, Bane is a good comp

[@surprisinglyroomy]

all buddy does is shoot and bring the ball up the court, Griffin has way more potential

[@therockneverstops8261]

He has good talent but it will be important he lands somewhere he can slowly acclimate physically to the NBA. Players with high school injuries to lower extremities tend to be high risks for reinjury early in their NBA careers due to the physical grind of an 82 game season. I’m not saying G-League but he should be brought along slowly.

[@surprisinglyroomy]

Blazers should take him, we're already in the middle of a blossoming development with Little and if things pan out with both players, I can see them both on the court despite both playing the 3

[@tejaslingamaneni9781]

hawks the best

[@jaybrown7811]

His father is Adrian griffin

[@donstuart8286]

Blazers

[@matthewliu6987]

5:35

[@chucklee2507]

Danny green

[@Amaanti206]

Desmond bane vibes

[@KnowThyself47]

Bennedict Richard Felder Mathurin is better than AJ

[@gatsby456]

that's why he is projected higher than him in every mock draft in America. Thanks for the groundbreaking take.

[@jongray8313]

He gotta get to that basket

[@nolanrussell6326]

Do you think his wide stance will limit his ability to attack closeouts?

[@splashgod2509]

His wide stance actually allows him to create more space on his step back on fly by 3s.

[@franzralphuy6826]

Thats the Wally Szerbiak stance

[@MacRay14]

Kings need a 3&D wing BADLY. But as you say, just don't know if he really has that defensive upside. Still, with the 7 foot wingspan I'm probably willing to take that chance

[@moses2442]

That lack of focus on D, i think it says a lot about a player true feel for defense, even if his knee kept him one step slow is not excuse😔 i wouldn't bet on him earlyer than 7 if it was my decition to make! Thank for the video friend! Great job

[@michaelahurt]

You just never know with defense. It could go either way. Ben Simmons, Jayson Tatum, Jalen McDaniels didn't play any D in college but are awesome in the NBA. Booker and Wiggins barely played defense their first 5 years in the NBA and are now reliable defenders. Other guys were projected as elite defenders (Donovan Mitchell, Westbrook, Willy Cauley-Stein) and suck on that end cause they just don't care once they get to the league. You just can't predict it.

[@calebturner9884]

@@michaelahurt this is a terrible take the only right thing you said is about Donovan Mitchell’s defense not translating and wille was just tall the rest of the players you named had a higher defensive box plus minus than the norm for nba players in college and are good defenders

[@michaelahurt]

@@calebturner9884 Please watch games and don’t just recite stats you don’t understand. DBPM literally just counts steals, blocks, defensive rebounds and fouls then makes a bunch of subjective assumptions. That’s it. Jokic led the NBA at 4.5 and Luka was 11th at 1.8 so … Yeah. Never ever ever ever use DBPM as a gauge for defensive excellence. Beyond that, defensive metrics as a whole tend to overvalue/over-reward defensive rebounding. (Big) players like Tatum and Simmons put up good DBPM scores because they were excellent rebounders who were way more athletic than their opponents so they also put up decent steal and block rates. (Which are typically used as a proxy for athleticism.) DBPM doesn’t measure the 10 times per game they stood up and watched a guy get a layup instead of rotating or sliding their feet. That’s what defense is. Defense is 80% effort and no one knows whether a guy will give effort at 22 or 25 or 28 that he didn’t give when was younger. Or vice-versa. Which is really all I was saying - you can’t predict how hard a guy will play on defense. Also if you think WCS was just tall you either don’t understand basketball, never watched him or just forgot. PLEASE go search for some old Kentucky clips online. He was a 7 footer who could defend PG, jump passing lanes AND defend the rim. He was furthest thing from just tall.

[@calebturner9884]

@@michaelahurt it is not the only thing that shows defense and I understand that just because someone has the tools to play defense doesn’t mean that they will it is a gamble and they gave effort just because a scout said they weren’t good on defense means that their right

[@calebturner9884]

@@michaelahurt the stat can be manipulated in ways and that is also why we watch but is the best defensive stats to measure by sure with the lack of defenders and rebounders on Luka and jokics team their stats are off but how about looking at who else is on that list

[@jongray8313]

PELICANS CJ GO TO FT PG HE GOES TOO SG BI SF ZION ? PF AND VALI C BEST FIT

[@deondrecarter153]

Imagine OKC taking Paolo Banchero at 2 and AJ Griffin at 12, Duke Dynamic duo to OKC will be 🔥 or what about Jabari Smith Jr at 2 and Walker Kessler at 12 some many possible it going to be crazy

[@justinbires6283]

Jalen Duren and Mark Williams are both likely still there at 12 for them.

[@justchillinnnn]

Bigger Patrick Beverley!

[@jongray8313]

Reminds me Jimmy Butler looks bigger better jumper

[@stevenwhiters8928]

Deandre hunter less defense

[@deshaungreen6653]

I see some Klay Thompson in his game or am I tripping

[@scullymatchthepants3455]

Many he has the legit same shooting form as Jimmy Butler 😂. Wow