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One of the better athletes in this year's NBA Draft, Jamaal Franklin is reportedly scheduled to work out for the Boston Celtics sometime this week.
(Gary Kazanjian/AP)
The Boston Celtics will work out former San Diego State wing Jamaal Franklin later this week, according to ESPN's Chad Ford.
"Franklin has been out of commission for more than a month with an ankle injury, but he's finally cleared for workouts and had his first one on Monday with the Knicks and will work out with the Nets and Celtics later in the week," Ford wrote for his latest Big Board, which has the 21-year old listed as the No. 17 prospect. "Franklin has been working on his jump shot over the past month, and it looked much improved in an impromptu Vegas workout a little more than a week ago. If he can shoot the ball well in workouts, he can still fly up the board."
Projected to be selected near Boston's 16th pick, Franklin's a 6-foot-5, 191-pound guard/forward who led his college team in points, rebounds, assists and steals as a junior. Long (6-foot-11 wingspan), athletic (he ended one secondary fast break last season by throwing himself an alley-oop off the backboard) and one of the better rebounders among perimeter players in the NCAA last season, he's still not a perfect prospect. Scouts have real questions about Franklin's jump shot after he connected on just 42-150 3-pointers last season (28 percent), part of the reason why he's likely to last until the mid-first round.
According to DraftExpress.com, Franklin shot just 24 percent on catch-and-shoot jumpers. He made 21 percent of contested jumpers and 26 percent when left unguarded. He also doesn't seem to realize he's an ineffective shooter, launching 4.6 triples per game last year. Bad shot selection limited him to 54 percent true shooting, which would be average in the NBA -- not a good thing since he played against considerably worse competition in college.
Despite the poor shooting numbers, Franklin's a very intriguing prospect because he can help a team in so many ways. Coach Steve Fischer couldn't praise his star enough last season. Fischer called Franklin "the soul of the program," saying that in more than 40 years of coaching he's never had another player more committed to winning. "If you're not in that locker room," Fischer said in February, "if you're not on that practice floor, if you're not on that bus, if you're not in the hotel, if you're not on that plane, you can't fully appreciate what he brings to this team." Franklin had a little issue with accumulating technical fouls last year, but that reminds me of a saying Celtics coach Doc Rivers has used several times: "I'd rather kindle a fire than start one."
The Celtics have primarily focused on point guards and big men during the pre-draft process, perhaps a sign that they're unlikely to draft a wing. But if Boston does part ways with Paul Pierce, it will need someone to spell Jeff Green at small forward -- a position at which Franklin will be able to spend minutes, though his natural NBA fit might be at shooting guard. President of basketball operations Danny Ainge also swears that he doesn't make draft picks based on position.
For more discussion of Franklin's prospects, visit his DraftExpress and NBADraft.net profiles. NBC's Pro Basketball Talk also had a nice piece about Franklin's draft stock.
The Celtics are also scheduled this week to work out University of Detroit product Nick Minnerath, a 6-foot-8 forward with a terrific underdog story. Other prospects believed to have worked out for Boston include Mason Plumlee (Duke), Steven Adams (Pittsburgh), Reggie Johnson (Miami), Trevor Mbakwe (Minnesota), Jeff Withey (Kansas), Gregory Echenique (Creighton) and Colton Iverson (Colorado State); wings Ricky Ledo (Providence), Troy Daniels (VCU) and Tyler Brown (Illinois State); and point guards Dennis Schroeder (Germany), Shane Larkin (Miami), Pierre Jackson (Baylor), Phil Pressey (Missouri), Peyton Siva (Louisville), Erick Green (Virginia Tech), Myck Kabongo (Texas), Ian Clark (Belmont), Jonathan Lee (Northeastern) and Vander Blue (Marquette), among others.