Patric Young

Patric Young

[...] Signed by the New Orleans Pelicans last summer after going undrafted, Young made it only one month through his rookie season before being waived in favour of Dante Cunningham. He then spent the rest of the season with Galatasaray in Turkey, averaging 10.5 points and 7.8 rebounds in Turkish league play. Young has agreed to play for Olympiakos next season and thus likely won't actually play in summer league, but given that I had written this before that news broke, the blurb stays.

Somewhere between smug and sad face.

Way back in the day, I anointed Patric Young with the title of "future SEC Defensive Player of the Year". And it came off; Young won the award as a senior after making the All-Conference Defense Team as a junior.

Over time, Young made strides in learning how to turn his great physical profile into a defensive presence. Certainly, he looks the part; athletic and quite strong, Young is also laterally quick, plenty big enough to defend the post while also fast enough to defend the perimeter. That said, his defense is far from imperfect - sagging off too far on said perimeter defense, Young's effort and effectiveness are a bit inconsistent, and his feet on the perimeter need work. Also, for all the athleticism, Young's offense is limited, mostly just powerfully finishing the work of others or getting the looks only available to one so athletic. He's always a lob threat, but he's rarely a post threat, and there is little jump shot to speak of.

Young intrigues with size, strength and athleticism. He runs and he dunks, he explodes and he blocks, and he has decent hands to boot. But he needs to lock down defensively, and either become a much more viable threat in the pick-and-roll, shoot jump shots, or both.

The Gators try play defense at every position. Erving Walker may be small for a point guard, but he's quick, works hard, and is disruptive; Kenny Boynton may be small for a shooting guard, but he's quick, works hard, and is disruptive. Chandler Parsons is big for a small forward, and yet he's quick, works hard and is disruptive. Alex Tyus bounds about with great energy, even he doesn't have the cliched energy player dreads any more. Vernon Macklin is an immovable object in the middle. And Patric Young, the freshman off the bench, is a future SEC DPOY. He really is, and you can quote me. Florida have always landed good big men, and with Young in the mix, they're right back at it. [...]