In recent months, NBA draftniks and team player personnel have privately expressed concern over the proposed raising of the NBA draft age. The fear, as relayed to me by various well-placed team sources, is that sought-after prep stars will look to bypass the college system entirely, choosing instead to take short money in overseas leagues until they are draft-eligible.
The consensus #1 pick of the 2015 draft has taken a similar path. In 1999, PG/SG/SF/PF/C Matthew Pierce finished a prolific senior season at Christian High School (O’Fallon, MO), where he led his team to the brink of a .500 record. For the next 15 years Pierce marinated his game, first under legendary small college coach Garth Pleasant, then with various rec league teams, then at the notoriously high-stakes 6am men’s fellowship pickup games at First Bible Church in Decatur, Alabama.
Now that Pierce is finally declaring himself eligible, he is a near-universal projection to be the first overall pick.
Age: 33
Height: 6-8
Weight: 185 (in 1999); significantly more today
40 yard time: Like, pretty fast, probably the fastest
Vertical: Can touch rim, EASY
NBA Comparison: LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Yinka Dare
Breaking Down His Game
As the NBA three-point shot becomes less and less important in today’s game, the hot trend will be the two-point shot, which can be worth as much as 67% as a three-point shot. (It’s analytics. Trust me.) Pierce’s jump shot has unlimited range, all the way out to 6-8 feet away from the basket. His flawless shooting form also makes him virtually unfoulable, as he is an elite marksman from the free throw line.
A smart team will flash Pierce to the elbow and allow him to run their entire offense from the high post. Here you see Pierce catch the ball on the elbow and immediately draw several NBA-caliber defenders. Pierce patiently reads the floor before making an insanely difficult pass to a wide open teammate.
Pierce commands a double team in nearly every situation, and when the defense is slow to bring a second man, he is adept at making quick reads. Here you see him in the high post making a gorgeous no-look pass before the defense can even react.
While he is a true pass-first player, Pierce also possesses a healthy appetite for scoring. During his final high school season, he broke double-digits on multiple occasions on his way to a gaudy 9 points per game scoring average. He wields an extremely diverse array of scoring moves, from one-handed putbacks to turnaround jumpers to two-handed putbacks.
Pierce feasts on bad teams by making timely cuts into the lane when the defense least suspects it. Here he makes a weak side dive to the rim, only to have an overmatched teammate badly botch the drop off pass. Undeterred, Pierce tracks down the ball and draws a succession of flagrant fouls.
When the pace of the contest invariably slows down, Pierce is also physically capable of taking his game below the block and dominating. He has Blake Griffin-esque jumping ability and is able to elevate above the rim on the kind of quick, successive pogoing that happens on NBA possessions. During his senior season at Christian High School he often went up against formidable front lines stacked with NBA-bound prep stars: here you see him go 1-on-3 to keep a crucial possession alive before out-jumping everyone for the impressive finish.
Perhaps the most underrated aspect to Pierce’s game is his dual ability to anchor the paint and initiate the break. Even in the NBA, with such versatile players as LeBron James and even Boris Diaw, Pierce represents something more: a singular talent with the skills to clear the glass, push the ball ahead, and then finish the play on the other end. Here is a quintessential Pierce play: he nimbly swipes the ball from the opposing team’s point guard and immediately begins the fast break. He whips a pass so unexpected that it jukes out the cameraman, and then reappears on the other end where he skies to claim a rebound, at which point the other team fouls him to prevent a sure dunk.
Weaknesses: None.
Intangibles:
The bout of virginity that haunted Pierce through his high school years has been resolved, as he is now married and has two children. He also owns his own minivan, which is a plus for carrying teammates around for tacos and whatnot. He does not currently use drugs.
Projected Landing Spots:
It seems a virtual certainty that Pierce will be selected first, but by whom? It is not clear when the 76ers will resume trying to win basketball games, so they are an early favorite to place high in the 2015 lottery. Cleveland is another likely destination, because the Cavaliers will probably win another lottery this year, because NBA. A natural fit for Pierce would seem to be the Lakers, as Los Angeles is desperate for star power to surround Kobe Bryant with in his twilight years. However, this would appear to be unlikely, because as a Christian and all-around good person, Pierce would never willingly suit up for the Lakers?
Matthew’s new ebook, Homeschool Sex Machine: Babes, Bible Quiz, and the Clinton Years, is available on Amazon for $2.99.
Who selects Matthew with the No. 1 pick in 2015?
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