SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – FEBRUARY 22: Kyle Filipowski #22 of the Utah Jazz drives into Aaron Holiday … [+]
The 2024 NBA Draft Class has been criticized for its lack of high-end firepower, meaning it was probably an inopportune time for a rebuilding team like the Utah Jazz to have three picks in the top 35.
But just because a draft doesn’t have the next face of the NBA doesn’t mean it doesn’t have quality players. And with their three picks, the Jazz got a potential two-way forward who shares the same gene pool as a budding star (Cody Williams, the younger brother of Jalen Williams), the best passer/decision-maker of the class (who I just recently wrote about), and Kyle Filipowski – a second round pick who may go down as the most underrated player of the draft.
That last sentiment may seem like an overstatement. After all, sportsbooks like FanDuel, DraftKings, and Wildz don’t even have odds available for Filipowski to win Rookie of the Year. However, a closer look shows that this rookie big has flashed more promise than you tend to see from a second round pick.
What Makes Filipowski Intriguing
Filipowski has the two things the game of basketball favors the most: size and skill. At 7’0 and 250 pounds, Filipowski has the physique to bang with modern-day bigs (size). But despite his brutish stature, Filipowski is programmed with many of the attributes you’d find on a modern-day wing (skill).
Of course, Filipowski can shoot it. His jumper is relatively quick and smooth for his size. In fact, there was one time I was watching him and actually wondered how Lauri Markkanen was still on the floor when I could have sworn he’d just been subbed out. On the season, he’s hitting 37% of his threes on volume that is in the 68th percentile among bigs (per Cleaning the Glass). His midrange touch is even more impressive – hitting 55% of all midrange shots (88th percentile among bigs).
While useful, centers being able to take jumpers isn’t as rare as it once was. This season, 41 of the 102 centers (as classified by NBA.com) have taken at least 50 threes. The true unicorns of today are able to combine their ability to shoot with their threat to drive and pass.
Whether it be out of the post, on drives, or in short roll situations, Filipowski has demonstrated sound court mapping abilities for a player of his experience level (he turned 21 in November).
One of the best publicly available measures of a player’s passing ability is Ben Taylor’s Passer Rating metric (an estimate of a player’s passing ability on an ‘approximately’ 1-10 scale). Filipowski’s score of 5.4 out of 10 is currently the sixth-highest mark among rookies and the highest among all first-year centers.
As for his driving, while Filipowski doesn’t do it often (29th percentile in drives per 36 minutes), he is quite efficient when he does (59% true shooting on drives, per Thinking Basketball). His success in this area can be attributed to his pristine footwork and ability to absorb contact while going downhill.
Don’t take Filipowski’s gracefulness as a sign of weakness, though. He can still get buckets in a classical manner when it makes sense to do so. Filipowski is in the 90th percentile in points per possession on his 14 post-up chances this season (per Synergy Sports).
Why You Should Keep An Eye On Filipowski
We’ve largely been glossing over it to this point, but Filipowski’s defense hasn’t been nearly as intriguing as his offense. He’s slow-footed and vertically challenged (4th percentile block rate among bigs), meaning that he will probably struggle on this end of the court throughout his career.
Most likely, his skills will translate into a career akin to someone like Kelly Olynyk – a career fringe starter/quality bench center. Given where Filipowski was selected in the draft, that would be a strong outcome.
However, the reason I’m so keen on Filipowski is his opportunity to become something more. For instance, what happens if Filipowski can take his moments as a shooter, scorer, passer, and driver and turn himself into a player who averages nearly 20 PPG while also functioning as a passing hub his team can run offense through?
In the past, we’ve seen multiple players who were not too different from Filipowski ride this wave to success. Nikola Vucevic, Domantas Sabonis, Alperen Sengun, and Nikola Jokic are all offense-first centers selected outside of the top 10 who have ridden this pathway to an All-Star(s) berth in the past (and in Jokic’s case, so, so much more).
Regardless of whether Filipowski becomes his generation’s Olynyk or Vucevic, the Jazz made the right call selecting him at 32nd overall in the draft. But if he ends up becoming closer to the latter, he could go down as the headliner of the 2024 Draft Class that no one saw coming.
