Tag: Dariq Whitehead

What can be expected from the Brooklyn Nets’ 2023 draft class?

While the Brooklyn Nets will be looking towards making the playoffs next season, let’s look into expectations from Brooklyn’s 2023 rookies.

The Brooklyn Nets are transitioning from a team that many believed to be a championship contender to a squad that has some good players, but does not have the superstar to take the organization over the top. After the superstar era of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden did not result in much, Brooklyn looks to move forward in a competitive rebuild, so to speak.

The Nets will be led next season by a good, young core in Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, and Nic Claxton while hoping that players like Ben Simmons can help elevate the team into the playoffs and beyond. While that is the team’s present goal, it would be interesting to delve into the future of the organization.

Brooklyn made three picks in the 2023 NBA Draft and all three of those players have some level of promise based on what they did in college. Based off the team’s moves this summer, it’s clear that the Nets are looking to get younger and more athletic. Let’s discuss what all three of the draft picks can provide to the team next season:

Brooklyn Nets’ Dariq Whitehead listed as team’s third-most promising prospect

Brooklyn Nets wing Dariq Whitehead is regarded as the team’s third-most promising prospect, according to Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report.

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The Brooklyn Nets have finished most of their offseason as they have finished the 2023 NBA Draft, free-agency, and the summer league with solid performances in all three aspects of the summer. It’s good for Brooklyn to know that despite some hurdles, one of their recent draft picks still has some support for his future.

In a recent post by Bleacher Report, Zach Buckley listed Nets wing Dariq Whitehead, Brooklyn selected him with the 22nd overall pick in the draft, as the third-most promising prospect on the roster. Nets Wire covered how Cam Thomas and Noah Clowney, the 21st overall pick in the draft, were considered the most promising and second-most promising prospects on the team, respectively.

Whitehead, 18, still has a lot going for him despite the fact that he is currently recovering from foot surgery. He has been dealing with his foot issue since he graduated from high school, but before playing at Duke, Whitehead was regarded as one of those players who could develop into an elite scorer on the wing for years to come.

There is some worry that Whitehead may not be able to regain his prior athletic form because of how long he has dealt with his foot ailments, but if he can fully recover, Whitehead should be a steal. Whitehead, native of Newark, New Jersey, should be available to participate in training camp in the fall.

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Nets’ Dariq Whitehead predicted to spend 2023-24 season in G League

In a recent article by Bleacher Report, Jonathan Wasserman expects Brooklyn Nets wing Dariq Whitehead to spend 2023-24 in the G League.

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The Brooklyn Nets had a solid 2023 NBA Draft class as they had two first-round picks with plenty of potential along with second-round pick Jalen Wilson who showed out in the NBA 2K24 Summer League. However, there are some who believe that one of the first-round picks will be spending the majority of the 2023-24 season in the G League.

According to Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report, he expects Dariq Whitehead, Brooklyn selected him with their 22nd overall pick, to spend the majority of next season in the G League. For context, Wasserman had three choices for his prediction of what role each 2023 first-round pick will have next season: starter, bench, or G League.

With regard to Whitehead, he is coming off a second surgery on his foot that has bothered him for the past year or so. Not only that, but Brooklyn’s starting five is already set, unless a trade happens between now and the start of the season, along with some of the bench being decided such as Royce O’Neale and Cam Thomas.

However, it’s possible that Whitehead could see some playing time towards the end of the season if he recovers from his foot surgery fast enough to get back to how he normally plays. Here’s what Wasserman had to say about his prediction of Whitehead’s role for next season:

“A second foot surgery forced Dariq Whitehead to miss draft workouts and summer league. And with the Brooklyn Nets bringing back Royce O’Neale and signing Lonnie Walker IV, they’ll likely prefer sending Whitehead to the G League rather than the end of their bench.

He should still eventually get a call-up and some NBA minutes thanks to a three-point stroke that’s gotten better each of the last few years. The short-term outlook pictures a spot-up shooter who’s still capable of creating his own jump shot with pull-ups and step-backs.

The hope long term is that he regains his explosiveness and improves his ability to apply rim pressure and score off the dribble.”

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Nets’ Dariq Whitehead says that he’s ‘feeling great’ and ready to win

Dariq Whitehead talks about his right foot injury in an introductory press conference for the Brooklyn Nets on Friday.

Brooklyn Nets wing Dariq Whitehead comes to the organization as the 22nd overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft and as a result, comes in with a lot of expectations given his history. At one point, Whitehead was regarded as a top-5 pick after being an McDonald’s All-American and Mr. Basketball USA.

Unfortunately, the Newark, NJ native came into his freshman season at Duke University with a right foot injury that need surgery in August of 2022 to address the issue. Whitehead missed most of the preseason and the first four games of the 2022-23 season dealing with the foot injury.

Whitehead went on to have a successful season for the Blue Devils as he played in 28 games (seven starts) and averaged 8.3 points per game while shooting 42.1% from the field and 42.9% from three-point land. After his one-and-done season at Duke, Whitehead entered the draft, but appeared in most mock drafts as a late first-round pick because of his injury history.

Understandably, everyone has questions about Whitehead’s foot injury being that he had to have a second procedure on the foot in June as was reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. At the time, Wojnarowski reported that Whitehead is expected to be recovered by the time training camp rolls around in September. In the meantime, Whitehead addressed his foot injury during an introductory press conference for the Nets’ rookies on Friday:

“Feeling great right now. Like I said, just got to get back to 100%. And, I feel like once I do that, I’ll definitely get back to who I was before the injury. I just want to come here and contribute to winning basketball. I just want to make my teammates better and that’s what I’m here to do.”

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Brooklyn Nets 2023 NBA Draft grades

Here are the grades for the Brooklyn Nets’ 2023 NBA Draft.

The Brooklyn Nets have officially completed their 2023 NBA Draft as they have made their three selections and have introduced those players to the media and the fanbase. To recap, the Nets had three picks in the draft: 21st overall, 22nd overall, and 51st overall.

With those picks, they selected Alabama forward Noah Clowney, Duke wing Dariq Whitehead, and Kansas forward Jalen Wilson, respectively. Now that the draft is done, the rest of the league can turn its attention to free-agency, summer league, etc.

Before we get there, it would be interesting to review Brooklyn’s draft and give out grades for each pick. The Nets did not have a lottery pick and even though there were rumors about Brooklyn packaging at least one of their picks to move up, nothing came to fruition. That will not necessarily play a part in these roles, but it should be pointed out that the Nets essentially had the chance to move up, but chose to pick players for the organization to develop:

Brooklyn Nets select Dariq Whitehead with 22nd overall pick

The Brooklyn Nets select Duke wing Dariq Whitehead with the 22nd overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.

NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets were one of the lucky teams that had more than one pick in the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft. With their initial first-round pick (21st overall), they selected Alabama big man Noah Clowney. With their second pick of the first round (22nd overall), the Nets select Duke wing Dariq Whitehead.

Whitehead, native of Newark, NJ, seems to be one of the more talented players in the draft, but a foot injury that ended up needing a second surgery appeared to have weakened his draft stock. Whitehead, listed at 6-foot-7 and 220 pounds, is a guy who was pretty dominant in high school and while he was slowed by the foot injury to start the 2022-23 season, he still showed flashes of his more athletic self.

What Whitehead, 18, brings to the Nets is the ability to score the basketball and has the physical tools, when healthy, to be a force on the defensive end. Brooklyn has more than enough wings that can play right now, but that is a good thing for both parties as Whitehead can be brought along slowly and possibly be needed to play when he is fully healthy.

Here is a video breakdown of Whitehead’s tape by Adam Spinella:

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Why Duke forward Dariq Whitehead could slide to the end of the first round in the 2023 NBA Draft

Duke’s Dariq Whitehead might have to wait a while before finding an NBA home

Once upon a time, Duke’s Dariq Whitehead was considered one of the best prospects in basketball. Coming into the 2022 NCAA season, the forward was ranked as the third-best prospect in the nation by 24/7 Sports.

Whitehead was named Mr. Basketball USA and the Naismith Prep Player of the Year in 2022. He also took home the MVP trophy at the McDonald’s All-American Game. The talent is very clearly there. And at 18 years old, he is still very young — the third-youngest player in this year’s draft class.

Yet you would be hard-pressed to find an NBA mock draft today that has Whitehead getting drafted inside of the 20s — we have Whitehead going at No. 22 in our latest mock draft.

The question is why? You typically don’t see this sort of drop coming from such a talented prospect.

But, in Whitehead’s case, the answer is obvious. It’s injuries. Whitehead has been dealing with a foot injury that flipped his only season at Duke on its head.

Whitehead was able to return and play this season, but he certainly didn’t seem to be as explosive as he once was. He had just two dunks while at Duke.

Despite that, Whitehead still put up respectable numbers. He averaged 8.3 points per game this season and shot 42.9% on 3-pointers while nearly half of his shot attempts were coming from beyond the arch in 28 games played.

This stat from our latest mock draft makes that a bit more impressive; it shows that Whitehead has legit NBA range.

“The freshman was 24-for-48 (50.0 percent) on 3-pointers attempted from NBA distance, per Stats Perform, which ranked second-best among consensus top-100 prospects with at least 25 attempts tracked.”

With that said, though, he’s had another setback. His foot didn’t heal properly and he had to have another surgery to correct it, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Even as one of the youngest players in the draft, that’s a bit concerning.

There’s still NBA talent there with Whitehead. Teams will see that. But his injuries will ultimately be the reason why he’ll fall far deeper in the draft than anyone initially anticipated before his collegiate career began.

MORE:

Projected first-round pick Dariq Whitehead has second surgery on right foot

Whitehead is expected to begin the rehab process in two weeks and should be ready for the start of training camp.

Projected first-round pick Dariq Whitehead underwent surgery this week on his right foot to correct a previous procedure, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Whitehead missed four games this past season after undergoing surgery on the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot in August. The bone did not heal properly, which prompted a “revision operation with bone grafting for a fifth metatarsal Jones fracture” this week.

The 18-year-old is expected to begin the rehab process in two weeks and should be ready for the start of training camp in September. The surgery was performed by Dr. Martin O’Malley in New York.

Whitehead averaged 8.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and one assist on 42.9% shooting from 3-point range as a freshman. He finished second in the ACC in 3-point percentage, and it was the fifth-highest mark of any freshman in program history.

He is considered a mid-to-late first-round pick despite an uneven campaign. His shooting from beyond the arc will certainly stand out, but Whitehead showed he can be a three-level scorer at the next level and put up points in a hurry.

Though Whitehead hasn’t been able to participate in any pre-draft workouts, the 6-foot-7 forward has met and interviewed with teams in his range ahead of the draft.

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Brooklyn Nets projected to take Dariq Whitehead with 21st overall pick

Dariq Whitehead could be a Brooklyn Net come the 2023 NBA Draft later this month according to Bleacher Report.

The Brooklyn Nets have the 21st overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft on June 22 and with that pick, Brooklyn could select a player who can make an impact for the team next season. Bleacher Report projects the Nets to take Duke’s Dariq Whitehead with the pick.

Whitehead, 18, played forward for the Blue Devils after coming into the 2022-23 season as a five-star recruit from Montverde Academy. Whitehead, 6’7″ and 220 pounds, played 28 games for Duke (seven starts) and averaged 8.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game. Whitehead is an interesting prospect to ponder given the fact that he has potential to contribute on both ends of the floor, but has seen his stock fall due to the issues that he’s having with his foot.

The native of Newark, NJ can bring more wing depth to the Nets despite the fact that Brooklyn has enough wings on the team already. However, assuming that the team can find trade partners for Dorian Finney-Smith and/or Royce O’Neale, Whitehead could be a part of next season’s rotation given his ability to shoot the ball (42.9% from three-point land). Here’s what Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman had to say about Whitehead:

“Whitehead will have a tough time rising up boards after another foot surgery that limits his workout opportunities. But a promising medical report could also help scouts re-picture the scoring wing at Montverde whose creation and shot-making development fueled top-five hype entering the season.”

Here’s a video breakdown of Whitehead’s talents by Adam Spinella:

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2023 NBA Mock Draft 5.0: 58 projections after the early entry withdrawal deadline

Rookie Wire took a look at where the next draft class stands following the early entry withdrawal deadline.

The NBA pre-draft process crossed another important checkpoint on the schedule with the early entry withdrawal deadline coming and going this week.

Prospects had the opportunity to test the waters and meet with teams to gain feedback on their potential draft stock. To maintain their remaining college eligibility, they had to withdraw from consideration by 11:59 p.m. EDT on Wednesday.

The deadline saw several potential second-round picks withdraw from the draft and return to school. With name, image and likeness playing a prevalent role in college basketball, players were likely swayed to stay one more year to work on their games and capitalize financially.

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The 2024 draft is also projected to be weaker than in past years, which also may have played a role in some players opting against turning pro. They likely believe they will have a greater chance of being a first-round pick next year.

With several players off the board, teams can prioritize workouts and interviews with those individuals remaining in the draft. As a result, players’ stock will continue to fluctuate with less than three weeks to go until the draft.

Rookie Wire took a look at where the draft stands following the early entry withdrawal deadline. Team needs were taken into consideration for these picks.