NBA Draft

This is a fascinating evolution in this year's draft. As I go through it, am I crazy to think Taylor Hendricks is the better prospect?

Both guys can be defensive monsters, but I think I might actually like Hendricks more. I just find Walker is a bit passive defensively, but tbh I haven't watched Hendricks as much as I've watched Walker this season so it's hard for me to say.

From what I can tell, Walker actually has legitimate playmaking upside and he can handle and drive. Truthfully though, I don't project him to be good enough as a primary ball handler to ever get serious reps in the NBA. Maybe he could lead a bench group, but I really just don't see how that handle and skill become NBA caliber. His vision is nice, but again it's not elite it's just reliable which is good but nothing special. Certainly, I haven't see a sniff of ball handler/playmaker sense from Hendricks, so Walker is much better in this sense.

On every other metric though, Hendricks to me looks better. He's an above average shooter for a forward, he's got an interesting post game, he's a more efficient scorer, he looks more athletic, and we already established that he may very well be the better defender... what am I missing here?

Walker is basically just better at ball handling and playmaking, but that's a very ancillary aspect to his game that probably will not translate to the NBA.

I think I might be moving Hendricks into my top 10, and I previously had Jarace in my top 5, but I think his passiveness on offense and defense has made me a little concerned that it won't translate as well as I had hoped. Unlike other guys in my top 10, he's not the type of player who is gonna command the ball and just create offense. Perhaps it's because of this Houston roster, but I'm more uncertain about the upside with players like this, it's kinda like Scottie Barnes. You just don't know how they're gonna turn out with a bigger role. Hendricks already kinda has a bigger role.

Edit: rewatched some film. I think Hendricks is too premium of a shooter to be ranked worse than Walker for me. Walker is the better passer but Hendricks gives you some as well, and he has good balance on his drives, I think I feel more certain that he will be an NBA contributor than Walker.