With all the hand-wringing and/or wild speculation about Ace Bailey, fans might be looking for a safer star at No. 8. Is that Jeremiah Fears?
The top of the draft has been rattled by the Ace Bailey drama. Long the consensus pick at No. 3, after no-brainers Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper, Bailey will likely fall, past the Philadelphia 76ers to who knows where.
That would change the order of things. How far will the 6’9” Bailey fall and will teams try to trade up to catch him on the way down? Will point guard V.J. Edgecombe take his place in the third spot? Does 6’6” Kon Knueppel’s reputation as the “safe” get enhanced. And how about those two bigs, 7’2” center Khaman Maluach and 6’10” power forward Noa Essengue?
And what will that do to the Brooklyn Nets?!?
Brian Lewis writes Thursday that the team with the most picks next Wednesday night, the one that hasn’t had a lottery pick since taking the now retired Derrick Favors in 2010, could take a swing at one of the draft’s youngest, 6’4” Oklahoma point guard Jeremiah Fears. Lewis doesn’t call him the steal of the draft, but he might as well.
With the host Nets picking eighth in Wednesday’s draft — and having no shot at Cooper Flagg or Dylan Harper — there aren’t many prospects seen as having a chance to be a franchise-changing star.
But Jeremiah Fears is one of those precious few. For fans clamoring for a big swing, he is that home run swing from the heels.
Will he be there at No. 8? A lot of draftniks think so and there are red flags like his 28.4% percentage on threes or his 52.1 percentage on drives to the basket. But he doesn’t turn 19 till training camp. For his profile, Lewis recruits a respected former scout who still watches prospects in his argument for Fears as the big swing many fans want.
“I love Jeremiah Fears — love, love, love him,” ex-76ers scout Michael VandeGarde told The Post. “His athleticism and ability to create is second to none. His first step and athleticism is off the charts. I love everything about him. He’s got as high a ceiling as anybody in the draft.
“Is he going to maximize that ceiling and is he gonna be able to shoot? He didn’t shoot it well, the shooting numbers are poor. But in terms of hey, I’m not [drafting] in the top two or three, in terms of being able to hit a home run on a guy that could be an absolute superstar game-changer, he’d be one of the guys past three or four that could actually do that.”
And Fears has been in New York for more than three months working out, getting to know the city as this video from Tissot and SLAM show.
Fears also has something required for any career in New York City, supreme self-confidence. He’s spoken about how he can bring star power to any team,
“It’s not a bad idea,” a smiling Fears said of playing in Brooklyn when interviewed last month at the NBA Combine. “I actually like New York a little bit.”
In that same interview, Fears noted he had spoken to the Nets and liked what he heard.
“Yes, I met with Brooklyn. I worked out for Brooklyn as well. The conversations were great. They were just telling me how they think I could fit within their system and be an overall good piece for them.”
He is not a finished product and some scouts worry about his shooting. VandeGarde is not among them.
“He’s a young kid. Obviously 50 percent at the rim isn’t great, but his herky-jerky ability to beat dudes one-on-one, and his first-step burst reminds me of Russell Westbrook,” VandeGarde said. “I don’t know that he has the all-around game of Russ, but at eight I’d be ecstatic.”
Fears has another advantage. He comes from a hoops family. His father, Jeremy Fears Sr. was a basketball vagabond, playing pro ball across Central Europe in Hungarian, Austrian, Slovakian, Greek and Polish league gyms. Jeremiah and his brother Jeremy Jr., starting point guard at Michigan State, got in their first hoops playing in Greek and Austrian youth leagues.
Lewis thinks Fears, along with Maluach and Knueppel, will likely be there at No. 8 and if it’s one thing the Nets need, it is a point guard. And if the kid has star power, all the better.
Big swing, sure, but his high school coach says not to worry. He’ll be ready.
“Jeremiah was just born to be special. He was born to have an NBA jersey. He was born to be one of those guys that people talk about. And he does all the right stuff. And he’s not going to stop building until he’s an All-Star in the league.” said Pete Kaffey, Fears’ coach at Arizona Compass Prep in Chandler.