Menu

Darryl Watkins

Darryl Watkins profile
RCSI: 34 (2003)
Height: 6'10" (208 cm)
Weight: 241 lbs (109 kg)
Position: C
High School: Paterson Catholic High School (New Jersey)
Hometown: Paterson, NJ
AAU: NJ Playaz
College: Syracuse
Current Team: ASVEL
Win - Loss: 3 - 1

Articles

Orlando Pre-Draft Camp: Day Three

Jonathan Givony
Jonathan Givony
Mike Schmidt
Mike Schmidt
Joseph Treutlein
Joseph Treutlein
Jonathan Watters
Jonathan Watters
Jun 01, 2007, 02:29 am
Darryl Watkins really improved on his showing from yesterday, playing a bit more aggressively on both sides of the basket, which especially showed in his tracking down of nine rebounds in just 20 minutes of playing time. On the offensive end, Watkins made some nice finesse moves, scoring on a roll to the basket that he finished with a scoop lay-up off the glass, hitting a spot-up footer from 12 feet out, and scoring on a nice back-to-the-basket shot-fake into a pivot, which he finished by going into an up-and-under jam. Watkins also missed on an up-and-under move on another occasion, and it should be noted that most of his shot attempts could’ve been finished with powerful jams he is capable of making, though he usually settles for finesse moves he doesn’t consistently convert instead.

On the defensive end, Watkins was moving around a bit more today, but he still didn’t make the impact he’s capable of, not pursuing blocked shots on rotations as much as he could. Watkins did make some nice plays, though, forcing Caleb Green into a tough shot on the baseline on one occasion, and making a nice play on help defense by cutting off Dominic James on the baseline on another. In terms of rebounding the ball, Watkins got most of his rebounds via size and position, but tracked down a few outside of the painted area as well..

Watkins has a great set of physical tools, and shows off some nice skills as well, but he doesn’t consistently play with the assertiveness he should on either end of the floor. He has a nice semblance of a mid-range shot, and if he develops some consistency with it, he could easily make a nice impact in the NBA, along the lines of what Mark Blount made a career of doing sometime down the road. Watkins’ ceiling may even be higher than that, but he’s a project player at the next level, and will need some coaching and a change in demeanor before improvements like that can be seen. Still, most of our scouts agree that someone will take a chance on Watkins in the second round, and you can’t take fault with that, as he’s a project worth investing in given his physical attributes and flashes of potential.

Orlando Pre-Draft Camp: Day Two

Jonathan Givony
Jonathan Givony
Mike Schmidt
Mike Schmidt
Joseph Treutlein
Joseph Treutlein
Jonathan Watters
Jonathan Watters
May 30, 2007, 05:12 pm
Known as an underachiever throughout his college career, Watkins has the talent necessary to make it in the NBA. He certainly had his chance to put his talent to use today in Orlando, but instead struggled with defense and picked up 6 fouls.

Offensively, Watkins possesses great tools, including a hook shot and turn jumper that can be very effective from the low block. Early on in the game today, he first used a nice spin to make a hook shot with his right hand before facing up out of the post from 15 feet and knocking down a contested jump shot. At the NBA level, his ability to hit a mid-range jumper could be very effective when coupled with a pick and roll point guard. Unfortunately, Watkins lacks the consistency and knowledge in this area to be a consistent threat to put the ball in the hoop.

On the defensive end, Watkins struggled throughout the day today due to a fundamental lack of understanding combined with an underwhelming effort. Whether it’s fight his position, bodying up his man, or going for a blocked shot, Watkins was a step slow throughout the day.

Watkins could turn into a nice role player at the NBA level with the right coaching, but he will need to show the desire to improve for the first time in his career if this is ever going to happen. He could potentially turn into an interesting candidate for the D-League, and natural tools will give him many chances to make an NBA roster.

Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, Day Four (part one)

Jonathan Givony
Jonathan Givony
Joseph Treutlein
Joseph Treutlein
Eric Weiss
Eric Weiss
Apr 09, 2007, 03:54 am
Watkins’ last showing of the PIT was a pretty successful one, again showing some nice skills that we didn’t get much of a chance to see in his time at Syracuse, but also displaying some concerning weaknesses that go a long ways in explaining why he underachieved in college the way he did.

Watkins did most of his damage offensively by cutting to the basket and finishing around the hoop. On one occasion he stepped back and knocked down a 12 foot jumper from mid-range, confirming for us the notion that he has slightly more range on his shot than what we saw at Syracuse this year.

He got a little too cute at times finishing around the basket, opting to go for a one-handed scoop shot rather than just dunking it aggressively, a tendency that seems to carry over onto the defensive end, where he often doesn’t go after it the way you’d hope a guy with such limited offensive skills might. In general he’s often a step slower on plays that involve quick decision making skills, sometimes leaving something to be desired in terms of his feel for the game. It’s not that he’s not quick enough to make sharp rotations, but rather a function of his ability to process information rapidly and be assertive in his moves.

With that said, Watkins has plenty of things working in his favor, all of which could very well secure him a spot in the NBA next year. He is big, strong and athletic, with an NBA frame and a good pedigree after spending four years under Jim Boeheim. His offensive skills are a work in a progress, but he has some decent tools to continue to improve. We’ll surely see how much progress he can make until late May during the pre-draft camp.

Portsmouth Invitational Tournament: Day Three

Jonathan Givony
Jonathan Givony
Joseph Treutlein
Joseph Treutlein
Eric Weiss
Eric Weiss
Apr 07, 2007, 04:44 am
Darryl Watkins has had a pretty non-descript tournament thus far, scoring only six points along with two rebounds the first day, while not blowing anyone away in the second day either, though showing some more flashes of his potential as a big man at the next level. In this second game, Watkins showed periods of aggressive play, but they were surrounded by periods of just going through the motions, not showing how dominant a player he could be in this setting.

Watkins is primarily a defensive player, as evidenced by the 3.5 blocks per game he averaged in his senior season. Watkins hasn’t shown off that ability much here as of yet, though, blocking only one shot in his two games played, often looking a bit slow with his defensive instincts, as he has committed two goal-tends tonight, though was only officially called for one. Both plays were ones he was capable of blocking if he reacted quicker, but he didn’t try to make the play until it was too late both times. There were also some plays he just simply didn’t try to pursue, which is strange coming from a player with his defense capabilities, specifically in terms of weak-side shot-blocking. In defending the post, Watkins was inconsistent, at times being very active, bodying up, and forcing his man into tough shots without fouling, but at others he just seemed content to stand where he was, not really trying too hard to hold his ground or force a tough shot.

Offensively, Watkins was much more active today than yesterday, working for position in the post and calling for the ball frequently, but his guards weren’t always quick to reward him, and passed up on multiple possible entry passes, depriving us of seeing more of Watkins in the post. He did have some nice flashes there when he did get the ball, though, such as a pretty five-foot hook shot off the glass from the right block, which is a move that he could frequently use at the next level should he work on his consistency with it. Watkins also showed a bit of game from the ten feet range, hitting an elbow spot-up jumper on one occasion and faking a shot from 10 feet out on another, then driving the ball towards the basket; he was blocked on the play, but it was impressive nonetheless for a player of his size to make the move as smoothly as he did. Watkins also scored on a little face-up jumper from five feet out.

On the glass, just as Watkins is sometimes content to not contest drives in the lane, Watkins isn’t always quick to mix it up under the rim, sometimes not using his massive size to grab rebounds he should be able to. He’s not a bad rebounder, as he gets plenty just do to his size and positioning around the hoop, but for a player his size, he’s capable of much more.

In terms of passing the ball, Watkins did a good job passing from the high and low post, making some nice bounce and chest passes to cutters, though he also had a few turnovers passing in the same situations.

Watkins is an extremely intriguing prospect, and it would be extremely surprising to see him not make an NBA roster in one way another, even if he isn’t drafted, which he should be by the end of the second round. While Watkins has definitely not yet been able to put everything together on the court, players with his height, bulk, athleticism, and mobility aren’t common, and he shows flashes of multiple skills, most notably on the defensive end. Offensively, he has solid form on his mid-range jumper despite his 61% free throw shooting, and that, along with his hook shot, have the potential to develop into staples of his offensive game. With the proper coaching and if he can find the motivation, Watkins could definitely develop into a solid contributor in the NBA down the road, and in our estimations, most teams would be willing to take him on as a project player, even with his inconsistent play.

Top NBA Draft Prospects in the Big East (Part Two: #6-#10)

Rodger Bohn
Rodger Bohn
Jonathan Givony
Jonathan Givony
Joseph Treutlein
Joseph Treutlein
Nov 11, 2006, 05:39 pm
Although his game has some severe limitations, we have to seriously consider this 6'11 and 250 lbs center of Syracuse Orange as a legit NBA Draft candidate. At the moment Darryl Watkins is all about defense, but even with one-dimensional skills, players like him can always find a niche to become an NBA regular.

With his Syracuse team playing their trademark 2-3 zone defense for most of the time, evaluating Watkins’ defensive skills is a slightly tougher task than usual. There's no question about his ability to block shots - last year he swatted away 99 shots (2.8 bpg), showing great size, as well as good athletic ability and timing when coming from the weakside to challenge attacking players. Watkins significantly trimmed down last year and it had a great effect on his explosiveness and conditioning, which translated for him being able to average 30 minutes per game. There were some games where he could stay on the court even longer, but sometimes a lack of concentration and his below average feel for the game led him to collecting silly fouls, which limited his playing time. But on the other side, we have to mention that during the incredible Syracuse run had in winning the Big East tournament, playing four games in four days, Watkins spent 157 minutes on the court and looked relatively fresh, even during the 4th day, which happened to be the final game against Pittsburgh.

If his ability to block opponent shots is already there, there are some defensive skills that Watkins still has room for improvement. He averages 7.3 rebounds per game, with only 4.5 boards per game collected on the defensive end. Since he rarely leaves his position and gets the majority of his blocks very close to the rim, his rebounding numbers should be much better. Part of the blame goes to zone defense, which makes defensive rebounding more complicated. But from watching him, it looks like he doesn’t always give 100% effort to rebound the ball. This fact becomes even more obvious when you see Watkins showing flashes of what he can do--if he goes hard after the ball, he pulls down rebounds over other players, thanks to his combination of size, athleticism and quality hands.

Because Watkins plays so much zone defense, its hard to tell if he can stop opposing centers from establishing deep position inside. Since there is no news about any serious changes in coach Boeheim's playbook, we wouldn't be surprised if we had to wait for an definite answer until Watkins will participate in one of the pre-draft camps. There is no zone there, so Watkins (if he would be invited) would have a chance to show that he does not allow opponents to push him around and that he is able to keep them off the ball or from establishing position under the rim.

Offensively, Watkins has a very long ways to go. He only averaged 7.1 ppg last year, scoring mainly from putbacks and catch and dunk situations. He didn't show even one post-up move that would be a consistent weapon for him. He regularly tried to score off the jump hook over his right shoulder, but it still needs some serious work to be effective. Ha made only 54% of his free throws, and generally, is not a threat outside of 10 feet away from the basket. If Watkins will be drafted next year, it will happen because of his defensive abilities. Showing any signs of offensive skills can be crucial though, if he hopes to do more in the NBA than just be 6 fouls off the bench.

Latest results

03/15/2024 84 - 80 vs Anadolu Efes Anadolu Efes
03/10/2024 87 - 88 at Chalon Chalon
03/08/2024 67 - 85 at Panathinaikos Panathinaikos
03/03/2024 73 - 71 at Dijon Dijon
DraftExpress Shop