With the [NBA Draft](https://www.sbnation.com/nba-draft) fast approaching, J. Kyle Mann of The Ringer has [released his latest mock](https://nbadraft.theringer.com/mock-draft). With the 11th overall pick, Mann has the Portland Trail Blazers selecting Danny Wolf.
The junior big man from the University of Michigan has often been projected in the first round, but more often than not, somewhere after the lottery. He has been getting some buzz as a late lottery pick in some circles, but pick 11 would be a pretty high spot for the American-Israeli to be chosen.
**Position:** Center. Sort of.
**Height:** 6’ 10 ½” without shoes
**Wingspan:** 7’2 ¼”
**Weight:** 251.8lbs
**Birthday:** May 5, 2004 (21 years old)
It’s easy to quantify Wolf’s size. It’s less easy to quantify his position. He’s been called a “point-center,” but that probably raises more questions than answers. At his best in college he was an integral part of nearly every trip down the court, getting frequent touches, and being equally adept at playing the roller or the ball-handler in the pick-and-roll. He shoots well enough to space the floor and his highlight reel has heaps of passes through narrow windows.
On the downside there are concerns about his lateral quickness, overall defense and his turnovers. He seems to prefer taking shots from distance rather than banging in the interior. He has also been criticized for getting easily screened off his cover, allowing teams to look for mismatches.
In his junior year, Wolf averaged 13.2 points on 49.7% shooting, 9.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 3.2 turnovers per game.
J. Kyle Mann’s comments on Wolf:
> Since Portland pivoted away from the Dame era, I’ve been fairly obsessed with the idea of adding ball-skill connectivity between the stable of fly-around athletes that the front office has accrued. Derik Queen’s potential as a hub that could feed the Blazers guards had been my dream scenario for this task, but if he’s off the board, you could make the argument that Wolf is just as good a fit … and possibly an even better one? He’s just as savvy at accessing every part of the floor with his passing ability, his shooting upside is better at this point, and he’s also bigger. This is an athletic and young roster, but they’re playing like a team with an offensive superstar despite not actually having one: 41.3 percent of their made field goals last season were unassisted, the third-highest mark in the league. Wolf could help alleviate some of that pressure.
As of this writing, Wolf has yet to work out for the Blazers that we know of, so that fact coupled with most evaluations seeing him being taken later in draft would seem to make him a long shot to be picked at 11. Stranger things have happened though, and of course, it’s not impossible that a trade could see the Blazers picking later in the first round. The biggest question is whether the Blazers’ front office shares Mann’s vision of how Wolf could fit within the Blazers’ offense.
Wolf’s highlights from last season are a fun watch, especially his playmaking starting at about 10:40.
The NBA Draft will take place on June 25-26.