NY Knicks: Tre Mann could be the steal of the NBA Draft
By Adam Kester
NY Knicks: Tre Mann is one of the best guards in the NBA Draft
Tre Mann ran point guard for the Florida Gators, and in his sophomore season, he developed into something the Knicks could use – A pick and roll operator.
The most overused word in Tre Mann’s draft profiles – “smooth”.
As a ball-handler, Tre Mann has good handles that he uses to effectively create extra space. He is calm and comfortable with the ball in his hands, and while he still has room to tighten it up and become less turnover-prone, he seems to be consistently developing NBA-level moves that should continue to blossom as enters the league.
He’s not just “smooth” – he’s smoove.
He took big leaps as a playmaker in his sophomore season. Mann has a great feel of picking out his options in pick-and-roll sets, whether it’s using the space to find his own shot or hitting open teammates.
While he’s comfortable out of the pick-and-roll, Mann is still going to have to increase his processing speed at the NBA level. He is a nice passer with motion around him, but he’s going to have to work on his playmaking awareness and improvisation. Especially on an isolation-heavy team like the NY Knicks.
Even if he isn’t a point god coming into the league, we’ve seen countless examples of players who may be “score-first” players but have great pick-and-roll feel early in their careers and develop their level of passing as they develop. James Harden is the top-tier example.
The Knicks also have the luxury of being able to run a lot of their offense through their All-Star forward Julius Randle, so Tre Mann isn’t going to walk into a ton of pressure to be “the guy” with the ball in hands. At least not right away…
The playmaking is encouraging, but Tre Mann’s scoring ability is what has scouts salivating.