25th Pick: Blake Wesley
Air Alamo’s own Roberto Araiza recently wrote a piece covering Blake Wesley’s development, which I really enjoyed. Let’s start with the positives— Blake is one of, if not the, fastest player in the NBA with the ball in his hands. That’s fun as hell. The issue coming out of summer league is that his decision making did not seem to improve too much year over year. This was especially true in fast break situations and, more importantly, in the clutch.
A few things that were noticeable at their minicamp: Blake Wesley and Dom Barlow added real weight. Wesley said he added 10 pounds and it looks like it, not sure on Barlow but I’d bet on at least that. You can see it in the video. https://t.co/AMoSpzDJHH
— Matthew Tynan (@Matthew_Tynan) July 2, 2023
To make a bit of a criticism sandwich, Wesley did noticeably put on some weight this off-season, which is an important development for his defense and finishing around the rim. The good news is that he, along with every other player I’m writing about, is still just 20 years old. Plenty of time to improve, even with the rising expectations for 2023-24 and beyond.
Grade: C-. There's a lot of room for development, but it needs to come semi-quickly if he wants a spot in the long term rotation.