During last Thursday’s NBA Draft, Syracuse sophomore forward Tyler Lydon was taken No. 24 overall by the Utah Jazz; his draft rights were later traded to the Denver Nuggets.
On The Vertical’s livestream coverage of the draft, former Indiana head coach Tom Crean was not overly impressed with the 6-foot-8 shooter. Lydon connected on 40 percent from three in both seasons with the Orange and demonstrated to be a solid rim protector, although, that could be attributed to playing in a 2-3 zone. Denver acquired Lydon under the belief that he could be a modern-day stretch four.
Crean not only questioned Lydon’s defense, he also was critical of his shooting. He ended his analysis by asking, “And who [is he] going to separate from?” While he did question his shooting itself -- again a 40-percent career 3-point shooter -- he did seem to have concerns with other areas of his offensive game, such as being asked to create for himself, which is fair to question.
That analysis didn’t sit well with Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim, who lambasted Crean’s comments.
“He’s an idiot,” Boeheim told reporters on Thursday, according to Chris Carlson of Syracuse.com. “He said he’s not a good shooter. Freshman, sophomore year he shoots 40 percent from 3. That’s pretty good for a young player. I think he had the best shooting statistics at the combine, I think, of all the big guys. He shoots it. That’s what he does. It just shows the ignorance and not doing the work, the research, the background check. He’s athletic and can do a lot of other things but he can really shoot.”
Despite being relieved of his head coaching duties in March, Crean had two former players have their names called on Thursday night in Brooklyn. The Toronto Raptors selected to OG Anunoby one spot ahead of Lydon. Thomas Bryant was drafted No. 42 overall by the Jazz but was later traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.