Back in April, I posted about Jet Chang, a Division II standout from Taiwan who played in the Portsmouth Invitational tournament. As a follow up to that post, Rob Reheuser reviewed Chang’s Portsmouth performance by saying…
“BYU-Hawaii’s Jet Chang, a Division II All-American, finished on a solid scoring note, leading Sales Systems LTD with 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting. He also didn’t have a single rebound or assist, which basically summed up his play here this week. When he made shots, he looked okay. When he didn’t, he failed to move the needle as a serious prospect.”
Currently, Jet is ranked No. 84 in Chad Ford’s Top 100 prospects for ESPN and is going through his NBA draft workouts. I came across some draft workout footage that sheds a little more light on his abilities as a shooting guard. Granted, he is shooting against no defense but you can see that his form and range is pretty impressive. He has nice arc and rotation on the ball so it is not a surprise that the majority of his shots in the video hit nothing but net. Also, I like that he keeps his release point high, which combined with his 6’4″ frame and leaping ability will allow him to get shots off over taller defenders in the NBA. I would say that he already possesses a better shot than Jeremy Lin. Also, his ability to throw it down two-handed with ease is a plus and will surprise his defenders.
However, let’s be careful not to assume this kid is the second coming of Jeremy Lin. His handle isn’t tight and does look a little suspect, as you can see for a split second in the video at 1:11. Also, he has an amateur crossover for a guard, as seen at the 1:04 mark. Lastly, the video displays nothing about his on-the-court maturity/IQ, passing, rebounding, and defense but it is enough to keep my interest to watch out for him this summer. Hopefully, he gets an invite to play in the NBA Summer League this July to gain some needed exposure.