Jalen Pickett admitted it took him some time to come around on the nickname.
“Grandpa,” a moniker bestowed on him by some of his coaches growing up in Rochester, isn’t quite the archetype of a future NBA player.
Yet Pickett, the savvy senior guard the Nuggets drafted out of Penn State at No. 32, has become a fan.
“I like it now,” he said laughing over the phone. “I was lukewarm at first, but I got used to it.”
Pickett described his game as “slow and methodical,” but doubt him at your own risk. As a senior at Penn State, he averaged 17.7 points, 6.6 assists and 7.4 rebounds. That’s as a 6-foot-4 guard.
Pickett didn’t have any Division 1 scholarship offers out of high school. After spending one year at a post-graduate school, he had just two, which was how he landed at Siena. He torched the MAAC for three seasons and then transferred to Penn State, where Nuggets GM Calvin Booth, a former Nittany Lion, monitored his steady rise. According to a league source, Pickett worked out for only two teams: Denver and Boston.
What makes Pickett unique isn’t necessarily a physical attribute, which is how most NBA prospects are judged.
“My game isn’t always the most athletic game,” he said candidly. “… I didn’t have the best agility test or the best vertical.”
But if the Nuggets drafted on sheer athleticism, Nikola Jokic never would’ve arrived in Denver eight years ago.
What makes Pickett a viable floor general is his value as a connector. People close to him say the longer you watch him, the more obvious it gets. His talent is his commitment to both his pace and the pass.
“Crafty player, pass-first guy,” he said. “I’m a physical basketball player.”
Of course, there’s the work ethic and the requisite hoops IQ, but, like so many other Nuggets success stories, there’s an underdog quality to Pickett.
“I try and outwork people,” he said.
Pickett spent the pre-draft process in Houston, working out with another unorthodox guard in Houston’s Jae’Sean Tate. He said he picked his brain on the art of weaponizing their unique size. He also said Tate’s work ethic left an impression as he worked through the draft process.
Beyond Tate, Pickett said the two guys he watches most are Jrue Holiday, the Bucks’ bullish point guard, and New York’s Jalen Brunson. The similarities between Pickett and Brunson are obvious, as both are more than comfortable pummeling and pump-faking their way inside before finishing.
Pickett’s philosophy: “If they’re gonna put smaller guards on me, I’m just gonna go down there and get an easy two points.”
On draft night, Pickett was flanked by his mom on his right side and his grandmother on his left. When his name was announced, they were the first two people he embraced.
“I love them to death,” he said. “I wouldn’t be here without them. The sacrifices they made and the support they give me are really what I try and thrive off of. They’re my backbone, my rocks, and I love those guys.”
Pickett’s grandmother had an outsized influence on his basketball upbringing.
“Every time I come home she’s watching an old Lakers game,” he said. “Magic Johnson’s her favorite player.”
From there, both women were steadfast supporters of Jalen once he arrived in Happy Valley to play for coach Micah Shrewsberry. There, he said he began approaching basketball like a pro. He diligently broke down film and made a point of working out before and after practice.
It culminated on Thursday night in one of the best nights of his life. Since Thursday, he’s paid close attention to his new teammates’ social media accounts and said he’s most encouraged when he hears the word “dynasty” in Denver.
“That means they’re still hungry,” he said.
And once the excitement subsided and the emotions settled, Pickett had one prevailing thought about joining the reigning NBA champions.
“Try and get another one,” he said.
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