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8 days away from draft night 2022, a night I know we are all looking forward to. Today on a hazy Indiana evening we take an in-depth look at Baylor wing Jeremy Sochan. In previous editions of this year’s draft profiles, we have taken stock of the talents of Keegan Murray, Johnny Davis, Dyson Daniels, Bennedict Mathurin, A.J. Griffin, and Jaden Ivey. All of those draft profiles can be found elsewhere on Pacersdigest. As always, please feel free to share these pieces with friends and fellow Pacers fan whom you think would enjoy them.
Jeremy Juliesz Sochan was born on 5/20/2003, which makes him one of the youngest players in this year's draft, having just turned 19 less than a month ago as I write this. His mother Aneta had come to America for college and to play basketball from her native Poland, eventually landing at a small college in the Oklahoma Panhandle. There she met Jeremy’s father Ryan, a fellow basketball player at the tiny school in Guymon Oklahoma. Aneta eventually graduated and moved to England, playing professional basketball in Europe. While neither of Jeremy’s parents played at the highest levels of basketball, both of them did have good careers for various teams in the European basketball stage. Settling primarily in Milton Keynes Great Britain with his mother and step-father, Jeremy and his siblings grew up multi-sport athletes, playing soccer, rugby, and basketball. Jeremy Sochan was quite a soccer goalkeeper at a young age, but eventually followed his parents path and chose basketball as his primary sport.
Living in Great Britain but a Polish citizen, Sochan took advantage of his Polish citizenship and has been able to participate in high level basketball at a young age, traveling all over Europe for the Polish squads, and even making their Polish National Team in Eurobasket competition as a 17 year old. Sochan has truly been a world traveler with basketball, even with an Indiana connection: he spent his junior year in high school playing for LaPorte La Lumiere Prep, one of the top high school basketball programs in the country. The same school incidentally where Jaden Ivey graduated from. Sochan left his senior year of high school to go play for the Polish national team program, then played one year of high level college basketball for Baylor University, one of the top teams in America. Sochan lost his father as a middle schooler, when Ryan Williams was killed in a car accident. That tragedy no doubt has shaped his personality and drive, and he is on the verge of fulfilling the dream his father had for him.
From the Oklahoma Panhandle, to the Queen’s England, to Northern Indiana, to all across Eastern Europe, then to Waco Texas, it has truly been a basketball odyssey for Jeremy Sochan. His next stop: the bright lights and biggest basketball stage in the world: The NBA.
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Let’s get the basics out of the way first: Sochan measures in at a reported 6’9”, with a weight of 230lbs. International team measurements from Poland had his wingspan listed at 7’0”, but we didn’t get actual measurements at the NBA combine. I am positive the Pacers have those by now, even if they aren’t public knowledge. Sochan clearly has the prerequisite size to be a big NBA wing, a need almost all 30 NBA teams are desperately searching for.
Coming off the bench but playing big minutes for one of the best teams in the country last year for Scott Drew’s Baylor Bears, Sochan’s box score numbers don’t jump off the page. Sochan for the year averaged 9.2ppg, 6.4rpg, and 1.8 apg. Shooting numbers weren’t great either for the young Baylor wing, ending the season shooting just 29.6% from 3 point range, and just 58.9% from the foul line. Yet despite that, Sochan impacted winning for Baylor, and it is his energy, youth, athletic traits, and intangibles, along with flashes of brilliance on both ends of the floor, that have Sochan solidly in lottery discussion. Let’s put his really extraordinary skill set under the microscope down below.
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In Sochan’s case, I am going to start with his defense first.
I am going to make a bold statement here: for a player of his age, Jeremy Sochan has some of the best defensive habits, traits, and abilities I have seen in a long time for a perimeter defender.
As a one on one defender, he is outstanding. Among the many things that stand out are his extremely quick feet (his soccer background really shows up here to me), his balance, his ability to slide, use the cross step, wall up drivers, stop on a dime and immediately contest a jump shot, and he has the length to affect all sorts of shots. If the number one priority for a team is to find an “Alpha” type scorer, bucket getter, and shot creator, then among the priorities after that have to be finding someone who can defend the opponent’s top dog. Sochan will do what almost no other 19 yr old rookie can do at this level, and that is be a top shelf defender right from jump street. For Indiana, if we had him, he immediately takes the opponent’s best offensive player as his assignment, where I project that in time he will more than hold his own.
Sochan is long on the ball, but he isn’t super duper long. But his length plays up because he keeps his hands above his elbows, closes out high, and does these things consistently. He is super fast laterally in a slide, because his athletic technique is almost perfect in this regard.
Sochan is very very switchable, and can be a plus defender against all NBA wings and probably some of the more limited 5 men in the league. If the Pacers have a team vision of having a top 5 defense (which I believe they should be aiming for eventually), then Sochan can be a building block to start that process. Know this: when I say “switchable”, I don’t mean it just in the athletic size/strength way, I mean he is switchable because he has extremely good awareness of offensive concepts, seems to innately understand what the offense is trying to do, sees things before they happen from a defensive perspective, understands complex NBA defensive concepts already, and seems to be on tape an outstanding communicator for his teammates.
If the ballscreen is the biggest NBA offensive weapon, then to win you have to be able to defend it. Sochan excels here too, and at all 3 levels: the point of attack defender, the screen defender, or in help, Sochan is plus plus. You wouldn’t want him to be your backline defender too often, as I don’t think he is quite vertically athletic enough to be a premium rim protector, but in every other role, in every other defensive coverage, Sochan will not need any coaching up in these areas.
Some players do put up bigger stats in steals and blocks than Sochan does, but don’t be fooled by that. What Sochan rarely does is gamble, and he therefore keeps the team's defensive structure in place. He understands how to win a possession defensively. Still, 2.0 “Stocks” per game is nothing to sneeze at. However, let me give some more defensive numbers to salivate over: In ISO situations, teams rarely tried on Sochan, but when they did they shot 6/22 this season. All year long, teams shot 19/84 against Baylor when Sochan was the nearest defender, and teams shot 13.4% worse from mid range (as defined by Synergy), when Sochan was on the floor vs off. Take these numbers for what they are worth, but I do find significance in them, as it verifies what my eyes told me.
As a help defender, Sochan gives you everything you’d want except premier rim protection. He is there in the right place, but lacks the last level of extreme jumping ability to block a bunch of shots at the rim. So while I think he can be a small ball 5 occasionally in certain matchups, I don’t really want to have to go that way with him. In fact, I actually like playing big at times with Sochan playing with ideally 2 players bigger than he is, and definitely playing with at least 1. I love Sochan playing on the court with a size advantage, especially on the defensive end. How often you can do this with him is of course context dependent, and depends on who the other players with him are.
Smooth body mover, really active high hands, extremely twitchy feet, great technique, top shelf awareness and intelligence, with a high motor. A potential defensive stopper who excels contesting shots, 1 on 1 dribble defender, and in all aspects of the screen/roll defensive schemes you’d want to play. He can “ice”, he can switch, he can hedge hard and recover, he can quarterback your defense away from the play. Sochan will be a difference maker, a potential multiple time all NBA defensive team guy I believe, and in worst case will be way above average defensively for years to come.
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Sochan will be a major plus defensively I believe, but what can he do on offense?
Let’s talk about his shot form first, since I tend to do that in all of these breakdowns. Sochan clearly has disturbing numbers from an analytical perspective, and the tape tells you why when you really examine it closely. I wish I could tell you how many slow motion jump shots I’ve watched him take the last few months!
Building from the ground up, Sochan’s base is fine. I like his feet angle (I am not a Dave Love “10 toes at the target guy”, I like the 10 o’clock or so style), but I do wish he’d get just a slightly wider base. Not much different, but just a smidge wider. Overall though, Sochan’s shooting woes are not from his legs or body, but there are with his hand positions, both his shooting hand and guide hand. In a way, it is amazing he makes as many as he does, holding the ball like he does. Try watching it in slow motion if you care to: it’s bad right now. His guide hand is too far in front of the ball, and his right hand is at this weird angle with his thumb higher than the rest of his hand. From this position, he basically has to have extremely good touch and aim to make the ball go in as much as it does. He sort of adjusts the ball as he goes up, because I assume he knows it isn’t right, and ends up trying to compensate in other ways to try and shoot the ball straight. Sometimes it all counter balances each other and it goes in. But other times it can lead to bad misses.
The good news, all that is very very fixable! Change his hand placements, groove that into place, maybe give him some instruction on how to get the seams correct on the basketball (he takes more shots with the seams all out of whack than any good player I’ve ever seen). I am totally guessing now, but I wonder if he learned to shoot that way as a youth by watching his mom play, as occasionally women with smaller hands will have those same shot form tendencies. It seems like something he taught himself, that no one has bothered to fix yet.
Fix his jump shot, take him from a high 20’s% 3 point shooter to somebody who shoots 38%-40% from deep (I believe that is possible, though I am not sure I’d bet my life on it), and then Sochan becomes a truly dangerous 2 way weapon, because he does have some other intriguing offensive skills.
Those skills are plentiful, and they become unlocked if he can make outside shots and bend the defense to his liking. Sochan has a great shot fake for instance, that worked way more often in college than it should have. That becomes a major weapon if his jumper comes along. Next, Sochan has an intriguing mid range/off the dribble game. He can spin dribble, he can elevate at odd angles, and off the bounce his shot form already looks better than when off the catch. He has good footwork, great vision, and shows some versatility on offense that comes in handy for a coach…he can be a swiss army knife offensively for you.
Driving to the rim, Sochan loves contact, and actually had a higher rate of drawing fouls than the other elite players at the top of the draft at his position, Paulo Banchero and Jabari Smith. Fixing his short form to make teams pay for fouling him is a big key to his future. Sochan can score with either hand and has extremely good touch, finishing a very percentage of shots in the restricted area despite not having unbelievable athleticism. Making tough leaners and scoring off balance around the rim through bumps is a big skill, and Sochan has it. But his drive game won’t matter all that much if he can’t fix his jumper. So that becomes the swing skill.
Sochan helps you in all sorts of other ways offensively. He is a really good cutter, and excels in the dunker’s spot as a cutter or receiver of lobs. I think he has major potential as a post player, not as a scorer but if a team lets him post up and then runs “split actions” with him having the basketball. I like him both as the roll man on a ballscreen on short rolls, as I think he can be a playmaker with the ball in his hands in the middle of the floor. And, if he can develop his jumper, he’d be I think a major weapon as pick and roll attacker, putting weaker defenders in harm’s way and using his outstanding vision to pick apart the defense. Sochan can excel in the DHO game I think, eventually receiving the hand off but for now being the initiator of that action, and occasionally faking that and keeping it as we see really smart players do, like Draymond Green does from time to time.
I also think he can play at the elbows in NBA “corner” actions, as a point forward occasionally in designed half court sets, and I project eventually he will be able to be a floor spacer in the deep corners and even as a ballscreen pick and pop guy. Add to that his ability to bring the ball up after a defensive rebound, his talent at making the “hit ahead” and long outlet passes I love so much, and I think there is the potential here for a player with an offensive game that is above average, a player who brings a ton to the table when his team has the ball, albeit in a complimentary type role. His versatility offensively can be a major help to a winning team, as it makes him able to play at a high level with a variety of different teammates in lots of different schemes.
What his ultimate potential offensively is, depends on how likely you project his jump shot to be fixed, and how much space he can create for you. I think we know that Sochan will be good at taking advantage of whatever space he is given with his playmaking and handles, but if he becomes a guy who can snipe open shots and create space for himself and others, then the sky’s the limit for him.
And, just turning 19, with the skills he already possesses, I think I’d bet on the kid being successful and reaching his maximum potential. But if you take him, you better be a franchise who sees his versatility as an asset, and who can coach him up on his particular shooting flaw. This is where you have to know your own strengths and weaknesses as a staff and as a franchise.
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I try very hard to stick with the tape, and with the research, when I break down prospects for Pacersdigest. Obviously I don’t have access to medical stuff, deep background checks, nor do I get to meet the players in person. I try and stick with the stuff I can see and verify with my own 2 eyes.
But, let’s talk about some intangibles Sochan possesses.
This is a kid who has traveled the globe, on his own, playing basketball against grown men. This is a kid who seems to have a “charisma”, a charm, a worldliness, and awareness and comfort with himself that you usually don’t see out of a teenager. He plays and acts with an emotional intelligence on the floor, a guy who cares about team success more than individual accolades. He dives on the floor, pats people on the back, points to his bench, cheers loudly when he is not in the game. Sochan might not be the greatest individual “alpha” scorer we’d like to have, but he does have an “alpha” type personality style it seems to me. I think he walks in on day one and becomes every little kid in Indiana’s favorite Pacer. I think there is a reason why his teams always seem to win. Jeremy Sochan strikes me as a “podium” guy, the guy who leads your team with his personality, curious nature, charisma and intellect, along with the example he sets on the floor.
While I normally don’t dive into such things, I am intrigued a bit by who his agent is in Jim Tanner. Tanner has among his clients Ja Morant, Jarrett Allen, and Grant Hill. Also 2 other players with ties to Indianapolis, Indy native Desmond Bane and the very Pacers/Fever connected Tamika Catchings. Take that for what it is worth as well.
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So, what do we have in total with Jeremy Sochan?
I believe we have a defensive anchor, a stopper, a young kid who has both a very high floor and a pretty damn high ceiling as well if he hits it. A kid who has a dynamic personality, a connector, a kid who does whatever it takes to win. He does everything above average in basketball except shoot catch and shoot, and I believe his particular issues with his slower release and hand placement are among the easiest to fix in coaching. I love his drive, his athletic traits, his personality, and his young age. Add to that that he plays the very most valuable position in basketball as a switchable wing who can do multiple things for you, and I believe Sochan is being vastly underrated in this draft.
I am betting on his upside, and I am betting on the kid. I believe Sochan can be a catalyst for others to become their best selves, and for the Pacers to establish what used to be a winning culture here that has been lost these past few years.
I want him. I’d take him at 6 if I had to if I were running the Pacers and if he were available, if nothing else because he is a more rare commodity than other players in our range. Jeremy Sochan is my guy. With a franchise hungry for talent and starved for culture, Sochan I project can give us both.
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That is not to say that I don’t understand the concept of “value”. I absolutely do. And if Indiana does indeed have the inside knowledge that they can move down a bit and still acquire Sochan while acquiring another asset, I am all for it. If the Pacers indeed end up with 2 lottery or near lottery selections, I would definitely be hoping that one of them is Sochan.
If the Pacers do indeed take him at #6, they’ll be howling all over this site and in the local media. So be it. Remember this though: when the season gets here, IT DOESN’T MATTER WHERE YOU PICK THEM, IT ONLY MATTERS HOW THEY PLAY. Keep that in mind if I actually get my way on who we pick for the first time in many, many years.
Will Indiana in fact pick Sochan at 6? I doubt it, as this front office and I have rarely seen eye to eye on scouting players. I think Indiana is more likely to pick someone else at #6, and then try and acquire Sochan later….which I’d be thrilled with too.
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Sochan is going in the lottery, I’d bet big money on that. If Indiana passes, the advantage of Sochan is that he fits with every single team in the league, as his skill set is so extremely valuable. But to me he fits the most obviously with the coach in the league who I think would value him over almost anyone else, and that is with the New York Knicks at pick #11. It isn’t much but I do have some intelligence coming with that one, so if you and I can trust my source, I think the Knicks are his absolute floor. I could be wrong though, and if so then Sochan would be a great pick for teams like Oklahoma City or Atlanta, with the Hawks being a strong candidate to move with someone to come up and get him. I expect, if he doesn’t end up with us, that Sochan is destined for New York City or Atlanta here in 8 days.
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Who are his comparable players?
I can tell you that I had a real hard time trying to get a modern day NBA player with the comparable skills and personality combination that I believe Sochan possesses.
It was easier using past players. It is easy to see the defensive chops, the funky personality, the antagonizing of opponents, and combine that with the changing hair styles and come up with the former Ron Artest. And yes, the playing styles are somewhat similar.
Other players he resembles: Nic Batum….but Sochan will score more than him. There are some definite Dennis Rodman vibes to Sochan, but he has way more offensive utility than Rodman. There is some prime Boris Diaw to his game, but Sochan is more athletic than him.
The old school player I think fits the best is Luol Deng, who in his prime was a 15-18 point scorer, bigger, high-level defensive wing, high character/leader of a strong era of Chicago Bulls basketball.
Modern day comparables are tough to come by. Sochan is a unicorn….which is kind of the point. He has more offensive potential and size than guys like P.J. Tucker, or Jae Crowder, or players of that ilk. Those guys are winning players and any team would love having them, but guys like that are his floor I think. He has some physical attributes like Aaron Gordon with a much different personality.
In the end of the day, forced to choose a comparable just so we can compare these comparables later, I’ll go with a mix of 2 players for this one:
NBA comparable: O.G. Anunoby, with Draymond Green’s personality and charisma.
The Pacers missed on O.G. Anunoby a few years ago, we’ve litigated that mistake many times starting with the night they made their ill-fated choice. They can make up for it in 8 days by figuring out a way to obtain Jeremy Sochan, either at #6 or in another subsequent move.
As always, the above is just my opinion. In this case, I am aware that I am higher on Jeremy Sochan than almost everyone in the universe, and that’s ok. I just believe that if we are to go toe to toe with premier NBA scorers like Jimmy Butler, or Jayson Tatum, others of similar ilk, then we need to find a way to stop them. We need to reestablish a culture of who we are and what we are about as a franchise, and I believe Sochan can be the catalyst to help start that process with his toughness, emotional intelligence, grit, and fire. All things in short supply in recent seasons at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
I’ll have several more draft pieces coming over the weekend and before draft day, including one really under the radar player that I think is oozing big time potential, thoughts on some other contenders at #6 and if we acquire another pick near the top half of the draft (spoiler alert: I believe we will indeed do that), thoughts on some 2nd round potential guys I like at #31, comparing the comparables, my Pacers-centric big board, maybe a mock draft, and more!
For now, let the discussion begin about one of the most interesting and unique players in this year's draft, a player I covet, Jeremy Sochan.
Tbird
Why so SERIOUS 
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