2020 B.R. NBA MOCK DRAFT

[13 - 3]

Well might as well get a head start. They got us at # 13

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-season-begins

13. New Orleans Pelicans: Scottie Lewis (Florida, SG, Freshman)

Quick and competitive, Lewis should immediately start building a reputation as one of the nation's peskiest wing defenders. His explosiveness will lead to highlights in transition and off drives.

He can struggle with control offensively, both as a shot-creator and finisher. But enough flashes of his pull-up and spot-up abilities—both types of jumpers are capably in his bag—could make scouts willing to stay patient through his wild layup attempts and inconsistent three-point shooting

[UNO Gracias]

Did anyone remember to get gas for the tank?

[13 - 3]

It would be nice if we could get LaMelo.

[13 - 3]

Someone on Tigerdroppings suggests we trade Jrue for 15 more draft picks.

[Pelicanidae]

It's still incredibly early, but I guess I might as well live up to my sig on here and drop some of my early-year thoughts on the next draft. Obviously this is subject to change, there's still a huge amount of basketball to see.

Essentially, this is a very very very guard heavy draft. We do not need massive tons of guards. But depending on where we fall, a guard might be the best player available, and there's always a good argument for draft BPA especially early into a rebuild where players may be shifting around a lot. So I'm not going to say ''these are the three guys we should draft!!'' or anything like that. But here's my top three guys by archetype, in no real order.

Guards:
1) Tyrese Maxey
2) Cole Anthony
3) LaMelo Ball

Wings:
1) Deni Avdija
2) Jaden McDaniels
3) Isaac Okoro

Bigs:
1) Amar Sylla
2) Oscar Thsiebwe
3) Onyeka Okongwu

This is just going by memory so I might be just forgetting someone, but that's how I have it right now.

Scottie Lewis is a good prospect though

[Pelicanidae]

Also, massive lol at them having James Wiseman going 4th. He probably will, just off hype and size, but he has had a godawful career so far in so many ways. They say ''talent-wise, Wiseman is a No. 1 Overall candidate''. Like, in which universe?

In 21 EYBL games, Wiseman averaged 15.2 points per game on 52.7% true shooting. Which is bad. In those same games, he shot 55.4% from the FT line and only 14.8% from 3. None of that is encouraging. He doesn't even use the fact that he's huge to his advantage: he's 7'1 with a 9'6 standing reach, and he still spends most of his offense on fade-aways and hook shots instead of just laying it in or dunking.

And he can't pass either. In the EYBL circuit, he put up a total of 14 assists in those 21 games, to 44 turnovers. That's not cause he's selfish either, it's that he has two modes: ''I'm gonna score'' or ''I'm gonna pass'', he can't fuse the two, so if he decides to pass it doesn't matter what the defense does, he just forces something. And yeah, the opposite way means that he can get stuck in black-hole mode sometimes. The dude just cannot read the flow of an offense.

Then you get the argument some people have, where they say he's a great defensive prospect cause of his size and wingspan, and they point out his block rate which is fairly impressive. They miss that his block rate is not a product of great defensive timing, but instead, a product of jumping at literally everything, swatting at random. He's almost always out of position as a result, and shot-fakes take him out of his shoes every time. And he jumps at guys waaaay smaller than him too, which is just ridiculous and unnecessary.

He's a first round pick just off his size, length, and hope of growth, but he's not a candidate for number 1. Cole Anthony, Tyrese Maxey, Nico Mannion, Theo Maledon, Deni Avdija, Anthony Edwards, etc, are all way better prospects.

[13 - 3]

Did anyone remember to get gas for the tank?

Ready to roll.