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Well this team very likely will be getting a solid pick. Even when Zion comes back the hole could be to big to climb out of.
Some of the prospects
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AUxq8atysoo&t=181s
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wg4XKnzXec&t=17s
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lWgeJCGV0UA
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KIGCotrwwUY&t=25s
I have no idea if this thread will even be particularly relevant by the time draft season comes around, but I'm throwing my hat in the ring.
I've got all my weight behind Tyrese Maxey as a PG prospect.
Massive fan of Isaac Okoro, and I predict that he's going to shoot up a lot of media draft boards this year. SI put out a mock draft recently where he didn't even crack the top 30, which is beyond a joke. He's got comfortable top 10 talent in a draft as flat as this. If you need a wing and you have a top 5 pick, it's between Okoro and Avdija, imo. He's only played 2 college games so far, but he's averaging 14.5/3/1 on 73/50/63 splits. Dude plays absolute genius level defense, or at least he did at the high school level, and he's shown signs of shooting threes off movement and step-backs so far during the first two games at Auburn. Hugely excited to watch him develop this year.
Oscar Tshiebwe is a little older than most prospects people like to take early in the first round (we all love drafting those 18 year olds, and he'll be 20 by draft date, 21 during his rookie year) but he's a legit talent. Dude is beyond athletic, has great instincts all around, and has shown a lot of touch at the rim. He's not a shooter or anything yet, and I wouldn't take him top 5 or anything, but if we end up wanting to take a big around the late lottery, I think he'll show himself to be worthy of that spot.
Also a fan of Onyeka Okongwu for C position drafting. He's going to be 19 by draft day, turns 20 during his rookie season, so again he's not that super super super mega young guy that some people like to go after, but he's still young. Obviously only 2 games so far, the season is very young, but he's averaging 20pts, 11.5 rbds, and 4.5 blocks on 73% TS so far in NCAA competition. Through 2 games, his net rating is nearly +60, and his ST/BLK percentages are off the chain.
Basketball.
Wiseman isn't impressive at all.
No point with Wiseman when you already have Hayes.Originally Posted by Taker597
Contributor
That's not a wise way to draft. I would want our team to trust the scouts and take the BPA even if it's someone we already think we have a similar player.
Like imagine Didi is everything he appears to be in Australia, and then NAW continues to develop does that mean we shouldn't take Anthony Edwards? Another 2 in the 6'4", 6'5" range with somewhat similar skillsets? I see no flaw in stacking talent and seeking to either use that talent to acquire bigger fish or just be a deep, talented young team.
Nope.
Been out on Wiseman for a while. Still think he'll end up being a top 20 pick just off potential and size and stuff like that, but whenever I see someone call him a legit prospect for the #1 pick, I just wonder what the hell they've been smoking.
Memphis allowed 20/32 in the paint. Woah... They call the next AD, but he lookong like a dark skinned Kanter with NCAA wanting to hunt him down instead of Turkey.
Yeah, he's nothing like AD. AD had a relatively limited offensive game in college and didn't really try to push that envelope very much, while at the same time being an all-time great defensive prospect. Obviously in the NBA his game shifted a lot, but that was the general view of him based on what he did in college.
Wiseman's kind of the reverse. He's also got a pretty limited offensive game, but he's constantly trying to do face-up stuff, and he's not nearly as defensively gifted. Obviously he's super tall and has that 7'6 wingspan and everything, so he's got some fair defensive value just in terms of size-in-the-way, and of course he could always develop somewhat as the season goes on, but there's relatively little that he's shown so far that makes you think ''wow, this guy is going to be a DPOY candidate''.
Still super early in the college season of course, he could always just hit his stride in December and really show some of the skill that it would take for me to put him legit in my top 10, but I honestly feel right now that he's not even the best C in this class, let alone in conversation for the best player.
Onyeka Okongwu is absolutely showing more right now, and was also better at the highschool level.
To get back on my guys:
Isaac Okoro just finished up a 116-70 win over CSU Northridge, with 17 points on 8/12 shooting, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks.
Oscar Tshiebwe just finished up a 68-53 win with 20 points, 17 rebounds, 3 blocks, an a steal on 7/12 shooting.
Good 2 See
Remember when some were not impressed by Morant? LOL. He just torched the Jazz D.
i WAS SUPER HIGH ON Morant coming into the league. I wanted to trade up to get that 2nd pick, but Memphis wouldn't budge.
Morant had question marks surrounding his strength, consistency as a shooter, finishing ability, and defense. A lot of that is still true. He's improved his finishing simply by being more willing to take contact than he generally was in college, but otherwise that's all still pretty much true. What Morant had going for him was his court vision, which was good then and is still good now, his touch (which was good then, and still good now), and his ability to pass with either hand off the dribble, which he obviously still has. His athleticism was sort of in between, because he's certainly explosive but only really off of two feet, which limits the functionality a little. His decision making was, and is, still pretty good.
Wiseman has kind of the reverse issue, and unfortunately it's a little more troubling the other way around. Morant's strengths are all pretty much feel and instinct based, his weaknesses are almost all physical. Wiseman's strengths are basically all physical (height, wingspan, build, strength, etc) and his weaknesses are almost all mental (poor decision making, bad shot selection, poor feel, bad at reading offenses on D, etc). That's a little harder to 'fix'.
Will Wiseman improve? Sadly, probably not in college because he's probably not going to play, but still, he has room to grow, but yeah he probably will grow, especially when he gets to the NBA and has a real coach working with him. He's only young, and it's not like he's a god-awful prospect or anything. But to act like the criticism of Wiseman is equal to the criticism of Morant is kind of dodgy.
Don't we really only need to focus on who is coming out this year from Duke?
That'd be Matthew Hurt or Tre Jones, depending on if you need a wing or a guard.Don't we really only need to focus on who is coming out this year from Duke?
Tyrese Maxey praise returns
People just aren't used to the kind of athlete Maxey is. He doesn't run, he glides. Like a college running back in the 80s pic.twitter.com/dTC3ePrknw
— TS% Eliot (@Cosmis) November 23, 2019
The way Maxey competes on defense combined with the smoothness of his game (fluidity rather than absolute burst) kind of reminds me of Jrue, if Jrue was 6'2 and faster.
He's not producing statistically at the level I thought he would, but I think part of that is the role Kentucky is putting him in. His FT% is still sky high (86%) and his form still looks pretty good overall with smoothness and nice elevation, so I'm hoping he finds it and starts hitting from deep.
In other Draft Prospect news, my two Noble Centre Prospects, Onyeka Okongwu and Oscar Tshiebwe, put up big nights again tonight.
Oscar: 21pts, 10rbds, 2blks, 3stls, 76.9%FG, 100% from the line
Onyeka: 17pts, 6rbds, 5blks, 46%FG (on the lower side), 71.4% from the line
Oh that's more like it!
Maxey shows up with a statline that's far more what his talent level actually represents tonight, with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, on 8-of-11 shooting and 4-of-6 from three. 1 turnover in 33 minutes of play. Maxey just has such a quick release. It's a little lower than would be absolutely perfect, but it's so quick that it's kind of not a huge deal. He's pin straight on the jump, which helps. He was really nailing them from NBA range too, just deep bombs. He was a strong shooting prospect prior to college so the fact that his college career started a little shaky from deep was odd to see. His FT% was still stellar, which is encouraging, but glad to see him have a game where he's really punching the 3s in again.
Some of his assists were pretty great 'feel' and instinct passes too. Obviously it's super important to be able to navigate a standard PnR and whatnot, but I am always happy when a PG prospect can throw a picture-perfect lob from 30 feet out off the dribble.
He had a few defensive possessions that reminded me a little of Klay, to be honest. Maxey sometimes uses that same ''run-along'' style of defense that Klay does, where instead of sliding his feet in a more traditional way, he keeps his head and shoulders square but turns his hips and feet towards the baseline on a drive. Isn't the perfect defensive strategy because it does mean step-backs are a little easier to get off on him, but it covers the entire off-hand side of the court from the ball handler that makes it really difficult to get skip passes off and lobs off.
Maxey actually drives, and he has some decent shake too so he becomes a real threat-to-pass, forces defenses to commit to him in a legitimate way.
Jesus you have sold me on Maxey
I also wanna shout out to Nico Mannion. I liked him before the college season started based off some good international play, so I have him in that tier just below Maxey where he could still justifiably be a top 10 pick depending on team needs, and he's been really showing that so far.
Averages are pretty meh, 13.4pts, 4.4asts, but his shooting splits are stellar at 52.4/47.4/78 so far for Arizona. That's really good stuff. He just came off a 22pt 8ast night where he shot 3-of-6 from deep and 6-of-11 from the floor.
He has a patience in the PnR that's really nice, is a willing passer for sure. His shooting form is really nice as well, at least above the waist, as you'd expect from someone shooting 47.4% from deep. Straight back, he releases it pretty much at the top of his forehead so it's fairly central, and he releases just before he hits the apex of the jump which seems like it helps him with rhythm sometimes. Good follow through.
Defensively, he's got nice hands, which showed up in this game. 2 steals, one of them came from a double team where he was the help well beyond the arc. A little aggressive, maybe, but the strip was super clean and he took it and finished it.
Need to watch more film on him in general tbh but good stuff from this game.
I am a Maxey evangelist.
I'm thinking of adding a few more names to my sig, but Maxey will be there all season, I feel. He's great. Just awesome.
1. Cole Anthony
— Lifelong Ravens fan (@advancedstats23) November 25, 2019
2. Anthony Edwards
3. Tyrese Maxey
4. Nico Mannion
5. RJ Hampton
6. Theo Maledon
7. Killian Hayes
8. Isaac Okoro
9. Deni Avdija
10. Tyrese Haliburton
11. Tre Jones
12. Jahmi’us Ramsey
13. Paul Reed
14. Anton Watson
15. Onyeka Okongwu
16. James Wiseman
1/2
I mostly agree with this. I'd make a few changes.
Advancedstats notably really dislikes LaMelo (he has Ball ranked 20th in his rating atm) whereas I still think Ball's a top 10 prospect (probably not top 5 tho). I'd have Okongwu higher, I'd rather take Tshiebwe before Wiseman at 16 if they're both still on the board, and I'd have Okoro and Hampton pretty much swap places, but overall this isn't a terrible list.
I appreciate his support for Tyrese Haliburton, who is a Gem.
Nick Richards throws down the alley oop from Tyrese Maxey. pic.twitter.com/BQxSlELSBg
— Scott Charlton (@Scott_Charlton) November 24, 2019
Here's that Maxey oop I was talking about. I said 30 feet, forgot that the NCAA three point line is closer, so maybe it's more like a 26 or 27 footer, but still.
Here was the play Calipari spoke of. Watch the defender sprint to Tyrese Maxey because he made four treys. He gives a shot fake, drives, draws & lobs to Richards. Set up by capitalizing on his shot. @KentuckyRivals @RowlandRIVALS @Trav_Graf pic.twitter.com/14hUDMziit
— David Sisk (@CoachDavidSisk) November 25, 2019
Here's an example of his willingness to actually just drive and draw defense, that helps open up the lob. That's an easy delivery for a talented passer if you're willing to drive; Lonzo could learn a lot from this.
Yes, Tyrese Maxey was ready to shoot. John Calipari spoke on it after the game. He shoots it best when he steps into it & doesn’t think about it. He was 4 of 6 from deep for 21 points. @KentuckyRivals @RowlandRIVALS @Trav_Graf pic.twitter.com/50rFRwN3TQ
— David Sisk (@CoachDavidSisk) November 25, 2019
And here's one of those threes. Look at that form, his back is dead straight and the release is super quick. This is one of the deep ones too, easily NBA range.
Some Nico Mannion highlights. Yes, if you're unfamiliar with him, he's the white guy with the ridiculously bright hair.
Nico Mannion threading the needle. Whew. pic.twitter.com/xsLLWHbF6X
— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) November 25, 2019
Two awesome passes from Nico Mannion. This guy is really good. pic.twitter.com/WVZwXOLExx
— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) November 25, 2019
Nico Mannion with the shot fake, attacks the closeout and the floater is money pic.twitter.com/teeiYVLtpe
— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) November 25, 2019
This is special stuff from an 18-year-old. Most dudes don't have this pull-up ability in their game. Nico Mannion's awesome. pic.twitter.com/HNbOPl0kl3
— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) November 24, 2019
Nico Mannion has the funk pic.twitter.com/NB8UDzsfVr
— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) November 24, 2019
Give me Lamelo Ball. Kid is a perfect fit at the PG/SG position for this team. His passing is elite. Has a similar skill set and talent as Luka.
One thing I think sometimes people forget about the draft, and I've been guilty of the same thing sometimes so I'm not ''calling someone out'' or anything here, is that we get too caught up on potential and forget that actually, the best guarantee of drafting someone who is a good basketball player is to go out there and draft someone who is good at basketball.
Obviously sometimes you're shooting for upside, and if you're picking top 5 or top 10, or you're a team in desperate rebuild status who needs to hit big on a star, or you legitimately think this hidden gem has MVP potential, then picking for possibility is totally fair. I'm not saying there's no reason to ever draft someone based on potential.
But if what you want is just to guarantee that you hit on someone who is good, your best bet is probably to just draft someone who is really good.
This year's rookie class example is Brandon Clarke. Was an incredible college player, insane defender, great touch (he got more blocks than missed field goals at Gonzaga lol) very cerebral, good and willing passer, high IQ, showed signs of shooting touch from time to time. Got passed over by everyone since he's old (23 at draft date, I think?), went to Memphis with the 21st pick, has arguably been the best rookie this year. Good basketball players are good at basketball.
Literally every single basketball player is being drafted off of potential.. There is no guarantee when drafting someone at all and since when was a player being drafted in the top 10 not good at basketball lol? Good basketball players are good at basketball.. really?
Last edited by GuardianAngel25; 11-25-2019 at 05:34 PM.
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