Draft projects to watch besides Wembanyama & Henderson

[rascal]

Branham was discussed in some areas as a top 10 guy potentially. And at least lottery. You're remembering wrong to satisfy your own narrative. Wesley was projected later but not after 20.

I never saw anywhere he was a top 10 pick. AJ Griffin was discussed as a possible top 10 pick who fell.

[Mr. Body]

Here's Wesley projected at 16

https://www.si.com/nba/2022/06/23/nb...al-projections

Here's Malaki projected at 15

https://www.nbcsports.com/washington...-final-edition

I mean it goes on and on.

The mock drafts are beside the point. Theyre just paid yobbos who know barely more than we do. What matters is what the players were hearing. More to the point, what matters isn't end mock drafts or even mock drafts during the process but what they were hearing when they decided to stay or remain.

As far as Jaden Hood-Shifino, I follow Indian pretty closely as an alumus. He's only showing flashes here or there of what he can eventually be. Unlike Wesley, who was on a bad ND team and could either transfer and start over with a new college squad, or Branham, who blew up as the season went and was at some point getting top 10 nibbles, and who probably couldn't improve his stock too much, Hood-Schifino has a lot of room to grow.

I could see him declaring and staying in the draft, but if he goes at 20, he's leaving a lot of money on the table. Unless he really puts it together and IU makes a good run in the Tournament, I'm not sure he doesn't go back and becomes one of the best players in the NCAA and gets in the conversation for top 8 or better.

[Mr. Body]

Watched some college tonight.

Cam Whittmore looks fluid and a pretty good defender. Didn't impact things on offense too much. I'll need to watch more and didn't catch the whole game. Right now I don't really see a top 10 guy, but again, everyone supposedly in that range is pretty flawed.

I like Gradey . He did drop 26 tonight. He appears to be a good athlete and pretty game.

Jett Howard I don't really get. He's passive on offense, doesn't rebound, doesn't play great defense.

Neither of last two players are projected anywhere close to our pick however.

[rascal]

We'll just have to wait and see but if JHS is projected to go in the top 17 or so I'm saying he is going in the draft.

[Mr. Body]

As basketball fans awaited the results of the NBA Draft Lottery on May 17th, Draft analyst Sam Vecenie of The Athletic went on to praise Branham. He said the talented freshman is getting plenty of looks in the top-10.

"I keep hearing extremely positive feedback about Branham. I’ve heard from sources that he is at least getting looks from teams in the top 10 largely because of his shot creation and shooting ability that developed this season. "

[mo7888]

Question for you guys that know the rules better than I do... Can Toronto trade this year's pick at the draft?

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

Question for you guys that know the rules better than I do... Can Toronto trade this year's pick at the draft?

Yes because technically they’d be trading the rights to the selected player, not the pick itself. It’s a sort of a loophole.

[exstatic]

Question for you guys that know the rules better than I do... Can Toronto trade this year's pick at the draft?

I don’t think so,because they traded their pick to us last year. Now, they could make a pick during the draft , and trade the rights to the player,but they can’t trade the actual pick itself.

[mo7888]

Thanks guys.... I'm trying to look ahead to see which teams might be willing to move their picks from the late lottery to the mid first round. So far, Orlando and Toronto look like the most likely candidates, even if Toronto's is technically them picking the player and moving him into an agreed trade that won't happen until after the draft. I'm not sure that we have the players either team would want though...

[JPB]

Here's Wesley projected at 16

https://www.si.com/nba/2022/06/23/nb...al-projections

Here's Malaki projected at 15

https://www.nbcsports.com/washington...-final-edition

I mean it goes on and on.

The mock drafts are beside the point. Theyre just paid yobbos who know barely more than we do. What matters is what the players were hearing. More to the point, what matters isn't end mock drafts or even mock drafts during the process but what they were hearing when they decided to stay or remain.

As far as Jaden Hood-Shifino, I follow Indian pretty closely as an alumus. He's only showing flashes here or there of what he can eventually be. Unlike Wesley, who was on a bad ND team and could either transfer and start over with a new college squad, or Branham, who blew up as the season went and was at some point getting top 10 nibbles, and who probably couldn't improve his stock too much, Hood-Schifino has a lot of room to grow.

I could see him declaring and staying in the draft, but if he goes at 20, he's leaving a lot of money on the table. Unless he really puts it together and IU makes a good run in the Tournament, I'm not sure he doesn't go back and becomes one of the best players in the NCAA and gets in the conversation for top 8 or better.

Lol, that's right it goes on and on where nor Branham or Wesley were projected as "at least lottery", as you said yourself, in the main, serious mocks drafts, like the ones you even posted . (cos no, 15 and 16 are not lottery and 15 or 16 is exactly the pick you first mentioned to say a player would stay in college)...

And most importantly, none of these mock drafts had Branham or Wesley as top 10, as you stated twice, (unable to find one proof) even going as far as saying I was rewritting history to prove my point (don't you think I also checked the exact same mocks drafts, the two you posted are first two results on Google).

And then when you realized you were wrong and couldn't find elements proving your points, using and posting yourself mock drafts contradicting them... "The mock drafts are beside the point"..."What matters is what the players were hearing"... because you knew what players were hearing last year ofc...

Branham was discussed in some areas as a top 10 guy potentially. And at least lottery. You're remembering wrong to satisfy your own narrative. Wesley was projected later but not after 20.

Actually I was wrong, you didn't post the first two results from Google... You "forgot" the second one who has Wesley as... #22 (you saw it ofc).

https://nbadraftroom.com/p/2022-nba-mock-draft/

Who was rewritting history to satisfy his own narrative?

[Seventyniner]

I don’t think so,because they traded their pick to us last year. Now, they could make a pick during the draft , and trade the rights to the player,but they can’t trade the actual pick itself.

I think the Raptors actually can trade their 2023 first on draft night, even though they might end up having to send their 2024 first to the Spurs. My understanding is that the Stepien Rule rolls over on draft night because it only says you can't make a trade that could potentially leave you without a first round pick in two consecutive future drafts, while on draft night this year 2023 picks will no longer be in the future. I also believe that on draft night the 7-year window for trading draft picks also rolls forward, meaning a team could trade 2030 picks on the day of the 2023 draft.

But that's just semantics anyway. You're right that they can just agree to a trade and select the player the other team wants so that the pick never actually changes hands. I'm pretty sure this is how all draft day pick trades work anyway.

[Vince Carter's ankle]

I don’t think so,because they traded their pick to us last year. Now, they could make a pick during the draft , and trade the rights to the player,but they can’t trade the actual pick itself.

But "Celtics" traded their 2023 pick to "Pacers" for Brogdon.

[JPB]

Watching Tennessee-Alabama right now. Like Miller aggressiveness on defense. Very active and fast with his hands.

(damn auto-spelling)

[Mr. Body]

Watched some college last night. Can't shake the feeling that after 1 and 2 there's a cliff.

[exstatic]

Watched some college last night. Can't shake the feeling that after 1 and 2 there's a cliff.

Pretty much the consensus. I’ve heard analysis that it’s flat from 3-10 or even 3-15.

[Mr. Body]

Pretty much the consensus. I’ve heard analysis that it’s flat from 3-10 or even 3-15.

There are plenty, including people on this board, who claim it's an exceptional class, though. I just don't see it. Are there players I like? Sure. Are there players I'd put early in that range? Absolutely. But it feels more like a very down class in terms of overall talent past Wembanyama.

Edit: It feels like the Duncan year, with Wembanyama a worse Duncan and the rest sort of being Ron Mercer and Chauncey Billups.

[exstatic]

But "Celtics" traded their 2023 pick to "Pacers" for Brogdon.

Toronto has an FRP obligation for 2024. Boston didn’t have future obligations the next season when they traded for Brogdon.

Say the draft is at 7 PM, and someone calls at 5 wanting the TOR pick. Even though it’s only 2 hrs. in the future, it’s a future pick, and that would be two future pick obligations, 2 hours, and a year away to San Antonio.

On draft or before draft night, TOR trying to trade the 2023 PICK would be a no no, but they can make the pick and trade the rights.

[rjv]

Watched some college last night. Can't shake the feeling that after 1 and 2 there's a cliff.

it's hard to say with the college game. sometimes the games just get ugly. for instance, i watched the arkansas/a&m game last night and that zone the aggies threw out was effective; it's just not the most aesthetic basketball. that being said, there doesn't seem to be a stand out in the college ranks at the moment.

[exstatic]

There are plenty, including people on this board, who claim it's an exceptional class, though. I just don't see it. Are there players I like? Sure. Are there players I'd put early in that range? Absolutely. But it feels more like a very down class in terms of overall talent past Wembanyama.

Edit: It feels like the Duncan year, with Wembanyama a worse Duncan and the rest sort of being Ron Mercer and Chauncey Billups.

There’s some value. A team just needs to decide if it wants to pick a mystery box with a high bust chance (Thompson twins) or maybe a low usage toolsy player like Anthony Black. Miller looks good, but you worry about someone coming out of the UA program at this point. I’d categorize it as a pretty normal draft in this day and age. People are trying to spin it as five deep, but it’s really 2 1/2 deep, Wemby, Scoot, and maybe Miller if he checks out off the court.

I’m more interested in guys mocking towards the back half of the top 10. Nick Smith is another mystery box, so so shooting numbers in HS, almost no college visibility. I don’t see Jarace’s shooting numbers holding up. Low volume, and his FTs are 60%. Keyonte has some promise. His shoot will probably come around, but lots of TOs. Cam Whitmore has some tools, but 12.4 points on 26% usage? I like AnthonyBlack. He has some negatives, but stronger positives,and his profile looks a lot like Sochans last year.

[Mr. Body]

it's hard to say with the college game. sometimes the games just get ugly. for instance, i watched the arkansas/a&m game last night and that zone the aggies threw out was effective; it's just not the most aesthetic basketball. that being said, there doesn't seem to be a stand out in the college ranks at the moment.

Admittedly I wasn't paying much attention to college or the draft two years ago, but it's hard to shake the feeling that there were much more dominant college players than this year. Keegan Murray and Jaden Ivey were much more impressive than most of this crop. There was much more consistency from players like Griffen.

Of course a good number of players were really starting to show themselves from this point on, the grinder of late-conference games, conference tournaments, and the NCAA tournament really showing some players' talents, such as Sochan and Duren.

[Mr. Body]

There’s some value. A team just needs to decide if it wants to pick a mystery box with a high bust chance (Thompson twins) or maybe a low usage toolsy player like Anthony Black. Miller looks good, but you worry about someone coming out of the UA program at this point. I’d categorize it as a pretty normal draft in this day and age. People are trying to spin it as five deep, but it’s really 2 1/2 deep, Wemby, Scoot, and maybe Miller if he checks out off the court.

I’m more interested in guys mocking towards the back half of the top 10. Nick Smith is another mystery box, so so shooting numbers in HS, almost no college visibility. I don’t see Jarace’s shooting numbers holding up. Low volume, and his FTs are 60%. Keyonte has some promise. His shoot will probably come around, but lots of TOs. Cam Whitmore has some tools, but 12.4 points on 26% usage? I like AnthonyBlack. He has some negatives, but stronger positives,and his profile looks a lot like Sochans last year.

There are definitely players I like -- Black, George, Miller -- the question is whether I want to spend top 5 pick money on them. I guess there's a certain point where I'm just whining that we'll not get as good a player (or ready a player) as some draft classes, but in the end a high pick is just being first in line for a range of players. If that's the best player at #4 one year, but he'd be the best player at #10 another year, there's nothing to do about that.

[duncan2150]

There are plenty, including people on this board, who claim it's an exceptional class, though. I just don't see it. Are there players I like? Sure. Are there players I'd put early in that range? Absolutely. But it feels more like a very down class in terms of overall talent past Wembanyama.

Edit: It feels like the Duncan year, with Wembanyama a worse Duncan and the rest sort of being Ron Mercer and Chauncey Billups.

I don't see a lot of that Mr Body, imo people are really high on Wemby and then Scoot. These two make this draft good lol

After that i think we all agree there's no sure thing.

Imo it's really difficut to say this draft looks like the 97 one, like a lot of drafts you need 2-3 years.to evaluate the players. In this particular draft the injuries don't help ( Whitehead- Smith Jr) but to summarize you may right this draft could give two FP and then a bunch of really good role players....

[DesignatedT]

As far as Black vs Miller goes, Black just seems like he's good at everything. Not sure his ceiling offensively is as high as Miller but I'd lean Black right now between the two after watching quite a bit of both of them this year. He just seems like he impacts the game in more ways as compared to Miller.

[JPB]

There are plenty, including people on this board, who claim it's an exceptional class, though. I just don't see it. Are there players I like? Sure. Are there players I'd put early in that range? Absolutely. But it feels more like a very down class in terms of overall talent past Wembanyama.

Edit: It feels like the Duncan year, with Wembanyama a worse Duncan and the rest sort of being Ron Mercer and Chauncey Billups.

I'd agree with that. There's some intriguing prospects after #2 and you can never really know before you see them in the league, but I didn't see anything yet leading me to think this is that great of a draft. Maybe it will end up as nice one, but I'm not sure what could lead to think it's exceptional.

I like Brandon Miller for example, and I have him as my #3, but it's more about potential than conviction he's a future all star. Same for most guys after #2.

[mo7888]

There are plenty, including people on this board, who claim it's an exceptional class, though. I just don't see it. Are there players I like? Sure. Are there players I'd put early in that range? Absolutely. But it feels more like a very down class in terms of overall talent past Wembanyama.

Edit: It feels like the Duncan year, with Wembanyama a worse Duncan and the rest sort of being Ron Mercer and Chauncey Billups.

I'm definitely one of those.... I do see a 'cliff' after the first two, but it's simply a cliff because the first two are so high... so I've got it as a high plateau basically... I see a drop off from 1 to 2...a drop off after two and flat between 3-7 and a slight drop off after that.. 17 or 18 (depending on where I end up on Jalen Hood-Schifino) is where my next big drop off is..

Tier 1
1. Victor Wembanyama
Tier 2
2. Scoot Henderson
Tier 3
3. Nick Smith Jr
4. Cam Whitmore
5. Brandon Miller
6. Amen Thompson
7. Ausar Thompson
Tier 4
8. Gradey
9. Keyonte George
10. Anthony Black
11. Jarace Walker
12. Gregory Jackson II
13. Kris Murray
Tier 5
14. Jett Howard
15. Brian Sensabaugh
16. Kyle Filipowski
17. Cason Wallace