The age difference is development that has already happened, and he’s still rated lower. He’s playing against younger less physically developed players. 22/23 year old players are frequently fools gold.
Should we consider Carlton Carrington with the group of pg's who worth a look at #8? Not close to a finish product but his game reassemble andrew nembhard and has potential as a two way pg who is solid across all board
The age difference is development that has already happened, and he’s still rated lower. He’s playing against younger less physically developed players. 22/23 year old players are frequently fools gold.
Last edited by exstatic; 3 Weeks Ago at 04:57 AM.
Who won the game? Also, the NCAA hasn’t outlawed fighting through screens like the NBA, so every pick and roll is not a switch. Clingan plays a smart, sophisticated brand of ball on a team that went back to back. Edey is big.
If you switched Edey and Clingan UConn wins by 25 points and Purdue isn’t even there. Since Ex is the one who responded it makes me even more certain Edey will have the superior career.
Guys, this player seems interesting hmmmmmm
I just realised, nikola topic is a 6'6" tj mcconnell
To our European friends, what’s the latest on Topic?
I feel like he will get levered up by the media machine the moment he does a workout. Still a LONG way to go before the draft.
Dadiet is clearly a long term project. He is very young with nice tools: he is long (6'8" without shoes), smooth, can handle the ball and has a decent outside shoot. A lot of work will be needed to make him NBA material but there is an intriguing basis to work on.
I haven't heard if he would be fine with a draft&stash scenario but I doubt it. A two-way contract might also not be an option because he should have a buyout with his German team. I guess he would be looking at something similar to what Sidy Cissoko get: a standard NBA contract and playing almost the whole season in G-League. If the feedback from NBA teams isn't good, he should withdraw from this draft.
I'm not against picking him at #35 but it will depend a lot on whether or not Spurs have a roster spot for him. Will they pick a SF at #4 or #8? Are they sticking with Cissoko? Will they sign a vet SF in FA? ...
He's rated lower because he's older, shorter and played for a less prestigious program.
This is the same mistake people made that allowed the likes of Brogdon, Hart, White, Jaquez Jr., Podziemski, etc. to slip through the cracks.
I don't look at it that way. I look at it like, what's the likelihood that player X (in this case, Castle) is going to become what player Y (in this case, Carter) already projects as and I don't think it's high. Let's also not act like being 22 means one is a finished product.
Last edited by TD 21; 3 Weeks Ago at 09:57 AM.
For people who want Castle at 4, what kind of shooting are you projecting him to have? As in, do you see him as an average to above average low volume catch-and-shoot 3 point guy like Okoro, or are you projecting him to be able to hit 3s off the dribble at a decent percentage as well? I 100% buy his defense and ability to play off-ball, and 75% buy his playmaking ability, but I'm looking for reasons to get over his shooting concerns.
For full disclosure, I have Sheppard/Castle as far and away my favorite draft combination for our 2 picks. I think they each have very high ceilings, usable floors, and actually synergize with each others' strengths and weaknesses extremely well when you play them together especially around a Wemby-centered motion offense.
Tristen Newton is such an interesting case-- he transfers to UConn as a senior and wins an NCAA Championship, then returns for a second season with them (due to the covid exception) and wins another championship, plus the Most Outstanding Player award for the tournament... there aren't too many guys out there who can say they started on back to back NCAA championship teams in this era. Not projected highly, but I hope he can carve out a situation where he makes it in the league as a back up PG for somebody.
Drafting a back up big should not be out of the equation, since that's definitely a need we have on the team. We'd just have to dump Collins, but if Clingan is projected to be a Gobert type player you would have to seriously consider him if he falls to #8
Risacher haters are going to look really silly a year from now
Williams seems to be one of those "fluid" athletes at best while Holland looks like he's moving around on springs. I know they only show a couple makes but could the resident ST shot doctors tell me what's broken about Holland's jumper?
Holland seems so sketchy to me. Topic, Buzelis, Holland are my big 3 to avoid imho and not saying they won't make it, in fact I could see each one carving out a value niche and could see Topic being a downright star. Just wary of the bust potential and medicals in Topic's case.
Holland actually looks fine there in that clip. Explosive athleticism and the shot mechanics looks admittedly sustainable. There was a big burst last week on media about his shot being literally "broken" and there was a shot chart of all forwards in the 2024 draft and they were almost all in the same range as a group of dots and then Holland was waaaaay off on his own in a quadrant of inefficiency on I believe FT% and 3G%. Adding insult to injury, considering Holland was playing G League doesn't it seem like he did less against even easier opposition compared to his peers?
Spurs are said to need shooting and I'm not sure how Holland fits that pursuit. Barring personnel changes I'm less inclined to desire Holland but I'm intrigued that at 6'8ish you could play him up at the 4 PF and just let him feast on cuts to the basket and fast break finishing/and-1s
I am up and down on Holland as he clearly is one of the best athletes in this draft as Chump says it seems like he is moving on springs. But, as you mentioned when you start looking at his shooting and finishing they are some major concerns with his game. One of the biggest problems for him is he played for Ignite and that was a show as that team was not constructed or coached right. So you had him play a lot of PF in High School and then you had him switch to basically playing the point so you kind of saw what Sochan was going through when he was running the offense.
I agree I think he could be a guy who can come in and rebound and play really good defense and then run the floor and get some easy transition points and back door dunks. I think if you paired him with Sheppard that would be so much better for him and you could see a much better production and growth from him.
Thanks. Intriguing prospect but, like you said, Spurs are likely to find themselves in a roster crunch sooner rather than later and that complicates things. The clock is ticking to put together a competent roster around Wemby, multiple lottery picks are coming in (2 this year, 2-4 next year) plus there's a bunch of developing guys on the roster (Branham, Wesley, Barlow, Cissoko) so I'm not sure how much room for 2nd round long term projects there is.
Personally, I think we're closing in on a decision on Wesley and Branham, if the team doesn't see progress I wouldn't be surprised if they don't pick up their 4th year option and deal them by the trade deadline. As for Sidy, there's a lot to like about him, but the extent to which his shot is broken is concerning, I'd give him another year with the specific mandate to work on it and see how far along he is a year from now, if he doesn't show any progress it'll be difficult to justify continued investment in in a hopeless shooter (same goes for Wesley especially).
So all in all this wouldn't rule out Dadiet for me but it'd take some of the appeal to draft him, when perhaps you can find other guys at that spot who are more ready to contribut right away (Karaban, KJ Simpson, Ajay Mitc , etc).
Well, Blake Wesley's highlights could make you believe he was a good shooter too. But when you dig a bit deeper:
Yeah, I saw that.
I'm asking what's actually broken.
I’m still back and forth on the 4th pick, I’m leaning Castle or Dillingham. At 8 I’m starting to become pretty firm on drafting Tidjane Salaun, a lot of upside and honestly has played solid as of late.
I just want a dog on defense. Can't afford anymore Keldon's on the roster at this juncture.
You aren't drafting Castle for his shooting
but his shooting/offensive game should be good enough to keep him on the floor bringing the positive skills to the team that you drafted him for.
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