Could also see the Spurs passing on a PG altogether and signing a vet PG for this season in hopes that they can land Nolan Traoré in next year's draft tbh. Not a really a fan of putting all your eggs in one basket so to speak, but I guarantee he's all over the Spurs radar already. A 6'4+ multi-dimensional PG who plays great defense, can pass, shoot, attack the basket, play both on and off-ball, and who also excels in PnR is PATFO's wet dream (and any NBA front office's tbh). He's going to be a hot commodity in next year's draft imo.
Last edited by BatManu20; 05-29-2024 at 04:24 PM.
If we draft Dilly and Edey, is Edey allowed to throw Dilly at the basket while he's holding the ball? Could work, is that legal? Then when teams catch on he could maybe dump or alley to Wemby mid flight.
This just dawned on me, since he is only a buck 60 he could easily be thrown by a strong player. The Dilly Alley Oop. Or maybe jump off someone's shoulders, like a small child in a swimming pool does.
"If you don't like that, you don't like NBA basketball"
Risk repeating myself but with some new stuff.
- Dude apparently shot 21/45 contested on threes, 21/43 uncontested on threes. That's 46.7% contested/guarded on threes, 48.8% on open threes. This means... it had absolutely no effect on him when he was guarded. That's completely wild to me.
- Talk about him being like Trae Young or whatever, but he shot way, way better in college than Trae did. It's not even close. (Sheppard, too, of course.)
- He's an instant advantage creator. His handling and quickness, the hesitations, spins, feints, step-backs, give him space very, very quickly. With his (in college) ability to hit even with defenders, he's potentially a big threat.
- He lobs the out of the ball. He loved lobbing to Kentucky's bigs on rolls, in transition, on cuts. He was always tossing lobs. His chemistry with Ivisic was particularly great. If you're complaining about guys not getting Wemby looks or not trusting themselves on delivery, that's not a problem here. If he sees Wemby around the rim, I imagine the ball's going up.
- He's clutch. Numerous games, he was digging Kentucky back. In the famous loss against Oakland he seemed like he could do it again, nailed a really tough 3 at the 1:03 mark to cut it to one, and... never saw the ball again.
- The defense... Honestly, it's horrible, ing terrible. I've never seen such bad rotations, decisions, not knowing what the to do. But he did improve. His high school experience was with Kanye West Academy and Overtime Elite, no place where he got a lick of defensive coaching. It was absurd the things he was doing earlier in the season. But he did get better. Honestly, he did. And he's active, like, calling switches and chattering. He's just still bad at it. Worst, to me, is that he ball-watches, disengages, gives up on plays. That is horrible. When he nearly beat LSU on a dagger shot (after multiple dagger plays), his ball-watching cost them the game because his man secured the offensive rebound on LSU's subsequent miss.
That's horrible. BUT... if you can get him to buy-in, get that he's losing possessions and games because he's not fully in... I honestly, dear-to-God, think he can be okay on defense. The size is not great, but below a threshold it doesn't really matter. What DOES matter for him is that he's quick. Against Oakland, he was actually their only decent defender (still was helping off of Gohlke for some ing reason), because of his quickness. Screens don't really seem to affect him. He's like a water bug getting around them. It's... the rest.
Verdict: Best player in the draft, to me. Very easily, and then there's some talent behind. His ceiling is very high, if you can teach him to become alright on defense. His handles are elite, his quickness is elite, his shooting is elite, and he's clutch. If, at worst, you have a guy who can only come off the bench, a guy who you throw in there for a complete change of pace from Wembanyama-centric offense, a guy who when you're down twelve points can maybe start reeling off threes and getting into the lane, then that's still worth a #8 or even a #4 pick in this draft to me.
Last edited by Mr. Body; 05-29-2024 at 04:31 PM.
Almost zero chance Spurs draft Edey imo. Would be shocked. I think OKC takes Edey at 12 to help combat Wemby. They lack size on the interior as is and they know Chet cant guard Wemby. Edey cant either, but it gives them some interior help to combat him and teams like Minny. Unless Cody Williams is available at 12, I wouldn't surprised if they took Edey at that spot.
Probably some dumb rule against it, like in football how you can't jump on someone to block a kick. I guess it does carry some elevated injury risk.
Hundred percent agree. The worst defender in the draft, to me, isn't like a Dillingham, who really was trying and improving, but didn't really know what he was doing. The worst was Isaiah Collier, who just didn't give a crap.
He's too risky for the 4 when you can have either Castle or Sheppard there. Sheppard can at least maybe be the next Mark Price or something, he's a safer pick that Dilly. Better shooter, bigger, better defender. I think Dilly is a nice flyer at 8 though. If he can outscore his man, then I am not sure why I care about his defense? Can someone explain that to my caveman self?
Sheppard wasn't good enough for full time point guard duties in college, he has zero chance whatsoever to be a point guard in the NBA.
Why is Sheppard a better shooter? Please find me some of his deep shots off the dribble, contested or while he's still moving?
Then you look at Dillingham's shot selection and he looks like the second coming of AI with deeper range.
I'm not saying it's going to translate to the NBA, but all of Sheppard's shots look so cherry picked his percentage becomes irrelevant.
Better defender? If he can't be POA, it doesn't matter.
Look at Tre. He gives maximum effort every single possession, has solid understanding on how he should position himself, but he's just too small and gets torched by every good playmaker.
1/10 or 3/10 defender isn't much of a difference for us.
Dillingham has been a roller coaster for me. My first sim I mocked with Cody Williams and Rob Dillingham back in March or something. If you watched UK Wildcats it was a horse race with Dillingham first, then discovering Reed Sheppard and kind of going back and forth as to who would be best in SA.
Sheppard came out really high in Givony's data based board and he had a huge game with the game winner and the balance shifted and people wanted Sheppard more suddenly.
I'm basically almost all the way back to Dillingham now but as you can see it's a back-and-forth tough choice. I could see Dillingham become a force or a flop.
My problem with Dillingham is if his shot isn't falling what does he give you? With Castle he gives you size and defense, with Sheppard he gives you defense and BBIQ, but Dilly has a bad shooting night and how is he not just Branham with extra steps?
Comes down to will Dilly learn defense vs will Castle learn to shoot? Which is more likely?
I can see the case for Castle over Dillingham at 4. I don't love it but if you can manage to get both of them (or Risacher/Dilly) it's a coup. Sheppard though, no, even though I like him and he'd make a nice consolation prize. I'd prefer to take a swing at Dillingham's upside all day. To me he has more potential to raise this team's ceiling than anyone else in the draft.
Dillingham can become a great playmaker and impact the game even with his shot isn't falling.
Sheppard and Vassell at guards would mean we need a point forward.
I can see those rationales, I just feel like Dillingham is the best talent and potentially transforms the Spurs. I also think he could go higher than anyone right now expects or that Detroit/Charlotte will get smart about this. I like Sheppard, but think he's more limited than I'd wish. Anyway, anyway I can get Castle and Dillingham out of this draft, I feel like I nailed my hopes.
So first off you agree with me that Sheppard is the better defender so that's a start, even though you do about a good a job of articulating that as the Fonz trying to say he's wrong (can't do). Now the part about Sheppard shoots 10% higher, but that's because he takes easier shots. Pretty shaky, but why not just admit you have a man crush on Dilly and be done with it? I don't have a problem with you just saying Dilly is more dynamic, so he's your choice. The jury is out as to whether either is a PG solution, that much they have in common.
I dedicate this video to you, my friend:
If his shot isn't falling, he's super quick and can get into the lane. Pretty different than Parker, but they both could more or less get to wherever they wanted to go. Dillingham's playmaking is pretty underrated. Not a genius passer, but he makes snap passes and sees them well, most important he places them well. He got more assists per 36 minutes than any first round PG prospect other than Kolek, including Sheppard.
Now, if the question is whether his shooting never translates, or if he just has off-games, that's another question. But even if he doesn't shoot 44% from three and is more like 38% or 39% that's... actually better than Trae by some ticks.
I'd say that you don't worry about next year's draft and you draft the best players that are available. If that is a PG (say, Dillingham) and you're in a position to take Traore next year and he is the best player and fit available, you do it and figure it out then. Worst case scenario is that you have two really good PGs on your team, and Traore can probabl play next to a guy like Dillingham anyway. Sounds like a good problem to have.
That's actually better than anyone on the Spurs team. no I am not counting McDoormat
Him being better doesn't mean he's good enough of a defender.
No scouting report has him as POA.
I'm not that high on Dillingham, but I acknowledge that he's one of tbe few players with star potential in this class.
Sheppard definitely isn't one of them.
Agreed 100%. That's why I said I don't like putting all your eggs in one basket. Too risky, and I'm confident (I hope) that PATFO are smarter than that. You take BPA, especially iff it's at a position pf need, period. W just food for thought.
Is there one player his size getting minutes in the playoffs
Irving?
Pass on this dude
There are/were plenty of players Dillingham's height making an impact in the playoffs. He gives up some pounds to all of them but he isn't short compared to McConnell, Brunson, Irving, etc. McConnell is 6'1" with a 6'0" wingspan and was as essential as anyone for the Pacers' run.
I’ve mentioned this before, but is anyone concerned about the wear and tear his body takes on some of these self-creation opportunities?
If he’s injured atm, why do you guys think that is?
His landings on some of these jumpers is extremely awkward and adds up through the course of the season.
I remember the Spurs had to teach TP how to land on some of his forays into the paint or risk shortening his career.
How do you do that on Jumpers?
So there is no player his size in the playoffs
Pass on this dude
Another trea
Not particularly fond of him. Think he'll put up some high scoring games, but how much will he give up on the other end? He might pair well with a player like Stephen castle. Won't be upset if we draft him, but he's not at the top of my list either.
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