Other Teams' Drafts

[Mr. Body]

While we're still dealing with our emotions from the draft, here's a place to maybe look at what other teams actually did, after the fallout. How does it impact tank status next year? How does it impact future rivals?

Writing about OKC elsewhere got me thinking. They got Topic, who has a similar style to SGA (pressure the rim), then traded five SRPs for Dillon Jones, who was widely mocked to be in the mid-second round, whose physicality and abilities are somewhat similar to Dort. They're at a point where spending capital is vital, but they have a packed roster yet very specific needs.

Washington had a great draft, in my mind. They went from a loser franchise with Beale and no future to having Coulibaly, Sarr, Bub Carrington and Kyshawn George. It's suddenly a fun team with possibilities.

What about players that were super hyped but are now questionable? When the lights turn on the next day, suddenly things change.

For me, Risacher is now like a forgotten en y. I feel like Sheppard had hot interest pre-draft, but now I wonder if Houston stretched to get him.

[spurraider21]

i really loved the wizards draft. they arent really ready to take the next step since they dont have a "franchise player" yet, nor was there an obvious one in the draft. so for them it made plenty of sense to take swings on guys that may take an extra year or two to get there... and Sarr and Carrington really fit the bill. i didnt love the Deni trade for them, but Bub is a great start to justifying it imo

utah also did quite well. didnt have to make a single trade but wound up with Cody Williams, Collier, and then Filipowski in the 2nd round

hate to say it, but the Lakers landing Knecht is pretty damn great for them. he's an older, plug and play type which is exactly what a team trying to reload wants. this is a team on its last legs, and they dont have time to diddle around while their FRP (last year, Hood-Schifino) is off in the gleague. they needed a guy who could help right away, a guy who could provide them with shooting and scoring at the wing. i dont know what they do with the rest of their offseason, but that was close to a best case scenario for them

i think Kolek to the Knicks is awesome. a good backup for Brunson who can also operate pick and rolls, though i dont know how he works with Thibs on the defensive side

Pacers didnt have a first rounder due to the Siakam trade, but wound up landing Furphy in the 2nd, also about as good as they could have expected. he fits their up and down style in theory


as for stuff i really didnt like...

Ron Holland to Detroit. i liked holland more than basically anybody here, but detroit is probably the single worst fit for him. that team is desperate for shooting and just took ausar last year

Salaun to Hornets... if we were banking on the hornets pick conveying next year, a day 1 contributing rookie is what we wanted to see there.

[tesseractive]

Honestly, I don't see anyone in this draft that I would trade Castle for. Sarr has a chance to be better but is still more of a project, which isn't exactly ideal for the #2 pick.

[SpursFan86]

I think Minnesota did great. Grabbing Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. should really boost their offense…should allow them to not be so reliant on Ant.

Utah got tons of value. I’m sort of indifferent on Cody Williams but getting Collier/Flip where they did without having to move up is solid.

Also hate to say it but Houston did well. Sheppard was the no-brainer at 3 but I think he really compliments their existing team and will add much-needed shooting. He wasn’t a draft pick, but I also like the trade they made to get AJ Griffin in change for the 43rd pick.

[Mr. Body]

Agree about Knecht, feels like a Laker player. They have other problems and bad management, but he's not the horrible choices they've been making.

Unsure about Holland. I like him there more than Buzelis. Might as well lean into the scrappy, defensive iden y with their young players. At least you can play hard and get after people.

Also like Kolek. Fits the iden y to a T.

I'm more down on Utah. Guess I don't see Williams as being much and Collier is a decent swing, but is ball-heavy and limited in what he does. It's a team without much iden y and a good coach that pulls out victories. My guess is Ainge really wants to play draft king next year again.

Edey will be interesting in Memphis, but unsure.

More thoughts on OKC: they are our future, at least in terms of having to use assets but not seeing what they want. Their roster is much more complete, obviously, and so they're having to get stashes and non-ready players. This draft seemed a push as much as anything to me. The numerous FRPs they have going forward are owed from contenders and those are even protected, other than Clippers swaps. Can swap for LAC's pick next year, for example, so hope it doesn't go plaid. They have Dallas's 2028. So, for the huge amount of capital they own, the chances at those high lottery slots are probably gone.

[spurraider21]

Honestly, I don't see anyone in this draft that I would trade Castle for. Sarr has a chance to be better but is still more of a project, which isn't exactly ideal for the #2 pick.

i'd trade him for risacher, sarr, sheppard, and dillingham

basically still just doing with my board.

[R. DeMurre]

I love the DaRon Holmes pick for Denver, and am very interested to see what else is up with them. They traded Reggie Jackson, which is weird, as they don't really have another PG and Jamal Murray is somewhat injury prone. They're also in danger of losing Caldwell-Pope to free agency. I feel like there has to be something in the works. FA Delon Wright might be a good option for them, and Calvin Booth is one of the biggest advocate of positional size in the league, so we'll see where they go from here.

[baseline bum]

Honestly, I don't see anyone in this draft that I would trade Castle for. Sarr has a chance to be better but is still more of a project, which isn't exactly ideal for the #2 pick.

For most teams I'd rather have Sarr as he looks to have the most allstar potential. But for the Spurs Castle and Sheppard were my 1a and 1b, and Houston taking Sheppard made the pick obvious. Would have sweated a bit if I was PATFO and Houston took Clingan at 3 so that both were still on board though.

[ChumpDumper]

I love the DaRon Holmes pick for Denver, and am very interested to see what else is up with them. They traded Reggie Jackson, which is weird, as they don't really have another PG and Jamal Murray is somewhat injury prone. They're also in danger of losing Caldwell-Pope to free agency. I feel like there has to be something in the works. FA Delon Wright might be a good option for them, and Calvin Booth is one of the biggest advocate of positional size in the league, so we'll see where they go from here.

Holmes was a target for me if the Spurs were trading down. Just seems like he's going to have a solid ten-year career with his skills and abilities. The Jackson trade was a money thing and they have some work to do to replace him.

[baseline bum]

Atlanta what the ? There is going to be such a spotlight on Risacher now with them punking out and letting Sarr bully them into allowing him to go to his preferred destination.

I liked the Avdija trade for Washington selling high on a nobody and getting them two firsts plus Brogdon, who probably nets them another first. Then to get the best prospect in the draft without having the #1 pick. Overall a great draft day for them.

OKC did well getting Topic. It's horrible for him but OKC's roster is so stacked there is no point in doing anything other than home run swings on boom or bust guys like that, and Topic was the best boom or bust upside pick with Buzelis off the board.

Knecht falling to 17 was unexpected. Actually gives LA a half decent trade piece when LeBron makes his next lets trade our talent for a washed up vet demand.

[Mr. Body]

Atlanta what the ? There is going to be such a spotlight on Risacher now with them punking out and letting Sarr bully them into allowing him to go to his preferred destination.

I liked the Avdija trade for Washington selling high on a nobody and getting them two firsts plus Brogdon, who probably nets them another first. Then to get the best prospect in the draft without having the #1 pick. Overall a great draft day for them.

OKC did well getting Topic. It's horrible for him but OKC's roster is so stacked there is no point in doing anything other than home run swings on boom or bust guys like that, and Topic was the best boom or bust upside pick with Buzelis off the board.

Knecht falling to 17 was unexpected. Actually gives LA a half decent trade piece when LeBron makes his next lets trade our talent for a washed up vet demand.

I wonder if Presti sees Topic as a future asset to move, his next prisoner a la Milic. Force him to stay in Europe until a team coughs up the goods to rescue him.

[spurraider21]

I wonder if Presti sees Topic as a future asset to move, his next prisoner a la Milic. Force him to stay in Europe until a team coughs up the goods to rescue him.

There’s no such thing as forcing him to stay in Europe. If they don’t offer him the first round tender they forfeit his draft rights.

[Mr. Body]

There’s no such thing as forcing him to stay in Europe. If they don’t offer him the first round tender they forfeit his draft rights.

He has to stay out an entire year, right? I wonder how the rehab factors into it. I doubt they want him this year and still doubt they want him at all.

[TD 21]

I like what the Timberwolves did conceptually. When you're competing for a championship and have an ancient (Conley) and aging (Gobert) key players and are already that all in, just go all the way and get a talent (if flawed) that you'd otherwise have no other means of getting.

On a much smaller scale, ditto for the Knicks who recouped some (minor) draft capital and took some older, higher floor prospects.

For the opposite reason, I didn't like what the Bucks did because this was their best chance at adding the immediate help they desperately need and they took a longer view.

I didn't like the Pistons and Spurs again gambling on non shooting prospects, but liked the value per slot of the 76ers and Wizards.

I love the DaRon Holmes pick for Denver, and am very interested to see what else is up with them. They traded Reggie Jackson, which is weird, as they don't really have another PG and Jamal Murray is somewhat injury prone. They're also in danger of losing Caldwell-Pope to free agency. I feel like there has to be something in the works. FA Delon Wright might be a good option for them, and Calvin Booth is one of the biggest advocate of positional size in the league, so we'll see where they go from here.

Yeah, they desperately need what Holmes projects to be.

I would think Pickett has the inside track at backup PG, but I'm sure they'll sign a veteran for the minimum to compete with him.

[scott]

I kind of like what Portland did. Get Deni really rounds out and balances their roster, IMO, and Clingan is a nice piece at center.

If they could move off Ayton (he's overpaid, but his contract isn't that bad) then it opens up a lot for them. They really need Scoot to be able to shoot though.

Scoot/Sharpe/Deni/Grant/Clingan with Simons off the bench is an interesting team to me. If they could turn Simons and Ayton into some bench depth... they could maybe get out of tank mode.

[SpursBills]

Shaq Edey is going to dominate in Memphis for all of the below reasons:
https://www.spurstalk.com/forums/sho...1#post11080456
Just need to figure out if Taylor Jenkins is willing to play Vince Williams over Marcus Smart to give the lineup more shooting

Presti traded away Giddey and drafted Giddey+, so it's like he got Caruso for this year's Houston pick which is a pretty good deal

Interesting pick of Ware by Miami, as based on his concerns he never really struck me as a "heat culture" kind of guy; if he pans out though his 3 point shooting will work extremely well next to Bam

Celtics picking Scheierman was incredibly predictable and a great fit - they managed to turn Sam Hauser into a decent wing defender and if they can do the same for Scheierman he will pay massive dividends for their bench

Holmes is going to kill it in Denver - skill set fits perfectly with their offensive system