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Love these offensively skilled guys. A bit redundant with Malaki, but you keep trying until one of them works out (not that we have seen Malaki’s ceiling yet, nowhere close).
In a recent interview Parker said that he shares his life between living in France & San Antonio, and regularly plays poker with Timmy and tennis with Manu. So yeah, for sure he likes SA.
Love these offensively skilled guys. A bit redundant with Malaki, but you keep trying until one of them works out (not that we have seen Malaki’s ceiling yet, nowhere close).
He's bigger, stronger than Malaki, and he's got more range. An interesting prospect, but not for our projected range. However, as of now if we don't land a top 4 pick, I might be willing to trade down (say with Orlando, if the Chicago pick conveys to them) and pick up a couple of guys, like him and Gradey , and maybe someone else. The more I think about it, the more I worry about the Thompson's twins complete lack of a jump shot and lack of compe ion at a high level I'd be fine take one of them if we trade back, though.
BTW, Brian Wright had connections in Ohio State, so given his profile and where he comes from, I wouldn't be shocked if he ended up being a target of ours (hopefully not with the highest pick though).
I don't know id trading back is feasible but, if we're outside the top 2 I'd be willing to drop back if we could turn it into two top 10 picks.
I’d be very disappointed if Spurs trade down. I trust Pop’s coaching staff to develop a 7th pick (if Spurs were to fall) to an AS caliber goto player instead of two late lottery role players.
Numbers in a vacuum mean nothing, 7th pick can be good or bad depending on the year. As I see it, this year it goes something like this:
If top 2, keep it (Wemby, then Scoot)
If 3/4, try to trade up. I assume no. 1 is off limits, but there's a chance no. 2 may be available if a team like Detroit (Cunningham, Ivey, Hayes) or Charlotte (Lamelo) lands no. 2. Offering no. 3/4 + Keldon Johnson would be the way I'd go. But if we can't trade up, keep it and use it on Brandon Miller or Cam Whitmore.
If no. 5 or lower, the value flattens. The Thompson brothers can't shoot and are unproven at a high level of compe ion, Nick Smith underwhelmed and seems fragile (already injured his knee), Keyonte George is undersized and a bit of a chucker. So if possible I'd rather trade back a bit (Orlando may have 2 lottery picks, their own + Chicago if not top 4) and maybe snatch one of them plus someone else, diversifying risk.
The way I see it, not landing a top 4 pick would be disappointing, but more so would be not reading the board and letting go of whatever opportunities it comes with either to trade up or down (Dallas has done that masterfully with Dirk and Luka).
And you don't think they could develop two top 10 picks instead of just one?
I'm pretty close to that but see it a little different...after #2 I've got picks 3-7 in the same tier. If I could turn #3 into say the 6th and 9th picks I'd do it because I see almost no difference between 3 and 6 and I could add a Gradey with the 9th pick....
Tier 1
1. Victor Wembanyama
Tier 2
2. Scoot Henderson
Tier 3
3. Nick Smith Jr
4. Cam Whitmore
5. Amen Thompson
6. Ausar Thompson
7. Brandon Miller
If I may, if YOU don't see almost any difference between 3 and 6, you'll admit, if true, that NBA teams wouldn't either, and then wouldn't trade 6 or 9 + players or whatever to trade up.
Cos you can't always count on other GMs ignorance.
Other GMs may see a difference where you don't, every year's draft shows you an example of this. No 2 boards are alike, so you have to be ready and be active in search of whatever opportunity may arise. In fact every transaction involves 2 parties trying to acquire something that the other is willing to give up. For instance, in '18 Atlanta decided an extra lottery pick was worth trading back from 3 (Doncic) to 5 (Trae Young). Teams are different, GM preferences are different, cir stances are different.
I never said that trade would be there.... but other GM's have their own tier system and it may be different or it may be that a team decides to prioritize fit over tier.... for example, Orlando could conceivably end up with 6 and 9 (from the Chicago pick) and we could end up 3rd... they might prioritize one of the Thompson twins or Smith Jr and decide that, that player is worth more than 6 + 9 to them... if they did then I'd pull the trigger on that trade... fit matters more to them than it does to us.
Dean on Draft had nothing good to say about the Thompsons in his rather thorough analysis, and pointed out that at 20, they did poorly against the same comp that 15 YO Cam Boozer ing destroyed. Not a good look.
Sure you can. Most teams lock in on a player they want, and will pay to move up for him.
Precisely why I'm worried. The do have some tantalizing raw qualities, but there's too much risk involved for the product of one tanking season to hinge on their fate. A second, lower pick may be worth it, though.
I don’t think they would trade down from 7. I can legit see it anywhere from 2-5.
He had more to say, mostly that guys who play crap compe ion, or sit out, like Thompsons, Sharpe and Wiseman have a high bust probability.
Classic takedown, destroying them. They're terrible in the half court set against essentially high school compe ion. They are short armed, not terribly skilled, and wasting an entire year on a ty nothing league. They're not even as promising as Shaeden Sharpe was and Sharpe should never have been a top ten pick.
Now, this draft is so poor that they'll go in that ten range.
Brandon Miller is probably my number three. He's really old for a freshman, will be twenty and a half at the time of the draft, but I can discount that, and did last year with a guy like Keegan Murray.
My thing with Miller is that he's really similar to AJ Griffin, who was drafted at the end of the lottery. But he is playing well in Atlanta. I just don't know about spending third pick money on late lottery production. Like Jabari Smith I see an expensive role player. Definitely don't see a star in Brandon Miller.
But there is only one star, possibly two, in this draft. Right now I'm still trading out or down if I don't get Wembs.
Objectively speaking Deanondraft has been the most accurate draft analyst over past 5 years bar none. He doesn't write these takes to make money with his blogs or twitter posts. He is a professional NBA sport better and called out countless media appointed superstars. Fairly level headed counting stats focused scouting.
I agree, I'm not one to go for that kind. Reminds me too much of Krause's Bulls of the early 200s, that would draft Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler, and pass on LaMarcus Aldridge for Tyrus Thomas. Or how the Hawks passed on Chris Paul for Marvin Williams. It's the appeal of the high stakes gamble that many people are drawn to, and very rarely pays.
But say we had a second pick in the lower part of the lottery. I'd be willing to work him out with a few or our youngsters, and see what they're about. If they do well, then taking a flyer on them with a lower pick would not be so terrible, provided there's not obviously better prospect available.
I think he's the guy who sold me on Sengun. He was hollering about Sengun.
How can anyone NOT be skeptical of OTE? They have no track record and year over year I don’t think the talent got THAT much better.
Not even probability. All these guys have busted so far. Kuminga is showing issues, Jalen Green is a detriment to his team, Jalen Hardy wasn't picked until the second round, everyone passed on him for a reason and it looks like they were right.
Time will tell, but initially I didn't like players who wouldn't take stock of themselves against actual compe ion. Turns out the bigger hazard isn't their at ude, necessarily, but that they just outright waste some of the most important months of development they can get. In the NBA they don't get those practices, there's no time to teach the fundamentals. They're way behind.
I get both of your guys point of view, but I disagree that GMs have that much of a different perception about like the first 4-5 or even down to first 8 picks or so... They may slightly disagree about the order of these gus but rarely about the guys themselves.
Late mock drafts always end up pretty much on point. People thought Sochan could be our man with the 9th pick and he did.. As a matter of fact, I remember some people here having the exact same perspective as you guys, last draft, and wanting to trade down for CHA 13 & 15 because they were seeing not that much of a difference from 9 to 13 or 15... then get two good players instead of one.
Would you trade Sochan now for last draft 13 & 15...? 2 good players don't equal one great player. You can find good players around, it's harder to find real difference makers. Mock drafts are gonna get refined and players are gonna emerge ahead of the pack as clear top 4-5...
That's the reason why I don't first think you SHOUD trade down 2 or 3 for 6+9, way too risky and you might regret it. Just pick you horse and live with it, and I also don't believe other teams would perceive top 8-9 players differently than anyone would..
After that zone, that's a different story.
Last edited by JPB; 02-04-2023 at 05:40 PM.
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