2024 NBA Draft Thread

[Limguogolo]

No, the Bucks aren't running a 2 bigs lineup. Giannis came to the league as a SF. He played all his career as a perimeter player (PFs are perimeter players nowadays). He has perimeter player handles. In the 90's he would still be a 3. Only in this era he can become a full time PF and even a C at times. But this is only more evidence of why Wemby should play Center and only center.

Wemby, unlike Giannis, was always a center. He played center his entire formative years. He has good handles, FOR A CENTER. He will never be the ball handler that Giannis is, that's why he will never have a better floor game, and that's he will never be a PF.

It's wrong. You don't develop such skills by playing center. And in fact, in Nanterre, they did not form him as an interior. He wanted to play like a guard, he has guard skills. In the National French youth teams, Victor even said that the coaches have never understood his desire not to be classified as a center. It is thanks to the freedoms left by Nanterre that he plays like this: like a guard in an interior body. He has also always said that he preferred to play with another interior (typically, like Duncan). Last year he was never as good as with an inside before he got injured. I remain convinced that this is how he wants to play. He will develop center skills (this is not at all the case today even if there has been progress over the past three months), but he will always refuse to only do center moves. Which would be stupid considering that in reality, he's only been playing center for three months. He's a guard. Inevitably, real interior will be added to the starting team. Wait until you see what it looks like when he pairs with Gobert in Paris.

[DAF86]

It's wrong. You don't develop such skills by playing center. And in fact, in Nanterre, they did not form him as an interior. He wanted to play like a guard, he has guard skills. In the National French youth teams, Victor even said that the coaches have never understood his desire not to be classified as a center. It is thanks to the freedoms left by Nanterre that he plays like this: like a guard in an interior body. He has also always said that he preferred to play with another interior (typically, like Duncan). Last year he was never as good as with an inside before he got injured. I remain convinced that this is how he wants to play. He will develop center skills (this is not at all the case today even if there has been progress over the past three months), but he will always refuse to only do center moves. Which would be stupid considering that in reality, he's only been playing center for three months..

Why would you call "wrong" something that is factually correct and so easy to verify? Wemby played his entire career, ever since he was a kid, at the center positon. The skills he developed are a different matter. Just because you play center, it doesn't mean you can't shoot 3's if you're good at it. Jokic and Embiid developed "perimeter" skills too and you wouldn't say they aren't centers, would you?

he's only been playing center for three months..He's a guard. Inevitably, real interior will be added to the starting team. Wait until you see what it looks like when he pairs with Gobert in Paris

You clearly haven't seen Wemby play in Mets 92, nor have read anything about Wemby coming up if you think he's been playing center for only 3 months.

[Chinook]

That does bring up a good point though. The Spurs will have a chance to see Wemby play with other legit centers this summer. FIBA is a different game, but it's still valuable data that doesn't require a specific roster move to create.

[rascal]

Spurs winning games, can catch Charlotte and Portland and end up with the 5th worst record.

May end up with the 6th pick if they aren't careful with these late season wins.

[Ariel]

With 9 games to go, these are the current lottery standings:

#) TEAM: WINS
---------------------

1. Detroit: 12
2. Washington: 14
3. Spurs: 17
4. Charlotte: 18 (1 game pending)
5. Portland: 19 (8 losses in a row)
6. Toronto: 23 (12 losses in a row)
7. Memphis: 24
8. Brooklyn: 28

I think it's fair to say:

• Detroit and Washington will be 1-2
• Spurs, Charlotte and Portland will be 3-5
• Toronto and Memphis will be 6-7

Given that Portland (not playing Grant, Simmons, Ayton, Thybulle, Brogdon and Sharpe) and Toronto are tanking their asses off (some injuries, a lot of them quite dubious), they might not win another game. That means Toronto likely finishes 6th (54% chance the pick conveys) and if the Spurs win 3 more games they might end up 5th.

The remaining games are as follows:

• vs NY
• vs GSW
• @ Denver
• @ NO
• vs Philly
• @ Memphis
• @ OKC
• vs Denver
• vs Detroit

I think it's likely Detroit wants to win the last one since they'd have secured last place by then, that would leave Memphis as the most winnable game followed by Golden State, so Pop might want to work his magic to ensure a single win, 2 at most, which should be enough for shared 3rd place at worst.

[DAF86]

Meh, just win as much as you can and see if we can find something that works and translates into next season. This draft is so meh that I don't see a big difference between drafting 1st and 6th.

[Ariel]

If anything, Buzelis (or his agent) is hurting his value by going full keyboard warrior. that's an orange flag to me. Social media drama is definitely the kind of things GMs are attentive to with these young prospects.

And claiming you're better than another top prospect, when you proved nothing, is just not very smart and shows more insecurity and attention seeking than anything. Like Scoot claiming he should be the #1 pick in his draft. Some guys liked his confidence and that "dawg" back then... You can be humbled quickly.

Not to mention BB is a 5x5 game, not 1x1. Even being better on 1x1 (which remains to be proved) wouldn't necesseraliy make you a better prospect. Some guys kills it on the playground on 1x1, but can't play organised, team ball.

So yeah, badly inspired, counter-productive move by Buzelis.

Nah, he's a 19 y.o. kid who knows Risacher is his direct compe or that has a slight edge over him and wants a chance to turn it around. Of course it means nothing unless you back it up, but he needs the opportunity if he's to prove himself against him. He's a teenager, I'd take it as a sign of compe iveness and confidence rather than a flaw of character. Scoot saying he should go no. 1 last draft made him sound schizo rather than confident.

[DAF86]

Nah, he's a 19 y.o. kid who knows Risacher is his direct compe or that has a slight edge over him and wants a chance to turn it around. Of course it means nothing unless you back it up, but he needs the opportunity if he's to prove himself against him. He's a teenager, I'd take it as a sign of compe iveness and confidence rather than a flaw of character. Scoot saying he should go no. 1 last draft made him sound schizo rather than confident.

I could buy the first part, if you omitted the last part. Excusing Buzelis but clowning on Scoot just sounds biased. If anything, the Scoot comment is more reasonable since he isn't calling anyone out directly (even though everyone knew Wemby was going #1), he just said he should be drafted first, like any prospect would say. Buzelis is directly calling out a fellow prospect by name. That's weird, tbh.

[Ariel]

I could buy the first part, if you omitted the last part. Excusing Buzelis but clowning on Scoot just sounds biased. If anything, the Scoot comment is more reasonable since he isn't calling anyone out directly (even though everyone knew Wemby was going #1), he just said he should be drafted first, like any prospect would say. Buzelis is directly calling out a fellow prospect by name. That's weird, tbh.

Buzelis can realistically leapfrog Risacher if he significantly outperforms him in a workout. There was no universe where Scoot would go over Wemby, that came across as laughable and lacking self awareness.

[DAF86]

Buzelis can realistically leapfrog Risacher if he significantly outperforms him in a workout. There was no universe where Scoot would go over Wemby, that came accross as laughable and lacking self awareness.

Irrelevant. A prospect saying "I should be the #1 pick" is a perfectly normal comment that many guys have made over history. Calling out another prospect by name is weird as , tbh. I really don't care either way, but out of those two, the "schizo" comment (if there's one) is the Buzelis' one, tbh.

[Pauleta14]

Buzelis can realistically leapfrog Risacher if he significantly outperforms him in a workout. There was no universe where Scoot would go over Wemby, that came across as laughable and lacking self awareness.

Not sure there’s ever been a doubt on Buzelis’s character, he even showed a nice personality during AS weekend. His comments at best only have effect on fans, scouts want to see him shoot the 3 better

[Ariel]

Meh, just win as much as you can and see if we can find something that works and translates into next season. This draft is so meh that I don't see a big difference between drafting 1st and 6th.

You can still go about finding something that works in the 6 games which you'd likely lose anyway, and in the remaining 3 you can simply "tinker a bit" with the lineups in the right moments (for example, leave Collins a bit longer than strictly necessary) and that's likely all you need to maximize your odds. Even if this is a flatter than usual class, it doesn't hurt picking a few slots earlier, whatever minimal differece there may be I find it to be quite a bit larger than messing up a quarter or two of a meaningless game.

[Ariel]

Irrelevant. A prospect saying "I should be the #1 pick" is a perfectly normal comment that many guys have made over history. Calling out another prospect by name is weird as , tbh. I really don't care either way, but out of those two, the "schizo" comment (if there's one) is the Buzelis' one, tbh.

I'm not offended by Scoot's comments, I just found them dumb and unrealistic. Buzelis comments aren't dumb or unrealistic, they're intended to improve the chances of his desired outcome happening (having a workout alongside Risacher). It's commonplace in other sports, such as boxing, for instance. Not a big deal.

[DAF86]

You can still go about finding something that works in the 6 games which you'd likely lose anyway, and in the remaining 3 you can simply "tinker a bit" with the lineups in the right moments (for example, leave Collins a bit longer than strictly necessary) and that's likely all you need to maximize your odds. Even if this is a flatter than usual class, it doesn't hurt picking a few slots earlier, whatever minimal differece there may be I find it to be quite a bit larger than messing up a quarter or two of a meaningless game.

I just think that to build something within this core that translates positively to the next season, they need to finish off the games with wins.

And like I said, I'd rather draft Dillingham or Sheppard at 6 than having to forcefully take Sarr at 2 because you can't pass on the guy despite knowing that you won't have any use for the guy in the future. And I know that we can still trade down, but for what? A lower first and a future 2nd? (I don't think anybody will be giving up 2 first for any top prospect in this draft). I'd rather Wemby and co. to experience more winning.

[DAF86]

I'm not offended by Scoot's comments, I just found them dumb and unrealistic. Buzelis comments aren't dumb or unrealistic, they're intended to improve the chances of his desired outcome happening (having a workout alongside Risacher). It's commonplace in other sports, such as boxing, for instance. Not a big deal.

Except this isn't boxing, you don't need to bait another guy into a fight. Again, IDGF about Buzelis' comment, just saying that you can't say Scoot's vanilla "I feel I should be #1" comment, that many other guys have said over the years, is "schizo" and think Buzelis calling out a fellow prospect by name is normal, regardless of how close you think Buzelis is to Risacher in terms of skill.

[Ariel]

I just think that to build something within this core that translates positively to the next season, they need to finish off the games with wins.

And like I said, I'd rather draft Dillingham or Sheppard at 6 than having to forcefully take Sarr at 2 because you can't pass on the guy despite knowing that you won't have any use for the guy in the future. And I know that we can still trade down, but for what? A lower first and a future 2nd? (I don't think anybody will be giving up 2 first for any top prospect in this draft). I'd rather Wemby and co. to experience more winning.

There will be guards (Dillingham, Topic, Sheppard) available at 6-8, but the wings (Risacher, Buzelis) likely go top 5. If you have a single pick and you're looking at a guard, sure, picking 6-8 isn't the end of the world. But if you have 2 picks, I do think there's a big difference in having one of them top 5, than both of them outside that range.

[Ariel]

Except this isn't boxing, you don't need to bait another guy into a fight. Again, IDGF about Buzelis' comment, just saying that you can't say Scoot's vanilla "I feel I should be #1" comment, that many other guys have said over the years, is "schizo" and think Buzelis calling out a fellow prospect by name is normal, regardless of how close you think Buzelis is to Risacher in terms of skill.

You're blowing this way out of proportion. Scoot can say whatever he wants, my point is that his comment served no purpose, while (even if you don't like it) Buzelis' does. None of them are morally reprehensible.

[DAF86]

There will be guards (Dillingham, Topic, Sheppard) available at 6-8, but the wings (Risacher, Buzelis) likely go top 5. If you have a single pick and you're looking at a guard, sure, picking 6-8 isn't the end of the world. But if you have 2 picks, I do think there's a big difference in having one of them top 5, than both of them outside that range.

I don't see Buzelis going top 5, tbh. But let's say he does, you still have Williams, Holland, Knecht, Salaun. A couple of those will go below 6.

[DAF86]

You're blowing this way out of proportion. Scoot can say whatever he wants, my point is that his comment served no purpose, while (even if you don't like it) Buzelis' does. None of them are morally reprehensible.

I'm not. I literally said IDGF. Just calling what I perceive as bias from your part, tbh. Or, at least, a failed reasoning. I think you are the only person in the World that thinks making a dime a dozen comment like "I should be selected #1" is "schizo", while a guy calling out a fellow prospect by name is normal, tbh.

And, no, Buzelis' comment serves no purpose at all. The 's gonna happen? Rischer is gonna play him one on one, winner gets the #1 pick?

[Ariel]

I don't see Buzelis going top 5, tbh. But let's say he does, you still have Williams, Holland, Knecht, Salaun. A couple of those will go below 6.

If you have all 6 of those guys in the same tier, sure, pick wherever you want. I don't, and I suspect we'll find out soon enough how the FO feels on the matter going by how they approach the next few games.

[Splits]

trade the #6 for an actual starter. Draft Knecht at #8. No more ing teenagers

And please for the love of Allah stop winning

[Big Empty]

trade the #6 for an actual starter. Draft Knecht at #8. No more ing teenagers

And please for the love of Allah stop winning

I like this. Draft Edey & Castle. Trade some #1s back to ATL for Trae. We set

[Pauleta14]

I'm not offended by Scoot's comments, I just found them dumb and unrealistic. Buzelis comments aren't dumb or unrealistic, they're intended to improve the chances of his desired outcome happening (having a workout alongside Risacher). It's commonplace in other sports, such as boxing, for instance. Not a big deal.

Well that’s the thing, it’s a team sport. Not individual. The skills required are multiple and 1vs1 isn’t the most important in certain players.

not a fan of Lebron PR Podcast with Red but he said something interesting about guys having “the bag” individually but not all the best of the team concepts.

Risacher isn’t supposed to be a 1vs1 player but a more fundamental one, with his passing and shooting being more valuable than his 1vs1

Buzelis (his agents probably) is just trying to clout chase maybe hoping scouts will forget about his shooting %.

It doesn’t sound brave at all and could even bring doubt regarding his character

[Ignazzz]

Nikola Toe-pitch
wrong

Nicola to pick ( in this draft)

[JPB]

And like I said, I'd rather draft Dillingham or Sheppard at 6

They might be gone after #4 when all's said and done. Dilly is projected top 3 by several mock drafts.