2024 NBA DRAFT THREAD 3

[ArthurVandelay]

I’ll be a little surprised if he stays in, I think he should return to school, Especially given the money he could make with NIL …

Kansas freshman guard Johnny Furphy is declaring for the 2024 NBA Draft, he announced Tuesday on social media. Furphy will keep his college eligibility, leaving the door open for a return to Kansas for a sophomore season. – via Kansan.com

[PhilBlackson]

Got 6th on my first try. 1st on my second sim.

If there was ever a draft the league might let us win, it’s the one everyone claims is one of the worst of the decade ie/ just like when we got Bargnani lol

I obviously still think it’s highly unlikely buuut I don’t completely rule it out lol. The conspiracy theorist in me (which has a hard time believing the Spurs just get “lucky” with 3+ decades of elite big men)…that the league doesn’t figure to just give us the 2nd or 3rd pick in a draft perceived to be trash anyways. To kinda throw us a bone and see if we can’t build a team to keep the Canadian viewing audience growing after they must’ve seen with our championship run just how big the potential $ are. But ofc that’s likely just my wishful thinking

[PhilBlackson]

If we don’t keep our pick I’m just gonna pray that somehow we end up getting Dink Pate with the IND pick.

[Dalek]

Got 6th on my first try. 1st on my second sim.

If there was ever a draft the league might let us win, it’s the one everyone claims is one of the worst of the decade ie/ just like when we got Bargnani lol

I obviously still think it’s highly unlikely buuut I don’t completely rule it out lol. The conspiracy theorist in me (which has a hard time believing the Spurs just get “lucky” with 3+ decades of elite big men)…that the league doesn’t figure to just give us the 2nd or 3rd pick in a draft perceived to be trash anyways. To kinda throw us a bone and see if we can’t build a team to keep the Canadian viewing audience growing after they must’ve seen with our championship run just how big the potential $ are. But ofc that’s likely just my wishful thinking

The 2006 draft was an all-time bad draft and we bungled it. The best player, was the by far the best college player at the time, in Lamarcus Aldridge. We opted to take the man of mystery in Bargnani. Brandon Roy was really good but his body never held up. Ironically, Kyle Lowry (24) and PJ Tucker (35) lasted the longest out of everyone, and they both played for the Raps which makes up for the Bargnani blunder. I am sure, if we had advanced metrics back then, we would have known that LMA, Roy, KLow, and Rondo would have gone higher.

This draft has useful role players. Expecting any player to change the direction of the franchise is not going to happen. Where it gets interesting is who gets the first pick. If this is a flat draft, then you could see some GM take a guy first that no one expects. Reed Sheppard had an unreal shooting season and in a shooter's league I would not be shocked if he went number one. Toronto, being the fifth worst in 3 pointers made this past season, might make a shooter like Sheppard too much to pass up.

[WuTang_OG]

Watch on YouTube

[DreamTeam09]

Yeah I've narrowed our selection down to Holland. High motor, high pedigree & has gotten better over the last 12months.
I see the Ben Mathurain comp, not quite as developed in isolation, but that's the part of Holland's game that's improved.
Flaws are his jumper & iso ability, 2 things that can be taught/fix/improve

[RoteSchroder]

Gotta say, first time in a while I don't know who half these dudes are at the top, aside from Buzelis and Sarr

I like Stephon Castle as a fit on the squad

Quickley
Castle
Barrett
Barnes
Poeltl

='Ship

Jimmy Butler's scouting report is a bit similar to what Castle is:

https://www.draftexpress.com/article/All-Portsmouth-Invitational-Tournament-First-Team-3674/

The Texas native is not a freak athlete, or the type of player you'll see on an ESPN highlight reel any time soon. He does not have the pedigree of a future NBA All-Star. His physical tools are fairly average, and he still needs to develop certain parts of his skill set, namely his shooting consistency from the beyond the arc, to maximize his value. However, when evaluating a player like Butler, who simply plays winning basketball, has terrific intangibles, and does all of the little things the help his team, it is important to look at what he can do before condemning him for he can't be.

Butler is a heady player who plays within a team concept. He defends, he makes the extra pass, he crashes the glass, he has a terrific basketball IQ, and his attitude is a coach's dream. A product of tireless reps in the gym and a detail oriented system, the senior has a very solid floor game, makes good decision with the ball, scraps on both ends, and maximizes the physical tools he does have.

His athleticism won't allow him to create consistently one-on-one at the next level, but he's a functional ball-handler who can take what defenders give him. If he develops the ability to stretch the floor, there's no question that he'll be a nice addition to a team with a bench full of athletic scorers.

That was in Butler's senior year. If they have the same trajectory, it would take Castle 5 years to really break out and numerous fans would go berserk by the first season.

Butler's work ethic and mentally played a lot into his growth as a player though and we need to see if Castle's a legit 6'6 or if he's really 6'4 or something.

The functional ball-handling is one of the reasons I like Castle in combination with his defense, decent b-ball IQ, strong mentality, athletic strength, team player and he has an existing skill set that needs to be polished. He's still a long way away, but his upside seems higher than most of the consensus top ~7. If his shot doesn't develop, he'd have a lower floor as he'd be practically unusable in today's league.

[NotMyKawhi]

RJ, Scottie, Poeltl all are best inside. IQ likes to get to the line. If you aren't gonna trade Poeltl, Matas is prolly the best pick

[CazOnReal]

Fun fact: The pick we got from the Bosh trade (Not the pick of ours we got back, the one from Miami) ended up becoming Jimmy Butler.

That Bosh S+T is one of the more interesting "what ifs" in Raptors history. Both for the what if of them keeping that pick/drafting Jimmy Buckets and for the consequences of not having pick control for several seasons since the pick they traded for Kyle Lowry ended up being used by OKC (Our pick got traded to them by the Rockets after the Lowry trade) to draft Steve Adams a few spots before Giannis - and we all know Masai wanted to draft Giannis.

[douggood]

Fun fact: The pick we got from the Bosh trade (Not the pick of ours we got back, the one from Miami) ended up becoming Jimmy Butler.

That Bosh S+T is one of the more interesting "what ifs" in Raptors history. Both for the what if of them keeping that pick/drafting Jimmy Buckets and for the consequences of not having pick control for several seasons since the pick they traded for Kyle Lowry ended up being used by OKC (Our pick got traded to them by the Rockets after the Lowry trade) to draft Steve Adams a few spots before Giannis - and we all know Masai wanted to draft Giannis.

nah, the miami pick we got in the s&t which we traded to chicago, but that was the 28th pick that year(noris cole),
chicago then had 2 picks in that draft
#28 (miami to toronto to chicago) noris cole
#30 chicago own pick , jimmy bulter.

[CazOnReal]

Fun fact: The pick we got from the Bosh trade (Not the pick of ours we got back, the one from Miami) ended up becoming Jimmy Butler.

That Bosh S+T is one of the more interesting "what ifs" in Raptors history. Both for the what if of them keeping that pick/drafting Jimmy Buckets and for the consequences of not having pick control for several seasons since the pick they traded for Kyle Lowry ended up being used by OKC (Our pick got traded to them by the Rockets after the Lowry trade) to draft Steve Adams a few spots before Giannis - and we all know Masai wanted to draft Giannis.

nah, the miami pick we got in the s&t which we traded to chicago, but that was the 28th pick that year(noris cole),
chicago then had 2 picks in that draft
#28 (miami to toronto to chicago) noris cole
#30 chicago own pick , jimmy bulter.

My mistake on misremembering which pick was which, though I still stand by it being interesting to consider the timeline where that pick was used to draft Jimmy Buckets.

[Thaddy]

RJ, Scottie, Poeltl all are best inside. IQ likes to get to the line. If you aren't gonna trade Poeltl, Matas is prolly the best pick

Buzlis' team was really bad and his shooting isn't a guarantee. The Gleague prospects have seem to mostly be busts despite being highly touted. The only "safe" guys in the top end of this draft are Sarr, Holland, Reed, and Clingan. I would predict they're more rotation guys than stars.

[BoyzNTheHood]

RJ, Scottie, Poeltl all are best inside. IQ likes to get to the line. If you aren't gonna trade Poeltl, Matas is prolly the best pick

Buzlis' team was really bad and his shooting isn't a guarantee. The Gleague prospects have seem to mostly be busts despite being highly touted. The only "safe" guys in the top end of this draft are Sarr, Holland, Reed, and Clingan. I would predict they're more rotation guys than stars.

Buzelis’ team was bad, and G League prospects have seemed to mostly be busts, but Holland is a “safe” guy?

[PhilBlackson]

RJ, Scottie, Poeltl all are best inside. IQ likes to get to the line. If you aren't gonna trade Poeltl, Matas is prolly the best pick

Buzlis' team was really bad and his shooting isn't a guarantee. The Gleague prospects have seem to mostly be busts despite being highly touted. The only "safe" guys in the top end of this draft are Sarr, Holland, Reed, and Clingan. I would predict they're more rotation guys than stars.

Saying the G-League prospects have mostly been busts is simply not true. Jalen Green was on absolute tear for the last month of the season when HOU went on that run. The Rockets played their best ball with him as their best player NOT Sengun, that’s just a fact. Also Kuminga made a major step from being buried on the bench to the Warriors now believing he’s a core piece. Scoot also started to get hot towards the end of the season so please stop cappin.

Then also directly contradict your statement by claiming Holland (who’s obv from the Ignite) is one of the safe picks lol. But yes pretty much everyone has had that conclusion about it not being star loaded draft hence the reputation of it not being a great draft. Personally I don’t think that it’s a matter of their not being players that can become stars to a certain extent, it’s just at what level.

There is no SUPERSTAR level prospects like Victor, Luka, what they thought AD was, KAT, Zion, LeBron, KD etc. I think the level of “stars” are more that of a Jaylen Brown, Siakam, Jrue Holiday etc…not true franchise changers or face of the franchise level talent BUT they still can potentially become stars…to an extent lol and that’s not the most exciting outcome as a high end unless someone kinda “flukes” into it (ie/ Yang turned out to be a near Jokic player that ppl slept on that prototype again or Chomche had massive unforeseen development to become a Giannis) but there is no obvious superstar talent, only what’s likely a 3rd to 2nd option at absolute best.

But I actually see a number of players that can not only be rotation players but damn good ones ie/ it wouldn’t surprise me if Dillingham ends up being better than IQ long term as an example. He’s every bit the shooter but actually better at shooting off balance (IQ needs to set his feet most of the time) and much more creative off the dribble than IQ was at the same age (and maybe even is still now). So I don’t know what you consider a star but I think there can be some really good & valuable players that come out of this draft depending on where they land and how they’re developed. Bit of rant but I thought a couple of things you brought up needed a bit more context.

[Thaddy]

RJ, Scottie, Poeltl all are best inside. IQ likes to get to the line. If you aren't gonna trade Poeltl, Matas is prolly the best pick

Buzlis' team was really bad and his shooting isn't a guarantee. The Gleague prospects have seem to mostly be busts despite being highly touted. The only "safe" guys in the top end of this draft are Sarr, Holland, Reed, and Clingan. I would predict they're more rotation guys than stars.

Saying the G-League prospects have mostly been busts is simply not true. Jalen Green was on absolute tear for the last month of the season when HOU went on that run. The Rockets played their best ball with him as their best player NOT Sengun, that’s just a fact. Also Kuminga made a major step from being buried on the bench to the Warriors now believing he’s a core piece. Scoot also started to get hot towards the end of the season so please stop cappin.

Then also directly contradict your statement by claiming Holland (who’s obv from the Ignite) is one of the safe picks lol. But yes pretty much everyone has had that conclusion about it not being star loaded draft hence the reputation of it not being a great draft. Personally I don’t think that it’s a matter of their not being players that can become stars to a certain extent, it’s just at what level.

There is no SUPERSTAR level prospects like Victor, Luka, what they thought AD was, KAT, Zion, LeBron, KD etc. I think the level of “stars” are more that of a Jaylen Brown, Siakam, Jrue Holiday etc…not true franchise changers or face of the franchise level talent BUT they still can potentially become stars…to an extent lol and that’s not the most exciting outcome as a high end unless someone kinda “flukes” into it (ie/ Yang turned out to be a near Jokic player that ppl slept on that prototype again or Chomche had massive unforeseen development to become a Giannis) but there is no obvious superstar talent, only what’s likely a 3rd to 2nd option at absolute best.

But I actually see a number of players that can not only be rotation players but damn good ones ie/ it wouldn’t surprise me if Dillingham ends up being better than IQ long term as an example. He’s every bit the shooter but actually better at shooting off balance (IQ needs to set his feet most of the time) and much more creative off the dribble than IQ was at the same age (and maybe even is still now). So I don’t know what you consider a star but I think there can be some really good & valuable players that come out of this draft depending on where they land and how they’re developed. Bit of rant but I thought a couple of things you brought up needed a bit more context.

Holland was the projected first overall pick before he went to the Ignite. He has a premium skillset that we need. The prospects on the Ignite play low stakes games and that doesn't develop clutch players. The lack of meaningful games seems to derail these prospects development and it looks like it tends to generally decrease draft stock.

[RoteSchroder]

I like a few unmocked or lower mocked prospects than some of the names being thrown around at ~18-31

Jamir Watkins, Johni Broome, Tamin Lipsey, Jaedon Ledee..hopefully we can pick up one of them undrafted. I would consider Watkins at 31.

[OAKLEY_2]

RJ, Scottie, Poeltl all are best inside. IQ likes to get to the line. If you aren't gonna trade Poeltl, Matas is prolly the best pick

Buzlis' team was really bad and his shooting isn't a guarantee. The Gleague prospects have seem to mostly be busts despite being highly touted. The only "safe" guys in the top end of this draft are Sarr, Holland, Reed, and Clingan. I would predict they're more rotation guys than stars.

Holland is G League Ignite.

[ArthurVandelay]

I like a few unmocked or lower mocked prospects than some of the names being thrown around at ~18-31

Jamir Watkins, Johni Broome, Tamin Lipsey, Jaedon Ledee..hopefully we can pick up one of them undrafted. I would consider Watkins at 31.

I’m a big fan of watkins

[earth007]

I like the idea of Dunn with the Pacers pick more than I like the idea of Castle/ Holland/ Cody Williams with a top 6 pick.

Dunn is a more fluid athlete than OG & has better handles. His shooting mechanics looks.OK as well. If he could be OG lite on defense as a point of attack defender & Scottie lite as a help defender, then that's pretty solid pick in the late teens. We need a player like that.

How can you not like Holland. Hybrid 3-4. Just 18. Already has a year of pro experience. He already has national team experience as a 5 star recruit. He has a high ceiling. Two way player.

He just finished a season playing with Norris Cole in the G league age 18.

"“He’s a dog,” said Norris Cole, a former two-time NBA champion with the Miami Heat and a current Ignite reserve.

“Playing hard and having a motor is a skill and I’d say that’s his top skill. He could be a potential max player because of how hard he plays and works.”

I could Holland being a Raptors pick for sure.

I like him too

His shot mechanics aren’t broke either

I think the issue is his Basketball IQ. I have heard a lot of people say that he doesn't seem to have the ability to prcess the game and information at a high level. If that's true, I don't see us drafting him. I think they are targeting high IQ guys who fit Darko's system.

[DG88]

If we don’t keep our pick I’m just gonna pray that somehow we end up getting Dink Pate with the IND pick.

I personally would rather us convey the pick this year than in 2025, which will be a stronger class.