2018 Draft Thread #6

[biggestbullsfan]

Justin Holiday and Danny Green weren't as good as Bridges at the same point in their careers. Bridges is one of the top defenders in the NCAA. He can guard 3-4 positions, has excellent lateral quickness, and a strong motor. His wingspan is at least 7'0 and he's an above-average athlete. Offensively, the only category where he's not good is isolation scoring. That's a big category, but he's efficient everywhere else.

Realistically, you're probably aiming for a super role player in the Otto Porter mold. That's not very exciting, but when you're talking about the 7th-9th pick, at minimum you're really just trying to hit on a draft pick.

I have been looking at Young in more of the Ben Gordon mold more recently. 6th man scorer for us. We could use more scoring and a better backup PG. And if his passing is as good as advertised. He could work well with Lauri.

I'd probably take Young over Bridges, purely because a PG has a chance to have a higher impact than a wing with mediocre ball skills.

I think you take young because he has higher upside. Also, his shooting may be much better when he isn't the focus of a team.

[kodo]

Some great work at The Stepien on the shot chart tool.
https://www.thestepien.com/

3P data ... on only NBA 3's.

Player : NBA 3P% : NBA 3P Attempts : % Made Assisted

Zhaire: 46.6% (15) 71% assisted
Jaren: 44.8% (58) 92% assisted
Kevin Knox: 39.1% (97) 92% assisted
Mikal: 38.9% (131) 94% assisted
Wendell: 38% (21) 100% assisted
Miles: 35.6% (115) 90% assisted
Young: 35.5% (228) 17% assisted
Sexton: 34.0% (91) 37% assisted
Bamba: 32% (25) 75% assisted
Lonnie: 30.8% (107) 60% assisted
Shai: 28.5% (28) 87% assisted
Ayton: 17.6% (17) 100% assisted

Most surprised at how accurate Knox was from the NBA 3.

[R3AL1TY]

I think once the Combine and workouts come around, it will be harder to overlook a guy like Mikal Bridges.

[Lauri_Legend]

If Bamba is on the board, which at this point I highly doubt he will be, but he can change the identity of this team by himself. His play can dictate how good we can be defensively alone.

[TheSuzerain]

Some great work at The Stepien on the shot chart tool.
https://www.thestepien.com/

3P data ... on only NBA 3's.

Player : NBA 3P% : NBA 3P Attempts : % Made Assisted

Zhaire: 46.6% (15) 71% assisted
Jaren: 44.8% (58) 92% assisted
Kevin Knox: 39.1% (97) 92% assisted
Mikal: 38.9% (131) 94% assisted
Wendell: 38% (21) 100% assisted
Miles: 35.6% (115) 90% assisted
Young: 35.5% (228) 17% assisted
Sexton: 34.0% (91) 37% assisted
Bamba: 32% (25) 75% assisted
Lonnie: 30.8% (107) 60% assisted
Shai: 28.5% (28) 87% assisted
Ayton: 17.6% (17) 100% assisted

Most surprised at how accurate Knox was from the NBA 3.

Young's % assisted is pretty staggering.

In the NBA, the approximate benefit of a catch/shoot 3 compared to a pull-up 3 is 6%. For Young to be shooting 35.5% from 3 almost entirely from pull-ups is quite impressive. Combine that with his 86% from the line, and you have yourself an elite shooting prospect.

[TheSuzerain]

If Bamba is on the board, which at this point I highly doubt he will be, but he can change the identity of this team by himself. His play can dictate how good we can be defensively alone.

I'm unconvinced.

I think the value of rim-protecting defensive anchors is waning as there is a pretty obvious strategy to mitigating their effect by playing a stretch 5.

Bamba is a freak physically, and that might win out. But I certainly wouldn't draft the guy because we "need" a defensive anchor.

[biggestbullsfan]

If Bamba is on the board, which at this point I highly doubt he will be, but he can change the identity of this team by himself. His play can dictate how good we can be defensively alone.

I'm unconvinced.

I think the value of rim-protecting defensive anchors is waning as there is a pretty obvious strategy to mitigating their effect by playing a stretch 5.

Bamba is a freak physically, and that might win out. But I certainly wouldn't draft the guy because we "need" a defensive anchor.

We might be drafting at 8-9. We go BPA regardless.

[RememberLu]

If Trae is there when we pick him, this forum is gonna be wild. It'll be like 50/50 people loving it or hating it

[Chi town]

I think the ideal we should be building toward is the following:

Dynamic PG - ???
Dynamic Wing - ???
Dynamic Big - Lauri Markkanen

With the rest of the team being complementary pieces.

I do believe that Young can fill the "Dynamic PG" role. While I'd peg Mikal as a good bet to be a very nice complement, I have no faith in him becoming a dynamic wing.

Well said.

[bearadonisdna]

If Trae is there when we pick him, this forum is gonna be wild. It'll be like 50/50 people loving it or hating it

Yeah its kinda funny ppl turning their nose at a possible top 5 pick while Chicago’s gets worse and worse.

Edit: i want to delete this post but cant.

[Benedict Miller]

I'm hopeful for a Markkanen, Young dynamic when choosing between him, Bridges and Carter.

[3noD]

Mikal Bridges seems like a guy who is good at a lot of things but lacks the true length + athleticism to really impact a game at the NBA level. To me, Bridges seems like he'll end up a Justin Holliday now type pro which is probably not a bad career at the number nine pick but not something this team needs to get.

Mikal could certainly just end up a 3 and D. But “length” isn’t his problem.

He doesn’t have freakshow length like Kawhi but he’s 6’7 with a 7’0.5 wingspan.

Is Mikal more Tony Snell than Kahwi Leonard though? Snell had a freakish wingspan too.


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[Dresden]

If Bamba is on the board, which at this point I highly doubt he will be, but he can change the identity of this team by himself. His play can dictate how good we can be defensively alone.

I'm unconvinced.

I think the value of rim-protecting defensive anchors is waning as there is a pretty obvious strategy to mitigating their effect by playing a stretch 5.

Bamba is a freak physically, and that might win out. But I certainly wouldn't draft the guy because we "need" a defensive anchor.

I agree on Bamba- I might take him at 8 or 9, but he's pretty far down on my list. Too many things will have to happen for him to be a major impact player in the nba.

[Dresden]

Mikal Bridges seems like a guy who is good at a lot of things but lacks the true length + athleticism to really impact a game at the NBA level. To me, Bridges seems like he'll end up a Justin Holliday now type pro which is probably not a bad career at the number nine pick but not something this team needs to get.

Mikal could certainly just end up a 3 and D. But “length” isn’t his problem.

He doesn’t have freakshow length like Kawhi but he’s 6’7 with a 7’0.5 wingspan.

Is Mikal more Tony Snell than Kahwi Leonard though? Snell had a freakish wingspan too.


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Snell was never the best player on a national championship contending team though.

[Grodoboldo]

It’s surprising how little you guys talk about Miles Bridges.
While my position in prefering him to Mikal is controversial (and quite fluid, to be honest) at this point, I think most people way underrate his combo of athleticism and shooting.
Yeah, yeah, Mikal is great (and I’d be pretty happy if we end up drafting him), and there’s a good chance that Carter will be solid for years to come, I don’t think you can deny that Miles has a bigger upside.

[GimmeDat]

Goberts still the #1 impact defender in the league, and Bamba has that sort of potential, and is a fluid mover to boot. I'm not too worried about his defensive impact beung minimized. We've also seen how a lack of rim protection has hurt us while trotting out Markkanen/Portis as starters.

SB Nation has us taking Mikal and Hunter with our picks.. which would be awesome. Only better outcome is getting a top tier guy with our own pick. Mid to late 1st is clearly dtill very volatile/fluid through, who knows who will be available where.

[DuckIII]

Mikal Bridges seems like a guy who is good at a lot of things but lacks the true length + athleticism to really impact a game at the NBA level. To me, Bridges seems like he'll end up a Justin Holliday now type pro which is probably not a bad career at the number nine pick but not something this team needs to get.

Mikal could certainly just end up a 3 and D. But “length” isn’t his problem.

He doesn’t have freakshow length like Kawhi but he’s 6’7 with a 7’0.5 wingspan.

Is Mikal more Tony Snell than Kahwi Leonard though? Snell had a freakish wingspan too.


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He sure doesn’t look passive to me, if that’s what you mean. Looks like a gamer through and through.

[Hangtime84]

If Trae is there when we pick him, this forum is gonna be wild. It'll be like 50/50 people loving it or hating it

I like times like that

[Benedict Miller]

It’s surprising how little you guys talk about Miles Bridges.
While my position in prefering him to Mikal is controversial (and quite fluid, to be honest) at this point, I think most people way underrate his combo of athleticism and shooting.
Yeah, yeah, Mikal is great (and I’d be pretty happy if we end up drafting him), and there’s a good chance that Carter will be solid for years to come, I don’t think you can deny that Miles has a bigger upside.

You're not the only one. I prefer Miles myself between the 2, but neither for the 8th pick. Stats might not show, but he has improved parts of his game.

[NDave79]

Mikal could certainly just end up a 3 and D. But “length” isn’t his problem.

He doesn’t have freakshow length like Kawhi but he’s 6’7 with a 7’0.5 wingspan.

Is Mikal more Tony Snell than Kahwi Leonard though? Snell had a freakish wingspan too.


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Snell was never the best player on a national championship contending team though.

Snell just wasn't that good in general (for a future NBA player). Here are some of Snell's final (Junior) year numbers playing in the Mountain West Conference. For comparison, Mikal's comparable numbers are in parenthesis.

Per -17.0 (27.5)
TS% -.562 on 16.0 points/40 (.659 on 22.1 points/40)
FG% -.422 (.521)
2pt FG %- .452 (.606)
3pt %- .390 (.433)
rebs/40- 3.4 (6.6)
stls/40- 1.1 (2.0)
blcks/40- .6 (1.4)

I can see the comparison, but Snell was basically a homeless man's version of Mikal.

However, considering how great Kawhi is (at least when he is healthy), I don't think it's unreasonable to question if Mikal ends up closer to Snell.