2021 Draft Thread

[TB]

Did we work out Garuba?

I think he's a great fit to play right away as a bench PF/C. Basically the defensive version of the Paschall role. The difference being he has upside of a Millsap role with glimmers of Draymond (his shot mechanics hilariously looks identical to Dray). I wouldn't doubt if he has a rookie year similar to what Pistons got with Stewart where everyone goes "why did everyone pass on such a sure thing?".

I like Garuba a lot but I just don't see us taking a defensive specialist when we already have 2 offensively-challenged starters at the same positions Garuba plays. Love his relentless energy though and if they do pick him at 14, I won't be disappointed.

Yup thats how I see it too. Big fan of his, and feel like he will be a bigger factor to winning than most of the guys we are being mocked at 14 with... but its just not going to happen so no point getting excited about a Moody/Garuba or Wagner/Garuba draft.

[TB]

After listening to Wagner's media call + seeing a report that said Warriors have Kuminga top 4.... I can't help but think the Warriors are locked in on Wagner and hoping OKC doesn't have him targeted at 6. I think they want OKC to take Kuminga or Bouknight.

The media call was hilarious, when asked if he met with Warriors he gave every poker tell possible about it. Clearly he met with them (we know that now), and my view is that he wants to be drafted by the Warriors.

I can't see Presti going with Bouknight.... guessing they go with Kuminga, Wagner, or Moody and the Warriors are sweating hoping it isn't Wagner.

[FNQ]

Did we work out Garuba?

I think he's a great fit to play right away as a bench PF/C. Basically the defensive version of the Paschall role. The difference being he has upside of a Millsap role with glimmers of Draymond (his shot mechanics hilariously looks identical to Dray). I wouldn't doubt if he has a rookie year similar to what Pistons got with Stewart where everyone goes "why did everyone pass on such a sure thing?".

I like Garuba a lot but I just don't see us taking a defensive specialist when we already have 2 offensively-challenged starters at the same positions Garuba plays. Love his relentless energy though and if they do pick him at 14, I won't be disappointed.

Yup thats how I see it too. Big fan of his, and feel like he will be a bigger factor to winning than most of the guys we are being mocked at 14 with... but its just not going to happen so no point getting excited about a Moody/Garuba or Wagner/Garuba draft.

It definitely is super unlikely. But the way I see it, Garuba needs to find a really good fit otherwise he'll be labeled as a bust or limited role player. Check back in 2023 when Draymond may or may not be circling the drain, and itll probably cost less than now to acquire him.

Ideally anyways. But for all the hand-wringing about how rare iso specialists are, a smart and athletic big that can defend any position and has great BBIQ? You just don't see it often, and we have a system ready-made for it. Ah well. I'm sure I'll be ecstatic with whoever we pick at 14

[ClutchUp]

My guess is Kuminga at 7 and Duarte at 14.

[RichmondWarrior]

Myers better not dick this up…he’s already on my **** list after seeing him at the sports book placing bets the night before the 3 point contest a few months ago. taking Wiseman over Lamelo is one of the dumbest decisions in the last 15 years of the draft, so I can see him taking Mitchell and Duarte

[lars_rosenberg]

I think it's Kuming if available or Moody if not at #7.
I have no clue about #14, it will depend on who is available. I guess there are many viable options.
I hope Bob doesn't reach for Duarte. He's fine, but only if we trade down.

[cdubbz]

I’m out on Kuminga. All in on Giddey at 7.

Listened to the Russillo podcast and he was talking about Kuminga flaws. Lazy and uninspiring.

[michaelwarner]

I’m out on Kuminga. All in on Giddey at 7.

Listened to the Russillo podcast and he was talking about Kuminga flaws. Lazy and uninspiring.

Listened to that too. Vecenie said the 3 names he’s heard is Moody, Bouknight and Giddey.

[lars_rosenberg]

Giddey at 7 is a crazy reach.
He's a very flawed player. The guy can't shoot or defend. His footwork is really awkward.
He is NOT LaMelo, don't waste a pick to make up for a previous mistake. It would make two mistakes.

[Jester_]

Kuminga is the most obvious bust since Thabeet. The G-league is terrible, even less-than-a-year older Nico Mannion looked like a stud. Much higher chance Kuminga's older than his listed age as well.

[The-Power]

Kuminga is the most obvious bust since Thabeet.

Not even remotely comparable. Even if Kuminga never develops his skills (unlikely), he has prototypical NBA size, strength and athleticism. He'll be a useful player based on that alone if he's mentally committed to work on defense and do what's asked of him on offense.

The G-league is terrible, even less-than-a-year older Nico Mannion looked like a stud.

Except he did not. Mannion looked mediocre. Also, 13 games. After a long break of not playing competitive basketball. On a team that was literally build to showcase, i.e. a built-in incentive for young players to try to do too much. Just saying.

Much higher chance Kuminga's older than his listed age as well.

And this statement is based on your thorough analysis of his upbringing? Or is anyone born in Africa who comes over to play basketball in the States just naturally an age-cheat in your mind? We can be less certain about his age than his U.S.-born peers but this does not at all mean he's in fact older than listed.

[mos_def]

This one's for you, Sir Clyde. It's like Bouknight's trying to answer however way he can to win you over :

Watch on YouTube

I dont know if you'll see this before draft but i had two thoughts regarding it

1) when asked who does he pattern his game after he answered he thinks his game is unique since he has only been playing organized since a freshman. But then he said the biggest thing to expect in the nba is facing nba players every day and their game.

Like does he watch film? im sure he does but maybe its just me but i always looked at a player and tried to take a piece or move to my arsenal but it aounded like all his moves came from ucon instructions. It came off as odd

2) when asked about him in a video game. (Paraphrasing) i cant wait to pick up my controller and play with myself. That definitely came off weird

[KevinMcreynolds]

Giddey at 7 is a crazy reach.
He's a very flawed player. The guy can't shoot or defend. His footwork is really awkward.
He is NOT LaMelo, don't waste a pick to make up for a previous mistake. It would make two mistakes.

Id be all for taking a shot on him at 14, no way could I do it at 7 tho

[lars_rosenberg]

Kuminga is the most obvious bust since Thabeet. The G-league is terrible, even less-than-a-year older Nico Mannion looked like a stud. Much higher chance Kuminga's older than his listed age as well.

Yeah I'm for drafting Kuminga mostly for trade value, I'm not sold on him being actually good. He's so raw it's unlikely he actually develops into a star. There only one Giannis, most very raw players usually stay raw.

[Jester_]

Kuminga is the most obvious bust since Thabeet.

Not even remotely comparable. Even if Kuminga never develops his skills (unlikely), he has prototypical NBA size, strength and athleticism. He'll be a useful player based on that alone if he's mentally committed to work on defense and do what's asked of him on offense.

That's literally exactly what everyone said about Thabeet. Word for word.

The G-league is terrible, even less-than-a-year older Nico Mannion looked like a stud.

Except he did not. Mannion looked mediocre. Also, 13 games. After a long break of not playing competitive basketball. On a team that was literally build to showcase, i.e. a built-in incentive for young players to try to do too much. Just saying.

That's a lot of qualifiers to try to explain why Kuminga looked terrible in a league where Reggie Williams dominated.

Much higher chance Kuminga's older than his listed age as well.

And this statement is based on your thorough analysis of his upbringing? Or is anyone born in Africa who comes over to play basketball in the States just naturally an age-cheat in your mind? We can be less certain about his age than his U.S.-born peers but this does not at all mean he's in fact older than listed.

Did you read? He grew up in a place with notoriously bad bureaucratic and documenting standards - in other words "much higher chance he's older than his listed age" vs US prospects. Which is exactly what I said.

[whatisacenter]

the 7th pick is suddenly getting really interesting with Scottie Barnes and Bouknight looking like they have moved into the 5th and 6th slolts. There could be teams who would be willing to trade up to 7 to nab Kuminga, Giddey and possibly Sengun, then there is Moody and Wagner who might be high on other teams boards. Curious to see what the Dubs do, they have been linked to about every player in the draft and have been rumored to want to move both picks to win now. Good job by the FO keeping the league guessing what they will do.

[ChuckDurn]

It's about 9 hours before the draft...... 8:00 a.m. in California (where I live)...... and I'm legitimately surprised by how quiet it seems (on Twitter and elsewhere). I thought I'd wake up this morning to hear of a trade or two, and all sorts of chatter from the basketball reporters, analysts, etc...... and it almost seems like crickets.

Which suggests to me that it's going to be absolutely insane, starting in about 8 hours. The calm before the storm.

[whatisacenter]

Philly just paid $2mil for the Pels 53rd pick. It’s going to cost some change to move to the top of the second round.

[mos_def]

I don't see an elite cutter, like at all. I mean he cuts, but each one they show on video is him receiving the ball. Which, ok, fine, that's not a negative in his game. However some of the cuts the guy writes about, fawns about really, are not even impressive. There are times when he is open after a cut, and then continues moving and it threw the passer off. There's little mention of how he was a bad shooter off of cuts (key for our offense).. but he was good at UCONN, percentage wise, at getting to the rim on cuts. Only problem is... it happened 22 times the entire season. And it wasn't because he cut 22 times, its because the UCONN offense was so timid that unless he was wide open, he didnt get the ball. This was evident vs Creighton, where they forced him to be a more perimeter option and it didnt go well.

So calling it elite is a super super stretch, and it has to be qualified that its inside the rim only on very few attempts. Most of his cuts were to circle out to the perimeter, which did effectively nothing for the offense. Again, that can be a Bouk flaw, or a UCONN flaw. But running through the middle of the court just to get the ball, back to the basket, at 25+ feet is something that won't go as well in the NBA, what with the shorter shot clocks and much larger obstacles in the middle

again, he's a ONE read cutter, meaning he's cutting towards the basket with a single action in mind, that's it, exactly like Oubre. that's just ONE job of an off-ball player, you need cutters/slashers that will be continuously moving and relocating, can make quick secondary reads, shooters that can spot up shoot and shoot off-catch/screens, guys that can consistently set picks/screens, etc...Bouknight is terrible at all the above, and I already mentioned his terrible %s on catch-and-shoot 3s which is essentially the most basic ask of an off-ball guard.

anyone who is arguing Bouk is an off-ball guard either has no clue wtf hes talking about or is purposely being disingenuous, probably a combination of both but no serious person who's even watched ONE game of Bouk's will make this claim.

According to the article, who refered to synergy, Bouk as a cutter is on level with Bradley Beal

https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2021/7/28/22596215/2021-nba-draft-scouting-report-james-bouknight-analysis-video-breakdown-fit-atlanta-hawks-news-rumor

[Nvnervous45]

The fallacy of moneyball metrics is that stats only tell a small part of the story. Stats do not tell you if a player was consistently guarded by other teams best player, or if bouknight guarded the other teams best player or what his or the other teams players did. Moneyball does not work hence the a's had zero titles in 30 years and the giants have 3.