2018 NBA Draft Talk

[mkwest]

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[connseanery]

Current max vertical leader board. The numbers aren't really clear on ESPN3 but I think it's this.

1. Josh Okogie 42
2. Treyvon Duval 41 1/2
2. Anfernee Simons 41/2
4. Grayson Allen 40 1/2
4. Hamidou Diallo 40 1/2
4. Melvin Frazier 40 1/2

[Forte IV]

I know I said I wanted wings, but I'm really leaning towards Shai Gilgeous and Lonnie Walker

[connseanery]

I wonder if Divincenzo will rise like Donovan Mitchell did last year leading up to the draft. He has tied for the best current max vertical at 42" and has the best standing vert at 34 1/2".

He's got the athletic profile coupled with on court performance.

[mkwest]

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[Forte IV]

I wonder if Divincenzo will rise like Donovan Mitchell did last year leading up to the draft. He has tied for the best current max vertical at 42" and has the best standing vert at 34 1/2".

He's got the athletic profile coupled with on court performance.

Doesn't have the wingspan

[mkwest]

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[Quake Griffin]

How is Lonnie Walker taller than Zhaire, with a longer wing span, but still having a shorter standing reach?

He's literally Dwyane Wade with height and wing span just 2 inches shorter on standing reach.
GTFO.

[connseanery]

I wonder if Divincenzo will rise like Donovan Mitchell did last year leading up to the draft. He has tied for the best current max vertical at 42" and has the best standing vert at 34 1/2".

He's got the athletic profile coupled with on court performance.

Doesn't have the wingspan

He has enough to do this.

[Ranma]

He has enough to do this.

So did Blake Griffin, but neither are considered a defensive presence and Griffin is much more talented than Donte DiVincenzo even in his reduced state. Plus, there are some possible character concerns with DiVincenzo.

[connseanery]

He has enough to do this.

So did Blake Griffin, but neither are considered a defensive presence and Griffin i's much more talented than Donte DiVincenzo even in his reduced state. Plus, there are some possible character concerns with DiVincenzo.

Blake was and is a horrible defender at the PF slot. Divincenzo is actually getting pretty good reviews on his defense.

That character concern is silly. Possible tweets by him or his friends when he was 13/14. No one is going to care about that once they do a thorough background check.

[mkwest]

Clippers get a closer look at two point guards and a forward at NBA combine

Both [Miles] Bridges and [Collin] Sexton said they had interviews with the Clippers. They were impressed by coach Doc Rivers and team consultant Jerry West.

Gilgeous-Alexander, a 6-foot-6 point guard, wouldn't disclose which teams had interviewed him.

"The teams that I spoke to didn't give me the permission to say if I spoke with them or not," he said.

When told that some mock drafts have him and Kentucky teammate Kevin Knox both going to the Clippers, [Shai] Gilgeous-Alexander sounded hopeful.

"That would be really fun, also really helpful for both of us," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "We both know each other's tendencies and have played pretty successful alongside each other in the past year. Continuing that would only make it better for us."

Sexton said there was a central theme during his conversation with the Clippers.

"Absolutely they talked about defense," he said. "They probably would have won a couple more games if they would have played good, sound defense. They got Pat Beverley. He's a great defensive player, but they just needed that one more person that was going to lock down."

Brad Turner, LA times

[Forte IV]

Where are the Lonnie Walker or Zhaire Smith interviews Clippers

[esqtvd]

How is Lonnie Walker taller than Zhaire, with a longer wing span, but still having a shorter standing reach?

wide shoulders

[Ranma]

Blake was and is a horrible defender at the PF slot. Divincenzo is actually getting pretty good reviews on his defense.

That character concern is silly. Possible tweets by him or his friends when he was 13/14. No one is going to care about that once they do a thorough background check.

Notice how I used the phrase "possible character concerns" since I didn't outright condemn him, but from my understanding, he hasn't exactly convincingly addressed the issues brought up. Yeah, he was acting like a stupid kid before, but you're real quick to give him the benefit of the doubt when most everyone don't exactly change into entirely different people in 4 or 5 years. There's a difference between Josh Allen and the likes of Cade McNown and Ryan Leaf.

Also, I don't know what scouting reports you're reading, but there are constant questions about whether DiVincenzo can defend at the next level, so I'm not exactly convinced that DiVincenzo will defend better as a guard in the NBA than Blake Griffin has as a PF, especially since Griffin is still the more athletic and physical player between the two of them. Plus, DiVincenzo is not even on either of David Aldridge's big boards for wings or guards. He's more likely to fall into the second round than he is to get into the lottery in this class.

It's not like I even hate him as a prospect since I recognize that he's an efficient shooter and scorer with better-than-anticipated athleticism to go along with a competitive nature, but he's more Grayson Allen than he is Donovan Mitchell, so I wouldn't exactly get too excited for him to be the next great white hope.

Everyone has already seen what DiVincenzo can do offensively in the tournament, so he'll have to show something drastically different in workouts to elevate his standing in evaluators' minds. Still, it's conceivable for him to be selected in the late teens of the first round, but I see his range more in the mid-20's to the first half of the second round.

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[Quake Griffin]

**** Doncic.

COME TO THE DRAFT DAMMIT.
If we missed out on a draft prospect because he went 11th, I'm gonna be hot.

[Goner]

**** Doncic.

COME TO THE DRAFT DAMMIT.
If we missed out on a draft prospect because he went 11th, I'm gonna be hot.

I don't think he'll be sliding anywhere near us

[Goner]

I've heard people on the draft board claiming we've issued a promise to Robert Williams. Is there any news corroborating this?

[connseanery]

Blake was and is a horrible defender at the PF slot. Divincenzo is actually getting pretty good reviews on his defense.

That character concern is silly. Possible tweets by him or his friends when he was 13/14. No one is going to care about that once they do a thorough background check.

Notice how I used the phrase "possible character concerns" since I didn't outright condemn him, but from my understanding, he hasn't exactly convincingly addressed the issues brought up. Yeah, he was acting like a stupid kid before, but you're real quick to give him the benefit of the doubt when most everyone don't exactly change into entirely different people in 4 or 5 years. There's a difference between Josh Allen and the likes of Cade McNown and Ryan Leaf.

Also, I don't know what scouting reports you're reading, but there are constant questions about whether DiVincenzo can defend at the next level, so I'm not exactly convinced that DiVincenzo will defend better as a guard in the NBA than Blake Griffin has as a PF, especially since Griffin is still the more athletic and physical player between the two of them. Plus, DiVincenzo is not even on either of David Aldridge's big boards for wings or guards. He's more likely to fall into the second round than he is to get into the lottery in this class.

It's not like I even hate him as a prospect since I recognize that he's an efficient shooter and scorer with better-than-anticipated athleticism to go along with a competitive nature, but he's more Grayson Allen than he is Donovan Mitchell, so I wouldn't exactly get too excited for him to be the next great white hope.

Everyone has already seen what DiVincenzo can do offensively in the tournament, so he'll have to show something drastically different in workouts to elevate his standing in evaluators' minds. Still, it's conceivable for him to be selected in the late teens of the first round, but I see his range more in the mid-20's to the first half of the second round.

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I'm not saying he's going to be a star like Mitchell but he's a guy that like DM last year started off in the late 1st round and is moving upwards.

The defensive problem with Griffin is the lack of effort and limited lateral quickness. DV would be more of a size limitation. He actually puts in the energy and effort and that's what scouting reports are saying about him.

If' you've watched a lot of college hoops the guys being mocked at 12/13 like Walker, SGA, Zhaire Smith, Bridges, Robert williams all have weaknesses too. The Clippers are going to need to choose wisely, the better prospects aren't that clear.

[Ranma]

I don't think he'll be sliding anywhere near us

Quake isn't saying that Doncic will slide at all. What he's saying is that if he decides not to stay in the draft, the Kings or whomever will not be able to draft him ahead of us, which means that another player would have to be drafted in his place. That moves the other prospects up the draft board and risks the Clippers losing a targeted player being picked just out of our reach at 10th or 11th overall, which might not have been the case otherwise.

I've heard people on the draft board claiming we've issued a promise to Robert Williams. Is there any news corroborating this?

Are they citing sources? It makes very little sense for the Clippers to promise a prospect a guarantee to draft him if he's available given how much things are in flux right now, especially in the range of our picks. After the Yaroslav Korolev debacle, the Clippers should know better than to do that, especially with Jerry West advising them.

Speaking of Robert Williams, he's a scary prospect whether we draft him or not. On physical ability alone, he's a top-5 pick as he runs the court really well for a big guy and has the height, length, and even some bulk that allows him to rebound and block shots prodigiously. He's excellent in the open floor was a finisher since his high points-per-possession average benefits from such plays.

However, he has question marks about his motor and is apparently afraid to play physically in the post as he tends to drift towards the perimeter. Even on defense, he's more of a help-side defender instead of a physical body who mans up against opponents. He shows some decent mechanics to eventually develop an outside shot, but his bread-and-butter should be in the trenches of post play and he seems disinclined to play there.

Williams represents a lot of my fears at our spots in the draft. Given the depth of this draft pool full of athletic prospects with varying degrees of skill, potential and polish, there is a strong likelihood that quite a few prospects taken outside of the lottery will eventually perform better than those selected among the top 14. Hopefully, Jerry West will help us navigate sifting through the prospects to find the right ones.

You would think I'd be more confident given what the front office pulled off last year with picks in the second round as well as signings from the G-League, but I'm having difficulty getting a read and handle on this draft class so far. Maybe Doc and his cronies' continued presence is what is bugging me as I fear their input could corrupt the analyses provided by our more capable staff members, but I seem to have more comfort with prospects currently projected ahead and behind our draft slots in the first round.