Indiana Pacers Draft Pick Watch Thread

Ron Swanson · Post #121 » by **Ron Swanson** » Fri Jan 24, 2020 4:36 pm

Who's the last midget guard that turned into a successful NBA player? IT? Don't think people understand how hard it is to be a positive impact player in the NBA when you're 5'11 or shorter. Howard would have to have Curry-like shooting ability for me to even think about spending a 1st round pick on him.

DingleJerry · Post #122 » by **DingleJerry** » Fri Jan 24, 2020 5:30 pm

Ron Swanson wrote:Who's the last midget guard that turned into a successful NBA player? IT? Don't think people understand how hard it is to be a positive impact player in the NBA when you're 5'11 or shorter. Howard would have to have Curry-like shooting ability for me to even think about spending a 1st round pick on him.

Trae Young on that edge but probably tall enough to fall out of this comp. Carson Edwards from Boston so far isn't doing anything, he'd be comparable to Howard

jakecronus8 · Post #123 » by **jakecronus8** » Fri Jan 24, 2020 5:35 pm

Count me in on Markus leading our summer league team, followed by a G-League deal. I’m sure he could get better pay in Europe.

Ron Swanson · Post #124 » by **Ron Swanson** » Fri Jan 24, 2020 5:35 pm

And Edwards is also what? 200 lbs? He's built more like Chris Paul or Kyle Lowry, whereas Howard is around 165-170 soaking wet. He'd just be at such a massive physical disadvantage against NBA athletes.

emunney · Post #125 » by **emunney** » Fri Jan 24, 2020 5:38 pm

Howard is REALLY small, but he's also a better shooter than ANY of these guys other than Curry, and that includes Trae. That's the thing that gives me pause about him. Also, his size should make him better negotiating traffic, like a small RB darting behind the linemen. If he committed to being that kind of player, I think he'd really mess up defenses as an off ball threat. His quickness and size could make him better at it than any of the guys we're talking about. But also, who can he defend, and generally what else can he do? And I think it's nobody and nothing.

DingleJerry · Post #126 » by **DingleJerry** » Fri Jan 24, 2020 5:43 pm

It is a skillset MKE could use, I grant that. But i'm pretty skeptical on him specifically for the reasons you're saying. I don't follow MU super close so take with a grain of salt and clarify if needed, but wit the amount of guys transferring seemingly because of him you'd have to question his personality a bit and how he'd take to being put in the specialist role as opposed to being a chucker. Whereas a guy like Carson Edwards seemed to be an outstanding teammate, coachable, played as a team before all the other good players left Purdue, etc where assuming the interviews went well you'd assume would do what he's told to best maximize his skills

emunney · Post #127 » by **emunney** » Fri Jan 24, 2020 7:15 pm

Yeah, I'm not advocating for him so much as I'm advocating for... ambivalence toward him? As others have pointed out, he's just a really interesting case. We haven't seen many college shooters like him. Marquette uses him a lot like how Duke used Redick, but way more and they let him get his own more often.

Redick was 6-4 and it took him 5 or 6 years to really find his way in the league, but it's a different league than the one Redick entered. I don't know. He's just worth keeping tabs on, imo. Rare shooter.

Chuck Diesel · Post #128 » by **Chuck Diesel** » Fri Jan 24, 2020 7:29 pm

He’ll be better than Bronson Koenig, that’s for sure.

LuessiT · Post #129 » by **LuessiT** » Thu Jan 30, 2020 12:41 pm

Haven't seen this posted:

https://www.thestepien.com/2019/05/06/2020-international-guide-curious-case-aleksej-pokusevski/

By the way regarding the 'weak' draft class: The European draft class this year is very deep (arguably the strongest depth in recent years). They're missing a top dog but Avdija, Maledon & Hayes all could/should go in the lottery and I'm a big fan of Sylla. Pokusevski is obviously very intriguing. Then there are a bunch of draftable players who may or may not declare. I don't think it's particularly weak.

Post #130 » by **Ruzious** » Thu Jan 30, 2020 1:41 pm

LuessiT wrote:Haven't seen this posted:

https://www.thestepien.com/2019/05/06/2020-international-guide-curious-case-aleksej-pokusevski/

By the way regarding the 'weak' draft class: The European draft class this year is very deep (arguably the strongest depth in recent years). They're missing a top dog but Avdija, Maledon & Hayes all could/should go in the lottery and I'm a big fan of Sylla. Pokusevski is obviously very intriguing. Then there are a bunch of draftable players who may or may not declare. I don't think it's particularly weak.

I know he's only 17, but he is awfully thin looking with narrow shoulders. I think anyone picking him will have to wait at least a couple of years - and even then, he might never play. I see some think he's 1st round material, but I think he's a mid 2nd rounder.

Beorn · Post #131 » by **Beorn** » Thu Jan 30, 2020 2:13 pm

this article/video is old AF. I posted earlier a scouting video with this season's footage

LuessiT · Post #132 » by **LuessiT** » Thu Jan 30, 2020 2:42 pm

Ruzious wrote:
LuessiT wrote:Haven't seen this posted:

https://www.thestepien.com/2019/05/06/2020-international-guide-curious-case-aleksej-pokusevski/

By the way regarding the 'weak' draft class: The European draft class this year is very deep (arguably the strongest depth in recent years). They're missing a top dog but Avdija, Maledon & Hayes all could/should go in the lottery and I'm a big fan of Sylla. Pokusevski is obviously very intriguing. Then there are a bunch of draftable players who may or may not declare. I don't think it's particularly weak.

I know he's only 17, but he is awfully thin looking with narrow shoulders. I think anyone picking him will have to wait at least a couple of years - and even then, he might never play. I see some think he's 1st round material, but I think he's a mid 2nd rounder.

Without wanting to compare the two, the same was said about Giannis. What I see is the youngest player (?) in the draft with no holes in his game. If I'm confident in my player developement team I have no issues drafting him in the lottery.

LuessiT · Post #133 » by **LuessiT** » Thu Jan 30, 2020 2:44 pm

Beorn wrote:this article/video is old AF. I posted earlier a scouting video with this season's footage

Yeah I know but there isn't too much footage out there so I thought it was worth posting.

Ron Swanson · Post #134 » by **Ron Swanson** » Thu Jan 30, 2020 3:07 pm

Always a place in the league for 7-footers that can shoot, but he makes 17-year old Giannis look like a body builder. He's probably at least a 3-year investment.

Post #135 » by **ReasonablySober** » Thu Jan 30, 2020 3:20 pm

Watch on YouTube

He does some impressive things here.

LuessiT · Post #136 » by **LuessiT** » Thu Jan 30, 2020 3:27 pm

Ron Swanson wrote:Always a place in the league for 7-footers that can shoot, but he makes 17-year old Giannis look like a body builder. He's probably at least a 3-year investment.

He's considerably bigger now than in the article I linked. Still has to pack a lot of muscle, but he's ~10 pounds heavier then the 196 in the stepien article. Nothing to write home about but still worth a mention. Also I think the bigger skill that sets him apart from other bigs is the handle/passing/finesse finishing. There are plenty of stretch bigs nowadays, but he's got a complete perimeter skillset.

LuessiT · Post #137 » by **LuessiT** » Thu Jan 30, 2020 3:36 pm

Here's one short clip of Sylla who I think is a big sleeper on a lot of early boards:

Watch on YouTube

And while I'm at it Maledon is back and here are some highlights from a recent Euroleague game.

Watch on YouTube

Post #138 » by **Ruzious** » Thu Jan 30, 2020 4:33 pm

LuessiT wrote:
Ruzious wrote:
LuessiT wrote:Haven't seen this posted:

https://www.thestepien.com/2019/05/06/2020-international-guide-curious-case-aleksej-pokusevski/

By the way regarding the 'weak' draft class: The European draft class this year is very deep (arguably the strongest depth in recent years). They're missing a top dog but Avdija, Maledon & Hayes all could/should go in the lottery and I'm a big fan of Sylla. Pokusevski is obviously very intriguing. Then there are a bunch of draftable players who may or may not declare. I don't think it's particularly weak.

I know he's only 17, but he is awfully thin looking with narrow shoulders. I think anyone picking him will have to wait at least a couple of years - and even then, he might never play. I see some think he's 1st round material, but I think he's a mid 2nd rounder.

Without wanting to compare the two, the same was said about Giannis. What I see is the youngest player (?) in the draft with no holes in his game. If I'm confident in my player developement team I have no issues drafting him in the lottery.

Giannis wasn't as thin as AP and always had a frame with wider shoulders that made it look likely that he could add significant weight. AP is more like Bol Bol than Giannis at 17.

LuessiT · Post #139 » by **LuessiT** » Thu Jan 30, 2020 9:04 pm

Ruzious wrote:
LuessiT wrote:
Ruzious wrote:I know he's only 17, but he is awfully thin looking with narrow shoulders. I think anyone picking him will have to wait at least a couple of years - and even then, he might never play. I see some think he's 1st round material, but I think he's a mid 2nd rounder.

Without wanting to compare the two, the same was said about Giannis. What I see is the youngest player (?) in the draft with no holes in his game. If I'm confident in my player developement team I have no issues drafting him in the lottery.

Giannis wasn't as thin as AP and always had a frame with wider shoulders that made it look likely that he could add significant weight. AP is more like Bol Bol than Giannis at 17.

I don't disagree though I think his frame can add at least some mass. He's also just 18 and from Europe whereas Bol Bol was over 20 and grew up in the US systems. You'd obviously monitor the development between now and the draft and evaluate based on that. But yeah the statement that was issued when Giannis was drafted could hold true: He could be 'a very expensive G-League player.'

emunney · Post #140 » by **emunney** » Thu Jan 30, 2020 10:38 pm

I feel like the fact that Pokusevski is as physically underdeveloped as he is and yet rebounds as well as he does is a very good sign. Also the fact that he's coming out of A2 means we have to draft him. I really like his skill level and coordination.