2022 NBA Draft Talk: Never too soon

[old school 34]

a little of the ol' In/Out/In/Out, I like it

OUT:
Liddell: I don't see a PF, I see a mobile stretch five. I can see some of the positives having him w/ KAT where both can play down low or space on the perimeter, but I didn't see enough blow-by/off-the-dribble stuff from him to get too excited.

Agbaji: too old, too limited off the dribble. We don't need another Beasley. I'm actually kinda surprised how highly he's being mocked because he looks like a typical late 1st draft pick. I guess the athleticism gives him an extra potential gear.

Keels: Looks out of shape. One dimensional shooter who shot poorly. Should be an UDFA imo.

Minott: too much work to do on offense. I don't want to wait 5 years to reap the benefits.

IN:
Jalen (not Jaylin) Williams: I like guys that came up as a PG then grew a bunch, and now they have that PG vision and handles with size. That's as scientific as I can be.

Koloko: He plays stronger than his frame would suggest, and he has room to get stronger. I think with good coaching and a little physical development, he can be one of the top defensive centers in the NBA. Just not sure of the fit b/c you could never play him with Vanderbilt.

Duren: I think he could be insane. Will immediately be one of the very best athletes at center, and could soon be the very best. I'd take him straight up over Ayton. He's gonna be dominate on the glass and as a finisher. And with his athleticism and 7'5" wingspan, has huge defensive potential. Agile too.

Cockburn: I mean, for a mid 2nd rounder, you can get somebody who will always be the strongest guy on the court. He's like Pekovic with 30% more athleticism. He has some decent post footwork too. But on the glass and around the rim, he's almost undeniable. I think he has a decent enough potential as a drop big too with his size and agility. Obviously needs coaching in a lot of basics pretty much across the board, but again, mid 2nd rounder? I'm down. As the old adage goes: you can't teach 7 feet 300 lbs of lean muscle.

David Roddy: Cant help but love the idea of Roddy and Edwards out there next to each other as the strongest wing combo in history. Or next to McDaniels as a forward duo at complete opposite ends of the physical spectrum. Really nice athleticism and agility for how big he is. 3 point shot looking nice. Handles looks decent. Seems like a worker. I can picture him out there doing Jae Crowder stuff. Seems strong on the glass. In the 2nd round, he's on my short list.

DUNNO:

Daniels: I really want to like him. Nice athleticism, nice touch on short shots, looks good in the open court, seems smart...but his shooting looks so bad sometimes and his handle is loose. It'd be a lot of hope and projection, because if he can clean that up, he's like Lonzo Ball-ish.

Come to the light on Daniels! His shot looked pure by the end of the g league season and be shot lights out during his workout. His handle is a bit loose. He can’t be the primary initiator. But I see him as Halliburton with better defense. Maybe Lonzo. Maybe some Jrue Holiday. A star? No. A perfect #3 on this roster? Yes. I’d move DLo and a future protected pick to move up for him. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be nearly enough to get into that 6-8 range.

I’d also love Souchan. Elite elite defense. Great BBIQ. Can handle and pass a little. Shot? Meh. But might come around. Too bad it sounds like he’s probably going top 10 now. He’s a very lite version of Draymond imo.

I want to like Eason. That BBIQ scares the heck out of me. His physical profile is great though.

My list very similar to yours....two guards I like not on your list would be Chandler & even more, like the home run swing at Wesley (took me a while to come around on him, but the more research I do on him...the more I'd be good with trusting our player development guys with him).

Ideal draft...maybe trading up &/or gaining another 1st...to bring home Sochan & Wesley...both may need a year or so...but feel good with player development staff that we could really love those two down the road. While keeping maybe 1 second to pick your 5-star HS player that had an underwhelming freshman year (there are a lot of them in this draft) that's willing to play on a 2-way....if I understand cap correctly...this would become best way to maximize development & team control on these types (2 yrs on a 2-way, then another 3 yrs on a Sachin deal....ultimately getting 5 yrs of potentially super cheap value &/or development/evaluation time on some of these guys)?

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[wolves_89]

Right now my hoped for outcome on draft night is that the Wolves end up with EJ LIddell and Christian Koloko. I think both would fit really well with the current roster, and since they are both college juniors they should be ready to contribute from day 1.

[Devilzsidewalk]

With TC's comments about seeing KAT as a 4/5 vs a pure five, I wonder if there's any centers he'd consider at 19. The two guys you'd have to consider would be Duren and Williams I suppose. I think Duren is highly unlikely to fall to 19, but Mark Williams is a possibility. I think the traditional 1 position guys are most at risk to drop a little further than their talent - Williams, Chandler, etc. Everybody's gonna be enamored watching Boston's defensive versatility, and going to be looking to try and grab those multi-positional defenders.

[theGreatRC]

Is Roddy the Desmond Bane of this years class? We're projected to take him with our 2nd round pick, but I have a feeling he'll go much higher after some shooting workouts..

avg 21ppg on 57% / 43% 3pt but only 69% FT ..he also grabbed 8 boards a game

[Biff Cooper]

With TC's comments about seeing KAT as a 4/5 vs a pure five, I wonder if there's any centers he'd consider at 19. The two guys you'd have to consider would be Duren and Williams I suppose. I think Duren is highly unlikely to fall to 19, but Mark Williams is a possibility. I think the traditional 1 position guys are most at risk to drop a little further than their talent - Williams, Chandler, etc. Everybody's gonna be enamored watching Boston's defensive versatility, and going to be looking to try and grab those multi-positional defenders.

I'm a huge proponent of trading up to draft Duren or Williams. Use our second round picks and/or Naz Reid as ammo. The team needs quality over quantity.

[Colbinii]

With TC's comments about seeing KAT as a 4/5 vs a pure five, I wonder if there's any centers he'd consider at 19. The two guys you'd have to consider would be Duren and Williams I suppose. I think Duren is highly unlikely to fall to 19, but Mark Williams is a possibility. I think the traditional 1 position guys are most at risk to drop a little further than their talent - Williams, Chandler, etc. Everybody's gonna be enamored watching Boston's defensive versatility, and going to be looking to try and grab those multi-positional defenders.

We saw with Jokic his ability to really excel with Plumlee and there is no reason Towns can't accel next to a big man either. While there is a trade-off between size and switchability, we saw the Lakers win just 2 years ago [In large part due to LeBron] with size of AD/Howard or AD/McGee at the 4/5.

I agree with you, the trend of "5 switchable defenders" is common because, let's face it, its the best strategy defensively. However, there is an advantage of zig when everyone zagging and with Towns, you aren't going to be able to go full switchable anyways.

[KGdaBom]

We already have McDaniels, do we need the European version?

Other than being tall and skinny I don't think they have much in common.

Tall and skinny can only play a specific type of defense.

I'll be sure to let KG know.

[minimus]

Can Dalen Terry be our version of Shaun Livingston? Our perimeter defense outside of Beverley and sometimes Ant is so bad, that even a rookie like Terry will be an upgrade in defense. DLo, Nowell and Beasley are below average defenders. Even McLaughlin tries more in defense.

[Baseline81]

A little surprised to hear so little over trading up for Duren, especially with several posters wanting to draft Wiseman a couple years ago.

[Devilzsidewalk]

A little surprised to hear so little over trading up for Duren, especially with several posters wanting to draft Wiseman a couple years ago.

I definitely think he has one of the highest floors at the very least. You'd have to go out of your way to make that combination of strength, length, and agility not work. He looks like he has every bit of physical potential that Dwight Howard had. And Dwight basically muscled his way to a hall of fame career. His offensive skill development was pretty negligible.

[BlacJacMac]

A little surprised to hear so little over trading up for Duren, especially with several posters wanting to draft Wiseman a couple years ago.

Would love to, but we'll likely need to move up into at least the Top 10 to have a chance at him.

So it's what? #19 and McDaniels to start? We just don't have a ton of ammo.

[Devilzsidewalk]

Losing McDaniels is hard. I feel like he's going to break out soon. He fits so perfectly w/ Ant too because they can go big w/ them at the wings, or fast as the forwards.

[BlacJacMac]

Losing McDaniels is hard. I feel like he's going to break out soon. He fits so perfectly w/ Ant too because they can go big w/ them at the wings, or fast as the forwards.

I'm not saying I want to move McDaniels, but what else do we have? No combination of Reid, Nowell and 2nd round picks is going to move us from #19 into the Top 10.

I'm just trying to throw out a realistic option if people are dead set on moving up that far.

[Biff Cooper]

Losing McDaniels is hard. I feel like he's going to break out soon. He fits so perfectly w/ Ant too because they can go big w/ them at the wings, or fast as the forwards.

I'm not saying I want to move McDaniels, but what else do we have? No combination of Reid, Nowell and 2nd round picks is going to move us from #19 into the Top 10.

I'm just trying to throw out a realistic option if people are dead set on moving up that far.

I assume we could also deal our 2023 FRP.
Perhaps there is a team or two that have roster spot issues that would be interested in selling a late FRP or swapping it for a couple of our 2nds. I would think #19 plus a late 2022 FRP plus a 2023 FRP would generate a lot of interest.

[Norseman79]

DLo and 19 to Knicks should get us the 11 and fill, perhaps flipping the 11, some 2nds and Beasley could get us from 11 higher to land Duren if we need to. That's about the only path I could see to getting up high enough to grab him. Duren is my ideal pick outside of Jabari Smith.

[younggunsmn]

So I watched some more video of the bigs and here's my thoughts:

Duren - The most potential, rare combination of size, strength, length, and explosiveness. Potential as a shooter.
Devastating defensive tools and can hang with players on the wing.
Downside - Awful on the post, raw on the offensive end other than using his athleticism to finish. Needs lots of work on that side of the ball. Would definitely be able to play next to Towns on the defensive end, has potential to be a devastating weapon as the low man in the high wall scheme, or be effective playing drop as the lone big.

Williams - Not as athletic or strong as Duren, but longer and eats up space in a hurry. Has enough agility to stay on the floor against a smaller lineup, and is an explosive finisher. Needs to get stronger, but potential is there to end up somewhere between Capela and Gobert.

Kessler - Very long and smart, but the bad in his tape is very very bad. May have a long career as a backup, but combo of lack of NBA agility and shooting will allow teams to play him off the floor.

Koloko/Kamagate - Will make decent backups/roleplayers. Can see a Biyombo type career. Don't know if either will have enough offense to stay on the floor for FInch.

Liddell- Him and Jalen WIlliams for me two of the players with the highest floors in our draft range.
Kind of the anti-McDaniels. Wide and strong. A high defensive IQ. Kind of reminds me of a poor man's Larry Johnson.
The bad in his tape is when he's using his dribble to create his own offense, this isn't something you're going to want to ask him to do a lot at the NBA level.
Doesn't have elite athleticism and length measured poorly compared to what I see on tape, but moves well laterally.
Looks like he could prosper defensively in both a switching and low man scheme.

[younggunsmn]

Duren and Williams are the only two guys outside of the top 5 that I would trade up for, but both also have potential as busts so I'd be careful what we were giving up. Certainly not McDaniels or our own future 1sts.
We'd likely have to get to at least 12 with the Hornets picking at 13.
Once you get past about 14 it's possible 2nd round picks/eating salary might be enough.

I thought too about the Knicks swapping 11 for 19 in a D LO deal, but I'd like to make sure we're getting a starting caliber PG back if possible, if we can work out a 3 or 4 teamer, which isn't so easy when you're on the clock.

[younggunsmn]

Also OUT OUT OUT on TyTy Washington. Chandler I'd like but at 40 not 19.
Like Jovic if we are going the risky route, Liddell/Williams if we are going the safe route.
Just think there's a lot of untapped potential there with Jovic as he physically matures and love love love how quick and easily he shoots it and seems to have a very high motor.

[shangrila]

With TC's comments about seeing KAT as a 4/5 vs a pure five, I wonder if there's any centers he'd consider at 19. The two guys you'd have to consider would be Duren and Williams I suppose. I think Duren is highly unlikely to fall to 19, but Mark Williams is a possibility. I think the traditional 1 position guys are most at risk to drop a little further than their talent - Williams, Chandler, etc. Everybody's gonna be enamored watching Boston's defensive versatility, and going to be looking to try and grab those multi-positional defenders.

I'd take a flier on Cockburn for this sort of role.

Personally I wouldn't want to go big for huge minutes, but 5-10mpg of twin towers would be good. And given Finch's comments on Reid I'd be surprised if they were willing to give big minutes to a rookie.

[Devilzsidewalk]

With TC's comments about seeing KAT as a 4/5 vs a pure five, I wonder if there's any centers he'd consider at 19. The two guys you'd have to consider would be Duren and Williams I suppose. I think Duren is highly unlikely to fall to 19, but Mark Williams is a possibility. I think the traditional 1 position guys are most at risk to drop a little further than their talent - Williams, Chandler, etc. Everybody's gonna be enamored watching Boston's defensive versatility, and going to be looking to try and grab those multi-positional defenders.

I'd take a flier on Cockburn for this sort of role.

Personally I wouldn't want to go big for huge minutes, but 5-10mpg of twin towers would be good. And given Finch's comments on Reid I'd be surprised if they were willing to give big minutes to a rookie.

Probably more logical. I'd imagine a 4 with Vando's general traits plus some semblance of offense would still be the priority. That's what I was thinking with Eason, or some people like Liddell too. But basically enough of a combination of size, defensive versatility, and floor-spacing to viably see minutes with any of the other frontcourt players, including Vando, b/c with the right frontcourt partner and opposing matchups, and continued physical development, I think he can start finding more minutes at center. If he can't develop center minutes, he's going to have a tough time carving a significant role out in the NBA. Especially if he ever moves on to another team where they aren't going to have a center that can space the floor so he can hang out around the rim.