Def Swami wrote:KOC of The Ringer just updated his mock draft and still has us taking Tyrell Terry at #15. <br style="-webkit-user-select: auto;">https://nbadraft.theringer.com/#mock
Never been more sure of these players I like:
My highest:A. Nesmith - If ORL FO wants to embrace consecutive B or B+ moves for an eventual snowball effect greater than its parts, like they seem to do, this is it. Even individually, Nesmith has great length. He's a sharpshooter who actually should be upgraded into being called a sniper. And he's not just a typical sniper, he's the right kind of sniper who fits the NBA style, with all the right tricks the best NBA snipers have. There's upside here in many other areas too. Finally, if ORL FO is as high on Okeke as they seem, then Nesmith and Okeke will be much more impactful than outsiders would think. It also sets the table for Fultz to take a next step. Idk, maybe I'm too addicted to shooting. But Jay Bilas is high on him, thinks Nesmith is easily gone before #12.
T. Haliburton - Easy NBA-level starter, ticks so many boxes with his IQ, height, and passing, plus the decent offense he has already. The package is all there to mold this PG into some kind of perfect piece teams love, whether its starter-level, semi-All Star, or perennial All Star.
A. Edwards - Dude has so many question marks imho, a lot of people saying he needs to pass better, he needs to attack more, he needs to D up more, he hasn't been on winning teams, he catches-and-holds, then has bad shot selection. I don't value his transition strength that much either, because I don't value transition too much in the first place. But I love him for two reasons, he's got the fire, the handle, and the "shake" to be an elite shot-maker on the levels with legitimate comparisons to stars like James Harden and Donovan Mitchell. And he's got the length and athleticism to back it up, like let's drive in and make contact harder than the defender gives. And he's still younger than most in the draft, too. Secondly, if ORL gets a very, very fair offer for a top 3 pick, like GSW's, it'd be too hard to pass up. A certain Coach named Cliff helped unlocked Kemba into a perennial All Star.. The Oladipo comparisons made some sense, which kind of turned us off, because we all knew the long process with him, but I actually found it to be one of the less accurate comps for him. He's way more like Harden and Mitchell, and way more along Oladipo at his age. We will be quite happy with Edwards if he doesn't bomb his shooting percentages for more than 1 season or so (I like his form and release, his hops to get it off, his confidence, so I'm weirdly not so worried about it), and if some team/coach is able to unlock Edwards into a more well-rounded, smarter player, which is what he's missing to be an All Star. Jay Bilas ranks him #1.
Also high on:K. Hayes - Betting on a star here. But he already has good passing and some good offense, so you even have a floor.
T. Terry - Not just a sniper, but also a little bit of star betting here again, because he has the "it" factor. But his length is not good, and he's still not quite as NBA-capable a sniper as Nesmith. It's more everything else he can do for you besides sniping.
D. Vassell - Best 3-D player, emphasis on the length and defense! Great size for 2/3, and still young and improving. Jay Bilas is high on him.
J. Green - A 3-D player with the Mickael Pietrus comparison that I loved. It means he's more disruptive on defense than other 3-D players. It means he can do some attacking that other 3-D players can't. Still young.
D. Bane - Great 3-D player, don't care that he's older.
J. McDaniels - A later round wing I liked a lot, because of incredible length, with good handle and shooting. Some star potential hiding here.
R.J. Hampton - A jumpshot away from star potential.
S. Bey - Very solid 3-D player.
O. Okongwu - Antonio McDyess comparison was all I needed.
J. Smith - Modern NBA 4.
T. Maledon - Draft and stash PG with a lot of boxes ticked.
L. Bolmaro - I've cooled down on him, surprisingly. On the dribble shooting is okay, but still kind of missing a jumpshot to really be worth his countryman's Ginobili comps. Not sure I even see the craftiness of Ginobili's level. Happy to fall in love with him if our real scouts and FO take him, though. As an aside, someone has to help me here. For the life of me, I could have sworn some of us really liked one of his teammates, or some other Spanish/Argentinian player in Europe, but I cannot find out who it was. I think his age was like 24, but I remember a few of us being more blown away by his versatility and scoring than Bolmaro. I'm sure there's going to be like 5-10 players being missed out on big time, because they weren't "media consensus top 30".
