Official 2021 NBA Draft Thread Part 2

[RookieStar]

I dont have clear favourite. I like prospects who can quickly process the game. Thats why i didnt like Bamba and thats why i was very high on Okeke.
Barnes, Sengun, Giddey, Wagner, Bouknight, Springer. You can propably talk me into any of them.

I had not read up on Josh Giddey. A dominance rebounder with excellent court vision. He seems like he could be a on-the-ball SG with Fultz being an off-the-ball PG. If the Magic draft Mobley up top, Giddey could be an interesting option to flush out the core roster for this team.

Perhaps from 2022/23 the roster would evolve around:
Fultz/Anthony
Giddey/Hampton
Isaac/Ross
Mobley/Okeke
Carter/Bamba

Add to that another two players on rookie deals (the 2021 SRP and the 2022 FRP), the Magic would actually only be two FAs away from a full roster.

..

But Giddeys achilees heel would be magnified with that lineup. Teams would probably play college ball zone against us and dare us to shoot when they aee who we have on the floor. lol

[ucfmay2000]

Luka Garza reminds me a lot of young Vuc. Would love to see Magic uses the second round pick for him. He was a top 5 scorer of NCAA last year.

Watch on YouTube

[basketballRob]

Someone else mentioned it earlier, but Franz Wagner reminds me of Chuma Okeke.

A heady 3/4 who can shoot, defend and pass a little bit, but isn’t great at anything in particular.

The main thing working in Wagner’s favor in this Okeke comparison is that he is coming into the NBA as freshman and not a sophomore and doesn’t have an impending missed season due to a blown out knee.

Wagner will start his rookie season having just turned 20 rather than 22 like Chuma.

Once you get past pick 6-7, he certainly becomes an more viable option.

Difference is that while Wagner is taller than Okeke, he is nowhere near the defensive presence of chuma. I mean chuma battled and stopped Ziom when they natched up in the NCAA. you gotta be hecka strong to bang bodies with a 280lb high leaping phenom...

Not saying that Wagner is as good as Chuma defensively, but he was the top defender on the #5 defense. He was second team all defense in the Big 10. He just has a knack for being in the right spot on the floor, like Okeke.

Wagner doesn't have the weight to bang with big guys like Chuma, but he does have a little more size.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM mobile app

[RookieStar]

Luka Garza reminds me a lot of young Vuc. Would love to see Magic uses the second round pick for him. He was a top 5 scorer of NCAA last year.

Watch on YouTube

if we dont keep Wagner for next year, im fine with him being our high srp.

[Knightro]

Difference is that while Wagner is taller than Okeke, he is nowhere near the defensive presence of chuma. I mean chuma battled and stopped Ziom when they natched up in the NCAA. you gotta be hecka strong to bang bodies with a 280lb high leaping phenom...

Statistically Wagner was a very good defender at the college level and very comparable to Okeke, who was also excellent.

Wagner as soph
2.3 STL/100
2.3 STL%
1.9 BLK/100
3.2 BLK%
92.3 DRTG
2.0 DWS
6.1 DBPM

Okeke as soph
3.6 STL/100
2.4 BLK/100
3.6 STL%
5.5 BLK%
95.2 DRTG
2.3 DWS
4.1 DBPM

[basketballRob]

Offensively Wagner compares a little to Detlef Schrempf. He won B2B 6th man awards.

I think Wagner eventually evolves into a 35-40% 3 pt shooter.


https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/schrede01.html

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM mobile app

[Def Swami]

The ONLY thing in life that is keeping me from going insane while watching the Magic win games down the stretch... is Keon Johnson.

Watch on YouTube

Johnson is an interesting prospect. But, you're banking on him learning to shoot for the pick to be worthwhile. I think he's in that tier just outside the top 4. He's in the Kuminga, Barnes tier for me. Guys with high upside who need to learn to shoot to hit their potential. Those picks will take some development and patience.

[RookieStar]

The ONLY thing in life that is keeping me from going insane while watching the Magic win games down the stretch... is Keon Johnson.

Watch on YouTube

Johnson is an interesting prospect. But, you're banking on him learning to shoot for the pick to be worthwhile. I think he's in that tier just outside the top 4. He's in the Kuminga, Barnes tier for me. Guys with high upside who need to learn to shoot to hit their potential. Those picks will take some development and patience.

Not only that.. I like Keon a lot before BUT when we got RJ.. another high flying superb athlete with suspect shooting.. well I know have the luxury of choosing someone else because he kinda replicates RJ's skillset no?

6'5 SG
Athlete
Drive/Attack the rim
Not so great shooting

[VFX]

I know people have their reasons against Keon. I think he’s a good consolation if Orlando can’t break the top 4.

[basketballRob]

Keon is a good defender.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM mobile app

[RookieStar]

Alright.. let's take a break from this with this speculation/game:

Due to the guard or wing heavy choices we have this draft and with their rankings like a roller-coaster ( Bouknight went as high as 8-9 before dropping to 17, Zaire when the NCAA started was 6, threatening to barge-in the top-5 and now down to 15, etc etc ). How high would RJ be in this draft when all we have of him was his high school and the NBL games? Still in the low teens? Or maybe barge-in the high teens? OR with so many competitors, in the 20s?

Keep in mind his age in the draft and his potential over say Duarte/Butler/etc who are in their 20s already.

[Bensational]

Keon has skill, RJ doesn’t. That’s the big difference between them. RJ just throws himself at the ring like a cannon ball, but Keon will look for and create gaps.

Keon's low FT% doesn’t bode well for him becoming a consistent shooter, but I think he’s well worth the shot outside of Cade/Suggs/Green.

[Bensational]

That raises a good question though:

How many of the current prospects would you consider upgrades (either immediate or future) over what we already have?

Feels like it starts getting hard to answer after about 7-8 prospects for me.

[RookieStar]

Keon has skill, RJ doesn’t. That’s the big difference between them. RJ just throws himself at the ring like a cannon ball, but Keon will look for and create gaps.

Keon's low FT% doesn’t bode well for him becoming a consistent shooter, but I think he’s well worth the shot outside of Cade/Suggs/Green.

For me, Keon looks more fluid and ( maybe its just the video ) lankier/slimmer than RJ so RJ can probably body-up and absorb contact better. However, as you say RJ just straight line drives to the hoop BUT man, he absorbs contact and has that Bacon-like quality to score some tough shots. I saw a lot of Keon in ncaa games where it rims out a lot.

[RookieStar]

That raises a good question though:

How many of the current prospects would you consider upgrades (either immediate or future) over what we already have?

Feels like it starts getting hard to answer after about 7-8 prospects for me.

Put in the context that we have 3(THREE) rookies in our roster.. and we potentially are adding 3 more???

Let me start :

Suggs - better than Cole in the PG spot, offguard (scoring-wise) I think Cole is better now due to NBA conditioning/experience.
Moody/Keon/Bouknight - all lotto SGs not named J.Green I think is a wash with RJ right now. Let's face it, those 3 also have a lot of question marks.

Chuma - if you compare him to the F-role so....
Kuminga has better hype/potential
Barnes better tools but Chuma has better skills
Kispert has better shooting but I would take Chuma over everything else.
Wagner for me all he has is physical tools on Okeke but I still go with Chuma.
Jalen Johnson "potentially" can be better than Chuma in everything except probably defense.
Zaire is too unknown and a mystery. Really frustrating not being able to see what he could bring.

[Bensational]

That raises a good question though:

How many of the current prospects would you consider upgrades (either immediate or future) over what we already have?

Feels like it starts getting hard to answer after about 7-8 prospects for me.

Put in the context that we have 3(THREE) rookies in our roster.. and we potentially are adding 3 more???

Let me start :

Suggs - better than Cole in the PG spot, offguard (scoring-wise) I think Cole is better now due to NBA conditioning/experience.
Moody/Keon/Bouknight - all lotto SGs not named J.Green I think is a wash with RJ right now. Let's face it, those 3 also have a lot of question marks.

Chuma - if you compare him to the F-role so....
Kuminga has better hype/potential
Barnes better tools but Chuma has better skills
Kispert has better shooting but I would take Chuma over everything else.
Wagner for me all he has is physical tools on Okeke but I still go with Chuma.
Jalen Johnson "potentially" can be better than Chuma in everything except probably defense.
Zaire is too unknown and a mystery. Really frustrating not being able to see what he could bring.

I’ve got Cade and Suggs as immediate improvements over any of our current players. Green on the cusp of that tier.

Sengun - I’m probably going overboard, but I think he has solid playmaking potential and possibly the best skills/position outside of those 3 above. WCJ probably more reliable next season but lower ceiling. Bamba probably wouldn’t handle more competition like that even if WCJ were moved.

Kuminga - raw, but could still be the best SF on the team.

Mobley - probably a better defender than anyone other than Isaac.

Keon - our team lacks anyone with true SG size other than Ross and Keon would be the next best with a strong base of athleticism and craft/handle.

Springer- he’s my dark horse for a Lillard kind of guy. Strong scoring potential but a more natural playmaker than Cole. I’d consider him a future starter whereas I see Cole as a future 6th man.

Moody - could rival Ross as best shooter/scorer straight away.

Giddey - if we have veterans like Ross, MCW and Harris then Giddey probably won’t be immediately better than them, but he’s at least a long term glue guy.

I’ve cooled on everyone else. Bouknight, I can’t see what the fascination is at all. Barnes, I don’t think we need. Zaire has a great package but has Reddish/Jeff Green vibes of all the talent but no elite drive.

After Giddey I’d be looking at the big swings. Maybe that puts Barnes back on the table, I dunno.

[drsd]

I’ve got Cade and Suggs as immediate improvements over any of our current players. Green on the cusp of that tier.

Sengun - I’m probably going overboard, but I think he has solid playmaking potential and possibly the best skills/position outside of those 3 above. WCJ probably more reliable next season but lower ceiling. Bamba probably wouldn’t handle more competition like that even if WCJ were moved.

Kuminga - raw, but could still be the best SF on the team.

Mobley - probably a better defender than anyone other than Isaac.

Keon - our team lacks anyone with true SG size other than Ross and Keon would be the next best with a strong base of athleticism and craft/handle.

Springer- he’s my dark horse for a Lillard kind of guy. Strong scoring potential but a more natural playmaker than Cole. I’d consider him a future starter whereas I see Cole as a future 6th man.

Moody - could rival Ross as best shooter/scorer straight away.

Giddey - if we have veterans like Ross, MCW and Harris then Giddey probably won’t be immediately better than them, but he’s at least a long term glue guy.

I’ve cooled on everyone else. Bouknight, I can’t see what the fascination is at all. Barnes, I don’t think we need. Zaire has a great package but has Reddish/Jeff Green vibes of all the talent but no elite drive.

After Giddey I’d be looking at the big swings. Maybe that puts Barnes back on the table, I dunno.

What is clear is that both FRP should be clear roster upgrades. As the team is quite young, this is really a perfect time to gel in to a core roster where all players can develop together.


Fultz/Anthony/Isaac/Okeke/Carter/Bamba/FRP-1/FRP-2: Orlando has those 8 players to settle in to a theme and tone next year. That is a lot of talent. For me: Orlando is "only" one star away from being more than mediocre.
I am excited about 2022/23 (and will happily slog through 2021/22 to get there).

..

[drsd]

Luka Garza reminds me a lot of young Vuc. Would love to see Magic uses the second round pick for him. He was a top 5 scorer of NCAA last year.

Watch on YouTube

Garza will be a multi-year player in the NBA (excluding injuries). He has a lot of presentable skills. I see him as excellent value if he slides to Orlando's SRP.

..

[Skin]

Keon has skill, RJ doesn’t. That’s the big difference between them. RJ just throws himself at the ring like a cannon ball, but Keon will look for and create gaps.

Keon's low FT% doesn’t bode well for him becoming a consistent shooter, but I think he’s well worth the shot outside of Cade/Suggs/Green.

This. Rj is the guard version of AG.

[RookieStar]

Keon has skill, RJ doesn’t. That’s the big difference between them. RJ just throws himself at the ring like a cannon ball, but Keon will look for and create gaps.

Keon's low FT% doesn’t bode well for him becoming a consistent shooter, but I think he’s well worth the shot outside of Cade/Suggs/Green.

This. Rj is the guard version of AG.

Hopefully RJ knows his limitations and can work on it and not demand a role he isn't suited for.