2022-2023 Magic Trade and Free Agency Idea Thread III

[RookieStar]

Walker? combo forward that does a little of everything, but not really good at anything?

I meant Simons.

i would like Simons for this Magic team. i think he gets a bad rap. but not too many Magic fans seem to be on board with it

I too would like Simons... better than GTJ or FVV anyway. Its the price for taking him that is the problem.

[RookieStar]

Lol.

Me too man me too.

Walker? combo forward that does a little of everything, but not really good at anything?

He has a great feel for the game and can guard 3-5 at a high level.

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Are you sure? Against NBA talent?

Guarding the 3... he is 250lbs and top heavy... can he really fly around the court against say Birdges , Franz and etc?

Guarding the 5... we sae this finals. BAM, who is taller/longer than him cant guard the real 5s of the league, what can Walker do with his 6'6-1/2 barefoot height when Vuc, Kat, Ayton would just shoot over him

Guarding the 4...maybe against the 4s like Paolo Horford Randle and othet 6'10 nad below physical 4s. I dunno about the stretch 4s likr Porzingis, Kd, and etc

We are bettet off with Hendricks. He is taller/longer and quicker... plus blocking shots is his calling card

[basketballRob]

Walker? combo forward that does a little of everything, but not really good at anything?

He has a great feel for the game and can guard 3-5 at a high level.

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM mobile app

Are you sure? Against NBA talent?

Guarding the 3... he is 250lbs and top heavy... can he really fly around the court against say Birdges , Franz and etc?

Guarding the 5... we sae this finals. BAM, who is taller/longer than him cant guard the real 5s of the league, what can Walker do with his 6'6-1/2 barefoot height when Vuc, Kat, Ayton would just shoot over him

Guarding the 4...maybe against the 4s like Paolo Horford Randle and othet 6'10 nad below physical 4s. I dunno about the stretch 4s likr Porzingis, Kd, and etc

We are bettet off with Hendricks. He is taller/longer and quicker... plus blocking shots is his calling card

Yes. Right now, he has the same speed and vertical that AG did when he was drafted. I was just listening to Vecenie talk, and they agreed with my opinions that he could guard the 3-5.

I've said it before, I think he'll be as good as Isaac on defense. He just has natural instincts to read what's going on. On his blocked shots, he usually guards his man on the perimeter until the last second and then goes for the block. Other players go for every block and leave their man open. I know Bamba used to do that a lot.

In some of his HS videos, he resembles Lebron moving around on the court. I know he's 250 also. He doesn't have his game, but in flashes, he looks the same.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5bnB6ZhL5aK0XplFPO3x18?si=wKofNiwGS8q-jDREgaItag

Watch on YouTube

[RookieStar]

He has a great feel for the game and can guard 3-5 at a high level.

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM mobile app

Are you sure? Against NBA talent?

Guarding the 3... he is 250lbs and top heavy... can he really fly around the court against say Birdges , Franz and etc?

Guarding the 5... we sae this finals. BAM, who is taller/longer than him cant guard the real 5s of the league, what can Walker do with his 6'6-1/2 barefoot height when Vuc, Kat, Ayton would just shoot over him

Guarding the 4...maybe against the 4s like Paolo Horford Randle and othet 6'10 nad below physical 4s. I dunno about the stretch 4s likr Porzingis, Kd, and etc

We are bettet off with Hendricks. He is taller/longer and quicker... plus blocking shots is his calling card

Yes. Right now, he has the same speed and vertical that AG did when he was drafted. I was just listening to Vecenie talk, and they agreed with my opinions that he could guard the 3-5.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5bnB6ZhL5aK0XplFPO3x18?si=wKofNiwGS8q-jDREgaItag

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM mobile app

Yeah.. and AG is a tweener that still could not guard the real C in the league despite being almost 3inches taller and.more.nba conditioned now.

Are you saying that 250lb Walker has the same lateral mobility speed as a 220lb rookie AG???

[basketballRob]

Are you sure? Against NBA talent?

Guarding the 3... he is 250lbs and top heavy... can he really fly around the court against say Birdges , Franz and etc?

Guarding the 5... we sae this finals. BAM, who is taller/longer than him cant guard the real 5s of the league, what can Walker do with his 6'6-1/2 barefoot height when Vuc, Kat, Ayton would just shoot over him

Guarding the 4...maybe against the 4s like Paolo Horford Randle and othet 6'10 nad below physical 4s. I dunno about the stretch 4s likr Porzingis, Kd, and etc

We are bettet off with Hendricks. He is taller/longer and quicker... plus blocking shots is his calling card

Yes. Right now, he has the same speed and vertical that AG did when he was drafted. I was just listening to Vecenie talk, and they agreed with my opinions that he could guard the 3-5.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5bnB6ZhL5aK0XplFPO3x18?si=wKofNiwGS8q-jDREgaItag

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM mobile app

Yeah.. and AG is a tweener that still could not guard the real C in the league despite being almost 3inches taller and.more.nba conditioned now.

Are you saying that 250lb Walker has the same lateral mobility speed as a 220lb rookie AG???

Yes. Go compare the combine numbers. AG was very fast, and so is Walker. They also have the same vertical.

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[basketballRob]

Look at this dunk at 2:38.

.

Watch on YouTube

[pepe1991]

So guy obsessed with height and arm lenght is now convinced 6'6 guy can guard Cs because some talking head on some podcast said he could guard 3-5?

But it's same guy who keeps repeating Wendell can't guard real Cs because he is just 6'9?

Love it.


Whole Draymoond Green saga worked for Warriors for one reason and one reason only: Jokic and Embiid , Adebayo, Davis and other top tear Cs weren't mature and in their prime nor had teams that could pose serious treat to exploit small ball lineups.

21 years old Davis averaged 31 ppg against eventual champions Warriors in playoffs. They lost 4-0 because nobody else was good. But it was clear that Warriors couldn't contain nor defend him.


Jokic last year again dominated series vs Warriors, but much like Davis, had nobody to help him ( i mean , there is just so much you can do when Aaron Gordon is your second best player, 1 playoff game win is your celing )


Jarace Walker, much like any other 6'6 player ,can't guard Cs in basketball. Because height is very important for Center, way more important than for any other position. Arms lenght won't help you defend post, bigger body puts pressure on you due different center of gravity. You need to lower your stand to push against mass of bigger body, but that stand also limits your ability to jump.
If player is skilled, he will bump you several times and roll you because lower stand will limit your ability to react, or if you react to soon, you will simply just foul him.

Historically all best interior defenders were tall, bigger dudes. Being patient and don't needing to jump too high to contest shots is very important for interior defense. That's were arms lenght comes as handy, but again, one of best defenders today, Davis, also stands at what ? 6'11? Brook Lopez is 7 foot tall, Giannis 6'11 etc.


Imo Jarace Walker is slipping through mocks because of his size. He doesn't have skill to play SF and doesn't have height to play C and he is even undersized at PF.

[basketballRob]

So guy obsessed with height and arm lenght is now convinced 6'6 guy can guard Cs because some talking head on some podcast said he could guard 3-5?

But it's same guy who keeps repeating Wendell can't guard real Cs because he is just 6'9?

Love it.


Whole Draymoond Green saga worked for Warriors for one reason and one reason only: Jokic and Embiid , Adebayo, Davis and other top tear Cs weren't mature and in their prime nor had teams that could pose serious treat to exploit small ball lineups.

21 years old Davis averaged 31 ppg against eventual champions Warriors in playoffs. They lost 4-0 because nobody else was good. But it was clear that Warriors couldn't contain nor defend him.


Jokic last year again dominated series vs Warriors, but much like Davis, had nobody to help him ( i mean , there is just so much you can do when Aaron Gordon is your second best player, 1 playoff game win is your celing )


Jarace Walker, much like any other 6'6 player ,can't guard Cs in basketball. Because height is very important for Center, way more important than for any other position. Arms lenght won't help you defend post, bigger body puts pressure on you due different center of gravity. You need to lower your stand to push against mass of bigger body, but that stand also limits your ability to jump.
If player is skilled, he will bump you several times and roll you because lower stand will limit your ability to react, or if you react to soon, you will simply just foul him.

Historically all best interior defenders were tall, bigger dudes. Being patient and don't needing to jump too high to contest shots is very important for interior defense. That's were arms lenght comes as handy, but again, one of best defenders today, Davis, also stands at what ? 6'11? Brook Lopez is 7 foot tall, Giannis 6'11 etc.


Imo Jarace Walker is slipping through mocks because of his size. He doesn't have skill to play SF and doesn't have height to play C and he is even undersized at PF.

I didn't listen to a podcast to tell me that he can guard 3-5. I watched him.

Slipping? He'll likely be in the top 7, and Detroit could take him if Cam is gone. So you don't like Black or Walker. What's your top 6 again?

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[Skybox]

Walker? combo forward that does a little of everything, but not really good at anything?

He’d be our best frontcourt defender -assuming Isaac hasn’t been healed miraculously. He’s athletic and smart…just as much upside as anyone around 6. I’d rather have a star guard who can shoot…but there isn’t one

you like him more than Hendricks in that role?

I do but wtf do I know?

Just seems like more upside to me. I like the 3pt shooting, but I see too much Bo Outlaw (vs Ben Wallace)…let’s not mess that up again

…and, I get that he’s not a center. Just a really good, versatile bet

[basketballRob]

He’d be our best frontcourt defender -assuming Isaac hasn’t been healed miraculously. He’s athletic and smart…just as much upside as anyone around 6. I’d rather have a star guard who can shoot…but there isn’t one

you like him more than Hendricks in that role?

I do but wtf do I know?

Just seems like more upside to me. I like the 3pt shooting, but I see too much Bo Outlaw (vs Ben Wallace)…let’s not mess that up again

…and, I get that he’s not a center. Just a really good, versatile bet

I don't want to knock on another prospect, but he's a way better defender than Hendricks. Hendricks goes for every block and gets burned a lot. Walker plays a lot smarter. I have Hendricks at the 10-12 range. He's like a Chris Boucher or Christian Wood to me.

Wallace was 6'7" without shoes and Walker is 6'6.5".

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[pepe1991]

you like him more than Hendricks in that role?

I do but wtf do I know?

Just seems like more upside to me. I like the 3pt shooting, but I see too much Bo Outlaw (vs Ben Wallace)…let’s not mess that up again

…and, I get that he’s not a center. Just a really good, versatile bet

I don't want to knock on another prospect, but he's a way better defender than Hendricks. Hendricks goes for every block and gets burned a lot. Walker plays a lot smarter. I have Hendricks at the 10-12 range. He's like a Chris Boucher or Christian Wood to me.

Wallace was 6'7" without shoes and Walker is 6'6.5".

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM mobile app

Few things:

Ben Wallace in modern era is just Biyombo 2.
Most of things that worked in favor of Big Ben in today's era don't exist such are:
- ultra slow pace
- no spacing
- no high pick&roll efficient action to force him to leave paint
- inefficient chuckers who were in love with mid range fadeaway 2s and made defense look better than it is
- officiating that by today's standards would mean majority of Pistons team would foul out by half time



Jarace Walker, standing below 6'7 isn't just undersized big, he is below average nba player in terms of size. Yes, guy has great insticts, but also has body that is mature and that allows him to be imposing physically vs colleg players. But he won't be playing bullyball on anybody in nba with that size.

It's not like he is some ultra polished , crafty, mini- Duncan type of finess scorer either. I saw somwhere that he shot 40% on non-dunk shots from point blank range.

Basically you are drafting for mini Robert Williams and hoping he can eventually become bit more of Horford/PJ Tucker in terms of shooting. I , personally, don't belive he will be good 3 point shooter in nba any time soon. His percentages don't look bad, but it's 100 attemps sample size. His FTs also don't paint picture of some great shooter either ( 80 attemps 66%).

Given all the mentioned, i don't think Jarace Walker is top 10-worthy lottery pick in any nba draft.

All defense but very limited size, no defined offensive skill, lot of question marks about how and where to use him, typical NBA tweener stuck between size for SF, weight of PF and skillset for limited C normally don't translate well into nba.
Even when you read his player comparisons, most common name that pops is Paul Millsap... Guy was 47th pick for same reasons. And this guy is projected top 10? Why? Well, i assume i know why, but that reason is something most people don't want to hear it: this draft is very much role-players-galore between 4th -20th pick. So having two lottery picks isn't as rewarding as it would be in some previous years.

You asked me who would i draft 6th. i already answered that question in past. i wouldn't. I don't see any objective adventage of drafting that high for pool of talent that is expected to have. I would trade down to 10-16 range or trade out 6# pick for future picks. Not a single person aveliable at that range is sure shot nba starter let alone star. And we really don't need new Bamba, Hezonja, Payton.

[tiderulz]

You asked me who would i draft 6th. i already answered that question in past. i wouldn't. I don't see any objective adventage of drafting that high for pool of talent that is expected to have. I would trade down to 10-16 range or trade out 6# pick for future picks. Not a single person aveliable at that range is sure shot nba starter let alone star. And we really don't need new Bamba, Hezonja, Payton.

problem is, to draft down, someone has to want to move up. if you couldnt find a partner, who do you take?

[Blue_and_Whte]

Are you sure? Against NBA talent?

Guarding the 3... he is 250lbs and top heavy... can he really fly around the court against say Birdges , Franz and etc?

Guarding the 5... we sae this finals. BAM, who is taller/longer than him cant guard the real 5s of the league, what can Walker do with his 6'6-1/2 barefoot height when Vuc, Kat, Ayton would just shoot over him

Guarding the 4...maybe against the 4s like Paolo Horford Randle and othet 6'10 nad below physical 4s. I dunno about the stretch 4s likr Porzingis, Kd, and etc

We are bettet off with Hendricks. He is taller/longer and quicker... plus blocking shots is his calling card

Yes. Right now, he has the same speed and vertical that AG did when he was drafted. I was just listening to Vecenie talk, and they agreed with my opinions that he could guard the 3-5.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5bnB6ZhL5aK0XplFPO3x18?si=wKofNiwGS8q-jDREgaItag

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM mobile app

Yeah.. and AG is a tweener that still could not guard the real C in the league despite being almost 3inches taller and.more.nba conditioned now.

Are you saying that 250lb Walker has the same lateral mobility speed as a 220lb rookie AG???

https://www.nba.com/stats/draft/combine-strength-agility?
Jarace Walker lane agility 10.89

https://www.nba.com/stats/draft/combine-strength-agility?sort=LANE_AGILITY_TIME&dir=-1&SeasonYear=2014-15
Aaron Gordon lane agility 10.81

Part of Aaron Gordon’s scouting report was having high, tight hips limiting his gait. Which we saw A LOT of when he couldn’t blow by people he should’ve been able to blow by. I don’t think Walker can do the stuff he does defensively without having pretty solid agility.

[jonbob17]

He has a great feel for the game and can guard 3-5 at a high level.

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Are you sure? Against NBA talent?

Guarding the 3... he is 250lbs and top heavy... can he really fly around the court against say Birdges , Franz and etc?

Guarding the 5... we sae this finals. BAM, who is taller/longer than him cant guard the real 5s of the league, what can Walker do with his 6'6-1/2 barefoot height when Vuc, Kat, Ayton would just shoot over him

Guarding the 4...maybe against the 4s like Paolo Horford Randle and othet 6'10 nad below physical 4s. I dunno about the stretch 4s likr Porzingis, Kd, and etc

We are bettet off with Hendricks. He is taller/longer and quicker... plus blocking shots is his calling card

Yes. Right now, he has the same speed and vertical that AG did when he was drafted. I was just listening to Vecenie talk, and they agreed with my opinions that he could guard the 3-5.

I've said it before, I think he'll be as good as Isaac on defense. He just has natural instincts to read what's going on. On his blocked shots, he usually guards his man on the perimeter until the last second and then goes for the block. Other players go for every block and leave their man open. I know Bamba used to do that a lot.

In some of his HS videos, he resembles Lebron moving around on the court. I know he's 250 also. He doesn't have his game, but in flashes, he looks the same.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5bnB6ZhL5aK0XplFPO3x18?si=wKofNiwGS8q-jDREgaItag

Watch on YouTube

Was just reading the Vecenie draft guide and here is take on Hendricks defensive assignment:

Hendricks played a lot of five for UCF and was a very switchable one through five at the college level. I’m a bit skeptical that he’ll be able to manage bigger, post-centric fives at the next level, but I buy him as a legitimate one through four switch defender. He can just straight up switch ball screens. Managed lead guards well. Has really good feet. Very fluid mover.

[Skybox]

I do but wtf do I know?

Just seems like more upside to me. I like the 3pt shooting, but I see too much Bo Outlaw (vs Ben Wallace)…let’s not mess that up again

…and, I get that he’s not a center. Just a really good, versatile bet

I don't want to knock on another prospect, but he's a way better defender than Hendricks. Hendricks goes for every block and gets burned a lot. Walker plays a lot smarter. I have Hendricks at the 10-12 range. He's like a Chris Boucher or Christian Wood to me.

Wallace was 6'7" without shoes and Walker is 6'6.5".

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM mobile app

Few things:

Ben Wallace in modern era is just Biyombo 2.
Most of things that worked in favor of Big Ben in today's era don't exist such are:
- ultra slow pace
- no spacing
- no high pick&roll efficient action to force him to leave paint
- inefficient chuckers who were in love with mid range fadeaway 2s and made defense look better than it is
- officiating that by today's standards would mean majority of Pistons team would foul out by half time



Jarace Walker, standing below 6'7 isn't just undersized big, he is below average nba player in terms of size. Yes, guy has great insticts, but also has body that is mature and that allows him to be imposing physically vs colleg players. But he won't be playing bullyball on anybody in nba with that size.

It's not like he is some ultra polished , crafty, mini- Duncan type of finess scorer either. I saw somwhere that he shot 40% on non-dunk shots from point blank range.

Basically you are drafting for mini Robert Williams and hoping he can eventually become bit more of Horford/PJ Tucker in terms of shooting. I , personally, don't belive he will be good 3 point shooter in nba any time soon. His percentages don't look bad, but it's 100 attemps sample size. His FTs also don't paint picture of some great shooter either ( 80 attemps 66%).

Given all the mentioned, i don't think Jarace Walker is top 10-worthy lottery pick in any nba draft.

All defense but very limited size, no defined offensive skill, lot of question marks about how and where to use him, typical NBA tweener stuck between size for SF, weight of PF and skillset for limited C normally don't translate well into nba.
Even when you read his player comparisons, most common name that pops is Paul Millsap... Guy was 47th pick for same reasons. And this guy is projected top 10? Why? Well, i assume i know why, but that reason is something most people don't want to hear it: this draft is very much role-players-galore between 4th -20th pick. So having two lottery picks isn't as rewarding as it would be in some previous years.

You asked me who would i draft 6th. i already answered that question in past. i wouldn't. I don't see any objective adventage of drafting that high for pool of talent that is expected to have. I would trade down to 10-16 range or trade out 6# pick for future picks. Not a single person aveliable at that range is sure shot nba starter let alone star. And we really don't need new Bamba, Hezonja, Payton.

I tend to agree about the lack of sure things...having said that, I'm fine with "wasting a high pick" on a contributor if a trade to move back and get the same guy isn't available. I don't agree with swinging for Bilal, etc based strictly on projections...you could extend that argument to the Thompsons, Black, Whitmore, Walker pretty easily...I'd be okay with taking a somewhat limited but solid guy like Dick or even Hawkins...but if I could trade for another similar guy AND get my guy at a later spot- I'm in. Let someone else absorb all of the risk looking for their Paolo or Franz...I'm more interested in solid investments this summer, in the draft, trades and FA market...If we take a wild swing...it better have HUGE upside (Scoot, Poole, etc), IMO.

[Skybox]

Are you sure? Against NBA talent?

Guarding the 3... he is 250lbs and top heavy... can he really fly around the court against say Birdges , Franz and etc?

Guarding the 5... we sae this finals. BAM, who is taller/longer than him cant guard the real 5s of the league, what can Walker do with his 6'6-1/2 barefoot height when Vuc, Kat, Ayton would just shoot over him

Guarding the 4...maybe against the 4s like Paolo Horford Randle and othet 6'10 nad below physical 4s. I dunno about the stretch 4s likr Porzingis, Kd, and etc

We are bettet off with Hendricks. He is taller/longer and quicker... plus blocking shots is his calling card

Yes. Right now, he has the same speed and vertical that AG did when he was drafted. I was just listening to Vecenie talk, and they agreed with my opinions that he could guard the 3-5.

I've said it before, I think he'll be as good as Isaac on defense. He just has natural instincts to read what's going on. On his blocked shots, he usually guards his man on the perimeter until the last second and then goes for the block. Other players go for every block and leave their man open. I know Bamba used to do that a lot.

In some of his HS videos, he resembles Lebron moving around on the court. I know he's 250 also. He doesn't have his game, but in flashes, he looks the same.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5bnB6ZhL5aK0XplFPO3x18?si=wKofNiwGS8q-jDREgaItag

Watch on YouTube

Was just reading the Vecenie draft guide and here is take on Hendricks defensive assignment:

Hendricks played a lot of five for UCF and was a very switchable one through five at the college level. I’m a bit skeptical that he’ll be able to manage bigger, post-centric fives at the next level, but I buy him as a legitimate one through four switch defender. He can just straight up switch ball screens. Managed lead guards well. Has really good feet. Very fluid mover.

Sounds right to me...I like him a lot and would be happy to hear his name on the 22nd...as long as we don't have unrealistic expectations...Him and Hawkins or Dick, if not some combo with trades, would be great.

[VFX]

I don’t understand any Walker love here.

How often do you want Paolo off the floor? The only way Walker sees the floor is when Banchero isn’t on it.

I don’t buy for a second that Walker can guard bigger wings or most Centers being undersized.

I’d sooner take Hendricks because at least he stretches the floor and can cover smaller guys.

[basketballRob]

I don’t understand any Walker love here.

How often do you want Paolo off the floor? The only way Walker sees the floor is when Banchero isn’t on it.

I don’t buy for a second that Walker can guard bigger wings or most Centers being undersized.

I’d sooner take Hendricks because at least he stretches the floor and can cover smaller guys.

I'd prefer to get Black or Cam, but if they're taken, Walker would be the BPA

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[JoshuaPotter]

I don’t understand any Walker love here.

How often do you want Paolo off the floor? The only way Walker sees the floor is when Banchero isn’t on it.

I don’t buy for a second that Walker can guard bigger wings or most Centers being undersized.

I’d sooner take Hendricks because at least he stretches the floor and can cover smaller guys.

I don't want either at #6.

This is our last chance to swing for the fences. Do we really want the 6th pick to be a career bench rider? We can't find that at 11? We can't find that in the second round? We can't find that in free agency? At what point do we walk this bad line of thinking back from wence it came.

Hendricks at 11 is another story. Walker likely wont fall there. If the front office thinks that Walker can develop into something even better then Franz or Paulo, then I guess sure. But right now that is clearly not his talent profile.

My final rant, because oh boy this is tiring. If we really want a backup forward / center we need rebounding as much as 3pt shooting from that position. I am done now.

[pepe1991]

I don't want to knock on another prospect, but he's a way better defender than Hendricks. Hendricks goes for every block and gets burned a lot. Walker plays a lot smarter. I have Hendricks at the 10-12 range. He's like a Chris Boucher or Christian Wood to me.

Wallace was 6'7" without shoes and Walker is 6'6.5".

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM mobile app

Few things:

Ben Wallace in modern era is just Biyombo 2.
Most of things that worked in favor of Big Ben in today's era don't exist such are:
- ultra slow pace
- no spacing
- no high pick&roll efficient action to force him to leave paint
- inefficient chuckers who were in love with mid range fadeaway 2s and made defense look better than it is
- officiating that by today's standards would mean majority of Pistons team would foul out by half time



Jarace Walker, standing below 6'7 isn't just undersized big, he is below average nba player in terms of size. Yes, guy has great insticts, but also has body that is mature and that allows him to be imposing physically vs colleg players. But he won't be playing bullyball on anybody in nba with that size.

It's not like he is some ultra polished , crafty, mini- Duncan type of finess scorer either. I saw somwhere that he shot 40% on non-dunk shots from point blank range.

Basically you are drafting for mini Robert Williams and hoping he can eventually become bit more of Horford/PJ Tucker in terms of shooting. I , personally, don't belive he will be good 3 point shooter in nba any time soon. His percentages don't look bad, but it's 100 attemps sample size. His FTs also don't paint picture of some great shooter either ( 80 attemps 66%).

Given all the mentioned, i don't think Jarace Walker is top 10-worthy lottery pick in any nba draft.

All defense but very limited size, no defined offensive skill, lot of question marks about how and where to use him, typical NBA tweener stuck between size for SF, weight of PF and skillset for limited C normally don't translate well into nba.
Even when you read his player comparisons, most common name that pops is Paul Millsap... Guy was 47th pick for same reasons. And this guy is projected top 10? Why? Well, i assume i know why, but that reason is something most people don't want to hear it: this draft is very much role-players-galore between 4th -20th pick. So having two lottery picks isn't as rewarding as it would be in some previous years.

You asked me who would i draft 6th. i already answered that question in past. i wouldn't. I don't see any objective adventage of drafting that high for pool of talent that is expected to have. I would trade down to 10-16 range or trade out 6# pick for future picks. Not a single person aveliable at that range is sure shot nba starter let alone star. And we really don't need new Bamba, Hezonja, Payton.

I tend to agree about the lack of sure things...having said that, I'm fine with "wasting a high pick" on a contributor if a trade to move back and get the same guy isn't available. I don't agree with swinging for Bilal, etc based strictly on projections...you could extend that argument to the Thompsons, Black, Whitmore, Walker pretty easily...I'd be okay with taking a somewhat limited but solid guy like Dick or even Hawkins...but if I could trade for another similar guy AND get my guy at a later spot- I'm in. Let someone else absorb all of the risk looking for their Paolo or Franz...I'm more interested in solid investments this summer, in the draft, trades and FA market...If we take a wild swing...it better have HUGE upside (Scoot, Poole, etc), IMO.

I think this draft is fairly similar to 2016 draft. Top 3 heavy and after that you can end up with Jamal Murray or Sabonis but you have land mines of Bender, Dunn, Maker, Marqueese Chris etc.

That draft in particular, everybody but Nuggets, from 4-10 range went home with collosal Ls in their books.


My whole issue with drafting for role player is simply invested value vs objective return value being pretty crappy ratio.
Countless role players are undrafted or selected in second round, there is zero reasons to fish for role player with 6th overall selection.
Especially if that player, no matter who he is, if he is not starting caliber SG off gates, has no clear path toward more than 12-15 mpg in rotation on current roster. Let alone upgraded roster post FA.

Tiderulz mentioned it's hard to find suitor to draft down. I think OKC might be the one.

Let's say you frame trade like:

6th pick for Isaiah Joe/Jaylin Williams and 11th pick + some pick from 2025, imo that would be very good trade for Magic.
OKC needs somebody like Jarace Walker WAY more than any other nba team due Holmgren complete lack of physicality and on paper they sound like good fits.


Perfect trade for Magic would be 6#,11# , Nuggets pick for Mikal Bridges, but that's story for fantasyland