Unbreakable99 wrote:Kolkmania wrote:Unbreakable99 wrote:
I wouldn’t say he’s a lock. The NBA is less reliant on dominant big men on offense. Teams can get a good anchor later in the draft at center. Teams don’t want to draft centers in the top 3 anymore. Embiid was perfect and he would have gone first but Ayton isn’t Embiid. I think it’s more likely Bagley or Docic or Porter Jr if healthy or some wing player go in the top 3 even if you think they may not be top 3 talents.
Disagree. Last two draft just didn't have great upside bigs, prior to that many drafts had a big in the top three. I get your point because of the preference on skilled versatile players in recent years, but there will always be interest in the best centers despite an abundance of big men. The middle and back end of the crop of centers will feel the consequences eventually.
Ayton and Bagley's (and Bamba's defensive) production has been amazing thus far, which is from Sixers perspective a great thing. Increases the chance they get picked in the top 5 while I'm not really sold on any of those big men at this point, certainly not the potential Embiid had.
I wouldn’t call Bagley a center. If Embiid came out this year he would go number one because he was dominant on both ends. Unless there’s a Shaq or Embiid type I just don’t think it’s a sure thing a center will go top 3. I’m not saying it won’t happen. I just don’t think it’s a sure thing. And this is just me thinking what GMs will do not what I would do.
He's not a wing either, that what makes me doubt his impact. His fluent movement looks beautiful, but after all his decision making is really bad, can't really create in halfcourt and he can't really shoot. So he'll hurt the spacing if he plays the 4, while not being able to create shots for himself or others and he doesn't have the rim protection or strength to guard big centers either. So basically he's not a wing nor a center.
So I really worry how his outstanding production will translate to the NBA level. I'm sure he'll grab an enormous amount of rebounds and score by being an excellent lob target and grabbing OREB's. But apart from that there's a good chance he'll be a volume scorer on poor efficiency.
I've been really discouraged by his perimeter defense thus far, that was potentially his biggest strength going into the year imo. If he can't be an extremely versatile defender then I don't know if he's worth a top 7/8 pick in this draft to be honest. Let's see if his skill level catches up when the season goes on.
Regarding drafting centers. So we basically agree that at the top of the draft it's about the potential impact a prospect can have, regardless of the position. Although I must say that being 7'0'' makes it a bit easier to impact the game on both ends than being a 6'3'' guard. So I even think there's an argument that GM's will choose for the big guy if they value two guys equally.
