2018-2019 College Basketball / '19 NBA Draft Thread

[PLO]

^ ^ That's fair enough I'm just talking about overall on his season: he was a lot better against the Elon's of college basketball compared to legit comp. TBH I sort of lost interest in him after that early/middle part of the season, just sort of wrote him off as a prospect. I saw a few of their games later on but I was more focused on Cam and Coby, like I said he looked a bit better in those games but still not really up to scratch, but I wasn't really focused on him like I said. I also saw basically all of their tournament run and it was still the same picture for me with him.

Wish nothing ill for him, he dug out his season like a pro, he just doesn't play like one. Hopefully he works it out in the NBA.

[Kobblehead]

He seriously might look like the 35 year old iteration of Channing Frye by the time he gets back on the court. He wasn't an athlete to begin with, so injuring the same knee twice is going to completely drain him of any ability to move.

[Kobblehead]

So I just found out that Draftnet is still around.

Clicked onto KZ Okpala's page and saw that they graded his jumpshot a 9 out of 10 and compared him to Rodney Hood.

Is this right up there with DeShawn Stevenson = Michael Jordan in turns of uninformed takes and the opposite of correct observation?

[PLO]

He seriously might look like the 35 year old iteration of Channing Frye by the time he gets back on the court. He wasn't an athlete to begin with, so injuring the same knee twice is going to completely drain him of any ability to move.

This is Jontay? I reckon he's already off a number of NBA draft boards as undraftable. All of his siblings have had serious injuries. I've made the claim on here that its possibly because they're lifelong vegetarians, as plant proteins aren't of as higher quality compared to animal proteins in building muscle etc, but I don't really have any evidence outside of that. It could just be genetic or a combination of that and vegetarianism or they're just unlucky.

You also have to consider what such a long break will do to his development: can't be good for it.

[PLO]

So I just found out that Draftnet is still around.

Clicked onto KZ Okpala's page and saw that they graded his jumpshot a 9 out of 10 and compared him to Rodney Hood.

Is this right up there with DeShawn Stevenson = Michael Jordan in turns of uninformed takes and the opposite of correct observation?

Basically, yes.

Probably even worse are the types of shots he takes. He's never seen a contested long two he doesn't love to shoot.

[No-Man]

I don't think anyone is high on Nassir Little. It's moreso combatting the notion that he was a disaster at UNC this year and he wouldn't have produced in any other program. I just think that's completely false on both fronts.

All his extrapolated production projections suggests he would have produced fine playing starters minutes.

21.5 points on 55% true shooting, 10.1 boards per-40 while playing solid man-defense and hitting free throws at a solid clip.
^ How is that a disaster?

The intangibles probably sucked. It's easy to assume that and that's why he was in Roy's doghouse and wasn't allowed to showcase his talent. But let's not pretend he didn't possess and show glimpses of said talent in the opportunities he did get.

also, big time Roy's doghouse, played the 6th more minutes in that team by a mile and played in every game; while having 2 Seniors in front of him, this is pure lunacy

[No-Man]

Personally, he's not on a list of guys I would target if I was running a team. I think he's a lot like Stanley Johnson on the court and in his work habits. So a hard pass, for me.

Yo couldn't be more wrong about comparing Little to Stanley Johnson, but since they look alike and both are 5 stars who have sort of disappointed, I guess you can go with that lazy comp, that's the level, this is insane

I just think some of the reasons I've seen posted on why Little should be dismissed are bad takes and not based in reality.

which reality? the one where you have absolutely no clue about Nas Little's season or the one in your head? seriously

[No-Man]

^ ^ That's fair enough I'm just talking about overall on his season: he was a lot better against the Elon's of college basketball compared to legit comp. TBH I sort of lost interest in him after that early/middle part of the season, just sort of wrote him off as a prospect. I saw a few of their games later on but I was more focused on Cam and Coby, like I said he looked a bit better in those games but still not really up to scratch, but I wasn't really focused on him like I said. I also saw basically all of their tournament run and it was still the same picture for me with him.

Wish nothing ill for him, he dug out his season like a pro, he just doesn't play like one. Hopefully he works it out in the NBA.

He looked better late in the season esp in terms of conditioning, not sure if he dropped a few pounds, but he looked a bit more like that player he was in high school AT TIMES, still uncoordinated and clueless, but not as heavy in terms of movement skills

I totally agree with your point of view, I was late in terms of moving out on him cause the reasoning behind it (him not starting in a team with 2 Senior Forwards) used by some was ridiculous, but, he clearly has looked bad, and just like a complete different player

I would say this, nobody expected him to be a high IQ guy or a passer, that was part of his warts as a HS player also, he was much more of a 1on1 guy, but if you watch him in HS and now you can see that something has gone wrong with his body, not sure if he over bulked or wahtever, but he had a herky-jerky game on ball, dribbling and driving that he doesnt have now, and even his jumpshot has suffered from it

[No-Man]

Bottom line cause I don't want to argue way too much, it gets stupid and I appreciate this board's knowledge generally, that's why I keep coming back (no other team board re:the draft really interests me much), I think we can agree on Nas Little providing very tiny surplus value, he is very likely to get overdrafted after workouts and I'd not want no part of him til at least the 20s, and he is going way before that

To be honest that's kinda how you should build your board, identify players that you think are good, then identify their likely ranges with intel, and move accordingly on draft night, from what we know about Little, he would be one the guys (along with others) that I'd just not bother with, I'd not want him at the range he is going in

[Kobblehead]

Yeah, I think Okpala's jumper is legit bad. I'd put it in the same category of Ingram, Fultz, Culver and Barrett.

[Kobblehead]

Lol that vegan take is creative as hell. Could be onto something.

[No-Man]

Lol that vegan take is creative as hell. Could be onto something.

I think if anything it's more related to genetics, I was not a vegan as a kid or growing up, but I am now and have been for years, I know a bunch of people who grew up vegans and have 0 issues medically or lack of anything within their body foundations, genetics are much more likely to affect you in terms of having bad ligaments, or knee issues, than a diet would

[Negrodamus]

So I just found out that Draftnet is still around.

Clicked onto KZ Okpala's page and saw that they graded his jumpshot a 9 out of 10 and compared him to Rodney Hood.

Is this right up there with DeShawn Stevenson = Michael Jordan in turns of uninformed takes and the opposite of correct observation?

Basically, yes.

Probably even worse are the types of shots he takes. He's never seen a contested long two he doesn't love to shoot.

I actually don’t hate that he’s a fearless shooter even though the form is not there. At 6’9 with that kind of slashing ability, you want him to be comfortable shooting. Now it’s a matter of fixing the form.

[Kobblehead]

Maybe it's lazy to just assume, but can't we just speculate what the career path will probably look like?

He'll probably flop in a starring role for his team because he won't be able to score from all three levels. His lack of shooting ability probably eliminates his chance of ever being able to assimilate with other scorers and be a real building block for your creation core.

Barrett, Culver, Okpala...I'm just trying to envision a scenario where I would have any enthusiasm for drafting these guys with the hope of them becoming a franchise player for me. They'll probably all get traded before their rookie contracts are up because of said hypothetical obstacles I highlighted earlier.

They'll be the next iterations of Ingram, Fultz, Josh Jackson and Dennis Smith.

[Kobblehead]

It's not a popular take around here, but this playoffs will be huge for Ben Simmons to prove that he's a guy that can assimilate with a championship caliber core, too. If you can't play on and off the ball and compliment other stars, what's the point?

[PLO]

Lol that vegan take is creative as hell. Could be onto something.

I think if anything it's more related to genetics, I was not a vegan as a kid or growing up, but I am now and have been for years, I know a bunch of people who grew up vegans and have 0 issues medically or lack of anything within their body foundations, genetics are much more likely to affect you in terms of having bad ligaments, or knee issues, than a diet would

The thing is though are these vegans trying to be elite level athletes like the Porter family. Vegetarianism probably has health benefits in some areas (over-exposure to animal fats is a known health risk for example) but it’s probably not something I would advise for a child with hopes of an NBA career some day. I don’t have access to pub-med but there is probably some data on there to settle this argument one wat or another. Animal proteins are definitely of a higher quality compared to plant proteins in terms of building muscles/ligaments etc, so I’m really basing my argument on that, I admittedly don’t have evidence apart from that. Like it makes sense if you’re building your body with lower quality proteins you could have issues if you want to be an elite athlete, hence all the ACLs the Porter siblings have torn. Or maybe that interpretation of muscle-protein synthesis is bogus, not sure. It’s just a theory.

[Negrodamus]

Maybe it's lazy to just assume, but can't we just speculate what the career path will probably look like?

He'll probably flop in a starring role for his team because he won't be able to score from all three levels. His lack of shooting ability probably eliminates his chance of ever being able to assimilate with other scorers and be a real building block for your creation core.

Barrett, Culver, Okpala...I'm just trying to envision a scenario where I would have any enthusiasm for drafting these guys with the hope of them becoming a franchise player for me. They'll probably all get traded before their rookie contracts are up because of said hypothetical obstacles I highlighted earlier.

They'll be the next iterations of Ingram, Fultz, Josh Jackson and Dennis Smith.

Well the difference between Okpala and those guys is that he has probably one of the more volatile draft stocks in this whole thing while it was pretty much assumed that all four of those guys might fluctuate, but would likely end up in the top ten.

Okpala's first half of the season was extremely promising because (and this is all from recollection; I could have the numbers wrong) he was shooting 75-80% from FT, had a 2+ STL%, was hovering around the 20 ppg mark for stretches as the alpha scorer for Stanford but no one was really paying attention to him. The second half was more inefficient, FT% dropped, STL% dropped but he started gaining traction because of raw numbers and his enormous frame as a SG/SF.

So, I definitely agree that if a team is drafting Okpala in the lottery with the intention of making him the alpha scorer, they are going to have a bad time. If teams are willing to punt the first two seasons with him and work on his off ball skills, shooting form and fill out his frame, then you might have something. The dude sprouted up from being a 5'10 freshman guard in high school to being 6'7 by his senior year, and now is 6'9 with a 7'+ wingspan. I think he needs time to figure out that shooting motion, but the guard skills seem to still be with him. If he fell to our pick, I wouldn't hesitate to take him (even though we suck with fixing shots).

[Kobblehead]

I just think there's too much swimming upstream with these major jumpshot reworkings. The success rate just lacks positive outcomes.

If I want a big wing that can space the floor, I'm looking at a dude like Jordan Nwora. He doesn't have the raw shotcreating talent of Okpala, but the chance of hitting on him seems way more optimistic.

In regards to developing a jumper, I'd feel better about working with guys with strong shooting profiles like Hachimura, Hunter and Little more than I would with Okpala. Those guys, you're really just working on getting them comfortable with volume. Similarly to Shai last year. With Okpala, you're probably going to have to just live with him at volume attempts at a 31-33% clip (which probably hurts your offense).

[Negrodamus]

Right, but I'm not expecting Hunter, Little, or Nwora to ever be a go-to scorer for a team. They are likely varying degrees of role player. Okpala has the tools to be that type of player. Very similar to Ingram when he was a Duke.

But, like Ingram has shown, you're taking a risk. At 23-30 spots, the risk is mitigated quite a bit.

[Negrodamus]

He had a tough go this year, but man, the raw offensive ability of Jalen Hudson is undeniable.

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