2020 NBA Draft Prospect Watch - Revised Poll

[TheLogician]

My favorite player at 10 is - BY FAR - Grant Riller. What do the advanced stats say about this guy? The tape looks phenomenal... take a look... it was posted a few pages back.

While I agree that speed is an important leading indicator and a nice trait with Kira Lewis. Proven ball handling and finishing is more important. I have Riller well above Kira Lewis. Riller is a better shot creator, finisher and ball handler. Kira has long-term starting potential, and will need time/work to get there. Riller would be our immediate back-up to Rubio and has near term starter and even all-star potential. The dude looks legit. Comps of Lilliard or Deron Williams are spot on.

Yeah, I'm warming up to Riller. The only real negative stat-wise is his AST/TO. Not a big deal if he's coming off the bench as a sixth man. I think we could definitely trade down for him.

The only real negative stat-wise is his AST/TO.

And if that's his only real glaring weakness, Then imagine how great he could become after a season or two being mentored by Rubio!

My current ideal scenario has us taking Jalen Smith at 10, And then purchasing a pick for Riller in the mid first round. Lastly buying a 2nd round pick for a 3rd string backup center as Baynes insurance.

Yeah, I think we should be able to trade down for Smith, Lewis, or Riller but I don't have a good feel for this draft.

[darealjuice]

I wouldn't hold your breath on Robert "Cost Cutting Mode" Sarver purchasing draft picks of any value. "Purchasing" a draft pick would mean taking on a bad contract and effectively taking out of free agency anyways.

Not sure how I feel about Riller. He's a fun player to watch, but he's definitely on the ball dominant, shoot first side as a point guard. Lot of ball pounding in his highlight tapes that he wouldn't be doing here, and he takes a lot of tough shots for typically playing against below average competition. I don't see the explosion of Lillard or the playmaking of Deron Williams. CJ McCollum is probably closer to his ceiling in my opinion, but I see him more topping out as a solid 6th man scorer like a Jordan Clarkson-type. That's not a bad thing though.

[Ghost of Kleine]

I wouldn't hold your breath on Robert "Cost Cutting Mode" Sarver purchasing draft picks of any value. "Purchasing" a draft pick would mean taking on a bad contract and effectively taking out of free agency anyways.

Not sure how I feel about Riller. He's a fun player to watch, but he's definitely on the ball dominant, shoot first side as a point guard. Lot of ball pounding in his highlight tapes that he wouldn't be doing here, and he takes a lot of tough shots for typically playing against below average competition. I don't see the explosion of Lillard or the playmaking of Deron Williams. CJ McCollum is probably closer to his ceiling in my opinion, but I see him more topping out as a solid 6th man scorer like a Jordan Clarkson-type. That's not a bad thing though.

My line of thinking in him adding additional picks OR trading back for additional cheaper scale picks is in that rookie scale contracts would obviously be much cheaper than whatever he might bid for in free agency. Also the fact that they offer better cost control has to be enticing in a restrictive cap environment. So this would be a much more cost effective way for him to address positional depth. That is unless he filled our bench depth with only veteran's minimum players?

As for Riller, He's ball dominant in college for sure. Also as stated took a lot of really tough shots too. But I think that's more of a product of their team not really having many other weapons offensively. As for his comps, Those are the various comps that nba scouts and various pundits have offered, And I actually agree with them. Riller is actually unique in that he's got the varying elite potential skillsets of many different past nba stars that he was comp'd with. It's alright that not everyone sees it. But it's truly there.

I actually outlined the relevance of the comparison a few pages back. And I too can agree that he's also got some McCollum to his game. But for my part, I also see many similarities ( aside from appearance) to Fred Van Vleet in his game. These being his maturity, Strength in getting to the rim, His elite burst, consistecy ( over 4 yrs), his poise,uncanny and innate ability to hit the big shot and make big yime two way plays. Nearly unstoppable penetration, Very crafty high % scoring efficiency at the rim, Underrated passing ability. His ability to control the tempo. As for the not playing at a big school, I'm not really concerned. Because both Lillard and McCollum played at smaller colleges too.

But if anyone's interested, Here's the Riller comps with Lillard/ McCollum/ Deron Williams.
http://www.tankathon.com/players/compare?players=grant-riller--deron-williams--damian-lillard--cj-mccollum .

And here's his comparison to Van Vleet.
http://www.tankathon.com/players/compare?players=grant-riller--fred-vanvleet

I think that if you can pull a viable bench guard with Rillers' ability and elite offensive/ ballhandling abilities and mature ready to contribute skillset with a mid to late first, That's very good value. Especially in a draft such as this one. I think he's definitely a lottery prospect. And one of those players that all the gms' that pass on him will be regretting for a very long time.

[bwgood77]

I wouldn't hold your breath on Robert "Cost Cutting Mode" Sarver purchasing draft picks of any value. "Purchasing" a draft pick would mean taking on a bad contract and effectively taking out of free agency anyways.

Not sure how I feel about Riller. He's a fun player to watch, but he's definitely on the ball dominant, shoot first side as a point guard. Lot of ball pounding in his highlight tapes that he wouldn't be doing here, and he takes a lot of tough shots for typically playing against below average competition. I don't see the explosion of Lillard or the playmaking of Deron Williams. CJ McCollum is probably closer to his ceiling in my opinion, but I see him more topping out as a solid 6th man scorer like a Jordan Clarkson-type. That's not a bad thing though.

Picks can be bought for as much as $3 million I believe. I don't remember any first round picks being sold by teams (maybe Sarver sold the Rondo one)...but they are worth more than that. 2nd rounders usually go for the $3 million.

I don't see any of these big trades happening. MAYBE a trade down for a couple of later picks, but I kind of doubt it. There will be someone they really like at 10.

The cost saving mode, if he wants to do it, will likely be letting Baynes and/or possibly Saric/Carter go, and maybe trading Oubre for someone making substantially less and/or maybe a future pick, to get us to the floor, especially if Sarver knows he wants $20 million next summer and they don't think he's worth that kind of money, particulalry with Bridges,Cam and maybe Saric in the mix.

[Ghost of Kleine]

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?s=09

[Ghost of Kleine]

Read on Twitter

?s=09

Tyshon Alexander is another really intriguing prospect that could be an immense value pick with a late 2nd. He's got a mix of Dejounte Murray/ Deanthony Melton to his game. Not too bad for a late 2nd round consideration. He was first mentioned by " I'm not McD". Good eye for hidden talent.

[darealjuice]

Picks can be bought for as much as $3 million I believe. I don't remember any first round picks being sold by teams (maybe Sarver sold the Rondo one)...but they are worth more than that. 2nd rounders usually go for the $3 million.

I don't see any of these big trades happening. MAYBE a trade down for a couple of later picks, but I kind of doubt it. There will be someone they really like at 10.

The cost saving mode, if he wants to do it, will likely be letting Baynes and/or possibly Saric/Carter go, and maybe trading Oubre for someone making substantially less and/or maybe a future pick, to get us to the floor, especially if Sarver knows he wants $20 million next summer and they don't think he's worth that kind of money, particulalry with Bridges,Cam and maybe Saric in the mix.

I think Sarver's cost saving is going to be more on the operations side. Letting "expendable" coaches go, selling the NAZ Suns, laying off staff, etc., especially after the costs of arena renovations and the new practice facility. I'm sure we'll operate around whatever the salary cap is, the question is whether we'll let it restrict us if a real opportunity to get better comes along. Fans will not be happy if we don't follow up 8-0 in the bubble with a serious attempt at a playoff push.

I wouldn't mind buying a second round pick, but that's the kind of extra spending that I don't expect Sarver to do.

[darealjuice]

Spoiler:

My line of thinking in him adding additional picks OR trading back for additional cheaper scale picks is in that rookie scale contracts would obviously be much cheaper than whatever he might bid for in free agency. Also the fact that they offer better cost control has to be enticing in a restrictive cap environment. So this would be a much more cost effective way for him to address positional depth. That is unless he filled our bench depth with only veteran's minimum players?

As for Riller, He's ball dominant in college for sure. Also as stated took a lot of really tough shots too. But I think that's more of a product of their team not really having many other weapons offensively. As for his comps, Those are the various comps that nba scouts and various pundits have offered, And I actually agree with them. Riller is actually unique in that he's got the varying elite potential skillsets of many different past nba stars that he was comp'd with. It's alright that not everyone sees it. But it's truly there.

I actually outlined the relevance of the comparison a few pages back. And I too can agree that he's also got some McCollum to his game. But for my part, I also see many similarities ( aside from appearance) to Fred Van Vleet in his game. These being his maturity, Strength in getting to the rim, His elite burst, consistecy ( over 4 yrs), his poise,uncanny and innate ability to hit the big shot and make big yime two way plays. Nearly unstoppable penetration, Very crafty high % scoring efficiency at the rim, Underrated passing ability. His ability to control the tempo. As for the not playing at a big school, I'm not really concerned. Because both Lillard and McCollum played at smaller colleges too.

But if anyone's interested, Here's the Riller comps with Lillard/ McCollum/ Deron Williams.
http://www.tankathon.com/players/compare?players=grant-riller--deron-williams--damian-lillard--cj-mccollum .

And here's his comparison to Van Vleet.
http://www.tankathon.com/players/compare?players=grant-riller--fred-vanvleet

I think that if you can pull a viable bench guard with Rillers' ability and elite offensive/ ballhandling abilities and mature ready to contribute skillset with a mid to late first, That's very good value. Especially in a draft such as this one. I think he's definitely a lottery prospect. And one of those players that all the gms' that pass on him will be regretting for a very long time.

I guess we'll see with Riller. He looks like he can be a solid player, but I think comparing him to perennial all stars is a lot to ask for. I'll just say that guys dominate smaller conferences and look like they have the complete offensive package every year, but not everyone can do it when the talent level and athleticism sky rockets, they're not the focal point of the offense anymore, and it's a 7 foot athletic freak defending the rim instead of a 6'9" communications major at Hofstra.

I'm not against trading our way into another pick or two if the trade was right. This draft still has a decent mix of upside and guys that project as solid rotation players outside of the lottery.

[Ghost of Kleine]

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?s=09

What about this guy Justinian Jessup.
They say he's a late end round draft n' stash. He's 6'7 and apparently one of the best movement shooters in the draft. How cool would it be if we could draft n' stash our very own Duncan Robinson to light up the perimeter opposite of Cam Johnson. Potentially 2 elite shooters on each wing, Drawing out the defense as both Ayton and Booker crash to the rim.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Read on Twitter

?s=09

The way that he moves is quite impressive! He's definitely got " UNICORN" potential.

[Revived]

Has Sarver ever bought a 2nd rd pick since becoming owner? If so what year? I certainly don’t remember.

[bwgood77]

Has Sarver ever bought a 2nd rd pick since becoming owner? If so what year? I certainly don’t remember.

No. If he did I'd be shocked. Now trading Oubre for Kennard and a 2nd or something like that where he shaves like $9 million..would be a possibility if Detroit had a 2nd rounder...unfortunately no team with projected cap space does.

But a lot of guys that have been talked about are projected in the 40s on tankathon....Reid, Riller, Flynn, Tillie...one place had Tyler Bey projected at 40.

I doubt we end up with one unless we trade down a few spots, which might make it possible.

Here is 17-28 projected on tankathon..

17 MIN
Aleksej Pokuševski
PF | Olympiacos B

18 DAL
Tyrese Maxey
SG | Kentucky

19 BKN
Jalen Smith
PF | Maryland

21 PHI
Tyrell Terry
PG | Stanford

22 DEN
Kira Lewis Jr.
PG | Alabama

23 UTA
Theo Maledon
PG | ASVEL

24 MIL
Nico Mannion
PG | Arizona

Leandro Bolmaro
SG | FC Barcelona

26 BOS
Tyler Bey
SF | Colorado

27 NY
Tre Jones
PG | Duke

28 LAL
Desmond Bane
SG I TCU

Of course they have Halliburton to us at 10.

http://www.tankathon.com/mock_draft

[WeekapaugGroove]

Has Sarver ever bought a 2nd rd pick since becoming owner? If so what year? I certainly don’t remember.

No and I wouldn't expect him to this year either.

Now maybe they work the angle again like they did with Leaque where they offer a guaranteed contract and that player discourages other teams to drafting them by telling them they won't sign a two way deal.



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[Revived]

Has Sarver ever bought a 2nd rd pick since becoming owner? If so what year? I certainly don’t remember.

No. If he did I'd be shocked. Now trading Oubre for Kennard and a 2nd or something like that where he shaves like $9 million..would be a possibility if Detroit had a 2nd rounder...unfortunately no team with projected cap space does.

But a lot of guys that have been talked about are projected in the 40s on tankathon....Reid, Riller, Flynn, Tillie...one place had Tyler Bey projected at 40.

I doubt we end up with one unless we trade down a few spots, which might make it possible.

Here is 17-28 projected on tankathon..

17 MIN
Aleksej Pokuševski
PF | Olympiacos B

18 DAL
Tyrese Maxey
SG | Kentucky

19 BKN
Jalen Smith
PF | Maryland

21 PHI
Tyrell Terry
PG | Stanford

22 DEN
Kira Lewis Jr.
PG | Alabama

23 UTA
Theo Maledon
PG | ASVEL

24 MIL
Nico Mannion
PG | Arizona

Leandro Bolmaro
SG | FC Barcelona

26 BOS
Tyler Bey
SF | Colorado

27 NY
Tre Jones
PG | Duke

28 LAL
Desmond Bane
SG I TCU

Of course they have Halliburton to us at 10.

http://www.tankathon.com/mock_draft

Does tankathon take team needs into consideration? Or is it just a generic best available board? Because some of those choices make no sense.

[bwgood77]

Has Sarver ever bought a 2nd rd pick since becoming owner? If so what year? I certainly don’t remember.

No. If he did I'd be shocked. Now trading Oubre for Kennard and a 2nd or something like that where he shaves like $9 million..would be a possibility if Detroit had a 2nd rounder...unfortunately no team with projected cap space does.

But a lot of guys that have been talked about are projected in the 40s on tankathon....Reid, Riller, Flynn, Tillie...one place had Tyler Bey projected at 40.

I doubt we end up with one unless we trade down a few spots, which might make it possible.

Here is 17-28 projected on tankathon..

17 MIN
Aleksej Pokuševski
PF | Olympiacos B

18 DAL
Tyrese Maxey
SG | Kentucky

19 BKN
Jalen Smith
PF | Maryland

21 PHI
Tyrell Terry
PG | Stanford

22 DEN
Kira Lewis Jr.
PG | Alabama

23 UTA
Theo Maledon
PG | ASVEL

24 MIL
Nico Mannion
PG | Arizona

Leandro Bolmaro
SG | FC Barcelona

26 BOS
Tyler Bey
SF | Colorado

27 NY
Tre Jones
PG | Duke

28 LAL
Desmond Bane
SG I TCU

Of course they have Halliburton to us at 10.

http://www.tankathon.com/mock_draft

Does tankathon take team needs into consideration? Or is it just a generic best available board? Because some of those choices make no sense.

They have a big board and a mock....so for the mock, they do take team need into account to some extent....and probably refer to what they know/have heard, see ranked elsewhere.

I think the big board is more of just personal opinions because the difference in the two lists can widely vary.

I am not sure how much stock to put in it, but same goes for anyone. They are all just personal opinions except for the espn guys who physically travel to scout.

I know Spencer (ex mod I worked with) who has provided content to yahoo and video breakdowns to the Suns has increasingly done a lot more video breakdown. I know he has been trying very hard to get a job with a team and had multiple interviews last year. I haven't spoken to him lately...occasionally on twitter but he doesn't post too much on realgm anymore.

[WeekapaugGroove]

This year I wouldn't put to much stock in mocks. Seems like opinions vary up to like 20 spots on some guys. I actually don't think it's a terrible draft just really flat. What this draft lacks in pure blue chip talent it kind of makes up for in quantity of guys with very useful NBA skill sets.

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[RedIndian]

Watching Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell just ball out of their minds in their series, you realize the value of a shot-creating guard, especially one who can pull up from the 3. With that, I hope we do give some consideration to Cole Anthony even though he seems to have dropped on most mocks.

He had a brutally inefficient college season, but a lot of that was down to injury, poor spacing and the pressure of being the man at North Carolina being a highly touted 5 star recruit.

I've said before that his game in the pros will look a lot better than it did in college. His ball-handling and shooting stroke are both excellent, and with better shot selection and spacing, that efficiency will go up quickly. I'm also a big fan of his very good rebounding and steal rates, both of which typically translate well to the pros. That and his competitiveness suggest he'll be a solid guard defender in the NBA as well.

[darealjuice]

Yeah I'm confident Cole Anthony ends up being a better pro. That North Carolina team was probably the least talented team I can remember from them. Their only passable shooter team was a senior that never cracked the rotation prior to this year. No rotation player outside of Robinson and Anthony shot over 32% from 3. He had no room to work in the paint with guys like Bacot and Brooks playing together so much, and no one to kick out to when he collapsed the defense. He's a 3-level scorer that is comfortable hitting spot-up 3s, and I think he'll have a better A/TO when he has more shooters and space.

[bwgood77]

Yeah I'm confident Cole Anthony ends up being a better pro. That North Carolina team was probably the least talented team I can remember from them. Their only passable shooter team was a senior that never cracked the rotation prior to this year. No rotation player outside of Robinson and Anthony shot over 32% from 3. He had no room to work in the paint with guys like Bacot and Brooks playing together so much, and no one to kick out to when he collapsed the defense. He's a 3-level scorer that is comfortable hitting spot-up 3s, and I think he'll have a better A/TO when he has more shooters and space.

Would you rather have than Kira Lewis?

RJ Hamption, Theo Maledon, Tre Jones?

[Blonde]

Of the poll options, I don’t think it’s realistic for Hayes or Okoro to fall to us. That would put Lewis as the likely best available on my board at 10.

We probably won’t see Toppin either though I have Lewis clearly higher.