2019 Draft Thread - Tonight, 6/20, 4:00PM PST ESPN.

HoopsFanAZ · Post #21 » by **HoopsFanAZ** » Sat May 18, 2019 1:21 am

The Sebastian Express wrote:Matisse Thybulle.

I get the need for mobile bigs. And the need to stock the team with actual 3 point shooters at SF and PF.

But I'm going contrary with THYBULLE. NBA skills with steals and blocks ... limiting possessions by the opponent. Has a stroke from 3 to work on. Plenty of work. But he's a team guy and takes on the tougher jobs.

JasonStern · Post #22 » by **JasonStern** » Sat May 18, 2019 3:04 pm

Wizenheimer wrote:Layman, Stauskas, Simons, Trent, Skal, Swanigan, Baldwin...how much are guys like that helping in the playoffs? How many are "solid rotation players" right now?

https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201405020POR.html

McCollum and Barton not contributing in the playoffs. And yet the Blazers were ultimately smart to keep them on their roster, even if they didn't directly contribute from day 1.

Wizenheimer · Post #23 » by **Wizenheimer** » Sat May 18, 2019 4:10 pm

JasonStern wrote:
Wizenheimer wrote:Layman, Stauskas, Simons, Trent, Skal, Swanigan, Baldwin...how much are guys like that helping in the playoffs? How many are "solid rotation players" right now?

https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201405020POR.html

McCollum and Barton not contributing in the playoffs. And yet the Blazers were ultimately smart to keep them on their roster, even if they didn't directly contribute from day 1.

terrible analogy...Lillard was 22 back then, headed for 23, playing for rookie scale. He's going to turn 29 in two months and he may be headed for a super-max.

and, CJ was a top-10 pick, not a 24th pick or a 2nd round pick. And for every CJ or a Barton, I can raise you a Sergio or an Ike Diogu or Josh MsRoberts or Taurean Green or Jeff Ayres or Shavlick Randolph or Luke Babbitt or Armon Johnson or Jonny Flynn or Nolan Smith or Hasheem Thabeet or Elliot Williams or Victor Claver or TRob or Cliff Alexander or Luis Montero or Tim Quarterman...you see how this is going

and remember, I wasn't saying Portland should not have any young guys who don't play on their roster. I'm saying between Simons, Trent, Skal, and Layman they already have enough...maybe more than enough. Adding yet another who's biggest contribution next season might be a stint in the development league makes no sense, especially considering they might be losing 3 or 4 of Aminu-Hood-Kanter-Curry-Layman. Portland needs quality depth, not speculative depth

HoopsFanAZ · Post #24 » by **HoopsFanAZ** » Sat May 18, 2019 8:20 pm

I love draft time. A lot.

It's a time for hope, and (nearing the end of the 1st round) getting guys you'd love to have on a team for years -- the Tayshaun Prince's at 23. The reality is trying for a strong rotation player -- I loved Batum at 25 and Rudy Fernandez at 24. I still love Layman at 47. And, yes, re-sign the turtle. And absolutely yes on Simons at 24 (though I really wanted a 3 and D wing with wingspan ... who doesn't?).

There's a whole mess of missing on players that low or they simply aren’t panning out. But it's a low-cost shot at talent that when picked is yours. It's not about the inflated worth of a 1st round pick (the dreams of what might happen), nor is it the hype that immediately follows, nor summer-league-not-NBA-level-competition, nor valuing one's own players higher because their "yours."

None and all of this.

If trading away the pick means lowering the team salary to get the full MLE for Rodney Hood -- and that's what happened -- then count me in. Done and done. Hood's got game. A really good fit especially given the upcoming exits from the Summer of Overspending on Players Who Should be Off the Bench.

Otherwise, keep the pick. Swing away, NeO.

[Matisse Thybulle]

JasonStern · Post #25 » by **JasonStern** » Mon May 20, 2019 9:17 pm

Wizenheimer wrote:
JasonStern wrote:
Wizenheimer wrote:Layman, Stauskas, Simons, Trent, Skal, Swanigan, Baldwin...how much are guys like that helping in the playoffs? How many are "solid rotation players" right now?

https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201405020POR.html

McCollum and Barton not contributing in the playoffs. And yet the Blazers were ultimately smart to keep them on their roster, even if they didn't directly contribute from day 1.

terrible analogy...Lillard was 22 back then, headed for 23, playing for rookie scale. He's going to turn 29 in two months and he may be headed for a super-max.

and, CJ was a top-10 pick, not a 24th pick or a 2nd round pick. And for every CJ or a Barton, I can raise you a Sergio or an Ike Diogu or Josh MsRoberts or Taurean Green or Jeff Ayres or Shavlick Randolph or Luke Babbitt or Armon Johnson or Jonny Flynn or Nolan Smith or Hasheem Thabeet or Elliot Williams or Victor Claver or TRob or Cliff Alexander or Luis Montero or Tim Quarterman...you see how this is going

if the average player makes ~$10 million/season and you have Dame making ~$30 million, then you need at least two roster spots tied up to minimum/near-minimum contracts to offset that.

so how exactly are you proposing this team get better?

there's free agency, where the Blazers are not a premiere destination and have no cap space. the Blazers could always dumpster dive, but then you'd go on about how for every Seth Curry without bird rights, there's an Earl Watson or a Nik Stauskas.

there's trades. but to get anything of value back in a trade, you have to give up something of value. if the 25th pick in a weak draft isn't worth much, why would other teams covet it? especially with many posters putting the price of the pick at eating Turner's contract, which isn't going to happen.

and then there's the draft. Blazers have done surprisingly well at locking in backup-tier players over the last few years. over half the guys you listed played multiple 10+ minute seasons. Connaughton turned out okay. Layman turned out okay. and at least that way you have a chance of hitting a home run. "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take", or something like that.

Wizenheimer · Post #26 » by **Wizenheimer** » Mon May 20, 2019 10:05 pm

JasonStern wrote:
Wizenheimer wrote:
JasonStern wrote:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201405020POR.html

McCollum and Barton not contributing in the playoffs. And yet the Blazers were ultimately smart to keep them on their roster, even if they didn't directly contribute from day 1.

terrible analogy...Lillard was 22 back then, headed for 23, playing for rookie scale. He's going to turn 29 in two months and he may be headed for a super-max.

and, CJ was a top-10 pick, not a 24th pick or a 2nd round pick. And for every CJ or a Barton, I can raise you a Sergio or an Ike Diogu or Josh MsRoberts or Taurean Green or Jeff Ayres or Shavlick Randolph or Luke Babbitt or Armon Johnson or Jonny Flynn or Nolan Smith or Hasheem Thabeet or Elliot Williams or Victor Claver or TRob or Cliff Alexander or Luis Montero or Tim Quarterman...you see how this is going

if the average player makes ~$10 million/season and you have Dame making ~$30 million, then you need at least two roster spots tied up to minimum/near-minimum contracts to offset that.

so how exactly are you proposing this team get better?

there's free agency, where the Blazers are not a premiere destination and have no cap space. the Blazers could always dumpster dive, but then you'd go on about how for every Seth Curry without bird rights, there's an Earl Watson or a Nik Stauskas.

there's trades. but to get anything of value back in a trade, you have to give up something of value. if the 25th pick in a weak draft isn't worth much, why would other teams covet it? especially with many posters putting the price of the pick at eating Turner's contract, which isn't going to happen.

and then there's the draft. Blazers have done surprisingly well at locking in backup-tier players over the last few years. over half the guys you listed played multiple 10+ minute seasons. Connaughton turned out okay. Layman turned out okay. and at least that way you have a chance of hitting a home run. "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take", or something like that.

you've assumed a couple of things incorrectly:

There is a special procedure in place to phase-in a 45% increase to the rookie salary scales for the 2017-18 through 2019-20 seasons (15% per year over three years). There is a "baseline" scale for 2017-18 that does not include the 15% increase used for the actual 2017-18 rookie scale. For 2018-19 they first apply the percentage change in the salary cap from 2017-18 (as described above) to the 2017-18 baseline scale to create the 2018-19 baseline scale, and then they increase all resulting amounts by 30% to create the actual rookie scale. For 2019-20 they repeat the process, starting with the baseline scale for 2018-19, applying the cap percentage increase or decrease to create the 2019-20 baseline scale, and then applying a 45% increase to create the 2019-20 rookie scale.

the starting baseline for this season is $1,468,400. The cap is going up 8% so that makes the baseline 1.586M. Add the 45% CBA increase to that and i's 2.3M. Then add the 20% bump every team is allowed to spend and Portland has always spent and the 25th pick would be at 2.76M

meanwhile, the cap-hit for any veteran minimum would be 1.7M, one million less

and frankly, I'd much rather have a Derrick Rose or a Jeff Green or a Javale McGee or a Tyson Chandler or a Wayne Ellington or a Jonas Jerebko next season, who all played for the minimum, then have a Caleb Swanigan or a Bruce Babbitt or a Victor Claver or a Nolan Smith. Hell, Stauskas was more useful this season than any of those rookies, both as a player and a trade asset

I'll say again: my preferred use of the 25th pick is to trade it for a future 1st and a 2nd. Go into the off-season and the regular season with as many trade-able assets as possible. A future pair of picks would have more value than the median player taken with a 25th pick

and LOL at the idea that a 25th pick is the best route to get better. What made Portland better this season...Simons or Hood? Trent or Kanter?

JasonStern · Post #27 » by **JasonStern** » Mon May 20, 2019 11:24 pm

Wizenheimer wrote:LOL at the idea that a 25th pick is the best route to get better. What made Portland better this season...Simons or Hood? Trent or Kanter?

1) I never said it was the best way to get better. I said it was important to have the back of the bench filled with young development players, and pointed out how McCollum and Barton were DNP-CDs in the playoffs prior to breaking out. What made Portland better this season? McCollum or signing a veteran minimum player in 2014? And ignoring that, look at the 2015 off-season where Portland was going to have to go way into the luxury tax to retain their core. Wasn't it nice to have a rookie scale player to potentially replace Matthews once he got maxed out despite tearing his ACL?

2) Olshey is probably out of future 2nds to trade, so good luck landing another Hood. But for every "multiple 2nds for Hood" trade, Wizenheimer can raise you a "multiple 2nds for Thomas Robinson" trade that didn't work out as well.

3) For every Kanter signing mid-season for the minimum, Olshey has a Ronnie Price/Earl Watson/Steve Blake signing for the minimum. Would any of those "move the needle" enough to justify the cap hit and roster space over a developmental player?

4) Looks like someone doesn't want Portland to repeat as Vegas Summer League champions.

Soulyss · Post #28 » by **Soulyss** » Tue May 21, 2019 11:45 pm

HoopsFanAZ wrote:I love draft time. A lot.

It's a time for hope, and (nearing the end of the 1st round) getting guys you'd love to have on a team for years -- the Tayshaun Prince's at 23. The reality is trying for a strong rotation player -- I loved Batum at 25 and Rudy Fernandez at 24. I still love Layman at 47. And, yes, re-sign the turtle. And absolutely yes on Simons at 24 (though I really wanted a 3 and D wing with wingspan ... who doesn't?).

There's a whole mess of missing on players that low or they simply aren’t panning out. But it's a low-cost shot at talent that when picked is yours. It's not about the inflated worth of a 1st round pick (the dreams of what might happen), nor is it the hype that immediately follows, nor summer-league-not-NBA-level-competition, nor valuing one's own players higher because their "yours."

None and all of this.

If trading away the pick means lowering the team salary to get the full MLE for Rodney Hood -- and that's what happened -- then count me in. Done and done. Hood's got game. A really good fit especially given the upcoming exits from the Summer of Overspending on Players Who Should be Off the Bench.

Otherwise, keep the pick. Swing away, NeO.

[Matisse Thybulle]

Allen loved the draft as well, it will be interesting to see how Portland reacts now that he's not longer at the helm. Olshley's primary talent is finding hidden gems that no one else sees... Personally i hope we keep the pick.

Blazinaway · Post #29 » by **Blazinaway** » Tue May 21, 2019 11:53 pm

Soulyss wrote:
HoopsFanAZ wrote:I love draft time. A lot.

It's a time for hope, and (nearing the end of the 1st round) getting guys you'd love to have on a team for years -- the Tayshaun Prince's at 23. The reality is trying for a strong rotation player -- I loved Batum at 25 and Rudy Fernandez at 24. I still love Layman at 47. And, yes, re-sign the turtle. And absolutely yes on Simons at 24 (though I really wanted a 3 and D wing with wingspan ... who doesn't?).

There's a whole mess of missing on players that low or they simply aren’t panning out. But it's a low-cost shot at talent that when picked is yours. It's not about the inflated worth of a 1st round pick (the dreams of what might happen), nor is it the hype that immediately follows, nor summer-league-not-NBA-level-competition, nor valuing one's own players higher because their "yours."

None and all of this.

If trading away the pick means lowering the team salary to get the full MLE for Rodney Hood -- and that's what happened -- then count me in. Done and done. Hood's got game. A really good fit especially given the upcoming exits from the Summer of Overspending on Players Who Should be Off the Bench.

Otherwise, keep the pick. Swing away, NeO.

[Matisse Thybulle]

Allen loved the draft as well, it will be interesting to see how Portland reacts now that he's not longer at the helm. Olshley's primary talent is finding hidden gems that no one else sees... Personally i hope we keep the pick.

No brainer for me, trade the pick in a Turner trade so we can get enough cap relief to sign Hood

Blazinaway · Post #30 » by **Blazinaway** » Tue May 21, 2019 11:57 pm

Wizenheimer wrote:
JasonStern wrote:
Wizenheimer wrote:
terrible analogy...Lillard was 22 back then, headed for 23, playing for rookie scale. He's going to turn 29 in two months and he may be headed for a super-max.

and, CJ was a top-10 pick, not a 24th pick or a 2nd round pick. And for every CJ or a Barton, I can raise you a Sergio or an Ike Diogu or Josh MsRoberts or Taurean Green or Jeff Ayres or Shavlick Randolph or Luke Babbitt or Armon Johnson or Jonny Flynn or Nolan Smith or Hasheem Thabeet or Elliot Williams or Victor Claver or TRob or Cliff Alexander or Luis Montero or Tim Quarterman...you see how this is going

if the average player makes ~$10 million/season and you have Dame making ~$30 million, then you need at least two roster spots tied up to minimum/near-minimum contracts to offset that.

so how exactly are you proposing this team get better?

there's free agency, where the Blazers are not a premiere destination and have no cap space. the Blazers could always dumpster dive, but then you'd go on about how for every Seth Curry without bird rights, there's an Earl Watson or a Nik Stauskas.

there's trades. but to get anything of value back in a trade, you have to give up something of value. if the 25th pick in a weak draft isn't worth much, why would other teams covet it? especially with many posters putting the price of the pick at eating Turner's contract, which isn't going to happen.

and then there's the draft. Blazers have done surprisingly well at locking in backup-tier players over the last few years. over half the guys you listed played multiple 10+ minute seasons. Connaughton turned out okay. Layman turned out okay. and at least that way you have a chance of hitting a home run. "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take", or something like that.

you've assumed a couple of things incorrectly:

There is a special procedure in place to phase-in a 45% increase to the rookie salary scales for the 2017-18 through 2019-20 seasons (15% per year over three years). There is a "baseline" scale for 2017-18 that does not include the 15% increase used for the actual 2017-18 rookie scale. For 2018-19 they first apply the percentage change in the salary cap from 2017-18 (as described above) to the 2017-18 baseline scale to create the 2018-19 baseline scale, and then they increase all resulting amounts by 30% to create the actual rookie scale. For 2019-20 they repeat the process, starting with the baseline scale for 2018-19, applying the cap percentage increase or decrease to create the 2019-20 baseline scale, and then applying a 45% increase to create the 2019-20 rookie scale.

the starting baseline for this season is $1,468,400. The cap is going up 8% so that makes the baseline 1.586M. Add the 45% CBA increase to that and i's 2.3M. Then add the 20% bump every team is allowed to spend and Portland has always spent and the 25th pick would be at 2.76M

meanwhile, the cap-hit for any veteran minimum would be 1.7M, one million less

and frankly, I'd much rather have a Derrick Rose or a Jeff Green or a Javale McGee or a Tyson Chandler or a Wayne Ellington or a Jonas Jerebko next season, who all played for the minimum, then have a Caleb Swanigan or a Bruce Babbitt or a Victor Claver or a Nolan Smith. Hell, Stauskas was more useful this season than any of those rookies, both as a player and a trade asset

I'll say again: my preferred use of the 25th pick is to trade it for a future 1st and a 2nd. Go into the off-season and the regular season with as many trade-able assets as possible. A future pair of picks would have more value than the median player taken with a 25th pick

and LOL at the idea that a 25th pick is the best route to get better. What made Portland better this season...Simons or Hood? Trent or Kanter?

and we already have 3 guys 21 or younger, if we are a contending team we need more vets and not rooks, especially at pick 25, we have enough to develop as it is

PDXKnight · Post #31 » by **PDXKnight** » Wed May 22, 2019 4:21 am

I’m not saying we shouldn’t max out dame but I hope the next cba comes with an amnesty just in case!

Wizenheimer · Post #32 » by **Wizenheimer** » Wed May 22, 2019 4:43 am

Oden2 wrote:I’m not saying we shouldn’t max out dame but I hope the next cba comes with an amnesty just in case!

I don't think an amnesty is necessary, but what could be a provision is that for super-max contracts, the amount of salary over the standard max isn't counted against the cap.

JasonStern · Post #33 » by **JasonStern** » Thu May 23, 2019 12:47 am

Blazinaway wrote:we already have 3 guys 21 or younger, if we are a contending team we need more vets and not rooks, especially at pick 25, we have enough to develop as it is

1. the Blazers aren't a contending team. Golden State proved that.

2. if the Blazers want to become a contending team, they need more star power. given Portland's inability to attract free agents and current cap space situation, the only options are to get lucky in the draft or have the pieces necessary to trade for another team's disgruntled star.

3. a $2 million rookie scale contract is still less than 2% of the salary cap. can veterans with a higher floor and lower ceiling be obtained for less? sure, but that doesn't make rookie scale contracts any less valuable.

Soulyss · Post #34 » by **Soulyss** » Thu May 23, 2019 9:16 pm

JasonStern wrote:
Blazinaway wrote:we already have 3 guys 21 or younger, if we are a contending team we need more vets and not rooks, especially at pick 25, we have enough to develop as it is

1. the Blazers aren't a contending team. Golden State proved that.

2. if the Blazers want to become a contending team, they need more star power. given Portland's inability to attract free agents and current cap space situation, the only options are to get lucky in the draft or have the pieces necessary to trade for another team's disgruntled star.

3. a $2 million rookie scale contract is still less than 2% of the salary cap. can veterans with a higher floor and lower ceiling be obtained for less? sure, but that doesn't make rookie scale contracts any less valuable.

Yes in this new world of the NBA, rookie deals are the most valuable asset an organization has. We're going to trend towards teams having two or three massive contracts, and filler... the best filler is rookies playing above their fixed paygrade.

DusterBuster · Post #35 » by **DusterBuster** » Thu May 23, 2019 9:44 pm

Wizenheimer wrote:
Oden2 wrote:I’m not saying we shouldn’t max out dame but I hope the next cba comes with an amnesty just in case!

I don't think an amnesty is necessary, but what could be a provision is that for super-max contracts, the amount of salary over the standard max isn't counted against the cap.

This is almost mandatory for the owners of the NBA to demand in the next CBA. Its kinda silly that wasn't factored into the supermax negotiations when they first introduced the idea. Seems like it would have been a pretty obvious issue with one player taking up 35ish% of the teams cap would be needlessly hindering teams moving forward.

Wizenheimer · Post #36 » by **Wizenheimer** » Thu May 23, 2019 10:48 pm

DusterBuster wrote:
Wizenheimer wrote:
Oden2 wrote:I’m not saying we shouldn’t max out dame but I hope the next cba comes with an amnesty just in case!

I don't think an amnesty is necessary, but what could be a provision is that for super-max contracts, the amount of salary over the standard max isn't counted against the cap.

This is almost mandatory for the owners of the NBA to demand in the next CBA. Its kinda silly that wasn't factored into the supermax negotiations when they first introduced the idea. Seems like it would have been a pretty obvious issue with one player taking up 35ish% of the teams cap would be needlessly hindering teams moving forward.

my guess is that when the scope of the new TV revenue became apparent both sides went into full-speed ahead mode, damn the torpedoes

JasonStern · Post #37 » by **JasonStern** » Fri May 24, 2019 7:12 pm

will obviously depend on who is available at 25 and in the second round, but what are everyone's thoughts on trading down? both Atlanta and Philadelphia have an abundance of second round picks they might want to consolidate. given the draft is projected to be weak, why not take two chances on non-guaranteed contracts? seems like there's a better chance of a player panning out if you draft, say, Louis King and Brian Bowen versus just drafting a Grant Williams (per CBS's mock draft). would also help slightly regarding the cap hit.

TBpup · Post #38 » by **TBpup** » Sat May 25, 2019 3:26 pm

Blazinaway....I think you are probably right with the idea of using the pick to trade along with a current player to get additional room to be able to sign Rodney Hood.

But IF we were to draft a player from some of the names I've seen on here, just some random thoughts on some of them:

Grant Williams - PF who is undersized and not very strong or athletic 6'11" wingspan which I like.
Cameron Johnson - Knock down shooter but missing much of the 'D' of a 3&D prospect. 6'10" wingspan...not bad.
Matisse Thybulle - Senior who I'm wondering about how high his ceiling is.
Louis King - maybe the most potential of any listed here. 7' 1/4" wingspan, smooth shot with advanced moves but needs more consistency. Can do some things few others on here can do...at times.
Kris Wilkes - not mentioned but good size, almost a 6'11" wingspan, aggressive player with solid handles.
...Tacko Fall - and then there is Tacko. Broke most every height/length/wingspan record at the combine. Has ridiculous size pared with quite poor athleticism. However, he is a size freak that teams would have to adjust to. I'd certainly take a chance on him with a 2nd round pick if the Blazers could acquire one.

Post #39 » by **DeBlazerRiddem** » Sun May 26, 2019 10:45 pm

This thread is boring. Lets get back to talking about the prospects because until we trade that pick away I'm going to assume its ours. Although from 30,000 feet the view is a bit discouraging, lots of pedestrian looking prospects. Porter and Bazley are the high risk/high reward options, Samanic is apparently having a decent combine. I can see Olshey falling in love with Dylan Windler as a 4 year small school player. Looking at this list it might not be bad to trade back without losing a ton of available talent.

A quick primer on the wing/forward prospects in our region of the draft no particular order, disclaimer I'm no draft guru so take it with a grain of salt. Descriptions and comps are not mine (descriptions are OK but some comps are horrible IMO) and copied from The Ringer. Since Draftexpress went away I also use Tankathon. Not a big fan of NBADraft, I always disagree with their rankings but it’s another option. NBA Scouting has some OK scouting reports. Anyone have any other good sources for draft info?

Grant Williams – 6’7.5/240 (6’9.75 wingspan, 8’8.5 standing) 20.5 years old.
Team-first player who runs the show from the post in college but will need to expand his game to the perimeter at the next level.

Spoiler:

Talen Horton-Tucker – 6’4/235 (7’1.25 wingspan, 8’7 standing) 18.5 years old.
Unusual athlete who has the body to defend large players and the raw skills to play guard on offense.

Spoiler:

Cameron Johnson – 6’8.5/205 (6’10 wingspan, 8’7 standing), 23.2 years old
Effective shooter who presents value for teams in need of a tall, floor-spacing role player.

Spoiler:

Keldon Johnson – 6’6/216 (6’9.25 wingspan, 8’8 standing), 19.6 years old
High-effort defender and complementary offensive player

Spoiler:

Matisse Thybulle – 6’5/200 (7’0 wingspan, N/A standing), 22.2 years old
Disruptive defender who posted all-time great block and steal numbers as the pillar of Washington’s zone.

Spoiler:

Chuma Okeke – 6’8/230 (7.0 wingspan, NA standing), 20.7 years old
Hustling defender who offers complementary offrensive skills as a spot-up shooter and passer

Spoiler:

Luka Samanic – 6’11/227 (6’10.5 wingspan, 8’11 standing), 19.3 years old
Fluid athlete who looks the part of a stretch big, but his shooting numbers and lack of physicality leave much to be desired

Spoiler:

Dylan Windler – 6’7.5/196 (6’10 wingspan, 8’8.5 standing), 22.6 years old
Sweet shooter who led Belmont to the NCAA tournament this year; he projects as a 3-and-D wing at the next level.

Spoiler:

Louis King – 6’8/195 (7.025 wingspan, 8’8.5 standing), 20.1 years old
Modern wing with enviable height, length, athleticism, and knockdown shooting ability, though his defensive effort and fundamentals must improve.

Spoiler:

KZ Okpala – 6’9.5/210 (7’1.75 wingspan, 8’10.5 standing), 20 years old
Versatility is king in the NBA, and he has all the tools to be a malleable two-way wing if his raw skills continue to develop.

Spoiler:

Jontay Porter – 6’11/210 (7.0 wingspan, 9’1.5 standing), 19.5 years old
Skilled big who spaces the floor and does all the little things offensively, but has torn his right ACL twice in six months.

Spoiler:

Darius Bazley – 6’9/208 (7.0 wingspan, 8’11 standing), 19 years old
Athletic, combo forward that may have a variety of skills on both ends of the floor. Currently, he projects to be a high-energy defensive specialist that could be an excellent rebounder.

Spoiler:

Jalen McDaniels – 6’9.75/192 (7’0.25 wingspan, 8’9.5 standing), 21.3 years old
Versatile player built for today’s league, with the height of a big and the perimeter skills of a wing.

Spoiler:

As a quick aside, he is totally going to go out of our range but I noticed that Brandon Clarke had the highest offensive and highest defensive rating in all of college basketball. The last person to do this? Anthony Davis. Not saying Clarke will be on that level but I could see him being a coaches dream type player, kind of what we were hoping Zach Collins would become.

JasonStern · Post #40 » by **JasonStern** » Mon May 27, 2019 3:57 am

Probably going to bite me, but calling Tacko Fall as a journeyman/bust/second coming of Ha Seung-Jin right now. Seen enough Joe Alexanders, Bismack Biyombos, etc. in my day to base a draft pick solely off of combine scores.

Predict the pick