2024 NBA Draft Thread

[Colbinii]

Upperclassmen I have who could be late first round guys/rotation pieces.

Kevin McCullar, Tristan da Silva, Ajay Mitchell, Oso Ighodaro. I'd also say screw it and take Zach Edey if I was a team like the Celtics.

At this point, I'd take Pelle Larsson ahead of all of them.

How about Dillon Jones?

[The-Power]

Upperclassmen I have who could be late first round guys/rotation pieces.

Kevin McCullar, Tristan da Silva, Ajay Mitchell, Oso Ighodaro. I'd also say screw it and take Zach Edey if I was a team like the Celtics.

At this point, I'd take Pelle Larsson ahead of all of them.

How about Dillon Jones?

I can't remember watching him this season, so I'll refrain from judgement. Happy to look into him, though.

[Hal14]

At this point, I'd take Pelle Larsson ahead of all of them.

How about Dillon Jones?

I can't remember watching him this season, so I'll refrain from judgement. Happy to look into him, though.

Jones is interesting. He has a chance to be one of those upperclassmen who pans out type of guys.

But idk. I feel like upperclassmen have a lower hit rate if they play their whole career in a mid major conference. Also, Jones is kind of slow, I'm not sold on the shooting and he seems to turn the ball over a lot (often times careless turnovers) when I've seen him play.

You have to be *really* good to be an older prospect from a mid major conference who makes it. I'm not sure Jones clears that bar.

Obviously there's some similarities with Jones and David Roddy. But Roddy I think is a little quicker, more athletic, about a year younger than Jones was on draft night..Roddy was a better, more consistent shooter, less turnover prone.. and he still is just an ok NBA player.

At this point I'd take Jones maybe in the mid to late 2nd round but that's about it..

[Colbinii]

At this point, I'd take Pelle Larsson ahead of all of them.

How about Dillon Jones?

I can't remember watching him this season, so I'll refrain from judgement. Happy to look into him, though.

4-year player out of Weber State. He was invited to the combine last year [or went].

Basically improved as a passer/playmaker each of the past 3 seasons, finally putting together his shot [consistent 80%+ FT Shooter past 3 seasons but inconsistent with 3-Ball]. Excellent foul drawer and rebounder for his size as a 6'6" [probably 6'5"] wing.

I'm expecting him to be Desmond Bane-like when he measures at the combine, though he is a bit taller but could have a horrible wingspan.

Same conference the previously mentioned Dalton Knecht played in prior to transferring, and Jones was better than Dalton.

The reason I bring him up is I am trying to do more draft stuff earlier this year, and since I come from more of an analytics background, I am trying to find players who pop on that end, and Dillion Jones seems to jump off the page from that perspective, even taking into account the conference he is playing in.

[Colbinii]

How about Dillon Jones?

I can't remember watching him this season, so I'll refrain from judgement. Happy to look into him, though.

Jones is interesting. He has a chance to be one of those upperclassmen who pans out type of guys.

But idk. I feel like upperclassmen have a lower hit rate if they play their whole career in a mid major conference. Also, Jones is kind of slow, I'm not sold on the shooting and he seems to turn the ball over a lot (often times careless turnovers) when I've seen him play.

You have to be *really* good to be an older prospect from a mid major conference who makes it. I'm not sure Jones clears that bar.

Obviously there's some similarities with Jones and David Roddy. But Roddy I think is a little quicker, more athletic, about a year younger than Jones was on draft night..Roddy was a better, more consistent shooter, less turnover prone.. and he still is just an ok NBA player.

At this point I'd take Jones maybe in the mid to late 2nd round but that's about it..

Roddy is a great parallel.

[SeattleJazzFan]

roddy and jones are very similar prospects - though roddy was a tad younger coming out and was a better shooter from distance and more efficient in general playing against tougher competition.

[babyjax13]

i haven't done much research on prospects, just the common top 5-10 guys since the pistons will end up with a top 5 pick.

what i've seen so far is pretty underwhelming relative to recent years, which pretty much everyone feels. it made me think that would it be crazy for the team with the #1 pick to go with "low-ceiling, high-floor" player? this draft profiles as a class similar to the 2013 draft with its lack of high-end talent so would it be better for teams in the top 5 take a "safer" pick than an upside one? besides oladipo and mccollum at 10 all of the quality players in that draft were taken outside the top 10.

right now for the pistons i'm most intrigued with topic and castle but again it's super early for me.

There's plenty of high-end talent. What it lacks, and why I think people assume it's a weak draft, is a consensus potential franchise type talent. That where evaluation skills have to come into play. There's no Banchero, Wembanyama, or Zion type talents. That's pretty obvious. But there's potential Miller, Smith, Thompson, Brown, etc. type talents. How many will determine whether it's a better than average draft. It's just the weak label that gets to me because I know people aren't watching tape because they've admitted or have had these takes since before last draft.

Say you're the Pistons G.M. and you have the 1st pick and you want to go high floor/low ceiling type. Who would be your pick. Which prospects fit that description? I can't find that type in this draft until well into the teens. Even a guy like Filipowski has a high ceiling. First guys I can think of are Knecht and McCullar

A lot of us watch high school, U18, and U16, as well. You are, again, just making things up.

[The-Power]

Thanks for the breakdown to both of you!

To add to my point on Larsson: I do have him as a clear FRP, probably somewhere in the teens. So I doubt that an older player from a mid-major conference with some notable concerns would be close to him on my draft board. Still, I'm happy to look his film and see where he ends up for me.

The reason I bring him up is I am trying to do more draft stuff earlier this year, and since I come from more of an analytics background, I am trying to find players who pop on that end, and Dillion Jones seems to jump off the page from that perspective, even taking into account the conference he is playing in.

Just out of curiosity, have you done research on this? Specifically the analytical markers of successful NBA players in college?

[babyjax13]

The way Jones moves reminds me a lot of Rayjon Tucker. I always thought he'd make it as a rotation player, but alas.

[Colbinii]

The way Jones moves reminds me a lot of Rayjon Tucker. I always thought he'd make it as a rotation player, but alas.

I really like how Jones moves and attack's offensively. Some of it is because he is facing worse talent overall given his division, but he moves around the court well, find the spots to attack and effectively attacks them with a pass to the right player or getting to the rim.

Will it translate? Maybe, maybe not, but he definitely has great feel offensively.

[clyde21]

watched some Topic, kinda disappointed considering a bunch of people are saying he's #1. I see the allure but not sure I love him, also if I am gonna take this archetype i don't know what the argument is for Topic over Sheppard tbh.

1/8 update with Topic.

1 Matas Buzelis
2 Stephon Castle
3 Ja'Kobe Walter
4 KJ Evans

5 Reed Sheppard
6 Nikola Topic
7 Rob Dillingham
8 Alexandre Sarr
9 Kyle Filipowski
10 Otega Oweh
11 Ron Holland

to me right now Buz, Castle, JKW and KJ are a clear top four, but I don't think any of these guys go top 3 or 4 in any of the last few drafts.

[babyjax13]

The way Jones moves reminds me a lot of Rayjon Tucker. I always thought he'd make it as a rotation player, but alas.

I really like how Jones moves and attack's offensively. Some of it is because he is facing worse talent overall given his division, but he moves around the court well, find the spots to attack and effectively attacks them with a pass to the right player or getting to the rim.

Will it translate? Maybe, maybe not, but he definitely has great feel offensively.

I went to a Big Sky school for undergrad while Lillard and Bolomboy were at Weber. The competition is definitely lower, but Weber at least does a more difficult out-of-conference schedule than the rest of the league. Jones looks more talented than Bolomboy, so I think he's got a chance at being an NBA rotation player. Not sure what it looks like, statistically I see the rebounding and playmaking and think...maybe Josh Hartish? They've beaten Saint Mary's and Wyoming (who aren't particularly good rn), which is HUGE for a Big Sky team. Most aren't good enough to be competitive against those kinds of programs. I'm frankly worried about his change of direction. Much like Tucker I see someone who is really athletic but perhaps not athletic for NBA standards. In the Big Sky it is easier to stand out. He looked okay in the combine scrimmages last year, but wasn't an outlier.

[Colbinii]

watched some Topic, kinda disappointed considering a bunch of people are saying he's #1. I see the allure but not sure I love him, also if I am gonna take this archetype i don't know what the argument is for Topic over Sheppard tbh.

1/8 update with Topic.

1 Matas Buzelis
2 Stephon Castle
3 Ja'Kobe Walter
4 KJ Evans

5 Reed Sheppard
6 Nikola Topic
7 Rob Dillingham
8 Alexandre Sarr
9 Kyle Filipowski
10 Otega Oweh
11 Ron Holland

to me right now Buz, Castle, JKW and KJ are a clear top four, but I don't think any of these guys go top 3 or 4 in any of the last few drafts.

I would consider Walter potentially ahead of guys like Murray and Amen.

Walter is basically a full year [10 months] younger than Brandon Miller, for example. Miller was better his freshman year [so far] and Miller has much better size so I would still have Miller on a different tier than Walter.

Do you think Sarr is a better prospect than Lively?

[Chuck Everett]

Dillon Jones almost didn't go back to Weber State even though he had a great pre-draft process. I think his issue was, he couldn't get a 2nd round guarantee and didn't want to go the UDFA route. I think someone picks him this year. I don't see first rounder though.

[Colbinii]

Dillon Jones almost didn't go back to Weber State even though he had a great pre-draft process. I think his issue was, he couldn't get a 2nd round guarantee. I think someone picks him this year. I don't see first rounder though.

I wish he was measured at the combine.

[Chuck Everett]

Dillon Jones almost didn't go back to Weber State even though he had a great pre-draft process. I think his issue was, he couldn't get a 2nd round guarantee. I think someone picks him this year. I don't see first rounder though.

I wish he was measured at the combine.

I saw his game winner from the Friday night. I think he's also going to have to lean out a bit if he's going to be effective on the wing. He's pretty buff, but David Roddy being a comparison is not a good thing. I am really having doubts he will have his 4th year option picked up (since Vince Williams, Jr. is thoroughly outplaying him on a two-way).

[EvanZ]

Brandon Garrison showing some signs of being a OAD now. Keep an eye out.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[EvanZ]

Dillon Jones almost didn't go back to Weber State even though he had a great pre-draft process. I think his issue was, he couldn't get a 2nd round guarantee. I think someone picks him this year. I don't see first rounder though.

I wish he was measured at the combine.

He’s just so ground bound. 0 dunks this season at his size is brutal. Otherwise great college player.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[clyde21]

watched some Topic, kinda disappointed considering a bunch of people are saying he's #1. I see the allure but not sure I love him, also if I am gonna take this archetype i don't know what the argument is for Topic over Sheppard tbh.

1/8 update with Topic.

1 Matas Buzelis
2 Stephon Castle
3 Ja'Kobe Walter
4 KJ Evans

5 Reed Sheppard
6 Nikola Topic
7 Rob Dillingham
8 Alexandre Sarr
9 Kyle Filipowski
10 Otega Oweh
11 Ron Holland

to me right now Buz, Castle, JKW and KJ are a clear top four, but I don't think any of these guys go top 3 or 4 in any of the last few drafts.

I would consider Walter potentially ahead of guys like Murray and Amen.

Walter is basically a full year [10 months] younger than Brandon Miller, for example. Miller was better his freshman year [so far] and Miller has much better size so I would still have Miller on a different tier than Walter.

Do you think Sarr is a better prospect than Lively?

I would take JKW easily over Murray, and probably on the same level as Amen for me (I wasn't AS high on Amen as most tho, more like bottom half of last year's top 12.

and yea I think Sarr is a better prospect than Lively but I also had Lively in the late teens, but probably off on that one as his playmaking translated a lot better than I thought it would this early.

[clyde21]

Brandon Garrison showing some signs of being a OAD now. Keep an eye out.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

i like Dailey better