2020 NBA Draft

[MotownMadness]

Yeah, I've been happy with Green. I think the thing that's stood out to me in the games is that he has really good dimensions for an SG, he's 6'6 with a 6'10 wingspan, decent frame. Like Edwards, I think you can comfortably slide him up to the 3.

Green's been excellent on defense, the jumper's working so far, and he's got a good feel - 3.8 assists to 1.3 to's per 40. He makes some good reads for a guy that's not a big time initiator type.

Just lacks that shot versatility/ball handler/initiator stuff that you want to see for a high upside 2 guard prospect - but has high level role player potential I'd say.

Gonna get a look at him and Mannion tonight cause it looks like Arizona is playing on ESPN.

[MotownMadness]

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[clyde21]

Josh Green is good, I think for sure lotto guy

Agreed. I think with his profile it's easy to project him as a decent NBA player at least. He fits seamlessly into virtually any line-up I can imagine.

By the way, extremely encouraging games from Haliburton. He has been much more aggressive trying to score and tried to score some from the midrange area – and he did that against solid competition. He'll never be a go-to scorer but if teams have to respect his scoring, including in the half court, it's hard not to get excited about him. His playmaking is just super valuable, he would be an ideal PG next to a high-volume scoring star.

agreed on both accounts

[clyde21]

I’ve never been too impressed by Mannion so I could see that, but the funny thing (especially coming from you) is that it begs the question of how much further it has to go until we consider point guards like centers in that it’s not too hard to find a decent one (especially given the number of bigger playmakers who can allow you to sneak another 3/D wing into your lineup) later in the draft and you should think twice before using a high pick on someone who isn’t an outlier in terms of skills or athleticism.

yup, on-ball PGs are not really that valuable relatively speaking, all things equal i'd take combo guards, wings, and combo forwards/bigs above on-ball PGs and traditional centers every day

but I think Nico has some value off-ball, it's LaMelo that I think falls in this category for me...

I think traditional CS still hold a ton of value so long as it's not them being featured. The position of least importance or skillset is go to traditional PF. In fact it feels like they are outlawed. At least with a traditional C who rebounds and can defend you can run a 4out/1in system that seems so prevalent these days

traditional PFs are no longer a thing, they are just 5s now, or small ball centers.

honestly, I don't know if I see any modern PFs in this class worthy of a 1st unless you include McDaniels in that category. maybe Tillie but he's old and always hurt. Obi is decent, Achiuwa haven't been impressed with at all.

[The-Power]

honestly, I don't know if I see any modern PFs in this class worthy of a 1st unless you include McDaniels in that category. maybe Tillie but he's old and always hurt. Obi is decent, Achiuwa haven't been impressed with at all.

Paul Reed and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl I would add. No to Tillie.

[clyde21]

honestly, I don't know if I see any modern PFs in this class worthy of a 1st unless you include McDaniels in that category. maybe Tillie but he's old and always hurt. Obi is decent, Achiuwa haven't been impressed with at all.

Paul Reed and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl I would add. No to Tillie.

i have Reed as a 5, JRE i'm iffy on and he's probably a 2 year guy

[The-Power]

honestly, I don't know if I see any modern PFs in this class worthy of a 1st unless you include McDaniels in that category. maybe Tillie but he's old and always hurt. Obi is decent, Achiuwa haven't been impressed with at all.

Paul Reed and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl I would add. No to Tillie.

i have Reed as a 5, JRE i'm iffy on and he's probably a 2 year guy

If Reed can't play the 4 then I wouldn't draft him in the first round. No way he can hold his own against regular 5's in the NBA. With JRE I definitely understand the skepticism. His tools don't look all that amazing but I think his understanding of the game and his versatility are superb. He should flourish on a team like the Spurs.

[MotownMadness]

Mannion looks so smooth offensively. Hes having a very efficient game just scoring from all over

[No-Man]

Nico is good, just wish he was a tad quicker, he really gets slowed down often times

[eminence]

Am I the only Cassius Winston guy around?

Pons also appears to have finally arrived among returnees.

[DirtyDez]

Yeah he struggles to separate but his feel for scoring is so advanced.

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[doordoor123]

This draft class kind of sucks. Some good stuff at the top, but a lot of false gold. There aren’t enough guys that can create their own basket. There are also very few 3/4/5s. It’s pretty much all guards and even then there aren’t many clear starting types of guards. The Freshmen really stand out and I think a lot of the other yeared players are taking advantage of playing in a worse league.

[nolang1]

Am I the only Cassius Winston guy around?

Pons also appears to have finally arrived among returnees.

If I had to pick a player that size who isn't a great defender, I'd rather go all-in on threes with someone like Markus Howard or Antoine Davis later in the draft than take a player like Winston in the late first/early second. Howard's numbers speak for themselves, plus despite being a senior he doesn't turn 21 until March. Davis hasn't had an efficient start to the season, but he's getting box-and-ones and all sort of junk defenses thrown at him and Brad Calipari might seriously have a case for being his best teammate on offense. Otherwise more teams should be looking to do what Minnesota's done and make initiating the offense more democratic in order to create more playmaking opportunities for their bigger players.

[doordoor123]

Guys like Winston tend to carve a role out in the NBA. He’s super smart and plays the game the right way. Even if his jumper is unorthodox, it goes in. His playmaking and ability to spread the floor a little is valuable. He’s not athletic and doesn’t have good size. The spacing and better defenders will hurt his game, but when the game slows down he’ll be in his element. In the last couple of years there have been other guys like him and they’ve carved a role because teams value the high-end skills he does have versus the issues he might have. The NBA is a game of roles now and there aren’t a lot of good playmakers in the game, a lot of teams can use a guy who can organize the floor, especially on the second unit. If he can continuously stretch the floor it’s also a big plus. And to be honest, I like Winston’s decision making over Tre Jones. At the end of a game and in pressure moments I trust Winston much more. I also think he’s a better teammate and leader.

[doordoor123]

Freshman Marcus Zegarowski for Creighton had a pretty crazy game against Texans Tech, he looked really good.

[Duke4life831]

Josh Green is good, I think for sure lotto guy

Yes yes yes. I might even have him top 5 at the moment. I'm a huge fan of his. I don't think he's the best player, but he's my favorite player of this class. Zona has my 2 favorite freshmen with him and Nico.

[clyde21]

top7

1. SCOTTIE LEWIS
2. RJ HAMPTON
3. ANTHONY EDWARDS
4. COLE ANTHONY
5. JAMES WISEMAN
6. OSCAR TSHIEBWE
7. NICO MANNION

[The-Power]

In the ‘Battle 4 Atlantis’ tournament, Tyrese Haliburton finally showed the kind of scoring aggressiveness I hoped for.

22.3 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 7.7 APG, 2.3 SPG, 1.0 BPG with 3 TOV/G in 36.7 MPG
16/26 (61.5%) on 2's, 10/22 (45.5%) on 3's, 5/6 (83.3%) on FTs – 67% TS
vs. Michigan, Alabama and Seton Hall (two of them ranked)

He makes so many amazing plays for others that if you feel like he can develop into a reliable 15 PPG scorer in the NBA, he probably should be close to the top on your board. I hope he'll continue to play this way and thereby provide me with the confidence to really sing his praises all year long.

I also believe that with Haliburton, Ball and Hayes, this class has some elite passers in it that are fun to watch. Of course all of them have their question marks, but purely in the way they see the floor and make elite passes this is a special group of young players.

[The-Power]

It has already been noted that this draft has a number of PGs/primary ball handlers at the top of the draft. Cole Anthony, Tyrese Haliburton, LaMelo Ball, Killian Hayes, Théo Maledon and Nico Mannion have all been mocked in the lottery at some point. Guys like Tre Jones and Terry Tyrell could be picked high enough to assume that the team drafting them sees them as long-term starters on their team. So I was looking at bad and mediocre teams to see which teams need our could use PG prospects, either because they lack talent or because their starting PG should not be in their long-term plans (age, trade etc.) (worst 17 teams by current record).

Knicks – yes
Warriors – perhaps, if BPA (if Russell is traded)
Hawks – no
Grizzlies – no
Cavaliers – no, unless clear-cut BPA
Wizards – no, unless clear-cut BPA
Pelicans – no, unless clear-cut BPA
Pistons – yes
Bulls – yes
Spurs – perhaps, if BPA
Magic – perhaps, if BPA (if able to shoot)
Thunder – perhaps, if BPA
Kings – no
Blazers – no
Suns – no, unless clear-cut BPA
Hornets – perhaps, if BPA (they need any talent they can get)
Timberwolves – yes

So we have four teams with an obvious need, five teams who should take one if BPA, four teams who should take one only if clear-cut BPA, and four teams who are clearly set at PG. Especially among the worst teams, there should be two prospects who will find an easy path into playing in a lead guard role whereas the rest will have to work hard to carve out such a role for themselves. Also, a couple teams with no real need will have to make tough decisions come draft time when the BPA is a lead guard.

[Marcus]

top7

1. SCOTTIE LEWIS
2. RJ HAMPTON
3. ANTHONY EDWARDS
4. COLE ANTHONY
5. JAMES WISEMAN
6. OSCAR TSHIEBWE
7. NICO MANNION

Okoro?