2023 NBA Draft

[Hal14]

DWH is the one guy in this class with the highest candidacy of the 'how the **** did this guy drop so low in the draft' award 5 years from now, top 5 based on HS tape alone, no idea what to make of him in college because he's been relegated to being a spot up shooter by Scheyer

i'll continue leaving him unranked for now just because it's so fluid with him until maybe we get more data in the combine, workouts, scrimmages, etc...but it's a shame we haven't been given a chance to properly scout this cat at Duke.

at the very least, he's one the youngest players in the draft who's shooting over 41% from 3 and has now hit 23/26 from the FT line.

He’s still probably one of my favourite guys. Injury concerns are real, but his skill level is undeniable in my opinion.

He can shoot. Pretty good size at 6'6"/6'7". Young for his class. Top 10 prospect coming out of HS.

That foundation makes him a lock to go 1st round - probably top 20 - maybe even lottery.

But what else can he do besides shoot? His defense, rebounding, off the dribble creation, finishing near/at the rim, passing have all been meh this season. Doesn't give you secondary rim protection or secondary play making. The athleticism he showed in HS has not been there at Duke. His explosiveness, mobility and quickness has been average for a wing.

Plus, his handle was the big question mark coming out of HS and that hasn't improved at Duke.

I've got him ranked 23 at the moment..

[clyde21]

DWH is the one guy in this class with the highest candidacy of the 'how the **** did this guy drop so low in the draft' award 5 years from now, top 5 based on HS tape alone, no idea what to make of him in college because he's been relegated to being a spot up shooter by Scheyer

i'll continue leaving him unranked for now just because it's so fluid with him until maybe we get more data in the combine, workouts, scrimmages, etc...but it's a shame we haven't been given a chance to properly scout this cat at Duke.

at the very least, he's one the youngest players in the draft who's shooting over 41% from 3 and has now hit 23/26 from the FT line.

He’s still probably one of my favourite guys. Injury concerns are real, but his skill level is undeniable in my opinion.

He can shoot. Pretty good size at 6'6"/6'7". Young for his class. Top 10 prospect coming out of HS.

That foundation makes him a lock to go 1st round - probably top 20 - maybe even lottery.

But what else can he do besides shoot? His defense, rebounding, off the dribble creation, finishing near/at the rim, passing have all been meh this season. Doesn't give you secondary rim protection or secondary play making. The athleticism he showed in HS has not been there at Duke. His explosiveness, mobility and quickness has been average for a wing.

I've got him ranked 23 at the moment..

i mean that's the problem - we can't eval his creation because he's been relegated to being a spot-up shooter, and he wasn't the #1 ranked HS recruit who won McDonalds game MVP because he stood in the corner all game shooting swings.

[Hal14]

He’s still probably one of my favourite guys. Injury concerns are real, but his skill level is undeniable in my opinion.

He can shoot. Pretty good size at 6'6"/6'7". Young for his class. Top 10 prospect coming out of HS.

That foundation makes him a lock to go 1st round - probably top 20 - maybe even lottery.

But what else can he do besides shoot? His defense, rebounding, off the dribble creation, finishing near/at the rim, passing have all been meh this season. Doesn't give you secondary rim protection or secondary play making. The athleticism he showed in HS has not been there at Duke. His explosiveness, mobility and quickness has been average for a wing.

I've got him ranked 23 at the moment..

i mean that's the problem - we can't eval his creation because he's been relegated to being a spot-up shooter, and he wasn't the #1 ranked HS recruit who won McDonalds game MVP because he stood in the corner all game shooting swings.

There's only so much of it you can attribute to the way Scheyer used him, IMO.

I've seen Mark Mitchell drive the ball to the basket and score like 100 times this season. I've seen Whitehead do it like once. I doubt Scheyer told Mitchell he can drive or shoot but told Whitehead that he can only shoot.

Some guys just aren't able to translate certain stuff as they move up to higher levels of competition. And some guys lose a step or are less effective at certain things after injuries. He had injuries in HS as well as at Duke.

Maybe he'll never be the same player again as he was pre-injury. Or maybe he'll get healthier eventually and get some of that athleticism, mobility, explosiveness, ability to finish at/near the rim back. Hard to tell at this point..

[Big J]

He is a classic example of why it’s important to be fluid with your assessment of prospects and not continue to dig your heals in just because a guy had a high ranking in high school. The truly great talents take the bull by the horns and game plan or coach be damned and press the issue if they are able to.

[clyde21]

He can shoot. Pretty good size at 6'6"/6'7". Young for his class. Top 10 prospect coming out of HS.

That foundation makes him a lock to go 1st round - probably top 20 - maybe even lottery.

But what else can he do besides shoot? His defense, rebounding, off the dribble creation, finishing near/at the rim, passing have all been meh this season. Doesn't give you secondary rim protection or secondary play making. The athleticism he showed in HS has not been there at Duke. His explosiveness, mobility and quickness has been average for a wing.

I've got him ranked 23 at the moment..

i mean that's the problem - we can't eval his creation because he's been relegated to being a spot-up shooter, and he wasn't the #1 ranked HS recruit who won McDonalds game MVP because he stood in the corner all game shooting swings.

There's only so much of it you can attribute to the way Scheyer used him, IMO.

Some guys just aren't able to translate certain stuff as they move up to higher levels of competition. And some guys lose a step or are less effective at certain things after injuries. He had injuries in HS as well as at Duke.

Maybe he'll never be the same player again as he was pre-injury. Or maybe he'll get healthier eventually and get some of that athleticism, mobility, explosiveness, ability to finish at/near the rim back. Hard to tell at this point..

my point is we have no idea whether it translated or not because the opportunity hasn't really been given - he started the year with a fractured foot and didn't see any real action until mid Nov and from that point he was relegated to being a spot up guy. at no point in time did I ever see a Duke game where DWH was allowed to run any type of offense or run any breaks.

maybe he can do it, maybe he can't, but there is no way you can argue that we can properly eval the kid.

[Big J]

If he was better than all the other guys at Duke it would be obvious in practice and scrimmages, and he’d elevate to the alpha with the ball in his hands more. It’s his own fault if he’s just being passive in practice.

[BlazersBroncos]

Is this Creighton big a prospect? Moves pretty well for 7’1.

[EvanZ]

This was a very rare offensive output for him. He’s big and fundamentally sound but I still consider him very fringe prospect. Just not quick enough.


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[clyde21]

we really gotta start talking about Ighodaro

[The-Power]

Duke was a team that started 4 Freshmen. I don't buy it that for no reason at all Whitehead was relegated to a minor role when he could have done a lot more. This is not the case of a veteran team with a coach that just doesn't trust Freshmen. And it's not like Whitehead never tried to create. It just looked awkward when he did and thus he wasn't a go-to option.

He produced 4.3 TOV/100. He also took 10 2PA/100, and only 26% of his 2pt jumpers were assisted. Those aren't the numbers of someone who is relegated to stand in the corner and catch-and-shoot all the time. So neither is it plausible that he was held back for no apparent reason given the team context, nor do the numbers bear it out that he wasn't given any opportunities.

The most obvious explanation is that he just wasn't effective when he tried to create, so the coaches didn't trust him with the ball and he became more hesitant as well after experiencing struggles. Now, since he didn't look good athletically at all after coming back from injury, I hold out hope that he'll improve in that regard and his shot making will follow. Also, since he's still very young, had limited experience in college due to injuries, and was used to a different role that can be difficult to excel in immediately at a higher level, I would absolutely roll the dice on him at some point in the teens probably. It's similar to the twins in that he's not easy to evaluate and there are clear risks but at some point the upside makes it worth it.

But I'm also clearly in the camp that doesn't put this on Duke's coaching staff and senses unfair treatment. I just don't see any basis for that claim.

[The-Power]

Do you have Kris' numbers in terms of catch and shoot 3 and % of his 2 pt shots and 3 pt shots that were assisted?

I only have the publicly available data from hoop-math.com. It shows 43% assisted at the rim, 33% on 2pt jumpers, and 89% on 3s. I don't have his catch-and-shoot numbers but someone with access to synergy data might be able to help us out.

[Big J]

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Toppin on a roster next year. He’s much better defensively than his bro.

[Hal14]

If Devin Carter can improve that 3 pt % next year, he could get drafted in 2024 as a taller Davion Mitchell / Jose Alvarado type guy.

[NYPiston]

DWH is the one guy in this class with the highest candidacy of the 'how the **** did this guy drop so low in the draft' award 5 years from now, top 5 based on HS tape alone, no idea what to make of him in college because he's been relegated to being a spot up shooter by Scheyer

i'll continue leaving him unranked for now just because it's so fluid with him until maybe we get more data in the combine, workouts, scrimmages, etc...but it's a shame we haven't been given a chance to properly scout this cat at Duke.

at the very least, he's one the youngest players in the draft who's shooting over 41% from 3 and has now hit 23/26 from the FT line.

It reminds me of Griffin last year. Heralded high school recruit, suffers early season injury, takes a while to work into the lineup then is relegated to 3 and D role player once he got a regular rotation spot looking not quite as athletic as originally thought possibly due to the injury.

I just don't know how anybody can justify taking him top 10 based on what we've seen on the court, it'll be almost entirely based on projection that he can show skills in the NBA outside of spot up shooter that just didn't show up in college. I like him and he seems like a high character kid as well but he just seems like a role player to me that you can get in the mid to late 1st every year.

[CoreyVillains]

Recently got to break down film with Xavier's Colby Jones. May not have the highest upside in the draft but I think he's one of the safest bets to stick in the league as a connector.

Watch on YouTube

[BostonCouchGM]

Still not seeing it with Smith, Dick, Whitehead and Black. This might be the worst collective scouting job ever. I don’t think there’s a lottery talent amongst them

[toussaud]

Black for sure. He's playing on a bum ankle and still was able to shut dick down. I wouldn't draft snith in the 5th round

[Big J]

Sometimes high school rankings don't play out. Remember Felipe Lopez?

[azcatz11]

Sometimes high school rankings don't play out. Remember Felipe Lopez?

He played before you were born

[Big J]

Sometimes high school rankings don't play out. Remember Felipe Lopez?

He played before you were born

I'm a historian my brother.