2024 NBA Draft Thread

[jakecronus8]

Can someone please explain to me why Kel El Ware isn't being projected as a top 10 guy? Crazy productive, NBA center szie, tremendous athlete that can move laterally. Jumper looks sweet. What am I missing?

[HadAnEffectHere]

Can someone please explain to me why Kel El Ware isn't being projected as a top 10 guy? Crazy productive, NBA center szie, tremendous athlete that can move laterally. Jumper looks sweet. What am I missing?

Coach at Oregon constantly called him out in public press conferences saying that he was lazy and didn't play hard.

[jakecronus8]

Can someone please explain to me why Kel El Ware isn't being projected as a top 10 guy? Crazy productive, NBA center szie, tremendous athlete that can move laterally. Jumper looks sweet. What am I missing?

Coach at Oregon constantly called him out in public press conferences saying that he was lazy and didn't play hard.

Hadn't heard this. If this is the case it looks like he's gotten something figured out at IU. Just feels to me like someone is going to get a massive steal somewhere between the mid to late 1st. Looks like he could fit in anywhere.

[HadAnEffectHere]

Can someone please explain to me why Kel El Ware isn't being projected as a top 10 guy? Crazy productive, NBA center szie, tremendous athlete that can move laterally. Jumper looks sweet. What am I missing?

Coach at Oregon constantly called him out in public press conferences saying that he was lazy and didn't play hard.

Hadn't heard this. If this is the case it looks like he's gotten something figured out at IU. Just feels to me like someone is going to get a massive steal somewhere between the mid to late 1st. Looks like he could fit in anywhere.

I'd be surprised if he went in the first round.

[BeiBeau]

This draft class is severally underwhelming. Edey is my #1 and I think he's a 6th man for the most part. Risacher is #2 and I see zero all star upside. Kolek is in my top 10. Knecht in my top 5.

I am over the class. I see a lot of Gleaguers. Nearly, everyone.

There isn't one OAD outside of Risacher that doesn't have decent bust potential. Then you got guys like Sarr with astronomical bust potential.

Edey - Jalen Brunson/IT0, obviously not direct but i see similar roles in regards to how they are used.

Risacher- Otto Porter Jr. If he hits, Tayshaun Prince if he doesn't

2. Knecht - Dan Majerle if he hits.

2. Shannon Jr. - Mitch Richmond if he hits

2. Kolek - Jalen Brunson, less shooting and scoring, more playmaking and screening.

2. Clingan - Cody Kessler, less defense more offense.

7. Sheppard- I love his upside but floor has to be higher. I see Mark Price with Caruso shades if he hits.

7. Sarr - his defense is legit and special. His offense is bad. I think Anthony Randolph, Marquese Chriss, and Jon Bender were all better offensive players and they all busted.

7. Collier - Shades of Baron Davis

7. Dillingham- Brandon Jennings with more height. Probably the only starter in this class outside of Risacher in the ideal situation, day 1.

I don't like this draft.

I like this draft for the Mavs.

1. I hate the Knicks, giving them pick 25 in this garbage feels so good considering we kept 10 in last years amazing class.

2. I think the back end of the draft has quite a few 22-24 year old role players who I think can crack rotations early. So if youre looking to win now there is something there.

Cam Spencer and Antonio Reeves are fantastic shooters. Pelle Larson and Marcus Sears could be good secondary creators. Jalen Bridges and Jalen Wells could both be good 3 & D role players. Dallas would have to jump up for him but Ryan Dunn could be Herb Jones or Jaden McDaniels if he finds a 3, pretty boom or bust on him. And Hunter Sallis is exciting.

[Catchall]

Spoiler:

This draft class is severally underwhelming. Edey is my #1 and I think he's a 6th man for the most part. Risacher is #2 and I see zero all star upside. Kolek is in my top 10. Knecht in my top 5.

I am over the class. I see a lot of Gleaguers. Nearly, everyone.

There isn't one OAD outside of Risacher that doesn't have decent bust potential. Then you got guys like Sarr with astronomical bust potential.

Edey - Jalen Brunson/IT0, obviously not direct but i see similar roles in regards to how they are used.

Risacher- Otto Porter Jr. If he hits, Tayshaun Prince if he doesn't

2. Knecht - Dan Majerle if he hits.

2. Shannon Jr. - Mitch Richmond if he hits

2. Kolek - Jalen Brunson, less shooting and scoring, more playmaking and screening.

2. Clingan - Cody Kessler, less defense more offense.

7. Sheppard- I love his upside but floor has to be higher. I see Mark Price with Caruso shades if he hits.

7. Sarr - his defense is legit and special. His offense is bad. I think Anthony Randolph, Marquese Chriss, and Jon Bender were all better offensive players and they all busted.

7. Collier - Shades of Baron Davis

7. Dillingham- Brandon Jennings with more height. Probably the only starter in this class outside of Risacher in the ideal situation, day 1.

I don't like this draft.

I like some of your comps, like the Dan Majerle comp for Knecht. I see some Mark Price in Sheppard too. I'm just wondering what happens when long, athletic defenders trap him.

I see Sarr as a longer version of Derrick Favors. He should be a starter who can score in some face-up situations.

I do think Nikola Topic and Cody Williams have a chance to be impact players and even have some All Star potential.

I think Clingan is, for all intents and purposes, the Jakob Poeltl of this draft. I have a hard time seeing him as a top 5 guy.

I like.

Favors had clear offensive limitations as a prospect but I always brought his size offensively as a part of his strength. He also was tough and mentally came to play and wasn't scared of contact at all. Sarr gives me Chriss vibes. Big wing offensively but struggles to create for himself but doesn't even have the shooting or the explosiveness of Chriss. That said, Sarr is world's better as a defensive talent than Chriss was.

What's your take on Topic and Williams? Are you worried about health for Topic?

I just see a massive size difference and that really helps Clingan on D. Also, Clingan screens are probably in the same tier with Sabonis and Gobert and only behind Edey in my eyes. Jakob is very good but man, Clingan is world class at it and screening is critical to me for Centers since offensive 1s are en vogue.

Topic's ability to flip his hips and use a low, tight dribble to get by defenders on drives to the rim reminds me of James Harden at Houston. Topic is then at the rim at 6'6" and has the ability to deliver passes all over the floor. He's a high-level drive-and-kick player in an increasingly drive-and-kick league. I think he's going to get to the foul line a lot. I also believe his jumper coming along, which will help draw defenders when he's in pick-and-roll. He's a better lead guard than Dragic was, imo. I don't know enough about his injury history. The last injury was a sprain, which might be more related to his conditioning.

Williams is interesting. He stands out as a 6'8" guard who is comfortable handling the ball and can change directions off the dribble. He's also shown pretty elite touch finishing around the rim. He's not explosive, and he uses his length rather than his athleticism to beat defenders. However, the same could have been said of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander coming out of Kentucky. If Williams can add strength, tighten his handle and rep out different scoring scenarios, his tools give him a chance to be a primary scorer, like Brandon Ingram or possibly even SGA, though Williams is a 2/3. That may be a longshot. However, he has a decent floor as a prospect and should be a starter-level contributor even if he's not a primary scorer. The question I have with Williams is whether his feet are slow. If they are, that will hold him back.

Incidentally, the thing that held Favors back was his inability the handle the ball. It relegated him to a 5, and he put on a fair amount of weight to defend 5s. As a younger PF though, Favors could face up and drive into the paint for a running hook shot or push shot. I think Sarr should be able to do those things. Favors had decent touch on his mid-range jumper, but it wasn't a shot that Quin Snyder prioritized in the offense.

[Norm2953]

Guys like Ware will either be a tremendous steal or a guy who stops playing when he starts
getting paid. He'll be a FRP on talent alone

He needs to go to a veteran team with team leadership to help motivate him to play hard,
much like Rasheed Wallace got when he went from Portland to Detroit, who had the veterans
to keep him in line.

[tester551]

What does everyone think of this Cody Williams comp... Jerami Grant?

The more I watch Cody, the more Im convinced that the current version of Grant is Cody's most likely 'peak'.

Basically a good shooter/scorer, but does little else. Would have a reputation of being a good defender (because they look like they should be), but most of the time they are invisible on the court if not scoring

[Norm2953]

The thing with Cody is that right now he's not playable for he weighs 178 lb and needs to gain 30
lbs in order to able to play.

Some guys who have the frame to get stronger never seem to gain weight

[SelfishPlayer]

There's never been a perimeter player too skinny to have an NBA career.

[HadAnEffectHere]

There's never been a perimeter player too skinny to have an NBA career.

This post should be used in a class on survivor bias.

Kevin Knox, Austin Daye, etc did exist.

[Chuck Everett]

There's never been a perimeter player too skinny to have an NBA career.

This post should be used in a class on survivor bias.

Kevin Knox, Austin Daye, etc did exist.

Kevin Knox wasn't really that skinny. His issues were that he sucks at basketball. All of his measurables don't actually help him on the basketball court.

[treefi]

Who has the highest floor in this draft class?

[OriAr]

Who has the highest floor in this draft class?

Probably Knecht.
Scorers like him don't grow on trees.

[JMAC3]

Feel like a lot of people are grading this draft class at face value with very little projection for players getting better.

[SelfishPlayer]

There's never been a perimeter player too skinny to have an NBA career.

This post should be used in a class on survivor bias.

Kevin Knox, Austin Daye, etc did exist.

Kevin Knox still has a NBA career as the #9 pick. The other guy wasn't even a lottery pick...

[HadAnEffectHere]

Feel like a lot of people are grading this draft class at face value with very little projection for players getting better.

Yeah, I don't know, Cody Williams is awful at everything other than interior scoring and I and most people still have him in the lottery in case he can

-Completely change his shooting form
-Add 30-50 pounds of muscle
-Get significantly faster
-Get significantly more explosive
-Improve his handle a lot

This is the issue with a lot of the guys in this draft, where there's a path for them to be very good eventually, but there's so many steps in that process.

Isaiah Collier shot 67% from the line and mostly focused on interior scoring in college. He has no chance of scoring inside in the NBA and has to become a three point bomber to score... And he's still going to be in the lottery too.

Tidjane Salaun is a lottery lock despite being bad at every single aspect of basketball and shooting 40% on layups and averaging 0.2 blocks per game at 6'10".

And the other issue is that most guys in this class have really bad tools. Rob Dillingham probably enters the NBA having the worst physical tools of any guard drafted in the first round in a few decades.

[Norm2953]

Who has the highest floor in this draft class?

Probably Knecht.
Scorers like him don't grow on trees.

He's going to be the Jaime Jacquez of the 2024 draft.

An instant plug and play guy

[atlantabbq99]

What does everyone think of this Cody Williams comp... Jerami Grant?

The more I watch Cody, the more Im convinced that the current version of Grant is Cody's most likely 'peak'.

Basically a good shooter/scorer, but does little else. Would have a reputation of being a good defender (because they look like they should be), but most of the time they are invisible on the court if not scoring

Very poor man's Carmelo or Paul Pierce

Does not have elite athleticism but efficient scorer but overall is not a #1 option, maybe we be a #3 or at best a #2 option on a good team

[penggemar]

Who has the highest floor in this draft class?

On a team that needs a volume shooter, probably Risacher. His shot/release is quick and accurate, plus he's tall enough to avoid blocks.