2024 NBA Draft Thread

[SelfishPlayer]

Three of those five players mentioned are 3 of the best athletes in NBA history.

I really do not want anyone comparing Russell Westbrook to Steph Castle.

Castle's speed with the ball is sooooooo slooooooow.

It's very common for non shooters to be hidden/positioned at PG, like Evan Turner his last season in Portland and Dejounte Murray in San Antonio.

We just had a very good example of how 8/10 athletes who can't shoot work in the NBA playoffs these days when playing PG.

Westbrook was uhhhhh, extremely bad.

What's this obsession with Westbrook a man that has played 43,000 NBA minutes?

[RyugaFan]

This is like Isaac Okoro declaring himself to be a point guard during his lead up to the draft. Hilarious

Stephon my man, point guards who can't/don't shoot can't play in the NBA. You're agent is feeding you terrible information

That's actually a position where you can hide a non shooter like Rondo, Ben Simmons, T.J. McConnell, Westbrook, and Wall.

Assuming they're good enough to have the ball in their hands.

[FarBeyondDriven]

Castle refusing to play SG in the NBA, will only work out for teams without a PG.

Trying very hard to steer himself to San Antonio, with the Jazz as his only fallback.

It irks me when mediocre prospects try to dictate terms like this. You aren't Steve Francis. And now you're trying to compete with Sheppard, Dillingham, Topic by shoehorning yourself into a point guard only role. I'd cross him off my board.

[crows2]

It doesn't make much sense to compare Ware to elite rim protectors/shot blockers because he is not that. And while he does have stretch 5 potential, it is a stretch to have him pegged as one already (he only took 40 3s all season and struggled from the line). This is before even fully taking into account the motor concerns. If a team wants to roll the dice with Ware somewhere in the first round, I understand that – as long as everyone's aware that it's a gamble.

Yeah for me it’s essentially where would you draft Jaxson Hayes in the draft? I wouldn’t be spending a lottery pick on him but he’s worth a punt in the later 1st round.

Ehh, Hayes is legitimately a horrible person (Ware just doesn't seem that motivated) and Hayes is a much better athlete than Ware. Not sure I love that comparison.

I don’t know anything about Hayes as a person. I think Ware has more defensive potential than Hayes but he’s the most similarly raw prospect I’ve seen in the last few years.

[Telfaire]

This is like Isaac Okoro declaring himself to be a point guard during his lead up to the draft. Hilarious

Stephon my man, point guards who can't/don't shoot can't play in the NBA. You're agent is feeding you terrible information

It's funny that you've mentioned Okoro, since I noticed an eerie similarity between his and Castle's physical measurments and stats:

Castle: 6'5.50 without shoes, 6'9 wingspan, 210 lbs.
Okoro: 6'6, 6'9, 220 lbs.

College shooting stats:
Okoro - 28.6% on 2.5 3PA, 67.2% FT%
Castle - 26.7% on 2.2 3PA, 75.5% FT%

Castle was a star on his senior year in highschool, that's the positive narrative, right? 20.1 PTS, 9.5 REB, 4.8 AST.
Well, here are Okoro's senior year stats: 19.7 PTS, 10.6 REB, 3.2 AST.

So Castle is more of a playmaker (2.9 AST, 1.5 TOV as freshman) than Okoro (2.0 AST, 2.0 TOV). Stylistically, I liken Castle to another Auburon non-shooting wing product: Marquis Daniels. He was leaner, though:

6'5.25, 6'10, 198 lbs (was already 22 years old during the 2033 draft combine).

[Zombiesonics]

Castle is a way better playmaking prospect than someone like Okoro. He has very good court vision and ability to make different kind of passes... also a very high IQ player on both sides of the floor. Its interesting , he assumed a do everything jimmy butler wing role on a generational college team but he really does have more to offer as a lead guard imo.

[clyde21]

Castle is a way better playmaking prospect than someone like Okoro. He has very good court vision and ability to make different kind of passes... also a very high IQ player on both sides of the floor. Its interesting , he assumed a do everything jimmy butler wing role on a generational college team but he really does have more to offer as a lead guard imo.

yea, just ludicrous comp, Castle actually has a real baseline as a playmaker, Okoro never did.

[WargamesX]

Having done a deeper dive I think this year is a pretty good Center draft with a lot of guys who could be starting centers in about 3 years. None of them are dynamic MVP level talents but there is talent here. Looking at most mocks an out of Sarr, Clingan, Flipkowski, Missi, Ware, Holmes, and Edey a few should have good careers.

I also like Devin Carter. I could see him having a Derrick White/Quickley type career where he is either at least a starting PG or a really good sixth man. I think he end up in the top 10 and could maybe even be the second PG drafted.

Overall I think the Centers and PGs of this draft is where the talent is, but both those roles usually require a few years to translate to consistent production. I think this is a pretty weak wing/forward draft. Maybe a few convert but there are a lot of wings in the league now who are more talented than this year’s draft class.

[FarBeyondDriven]

Having done a deeper dive I think this year is a pretty good Center draft with a lot of guys who could be starting centers in about 3 years. None of them are dynamic MVP level talents but there is talent here. Looking at most mocks an out of Sarr, Clingan, Flipkowski, Missi, Ware, Holmes, and Edey a few should have good careers.

I also like Devin Carter. I could see him having a Derrick White/Quickley type career where he is either at least a starting PG or a really good sixth man. I think he end up in the top 10 and could maybe even be the second PG drafted.

Overall I think the Centers and PGs of this draft is where the talent is, but both those roles usually require a few years to translate to consistent production. I think this is a pretty weak wing/forward draft. Maybe a few convert but there are a lot of wings in the league now who are more talented than this year’s draft class.

agree about PG and C but don't see how the wings class is considered weak. I think people have short memories and forget past drafts when they make these types of declarations. I know I've reminded people and listed them to the annoyance of haters before but sometimes it's helpful to have all the players in front of you. This compares favorably with just about any draft class:

Risacher
Holland
Salaun
Knecht
Williams
Grant-Foster
Watkins
Buzelis
George
Smith
da Silva
Dadiet
Furphy
Djrurisic
Ajinca
Klintman
Scheierman
Dunn
Sallis
Flowers
Karaban
Lewis
Bridges
Edwards
Mogbo

[WargamesX]

Having done a deeper dive I think this year is a pretty good Center draft with a lot of guys who could be starting centers in about 3 years. None of them are dynamic MVP level talents but there is talent here. Looking at most mocks an out of Sarr, Clingan, Flipkowski, Missi, Ware, Holmes, and Edey a few should have good careers.

I also like Devin Carter. I could see him having a Derrick White/Quickley type career where he is either at least a starting PG or a really good sixth man. I think he end up in the top 10 and could maybe even be the second PG drafted.

Overall I think the Centers and PGs of this draft is where the talent is, but both those roles usually require a few years to translate to consistent production. I think this is a pretty weak wing/forward draft. Maybe a few convert but there are a lot of wings in the league now who are more talented than this year’s draft class.

agree about PG and C but don't see how the wings class is considered weak. I think people have short memories and forget past drafts when they make these types of declarations. I know I've reminded people and listed them to the annoyance of haters before but sometimes it's helpful to have all the players in front of you. This compares favorably with just about any draft class:

Risacher
Holland
Salaun
Knecht
Williams
Grant-Foster
Watkins
Buzelis
George
Smith
da Silva
Dadiet
Furphy
Djrurisic
Ajinca
Klintman
Scheierman
Dunn
Sallis
Flowers
Karaban
Lewis
Bridges
Edwards
Mogbo

I like a few of the wings Risacher, Knecht, Walter, and Dunn as a 4/5 small ball center. However, overall I just think the league has a lot of talented wings right now and this year’s class is going to struggle against that level of talent. I usually judge Wings based on wingspan, FTA rate, if they can get 5+ rebound, 2 assist, and they are not horrible at defense. I also think that older wings 100% have an advantage over younger guys when it comes to them being able to get points. This year’s wing class just doesn’t have the things I look for in a good wing prospect.

[BigGargamel]

Having done a deeper dive I think this year is a pretty good Center draft with a lot of guys who could be starting centers in about 3 years. None of them are dynamic MVP level talents but there is talent here. Looking at most mocks an out of Sarr, Clingan, Flipkowski, Missi, Ware, Holmes, and Edey a few should have good careers.

I also like Devin Carter. I could see him having a Derrick White/Quickley type career where he is either at least a starting PG or a really good sixth man. I think he end up in the top 10 and could maybe even be the second PG drafted.

Overall I think the Centers and PGs of this draft is where the talent is, but both those roles usually require a few years to translate to consistent production. I think this is a pretty weak wing/forward draft. Maybe a few convert but there are a lot of wings in the league now who are more talented than this year’s draft class.

agree about PG and C but don't see how the wings class is considered weak. I think people have short memories and forget past drafts when they make these types of declarations. I know I've reminded people and listed them to the annoyance of haters before but sometimes it's helpful to have all the players in front of you. This compares favorably with just about any draft class:

Risacher
Holland
Salaun
Knecht
Williams
Grant-Foster
Watkins
Buzelis
George
Smith
da Silva
Dadiet
Furphy
Djrurisic
Ajinca
Klintman
Scheierman
Dunn
Sallis
Flowers
Karaban
Lewis
Bridges
Edwards
Mogbo

You keep listing all players like 75% of them aren't going to amount to anything like every year. I don't know why you keep doing this, what's the point?

[clyde21]

>"this class is not good"

>"what do you mean? here is a list of all the players in the class:"

[FarBeyondDriven]

"this class isn't historically weak like you are all saying"

"what do you mean? Here's how "experts" ranked a totally different pool of 17 y/o high school players 2 years ago!!! No, I won't take into account that more than half of the first round talents are completely different and alter my opinion I based on these experts' 2 year old rankings. No, I totally know going by rankings given before they even entered college and of a completely different talent pool makes no sense. No, I know my track record about draft classes and prospects is laughable and evidence of this is littered throughout these boards so I'm the last person who should be attempting to mock anyone's takes. But I'm playing 4d chess here guys!!"

[FarBeyondDriven]

Having done a deeper dive I think this year is a pretty good Center draft with a lot of guys who could be starting centers in about 3 years. None of them are dynamic MVP level talents but there is talent here. Looking at most mocks an out of Sarr, Clingan, Flipkowski, Missi, Ware, Holmes, and Edey a few should have good careers.

I also like Devin Carter. I could see him having a Derrick White/Quickley type career where he is either at least a starting PG or a really good sixth man. I think he end up in the top 10 and could maybe even be the second PG drafted.

Overall I think the Centers and PGs of this draft is where the talent is, but both those roles usually require a few years to translate to consistent production. I think this is a pretty weak wing/forward draft. Maybe a few convert but there are a lot of wings in the league now who are more talented than this year’s draft class.

agree about PG and C but don't see how the wings class is considered weak. I think people have short memories and forget past drafts when they make these types of declarations. I know I've reminded people and listed them to the annoyance of haters before but sometimes it's helpful to have all the players in front of you. This compares favorably with just about any draft class:

Risacher
Holland
Salaun
Knecht
Williams
Grant-Foster
Watkins
Buzelis
George
Smith
da Silva
Dadiet
Furphy
Djrurisic
Ajinca
Klintman
Scheierman
Dunn
Sallis
Flowers
Karaban
Lewis
Bridges
Edwards
Mogbo

You keep listing all players like 75% of them aren't going to amount to anything like every year. I don't know why you keep doing this, what's the point?

Because I'm desperately hoping it's ignorance and not incompetence that's leading people to make these assertions. Maybe by listing the actual list of top 50 wings it might actually sink in. I know it's a losing battle with most. But it's softened some stances. People aren't as militant about it anymore. Many are now at least couching their takes leaving themselves outs when/if the class ends up not being "one of the weakest of all-time". I won't let them off the hook of course.

[WargamesX]

agree about PG and C but don't see how the wings class is considered weak. I think people have short memories and forget past drafts when they make these types of declarations. I know I've reminded people and listed them to the annoyance of haters before but sometimes it's helpful to have all the players in front of you. This compares favorably with just about any draft class:

Risacher
Holland
Salaun
Knecht
Williams
Grant-Foster
Watkins
Buzelis
George
Smith
da Silva
Dadiet
Furphy
Djrurisic
Ajinca
Klintman
Scheierman
Dunn
Sallis
Flowers
Karaban
Lewis
Bridges
Edwards
Mogbo

You keep listing all players like 75% of them aren't going to amount to anything like every year. I don't know why you keep doing this, what's the point?

Because I'm desperately hoping it's ignorance and not incompetence that's leading people to make these assertions. Maybe by listing the actual list of top 50 wings it might actually sink in. I know it's a losing battle with most. But it's softened some stances. People aren't as militant about it anymore. Many are now at least couching their takes leaving themselves outs when/if the class ends up not being "one of the weakest of all-time". I won't let them off the hook of course.

I didn’t say it’s the weakest class. I said I think the majority of the wings this class are weak, named a few I like, and I gave the metrics I use to judge wings. I still think the majority of the wings this year are going to struggle to stay in the league.

[FarBeyondDriven]

You keep listing all players like 75% of them aren't going to amount to anything like every year. I don't know why you keep doing this, what's the point?

Because I'm desperately hoping it's ignorance and not incompetence that's leading people to make these assertions. Maybe by listing the actual list of top 50 wings it might actually sink in. I know it's a losing battle with most. But it's softened some stances. People aren't as militant about it anymore. Many are now at least couching their takes leaving themselves outs when/if the class ends up not being "one of the weakest of all-time". I won't let them off the hook of course.

I didn’t say it’s the weakest class. I said I think the majority of the wings this class are weak, named a few I like, and I gave the metrics I use to judge wings. I still think the majority of the wings this year are going to struggle to stay in the league.

wasn't directed at you but this board as a whole

[WargamesX]

Because I'm desperately hoping it's ignorance and not incompetence that's leading people to make these assertions. Maybe by listing the actual list of top 50 wings it might actually sink in. I know it's a losing battle with most. But it's softened some stances. People aren't as militant about it anymore. Many are now at least couching their takes leaving themselves outs when/if the class ends up not being "one of the weakest of all-time". I won't let them off the hook of course.

I didn’t say it’s the weakest class. I said I think the majority of the wings this class are weak, named a few I like, and I gave the metrics I use to judge wings. I still think the majority of the wings this year are going to struggle to stay in the league.

wasn't directed at you but this board as a whole

Ok that’s fair. I have tried to find good picks this draft and do believe it’s a solid center/pg draft.

[FarBeyondDriven]

I didn’t say it’s the weakest class. I said I think the majority of the wings this class are weak, named a few I like, and I gave the metrics I use to judge wings. I still think the majority of the wings this year are going to struggle to stay in the league.

wasn't directed at you but this board as a whole

Ok that’s fair. I have tried to find good picks this draft and do believe it’s a solid center/pg draft.

yeah, I was just trying to point out to you or anyone else that may (not saying you do) need to become more familiarized with the wing prospects. When the "experts" (Ringer, Athletic, CBS, ESPN) decided this was a weak draft class over a year ago before anyone played, these are the wings they had as first round prospects that made up their talent pool:

Risacher
Buzelis
Holland
Williams
Edwards
Darlan
Biliew
Kugel
Mitchell, Dillon
Evans
Mgbako
Klintman
Dunn
Mitchell, Mark
Buyuktuncel
Brazile

more than half of these guys aren't even still in this draft class!

Missing were the following guys who have solidified themselves as bonafide draft prospects, most as top 40 talents:

Salaun
Grant-Foster
Knecht
Watkins
George
Furphy
Smith
Dadiet
Djurisic
Flowers
Lewis
Scheierman
Sallis
Bridges
Tyson
Clifford
Mogbo

despite all of these guys being added to the talent pool and replacing the guys they initially were considering when declaring it a weak draft, none of these "experts" or those on here that regurgitate them, changed their assessment of this draft class. Why is that? How is that possible?

and that's just the wings!

For guards they didn't consider Sheppard, Carter, Mitchell, Carrington or Simpson

For bigs they didn't consider Missi, Chomche, Ighodaro or Perrin

that's 26 total players! Almost a complete first round of players these experts didn't consider when they were creating the narrative that it's the weakest draft since 2013. It'd be funny if it wasn't so absurd. 2024 class isn't elite, it isn't great even. It's probably landing on good for me, but that's such a far cry from "weakest since 2013"

The difference between me and everyone else is I'm judging the actual players in the talent pool. These people are using a year old talent pool missing 26 players!! And if they ARE now considering these 26 players they're essentially saying none of these 26 players makes a difference. That none of these 26 players is any better than the guys they originally had in the talent pool. It's just so laughable.

[SNPA]

Is there a reason Kyshawn George isn't in the top 10 discussion.

I'm watching this kid he's 6'8 can handle and shoot. The only real weakness I see his game is explosion, but 2 of the top 3 players in basketball play under the rim with Jokic and Luka.

What am I missing with George?

I like this kid. Looks like an NBA player to me. Easily draft-able in the lotto.

[SelfishPlayer]

Ja’Kobe Walter, I've never seen a player have a 37.6 FG% and manage to get characterized as a lottery worthy shooting guard prospect where shooting is his greatest asset. He truly plays the SG position where he is either off ball moving around or on ball isolating. He physically looks like more of a lead guard prospect. He may be an interesting league guard conversion where combining his already established off ball work with some pick and roll responsibilities may open his game up for more success at the next level, because he certainly understands basketball without the ball in his hands. Tyrese Maxey is a recent example of this.