2020 NBA Draft

[No-Man]

James Wiseman played 22 minutes

He finished with 28 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 1 assist

Did any of you watch? his game regardless of numbers was just meh, the level of competition was hideous

Wiseman is fine, he just isn't anywhere close a nº1 type of prospect, not really top5-8 to me either but that's more philosophical

Gimme Okongwu at like 15-20 way way over Wiseman as a top3 pick

[No-Man]

Maxey pretty easily over Coby

Wiseman isn't even that impressive physically, he is damn huge and moves okay for his height but doesn't really have insane leaping ability, the guy has issues, similar to Damian Jones in terms of quick leap, he can get there but needs to load up, and his IQ is meh, he tries modern big men things but he isnt there in terms of skill level and I doubt he ever gets there considering his physical tools

Okongwu looked way more impressive physically than Wiseman

I'd not pick Wiseman til like mid late 10s, similarly to Bamba or Robisnon back in their drafts

[HeadtopChunes]

My first impression of Wiseman is that he’s huge and coordinated and looked fairly mobile. Which is the basics for a good big man prospect. But yeah like Fischella says he wasn’t anything mind blowing physically either.

His FT stroke looked decent and that’s pretty much all I got from this game where he bullied guys much smaller than him.

I think where he gets drafted will be based on how much a team thinks they can teach him to do the modern big man things.

I want to wait and see what he looks like popping or putting the ball on the floor. He’s definitely a lottery guy in my eyes but top 5 he needs to show more imo

[shakes0]

Maxey reminds me a lot of Donovan Mitchell. They even look alike.

I'm surprised I haven't seen that comp posted here yet, seems right on point.

[No-Man]

If you aren't doing modern big man things I am not drafting you that high, he hasn't shown a baseline of skills for me to buy in, his physical profile is good, would be great if he had some timing/coordination in the air or a quick leap to be a real threat as a roller (has a great catch radius) but that's not enough esp when he isn't the most physical dude in general, or consistent

to me his shooting/self-creation game is really raw, like Ayton's wasn't great imo, he couldn't dribble facing up really, and still had way better skills

I'd pick Goga ahead of any big in this class pretty easily

I can get lotto for Wiseman if you buy him developing physically, he is a better prospect than Bamba at least

[No-Man]

Maxey reminds me a lot of Donovan Mitchell. They even look alike.

I'm surprised I haven't seen that comp posted here yet, seems right on point.

Mitchell was built like a brick house, Maxey is strong but Mitchell is like bigger with ridiculously low body fat, it's unfair as a comp for Maxey imo

I think Jason Terry is a better comp for him, somebody mentioned small Jrue Holiday which isnt bad either

[The-Power]

Yup. I never really bought into the high school ranking with him. There was a reason I didnt look at him as a lotto pick, I just dont think he has it. To be fair I haven't seen any lotto worthy picks from the 4 teams tonight.

How about Maxey? You don’t see him as a lotto pick at this stage?

I guess because this class looks weak right now. I wasn't really all that impressed by him tonight. Ya the 26 points looks great, lot of those came off touch fouls though. He's a 6'2-6'3 guard that has zero facilitating skills. His shot is okay but not super consistent. What makes him a better prospect compared to say another 6'2-6'3 SG from UK Malik Monk? Monk was the more explosive athlete, I think Monk can get hotter from the 3 than Maxey. The 6'2-6'3 high volume scoring SGs just aren't really my thing.

Monk went 11th in what was viewed as a much stronger class. I personally dont view him as a lotto kind of talent, but ya I can see him going lotto in this draft.

I definitely see your point. I have been watching a bit of Maxey pre-college and I always came away fairly unimpressed. That said, Maxey has the ability to blow by his man consistently because his acceleration with the ball is quite impressive. I think I have undervalued these type of prospects in the past as they look fairly pedestrian when the lanes are congested and a lot better when there is more space, i.e. the NBA.

Still, he has to convince me to have at least one other NBA quality: great (on-ball) defense, consistent pull-up jumper or reliable playmaking skills. If he can convince me to have at least one of these qualities, I'd like him a lot more. Where to draft him is still a good question, though. But he's probably lottery-bound in this draft, it would seem.

[clyde21]

i don't see the D Mitch comp, Mitchell is more stout, shorter but longer, more vertically explosive, better on D

Maxey seems more Lou Williamsish

[MemphisX]

I don't think Jaxson Hayes had as good of a game as Wiseman his entire college career and Texas played plenty of overmatched opponents.

[edit] Just checked, Jaxson Hayes had one double digit rebopund game and never scored 20 points the entire season. Do not minimize Wiseman just because nerds have been telling you all offseason that Wiseman is crap. At some point you have to account for NBA development, coaching and role.

[nolang1]

Wiseman might be a top 5 guy just because I'm having trouble putting enough players in there...but ideally speaking if I am picking a C that I need him to be either an elite defender and/or potential to be elite at shot creation for himself...

at this point what makes Wiseman that much a better prospec than say...a Jaxson Hayes? Hayes was a good prospect but I had a hard time putting him in the top 5 too, and I think Hayes has a bit more potential defensively (Wiseman is obviously a lot more advanced physically at this point).

Bigger, less foul-prone, better rebounder.

People who talk the most about 'modern' big man skills are just overreacting to the Warriors' success and a generation where the best big man prospect had his career ruined by injuries. Obviously you have to be able to guard out on the perimeter (which Wiseman can do), but ironically leaguewide trends have made it so players like Andre Drummond and Tristan Thompson are having the biggest offensive seasons of their careers because other teams don't have anybody to keep them off the offensive glass.

[clyde21]

Wiseman might be a top 5 guy just because I'm having trouble putting enough players in there...but ideally speaking if I am picking a C that I need him to be either an elite defender and/or potential to be elite at shot creation for himself...

at this point what makes Wiseman that much a better prospec than say...a Jaxson Hayes? Hayes was a good prospect but I had a hard time putting him in the top 5 too, and I think Hayes has a bit more potential defensively (Wiseman is obviously a lot more advanced physically at this point).

Bigger, less foul-prone, better rebounder.

People who talk the most about 'modern' big man skills are just overreacting to the Warriors' success and a generation where the best big man prospect had his career ruined by injuries. Obviously you have to be able to guard out on the perimeter (which Wiseman can do), but ironically leaguewide trends have made it so players like Andre Drummond and Tristan Thompson are having the biggest offensive seasons of their careers because other teams don't have anybody to keep them off the offensive glass.

expecting my top 5 center to be an elite defender is has nothing to do with 'modern' skills, i just want my big to be great defender, and if he's not, I want to see a great level of sophistication on offense, whether that be able to create for himself, a great shooter or a great playmaker or a combination of the above...right now Wiseman isn't really any of those things.

to me he's really a less athletic version of Deandre Ayton or Andre Drummond, and while that's definitely a good prospect, I have reservations about top 5 (although in draft class that looks like it's not hard to do).

[clyde21]

look at all the great C in the league, they're either elite defenders or are insanely sophisticated offensively...or a combination

Embiid - both
Jokic - elite passer/creator
KAT - elite 3 level scorer, creator
Gobert - elite defender

etc

right now Wiseman is neither, he's not very sophisticated offensively and defensively he's decent but nothing special.

but, as a disclaimer, dude is super young and it's still the 1st game of the season, so we'll see.

[Homerclease]

look at all the great C in the league, they're either elite defenders or are insanely sophisticated offensively...or a combination

Embiid - both
Jokic - elite passer/creator
KAT - elite 3 level scorer, creator
Gobert - elite defender

etc

right now Wiseman is neither, he's not very sophisticated offensively and defensively he's decent but nothing special.

but, as a disclaimer, dude is super young and it's still the 1st game of the season, so we'll see.

Well it’s hard to expect a college freshman to have as complete of games as top 5 professional centers. You could have also made the same argument about Embiid when he was at Kansas. Towns was special offensively from the get go, don’t think Wiseman ever gets to that level on the offensive end but, very few ever will if KAT is the bar.

Wiseman is the top prospect in this draft for me, and it isn’t particularly close either

[clyde21]

look at all the great C in the league, they're either elite defenders or are insanely sophisticated offensively...or a combination

Embiid - both
Jokic - elite passer/creator
KAT - elite 3 level scorer, creator
Gobert - elite defender

etc

right now Wiseman is neither, he's not very sophisticated offensively and defensively he's decent but nothing special.

but, as a disclaimer, dude is super young and it's still the 1st game of the season, so we'll see.

Well it’s hard to expect a college freshman to have as complete of games as top 5 professional centers. You could have also made the same argument about Embiid when he was at Kansas. Towns was special offensively from the get go, don’t think Wiseman ever gets to that level on the offensive end but, very few ever will if KAT is the bar.

Wiseman is the top prospect in this draft for me, and it isn’t particularly close either

i'm not asking him to compete with those guys now, I'm asking him to show signs of him either 1) potentially being an elite defender and/or 2) a deeper, more sophisticated offense game before I take him in the top 5

right now he's projects kinda like an Andre Drummond as his ceiling, which is obviously a good player, but I just can't take a C that high if he doesn't show at least one of the two attributes I listed at a potentially elite level...probably just a difference of philosophy

[No-Man]

Wiseman looks like Tyson Chandler with less ability as a leaper and less fire/consistency/motor on D much more than he looks like Drummond, some of the comps listed above make very little sense

I get Wiseman as a bet, but unless he showcases some flashes of skills on offense, or really shows an improvement athletically, or in terms of motor, I can't get behind him high high, again, I'd take him late lotto or whatever, he likely never makes it there, so it's all moot

[Marcus]

Wiseman looks like Tyson Chandler with less ability as a leaper and less fire/consistency/motor on D much more than he looks like Drummond, some of the comps listed above make very little sense

I get Wiseman as a bet, but unless he showcases some flashes of skills on offense, or really shows an improvement athletically, or in terms of motor, I can't get behind him high high, again, I'd take him late lotto or whatever, he likely never makes it there, so it's all moot

when you say late lotto are you speaking in theory for his archetype or you mean specifically this draft?

[BostonCouchGM]

James Wiseman played 22 minutes

He finished with 28 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 1 assist

Did any of you watch? his game regardless of numbers was just meh, the level of competition was hideous

Wiseman is fine, he just isn't anywhere close a nº1 type of prospect, not really top5-8 to me either but that's more philosophical

Gimme Okongwu at like 15-20 way way over Wiseman as a top3 pick

lol you always have the worst takes. I swear people forget that we're looking at 18 y/o who have years of maturing both physically and mentally ahead of them. And also years to hone their craft/skills before they hit their peaks which, with big men, usually takes longer. Wiseman is WAY ahead of the curve. He's already at worst Myles Turner. Once he naturally puts on 25 lbs of muscle we'll be looking at potentially Embid 2.0. You can't teach size and length. And someone who not only has that but is skilled as well, at 18 y/o and he "isn't anywhere close to a #1 type of prospect" lol what?

[No-Man]

Wiseman looks like Tyson Chandler with less ability as a leaper and less fire/consistency/motor on D much more than he looks like Drummond, some of the comps listed above make very little sense

I get Wiseman as a bet, but unless he showcases some flashes of skills on offense, or really shows an improvement athletically, or in terms of motor, I can't get behind him high high, again, I'd take him late lotto or whatever, he likely never makes it there, so it's all moot

when you say late lotto are you speaking in theory for his archetype or you mean specifically this draft?

he is a project big with some baseline of skills/tools, you gotta be damn special as a big for me to be a top-end prospect, and yeah, Embiid/KAT type of special in terms of having it all, kinda similar for a PG

They are all young, but projecting guys developments due to having sheer size and being young without some sorta skill being showed it's what leads you to DeAndre Ayton being drafted nº1 overall when his offensive skillset is just not good enough for that (and he is obv below avg on D as a Center)

Myles Turner had obv shooting potential and touch, he hasn't been used there as much as he should've, but his potential as a 3&D Center was there, I don't believe in Wiseman's jumper to that level, not even close

He is gonna need to be dynamic as a roller to bring value, and he is not good enough physically there for me, maybe he can improve athletically but his feel, timing and overall ability as a leaper aren't promising

[Marcus]

Wiseman looks like Tyson Chandler with less ability as a leaper and less fire/consistency/motor on D much more than he looks like Drummond, some of the comps listed above make very little sense

I get Wiseman as a bet, but unless he showcases some flashes of skills on offense, or really shows an improvement athletically, or in terms of motor, I can't get behind him high high, again, I'd take him late lotto or whatever, he likely never makes it there, so it's all moot

when you say late lotto are you speaking in theory for his archetype or you mean specifically this draft?

he is a project big with some baseline of skills/tools, you gotta be damn special as a big for me to be a top-end prospect, and yeah, Embiid/KAT type of special in terms of having it all, kinda similar for a PG

They are all young, but projecting guys developments due to having sheer size and being young without some sorta skill being showed it's what leads you to DeAndre Ayton being drafted nº1 overall when his offensive skillset is just not good enough for that (and he is obv below avg on D as a Center)

question still stands.

[No-Man]

Oh, obv for that type of player, too early to know how that fits in this class, in general if you are a toolsy big with kinda meh skills I am not going to feel comfortable with that type of guy in the top8-10