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This guy seems to be slipping under the radar. Nice size, decent post moves. Conditioning might need work. He looks pretty good to me. I'd love if he fell to Portland in the late lotto.

He is a big load but the brand of game he plays is not highly valued these days, he remembers me of a less athletic Cousins, he has a nice touch, but he is still quite raw.
Difficult to rank, there are several bigs with similar uncertainities, I think I will be much more comfortable with him in the 2nd half of the 1st round than in the lotto, if I were drafting.

I'd be very comfortable drafting Ben Simmons in the 2nd round too

Diamond stones isn't a very good defender tho, that's true.. He's a better shooting version of Monroe i guess

Saw him play one against Uconn and I thought he was an excellent player. He needs to get in a better shape though.

Wondering what you guys think of his defensive potential. He's between 6'10 and 7'0 with a 7'3 to 7'4 wingspan and 9'1 standing reach. He's kind of slow, but I don't think it's much of an issue in the paint.

What a name tho

doordoor123 wrote:Wondering what you guys think of his defensive potential. He's between 6'10 and 7'0 with a 7'3 to 7'4 wingspan and 9'1 standing reach. He's kind of slow, but I don't think it's much of an issue in the paint.

He hasn't looked good defensively so far, hes got skill on offense.. He's a center that'll take but also give

Dcebucks11 wrote:

doordoor123 wrote:Wondering what you guys think of his defensive potential. He's between 6'10 and 7'0 with a 7'3 to 7'4 wingspan and 9'1 standing reach. He's kind of slow, but I don't think it's much of an issue in the paint.

He hasn't looked good defensively so far, hes got skill on offense.. He's a center that'll take but also give

Yeah, but long term. Do you think he's going to be like end of career Carlos Boozee bad? Or can he be serviceable in his career? Even Monroe had a year where he was serviceable.

I like Stone, he really worked on his body over the summer and looks quicker. I don't understand why he's not starting. I could see him moving up the draft boards.

Watched him against Michigan. Good footwork, strength and touch. Didn't pay attention to his D, really.

He's a poor mans Cousins, nice shooting touch, post moves, he's got the package on offense.

Defense needs a lot of work..

I can't see why Diamond Stone is considered a first round pick at all. I don't even think he belongs in the NBA, he will be, if anything, an end-of-the-bench type of player. I'd consider him in the secound round, nothing else.

He will be absolutely abused in pick and roll defense, he's not a rim protector at all, and he plays way below the rim. He has some talent on the offensive end, for sure, but I doubt even half of his moves will work against NBA defenders, and there is no way he produces enough on offense to balance for his shortcomings on defense.

I think he could make a good career in Europe, but I would bet against him being a meaningful player in the NBA.

Al Jefferson'ish?


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Masterfully wrote:This guy seems to be slipping under the radar. Nice size, decent post moves. Conditioning might need work. He looks pretty good to me. I'd love if he fell to Portland in the late lotto.

Stone is a physical beast. I think he's got a chance to be a really good pro, though I think it's going to take some time with him to be an effective post scorer at that level. He's got nice touch and he hits free throws as well...that will help.

Dcebucks11 wrote:He's a poor mans Cousins, nice shooting touch, post moves, he's got the package on offense.

Defense needs a lot of work..

Poor man's Cousins is probably the best comp mentioned. One thing he really has going for him is that he's aggressive taking it to the basket, and he will draw foul shots in the NBA. He will score and rebound well in the NBA, because even though he's not a real explosive athlete - his size and aggressiveness makes up for it - and he has a nice touch. His defense (and MD's front court depth) has kept his minutes down, but I think that's about to change because of his last game when he had a breakout 8 blocks. Like Cousins, he has to watch the fouls and turnovers. I'd be surprised if he doesn't go top 10, because points and rebounds sells in the NBA, but let's see how he does with more pressure in March competition. If he flops, he could end up going back to school. He's still 18.

Just curious, how do people think he compares to Favors coming out of college?

Favors was a less polished scorer but a much better athlete and defender, he basically tested comparably to Dwight (he was not as a athletic as Dwight but there is that).

Stone is for me, similar to Speights/Hickson, he is going to get you buckets, I think his shooting will develop eventually, but he is a low IQ player than can't defend in space.

He looks like a back-up big that comes in for scoring purposes at the next level, not so high on him, I wouldnt take him before guys like Hammons or his teammate RCJr.

So just a physical resemblance, not as good of an athlete, not as good of a defender, lower iq, but more polished offensively. Alright. Anybody else?

EMG518 wrote:Just curious, how do people think he compares to Favors coming out of college?

I think its apples and oranges.

Diamond Stone reminds me of Nikola Pekovic with worse basketball IQ and mobility. However, Pekovic was a 25 year old veteran when he first came to the NBA, so maybe it's unfair to compare his IQ and instincts with a 19 year old kid.

Stone can be a good post scorer in the NBA, but he is slow on his feet, has ground-bound athleticism and has nor particularly good court awareness, so everything points to him being a defensive liabilty at the position where a bad defender hurts a team the most. Sounds no good to me.

Favors was projected as a raw but potentially terrific defender coming out of college, so I don't understand why you want to compare Stone to him.

rick_21 wrote:so I don't understand why you want to compare Stone to him.

I like to look at similar players physically. Favors combine measurements were 6'8.75" without shoes, 7'4" wingspan, 9'2" reach, 245lbs. Stone measured 7'3.5" wingspan, 9'1" reach, 246lbs, measured a bit taller and this was a couple of years ago so he may have grown more.

I dont really see any of the comps either of you have thrown out but I appreciate the feedback.