2020 NBA Draft

[CptCrunch]

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Who is on 'The Stephiens" these days? The main page only lists Mike Gribanov

The site is a revolving door of burned out amateurs with mostly crap content. The good analyst and writers either find gainful employment elsewhere or get hired by NBA teams like Sean Derenthal.

The Stepiens lost all credibility with me back in 2018 when it prominently featured JZ Mazlish articles and mocks. That kid was the worst of the worst, zero redeeming quality.

At this point, it is just a platform for people to blast their own personal takes while hiding behind a battered and worn 'The Stepien" brand. Nothing better than a twitter 'scouting report' for the most part.

...lol you’re saying this from an anonymous Realgm board. Gribanov has a good eye for basketball, he just falls in love with the wrong prospects looking for Sleepers.

Yeah, but I don't write long 'scouting reports' trashing or propping up prospects. One line hot takes at most.


I am not singling out any The Stepien writer. I'm merely pointing out that some here put The Stepien up on a pedestal when it comes to 'scouting' when The Stepien is just a name that a bunch of amateurs hides behind while writing their tidied up RealGM posts.

[clyde21]

thestepien still has good people, Spencer is one of our own

[No-Man]

yeah, The Stepien is so bad that most people that write, contribute, or brainstorm there somehow get either hired or interviewed by NBA teams every season, and the site is like 2 years old

Good riddance

[nolang1]

Anton Watson is out for the season with a shoulder injury and finished the year with a 10.5 BPM (4th among freshmen) and averaged 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3.3 steals, and 1.5 blocks per 40 while shooting 63% on twos. He'll probably not be in the draft due to the injury and getting buried in Gonzaga's frontcourt rotation when Tillie got back, but I don't think there's a ton separating him from someone like Okoro as a versatile defensive forward who can attack the basket and pass a little as well (aka big upside if he can develop a jumper).

Oftentimes I feel the pendulum has swung towards fetishizing more experienced prospects simply for the fact that they're older, but when you look at the success stories among players who stayed in college for multiple years you'll find that most of them were similarly efficient early in their college careers. In other words, drafting someone like Lillard in the lottery gets hailed as a brilliant move when there was likely ample opportunity for teams to go a step beyond that by convincing him to enter the draft and get picked later in the first round a year or two before.

[nolang1]

yeah, The Stepien is so bad that most people that write, contribute, or brainstorm there somehow get either hired or interviewed by NBA teams every season, and the site is like 2 years old

Good riddance

Well, you can't have it both ways where you complain about how NBA teams suck at evaluating talent and then turn around and point to teams interviewing someone as evidence they have particularly great insight lol. Obviously the odds of getting a low-level NBA job are overwhelmingly stacked towards people from a certain background.

[No-Man]

Yeah, we are not talking low level NBA jobs here buddy

Not sure what's your point re:background, because it could not be more different really, and nobody from the site had a previous connection to a NBA franchise

And ofc I can, some NBA teams are bad, others are not, most of the ones which are good are those who actually are woke enough to pay attention and interview people that pop from The Stepien and other areas of the internet, or the amateur world when it comes to the sport

[TheScout31]

Spencer also has experience working as a scouting consultant with the Suns last year (and is consulting this year sending teams reports) and working with the Tulsa Shock in their basketball OPS department. You don’t get to that, while being a finalist for 10 other jobs, because you’re bad at what you do.

[Feel_the_Heat15]

i see no argument for either Theo or Maxey over Tre, Theo especially has been terrible

Theo and Maxey have higher potential than Tre to become great shooters and in today's NBA it's usually better to have a PG that can score than a PG that can just facilitate.

[clyde21]

Tre went from shooting 26% on 2.9 attempts from 3 last year to 36% on 3.8 attempts this year, that's a monstrous improvement, I'm not sure at all at this point that Theo is gonna be a better shooter. Tre's also a better FT shooter by a decent margin.

Maxey will be a better shooter/scorer that's pretty obvious to me, but Tre is better at literally everything else...obviously scoring is a huge part of it but Maxey projects more as a scoring guard off the bench but Tre can legitimately run offense and is one of the best point of attack defending guards to come out in a long time

[nolang1]

Yeah, we are not talking low level NBA jobs here buddy

Not sure what's your point re:background, because it could not be more different really, and nobody from the site had a previous connection to a NBA franchise

And ofc I can, some NBA teams are bad, others are not, most of the ones which are good are those who actually are woke enough to pay attention and interview people that pop from The Stepien and other areas of the internet, or the amateur world when it comes to the sport

Yeah I'm just saying the Stepien isn't the best of the amateur world but rather from the background where NBA teams are willing to look at for entry-level jobs (obviously a 'consultant' or amateur scout is much lower in the pecking order than a GM or director of basketball operations). It's like journalism where they rely on people who are from wealthy enough backgrounds that can afford to work for college credit or some low-wage job early on.

[Justwar]

ya'll trippin Richards is a non-prospect, maybe a 2-way contract guy at best

I agree, how is what he’s doing better than someone like Thomas Welsh (who has had some pretty big games himself)? He was on a two-way last year and isn’t in the league right now.

More athletic, better rim protector, more physical. Thomas couldn't finish. He had a opportunity to shoot 3s but I think nick has shown a similar 17 ft jumper that can be extended.

[Feel_the_Heat15]

Tre went from shooting 26% on 2.9 attempts from 3 last year to 36% on 3.8 attempts this year, that's a monstrous improvement, I'm not sure at all at this point that Theo is gonna be a better shooter. Tre's also a better FT shooter by a decent margin.

Maxey will be a better shooter/scorer that's pretty obvious to me, but Tre is better at literally everything else...obviously scoring is a huge part of it but Maxey projects more as a scoring guard off the bench but Tre can legitimately run offense and is one of the best point of attack defending guards to come out in a long time

That's misleading, he's attempting less 3s per field goal attempt this season than he did last season. College 3-point percentages do not strongly predict what a player may shoot from 3-point range in the NBA. His FT% is down from last season. You're downplaying just how much more important it is for a player to be a good shooter than a facilitator that can defend in today's NBA, especially a PG. I don't really have one guard over the other. If you want to play it safe, draft Tre. I don't think any of them are really 1st round material anyways.

[clyde21]

Tre went from shooting 26% on 2.9 attempts from 3 last year to 36% on 3.8 attempts this year, that's a monstrous improvement, I'm not sure at all at this point that Theo is gonna be a better shooter. Tre's also a better FT shooter by a decent margin.

Maxey will be a better shooter/scorer that's pretty obvious to me, but Tre is better at literally everything else...obviously scoring is a huge part of it but Maxey projects more as a scoring guard off the bench but Tre can legitimately run offense and is one of the best point of attack defending guards to come out in a long time

That's misleading, he's attempting less 3s per field goal attempt this season than he did last season. College 3-point percentages do not strongly predict what a player may shoot from 3-point range in the NBA. His FT% is down from last season. You're downplaying just how much more important it is for a player to be a good shooter than a facilitator that can defend in today's NBA, especially a PG. I don't really have one guard over the other. If you want to play it safe, draft Tre. I don't think any of them are really 1st round material anyways.

what's are you talking about? Trae is shooting more 3s per game this year and at a better clip, and yes his shooting slightly worse from the FT stripe but his FT attempts rate has gone up 75% this year too, and 71.2% from the FT line is still better than Maledon's 64% this season.

[clyde21]

Tre went from shooting 26% on 2.9 attempts from 3 last year to 36% on 3.8 attempts this year, that's a monstrous improvement, I'm not sure at all at this point that Theo is gonna be a better shooter. Tre's also a better FT shooter by a decent margin.

Maxey will be a better shooter/scorer that's pretty obvious to me, but Tre is better at literally everything else...obviously scoring is a huge part of it but Maxey projects more as a scoring guard off the bench but Tre can legitimately run offense and is one of the best point of attack defending guards to come out in a long time

That's misleading, he's attempting less 3s per field goal attempt this season than he did last season. College 3-point percentages do not strongly predict what a player may shoot from 3-point range in the NBA. His FT% is down from last season. You're downplaying just how much more important it is for a player to be a good shooter than a facilitator that can defend in today's NBA, especially a PG. I don't really have one guard over the other. If you want to play it safe, draft Tre. I don't think any of them are really 1st round material anyways.

what's are you talking about? Trae is shooting more 3s per game this year vs last year and at a better clip, and yes he's shooting slightly worse from the FT stripe but his FT attempts rate has gone up 75% this year too, and 71.2% from the FT line is still better than Maledon's 64% this season.

[Feel_the_Heat15]

Tre went from shooting 26% on 2.9 attempts from 3 last year to 36% on 3.8 attempts this year, that's a monstrous improvement, I'm not sure at all at this point that Theo is gonna be a better shooter. Tre's also a better FT shooter by a decent margin.

Maxey will be a better shooter/scorer that's pretty obvious to me, but Tre is better at literally everything else...obviously scoring is a huge part of it but Maxey projects more as a scoring guard off the bench but Tre can legitimately run offense and is one of the best point of attack defending guards to come out in a long time

That's misleading, he's attempting less 3s per field goal attempt this season than he did last season. College 3-point percentages do not strongly predict what a player may shoot from 3-point range in the NBA. His FT% is down from last season. You're downplaying just how much more important it is for a player to be a good shooter than a facilitator that can defend in today's NBA, especially a PG. I don't really have one guard over the other. If you want to play it safe, draft Tre. I don't think any of them are really 1st round material anyways.

what's are you talking about? Trae is shooting more 3s per game this year vs last year and at a better clip, and yes he's shooting slightly worse from the FT stripe but his FT attempts rate has gone up 75% this year too, and 71.2% from the FT line is still better than Maledon's 64% this season.

Okay, maybe I need to say it again.

Tre Jones, is shooting 3s at a lower rate. Who cares about how many more 3s he averages per game when his shot attempts are up? He's technically less reluctant to shoot 3s this season than last season. Maledon is basically a 73%+ career FT shooter. he could've made 3 more FTs instead of missing 3 of his measly 28 FT attempt sample size and he would've been making 75% of his FTs.

Name me one great active PG that isn't perimeter oriented but can defend and pass.

[clyde21]

That's misleading, he's attempting less 3s per field goal attempt this season than he did last season. College 3-point percentages do not strongly predict what a player may shoot from 3-point range in the NBA. His FT% is down from last season. You're downplaying just how much more important it is for a player to be a good shooter than a facilitator that can defend in today's NBA, especially a PG. I don't really have one guard over the other. If you want to play it safe, draft Tre. I don't think any of them are really 1st round material anyways.

what's are you talking about? Trae is shooting more 3s per game this year vs last year and at a better clip, and yes he's shooting slightly worse from the FT stripe but his FT attempts rate has gone up 75% this year too, and 71.2% from the FT line is still better than Maledon's 64% this season.

Okay, maybe I need to say it again.

Tre Jones, is shooting 3s at a lower rate. Who cares about how many more 3s he averages per game when his shot attempts are up? He's technically less reluctant to shoot 3s this season than last season. Maledon is basically a 73%+ career FT shooter. he could've made 3 more FTs instead of missing 3 of his measly 28 FT attempt sample size and he would've been making 75% of his FTs.

Name me one great active PG that isn't perimeter oriented but can defend and pass.

why does rate even matter in this discussion? the point is that he's shooting more of them and at a better clip than last year by a strong margin, that point is that he's a legit 3pt shooter now, a great improvement from last year when he was only at 26% shooting once a game. the rate per FGs is completely irrelevant, and the FT% is also a strong indicator that he'll be fine as a shooter long term.

and Ricky Rubio for one, and Tre is already probably a better shooter.

[King Ken]

The bad thing about the internet is everyone has an opinion and many don't need one

[Duke4life831]

That's misleading, he's attempting less 3s per field goal attempt this season than he did last season. College 3-point percentages do not strongly predict what a player may shoot from 3-point range in the NBA. His FT% is down from last season. You're downplaying just how much more important it is for a player to be a good shooter than a facilitator that can defend in today's NBA, especially a PG. I don't really have one guard over the other. If you want to play it safe, draft Tre. I don't think any of them are really 1st round material anyways.

what's are you talking about? Trae is shooting more 3s per game this year vs last year and at a better clip, and yes he's shooting slightly worse from the FT stripe but his FT attempts rate has gone up 75% this year too, and 71.2% from the FT line is still better than Maledon's 64% this season.

Okay, maybe I need to say it again.

Tre Jones, is shooting 3s at a lower rate. Who cares about how many more 3s he averages per game when his shot attempts are up? He's technically less reluctant to shoot 3s this season than last season. Maledon is basically a 73%+ career FT shooter. he could've made 3 more FTs instead of missing 3 of his measly 28 FT attempt sample size and he would've been making 75% of his FTs.

Name me one great active PG that isn't perimeter oriented but can defend and pass.

I mean if you're trying to track 3pt progression, I would say this is the best thing to look at.

He's shooting almost 1 more 3 per game, while improving his shooting % 10%. I mean if someone told me player X has improved his shooting from one year to another and I wanted to look at his progression, those are the two stats I would ask to see.

I don't get why his 3pt rate going from 32% to 30% makes his 3pt progression misleading. Also it's very simple as to why his 3pt rate has dropped (2% is pretty miniscule). Tre Jones is asked to run the offense 100% of the time he is out on the court. A good chunk of time last year he roamed on the perimeter letting RJ run the offense. Tre runs it all of the time now, which means he needs to attack off the dribble more. And again we are talking about a drop in just 2% in his 3pt rate, not what I'd call noteworthy.

[clyde21]

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[Feel_the_Heat15]

what's are you talking about? Trae is shooting more 3s per game this year vs last year and at a better clip, and yes he's shooting slightly worse from the FT stripe but his FT attempts rate has gone up 75% this year too, and 71.2% from the FT line is still better than Maledon's 64% this season.

Okay, maybe I need to say it again.

Tre Jones, is shooting 3s at a lower rate. Who cares about how many more 3s he averages per game when his shot attempts are up? He's technically less reluctant to shoot 3s this season than last season. Maledon is basically a 73%+ career FT shooter. he could've made 3 more FTs instead of missing 3 of his measly 28 FT attempt sample size and he would've been making 75% of his FTs.

Name me one great active PG that isn't perimeter oriented but can defend and pass.

I mean if you're trying to track 3pt progression, I would say this is the best thing to look at.

He's shooting almost 1 more 3 per game, while improving his shooting % 10%. I mean if someone told me player X has improved his shooting from one year to another and I wanted to look at his progression, those are the two stats I would ask to see.

I don't get why his 3pt rate going from 32% to 30% makes his 3pt progression misleading. Also it's very simple as to why his 3pt rate has dropped (2% is pretty miniscule). Tre Jones is asked to run the offense 100% of the time he is out on the court. A good chunk of time last year he roamed on the perimeter letting RJ run the offense. Tre runs it all of the time now, which means he needs to attack off the dribble more. And again we are talking about a drop in just 2% in his 3pt rate, not what I'd call noteworthy.

It's misleading because his 3PT attempts are only up because he takes more shots overall, not because he's become more comfortable from 3PT range. Tell me how him attempting more 3s per game even though he's attempting more shots overall per game is evidence that he's become a better 3-point shooter? Your theory as to why Jones has a lower 3PT rate barely makes sense. He doesn't have to attack more off the dribble. You're also helping my argument, you've just admitted that Jones plays around the perimeter less now.