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Where should BJ Boston be drafted, and what type of role do you think he should play entering the league?

After entering this season as a top-7 recruit, Brandon Boston had a rough year at UK. In looking at some of his film, he was trying to score a lot off the dribble and was often off balance, fighting against multiple defenders. Part of his problem was being physically overwhelmed. He wasn't able to just drive past defenders or score over people like he did in high school. However, part of the problem was also UK's roster composition. Overall, it was just a young and under-talented team that lacked shooting, spacing and discipline in general.

Boston still has intriguing measurables as a 6'7" / 188-lb guard with a 6'11" wingspan. While he posted a 36.5" vertical at UK's Pro Day, he's not as explosive an athlete as, say, Zach Lavine or Jeremy Lamb. And while he has on-ball creation skills, he's not a natural point guard like Shaun Livingston or Penny Hardaway were. However, Boston should be able to perform in a 3D-type role, where he doesn't need to create too much for himself off the dribble. He's still a versatile defender who adds value as a creative scorer.

So where do you think he gets drafted, and how does he compare with other underwhelming prospects like Ziaire Williams and Jaden McDaniels?

Who would you compare him to in the league?

Not much response in this thread. Brandon Boston's freshman year (including measurables and production) compared well to Mikal Bridges' freshman and sophomore seasons. You can think of Boston as a 3D wing with some upside.

to me if BJ falls out of the top 10-14 picks it's a coup for whoever grabs him, as long as the expectation for him is that he's going to take a couple of years to develop his ancillary skills and connective tissue to put it all together, but he has the makings of a legitimate on/off ball scorer who can also contribute if he's not scoring, it's just going to take some time imo.

He is a long term project. In this draft that’s going to drop him more than most drafts.

Very deep draft, best in years imo. I see him dropping towards the end of the 1st or early 2nd. I am not a fan. I don't think we see him on a second contract or if he is he is not playing

SNPA wrote:He is a long term project. In this draft that’s going to drop him more than most drafts.

Yep, exactly

To many guys already looking like early contributors or have higher upside for him to go before the late 20’s.

Last year he might of snuck to near the end of the lottery.

The Jazz used a #5 pick and literally 5 years trying to develop Dante Exum (who never stayed healthy). I hope they'd be willing to take a flier on Boston, though the team may not be in a position to be very patient.

I know some on here are pretty highish on him, I just dont see it. When I say that I mean I dont see spending a 1st round pick on him. Once I get to the 2nd round Im all for spending a 2nd round pick on him, but ya not giving an automatic guaranteed contract to him. I think he is going to really struggle with the size and speed of the NBA.

I can’t think of a more highly touted prospect that the scouts got completely wrong. I personally wouldn’t draft him at all. He’s like a very poor man’s Oubre. Hard pass

If I'm drafting for a 3 and D wing, there are guys who have much higher floor, accomplished more at the college level, and ready to play Day 1.

If I'm drafting for potential, I want more than just a 3 and D wing.

I see him going in the mid 2nd round and wouldn't be surprised if he's undrafted. Should have stayed for another year in college.

These are the players I hate and tend to avoid

Personally I wouldn’t draft him at all. His production was too terrible. He averaged less than one point per FG attempt and was frankly terrible from 3 and anywhere inside the arc. Didn’t get to the line much. Despite being 6’9’’ and playing tons of minutes never blocked shots and barely rebounded

I was full on anti Reddish and didn’t view him as a top50 pick and feel the same about this guy but worse.

Basically all of the sure thing bust traits are there. If he was ranked the 200th best prospect coming out of HS instead of the 6th best he’d play 4 years of college and maybe earn getting drafted. Instead he’s going pro when he’s not even close to ready because he knows it’s now or never, if I don’t do it now I’m never getting that contract.

On top of that it’s not even like he showed flashes. I just looked at his box scores to see if he had any games he popped off. He struggled in about 90% of games and except for the game vs SC where he was drilling 3s at an uncharacteristic rate, and the game vs Auburn where he did Ok it was a 30 game struggle bus

supposedly Brandon has added a good amount of mass

Roger Murdock wrote:On top of that it’s not even like he showed flashes. I just looked at his box scores to see if he had any games he popped off. He struggled in about 90% of games and except for the game vs SC where he was drilling 3s at an uncharacteristic rate, and the game vs Auburn where he did Ok it was a 30 game struggle bus

Flashes is relative though; you don't even need to make any excuses about the pandemic or team context to say 30% from 3 and 78% on free throws isn't that bad for a 6'7 freshman with some athleticism. I mean you can say the ship has sailed on him being a star player, but you can find a lot of 6'7-ish NBA wings who either couldn't shoot or could do nothing but shoot as freshmen.

Roger Murdock wrote:On top of that it’s not even like he showed flashes. I just looked at his box scores to see if he had any games he popped off. He struggled in about 90% of games and except for the game vs SC where he was drilling 3s at an uncharacteristic rate, and the game vs Auburn where he did Ok it was a 30 game struggle bus

i mean, who had good games for Kentucky this year if we're being honest? even their upperclassmen struggled, Sarr went from shooting 53% at WF to shooting 47% at Kentucky...this was a poorly constructed team, at one point I believe they were the first team in forever to have all active players on the roster who were not part of the team the year before...that's just an insane turnover.

and I think he showed plenty of flashes on a per possession not game basis.

nolang1 wrote:

Roger Murdock wrote:On top of that it’s not even like he showed flashes. I just looked at his box scores to see if he had any games he popped off. He struggled in about 90% of games and except for the game vs SC where he was drilling 3s at an uncharacteristic rate, and the game vs Auburn where he did Ok it was a 30 game struggle bus

Flashes is relative though; you don't even need to make any excuses about the pandemic or team context to say 30% from 3 and 78% on free throws isn't that bad for a 6'7 freshman with some athleticism. I mean you can say the ship has sailed on him being a star player, but you can find a lot of 6'7-ish NBA wings who either couldn't shoot or could do nothing but shoot as freshmen.

Mikal Bridges shot 30% from 3pt and averaged 6 pts / 3 rebs as a freshman.

Smaller, raw Nic Batum

Or you can say Cam Reddish

I couldn't get a pulse on this kid. Just so many question marks.

Brandon Boston might be better off going back to Kentucky to try to improve his draft status for the 2022 draft.