Your Top 20 in the 2023 NBA Draft Going in to the NCAA Tournament

[MemphisX]

Where everyone was about a month ago:

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2263618

We are about a month before the conference tournaments start and wanted to get a glimpse of how folks were feeling about their top 20 before tourney hype kicks into the groupthink.

1. Wemby
2. Scoot
3. Cam
4. Jarace
5. Brandon Miller
6. Keyonte
7. Dick
8. Black
9. Jett
10. Brice
11. GG
12. Cason Wallace
13. Nick Smith Jr.
14. Rayan Rupert
15. Whitehead
16. Kris Murray
17. Maxwell Lewis
18. Noah Clowney
19. Amen Thompson
20. Ausar Thompson

1. Wemby
2. Scoot
3. Brandon Miller
4. Jarace
5. Cam
6. Anthony Black
7. Dick
8. Cason Wallace
9. Keyonte George
10. Nick Smith Jr.
11. Leonard Miller
12. Ausar Thompson
13. Amen Thompson
14. GG
15. Brice
16. Noah Clowney
17. Rayan Rupert
18. Sidy Cissoko
19. Kris Murray
20. Whitehead

[CptCrunch]

1. Victor Wembanyama

2. Scoot Henderson

3. Anthony Black
4. Brandon Miller

tbh, this is basically all a blur down here, I really have no preference between this group.

5. Cam Whitmore
6. Jarace Walker
7. Jett Howard
8. Keyonte George
10. Kelel Ware
11. GG Jackson
12. Grady Dick
13. Ausar Thompson
14. Cason Wallace

No major change, but I am moving Miller into tier 2, moving Black down to tier 3 with two other players.

1. Victor Wembanyama

2. Brandon Miller
3. Scoot Henderson

4. Anthony Black
5. Jarace Walker
6. Grady Dick

7. Taylor Hendricks
8. Jett Howard
9. Cason Wallace
10. Kyle Filipowski
11. Cam Whitmore
12. Ausar Thompson
13. Nick Smith Jr
14. Keyonte George
15. Brice Sensabaugh
16. Amen Thompson
17. Dariq Whitehead
18. GG Jackson
19. Brandin Podziemski

[mattao313]

Wembanyama
-Miller
-Henderson
-Jackson
-Hendricks
-Whitmore
-Black
-Walker
-Amen
-Asuar
-Dick
-Sensabaugh
-Howard
-Cason
-Smith
-George

Sent from my SM-A528B using RealGM mobile app

[WargamesX]

1. Wemby
2. Scoot
3. Brandon Miller
4. Keyonte
5. Cam
6. Ausar Thompson
7. Jarace
8. Cason Wallace
9. Amen Thompson
10. Nick Smith Jr.
11. Hendricks
12. Anthony Black
13. Grady Dick
14. Jett Howard
15. Brice
16. Rayan Rupert
17. Noah Clowney
18. Leonard Miller
19. Kris Murray
20. JHS

[The Moose]

T1 (All NBA upside outs)[/b]
1. Victor Wembanyama

T2 (all star upside outs)
2. Scoot Henderson


T3 (starter+ outs)
Ant Black
Brandon Miller
Brice Sensabaugh
Jarace Walker
Kyle Filipowski
Gradey Dick
Amen Thompson
Taylor Hendricks

T4 (potential starter/rotation piece outs)
Keyonte George
Cason Wallace
Kris Murray
Cam Whitmore

T4 (potential rotation pieces outs)
Terq Smith
Dariq Whitehead
Jett Howard
GG Jackson
Colby Jones
Ausar Thompson
Brandin Podziemski
Jordan Hawkins
Trayce Jackson Davis
Terrence Shannon Jr
Noah Clowney
Dereck Lively
Zach Edey

1. Victor Wembanyama

2. Scoot Henderson
3. Brandon Miller

4. Taylor Hendricks
5. Jarace Walker
6. Ant Black
7. Amen Thompson
8. Kyle Filipowski
9. Brice Sensabaugh
10. Gradey Dick

11. Cason Wallace
12. Kris Murray
13. Cam Whitmore
14. Keyonte George

15. Ausar Thompson
16. Brandin Podziemski
17. Jordan Hawkins
18. Nick Smith Jr
19. Colby Jones
20. Dereck Lively

Something like this , though 10-20 is pretty fluid still

[reanimator]

Vic


Scoot


Keyonte
Jarace
Jett
Brandon Miller

Whitmore
Cason Wallace
GG
Black
Taylor Hendricks
Brice Sensabaugh
Noah Clowney

Gradey Dick
Murray
Nick Smith Jr
Ausar
Amen
Maxwell Lewis
Dariq Whitehead

Vic

Scoot

Brandon Miller
Keyonte George
Taylor Hendricks
Cam Whitmore
Jarace Walker
Kobe Bufkin
Cason Wallace
Anthony Black

GG Jackson
Amen Thompson
Jett Howard
Ausar Thompson
Jordan Hawkins
Gradey Dick
Kris Murray
Noah Clowney
Sidy Cissoko
Dariq Whitehead
Brice Sensabaugh
Jalen Hood Schifino
Nick Smith Jr

[NYPiston]

I find it really interesting that just about the entire scouting community is a lot higher on the Thompson twins than pretty much the entirety of RealGm is and vice versa with Hendricks. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

[azcatz11]

I don't get why people have Jett Howard higher than JHS. JHS is a way better playmaker...what does Jett do besides shoot?

[clyde21]

1 Victor Wembanyama

2 Scoot Henderson

3 Anthony Black
4 Keyonte George
5 Brandon Miller

6 Nick Smith Jr.
7 Cam Whitmore
8 Jarace Walker
9 Amen Thompson
10 GG Jackson
11 Taylor Hendricks
12 Ausar Thompson
13 Gradey Dick
14 Jordan Hawkins
15 Judah Mintz
16 Rayan Rupert
17 Kyle Filipowski
18 Cason Wallace
19 Ricky Council
20 Trey Alexander

[Big J]

Looking forward to seeing which guys have good tourneys and massively increase their stock.

[CptCrunch]

I find it really interesting that just about the entire scouting community is a lot higher on the Thompson twins than pretty much the entirety of RealGm is and vice versa with Hendricks. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

I believe mass media mocks like Lowe, Givony, KoC, Tankathon, Bleacher Report largely care only about upside.

This board likes to discuss downside for each and every prospect to death. Perhaps the Thompsons takes here have been poisoned beyond repair, but I do not believe they can possibly be the #3/4 based on their downside.

[WargamesX]

I don't get why people have Jett Howard higher than JHS. JHS is a way better playmaker...what does Jett do besides shoot?

I just feel more confident that Jett’s shooting will translate than JHS playmaking skillset. Jett has a higher floor and he’s big enough you can play him at PF defensively. Basically as long as the team that drafts him doesn’t exclusively switch on defense so guards can easily hunt him on the perimeter I think he could be serviceable there too.

[azcatz11]

Looking forward to seeing which guys have good tourneys and massively increase their stock.

Are you scouting on any of these dudes on location in the next week or so?

[Hal14]

I don't get why people have Jett Howard higher than JHS. JHS is a way better playmaker...what does Jett do besides shoot?

Well, JHS is a PG. The bar is really high for PG's. If you take a PG in the top 20, you're typically only gonna do it if it's a guy you see as a franchise changing starting PG of the future for your team.

I'm just not sure JHS does anything well enough for an NBA team to see him as that. No standout skill, doesn't really give you a ton of rim pressure, not great burst to get by his defender - not great athleticism. Defense is decent, not great. Shooting is decent, not great. Same with passing.

Plus, not many teams are in need of a starting PG - most teams already have a guy in place who is their PG and they plan on keeping that guy at PG for the foreseeable future.

It's different for wings. Jett is a wing. Wings are in HIGH demand. Last year's draft a TON of wings got drafted. Teams play 2 (sometimes even 3 or 4) wings at a time.

[Hal14]

At the moment, this is where I'm at:

Rank Player
1 Victor Wembanyama
2 Scoot Henderson
3 Brandon Miller
4 Amen Thompson
5 Cam Whitmore
6 Ausar Thompson
7 Jarace Walker
8 Taylor Hendricks
9 Anthony Black
10 Nick Smith Jr.
11 Cason Wallace
12 Brice Sensabaugh
13 Keyonte George
14 GG Jackson
15 Gradey Dick
16 Noah Clowney
17 Jett Howard
18 Kyle Filipowski
19 Kris Murray
20 Sidy Cissoko

[eminence]

Not sure I can get to 20, but my top 3 tiers (MVP/Star/Starter roughly speaking). No Thompsons/non-Wemby internationals, just haven't seen enough of them. Possible I forget someone.

Victor Wembanyama

Scoot Henderson
Brandon Miller
Jarace Walker

Keyonte George
Anthony Black
Cam Whitmore
Taylor Hendricks
Brice Sensabaugh
Cason Wallace
Gradey Dick
Jordan Hawkins
Dereck Lively II
Trayce Jackson-Davis
Jett Howard
Dariq Whitehead
Kris Murray

Edit: Add Strawther and Filipowski to that 3rd tier. Could see some drop out of tier 3, don't expect any tier changes at this point. Will be movement within tiers.

[WargamesX]

I don't get why people have Jett Howard higher than JHS. JHS is a way better playmaker...what does Jett do besides shoot?

Well, JHS is a PG. The bar is really high for PG's. If you take a PG in the top 20, you're typically only gonna do it if it's a guy you see as a franchise changing starting PG of the future for your team.

I'm just not sure JHS does anything well enough for an NBA team to see him as that. No standout skill, doesn't really give you a ton of rim pressure, not great burst to get by his defender - not great athleticism. Defense is decent, not great. Shooting is decent, not great. Same with passing.

Plus, not many teams are in need of a starting PG - most teams already have a guy in place who is their PG and they plan on keeping that guy at PG for the foreseeable future.

It's different for wings. Jett is a wing. Wings are in HIGH demand. Last year's draft a TON of wings got drafted. Teams play 2 (sometimes even 3 or 4) wings at a time.

I think JHS in the league becomes a Alec Burks type of SG. Especially early career Burks who wasn’t nearly as good a 3 pt shooter coming in as he is now. It took a lot of work. Which is how I see JHS I think he could become a good player but it’s going to take more to develop him than Jett, and both of them have a ceiling as a good starter.

[Big J]

Looking forward to seeing which guys have good tourneys and massively increase their stock.

Are you scouting on any of these dudes on location in the next week or so?

Nah, just watching from home like everyone else. Us freelance scouts don't do as much on location stuff due to having to pay our own airfare, hotels, tickets, ect. **** adds up.

[azcatz11]

Looking forward to seeing which guys have good tourneys and massively increase their stock.

Are you scouting on any of these dudes on location in the next week or so?

Nah, just watching from home like everyone else. Us freelance scouts don't do as much on location stuff due to having to pay our own airfare, hotels, tickets, ect. **** adds up.

I’m surprised they don’t let you expense stuff…I guess that’s a way for them to bring down costs.

[Big J]

Are you scouting on any of these dudes on location in the next week or so?

Nah, just watching from home like everyone else. Us freelance scouts don't do as much on location stuff due to having to pay our own airfare, hotels, tickets, ect. **** adds up.

I’m surprised they don’t let you expense stuff…I guess that’s a way for them to bring down costs.

Nope, and I prefer it that way tbh. Gives me more control. They just write the checks and I decide about how much I want to use on expenses.