2023 Draft Prospect discussion

[Rapsfan07]

If our pick ends up 15-20 I would feel comfortable drafting Sasser there. They will look at Wallace hard too. I can't see the Raptors touching Juwan's son as he can't defend well or rebound. Raps only take players who fill up the stat sheets on that end, look at Masai's history.

Sasser at 15-20 is wild b.

He'll be there closer to the bottom of the first round or even the early second. No need to reach for him this high.

So who isn't a reach at 15-20? Juwan Howard's soft trashcan chucker son? Sasser is a better player than all these guys brought up by the masses like Jett Howard, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Jordan Hawkins and Keyonte George. He is a stud and the toughest PG in all of college basketball leading the best team in the entire country. He has some Lowry to his game and being an older experienced player, will be able to fit in quickly with our core and slot into our lineup. Worst case he's a vital bench piece, best case he becomes our starting PG by or before 2025. At 15-20 you're not expecting a guy who can march right in and gobble up 25-30 mins a night anyway.

I'm not nearly as high on Sasser. He's good but idk about an NBA starter there.

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

Deanondraft has JHS on his do not draft list.

States he doesn't have any go to strengths and his ceiling is Brogdon with a bunch of much worse outcomes. Basically his 3pt shooting is probably a mirage since it's on low volume and his ft% isn't good. His terrible 2pt% shows he can't get to the rim at all and has to settle for midrange pullups which he isn't all that great at. Passing and defense are okay to decent and he's old for a freshman.

Sounds like a SRP to me. Hopefully I'll catch a game to see how he plays. I'd love to know which prospects you like so far. You were pretty adamant on Sengun being great.

I'm not a scout, I look at stats/age/competition and look for certain stats that seem to be better indicators of future success. No one jumps out as an elite player this year so far, maybe some of that will change with more games.

Gradey Dick looks like the best player after Scoot and Wemby because of his shooting and high bbiq. He does offer a high steal rate, but isn't all that athletic with poor block numbers and meh rebounding. Definitely looks to be an NBA calibre starting player, just don't think he has the physical profile to be a top 20 player in the league unless he can end up being an all time great shooter.
Brandon Miller looks to be right behind him.

Edey could be pretty good value in the mid to late first round as his stats are too good to be waved away.

Dick is a decent rebounder for a SG. Edey is a total scrub who will get eaten alive in the NBA.

Miller is hard to get a read on for me. The Paul George or Danny Granger comparisons are baloney, he'll be a productive NBA starter but some aspects of his game are real stale. I think Dick has higher upside so I agree with you.

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

Sasser at 15-20 is wild b.

He'll be there closer to the bottom of the first round or even the early second. No need to reach for him this high.

So who isn't a reach at 15-20? Juwan Howard's soft trashcan chucker son? Sasser is a better player than all these guys brought up by the masses like Jett Howard, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Jordan Hawkins and Keyonte George. He is a stud and the toughest PG in all of college basketball leading the best team in the entire country. He has some Lowry to his game and being an older experienced player, will be able to fit in quickly with our core and slot into our lineup. Worst case he's a vital bench piece, best case he becomes our starting PG by or before 2025. At 15-20 you're not expecting a guy who can march right in and gobble up 25-30 mins a night anyway.

I'm not nearly as high on Sasser. He's good but idk about an NBA starter there.

Well if you think I'm nuts listen to this guy lol

Watch on YouTube

[WuTang_CMB]

JHS doesn't do much for me if we stay top 15. Looks like a role player not elite at anything.

[Rapsfan07]

JHS doesn't do much for me if we stay top 15. Looks like a role player not elite at anything.

Agreed. I like him after 20ish

[dozo]

Read on Twitter

Sorry for posting this again as a tweet.

[Yallbecrazy]

Sasser at 15-20 is wild b.

He'll be there closer to the bottom of the first round or even the early second. No need to reach for him this high.

So who isn't a reach at 15-20? Juwan Howard's soft trashcan chucker son? Sasser is a better player than all these guys brought up by the masses like Jett Howard, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Jordan Hawkins and Keyonte George. He is a stud and the toughest PG in all of college basketball leading the best team in the entire country. He has some Lowry to his game and being an older experienced player, will be able to fit in quickly with our core and slot into our lineup. Worst case he's a vital bench piece, best case he becomes our starting PG by or before 2025. At 15-20 you're not expecting a guy who can march right in and gobble up 25-30 mins a night anyway.

I'm not nearly as high on Sasser. He's good but idk about an NBA starter there.

Looked at Sasser vs Lowry's college stats and there are some huge differences. Lowry got a lot of offensive rebounds and Sasser gets close to none. Lowry got to the free throw line about 50% more often than Sasser and had a 50% higher steal rate per 40. oRB% shows Lowry's tenacity to get the ball and not be denied despite his size.

The other thing was Lowry improved massively from year 1 to year 2 and Sasser shows a little improvement after year 2, but his numbers have stagnated from last year to this one. Lowry also was a lot better at finishing at the rim.

This is comparing sophomore Lowry to senior Sasser.

[WuTang_CMB]

Raptors always look for multi-facted players. Not just one dimensional. I'd guess picking top 15, that there's even more emphasis on that. If Gradey can show that he's more of a shooter and a willing defender, I could see the Raps going with him if he's there that late. We have such a stagnant offense because nobody can really create on their own and we have a PG that doesn't play like a PG (excluding last game vs ORL).

Poeltl knows how to screen and roll and it's evident because all the ORL players were all over him in the paint and he just finished smoothly or made the right pass. Simple. Finishing inside is key but the passing is very important just like we saw Gasol quarterback plays back in 2019. It opens up opportunities for others. We never had this Pre-Poeltl.

With a lights out shooter added to that, it opens the floor a lot more, creates another element and advantage because defense's will scramble getting to Dick (for example, lol). Again, he'll need to continue to show more offensively and defensively for Masai to select him IMO.

[Yallbecrazy]

Raptors always look for multi-facted players. Not just one dimensional. I'd guess picking top 15, that there's even more emphasis on that. If Gradey can show that he's more of a shooter and a willing defender, I could see the Raps going with him if he's there that late. We have such a stagnant offense because nobody can really create on their own and we have a PG that doesn't play like a PG (excluding last game vs ORL).

Poeltl knows how to screen and roll and it's evident because all the ORL players were all over him in the paint and he just finished smoothly or made the right pass. Simple. Finishing inside is key but the passing is very important just like we saw Gasol quarterback plays back in 2019. It opens up opportunities for others. We never had this Pre-Poeltl.

With a lights out shooter added to that, it opens the floor a lot more, creates another element and advantage because defense's will scramble getting to Dick (for example, lol). Again, he'll need to continue to show more offensively and defensively for Masai to select him IMO.

I can't see Dick not getting snatched up in the top 10.

[WuTang_CMB]

Raptors always look for multi-facted players. Not just one dimensional. I'd guess picking top 15, that there's even more emphasis on that. If Gradey can show that he's more of a shooter and a willing defender, I could see the Raps going with him if he's there that late. We have such a stagnant offense because nobody can really create on their own and we have a PG that doesn't play like a PG (excluding last game vs ORL).

Poeltl knows how to screen and roll and it's evident because all the ORL players were all over him in the paint and he just finished smoothly or made the right pass. Simple. Finishing inside is key but the passing is very important just like we saw Gasol quarterback plays back in 2019. It opens up opportunities for others. We never had this Pre-Poeltl.

With a lights out shooter added to that, it opens the floor a lot more, creates another element and advantage because defense's will scramble getting to Dick (for example, lol). Again, he'll need to continue to show more offensively and defensively for Masai to select him IMO.

I can't see Dick not getting snatched up in the top 10.

probably

[Psubs]

Deanondraft has JHS on his do not draft list.

States he doesn't have any go to strengths and his ceiling is Brogdon with a bunch of much worse outcomes. Basically his 3pt shooting is probably a mirage since it's on low volume and his ft% isn't good. His terrible 2pt% shows he can't get to the rim at all and has to settle for midrange pullups which he isn't all that great at. Passing and defense are okay to decent and he's old for a freshman.

To me he's on par with how Johnny Juzang was, his 1st year at UCLA, playing in a tougher conference. Juzang shot over 80% FT's at least. He should stay another year like Terquavion did. See how he plays without TJD.

No ceilings new Draft Big Board vol.4 has JHS @ 12.

https://www.noceilingsnba.com/p/2023-nba-draft-big-board-v4

He seems like the new Johnny Davis.

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

So who isn't a reach at 15-20? Juwan Howard's soft trashcan chucker son? Sasser is a better player than all these guys brought up by the masses like Jett Howard, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Jordan Hawkins and Keyonte George. He is a stud and the toughest PG in all of college basketball leading the best team in the entire country. He has some Lowry to his game and being an older experienced player, will be able to fit in quickly with our core and slot into our lineup. Worst case he's a vital bench piece, best case he becomes our starting PG by or before 2025. At 15-20 you're not expecting a guy who can march right in and gobble up 25-30 mins a night anyway.

I'm not nearly as high on Sasser. He's good but idk about an NBA starter there.

Looked at Sasser vs Lowry's college stats and there are some huge differences. Lowry got a lot of offensive rebounds and Sasser gets close to none. Lowry got to the free throw line about 50% more often than Sasser and had a 50% higher steal rate per 40. oRB% shows Lowry's tenacity to get the ball and not be denied despite his size.

The other thing was Lowry improved massively from year 1 to year 2 and Sasser shows a little improvement after year 2, but his numbers have stagnated from last year to this one. Lowry also was a lot better at finishing at the rim.

This is comparing sophomore Lowry to senior Sasser.

There's a massive difference in me saying he has a bit of Lowry in him to saying he is Kyle Lowry 2.0 or that their college careers were similar.

The way in which he compares to Lowry has more to do with his mentality as he is tough as nails, a leader, rises up to the occasion when things get tough. In terms of how that translates on the court it means he is a huge clutch shot maker who has sunk deep 3 point shots in critical moments of games his entire college career. He also is able to step up his defensive intensity when it really matters. He's been called a bulldog and has that type of build albeit with less functional strength than Lowry, but that could develop in time.

He's not a good rebounder, it wouldn't matter much with Jakob, Pascal and Scottie on the court. Like Lowry was, he's a developing playmaker who is improving his ast/to ratio who is called upon less in Houston's offense to be a facilitator. Lowry wasn't dropping tons of dimes at Villanova.

There are legitimate trait similarities there. His weaknesses could be masked by the strengths of our core players and his strengths could mask their weaknesses.

PS: Turns out this dude sees some Lowry in him too

https://www.noceilingsnba.com/p/the-prospect-chemistry-of-marcus

[Kevin Willis]

So who isn't a reach at 15-20? Juwan Howard's soft trashcan chucker son? Sasser is a better player than all these guys brought up by the masses like Jett Howard, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Jordan Hawkins and Keyonte George. He is a stud and the toughest PG in all of college basketball leading the best team in the entire country. He has some Lowry to his game and being an older experienced player, will be able to fit in quickly with our core and slot into our lineup. Worst case he's a vital bench piece, best case he becomes our starting PG by or before 2025. At 15-20 you're not expecting a guy who can march right in and gobble up 25-30 mins a night anyway.

I'm not nearly as high on Sasser. He's good but idk about an NBA starter there.

Looked at Sasser vs Lowry's college stats and there are some huge differences. Lowry got a lot of offensive rebounds and Sasser gets close to none. Lowry got to the free throw line about 50% more often than Sasser and had a 50% higher steal rate per 40. oRB% shows Lowry's tenacity to get the ball and not be denied despite his size.

The other thing was Lowry improved massively from year 1 to year 2 and Sasser shows a little improvement after year 2, but his numbers have stagnated from last year to this one. Lowry also was a lot better at finishing at the rim.

This is comparing sophomore Lowry to senior Sasser.

Plus he's just now what we're looking for. We're trying to get away from drafting the Lowry / FVV type of shorter stockier PGs. Sasser just isn't the prospect after hearing Masai say what he wants as a player going forward.

[Yallbecrazy]

I'm not nearly as high on Sasser. He's good but idk about an NBA starter there.

Looked at Sasser vs Lowry's college stats and there are some huge differences. Lowry got a lot of offensive rebounds and Sasser gets close to none. Lowry got to the free throw line about 50% more often than Sasser and had a 50% higher steal rate per 40. oRB% shows Lowry's tenacity to get the ball and not be denied despite his size.

The other thing was Lowry improved massively from year 1 to year 2 and Sasser shows a little improvement after year 2, but his numbers have stagnated from last year to this one. Lowry also was a lot better at finishing at the rim.

This is comparing sophomore Lowry to senior Sasser.

There's a massive difference in me saying he has a bit of Lowry in him to saying he is Kyle Lowry 2.0 or that their college careers were similar.

The way in which he compares to Lowry has more to do with his mentality as he is tough as nails, a leader, rises up to the occasion when things get tough. In terms of how that translates on the court it means he is a huge clutch shot maker who has sunk deep 3 point shots in critical moments of games his entire college career. He also is able to step up his defensive intensity when it really matters. He's been called a bulldog and has that type of build albeit with less functional strength than Lowry, but that could develop in time.

He's not a good rebounder, it wouldn't matter much with Jakob, Pascal and Scottie on the court. Like Lowry was, he's a developing playmaker who is improving his ast/to ratio who is called upon less in Houston's offense to be a facilitator. Lowry wasn't dropping tons of dimes at Villanova.

There are legitimate trait similarities there. His weaknesses could be masked by the strengths of our core players and his strengths could mask their weaknesses.

I don't care about an NBA guards ability to rebound. I care about college PGs ability to grab offensive rebounds simply because it tends to be a big predictor of success in the NBA. Perhaps it is because of their ability to read the ball off the rim and recognize where everyone on the floor is and when they can take advantage of openings, or just because it shows aggression I don't know.

There have been a lot of good NBA point guards that didn't grab a lot of offensive rebounds in college, but there is a disproportionate number who have that found success in the NBA.

Think of oRB% like a gene in point guards. Few prospects possess it, but the ones that do are far more likely to be successful in the league

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

I'm not nearly as high on Sasser. He's good but idk about an NBA starter there.

Looked at Sasser vs Lowry's college stats and there are some huge differences. Lowry got a lot of offensive rebounds and Sasser gets close to none. Lowry got to the free throw line about 50% more often than Sasser and had a 50% higher steal rate per 40. oRB% shows Lowry's tenacity to get the ball and not be denied despite his size.

The other thing was Lowry improved massively from year 1 to year 2 and Sasser shows a little improvement after year 2, but his numbers have stagnated from last year to this one. Lowry also was a lot better at finishing at the rim.

This is comparing sophomore Lowry to senior Sasser.

Plus he's just now what we're looking for. We're trying to get away from drafting the Lowry / FVV type of shorter stockier PGs. Sasser just isn't the prospect after hearing Masai say what he wants as a player going forward.

What has Masai said he wants as a player going forward? Can you send me direct quotes which will prove that he entirely refuses to now draft guards under X height?

Masai is smart enough to know that talent is talent and he doesn't have the luxury of just snatching talented 6'6+ guards with huge wingspans out of thin air. He knows this team needs shooting and for him to double down and draft an Anthony Black type just because the player is tall and can handle the ball would be an incredible error. How is Dalano working for us, even as a bench piece?

[AbC?]

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The 2022 was just okay but I feel like even average prospects like Branham, Mark Williams, Duren, Ousmane Dieng, Eason could all arguably be top 10 picks in this draft. You got two 20 year old twins beating up on high school competition top 5, and even then doing so inefficiently. Nick Smith Jr rocking a 48% TS mocked top 10. Jalen Williams went 12 and I would without hesitation take him #3 in this draft - players of his profile are basically non-existent in this class.

[DreamTeam09]

Yeah if we are in the 15-18 range and guys Grady Dick K.George are gone.

GG Jackson or Anthony Black would be my consideration. I like Jett Howard too but not tsure if he'll be there.

Other than that I'd rather trade down for like Ricky Council or Emani Bates

Bates is tall enough/with a cool enough game for him to sell tickets. He'll either pan out or he'll have value in a trade where some other team thinks they can get thru to him.

But I'm into swinging for the fences if everyone is meh

[Syd-TK3]

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The 2022 was just okay but I feel like even average prospects like Branham, Mark Williams, Duren, Ousmane Dieng, Eason could all arguably be top 10 picks in this draft. You got two 20 year old twins beating up on high school competition top 5, and even then doing so inefficiently. Nick Smith Jr rocking a 48% TS mocked top 10. Jalen Williams went 12 and I would without hesitation take him #3 in this draft - players of his profile are basically non-existent in this class.

I agree that picks 3-9 are very sketchy and can be looked at multiple different ways but you comparing guys that have played 40+ games in the NBA already to players that haven't even went through March madness yet. There's easily a chance at some Eason's, Jalen Wiliams, Branhams showing up later on

[Kevin Willis]

Looked at Sasser vs Lowry's college stats and there are some huge differences. Lowry got a lot of offensive rebounds and Sasser gets close to none. Lowry got to the free throw line about 50% more often than Sasser and had a 50% higher steal rate per 40. oRB% shows Lowry's tenacity to get the ball and not be denied despite his size.

The other thing was Lowry improved massively from year 1 to year 2 and Sasser shows a little improvement after year 2, but his numbers have stagnated from last year to this one. Lowry also was a lot better at finishing at the rim.

This is comparing sophomore Lowry to senior Sasser.

Plus he's just now what we're looking for. We're trying to get away from drafting the Lowry / FVV type of shorter stockier PGs. Sasser just isn't the prospect after hearing Masai say what he wants as a player going forward.

What has Masai said he wants as a player going forward? Can you send me direct quotes which will prove that he entirely refuses to now draft guards under X height?

Masai is smart enough to know that talent is talent and he doesn't have the luxury of just snatching talented 6'6+ guards with huge wingspans out of thin air. He knows this team needs shooting and for him to double down and draft an Anthony Black type just because the player is tall and can handle the ball would be an incredible error. How is Dalano working for us, even as a bench piece?

You're a little aggressive with your posts aren't you? You can feel it. We're not aggressive here, we just want to hear everyone's opinion so we can learn more and it's fun. I always learn from this board, it's humbling.

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27:32 - We need to be one of those top 3 pt shooting. He also discusses rim protection which they now have Koloko and Jacob (So he need 3 pt shooting)

https://ca.style.yahoo.com/raptors-president-masai-ujiri-reveals-inspiration-behind-vision-6-foot-9-233856111.html

Masai discusses Vision 6'9".

- “You need guys like Fred with a 6-foot-9 heart. He's a giant, he’s taller than all those guys, better in terms of leadership, that’s what you need to build your team and we believe that’s where the game is going.”

What that tells me is if you don't fit the mold you need to be exceptional at something. He sees guys like Fred and Kyle as guys having huge hearts making them metaphorically 6'9.

I can't believe I actually went and researched that but anyway. What I get is this.

- he want big long athletes more than just 6'9 guys.

Before Ujiri explained his penchant for 6-foot-9 players, Bennett prefaced with the fact that those athletes are now perceived as "Raptors players", because they fit the mould that has become synonymous with Toronto's roster as of late. The former Executive of the Year agreed.

“Yeah, it’s those players,” Ujiri explained. “It’s clear that this is what we want to do. We look for basketball players, talented players, but I believe that's where the game is going — to have these big athletes on the floor that can play the game that way.

"Precious [Achiuwa] is that way, Dalano [Banton] is that way, Christian [Koloko] is that way, and Chris Boucher is that way; all these guys continue to develop and become better and we want to look for that certain type of player. It doesn't mean we’re not going to have other types but we're going to develop like this and build this team around that. We just have to give Freddy some stilts.”

- in his words he identified two main issues with this team, rim protection and shooting. At the trade deadline he could only address rim protection which means he's looking at shooting. He discusses in above video the need to be a top 3pt shooting team.

- in the press conference he talks about how the players were being selfish.

There's more but I think from above he's not looking for short players that are not that athletic. It suggests he wants Vision 6'9 players who can shoot and share the ball. IF he can find a player that is not part of the vision but is still exceptional at what they do they would consider them. Judging by what he said he wants long big athletes over just a certain height, that's why he references Precious, Dalano, Christian, Chris and Jacob but doesn't mention Malachi.

I do believe one other thing that Masai didn't say so you can yell at me for that. These type of long teams are a pain to play in the playoffs. Philadelphia hated playing us last year. If we can get shooters and always keep either Jacob or Koloko on the floor to protect the rim, I think that's where he'll go and how he'll draft.

[Mark_83]

As soon as the season is done I lock Poeltl in a gym every day and don't let him out until he hits 100 three pointers. His defense, rebounding, and passing are so valuable, but if he could also pick and pop on drop coverage it would open up so much for our team.