Re: 2023 Draft Prospect discussion Part II

[Kevin Willis]

Looking at his college stats he shouldn't declare as he may go undrafted unless he puts up some seriously great games the rest of the year.

Nobody is going to risk taking him over known commodities unless he absolutely blows them away in private workouts which he won't because he's not a prolific shooter or jump out the gym kind of athlete. For this reason I think all these mock drafts having him go between #5 overall to #10 are wild. He could very well just end up a 6th man kind of player when all is said and done. Dude shoots lots of bricks and doesn't impact the game in other areas well enough for me to be able to view him as a guy capable of being an efficient NBA starter. His ability to rack up rebounds and assists in high school is irrelevant to me.

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I didn't realize consensus had him going so high, he should absolutely declare and probably sit out the rest of the year. Small sample, but he's been very poor and could be injury prone too.
I hadn't really looked into him yet and figured some guys had him as a late 1st -2nd rnd pick based on high school, but teams would not pick him because his stats have been so poor.

Very similar to Kyrie who missed most of his freshman year. People started to forget who he was and had him slipping down but scouts remember talent and Nick Smith Jr. is just a bucket. He's a good PG, he just happens to be on a team with Anthony Black. Watch Irving at Duke and you can see some of Nick Smith Jr potential.

[BoyzNTheHood]

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He's a no draft for me for Toronto. The talent isn't worth the headache.

I too don't like him, but this clip is hardly negative evidence. As he backs away the defender covering him gets further up court to which is helping spacing. If I could stand under my own basket on offense and bring the defender to half court I would.

That's not how basketball works, and this is just one of many examples of GG Jackson exhibiting poor character. On the other side Brandon Miller destroyed him with the weight of the world on his shoulders. There's levels to this.

[Yallbecrazy]

Nobody is going to risk taking him over known commodities unless he absolutely blows them away in private workouts which he won't because he's not a prolific shooter or jump out the gym kind of athlete. For this reason I think all these mock drafts having him go between #5 overall to #10 are wild. He could very well just end up a 6th man kind of player when all is said and done. Dude shoots lots of bricks and doesn't impact the game in other areas well enough for me to be able to view him as a guy capable of being an efficient NBA starter. His ability to rack up rebounds and assists in high school is irrelevant to me.

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I didn't realize consensus had him going so high, he should absolutely declare and probably sit out the rest of the year. Small sample, but he's been very poor and could be injury prone too.
I hadn't really looked into him yet and figured some guys had him as a late 1st -2nd rnd pick based on high school, but teams would not pick him because his stats have been so poor.

Very similar to Kyrie who missed most of his freshman year. People started to forget who he was and had him slipping down but scouts remember talent and Nick Smith Jr. is just a bucket. He's a good PG, he just happens to be on a team with Anthony Black. Watch Irving at Duke and you can see some of Nick Smith Jr potential.

Look at Kyrie's insane college stats over 11 games and then go look at Nicl Smith's awdul stats. They are not similar.

[Kevin Willis]

I didn't realize consensus had him going so high, he should absolutely declare and probably sit out the rest of the year. Small sample, but he's been very poor and could be injury prone too.
I hadn't really looked into him yet and figured some guys had him as a late 1st -2nd rnd pick based on high school, but teams would not pick him because his stats have been so poor.

Very similar to Kyrie who missed most of his freshman year. People started to forget who he was and had him slipping down but scouts remember talent and Nick Smith Jr. is just a bucket. He's a good PG, he just happens to be on a team with Anthony Black. Watch Irving at Duke and you can see some of Nick Smith Jr potential.

Look at Kyrie's insane college stats over 11 games and then go look at Nicl Smith's awdul stats. They are not similar.

Ha ha, I never said their stats were similar. Kyrie's stats were not sustainable, it was going to get worse. Smith's stats were going to get better with more games. Both are exceptional scoring guards that didn't have enough time in college to properly evaluate them. Both were highly regarded going into college. Fast in the open court. Quick first step. Bag of tricks. Talented team. Except Smith is taller and longer.

But I won't comment on it further. I will go on the record that Nick Smith - if healthy - is going to be a problem in the NBA with the potential to have a Kyrie type career. He's not someone like Baldwin who was soooo bad for an entire year on a crappy team that he had to fall.

[WuTang_CMB]

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TH on our list for sure

[Kevin Willis]

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This is the **** I wanted to see. When everyone is against you, how do you respond to it? By dropping 41 pts and outplaying GG, he's my number 3 right now - mamba mentality. I have no draft board at this point but I do have a top 3.

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

Kyrie was an absolute freak of nature in his limited time at Duke, you could tell he was too big for the college game. Effortless buckets and you knew right away he was going to be an NBA star.

If Smith's actually not 100% due to injury, playing college ball has been a mistake because he has not impressed. I don't see a guy who will have the ability to take over games in the NBA. I laughed when I saw a scouting report call his floater "highly efficient" because he must be shooting it at a 33% clip.

It's one thing to take a guy who misses their freshman season and declares and draft them based on high school accolades and footage. That alone is a gamble. It's another to draft a player 1 year fully matured from high school who looks worse than they did in high school vs. better competition and completely ignore that fact hoping that they turn it on when they get to the NBA which is even better competition than the better competition they have looked poor against.

[Psubs]

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This is the **** I wanted to see. When everyone is against you, how do you respond to it? By dropping 41 pts and outplaying GG, he's my number 3 right now - mamba mentality. I have no draft board at this point but I do have a top 3.

Miller is pretty much a sophomore at 20 years old (same for the Thompson Twins). GG is still immature at 18.

South Carolina just couldn't close and it was tied until the last second in OT, still had a halfcourt heave that banked and could've been a Suggs moment. If GG had hit that bunny hook or 1 less TO they would've taken down Miller.

Still clearly Miller is putting pressure on teams to take him #2. If a team sees Brandon as TMac 2.0, they may draft him over Beal 2.0?

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

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This is the **** I wanted to see. When everyone is against you, how do you respond to it? By dropping 41 pts and outplaying GG, he's my number 3 right now - mamba mentality. I have no draft board at this point but I do have a top 3.

Last night definitely solidified his draft stock. He's going #3. Pretty much a lock to develop into a 20ppg scorer in the NBA and will likely be a pretty efficient one.

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

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"We can get him in the 2nd round"

[Psubs]

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TH on our list for sure

Hopefully his stock doesn't rise too high into the teens and we can nab him. Hoping he can be a 6'9 OG. 47/41/79 is sweet! Also 2.6 stocks to 3.5 fouls + tos is amazing. A/T > 1 is a good for a big.

He's had a really good February, 49/46/84, 18ppg with 3.3 stocks.

Both Hendricks and Jarace Walker are the same age. What makes Walker better than Hendricks? I think Walker benefits from playing on a good team. Walker has had an up and down February and might be fading.

Hendricks might be the biggest steal in the late teens.

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[Psubs]

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;ab_channel=TheScoutingRapport

This is the **** I wanted to see. When everyone is against you, how do you respond to it? By dropping 41 pts and outplaying GG, he's my number 3 right now - mamba mentality. I have no draft board at this point but I do have a top 3.

Last night definitely solidified his draft stock. He's going #3. Pretty much a lock to develop into a 20ppg scorer in the NBA and will likely be a pretty efficient one.

Would you trade Pascal for #3, a future 1st and salary filler? I would if Fred got traded first and went into a major re-tool like Utah.

[Kevin Willis]

Kyrie was an absolute freak of nature in his limited time at Duke, you could tell he was too big for the college game. Effortless buckets and you knew right away he was going to be an NBA star.

If Smith's actually not 100% due to injury, playing college ball has been a mistake because he has not impressed. I don't see a guy who will have the ability to take over games in the NBA. I laughed when I saw a scouting report call his floater "highly efficient" because he must be shooting it at a 33% clip.

It's one thing to take a guy who misses their freshman season and declares and draft them based on high school accolades and footage. That alone is a gamble. It's another to draft a player 1 year fully matured from high school who looks worse than they did in high school vs. better competition and completely ignore that fact hoping that they turn it on when they get to the NBA which is even better competition than the better competition they have looked poor against.

Understand your points. I am pretty much ignoring college at this point. What might give him a Kyrie type of career is that if Kyrie was a bit more stable, he should've had a better career than this. He has the talent and ability to make the all-star team every year. All-NBA every year. If he stayed in Cleveland, or even Boston, multiple championships. Nick Smith Jr. will never be that good. Never. However he will be good enough to be this version of Kyrie who will make a few all-star games and a championship or two. He won't win rookie of the year and probably not Finals MVP. I agree he shouldn't have played this year with that injury. It hurt his stock because his last year in high school he looked unstoppable. IF for some reason he drops down to our range on draft night we should take him but I doubt it.

[Psubs]

Kyrie was an absolute freak of nature in his limited time at Duke, you could tell he was too big for the college game. Effortless buckets and you knew right away he was going to be an NBA star.

If Smith's actually not 100% due to injury, playing college ball has been a mistake because he has not impressed. I don't see a guy who will have the ability to take over games in the NBA. I laughed when I saw a scouting report call his floater "highly efficient" because he must be shooting it at a 33% clip.

It's one thing to take a guy who misses their freshman season and declares and draft them based on high school accolades and footage. That alone is a gamble. It's another to draft a player 1 year fully matured from high school who looks worse than they did in high school vs. better competition and completely ignore that fact hoping that they turn it on when they get to the NBA which is even better competition than the better competition they have looked poor against.

Understand your points. I am pretty much ignoring college at this point. What might give him a Kyrie type of career is that if Kyrie was a bit more stable, he should've had a better career than this. He has the talent and ability to make the all-star team every year. All-NBA every year. If he stayed in Cleveland, or even Boston, multiple championships. Nick Smith Jr. will never be that good. Never. However he will be good enough to be this version of Kyrie who will make a few all-star games and a championship or two. He won't win rookie of the year and probably not Finals MVP. I agree he shouldn't have played this year with that injury. It hurt his stock because his last year in high school he looked unstoppable. IF for some reason he drops down to our range on draft night we should take him but I doubt it.

Smith looks something like a less bouncy Jalen Green.

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

Kyrie was an absolute freak of nature in his limited time at Duke, you could tell he was too big for the college game. Effortless buckets and you knew right away he was going to be an NBA star.

If Smith's actually not 100% due to injury, playing college ball has been a mistake because he has not impressed. I don't see a guy who will have the ability to take over games in the NBA. I laughed when I saw a scouting report call his floater "highly efficient" because he must be shooting it at a 33% clip.

It's one thing to take a guy who misses their freshman season and declares and draft them based on high school accolades and footage. That alone is a gamble. It's another to draft a player 1 year fully matured from high school who looks worse than they did in high school vs. better competition and completely ignore that fact hoping that they turn it on when they get to the NBA which is even better competition than the better competition they have looked poor against.

Understand your points. I am pretty much ignoring college at this point. What might give him a Kyrie type of career is that if Kyrie was a bit more stable, he should've had a better career than this. He has the talent and ability to make the all-star team every year. All-NBA every year. If he stayed in Cleveland, or even Boston, multiple championships. Nick Smith Jr. will never be that good. Never. However he will be good enough to be this version of Kyrie who will make a few all-star games and a championship or two. He won't win rookie of the year and probably not Finals MVP. I agree he shouldn't have played this year with that injury. It hurt his stock because his last year in high school he looked unstoppable. IF for some reason he drops down to our range on draft night we should take him but I doubt it.

Smith looks something like a less bouncy Jalen Green.

I had Jalen Green on my DND list. I have zero interest in players who are not committed defensively.

[Psubs]

Understand your points. I am pretty much ignoring college at this point. What might give him a Kyrie type of career is that if Kyrie was a bit more stable, he should've had a better career than this. He has the talent and ability to make the all-star team every year. All-NBA every year. If he stayed in Cleveland, or even Boston, multiple championships. Nick Smith Jr. will never be that good. Never. However he will be good enough to be this version of Kyrie who will make a few all-star games and a championship or two. He won't win rookie of the year and probably not Finals MVP. I agree he shouldn't have played this year with that injury. It hurt his stock because his last year in high school he looked unstoppable. IF for some reason he drops down to our range on draft night we should take him but I doubt it.

Smith looks something like a less bouncy Jalen Green.

I had Jalen Green on my DND list. I have zero interest in players who are not committed defensively.

Yes, the goal is to win a championship. That's why I would draft Taylor Hendricks instead of Brice Sensabaugh (A/T = 0.5 )

Sensabaugh stocks is 0.9 to fouls + tos of 4.6.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/brice-sensabaugh-1/splits/2023

He's having a poor February at 12ppg, 39/31/80. Maybe his body composition and conditioning is hurting him later in the year. How is he going to adapt to an 82 game schedule?

Cam Whitmore, I also have similar concerns but more along the lines of Zion. He's also having a poor February at 10ppg, 44/23/70. A/T < 0.5

[YogurtProducer]

He's a no draft for me for Toronto. The talent isn't worth the headache.

I too don't like him, but this clip is hardly negative evidence. As he backs away the defender covering him gets further up court to which is helping spacing. If I could stand under my own basket on offense and bring the defender to half court I would.

That's not how basketball works, and this is just one of many examples of GG Jackson exhibiting poor character. On the other side Brandon Miller destroyed him with the weight of the world on his shoulders. There's levels to this.

I barely follow college basketball because it is just overall a tough watch so I have no idea about the character issues, but the defender literally sat with his back turned at the 3 point line. If you can pull a guy away and turn a game into legit 4 on 4 that is a win for the offense. Ever tried to defend playing 4 on 4, or 3 on 3? The less traffic the easier offense becomes.

If GG moves up to the 3 point line his defender takes 2 steps back and suddenly that in the lane jumper is heavily contested with help defense.

[YogurtProducer]

The older I get the better college basketball is to watch

I love this ****. And i dont think its related at all to how bad the Raps are this year.

That is interesting because outside of March Madness I find NCAA unwatchable. Anyone who complains about the Raptors offense must feel violently ill watching an NCAA offense.

[ItsDanger]

Nick Smith has played 9 games, 2 of them 6 minutes or less. Overall hasn't lived up to the hype but hasn't been entirely disappointing either. He's a change of pace, half court scoring guard and those have value in the NBA.

[billy_hoyle]

Nick Smith has played 9 games, 2 of them 6 minutes or less. Overall hasn't lived up to the hype but hasn't been entirely disappointing either. He's a change of pace, half court scoring guard and those have value in the NBA.

Is Nick Smith the Micheal Porter Jr of this draft?
We could use an elite bucket getter from a teens picks. If our 1st this year is a ROY calibre combo guard aren't we all really happy with the roster construction going forward? Just need some role playing shooters.

Masai has put alot of faith in a players pre-college profile before (Barnes). Wouldn't shock me if he picked a guy that was rated higher before a disappointing college season. Although, wouldn't shock me if he goes off board either .