2024 NBA DRAFT THREAD

[Dalek]

I just feel like if we want to build out our bench with two high IQ guys that can help now, I would look to draft Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro from Marquette.

Kolek put on a masterful performance last night with 32 and 9 - controlling the game tempo, timely shots, intuitive connection with Oso who I think can be a Thad Young type of forward for Toronto. Kolek just has that villain/a-hole in him that will work in the NBA. Something like Pritchard or Grayson Allen but a better playmaker.

Watch on YouTube

;t=2s

Indy is going to climb the standings so if the pick ends up in the 20s we should look at Kolek and then consider Oso or Adem Bona. These types of role players are going to be in the NBA for a long time.

I brought up Kolek last year but he either faded or didn't do well in the tourney, thus he went back to school.

TJ McConnell that can shoot 3's!!! #31 pick like taller Tre Jones but more like a bigger Tyus Jones.

Like all the comps and like you I think he exceeds the other role players he comps well too. He is still a back-up PG to me, but that ain't a bad idea considering we need depth behind IQ. To me Kolek is a perfect .5 bball player.

[Dalek]

Early top 14:

1. Nikola Topic
2. Zaccharie Risacher
3. Alexandre Sarr
4. Reed Sheppard
5. Cody Williams
6. Ron Holland
7. Kyle Filipowski
8. Ryan Dunn
9. Ja'Kobe Walter
10. Tidjane Salaun
11. Devin Carter
12. Donovan Clingan
13. KJ Simpson
14. Rob Dillingham

I like this Tidjane Salaun kid as well

I'd have a tough time putting Ryan Dunn in the lottery. He is only shooting 24% from three. Your basically looking at Herb Jones which to me is a early second round type.

Also I am not sure what people see in Sheppard and Dillingham. Those guys are like 6'3. You burn a lotto pick on those guys you basically are using a lotto pick on a bench combo guard.

Not having Matas Buzelis in the lottery is quite a take. If he actually does fall out of lottery that would be a steal.

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

Early top 14:

1. Nikola Topic
2. Zaccharie Risacher
3. Alexandre Sarr
4. Reed Sheppard
5. Cody Williams
6. Ron Holland
7. Kyle Filipowski
8. Ryan Dunn
9. Ja'Kobe Walter
10. Tidjane Salaun
11. Devin Carter
12. Donovan Clingan
13. KJ Simpson
14. Rob Dillingham

I like this Tidjane Salaun kid as well

I'd have a tough time putting Ryan Dunn in the lottery. He is only shooting 24% from three. Your basically looking at Herb Jones which to me is a early second round type.

Also I am not sure what people see in Sheppard and Dillingham. Those guys are like 6'3. You burn a lotto pick on those guys you basically are using a lotto pick on a bench combo guard.

Not having Matas Buzelis in the lottery is quite a take. If he actually does fall out of lottery that would be a steal.

I'm honestly not super high on Dillingham hence I have him lower than I've seen him mocked anywhere. He's small and doesn't get to the line a ton as it is but his bag should in theory allow him to create space for himself to get quality shots off at the NBA level and he does have some passing chops and can grab steals. He was fed the ball late in a game I watched recently and nailed back to back to back 3's and you could feel them go in before he even shot. He has some clutch factor to him even if he's just a microwave scorer. History suggests betting on Calipari's hand picked guards sticking in the NBA.

I'd rather have a smaller NBA quality guard than gamble on tall and long players who I think are gonna bust.

[Ell Curry]

Watched some clips of Yves Missi, the 7 foot freshman from Baylor, since he's from Cameroon and started playing late and is therefore someone to watch out for as a Raptor, and he really does seem to move pretty well for a center, which most of the other first rounders we could get with a later pick don't really do.

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

Dalek how is Dunn's case different from OG Anunoby's when OG shot 31% from downtown and 56% from the line as a sophomore. You can talk about the 45% he shot off the bench getting garbage minutes as a freshman but the sample size was 29 shots and therefore not significant as a talking point, especially given his 48% rate from the free throw line.

Dunn's offensive ceiling is worth gambling on because he doesn't need to raise it to epic levels to become an extremely valuable player. He has only chucked up 25 attempts from downtown this season which is nothing and shot 31% as a freshman on 16 attempts. The sample size is really small and obviously it is not an area of strength, otherwise he'd be given the green light to jack up tons of shots, but there is nothing I see that confirms it as an uncorrectable area of weakness.

When you add to that Dunn's ability to grab offensive boards and get easy dunks and putbacks and his ability to put the ball on the floor and attack the rim (he shows decent footwork and finishing near the basket) along with a .435 FTR there is a ton to like about him. He has a solid handle for a guy his size and his positional versatility is outstanding.

[Rapsfan07]

Early top 14:

1. Nikola Topic
2. Zaccharie Risacher
3. Alexandre Sarr
4. Reed Sheppard
5. Cody Williams
6. Ron Holland
7. Kyle Filipowski
8. Ryan Dunn
9. Ja'Kobe Walter
10. Tidjane Salaun
11. Devin Carter
12. Donovan Clingan
13. KJ Simpson
14. Rob Dillingham

Couldn't agree more. This is more or less how I see this draft as well.

I'm not sure about Filipowski at 7 (if this was done in order of best to worst talent) but all in all, this sound about right to me in terms of who projects to be the best NBA players from this draft.

I think Carter and Simpson are going to be picked later and I think Dillingham has a chance to be an immediate contributor at the next level, although I'm not sure he's more than a microwave guy in the long term.

Not high on Matas either.

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

Early top 14:

1. Nikola Topic
2. Zaccharie Risacher
3. Alexandre Sarr
4. Reed Sheppard
5. Cody Williams
6. Ron Holland
7. Kyle Filipowski
8. Ryan Dunn
9. Ja'Kobe Walter
10. Tidjane Salaun
11. Devin Carter
12. Donovan Clingan
13. KJ Simpson
14. Rob Dillingham

Couldn't agree more. This is more or less how I see this draft as well.

I'm not sure about Filipowski at 7 (if this was done in order of best to worst talent) but all in all, this sound about right to me in terms of who projects to be the best NBA players from this draft.

I think Carter and Simpson are going to be picked later and I think Dillingham has a chance to be an immediate contributor at the next level, although I'm not sure he's more than a microwave guy in the long term.

Not high on Matas either.

It's just an early take, I'm sure things will be jumbled by the time I lock in my final board as they always are. I hit the nail on the head with Lively, Podz and Jaquez rankings last year and bumping Scoot down a good bit but in hindsight I think it's already evident Brandon Miller won't be the 2nd best player from last year's class. Earlier last year I knocked him down my board a ton at a time when nobody had him outside of the top 4 because I had an inclination there were issues with him but ultimately succumbed to the vision that he's gonna contribute as a rebounder and has the "tools" to be solid defensively while being a quality volume 3 point scorer and thus far he's been so goddamn poor as a rebounder and isn't looking very promising defensively. There were red flags such as his awful tournament performance, character concerns (tbh I'm not sure how much he loves basketball) and not having much of a game as a driver. It'll be interesting to see what he maxes out as but it's not looking good right now for a #2 overall guy.

As far as Filipowski I might bump him down a few notches if guys like Dunn, Walter and Salaun appeal to me more leading up to the draft but I'll leave him there for now. He's a hard worker who has improved a ton and ultimately is a well-rounded 7 footer who can shoot the 3 well.

[LoveMyRaps]

Don't look now, but I think OKC might fall a lil in the standings. They've been struggling in recent days and Chet looks bruised & battered. They are one SGA injury away from collapsing...

[Ell Curry]

Heads up - only Sheppard and Dillingham seem to be playing of the Kentucky guys, but their game is on TSN with 7 minutes to go up 1 against Florida.

[Rapsfan07]

Don't look now, but I think OKC might fall a lil in the standings. They've been struggling in recent days and Chet looks bruised & battered. They are one SGA injury away from collapsing...

They need Poeltl. Masai needs to move on that at the deadline and hopefully we can pick up a 2025 FRP and one of their end of the bench young guys.

Or heck, I'd take two firsts. One of their mid-FRPs this year and a low one next year.

[WuTang_CMB]

Don't look now, but I think OKC might fall a lil in the standings. They've been struggling in recent days and Chet looks bruised & battered. They are one SGA injury away from collapsing...

They need Poeltl. Masai needs to move on that at the deadline and hopefully we can pick up a 2025 FRP and one of their end of the bench young guys.

Or heck, I'd take two firsts. One of their mid-FRPs this year and a low one next year.

I bet he ends up back on the Spurs lol. Bobby just cant help himself

[Ell Curry]

Kentucky guards:

Sheppard's off ball defence is fantastic (though he fell asleep on the game tying 3, he has the Caruso/Kawhi gene where they just get their hands on the ball and read plays well) and he rebounds, and he's a really good shooter. But he gets swallowed up on drives with his lack of size or burst and ends up having to make tough passes when he does drive (though it might be exhaustion, he's barely come off the court). Decent passer otherwise to start possession as opponents have to respect his shot so he gets a bit of room on pick and rolls when teams go over the screen. So a good player, but going to be low usage, and we haven't seen too many guards under 6'5 really be difference makers on D lately, though if he's a quality defender as a PG and shooting 40% from 3, that's a very solid player, I guess like a hybrid of D'Anthony Melton and Van Vleet is what I'm seeing?

Dillingham is small and makes mistakes defensively (He's not terrible, seems to stay with drivers okay, just too small and gets lost in the final phase of defense, like he plays the first 2/3rds of the possessions then sort of spaces out instead of making another read and doing something useful) but his first step with the ball is really good and he's a good shooter. He's doing better overall than Maxey did as a freshman, but he's a little smaller.

In a slower 90s tempo, you'd probably want Sheppard as your PG and just have him do the Van Vleet thing of mostly staying 20 feet from the rim, hunting 3s, moving the ball and playing very good transition defence so you can have the wings hit the boards a bit more, but nowadays Dillingham seems more likely to be a starting PG.

[Rapsfan07]

Don't look now, but I think OKC might fall a lil in the standings. They've been struggling in recent days and Chet looks bruised & battered. They are one SGA injury away from collapsing...

They need Poeltl. Masai needs to move on that at the deadline and hopefully we can pick up a 2025 FRP and one of their end of the bench young guys.

Or heck, I'd take two firsts. One of their mid-FRPs this year and a low one next year.

I bet he ends up back on the Spurs lol. Bobby just cant help himself

Lmao you're probably right

[earth007]

Don't look now, but I think OKC might fall a lil in the standings. They've been struggling in recent days and Chet looks bruised & battered. They are one SGA injury away from collapsing...

They need Poeltl. Masai needs to move on that at the deadline and hopefully we can pick up a 2025 FRP and one of their end of the bench young guys.

Or heck, I'd take two firsts. One of their mid-FRPs this year and a low one next year.

More than that, it is Giddy's inability to shoot the ball that is holding them back. Most teams sag off him when he is on the court, and it gives SGA less space to operate. If anything, they need to trade giddy for a 3 and d guard. OG would have been perfect for that team.

[Dalek]

Dalek how is Dunn's case different from OG Anunoby's when OG shot 31% from downtown and 56% from the line as a sophomore. You can talk about the 45% he shot off the bench getting garbage minutes as a freshman but the sample size was 29 shots and therefore not significant as a talking point, especially given his 48% rate from the free throw line.

Dunn's offensive ceiling is worth gambling on because he doesn't need to raise it to epic levels to become an extremely valuable player. He has only chucked up 25 attempts from downtown this season which is nothing and shot 31% as a freshman on 16 attempts. The sample size is really small and obviously it is not an area of strength, otherwise he'd be given the green light to jack up tons of shots, but there is nothing I see that confirms it as an uncorrectable area of weakness.

When you add to that Dunn's ability to grab offensive boards and get easy dunks and putbacks and his ability to put the ball on the floor and attack the rim (he shows decent footwork and finishing near the basket) along with a .435 FTR there is a ton to like about him. He has a solid handle for a guy his size and his positional versatility is outstanding.

I dunno man. He better be a god-like defender because he might not be able to make shots at all in the NBA. Tonight he had 0 points in 27 mins taking 1 shot. His game might work out like Herb Jones or OG but risking a lotto on a pure defender that isn't a C is risky.

Especially now in this NBA. The Pacers almost have their entire 10 man rotation scoring 10 or more points. You have to shoot and pass and be big to play in the NBA. Not saying no defense but way more balanced two way play.

Raps have after years of going all in on defense see that they need to lean on skilled players to win. I suspect they will love guys like Sarr, Filipowski, Buzelis, Williams if they keep their lotto.

[Psubs]

Dalek how is Dunn's case different from OG Anunoby's when OG shot 31% from downtown and 56% from the line as a sophomore. You can talk about the 45% he shot off the bench getting garbage minutes as a freshman but the sample size was 29 shots and therefore not significant as a talking point, especially given his 48% rate from the free throw line.

Dunn's offensive ceiling is worth gambling on because he doesn't need to raise it to epic levels to become an extremely valuable player. He has only chucked up 25 attempts from downtown this season which is nothing and shot 31% as a freshman on 16 attempts. The sample size is really small and obviously it is not an area of strength, otherwise he'd be given the green light to jack up tons of shots, but there is nothing I see that confirms it as an uncorrectable area of weakness.

When you add to that Dunn's ability to grab offensive boards and get easy dunks and putbacks and his ability to put the ball on the floor and attack the rim (he shows decent footwork and finishing near the basket) along with a .435 FTR there is a ton to like about him. He has a solid handle for a guy his size and his positional versatility is outstanding.

I dunno man. He better be a god-like defender because he might not be able to make shots at all in the NBA. Tonight he had 0 points in 27 mins taking 1 shot. His game might work out like Herb Jones or OG but risking a lotto on a pure defender that isn't a C is risky.

Especially now in this NBA. The Pacers almost have their entire 10 man rotation scoring 10 or more points. You have to shoot and pass and be big to play in the NBA. Not saying no defense but way more balanced two way play.

Raps have after years of going all in on defense see that they need to lean on skilled players to win. I suspect they will love guys like Sarr, Filipowski, Buzelis, Williams if they keep their lotto.

Ausur Thompson can't shoot so isn't able to earn more minutes on the worst team in the league. The Piston finally moved Killian Hayes to the bench regulary. Marcus Sasser is getting more PT.

[Psubs]

Dalek how is Dunn's case different from OG Anunoby's when OG shot 31% from downtown and 56% from the line as a sophomore. You can talk about the 45% he shot off the bench getting garbage minutes as a freshman but the sample size was 29 shots and therefore not significant as a talking point, especially given his 48% rate from the free throw line.

Dunn's offensive ceiling is worth gambling on because he doesn't need to raise it to epic levels to become an extremely valuable player. He has only chucked up 25 attempts from downtown this season which is nothing and shot 31% as a freshman on 16 attempts. The sample size is really small and obviously it is not an area of strength, otherwise he'd be given the green light to jack up tons of shots, but there is nothing I see that confirms it as an uncorrectable area of weakness.

When you add to that Dunn's ability to grab offensive boards and get easy dunks and putbacks and his ability to put the ball on the floor and attack the rim (he shows decent footwork and finishing near the basket) along with a .435 FTR there is a ton to like about him. He has a solid handle for a guy his size and his positional versatility is outstanding.

I dunno man. He better be a god-like defender because he might not be able to make shots at all in the NBA. Tonight he had 0 points in 27 mins taking 1 shot. His game might work out like Herb Jones or OG but risking a lotto on a pure defender that isn't a C is risky.

Especially now in this NBA. The Pacers almost have their entire 10 man rotation scoring 10 or more points. You have to shoot and pass and be big to play in the NBA. Not saying no defense but way more balanced two way play.

Raps have after years of going all in on defense see that they need to lean on skilled players to win. I suspect they will love guys like Sarr, Filipowski, Buzelis, Williams if they keep their lotto.

PG IQ - Schroder
SG CodyWilliams - Grimes
SF Barrett - Dick
PF Barnes - Furphy
C Poeltl - Ivisic

How fun would this bench be?!?!?!

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

Heads up - only Sheppard and Dillingham seem to be playing of the Kentucky guys, but their game is on TSN with 7 minutes to go up 1 against Florida.

Sheppard had a really nice hustle play where he chased down a Florida player from way behind in transition and knocked the ball out of his hands as the player was about to go up for a layup kind of like what happened to Andre Drummond last night although I forgot who did it on Raps I think Schroder.

Sheppard is really smart with the ball, protects it well and doesn't make a lot of dumb passes. Lots of FVV to his game but he can actually nail floaters and midrange shots and moves the ball fast. Imagine what FVV could be if he were to buy into being off-ball a ton more and were more efficient from 2. That's what I see Sheppard as.

[RoteSchroder]

Heads up - only Sheppard and Dillingham seem to be playing of the Kentucky guys, but their game is on TSN with 7 minutes to go up 1 against Florida.

Sheppard had a really nice hustle play where he chased down a Florida player from way behind in transition and knocked the ball out of his hands as the player was about to go up for a layup kind of like what happened to Andre Drummond last night although I forgot who did it on Raps I think Schroder.

Sheppard is really smart with the ball, protects it well and doesn't make a lot of dumb passes. Lots of FVV to his game but he can actually nail floaters and midrange shots and moves the ball fast. Imagine what FVV could be if he were to buy into being off-ball a ton more and were more efficient from 2. That's what I see Sheppard as.

A better version of FVV is top 6 worthy imo

Not sure on how capable he is of playmaking and running an offense, but idealistically I'd want to slot him in at PG rather than SG due to his size. If we did draft him and he shows capability of being a starting PG, then things might get a little awkward with Quickley.

On another note, Ivisic has had his minutes cut the past 3 games and has shown nothing since his first stint.

[BoyzNTheHood]

Heads up - only Sheppard and Dillingham seem to be playing of the Kentucky guys, but their game is on TSN with 7 minutes to go up 1 against Florida.

Sheppard had a really nice hustle play where he chased down a Florida player from way behind in transition and knocked the ball out of his hands as the player was about to go up for a layup kind of like what happened to Andre Drummond last night although I forgot who did it on Raps I think Schroder.

Sheppard is really smart with the ball, protects it well and doesn't make a lot of dumb passes. Lots of FVV to his game but he can actually nail floaters and midrange shots and moves the ball fast. Imagine what FVV could be if he were to buy into being off-ball a ton more and were more efficient from 2. That's what I see Sheppard as.

A better version of FVV is top 6 worthy imo

Not sure on how capable he is of playmaking and running an offense, but idealistically I'd want to slot him in at PG rather than SG due to his size. If we did draft him and he shows capability of being a starting PG, then things might get a little awkward with Quickley.

On another note, Ivisic has had his minutes cut the past 3 games and has shown nothing since his first stint.

Ivisic having his minutes cut is beautiful. All of you taking it as a negative sign towards his game will find out soon enough.