NBA 2019 Draft Prospects Thread

[KqWIN]

Kab and Samanic look good, and you should draft BPA...

But does anyone else feel like we should just take a ball handler/scorer no matter what?

[Catchall]

I'm not putting Samanic ahead of Kabengele, unless he's a knock-down shooter. I know Kab is a plus rebounder, plus shot blocker and plus 3-pt shooter who runs the floor like a horse. You guys see Samanic move his feet in a scrimmage and all of a sudden he's the guy at #23...

Right now, Samanic doesn't yet look like a potential starter to me.

He looks like he actually knows how to play the game and has skill-level Kabengele can only hope he develops. I kind of can't get past how low-IQ of a player Kabengele looked in the games I watched.

In this draft I'd still be OK with Kabengele because he does have some athletic upside paired with ability to shoot, but at this point I prefer Samanic.

Yes, Samanic has footwork, handle, passing ability and timing on plays that Kab will likely never have. He's also testing to be a surprisingly good athlete. But he doesn't really have the size and length to be much of a rim protector. I don't think he'll be effective as a 5, even if he stretches out on offense, and I'm not sure he's really the guy you want to play at the 4 either. He's not skilled enough on the perimeter. I think he's probably a 3rd big, a very good one, but not necessarily a starter or a guy you close with. I think he's basically a slightly bigger Jerebko, pre-injury. If he's really skilled, he'd be like the modern version of Detlef Schrempf, but I'm not sure that translates well to the modern game.

Kabengele is 30 lbs bigger than Luka, has +4.5" wingspan and +3" standing reach. You can play Kab as a stretch-5, or as a stretch-4 next to Gobert. Kab is a vicous defender with great reactions. He runs the floor really hard and plays with a high motor. With Kab, I know I'm going to get 9 or 10 rebounds, 1 or 2 blocks, and 35% 3-pt shooting in 25+ minutes. That's a rare combination reminiscent of Serge Ibaka.

We'll get good minutes from Samanic, but he's not going to put up that kind of production.

[Catchall]

Let me put it this way, if we're drafting Samanic, it's because we believe in him as a small-ball 5, and that means we believe in him adding strength, rebounding and defending at the rim. I'm not there yet.

[Catchall]

Kab and Samanic look good, and you should draft BPA...

But does anyone else feel like we should just take a ball handler/scorer no matter what?

Imo, the BPA at #23 (assuming no one unexpected drops) is probably going to be a wing with some length, handle and 3-level scoring. We should be looking hard at Nwora, King, Williams, Horton-Tucker, PJ Williams and maybe one of these young guys like Lecque and Bazley who have been off the radar.

If Samanic shows to be a knock-down shooter, then maybe that changes things. So far, his Euro-league stats, don't make that case.

[stitches]

You have Gobert. You don't need every player you put on the floor to be a rim protector. What impressed me is just how well he moved his feet on defense. I think he can play easily with Gobert and be a great complement to him. I think he's PLENTY skilled especially as a big on the perimeter. And if he can shoot it... I think he will be tremendous for this team. I have no idea what you mean by "modern version of Detlef Schrempf" not being able to translate in the modern game. Detlef Schrempf in the modern day would be tremendous. I can argue he might be more impactful now than he was in his day. I have no idea what you mean by this. Skilled big who can potentially shoot, can move his feet on defense better than most and has athleticism... what part of this doesn't fit the modern game?

[Catchall]

Also, there's another Euro Goga Bitadze who is probably better than Samanic if we're looking for a multi-faceted, skilled big.

[Catchall]

You have Gobert. You don't need every player you put on the floor to be a rim protector. What impressed me is just how well he moved his feet on defense. I think he can play easily with Gobert and be a great complement to him. I think he's PLENTY skilled especially as a big on the perimeter. And if he can shoot it... I think he will be tremendous for this team.

...IF Luka can really shoot, then yes. That changes the equation, but he hasn't shown that yet. Keep in mind, in the past few years, the Jazz have been playing more of a wing player at the 4. We've played Joe Johnson, Jae Crowder and Georges Niang, even Royce O'Neale, because we want floor spacing, offensive versatility and ball movement.

No, the Jazz don't need every player to be a rim protector, but they like having the #1 defense in the league when they play Gobert and Favors together, and if Favors could knock down 3s at 35% or 36%, that would be viable for extended minutes. Kab can do most of what Favors does on defense, he's a good roll man, and he can hit 3s off the dribble.

If Samanic were playing for Houston, he'd basically be Isaiah Hartenstein.

[stitches]

...IF Luka can really shoot, then yes. That changes the equation, but he hasn't shown that yet. Keep in mind, in the past few years, the Jazz have been playing more of a wing player at the 4. We've played Joe Johnson, Jae Crowder and Georges Niang, even Royce O'Neale, because we want floor spacing, offensive versatility and ball movement.

No, the Jazz don't need every player to be a rim protector, but they like having the #1 defense in the league when they play Gobert and Favors together, and if Favors could knock down 3s at 35% or 36%, that would be viable for extended minutes. Kab can do most of what Favors does on defense, he's a good roll man, and he can hit 3s off the dribble.

If Samanic were playing for Houston, he'd basically be Isaiah Hartenstein.

The Jazz don't need to be #1 defense in the league. The Jazz need to be the best team they can be and that can be achieved in multiple ways. Let alone Gobert almost single-handedly makes you a top 3 defense no matter who you put around him.

I also don't think Kabengele is anywhere close to the defender Favors is. Kabengele doesn't know where he is half the time on defense. Favors is one of the best players in the league in his defensive awareness. Also, Kabengele fouls A TON... again.. because of low basketball IQ and stupid fouls and overcommitting. Defensively, the way he reacts to the game, he gives me the Marquese Chriss vibes and I am not sure how coachable this is.

To me Kabengele is an upside pick if you trust in your coaching staff to develop players and if you trust the player to put in the work... and even then I'm not sure what's missing in his game can be improved to the extent required.

I also have no idea how you came to the Hartenstein comparison. It makes no sense to me. They are not similar players at all...

[stitches]

I wanted to ask you guys... how would you feel if we drafted Chuma Okeke in the 1st?

[KqWIN]

I wanted to ask you guys... how would you feel if we drafted Chuma Okeke in the 1st?

I like him a lot. I saw someone describe him as “Cam Reddish but not terrible” and somehow hat resonated with me The injury sucks, but doesn’t take that much away from his stock imo.

I’m still thinking we should draft the player most likely to turn into a shot creator imo. That way if he pans out, he’ll be able to have a much larger impact for us.

I think Herro is the best guy right now along with NAW. But there’s a good chance both are gone by the time we’re drafting.

[stitches]

Yeah, I like NAW... I feel like he'd be gone by the time we draft. NAW gave me the college-Dejounte vibes when I watched him.

[KqWIN]

Yeah, I like NAW... I feel like he'd be gone by the time we draft. NAW gave me the college-Dejounte vibes when I watched him.

He’s got the same body type and...slipperiness? SGA (his cousin) has the same thing. Those guys just have the baller gene. NAW can actually shoot and that excites me too.

Have you watched much of Herro? He has such a nice looking, versatile shot. I think he’ll be a nice player.

[stitches]

Justin Zanik live at the combine on ESPN News. Seems like Zanik will do more of the day by day stuff... also said he might be more in front of cameras than DL now.

[stitches]

Yeah, I like NAW... I feel like he'd be gone by the time we draft. NAW gave me the college-Dejounte vibes when I watched him.

He’s got the same body type and...slipperiness? SGA (his cousin) has the same thing. Those guys just have the baller gene. NAW can actually shoot and that excites me too.

Have you watched much of Herro? He has such a nice looking, versatile shot. I think he’ll be a nice player.

yeah, slippery is very nice way to put it... he just gets in the lane almost on a whim.

I haven't watched Herro a ton. I watched very little Kentucky in general this year. From what I've seen I agree he has a versatile shot. Probably the most versatile shot in the whole draft. Not sure about whether he can do everything else+Defense in order to let his shooting shine. BTW he measured with shorter arms than his height... Yikes!

[KqWIN]

Yeah, I like NAW... I feel like he'd be gone by the time we draft. NAW gave me the college-Dejounte vibes when I watched him.

He’s got the same body type and...slipperiness? SGA (his cousin) has the same thing. Those guys just have the baller gene. NAW can actually shoot and that excites me too.

Have you watched much of Herro? He has such a nice looking, versatile shot. I think he’ll be a nice player.

yeah, slippery is very nice way to put it... he just gets in the lane almost on a whim.

I haven't watched Herro a ton. I watched very little Kentucky in general this year. From what I've seen I agree he has a versatile shot. Probably the most versatile shot in the whole draft. Not sure about whether he can do everything else+Defense in order to let his shooting shine. BTW he measured with shorter arms than his height... Yikes!

Yeah, those t-rex arms are good. I don’t know if it was because I had low expectations but I was pleasantly surprised with his defense. He tries very hard and is stronger than he looks. But it might not matter when guys can just shoot over him easily.

[Catchall]

I wanted to ask you guys... how would you feel if we drafted Chuma Okeke in the 1st?

I like him as an NBA player more than Grant Williams, Admiral Schofield and probably PJ Washington. He can do more with the ball than he showed at Auburn. The question for me is whether he's good enough to be worth waiting 18 months on to recover from his injury. This is what other teams are probably thinking too, and so he'll probably go at the tail end of the first round or early second round.

He's good, but I think there are better guys at 23. I think we should be more aggressive with the draft and go for someone with real upside who can start to make an impact by his second season.

[Catchall]

...IF Luka can really shoot, then yes. That changes the equation, but he hasn't shown that yet. Keep in mind, in the past few years, the Jazz have been playing more of a wing player at the 4. We've played Joe Johnson, Jae Crowder and Georges Niang, even Royce O'Neale, because we want floor spacing, offensive versatility and ball movement.

No, the Jazz don't need every player to be a rim protector, but they like having the #1 defense in the league when they play Gobert and Favors together, and if Favors could knock down 3s at 35% or 36%, that would be viable for extended minutes. Kab can do most of what Favors does on defense, he's a good roll man, and he can hit 3s off the dribble.

If Samanic were playing for Houston, he'd basically be Isaiah Hartenstein.

The Jazz don't need to be #1 defense in the league. The Jazz need to be the best team they can be and that can be achieved in multiple ways. Let alone Gobert almost single-handedly makes you a top 3 defense no matter who you put around him.

I also don't think Kabengele is anywhere close to the defender Favors is. Kabengele doesn't know where he is half the time on defense. Favors is one of the best players in the league in his defensive awareness. Also, Kabengele fouls A TON... again.. because of low basketball IQ and stupid fouls and overcommitting. Defensively, the way he reacts to the game, he gives me the Marquese Chriss vibes and I am not sure how coachable this is.

To me Kabengele is an upside pick if you trust in your coaching staff to develop players and if you trust the player to put in the work... and even then I'm not sure what's missing in his game can be improved to the extent required.

I also have no idea how you came to the Hartenstein comparison. It makes no sense to me. They are not similar players at all...

Kabengele is where Derrick Favors was at age 20. Kab is a very active defender. He was asked to sit back in the paint and guard multiple guys, so he was responding to multiple actions. In an NBA defensive scheme, he'll be good. He's got NBA size, NBA athleticism and NBA skills that are in demand.

Regarding Hartenstein, that's the role Samanic would be playing in Houston. He's not good enough or versatile enough to take minutes from Capella or PJ Tucker. Maybe he takes the minutes that they were giving to Nene. In other words, he's a backup big.

I'd be surprised if the Jazz would play Samanic at the 4, either at the start or at the end of games. He'd be competing for minutes with Niang. Until Samanic shows he can hit 3s at close to 40% like Niang did this year, Niang would probably get the nod.

[stitches]

I wanted to ask you guys... how would you feel if we drafted Chuma Okeke in the 1st?

I like him as an NBA player more than Grant Williams, Admiral Schofield and probably PJ Washington. He can do more with the ball than he showed at Auburn. The question for me is whether he's good enough to be worth waiting 18 months on to recover from his injury. This is what other teams are probably thinking too, and so he'll probably go at the tail end of the first round or early second round.

He's good, but I think there are better guys at 23. I think we should be more aggressive with the draft and go for someone with real upside who can start to make an impact by his second season.

Here's info on Jazz showing interest in 2 of your favorites:

Read on Twitter

[Catchall]

Someone else on here discovered Nwora. I had to be converted into a believer. I'm still wildly curious about Talen Horton-Tucker for #23. I like Kabengele, but could understand if the Jazz don't go that direction. I would also support the Jazz taking a swing on an athletic, upside player, whether they think that's Lecque, King or Bazley.

Here's an interesting question for you, Stitch, would you draft Samanic or Cam Johnson? One will list at 6'10" and knock down shots at 38%. The other plays like an inside-outside big at 6'11".

[Catchall]

Darius Bazley just put up some nice athletic numbers, a 37" max vertical and guard/wing numbers on the mobility drills.