Post#865 » by The Consiglieri » Sat Jun 21, 2025 3:19 pm
God, I would hate it so much if we traded up for Fears, so so much. It's one thing to trade up for Bailey, consensus #2 overall recruit from the '24 class, consensus #3 to #4 prospect based upon performance in the college season. Fears was projected in a lot of mocks to go between about 4 or 5 and about 12 before the season but was habitually in the 25-40 zone of recruits. I really like Fears, I really like him, but evaluating him as well as I could do, not as well as you guys but just measuring him against what scouts have said about prospects since the 80's, he firmly sits in that third tier of guys to me, the guys slotted 5th to about 8th or 9th. I see no difference really in the ceiling and floor risks of him and other options in the tier, Tre, Maluach, Kon, Essengue (who appears to have climbed to 5-15 from 15-25 a few months ago)....Fears is different of course, Maluach has the highest ceiling, Tre has a higher floor than either of them, Kon the highest floor of all and the lowest ceiling of the five of them, Essengue, like Maluach, the biggest spread....but Fears feels like, us trying so bad to check a box, instead of just taking our biggest swing, and I HATE that. We do not HAVE to have a PG. We have adequate cover for now, I really hope they aren't reaching for need here.
Take the big swing. Maluach, Essengue, a trade up for Bailey, Bailey at slot etc. Pick 18 and the surrounding territory has a pile of PG and Bigs available, we can use 18 to take whatever we can't get w/6 or a trade up. I can't help but wonder if the issue is, when they look at the '26 class, they see Wings, a Big, and a combo Guard in tier 1 of that class (Dybantsa, Peterson, Boozer, Ament), no true PG.
But honestly this class has a bunch of guys after Fears with their own limitations and this boards hates nearly all of them but they are still options: Demin, Jakucionsis, Traore, Saraf, even worse options like a combo guy like Richardson who lacks the height for the 2, or lesser tops like Clayton, Proctor....there's a ton PG's projected to go between about 12-35, 6 or 7 at minimum. If we trade up, it should be for Harper or Bailey, elite guys with huge ceilings, not question marks like Fears. I'm fine with Fears at 6 if Bailey's gone and especially if Bailey' and Maluach are gone, but I would lose my ---- if we traded a pile of assets w/a guy with as risky a floor and flaws as many as Fears. I really like him as a prospect, but when you have the iffy ceiling he has because of the shooting, size, lack of assists, defensive issues, such as player should not cost a pile of assets to acquire in a class with players with much higher ceilings and typically higher floors.
I hope the rumors are wrong. It would really, really piss me off if we traded 18 and a really good player for Fears. Yes I can envision Fears becoming great, I can, but it's super easy to envision him becoming yet another small, middling PG, who you're eventually trying to replace 2-4 years later, or perpetually disasatified with (say constantly hoping the 3 comes around for instance). Trade the farm for Harper? Sure, though it would hurt, trade some for Bailey, okay, but trade the farm or a good chunk for Fears? Just sounds like a terrible idea.
I'd much rather just take Essengue, or Maluach at 6 and then pick the best PG available at 18 or in a trade down, or, failing that, take Fears at 6 (especially if Maluach is gone), and then grab the big at 18. Just for the love of God don't trade up for Fears, it would be the first truly thoughtless move they've made during the rebuild (in my view, and yes, I'd include Deni as behind that, Deni, I can understand even though I disliked the execution, I simply can't understand trading away multiple firsts and a player for Fears, it strikes me as just flat out idiotic considering his floor and ceiling issues as a prospect).
