College/prospects thread 17-18

SeanBobcats · Post #581 » by **SeanBobcats** » Sat Jun 9, 2018 7:08 pm

knox at 11 is pretty underwhelming

Soul Rebel · Post #582 » by **Soul Rebel** » Sat Jun 9, 2018 7:48 pm

fatlever wrote:assuming da, ld, bags, jjj gone... would guarantee 1 of wcj, mpj, ty, miles, mikal, mo - left for us at 11 along w/ our choice of any of the other wings - zs, lw, sga

Of the first group that you mentioned, there isn't a single one of those players that I wouldn't take in CLT. Mikal and MPJ would be my choice, but any of them makes us better short-term and long-term. Knox, Walker, Zaire would leave a bitter Bobcats-esque draft taste in my mouth.

Now, I do wonder if Knox could hit the NBA the way Booker has. IIRC, there were a lot of question marks with Booker about whether he could do what he did at UK in the NBA and if he was just a 3-pt specialist that would be a role player. Not comparing the two players attributes, but wonder, given Knox's age and pedigree, if he could be a sleeper pick that blows up in the NBA the way Booker, Mitchell, Klay, etc. that come in with question marks, but have the tools, but lack the maturity.

Knox would be underwhelming for me, but I have seen several analysts that see a ton of upside in him given age, metrics, etc.

LofJ · Post #583 » by **LofJ** » Sat Jun 9, 2018 8:01 pm

I'm pretty sure the only reason Kyler thinks we're picking Knox is because Mitch was sitting right in front of him during his pro-day workout.

And speaking of pro-day workouts I find it really strange that very little has been said about how MPJ looked during his yesterday. The only thing I've seen is that the Mavericks people were impressed and that the Kings were also there.

Post #584 » by **yosemiteben** » Sat Jun 9, 2018 11:51 pm

Looks like ESPN / DraftExpress are caving and starting to post draft vids to YouTube:

Watch on YouTube

MasterIchiro · Post #585 » by **MasterIchiro** » Sun Jun 10, 2018 1:22 am

Miles Bridges:
Cut out for "modern NBA"
Could be a steal
Could be a star
Only 3 players in NBA attempted as many 3's per game while grabbing as many rebounds (Cousins, Love and Aaron Gordon)

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/6/7/17435766/miles-bridges-nba-draft-2018-lottery

LofJ · Post #586 » by **LofJ** » Sun Jun 10, 2018 2:05 am

MasterIchiro wrote:Miles Bridges:
Cut out for "modern NBA"
Could be a steal
Could be a star
Only 3 players in NBA attempted as many 3's per game while grabbing as many rebounds (Cousins, Love and Aaron Gordon)

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/6/7/17435766/miles-bridges-nba-draft-2018-lottery

I've been coming around on Miles, although I think his functional athleticism is overrated, he undoubtedly has the skill, strength, and size to be a solid player in the league.

Braggins · Post #587 » by **Braggins** » Sun Jun 10, 2018 7:30 am

LofJ wrote:
MasterIchiro wrote:Miles Bridges:
Cut out for "modern NBA"
Could be a steal
Could be a star
Only 3 players in NBA attempted as many 3's per game while grabbing as many rebounds (Cousins, Love and Aaron Gordon)

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/6/7/17435766/miles-bridges-nba-draft-2018-lottery

I've been coming around on Miles, although I think his functional athleticism is overrated, he undoubtedly has the skill, strength, and size to be a solid player in the league.

I kind of am too, but I think its at least partly due to not being very excited about the other options.

MasterIchiro · Post #588 » by **MasterIchiro** » Sun Jun 10, 2018 11:44 am

Braggins wrote:
LofJ wrote:
MasterIchiro wrote:Miles Bridges:
Cut out for "modern NBA"
Could be a steal
Could be a star
Only 3 players in NBA attempted as many 3's per game while grabbing as many rebounds (Cousins, Love and Aaron Gordon)

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/6/7/17435766/miles-bridges-nba-draft-2018-lottery

I've been coming around on Miles, although I think his functional athleticism is overrated, he undoubtedly has the skill, strength, and size to be a solid player in the league.

I kind of am too, but I think its at least partly due to not being very excited about the other options.

That's why I'm open to trading the pick for a more known commodity. If Miles is there, I want to keep it and put him in a Hornets uni.

Braggins · Post #589 » by **Braggins** » Sun Jun 10, 2018 12:04 pm

MasterIchiro wrote:
Braggins wrote:
LofJ wrote:
I've been coming around on Miles, although I think his functional athleticism is overrated, he undoubtedly has the skill, strength, and size to be a solid player in the league.

I kind of am too, but I think its at least partly due to not being very excited about the other options.

That's why I'm open to trading the pick for a more known commodity. If Miles is there, I want to keep it and put him in a Hornets uni.

I like a lot about Miles, but I can't seem to get a definitive answer about whether or not he is quick enough on defense to be a good defender against athletic wings and he doesnt have the length to be good against 4s (switchable onto 4s, but likely not good against them).

On offense, I like his combination of strength, shooting potential, versatility, and two foot jumping. I also think his quickness on offense will probably be good enough to get adequate separation to allow him to bully his way to the rim fairly decently. I doubt he'll be an amazing offensive player, but its really easy to imagine him being at least a fairly efficient 15-18/7/3 guy on at least decent efficiency.

I feel like he really needs to be a good defender to be that exciting of a prospect, otherwise his ceiling will be kind of like Tobias Harris with less length and some occasional highlight dunks. A guy who is a fairly good offensive player, who can switch on defense, but isn't a good individual defender. He could easily bust pretty hard if ends up being a bad defender.

MasterIchiro · Post #590 » by **MasterIchiro** » Sun Jun 10, 2018 12:15 pm

He's going to rebound much better than Tobias Harris. I think of him as a cross between Harris and Draymond Green.

Braggins · Post #591 » by **Braggins** » Sun Jun 10, 2018 12:50 pm

MasterIchiro wrote:He's going to rebound much better than Tobias Harris. I think of him as a cross between Harris and Draymond Green.

That would be an all-nba level player. Theres virtually no chance his defense or playmaking ever reaches anywhere near Drays level. I don't really see much similarity with Draymond at all.

How about Tobias Harris on offense and taller PJ Tucker on defense? Thats probably all-star level.

Post #592 » by **BigSlam** » Sun Jun 10, 2018 2:06 pm

MasterIchiro wrote:He's going to rebound much better than Tobias Harris. I think of him as a cross between Harris and Draymond Green.

I see him more like Blake Griffin than Draymond.

I also think people (not you) overlook that he is a lefty but EXTREMELY ambidextrous - which is such a huge plus.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

James Gatz · Post #593 » by **James Gatz** » Sun Jun 10, 2018 4:45 pm

BigSlam wrote:
MasterIchiro wrote:He's going to rebound much better than Tobias Harris. I think of him as a cross between Harris and Draymond Green.

I see him more like Blake Griffin than Draymond.

I also think people (not you) overlook that he is a lefty but EXTREMELY ambidextrous - which is such a huge plus.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don't see either of Blake or Draymond. Blake has a much more refined handle and is a significantly better leaper off one. Miles can explode but needs to load up. Draymond has similar girth but is a much better passer and has GOAT level IQ.

Miles will likely be the best 3 pt shooter of the three though which is a big reason I'm high on him. Long term I see his floor as a rotation player with his likely distribution being a solid 3rd to 4th option with average defense. We need to hit some doubles especially if there's a sliver of a chance that he has all star outcome.

Lwcasu · Post #594 » by **Lwcasu** » Sun Jun 10, 2018 5:08 pm

Miles is a shorter/stronger Marion with a smaller wingspan. He'll flourish if he's surrounded by great good players on a great team. In a vacuum he is quite different from Blake Griffin or Tobias Harris. But, if you took Knox and crossed him with Miles Bridges, then you might get Blake Griffin.

Honestly, Knox is growing on me. I really disliked him earlier in the season, but his workout looked pretty good. I really like his shooting form. But, I don't know if he's ever going to be a stretch 4. If you watched him at Kentucky he shys away from all contact. A guy like Miles Bridges will play both the 3 and 4 in the NBA.

Watch on YouTube

;t=419s

Vanderbilt_Grad · Post #595 » by **Vanderbilt_Grad** » Mon Jun 11, 2018 1:27 am

Is it just me being obtuse or is there really no Hornets draft party this year?

MasterIchiro · Post #596 » by **MasterIchiro** » Mon Jun 11, 2018 1:28 am

BigSlam wrote:
MasterIchiro wrote:He's going to rebound much better than Tobias Harris. I think of him as a cross between Harris and Draymond Green.

I see him more like Blake Griffin than Draymond.

I also think people (not you) overlook that he is a lefty but EXTREMELY ambidextrous - which is such a huge plus.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

His finishing ability is excellent and he has the size and aggression to create opportunities.

I just have a very hard time seeing him become anything less than a solid starter.

316Hornets · Post #597 » by **316Hornets** » Mon Jun 11, 2018 1:32 am

Lwcasu wrote:Miles is a shorter/stronger Marion with a smaller wingspan. He'll flourish if he's surrounded by great good players on a great team. In a vacuum he is quite different from Blake Griffin or Tobias Harris. But, if you took Knox and crossed him with Miles Bridges, then you might get Blake Griffin.

Honestly, Knox is growing on me. I really disliked him earlier in the season, but his workout looked pretty good. I really like his shooting form. But, I don't know if he's ever going to be a stretch 4. If you watched him at Kentucky he shys away from all contact. A guy like Miles Bridges will play both the 3 and 4 in the NBA.

Watch on YouTube
;t=419s

Knox has some of that KG flavor. He definitely is a high risk, high reward pick in our range.

Braggins · Post #598 » by **Braggins** » Mon Jun 11, 2018 1:50 am

I feel like Knox's lack of a defined playstyle or any refined skills is helping his stock in an odd way because people end up seeing him as a blank slate of prototypical size that you can project onto whatever you want out of a modern combo forward, but I'm just not seeing a lot of evidence that there is reason to be confident he'll actually develop any of the skills/attributes.

I can't help but see a guy who doesn't really do much and has a high chance of just being a tall dude who can play a little defense and shoot decent.

Post #599 » by **yosemiteben** » Mon Jun 11, 2018 1:58 am

Very well said, completely agree.

Braggins · Post #600 » by **Braggins** » Mon Jun 11, 2018 2:08 am

I also agree that a lot of Kentucky players tend to surprise people once they get to the league and hes super young, so he might be legit.

Its hard for me to get excited about him with the kind of information we have as just fans, but I could see private workouts and the interview process possibly bumping his stock if he gives teams a reason to believe he'll develop.