March Madness | NBA prospect watch

[clyde21]

I hope UMBC could beat Kansas State today. Virginia got exposed without De'andre Hunter. With De'andre Hunter back and everyone else healthy, Virginia is still the best defensive team in the nation. If UMBC can beat Virginia, of course they can beat Kansas State. Virginia is much better defense and overall team than Kstate.

I'm not a fan at all of De'andre Ayton getting bounced in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament. It's inexcusable/ unacceptable to be the #1 pick in the NBA draft when you lose in the 1st round and the other top prospects advance to the sweet 16 or further. I think the top 5 picks in the NBA draft should be:

Bagley, JJJ, Doncic, Porter and Mikal Bridges in no particular order. Than I would take either Shai Gilgeous- Alexander, Wendell Carter or Kevin Knox as 6th, 7th and 8th in no particular order.

Ben Simmons' team didn't even make the tournament and still went #1. That's bad logic.

[bwgood77]

I hope UMBC could beat Kansas State today. Virginia got exposed without De'andre Hunter. With De'andre Hunter back and everyone else healthy, Virginia is still the best defensive team in the nation. If UMBC can beat Virginia, of course they can beat Kansas State. Virginia is much better defense and overall team than Kstate.

I'm not a fan at all of De'andre Ayton getting bounced in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament. It's inexcusable/ unacceptable to be the #1 pick in the NBA draft when you lose in the 1st round and the other top prospects advance to the sweet 16 or further. I think the top 5 picks in the NBA draft should be:

Bagley, JJJ, Doncic, Porter and Mikal Bridges in no particular order. Than I would take either Shai Gilgeous- Alexander, Wendell Carter or Kevin Knox as 6th, 7th and 8th in no particular order.

Ben Simmons' team didn't even make the tournament and still went #1. That's bad logic.

Fultz either. They were 2-16 in the TOUGH PAC 12.

[Stillwater]

The rule is never get confused about what a prospect's NBA impact is going to be based solely on his teams performance in the tournament. This is often the way players are overrated. Mikal Bridges is overrated playing on one of the best teams in the country, but that doesn't change the fact that he is an elite prospect as far as having reached a pretty high floor already. His ceiling is overrated though and should only make sense for lottery teams not in early rebuild mode given his age etc.
By the same tolken a prospect like Ayton isn't suddenly less of an NBA prospect because his team got beat early any more so than a prospect like Jairus Lyles isn't suddenly a top 5 pick after destroying VA

[BadWolf]

JJJ looks awful
Bridges... meh

[dukes_wild]

JJJ looks awful
Bridges... meh

Yeah I feel like JJJ has some bust potential


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[PierceFan4ever]

JJJ definitely has bust potential no way I would pick him as high as 3-4 that some of these mock drafts have. Bridges is borderline top 10

[Duke4life831]

Ya Bagley is just on another tier compared to JJJ. I know there is definitely some bias for me when I look at the 2 of them, but I just don't see how people can have JJJ over Bagley.

[nymets1]

I hope UMBC could beat Kansas State today. Virginia got exposed without De'andre Hunter. With De'andre Hunter back and everyone else healthy, Virginia is still the best defensive team in the nation. If UMBC can beat Virginia, of course they can beat Kansas State. Virginia is much better defense and overall team than Kstate.

I'm not a fan at all of De'andre Ayton getting bounced in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament. It's inexcusable/ unacceptable to be the #1 pick in the NBA draft when you lose in the 1st round and the other top prospects advance to the sweet 16 or further. I think the top 5 picks in the NBA draft should be:

Bagley, JJJ, Doncic, Porter and Mikal Bridges in no particular order. Than I would take either Shai Gilgeous- Alexander, Wendell Carter or Kevin Knox as 6th, 7th and 8th in no particular order.

Ben Simmons' team didn't even make the tournament and still went #1. That's bad logic.

Simmons is not a Center, The NBA has moved away from Centers and is mostly dominated by wings and guards, I wish I brought it up earlier. I would stay away from Ayton and Bamba.

[nymets1]

I hope UMBC could beat Kansas State today. Virginia got exposed without De'andre Hunter. With De'andre Hunter back and everyone else healthy, Virginia is still the best defensive team in the nation. If UMBC can beat Virginia, of course they can beat Kansas State. Virginia is much better defense and overall team than Kstate.

I'm not a fan at all of De'andre Ayton getting bounced in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament. It's inexcusable/ unacceptable to be the #1 pick in the NBA draft when you lose in the 1st round and the other top prospects advance to the sweet 16 or further. I think the top 5 picks in the NBA draft should be:

Bagley, JJJ, Doncic, Porter and Mikal Bridges in no particular order. Than I would take either Shai Gilgeous- Alexander, Wendell Carter or Kevin Knox as 6th, 7th and 8th in no particular order.

Ben Simmons' team didn't even make the tournament and still went #1. That's bad logic.

Fultz either. They were 2-16 in the TOUGH PAC 12.

Fultz is not a center prospect like Ayton and Bamba. NBA has moved away from Centers and is dominated by wings and guards.

[clyde21]

I hope UMBC could beat Kansas State today. Virginia got exposed without De'andre Hunter. With De'andre Hunter back and everyone else healthy, Virginia is still the best defensive team in the nation. If UMBC can beat Virginia, of course they can beat Kansas State. Virginia is much better defense and overall team than Kstate.

I'm not a fan at all of De'andre Ayton getting bounced in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament. It's inexcusable/ unacceptable to be the #1 pick in the NBA draft when you lose in the 1st round and the other top prospects advance to the sweet 16 or further. I think the top 5 picks in the NBA draft should be:

Bagley, JJJ, Doncic, Porter and Mikal Bridges in no particular order. Than I would take either Shai Gilgeous- Alexander, Wendell Carter or Kevin Knox as 6th, 7th and 8th in no particular order.

Ben Simmons' team didn't even make the tournament and still went #1. That's bad logic.

Simmons is not a Center, The NBA has moved away from Centers and is mostly dominated by wings and guards, I wish I brought it up earlier. I would stay away from Ayton and Bamba.

This is completely different argument though. If you don't value Centers as much as other positions, that's fine, but him losing in the first round has no bearing on his stock or where he'll be picked.

[anthony00]

JJJ definitely has bust potential no way I would pick him as high as 3-4 that some of these mock drafts have. Bridges is borderline top 10

??

[bwgood77]

Ben Simmons' team didn't even make the tournament and still went #1. That's bad logic.

Fultz either. They were 2-16 in the TOUGH PAC 12.

Fultz is not a center prospect like Ayton and Bamba. NBA has moved away from Centers and is dominated by wings and guards.

In general I agree with you. I wouldn't take Ayton #1 either....not just because of that game though.

[bwgood77]

It's hard to know with JJJ being the youngest top prospect by a fair margin and playing for Izzo who relies more on his veteran guys. Obviously his defense and shooting this year were impressive. He had #s similar to Towns but shot better from deep.

Towns actually also was on a team relying a lot on the sophomore Harrison twins and junior WCS.

Reminds me of Towns tourney game performance here... https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/2015-03-26-kentucky.html

He had those games without eye popping #s... https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/2015-03-21-cincinnati.html

[nymets1]

Fultz either. They were 2-16 in the TOUGH PAC 12.

Fultz is not a center prospect like Ayton and Bamba. NBA has moved away from Centers and is dominated by wings and guards.

In general I agree with you. I wouldn't take Ayton #1 either....not just because of that game though.

Who would you want the Suns to draft? I want the Magic to draft another guy similar to Jonathan Isaac( Versatile, Can defend multiple positions, athletic, 3 point shooter) except Isaac hasn't shown the 3 point shot.

In this year's draft that is either Bagley, JJJ or Mikal Bridges, maybe Shai Gilgeous Alexander

[nymets1]

This year's prospects are overrated, not all of them but some of them. In college guys like Michael Jordan, Westbrook, John Wall, Karl Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis, James Harden, etc don't get bounced in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament.

If guys like Lebron, Kobe, Garnett played in college, They wouldn't get bounced in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament.

The only big name prospects still playing going in the sweet 16- Bagley, Mikal Bridges and Shai Gilgeous Alexander, maybe Wendell Carter.

[SlowPaced]

This year's prospects are overrated, not all of them but some of them. In college guys like Michael Jordan, Westbrook, John Wall, Karl Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis, James Harden, etc don't get bounced in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament.

Ben Simmons didn't even make the tournament.

[NBAFan93]

This year's prospects are overrated, not all of them but some of them. In college guys like Michael Jordan, Westbrook, John Wall, Karl Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis, James Harden, etc don't get bounced in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament.

If guys like Lebron, Kobe, Garnett played in college, They wouldn't get bounced in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament.

The only big name prospects still playing going in the sweet 16- Bagley, Mikal Bridges and Shai Gilgeous Alexander, maybe Wendell Carter.

I agree. Makes me think these guys today just aren’t team players w/ a winning attitude or something.

[bwgood77]

Fultz is not a center prospect like Ayton and Bamba. NBA has moved away from Centers and is dominated by wings and guards.

In general I agree with you. I wouldn't take Ayton #1 either....not just because of that game though.

Who would you want the Suns to draft? I want the Magic to draft another guy similar to Jonathan Isaac( Versatile, Can defend multiple positions, athletic, 3 point shooter) except Isaac hasn't shown the 3 point shot.

In this year's draft that is either Bagley, JJJ or Mikal Bridges, maybe Shai Gilgeous Alexander

Ideally Doncic. After that, Ayton.

[clyde21]

This year's prospects are overrated, not all of them but some of them. In college guys like Michael Jordan, Westbrook, John Wall, Karl Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis, James Harden, etc don't get bounced in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament.

If guys like Lebron, Kobe, Garnett played in college, They wouldn't get bounced in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament.

The only big name prospects still playing going in the sweet 16- Bagley, Mikal Bridges and Shai Gilgeous Alexander, maybe Wendell Carter.

Towns, Wall, Davis all played on Kentucky. Kentucky doesn't get bounced in the first round because they're loaded.

And Michael Jordan? Who are you Skip Bayless?

[Stillwater]

Davis and Hogg were impressive against UNC.
Both are fringe first rounders. If they continue to play at that level wouldn't be shocked to see them in the title game. If that happens Hogg is a first round lock.