2022 NBA Draft Thread – (June 23rd, 8PM, ESPN)

[Smart2Nesmith43]

I have trouble buying Okeke as a NBA player. He just seems so slow and mechanical on offense and with bad fundamentals on defense. Now the defensive footwork can be cleaned up and it's a good sign that he stays in the play and he's usually long enough to recover but I really question if he can move his feet well enough for the NBA. I mean he is in a pretty big drop in many clips and still lets the guard turn the corner on him.

He looks slow gathering the ball and going up for the dunk so I don't think he'll be a great target as a roll man. It might be biased by the facts that these are highlights but a lot of his attempts are him getting his drive cut off and having to throw up a tough shot. Yeah he can get it off over the top in the italian second division but if he tries that against NBA length it's getting swatted into the second row.

With that said, 18 year old 7 footer that can shoot the three don't grow on trees so I wouldn't be entirely mad if it's the pick.

[ddb]

tell me this guy doesn't look like a potential Horford clone:

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You bring him in with that 2nd round pick, let him learn under Horford for a year but have him on a 2-way contract so most of his mins will be in g-league. Then by year 2 he'll be ready to start contributing off the bench.

The size, the shooting, the defense, the passing, the ability to lead the break, the ability to play the 4 or the 5..closest thing to Horford in this draft class.

Yes, he's Evan Mobley's older brother..

Doubtful he's still available at #53, but if he is you snag him. Perfect pick for late in the draft. Honestly, his brother is so damn good that you draft this kid and treat him like gold simply so he's talking to Evan about how amazing Boston is....then on top of that I think his game translates to the modern NBA.

[Scoonie]

tell me this guy doesn't look like a potential Horford clone:

Watch on YouTube

You bring him in with that 2nd round pick, let him learn under Horford for a year but have him on a 2-way contract so most of his mins will be in g-league. Then by year 2 he'll be ready to start contributing off the bench.

The size, the shooting, the defense, the passing, the ability to lead the break, the ability to play the 4 or the 5..closest thing to Horford in this draft class.

Yes, he's Evan Mobley's older brother..

I've liked him for the last two years, but he is nowhere near as strong and explosive as a young Al. Much better shooter and passer, though. I would still be happy if we picked him.

Will need to get a lot stronger to be a rotation piece in the NBA. Very skilled, however.

[Hal14]

tell me this guy doesn't look like a potential Horford clone:

Watch on YouTube

You bring him in with that 2nd round pick, let him learn under Horford for a year but have him on a 2-way contract so most of his mins will be in g-league. Then by year 2 he'll be ready to start contributing off the bench.

The size, the shooting, the defense, the passing, the ability to lead the break, the ability to play the 4 or the 5..closest thing to Horford in this draft class.

Yes, he's Evan Mobley's older brother..

I've liked him for the last two years, but he is nowhere near as strong and explosive as a young Al. Much better shooter and passer, though. I would still be happy if we picked him.

Will need to get a lot stronger to be a rotation piece in the NBA. Very skilled, however.

yeah even if he can be like older Al, that's still amazing value at pick 53. Definitely a guy worth considering if he's still on the board.

But yeah, if he can just work out with Grant he should be ok. Grant can work with him on getting stronger and also slimming down a little.

[Scoonie]

I still like Jabari Walker as the best fit of all the U.S. prospects. He appears to be staying in the draft:

https://sports.yahoo.com/jabari-walker-reportedly-decides-nba-181705842.html

Stretch 4 who can defend, rebound, shoot from deep, and has the frame to add strength. Can switch on defense and block some shots.

Also has at least a 7'0 wingspan. 19 years old college sophomore and still has a ton of upside. He can be our Al Horford understudy, which most of us agree is our biggest need.

Watch on YouTube

[Hal14]

I have trouble buying Okeke as a NBA player. He just seems so slow and mechanical on offense and with bad fundamentals on defense. Now the defensive footwork can be cleaned up and it's a good sign that he stays in the play and he's usually long enough to recover but I really question if he can move his feet well enough for the NBA. I mean he is in a pretty big drop in many clips and still lets the guard turn the corner on him.

He looks slow gathering the ball and going up for the dunk so I don't think he'll be a great target as a roll man. It might be biased by the facts that these are highlights but a lot of his attempts are him getting his drive cut off and having to throw up a tough shot. Yeah he can get it off over the top in the italian second division but if he tries that against NBA length it's getting swatted into the second row.

With that said, 18 year old 7 footer that can shoot the three don't grow on trees so I wouldn't be entirely mad if it's the pick.

Well yeah but that's why you stash him overseas for a couple of years. If Okeke gets picked in this draft, he's gonna be stashed for at least a year or 2.

The footwork, the post moves, the motor he plays with, the soft touch on shots, the strong/ferocious finishing near the rim, the flashes of being able to make moves putting the ball on the floor and hitting 3's. The flashes of being able to switch out on guards on the perimeter, the shot blocking. Doing all of this stuff at age 18 in a pro league is worth taking a 2nd round flier on IMO.

He does have some plays where he gets up and down the court pretty quick and is able to beat the defense down the floor foe easy buckets. And the long strides and long arms help him to make up ground. If he can slim down a little and get on a good conditioning program, it would really help.

As far as mechanical on offense, sure maybe a little but he also has way more skill than most 18 yr old 7-footers. Would you rather have a big who is less mechanical with his moves but has less skill? He can get more fluid and quicker with his moves over time, with more practice and training with better coaches. The fact that he's able to make so many of these turnaround fadeaway jumpers from that far from the basket at his size and age is pretty crazy.

I heard in an interview with Okeke that he's gonna try to join a team in a higher division for next season. That would be super helpful to bridge the gap and serve as a stepping stone from where he was this year (italy B division) to NBA.

Note - looks like his team has a best of 3 playoff series starting on saturday so he'll have at least 2 more games coming up. It'll be interesting to see how he does..

[Hal14]

I still like Jabari Walker as the best fit of all the U.S. prospects. He appears to be staying the draft:

https://sports.yahoo.com/jabari-walker-reportedly-decides-nba-181705842.html

Stretch 4 who can defend, rebound, shoot from deep, and has the frame to add strength. Can switch on defense and block some shots.

Also has at least a 7'0 wingspan. 19 years old college sophomore and still has a ton of upside. He can be our Al Horford understudy, which most of us agree is our biggest need.

Watch on YouTube

Yeah I like Jabari Walker for us. No doubt should be one of the top targets if he's still on the board. I think he's probably gonna go before our pick but you never know!

[playa-hater]

I still like Jabari Walker as the best fit of all the U.S. prospects. He appears to be staying the draft:

https://sports.yahoo.com/jabari-walker-reportedly-decides-nba-181705842.html

Stretch 4 who can defend, rebound, shoot from deep, and has the frame to add strength. Can switch on defense and block some shots.

Also has at least a 7'0 wingspan. 19 years old college sophomore and still has a ton of upside. He can be our Al Horford understudy, which most of us agree is our biggest need.

Watch on YouTube

he might be my top choice but as Hal said may/should not be there at 53. I see him shooting up quite a bit.

[Scoonie]

he might be my top choice but as Hal said may/should not be there at 53. I see him shooting up quite a bit.

Really hard to say. According to current mock drafts, he's slated to be taken in the mid-to-late 2nd round (some mock drafts have him going undrafted). The Sports Illustrated Prospect Rankings that came out this morning have him ranked at 48:

https://www.si.com/nba/2022/05/05/nba-draft-big-board-ranking-top-100-prospects-jabari-smith-jaden-ivey-chet-holmgren-paolo-banchero

But it's quite possibly that the actual NBA teams have him valued higher.

[Hal14]

ok last post about Lucas Williamson I swear! lol

This video tells us 3 things:

1) Loyola Chicago had the no. 1 ranked defense in college basketball in 2021
2) The vid points out how Williamson was Loyola's best defender, with some impressive D by him from 6:43 - 7:30 (Williamson won Missouri Valley Conference DPOY in back to back years, 2021 and 2022: https://loyolaramblers.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/lucas-williamson/1765 )
3) We see that they ran an aggressive switch-heavy scheme, which means it'll be a smooth transition for Williamson to adjust to the celtics defense

Again, he wears number 1 for Loyola..

Watch on YouTube

[Hal14]

he might be my top choice but as Hal said may/should not be there at 53. I see him shooting up quite a bit.

Really hard to say. According to current mock drafts, he's slated to be taken in the mid-to-late 2nd round (some mock drafts have him going undrafted). The Sports Illustrated Prospect Rankings that came out this morning have him ranked at 48:

https://www.si.com/nba/2022/05/05/nba-draft-big-board-ranking-top-100-prospects-jabari-smith-jaden-ivey-chet-holmgren-paolo-banchero

But it's quite possibly that the actual NBA teams have him valued higher.

Yeah it's tough to know for sure who will be there and who won't. but last year we all thought at least 1 of these guys would still be there at pick 45 for us but they were all gone:

Isiah Todd
Joe Wieskamp
Kessler Edwards
Herb Jones
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl
Santi Aldama
JT Thor
Greg Brown

After the g league elite cap and draft combine it'll start to get more clear where guys will go.

[Larry_Russell]

he might be my top choice but as Hal said may/should not be there at 53. I see him shooting up quite a bit.

Really hard to say. According to current mock drafts, he's slated to be taken in the mid-to-late 2nd round (some mock drafts have him going undrafted). The Sports Illustrated Prospect Rankings that came out this morning have him ranked at 48:

https://www.si.com/nba/2022/05/05/nba-draft-big-board-ranking-top-100-prospects-jabari-smith-jaden-ivey-chet-holmgren-paolo-banchero

But it's quite possibly that the actual NBA teams have him valued higher.

Yeah it's tough to know for sure who will be there and who won't. but last year we all thought at least 1 of these guys would still be there at pick 45 for us but they were all gone:

Isiah Todd
Joe Wieskamp
Kessler Edwards
Herb Jones
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl
Santi Aldama
JT Thor
Greg Brown

After the g league elite cap and draft combine it'll start to get more clear where guys will go.

I really liked Todd and still think he is going to be a player.

[Parliament10]

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[Hal14]

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[165bows]

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That's a thick looking wing.

[Smart2Nesmith43]

Last post about Vince Williams Jr.

Watch on YouTube

Quick trigger and accurate from 3 (39% on 10 attempts/100 possessions). Switchable body (6'6 and 210lbs with a 7' wingspan) and disruptive on defense (3% steal rate and 4% block rate). Point forward skills (20% assist rate and I mean just look at all the high level passes in a single game). Advanced stats darling. Still don't understand how he's mocked as undrafted pretty much everywhere.

[Scoonie]

Is there a list anywhere of which prospects got invited to the NBA Combine? I looked earlier today and couldn't find anything.

[Scoonie]

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[Scoonie]

I never knew how prospects were selected until now.

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[return2glory]

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I like Gabe for us if he is there when we select. Watched him in the NCAA tourny and he stuck out.