Duke4life831 wrote:Here is my biased rundown on this draft heading into the college season.
1. Zion is my #1 guy right now. I slid him to my #1 right before the Canada trip when I heard from my buddies that his handles in practice were really improved. Zion with a handle is a damn scary guy. The dude loves to rebound, underrated facilitator, tremendous IQ offensively. Defensively he isnt bad, he plays with effort but he has horrible defensive skill and footwork right now.
2. Cam is my #2. To me he is by far the best prospect in this class and best Duke wing prospect I have seen (didnt see Grant Hill). Handle? Check. Length? Check. Jumper? Check. Can finish at the rim? Check. Not the most explosive athlete, but has enough explosion and is very agile and a lot of wiggle to his game, has no problem creating space. The only down side to him is he reminds me of Wiggins when it comes to his fire. That is scary for me and the only reason I dont have him #1.
3. Little. I love his physique and I love how much he loves to play defense. Offensively he has a good spin move when he drives and has a good turn around mid range jumper. His 3pt shot is coming along, not sure he is ever going to be a deadly 3pt shooter, Im kind of expecting a Jimmy Butler type shooter. The downfall I have with him is he can play really stiff offensively. He doesnt have the agility and wiggle like a Jimmy Butler. He also has a pretty average handle as well for a wing his age. Im not sure he is ever going to be a guy that can create his own shot efficiently consistently.
4. RJ. I think he is a solid prospect but I have never seen the superstar potential that so many people talk about. Solid size but definitely not elite with a 6'9 wingspan, he has that assassin mindset which can be great but can also be bad when his jumper isnt falling. His jumper is pretty ugly right now, it is a slow shot that is not consistent and Im not sure how much potential is there. He is a very stiff athlete. Really lacks lateral agility, he stays really high when he attacks off the dribble. When he has open spaces he can really get up, but still not the most functional athlete. I dont think he is a horrible prospect, I think he can be a mid range wizard like DeMar but with defense.
Right now I think any team that lands a top 4 pick will be happy with the value they're getting, after that is another story in my opinion. Right now I personally feel like there is only 1 other player that would be a lottery pick in most drafts and that is Langford and I think he would be tail end of the lotto most drafts. Im also not high on Jontay Porter either. I think he is a rotation big in the NBA. I know there are many Langford and Porter fans that will disagree with me on those 2 guys. Mid 20s is where I think the value returns in this draft, especially if Tyler Herro drops to the 20s. I think if guys like Konate, Bazley, Jordan Brown, Garland, Tre Jones and Louis King are sitting there in the mid and late 20s those would be good value picks.
Yeah I remember watching Reddish in the MacDonalds game and he really stood out as he made some really flashy passes and had like a half dozen steals on defense. He was kind of hesitant to shoot though, went four or five trips down the flor without asking for the ball. It will be interesting to see what role he carves out playing next to Zion, Barrett, and Jones. I also think Grimes could sneak into the top four if Kansas makes a deep tourney run. We'll see a improved Azibuike, they'll be a very good team this year.
