2023 NBA Draft – Thurs, 8PM, June 22

[Homerclease]

Unless there’s some super raw long wing talent that drops to the early second, I’m not really interested in anyone under 6’9” at this point. Celtics are loaded at the wing and guard spots. Time to take fliers on bigs in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle again

[playa-hater]

Unless there’s some super raw long wing talent that drops to the early second, I’m not really interested in anyone under 6’9” at this point. Celtics are loaded at the wing and guard spots. Time to take fliers on bigs in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle again

I like any "long" talented Wing on up to Center. as of now 3 chances to get 1 right. pick 33-35 will be a first rd talent. Get this right Boston.. please!!

[Hal14]

Unless there’s some super raw long wing talent that drops to the early second, I’m not really interested in anyone under 6’9” at this point. Celtics are loaded at the wing and guard spots. Time to take fliers on bigs in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle again

I like any "long" talented Wing on up to Center. as of now 3 chances to get 1 right. pick 33-35 will be a first rd talent. Get this right Boston.. please!!

Yeah I'd prefer someone at least 6'8".

I'd also be surprised if we use all 3 of these 2nd round picks. I'm assuming at least 1 of them gets traded at some point.

[Homerclease]

Unless there’s some super raw long wing talent that drops to the early second, I’m not really interested in anyone under 6’9” at this point. Celtics are loaded at the wing and guard spots. Time to take fliers on bigs in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle again

I like any "long" talented Wing on up to Center. as of now 3 chances to get 1 right. pick 33-35 will be a first rd talent. Get this right Boston.. please!!

Jaden Mcdainels is the first name that comes to mind when I think of this type player. Elite size for a wing who struggled a bit in college but clearly had some physical tools to work with. Draft a young kid in this mold and let him develop for a few years. Otherwise it’s all dart throws at bigs for me

[playa-hater]

Unless there’s some super raw long wing talent that drops to the early second, I’m not really interested in anyone under 6’9” at this point. Celtics are loaded at the wing and guard spots. Time to take fliers on bigs in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle again

I like any "long" talented Wing on up to Center. as of now 3 chances to get 1 right. pick 33-35 will be a first rd talent. Get this right Boston.. please!!

Jaden Mcdainels is the first name that comes to mind when I think of this type player. Elite size for a wing who struggled a bit in college but clearly had some physical tools to work with. Draft a young kid in this mold and let him develop for a few years. Otherwise it’s all dart throws at bigs for me

I had definitely wanted Jaden .. thought he was Brandon Ingram light. I always Want a talented but unproven bigger player over Atlantic unproven short a player since there are so many more shorter players every draft..

[165bows]

So yeah, according to Tankathon our highest pick as of now is 33.

For sh*ts and giggles, here's the top 33 on my big board as of now..

Rank Player
1 Victor Wembanyama
2 Scoot Henderson
3 Amen Thompson
4 Ausar Thompson
5 Jarace Walker
6 Cam Whitmore
7 Nick Smith
8 GG Jackson
9 Anthony Black
10 Kel'el Ware
11 Keyonte George
12 Dariq Whitehead
13 Jett Howard
14 Cason Wallace
15 Brandon Miller
16 Gradey Dick
17 Ricky Council IV
18 Kris Murray
19 Maxwell Lewis
20 Terquavion Smith
21 Kyle Filipowski
22 Trevon Brazile
23 JJ Starling
24 Jalen Hood-Schifino
25 Dereck Lively
26 Rayan Rupert
27 Arthur Kaluma
28 Judah Mintz
29 Taylor Hendricks
30 Mark Mitchell
31 Jordan Walsh
32 Nikola Durisic
33 Julian Phillips

Jordan Walsh is an interesting target if he is still there. Very athletic. Very good defender. He's tenacious, high motor. 6'7" with a 7'3" wingspan and a 41" vertical. Natural position is the 3, but can play some at the 4 as well. Good passer/ball mover. Really the only weakness (and why he may slip to 2nd round) is that he's not a great scorer, in terms of creating his own shot off the dribble or nailing the outside shot. He's honestly not terrible at either. Some people have him ranked in the 20-25 range. I have him a little bit lower but really there's little separation between the guys I have in the 22-33 range.

Walsh could be a really good fit here, if he falls that far. I say that because of his defensive mentality, the way he hustles, plays with an edge and moves the ball - plus he's a good cutter.

He's young, only a freshman and a little bit raw offensively. But that's ok. We'd develop him slowly. He'd be on a 2-way for the first 1-2 years. But his upside is being a Shawn Marion type - you get that in the 2nd round, you got a steal.

Hmm I guess Jordan Walsh could be a good consolation prize for not drafting Aaron Gordon, always liked the idea of him in green (though Smart was a pretty good option as well...)

Edit: Not for nothing but I could see the Celtics trading into the very end of the first round this summer if they don't trade the picks first. Trade something like #34, #46+ for ~#27-28. Phoenix, Lakers and maybe even Memphis could want a quantity over quality approach for $$$ reasons.

[big-shot-ROB]

Does anyone think we could take a flyer with someone like Emoni Bates? Or he just has too many red flags at this point + a negative wingspan ratio?

[Scoonie]

Does anyone think we could take a flyer with someone like Emoni Bates? Or he just has too many red flags at this point + a negative wingspan ratio?

He'll probably be a 1st round pick, so we won't have the chance.

[big-shot-ROB]

Does anyone think we could take a flyer with someone like Emoni Bates? Or he just has too many red flags at this point + a negative wingspan ratio?

He'll probably be a 1st round pick, so we won't have the chance.

You think someone's gonna pick him in the 20s? I feel it's a huge risk to waste a teens pick on him

[Scoonie]

Does anyone think we could take a flyer with someone like Emoni Bates? Or he just has too many red flags at this point + a negative wingspan ratio?

He'll probably be a 1st round pick, so we won't have the chance.

You think someone's gonna pick him in the 20s? I feel it's a huge risk to waste a teens pick on him

He's playing very well this year and still has a ton of upside. I definitely think multiple teams would be willing to take him in the late 1st round.

[165bows]

Big night for the picks - Houston/SAS and Portland/Denver. Could pretty much sew up that next great 10th man tonight lol.

[Homerclease]

I’ll throw out two names as project guys who I’d have my eyes on in the top of the second.

Dereck Lively out of Duke
Mouhamed Gueye from Washington State

[Hal14]

One sleeper to watch out for is Leaky Black. A wing with good size at 6'9" with a 6'11" wingspan.

Starting SF for UNC. Started for UNC last year when they made it to the NCAA title game.

Up until this season, he's been known as a 3&D guy, without the 3. But he must have worked on his shooting over the offseason, cause so far this season he's shooting 39% from 3 (albeit on low volume, just 2 attempts per game). But it's encouraging to see the improvement in his shooting.

And I was just watching highlights from UNC's game the other night vs Virginia Tech. Black had 1 play where he did a really nice job driving past his defender and exploding to the rim for a dunk.

Bottom line with Leaky Black, is that he's long, athletic and a very good, switchable defender. Obviously he's biased because it's his player, but in this clip, UNC coach Hubert Davis says Black is possibly the best. defender in the entire country:

Watch on YouTube

The only downside with Black (and why he's projected to go undrafted by most mock drafts) is the limited offensive game he's shown prior to this season and the fact that he's old (is 23, and will turn 24 next June). But hey, Chris Duarte was the same age when he was drafted and he was a lottery pick..

The upside here is an elite defender, 3&D type of guy at 6'9", can shoot it and attack closeouts fairly well, good athleticism. You get that in the 2nd round or an an UDFA, you got a steal. Plus you're getting an older guy who's more plug and play, more of a finished product who won't require tons of time/effort to develop him.

[Hal14]

Someone else brought up Jalen Wilson earlier.

He looked very good once again this weekend vs Kansas, in their win over Missouri.

Definitely looks like a solid guy to grab in the 2nd round.

He could possibly come in and contribute right away as a rookie.

[165bows]

With how deep our team is, not to mention Davison and Begarin who will look for a role next season and being a contender where you want to play vets over young guys, I feel like this is a draft we get at least 1 draft and stash guy.

The 2022 draft there was EIGHT players taken in the 2nd round who are being stashed. Not sure but I'm assuming that's a record.

A few stash possibilities..

-Rayan Rupert (I think he goes 1st round but if he slips to us in the 2nd round, he's a definite possibility)
-Sidy Cissoko (might be too much overlap with him and Begarin and he also might go late 1st or early 2nd round before our pick..)
-Nikola Durisic (not shooting very efficiently so far and is an average at best defender but there's also a chance he ends up being a top 15 player from this draft class which would be very good value in the 2nd round. Good chance he goes before our pick..)
-Berke Büyüktuncel (i posted about him earlier in the thread..)
-Fedor Zugic (sharpshooter, 6'5")
-Paulius Murauskas (if he really hits, he could end up being a Kukoc/Peja/Turkoglo type of guy. Maybe take him late 2nd round, low risk, high reward..)

Looked into Cissoko a little bit more - he definitely seems like a player this front office would target (ie, big guard, defensively versatile, can play multiple positions and pass, skeptical shot and handle (need we say more )).

Looks like he has a solid NBA level frame and bounce though.

[sam_I_am]

Victor Wembanyama has a younger brother Oscar who will be draft eligible in 2027. When was our pick swap again?

[165bows]

Adama Sanogo seems like he might be able to morph into a poor man’s Paul Millsap. He’d be on my second round radar.

[Hal14]

Adama Sanogo seems like he might be able to morph into a poor man’s Paul Millsap. He’d be on my second round radar.

He's an interesting prospect. Coming into the season I saw him as more of a guy who's a good college player but not really a fit in the NBA, due to having more of an old school back to the basket type of game, not great athleticism, mobility or rim protection for a big, can't shoot/pass/drive.

But this season he has shown some flashes of hitting 3's and also driving to the rim and even change of direction on the drive with some euro step and step through moves which is intriguing, especially since he is still pretty young and does have a high motor.

IDK if I'd draft him right now, but worth keeping an eye on as the season goes on..

[165bows]

Adama Sanogo seems like he might be able to morph into a poor man’s Paul Millsap. He’d be on my second round radar.

He's an interesting prospect. Coming into the season I saw him as more of a guy who's a good college player but not really a fit in the NBA, due to having more of an old school back to the basket type of game, not great athleticism, mobility or rim protection for a big, can't shoot/pass/drive.

But this season he has shown some flashes of hitting 3's and also driving to the rim and even change of direction on the drive with some euro step and step through moves which is intriguing, especially since he is still pretty young and does have a high motor.

IDK if I'd draft him right now, but worth keeping an eye on as the season goes on..

Yeah it's a weird thing with age. Obviously the same production at a younger age is better, but at some level, a lot of improvement over time has got to be worth something. I think he'd make more sense with the later of their picks, but who knows if he keeps up what he is doing he may look a little different. I suppose a lot also hinges on the defense as well, couldn't speak to that that well.

[165bows]

The guys in the ballpark I like the most at this point are Colby Jones (poor man's Brogdon), Jordan Walsh (poor man's Aaron Gordon), Tshiebwe, Sidy Cissoko (vaguely ~Smart-like). Maybe Sanogo or Pete Nance for a couple pulls at bench bigs in the back of the second round if they don't stash guys.