2023 NBA Draft

[clyde21]

Duke/UK/Gonzaga/UNC

all out of the ap top 10

lol

[Hal14]

Is Taylor Hendricks firmly on his way to being a lottery pick? Possibly top 10?

I'd say he's firmly a 1st round pick, with the potential to jump into the lottery.

We need more of a sample size on him and we need to see him face some better competition. I feel like it's pretty rare for mid major freshmen who weren't top 20 recruits coming out of HS to go super high in the draft as a one and done..

[EvanZ]

Is Taylor Hendricks firmly on his way to being a lottery pick? Possibly top 10?

I'd say he's firmly a 1st round pick, with the potential to jump into the lottery.

We need more of a sample size on him and we need to see him face some better competition. I feel like it's pretty rare for mid major freshmen who weren't top 20 recruits coming out of HS to go super high in the draft as a one and done..

He was a top 50 recruit and offers from Memphis, LSU, Florida St, etc. Similar recruiting rank to Jett Howard. Don't let the UCF thing fool you. His brother is on the team. Maybe that's why he wanted to go there.

[916fan]

Dariq Whitehead broke his feet just 12 weeks ago + is really young for his class + adjusting to college.

All kind of funk mixed in there. If he doesn't look good when tourney starts, let's talk. Even then, I think he gets drafted as a late first rounder at minimum. AJ Griffin looked like he lost all his atheleticism and went #16 last year playing the same role as DWH right now at Duke, the role of a spot up shooter; and he wasn't no where near as good as DWH in high school.

I know they're playing the same role, but AJ was a significantly better shooter who shot 44.7% from 3pt. His shot is a bit unorthodox, but it works and he had the sample size to back it up. Through 9 games and a smaller sample size, Whitehead is at 26.1%.

I do agree with you though. He's late 1st rounder at minimum. HS hype unfortunately will carry anyone to the NBA. See Giles, Skal, and Baldwin Jr. I don't think he's as bad as those guys, but hopefully he starts stringing together some more good games.

[Hal14]

For anyone who hasn't seen them yet, there's 2 new City Reapers (the Thompson twins team) games up on amazon prime.

Watching them and definitely thinking they are both top 4 picks. Then I've got Whitmore at 5.

The Thompson twins are just freaks, man. The size, athleticism, play making, rim pressure, handle. Ausar is a little stronger physically.

Amen the better playmaker/floor general, but in this game vs the cold hearts, Ausar just made an insane pass where he drive the lane, hung in the air near the rim, drew the help defender and zipped a kick out pass to to the opposite corner right on the money...with his left hand! Nuts.

Then Amen just drew a charge, with his team up by 20 in the 4th quarter.

These guys are crazy, in a good way.

[clyde21]

speaking of USC players, couple of strong games back to back for Tre White, top 35 RSCI guy this year and has really good size for a guard.

[DowNY]

For anyone who hasn't seen them yet, there's 2 new City Reapers (the Thompson twins team) games up on amazon prime.

Watching them and definitely thinking they are both top 4 picks. Then I've got Whitmore at 5.

The Thompson twins are just freaks, man. The size, athleticism, play making, rim pressure, handle. Ausar is a little stronger physically.

Amen the better playmaker/floor general, but in this game vs the cold hearts, Ausar just made an insane pass where he drive the lane, hung in the air near the rim, drew the help defender and zipped a kick out pass to to the opposite corner right on the money...with his left hand! Nuts.

Then Amen just drew a charge, with his team up by 20 in the 4th quarter.

These guys are crazy, in a good way.

Just remember that the twins are playing low comp.

[clyde21]

SI has Clowney at #18 now on their BB, looks like he might be a 1AD after all

[Hal14]

For anyone who hasn't seen them yet, there's 2 new City Reapers (the Thompson twins team) games up on amazon prime.

Watching them and definitely thinking they are both top 4 picks. Then I've got Whitmore at 5.

The Thompson twins are just freaks, man. The size, athleticism, play making, rim pressure, handle. Ausar is a little stronger physically.

Amen the better playmaker/floor general, but in this game vs the cold hearts, Ausar just made an insane pass where he drive the lane, hung in the air near the rim, drew the help defender and zipped a kick out pass to to the opposite corner right on the money...with his left hand! Nuts.

Then Amen just drew a charge, with his team up by 20 in the 4th quarter.

These guys are crazy, in a good way.

Just remember that the twins are playing low comp.

Well yeah, I factor that in to my evaluations. Low comp but some of the players they play against are draft eligible this year. A lot of the other ones they play against are among the best 17/18 year old HS players in the country.

Similar (but likely better) comp level than these guys faced prior to getting drafted: KG, Kobe, T-Mac, Jermaine O'Neal, LeBron, etc.

[Braggins]

Spoiler:

For anyone who hasn't seen them yet, there's 2 new City Reapers (the Thompson twins team) games up on amazon prime.

Watching them and definitely thinking they are both top 4 picks. Then I've got Whitmore at 5.

The Thompson twins are just freaks, man. The size, athleticism, play making, rim pressure, handle. Ausar is a little stronger physically.

Amen the better playmaker/floor general, but in this game vs the cold hearts, Ausar just made an insane pass where he drive the lane, hung in the air near the rim, drew the help defender and zipped a kick out pass to to the opposite corner right on the money...with his left hand! Nuts.

Then Amen just drew a charge, with his team up by 20 in the 4th quarter.

These guys are crazy, in a good way.

Just remember that the twins are playing low comp.

Well yeah, I factor that in to my evaluations. Low comp but some of the players they play against are draft eligible this year. A lot of the other ones they play against are among the best 17/18 year old HS players in the country.

Similar (but likely better) comp level than these guys faced prior to getting drafted: KG, Kobe, T-Mac, Jermaine O'Neal, LeBron, etc.

Those guys were way more dominant against their bad competition, though. Imagine any of those guys (except maybe JO) at 20 years old playing against OTE competition... Imagine 19/20 year old Lebron in that setting lol.

[Hal14]

Spoiler:

Just remember that the twins are playing low comp.

Well yeah, I factor that in to my evaluations. Low comp but some of the players they play against are draft eligible this year. A lot of the other ones they play against are among the best 17/18 year old HS players in the country.

Similar (but likely better) comp level than these guys faced prior to getting drafted: KG, Kobe, T-Mac, Jermaine O'Neal, LeBron, etc.

Those guys were way more dominant against their bad competition, though. Imagine any of those guys (except maybe JO) at 20 years old playing against OTE competition... Imagine 19/20 year old Lebron in that setting lol.

1) The twins aren't 20.
2) I'm not sure if the bold part is true, and even if it is, i'm not sure the difference is as big as you seem to think. Perhaps the twins comp is slightly better, too. The game I was watching last night, they were playing against Rob Dillingham, a top prospect in the country who will be at Kentucky next year.
3) So what if the twins aren't as good as LeBron, KG, Kobe or T-Mac. All of those guys healthy in their prime are top 20 players of all time. No one is saying the twins will be that. All I'm saying is that it's possible for players to face comp that isn't so great prior to the NBA and still turn out to be REALLY good NBA players, so to not be so dismissive of them, because of the comp

[Braggins]

Spoiler:

Well yeah, I factor that in to my evaluations. Low comp but some of the players they play against are draft eligible this year. A lot of the other ones they play against are among the best 17/18 year old HS players in the country.

Similar (but likely better) comp level than these guys faced prior to getting drafted: KG, Kobe, T-Mac, Jermaine O'Neal, LeBron, etc.

Those guys were way more dominant against their bad competition, though. Imagine any of those guys (except maybe JO) at 20 years old playing against OTE competition... Imagine 19/20 year old Lebron in that setting lol.

1) The twins aren't 20.
2) I'm not sure if the bold part is true, and even if it is, i'm not sure the difference is as big as you seem to think. Perhaps the twins comp is slightly better, too. The game I was watching last night, they were playing against Rob Dillingham, a top prospect in the country who will be at Kentucky next year.
3) So what if the twins aren't as good as LeBron, KG, Kobe or T-Mac. All of those guys healthy in their prime are top 20 players of all time. No one is saying the twins will be that. All I'm saying is that it's possible for players to face comp that isn't so great prior to the NBA and still turn out to be REALLY good NBA players, so to not be so dismissive of them, because of the comp

1) They turn 20 next month. Their age is equivalent to college sophomore.
2) You aren't sure Lebron/Kobe/KG/TMac were more dominant against high schoolers than the Thompson twins? Here are their senior year in high school stats as 17/18 year olds. (pts/reb/ass/stl/blk)

Lebron - 32/10/5/3/?
Kobe - 31/12/7/4/4
TMac - 28/9/8/3/2
KG - 25/18/7/?/7

Here are the Thompson twins in OTE as 19/20 year olds

Amen - 17/6/6/2/1
Ausar - 19/8/5/3/1

3) You brought up the comparison. I'm just pointing out its very unfavorable to them.

I'm honestly not sure how to evaluate them, but the age and competition level stuff seems like a legit red flag.

[Hal14]

Those guys were way more dominant against their bad competition, though. Imagine any of those guys (except maybe JO) at 20 years old playing against OTE competition... Imagine 19/20 year old Lebron in that setting lol.

1) The twins aren't 20.
2) I'm not sure if the bold part is true, and even if it is, i'm not sure the difference is as big as you seem to think. Perhaps the twins comp is slightly better, too. The game I was watching last night, they were playing against Rob Dillingham, a top prospect in the country who will be at Kentucky next year.
3) So what if the twins aren't as good as LeBron, KG, Kobe or T-Mac. All of those guys healthy in their prime are top 20 players of all time. No one is saying the twins will be that. All I'm saying is that it's possible for players to face comp that isn't so great prior to the NBA and still turn out to be REALLY good NBA players, so to not be so dismissive of them, because of the comp

1) They turn 20 next month. Their age is equivalent to college sophomore.
2) You aren't sure Lebron/Kobe/KG/TMac were more dominant against high schoolers than the Thompson twins? Here are their senior year in high school stats as 17/18 year olds. (pts/reb/ass/stl/blk)

Lebron - 32/10/5/3/?
Kobe - 31/12/7/4/4
TMac - 28/9/8/3/2
KG - 25/18/7/?/7

Here are the Thompson twins in OTE as 19/20 year olds

Amen - 17/6/6/2/1
Ausar - 19/8/5/3/1

3) You brought up the comparison. I'm just pointing out its very unfavorable to them.

I'm honestly not sure how to evaluate them, but the age and competition level stuff seems like a legit red flag.

Lots of college players turn 20 during their freshman year. It's shortsighted to just label the twins as being the age of "college sophomores". Keegan Murray played his entire freshman season at age 20. Same is the case for Mongolian Mike. Brandon Miller turned 20 very early in his freshman season, Chet Holmgren turned 20 as a freshman, Taran Armstrong turned 20 midway through his freshman season, etc.

Also, it seems like you're basing an awful lot on old school box score stats, rather than the eye test..

Again, I wasn't comparing the twins to those guys. Simply saying to not be so quick so dismiss them or de-value them just because of the comp.

[clyde21]

The twins are sophomore aged I thought that was already understood?

people making the same big deal about Brandon Miller's age need to also do the same with the twins, at least Miller is playing against SEC talent while the twins are still playing against high schoolers

[CptCrunch]

I've gone through this at least 5 other times. The problem isn't with Amen and Ausar's absolute age, it is with their absolute lack of producction playing crapper high school basketball while being at least 2 years older than most of the kids they are playing against.

Their efficiency sucks, their shooting sucks, Ausar actually sucks. This 'shooting' guard Ausar is shooting a 60-something percent from the FT in OTE. The point guard Amen is clanking 3's at a 16% clip while hitting 50% of his FT last year (improved this year).

Amen has a case for a lotto pick dependihng how much you want to discount his crappy play in high school (which is now btw, OTE is worse than high school).

[Hal14]

I've gone through this at least 5 other times. The problem isn't with Amen and Ausar's absolute age, it is with their absolute lack of producction playing crapper high school basketball while being at least 2 years older than most of the kids they are playing against.

Their efficiency scusk, their shooting sucks, Ausar actually sucks. Amen has a case for a lotto pick dependihng how much you want to discount his crappy play in high school (which is now).

Man, so many people on here are closed minded.

Some people need to watch some games and not just base everything on age and box score stats lol.

You guys sound like a bunch of grumpy old men, shaking your fists and telling people to get off your lawn. "grrr, these kids chose a different path to the NBA that isn't college, grrrr! I must bash them on the internet, grrrrr!"

The latest mock has Amen going 3rd and Ausar 5th. But you're totally right, Ausar sucks and Amen is a borderline lottery pick

https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/wizards/2023-nba-mock-draft-30-four-non-ncaa-players-lead-class

[Braggins]

Both posters on here who recently tried to push back against skepticism of the Thompson twins have barely tried making an actual argument and pretty much immediately resorted to calling everyone haters.

Id honestly be interested in hearing an actual good argument/explanation for why their lack of production at their age against such terrible competition shouldn't be considered a big red flag.

I'm not actually convinced they are bad or anything and so far am just skeptical of them, but haven't watched them yet so I can't say anything definitive. My mind is open, but so far the only arguments I'm hearing are that everyone that isn't sold on them is a hater or angry old man, so yeah...

[clyde21]

the twins are largely media made, it's actually pretty weird how hard the media is pushing these guys for some reason, every time I go to Youtube i see a new video about them, and not just from rando youtube guys but pretty big channels.

that's not to say they aren't decent enough NBA prospects and won't be drafted high, but the ratio of coverage they get for how good they actually are is way off. maybe the whole twins thing fascinates people and is a good story but because of all the coverage they've become really overrated.

the top 5 talk has been crazy to me for a while. nothing i've seen on the court says these guys should be taken that high.

[Hal14]

Both posters on here who recently tried to push back against skepticism of the Thompson twins have barely tried making an actual argument and pretty much immediately resorted to calling everyone haters.

Id honestly be interested in hearing an actual good argument/explanation for why their lack of production at their age against such terrible competition shouldn't be considered a big red flag.

I'm not actually convinced they are bad or anything and so far am just skeptical of them, but haven't watched them yet so I can't say anything definitive. My mind is open, but so far the only arguments I'm hearing are that everyone that isn't sold on them is a hater or angry old man, so yeah...

The bold part is all that matters in your post.

I can't imagine commenting on here about a player if I've never watched them a sufficient amount.

Hey, I've never driven a Lamborghini but maybe I'll go join a Lamborghini forum and criticize them and talk about how other cars are better.

[Im Your Father]

the twins are largely media made, it's actually pretty weird how hard the media is pushing these guys for some reason, every time I go to Youtube i see a new video about them, and not just from rando youtube guys but pretty big channels.

that's not to say they aren't decent enough NBA prospects and won't be drafted high, but the ratio of coverage they get for how good they actually are is way off. maybe the whole twins thing fascinates people and is a good story but because of all the coverage they've become really overrated.

the top 5 talk has been crazy to me for a while. nothing i've seen on the court says these guys should be taken that high.

Reminiscent of the Harrison twins.