2023 NBA Draft watch

[Tha King]

ideally, Simmons plays similarly to how he did during the run earlier in the season and he can be traded for expiring salary next year (and maybe even a pick).

[Netaman]

here are some sam vecenie blurbs on top 20 guards who seem like great fits with the type team the nets should look to continue building towards:

7. Cason Wallace | 6-4 guard | 19 years old | Kentucky
Wallace is a pure gamer and someone scouts buy turning into a terrific, starting-quality guard for a long time due to his shooting and elite defense. He’s one of the best defenders in the class — a master of anticipatory help away from the ball and aggressive physicality on the ball. He has the upside of an All-Defense level guard. Offensively, Wallace is much more comfortable as a catch-and-shoot weapon right now, taking shots directly off the hop on spot-ups and hitting his five attempts per game from 3 at a 42 percent clip. But he can also attack off the bounce a bit and run ball screens when necessary. He’s a strong straight-line driver and a sharp passer who makes terrific reads. Wallace profiles really well as a starting guard who does all of the little things on top of knocking down shots next to an elite player. I’d bet he’s a piece of some really good, winning teams.

9. Nick Smith Jr. | 6-4 combo guard | 19 years old | Arkansas
We haven’t gotten a chance to see a ton of Smith this season due to a right knee concern that has held him out of all but five games. Those five games were relatively hit or miss; Smith did a good job of using his footwork and creativity to create shots, but we didn’t see a ton of passing or playmaking or see him consistently knock down 3s at a high level. Scouts want to see him get back on the court to showcase that he’s more than a volume scorer and tough-shot maker. Hopefully we’ll get that chance. If he gets back out there, he could rise pretty substantially up the board. But there are more questions about Smith than were expected in the preseason given his reputation as a top-five player in the recruiting class. Anywhere in the lottery outside of the top three seems like a reasonable range right now.

11. Anthony Black | 6-7 guard | 19 years old | Arkansas
Confession time: Black is the exact kind of player I tend to overvalue. He has plus positional size as a 6-7 guard who can play point and initiate offense. He processes the game at an elite level, constantly making the right read and play. He defends at an exceptionally high level as a switchable player you can utilize on a variety of different players. He pressures the paint and has real athleticism. I love everything about Black’s game but one thing: He struggles to shoot it right now. He has real touch, but the mechanics are messy and are going to require real work. If he can work through those and get the most out of his touch, I buy Black becoming a really good player on good teams. But the jumper is going to be a hole he has to fix.

12. Keyonte George | 6-4 guard | 19 years old | Baylor
George is starting to come on recently, averaging 21.5 points over his last four games. But he’s also been extremely inefficient and hasn’t looked quite as athletic as was hoped coming into the season. He has all sorts of tricks in his toolbox, but he’s struggled a bit to get free from his man when going forward to try to finish at the rim. He does a great job of playing in between paces and dribbles, rising up for pull-up jumpers before defenders are ready to contest. But those shots haven’t quite fallen enough. The good news is he’s getting to the foul line a ton and deriving easy points that way because he gets defenders in awkward positions. But scouts aren’t totally sure what to make of George’s inefficiency. Baylor has lost some tight games to start Big 12 play, and it’ll be critical for the Bears to get on the right track. I’m still a believer in George, which is why I have him at No. 12. But scouts do diverge on him a bit, worrying about what the overall skill package looks like if the shot doesn’t come through.

https://theathletic.com/4066178/2023/01/12/nba-mock-draft-2023-wembanyama-henderson-whitmore-miller/

obviously if there's a wing/forward/center whose value is too good to pass up you do it but drafting a potential impact guard who can play with/behind dinwiddie for a year would be ideal.

[TheNetsFan]

Heading into the All-star break, our picks are currently sitting at 19 and 24.

[DrCoach]

Chris Ledlum - Harvard

35pts 13rebs 6stls 3asts 2Blks two 3’s

[ecuhus1981]

Chris Ledlum - Harvard

35pts 13rebs 6stls 3asts 2Blks two 3’s

Never heard of him, he's from Brooklyn so he's got a shot here!

Looking at his season stats, he seems like more of a combo forward, despite his prototypical SG size.

[DrCoach]

Chris Ledlum - Harvard

35pts 13rebs 6stls 3asts 2Blks two 3’s

Never heard of him, he's from Brooklyn so he's got a shot here!

Looking at his season stats, he seems like more of a combo forward, despite his prototypical SG size.

He had 50 D1 offers, won Gatorade player of the year, led Adidas Guantlet in scoring.

Hes a stud

[3pt_chucker]

Players I'm keeping an eye on for the Nets:

Guards: Jalen Hood-Schifino, Ryan Rupert, Anthony Black
Wings: Bilal Coulibaly, GG Jackson
Bigs: Kel'el Ware

[Born_Ready]

Max Abmas > ORU 6'0 guard.

I would love to see him in BK or OKC. He does need some development on getting to the basket (he can do it but not enough confidence in his game I don't think), but his mid range & outside shooting is top notch. He will probably go undrafted, but should be a 2nd round pick, imo. I also may be a little biased, but trust me he can play.

[Tha King]

Players I'm keeping an eye on for the Nets:

Guards: Jalen Hood-Schifino, Ryan Rupert, Anthony Black
Wings: Bilal Coulibaly, GG Jackson
Bigs: Kel'el Ware

This draft could be huge for the team. Seems like it is very deep but not much separation in that top 8-15 range. If the team could get a top 15 pick, you might be looking at a core player next to Bridges and Claxton.

[MrDollarBills]

I think we definitely need to key into a play making PG.

[JoseRizal]

This draft seems to be deeper as advertised, having a pick in the teens would most likely, at worse, net us a key rotation player. Adding the Suns pick (which hopefully further drops), we can bundle it with ours and further move up a few picks higher should our FO see someone they like.

If there's any consolation of having Sean Marks as our GM is he's been very good at selecting potential talents in the draft.

His track record says it all.
2016 - Caris LeVert (20th pick) - arguably top 12 in this draft
2017 - Jarrett Allen (22nd pick) - one of 6 all-stars selected in this draft
2018 - Dzanan Musa (29th pick) - Marks' only miss
2019 - Nic Claxton (31st pick) - arguably top 10 in this draft
2020 - Saddiq Bey (19th pick, but traded to the Pistons the following day) - arguably a top 10 pick in this draft
2021 - Cam Thomas (27th pick) - has the potential to be top 10 in a redraft

Of the 6 times Marks drafted, only once did he made a mistake with Musa. The rest turned out to be rotation players at the range they were drafted. Can you imagine him drafting in the teens? Or even at the lower end of the lottery at best?

With how our team is suffering bad losses lately, coupled with uncertain rotations, I'm no longer upset if we only reach the play-in. On the flipside, I've never been more excited in the draft for a very long time than this upcoming one.

[Eatgreenz]

My high hopes. Is that we can get Anthony black or amen thompson. Potential late teen picks with great potential

[JoseRizal]

My high hopes. Is that we can get Anthony black or amen thompson. Potential late teen picks with great potential

Amen Thompson is projected top 5, not sure he's within our reach. Anthony Black on the other hand, is still in the lottery, but is more getable in the mid-teens.

[Eatgreenz]

My high hopes. Is that we can get Anthony black or amen thompson. Potential late teen picks with great potential

Amen Thompson is projected top 5, not sure he's within our reach. Anthony Black on the other hand, is still in the lottery, but is more getable in the mid-teens.

Yea I've seen Amen as high as 5 to 14-15, he might not be as possible but crazier things have happened on draft night. Anthony black definitely could be had and perfect for our team his a mix of giddey and cade. Amen's athleticism just gives him that another notch of potential,but both could be stars.

[TheNetsFan]

The PHX pick is currently tied for 20/21 & our pick is at 22. The Phoenix pick likely ends up around 23. We're 1.5 games up on Miami with the tie breaker. Draft positioning gets really variable if we fall to the play-in. It's unlikely that we fall past 7 or 8, which likely means late teens if we win in the play-in & 14 if we lose both play-in games (likely to Atlanta & Toronto).

[Tha King]

Currently 34-27 and in sixth with the heat 1.5 games back. If the team gets into the play-in but doesn't win that's a top 14 pick. How much lower it could go would depend on what's happens out west and if teams like the Lakers, Wolves and Pelicans go on a run.

[CalamityX12]

We don't have a Dallas pick this yr?

[NetsWorld]

We don't have a Dallas pick this yr?

Don't think so, we have the Suns and Philly pick; the more I think about it, the more I prefer to own another team's picks over owning our own, hence you can avoid tanking. Maybe we get fortunate and can land two future players in the draft, who knows. In hindsight, while it was the right move signing KD, we should have NEVER traded for Harden; if we kept our pick, we could have TANKED HARD this year to have a shot at Victor but I guess it was not meant to be.

[Minnamaker]

We don't have a Dallas pick this yr?

Don't think so, we have the Suns and Philly pick; the more I think about it, the more I prefer to own another team's picks over owning our own, hence you can avoid tanking. Maybe we get fortunate and can land two future players in the draft, who knows. In hindsight, while it was the right move signing KD, we should have NEVER traded for Harden; if we kept our pick, we could have TANKED HARD this year to have a shot at Victor but I guess it was not meant to be.

Yeah I thought about that the other day. We would still have 4 Suns picks and the Dallas picks. Together with ours, this would be wild. But it is what it is. Could still be worse

Edit: btw we don't have the Philly pick afaik. Don't we send the worst pick of ours or Philly to Utah?

[TheNetsFan]

We don't have a Dallas pick this yr?

Don't think so, we have the Suns and Philly pick; the more I think about it, the more I prefer to own another team's picks over owning our own, hence you can avoid tanking. Maybe we get fortunate and can land two future players in the draft, who knows. In hindsight, while it was the right move signing KD, we should have NEVER traded for Harden; if we kept our pick, we could have TANKED HARD this year to have a shot at Victor but I guess it was not meant to be.

Yeah I thought about that the other day. We would still have 4 Suns picks and the Dallas picks. Together with ours, this would be wild. But it is what it is. Could still be worse

Edit: btw we don't have the Philly pick afaik. Don't we send the worst pick of ours or Philly to Utah?

Correct. We have only the second best of ours, Houston's And Philly's picks. That means almost certainly our own pick.