2023 NBA Draft – Thurs, 8PM, June 22

[Hal14]

Solid big man option for an UDFA.

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If we grab a wing at pick 35, I'm down for grabbing Castleton as an UDFA.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eoATfXjWu5c

Reminds me of Moritz Wagner

I like Tubelis a lot more than Castleton, though I regard Tubelis as more of a 4 and Castleton strictly a 5. Tubelis is way more athletic and dynamic. One of the best rim running bigs in the entire draft. I think he's a little undervalued.

Eh, idk. Seems to me that they're fairly similar in a lot of ways, but a pretty massive gap between them defensively. Simply put, I think Castleton could be a pretty decent defender at the next level, for a backup big whereas Tubelis would probably get eaten alive.

And if you're gonna play Tubelis at the 4, I just don't know if he as enough mobility (lateral or getting up and down the floor) or ball skills to play the 4. And at the 4, he'd have to defend the perimeter more, and he'd get beat off the dribble every time. At the 5, he'd get dominated inside by a lot of bigs.

I'm just not very high on Tubelis. Would like to see how he does over in Europe and then maybe he can get a shot at playing in the NBA down the road, depending on how he looks over there..

[Hal14]

Another mock draft that I saw today had us taking Andre Jackson at 35.

I know I posted before how I was out on Jackson, mainly because of the shooting concerns, but also when you pair those shooting concerns with the fact that he's an older prospect (so less likely to improve the shooting than a younger guy like Rupert or Walsh), but he also isn't very strong as a scorer off the dribble, in mid range area, etc. Especially with our shooting coach Sullivan headed to Houston.

BUT reading this has me intrigued..

https://upsideswings.com/stones-board

As you'll see on this guy's big board, it is very different than the consensus mocks/big boards you see on mainstream sites. But this guy has watched a ton of film, done a ton of research and while his rankings are different, he backs them up with well articulated points.

He's got Jackson ranked 17th (ahead of Coulibaly, Jarace Walker, GG Jackson and Ausar Thompson) and here's why he ranks him there:

Yes he is going to be 22 years old during his rookie year, no he can not shoot, and I don't believe at this point he ever will be able to, but I have him this high because I think he is close to elite in every other way. Let's just get the obvious out of the way and address the elephant in the room, Andre Jackson Jr is not only a bad shooter, but a bad scorer. He just has 0 touch and can even miss at point blank range multiple times in a row. I know, that is not the greatest start to a pitch as to why I have him 17 on my board, but it's a glaring weakness of his that needed to be addressed. That said I think it is reasonable to consider every other aspect of basketball as an overwhelming strength of his. Stick with me as I try and help you understand what I see in him to justify a ranking this high. One of the best passers in this class, Andre can thread the needle into tightest of openings. He does sometimes get overly audacious with his attempts, but I am a believer in that being a fairly fixable trait. He is making some of the quickest passing reads you will see and it can come from on the move or stationary, and be windows he creates on his own or touch pass hockey assists. Although he struggles to use it for his own scoring purposes, Jackson does have a fairly quick handle and is rather explosive out of it, allowing him to get downhill and make some reads seemingly out of thin air. He has the potential to be a transition demon who can get coast to coast on his own very quickly, or make the perfect lead pass for someone else to finish the fast break. Apart from the passing, Jackson does have other strengths as an offensive player, including constant off-ball movement as a space filler, some of the best guard screens you'll ever see, and general opportunistic cutting. Defensively he is a menace who can give opponents fits in multiple different forms. Whether it is as a lockdown point of attack defender, a well-timed pass interceptor off-ball, or even as a help side rim protector when he decides to display his impressive verticality, Andre Jackson will always provide value to a team on that end. His rebounding also stands out as a box-out guy who is willing to go up and fight for boards amongst the trees. Lastly, the motor is a huge factor with Andre Jackson. It's not usually something that I often heavily weigh into my evaluations, but it is also not something that often pops out in the way that it does with Jackson. From tip-off to final buzzer, Andre will be flying around the court with the same amount of energy no matter where in the game the clock is. I know this is a tough sell, but ultimately I want to buy into players that I believe help lead to wins, and despite having a severe shortcoming and being older, I think Andre Jackson can do that, hopefully it's a bit easier to understand why.

[Andrew McCeltic]

Jackson's interesting as a second-rounder but no one has him that high. Guys who can't shoot or score sometimes hang on as limited roleplayers. Getting him on a two-way would be fantastic..

[Andrew McCeltic]

So Trayce Jackson-Davis needs to get stronger (already a senior) and add a jumpshot? First may not be fixable, second could be.

Reminds me a little of JaJuan Johnson - skilled, rail-thin kid we drafted who didn't pan out.

[Hal14]

Jackson's interesting as a second-rounder but no one has him that high. Guys who can't shoot or score sometimes hang on as limited roleplayers. Getting him on a two-way would be fantastic..

Yeah he's a tricky prospect to evaluate/project.

Really good defender and really good passer. I'm imagining Jackson as being kind of like D-White was last season when we first got him. Which has me worried, cause everyone on here was hating on White for passing up shots.

Then again, Jackson is about 2" taller than White and a little more athletic/explosive than White too. So maybe Jackson has a shot?

And I'm trying to think of some players who were THAT bad at shooting/scoring but were still good rotational players in the NBA recently. It's hard to think of many. Draymond? Rodman? Ben Wallace?

Those are all 4's and/or 5's, though. Jackson is a SG/SF combo. Are there any of those who were good rotational NBA guys recently who were very bad at shooting/scoring? I guess someone like Thybulle? But he has had trouble finding a role over the past couple of years. Philly needed to upgrade from him to try and get over the hump, because his lack of shooting/scoring was holding them back.

Then again, Jackson is more athletic and a better passer than Thybulle, so maybe he can make it?

It's hard to know for sure that Jackson will or won't make it. We haven't really seen many guys who have his combination of athleticism + size (6'6.5" with 6'9.75" wingspan) who are elite passers and elite defenders but are questionable shooters/scorers. The only other guys off the top of my head who fit that description are the Thompson twins. And the twins haven't played in the NBA yet, so we don't really know yet how this archetype will do. What we do know, is the twins are projected to be top 10 picks.

Then again, the twins are a year younger than Jackson, better ball handlers, better at getting to their spots off the bounce, have more shooting upside. But they also faced much worse competition than Jackson did. Jackson was a BIG reason why UConn won the national title.

You look at a guy like Scottie Barnes. Coming into the draft, questionable shooting/scoring ability but elite passing, elite defense, really good athleticism and similar size to Jackson. Barnes went 4th overall and won ROY. But to be fair, Barnes is a little taller, longer wingspan than Jackson and younger coming into the draft.

I can see how taking a wing on Jackson might not be a bad idea. Bottom line, this Celtics team isn't lacking i shooters, we're not lacking in scorers. What we could use more of is guys who truly play HARD every damn minute they're on the floor, who play with heart, who hustle, who give maximum effort EVERY game, even if we're facing a lottery team with one of their best players out. We have to get our defensive identity back. And we need to shoot less 3's, do less iso on offense, more ball movement, more unselfish play on offense, more cutting. Jackson fills those all of those needs to a tee.

[Bill Lumbergh]

Reminds me of Moritz Wagner

I like Tubelis a lot more than Castleton, though I regard Tubelis as more of a 4 and Castleton strictly a 5. Tubelis is way more athletic and dynamic. One of the best rim running bigs in the entire draft. I think he's a little undervalued.

Eh, idk. Seems to me that they're fairly similar in a lot of ways, but a pretty massive gap between them defensively. Simply put, I think Castleton could be a pretty decent defender at the next level, for a backup big whereas Tubelis would probably get eaten alive.

And if you're gonna play Tubelis at the 4, I just don't know if he as enough mobility (lateral or getting up and down the floor) or ball skills to play the 4. And at the 4, he'd have to defend the perimeter more, and he'd get beat off the dribble every time. At the 5, he'd get dominated inside by a lot of bigs.

I'm just not very high on Tubelis. Would like to see how he does over in Europe and then maybe he can get a shot at playing in the NBA down the road, depending on how he looks over there..

Yeah, I guess we'll just disagree. Castleton is a plodder, comparatively. Tubelis athleticism is far superior. Tubelis consistently beats his guy down the court, and frequently blows by people in the halfcourt. This vid shows him doing that all the time. It's basically what he does.

Watch on YouTube

I quit marking these things at around 7 and a half minutes, but this is chock full of him beating guys down the court, at 0:28, 1:44, 2:02, 3:13, 3:20, 4:19, 4:56, 5:09, 7:06, 7:37 (where I stopped marking them).

I'm not saying he's gonna be a world beater, just that he looks a lot better than Castleton to me. Tubelis reminds me of Jerebko, so, a potentially useful player.

[return2glory]

draft Emoni Bates #35 and let him develop & hit the weight room in the G-League for a season. Can't teach 6'10 scoring on the wing. He has it. Just needs to mature, get stronger, and learn how to play the pro game. All teachable areas. I think the upside is still there with him.

Two guys I like a lot and haven't talked about are Maxwell Lewis and Emoni Bates. It would be nice to have a 1st round pick because I feel both these guys would go between about 18-30 in the first round. Mock drafts are sleeping on Bates, I haven't seen one mock draft have him going in the 1st round. I like his potential as a scorer. But he is too thin, takes bad shots, low BBIQ.

I would take Lewis if Lewis slipped to 35. There are about 7 or 8 other players I like at 35 more than Bates.

[return2glory]

So Trayce Jackson-Davis needs to get stronger (already a senior) and add a jumpshot? First may not be fixable, second could be.

Reminds me a little of JaJuan Johnson - skilled, rail-thin kid we drafted who didn't pan out.

Not even close to JJ. TJD can dribble and pass. If he had a jump shot, he would go top 15 in the 1st round. Better BBIQ too. And his dad was a really good NBA player too.

[ThePigeon]

I gamble Brad selects Emoni Bates with the 35 pick
I don't know why. His name just pops to my head every couple of hours

[Hal14]

So Trayce Jackson-Davis needs to get stronger (already a senior) and add a jumpshot? First may not be fixable, second could be.

Reminds me a little of JaJuan Johnson - skilled, rail-thin kid we drafted who didn't pan out.

Not even close to JJ. TJD can dribble and pass. If he had a jump shot, he would go top 15 in the 1st round. Better BBIQ too. And his dad was a really good NBA player too.

Also, TJD is definitely not rail thin. He's 6'9", 240. You might be thinking of someone else.

[ddb]

I gamble Brad selects Emoni Bates with the 35 pick
I don't know why. His name just pops to my head every couple of hours

If you draft Bates, you want him around the big club as much as possible. He's a kid that needs to learn what it takes to be a professional. He needs guys like Tatum & Brown to beat his ass in practice every day, but mentor him in the weight room, meal room, etc. Having a guy like Horford around and Smart around is huge too. Bates is a special talent. He was so highly touted that it backfired, and his star has now fallen. I'd imagine it's pretty difficult being called the "Next KD" at age 12.
But as long as he isn't mentally a complete mess, and as long as he's coachable, I'd take a chance on him.

Having a 6'10 wing scorer coming off the bench would be nice in the future

[Hal14]

Damn, this is pretty impressive.

Watch this and remember, this dude is only 19 years old! And he has this level of maturity/perspective, he's this motivated and well grounded. Not to mention how well he speaks english for a dude who's lived his whole life in France, where english is not the first language.

Read on Twitter

[djFan71]

I've now fully convinced myself that we're doing my 2024 1st for CHA's 3 seconds this year from the trade thread. Lot of guys I'd love to take chances on and two-way/stash.

The PP/35 for 20s pick part I'm less certain will happen. Only like 87% chance of that.

[Smart2Nesmith43]

Damn, this is pretty impressive.

Watch this and remember, this dude is only 19 years old! And he has this level of maturity/perspective, he's this motivated and well grounded. Not to mention how well he speaks english for a dude who's lived his whole life in France, where english is not the first language.

Read on Twitter

He did a short stint at Barcelona before turning them down when he was like 14 because he felt the coaches were afraid of telling him what he did wrong and weren't going to push him hard enough. Meanwhile we have guys ten years older that film themselves waving guns inside clubs at 4am in the middle of the season.

[Hal14]

Welp, I think I have to move Gueye down a few spots on my big board after watching this.

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Watching this, he is still pretty raw. He has some stuff to clean up, on both ends of the floor. He does appear to be a project. Looks like someone you take in the 40's or 50's. Probably should have stayed in school for 1 more year, work on his weaknesses and hopefully go 1st round next year.

Guess I will probably pass on him at 35. But if we do take him, I won't be too mad about it - because there is still some good potential here and his weaknesses are definitely fixable with time, with the right coaching and if he puts the work in.

[return2glory]

Watch on YouTube

Posted about him a few weeks back. He is like Slow-mo. Good all around game.

[gdagod10]

The more I think about it, the more I'm okay with Celtics going w Amari Bailey. Freshman who had a great season on a stacked UCLA team w a bunch of upperclassmen.

Mick Cronin is a hard ass and runs a system that doesn't really help freshman demonstrate an NBA skill set, and he still trusted Bailey. Not to mention he was a top recruit coming out of HS.

As bad as we need a center, drafting for need in the second round is a classic way of screwing yourself (Fab Melo.

[bucknersrevenge]

He isn't slow footed. His lateral quickness can get better against smaller guards but he is actually a solid defensive player. He is one of my top 3 favorites at 35 if he is still there. I watched him this season more than I've watched any player in this draft other than Drew Timme. I've watched games, not highlights.
Jaime Jaquez Jr is an underrated player based on where most mock drafts have him going. He is finally climbing up the draft boards this week. He does a lot of good things on the floor. He makes winning plays and comes up big.

Watch on YouTube

Look at the 2:37 mark to check out his foot speed.

Not a fan. For whatever reason, he looks like the most milquetoast boring player I ever saw. Not one thing jumps out about him. No one thing it looks like he does very well. Average athlete. It would make total sense that he would be our choice.

Prob just don't like Mexicans i bet.

Seriously though guy is the leader in defensive win shares in the entire NCAA and people are like he prob sucks on D and there's nothing he's good at.

Yeah that's it. Mexicans...that's my problems.

Nothing lends credibility to your points quite like pulling bigotry out of your ass because I dare not be interested in Jacquez. Not sure what your problem is with me bro but you can simply hit the ignore button.

[GoGreen]

Trace Jackson-Davis at #35 could be a great pickup if he's there.

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[flintsky21]

Trace Jackson-Davis at #35 could be a great pickup if he's there.

Watch on YouTube

Nice. I'd say John Collins with more defensive upside?