The (way too early) 2024 Draft thread. Woo! Tanking!

[nate33]

The right decision every time with that kid. Ok yeah, I like Reed. BBIQ star.

Yeah, I'm really starting to buy into the Mark Price comp. I'm kinda hoping we don't pick in the top 2 or 3 in the draft because I doubt they will be able to bring themselves to draft a 6-2 white guy that high. But if we end up picking 5th or 6th, drafting Reed Sheppard might actually happen.

[nate33]

I think the Wizards will go for size and athleticism. Interesting that Reed's father Jeff was a big star at Kentucky and a washout in the NBA.
Maybe he should not enter the draft until he physically matures a bit and doesn't have to up against such good athletes at an early age. Money isn't a factor in his family.

He is being mocked in the lottery by everyone. He'll definitely declare for the draft.

[PaulinVA]

We had Mark Price once upon a time. He hated it here and he had some foot disease that kept him out the whole year, then he left. Has nothing to do with Sheppard, just brought to mind another episode of so Wiz.

Foot disease? When was that, 1994 +/-? That was the year I learned of the condition plantar fasciitis:

https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/understanding-plantar-fasciitis-basics

[J-Ves]

I just don’t see the Wiz taking Sheppard even if they get screwed and fall to 7th in the draft. Dawkins and co strike me as guys who will err on the side of size and athleticism over gaudy stats

[nate33]

I just don’t see the Wiz taking Sheppard even if they get screwed and fall to 7th in the draft. Dawkins and co strike me as guys who will err on the side of size and athleticism over gaudy stats

Yeah, that's my take too. I think drafting Sheppard is fairly unlikely.

On the other hand, OKC did just draft Cason Wallace who is short and not particularly athletic, yet is playing well for them because of his high bball IQ and skill.

Also, it'll be interesting to see how athletic Sheppard grades out to be at the combine. He is either 6'-1" or perhaps 6'-2", yet routinely dunks in games.

[NatP4]

I just don’t see the Wiz taking Sheppard even if they get screwed and fall to 7th in the draft. Dawkins and co strike me as guys who will err on the side of size and athleticism over gaudy stats

I keep seeing this narrative and I don’t understand it. For the last decade, OKC drafted good productive players and stayed far away from the bad college/international players with physical traits. They seem to value advanced stats/metrics/production significantly more than other organizations.

Coulibaly wasn’t some raw high upside project that people claimed he was. He was a quality rotation player at 18 years old for a quality pro French league team, playing extremely competitive/high intensity playoff minutes and putting up elite efficiency/production for his age.

My guess is they have Sheppard near the top of their board.

[NatP4]

Kwame Evans put up one of the best performances of the year against USC 22 points 8 rebounds 5 steals 2 assists 1 block on 8 shots! 3-4 from 3 7-7 from the free throw line.

Skyrocketed his TS to 58.7%. Averaging 14 points 8.4 rebounds 2.7 assists 3.0 steals 2.0 blocks as a 19 year old freshman.

I think this is a top 10 talent. He and Almansa, who just put up back to back ridiculous performances for the Ignite, are two of the most underrated prospects at the moment.

[doclinkin]

I just don’t see the Wiz taking Sheppard even if they get screwed and fall to 7th in the draft. Dawkins and co strike me as guys who will err on the side of size and athleticism over gaudy stats

I keep seeing this narrative and I don’t understand it. For the last decade, OKC drafted good productive players and stayed far away from the bad college/international players with physical traits. They seem to value advanced stats/metrics/production significantly more than other organizations.

Coulibaly wasn’t some raw high upside project that people claimed he was. He was a quality rotation player at 18 years old for a quality pro French league team, playing extremely competitive/high intensity playoff minutes and putting up elite efficiency/production for his age.

My guess is they have Sheppard near the top of their board.

I agree they won't pass up a player who's production outpaces their athleticism. I trust this front office to make smart choices. I don't think they'd skip Sheppard solely on size issues.

Per Wizards sources, Washington will prioritize players in the NBA Draft who possess positional length — along with high basketball IQs and strong work ethics. With those three traits, the Wizards think they can maximize any draft pick’s skill levels to the utmost. Ultimately, of course, the goal is to build around a superstar or superstars.

In the case of Sheppard he may fall short of the 'positional length' part of the equation, but is an outlier in the BBIQ aspect. That said I still think his stats are ballooned a bit by virtue of being a 3rd option afterthought whenever he is on the floor. Defenses aren't keying up to stop him. I love that he fills the box score in every category -- except for shot attempts. Those shots are going elsewhere. Reed takes open shots, and makes them, gets open when the D is keyed on someone else, gives them lanes to pass, but he is not the tip of the spear in the UK attack.

By contrast look at teammate Antonio Reeves. Shooting 45% from 3 on high volume, nearly 60% on 2FGs. With a 25% usage rate, he's taken 155 shots on the season (compared to Sheppard's 90 attempts and Dillingham's 134 fga). Shepp makes teams pay for overlooking him, but he is not forcing teams to gameplan against him specifically. He's a high efficiency role-player still.

Reeves' numbers are actually pretty nice, though he's a 5th year senior so they will be at a discount on his upside.
19pts on 66%TS, 4 boards per game, and pretty much nothing else. Doesn't pass, doesn't steal the ball, but doesn't turn the ball over or foul either. He's a role player whose role is 1st option scorer and nothing else. Once again Calipari is stocked with guards. I'll be curious to see how the team does in March.

[NatP4]

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[Frichuela]

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Remarkable stats, basketball IQ off the charts!

[badinage]

^ I don’t understand. What’s the chart meant to show?

[NatP4]

That chart is all time NCAA freshman BPM leaders.

Sheppard is essentially the most productive freshman guard of all time, although he’s basically sophomore age as he turns 20 right after the draft, so slight caveat.

[pancakes3]

I wonder what Reed's measurables are. If he's dunking regularly and getting as many blocks as he is, chances are that he's longer than he is tall - and even if he's not - he's able to do things as if he was so from a production standpoint, functionally, what's the difference?

[nate33]

I wonder what Reed's measurables are. If he's dunking regularly and getting as many blocks as he is, chances are that he's longer than he is tall - and even if he's not - he's able to do things as if he was so from a production standpoint, functionally, what's the difference?

Just to be clear, by "dunking regularly" I mean he will dunk on a wide open fast break rather than just lay it up. I didn't mean to imply that he was dunking on people in the half court set or anything. But he definitely can dunk, and it doesn't seem like that much of an effort for him. He dunks with two hands.

He does appear to have relatively long arms - not crazy long or anything, but he probably has a wingspan a couple of inches greater than his height. I doubt he has TRex arms like Redick and Herro.

[NatP4]

Givony bumped Sarr up to 1st overall. Edey in the top 15.

[NatP4]

New No Ceilings mock has Castle, Walter, and Williams in the top 5 and Sarr at #1. Topic at #4.

Collier and Holland are clearly dropping and everyone is now penciling Sarr in at #1 for whatever reason.

[Hibachi_0]

Eli Ndiaye is not listed anywhere in the 1st round, if he falls to the 2nd he is the steal of the draft.

[pcbothwel]

Eli Ndiaye is not listed anywhere in the 1st round, if he falls to the 2nd he is the steal of the draft.

Im a HUGE fan. The elite defensive tweener always gets me (I had Garuba and Sochan rated higher than most), so I might be a bit jaded... But I would definitely take him in the early 2nd without hesitation.

[Hibachi_0]

Topic vs Vukcevic right now. Future Wiz rookies duel?

[closg00]

New No Ceilings mock has Castle, Walter, and Williams in the top 5 and Sarr at #1. Topic at #4.

Collier and Holland are clearly dropping and everyone is now penciling Sarr in at #1 for whatever reason.

The Spurs will take either Sarr or Topic, whichever one they can get I would wager, we may be doing the same