2024 Draft - Who you got?

[shangrila]

One of the interesting dynamics here is fit vs talent, and more accurately, fit vs size.

It is much easier for larger players (6'4" and above) to stay on the court in the post-season than it is for 6'3" and under. Why? Mismatch hunting. Most players of the smaller variety are exceptional offensive players to a degree that they are All-Stars solely from their offense, or provide so much intangibles (Mike Conley) that they can stay on the court and have a positive impact on winning.

Drafting a PG prospect in the late 1st, as a title-contender like the Minnesota Timberwolves, is a really hard decision to justify, especially when McLaughlin already fits the bill as an innings eater in the Regular Season.

This is fair and as much as I love a guy like Jamal Shead it's a legitimate concern for him (and Kolek/Simpson).

The issue is jumbo PGs, if that's what we're looking for, rarely make it to where we look to be picking moving forward. Like a 6-6 guy that can play the point and defend is a top 5 pick this year and likely top 10 most others.

There are a couple of names in this draft that might apply though, including:

Reece Beekman - serious shooting concerns and a little under 6-3 but good wingspan and strength that should help him on mismatches
Ajay Mitchel - Good size and length, unsure how he translates as a more crafty than explosive kind of prospects
AJ Johnson - Good height and length, ridiculously skinny. Long term upside play.
Carlton Carrington - Similar to Johnson but a bit more ready to play. Likely gone before we can pick.

[gandlogo]

I low-key don't hate this

Read on Twitter

Similar thought, but different guy is Harrison Ingram from UNC. I've beat this horse before, but love Ingram's motor, size, multi-position versatility, and defensive intensity. A bit of hyperbole, but he strikes me as a guy that has the build to guard Luka one game, Zion the next.

[Neeva]

Adem Bona just seems like a Connelly guy, from Bruins fans they say he’s a good team/locker room guy also. I bet he’s our second round pick.

[BlacJacMac]

Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest could be an intriguing backcourt mate for Ant.

HEIGHT 6'3.5"
WEIGHT 179
AGE 21.2
WINGSPAN 6'9.8"

Points: 18 (59.6 TS%)
3-point percentage: 40.5, 5.4 3PA/G
Rebounds: 4.1 (7.5 REB%)
Assists: 2.5
1.9 TOV/G

One of the nation’s most efficient high-usage scorers, who also happens to be a hell of a defender.

PLUSES
Slippery ball handler who is quick but also knows how to deceive opponents with head and ball fakes. He can decelerate, stop on a dime for pull-ups in the paint, or use half spins to get to the rim. He always looks like he’s in control.

Gorgeous paint scorer with soft touch from any angle off either foot. He can dunk when given space to elevate but primarily uses his finesse to score around the rim. Even when facing lengthy defenders, he’s shown the ability to hang in the air and absorb contact to still score.

Possesses go-to scoring potential and the ability to drain dribble jumpers from anywhere on the floor. His feel, body control, and touch are all elite.

Selfless passer who makes quick decisions with the ball. Coming off handoffs, he’ll read the floor and then put velocity on the ball to a roller. He loves to throw lobs. He’s also comfortable throwing crosscourt bull’s-eye passes. You can’t help but wonder whether he could become a primary playmaker running a large number of pick-and-rolls per game.

He’s active off the ball, with the awareness to fill space in transition, cut to the basket in the half-court, and relocate for open 3s.

Smooth shooter off the catch who’s capable of launching with a hand in his face or off an errant pass. He can do it from NBA range, too.

Super active on-ball defender who shows good footwork, fighting around screens and staying in front of opponents. His strong hand-eye coordination allows him to consistently swipe at balls and contest shots.

Comes from a basketball family. His mom played college basketball at San Diego State. He’s also James Harden’s second cousin.

MINUSES
Lacks experience shooting 3s off screens and handoffs. If he doesn’t become a primary ball handler, he needs to develop these skills to be effective in the half-court. This may require him to speed up his jumper, as he tends to have a slow release off the catch.

How real is his jumper? He made only 25 percent of his 3s over his first two seasons at Gonzaga before exploding as a junior with Wake Forest. In high school, he made 35 percent of his 3s and 76 percent of his free throws. So perhaps his real level is somewhere in the middle.

Needs to get stronger to improve his defensive floor. As it is, he’ll get overpowered by some of the heavier elite athletes in the league.

https://nbadraft.theringer.com/

[BlacJacMac]

Scratch all that...He's going back to school.

[shangrila]

Few more workouts:

Read on Twitter

Rundown:

M.Ajinca - 3&D wing from France. Solid shooter/scorer off both the bounce and catch. Decent rebounder and defender for his position. Anemic assist numbers make me nervous about his feel.

J.Bridges - Another 3&D guy, although more of a 3/4 type similar to a Dorian Finney-Smith. Fairly limited overall but effective at what he does.

T.Enaruna - Guy I'm least familiar with. Apparently blew up at Portsmouth and was invited to the G League Elite camp. Tall guard prospect with an iffy shot but good physical tools and some upside in other areas (defence, passing, rebounding, etc).

A.Mitchell - 6-5ish combo guard with a smooth game. Good shooting %s but low volume from 3. Is also more crafty than explosive. I do really like him however and if his claim that he played on a bum ankle all year is true he could be a steal.

J.Mogbo - Undersized 4 with excellent passing instincts but no shot. He's a bit of an odd prospect to see a role for but if you squint you can sort of see a 3/4 version of Draymond Green in there. Absolutely massive wingpsan at 7-2 on his 6-6 (no shoes) height, which you know will interest Finch.

B.Scheierman - Elite shooter with good passing and rebounding skills. Not much of an athlete which limits him creating separation and defensively (even if he generally competes and plays smart on that end). He'd fill a need but would represent a dramatic shift in the teams draft philosophy of the last 5-6 years.

Read on Twitter

Rundown:

E.Freeman - Josh Hart-style of player (although I believe Freeman is bigger). Shot isn't there but he's good defensively, an elite rebounder and offensively is a good finisher. Plays with a lot of energy.

P.Larson - Solid wing prospect. Good physical tools outside of wingspan, good shooting %s, solid rebounder with great AST numbers. Not an amazing defender and doesn't have a real elite skill but probably a guy that can eat minutes during the regular season off the bench.

K.Simpson - "Undersized" PG (He's just over 6-1 in shoes) that's an elite shooter. Great rebounder for a guy his size too, which is historically a serious indicator for guards in terms of future success in the league. Solid and unselfish passer that moves well off the ball too. Physical tools will likely cause him to get hunted, especially in the playoffs, but he competes defensively.

The rest...I have no idea. Moses Wood did finish with career averages of 10-5 on 44-40-83 though which is at least somewhat interesting for a 6-8 guy.

[minimus]

I have heard that 2024 and 2025 draft class lack high level talent big men, is it true? Just wondering if TC is playing chess here lol

[Norseman79]

PG - AJ Johnson (pick 37)
PF - Tyler Smith (pick 27)

Don't forget SG Jaylen Clark coming back from injury

[thinktank]

Been watching vids on all these guys.

Not saying I love him as our pick. But Scheierman’s release is so high and shotput like, I believe he can pull it against anyone. Damn near unblockable with how his elbow is right in the defenders whole grill. I do like that.



Despite folks saying this is a weak class, I see upperclassman role players that are very intriguing.

Be Miami and find a diamond.



We can’t afford to miss like when we took Moore way before Jaden Hardy, who played well against us in the WCF while Moore rode pine.

[Klomp]

A.Mitchell - 6-5ish combo guard with a smooth game. Good shooting %s but low volume from 3. Is also more crafty than explosive. I do really like him however and if his claim that he played on a bum ankle all year is true he could be a steal.

Read on Twitter

[Klomp]

Read on Twitter

[Neeva]

Too bad Topic won’t drop to 27.

[Neeva]

Been watching vids on all these guys.

Not saying I love him as our pick. But Scheierman’s release is so high and shotput like, I believe he can pull it against anyone. Damn near unblockable with how his elbow is right in the defenders whole grill. I do like that.



Despite folks saying this is a weak class, I see upperclassman role players that are very intriguing.

Be Miami and find a diamond.



We can’t afford to miss like when we took Moore way before Jaden Hardy, who played well against us in the WCF while Moore rode pine.

I liked Hardy and Jovic but the bigger miss was definitely Nembhard, wolves needed a PG and they went for a sg in Moore that couldn’t really do anything at an elite level, still shocks me, what the **** was Connelly thinking. I was totally flabbergasted that it wasn’t Nembhard or Jovic.

[thinktank]

Been watching vids on all these guys.

Not saying I love him as our pick. But Scheierman’s release is so high and shotput like, I believe he can pull it against anyone. Damn near unblockable with how his elbow is right in the defenders whole grill. I do like that.



Despite folks saying this is a weak class, I see upperclassman role players that are very intriguing.

Be Miami and find a diamond.



We can’t afford to miss like when we took Moore way before Jaden Hardy, who played well against us in the WCF while Moore rode pine.

I liked Hardy and Jovic but the bigger miss was definitely Nembhard, wolves needed a PG and they went for a sg in Moore that couldn’t really do anything at an elite level, still shocks me, what the **** was Connelly thinking. I was totally flabbergasted that it wasn’t Nembhard or Jovic.

Also true. I too thought Nembhard looked NBA-ready in the tourney. Jovic I don’t know much about.

[shangrila]

Been watching vids on all these guys.

Not saying I love him as our pick. But Scheierman’s release is so high and shotput like, I believe he can pull it against anyone. Damn near unblockable with how his elbow is right in the defenders whole grill. I do like that.



Despite folks saying this is a weak class, I see upperclassman role players that are very intriguing.

Be Miami and find a diamond.



We can’t afford to miss like when we took Moore way before Jaden Hardy, who played well against us in the WCF while Moore rode pine.

The thing with Moore is that as a prospect he basically ticked every box. Good shooting %s, great measureables, good IQ indicators, young for his class, good defensive effort and technique. He looked like a fully formed rotation wing which is partly why he dropped because he didn't have the upside.

I have no idea what's going on behind the scenes with him and obviously taking a step back from his rookie to sophomore seasons is concerning, but as a pick on draft night I don't think we can argue against it.

One other note with the G League though that I hadn't noticed; both he and Minott have played about 16 games each year. That means both of them at this stage have about 30 odd games each as a sample size. Not going to say either are NBA guys but that's an insanely small sample size either way.

[minimus]

Despite folks saying this is a weak class, I see upperclassman role players that are very intriguing.

Be Miami and find a diamond.

We can’t afford to miss like when we took Moore way before Jaden Hardy, who played well against us in the WCF while Moore rode pine.

The thing with Moore is that as a prospect he basically ticked every box. Good shooting %s, great measureables, good IQ indicators, young for his class, good defensive effort and technique. He looked like a fully formed rotation wing which is partly why he dropped because he didn't have the upside.

I have no idea what's going on behind the scenes with him and obviously taking a step back from his rookie to sophomore seasons is concerning, but as a pick on draft night I don't think we can argue against it.

One other note with the G League though that I hadn't noticed; both he and Minott have played about 16 games each year. That means both of them at this stage have about 30 odd games each as a sample size. Not going to say either are NBA guys but that's an insanely small sample size either way.

Also Culver. I still remember a photo with his 45 inch vertical in private workout (LAL???). I think the biggest issu with both Culver and Moore is confidence. I noticed that if Culver or Moore miss one easy/open shot, they completely lost any self-confidence.

Moore/Culver with confidence would be in MIN rotation from day 0.

[thinktank]

Been watching vids on all these guys.

Not saying I love him as our pick. But Scheierman’s release is so high and shotput like, I believe he can pull it against anyone. Damn near unblockable with how his elbow is right in the defenders whole grill. I do like that.



Despite folks saying this is a weak class, I see upperclassman role players that are very intriguing.

Be Miami and find a diamond.



We can’t afford to miss like when we took Moore way before Jaden Hardy, who played well against us in the WCF while Moore rode pine.

The thing with Moore is that as a prospect he basically ticked every box. Good shooting %s, great measureables, good IQ indicators, young for his class, good defensive effort and technique. He looked like a fully formed rotation wing which is partly why he dropped because he didn't have the upside.

I have no idea what's going on behind the scenes with him and obviously taking a step back from his rookie to sophomore seasons is concerning, but as a pick on draft night I don't think we can argue against it.

One other note with the G League though that I hadn't noticed; both he and Minott have played about 16 games each year. That means both of them at this stage have about 30 odd games each as a sample size. Not going to say either are NBA guys but that's an insanely small sample size either way.

As a pick on draft night I did argue against it so don’t say I can’t.

[thinktank]

Despite folks saying this is a weak class, I see upperclassman role players that are very intriguing.

Be Miami and find a diamond.

We can’t afford to miss like when we took Moore way before Jaden Hardy, who played well against us in the WCF while Moore rode pine.

The thing with Moore is that as a prospect he basically ticked every box. Good shooting %s, great measureables, good IQ indicators, young for his class, good defensive effort and technique. He looked like a fully formed rotation wing which is partly why he dropped because he didn't have the upside.

I have no idea what's going on behind the scenes with him and obviously taking a step back from his rookie to sophomore seasons is concerning, but as a pick on draft night I don't think we can argue against it.

One other note with the G League though that I hadn't noticed; both he and Minott have played about 16 games each year. That means both of them at this stage have about 30 odd games each as a sample size. Not going to say either are NBA guys but that's an insanely small sample size either way.

Also Culver. I still remember a photo with his 45 inch vertical in private workout (LAL???). I think the biggest issu with both Culver and Moore is confidence. I noticed that if Culver or Moore miss one easy/open shot, they completely lost any self-confidence.

Moore/Culver with confidence would be in MIN rotation from day 0.

Neither of them can shoot a lick.

[shangrila]

Despite folks saying this is a weak class, I see upperclassman role players that are very intriguing.

Be Miami and find a diamond.

We can’t afford to miss like when we took Moore way before Jaden Hardy, who played well against us in the WCF while Moore rode pine.

The thing with Moore is that as a prospect he basically ticked every box. Good shooting %s, great measureables, good IQ indicators, young for his class, good defensive effort and technique. He looked like a fully formed rotation wing which is partly why he dropped because he didn't have the upside.

I have no idea what's going on behind the scenes with him and obviously taking a step back from his rookie to sophomore seasons is concerning, but as a pick on draft night I don't think we can argue against it.

One other note with the G League though that I hadn't noticed; both he and Minott have played about 16 games each year. That means both of them at this stage have about 30 odd games each as a sample size. Not going to say either are NBA guys but that's an insanely small sample size either way.

Also Culver. I still remember a photo with his 45 inch vertical in private workout (LAL???). I think the biggest issu with both Culver and Moore is confidence. I noticed that if Culver or Moore miss one easy/open shot, they completely lost any self-confidence.

Moore/Culver with confidence would be in MIN rotation from day 0.

Ehhhhhhhhh...Culver had serious red flags on his shooting. Ok percentages but on low volume and funky shot mechanics. Moore was legitimately a shooter coming out, it's been so weird the way it's just completely gone.

But we saw the same thing with Okogie so sometimes it just happens.

[shangrila]

A.Mitchell - 6-5ish combo guard with a smooth game. Good shooting %s but low volume from 3. Is also more crafty than explosive. I do really like him however and if his claim that he played on a bum ankle all year is true he could be a steal.

Read on Twitter

He's very interesting. If we don't draft Shead then Ajay would be my guy.