The 2024-25 Rookies

[Kanyewest]

Bill Simmons and Ryen Rusillo discuss who they would take in the top 8 in a 2024 redraft.

Starts at around 6:30

https://youtu.be/L5KgzTneJCM?si=1BZAXBeyR_K8DW04

Spoiler:

Rusillo

1. Risacher
2. Castle
3. Sarr
4. Buzelis
5. Shepherd
6.

Bill Simmons
1. Castle
2. Risacher
3. Buzelis
4. Sarr (Calls him Serge Ibaka with range)
5. Jared McCain
6. Shepherd
Then mentions Carrington with a bunch of other players but had him in a tier below the top 6

Simmons butchers Kyshawn's name later at 24:20

[The Consiglieri]

If I valued their opinion more I'd be exulting in how right I was to avoid Clingan, but w/both of them sounding like Clingan-skeptics, I wonder if I was wrong lol (particularly Simmons, who I view as entertaining, but also largely an idiot at everything except pop culture ---- (and even that he's too old for now)).

[payitforward]

Clingan is having one of the best rookie seasons of any '24 pick. I don't get it.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Perhaps this draft class will be ok

Read on Twitter

That guy is for real.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

No way I’m trading Bilal for anyone in this draft not named Flagg or Harper. He’s 19, already a stopper and showing signs of dynamic handles and finishing.

I'm not trading him either but for the record, he was 19 his rookie year and 20 this year.
His birthdate is 7/26/2004. He'll be 21 by the beginning of next season.

His D is promising but his O is still pretty inconsistent.

I would trade Bilal for Queen.

[gesa2]

CCJ you are so high on Queen that you’d trade our entire team for him and throw in a couple firsts to make it happen

[tontoz]

CCJ you are so high on Queen that you’d trade our entire team for him and throw in a couple firsts to make it happen

Has CCJ brought up Queen in the politics thread yet? Seems like he has mentioned Queen in every other thread.

[AFM]

Can you blame him? Dude has pockets fatter than Dairy Queen plus he turn the low post to a scary scene. That fella Derik Queen. DDQ

[payitforward]

CCJ has a pretty good record for being right about prospects!

(ok, w/ a coupla notable exceptions -- )

[dobrojim]

No one was ever happier than CCJ when the Wiz finally signed Mo Almond.

[dckingsfan]

His D is promising but his O is still pretty inconsistent.

I would trade Bilal for Queen.[/quote]
Question, did you mean you would trade Bilal for a pick to get Queen. If so, right there with you at this point. IMO, Queen has a higher ceiling than Bilal.

Now, does any team do that? Trade say, the 14th pick for Bilal? I don't think so...

But if they did and say we got Flagg & Queen. We could have a Flagg/Sarr/Queen front court.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

CCJ you are so high on Queen that you’d trade our entire team for him and throw in a couple firsts to make it happen

Individually, there's not one single Wizards player better than Derik Queen.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

CCJ you are so high on Queen that you’d trade our entire team for him and throw in a couple firsts to make it happen

Has CCJ brought up Queen in the politics thread yet? Seems like he has mentioned Queen in every other thread.

Derink Queen would be a better Secretary of Defense than (m)ajor Pete Hegspeth.

DQ is humble.

Queen would have common sense to know generals and admirals are wiser and more qualified than he is. Even a Black man like General C.Q. Brown or a woman like Admiral Lisa Franchetti.

DQ would defer like he does to his teammates.

Hegspeth is a diversity hating idiot.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

CCJ has a pretty good record for being right about prospects!

(ok, w/ a coupla notable exceptions -- )

Payitforward, I respect my elders.

I appreciate the moral support you've given me. (You, too, montestewart!)

What I like most about Queen is his ENTHUSIASM. He's a funny guy who's a mercenary at the same time. The guy is one to go to war with because he keeps others loose, and he's a hard worker with a good heart.

Queen just needs to become the strongest guy in the weight room.

[doclinkin]

What I like most about Queen is his ENTHUSIASM. He's a funny guy who's a mercenary at the same time. The guy is one to go to war with because he keeps others loose [...]

Queen just needs to become the strongest guy in the weight room.

I agree with this. At the NBA level I'd hope he becomes the hardest worker on court. I expect he will add a reliable jumper over time. I do think he has an aspect though where no one can speed him up, as his coaches say about him on offense. He plays unhurried. On defense though you kinda have to hurry at times to be effective. The way CMB is constantly in motion on Defense, putting himself in the way. DQ is such a widebody, and nimble on offense, that if he committed to defense the same way he does in his dribble drive attacks, he'd be a problem for opponents. The hope is conditioning and weight room work would speed his feet, but he'd have to want to do it. Put DQ on New York and the Penguin would find a way to get him to defend. He does box out and rebound. He will block shots. He can steal the ball. He just doesn't move his feet and anticipate the play. He's got the software to do it though, any Big who puts up nice assist numbers generally can translate that to defense if they choose. Here he'd have the advantage of having a tall mobile rim protector so he can do the dirty work in the low post. Good for him since he's not a vertical deterrent. But he'd have to want to speed up on defense and be motivated to put in the work. You get the sense from articles where his Strength and Conditioning coach calls him Honeybun etc, that he's a work in progress on that end and maybe he is easygoing when it comes to nutrition and conditioning work. With the big body types it can always go either way. If they catch the nutrition and conditioning bug suddenly they ARE the strongest player on the court since they've been carrying the extra weight around. On the flipside there are the Mike Sweetney or Jahidi types who go the other direction. Hopefully DQ figures that part out. I do like the idea of giving Bub another Baltimore kid on the team. But for my part I agree I'd rather take him with a 2nd pick in the 1st round and spend my early ammo on a different kind of upside.

[AFM]

All I’m gonna say is don’t sleep on Bmore. Bodymore Murdaland the Charm City.
To me it’s easy. You draft the kid who told his coach “GIVE ME THE FKIN BALL” with 5 seconds left then hit the game winner over perfect D. Off the backboard like Tim Duncan in his prime.
I simply don’t give a F that he doesn’t have a six pack. Luka and Jokic say hello. Draft the baller!!!!

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

No one was ever happier than CCJ when the Wiz finally signed Mo Almond.

I almost fainted that someone actually did it

I had a dream.

"Morris Almond needs to tell the Wizards he can defend."

I woke up kind of frightened, actually. Then I took immediate action...

I emailed the agent listed on his RealGM player page. That person was no longer his agent, but he let me know he'd forward that to Mo.

Next thing, boom! Wizards signed Mo Almond.

After that, they went 6-0. Almond, in an albeit small sample size, put up ridiculous defensive stats and had IIRC a great plus minus.

(His Dad is also former Air Force. Class act. Thanked me.)

YEAH.

That time, I was right. I'm wrong, a good bit, also.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I always wanted to be an NBA GM.

How hard can it be?

[payitforward]

CCJ has a pretty good record for being right about prospects!

(ok, w/ a coupla notable exceptions -- )

Payitforward, I respect my elders.

I appreciate the moral support you've given me. (You, too, montestewart!)

What I like most about Queen is his ENTHUSIASM. He's a funny guy who's a mercenary at the same time. The guy is one to go to war with because he keeps others loose, and he's a hard worker with a good heart.

Queen just needs to become the strongest guy in the weight room.

Back at you, brother. Place wouldn't be the same (or near as interesting either) without you. Keep on keeping on my brother!

[The Consiglieri]

Needless to say, I really don't care what any of these guys did in the NCAA tournament. Tell me what they did throughout the sample size of the season, and if you got high school data, give me that too. I don't give a rat's --- what Queen did over the week, its irrelevant, what Queen did over the breadth of the season is what matters, which is interesting, but alas, not what I want inside the top 5 (if we pick there). He becomes a consideration if we do not.