Thon Maker

[dham1974]

I hopes hes a around for the lakers 2nd round pick


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[Envelope]

He could fall hard and go undrafted, this year's group of bigs is really deep

Yeah but how many have the potential to be more than end-of-the-bench types? 4? 6?

End of bench talent doesn't mean anything, and it certainly doesn't mean the position is deep in the NBA, just because there's a bunch of low-level talent floating around.

From an analytics perspective Thon is fairly rare and fairly valuable. Long, can defend in space a fair amount, will bulk up, and has a decent midrange/3 point shooting stroke.

Poor man's Myles Turner is still a better prospect than most/all 2nd round talent, no matter how many of them there are.

Once again you act like decent stretch bigs who can play a little defense are a dime a dozen. As if they're so common that the 19 year old high school kid with great physical tools and a competent jumper might go undrafted.

[Skin]

Bill Parcells Big Planet Theory... there are only a small amount of human beings on the Earth that are that big and that athletic.

[zimpy27]

Yeah he gets picked up in the first round, worth a punt in this draft.

[doordoor123]

Who's the best defender?

Right now I'd say AJ Hammons, but other guys have potential

I guess this year's group is deep... as in there are high numbers of players applying to the draft at those positions... but not deep as in the talent being full and plentiful.

No, the talent is deep with a lot of raw guys and skilled guys. These are the potential first round picks for bigs:

Ben Simmons (if you consider him a big)
Dragan Bender
Henry Ellenson
Jakob Poeltl
Ivan Rabb
Domantas Sabonis
Skal Labissiere
Marquese Chriss
Deyonta Davis
Brice Johnson
Juan Hernangomez
Damian Jones
Petr Cornelie
Ben Bentil
Shawn Long
Pascal Siakam
Caleb Swanigan
Alpha Kaba
Stephen ZImmerman
Jonathan Jeanne
Ivica Zubac
Diamond Stone
Ante Zizic
AJ Hammonds
Chieck Diallo
Zhou Qi
Chinanu Onuaku
Robert Carter Jr.

That's 28 bigs that could go in the first round (which is insane!) There's a good amount of skill there, there's young, age, long players, short players, quick players, 3 point shooters, scorers, defenders, everything you could want. I think if you're a team that is looking for a certain kind of big in your line-up, you're going to find it. And odds are there will be a gem in the second round. At the same time there are a good amount of risks there. I haven't even mentioned the second round guys that could do well in the NBA. A team like the Lakers or Celtics picked the perfect draft to need a center.

[Envelope]

The problem is most of those guys are PFs and PF/Cs. Not many guys who could respectably defend the true centers like the Lopez Brothers or DeAndre or Drummond.

And not anybody who excites as a center for the future level prospect. Only long-term development projects and career backups, as far as the true centers go.

[Envelope]

9'5" standing reach for Thon is sick. And at 7'1, his athleticism goes from good to great, for that height.

And he's smart and well spoken and hard working like Myles Turner and Porzingis. Even if his upside is only about what Porzingis was this year, that's still probably good enough to be drafted top 5 for a team that needs size and is thinking long term.

I'm a Celtics fan, and nobody stands out as the obvious #3 pick, or 4 or 5 or 6 for that matter.
And it's going to come down to drafting 2-3 centers in the first round or paying Sullinger 15+ million a year to get fatter.
I'd rather draft Poeltl or Maker (or Bender) with pick 3-6, and then draft a beefcake center like Stone or Hammonds later in the first, rather than give Horford a max contract or Sullinger close to it.

For Thon to have a 9'5+ standing reach, plus athleticism, plus a high motor, that's a rare combination. Even if he's only a role player for his whole career, having a jump shot to spread the floor and being a versatile long defender will make him very very valuable.

[jcsunsfan]

He could fall hard and go undrafted, this year's group of bigs is really deep

He really should go to college.


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[GimmeDat]

On reputation alone, I doubt he goes undrafted. It's funny to see just how far the disparity on peoples opinion here is, speaks volumes for how hard it is to gauge a player straight from HS.

I still think we're looking at the 20-40 range, most likely closer to the latter, but all it takes is one team to take a punt.

[No-Man]

On reputation alone, I doubt he goes undrafted. It's funny to see just how far the disparity on peoples opinion here is, speaks volumes for how hard it is to gauge a player straight from HS.

I still think we're looking at the 20-40 range, most likely closer to the latter, but all it takes is one team to take a punt.

Christian Wood went undrafted, same happened to Cliff Alexander

[doordoor123]

On reputation alone, I doubt he goes undrafted. It's funny to see just how far the disparity on peoples opinion here is, speaks volumes for how hard it is to gauge a player straight from HS.

I still think we're looking at the 20-40 range, most likely closer to the latter, but all it takes is one team to take a punt.

Christian Wood went undrafted, same happened to Cliff Alexander

Neither were the prospect Thon Maker is. The Harrison twins also went undrafted.
It's super unlikely he's undrafted. Likely an early second rounder or late first (at best).

[Envelope]

I think Wood was approximately the talent that Thon is, but his intangibles, IQ, and work ethic were terrible. That's the only reason he went undrafted. Talent-wise he's up there with Thon and Skal, in my opinion.

But Thon's IQ, character, work ethic, and toughness all appear to be absolutely top notch. He can't wait to just live in the gym, same as Porzingis.

[doordoor123]

I think Wood was approximately the talent that Thon is, but his intangibles, IQ, and work ethic were terrible. That's the only reason he went undrafted. Talent-wise he's up there with Thon and Skal, in my opinion.

But Thon's IQ, character, work ethic, and toughness all appear to be absolutely top notch. He can't wait to just live in the gym, same as Porzingis.

Wood was super thin and somehow came in overweight at the combine. There were serious issues about his maturity. Wood was also shorter 6'10 compared to 7'0 and didn't move as well as Thon (though he DID move really well). He also didn't showcase the handle Thon has from time to time (even if half the time he loses the ball).

[EmperorLocky]

With the amount of picks the Celtics have they should take a stab at him late in the 1st round if he's still there and then get him to work in the D-League.

[skones]

I think Wood was approximately the talent that Thon is, but his intangibles, IQ, and work ethic were terrible. That's the only reason he went undrafted. Talent-wise he's up there with Thon and Skal, in my opinion.

But Thon's IQ, character, work ethic, and toughness all appear to be absolutely top notch. He can't wait to just live in the gym, same as Porzingis.

Wood was super thin and somehow came in overweight at the combine. There were serious issues about his maturity. Wood was also shorter 6'10 compared to 7'0 and didn't move as well as Thon (though he DID move really well). He also didn't showcase the handle Thon has from time to time (even if half the time he loses the ball).

Probably not a selling point with regards to your contradictory statements about handle

[doordoor123]

I think Wood was approximately the talent that Thon is, but his intangibles, IQ, and work ethic were terrible. That's the only reason he went undrafted. Talent-wise he's up there with Thon and Skal, in my opinion.

But Thon's IQ, character, work ethic, and toughness all appear to be absolutely top notch. He can't wait to just live in the gym, same as Porzingis.

Wood was super thin and somehow came in overweight at the combine. There were serious issues about his maturity. Wood was also shorter 6'10 compared to 7'0 and didn't move as well as Thon (though he DID move really well). He also didn't showcase the handle Thon has from time to time (even if half the time he loses the ball).

Probably not a selling point with regards to your contradictory statements about handle

The issue is again that he has small hands. He sometimes shows off good handles, but other times he just loses the ball because of his hands. I've been saying it for a while and just got tired of spelling it out in that last post.

[skones]

Wood was super thin and somehow came in overweight at the combine. There were serious issues about his maturity. Wood was also shorter 6'10 compared to 7'0 and didn't move as well as Thon (though he DID move really well). He also didn't showcase the handle Thon has from time to time (even if half the time he loses the ball).

Probably not a selling point with regards to your contradictory statements about handle

The issue is again that he has small hands. He sometimes shows off good handles, but other times he just loses the ball because of his hands. I've been saying it for a while and just got tired of spelling it out in that last post.

I know exactly what you meant, but if you lose the ball often because of the size of your hands, you don't have a good handle. It's really as simple as that. If a skill is unreliable, it's not a "good" skill.

[doordoor123]

Probably not a selling point with regards to your contradictory statements about handle

The issue is again that he has small hands. He sometimes shows off good handles, but other times he just loses the ball because of his hands. I've been saying it for a while and just got tired of spelling it out in that last post.

I know exactly what you meant, but if you lose the ball often because of the size of your hands, you don't have a good handle. It's really as simple as that. If a skill is unreliable, it's not a "good" skill.

Hands have nothing to do with coordination. He has good coordination with the ball = good handle, but not good hands.

[Skin]

Right now I'd say AJ Hammons, but other guys have potential

I guess this year's group is deep... as in there are high numbers of players applying to the draft at those positions... but not deep as in the talent being full and plentiful.

No, the talent is deep with a lot of raw guys and skilled guys. These are the potential first round picks for bigs:

Ben Simmons (if you consider him a big)
Dragan Bender
Henry Ellenson
Jakob Poeltl
Ivan Rabb
Domantas Sabonis
Skal Labissiere
Marquese Chriss
Deyonta Davis
Brice Johnson
Juan Hernangomez
Damian Jones
Petr Cornelie
Ben Bentil
Shawn Long
Pascal Siakam
Caleb Swanigan
Alpha Kaba
Stephen ZImmerman
Jonathan Jeanne
Ivica Zubac
Diamond Stone
Ante Zizic
AJ Hammonds
Chieck Diallo
Zhou Qi
Chinanu Onuaku
Robert Carter Jr.

That's 28 bigs that could go in the first round (which is insane!) There's a good amount of skill there, there's young, age, long players, short players, quick players, 3 point shooters, scorers, defenders, everything you could want. I think if you're a team that is looking for a certain kind of big in your line-up, you're going to find it. And odds are there will be a gem in the second round. At the same time there are a good amount of risks there. I haven't even mentioned the second round guys that could do well in the NBA. A team like the Lakers or Celtics picked the perfect draft to need a center.

Like I said, deep in terms of numbers. Not deep in terms of talent. That list is so incredibly filled with raw players. I don't like using raw and skilled to describe a player because I consider the word skill as an already developed talent. Raw talent/potential? Sure. ...and that's what this list looks like.

[Envelope]

They don't call it hand-eye coordination because hands has nothing to do with coordination.