Snapbacks and Handshakes: The 2017 Draft (Raps pick #23)

[Wally West]

What about Semi? He's a hard worker, nba ready, strong, and can shoot the three at high volume and very good percentage. Projects won't work with Casey and he looks like someone the coach would respect. I see a lot of off ball potential from him.

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Doesn't play the passing lanes which is a great indicator of defensive success in the NBA and is a transfer from Duke. Analytically, guys that haven't produced at a school that transferred to go on to have success haven't panned out in the NBA (Wesley Johnson, Ekpe Udoh off the top of my head).

[mappiah19]

It's a highlight reel so take it as such, but some of the moves he makes are absolutely elite! He seems like one of those Kentucky kids who under perform in college but breakout in the pros.

Watch on YouTube

I like him but I think he's another Cory Joseph which isn't a knock on him.

He reminds me more of Jerryd Bayless

[S ID]

Spoiler:

My top guy
1. Hamidou Diallo

All these players are interchangeable
2. Semi Ojeleye
3. Kyle Kuzma
4. Jordan Bell

Athletic 3+D
5. Devin Robinson

I didn't really put too much thought into the ranking. I would be happy with any guy here.

1. Hamidou Diallo
2. Harry Giles
3. Semi Ojeleye
4. Jordan Bell
5. TJ Leaf
6. Derrick White
7. Isaiah Hartenstein
8. DJ Wilson
9. Thomas Bryant
10. Rodions Kurucs

[mappiah19]

What about Semi? He's a hard worker, nba ready, strong, and can shoot the three at high volume and very good percentage. Projects won't work with Casey and he looks like someone the coach would respect. I see a lot of off ball potential from him.

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Doesn't play the passing lanes which is a great indicator of defensive success in the NBA and is a transfer from Duke. Analytically, guys that haven't produced at a school that transferred to go on to have success haven't panned out in the NBA (Wesley Johnson, Ekpe Udoh off the top of my head).

Rodney Hood? Jordan Clarkson? Seth Curry? TJ McConnell?

[Wally West]

What about Semi? He's a hard worker, nba ready, strong, and can shoot the three at high volume and very good percentage. Projects won't work with Casey and he looks like someone the coach would respect. I see a lot of off ball potential from him.

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Doesn't play the passing lanes which is a great indicator of defensive success in the NBA and is a transfer from Duke. Analytically, guys that haven't produced at a school that transferred to go on to have success haven't panned out in the NBA (Wesley Johnson, Ekpe Udoh off the top of my head).

Rodney Hood? Jordan Clarkson? Seth Curry? TJ McConnell?

Lol you didn't read what I said at all..

"Analytically, guys that haven't produced at a school (Wesley Johnson, Ekpe Udoh) that transferred to go on to have success (Syracuse, Baylor respectively) haven't panned out in the NBA." Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson, Seth Curry, TJ McConnell all produced at their old schools before transferring.

[HeadtopChunes]

Doesn't play the passing lanes which is a great indicator of defensive success in the NBA and is a transfer from Duke. Analytically, guys that haven't produced at a school that transferred to go on to have success haven't panned out in the NBA (Wesley Johnson, Ekpe Udoh off the top of my head).

Rodney Hood? Jordan Clarkson? Seth Curry? TJ McConnell?

Lol you didn't read what I said at all..

"Analytically, guys that haven't produced at a school (Wesley Johnson, Ekpe Udoh) that transferred to go on to have success (Syracuse, Baylor respectively) haven't panned out in the NBA." Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson, Seth Curry, TJ McConnell all produced at their old schools before transferring.

That's a weird thing to predict success with and small sample size. Ojeleye has legit concerns but I don't think the whole Duke transfer thing matters

[Wally West]

What do you guys think of UNC's Justin Jackson?

I like him but he doesn't play the passing lanes which is a great indicator of defensive potential in the NBA so he may be a one way player. Not sure what to really make of him yet.

[Wally West]

I'm done trying to guess what this team will come do draft time.

Batum or Hibbert? No let's trade for one legged Jermaine O'neal

LOL, I thought the same thing recently. Not sure if I posted it here haha

[HeadtopChunes]

What do you guys think of UNC's Justin Jackson?

I like him but he doesn't play the passing lanes which is a great indicator of defensive potential in the NBA so he may be a one way player. Not sure what to really make of him yet.

How difficult is that to teach? seems like a change of habit rather than ability.

[Wally West]

I will say Masai surprise us a little by selecting Sindarius Thornwell. Dude is mature, have a nice physical size for a wing. He has a high motor and high PER in college. Seems like someone Casey pick too?

In the last couple of years, Masai picked older college players with high PER. I will not be surprised if we pick him

Yeah I agree on this. Early in this draft process, I think Thornwell and Donovan Mitchell are the favourites for our pick.

[Wally West]

It's funny that I keep reading how the pick will be a shock, but Delon was not a surprise. He was mocked to go right in our range and was my pick and the pick of a few people here that entire season since we lacked point guard depth.
Poeltl was the consensus pick on most mocks.
Siakam went a few spots earlier than expected, but was not some huge unknown like Bruno.

The last WTF pick was Bruno. They do happen and they've happened too often with this franchise, but Masai has been picking safe and predictable of late. I guess that could change as the team is stuck in a treadmill(a high end one, but still they've reached their ceiling), so he may be willing to gamble. I don't expect another shocker though. At most, someone ranked 5-10 spots below their ranking in most mocks.

I wasn't active on this board or really following the draft that year but had I done that, Delon Wright with the guys at our range would've been number 1 on my board solely because of his two way ability. I know alot of guys apparently wanted Bobby Portis but that was a great pick at the time.

[Wally West]

Read on Twitter

If Casey is present, likely means he's not getting fired. Sigh

I like to think we're just waiting until the Spurs are done so we can poach one of their assistant coaches

Casey is probably the Golden Boy of MLSE. BC wanted to scape goat fire him and they stopped BC. Casey knows what he is saying when he says he's an organization guy. Casey will replace Embry and be at Vegas Summer league when he's 90.

[HeadtopChunes]

Thornwell reminds me of Wes Matthews wouldn't be a bad pick.

[Wally West]

I have long been a big advocate of getting players with court vision. This along with offensive rebounding are 2 skills that come up year in and year out as common denominators of guys that don't bust in the NBA. With the condition of this team I think it is more important than ever to get players that pass the ball and know how to create scoring opportunities.

Same man. The list at the bottom of my post from last year has alot of those types of guys. Can't wait to revisit that post I made a year ago. Some guys have been really been doing well, some guys just haven't gotten a chance.

[OAKLEY_2]

Thornwell reminds me of Wes Matthews wouldn't be a bad pick.

Great pick when we buy a second rounder.

[Mikistan]

It's a highlight reel so take it as such, but some of the moves he makes are absolutely elite! He seems like one of those Kentucky kids who under perform in college but breakout in the pros.

Watch on YouTube

I like him but I think he's another Cory Joseph which isn't a knock on him.

He reminds me more of Jerryd Bayless

not very full rebound or assist numbers, and steals are 0.6/gm

i dont mind his shot form, he jumps high and seems to always be set - his driving game is alright too, athletic and can jump, but 6 foot 4 , 6 foot 8 wingspan aint bad, he would be our point guard i guess?

looking for more potential i guess

[OAKLEY_2]

I will say Masai surprise us a little by selecting Sindarius Thornwell. Dude is mature, have a nice physical size for a wing. He has a high motor and high PER in college. Seems like someone Casey pick too?

In the last couple of years, Masai picked older college players with high PER. I will not be surprised if we pick him

Yeah I agree on this. Early in this draft process, I think Thornwell and Donovan Mitchell are the favourites for our pick.

Well Mitchell is lotto bound requiring a King's ransome and Thornwell will go second round. Pretty sure BC will give us a deal on the 36th pick when we walk from Lowry at a buck fifty two. Pick 23 is a good chip to land a point guard to compete with Delon and Fred. Thornwell would be a great acquisition.

[Tortiglioni]

Rawle Alkins > Frank Jackson and Hamidou Diallo.

[CoachJReturns]

What about Semi? He's a hard worker, nba ready, strong, and can shoot the three at high volume and very good percentage. Projects won't work with Casey and he looks like someone the coach would respect. I see a lot of off ball potential from him.

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Doesn't play the passing lanes which is a great indicator of defensive success in the NBA and is a transfer from Duke. Analytically, guys that haven't produced at a school that transferred to go on to have success haven't panned out in the NBA (Wesley Johnson, Ekpe Udoh off the top of my head).

Yeah i brought this up a couple weeks ago. His steal totals are 0.4 a game. To anyone who thinks that isn't significant I'd recommend checking out the college stats of the guys who became great defenders. Butler, Leonard etc. All posted two or three times that amount in their final college season. There aren't a lot of stats that are reliable indicators but defensively steals do carry over. So I pass on Semi as a perimeter defender.

[Wally West]

I don't know why no one is talking about Caleb Swanigan... that guy is going to be stud if he's put in the right situation. Play him as a C in today's game and he's going to succeed.

I remember during the tournament, a former NBA star (I forgot who) said it perfectly... he's going to be slept on in the draft and have a Draymond Green type of impact at his draft position.

He can be a deadly low post scorer, he's a great passer, and he can shoot the ball. Not to mention his rebounding ability and his length. He might not be the quickest guy, but he can make up for it with his length. His passing, shooting and rebounding is what intrigues me most though. If he's there at our spot I'd love to grab him... I think he has underrated star potential. He single handedly took his team deep into the NCAA tournament.

TBH, I think he's more fitted at the C spot in the current NBA than both JV and Jakob.

He is talented, but kind of stuck in between the 4 and the 5 spot, but does have length like you said, but not much of a rim protecctor. Great passer, rebounder and has great touch and plays big. Can stretch it too. Kind of has a lot of the same strengths as a David Lee. Certain guys he might not be able to match that well, like Mo Wagner who would drove by him from the perimeter, but he is interesting because his body is continuously improving and has come a really long way in the last four year, so maybe he can become a lot quicker. He has a place in the league in some capacity.

The one game I got to see of Purdue this year I just watched Swanigan. He is the slowest player I've seen in years. That's not an exaggeration either. If he's playing, it needs to be with 4 other guys quick enough to somewhat compensate for his inability to defend the perimeter in any way. Basically teams will spam the pick and roll against him worst then they did against JV.
Caleb has a ton of offensive skills and can rebound as well. His shooting and passing will make him useful for any team on offense, even if they don't utilize his post game a lot, but he's essentially a one way player. I'm sure there's some video dissecting his utter lack of quickness.
I won't be mad if we pick him, but if there's anyone with a high ceiling as a 2 way player that's the way I'd prefer we go. I don't think there's anyone matching that description though. The 2 way guys left at our pick are likely low ceiling guys.

Yeah his passing is a great indicator of non-bust success in the NBA but I'd also prefer we go two-way player.