2018 NBA Draft

Mirotic12 · Post #421 » by **Mirotic12** » Sat Jul 1, 2017 5:02 pm

Kostas Antetokounmpo finally joined Greece's under-20 team for this summer. He only scored 2 points in their game against Israel.

Justwar · Post #422 » by **Justwar** » Sat Jul 1, 2017 6:31 pm

Cameron reddish might be the most skilled player in the 2018(hs class) not named Bagley. Looks like he can play 1 to 4.

UcanUwill · Post #423 » by **UcanUwill** » Sun Jul 2, 2017 10:38 am

6'9 mobile shooting guard with good handles and deadly 3 pointer. Can finish with his left hand with ease as you can see in this video. Needs to improve his defense big time though.

Watch on YouTube

yannisk · Post #424 » by **yannisk** » Sun Jul 2, 2017 11:57 am

Kostas Antetokounmpo scored 18 points in 18 minutes against Ukraine U20. Michayliuk 13 for Ukraine.

Greece won 90-40 not the most competitive match I guess

NDave79 · Post #425 » by **NDave79** » Sun Jul 2, 2017 6:10 pm

As a Bulls fan, I want to fall in love with Bamba, but I'm nervous he could end up like Saer Sene as they seem somewhat similar physically (Saer measured 7 feet with shoes and had a 7'8.5" wingspan). Can anyone who has seen enough of both players compare and contrast their physical abilities and basketball skills. Thanks in advance for any replies.

Chuck Everett · Post #426 » by **Chuck Everett** » Mon Jul 3, 2017 9:45 am

NDave79 wrote:As a Bulls fan, I want to fall in love with Bamba, but I'm nervous he could end up like Saer Sene as they seem somewhat similar physically (Saer measured 7 feet with shoes and had a 7'8.5" wingspan). Can anyone who has seem enough of both players compare and contrast their physical abilities and basketball skills. Thanks in advance for any replies.

You've got an entire season to watch him at Texas versus the step-up in competition. That's the best thing about the one-and-done, high school gives you no arbiter to how good these guys really are.

Mirotic12 · Post #427 » by **Mirotic12** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 2:18 pm

Kostas Antetokounmpo broke his leg in one of Greece under-20's friendly games....

MC3 · Post #428 » by **MC3** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 2:21 pm

Does anyone have some knowledge on Kevin Knox. I would like to hear some more about him beside youtube vids. Thanks

The-Power · Post #429 » by **The-Power** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 2:26 pm

MC3 wrote:Does anyone have some knowledge on Kevin Knox. I would like to hear some more about him beside youtube vids. Thanks

What are you looking for and what do you want to know?

MC3 · Post #430 » by **MC3** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 2:32 pm

The-Power wrote:
MC3 wrote:Does anyone have some knowledge on Kevin Knox. I would like to hear some more about him beside youtube vids. Thanks

What are you looking for and what do you want to know?

Anything really. From youtube vids he looks to me like real deal, both tools and skills wise. But then again it's highlight vid. I saw Mcdonalds All-American game and he didnt stand out to me at all. Unlike Sexton for example. He hit 1st open 3 with confidence, next time he airball it.

So I am interested how far is he from top mocks currently. Compared to Porter and rest of them. Maybe some strenghts, weaknesses or just personality wise. What kind of guy and player he is.

The-Power · Post #431 » by **The-Power** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 2:48 pm

MC3 wrote:Anything really.

All right, I'll just quote myself (yeah, it's lazy

) and then we go from there. Those are a few bits I wrote about him on this board in several threads – in chronological order. Maybe they help to give you a first idea of him and you can ask about him based on that.

As you'll see reading through the excerpts, Knox is a really tough one to rank; for me personally at least. As far as the my personal big board is concerned, he's definitely not in my top five for the time being. So he's clearly behind Bamba, Doncic, Porter, Jackson Jr. and Brown in my eyes – until he shows improvement in college that catapults him up in the rankings. After this group, it's tough to rank these guys with any kind of confidence and I could be convinced that he's right there after them.

One thing I'm confident saying is that Knox definitely isn't as good right now as highlight videos would suggest; and while that's something all players have in common, Knox is a pretty extreme case for reasons you'll see below.

Knox has been quietly good on defense in international basketball but was rather unimpressive - and at times invisible - on offense.

I don't really know what to do with Knox. I mean, he's clearly talented but so damn inconsistent and he's not elite - nor does he really has the potential to be elite - in any area. So it will be interesting to see how far his all-around game (he's really solid on both ends) can carry him. Hopefully he stays in college for more than a year unless he unexpectedly breaks out in his freshman season.

Total wildcard: Kevin Knox. Just don't know how to rate this guy. One of the younger players in next year's freshman class who hasn't played against high-level competition in High School much. He did, however, participate in Team USA events and some notable other games. He's the type of player who's solid at everything but great at nothing. Interior defense, perimeter defense, rebounding, handling the ball, running the break, creating for others, shooting jumpers and finishing inside - he does a little bit of everything but is inconsistent and unpolished in all categories. He's a solid athlete with solid measurements but nothing special there either. Either he thrives playing against better competition in which case I could see a Tatum-like development in his first year (probably not quite at the same level, though). Or he struggles because he can't rely on anything in particular to keep his consistency up and his stock falls considerably.

Kevin Knox could amount to something as a jack of all trades but his current skill level just isn't all that high.

edit: Note that most of my opinion was shaped by international tournaments he participated in. I've also watched two or three HS games from which footage is available on YouTube, plus the All-Star games and the scrimmages (as far as they are available online). So yeah, it's sufficient to get an idea of how far he is developed as a player but obviously not enough to rank him as confidently as we can after one year in college (and even then it's still tough to rank and assess certain prospects).

MC3 · Post #432 » by **MC3** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 2:59 pm

Thanks!

Post #433 » by **Duke4life831** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 6:58 pm

MC3 wrote:
The-Power wrote:
MC3 wrote:Does anyone have some knowledge on Kevin Knox. I would like to hear some more about him beside youtube vids. Thanks

What are you looking for and what do you want to know?

Anything really. From youtube vids he looks to me like real deal, both tools and skills wise. But then again it's highlight vid. I saw Mcdonalds All-American game and he didnt stand out to me at all. Unlike Sexton for example. He hit 1st open 3 with confidence, next time he airball it.

So I am interested how far is he from top mocks currently. Compared to Porter and rest of them. Maybe some strenghts, weaknesses or just personality wise. What kind of guy and player he is.

I saw the-power did a pretty good write up on him I thought id give my 10 cents as well since I watched a lot of him because Duke was really trying hard to get him.

Honestly never been the biggest fan of his for a few reasons. In my opinion he has 0 natural feel for the game offensively. He is very adamant on being a perimeter player instead of a 4, even though he has 0 perimeter skills. His handle is shaky at best (dribbles really high even for a 6'8 player) and his jump shot while yes it is getting better, still is pretty bad and doesnt have the greatest shooting mechanics so Im not sure about the potential with it. Defensively he comes and goes, but the dude disappears way way too much. He just seems to be missing that fire and he can disappear for half a game and you forgot hes on the court.

I dont know why but from the first time I watched him and still to this day I get a Corey Brewer feel to him. A 3&D wing with a very questionable "3" and not nearly as good of a defender as youd like and expect.

Mr.Raptorsingh · Post #434 » by **Mr.Raptorsingh** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 11:30 pm

Rui Hachimura looks damn intriguing. Dude has some of Giannis in his game.

DirtyDez · Post #435 » by **DirtyDez** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:34 am

From all reports Ayton is blowing away ppl with his work ethic during the strength & conditioning programs. The fact that he's on campus me think he won't pull a Ferguson at the last minute.

Post #436 » by **Duke4life831** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 7:01 pm

DirtyDez wrote:From all reports Ayton is blowing away ppl with his work ethic during the strength & conditioning programs. The fact that he's on campus me think he won't pull a Ferguson at the last minute.

Very good to hear. I think choosing Zona and playing for Miller was an unbelievably smart choice for Ayton. There is no doubt Miller is going to push him like hes never been pushed before. And if he is truly motivated and plays with a motor, that is great for Zona, the draft and the NBA. Ayton with a motor and work ethic is a better prospect than KAT was coming out of college in my opinion.

Man I really hope Bagley joins this class and everyone lives up to their hype and we get a truly stud top 5 of Bagley, Ayton, Porter, Bamba and Doncic. After getting a class filled we PGs, we get a stud class with the smallest guy in the top 5 is 6'8.

DirtyDez · Post #437 » by **DirtyDez** » Sun Jul 23, 2017 9:21 pm

Looks like the conditioning rumors weren't exagerrated. Heard he's lost a lot of fat.

Need to see a birth certificate because he has some Oden in his face.

Post #438 » by **Prez** » Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:19 am

It's kinda scary how realistic it is that Boston could come out of next draft with both Ayton and Porter.

Patsfan1081 · Post #439 » by **Patsfan1081** » Mon Jul 24, 2017 5:37 pm

Prez wrote:It's kinda scary how realistic it is that Boston could come out of next draft with both Ayton and Porter.

Its going to be difficult with that L.A.pick, they did improve their roster but the west as a whole got a lot better also. However if it does transfer does Tatum/Porter or Tatum/Ayton>Fultz? That trade could potentially be a decent size win for Boston after a lot of people (including myself) hated on Ainge for trading out of Fultz.

Mulhollanddrive · Post #440 » by **Mulhollanddrive** » Tue Jul 25, 2017 10:04 am

So does Boston get the Lakers pick in 2018 if they pick 2-5?