2018 NBA Draft

[Duke4life831]

Sucks that we won't see anymore of Ayton before the draft.

[RookieStar]

before? around 8 or 9. just after jjj and above any of the bridges.

now? with the way trae is laying an egg and the eay he is stepping up due to bagley's absence.. probably 6 at best. he is for me, equal to bambae and trae right now

[Duke4life831]

Wendell Carter Jr. has been rising. Not into that top 5 but definitely in the top 10.

He was already in the top 10 before all this.

Where in the top 10 would you put him?

I know you're not asking me. But I've had Carter at 7 for basically the entire season.

[DirtyDez]

Sucks that we won't see anymore of Ayton before the draft.

Too soon?

[No-Man]

Good thing to all draft prospects is that it is still February. All still have months to go to raise their draft stock. To those being realistic, Trae, Doncic and Bagley for me has their draft stocks plummet these last few games/weeks. JJJ and Carter went up and everyone is circling around MPJ. Any others who you think went up or down?

Wendell Carter Jr. has been rising. Not into that top 5 but definitely in the top 10.

He was already in the top 10 before all this.

15 years ago for sure, even 10 years ago, not sure about right now, I like him a ton for what he is, but I am not really sure he is gonna bring value to warrant that type of selection, as a Center he is just limited athletically/length wise to be a factor on D, and if you play him at the 4 most of his offensive skills become just meh

He is gonna have a long career as a rotation big and will def make my top20, but I would not gamble on him in the top10.

[kb02]

I think there is only one true, dynamic player this draft. That's Doncic. Reminds me of Mike Miller with better handles. Offensively, I think he'll be plug and play. Do have a lot of worries about whether he'll be able to defend the 3 spot.

Ayton scares me. He's what Ed Ogereon calls an alligator athlete. Straight line athleticism, but not much agility. Benefits from having a huge size advantage in college.

Would very much like to see MPJ return. Wasn't convinced he had enough handles to be more than a 3&D. Has solid, advanced fundamentals. Rarely uses his left hand in game.

Favorite player this draft is Miles Bridges. Of the non-PG prospects, Bridges has the best handles. He can drive and score on either hand. Uses his size well and is underrated athletically. Plus he's a lefty.

Sexton > Young. Think Sexton is going to carve out a career like Pat Beverly. Will be a defensive pest. High energy, scrapper type. Young's going to end up being a volume shooting 6th man if he maintains his style of play or a solid, facilitating pg if he reins in his style. Neither will be a star.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Any chance Porter plays today?

The only full game he played (pre-season against Kansas) he went 6-20 FG.

[916fan]

I think there is only one true, dynamic player this draft. That's Doncic. Reminds me of Mike Miller with better handles. Offensively, I think he'll be plug and play. Do have a lot of worries about whether he'll be able to defend the 3 spot.

Ayton scares me. He's what Ed Ogereon calls an alligator athlete. Straight line athleticism, but not much agility. Benefits from having a huge size advantage in college.

Would very much like to see MPJ return. Wasn't convinced he had enough handles to be more than a 3&D. Has solid, advanced fundamentals. Rarely uses his left hand in game.

Favorite player this draft is Miles Bridges. Of the non-PG prospects, Bridges has the best handles. He can drive and score on either hand. Uses his size well and is underrated athletically. Plus he's a lefty.

Sexton > Young. Think Sexton is going to carve out a career like Pat Beverly. Will be a defensive pest. High energy, scrapper type. Young's going to end up being a volume shooting 6th man if he maintains his style of play or a solid, facilitating pg if he reins in his style. Neither will be a star.

Ayton will have a size advantage in the NBA too. Ayton has a good amount of agility for his size. I think he's an instant 16+ppg scorer in the NBA.

MPJ has much more more to offer than just as a 3&D player. Not sure he'll be able to play a ton of minutes at Mizzou.

[3toheadmelo]

ayton and carter are my favorite bigs of this draft

[baldur]

has ayton been suspended?

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Ayton scares me. He's what Ed Ogereon calls an alligator athlete. Straight line athleticism, but not much agility. Benefits from having a huge size advantage in college.

I haven't watched much of him this year, but I caught the Oregon game last night and was really impressed with how he moved his feet...

[kb02]

Ayton scares me. He's what Ed Ogereon calls an alligator athlete. Straight line athleticism, but not much agility. Benefits from having a huge size advantage in college.

I haven't watched much of him this year, but I caught the Oregon game last night and was really impressed with how he moved his feet...

I don't see elite feet with him. He moves like Tristan Thompson n is good for a few travels a game when he shuffles his feet for balance.

The best film to evaluate him is against another first rounder big in Metu from USC. Looks very avg athletically when playing against a legit NBA prospect.

[xpmar9x]

Good thing to all draft prospects is that it is still February. All still have months to go to raise their draft stock. To those being realistic, Trae, Doncic and Bagley for me has their draft stocks plummet these last few games/weeks. JJJ and Carter went up and everyone is circling around MPJ. Any others who you think went up or down?

Bamba for sure. Everyone knew he had size and shot blocking ability, I wasn't aware he had range until lately.

Chandler Hutchison is another guy whom most pegged as a late 1st/2nd. I wouldnt be shocked if he ended up in the mid teens/late lotto.

[Marcus]

I think there is only one true, dynamic player this draft. That's Doncic. Reminds me of Mike Miller with better handles. Offensively, I think he'll be plug and play. Do have a lot of worries about whether he'll be able to defend the 3 spot.

Ayton scares me. He's what Ed Ogereon calls an alligator athlete. Straight line athleticism, but not much agility. Benefits from having a huge size advantage in college.

Would very much like to see MPJ return. Wasn't convinced he had enough handles to be more than a 3&D. Has solid, advanced fundamentals. Rarely uses his left hand in game.

Favorite player this draft is Miles Bridges. Of the non-PG prospects, Bridges has the best handles. He can drive and score on either hand. Uses his size well and is underrated athletically. Plus he's a lefty.

Sexton > Young. Think Sexton is going to carve out a career like Pat Beverly. Will be a defensive pest. High energy, scrapper type. Young's going to end up being a volume shooting 6th man if he maintains his style of play or a solid, facilitating pg if he reins in his style. Neither will be a star.

How?

[bootsythornton]

I wish we could see Porter, if he recovers from the injury and slides, he's going to be a steal. Could see Memphis grabbing him.

[kb02]

I think there is only one true, dynamic player this draft. That's Doncic. Reminds me of Mike Miller with better handles. Offensively, I think he'll be plug and play. Do have a lot of worries about whether he'll be able to defend the 3 spot.

Ayton scares me. He's what Ed Ogereon calls an alligator athlete. Straight line athleticism, but not much agility. Benefits from having a huge size advantage in college.

Would very much like to see MPJ return. Wasn't convinced he had enough handles to be more than a 3&D. Has solid, advanced fundamentals. Rarely uses his left hand in game.

Favorite player this draft is Miles Bridges. Of the non-PG prospects, Bridges has the best handles. He can drive and score on either hand. Uses his size well and is underrated athletically. Plus he's a lefty.

Sexton > Young. Think Sexton is going to carve out a career like Pat Beverly. Will be a defensive pest. High energy, scrapper type. Young's going to end up being a volume shooting 6th man if he maintains his style of play or a solid, facilitating pg if he reins in his style. Neither will be a star.

How?

Elaborate

[Marcus]

I think there is only one true, dynamic player this draft. That's Doncic. Reminds me of Mike Miller with better handles. Offensively, I think he'll be plug and play. Do have a lot of worries about whether he'll be able to defend the 3 spot.

Ayton scares me. He's what Ed Ogereon calls an alligator athlete. Straight line athleticism, but not much agility. Benefits from having a huge size advantage in college.

Would very much like to see MPJ return. Wasn't convinced he had enough handles to be more than a 3&D. Has solid, advanced fundamentals. Rarely uses his left hand in game.

Favorite player this draft is Miles Bridges. Of the non-PG prospects, Bridges has the best handles. He can drive and score on either hand. Uses his size well and is underrated athletically. Plus he's a lefty.

Sexton > Young. Think Sexton is going to carve out a career like Pat Beverly. Will be a defensive pest. High energy, scrapper type. Young's going to end up being a volume shooting 6th man if he maintains his style of play or a solid, facilitating pg if he reins in his style. Neither will be a star.

How?

Elaborate

You said Miles Bridges is underrated athletically, who says that about Bridges? It's one of his calling cards.

[nolang1]

Wendell Carter Jr. has been rising. Not into that top 5 but definitely in the top 10.

He was already in the top 10 before all this.

15 years ago for sure, even 10 years ago, not sure about right now, I like him a ton for what he is, but I am not really sure he is gonna bring value to warrant that type of selection, as a Center he is just limited athletically/length wise to be a factor on D, and if you play him at the 4 most of his offensive skills become just meh

He is gonna have a long career as a rotation big and will def make my top20, but I would not gamble on him in the top10.

I don’t know if it’s just the change in competition or if he put on weight and lost quickness, but I’m less impressed by him than I was watching him in FIBA & EYBL. Pretty much in 100 percent agreement here - 5-6 years down the line I don’t feel like anyone’s gonna be less worried about having to go against Embiid/KAT/Jokic in a playoff series because Wendell Carter is going to keep them in check. Then on the other end of the spectrum he’s not going to do well defending switches and isn’t such an explosive scorer that he’ll really punish teams for going small. At that point I’d rather get a specialist free agent for cheap than use a top 10 pick on a decent big.

I find Carter similar to Caleb Swanigan plus more shot-blocking ability, and Swanigan was another player whom statistical measures regarded more highly than I did. Swanigan is currently stuck behind even a younger rookie in Zach Collins on the Blazers’ depth chart.

[kb02]

How?

Elaborate

You said Miles Bridges is underrated athletically, who says that about Bridges? It's one of his calling cards.

Gotcha. You quoted the entire post, so had no idea what you referring to.

What I meant is he doesn't get the same kind of credit for his athleticism because of his lack of size/length and his build. If he was a legit 6'8 (he's likely closer to 6'6), I think there is no way he falls below the top 5.

[Duke4life831]

Elaborate

You said Miles Bridges is underrated athletically, who says that about Bridges? It's one of his calling cards.

Gotcha. You quoted the entire post, so had no idea what you referring to.

What I meant is he doesn't get the same kind of credit for his athleticism because of his lack of size/length and his build. If he was a legit 6'8 (he's likely closer to 6'6), I think there is no way he falls below the top 5.

I definitely think if he was taller he would be considered a better prospect but the same can be said for every prospect. I just think there is a few things with him which is why I think he has fallen down most draft boards. He is a wing that has a measurement on 6'6 and a 6'8.5" wingspan, that kind of puts some limits to his versatility defensively, especially when considering he isnt the most quickest athlete laterally. Plus I think he has slipped down lots of people's draft boards because the complete lack of progression from last year to this year.

17 season (conference):
16/8/2, .8 stls and 1.7 blks on 49/42/72 shooting
54% 2pt shooting, 64% at the rim while being assisted on 57% of those shots

this season (conference):
16/6/2, .7 stls and .7 blks on 45/38/90 shooting
50% 2pt shooting, 64% at the rim while being assisted on 56% of those shots

So again I think people realize how explosive he is, but also realize he may have limitations when it comes to versatility because of his length. And again there hasnt really been any progression in his game at all, which is another reason why many have him lower on their boards.