2018 Draft Thread #6

[League Circles]

I don't consider that much of a loss at all. We needed a pg badly, and took a flyer on MCW. Snell was doing nothing here, and he's not doing much in MIL either.

He's a highly efficient shooter (albeit on low volume) and good defender. Those guys are quite valuable as the 4th or 5th option in a unit IMO.

Yeah but he pushes the low usage thing beyond the boundaries of good taste.

He's not a good player. He's serviceable.

How good he is depends tremendously on the particular strengths and weaknesses of the players around him. He could be a damn ideal 5th starter for some teams. Like, actually ideal.

What I mean by that is, take any 4 all star players who include one C, one PF, one PG, and one wing, and most likely, Snell as the 2nd wing will be better for that unit than a 5th all-star (because of defense and shot selection).

[bearadonisdna]

As the bulls pick worsens im starting to come around on miles bridges as a prospect.

Watch on YouTube

Playing with JJJ is an interesting dynamic. I happen to work across the street from a MichSt bar.
He is efficient imo having a 53% eFg in conference play and 54% overall.
In the vid i posted he looks a young Russell Westbrook but of course is a lefty.

[Benedict Miller]

Watch on YouTube

[CoreyVillains]

It’s surprising how little you guys talk about Miles Bridges.
While my position in prefering him to Mikal is controversial (and quite fluid, to be honest) at this point, I think most people way underrate his combo of athleticism and shooting.
Yeah, yeah, Mikal is great (and I’d be pretty happy if we end up drafting him), and there’s a good chance that Carter will be solid for years to come, I don’t think you can deny that Miles has a bigger upside.

What does he do well at an NBA level? What is going to transfer? He is super raw as an NBA prospect. He’s not a dead eye shooter right now, just a good college level shooter. He can’t create off the dribble. In an NBA offense do you want him to sit in the corner when he isn’t going to be the best shooter on your team to put there? He’s going to struggle with wings and bigs defensively bc his measurements suck and he doesn’t move well enough laterally. He’s a really good athlete. He’ll look great in transition and playing the baseline if he has a good point guard. Currently his NBA skill set is really lacking though.

He's the 2nd highest 3P maker in the 1st round among wings after Mikal. 2.0 made per game, on very good 3P%. His 88% FT is also a strong indicator of future NBA shooting ability, where almost everyone else is a mid 70s FT shooter. Add on excellent vertical & solid frame, and great personality in terms of work ethic, competitiveness, values, relationship handling.

He's probably one of the best wing shooters in the 1st round at the moment. FT% is underrated vs 3P%, guys can have great 3P% from the college 3 and suck in the NBA. Markelle Fultz shot 41% from college 3. But his 64% FT shooting should have told people he was going to have issues in the NBA.

He's a good 3&D candidate.

If he could create off the dribble like Lebron or Durant, he'd being going top 3 not 8-12 where we're picking. If he could create he would be clearly superior to Doncic in every aspect, and Doncic's a top 3 guy.

He's shooting 37%. Good, certainly not great. If you look at one of the above posts, he doesn't fair well at the NBA distance (he's at 35.6% on 90% assisted). His FT% is very good and certainly encouraging; though he shoots such a low volume and he was at 68% last year, so I'm skeptical he's a 90% FT shooter. I'd imagine he's more of a low range 80% FT shooter, which is good, but again he doesn't draw a lot of FT's so it's certainly not a strength. Using it as a measure to predict future 3pt shooting is reasonable but I'd imagine he turns into 36-38ish% career NBA guy at his best. I don't think he is a good 3&D candidate because I don't think he is or will ever be a good enough or versatile enough shooter/defender to truly justify that role on a successful team. You're right that if he could dribble and create he very well could be a top3ish guy, I'd also add that if he had length like Mikal he'd probably also be a top3ish guy. The problem is he can't and he doesn't and so I think that hurts his chances of being an impact starter on a good team at the NBA level. If we were picking in the 12-15 range I'd say lets take a shot, but I can't imagine throwing a top 10 pick at a guy like him.

[bearadonisdna]

Watch on YouTube

Thats not bad. Have you seen this one?

Watch on YouTube

Theres more than ten dunks. The top 3 or four i see a little vince carter/shawn kemp on his dunks. Lol its an interesting watch.

[Moosegary]

If we draft Mikal Bridges at 8. What about trading the NO pick along with valentine to movie up to Phillys slot and grab a big (Gafford or Robinson. Thinks Williams will be gone. Would love to trade NO and Portis for the LA selection (Philly owned) for Carter. Don’t think Carter will be available at 11.

[Benedict Miller]

Watch on YouTube

Thats not bad. Have you seen this one?

Watch on YouTube

Theres more than ten dunks. The top 3 or four i see a little vince carter/shawn kemp on his dunks. Lol its an interesting watch.

I like how he attacks the basket with explosiveness and power. He'll bring a different dynamic, make the explosive plays, play defense, knock down open shots, rebound.

[bearadonisdna]

So in conference play trae young is posting some red flags. Like having more turnovers than rebounds.
6.6 turnovers per game.
Shooting less than 40% from the field.
Efg% less than 50%.
His Defensive rating is higher than his offensive rating.

[3noD]

Is Mikal more Tony Snell than Kahwi Leonard though? Snell had a freakish wingspan too.


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Snell was never the best player on a national championship contending team though.

Snell just wasn't that good in general (for a future NBA player). Here are some of Snell's final (Junior) year numbers playing in the Mountain West Conference. For comparison, Mikal's comparable numbers are in parenthesis.

Per -17.0 (27.5)
TS% -.562 on 16.0 points/40 (.659 on 22.1 points/40)
FG% -.422 (.521)
2pt FG %- .452 (.606)
3pt %- .390 (.433)
rebs/40- 3.4 (6.6)
stls/40- 1.1 (2.0)
blcks/40- .6 (1.4)

I can see the comparison, but Snell was basically a homeless man's version of Mikal.

However, considering how great Kawhi is (at least when he is healthy), I don't think it's unreasonable to question if Mikal ends up closer to Snell.

Thanks for this, very useful. I think it reassures me that Mikal is not one of these guys with good physical attributes, but too limited a skillset for the next level.


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[GimmeDat]

Had my eye on Deandre Hunter hard but apparently he broke his hand. For a guy that people were skeptical about leaving for the draft as it was, that's pretty much the nail in the coffin that he won't declare. Pity.

[bledredwine]

Guys- is consensus still that top 6 picks have star potential and there's a drop beyond that? I'm curious about our potential 8 pick.

[DuckIII]

Guys- is consensus still that top 6 picks have star potential and there's a drop beyond that? I'm curious about our potential 8 pick.

General opinion is that there are two tiers comprised of 6 or 7 players.

Ayton
Doncic
Bagley
JJJ
Porter Jr.
Bamba

And Young for some, but not for others.

Additionally some mocks and analysts here and there show Carter, Sexton or Mikal Bridges possibly jumping up into this mix and pushing down a player or two.

I think that’s a fairly accurate summary heading into the tournament. Fortunately for us the NCAA is a bunch or shameless whores who made sure to include Porter, Young and Bamba in the field for marketing.

[bigworld2017]

Had my eye on Deandre Hunter hard but apparently he broke his hand. For a guy that people were skeptical about leaving for the draft as it was, that's pretty much the nail in the coffin that he won't declare. Pity.

He wasn't quite ready, but might have been worth taking with the Pelicans pick. The upside is that he will have another year to get better, and it strengthens next year's draft which is already strong in wing players. I only hope we keep losing or get lucky in the lottery. I'd really like to get our "5" for the future with our pick. Nwamba can play the "3" with Holliday next year. And the 2019 Draft is top heavy with SGs and SFs.

[Benedict Miller]

Is Mikal Bridges going to be as as Tatum or Brown?

Can he defend Giannis, Simmons?

I think he will be better than Brown. Bigger impact than Tatum due to D but not as good offensive numbers.

Mikal Bridges being better than Jaylen Brown, and having a bigger impact than Tatum?

Do others feel this way? He's not even a Brandon Ingram type of prospect imo, who I'd love to have on this team. I hope Mikal's 3 point shot translates for him to have success offensively.

[kodo]

Guys- is consensus still that top 6 picks have star potential and there's a drop beyond that? I'm curious about our potential 8 pick.

I think the general consensus is

Tier - Doncic, Ayton
Tier - Bagley, JJJ, Bamba, Porter, Mikal, Young, Carter

Obviously different tier breakdowns will not include Young or not include Mikal or not include Carter, but I think everyone agrees once you start talking about Sexton/Knox/Miles that's a separate group of prospects.

[R3AL1TY]

I can see Mikal having a similar impact to Tatum and Brown, but mostly off the ball. I see his game being like Ariza's or a more defensive version of Houston's Eric Gordon.

[AshyLarrysDiaper]

Guys- is consensus still that top 6 picks have star potential and there's a drop beyond that? I'm curious about our potential 8 pick.

I think the general consensus is

Tier - Doncic, Ayton
Tier - Bagley, JJJ, Bamba, Porter, Mikal, Young, Carter

Obviously different tier breakdowns will not include Young or not include Mikal or not include Carter, but I think everyone agrees once you start talking about Sexton/Knox/Miles that's a separate group of prospects.

Re: that first tier, seems there's a split in the opinions held by Basketball Twitter (bloggers, podcasters, etc) and the mainstream Basketball Media.

Basketball Twitter tier 1: Doncic, Ayton

Basketball Media tier 1: Ayton

I'm always curious to see which opinion more closely matches those held by GMs. It hasn't been consistent over the years since both groups have their liabilities. Basketball Twitter is more detailed in its scouting but tends to overthink the obvious, whereas the Basketball Media is more plugged into NBA front offices but gets things wrong on the margins (foreign scouting).

[realEAST]

Is Mikal Bridges going to be as as Tatum or Brown?

Can he defend Giannis, Simmons?

I think he will be better than Brown. Bigger impact than Tatum due to D but not as good offensive numbers.

Mikal Bridges being better than Jaylen Brown, and having a bigger impact than Tatum?

Do others feel this way? He's not even a Brandon Ingram type of prospect imo, who I'd love to have on this team. I hope Mikal's 3 point shot translates for him to have success offensively.

I think these comparisons are getting out of hand, especially comparing him to rookies and somphs who are younger than him and displaying very good performance in actual NBA.

[Nikola]

Too bad we are tanking the tank.

Everyone seems high on Mikal. But with NY only winning 1 game since Porzingis went down, the pick is looking more like 9 than 8. If the big 7 and Mikal are all gone who do you have next?

Miles, Carter, Sexton, Knox, or other?

It's a tough call for me. I feel like it's such a monster drop off from 8 to 9 I won't walk away from this draft happy. The NO pick down to 23, what a fail.

[Chi town]

Is Mikal Bridges going to be as as Tatum or Brown?

Can he defend Giannis, Simmons?

I think he will be better than Brown. Bigger impact than Tatum due to D but not as good offensive numbers.

Mikal Bridges being better than Jaylen Brown, and having a bigger impact than Tatum?

Do others feel this way? He's not even a Brandon Ingram type of prospect imo, who I'd love to have on this team. I hope Mikal's 3 point shot translates for him to have success offensively.

1. Better scorer and shooter than Brown. Even defense. Brown's impact will be negated a bit when Hayward returns.

2. I like Tatum alot and think he will continue to get better. His D is average at best and I don't think he has the fire to play D like Mikal and Brown do. He is a superior offensive player but I think Mikal's 2 way impact will be bigger.

I think Mikal will be similar to an Otto Porter. Swiss Army Knife that is highly effective and wins you games.