2018 NBA Draft Thread

[ReasonablySober]

Kevin Huerter or Donte. Both look like wings we could use.

[machu46]

I don't envision him being a target for Milwaukee anyways, but I've been hearing it all year and Adam Zagoria is reporting it now...Tyus Battle likely to remain in the draft according to a source close to the Battle family.

I know very little about Battle outside of him going to Syracuse, but that's all I really need to know. No offense to any alum and Boeheim fans, but that program consistently churns out NBA flops. I'd guess just 1 in 10 NBA draft picks from Syracuse actually pans out, if that.

I mean ... yikes. https://basketball.realgm.com/ncaa/conferences/Atlantic-Coast-Conference/1/Syracuse/382/nba-draft

As a Cuse alum, my defense of Boeheim would be that he's done a pretty good job of getting guys drafted. Just in the past decade, some guys that people never expected to be drafted/got drafted way earlier than expected:

Andy Rautins (early 2nd round pick)
Wes Johnson (top 5 pick)
Dion Waiters (top 5 pick)
MCW (lottery pick)
Tyler Ennis (mid-1st round pick)
Malachi (late 1st)
Lydon (late 1st)

I think Syracuse has like the 2nd longest streak in the country in terms of consecutive years with a 1st round pick. But none of these guys were really good prospects IMO. I think MCW was the best of all of them. Maybe Wes Johnson. I thought Jerami Grant and Tyler Lydon had potential to be solid role players in the NBA and that appears to be what Grant is; we'll see with Lydon.

I don't really know why teams seem to fall in love with Syracuse prospects to be honest haha.

[skones]

I want Huerter.

[StickeeFingaz]

Tim Bontemps wrote that his sources said DiVicenzo is a virtual lock to enter the draft after his performance in the national championship and at the combine.

He wasn’t as adamant with Huerter but he did make it seem Huerter is more likely to enter the draft than head back to school.


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[Gam]

Just curious why so many people on the board are focused on wings. We already have:

Snell, Khris, Brown, Brogdon, and Delly (sorta) that can play and guard the 2 and

Khris, Snell, Brown, Giannis, and Jabari (if he returns) who can play and guard the 3.

Any 2/3 we take is going to have a very, very hard time getting on the floor this season, where as a 4 or 5, and to a lesser extent a 1 (they'd have to outplay Delly which seems reasonable), could actually get legitimate playing time right away if they're good enough.


I mean, I'm all for taking the BPA if you think that's clearly a wing, but if not we should really be prioritizing a 4/5.

Chances are there isn't a "Donovan Mitchell" in this draft. And if there is someone who can be that good that quick, there's no reason he's necessarily a wing.

[Gam]

I am not enthused the Tankathon mock consistently has us taking Anfernee Simons.

Watch on YouTube

He's actually pretty nice looking from what I've seen, but I'm personally not going to push for him (or Mitchell Robinson even though I actually really like him) because I was way too high on Hami last year and after seeing him actually play against college players I wouldn't touch him with a 10 foot pole. Which (rationally or not) is going to scare me away from straight-outta-high-school prospects for at least a little while.

Anfernee is also more of the "hope he's really good by the last year of Giannis' contract" type than the, "could actually contribute in 2018-19 " type I'd lean toward targeting.

[Ron Swanson]

You can never have enough 3&D wings in today's NBA. A guy like Sterling Brown should hardly be a lock for PT next season, so that shouldn't deter you from drafting a possible more talented version of him in Smith, Simons, or Walker.

[Gam]

You can never have enough 3&D wings in today's NBA. A guy like Sterling Brown should hardly be a lock for PT next season, so that shouldn't deter you from drafting a possible more talented version of him in Smith, Simons, or Walker.

Calling Smith a "3" or Simons a "D" is a stetch IMO. Zhaire barely put up 1 3 attempt a game in college, and Simons' projected position in the NBA is a 1 not a 2, and his most valuable skill is shot creation, not spot up shooting, and certainly not defense. I'd listen to an argument that Lonnie Walker could be a better 3&D player than Brown, but I think it'll take a couple years for that, minimum.

[machu46]

Just curious why so many people on the board are focused on wings. We already have:

Snell, Khris, Brown, Brogdon, and Delly (sorta) that can play and guard the 2 and

Khris, Snell, Brown, Giannis, and Jabari (if he returns) who can play and guard the 3.

Any 2/3 we take is going to have a very, very hard time getting on the floor this season, where as a 4 or 5, and to a lesser extent a 1 (they'd have to outplay Delly which seems reasonable), could actually get legitimate playing time right away if they're good enough.


I mean, I'm all for taking the BPA if you think that's clearly a wing, but if not we should really be prioritizing a 4/5.

Chances are there isn't a "Donovan Mitchell" in this draft. And if there is someone who can be that good that quick, there's no reason he's necessarily a wing.

Taking Givony's mock draft for example, from 15-30, there's a total of 4 PF/C's projected (and this is only if you considering Keita Bates-Diop and Kevin Knox to be PFs). It just doesn't seem likely that there will be a big man worth taking at 17.

I'm personally hoping that Robert Williams falls to us, but it doesn't seem super likely.

I also imagine a lot of people want Giannis to get a lot of the PF minutes and theoretically, Jabari could play there too if he sticks around. A rim protecting big man would be awesome but it doesn't appear to be in the cards unless Milwaukee moves up.

[Ron Swanson]

You can never have enough 3&D wings in today's NBA. A guy like Sterling Brown should hardly be a lock for PT next season, so that shouldn't deter you from drafting a possible more talented version of him in Smith, Simons, or Walker.

Calling Smith a "3" or Simons a "D" is a stetch IMO. Zhaire barely put up 1 3 attempt a game in college, and Simons' projected position in the NBA is a 1 not a 2, and his most valuable skill is shot creation, not spot up shooting, and certainly not defense. I'd listen to an argument that Lonnie Walker could be a better 3&D player than Brown, but I think it'll take a couple years for that, minimum.

Tony Snell, Sterling Brown, and Khris Middleton weren't 3&D prospects after their freshman years either. Hell, Middleton shot 26% from 3 his junior season.

[Prez]

Yeah I like Huerter. Seems like the exact type of player Bud could mold into a solid rotation piece, fit next to Giannis is awesome as well.

[Gam]

You can never have enough 3&D wings in today's NBA. A guy like Sterling Brown should hardly be a lock for PT next season, so that shouldn't deter you from drafting a possible more talented version of him in Smith, Simons, or Walker.

Calling Smith a "3" or Simons a "D" is a stetch IMO. Zhaire barely put up 1 3 attempt a game in college, and Simons' projected position in the NBA is a 1 not a 2, and his most valuable skill is shot creation, not spot up shooting, and certainly not defense. I'd listen to an argument that Lonnie Walker could be a better 3&D player than Brown, but I think it'll take a couple years for that, minimum.

Tony Snell, Sterling Brown, and Khris Middleton weren't 3&D prospects after their freshman years either. Hell, Middleton shot 26% from 3 his junior season.

All 3 of them shot more 3s/game than Zhaire did every year they were in school. And yeah Khris had a really bad Junior season, but shot 36% his sophomore season.

And Simons definitely isn't even a wing, and considering Zhaire isn't even 6'3", he's hardly a wing either.

[Gam]

Just curious why so many people on the board are focused on wings. We already have:

Snell, Khris, Brown, Brogdon, and Delly (sorta) that can play and guard the 2 and

Khris, Snell, Brown, Giannis, and Jabari (if he returns) who can play and guard the 3.

Any 2/3 we take is going to have a very, very hard time getting on the floor this season, where as a 4 or 5, and to a lesser extent a 1 (they'd have to outplay Delly which seems reasonable), could actually get legitimate playing time right away if they're good enough.


I mean, I'm all for taking the BPA if you think that's clearly a wing, but if not we should really be prioritizing a 4/5.

Chances are there isn't a "Donovan Mitchell" in this draft. And if there is someone who can be that good that quick, there's no reason he's necessarily a wing.

Taking Givony's mock draft for example, from 15-30, there's a total of 4 PF/C's projected (and this is only if you considering Keita Bates-Diop and Kevin Knox to be PFs). It just doesn't seem likely that there will be a big man worth taking at 17.

I'm personally hoping that Robert Williams falls to us, but it doesn't seem super likely.

I also imagine a lot of people want Giannis to get a lot of the PF minutes and theoretically, Jabari could play there too if he sticks around. A rim protecting big man would be awesome but it doesn't appear to be in the cards unless Milwaukee moves up.

That's fair, I just think if we take a wing we'll all be calling him a bust this time next year because he'll get buried under 4/5 guys at both wing positions.

[skones]

Just curious why so many people on the board are focused on wings. We already have:

The draft board is wing heavy..... Reaching for a big because "you need a big" when there's just not a lot out there in our range seems like a poor strategy. As far as our rotation is concerned? Middleton and Brogdon are the two guys that should be considered locked in for minutes. Beyond that Snell/Brown/etc. should be deterring anyone from drafting that position.

[emunney]

It's not like a draft pick at any position would have to fight through a crowd of all-stars to see the court. If they're good, it won't be an issue. As always.

[machu46]

Just curious why so many people on the board are focused on wings. We already have:

Snell, Khris, Brown, Brogdon, and Delly (sorta) that can play and guard the 2 and

Khris, Snell, Brown, Giannis, and Jabari (if he returns) who can play and guard the 3.

Any 2/3 we take is going to have a very, very hard time getting on the floor this season, where as a 4 or 5, and to a lesser extent a 1 (they'd have to outplay Delly which seems reasonable), could actually get legitimate playing time right away if they're good enough.


I mean, I'm all for taking the BPA if you think that's clearly a wing, but if not we should really be prioritizing a 4/5.

Chances are there isn't a "Donovan Mitchell" in this draft. And if there is someone who can be that good that quick, there's no reason he's necessarily a wing.

Taking Givony's mock draft for example, from 15-30, there's a total of 4 PF/C's projected (and this is only if you considering Keita Bates-Diop and Kevin Knox to be PFs). It just doesn't seem likely that there will be a big man worth taking at 17.

I'm personally hoping that Robert Williams falls to us, but it doesn't seem super likely.

I also imagine a lot of people want Giannis to get a lot of the PF minutes and theoretically, Jabari could play there too if he sticks around. A rim protecting big man would be awesome but it doesn't appear to be in the cards unless Milwaukee moves up.

That's fair, I just think if we take a wing we'll all be calling him a bust this time next year because he'll get buried under 4/5 guys at both wing positions.

It's certainly a possibility but drafting a bad big man/a super raw big man could also easily result in them being buried ala DJ Wilson.

Look at this site and click on the "Bigs" filter...it isn't a pretty picture.
https://nbadraft.theringer.com/

Eliminating the guys that are basically locks to be taken in the top 10, you're left with:

15. Robert Williams - legitimately good option IMO
25. Mitchell Robinson - the reports about his BBIQ scare me along with having zero college experience. Certainly some intrigue though.
33. Moritz Wagner - His lackluster defense and rebounding make him a poor fit here IMO
35. Jontay Porter - Shares the same concerns as Wagner pretty much
43. Chimezie Metu - Same rebounding issues plus worse offensively
58. Sagaba Konate - Short and currently brings basically nothing offensively, but he had maybe the two best blocks I saw this past year and his free throw shooting prowess is a nice bonus.
60. Brandon McCoy - Seems like he might be a good rebounder but will likely struggle at the rest of the game

That's literally all of them. I'd be kinda intrigued with Konate in the 2nd round and I'd love to have Robert Williams but the rest don't really do it for me, and Porter is reportedly leaning towards returning to school too.

[bizarro]

The thing that stood out to me watching Donte in the combine scrimmages is his ‘want to’. He’s extremely accurate from deep with long range, i already knew that. BUT, it’s not always that a guy with a vert like his can and wants to rebound. He was banging and crashing down low and making the hustle olays that led to put back points or more possessions. The kid has a lot of room to grow and he’s already got a lot to work with.

[bizarro]

Kevin Huerter or Donte. Both look like wings we could use.

I’d be down. Though, honestly, I might prefer Jacob Evans due to defensive ability and grit and grind to add to a competent offensive 3 and D game.

[StickeeFingaz]

DiVincenzo might be able to give Snell buckets right now.


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[emunney]

How about George Hill and 8 for Bledsoe and 17?