2019 Draft Thread Volume #6 - Post Lottery

[kulaz3000]

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The most pointless drill ever.

Yeah, he can dunk - fantastic.

[AshyLarrysDiaper]

Kevin Porter Jr is co-captain of the Open Gym All Stars along with Reddish.

[Chi town]

I just don’t get how Garland fits with that team. They just drafted Ball. I don’t think either Ball or Garland are guys that will be that effective with the ball not in their hands. Then you add LeBron, and the fit seems even weirder.

I think Hunter makes more sense for them.

I think they have every intention of trading Ball, and I think it will be to the Bulls.

Well if that’s the reasoning, the Bulls should use this situation to their advantage and get a lowball deal for Ball.

I just don’t buy Garland to the Lakers because he makes little sense with their roster. And of the top 6-7 picks, he’s also the biggest project and has the biggest question marks due to lack of playing time. 2 things that LeBron isn’t interested in.

Exactly. He’s only the pick if they trade it.

Lebron wants win now players which would be Hunter or Culver.

[GimmeDat]

I'm trying to work out why such a mediocre ceiling is being placed on Deandre Hunter.

He scored 19pp/40 on one of the slowest paced teams in basketball, on 62% TS, hes functionally a pretty good athlete, he can pull up OTD, he has a mid-post creation game, solid feel/makes the right passes, can handle decently, gets to the line at a solid rate. Obviously a talented defender. Low stl/blks scare me a little bit but Virginia play a conservative scheme.

What's the catch? I get he's not a flashy player and he's on the older side, but from everything I can tell, he was a strong scorer in college at all 3 levels. He can only stand to up the 3 point volume, which seems inevitable given the super efficient % on a medium volume, and he the tools to further develop his on-ball game.

Even guys that like him in this draft are calling him a plug and play Hawks - Demarre Carroll type, which seems like a major undersell.

[Jcool0]

I'm trying to work out why such a mediocre ceiling is being placed on Deandre Hunter.

He scored 19pp/40 on one of the slowest paced teams in basketball, on 62% TS, hes functionally a pretty good athlete, he can pull up OTD, he has a mid-post creation game, solid feel/makes the right passes, can handle decently, gets to the line at a solid rate. Obviously a talented defender. Low stl/blks scare me a little bit but Virginia play a conservative scheme.

What's the catch? I get he's not a flashy player and he's on the older side, but from everything I can tell, he was a strong scorer in college at all 3 levels. He can only stand to up the 3 point volume, which seems inevitable given the super efficient % on a medium volume, and he the tools to further develop his on-ball game.

Even guys that like him in this draft are calling him a plug and play Hawks - Demarre Carroll type, which seems like a major undersell.

I think this breakdown sums it up well:

After evaluating Hunter multiple times in person over the past two seasons and picking the brains of NBA scouts over that period of time, I’m not convinced his skill set portends the type of upside that would warrant taking him over a younger, more skilled player at most junctures of the top 10. A lot of the discussion with him tends to center on the quality of his floor (loosely defined as a reasonable, projected average-to-worst-case scenario). This makes sense: he’s physically ready for the NBA, he can defend bigger wings and smaller forwards at 6’7”, he can switch on the perimeter if need be and hold his own, and he’s shown improvement as a set shooter from the outside. But when you’re a team picking near the top of the draft and trying to reverse your fortunes, the safe choice isn’t always the best choice. And the most mature player isn’t always the safest option, either.

At his age and given his visible physical stiffness playing off the dribble, I think there’s reason to be skeptical as to how much that element of his game can evolve. He’s not going to blow by people or shake them in space. Considering the skill level at his age, and his later stage of development as an athlete, it’s become fairly clear to me that the optimistic projection here is that of a useful role player, not someone you build a team around.

Hunter has relied more on being bigger and stronger than his opponents, and derived much of his offense from triple-threat catches that put him in position to do damage with one or two dribbles. He likes to face up, rather than turn his back to the basket, and that helped him take advantage of athletic mismatches. Hunter three-point shooting profile isn’t completely convincing, and he’s yet to exude a consistent amount of confidence in that part of of his game. I think he’ll lose some of the physical edge within the speed and flow of the NBA game. I worry on some level about the jump shot translating. And if he can’t score efficiently around the basket or make enough threes to space the floor, you have to start questioning the utility of whatever his offensive functionality might end up being. There’s no one offensive skill that inspires enough confidence to rate him as a top-five pick.

https://www.si.com/nba/2019/05/28/nba-draft-2019-lottery-prospects-deandre-hunter-romeo-langford?xid=socialflow_twitter_si&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=thecrossover

[bearadonisdna]

I'm trying to work out why such a mediocre ceiling is being placed on Deandre Hunter.

He scored 19pp/40 on one of the slowest paced teams in basketball, on 62% TS, hes functionally a pretty good athlete, he can pull up OTD, he has a mid-post creation game, solid feel/makes the right passes, can handle decently, gets to the line at a solid rate. Obviously a talented defender. Low stl/blks scare me a little bit but Virginia play a conservative scheme.

What's the catch? I get he's not a flashy player and he's on the older side, but from everything I can tell, he was a strong scorer in college at all 3 levels. He can only stand to up the 3 point volume, which seems inevitable given the super efficient % on a medium volume, and he the tools to further develop his on-ball game.

Even guys that like him in this draft are calling him a plug and play Hawks - Demarre Carroll type, which seems like a major undersell.

It may be because he didn't really have a huge role in college.
If I had to put it someway he got his opportunities from a trickle down affect, deferring to players I cant even name right now.

[johnnyvann840]

This is going to be a really interesting thread to revisit a year from now.

I was just reading last years draft thread from around this time a year ago. It's a gas.

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1715795&start=140

[GimmeDat]

I'm trying to work out why such a mediocre ceiling is being placed on Deandre Hunter.

He scored 19pp/40 on one of the slowest paced teams in basketball, on 62% TS, hes functionally a pretty good athlete, he can pull up OTD, he has a mid-post creation game, solid feel/makes the right passes, can handle decently, gets to the line at a solid rate. Obviously a talented defender. Low stl/blks scare me a little bit but Virginia play a conservative scheme.

What's the catch? I get he's not a flashy player and he's on the older side, but from everything I can tell, he was a strong scorer in college at all 3 levels. He can only stand to up the 3 point volume, which seems inevitable given the super efficient % on a medium volume, and he the tools to further develop his on-ball game.

Even guys that like him in this draft are calling him a plug and play Hawks - Demarre Carroll type, which seems like a major undersell.

I think this breakdown sums it up well:

After evaluating Hunter multiple times in person over the past two seasons and picking the brains of NBA scouts over that period of time, I’m not convinced his skill set portends the type of upside that would warrant taking him over a younger, more skilled player at most junctures of the top 10. A lot of the discussion with him tends to center on the quality of his floor (loosely defined as a reasonable, projected average-to-worst-case scenario). This makes sense: he’s physically ready for the NBA, he can defend bigger wings and smaller forwards at 6’7”, he can switch on the perimeter if need be and hold his own, and he’s shown improvement as a set shooter from the outside. But when you’re a team picking near the top of the draft and trying to reverse your fortunes, the safe choice isn’t always the best choice. And the most mature player isn’t always the safest option, either.

At his age and given his visible physical stiffness playing off the dribble, I think there’s reason to be skeptical as to how much that element of his game can evolve. He’s not going to blow by people or shake them in space. Considering the skill level at his age, and his later stage of development as an athlete, it’s become fairly clear to me that the optimistic projection here is that of a useful role player, not someone you build a team around.

Hunter has relied more on being bigger and stronger than his opponents, and derived much of his offense from triple-threat catches that put him in position to do damage with one or two dribbles. He likes to face up, rather than turn his back to the basket, and that helped him take advantage of athletic mismatches. Hunter three-point shooting profile isn’t completely convincing, and he’s yet to exude a consistent amount of confidence in that part of of his game. I think he’ll lose some of the physical edge within the speed and flow of the NBA game. I worry on some level about the jump shot translating. And if he can’t score efficiently around the basket or make enough threes to space the floor, you have to start questioning the utility of whatever his offensive functionality might end up being. There’s no one offensive skill that inspires enough confidence to rate him as a top-five pick.

https://www.si.com/nba/2019/05/28/nba-draft-2019-lottery-prospects-deandre-hunter-romeo-langford?xid=socialflow_twitter_si&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=thecrossover

I think it could be a mistake to judge his offensive ceiling based on his lack of shiftiness though. I get it, he's got a pretty cerebral game, there's no clear stand-out skill as you said, and some of that mid-post/1 dribble stuff often struggles to translate. However I think there's something to be said for the fact that he's efficient at all three levels, I do think his shot is a bit cumbersome but the form's good and at 44% from 3 he could easily take more.

But just even the floor doesn't seem to me as being as low as is being suggested. It's almost like he's being described as a 3/D guy with no other wrinkles.

[kingkirk]

With Ball and LeBron there, I don’t think he makes much sense at all. None of those three strengths are off the ball play.

Both Hunter and Culver make much more sense with that roster.

Garland can shoot the hell out of the ball. It’s arguably his best and most alluring skill. He can do that on or off ball. Having him play off LeBron is completely fine.

The Lakers need guard play and they need guys who can shoot. Garland is both of those things.

And perhaps more importantly than anything else, he’s a Klutch guy. If they keep their pick, I will be shocked if they don’t select either Garland or Reddish.

[bearadonisdna]

This is going to be a really interesting thread to revisit a year from now.

I was just reading last years draft thread from around this time a year ago. It's a gas.

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1715795&start=140

One thing I can say is that the board had a pretty good pulse on that particular draft.
Trae and mpj being the only real outliers.
Meaning their prospective ranking among board members.
Trae to a lesser extent because he was universally among the vaunted top 6.

[johnnyvann840]

Wow.Talk about a prophetic post..

Damn GimmeDat was on fire here. This was a year ago. Nice calls..

viewtopic.php?p=66808775#p66808775

[GimmeDat]

Wow.Talk about a prophetic post..

Damn GimmeDat was on fire here. This was a year ago. Nice calls..

viewtopic.php?p=66808775#p66808775

Ha, thanks for digging that up!

Might have some regrets referring to Jabari as 'plays better than MPJ within a team offense' though, and 'more feasible at the 3' needs the 'if he doesn't come in to shape heavily overweight' caveat

I think we actually addressed that 2-way forward with Otto, he's a perfect fit for what I was hoping for, obviously on a 26m+ price tag, though.

Definitely had my eye on Hunter back then. It's a pity the guys like Little ended up disappointing.

[johnnyvann840]

Wow.Talk about a prophetic post..

Damn GimmeDat was on fire here. This was a year ago. Nice calls..

viewtopic.php?p=66808775#p66808775

Ha, thanks for digging that up!

Might have some regrets referring to Jabari as 'plays better than MPJ within a team offense' though, and 'more feasible at the 3' needs the 'if he doesn't come in to shape heavily overweight' caveat

I think we actually addressed that 2-way forward with Otto, he's a perfect fit for what I was hoping for, obviously on a 26m+ price tag, though.

Definitely had my eye on Hunter back then. It's a pity the guys like Little ended up disappointing.

Yeah, but you called basically what the Bulls did right after that and then rattled off the names of a bunch of guys I hadn't heard much of yet and are the top of this draft.

[DuckIII]

This is going to be a really interesting thread to revisit a year from now.

I was just reading last years draft thread from around this time a year ago. It's a gas.

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1715795&start=140

FYI, anything I wrote about Trey Young, it wasn’t me. I was hacked. But only for those posts. Weird.

[3noD]

It'd be pretty surprising if Garland isn't the Lakers pick, especially after reading the article about the Lakers today where it shows how much influence Rich Paul has on the team. Garland is the only rookie hanging out with a pro non-stop right now.

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I just don’t get how Garland fits with that team. They just drafted Ball. I don’t think either Ball or Garland are guys that will be that effective with the ball not in their hands. Then you add LeBron, and the fit seems even weirder.

I think Hunter makes more sense for them.

That’s my thinking too. Hunter or even Culver are more ready to help them win now. And Lebron will be handling the ball, no need for a pg



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[GimmeDat]

Wow.Talk about a prophetic post..

Damn GimmeDat was on fire here. This was a year ago. Nice calls..

viewtopic.php?p=66808775#p66808775

Ha, thanks for digging that up!

Might have some regrets referring to Jabari as 'plays better than MPJ within a team offense' though, and 'more feasible at the 3' needs the 'if he doesn't come in to shape heavily overweight' caveat

I think we actually addressed that 2-way forward with Otto, he's a perfect fit for what I was hoping for, obviously on a 26m+ price tag, though.

Definitely had my eye on Hunter back then. It's a pity the guys like Little ended up disappointing.

Yeah, but you called basically what the Bulls did right after that and then rattled off the names of a bunch of guys I hadn't heard much of yet and are the top of this draft.

I guess so!

If it counts for anything, here's the name's I've been rattling off for next years draft. There's a really good PG crop and if the Bulls are in the lottery again, or even if they can trade up for one of them no matter where our own pick is, I think it might be a better solution to our PG situation long term -

RJ Hampton
Theo Maledon
Cole Anthony
Tyrese Maxey
Killian Hayes
Nico Mannion

Anthony Edwards seems like a combo/closer to an SG but if he can develop his PG abilities he would be an awesome name to keep an eye on too.

My 2 favourites are Hampton and Maledon, I reckon they're going to go top 5 (they're both playing overseas though so I don't know how that'll effect their stock).

I'm gonna go bookmark this now, haha.

[3noD]

Well if that’s the reasoning, the Bulls should use this situation to their advantage and get a lowball deal for Ball.

I just don’t buy Garland to the Lakers because he makes little sense with their roster. And of the top 6-7 picks, he’s also the biggest project and has the biggest question marks due to lack of playing time. 2 things that LeBron isn’t interested in.

On or off ball, with LeBron on the floor or not, Garland makes a heap of sense for the Lakers roster.

Garland’s ball handling would be wasted with the Lakers. Sure, he can shoot, but so can Hunter


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

[GimmeDat]

This is going to be a really interesting thread to revisit a year from now.

I was just reading last years draft thread from around this time a year ago. It's a gas.

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1715795&start=140

FYI, anything I wrote about Trey Young, it wasn’t me. I was hacked. But only for those posts. Weird.

God forbid Coby White ends up a star next year - we'll both be eating crow.

[GimmeDat]

Well if that’s the reasoning, the Bulls should use this situation to their advantage and get a lowball deal for Ball.

I just don’t buy Garland to the Lakers because he makes little sense with their roster. And of the top 6-7 picks, he’s also the biggest project and has the biggest question marks due to lack of playing time. 2 things that LeBron isn’t interested in.

On or off ball, with LeBron on the floor or not, Garland makes a heap of sense for the Lakers roster.

Garland’s ball handling would be wasted with the Lakers. Sure, he can shoot, but so can Hunter


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

I think that's a gross misrepresentation of those 2 guys shooting abilities. A low volume spot up guy versus a deep range/high volume/elite off the dribble shooter.

[johnnyvann840]

This is going to be a really interesting thread to revisit a year from now.

I was just reading last years draft thread from around this time a year ago. It's a gas.

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1715795&start=140

FYI, anything I wrote about Trey Young, it wasn’t me. I was hacked. But only for those posts. Weird.

God forbid Coby White ends up a star next year - we'll both be eating crow.

Me too. And don't feel bad about Trae, Duck. I wasn't very high either. I didn't have him in my top 8. I did nail most of it though. Had Luka and JJJ as my top 2 and I still think they'll be the two best players from that draft.

And all three of us will look bad if White is a star in a year. It's still too early to even judge last year, but it's easy to see that Doncic and Jackson Jr. are going to be special. And WCJ was a solid pick.