Eyeamok wrote: Nice take. What did you think of him coming out of college before the 76ers drafted him? draft? And did you have any thoughts on Matisse before he was drafted.
I spent a lot of time on the draft boards (and on our 76ers draft thread) trying to dull down hype on Fultz but was still a fan in general of his. I basically thought that people were way too convinced he would be amazing because of his college numbers, and that those #s were way too reliant on tough shots (fadeaway pull-ups mostly) and him sort of messing around beacuse he had the ball in his hands so much. Also thought was overrated as an athlete and passer based on a few highlights rather than how he could consistently apply those skills in games. I just had a general feeling that he couldn't do what he did in college in the NBA, and that he would have a struggle ahead of him adapting to NBA defenses and speed.
But I also thought he was a very good prospect, great length and a varied skillset that could develop into an excellent pn'r guy and a genuine 3-level scorer. A few of us spilled a lot of ink over how to rate him, and I ended up with him firmly in my top 3 (some other people on the Sixers thread that also de-hyped him had him way lower, like #10 overall). My argument for him as the #1 overall pick was that he could end up being sort of like Brandon Roy, who was an elite midrange shooter and very good on off-the-dribble 3s, and could use change of speeds and the threat of his shoot to set up his athleticism and passing skills. Not a carbon copy obviously, but someone who was primarily a big shooting threat off the bounce (or pn'r) and could exploit you if you overplayed him or got lazy on defense.
About Thybulle, once the Process ended I stopped doing deep draft dives, especially after the Lakers pick passed. I watched a few videos on him and obviously saw the awesome defensive shiftiness and his potential fit for us, but I don't think I felt strongly about him. I find that I have to really dig deeply into players and watch whole games to get an honest estimate about how they'll translate, didn't spend enough time with Thybulle to get that read.