2021 NBA Draft Thread

[Dadouv47]

Spoiler:

If I were drafting based on what I've seen on the court without any prior opinions, I think I would have Suggs and Mobley ahead of Cade. That's not a knock on Cade but the others have just been so good. Cade's body is a big reason for his draft hype. Still need to see more of Green and Kuminga but I think I prefer Kuminga. I think Suggs would struggle the least of all of them from day one.

Didn't watch enough of Mobley. Give me one of Cade/Suggs or Kuminga and I'm good.

It's tough to watch those videos and realize that 80% of those guys are going to the Cavs/Knicks/Pistons

Better get lucky this year and draft well...

If we suck this year and don't get a top 5 pick, I would say that's extremely unlucky. In that sense we don't need to be lucky, just not unlucky. While it might not be possible to move in to the top five with a late lotto Houston pick, I think moving from 6 to 3 or 4 could be doable depending on how teams evaluate players.

Even if we end up not getting our first choice, other factors matter too. Coach Daigneult developing an underachieving talent like Boston could make up for that. There are so many variables right now. A guy like Jalen Johnson or Terrance Clarke could jump in to that top tier too.

Yeah, u right. Just feel like this is the most important draft for our rebuild since SGA is improving and we will need to make a decision on him. Also the fastest we can draft real talented player, the better we can use other teams picks in order to improve our roster.

[spearsy23]

There's no decision to be made on sga. He's getting re-signed

[Old Man Game]

There's no decision to be made on sga. He's getting re-signed

I hope people can maintain some perspective on SGA. Given what we've seen from him already and given the team's surrounding roster and timeline, hooking him up with an extension is the sort of reasonable bet that teams make nearly every time with a player of this caliber.

Having said that, as the losses pile up there are going to be a ton of fans screaming from the rooftops that we should trade him, 'he can't carry a team', 'he's not a franchise cornerstone' etc. It will get extremely tiresome.

[ThunderBolt]

There's no decision to be made on sga. He's getting re-signed

I hope people can maintain some perspective on SGA. Given what we've seen from him already and given the team's surrounding roster and timeline, hooking him up with an extension is the sort of reasonable bet that teams make nearly every time with a player of this caliber.

Having said that, as the losses pile up there are going to be a ton of fans screaming from the rooftops that we should trade him, 'he can't carry a team', 'he's not a franchise cornerstone' etc. It will get extremely tiresome.

Agree. Also, rookie max contracts aren’t that bad. Considering the other young player(s) we will be giving max contracts to aren’t on this roster yet, it’s even less of an issue. Even if he became Andrew Wiggins, it wouldn’t cripple us as much as other typical teams. It’s kind of unique to get a young talent in his third year while starting year one of the rebuild.

[bbms]

How many better players than SGA were extended for less than max?

[ThunderBolt]

How many better players than SGA were extended for less than max?

It just doesn’t happen often. If a team has a young player that’s questionable for a max, teams are electing to pay that player in recent years. Players like Oladipo and Jalen Brown signed for under the max but they made a jump after their extension. With Presti and Daigneault saying that they are giving Shai the more responsibility, they have set him up as the face of the franchise. If he produces despite having some flaws, he’ll get paid just like Mitchell, Ingram, Booker, Fox, Murray, Russell and likely John Collins.

[retrobro90]

I kinda wish they would just cross that bridge when they come to it but OKC/Presti will almost assuredly offer the max even if he puts up an identical year to last season. It's just kind of the culture there to retain young talent under any circumstance.

To me though it feels like there's no reason to make a concrete decision about Shai's future with the team when the extension talks shouldn't happen until next offseason. And I think if he has the season we're all sort of anticipating (no major injuries, 20+ ppg etc) then there's no reason not to max him from both a roster building and asset retention perspective. I think that's totally reasonable. But a lot can happen between now and then and there's gonna be team's asking about him and players out there that OKC would be interested in (draft or otherwise).

[Dadouv47]

I kinda wish they would just cross that bridge when they come to it but OKC/Presti will almost assuredly offer the max even if he puts up an identical year to last season. It's just kind of the culture there to retain young talent under any circumstance.

To me though it feels like there's no reason to make a concrete decision about Shai's future with the team when the extension talks shouldn't happen until next offseason. And I think if he has the season we're all sort of anticipating (no major injuries, 20+ ppg etc) then there's no reason not to max him from both a roster building and asset retention perspective. I think that's totally reasonable. But a lot can happen between now and then and there's gonna be team's asking about him and players out there that OKC would be interested in (draft or otherwise).

Pretty much. I think there are two main factors when it comes to SGA : his develoment, and mostly how good our prospects are in one year and a half. I don't think any of our other players are future stars in this league (hope I'm wrong, I love Theo and Bazley) so basically there's a huge timeframe between the potential great players we could draft and SGA peak. That's why I think it's particularly important to draft well in the next year.

We should give SGA the max if he plays like we expect him to but if he's not THAT great and you don't have any very good young player on the roster, it's fair to look into the market. If we still lack talent in 2 years, SGA would be a more valuable piece in a team like NOLA or the Grrizlies (with Zion/Morant etc. peaking) than for us.

[thedoppelganger]

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Hopefully all G league games will be streamable via ESPN like they were last year, good to hear we’ll get a decent sample size of the Ignite team

[ThunderBolt]

If you don’t follow the draft or college basketball but want to have a general idea about some of the prospects, this video is pretty good. The only thing that is odd is having Zaire Williams over Kuminga. Kuminga could be a top 3 guy. Also, I’m much higher on Mobley than he is.

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[getrichordie]

With college basketball starting up tomorrow, Vecenie and Givony released early 2021 rankings this morning:

Vecenie:
1 - Cade Cunningham (Oklahoma State)
2 - Jalen Green (G-League)
3 - Brandon Boston (Kentucky)
4 - Jonathan Kuminga (G-League)
5 - Keon Johnson (Tennessee)
6 - Evan Mobley (USC)
7 - Ziaire Williams (Stanford)
8 - Terrence Clarke (Kentucky)
9 - Scottie Barnes (Florida State)
10 - Usman Garuba (Real Madrid)

Givony:
1 - Cunningham
2 - Green
3 - Boston
4 - Mobley
5 - Williams
6 - Jalen Johnson (Duke)
7 - Keon Johnson
8 - Barnes
9 - Cuminga
10 - Caleb Love (UNC)

One thing me and Vecenie seem to agree upon is that Jalen Johnson is NOT a top 10 prospect. I just don't see it.


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[ThunderBolt]

I don't have Kuminga as number 1 due to lack of sample size. That being said, I kind of hope we get him from what I've seen and read. He can play the 3 or the 4 and is a two way player. His body already looks Nba ready. Just a great overall prospect. A lot of the criticisms I hear are kind of shaky.

[ThunderBolt]

The game is just so easy for Mobley.

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[Old Man Game]

The game is just so easy for Mobley.

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I know he's supposedly a big, but I'm getting poor man's Durant vibes from those clips. Can he be a SF at the NBA level?

[ThunderBolt]

The game is just so easy for Mobley.

Read on Twitter

I know he's supposedly a big, but I'm getting poor man's Durant vibes from those clips. Can he be a SF at the NBA level?

Good comp. I just read some comments where he says he models his game after KD & Giannis. He is the exact same weight as KD was coming out of college .I think his appeal his the multi-position ability. He's a pretty good rim protector so I think there is some benefit in keeping him there defensively. He definitely doesn't have the ability to create his own shot like KD but he's still very capable. He would struggle against guys like Embiid until he puts on weight. I think he could be successful in most roles you put him in. He would be a great fit alongside a guy Zion because of his ability to space the floor or he can feast in the paint himself. His hook shot is pretty much un-guardable.

[retrobro90]

I don't have Kuminga as number 1 due to lack of sample size. That being said, I kind of hope we get him from what I've seen and read. He can play the 3 or the 4 and is a two way player. His body already looks Nba ready. Just a great overall prospect. A lot of the criticisms I hear are kind of shaky.

Like all the limited footage and what I've read about Kuminga. Mostly like that he's basically a year and a half younger than everyone else projected to go in the top 5. I think it was Wasserman though who said there were concerns from scouts on Kuminga's approach and mentality as a worker. Would take that with a grain of salt as he's incredibly young and we still need to see quite a bit from him in terms of game film.

[ThunderBolt]

I don't have Kuminga as number 1 due to lack of sample size. That being said, I kind of hope we get him from what I've seen and read. He can play the 3 or the 4 and is a two way player. His body already looks Nba ready. Just a great overall prospect. A lot of the criticisms I hear are kind of shaky.

Like all the limited footage and what I've read about Kuminga. Mostly like that he's basically a year and a half younger than everyone else projected to go in the top 5. I think it was Wasserman though who said there were concerns from scouts on Kuminga's approach and mentality as a worker. Would take that with a grain of salt as he's incredibly young and we still need to see quite a bit from him in terms of game film.

I'm so ready to watch these Ignite games. Right now there is a clear top 5 that I change with each passing game. I do consistently put Green at number 5 but not because he's bad. I just haven't seen as much. That too could change after a couple of games from him.

[jambalaya]

Draft candidates I am interested to learn more about (from low ranked to higher by one mock): Duarte, da Silva, Queta, Huff, Ayayi, Wright, Agbaji, Garza, maybe Jackson-Davis, Dosunmu, Lewis, Butler, Keyontae Johnson, Harper, Kispert, Moody and Suggs / Mobley / Cunningham.

[ThunderBolt]

Draft candidates I am interested to learn more about (from low ranked to higher by one mock): Duarte, da Silva, Queta, Huff, Ayayi, Wright, Agbaji, Garza, maybe Jackson-Davis, Dosunmu, Lewis, Butler, Keyontae Johnson, Harper, Kispert, Moody and Suggs / Mobley / Cunningham.

I really like moody as an option with our second pick. Likely we’ll need to trade up to get him.

[ThunderBolt]

I thought this guy would be a thunder target last year.

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