2021 Draft thread. Woo! 15th pick here we come! Hoo. Ray.

[FAH1223]

We have a 14-58 team

[SUPERBALLMAN]

We currently have the WORST record in the entire NBA....

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Jalen Suggs say out of tonight’s game due to injury. I wonder if he is having residual issues after he suffered what I thought was a rupture of his Achilles.

Gotta keep watch on him.

Everything I can find says his injury was ankle not achilles.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

I'm thinking Suggs in the 1st round, Jackson-Davis 2nd round would be a really sweet draft...

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

[NatP4]

The more footage I watch, the more obvious it becomes that Suggs is a better player and prospect than Cunningham. Much better defender, better basketball IQ, better playmaker, more competitive, and of course, not even close in terms of scoring/shooting ability.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

The more footage I watch, the more obvious it becomes that Suggs is a better player and prospect than Cunningham. Much better defender, better basketball IQ, better playmaker, more competitive, and of course, not even close in terms of scoring/shooting ability.

Yeah I'm really liking Suggs. Love his toughness and compete, and can really stroke it.


From Draft Room:

Jalen Suggs is a natural point guard with good size, great vision and excellent quickness. He’s got elite BBIQ and competitive fire and is a true leader on the court. He’s had a monster freshman season so far and has gone from a mid lottery projection to a near lock for the top 5, with some no.1 overall consideration.

Suggs plays with good balance, operates within the flow of the game and also has the ability to take over when needed. He’s a lights out 3pt shooter who doesn’t always look for his shot but can score in bunches when needed.

Suggs is a legit 5 star talent who possesses good size and high end athleticism to go along with a smooth game. He’s lightening quick with the ball and is a strong, well built athlete. He’s an aggressive driver who takes advantage of any crease in the defense and can get to the cup in a hurry.

Jalen is a very heady player who makes the right play and is a team first guy. Has an advanced understanding of the game for a young guard and can be like a coach on the floor.

Suggs has a smooth jumper with a nice quick release and good range. As with the rest of his game, he makes his jumper look effortless.

Has a quick first step and is a bouncy athlete who can play above the rim. Very fast in the open court, Suggs can put a ton of pressure on the defense with his transition game and open court ability.

Has versatility on both ends of the floor and can play off the ball without losing his effectiveness.

His football background really shows up on the defense end and rebounding the ball where he’s aggressive and powerful at the point of attack and plays bigger than his height.

Update 12/20/20
The biggest prospect news continues to be the meteoric rise of Jalen Suggs into a sure-fire top 5 pick and likely top 3 selection. It’s not unheard of for a prospect to go from late lottery discussion to top 3 in the first month of the season (Zion) but Suggs’ rise to the top has been impressive. As a 6-4+ combo guard who plays both ends of the floor Suggs is the complete package with a ton of pro-ready skills and not a lot of weaknesses. He’s destined to be running an NBA offense in the very near future. And he’s firmly in the conversation for no.1 overall.

[nate33]

High praise for Evan Mobley from Jonathan Tjarks:

Read on Twitter

Says he is the best prospect since Anthony Davis. He also points out that he would be best suited to play PF alongside a stretch 5 early in his career while he filled out, and then move to center later. Sounds like a perfect fit.

If we could somehow come out of this offseason having traded Beal and Rui for Suggs and Mobley, I'd be really happy.

[Ruzious]

Mobley doesn't have the amazing physical ability of Davis, and I don't see him as being on Davis' level, but he is really good, and I'd love to get him.

[Ruzious]

Cade Cunningham with an absurd combo of a tremendous defensive play and save as Oklahoma State upsets #6 Kansas. The guy's a point guard and comes up with a 2-handed stuff on help defense.

[prime1time]

If we are so plagued by Covid that we could keep Beal and get a high pick I'd be happy. There are 4 or 5 great prospects in this draft. Cunningham, Suggs, Mobley, Green etc.

[queridiculo]

Cunningham, Beal, that's a ridiculous backcourt.

The kid is so advanced in for his age it's ridiculous.

No idea where his head is at, but he's got the potential to be the next one.

[Dat2U]

Mobley doesn't have the amazing physical ability of Davis, and I don't see him as being on Davis' level, but he is really good, and I'd love to get him.

He seems to have AD's focus on defense with KAT's offensive skill and athleticism. That's still a helluva combo.

Right now, he and Suggs are my top 2.

[Ruzious]

Cunningham, Beal, that's a ridiculous backcourt.

The kid is so advanced in for his age it's ridiculous.

No idea where his head is at, but he's got the potential to be the next one.

His assist/to ratio is bad - that worries me. I haven't seen enough to have a clue as to why it's that bad.

[NatP4]

Cunningham, Beal, that's a ridiculous backcourt.

The kid is so advanced in for his age it's ridiculous.

No idea where his head is at, but he's got the potential to be the next one.

His assist/to ratio is bad - that worries me. I haven't seen enough to have a clue as to why it's that bad.

I think he will be a good NBA player, but his playmaking, natural shooting ability, and competitiveness/activity leave a bit to be desired. He plays like that guy who was the star of his high school team and AAU team, and any other team growing up.

Suggs plays with fire. Competes at a high level, has elite basketball IQ, much more physical, more of a top end leader. Averages twice as many assists as Cunningham with less turnovers, 3 times as many steals, scores more efficiently on 2s and 3s, rebounds better, and is a significantly better defender.

[pcbothwel]

Cunningham, Beal, that's a ridiculous backcourt.

The kid is so advanced in for his age it's ridiculous.

No idea where his head is at, but he's got the potential to be the next one.

His assist/to ratio is bad - that worries me. I haven't seen enough to have a clue as to why it's that bad.

I think he will be a good NBA player, but his playmaking, natural shooting ability, and competitiveness/activity leave a bit to be desired. He plays like that guy who was the star of his high school team and AAU team, and any other team growing up.

Suggs plays with fire. Competes at a high level, has elite basketball IQ, much more physical, more of a top end leader. Averages twice as many assists as Cunningham with less turnovers, 3 times as many steals, scores more efficiently on 2s and 3s, rebounds better, and is a significantly better defender.

Yup. Suggs is the guy to me. no question

[Ruzious]

Cunningham, Beal, that's a ridiculous backcourt.

The kid is so advanced in for his age it's ridiculous.

No idea where his head is at, but he's got the potential to be the next one.

His assist/to ratio is bad - that worries me. I haven't seen enough to have a clue as to why it's that bad.

I think he will be a good NBA player, but his playmaking, natural shooting ability, and competitiveness/activity leave a bit to be desired. He plays like that guy who was the star of his high school team and AAU team, and any other team growing up.

Suggs plays with fire. Competes at a high level, has elite basketball IQ, much more physical, more of a top end leader. Averages twice as many assists as Cunningham with less turnovers, 3 times as many steals, scores more efficiently on 2s and 3s, rebounds better, and is a significantly better defender.

Then again, Suggs' assists are helped by having a near perfect set of college teammates. But yeah - no doubt Suggs has gone ahead of Cunningham. He's a legit #1 #1. I think Cunningham's a legit 2nd or 3rd pick, but I need to see a lot more of him.

[queridiculo]

Cunningham, Beal, that's a ridiculous backcourt.

The kid is so advanced in for his age it's ridiculous.

No idea where his head is at, but he's got the potential to be the next one.

His assist/to ratio is bad - that worries me. I haven't seen enough to have a clue as to why it's that bad.

He's being asked to do a lot for a 19 year old kid.

I'd say his turnovers are right on par with somebody with his usage (+27%), and his assists might suffer from the fact that he's playing off the ball more than he's used to.

Hot of the presses, theathletic has a pretty comprehensive piece about him.

NatP4 mentions concerns about an AAU personality, doesn't strike me as being the cased based on some of his quotes.

https://theathletic.com/2318621/2021/01/14/top-recruit-cade-cunningham-oklahoma-state-2021-nba-draft/

He basically won a game against a top-10 opponent on Tuesday by blocking a shot and deftly saving the carom, which led to a fast break and a go-ahead 3-pointer in the last minute. In the aggregate, Oklahoma State is 9-3 and 34th in the NET rankings with four wins over Quad 1 opponents, which as of Wednesday was tied for most in the country.

It is to date a personal performance worthy of at least all-league consideration, snugly fit into the team concept, and it is the overall résumé of an NCAA Tournament at-large participant. The 2020-21 season roils along in a fickle squall, capsizing assumptions at every turn. But for now, should the Oklahoma State pep band fill Gallagher-Iba Arena with the strains of “Everything Is Awesome!!!” next time out, no one would blame it. “I already came in with a lot of expectations and a lot of praise on my name just off high school and things like that, so I didn’t want to come in and try to lead off the bat, because nobody wants to accept it that way,” Cunningham says. “The best thing I did was come in and get to know all my teammates and grow with them and find out what the system was like with them, and then from there I asserted myself as a leader more and more. And I think I play like a leader. I play for my team. And my teammates respected that.”

Or as Walker puts it succinctly: “If you don’t match his intensity, you’ll get killed every day in practice. He brings stuff out of you that you didn’t know you had in you. So that’s what he’s done for us.”

What’s great for the Cowboys also should be advantageous for the high-level prospect they brought on board, if both sides are keeping their promises. To that point, from a basketball perspective, Cade Cunningham does feel as if he’s getting his end. The items he prioritized on his to-do list for his months-long layover in Stillwater have been and are being addressed, and more.

He first wanted to show everyone he could shoot. He wanted to establish that any concerns about his touch or range from the perimeter were a canard, or at minimum overblown and hardly unfixable. “In high school, if you’re big and athletic, you don’t ever have to shoot jump shots,” Boynton says. “So he kind of got this unnecessary knock.” Either way, at Oklahoma State he could put the proof on tape. The mechanical tweaks have been just that; the staff emphasized consistently proper footwork to create balance before the attempt and then worked to get Cunningham to release his shot a little higher with a taller follow-through.

The regimentation of college basketball — especially this season, when extracurriculars are nearly non-existent for anyone following protocol — provided Cunningham the structure to implement those techniques. “The college grind is something I really appreciate,” he says. And he has been diligent and intentional about it. On a typical game day, Cunningham concentrates on finishes during the first on-floor warmup session, to touch up his touch around the rim and see the ball go through the basket a few times. The next on-floor warmup focuses on catch-and-shoot jumpers, and only after he’s sure of his feel does he proceed to shooting on the move. This doesn’t account for his investment on all the other days. “I’m not sure anybody spends more time in the gym working on their game than he does,” Boynton says.

Doesn't sound like a kid that's getting by on talent alone.

[NatP4]

Still, I would be thrilled if I ended up with Cunningham.

[nate33]

Cunningham, Beal, that's a ridiculous backcourt.

The kid is so advanced in for his age it's ridiculous.

No idea where his head is at, but he's got the potential to be the next one.

His assist/to ratio is bad - that worries me. I haven't seen enough to have a clue as to why it's that bad.

He's being asked to do a lot for a 19 year old kid.

I'd say his turnovers are right on par with somebody with his usage (+27%), and his assists might suffer from the fact that he's playing off the ball more than he's used to.

Hot of the presses, theathletic has a pretty comprehensive piece about him.

NatP4 mentions concerns about an AAU personality, doesn't strike me as being the cased based on some of his quotes.

https://theathletic.com/2318621/2021/01/14/top-recruit-cade-cunningham-oklahoma-state-2021-nba-draft/

He basically won a game against a top-10 opponent on Tuesday by blocking a shot and deftly saving the carom, which led to a fast break and a go-ahead 3-pointer in the last minute. In the aggregate, Oklahoma State is 9-3 and 34th in the NET rankings with four wins over Quad 1 opponents, which as of Wednesday was tied for most in the country.

It is to date a personal performance worthy of at least all-league consideration, snugly fit into the team concept, and it is the overall résumé of an NCAA Tournament at-large participant. The 2020-21 season roils along in a fickle squall, capsizing assumptions at every turn. But for now, should the Oklahoma State pep band fill Gallagher-Iba Arena with the strains of “Everything Is Awesome!!!” next time out, no one would blame it. “I already came in with a lot of expectations and a lot of praise on my name just off high school and things like that, so I didn’t want to come in and try to lead off the bat, because nobody wants to accept it that way,” Cunningham says. “The best thing I did was come in and get to know all my teammates and grow with them and find out what the system was like with them, and then from there I asserted myself as a leader more and more. And I think I play like a leader. I play for my team. And my teammates respected that.”

Or as Walker puts it succinctly: “If you don’t match his intensity, you’ll get killed every day in practice. He brings stuff out of you that you didn’t know you had in you. So that’s what he’s done for us.”

What’s great for the Cowboys also should be advantageous for the high-level prospect they brought on board, if both sides are keeping their promises. To that point, from a basketball perspective, Cade Cunningham does feel as if he’s getting his end. The items he prioritized on his to-do list for his months-long layover in Stillwater have been and are being addressed, and more.

He first wanted to show everyone he could shoot. He wanted to establish that any concerns about his touch or range from the perimeter were a canard, or at minimum overblown and hardly unfixable. “In high school, if you’re big and athletic, you don’t ever have to shoot jump shots,” Boynton says. “So he kind of got this unnecessary knock.” Either way, at Oklahoma State he could put the proof on tape. The mechanical tweaks have been just that; the staff emphasized consistently proper footwork to create balance before the attempt and then worked to get Cunningham to release his shot a little higher with a taller follow-through.

The regimentation of college basketball — especially this season, when extracurriculars are nearly non-existent for anyone following protocol — provided Cunningham the structure to implement those techniques. “The college grind is something I really appreciate,” he says. And he has been diligent and intentional about it. On a typical game day, Cunningham concentrates on finishes during the first on-floor warmup session, to touch up his touch around the rim and see the ball go through the basket a few times. The next on-floor warmup focuses on catch-and-shoot jumpers, and only after he’s sure of his feel does he proceed to shooting on the move. This doesn’t account for his investment on all the other days. “I’m not sure anybody spends more time in the gym working on their game than he does,” Boynton says.

Doesn't sound like a kid that's getting by on talent alone.

Man, whoever wrote that has a really weird writing style. It sounds like it was translated into another language and then translated back to English.

[Ruzious]

He basically won a game against a top-10 opponent on Tuesday by blocking a shot and deftly saving the carom, which led to a fast break and a go-ahead 3-pointer in the last minute. In the aggregate, Oklahoma State is 9-3 and 34th in the NET rankings with four wins over Quad 1 opponents, which as of Wednesday was tied for most in the country.

It is to date a personal performance worthy of at least all-league consideration, snugly fit into the team concept, and it is the overall résumé of an NCAA Tournament at-large participant. The 2020-21 season roils along in a fickle squall, capsizing assumptions at every turn. But for now, should the Oklahoma State pep band fill Gallagher-Iba Arena with the strains of “Everything Is Awesome!!!” next time out, no one would blame it. “I already came in with a lot of expectations and a lot of praise on my name just off high school and things like that, so I didn’t want to come in and try to lead off the bat, because nobody wants to accept it that way,” Cunningham says. “The best thing I did was come in and get to know all my teammates and grow with them and find out what the system was like with them, and then from there I asserted myself as a leader more and more. And I think I play like a leader. I play for my team. And my teammates respected that.”

Or as Walker puts it succinctly: “If you don’t match his intensity, you’ll get killed every day in practice. He brings stuff out of you that you didn’t know you had in you. So that’s what he’s done for us.”

What’s great for the Cowboys also should be advantageous for the high-level prospect they brought on board, if both sides are keeping their promises. To that point, from a basketball perspective, Cade Cunningham does feel as if he’s getting his end. The items he prioritized on his to-do list for his months-long layover in Stillwater have been and are being addressed, and more.

He first wanted to show everyone he could shoot. He wanted to establish that any concerns about his touch or range from the perimeter were a canard, or at minimum overblown and hardly unfixable. “In high school, if you’re big and athletic, you don’t ever have to shoot jump shots,” Boynton says. “So he kind of got this unnecessary knock.” Either way, at Oklahoma State he could put the proof on tape. The mechanical tweaks have been just that; the staff emphasized consistently proper footwork to create balance before the attempt and then worked to get Cunningham to release his shot a little higher with a taller follow-through.

The regimentation of college basketball — especially this season, when extracurriculars are nearly non-existent for anyone following protocol — provided Cunningham the structure to implement those techniques. “The college grind is something I really appreciate,” he says. And he has been diligent and intentional about it. On a typical game day, Cunningham concentrates on finishes during the first on-floor warmup session, to touch up his touch around the rim and see the ball go through the basket a few times. The next on-floor warmup focuses on catch-and-shoot jumpers, and only after he’s sure of his feel does he proceed to shooting on the move. This doesn’t account for his investment on all the other days. “I’m not sure anybody spends more time in the gym working on their game than he does,” Boynton says.

Doesn't sound like a kid that's getting by on talent alone.

That combo-play Cunningham made that the article starts with... only a few players in the world could have made that - not to mention it won the game. The combo of smarts, athletic ability, length, and the clutch gene all showed up there.