2021 NBA Draft Thread

[thedoppelganger]

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Most impressive part at this point for me is that Cade is making this work with almost zero spacing around him. Russ had more shooting running with Semaj/Robes/Sabonis/Adams lineups. He's going to be incredible in the modern NBA, and would fit like a glove on basically every team.

[ThunderBolt]

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Most impressive part at this point for me is that Cade is making this work with almost zero spacing around him. Russ had more shooting running with Semaj/Robes/Sabonis/Adams lineups. He's going to be incredible in the modern NBA, and would fit like a glove on basically every team.

I’ve said repeatedly that it’s not Cade or bust but Green and Kuminga have a lot to live up to in the g league.

[ThunderBolt]

I really wouldn’t mind if we changed our drafting philosophy for our mid to late first round picks. Drafting a few more nba ready players as opposed to projects wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. There are exceptions and counter arguments to whatever philosophy you believe is right. But I look at Memphis taking some of these older guys that have lower ceilings and higher floors. They are consistently finding value there. Even when you turn some these raw projects in to serviceable players, you often spend years doing so.

[thedoppelganger]

ESPN released new mock today, which continues to reinforce how much I miss the old DraftExpress content.

1. Cade Cunningham Oklahoma State 6-8 PG 19.3
2. Evan Mobley USC 7-0 C 19.6
3. Jalen Green G-League Ignite 6-6 SG 18.9
4. Jalen Suggs Gonzaga 6-4 PG/SG 19.6
5. Jonathan Kuminga G-League Ignite 6-8 SF/PF 18.3
6. Jalen Johnson Duke 6-9 SF/PF 19.1
7. Keon Johnson Tennessee 6-5 SG 18.8
8. Ziaire Williams Stanford 6-8 SG/SF 19.3
9. Sharife Cooper Auburn 6-1 PG 19.6
10. Corey Kispert Gonzaga 6-7 SF 21.9
11. James Bouknight Connecticut 6-5 SG 20.3
12. Moses Moody Arkansas 6-6 SG 18.6
13. Scottie Barnes Florida St 6-9 SF/PF 19.5
14. Alperen Sengun Besiktas 6-9 C 18.5
15. Isaiah Jackson Kentucky 6-11 PF/C 19.0
16. Kai Jones Texas 6-10 PF 20.0
17. Usman Garuba Real Madrid 6-8 PF 18.9
18. Cam Thomas LSU 6-4 SG 19.3
19. David Johnson Louisville 6-5 PG 19.9
20. Franz Wagner Michigan 6-9 SF 19.4
21. Josh Giddey Adelaide 6-8 PG/SG 18.3
22. Marcus Bagley Arizona St 6-8 SF/PF 19.2
23. Greg Brown Texas 6-9 PF 19.4
24. Josh Christopher Arizona St 6-5 SG 19.1
25. Terrence Shannon Texas Tech 6-6 SG/SF 20.5
26. B.J. Boston Kentucky 6-7 SG 19.1
27. North Carolina 6-11 C 19.2
28. Charles Bassey Western Kentucky 6-11 C 20.2
29. Davion Mitchell Baylor 6-2 PG 22.4
30. Jared Butler Baylor 6-3 PG/SG 20.4

Vecenie did a mock draft pod last week which is a good listen as well.

[ThunderBolt]

I have a hard time with this draft outside the top five. There are a lot more guys I don’t want us to draft than I do want us to draft.

[thedoppelganger]

I have a hard time with this draft outside the top five. There are a lot more guys I don’t want us to draft than I do want us to draft.

Does seem like the gap between 5 and 6 is getting bigger as the year goes on, which is why that worst record is so important. Even if we're at #5, it'll be much easier to trade up from that position than 6 or below as it gives the other team a guarantee they still get a player from the top tier.

Am warming to the idea of taking a higher floor, lower ceiling type player like Kispert with the second pick assuming it ends in the late lottery over one of the athletic wings that seem like a lottery ticket at the moment.

[jambalaya]

I've cooled on Springer.

If not in top 3, my focus would mainly shift to Kispert, Franz Wagner and Jared Butler. Trade down if you think you safely can for these.

I dunno enough to be for J Green or Kuminga. Maybe but right now I am not for them.

[Dadouv47]

I don't care about what Adam Silver and the NBA says. This is the NBA 2021 draft

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[retrobro90]

This is no indictment on Kispert who's a fine player but having freshly witnessed most of his BYU performance tonight I would rather OKC went with someone who had more wiggle with the ball. Kispert is good obviously and is gonna have the floor as a good shooter but it's just hard for me to see handing him responsibility to become a real on the ball threat. OKC really really needs to draft someone with primary initiator potential. My opinion obviously but I think that's absolutely crucial if they want a chance at avoiding mediocrity these next few years.

If they're picking outside the top 5 I think they still need to look at guys with this type of initiator upside. This is a big reason why I've been so high on Barnes. He's getting hidden on FSU's bench lately but the eye test screams potential every time he steps on the floor. It's just so readily apparent that he gives a crap/wants to win and he's getting nothing but playmaking reps at point guard for a guy with his massive size. The size legit pops too when he makes cross court passes being 6'9" with a 7'2" wingspan. He's not as sure of a thing as anyone in the top 5 but I think he should be getting the same "what can this guy do with NBA spacing" bump as Cade is getting right now from members of NBA draft media any time Cade struggles to deal with the double and triple teams.

[ThunderBolt]

This is no indictment on Kispert who's a fine player but having freshly witnessed most of his BYU performance tonight I would rather OKC went with someone who had more wiggle with the ball. Kispert is good obviously and is gonna have the floor as a good shooter but it's just hard for me to see handing him responsibility to become a real on the ball threat. OKC really really needs to draft someone with primary initiator potential. My opinion obviously but I think that's absolutely crucial if they want a chance at avoiding mediocrity these next few years.

If they're picking outside the top 5 I think they still need to look at guys with this type of initiator upside. This is a big reason why I've been so high on Barnes. He's getting hidden on FSU's bench lately but the eye test screams potential every time he steps on the floor. It's just so readily apparent that he gives a crap/wants to win and he's getting nothing but playmaking reps at point guard for a guy with his massive size. The size legit pops too when he makes cross court passes being 6'9" with a 7'2" wingspan. He's not as sure of a thing as anyone in the top 5 but I think he should be getting the same "what can this guy do with NBA spacing" bump as Cade is getting right now from members of NBA draft media any time Cade struggles to deal with the double and triple teams.

When I said that at the time I was seeing Barnes around 6-8 and Kispert 10-14. Right now I’m seeing more mocks that have Barnes falling. If that continues to prove true, I’m definitely a fan of Barnes. What are your thoughts on Ziare Williams?

[retrobro90]

This is no indictment on Kispert who's a fine player but having freshly witnessed most of his BYU performance tonight I would rather OKC went with someone who had more wiggle with the ball. Kispert is good obviously and is gonna have the floor as a good shooter but it's just hard for me to see handing him responsibility to become a real on the ball threat. OKC really really needs to draft someone with primary initiator potential. My opinion obviously but I think that's absolutely crucial if they want a chance at avoiding mediocrity these next few years.

If they're picking outside the top 5 I think they still need to look at guys with this type of initiator upside. This is a big reason why I've been so high on Barnes. He's getting hidden on FSU's bench lately but the eye test screams potential every time he steps on the floor. It's just so readily apparent that he gives a crap/wants to win and he's getting nothing but playmaking reps at point guard for a guy with his massive size. The size legit pops too when he makes cross court passes being 6'9" with a 7'2" wingspan. He's not as sure of a thing as anyone in the top 5 but I think he should be getting the same "what can this guy do with NBA spacing" bump as Cade is getting right now from members of NBA draft media any time Cade struggles to deal with the double and triple teams.

When I said that at the time I was seeing Barnes around 6-8 and Kispert 10-14. Right now I’m seeing more mocks that have Barnes falling. If that continues to prove true, I’m definitely a fan of Barnes. What are your thoughts on Ziare Williams?

I'm not super crazy about what I've seen from Williams. Most of the draft media people like to point to his bike accident as the reason for his struggles so I'm just kind of blindly trusting that as well as their knowledge of who he was at the high school/AAU level. I don't trust his ability to get separation. He's not beating anyone with his first step. He's got a real high dribble with his handle. And for someone who's touted as a great shooter he's currently scoring at 36% from the field. All that said though his shooting mechanics do pass the eye test. He's also shown some passing chops but I don't think those are quite as translatable considering his aforementioned problems with creating separation. I kinda don't trust his frame for that either. He just doesn't look like someone who's gonna get in the lane and make stuff happen. Probably gonna have trouble adjusting to the physicality of the NBA imo.

[thedoppelganger]

Reminder that G-League tips off tomorrow. All games will be on one of the ESPN platforms, with most being on ESPN+. Good news for those that don't have ESPN+ is that several Ignite games will be on ESPN2/ESPNU.

Ignite's first game is at 10 AM CST tomorrow, and they play the Blue on Friday afternoon. Full schedule in the link below.
https://gleague.nba.com/schedule/

[Dadouv47]

Sorry if it's not a good thread for this but wonder if somebody knows a good site to watch G league games in streaming. Really want to see Kuminga and Green

[thedoppelganger]

The Lavine comps for Green seem pretty on point - top level athleticism, but very raw in terms of handle, strength, and defense. Was really struggling to create separation from Mannion. Thought he was the bottom of that top tier of 5, but he may be closer to just being in the next tier altogether.

Kuminga on the other hand looked pretty impressive in the first 3 quarters I watched. Showed good vision, decision making, was able to get to where he wanted on the floor for the most part. Shot mechanics didn't look bad despite the 1-7 from 3.

[Dadouv47]

The Lavine comps for Green seem pretty on point - top level athleticism, but very raw in terms of handle, strength, and defense. Was really struggling to create separation from Mannion. Thought he was the bottom of that top tier of 5, but he may be closer to just being in the next tier altogether.

Kuminga on the other hand looked pretty impressive in the first 3 quarters I watched. Showed good vision, decision making, was able to get to where he wanted on the floor for the most part. Shot mechanics didn't look bad despite the 1-7 from 3.

That's a guy Presti wants

Seriously speaking, think Kuminga could end up higher than expected in the draft.

[jambalaya]

I have a hard time with this draft outside the top five. There are a lot more guys I don’t want us to draft than I do want us to draft.

Agree.

Draft hypsters raved about this class too soon and too much. In top 10 especially but overall mock has lots of guys unimpressive to me.

I questioned the hype some of these guys were getting with either bad high school / AAU shooting stats or missing / hidden data (probably on purpose) and some twitter draftniks objected / at least one blocked me as a "hater". BJ Boston was mentioned and there were several others where I exposed the lack of documented evidence of shooting quality and the lack of regard about it in the hypster's profiles of these players. If I recall correctly Ziaire Williams and Keon Johnson were also checked and named for lack of evidence of a 3pt shot. Questionable process standards, questionable conclusions.

[jambalaya]

Game 1 in G league for Ignite:

Kuminga, 19ts in 33 minutes. 2 defensive rebounds. 4 assists, 4 turnovers. 1 for 7 from 3pt land. Loses his time on court playing against Jordon Poole, Alex Toupane and lesser.

Jalen Green, meh shooting, more turnovers than assists, loses his time against Mannion and / or Jeremy Lin and lesser.

[cjmcallist]

I really wouldn’t mind if we changed our drafting philosophy for our mid to late first round picks. Drafting a few more nba ready players as opposed to projects wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. There are exceptions and counter arguments to whatever philosophy you believe is right. But I look at Memphis taking some of these older guys that have lower ceilings and higher floors. They are consistently finding value there. Even when you turn some these raw projects in to serviceable players, you often spend years doing so.

I think I agree with this, given the team stage we're in.

When we had Russ / PG / KD / et. al. I never felt like a rookie was going to be able to play anyway, so it always made sense to take highest upside.

But, now, if we can get role players with our mid-round picks, we're probably better off. Leave the upside to the top 10 picks we'll (hopefully) have for a couple of years.

[ThunderBolt]

I’m still on the Mobley bandwagon.

Watch on YouTube

[Dadouv47]

Well I want Cade obviously but I don't care since we get any of the top 4 of this draft

Why is Scottie Barnes so low on some mock drafts and so high on others? Looks like the most polarized player from this draft class.