Official 2021 NBA Draft Thread

[Knightro]

Barnes is further along than Diaw and Anderson at the same age IMO.

Anderson got a lot better in-between his freshman and sophomore years and it ended up not translating at a high level in the NBA, but I think Barnes is still clearly the better freshman.

It will be interesting to see how he keeps developing.

[basketballRob]

I really need to see more complete FSU games especially against quality teams. Everything you guys said were observable EXCEPT this so-called play making/court general skill ala Ben Simmons/Magic Johnson like. I just don't see it. I mean if you meant passing, sure he can but that's different than directing plays.

Hopefully they go deep in the ncaat so I can see his skill you guys hype about.

Are you watching highlights are full games?

As I clearly mentioned... "need more COMPLETE FSU games" I saw only 1-2 more or less complete games. I never put a stock in mix tapes/clips or highlights. The one I remember most was against UNC

In those games, I was surprised that Barnes wasn't even the starter. although he played a lot.

Patrick Williams wasn't a starter last season at FSU either. Maybe that's just the way they do it with freshmen.

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[RookieStar]

i have no problems with guys not being as the starter as long as they are logging heavy minutes and they are the ones in it during crunch time. I was just surprised is all.

[basketballRob]

Scottie Barnes' is Bobo Diaw/Slo-mo, at best (those guys were far better scorers anyway), not Simmons lol

A guy you take top20-25, but do not touch top5-10 jesus, no chance

He has way more athletic ability than Diaw. Plus Diaw wasn't the defender Barnes is.

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[Def Swami]

I'm a big fan of Ayo Dosunmu. I think he's mocked in the late 1st round and early 2nd round because he's a junior, which might be unfair.

[pepe1991]

Scottie Barnes' is Bobo Diaw/Slo-mo, at best (those guys were far better scorers anyway), not Simmons lol

A guy you take top20-25, but do not touch top5-10 jesus, no chance

He has way more athletic ability than Diaw. Plus Diaw wasn't the defender Barnes is.

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"Boris walks into the gym one day wearing flip-flops and holding his customary cappuccino, which was a staple for him every morning," former Suns assistant general manager David Griffin recalled. "It was during pre-draft workouts, so he sees the Vertec (machine) and asks what it is.

"We tell him it measures your vertical leap by determining how many of the bars you can touch. He asks what's the highest anyone has ever gone, and we tell him Amar'e (Stoudemire) cleared the entire rack.

"Boris puts down the cappuccino, takes off his flip-flops, and clears the entire rack on the first try. Then he calmly puts his flip-flops back on, picks up his cappuccino, and walks away, saying, 'That was not difficult.'"

most important part- Amare had 40 inch vertical leap

One, if not both of Diaw parents were pro high jumpers, Boris just didn't care about weight and nutrition where his athletic gift would be shown in every game, nor he cared about anything flashy in general. But guy was athleltic, or at least had that in him.

Even over a hill Diaw, during Spurs nba finals, did better job on Lebron than anybody else, for example in game 5, Lebron shot 1-8 against Diaw and 7-14 against everybody else.

The thing is, if you are trying to sold lottery pick and say " yea he is like Boris Diaw" people will tell you he should be drafted late in first round. That's why most comparisons are ugly reaches and have zero ground in reality.
How many times you heard " next Jimmy Butler" but to this date, not a single "New" Jimmy Butler turned into anything like Jimmy Butler.
I mean, Magic drafted 2 Paul Geroges in Hezonja and Gordon, well that worked great, didn't it?

Even last year Wiseman was painted as " ceiling Anthony Deandre Jordan", and when you look him play he is clueless on defense and nothing like Davis, and offers no rim protection nor rebounding like Jordan. But if you were going to sold potential first round pick to floor of : Thomas Bryant and nowhere phisiclly imposing Whiteside" who da hell would get hyped and buy his merch? It's all about selling illusion, nba is thriving of delusional fanboys that are in constant search from next big thing. That's why biggest hype train- Zion and last year biggest hypetrain Pelicans, today are aftertought, just like Trae was year ago ( allstar starter last year, not even reserve this year) and nba will be off to quick "new Lebron" -random kid that is now 17 years old.

Who rememers Lonzo Ball? Steph Curry with 40 inch vertical? Or our buddy Oladipo. From " breaking superstar" to... that guy still plays in nba?

[MagicFan101]

Let’s make sure we don’t get carried away here with the Scottie Barnes talk and lose sight of the real prizes.

I love that we are thinking outside the box and deep diving into other options. However, Cade, Green and Suggs still need to be the unquestionable priority.

[No-Man]

Scottie Barnes' is Bobo Diaw/Slo-mo, at best (those guys were far better scorers anyway), not Simmons lol

A guy you take top20-25, but do not touch top5-10 jesus, no chance

He has way more athletic ability than Diaw. Plus Diaw wasn't the defender Barnes is.

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Diaw was a way better athlete than Barnes, you probably didn't watch him when he was young, he is the child of two olympians by the way and was an athletic freak

Barnes is fluid/mobile, but he is pretty underwhelming atheltically in terms of explosion/burst

Also no, Diaw was a really good defender when engaged too

[No-Man]

I would def draft Boris Diaw top10 (top6 probably) in this class, but Barnes is worse than that

[basketballRob]

Scottie Barnes' is Bobo Diaw/Slo-mo, at best (those guys were far better scorers anyway), not Simmons lol

A guy you take top20-25, but do not touch top5-10 jesus, no chance

He has way more athletic ability than Diaw. Plus Diaw wasn't the defender Barnes is.

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Diaw was a way better athlete than Barnes, you probably didn't watch him when he was young, he is the child of two olympians by the way and was an athletic freak

Barnes is fluid/mobile, but he is pretty underwhelming atheltically in terms of explosion/burst

Also no, Diaw was a really good defender when engaged too

Barnes looks pretty explosive to me. Plus ESPN had him as the 4th ranked player in his class. Do you think suddenly after 1 year at FSU he'll drop? Leonard Hamilton just doesn't give freshmen a lot of usage. He didn't start Patrick Williams last season and you see him putting up better numbers in the pros.

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[No-Man]

ESPN can have him ranked whatever the heck they want to man, I couldn't care less, he looks explosive? how? he is 6'9 ish with long ass arms and can barely dunk, not a quick riser either

Barnes isn't similar at all to PatWill, he can't score to save his life, and he has had plenty of usage lol, starts every game at PG basically

Have you actually watched the guy play?

I like Barnes, he is a fun weirdo, but the upside isn't there

[basketballRob]

Plenty of footage of Barnes dunking.

https://youtu.be/QPO66QGgdnY

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[Knightro]

I think Barnes is better than Fischella gives him credit for, but his point about athleticism isn't without merit.

There's a massive difference between load up athleticism and functional athleticism and as Magic fans we should know that all too well.

Aaron Gordon and Cole Anthony both have *tremendous* load up athleticism. You tell either one of those guys to get a head of steam and jump as high as they can and they'll both wow you with what they can do.

But put the basketball in their hands, stick a defender on their hip and another one in their path? The athleticism doesn't translate the same way at all.

I can see that being a thing with Barnes too (and he's not on Anthony or Gordon's level as a load up athlete either).

[RookieStar]

Yeah.. Barnes might be good but he shouldn't be in our priorities. Eyes on the prize peeps, and it is Cade Suggs Green.

Besides, worst case scenario and we are out of the top-5, you guys really wanna pick Barnes over a Moody or Bouknight? 2 players where we actually need and also have star potential?

[Knightro]

Yeah.. Barnes might be good but he shouldn't be in our priorities. Eyes on the prize peeps, and it is Cade Suggs Green.

Besides, worst case scenario and we are out of the top-5, you guys really wanna pick Barnes over a Moody or Bouknight? 2 players where we actually need and also have star potential?

I would pick Barnes over Bouknight and not really think twice about it.

It's a tougher call with Moody because I really like him too.

The point is, though, you don't draft purely for need. Now obviously the crippling inactivity of this front office has us all jaded and thinking about needs more than we should be.

But when you have a probable top 5 incoming and don't have a single legitimate superstar/building block already on the roster, you should always skew BPA over need.

There's not a single player on the current roster we should feel 100% confident will still be here at the end of the Magic's 2021 1st round pick's rookie contract.

[RookieStar]

Yeah.. Barnes might be good but he shouldn't be in our priorities. Eyes on the prize peeps, and it is Cade Suggs Green.

Besides, worst case scenario and we are out of the top-5, you guys really wanna pick Barnes over a Moody or Bouknight? 2 players where we actually need and also have star potential?

I would pick Barnes over Bouknight and not really think twice about it.

It's a tougher call with Moody because I really like him too.

The point is, though, you don't draft purely for need. Now obviously the crippling inactivity of this front office has us all jaded and thinking about needs more than we should be.

But when you have a probable top 5 incoming and don't have a single legitimate superstar/building block already on the roster, you should always skew BPA over need.

There's not a single player on the current roster we should feel 100% confident will still be here at the end of the Magic's 2021 1st round pick's rookie contract.

Agree, when you are in the top 5 IN a top5 draft pick, you screw need over the BPA. Especially with a roster like ours where we need help in every position except probably C. Good thing there is no clear cut C in the top5..or 10 lol (and no, I think Mobley is too weak to be a C ).

However, I would pick Moody , Bouknight , heck even Johnson over Barnes right now. It could change thought once the tourney starts and we can dissect their games more.

Question, since I think Barnes is like a mini-AG and thus have him in the 4 slot, would you pick Barnes over JI in the starting lineup?

[KillMonger]

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[Knightro]

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Latest mock from Sam Vecenie.

1. Cade Cunningham
2. Evan Mobley
3. Jalen Suggs
4. Orlando Magic: Jalen Green | 6-5 guard | 18 years old | G League Ignite
5. Jonathan Kuminga
6. Scottie Barnes
7. Keon Johnson
8. Moses Moody
9. James Bouknight
10. Kai Jones

https://theathletic.com/2439213/2021/03/16/2021-nba-mock-draft-3-0-evan-mobley-moves-up-ziaire-williams-falls-plus-coach-and-scout-breakdowns/ ($)

[MagicFan101]

Yeah.. Barnes might be good but he shouldn't be in our priorities. Eyes on the prize peeps, and it is Cade Suggs Green.

Besides, worst case scenario and we are out of the top-5, you guys really wanna pick Barnes over a Moody or Bouknight? 2 players where we actually need and also have star potential?

I would pick Barnes over Bouknight and not really think twice about it.

It's a tougher call with Moody because I really like him too.

The point is, though, you don't draft purely for need. Now obviously the crippling inactivity of this front office has us all jaded and thinking about needs more than we should be.

But when you have a probable top 5 incoming and don't have a single legitimate superstar/building block already on the roster, you should always skew BPA over need.

There's not a single player on the current roster we should feel 100% confident will still be here at the end of the Magic's 2021 1st round pick's rookie contract.

Agree, when you are in the top 5 IN a top5 draft pick, you screw need over the BPA. Especially with a roster like ours where we need help in every position except probably C. Good thing there is no clear cut C in the top5..or 10 lol (and no, I think Mobley is too weak to be a C ).

However, I would pick Moody , Bouknight , heck even Johnson over Barnes right now. It could change thought once the tourney starts and we can dissect their games more.

Question, since I think Barnes is like a mini-AG and thus have him in the 4 slot, would you pick Barnes over JI in the starting lineup?

I don’t understand the “mini-AG” comp for Barnes.

AG was / is a freak athlete with little to no basketball understanding or identity. AG has surely improved as a basketball player and solidified himself as a nice NBA player but not nearly the way we would have hoped after so many years.

Barnes is actually not an overwhelming athlete despite his great size and length. He does however have an amazing feel for the game all around, especially on defense, with the one exception being shooting. His awareness at the forward position is impressive.

I think nbadraft.net comparing Barnes to Jabari Parker / Draymond Green is good. Barnes will NOT be either of these guys. He will be somewhere in between. But this is a better idea of the type of player he is. Not AG.

[RookieStar]

I would pick Barnes over Bouknight and not really think twice about it.

It's a tougher call with Moody because I really like him too.

The point is, though, you don't draft purely for need. Now obviously the crippling inactivity of this front office has us all jaded and thinking about needs more than we should be.

But when you have a probable top 5 incoming and don't have a single legitimate superstar/building block already on the roster, you should always skew BPA over need.

There's not a single player on the current roster we should feel 100% confident will still be here at the end of the Magic's 2021 1st round pick's rookie contract.

Agree, when you are in the top 5 IN a top5 draft pick, you screw need over the BPA. Especially with a roster like ours where we need help in every position except probably C. Good thing there is no clear cut C in the top5..or 10 lol (and no, I think Mobley is too weak to be a C ).

However, I would pick Moody , Bouknight , heck even Johnson over Barnes right now. It could change thought once the tourney starts and we can dissect their games more.

Question, since I think Barnes is like a mini-AG and thus have him in the 4 slot, would you pick Barnes over JI in the starting lineup?

I don’t understand the “mini-AG” comp for Barnes.

AG was / is a freak athlete with little to no basketball understanding or identity. AG has surely improved as a basketball player and solidified himself as a nice NBA player but not nearly the way we would have hoped after so many years.

Barnes is actually not an overwhelming athlete despite his great size and length. He does however have an amazing feel for the game all around, especially on defense, with the one exception being shooting. His awareness at the forward position is impressive.

I think nbadraft.net comparing Barnes to Jabari Parker / Draymond Green is good. Barnes will NOT be either of these guys. He will be somewhere in between. But this is a better idea of the type of player he is. Not AG.

I call Barnes AG-like is because they are both in the 6'8 range, athletic with no clear cut position of either a 3 or 4. Also their points usually comes in the paint.

AG now improved his 3pt shot and maybe Barnes can as well. Ball handling wise Barnes to.me doesnt have the tight handles like AG as well.