2020-2021 College/Draft Thread Part 3

[cgf]

I would love to trade up for Giddey but if the draft fell this way and we did no trading up then i'm good with taking T.Mann at #20 then i'm taking Chris Duarte at #23 and then i'm taking that Johnny Juzang at #32. The kid was just way too good in the tourney to pass up on him in the 2nd round. We also could use help at SF. Then i'm fine with grabbing a intl. kid with that last pick and leaving him overseas for a year or two cause we can't take on 4 new kids in one draft and would actually be surprised if we even draft 3 players.

My #1 target in this draft is still the same as it's been since the college season started and that's Jalen Suggs. I'm trading pretty much anything (within reason) to go up and get this kid.

Those are the scariest words in scouting

Did all the scouts tell you that?

Yes, ALL of them.

[Im Coming Home]

With the Nets winning,

Bucks not gonna try tonight, they're scared of the Heat, you'll see reports soon of Bucks guys 'out for injuries' tonight.

[TBri1974]

With the Nets winning,

Bucks not gonna try tonight, they're scared of the Heat, you'll see reports soon of Bucks guys 'out for injuries' tonight.

I think were in the wrong thread, but for the record, the Bucks are up 23 with 5 minutes left in the first half...

[Im Coming Home]

With the Nets winning,

Bucks not gonna try tonight, they're scared of the Heat, you'll see reports soon of Bucks guys 'out for injuries' tonight.

I think were in the wrong thread, but for the record, the Bucks are up 23 with 5 minutes left in the first half...

Yeah oops must've clicked the wrong thread my bad.

[newyorker4ever]

Those are the scariest words in scouting

Did all the scouts tell you that?

Yes, ALL of them.

[WargamesX]

Read on Twitter

Rumors are the Spurs want him and I can see it. Poetl is a classic big but this kid could be scary offensively and for all the perimeter relent they have, the lack of a talented big has been the biggest hole on the roster since Timmy left. Aldridge tried, but in 20/20 hindsight he went to the Spurs to late in his career.

[cgf]

Read on Twitter

Rumors are the Spurs want him and I can see it. Poetl is a classic big but this kid could be scary offensively and for all the perimeter relent they have, the lack of a talented big has been the biggest hole on the roster since Timmy left. Aldridge tried, but in 20/20 hindsight he went to the Spurs to late in his career.

Spurs would make sense for him...but man, I wouldn't want to be the team that bet on him being more Jokic than Kanter/Vucevic.

[cgf]

Did all the scouts tell you that?

Yes, ALL of them.

Being serious, it's a refrain I've heard from a lot of the professional scouts & youth-team coaches from the world of german football that I've gotten to speak to. They, of course, were referring to national team tournaments (senior- & youth-team World Cups, European Championships, Copa Americas, African Cup of Nations, etc.) rather than March Madness...but the same logic applies to the dangers of over-valuing small-sample-sizes, a mistake that has cost clubs millions in wasted transfer fees and plenty of folks their jobs.

And it's not like this is a foreign notion that we never hear from NBA scouts wrt the NCAA tourney, or we don't have plenty of examples of kids getting over-drafted because they got hot during the tourney...hell we're about to watch this exact thing happen with Mitchell; who absolutely should not be a top 10 pick in a class as strong as this one, but is looking atm like he will be, primarily because he got hot from 3 at the most opportune time.

[newyorker4ever]

Yes, ALL of them.

Being serious, it's a refrain I've heard from a lot of the professional scouts & youth-team coaches from the world of german football that I've gotten to speak to. They, of course, were referring to national team tournaments (senior- & youth-team World Cups, European Championships, Copa Americas, African Cup of Nations, etc.) rather than March Madness...but the same logic applies to the dangers of over-valuing small-sample-sizes, a mistake that has cost clubs millions in wasted transfer fees and plenty of folks their jobs.

And it's not like this is a foreign notion that we never hear from NBA scouts wrt the NCAA tourney, or we don't have plenty of examples of kids getting over-drafted because they got hot during the tourney...hell we're about to watch this exact thing happen with Mitchell; who absolutely should not be a top 10 pick in a class as strong as this one, but is looking atm like he will be, primarily because he got hot from 3 at the most opportune time.

There is no exact science to drafting and NOBODY knows what any player will become at the next level because all these kids have talent or they wouldn't get drafted at all. The thing that you can't fully scout is what's between the ears of these kids, how confident they are in themselves cause that's a huge part in making it in the NBA and think this is one of the biggest things Quickley has that made him hit the ground running when he got to the NBA and he went at #25 of the first round.

We can all watch the game tape and see what these kids do at the combine and everything else we can see on tv or on the internet but the actual scouts have the tough work which is talking to these kids in person and putting them on the white board or whatever they do with them in person and trying to figure out what's going on between the ears with these kids. They've all been trained by their coaches, family and agents about what the right things to say to these teams scouting them is but trying to read these kids isn't an easy thing which is why all these GM's, Coaches and Scouts miss in the draft.

Lets just hope our Knicks team get it right cause if we can hit big with at least one of our picks it would be huge for this team. I was really wanting Suggs all year but shyt we now have a shot at getting the 4th seed in the East which i never thought could happy months ago.

[WargamesX]

Watch on YouTube

Wasserman keeps saying the Knicks might try to move up for Giddey and I can see why. I think they want BJ too but they might be able to grab him with a second.

It’s hard to mock him, it’s easy to say Joe Ingles but he does have the wingspan or 3 pt shot, plus he plays a lot more on ball like Ingles. If they thought Burks might leave he could maybe take his slot as a ball handler.

[HerSports85]

Well who I want is out of our range now. Ship these picks out or swing for the fences with Sharife Cooper, Tre Mann and BJ Boston.

[knickstape4ever]

Well who I want is out of our range now. Ship these picks out or swing for the fences with Sharife Cooper, Tre Mann and BJ Boston.

keep the picks and swing for the fences. not gonna get much for them in a trade. last year the Nets traded pick #19 for Landry Shamet....I'd rather test my luck in the draft

I'd also consider moving up, using maybe Obi (just doesn't fit w/ Randle being here) or the 2023 Dallas pick

the players I want most are probably Bouknight and Thomas

would also take a shot on players like Boston and Williams. who knows how much of an impact covid had on incoming college freshman. willing to cut them some slack b/c it couldn't have been easy/probs lost a bunch of practice time

[TBri1974]

Well who I want is out of our range now. Ship these picks out or swing for the fences with Sharife Cooper, Tre Mann and BJ Boston.

keep the picks and swing for the fences. not gonna get much for them in a trade. last year the Nets traded pick #19 for Landry Shamet....I'd rather test my luck in the draft

I'd also consider moving up, using maybe Obi (just doesn't fit w/ Randle being here) or the 2023 Dallas pick

the players I want most are probably Bouknight and Thomas

would also take a shot on players like Boston and Williams. who knows how much of an impact covid had on incoming college freshman. willing to cut them some slack b/c it couldn't have been easy/probs lost a bunch of practice time

Last years draft was considered very weak whereas this years draft is very strong. There are also teams like Houston and Orlando with multiple reasonably high 1st rounders.

Would take a major move up to trade Obi. I really like him and we have him on a cheap contract. Not saying I absolutely wouldnt trade him, but it would have to be for a major move up, not a few slots.

[cgf]

I'm rooting for some iteration of Williams / Bouknight / Moody / Boston + Butler / Mann + Duarte / Murphy

[knickstape4ever]

Well who I want is out of our range now. Ship these picks out or swing for the fences with Sharife Cooper, Tre Mann and BJ Boston.

keep the picks and swing for the fences. not gonna get much for them in a trade. last year the Nets traded pick #19 for Landry Shamet....I'd rather test my luck in the draft

I'd also consider moving up, using maybe Obi (just doesn't fit w/ Randle being here) or the 2023 Dallas pick

the players I want most are probably Bouknight and Thomas

would also take a shot on players like Boston and Williams. who knows how much of an impact covid had on incoming college freshman. willing to cut them some slack b/c it couldn't have been easy/probs lost a bunch of practice time

Last years draft was considered very weak whereas this years draft is very strong. There are also teams like Houston and Orlando with multiple reasonably high 1st rounders.

Would take a major move up to trade Obi. I really like him and we have him on a cheap contract. Not saying I absolutely wouldnt trade him, but it would have to be for a major move up, not a few slots.

last years draft was considered weak at the top, but deep overall in the mid picks (20-40), and even that has been proven wrong w/ Ball and Edwards looking good

I'm thinking Obi + the Mavs pick (#23) to the 10-14 range. I just don't see how Obi's role grows next year w/ Randle at PF and Thibs liking rim-protection at C

[cgf]

keep the picks and swing for the fences. not gonna get much for them in a trade. last year the Nets traded pick #19 for Landry Shamet....I'd rather test my luck in the draft

I'd also consider moving up, using maybe Obi (just doesn't fit w/ Randle being here) or the 2023 Dallas pick

the players I want most are probably Bouknight and Thomas

would also take a shot on players like Boston and Williams. who knows how much of an impact covid had on incoming college freshman. willing to cut them some slack b/c it couldn't have been easy/probs lost a bunch of practice time

Last years draft was considered very weak whereas this years draft is very strong. There are also teams like Houston and Orlando with multiple reasonably high 1st rounders.

Would take a major move up to trade Obi. I really like him and we have him on a cheap contract. Not saying I absolutely wouldnt trade him, but it would have to be for a major move up, not a few slots.

last years draft was considered weak at the top, but deep overall in the mid picks (20-40), and even that has been proven wrong w/ Ball and Edwards looking good

I'm thinking Obi + the Mavs pick (#23) to the 10-14 range. I just don't see how Obi's role grows next year w/ Randle at PF and Thibs liking rim-protection at C

Obi's path to increased PT is playing better so Thibs can give Julius more of a rest, and taking on Taj's minutes as well as his own, as he fills out. Thibs has already tried playing Obi with Julius at the start of the year, why wouldn't he try it again with a stronger Obi that's figured out what he's doing on the defensive end?

It's on Obi to make that progress...luckily he seems like the kind of smart, hard worker to do just that.

[knickstape4ever]

Last years draft was considered very weak whereas this years draft is very strong. There are also teams like Houston and Orlando with multiple reasonably high 1st rounders.

Would take a major move up to trade Obi. I really like him and we have him on a cheap contract. Not saying I absolutely wouldnt trade him, but it would have to be for a major move up, not a few slots.

last years draft was considered weak at the top, but deep overall in the mid picks (20-40), and even that has been proven wrong w/ Ball and Edwards looking good

I'm thinking Obi + the Mavs pick (#23) to the 10-14 range. I just don't see how Obi's role grows next year w/ Randle at PF and Thibs liking rim-protection at C

Obi's path to increased PT is playing better so Thibs can give Julius more of a rest, and taking on Taj's minutes as well as his own, as he fills out. Thibs has already tried playing Obi with Julius at the start of the year, why wouldn't he try it again with a stronger Obi that's figured out what he's doing on the defensive end?

It's on Obi to make that progress...luckily he seems like the kind of smart, hard worker to do just that.

I don't think Thibs is gonna change much. he plays his starters big minutes and I expect the same next season as well. he's always done so

W/ Mitch and Noel likely both back, I don't think the minutes are there. our best lineups are w/ a rim-protecting C

not tryna put Obi down, just think the circumstances have changed w/ Randles breakout

[knickstape4ever]

I'm rooting for some iteration of Williams / Bouknight / Moody / Boston + Butler / Mann + Duarte / Murphy

very similar for me

best-case scenario for me

1(19) James Bouknight
1(23) Jared Butler
2(32) Brandon Boston

also really like Cam Thomas, Tre Mann, Ziaire Williams, Jaden Springer, Josh Christopher, Moses Moody

[cgf]

last years draft was considered weak at the top, but deep overall in the mid picks (20-40), and even that has been proven wrong w/ Ball and Edwards looking good

I'm thinking Obi + the Mavs pick (#23) to the 10-14 range. I just don't see how Obi's role grows next year w/ Randle at PF and Thibs liking rim-protection at C

Obi's path to increased PT is playing better so Thibs can give Julius more of a rest, and taking on Taj's minutes as well as his own, as he fills out. Thibs has already tried playing Obi with Julius at the start of the year, why wouldn't he try it again with a stronger Obi that's figured out what he's doing on the defensive end?

It's on Obi to make that progress...luckily he seems like the kind of smart, hard worker to do just that.

I don't think Thibs is gonna change much. he plays his starters big minutes and I expect the same next season as well. he's always done so

W/ Mitch and Noel likely both back, I don't think the minutes are there. our best lineups are w/ a rim-protecting C

not tryna put Obi down, just think the circumstances have changed w/ Randles breakout

I don't think Obi will be ready to be our backup 5 next year either, but I do think that he's likely to make enough progress over this coming offseason to take Taj's place as the 3rd string 5. And if he looks good enough when injuries call on him to actually play at that spot next season, I see the FO letting Nerlens that summer and clearing the path for Obi to fill a 20+ mpg 3rd big role behind both Julius & Mitch in the 2022-2023 season.

[cgf]

I'm rooting for some iteration of Williams / Bouknight / Moody / Boston + Butler / Mann + Duarte / Murphy

very similar for me

best-case scenario for me

1(19) James Bouknight
1(23) Jared Butler
2(32) Brandon Boston

also really like Cam Thomas, Tre Mann, Ziaire Williams, Jaden Springer, Josh Christopher, Moses Moody

I didn't like some of what I saw from Thomas & Christopher so I'm iffy on those two without being able to be there for their interviews. Even in roles where they were supposed to just fire away, it felt they shot too much and disrupted their teams flow more than they should have. Both have the talent to give you buckets off the bench, but I'm not sure either one will learn to do so in a team concept well enough to help the teams that will draft them and see both of as likely to bounce around a bit before "it clicks".

I like Christopher more of the two, as he at least has good defensive tools to go with the shot-creation potential, but I'm a lot more hesitant about betting on him than I am other "big gambles" like Ziaire & Bouknight.


Springer's a tricky one for me, cause he gave me a lot of mini-RJ vibes for the Vols...in both the good & the bad ways...so I'm not sure high on him I should be. I do still like him and can see him growing into a Burks-style contributor, only with a better two-way game, if he reaches his best-outcome as a shooter.

But I'm just not sure yet where exactly I have him in that mix behind Ziaire, Bouknight, Moody & Butler; who are still my favorites for our picks...at least now that Keon is well outside of our range.