2020-2021 College/Draft Thread Part 3

[DowNY]

Bouknight same height as Cooper with and without shoes.
Josh Christopher shorter than both.

[mpharris36]

Yeah I go back and forth on the 3 guys myself (driving me kinda nuts ). Its a great position and a tough position at the same time because you can make strong cases for all 3 guys behind Cade who seems like a lock at #1.

Green - Most offensive upside (for a team like you and I we both still could use a go to option so the intrigue has to be there)
Suggs - Perfect lead guard in todays NBA with pace and space (plays both ends, winner, doesn't have many flaws in his game)
Mobley - Ideal big in todays game (elite rim protection can switch out on the perimeter has a lot of offensive upside if the shot becomes consistant) - like you point out the sim does love bigs.

Kuminga and Barnes are both physically imposing athletes but are enticing because of there playmaking and handle and defensive upside. Both probably are well behind the top 3 because of the rawness of there offensive games.

I'm just sitting comfortably knowing that no matter what happens at 2, I'll get one of my top prospects and live with the results. Not like 2019 when I had 5 and the guy I wanted was Garland. I was so nervous going into that, but thankfully Context took Bol Bol 4th, which has to be the biggest reach by a BaF GM over where their guy went irl ever lol.

I really haven't done all that much looking, especially for guys who are gonna be in the Knicks' range, so my opinions right now come with a grain of salt. I am curious to do a deeper dive into Sharife Cooper, I feel like he fits what Thibs wants, but he can't shoot and scores at a sub-40% in college. Not a total dealbreaker, especially in the mid-late first, but something I need to look into more before coming to a conclusion on him.

tyrell terry is the reason I am picking #2 right now

so needless to say I'm a happy man!

[DOT]

Speaking of Green/Kuminga, tankathon has them going 3/5, which I really hope they both go top 5, cause that would be huge for convincing top guys to play in the G League, proving you can still get picked high without going to a big name college.

[WargamesX]

Yeah the knicks could in theory replace Bullock and Noel with two rookies if they selected Duarte and Jackson. Not flashy but they would replacing guys for cheaper rookies that should provide similar production.

Aka the “lowered expectations” strategy

Not a fan of that because in four years we’ll be complaining about the really good prospect they let slip between their fingers or roleplayers. Regardless of where you draft you got to be fairly sure that you’re getting the best talent. Basketball isn’t football where outside of the QB you’re just looking for bodies to play a system. Talent is too important to winning games in the league to settle.

Don’t even get me started on the fact that even with those guys the Knicks were behind the ball on talent.

I understand your logic but you also have to have realistic expectations. It can go the other way as well where people thought Mikal Bridges had limited upside due to his age and skillset. And we took a high risk player like Knox.

Who do you think we would rather have right now?

I guess your referencing players like Ziare Williamson/BJ Boston/Tre Mann...guys with higher upsides because of there shot creation ability.

But there is value in guys like Duarte/Jackson/Murphy types that fill very important roles in modern day NBA. The chances of you finding a lead offensive playmaker are very slim in the 20's.

To be fair to me I loved Mikal and if you go to the 2018 thread I had a bit of a freak out when they went Knox but figured they knew best. His physical profile was (and still is) a outlier and well his time in villanova he should have been the pick but the idea was we had Frank so we didn't need him which was incorrect because Frank wasn't a starter or even playing well then.

Also, I am not against players who are vets, I actually like Duarte and Murphy (I was talking murphy up for days). I think they would be better than Bullock who couldn't drive or shoot a midrange to save his life and didn't have great size for a D&3 player. My big issue is with Jackson and this idea that they need to draft a center to replace Noel when.... we still got Mitch as well. That to me is the issue. You're drafting first round picks to replace roleplayer and bench guys when I question the atrength of the starting lineup. Thibs is going to play Mitch heavy if he can and then Taj, and Obi needs minutes and then BOOM where right back to a Obi 2.0 situation where a guy can't get reliable minutes to develop.

Of the names you said "Ziare Williamson/BJ Boston/Tre Mann" I am open to them if they look like they can grow into a cornerstone piece and challenge for a starting roles where there are opportunities to do so or if you're going to draft a guy to play second fiddle at least have that guy have potential or be a physical outlier so there can be upside to the pick used..... eventually. Like JT Thor or Trey Murphy who are really good sized to play wings

[mpharris36]

Speaking of Green/Kuminga, tankathon has them going 3/5, which I really hope they both go top 5, cause that would be huge for convincing top guys to play in the G League, proving you can still get picked high without going to a big name college.

Yeah I do think it hurt Isaiah Todd and Daishen Nix where they were kinda after thoughts on that team. It was kinda let Green and Kuminga do there thing more with some help from vets.

I think on a college team most would have been the best or 2nd best player rather then bench pieces on the g-league team. But yes if you are a top top prospect it was nice to see guys have another option rather than having to go overseas to get paid.

[WargamesX]

Bouknight same height as Cooper with and without shoes.
Josh Christopher shorter than both.

Bouknight is going to get compared to Donovan Mitchell at that height

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Bouknight same height as Cooper with and without shoes.
Josh Christopher shorter than both.

Bouknight is going to get compared to Donovan Mitchell at that height

There's a 30lbs difference between them, Donovan is strong as hell and like a bowling ball going down the lane.

[WargamesX]

Bouknight same height as Cooper with and without shoes.
Josh Christopher shorter than both.

Bouknight is going to get compared to Donovan Mitchell at that height

There's a 30lbs difference between them, Donovan is strong as hell and like a bowling ball going down the lane.

They are still going to compare him to Mitchell

[Knicksfan1992]

Where is team wingspan? Jump on the Deuce McBride bandwagon before it's too late.

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Jalen Johnson being that short is ummm... not very good for him

I still am higher on him than most but if he can't be a legit Center for long stretches that would significantly hurt his stock IMO.

I always viewed as more of a F? A little smaller then advertised, but the wingspan measures out ok so don't think he will take much of a hit.

He seems like one of those high risk, high reward types...kinda like MPJ except for different reasons. I wouldn't mind taking a shot at him. No idea if he will or won't pan out but can see some potential.

I think the issue I have with him being a tad bit undersized here is that his skillset translates better to point Center. And his best defensive skill is rim protection. At that size it's hard to be an elite rim protector. Obviously he has room to grow and I love his natural feel for the game but things went poorly at Duke. If he's really a 4 at the next level then you have to find a stretch 5 to pair with him because his shot is pretty much non existent at the moment. I know he shot 44% on 3's at Duke but that was on 18 attempts and his free throw percentage I think i smore indicative of his actual shooting ability at this stage (63%)... He kind of reminds me of Simmons in a way where it's going to depend on fit, the pieces around him and how much the team can reign him in because I believe he has some temperament issues as well.

On talent alone IMO he's a top 5 guy in this draft. That's why I said i'm higher on him than most, but I have fit and some positional related concerns when it comes to the Knicks taking him specifically and we would probably have to trade up to get him.

For example I'd much rather take a chance on Giddey who has a similar skillset/frame but looks a little more comfortable shooting the ball and seems to have a better temperament on the court even if he lacks some of the juice Jalen has athletically.

[Knicksfan1992]

Holy crap I just saw Rife came in at 6'3.5"... Yeah we can say goodbye to any chance of drafting him at 19 or 21.. WTF that has to be one of the bigger differences in terms of what people thought his height was to what it actually ended up being.

[El Poochio]

KNICKS ARE GETTING THE #1 PICK

[WargamesX]

Read on Twitter

Nix might be a steal as a PG prospect

[TheGreenArrow]

Cam Thomas folks cam thomas!!!!!!!!!

[TheGreenArrow]

Holy crap I just saw Rife came in at 6'3.5"... Yeah we can say goodbye to any chance of drafting him at 19 or 21.. WTF that has to be one of the bigger differences in terms of what people thought his height was to what it actually ended up being.

Ehh….

That shot is rough man!!!!!

[jvsimonetti0514]

Holy crap I just saw Rife came in at 6'3.5"... Yeah we can say goodbye to any chance of drafting him at 19 or 21.. WTF that has to be one of the bigger differences in terms of what people thought his height was to what it actually ended up being.

Ehh….

That shot is rough man!!!!!

It certainly didn't hurt him that he grew but I'm with you. Unless there's been dramatic work done on that jumper idk how much he'll actually move up in the draft.

[Jeff Van Gully]

Cam Thomas folks cam thomas!!!!!!!!!

Definition of flawed bucket. But he loves to do what we need most.

[DowNY]

Holy crap I just saw Rife came in at 6'3.5"... Yeah we can say goodbye to any chance of drafting him at 19 or 21.. WTF that has to be one of the bigger differences in terms of what people thought his height was to what it actually ended up being.

Ehh….

That shot is rough man!!!!!

I think it’s fixable.

[HEZI]

I'm not believing that height for Cooper

[TheGreenArrow]

Cam Thomas folks cam thomas!!!!!!!!!

Definition of flawed bucket. But he loves to do what we need most.

Im skeptical of the fit though!!!!!

He’s redundant with IQ here!!!!

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Cooper's freethrow percentage is good, so he has touch, with his handle, finishing ability and now size it's worth the risk to try and fix his shot given he actually makes freethrows. If he were down in the 60-70% range I'd say avoid, those were big red flags with Fultz/Lonzo.