Sam V mock just put out on reddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/comments/suusnq/sam_vecenie_2022_nba_mock_draft_50_chet_holmgren/Heres what was said about the main four guys that we will have our eyes on. Honestly for me if its any of these 4 I'll be happy. I like the bigs more but if we end up with a high end athlete like Ivey I'm not gonna be mad.
Excerpts for Lottery Guys:
Chet Holmgren
Chet Holmgren slides up to No. 1, as there just isn’t anyone playing better than him in the entirety of college basketball right now...It’s becoming more and more difficult to come to any conclusion other than Holmgren having the most two-way upside in this class...He’s not Evan Mobley on the perimeter, but he’s smart with his angles and moves well enough to get by away from the basket. He can play with another big, something that will be important early in his NBA career with his lack of bulk. He’s also known as an elite competitor and a strong character player. Essentially, the only worry here is his frame, as Holmgren is about 20-25 pounds skinnier than even Mobley was last year. But his upside is just tremendous, and he’s worth taking at No. 1.
2) Jabari Smith Jr.
Smith drops a spot here, but I’m still a believer in him being a terrific, high-upside forward. There are few better 6-foot-10-plus shooters to have entered the NBA over the last decade...On top of that, he’s a really sharp team defender with good lateral quickness who has no issues defending in space or rotating into the right spots as an impactful defender. Having said that, I do wonder if we might be taping over some of his flaws a bit in a way that we didn’t early in the season with Holmgren. Announcers constantly ask Smith to create and try to get his own shot more and to attack the basket more. I kind of think that, at least in the half court, he’s just not really capable of that yet as a ballhandler...He’s a terrific, unselfish player who doesn’t force the issue, but he hasn’t made a ton of consistent, awesome passing reads yet this season. So while I’m definitely a believer that all of this will come, it’s worth noting that Smith isn’t a finished package...it might take some time for him to reach stardom — if the ballhandling improvement comes.
3) Jaden Ivey
Jaden Ivey is the most electrifying man in college basketball entertainment this season, a one-man fast break waiting to happen with explosive speed who is constantly attacking downhill...Scouts are enamored with Ivey’s athleticism and ability to make things happen on the court, believing that it’ll play up even further once he gets out of Purdue’s drag-it-out half-court offense that always has a man waiting at the rim as a help defender on his drives due to the presence of Edey and Trevion Williams. Ivey does have some work to do in terms of skill...operating out of ball screens...Defensively, he could stand to improve at the point of attack...His feel for scoring versus distributing...his jumper could stand to just be a touch more consistent. But all of this is fixable. What isn’t fixable are Ivey’s immense tools at the lead guard spot, where he’ll immediately enter the NBA as one of its best athletes.
4) Paolo Banchero
Paolo Banchero and Smith are interesting contrast points, as they both figure to primarily play as 6-foot-10 fours in the NBA. Banchero is the more impressive shot creator, a genuine mismatch player in the mid-post and on the block who can use his combination of strength and skill to get to his spot and finish. Smith doesn’t really have that ability, and it’s why Banchero has been a bit more consistent as a scorer...However, when Smith isn’t scoring, he impacts the game in a multitude of other ways, particularly on defense. When Banchero isn’t scoring, there are times where he can kind of get invisible in every aspect of the game...Because his jumper isn’t awesome yet, his good games can end up looking a bit less impressive in the box score than they are while watching in real time. Still, being able to create a shot with legitimate skill is one of the more important traits a player can possess when it comes to projecting All-Star outcomes.
