Who do you want us to take at #1?

[swarlesbarkley]

I trust our scouting team in this scenario. They picked Wagner many picks higher than he was supposed to go and he was the only guy not drafted in the top 5 to make the all rookie first team. Of course, they also picked Suggs who struggled all year but nobody questioned that pick then and shouldn't question it now - he was a clear tier above everyone else left in the draft despite having a rough rookie season.

They also snagged Cole and Okeke as nice pieces in the late lotto who will most likely be role players in the NBA for a long time. Their only big miss has been Bamba and hopefully they've learned from that mistake to not get obsessed with measurables.

[89Magicfan]

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Schmitz is spot on. Chet has that dawg in him. You pair him with Franz and Jalen who are also both uber-competitors and you don't look back. Focus on the future.. and count on their work ethics to develop the necessary skills.

Also, stop looking at Chet like he's a 5.. he's not a 5 he's a wing. On D he'll gravitate towards protecting the bucket naturally but with finesse. He's already at his age a shot blocking savant and not from brute force but from impeccable timing.

He's best comp on offense is a taller KD. You take BPA with #1 and that's Holmgren.

If he can't move around like a wing then he is not a wing.

He moves more like a wing than a C.

[GelbeWand09]

Learning to dribble at 18+ is a almost unreachable goal. Its a skill heavily based on coordination, body control, feel...
That are things you learn when you are 6-13, not when you are 18+. The same reason football/soccer player are almost finished products at 13/14 when it comes to Ballcontroll, dribbling skills...
You can try to improve your ballhandling or dribbling for 4 hours a day on 365 days but a 9 year old still makes much more progress in 2 weeks.
Name me one player who couldn't dribble who learned it in the NBA? Jaylen Brown is maybe rare example over the last years, but he was still light years ahead of what Jabari is now.

[jezzerinho]

That's the problem with this draft. Does anyone think Jabari is a superstar? No, but who is at the top of this draft? But this is what Welt tanked for so one thing he cannot do is pick a bust. He likely won't bust with Jabari or Paolo. He could possibly bust with Chet.

In the NCAA tourney, Memphis and Arkansas put big, strong guards on Chet and limited his effectiveness. As tiderulez has pointed out, his numbers against ranked teams were dramatically different from his numbers against the bulk of the West Coast Conference. There just isn't a lot of evidence of a body like that thriving in the NBA, where the players are bigger and stronger, the games are longer, the season is *way* longer. Kevin Durant came out of college skinny and under-developed but he was, and is, an offensive assassin.

If Welt wants a star he should seriously consider trading this pick. But he won't.

In contrast, maybe only Davis of the consensus top 10 picks was in as unfavourable a team setting as Chet. Davis was made to look very inefficient by having to do everything on offense. Chet spent a lot of time in spots redundant to his primary skillet. He was played around rather than played through, due mostly to Timme's dominant presence.

[basketballRob]

Schmitz is spot on. Chet has that dawg in him. You pair him with Franz and Jalen who are also both uber-competitors and you don't look back. Focus on the future.. and count on their work ethics to develop the necessary skills.

Also, stop looking at Chet like he's a 5.. he's not a 5 he's a wing. On D he'll gravitate towards protecting the bucket naturally but with finesse. He's already at his age a shot blocking savant and not from brute force but from impeccable timing.

He's best comp on offense is a taller KD. You take BPA with #1 and that's Holmgren.

If he can't move around like a wing then he is not a wing.

He moves more like a wing than a C.

He's not going to be able to guard Tatum or Ingram and usually you are who you can guard.

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[89Magicfan]

If he can't move around like a wing then he is not a wing.

He moves more like a wing than a C.

He's not going to be able to guard Tatum or Ingram and usually you are who you can guard.

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Why not? Because he’s tall? He’s very agile. Take a look at some of his games where he grabs a board and bee lines it to the basket weaving around defenders.

One of his strengths is his potential to switch defensively.

Tatum and Ingram are closer to 6’10 range anyways.

[swarlesbarkley]

Learning to dribble at 18+ is a almost unreachable goal. Its a skill heavily based on coordination, body control, feel...
That are things you learn when you are 6-13, not when you are 18+. The same reason football/soccer player are almost finished products at 13/14 when it comes to Ballcontroll, dribbling skills...
You can try to improve your ballhandling or dribbling for 4 hours a day on 365 days but a 9 year old still makes much more progress in 2 weeks.
Name me one player who couldn't dribble who learned it in the NBA? Jaylen Brown is maybe rare example over the last years, but he was still light years ahead of what Jabari is now.

Agree on all points here - I guess the question is - does Jabari have dribbling skills that he didn't showcase at Auburn because he could shoot over everyone and his terrible guards ate up the clock OR because he just doesn't have those skills?

If his workouts show that he can have a Kawhi-like handle then he's an easy #1 pick.

[MAGICian619]

As of May 19, I'm officially team Paolo.

I think defense can be coached much easier than offense. Honestly think we'd look pretty dangerous with a Franz/Paolo wing combo - sort of like Tatum/Brown where both wings can handle and score - I'd put Franz/Paolo as better passers than the Boston duo though - which, on paper, would be super dangerous and tough to guard.

Paolo also looks to have the highest BBIQ of the top guys.

I know BBIQ and IQ are different but have you heard Paolo talk compared to Jabari or Chet? Jabari and Chet both seem much smarter more cerebral in general.

[Xatticus]

That's the problem with this draft. Does anyone think Jabari is a superstar? No, but who is at the top of this draft? But this is what Welt tanked for so one thing he cannot do is pick a bust. He likely won't bust with Jabari or Paolo. He could possibly bust with Chet.

In the NCAA tourney, Memphis and Arkansas put big, strong guards on Chet and limited his effectiveness. As tiderulez has pointed out, his numbers against ranked teams were dramatically different from his numbers against the bulk of the West Coast Conference. There just isn't a lot of evidence of a body like that thriving in the NBA, where the players are bigger and stronger, the games are longer, the season is *way* longer. Kevin Durant came out of college skinny and under-developed but he was, and is, an offensive assassin.

If Welt wants a star he should seriously consider trading this pick. But he won't.

They didn't limit his effectiveness. He fouled out of both games because college officials suck. He clearly got the better of Duren when they matched up and he had a huge box score line against Arkansas.

[cedric76]

Schmitz is spot on. Chet has that dawg in him. You pair him with Franz and Jalen who are also both uber-competitors and you don't look back. Focus on the future.. and count on their work ethics to develop the necessary skills.

Also, stop looking at Chet like he's a 5.. he's not a 5 he's a wing. On D he'll gravitate towards protecting the bucket naturally but with finesse. He's already at his age a shot blocking savant and not from brute force but from impeccable timing.

He's best comp on offense is a taller KD. You take BPA with #1 and that's Holmgren.

If he can't move around like a wing then he is not a wing.

He moves more like a wing than a C.

TBH I could see Chet being a better player than Jabari but I cant see him logging as many minutes as Jabari

I know that chet is tough but I cant see him playing more than 70 gm per year when healthy and then struggling to play 60 games per yer once he gets older

[fendilim]

Torn on jabari and chet, leaning towards Jabari right now tho.

[89Magicfan]

If he can't move around like a wing then he is not a wing.

He moves more like a wing than a C.

TBH I could see Chet being a better player than Jabari but I cant see him logging as many minutes as Jabari

I know that chet is tough but I cant see him playing more than 70 gm per year when healthy and then struggling to play 60 games per yer once he gets older

That’s the concern. Can he stay healthy. Bigs are at a disadvantage with this anyways but it’s a definite question mark for a guy who’s thin as he is.

You might be able to expand his game to where he’s more perimeter oriented. He’s got the talent to do so. That could save him down the road.

The good news is he isn’t injury prone so far and seems to be able to move so well that he may not have that issue unlike JI who’s main problem was the way he jumped off that leg and land on it.

[swarlesbarkley]

As of May 19, I'm officially team Paolo.

I think defense can be coached much easier than offense. Honestly think we'd look pretty dangerous with a Franz/Paolo wing combo - sort of like Tatum/Brown where both wings can handle and score - I'd put Franz/Paolo as better passers than the Boston duo though - which, on paper, would be super dangerous and tough to guard.

Paolo also looks to have the highest BBIQ of the top guys.

I know BBIQ and IQ are different but have you heard Paolo talk compared to Jabari or Chet? Jabari and Chet both seem much smarter more cerebral in general.

So does/did Mo Bamba.

[MAGICian619]

As of May 19, I'm officially team Paolo.

I think defense can be coached much easier than offense. Honestly think we'd look pretty dangerous with a Franz/Paolo wing combo - sort of like Tatum/Brown where both wings can handle and score - I'd put Franz/Paolo as better passers than the Boston duo though - which, on paper, would be super dangerous and tough to guard.

Paolo also looks to have the highest BBIQ of the top guys.

I know BBIQ and IQ are different but have you heard Paolo talk compared to Jabari or Chet? Jabari and Chet both seem much smarter more cerebral in general.

So does/did Mo Bamba.

Lol sure but that wasn't your original point.

[pepe1991]

Yea i just don't see 18 years old becomming good ballhandler out of thin air.
You see this young kids with sick handles at age of 12,13 and some of them are just born for that.

On other end of a spectrum... Chet just has to eat in caloric suficit for whatever trashold of maintenance income is.

[swarlesbarkley]

I know BBIQ and IQ are different but have you heard Paolo talk compared to Jabari or Chet? Jabari and Chet both seem much smarter more cerebral in general.

So does/did Mo Bamba.

Lol sure but that wasn't your original point.

The point is that Paolo has the highest BBIQ of the players at the top of this draft. You brought up general IQ which doesn't correlate to being a good basketball player (see: Mo Bamba).

I don't see any issues with Paolo's communication:

Watch on YouTube

I also like that he views himself like a LeBron/Tatum/Giannis/Melo. Obvious highest ceiling for Paolo, but 3 out of those 4 have become (or always were) big time playmakers.

[MAGICian619]

So does/did Mo Bamba.

Lol sure but that wasn't your original point.

The point is that Paolo has the highest BBIQ of the players at the top of this draft. You brought up general IQ which doesn't correlate to being a good basketball player (see: Mo Bamba).

Fair enough. Still don't think Paolo has a higher BBIQ than the other two. By all accounts, all three, especially Jabari and Chet, are all smart, hard working, high character guys.

I'm just happy that BBIQ, motor and character are non questions at the top this year.

[zaymon]

Its actually quite simple. One clip looks like playoffs basketball and the other is not

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

[PrimeThyme]

What execlly on offense Jabari Smith provides as 1st overall pick that Michael Porter isn't, while we all know Michael Porter can't be anything more than 3rd option on elite team, playing behing 2 time MVP?

You do realize that MPJ with the type of defense Jabari is expected to have coming into the league is probably a top 20 player in the NBA?

Saying that Jabari is Lauri with “a little better defense” just doesn’t make sense to me. Lauri is a turnstile defensively. Jabari was one of the most versatile defenders in college basketball last year who can switch positions 1-4, protect the rim, rebound, and gives maximum effort with how hot his motor runs.

MPJ is one of the worst defenders in basketball. If you’re going to make a comparison to him, you have to acknowledge the other side of the ball.

[89Magicfan]

Its actually quite simple. One clip looks like playoffs basketball and the other is not

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

One clip looks like a role player while the other looks like role player is signed for to make his life easier.