2024 NBA DRAFT THREAD 2

[grant101]

I like how the majority of Dunn's blocks aren't flashy swats that occur long after ball is released and go out of bounds, this guy is great at keeping the ball in play after blocking his opponents which effectively makes his blocks forced turnovers. Actually huge for his defensive value.

Although I've been locked into Carter and Ware as the guys I think would improve the Raptors the most outside of the top 10 but if Dunn falls to the early second round I'm 100% taking him

When evaluating Dunn this is what comes to mind...

-NBA body
-NBA wingspan
-Above the rim athlete
-Good feel
-Limits errors
-Plays with fire
-Versatile
-Understands his role
-Correctable shot
-Solid handle and fundamentals
-Fearless while in motion and at high speeds
-Not reckless as a driver
-Good finishing touch
-Great rebounder

I feel like people who are low on him view him as simply "horrible shooter" and refuse to see the bigger picture. Teams believe they can improve shooting, he checks too many boxes. Look at the Thompson twins last year, they weren't overlooked by NBA organizations due to their horrendous shooting mechanics.

Dunn is a really good basketball player.

So I would consider myself to be a Dunn skeptic. What it boils down to for me is that I don't think his defence (which is excellent) will make up for how useless he is on the offensive end. Also, I disagree and don't think he has a very good handle, though it's hard to judge because he plays so passively with the ball in his hands, outside of the few occasions where his defender messes up and hard closes on him and Dunn is able to attack in a straight line. I see him being completely ignored in the NBA, and his playmaking or driving game is not good enough to make up for it at all. I see Andre Roberson in the playoffs.

This team is already hard up for spacing and offensive threats. I don't know if I could stomach another offensive zero. Could his shot eventually become passable- maybe. Is he likely to get enough floor time to work on his shot and get more comfortable on offence given his starting point - I don't think so. Do I want to see him try - not really.

[Mark_83]

He's not as highly regarded as Walter or Missi but am I crazy to think Jalen Bridges could be the best NBA player out of the current Baylor prospects? He's got a clearly defined role for the next level, which is a solid baseline to expand his game from.

23pts 5reb 2ast 1stl today on 5-8 from three.

[Ell Curry]

Again, revisionist history. Not a single person on this board would have said Pascal was as talented as those guys in their draft year. Those who supported the pick were basically trust Masai and IBM Watson guys.

Vanvleet went undrafted in 2016. Subsequently became better than half of the first rounders that year. Kris Dunn (the bust taken 5th overall), was still a more talented player than him at the time from a pure physical tools and skills standpoint.

I've written this a bunch of times but Kevin Pelton who was the analytics draft guy at ESPN had Van Vleet #1 in the draft that year. If a guy is #1 by any reasonable measure, I don't care if he's 5'6, 250 pounds, I'd take him at #31.

[Ell Curry]

Pretty impressed with Ja'Kobe Walter.

Good body, shoots the 3 and draws fouls. Might be an empty calories type of guy but there are worse ideas in a weak draft with the Pacers pick than grabbing him and trying to be a sort of Kings type team with an offensive hub/passing big type in Barnes and a bunch of decent scorers, with us being better on D but worse on O because Sabonis is a 5 and Barnes a 4, but still okay on O since Barnes should give us 4 3pt shooters on the floor barring us miraculously finding a stretch 5 in the 2025 or 2026 drafts. And who knows, maybe he improves as an all-around player or becomes a solid defender, which he would seem to have the tools to do so.

I could see Utah or Philly taking him though ahead of us, though.

Kolek is less unathletic than I assumed. Might be a solid backup PG due to defensive limitations but we could certainly use a 2nd unselfish player to go with Barnes once Olynyk ages out.

Ighodaro is ahead of 99% of American centres in the little things he does on O (DHOs and such) but I don't know if you can draft a center who doesn't have the size or strength to dominate inside and no outside shot anymore.

I like Trey Alexander, but not sure current NBA guard roles fit him extremely well. Maybe as an off-ball PG, though we have one of those already in Quickley.

Ledee on SDSU was fantastic today. Very 1990s style PF but the shooting shows signs (74% from the line, 40% from 3 but only 1 a game, but 47% on long 2s). A backup to Barnes isn't a priority, but some genuine Millsap signs from him. He's 25, so if he doesn't get drafted, I'd love if we could bring him in undrafted if a contender doesn't pick him in the 2nd. Promise him a real shot to backup Barnes as an incentive. But if I was playoff team I'd be intrigued at getting a guy who might be a 6-7M player a year on the free agent market for 2nd round money.

I've only seen Broome of Auburn play well, so he looks like a reasonable backup center, but #31 seems too high for him.

[BoyzNTheHood]

Any love for KJ Simpson at 31?

[RoteSchroder]

You're making post hoc arguments based on what Pascal has become, not on what he was at the time. Both Skal and Deyonta were more highly regarded, not just for arbitrary reasons but for their talent and potential. Pascal had comparable measurements to both players, but did not have the raw tools and skills at the time that the other two did, especially because he started playing basketball much later in life. That's like saying Mike Piazza was more talented in his draft year than so and so because he became a Hall of Famer. No, he was drafted near last in his year because he became better than those players that were taken ahead of him.

I am looking at Pascal the player in college vs. Davis and Skal in college, and coming to the conclusion that Pascal left college a much better basketball player than both of those guys. He had an extra year of college experience, sure, but he was better. They sure as **** didn't come into the league better than Pascal.

You keep saying they were more highly regarded for their talent and potential...except they weren't actually highly regarded by NBA executives at the time, at all. They were both mediocre (Davis) and bad (Skal) as freshmen. It's why they were not high picks even though they were touted highschoolers and played at major programs as 1 and dones.

You are arguing with things I am not saying. It is truly mind boggling that Pascal worked to be an all nba level player from where he started. But that doesn't mean started worse than those two plugs.

Again, revisionist history. Not a single person on this board would have said Pascal was as talented as those guys in their draft year. Those who supported the pick were basically trust Masai and IBM Watson guys.

Vanvleet went undrafted in 2016. Subsequently became better than half of the first rounders that year. Kris Dunn (the bust taken 5th overall), was still a more talented player than him at the time from a pure physical tools and skills standpoint.

Looking back at a few threads, the Skal hype was huge. Surprisingly, there were still a number of fans who didn't like Skal/Davis or didn't want to draft them at all.

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1455089
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1455723
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1450597
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1453111

Siakam mentioned here by CoachJReturns:
viewtopic.php?t=1450597&start=1900

[BoyzNTheHood]

I am looking at Pascal the player in college vs. Davis and Skal in college, and coming to the conclusion that Pascal left college a much better basketball player than both of those guys. He had an extra year of college experience, sure, but he was better. They sure as **** didn't come into the league better than Pascal.

You keep saying they were more highly regarded for their talent and potential...except they weren't actually highly regarded by NBA executives at the time, at all. They were both mediocre (Davis) and bad (Skal) as freshmen. It's why they were not high picks even though they were touted highschoolers and played at major programs as 1 and dones.

You are arguing with things I am not saying. It is truly mind boggling that Pascal worked to be an all nba level player from where he started. But that doesn't mean started worse than those two plugs.

Again, revisionist history. Not a single person on this board would have said Pascal was as talented as those guys in their draft year. Those who supported the pick were basically trust Masai and IBM Watson guys.

Vanvleet went undrafted in 2016. Subsequently became better than half of the first rounders that year. Kris Dunn (the bust taken 5th overall), was still a more talented player than him at the time from a pure physical tools and skills standpoint.

Looking back at a few threads, the Skal hype was huge. Surprisingly, there were still a number of fans who didn't like Skal/Davis or didn't want to draft them at all.

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1455089
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1455723
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1450597
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1453111

Siakam mentioned here by CoachJReturns:
viewtopic.php?t=1450597&start=1900

I was fully on the Skal and maybe even the Deyonte Davis bandwagon during those days. I was appalled that we could pass on Skal twice. As it turns out, Masai is the

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

Flip had a nice game against Vermont, 12 reb, 5 stocks, 4 ast, 1 to. Deferred offensively and found a way to be very effective. Vermont forwards 3-11 from field.

[Sizzle]

Somebody needs to convince me that Zach Edey isnt better than even say, Jakob Poetl? I see a solid NBA player, Puts his head down and gets to work.. He is absolutely a 1st round pick in this draft

[ItsDanger]

Read on Twitter

[CazOnReal]

Somebody needs to convince me that Zach Edey isnt better than even say, Jakob Poetl? I see a solid NBA player, Puts his head down and gets to work.. He is absolutely a 1st round pick in this draft

Edey isn't anywhere near the passer Poeltl is.

[RoteSchroder]

Only taking into account commonly mentioned names.

Decent to good statlines:
Kolek W
Oso W
Edey likely W
Furphy W
Clingan W
Castle W
DaRon Holmes W
KJ Simpson W
Knecht W
PJ Hall (role player line) W
Ja'Kobe (good scoring, but not the most well-rounded game) W
Filipowski (didn't take many shots - 3 points, but really good non-scoring stats) W
Trey Alexander W

Weak statlines:
Dillingham L
Reed L
Ivisic L
DJ Wagner L
Proctor W
Missi (mediocre line, 16 min, 3 TO's) W

[BoyzNTheHood]

Somebody needs to convince me that Zach Edey isnt better than even say, Jakob Poetl? I see a solid NBA player, Puts his head down and gets to work.. He is absolutely a 1st round pick in this draft

In my mind he’s definitely an NBA player. There’s no way you can convince me that size has become obsolete in the NBA. If your coach can’t figure out how to use a 7’5” guy with Edey’s skills he’s failing. Not that Zach should be a star, but he should have a lot of gravity on an NBA court.

[Raptorfan2012]

Can some explain to me what makes Clingan a better prospect that Edey? They both seem to be the same type of player but Edey is just straight up dominating.

[Sizzle]

Somebody needs to convince me that Zach Edey isnt better than even say, Jakob Poetl? I see a solid NBA player, Puts his head down and gets to work.. He is absolutely a 1st round pick in this draft

Edey isn't anywhere near the passer Poeltl is.

While true, Poetl isn't anywhere near the shooter, freethrow shooter or presence down low that Edey. So aside from his passing skills, what is Poetl better at? maybe feel for the game possibly? cant think of anything else.

[Sizzle]

Somebody needs to convince me that Zach Edey isnt better than even say, Jakob Poetl? I see a solid NBA player, Puts his head down and gets to work.. He is absolutely a 1st round pick in this draft

In my mind he’s definitely an NBA player. There’s no way you can convince me that size has become obsolete in the NBA. If your coach can’t figure out how to use a 7’5” guy with Edey’s skills he’s failing. Not that Zach should be a star, but he should have a lot of gravity on an NBA court.

He's easily a double double type player, can block shots with his wingspan, has touch around the rim and most importantly can draw fouls AND shoot freethrows (unlike say a Poetl who is unplayable late in games). I bet Edey goes between 15-25th pick and becomes a solid NBA player which is more than we can say for alot of these prospects. He's definitely not a sexy pick but he will have a role.

[BoyzNTheHood]

Edey needs to be the undoubted #1 player in this tournament though. You can’t be that big with that skill and flame out against future accountants and plumbers.

[bballsparkin]

Somebody needs to convince me that Zach Edey isnt better than even say, Jakob Poetl? I see a solid NBA player, Puts his head down and gets to work.. He is absolutely a 1st round pick in this draft

I think the concern is defensively. As in too big and slow. Hopefully he proves people wrong.

[Sizzle]

Somebody needs to convince me that Zach Edey isnt better than even say, Jakob Poetl? I see a solid NBA player, Puts his head down and gets to work.. He is absolutely a 1st round pick in this draft

I think the concern is defensively. As in too big and slow. Hopefully he proves people wrong.

True, footspeed will certainly be a sticking point and its hard to tell here in college where not everyone is a superior athlete.

[Dalek]

Any love for KJ Simpson at 31?

I am beginning to be a believer, why I have Colorado in my final four.