2020 NBA Draft Thread

[Old Man Game]

Where are we at here? Do we have an early second rounder?

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[ThunderBolt]

Ok here comes Ramsey or Woodard is my guess.

[jake_swivel]

Ball and Toppin were the two I heard linked that I thought were from credible sources.

What are you guys referring to? Have been watching Down to Dunk stream on YouTube instead of draft coverage most of the night. So been kinda spotty for me on what's happened.

Toppin was from the athletic podcast. His agent has ties to the Knicks. Can’t remember the source for ball of the top of my head. The

Earlier today the knicks traded up to the 23 (I think), and then during the draft traded back to 26 and a second rounder.

I’m really sleepy though so I’m not sure on those details.

[thedoppelganger]

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[ThunderBolt]

I know nothing about this kid.

Spoiler:

35. Theo Maledon | G | ASVEL | Birthdate: June 12, 2001 (Age: 19) | 6-5 | 185 LBS | Hometown: Rouen, France
BACKGROUND: Parents are Sylvie and Claude. Comes from an exceedingly high-level basketball family. Sylvie was on the junior national team in France, and Claude reached the highest level of pro hoops while spending most of his career at the second division level. His sister, Lena, played at Southern Arkansas University. Basketball has been his calling for a while, and has established a professional mindset regarding it. Great work ethic and likely will reach whatever his ceiling is. Went to INSEP at 14 years old, the elite-training sports institute in France for athletes. In 2016-17, played for INSEP’s team in France’s third division and got recognized for his performance with an invitation to the Jordan Brand Classic Global game. He scored 15 points, and then that summer moved to ASVEL, the team owned by Tony Parker. ASVEL is one of the biggest clubs in the country. He played for the team’s junior team in 2017-18 for the most part, but got a few call-ups within the French league to play. Became the second-youngest player in club history in 2017. Really exploded playing in the ANGT event in L’Hospitalet, then continued to play exceptionally well late in the year for ASVEL’s Espoirs team. Emerged in 2018-19 as one of the youngest full-time rotation players in high-level European competition. Started most of ASVEL’s games in Eurocup and French League, averaging 17 minutes per game and playing smart, efficient basketball. Basically did the same in 2019- 20, except this time ASVEL had qualified for Euroleague which gave Maledon some real minutes at the highest level outside of the NBA. Performed well in Euroleague for what was ultimately a limited usage role – which is saying a lot. Struggled through a shoulder injury early in the season, which ultimately hindered his production. Helped lead France to the gold medal at the 2017 U16 Euros in Montenegro, and a silver medal in the 2018 U17 World Cup in Argentina. Has debuted for the French national team during its qualification games for the 2019 FIBA World Cup. Declared for the draft in what is his first draft-eligible year. Is not currently playing, unlike a few prospects in Europe. Preference is to not be a stash.
YEAR TEAM LEAGUE
2018-19 ASVEL LNB Pro A (France) + Euroleague 2019-20 ASVEL LNB Pro A (France) + Euroleague
Age GP PPG RPG APG TOPG BPG SPG FG% 3P% FT% 17 62 7.0 2.1 2.0 1.6 0.2 0.7 45.6 38.6 85.0 18 46 7.3 1.9 2.7 1.6 0.1 0.5 42.1 33.3 77.6
48
STRENGTHS: Has really good size for the lead guard spot at 6-4 with something in the ballpark of a 6-8 wingspan. Has experience playing both on and off ball, but if he’s going to become an effective NBA player it’s going to be because of his ability to make plays out of ball-screens.
Maledon is a very good pick-and-roll player for his age. The best word would probably be “slippery.” He doesn’t have an elite first step or anything, but he covers ground quickly and also has a pretty deceptive handle that allows him to get separation and make plays. More than anything, he’s a good passer out of pick-and-roll for his age. Clearly has studied and knows the reads he can make at a really high level. Good live-dribble passer who constantly looks out beyond the 3-point line for kickout opportunities for open 3s. Makes anticipatory reads. Even if his teammate isn’t quite in the right position yet, he’ll throw passes that get him there and allow him to shoot or score at the rim with ease. Can make passes with both hands. Given his age, there is a chance that Maledon could become one of the best passers in this draft class when we look back on it within five years.
An interesting piece of his development has been how clear it is that he watches Tony Parker tape. Eerily reminiscent finisher stylistically. Does a lot of the same single-hand gather finger roll stuff. Floater is a huge part of his repertoire. Hit 47 percent of his 30 floater attempts last season, and 56.1 percent of his shots around the rim in halfcourts according to Synergy. Will go to eurosteps regularly, and finishes well around the rim with his left and his right. He’s a generally ambidextrous player which is huge.
WEAKNESSES: The big one right now is just overall strength and the ability to absorb contact. Doesn’t have any of that right now. It’s a significant problem as he tries to make plays moving up levels. If he gets contacted or cut off on the perimeter, it completely ends his momentum. Doesn’t really have that threatening ability to feel “downhill” despite his impressive stride length. That’s actually a significant problem for him off the bounce, because it’s then paired with a rudimentary handle for a guard. He’s largely a one-move or two-moves and go guy. He really struggles in isolation situations, and needs a ball-screen to get loose. Then, you pair that lack of tight, creative handle with a lack of true burst (despite impressive shiftiness), and it’s a tricky combination to navigate as he moves forward. Is he more of a two-guard that is a very high level passer because he can’t consistently break down defenses in the way that he needs to? A big key there would be the jumper.
I saved the jumper for last because it’s kind of a tough eval right now. Clearly has touch. But it’s hard to tell where the jumper is after injuring his shoulder this past season. Clearly is much more comfortable as a shooter off the dribble. Loads into his shot much easier. Often takes a rhythm dribble even when he’s open in order to get himself into sync. Sits the ball on his shoulder a bit and pushes it toward the rim. He also doesn’t look like he has the best balance throughout the shot, which can lead to some right-to-left inconsistency with his misses. Basically everything is right behind the FIBA 3-point line as opposed to some beyond NBA range. But again, he has some obvious touch and has hit 36 percent of his 3s over the last two years. I don’t think he’s consistent enough yet at this stage to make an impact as a shooter at the NBA level, but has real potential to become a shooter at some point. It just might take a few years.
Finally, right now he’s just a bad defender. He gets driven an awful lot on the ball. Gets beaten way more than you’d like to see from a player with this overall skill set that is likely not necessarily an impact lead creator. Can get pushed around, too. Doesn’t really have the ability to switch onto other players right now because of that

lack of strength. Off the ball, he’s not a playmaker. Very low turnover-forced rates, very rarely makes threatening rotations that are aggressive. You’d think he gets the occasional block due to his length, but that never really happens. Think he’d get taken advantage of pretty badly on this end right now.
SUMMARY: Honestly, I think Maledon would be better off not declaring for this draft. He’s on his way to a monster role at ASVEL at some point in the next two years. If he can prove that he can grow into such a role, he’d have tremendous draft upside. Right now, NBA executives are a bit all over the place on him. Some have him as a mid-to-late first round guy. Other scouts have him as a clear second-rounder. In general, his game is one that has potential to become something very interesting at some point. But there are so many places he has to improve. Bring better defensive effort. Tighten up his handle as well as diversifying it with some creativity. I don’t think I’d want to be the team right now that ended up with Maledon first. It’s going to take some real developmental time, and the first team that has him might not be the one who reaps the most reward. But if you told me that when Maledon is 25 years old he’s a solid NBA role player who makes plays in transition, plays well in ball screens, and knocks down shots? I’d probably buy that, yeah.
GRADE: Second rounder

[WestbrookGOATed]

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I'm confused, did the Sixers pick for us?

[Dadouv47]

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[Old Man Game]

I might be more intrigued by Maledon than Poku based on what little I've seen.

[ThunderBolt]

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I'm confused, did the Sixers pick for us?

We got the pick tonight from the horford trade.

[spearsy23]

Not really, similar body types at draft time, both good passers and able to score from the floor around the rim, pretty easy to see jokic's best case growing into that even if it was completely unlikely.

You mean jokic at draft time had a similar body as pau when he was a vet? Because pau’s bodytype at draft was closer to poku’s. Aside from being euros who can pass (and at way different levels), I don’t see much similarity in either their games or body types.

But regardless, like I’ve said, boom or bust. It’s not much of a gamble in a bad draft, in my opinion.

Other gasol, marc

[jake_swivel]

Maledon kinda sounds like Shai. I say this having never seen him play and reading what ThunderBolt just posted and the nbadraft.net profile.

[ThunderBolt]

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Ok this one I’ve not even heard of. Not even on Vecenies top 100.

[spearsy23]

I'm excited now, maledon was a guy I wanted.

Full disclosure, last time I was more excited about a 2nd rounder than a first was semaj over mcgary

[spearsy23]

Maledon kinda sounds like Shai. I say this having never seen him play and reading what ThunderBolt just posted and the nbadraft.net profile.

He's a guy I've kept tabs on for the last year. He's potentially a shai type creator (that's to say a secondary ballhandler/passer) with the ability to guard the other team's best guard. I think it's a great fit if he pans out.

[Dadouv47]

Adams/Horford and the kids...gonna be weird to watch

[spearsy23]

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Ok this one I’ve not even heard of. Not even on Vecenies top 100.

2k create a player acting up again.

[mr570]

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Ok this one I’ve not even heard of. Not even on Vecenies top 100.

The Down to Dunk guys pulled up his stats on Basketball Reference and there is literally *nothing* there. And then they said "at least he's super young" and then highlighted his birth date.

[ThunderBolt]

So a complete international draft for us.

[Thunder Up]

Presti is bombing this draft, if there’s a grade below F then he has secured it.

We have now selected 5 players in the last 3 years who had a 0% chance of becoming an nba rotation-level player with tons of them available to be had

[spearsy23]

So a complete international draft for us.

As presti would say, there's no such thing as halfway crooks.

Honestly Think he's targeting more foreign and hometown players in the hopes that they're more likely to stay.