Exclusive Official 2020 Draft Thread

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My favorite players outside ESPN's top 25

Cassius Winston (30): See him as a Mo Williams type. Not a good athlete, but talented enough as a scorer-passer-ballhandler-shooter to make it work. Just a hooper that I think NBA coaches will trust. Love the intangibles. Do worry that his player type has gone out of style with teams going with bigger/more defense oriented guards if not the primary creator on the floor.

Tre Jones (34): Could see him becoming a starter in an optimal context. Think he can add value in transition offensively while being an acceptable spot up guy in the half court. Love his handle. Big hands, shifty, covers ground. Smart, tough. Some pnr scoring ability, but teams will likely go under on him until the jumper improves. If it does, it'll allow him to get to his pull up game where he's pretty developed--great playing slow to low & fast with sharp footwork, gets good rise on the jumper. Defense dipped but still had good showings vs top guards. Context played a big part imo. Bigger creation burden and Carey/Hurt protecting the rim affected his agressiveness.

Xavier Tillman (40): Smartest big in the draft. Wonderful screener and passer with some face up handling skill and underrated finishing touch. Defensively he makes up for less than ideal height, length and movement skills with his strength, intelligence and timing. Quick and strong hands. Has some stretch potential. Best working off dynamic ball handlers.

Elijah Hughes (43): Just a nice combination of scoring feel and physical tools. Developed scoring package. Has some questionable tendencies in his game on both ends, but if those get ironed out I think he can return top 20 value in this class.

Killian Tillie (53): Health is a real worry, but I think he's a pretty sure bet to be a useful 4/5 off the bench on good teams if he can stay on the floor. Great shooter, good passer, smart defender. Like his mobility defensively more than most. Like that he pairs his excellent shooting with some ball handling skill, kick out vision and mid range/floater touch. Just a smart, versatile player on both ends.

Tyshon Alexander (81): Versatile two-way off guard/wing. Has a nice role player package of skills. Decisive decision maker and shooter. Has some handling and passing ability. Solid athlete with great length. Pesky on ball defender, great chaser around screens. Another guy with quick and strong hands. Love his demeanor on the floor. Well coached. Could be a Courtney Lee / KCP type player.

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYOC2Wp6qCkZ_ZD9028kl-Q

Adam does a great job with his draft videos.

 

I HAVE A NEW FAVE PROSPECT FOR OUR SECOND ROUND PICK: Usman Garuba


EDIT: Now I see why he's not showing up in any mock drafts - it's not because he's projected to go undrafted, it's because he CAN'T be drafted, and will be a lottery pick next year. Never mind...

 

Not draft eligible until next year

 

Really interested to see what Minny does.

Don't like the Russell/Kat pairing but if they could somehow end up with Vassell (in a trade down) and Poku, I get a lot more excited about their future.

 

D'oh.

 

Will you be as excited when KAT comes out publicly with his trade demands?

 

I didn't think I could like Saddiq Bey more!

 

Here's a question for Draft Gurus: where would you project the following if they were in the draft this year:
Anfernee Simons
Nas Little

I know it's hard to do, because you have to imagine how they would've looked in college. I honestly don't know with Little, but I have a feeling that Simons would be top ten (except that he would be an unusual upperclassman, which might drop him). If you like, compare him with prospects that are rated highly, like Killian Hayes, Halliburton or Cole Anthony.

 

He's just boring to me.

Ceiling feels like a neutral impact guy on both ends on low usage offensively.

I do tend to underrate Villanova guys though.

Was higher on Brunson than most but lower on Hart and took awhile to come around on Bridges.

 

Get a coach who will actually play his young guys. Not park them on the bench just because they don't have NBA experience.

Otherwise your draft picks are irrelevant for a few years.

 

Me and @hoopsjock are doing draft profiles videos. Should I create a new thread and put all the videos in the OP (edit every time we drop one)? Or should I just put them in here? Up to you guys.

Btw, heres the first one:

 

I would just put them in here if I was you. I think they'll be higher visibility.

 

Here's the 2nd one:

 

Just a bit of stats:
- Anthony Edwards: 0.402 FG%, 0.520 TS%

I tried to find a historical precedent for that level of shooting.
- No #1 draft pick in the past 50 years has had that low of a FG%. (Lowest: 0.443 FG% - LaRue Martin, 1972)

- Only 2 #1 draft picks in the past 50 years have have had that low of a TS%.
--- LaRue Martin, 1972 - 0.497 TS%
--- Doug Collins, 1973 - 0.516 TS%

- Only 3 top 10 draft picks in the past 20 years have had less than 0.402 FG%
(note: 166 US college players drafted in the top 10 in the past 20 years.)
--- Cam Reddish, 2019 #10 - 0.356 FG%
--- Keyon Dooling, 2000 #10 - 0.389 FG%
--- TJ Ford, 2003 #8 - 0.401 FG%

- Only 8 top 10 draft picks in the past 20 years have had less than 0.520 TS%
(note: 166 US college players drafted in the top 10 in the past 20 years.)
--- Cam Reddish, 2019 #10 - 0.499 TS%
--- Eddie Griffin, 2001 #7 - 0.501 TS%
--- Aaron Gordon, 2014 #4 - 0.503 TS%
--- Dajuan Wagner, 2002, #6 - 0.504 TS%
--- TJ Ford, 2003, 2003 #8 - 0.506 TS%
--- Jamal Crawford, 2000 #8 - 0.507 TS%
--- Andre Drummond, 2012 #9 - 0.509 TS%
--- Jaylen Brown, 2016 #3 - 0.518 TS%

Anthony Edwards may turn out to be a great player. The draft is a crapshoot. Sometimes you have to swing for the fences and take a high-risk on a high-potential player. But the majority of #1 picks in the past have had a pretty solid year in college with some good stats to back them up. You don't typically see the higher-risk picks until after the top 3. This year I don't see that clear #1 pick with solid stats. I certainly wouldn't want to be the GM with the #1 pick this year.

 

The context is different in each players situation. Each player is also different. I guarantee if he went to Kentucky it would've been something more like 45% from the field and 35% from 3. He was inefficient due to having to carry the offender against defenses that were completely loaded up to stop him.

 

I think Ant is the greatest athlete that Neil Olshey has ever seen so he would obviously go first (actually I think he would have looked very lost all of the time in college just like he does in the league and I think he'd be a very late first rounder). I think Nas would go really high like top 5 if he showed the kind of work ethic he did with us this season in a second season at UNC. If you are asking where they would go in this draft if they were coming out the same way they did the year they were drafted then I think Nas would again drop out of the top ten due to concerns about his work ethic and ability to shoot and Ant would be a late first rounder maybe even an early second because he hadn't proved anything and while this draft is weak on top end talent it is very deep with high risk/high ceiling prospects and guys projected to be solid contributors.

 

Nice job on these videos @BonesJones. I appreciate you putting them together and posting them here. Both of these guys are exciting prospects.

I'm curious to see where Toppin ends up landing. #3 NCAA box +/-, #6 NCAA FG%, and #7 NCAA PER. Even though he's 22 and played for a small school, those are tough credentials to pass up.

I'd love to have Bey available when the Blazers draft at #16. #4 NCAA in 3pt FG% at 6'8" 215 lbs. I think he's just what the Blazers need.