I like Ryan Dunn, I think he has all-defense first team upside, you just have to buy that he can get to 36-38% from 3 eventually. He’s a monster on the defensive end, a 6-8 Tisse type with switchier possibility at the NBA level. he’s limited offensively so you’re buying the upside and the tools there and you’d develop them. He’d be on the Rupert Remix track probably while he fills out on that end. Swain seems a bit more limited than that, more of a second round flier?
If you buy that Scoot can develop nicely off the bench, and you accept the reality that this draft could be pretty bad, you can still be excited about one thing, building out this mf’in bench. Sarr is the one guy I’m confident can be a starter for this team. Even then, I kind of like the idea of Sarr playing backup PF/C and having to prove himself before I think about trading Grant. After that, I’m not sure. I still think I’d pick Scoot over most of the PGs in this draft. PFs, I don’t know any who will be as good as Grant in the next four years. Cs, I don’t see any of them outside of Sarr being better soon. Guys like Ware could become better than DA, but who knows really, and I wouldn’t bet any money on it. Then the only thing I see left to be excited about is building out this bench, and hoping one of them can become a starter. (PG) Scoot (SF/PF) Walker (1 year after this one) (SG/SF) Thybulle (2 years after this one) All three guys are scrappy and bring a lot of energy. I’m not including Camara because I think he should continue as starting SF until we get a player with star potential. 3 note-worthy picks and a pick in the mid 40s. Schmitz just needs to find the ones who might fit this bench this year. 3-D, playmaking, potential to become a good starter. (PG/SG/SF) Castle (SF/PF) Williams (SF/PF) Swain (SG/SF/PF?) Buzelis (SG/SF) Edwards (if he slips close to 30) (C) Ware (C) Bradshaw (honestly might go back to school. Injury has kept him out, and he’s all the way down at 35 on Tankathon now after high lotto expectations) (PF/C/SF?) Smith These are just some of the possible guys that could come in and make this bench a lot better.
You can’t possibly have already concluded that Swain seems more limited than Dunn when he’s arguable shown more in limited minutes than Dunn has in his years in college. Or are you speaking to only his defense? If you are speaking strictly defense, I can’t be confident in saying Swain is more limited than Dunn on that end, I’ll give you that. Dunn looks like a beast on defense right now. I can assure you though, even if Swain is more “limited” on that end, he will still be very good on defense. Just looking at raw numbers, Swain’s 1.4stl/0.9blk vs Dunn’s 0.4stl/1.1blk as freshmen is comparable. He’s just as switchable, and his measurements should be around the same, minus the 10lbs that Dunn has on Swain. Outside of defense, Swain has shown much more potential in pretty much ever other facet of the game. Swain has all the same concerns as Dunn as a shooter, except he’s shooting 83.3% on fts as opposed to Dunn who has shot 71% this year, 62% throughout college. And the biggest thing to me is he’s 2.5 years younger. We already have someone like Dunn in Camara. If we are going to draft someone for their defense, they have to at least already be a decent shooter imo. I don’t know whether or not I buy thant Dunn can become a shooter yet. What I do know is I do not want to bank on both Camara and Dunn learning to shoot the 3 ball well. If we are going to acquire a young talented defensive player, I’d much rather pray Indy trades Walker to us for Grant. Yeah, Swain would be a swing high pick. I can assure you though, if he is projected second round, he will be going back to school and his stock will only go higher. There’s going to be no such thing as a second round flier with him. I wanted to use a 2nd to draft Baba last year, but he went back to school, which is what all highly rated prospects will do. Nowadays NIL money is pretty close to late 1st salary I think, no reason to leave unless you make more than your NIL deal.
Want---- Sarr, Dual, Dunn, Reed Shepherd, K. Johnson, Clingan, Oso Ighodaro, Castle, Topic(TBD) NO----Edwards, Almansa, Mara, Mgbacko, Kel'el Ware, Buzelis(TBD) Everyone else would fall under "would take" or "meh" depending on where they're drafted.
These are some clips of Buzelis from his game 2 days ago. He’s been battling ankle injuries. (16mins) 11/4/0/0/2 on 5/10 fg, 1/4 3, 0/1 ft Also important, he showed a willingness to work on the defensive end. Lack of explosiveness, but isn’t unathletic. The lack of a true PG makes the Ignite players hard to scout, but Buzelis has always been a playmaker by all accounts. I definitely would still have a lotto grade on him. I hope he slips. For those who want Gradey so much, Buzelis looks like he a much better prospect. If he is available around 10-14 and Buzelis, I’d happily take him and I’d personally look at it as getting two high-lotto talents in the draft this year.
The length of Buzelis is just too enticing to me if he is good at everything. Right now, my dream is to put Shae next to someone who can do everything. I loved Amen because I saw the potential to play PG, be a special defender, play off the ball, and have top 1% athleticism. In Buzelis, I see the same unselfishness and playmaking off the ball. Buzelis does not have Amen’s athleticism, but he will still be a good defender. He’s also going to be a routine 40% from 3 guy imo. Shae + Amen has a higher ceiling, but Shae + Buzelis will have a higher floor.
How concerned are you about GLI development vs college? Right now, I feel more comfortable with drafting players from college. Buzelis seems soft. Fades into the background. The talent is there for sure. He could be Franz Wagner or he could be Luke Babbit with more playmaking and handles. There's risk here, which is why I'm not sold on him being a top 5 pick. We need to see more games, though, which is why I put "TBD." I've got no issue with top 5 if he comes back balling.
I'm the type to put very little emphasis in where someone played. Some of the guys who I've loved during their time in college like Stanley Johnson and Kris Dunn had really good college careers and flamed out in the NBA. Additionally, some of the guys I've loved like Luka Doncic, Shaedon Sharpe, Anfernee Simons, the Thompson twins, didn't play any bit of college basketball. I look more at the talent and intangibles. If I like to see what a player can do individually, I watch their HS tape to see their full offensive arsenal. In college, the game restricts too much of what a player can do because coaching matters more--it's the reason I inaccurately graded Banchero. Banchero has shown he's a way better player than he looked like in college. Bam Adebayo, same thing. I don't think you've actually watched any Buzelis if you really mean it when you say "or he could be Luke Babbit with more playmaking". I'll assume that statement was more tongue in cheek.
This should be the goal. Add Sarr and a high quality role player or steal with the Warriors pick in this draft. Honestly we are going to see around 50 more losses this season and I want to see our guys keep working their asses off and for us as fans just looking towards this draft.
Stephon Castle is a guy that I’m loving as a prospect right now, he just has been battling injuries, so he might even slip. If the Warriors pick stays around 10 and he is there, I’d be ecstatic. I do think Castle would be around Brown’s size if they stood next to each other. Castle would add a new wrinkle to the forward room cause he’s looked at as a PG/SG prospect right now. If we don’t land Sarr, the next goal should be big guards who could become more than just role players. The NBA standard has now become 6’7-7’0ish guys who do everything. I think most of us are confident that Scoot, Sharpe (and Ant) have the potential to be a star studded backcourt. DA is good enough that unless it is a big with star potential like Sarr, there is no need to waste a high pick on him (for example, I would not use the Warriors pick on a big this year unless Ware convinces me he can be a star). I think guys like Castle, Williams, Topic have a higher chance of being higher impact players than Ware unless Ware can become a dominant defensive player.
I really like Sarr next to Deandre. He has good mechanics on his jumper out to the three point line and is mobile, long and slim like Chet.
Yeah, I feel like any team who drafts Sarr is the winner of the draft and had the true #1 pick. It helps that two teams at the top in SA and Detroit really cannot afford to draft him (at least imo).
Pretty much tongue-in-cheek. Babbit would be a basement level comp if he's a bust. Buzelis is pretty unique in terms of skills vs size. I can't think of a comp for his floor. I want to see if he can play a legitimate SF and switch on PF's as a wing on defense. The entire draft analysis community is eagerly awaiting his return. Btw, I agree with your take on Castle. Dude has a killer instinct.
My guess is his absolute floor is Batum if you want to use a player comparison, but I think that the floor of Buzelis is higher than what Batum’s peak was. Lanky tall guys (I’m talking 6’9 in shoes and up) that move well and have some skill all have a place in the league. Physicality is always a bit of a struggle in the beginning, but they figure it out. Buzelis isn’t like Josh Jackson where he was able to just dominate college basketball with his athleticism. He does so many different things. Scouting young talent isn’t exactly a science, but that’s why I love it. I don’t think I’d like Buzelis to switch onto PFs that much. He’s more of a SG/SF right now like KD was when he was young. KD actually started at SG his rookie year. It’d be awesome if he could switch onto PFs and have relative success. But personally, I’m hoping Buzelis slips to the Warriors pick, and that sounds like something that would send him shooting up to the top 3 lol.
Yeah, agreed. He does so many things that would benefit this team besides the “he’s a playmaker”, “he’s a defender”, blah blah blah. He’s gotten to the line 17 times in 3 games. He has 9 orb in 3 games, 17 boards overall. We got a guy that kind of sounds like this guy, Shannon Sharpe or something like that, lol. What would be better than having one Good Ol’ Shae Sharpe? TWO Good Ol’ Shae Sharpes.
this Blazers team tries hard, they're just not very good at winning. I think we can start our draft pick happy dance by the end if this month.
Good to see the Castle love in here. I'm going to stand by my Joe Johnson comparison. Here's Joe Johnson at Arkansas: Here's a Castle mix: It's very similar in the way they time themselves, the way they methodically move against an opponent to juke them or back up against them, similar speed and athleticism, good vision, similar jumpshot mechanics where they rise and wait to get their shot off (Sharpe doesn't rise as much, his jumpshot can be kinda lazy). Same height and position, too, at 6'7" SG. I'm watching Nikola Topic, too, and he is like a mix of Drazen and Mitch Richmond (the latter comp, which would make him a little Brandon Roy-like). This draft might not have MVPs but I think people will be surprised at the potential All-Star talent in it. I think, if I'm going to rank things into tiers, it's going to be: I'm Seeing Stars: Castle, Topic, Williams High Star Potential but Iffy/Inconsistent: Collier, Sarr, Holland Safe Starter, Mid-chance Star Potential: Clingan, Buzelis Safe Roleplayer, Low-chance Star Potential: Risacher, Wagner, Edey When you frame it like that, it'll probably be 4-5 All Stars which is pretty normal.
Good God Collier looks bad right now. These TO's are scaring the shit out of me. That Gonzaga game was a bit eye-opening, too. What's the board's opinion on him? He's got to be more consistent or teams like the Spurs and Pistons will just go with Topic.
You’re echoing all my thoughts on Castle. Those things all sound great, and I look forward to seeing him fulfill his potential on that end, but I’m excited about everything else. To me, all the other little things are what is impressing me right now. The great offensive rebounding. Getting to the line a lot even for a freshman on limited playing time. The solid base to his frame like Shae has. The ability to make plays for others but also play off the ball. He’s going to be a very good, smart defender. I really hope he slips. With him returning from injury and likely not putting up numbers that would suggest that he becomes a star, there could be teams in the lottery that might not consider him. He’s 8th on the Tankathon big board. This guy just screams winners’ intangibles to me. He’s noticeably better than Jaylen Brown as a playmaker and ball handler at that age, and around the same size.
