Day 2 into draft study. Cam Whitmore remains my favorite if we decide to make a pick. Trading down to 4-6 might be an option depending on how much teams buy into the Thompson twins hype.
D2 appears to be a higher level of competition than the 16-18 yr olds in the OTE league. Thompson is 2-4 yrs older than many of his peers. Shaedon had a really solid body of work at EYBL and AAU against the best players in his class, while also reclassifying upward as an 18 yr old. Shaedon is 4 months younger than Thompson is now.
Powerful guy with an explosive game. His weaknesses can be improved. Needs ball handling and could improve his shot. I agree this is a great pick but it might not be the timeline they want? This guy might be 2-3 years out?
Ya he's not ready yet and will take time, but he looks like a modern day Shawn Marion. He's nearly two years younger than either Miller or the Thompson twins and has the Villanova pedigree. His explosiveness is going to translate especially with increased spacing in the NBA. 4 + 20+ future first for 3? We can then use 20 + 23 + Ant + Nurk to get Dame his vet help. Send the future first to Chi to open up the rest of our picks if needed. A Sharpe/Whitmore future wing duo is super enticing to me.
Drafting Whitmore at #4 is an overdraft imo, you could probably get him at #6 seeing as how there is a lot of chatter about Walker being the guy for DET at #5. Interesting that we are polar opposites on the twins and Whitmore. To me, Whitmore looks like he has a ways to go regarding his tunnel vision. That is a lot harder to fix than a jumpshot imo. He also seems more slow footed and lacks burst, so I don't know how to project what he will become defensively. He looks like a shorter Obi Toppin.
There are a couple of Millers in this draft... Are you referring to Leonard Miller? If so, Leonard. I have him as a top 10 player from this draft. Getting him at 23 would be a steal.
For college freshmen who make a decent amount of 3s and dunks as freshmen: https://barttorvik.com/playerstat.p...5&yvalue=Fr&year=all&start=-11101&end=all0501 Jabari Parker, Taylor Hendricks, Anthony Bennett, Cam Whitmore, Omari Spellman Those guys have an AST% below 9 and some all time BAD A/TO ratio relative to their positions as college freshmen. Whitmore could fix his issues. It's certainly possible but it will require a fundamental restructuring of how he plays. And I don't know if that will work. For example, Exum never played point guard and had poor playmaking. The Jazz tried to make him into a point guard but since he could only test his skills against NBA caliber defenses, it did not work out (plus, it likely takes a certain kind of brain/mentality to think like a point guard). Due to his natural skills, I do think Whitmore can be impactful like Andrew Wiggins. But he has severe tunnel vision, on top of that. In contrast, Jarace Walker has some good assist rates relative to his size and he has displayed incredible defensive numbers and skills. His vertical and wingspan is quite high, according to the NBA Combine numbers, at 38" and 7'2" (which is quite impressive for a forward of his size). In 10 years, do not be surprised if Jarace Walker is like the Paul George of the draft except with DPOY talent. At the least, I think he's Aaron Gordon with DPOY talent. Mid-ceiling is Julius Randle with better passing and DPOY talent Personally, I truly think it is worth drafting Scoot or Amen at #3 and acquiring the #6 with Simons (Magic really want a young guard who can shoot, not forwards) to draft Walker. Acquire Leonard Miller with the #23. If you trade Dame, you can get Claxton or Ayton. Draft Edey in the second round. Scoot/Amen-Sharpe-Walker-Miller-Ayton/Claxton ----- Keon, Little, Jabari, Edey. Imo, that Portland team would have talent levels similar to the 2007-2010 Thunder when they had their Big 3 and Ibaka.
Don't disagree with the premise. But Orlando will not give #6 up for Simons. #11 is the best/most realistic possibility. Leonard Miller will not be there at #23 (like I was hoping for). He'll go mid-lotto.
The more I watch Taylor Hendricks the more I wonder why he isnt higher in some mocks drafts. If we had dropped to 6 or lower I would have loved that pick.
If we had dropped back to 7 instead of moving up, I would be singing his praises at the top of my lungs.
There's always an All-Star or borderline All-Star found in latter portion of the lottery (the 8-14 range). Hendricks is possibly that guy. However, he is lacking in a handle and thus, his shot creation is limited. Often times, he feels some contact while backing down and tries to dribble around to the side - over dribbling and leaving him vulnerable - rather than pivoting and attacking. If he learned to control his body as he attacked the rim, he could focus on utilizing a first step and finding his way to the rim by contorting his body and using his length to score the ball. Also needs to pass some more. Some people feel he could be a Siakam 2.0 if he improves his weaknesses. If he pans out, it's likely going to be a few years from now
Would anyone be interested in Rayan Rupert at #23? Looks like the guys who were in that range earlier in the year like Leonard Miller and Dereck Lively will likely be selected higher than that. Still doing a deep dive on Rupert but physically, he could be a high upside play. Won't be 19 until the end of this month. Combine measurements: 6'6 w/o shoes (6'7-6'7.5 in shoes) 8'10 standing reach 7'2 wingspan 193lbs Unlike the twins, he IS very thin, so he will need to put on a considerable amount of weight. However, he projects to be a very good defender and that is the strongest aspect of his game currently. Jumpshot is a work in progress but should become a good 3-D wing. I would say his catch-and-shoot is respectable at this point.