Okay, so I’m making my comp more nuanced… So, if he came in with the Blazers, my initial thought is he will be a Gradey Dick type player (in role) but with better defensive and playmaking potential. That alone helps us immensely. Once he starts being able to stay on the floor with his defense and shooting, we’ll be able to see him display positive development in other parts of his game faster. - I think that with his size and skill for shooting, he can be Doncic-lite in the post, not as much as a scorer, but very much as a passer. I really think that. I think that if Buzelis learned to play in the post early, the inside-out game with him inside or in the mid post, with Ant’s shooting, Shae’s shooting and cutting, and an athletic PF/C in the dunker spot would be sooo dangerous. Buzelis could spend all night hitting Dirk style fadeaways on these guards if they switch onto him the entire game. - I’m not completely sold on the Franz comparisons yet, mainly because he hasn’t had a lot of “point forward” type plays in the GL, mostly assists that indicate he’s great at making secondary reads. This could be due to playing with the Ignite though, he was a point forward in HS and handled the ball a lot it looked like. So a mix of Franz’s playmaking, Doncic’s post play, and Dick’s shooting? Buzelis was always looked at as someone with more offensive potential than Franz though. But to me, Franz looks like a great third option than a great second option, and that’s what I see Buzelis as, a great third option, maybe 4-5x AS if he were playing on a dynasty. Franz isn’t efficient enough for my liking to be my second option. I never thought Klay was a great defender, just a pretty good defender who happened to be one of the best shooters ever. I think Buzelis is a better player than that. He likely won’t be as great of a shooter all time, but his defense will be on par and he will be much better getting his own shot and making plays for others. I would have more wins with Buzelis as the #1 option than Klay as the #1 option. Klay was drafted #11.
Man, can Cody Williams play without the ball. Natural feel for the game, promising spot-up shooter and defender. Some ball handling and playmaking potential as well. I’ll say, if we end up with Buzelis and Williams at by end of the first round, that is a great first round. Both guys have potential to be starters on this team. Both have more talent than Mani and Bari imo, with just as much size. I’m ready for a team that can shoot already.
As of now Sarr is still my favorite followed by Cody and Buzelis. We may need to add some incentive to the Golden State pick to get Cody. Buzelis will be long gone with the later pick.
Obviously Sarr is the main prize, but I never hang my hopes on winning the lotto, so I didn’t mention him lol.
Holland, I'm a little skeptical of, myself. I personally think he has Luol Deng or Rudy Gay type offense where there isn't much creativity on offense but where he utilizes his athleticism and first step to get 16-20ppg and not much else. Hence, I listed guys like Kelly Oubre or Gerald Wallace as comparisons, as well. Good passing, which is a positive, but nothing fantastic. Unless he improves drastically, don't expect Kawhi, Butler, or Paul George essentially. Imo, Cody Williams has better potential to become that (and his statline looks similar to their freshman stats). Right now, I have Williams as the #1 overall prospect - subject to change, of course, but he is who I think Portland would be most happy to put next to Sharpe for the next 10-15 years. Then, you get either Buzelis, Risacher, or Clingan with the Warriors pick. If Clingan isn't available or you feel Buzelis/Risacher is superior, you get Edey with a pick from, say, a Brogdon trade or a 2nd round pick. Y'know, funny thing is that Bradshaw does meet that criteria I was mentioning earlier, with the Freshman center stats. Only problem is that he has only played a few games so it's hard to tell just how much of an impact he'll have and I won't count it as meeting that thresh hold. By that, I'll have to evaluate him by the season's end. At the moment, I do think it's possible for him to be like Lively or a DeAndre Jordan clone based on the way he moves and his instincts.
My second time watch UCONN. This Castle kid hasn’t really shown me much at all. Some places saying top 5 pick? Am i missing something
He just got back from a minor knee injury and has missed the previous few weeks. Imo, not someone the Blazers need to target anyway since he sort of takes Sharpe's position and is too short for the lengthiness and strong rebounding than the Blazers would need at the 3 and 4.
Castle is a beast when healthy. Then again, if he's got some meniscus issues I might have to pass with our 1st FRP. I'm not there yet, though. Need to see him come back strong.
It seriously feels like I'm watching a game at 24hr Fitness or something. There are no stakes, other than putting up stats. Winning isn't important. There's nobody in the stands. Everyone is playing without pace other than 100% like their hair is on fire. It's chaos. Some guys thrive in that (Scoot, Holland, Kuminga). It's really hard to gauge how good a player is defensively in that environment. What I did see was a decent POA from Buzelis at a position where it's needed. I buy the shot. The size is obviously great. If he can be a connector piece and hit 40% 3P then he's already better than Giddey. What I'm looking for from him is more physicality and improved handles. He tends to fade away from contact. I hate that shit. I want to see him get in on someone's jersey on both ends. His handle is sloppy for a bigger wing. I said the same thing about Brandon Miller but he seems to be doing fine. We'll see what happens in the coming days. I can't remember where I heard it but there was talk of him shutting down his season early. Why would he do that?
Buzelis is already plenty physical on defense. He’s not a stopper by any means, but he will be scrappy. He’s going to get more confident in getting to the basket as his body matures more. He seems to play with more physicality on defense on offense. For a guy who’s known for his offensive potential, you like to hear that. The handle is by no means great, but his handle isn’t any worse than players that size at his age. I wouldn’t say it’s much worse than KD’s during his Texas season, KD averaged like 2.8to a game. Buzelis’ handle is probably on par, if not better than Grant’s right now. Brandon Ingram averaged 2ast/2to his year at Duke. It’s an issue for all tall ball handlers, there is a period of adjusting to the skill level and athleticism of these opposing defenders.
He as in Buzelis? Is that true? But immediate thought would be that he wants to just string together a stretch of good games for scouts, then just focus on fully getting healthy for the pre-draft process. Not necessarily an injury concern, shutting down early could just mean he doesn’t want to play in meaningless games for an entire season. It might be a mistake for him to shut down early though. I imagine a few big performances in the tournament could vault someone over Buzelis. If a team thinks Clingan will help them compete quicker than waiting for Buzelis to fill out, they might take him over Buzelis. Honestly, that works for me, as someone who really loves his game. The lower, the better for me.
Agree, he isn’t a priority, but Castle should not be left off your board completely. Castle is an amazing rebounder for his size, he averages over 5rpg in limited minutes, and he has more offensive ones than defensive ones this season. He’s a better rebounder than Grant, and would likely average just as many as Camara right away. Castle affects the game in so many ways that you can disregard some of his shortcomings. With Amen, it was his shooting, but he so many other parts of his game look promising. It’s the same for Castle, his is his size, but he is going to impact the game in so many ways and he isn’t small by any means. He is the same size as Jaylen Brown, and averaged as many rpg as Brown did in college, but on 10 less minutes per game. Not really a hot take imo, Castle is a better prospect than Jaylen Brown coming out of college. Jaylen is more athletic, but Castle has a much better handle and and is more cerebral with his approach to the game. If Castle slips, we better look at opportunities to grab him.
Brown was taken 3rd in a pretty good draft class. I don’t see Castle even cracking the top 10 in a poor draft class
What does pick have to do with anything? Skillset is skillset, I was saying that he’s better than Brown at a lot of things compared to when Brown was at Berkley, and pretty much the same size, only the combine will be able to confirm it. I won’t argue with you with where you rank Castle. If you’re saying that and you’ve already taken his injuries and the fact that he’s been injured and UCONN has never played freshmen big minutes (Drummond is the only one-and-done off the top of my head, no guards), then I don’t know what to tell you lol. We’ll agree to disagree I guess.
