smd_swagswag

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/insider/story/_/id/38788364/2024-nba-draft-rankings-espn-top-25-prospects I got flamed around here for posting my mock with Risacher #1 back in december... Now he's #1 everywhere you look! good riddance to this place.. I knew the collective BBIQ of this forum was low when THAT was the fight yall chose to stand your ground on.. I'll see myself out..

When I had De'Aaron Fox #1 on my board over Fultz people FOUGHT ME TOOTH AND NAIL OVER IT.. True story! Lakers fans were in full agreeance that I was an idiot for suggesting Tatum at 2 over Lonzo. Now full disclosure Fultz did end up convincing me he was #1 aswell.. BUT I had Tatum #2 and Fox#3 and that was way better than everyone else cuz they had Lonzo 2... I never had Ben Simmons #1 on my board a single time, from predraft to draft, I ALWAYS HAD BRANDON INGRAM ---- AND -- JAMAL MURRAY HIGHER ---- and an entire forum full of people (much more active than this place) chided me for going against the status quo... and I was right... Also had Jamal Murray over Buddy Hield the entire season --- WHICH WAS ALSO VERY UNPOPULAR.. And I was sitting there talking about JAMAL MURRAY's STEPBAKC OVER AND OVER and his footwork the old "I dont care comment from the guy above"... and thats how people were when I'd say that about Jamal Murray too!. So im very amused.. i'm looking for haters..fishing for them... I'm not here to make friends. I'm my own biggest critic, your needling of my opinions is unsophisticated compared to how i needle my own opinions, sorry to be the bearer of bad news.. I'm a gambler and I like to win, so i do whats called DUE DILIGENCE. but thats how it is, when you have an opinion that flies in the face of what ESPN says, you become a pariah quickly.. Malcolm X said it best " The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. " and I truly believe ESPN and the powers that be want to dumb you down to hand you over to the casinos... Thats adam silvers legacy as the commish, he normalized gambling. Thats what fascinates me about this stuff.. I like the NBA draft better than the NBA finals.. The way the media manipulates this event is whats captivated my attention.. agents out here spreading bad rumors... espns a puppet for gambling houses.. Whats particularly fascinating about this years combine is its gonna be new rules, the lotto picks arent going to be able to avoid participating so the combine is gonna be high stakes for everyone now which is cool.. but really thats how it should've been for decades..

I mean if I was here posting all season this thread would be 50 pages already btw.. so I found it odd i was being needled by people about the players in question, when I dont really see too many posts about the games said players in question are playing... no offense but it seems like yall are working with 2nd hand info.. cuz I have 8 screens I watch games and highlights from.. I watched Pascal Siakam play 40 games at New Mexico State was telling everyone hes my favorite player in college(to which filthy casuals rolled their eyes), most people are media parrots compared to me , so forgive me if i dont immediately just give everyone the benefit of the doubt that they know better, cuz it could be some 12 year old child who lacks context -- right? I watch probably 2,000 basketball games a season at many different levels of play for many many years, i've got grey hairs but I can still dunk... I've actually been known to be quite accurate about a few things, but thats because i have whats called A VESTED INTEREST, this dude arguing with me on the other hand "DOESNT CARE" or whatever he said, and is needling me about RE-DRAFTS which is something I dont deal in, because theres no actionable information to be gained from re-draft convos... but we'll see... this is an inexact science.. The re-draft woulda shoulda coulda convos, I've participated in one, and I'll never participate in another.. I retire.. I'm just here to talk about the players. I wont even actually mention how they fit on NBA teams again, to avoid confusion. I retire from that too.. Very unpleasant. but ill do like 100 updates to the mock... i find it odd your all up in arms about a big board in early december.. cuz thats the reason i throw these together, in hopes to make them more accurate as the season goes on, and they will be.. If you know someone whos got a perfect bigboard here in december you should be writing letters to the magic to hire them and that you found a goose who ****s golden eggs..

Did you see Dual punch someone a few weeks ago? He's a good player I agree he's a 1st rd talent from what I've seen on court.. this was a bad look though.. I had him on the bigboard i did weeks ago in the 1st but then he did this and i was like "lets wait and see"

This was a story about a PREDRAFT RUMOR... PRE DRAFT that was the rumor... because you chose to read it like it was a RE-DRAFT comment, thats called NARRATIVE BIAS... I was TELLING A PRE-DRAFT STORY... that story was known BEFORE THE DRAFT OCCURRED..

Cody Williams is playing GREAT once again! how bout this ****! he's like a totally different player than what we saw for Team USA this summer on that DISASTER of a FIBA squad that didnt even medal.. This player is lottery bound, i mean he sure looks like a lottery pick playing like this... and there was lots of question of if he's gonna ready for this draft or it was a 2-and-done situation ---- HE LOOKS READY. (this footage is from 3 days ago ill post todays highlights when their posted game is at halftime now) But he's made another 3.. so he's actually like 5/9 on the season.. but the footage is spectacular... Really no one has moved up the board like him in the past week or 2... Seems to be quickly cementing a spot in the lotto if you ask me.. or making a strong claim.. For those uninitiated, he's Jalen Williams brother, who starts for the Thunder and was 1st team all rookie and is a heck of a player, now Cody is different, Jalen was a 4 year college player who was projected outside of the top60 for the entire college season and then he got TONS of hype post-season with the combine and he ended up in the lottery.. But Jalen is like 6'5 with crazy long arms... Cody is 6'8 with long arms.. and cody is a competent playmaker, he can get downhill thats really his game on offense though he can do a bit of everything... but even though its super low volume the 3pt shooting is very encouraging ----- he's just one of these players who looks ADVANCED for his age... he is, trust me, look at his shot selection, he's pretty good, its very encouraging.. This player is out of our range.. Its just night and day from that dreadful Team USA team... Da Silva hasnt missed a shot in this game either, he's good, and ive even seen their PG KJ Simpson getting some draft hype. They are so much fun to watch when Williams is playing great though. He might not be a star in the NBA but at this level of play he's got starpower for sure.

Well Ivisic was in last years draft pool.. and I'm a kentucky fan.. We're waiting on him to be cleared... Aaron Bradshaw just debuted.. I do agree he's got plenty of room to climb... I dont see the need to put him on the list when he's not cleared yet, lets see him in action first.. But I did a very thorough inspection of Ivisic and his footage, my serbian friend is a big fan of his, last summer and he looks good, I've even watched his brother play too... he runs well hes 7'2 with long arms and tall standing reach, and he can truly shoot the ball.. so very interesting.. No one said Risacher is going #1!! you guys are putting words in my mouth... its DECEMBER 3rd! of course you dont see a clear top5 NO ONE DOES -- ITS DECEMBER 3rd! Whats with all the finality? were talking redrafts and whos #1... Orlando would be picking 27th!

well I'd argue that a re-draft is COMPLETE FANTASY.. Has a redraft ever happened once? or is it like the tooth fairy and santa claus.. so I'd argue that even having a conversation about a 'redraft' like it holds weight, i'd argue thats a random thing to say. I'm a big player development guy.. I'm worried about moves and practice and footwork and stuff like that, confidence. the whole like cookie cutter personnel thing, i dont like to engage on that stuff til the summer..

well do you think riscaser should be studying footage from those 4 players? or should he be studying the footwork of players like Jayson Tatum and MPJ? cuz I'd think itd be Tatum/MPjr, cuz he's gonna operate on the perimeter like that, on the same spots of the floor.. which is how that team hes currently on JL Bourg uses him.. at 1:32... that is an NBA pro level catch and fake then dribble into a stepback if i ever did see one... and its crazy smooth considering he's a 6'10 18 year old playing at that pace vs grizzled vets.. To me the most important move on the perimeter in the NBA is the step-back J... its been that way since the rise of the warriors dynasty.. to me rischaser's stepback j looks way more reliable and consistent than most of those other players projected at the top of the draft.. so like i said he represents the best floor spacer on the board... I'm impressed by the level of competition in ProA this season, the games are intense and the rosters are loaded, lots of ex-nba guys. Rischaser didnt have a good showing this summer at the Nike Hoops summit, people were weary about him --- his play this season has wiped away much of those fears quickly, cuz hes productive and consistent vs very good competition.. to me Tatum and MPJ were spectacular at that stuff as teenagers, and this kid is too... and his father was a pro, so he's probably been practicing that stuff since a young age.. his footwork is just so well practiced.. watch his feet, he's quite advanced for 18 years old if u ask me.. I used to watch a lot more AAU ball back when Tatum and MPJ were playing... fun teams especially that Mokan elite team with MPJR and trae young.. Tatum for the St Louis Stars was more of a 1 man army but idk I used to watch those players before they got to college, and this kid reminds me of that.. its definitely the footwork..

No this is just a bigboard. I'm just spitballing about team fits. Rischaser is #1 on my board. He was #2 on my board weeks ago. Sarr just had a great game vs Perth, we still havent even seen Buzelis play, lots is up in the air. I had Tatum higher on my board than everyone else too(just like i have Risacher..) I swore up and down the Lakers should take him #2, but all the lakers fans wanted Lonzo Ball the hometown hero. #1 overall is kind of arbitrary imo, as a magic fan i could care less about this lottery tbh, I'm worried about 20 and beyond.... The Kings took Marvin Bagley #2 overall.. They'd have been way better off taking MPJ #2... and reportedly thats what Vlade Divac wanted to od, the gm.. hahah and they overrode him and he got **** on for the pick he didnt want to make.. thats what i've heard.. MPJr signed a 5 year $180MM contract and Bagley is on the bench behind Isaiah Livers.

and also let me just say the kid they call "the best prospect from Cameroon since Joel Embiid" is going to do 1 year more at the NBA Academy in Africa and then come to the states in some capacity to showcase for the 2025 draft.. Ulrich Chomche is his name. He's 6'11 234lbs with a ~7'5 wingspan and skills. He's born like december 29th of 2005 though, so he's definitely old enough to be in this draft.. and obviously he'd be the youngest player in the field. I'd actually have him like top20 easily but the plan is he's not gonna be in this draft.. but there are sort of situations to be monitored like this.. things change.. Its easier/quicker for me to do a top100 than a top60.. but If you started asking me questions about next years draft or 2026, I know alot about those drafts too, i follow recruiting and the HS rankings.. but obviously I'd prefer to keep this all 2024 related.. its just... things are sort of mixed up these days..

Oh I forgot someone whats the kids name... Rasheer Fleming at St. Joes 6'9 and 230lbs and he's shooting 3's... He's got sleeper written all over him.. he puts up statlines like this 22points 8/11 fgs 2/4 from 3, 4/4fts, 2orebs 9 total, 3 asts 4 blocks and he's 230 lbs but very long armed(7'3 wingspan) and jumps well. He's sorta built like Noah Vonleh. He kinda reminds me of Paul Reed back at DePaul who's been way better than I expected in the NBA and signed a 3 year/$23MM contract this summer with the 6ers.

DJ Wanger could be on the board but he's very late 1st or early 2nd rd right now, I'm a Kentucky fan so im more apt to grade them super tough, and Wagner has almost been worthy of an "incomplete" grade so i took him off (for now).. its the same thing as Riley Kugel, when I watch them this season they miss EVERY 3... I'd have Kugel mid 2nd rd.. I like watching Walter Clayton Jr at UF more than Kugel so far this season (and its not close) Wagner is redundant here, we have Jalen Suggs. Ryan Dunn just seems like all defense and very little offense.. its early... I was a big Olivier Maxence Prosper guy last season, (followed him since he was at clemson actually) from when he was low ranked til he went in the first --- Dunn seems more limited than O-Max imo. Even though I have Dunn and Beekman listed on this bigboard, my personal favorite player to watch at UVA is Isaac McNeely, whos shooting 54% from 3.. Dunn is redundant here as well, we have Jonathan Isaac.. Bona ill just tell you flat out I'm not a fan of.. He's too short.. too inconsistent(though his effort is always 110%, the results just arent), feast or famine, and UCLA is underwhelming to me whenever I watch them, should be better, Buyuktuncel should get more burn.. I wish Bona wasnt even on the team and they let Mara get big reps.. bona is like Trayce Jackson Davis last year, I'm firm he's not a 1st rd pick, and I had a lot of people tell me otherwise about TJD last year --- and then he fell to 50 and i was right.. Rischaser is very good. Everyone else has him top 5, I had him #2 on my board weeks ago, i've been trying to keep him a little higher than the consensus... He's 18 years old performing vs grown men.. Looks like hes a legit 6'10 these days... Michael Porter Jr just won an NBA championship last year... Jayson Tatums a superstar at PF, I really like Rischasers footwork, he gives great fakes, he's a floor spacer, --- the pistons have ATROCIOUS SPACING, beyond putrid, below NBA level, Rischaser is one of their only hopes .... He looks like a real wing player to me too. the pistons damn sure dont need creators, they need spacing for their creators.. I'm very much a believer in Rischaser being a match with the Pistons,I also believe the pistons season is ostensibly over and their just going thru dress rehearsals for next szn.. Bogdanovic expires in the summer of 2025 so everything actually lines up.. Draft Rischaser, they have like 50 million in cap space too so they could offer Anunoby or Siakam the max, and thats how I'd fix that team (here in early dec)

oh and in typical Jackson Shelstad fashion in his first start in college basketball he hits a cold blooded game-winner in overtime a 3 from deep in NBA range.. Shelstad's a 6-foot freshman PG --- I truly believe he's got an outside chance to go one-and-done... he's an NBA player eventually, not a 4 year player like Peyton Pritchard he'll get drafted before then.. start the video at 2:49 if you wanna see the game winner.. and trust me, I dont like short PG's for the NBA.. but Shelstad seems to be good enough.. Not saying hes an NBA starter but he can come off the bench no problem.. If Fred Van Vleet can get paid $50MM per season or whatever houston pays him, this kid can get drafted.. Van Vleet wasnt even drafted..

I know theres a "were good so we dont pay attention to the draft" thing that goes on with NBA fans, and thats all well and fine.. we've got so many young players adding more doesnt seem like much of a priority, totally understandable. HOWEVER, when I look at all these draft picks the Magic are owed moving forward.. (plus we have lots of good young players on rookie deals..) just seems like if the Magic have a player they really want, they have PLENTY of ammo to trade up to secure them.. Its like, do we really have to sit here rooting for good players to drop to us? I'm pretty sure we can just trade up.. As much as the depth chart is loaded, so was bostons going into the season but they traded 2 good players for an even better one... maybe a deal like that is in our cards soon.. Watching last nights game (obviously Carter is out) but I was thinking "Kel'el Ware looks like a match here"..Now I have Ware almost in the lottery . pick 15, but most mocks have him closer to where our 1st rd pick is projected in the 20's.. I think Ware made a very poor choice going to Oregon.. the whole idea of that 3 5-star Centers thing was always flawed, and in some stranger than fiction type of news Nate Bittle and Nfaly Dante both got injured already and are out for a long time again...its like groundhogs day over there with those 2 getting hurt.. I wanted to see Bittle let it fly from 3 too and now we dont get that.. sucks.. but Ware, they killed this kid for his attitude and made it like he wasnt a baller last season, ya know, like he's not dedicated but he's just talented or something... and I really like the way he looks and has responded this season, certainly hit the weight room hard.. He's very mobile and very athletic and long armed, hes got good timing.. ya know people want to squeeze blood out of a stone sometimes, a lanky 7-footer like Ware, its unfair to needle him like that in such a bad situation in his freshman year.. sorta beyond distasteful venturing into stupidity type of bs... I cant help but ask myself if hes not a "buy-low' target.. thats a heck of a frontcourt IU has, probably my favorite even tho Mgbako is apparently an entitled jerk, but I'm a big fan of Malik Reneau too, its just unlikely we see all 3 end up in this draft.