DestroidMengars 22 Report post Posted June 17, 2023 Literally, the only projected lotto guy that I'm having trouble talking myself into is Jarace Walker. I'm probably a tiny bit less enthusiastic about Anthony Black, Cam Whitmore, Amen Thompson, Keyonte George, Cason Wallace, and Dereck Lively than I am Ausar Thompson, Bilal Coulibaly, Taylor Hendricks, Gradey Dick, and Jordan Hawkins for this team, but I'm not locked in on anyone. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jon 30 Report post Posted June 17, 2023 24 minutes ago, DestroidMengars said: Literally, the only projected lotto guy that I'm having trouble talking myself into is Jarace Walker. I'm probably a tiny bit less enthusiastic about Anthony Black, Cam Whitmore, Amen Thompson, Keyonte George, Cason Wallace, and Dereck Lively than I am Ausar Thompson, Bilal Coulibaly, Taylor Hendricks, Gradey Dick, and Jordan Hawkins for this team, but I'm not locked in on anyone. Same here. Only one I’m locked on is Scoot. I’ve become a bit skeptical about Whitmore and not a fan of Walker for us. The twins are something I have become more open to. I get the competition issue. The athletic ability though and it’s not like they don’t have skills. I watched a little more of Black and I could get behind it I guess. I also would understand if we drafted George. Craziest draft I can remember. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soul Bro 1,422 Report post Posted June 17, 2023 Sam Vecenie with his final rankings for The Athletic: Quote I see this year’s draft as being quite good in the top half of the lottery, largely due to 7-foot-4 superstar Victor Wembanyama. I believe Wembanyama is the best prospect to enter the NBA since LeBron James and have created a tier for only him. Tier Vic is a new house for a prospect, but it didn’t feel right putting Wembanyama in the same grouping as others. Beyond him, I have one Tier 1 player in Scoot Henderson and three Tier 2 players I think have genuinely realizable All-Star upside. I’ll probably be out on a limb a bit ranking Cam Whitmore at No. 3 and Brandon Miller at No. 4, but their grades are so close, and both are terrific in different ways. That tier also features Amen Thompson, an explosively powerful and graceful point guard who can create transition opportunities as well as any perimeter player I’ve seen in a long time, in addition to throwing passing reads all over the court. The next group of prospects also is quite strong, featuring Amen’s twin brother, Ausar, a pair of great forward prospects and one of the smartest point guard prospects I’ve evaluated in terms of pure processing speed on the court. After that, expect this draft to be all over the map... https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2023/06/14192353/2023_NBA-Draft-Guide-4.pdf PS - To Sam's credit, his draft guide this year is over 130,000 words. Incredible. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CTMagicUK 1,491 Report post Posted June 17, 2023 Ok, I'm pretty confident we'll end up trading #36. More than that, I think it's a smart play to trade #36 if you can turn it into multiple future seconds. Reasoning is that the new CBA will mean in 6 or 7 years when we're paying Paolo/Franz a combined 90 million dollars or whatever we'll really have to be careful with how we fill out our roster. Being over the tax by a certain amount will really restrict team building and cheap contracts, like 2nd round guys, could end up being really valuable to keep the payroll down so we don't lose the ability to trade draft picks, or use the tax payer mid level exception. Plus the new CBA is introducing a 2nd round exception and a third 2 way slot which'll make rostering 2nd round guys easier. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soul Bro 1,422 Report post Posted June 17, 2023 Not considering the "fit" on our team, I don't think it's a stretch to think Scoot could end up being a more dominant player in the NBA than Paulo or Franz. From what I'm reading, he's a mix between prime Rose and Morant. That's a dominant guard right there. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soul Bro 1,422 Report post Posted June 17, 2023 Quote I love Hendricks going to a team that is well-situated in terms of shot creation and thus could allow him to come along more slowly in that respect. He’s a ways off from being able to impact the game as a ballhandler or creator, but Hendricks possesses the kind of 3-and-D game that could be a real difference-maker to teams that need those skills. And almost every team with an established hierarchy of stars needs those skills. Hendricks is 6-foot-9 in shoes, he’s long and switchable, and he defends the rim well from the weak side. He has potential to be an awesome pick-and-roll defender due to his versatility, and his length will take up a larger portion of the court than the normal run-of-the-mill wing prospect. The number of players 6-foot-9 or taller who enter the league as plus defenders and plus shooters is extremely minimal. It’s Jabari Smith Jr., Franz Wagner, Trey Murphy III and Jaren Jackson Jr. since 2018. That’s why Hendricks is going to hear his name called in the lottery. It’s hard to see how this skill set fails, even with his faults. He does the three most important things a role player in the NBA can do: He shoots it well off the catch, he defends well in space and he plays well within help defensive concepts. Throw in that he’s still a teenager with real upside, and you shouldn’t be surprised if he hears his name called in the top 10. https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2023/06/14192353/2023_NBA-Draft-Guide-4.pdf Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MagicMan1979 108 Report post Posted June 17, 2023 2 hours ago, CTMagicUK said: Ok, I'm pretty confident we'll end up trading #36. More than that, I think it's a smart play to trade #36 if you can turn it into multiple future seconds. Reasoning is that the new CBA will mean in 6 or 7 years when we're paying Paolo/Franz a combined 90 million dollars or whatever we'll really have to be careful with how we fill out our roster. Being over the tax by a certain amount will really restrict team building and cheap contracts, like 2nd round guys, could end up being really valuable to keep the payroll down so we don't lose the ability to trade draft picks, or use the tax payer mid level exception. Plus the new CBA is introducing a 2nd round exception and a third 2 way slot which'll make rostering 2nd round guys easier. Great post with regards to the new CBA. This is a game changer the average fan doesn’t understand. For example no way the Gobert trade would happen with the new CBA. You really can only have two max guys with all the restrictions. This is why I would love to make a big move now like trading up for Scoot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CTMagicUK 1,491 Report post Posted June 17, 2023 10 minutes ago, MagicMan1979 said: Great post with regards to the new CBA. This is a game changer the average fan doesn’t understand. For example no way the Gobert trade would happen with the new CBA. You really can only have two max guys with all the restrictions. This is why I would love to make a big move now like trading up for Scoot. With the only two max guys thing, how would that work 4 years from now if Scoot is as good as advertised? I know that's a long way off but we'll have 2 max deals already. Will we be trading Scoot at that point or Franz or Paolo? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TreyMachine 399 Report post Posted June 17, 2023 3 hours ago, Soul Bro said: Not considering the "fit" on our team, I don't think it's a stretch to think Scoot could end up being a more dominant player in the NBA than Paulo or Franz. From what I'm reading, he's a mix between prime Rose and Morant. That's a dominant guard right there. I don't think there's a package we could offer that doesn't give up 3 1st round picks to get #2 or #3 to draft him, but if we believe that's who he has a chance to become, you take that. I don't think our picks in the next 3+ years are in the lottery anyway, so go all in and get your guy unless we believe just as much in #6. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CTMagicUK 1,491 Report post Posted June 17, 2023 What would we even want from Phoenix? To get into the first round? Unless they're offering Booker (they're obviously not) I legit can't see how they're getting 6 or 11 from us. EDIT: maybe it's "working to build out their roster" and they want #36. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
All Eyes On Me 1,217 Report post Posted June 17, 2023 13 minutes ago, CTMagicUK said: What would we even want from Phoenix? To get into the first round? Unless they're offering Booker (they're obviously not) I legit can't see how they're getting 6 or 11 from us. EDIT: maybe it's "working to build out their roster" and they want #36. Yeah, their only guys under contract they can trade are Shamet, Payne, Paul, Booker, Ayton and Durant. If we’re involved at all it’s as a 3rd team or late draft pick swaps. Anything we’d want from them they’re not trading, and to your point, the only thing i think we’d even want is Book Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
