2022-2023 Draft Thread

[Murphy13 185]

I’m just not seeing it with Jarace Walker.  He seems like Anthony Bennett to me.  Even though he’s six months younger I don’t think Whitmore is better than Hendricks either.  Last hot take is that the Mavs will take whoever it is they think we want the most at 10 to try to force a trade.  Not advocating for the tank at this stage in the build, just wish we picked ahead of them.

[orlandoholic 134]

1 hour ago, Murphy13 said:

I’m just not seeing it with Jarace Walker.  He seems like Anthony Bennett to me.  Even though he’s six months younger I don’t think Whitmore is better than Hendricks either.  Last hot take is that the Mavs will take whoever it is they think we want the most at 10 to try to force a trade.  Not advocating for the tank at this stage in the build, just wish we picked ahead of them.

I see what you fear in Jarace Walker.. his playmaking sets him apart though.. We desperately need playmaking in the second unit and we have plenty of combinations to through out there.. I could see us playing him at C and also PF.. I could also see us playing Isaac at SF-PF-C.. Depending on what we want to do.. 

I don’t think the Mavs can force a trade out of us.. 

There are plenty of talented players available at 11 that make sense for us
Lively, Coulibaly, K. George, Bufkin, Whitehead, N. Smith, Wallace, Dick, Black.. could all be available at 11. If anything i think we’d should try and force a trade with the Spurs. A. Black is probably their main target. he makes so much sense for them. Black and Wembanyama would be an insane pick and roll/pop threat.. 

[Murphy13 185]

5 hours ago, orlandoholic said:

I see what you fear in Jarace Walker.. his playmaking sets him apart though.. We desperately need playmaking in the second unit and we have plenty of combinations to through out there.. I could see us playing him at C and also PF.. I could also see us playing Isaac at SF-PF-C.. Depending on what we want to do.. 

I don’t think the Mavs can force a trade out of us.. 

There are plenty of talented players available at 11 that make sense for us
Lively, Coulibaly, K. George, Bufkin, Whitehead, N. Smith, Wallace, Dick, Black.. could all be available at 11. If anything i think we’d should try and force a trade with the Spurs. A. Black is probably their main target. he makes so much sense for them. Black and Wembanyama would be an insane pick and roll/pop threat.. 

We could hold value for SAS at 11 but we need shooting and the draft is the cheapest way to get it.  Dick won’t make it to 11 and Hawkins isn’t lotto talent.  Other than Hendricks I don’t see any other verifiable shooters available in our range.  

[CTMagicUK 1,482]

Considering, as I posted in the Off-season thread, it feels like we'll have too many bodies to play them all. I'm really talking myself into Dariq Whitehead at 11. He was top 5 everywhere preseason, had a couple of bad injuries that I think made him look worse than he can be athletically. Still had a good season shooting the ball at Duke. 

It'd honestly be super tempting to do what Denver did with MPJ and basically red shirt him his rookie year to give him all the time and space to recover with NBA staff. He'd still be younger than Brandon Miller is now when he played his first NBA game if he waited a full season. 

I think that's an interesting play (it obviously depends on your high school eval of him and also being comfortable that the injuries won't repeat). Especially if you intend to keep both 6 and 11 and want to make the playoffs, having 2 rookies in the rotation isn't going to help us win. 

[orlandoholic 134]

2 hours ago, Murphy13 said:

We could hold value for SAS at 11 but we need shooting and the draft is the cheapest way to get it.  Dick won’t make it to 11 and Hawkins isn’t lotto talent.  Other than Hendricks I don’t see any other verifiable shooters available in our range.  

imo shooting is not the main issue.. The main issue is playmaking.. We don’t have too many players that can create and open up shots for others. We have Fultz, Banchero and Wagner. Other than that it’s a struggle. Suggs is a great passer, but he doesn’t create passes. Cole Anthony is more of a scorer and unfortunately sometimes chucker..

We desperately need creativity, playmaking on that second unit.. We are solid enough and also look interested in GTJ.. 
 

Dick and Hawkins are too one dimensional imo.. How is Dick a different player than Houstan? They both check the same boxes. 

 

[CTMagicUK 1,482]

46 minutes ago, orlandoholic said:

How is Dick a different player than Houstan? They both check the same boxes. 

 

Better shooter in every facet (off the dribble, off screens, catch and shoot), more athletic, better defensively, better passer, better cutter. 

[CTMagicUK 1,482]

I'm a believer in Caleb Houstan to be honest I think he could be a rotation player. But comparing him to Gradey is wild.

Houstan at Michigan:

10.1 points, 4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.2 blocks, 1.5 turnovers on 38/36/78 shooting. 

Gradey at Kansas: 

14 points, 5 rebounds, 1.7 assist, 1.4 steals, 0.4 blocks, 1.3 turnovers on 44/40/85 shooting. 

Even if the eye test doesn't show there's a clear difference (it does for me) statistically Gradey is better at everything. 

[orlandoholic 134]

45 minutes ago, CTMagicUK said:

I'm a believer in Caleb Houstan to be honest I think he could be a rotation player. But comparing him to Gradey is wild.

Houstan at Michigan:

10.1 points, 4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.2 blocks, 1.5 turnovers on 38/36/78 shooting. 

Gradey at Kansas: 

14 points, 5 rebounds, 1.7 assist, 1.4 steals, 0.4 blocks, 1.3 turnovers on 44/40/85 shooting. 

Even if the eye test doesn't show there's a clear difference (it does for me) statistically Gradey is better at everything. 

Duck was somewhat of a vocal point in that Kansas offense. They ran plays for him, ball was in his hand a lot.

Houstan had a very different role in that Michigan offense. He wasn’t asked to handle the ball much.

 

Those stats btw aren’t eye popping better. And i said both guys are similar in their skill set and i didn’t say Houstan was better.. 

Dick isn’t some guy who will create for himself or for others. It’s just not his game. 

So of course Dick is better than Houstan. But Houstan is also a developmental player and i expect him to improve more. If you want an upgrade over Houstan, ok then draft Dick. 

I just don’t think that’s what improves this team to the next level. Especially on that second unit. Who is going to get Dick open? We aren’t a team that runs creative plays for players. We play a style of basketball that needs individual skill and execution. 

Dick would need playmaking around him. At least in Orlando. 

 

Same thing with arguing that we need to upgrade Harris to a better shooter. It’s actually not the issue. Harris was a good shooter. We need more than „just“ shooting 

[CTMagicUK 1,482]

One of the reasons Gradey is a much better prospect than Houstan is he gets himself open with his movement off ball. He's always moving into space, relocating around pick and roll, cutting from the corner when his defender's head is turned. He can shoot off of screens on designed plays to get himself open. He can even catch the ball, take a couple of dribbles and hit a shot either in the midrange or sidestepping to avoid a close out.

Caleb Houstan is a shooter but he's a shooter that realistically most NBA teams will double off of at least at the moment which means he's not actually spacing the floor for Franz/Fultz/Paolo. Gradey Dick has proven in college that if you leave him open he will punish you. And his reputation will probably allow that to translate pretty quickly in the NBA provided he continues to shoot as well as he has been.

I don't necessarily believe we're desperate for more playmaking (though I'd absolutely say you can never have too many guys who can create a shot)

Fultz/Franz/Paolo can all create for themselves and others. The idea that the bench unit needs someone else to do that isn't necessarily valid to me because we don't need to run a full line shift, we can stagger the minutes of those 3 guys to handle the playmaking through the full 48 (with Cole and Suggs chipping in). 

 

 

[Murphy13 185]

4 hours ago, orlandoholic said:

imo shooting is not the main issue.. The main issue is playmaking.. We don’t have too many players that can create and open up shots for others. We have Fultz, Banchero and Wagner. Other than that it’s a struggle. Suggs is a great passer, but he doesn’t create passes. Cole Anthony is more of a scorer and unfortunately sometimes chucker..

We desperately need creativity, playmaking on that second unit.. We are solid enough and also look interested in GTJ.. 
 

Dick and Hawkins are too one dimensional imo.. How is Dick a different player than Houstan? They both check the same boxes. 

 

How many cooks you want in your kitchen? Banchero and Franz alone make up the majority of playmaking, we need either all stars or high level role players to fit around them.  

[Albert Lergier 99]

3 hours ago, CTMagicUK said:

One of the reasons Gradey is a much better prospect than Houstan is he gets himself open with his movement off ball. He's always moving into space, relocating around pick and roll, cutting from the corner when his defender's head is turned. He can shoot off of screens on designed plays to get himself open. He can even catch the ball, take a couple of dribbles and hit a shot either in the midrange or sidestepping to avoid a close out.

Caleb Houstan is a shooter but he's a shooter that realistically most NBA teams will double off of at least at the moment which means he's not actually spacing the floor for Franz/Fultz/Paolo. Gradey Dick has proven in college that if you leave him open he will punish you. And his reputation will probably allow that to translate pretty quickly in the NBA provided he continues to shoot as well as he has been.

I don't necessarily believe we're desperate for more playmaking (though I'd absolutely say you can never have too many guys who can create a shot)

Fultz/Franz/Paolo can all create for themselves and others. The idea that the bench unit needs someone else to do that isn't necessarily valid to me because we don't need to run a full line shift, we can stagger the minutes of those 3 guys to handle the playmaking through the full 48 (with Cole and Suggs chipping in). 

 

 

Per ESPN's Jonathan Givony, Dick is viewed as the best shooter in this year's class by "many NBA teams." "He has elite footwork, balance and confidence running off screens, pulling up off the dribble and drifting into spot-up three-pointers with excellent mechanics and range," Givony wrote.1 day ago

And like this comment about Gradey (only 19)....there are multiple more stating how good a shooter he already is. He has proved it.

Disrupt the lottery and pick him with #6? I snafu that the Magic by having two high firsts will disrupt the lottery this year....maybe.

 

[CTMagicUK 1,482]

There's a rumour circulating that GG Jackson has had horrible workouts.