2023 NBA Draft Day Thread

[Soul Bro 1,422]

20 minutes ago, Jay Magic said:

This right here is the 1 i agree with!!!

This is what I hope to see

[Soul Bro 1,422]

I haven’t seen anyone make this reference, or perhaps I missed it, but I see Black as a taller version of Magic Fultz (not pre-injuries Fultz). Similar strengths and weaknesses. If both can learn to shoot, that’d be great, but I’m not holding my breath. I understand the pick and will support it, but I personally wanted Wallace over Black.

The other thing that’s interesting to me is that Black is almost the exact opposite of Anthony. Personally, I think Cole has the lowest bb iq on the team and his defense is often awful, so I’m curious whether he’ll be on the team in a year.

[Soul Bro 1,422]

Regarding Jett, for those who haven’t seen him, he played SG almost every time I watched UM. His stroke is beautiful, but he often struggled with lateral movement on defense. I think if his defense improves, he could be a strong asset for this team.

[fan for too long 2 535]

Wait. Did we get Naz?  Or is Paolo just trying to move management into getting him?

[DestroidMengars 22]

17 minutes ago, ball junkie said:

https://www.si.com/college/arkansas/hogs-mens-basketball/nba-draft-arkansas-razorbacks-anthony-black-orlando-magic-fans-negative-reaction
Wow evidently Magic fans have been pounding Black on social media …so much so that this Arkansas website is firing back at Magic fans …read if you don’t believe 

I do feel a little bad for Anthony. What this Arkansas write up fails to understand is that our animosity has very little to do with Anthony Black himself in a vacuum. It's much more about this front office constantly drafting this archetype of player who has positional size, is a good defender, and a poor shooter, and then that player never develops a shot with us. The issue might have more to do with our shooting coaches? Indeed, a lot of our animosity is due to Anthony specifically reminding us of Elfrid Payton who ended up being a terrible pick. If you took all that Magic history out of the equation and Anthony wasn't didn't match the player archetype we always draft and who never works out, I bet we'd be more excited or at least intrigued with him. But that animosity has very little to do with him as an individual and he doesn't deserve the hate.

[fan for too long 2 535]

No this hate should be directed point blank at our goofy azz management team who keeps doing the same dam thing and expects different results. Insanity defined!!!

[Shine88 89]

30 minutes ago, DestroidMengars said:

I do feel a little bad for Anthony. What this Arkansas write up fails to understand is that our animosity has very little to do with Anthony Black himself in a vacuum. It's much more about this front office constantly drafting this archetype of player who has positional size, is a good defender, and a poor shooter, and then that player never develops a shot with us. The issue might have more to do with our shooting coaches? Indeed, a lot of our animosity is due to Anthony specifically reminding us of Elfrid Payton who ended up being a terrible pick. If you took all that Magic history out of the equation and Anthony wasn't didn't match the player archetype we always draft and who never works out, I bet we'd be more excited or at least intrigued with him. But that animosity has very little to do with him as an individual and he doesn't deserve the hate.

The Payton comparison is lazy. He's already a much better prospect as an Freshman than Payton was as an Junior. Plus, the kid didn't start playing basketball full-time until after his Junior year of high school, and been one of the fastest risers ever since. Payton did damage in the Sunbelt conference, he did his on the biggest stages (Maui, SEC, NCAA Tournament)., which is two totally different levels.

[Shine88 89]

19. Golden State Warriors
Jett Howard
Michigan
SG/SF
Age: 19.7
Howard's draft range starts around No. 11 (Orlando), with plenty of teams looking for shooters with
size, skill and feel that will likely consider him, including Toronto (No. 13), Utah (No. 16), and the Lakers
(No. 17). He's an extreme contrast in ability, from what he showed early in the season until late of it
when he played through an injury. If not Howard, the Warriors could look at other prospects who fit
their style of play. The appetite for taking on more projects will likely be limited due to their narrow
window for maximizing the prime of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and others. Sources tell ESPN the
Warriors are also exploring the option of acquiring a high draft pick in exchange for a young prospect
such as Jonathan Kuminga -- Givony

 

Givony knew all along.

[orlandoholic 137]

5 hours ago, Soul Bro said:

This is what I hope to see

that must be the vision.. I’d only like to improve at starting SG/SF and backup center. 

I like Naz Reid, but right now i’m really focused on trying to acquire Gafford 

[orlandoholic 137]

5 hours ago, fan for too long 2 said:

Wait. Did we get Naz?  Or is Paolo just trying to move management into getting him?

that’s not Bancheros account 

[CTMagicUK 1,491]

11 hours ago, Jon said:

I did. Elite to me might mean something different to you.

Which games?

EDIT: I actually just want to clarify what I mean because I've thought about this and maybe "playmaker" is misleading and I don't want to misconstrue what I think AB is. Black isn't an elite "shot creator" he's not a Luka or a LeBron, he's not generating loads of open looks for his teammates against a set defense by bending a defense with his offensive gravity. If that's what you mean by "playmaker" then no he's not that and it's considerably unlikely he'll ever be that.

But he does have elite vision, BBIQ and he's a great passer. There's a difference there that I feel needs highlighting.

[CTMagicUK 1,491]

I just re-watched the Arkansas vs Kansas tournament game. You won't find a single highlight reel of Anthony Black of that game. If you look at the box score you'd probably think "eww". Even if you just watch the game without paying particular attention to Black you'd probably be left unimpressed by him. 

But he played 37/40 minutes on a bum ankle after limping off the court 2 minutes in (the ankle was already hurt prior to the start of the game also) and he barely put a foot wrong on defense the entire game. Even very early in the 2nd half he picks up his third foul early and gets subbed out for a single minute, he returns and doesn't commit another foul until the dying seconds of the game, with a bad ankle, in their most important game of the season. Kansas didn't make a deliberate effort to target him once. Think about that, a freshman with 3 fouls and a bad ankle and they didn't make any effort to try to exploit that. That's how good he is on defense.

He guarded Gradey Dick for a lot of the game and by my count Gradey scored exactly 2 points when he was being guarded by Black, a 2 point jumper on a clever designed play where AB got caught on a screen and nobody switched out to contest (his other 2 made field goals were a run out in transition early in the game and a step back 3 when Black was guarding somebody else). That's an NBA level wing. With 1 good ankle for 30ish minutes. 

It's not flashy, it's not sexy, it's not exciting, it doesn't grab headlines. It's just grit, determination and a will to win. 

If you think we've already got players like him that's fine but I really don't.