2024 NBA Draft Thread

[CTMagicUK 1,482]

I'm sorry. The above is my genuine, serious thoughts on this but now I'm thinking this might be a troll. 

"I have 8 screens"

"Pascal Siakam was my favourite player (filthy casuals rolled their eyes)" 

"I'm looking for haters"

"I was talking about Jamal Murray's step back over and over" 

"Malcolm X said it best" 

This is legitimately, laugh out loud, funny. 

 

[orlandoholic 134]

agree with you CT… i just asked questions about certain players i think were missing on his/her deep list.. 
Some interesting and good talent were missing and i thought Risacher was too high. That’s all.. 
 

Im not claiming to be a genius. I was a lot of ball myself and i enjoy watching young talent play and also play couch scout.. 

Im usually quite good at it, but also have some bad misses. My most recent miss. I thought Franz Wagner was good, but i had Kuminga, Zaire Williams on my list that year. 

I liked Franz for the Warriors but didn’t like him for the Magic, if that makes sense. I didn’t believe he had superstar potential but could be a really great role player. 

Boy was i wrong. Same year for example though, i was hyped for Suggs. But i also always said Suggs will be a SG in the NBA. 

Also loved Barnes a lot. Most Magic fans i knew back then barked so hard at Barnes, but i loved him. And i called the Raptors drafting him. 

But yeah, it doesn’t make sense to look back. Bottom line. Everybody who loves to watch and scout basketball will always be right and wrong. It’s the nature of projecting. 

If it was so easy, every franchise would be able to make the right decision all the time. 

I don’t believe in internet “trolls” who claim to have all the knowledge. 

With this said, i’m willing to wait and see if our newest member is truly here to troll, or have good and respectful discussions 

[CTMagicUK 1,482]

Anyway, back to prospects...

I don't know what to make of Judah Mintz. Think the main reason he went back to school is because NBA teams weren't going to draft a 6'3, rail thin, PG who couldn't shoot it in the first round.

But he hit 5/7 from 3 last night. Which has shot his 3P% up to 46%. The volume isn't high though, I'd like to see a lot more games with that kind of volume before I feel comfortable he's improved as a shooter.

He has an absurd 65% Free throw rate. Just a ludicrous number, getting to the line whenever he wants. If that doesn't translate, and it'd be insane if it did, does he have enough scoring to survive in the NBA without much of an in-between game? That's the question.

When I watch him I like the smooth handle and long, decelerating strides when he's going to the hoop but he's a pretty average finisher at the rim (I'm unsure if this matters... Need to do a bit of a dive on it. There have been a few guys recently that I was concerned about their finishing and it hasn't been a huge problem in the league...). Smart passer, mostly simple stuff but quick and decisive reads. 

But, as I've said he's a skinny 6'3 so even if he was a perfect positional defender (he's not) he's probably never going to be a positive on that end in the league.

He's at #60 on ESPNs top 100, without having any actual rankings right now and with still a lot of guys I've not seen a lot of... If he can increase the 3 point volume and keep in the mid to high 30s I'd be tempted to have him late first round. This draft is so bad that "has a decent chance to stick in the league as a backup PG" is probably worth a first round pick. 

[CTMagicUK 1,482]

That last paragraph brings me to something I've been thinking about for a while which is: 

If you're the Magic, drafting outside the lottery, and someone offers you a future first (or somehow, unbelievably, multiple picks) for your pick in this draft on draft night you should probably do it unless there's a guy available that you think is considerably better than the range you're in. 

Realistically this team doesn't need to add another first round pick. We're essentially red shirting Jett Howard this season already. Take the future assets and run. 

Sure, someone will get picked at or after our pick that's better than expected and people will probably cry about it but we realistically just don't have minutes to spare and preserving future assets is probably going to be way more important for this team now. 

[orlandoholic 134]

8 hours ago, CTMagicUK said:

That last paragraph brings me to something I've been thinking about for a while which is: 

If you're the Magic, drafting outside the lottery, and someone offers you a future first (or somehow, unbelievably, multiple picks) for your pick in this draft on draft night you should probably do it unless there's a guy available that you think is considerably better than the range you're in. 

Realistically this team doesn't need to add another first round pick. We're essentially red shirting Jett Howard this season already. Take the future assets and run. 

Sure, someone will get picked at or after our pick that's better than expected and people will probably cry about it but we realistically just don't have minutes to spare and preserving future assets is probably going to be way more important for this team now. 

only way we use our pick is if any of top5 of their big board is available.. if „our“ player is not available you trade it for future picks to a team like the Warriors (aging talent) 

[Albert Lergier 99]

On 11/9/2023 at 5:46 AM, CTMagicUK said:

Disclaimer: this is not a reflection of where we are as a team or me giving up on the season or anything like that I just like talking about draft prospects.

NCAA season has started so thought we could start to use this. 

Because I expected us to be better this year I haven't gotten a jump on draft prospects as early as I usually would. Learning as I go but trying not to focus in on the top guys.

Last few years we've been looking at top draft guys. Top 5, top 10 etc. Have a feeling we'll be more in that 14-20 range this coming year (or maybe we even trade the pick? Who knows?) 

Looking in that range I'm really looking at guys who fit. For me guys that fit this team (i.e. fit with Paolo and Franz) are: big guard or wing shooters, stretch bigs or mobile rim protecting bigs.

Jakobe Walter, freshman from Baylor, caught my eye yesterday: 

https://youtu.be/3VNZPAdy3ZU?si=nTaOpYONElbvyqP9

Clearly not a shot creator but he looks to have incredible touch and can shoot the 3 off of movement. Givony has him at #16 at ESPN early on. 

Another guy I like (don't have any highlights from this year yet) is Trevon Brazile, stood out to me at times watching AB film last season at Arkansas but only played a handful of games due to injury. 6'10, super athlete, mobile on defense and his 3 point jumper looks good. (He's currently at #25 on ESPN)

But there are loads of other guys I'm interested in seeing, some guys we shouldn't be in a position to draft and some we might be, playing in College, overseas and for G League Ignite. 

 

At 10 to 13, at what options are we looking at?

The injuries to 3 starters, the 2 losses to the Nets and the loss to Cleveland last (Dec 6) and the upcoming schedule makes me wonder.....

Upcoming Games: Cavs, Celtics (2), Heat, Bucks, Pacers, Philly, Knicks, Suns. In-between these 9 games, one with the Pistons and one with the Wizards.

 

[CTMagicUK 1,482]

19 hours ago, Albert Lergier said:

At 10 to 13, at what options are we looking at?

The injuries to 3 starters, the 2 losses to the Nets and the loss to Cleveland last (Dec 6) and the upcoming schedule makes me wonder.....

Upcoming Games: Cavs, Celtics (2), Heat, Bucks, Pacers, Philly, Knicks, Suns. In-between these 9 games, one with the Pistons and one with the Wizards.

 

Too early to say who'll be available at certain spots in that range. 

Also pretty pessimistic to presume we're now a lottery team after 2 losses.

[Albert Lergier 99]

4 hours ago, CTMagicUK said:

Too early to say who'll be available at certain spots in that range. 

Also pretty pessimistic to presume we're now a lottery team after 2 losses.

Injuries a galore....the Markelle one on his surgical repaired knee could linger for a long time. So far, how many games he been out? Fifteen and counting?

Never pessimistic, always realistic. I'd bet the FO is looking at late lottery alternatives.

We all know that there are enough good teams in the East that can leave the Magic in the dust. Go Magic.

[CTMagicUK 1,482]

3 minutes ago, Albert Lergier said:

Injuries a galore....the Markelle one on his surgical repaired knee could linger for a long time. So far, how many games he been out? Fifteen and counting?

Never pessimistic, always realistic. I'd bet the FO is looking at late lottery alternatives.

We all know that there are enough good teams in the East that can leave the Magic in the dust. Go Magic.

We just won 9 games in a row without Markelle. We're not going to be the only team that has injuries. 

The front office, like every front office in the league, will be looking at everyone in the draft because you never know who might fall or what trades might present themselves.

[CTMagicUK 1,482]

Tidjane Salaun might be a Magic type. Young for the class, he'll still be 18 on draft night. 6'9/6'10 skinny forward. Jumper looks really promising but he's got some creation upside because he looks really smooth putting the ball on the floor when he gets chased off the line. 

Defensively, do I think he's going to be an outstanding defensive player? Not really. But what's important is from what I've seen he competes on that end and he's active, he makes rotations, he closes out hard (and he has terrific technique on his closeouts) he puts a body on somebody when a shot goes up. I like him and I think he fits the way we want to play.

[CTMagicUK 1,482]

Aaron Bradshaw played his first real minutes of the season the other night and put up 17 points, 11 boards, 3 blocks and a steal. He also made a 3. Looked like a lottery pick. Which is a shame for us because he'd kind of be a perfect prospect at C if the jumper is real (not that we're exactly desperate for another big). Plays with a high motor, think the health long term might still be a question mark given he had a fractured foot.

[CTMagicUK 1,482]

Tristan Da Silva is a fun guy to consider. Despite the name he's actually German, his brother Oscar played with Franz and Mo in FIBA this summer (he didn't really play but he was on the German squad). 

Tristan is a Senior at Colorado and looking like a first round pick. Just had 22 points, 10 boards, 9 assists and 2 steals in a blow out win over #15 Miami. 

He's a 6'9 forward who's shot 39% from 3 for his career and is in the 40s this year.