[Lotto StudParticipant]

 I love his willpower to carry on the load. There’s only one ideal fit in the lottery that I favor over any other and that’s Charlotte, with all of the looming questions about Kemba Walker’s future.

[ChewyParticipant]

 He’s my #1 PG prospect this year. Young had an exciting season with ups and downs, but picking for an NBA team, I take Sexton.

[whiteflashParticipant]

 Man, think he’s REALLY gonna struggle in the NBA. Good but not great athlete who relies on his athleticism and high volume shooting to be effective. He’ll be a middle of the pack athlete at his position and he doesn’t have the ball skills or feel for the game to compensate.

[holefillers1Participant]

I see a strong and fast guard who can score and play defense. He might not be a traditional lead guard in the sense of play making but his skills will translate to a space and pass team.

[whiteflashParticipant]

https://youtu.be/iXVv5JU9jDg

This is his season highlights vid. These are his absolute best plays, most of which are against lower tier teams, and he doesn’t look physically dominant in any clip. He doesn’t blow by his man, blow doors off on the break, elevate in traffic, etc… He does seem to handle contact fairly well, and he’s aggressive, but he also seems to bull his way into the lane with no real plan and lacks the foot speed or first step to shed his defender, let alone help D. He’s a middle of the pack athlete at his position in the NBA, and is gonna struggle to find a rhythm against bigger, stronger, faster and better basketball players.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 I am all over the place on the guards — even Doncic and Porter, Jr. as the small forwards.

I think this draft goes all bigs in the top 4 with Ayton, Jaren Jackson Jr., Bamba, and Bagley in some order.

I would go with Bamba at 1 –he’s a jump hook away from being really, really, really good.  The only guy who has a prayer of stopping a potential Philadelphia 70Unicorns team of Embiid, Simmons, and LeBron.

JJJ can be at 2 or down around 7 or 8. Upside, skillset, length, and all that is there.  But, it is POTENTIAL. He can fit in, cool — I want a guy who can STAND OUT then take charge of the NBA and crash it into a mountain if he has to.

Doncic: blend of Detlef Shrempf and Carmelo Anthony.  Or, the NBA’s version of Ryan Leaf.

Collin Sexton: has more non-big superstar potential than anyone else. Speed kills. He’s quick and a scorer with an uber-alpha mentality.

Donte Inferno: picture perfect jumper.  

Ayton: can he guard anyone? Hey, if the Warriors stay together and the Sixers get LeBron, it might not matter much anyway.  Just get to the NBA’s ELITE EIGHT aka the 2nd round every year, and it’s a success.

The III’s: Robert Williams has more UPSIDE in a boom-bust narrative. Bagley has a bit lower.

Marvin Bagley III looks like a blend of Keith Lee, Bob McAdoo, Drew Gooden, and Michael Beasley.  Maybe some Stromile Swift in there. Almost looks more like a 70’s athletic power forward/center either in the NBA or ABA.  So, Sidney Wicks, Spencer Haywood, or Connie Hawkins.  Not that I ever watched those guys or anything…

With Bagley I actually think you need to put him at CENTER — he could be a small ball scoring center a la Bob McAdoo.  Get a 4 with better one on one defense, and let The Bag Man concentrate on weak side shot blocking and hedging on the passing lanes for steals.

Coach K probably didn’t use Bagley right. Izzo probably didn’t use JJJ right either. If the league is going "small" well, ok, outside of Embiid, Jokic, KAT, Rudy Gobert, Clint Capela, Ben Simmons, and Power Point LeBron, then wouldn’t you use those two guys more as CENTERS? JJJ floated outside too much. 

Robert Williams looks like another solid power forward type or intriguing small ball center type. 

The "prototype" power forward for today’s NBA might actually be Zion Williamson — an athletic, long "combo" forward with ball skills who is built like a tank.  

I think China just retaliated by putting tariffs on Zion Williamson.

If I am gonna go FULL SIXTIES and compare Ayton to Wilt, Bamba to Bill Russell, Donte Inferno to Jerry West, and even Malik Newman to a big combo guard like the Big O or Sam Jones or Hal Greer, then I am gonna compare Zion Williamson to a cross between Elgin Baylor and Gus Johnson.

What I think will happen overall — the league continues to get bigger and more athletic: the guards and wings take MORE 3’s while the bigs take a bit fewer.  The bigs who DO take more 3’s could end up being the role player types like stretch 4’s or stretch 5’s.  Then I think you move some of the stronger small forwards over to the 4.  The "tweener" forward might be back — only playing the 4 full time.  So, then those 3/4’s take a bit more 3 pointers than the pure power forwards did.  

If you are going off the Villanova narrative, then that is, you don’t need EVERY guy on the team making 45% from 3.  You just need a Mikal, a Brunson, a Donte off the bench, and then two guys inside like Omari Spellman who can make 30% of ’em.  Overall, if your two bigs inside can hit at least 30% from 3, then that is more effective overall than having one big shooting 40% from deep but the other guy can’t shoot from distance at all.

If you think of a big man rotation like a platoon system in baseball, you have your "tweener forward" who is your secondary big man next to a center who is your primary rebounder, dunker, and shot blocker.  Then, off the bench your "third big" is a stretch 4.  Your 4th big might be a veteran back-to-the-basket player who plays the 5 but can also guard some 4’s.  5th big is a project stretch 5.  Maybe too much finesse but he can hit the 3.  Your team’s 12th man is 6’8 and can’t score from outside of 10 feet but can pretty much dunk from the charity stripe, rebound, block shots, and guard pretty much 1-5. He’s your backup every thing and pretty much your nominal 4th string center.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[HitsterParticipant]

Not a surprise he has declared as he has been tipped to go top 10 on most mocks. A lot of teams have filled their PG needs but I agree that Charlotte could be a good destination but if Walker does stay long term there could be an issue. I wonder if someone might look to move up to take him?

The Knicks could be a dark horse, they took Frank N last year but he can play a number of positions and his game is very different to Colin’s.

I don’t see him falling out of the lottery as I think Clippers would take him with one of their picks if he was still on the board then.

 

 

 

 

[kobyzParticipant]

 I compare him to steph marbury…

[Lotto StudParticipant]

 Not a bad look.

[Author]

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