[kobyzParticipant]

if Cade Cunningham went number 1, why Jalen Williams can’t go top 5?
i think Jalen Williams is a lock for a top 10 and could very well go top 5!

[armchairgmParticipant]

I think he is a mid to late 1st rounder at this point.

[HitsterParticipant]

Jalen is a Jnr and you don’t tend to get many of them now going at the top part of the draft. I think he’ll be a mid first rounder at best personally but will be a safe pick.

[BothTeamsPlayedHard-Participant]

Williams won’t go top 5. If I have time this month, I’ll tier the draft, but I think Jabari Smith is a clear #1. He has the physical resemblance of a rookie Giannis with very good athleticism coming off a season where he shot 188 threes at a 42% clip. Take him. Chet has upside, but there is no argument that his body comes with huge risk. It is a risk some team will have to take, but it is a level of risk not there with with Smith. Anyone can have a catastrophic injury, but it is inarguable that Chet has a more frail frame than Smith. Jaden Ivey seems to be on a Donovan Mitchell-like learning curve. A team is more likely to find very good 6’4″ players than 6’10” and up ones, so it is no shame having him behind. I think there is a slight drop down to Paolo Banchero. I have my doubts about Paolo being a star on the next level, but think he will be solid. I don’t think he is 6’10” like he is listed, but his frame to go with an advanced skill level was such an advantage in college. It won’t be as overwhelming in the NBA. He is going to be guarded by guys just about as big, long, and sometimes quicker. Keegan Murray has a safe floor because of his length, athleticism, and now developed shot. In a league that wants to go 6’8″ across the board, he is what every team will want.

After them, the question marks become more prominent, and that allows for Jalen Williams to be in the discussion. Shaedon Sharpe didn’t play. He could have played at Kentucky. He was on campus, and reportedly practicing. Emoni Bates and Jalen Duren walked on campus early and played. Bates didn’t play well, but he got out there. If he was lighting up practice, Kentucky wasn’t so loaded that Calipari was just going to let him go to waste if he was definitely going to help. Does he look the part? Yes, but that is why he was a big time college recruit. You don’t get to double count it. It is like being impressed by Patrick Baldwin being tall. Why else would a guy who can barely jump over a phone book and was underwhelming in the majority of his 11 mid-major games have become a 5-star? Not playing matters. It is a mixed bag with the guys who sat out or barely played. Some worked like Simons and Garland. Others haven’t like Bazely, Ferguson, Maker, Mudiay, and Exum. The jury is still out on K-Mart Jr and Jalen Johnson. The jury is still somewhat out on Mitchell Robinson, and he has been in the league long enough to be a free agent this summer. Sharpe is a risk, and it will vary on to what degree teams are willing to gamble on the athleticism. AJ Griffin could very well have been in that Russell Westbrook or Devin Booker spot where he was on a loaded team going for a title, and the options were fit a role or wait a year. Griffin might have more to his game than he showed, and we saw that after about a month to adapt to what role he would need to play that he is a very good shooter and defender. With his size and athleticism, he has a more than safe floor, but can there is a lot of projection in thinking can be a Booker-like “I didn’t see him have that depth to his game in college.” Johnny Davis and Malaki Branham have more than adequate 2-guard size, but in a 6’8″ league are they special enough in skill or athleticism to merit that next step up in class to be a foundation piece of a rebuild? I have my doubts, even though I am confident they can contribute for a team that is further along in its build. TyTy Washington has good size for a point guard, but can he really run the point? If he is a scoring guard off the bench who can create for himself and make a tough shot, he isn’t valued in the lottery. Bennedict Mathurin is a very good athlete, but I don’t think his upside merits top 5-6 like this site currently has him. He doesn’t have any in-between to him. A team is going to draft him to be their version of Mikal Bridges, and I don’t think he is as polished on either end coming out. What is interesting about the Mathurin though is that he and Jalen Williams are good to compare. They both shot it well. Williams tested as an elite athlete in Chicago, and probably behind only Taze Moore as pure athlete in the draft class (obviously a better prospect, but respect to Moore’s athleticism). Mathurin is certainly near top of the class athleticism. Williams is much more advanced as a creator and has that in-between game as well. While Williams is just under 6’6″, his 7’2″ wingspan gives him a functional equivalent of length to the likes of Matthew Meyer, Jabari Walker, Justin Lewis, Kendall Brown, Dyson Daniels, and Marjon Beauchamp who are all in the “hey its a 6’7″ to 6’9″ league of athletes and that is what I am” camp. I also am a firm believer that I have zero issue with physically late developing players (Williams grew 8 inches from his sophomore to senior years in high school) being “late” to arrive as NBA prospects when they are spectacular athletes who came off do-it-all role seasons where they did so efficiently. It would be hard for me to criticize Indiana or Portland should they take him.

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