[OhCanada-Participant]

For those that don’t know Kai Sotto is a 7’2 230 18 year old, lefty Center from the Philippines and he is expected to enter his name in this years draft. He was supposed to play for the G-League Ignite alongside other top prospects like Jalen Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Isaiah Todd and Daishen Nix but opted to instead play for his country in the U-19 tournament which is looking like a mistake because he is currently not in the top 60 of any mock draft I can find.

But I mean he’s at least 7’2 without being rail thin. He can move with no hitches in his steps and looks to be very fluid. He can even jump a bit. He can also shoot and dribble a bit it seems. If he enters his name he will get drafted thats for certain but he hasn’t really proven he can compete aside from a few workout runs .

So the question is where does he get picked, and is he this years huge rise up draft boards?

[armchairgmParticipant]

Right now I feel he is off the radar, but think he could work himself into a late 1st to mid 2nd rounder. He is skilled and has a good understanding of the game. He is going to struggle with his lack of quickness, lack of strength, and defense in the NBA.

[HitsterParticipant]

He’s one of these players that logically a team will use a second round pick to nab him and probably stash him maybe have him play G-League for a year or two. If he went undrafted and Summer League retuens he’d likely get invites there and if he looked okay there then he’d likely have training camp interest and a chance of a roster spot.
But as always an international guy of that size will interest a lot of teams and he only needs to have one front office like him and he could be a late first round pick.

[BothTeamsPlayedHard-Participant]

Would him not entering the draft, and playing for the G-League Ignite next year (assuming the NBA elects to continue it), actually get more him more money than him either going late in the 2nd or going undrafted with the hope of getting a two-way contract?

[armchairgmParticipant]

G League Ignite and two way contracts are both around $500,000 so it would be the same.

[BothTeamsPlayedHard-Participant]

Prior to this year, I thought two-ways worked so that they got the equivalent of a week’s pay at $77,250 salary for when they were with the G-League team and that of a rookie at the minimum ($898,310) for the time they spend with their NBA team but with a limit to how many days they could be with their NBA team. With covid, the G-League bubble, and the need for extra bodies, they loosened rules. I am not sure how that will work with a presumed return to normalcy. It might be roughly equal, but G-League contracts aren’t guaranteed. Two-way guys get dropped regularly.

[Author]

Posts