[OhCanada-Participant]

01 Cooper Flagg – NOP
02 Dylan Harper – WAS
03 Ace Bailey – CHA
04 Egor Demin – UTA
05 Tre Johnson – TOR
06 Kasparus Jakucionis – POR
07 VJ Edgecombe – BKN
08 Jeremiah Fears – OKC
09 Khaman Maluach – CHI
10 Noa Essengue – SAC
11 Asa Newell – HOU
12 Thomas Sorber – DET
13 Boogie Fland – UTA
14 Ian Jackson – GSW
15 Labaron Philon – IND
16 Nolan Traore – SAS
17 Liam McNeeley – SAS
18 Rasheer Fleming – OKC
19 Derik Queen – BKN
20 Dink Pate – OKC
21 Hugo Gonzalez – DAL
22 Ben Saraf – ORL
23 Mackenzie Mgbako – ORL
24 Kam Jones – ATL
25 Nique Clifford – BKN
26 Kon Knueppel – MEM
27 Will Riley – BKN
28 Miles Byrd – BOS
29 Collin Murray-Boyles – LAC
30 Jamir Watkins – UTA

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Nice, I can definitely see something like this happening… especially depending on who declares…
It’s crazy, but wow OKC getting Jeremiah Fears would be nuts. Brooklyn won big in this mock too.

[OhCanada-Participant]

Yeah it depends on who declares right. I could throw the Ivisic brothers in there who I’m high on but would they even declare if they are not projected to go top 20? Probably not.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

I think they would declare if they were top 40. Imo that’s the magic number, especially for international college guys. They are fringe top 40 though imo…

[HitsterParticipant]

Great draft and interesting to see who you had the Raptors taking. I like pretty much all those picks.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Just think too guys, this is a very good class in theory assuming these freshmen enter… But a lot of these guys are just scratching the surface of showcasing what they can do. It’s only early January still… For all we know Cooper Flagg can maybe develop a better jumper by the time the draft comes around. Ace Bailey maybe learns some more ball handling… these guys are still far from complete. Somebody could really jump up in mocks/boards between now and the end of the combine…
I wonder how different our mocks will look towards the end of this cycle.

[HitsterParticipant]

The further down the mocks we go the more they will vary, the guys at the top tend to stay the same we don’t suddenly find Steph Mk II lurking in a college somewhere. But the order in the top 10 will shuffle around as the better prospects play against each other and I still feel a deep run into March Madness can help a prospect lets say Philon.

We don’t know who out of the later first rounds/early second round will declare or may look to make NILs money or stay overseas etc so now I tend to hang off mocking until we know who is in or out. No point figuring does Hansen Yang go ahead of Rocco Z if we don’t know if either is in or out.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Right, I just consider every prospect eligible until I learn something different. I was more referring to how much these freshmen could improve throughout this process, as the young develop more, and this year… guys like Ian Jackson and Drake Powell for example have finally been cracking some more minutes and making use out of them. OhCanada mentioned Moustapha Thiam the other day who is within that realm too. Donnie Freeman I almost gave up on as a prospect this year… he’s back on the fence though and getting more minutes.

[OhCanada-Participant]

Yeah theres a few players I left out simply because I dont have a read on where they would fall or wanna see more of them.

Zikarsky for sure is on that list. I used to watch NBL games so I had an idea of the competition level but its been years since I watched that league so I just don’t know what I’m watching when I see his highlights. `Eric Dixon is defenitely one of those guys. I think he can play in the NBA. He’s just so strong and he shoots the ball so well but he’s 24 in a few weeks and he gets 1.1 combined blocks/steals a game. Or Danny Wolf in Michigan . He almost dropped a quadruple double but how does he defend in space when they switch him onto a guard and how is he in the post defensively? I just haven’t watched them. As the year goes on well get more film on Youtube to judge this and rank these guys and then we can mock them.

[HitsterParticipant]

Teams will look at the older guys if they think they can fill a need or the player might be drafted by another side and not be available as an undrafted guy. But often they will want the rights to a younger guy who they gamble will have more upside.

Dixon is having a lights out shooting season and offers value on defence so I could see him getting onto a roster either via draft or maybe summer league or training camp. I’d personally think he is worth a punt in the 2nd round.

[OhCanada-Participant]

My updated top 15.

01. Cooper Flagg – WAS
02. Ace Bailey – NOP
03. Dylan Harper – CHA
04. Kasparus Jakucionis – TOR
05. Egor Demin – UTA
06. VJ Edgecombe – POR
07. Tre Johnson – BKN
08. Khaman Maluach – OKC
09. Derrick Queen – CHI
10. Noa Essengue – SA
11. Asa Newell – HOU
12. Ian Jackson – GSW
13. Boogie Fland – DET
14. Rasheer Fleming – ATL
15. Jeremiah Fears – OKC

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Wow, I can see Ace surpassing Dylan… or even slipping to 4th. I like your mock – pretty high on everyone you got in your top 15 but maybe Fland – and then again maybe not? Still on the fence with him. Damn OKC would have some serious talent if they get the most out of Maluach/Fears. I really like the idea of Newell on Houston. Fleming’s a perfect Hawks fit. Portland swings for the fences. Solid!!!

[OhCanada-Participant]

At the beggining of the year I said I would be watching to see if Bailey could develop good defensive habits. He has not only become a capable defender but he is currently one of the best defensive prospects in this draft and projects to be a full fledged defensive playmaker. Also his first 9 games he got 5 assist and the main concern became “why wont he pass” “does he see the floor” but in his last 7 games he has 11 assists which you would like to see improve but you can see its there. I dont think he is “improving” per se, I think he is hearing the criticism and correcting the way he is playing to awnser his critics. I thhink he has these skills. You see the passes he made against Nebraska? Those are elite passes. He didnt learn how to make across the court 40 foot passes in 1 month.

Assuming they don’t pick Flagg I feel like Toronto will pick someone with shooting. Edgecombe is off the table there. They also need someone that can create their own shot. In this mock I’m torn between Kasparus and Tre Johnson but I feel like Kasparus has played better and Tre sort of has a bad tendency to take difficult shots. The tougher the defense is the tougher the shots he takes. He doesnt find ways to create easy buckets he just believes he’ll go 10/10 on one legged fading 18 foot contested jumpshots.

I keep giving Utah Demin because BYU is in Utah and really they could use a player with that skillset. I actually have Demin around 8 right now on my big board.

Portland already has tons of scoring guards. Edcombe projects to be a defensive playmaker at the guard position which provides them a different element.

OKC I just do BPA both picks because who knows what they are gonna do.

Chicago I went best bigman to replace Vucevic who I think will get traded.

Now Fleming who is playing right now I’m going to watch the game, he’s shooting 44% from three making 2 a game and he has a 7’5 wingspan. with 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks per game. He also is realistic and says he wants to come into the league playing a Jaden McDaniels role. I really wanna put him top 10 and think OKC picks him at 8 but we’ll wait for that. Atlanta wont pass on him though. They only seem to draft players to make up for Youngs lack of D.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Yeah, I totally see it… and Ace is improving. It’s not so much the skillset but putting the skillset together and being competitive as a unit.

[OhCanada-Participant]

Also I wanna put Danny Wolf in there but I have to watch Michigan play. I mised the game vs Minnesota against Dawson. I wanna see what him and Goldin are doing defensively and what his role is there but I think he is right there with Maluach, Queen , Sorber and Newell as the first big off the board. I’m actually not very high on Newell at all.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

I watched that game on a replay late last night. Danny Wolf is good. Yeah, he turns the ball over – but there’s a lot to like… I could see him go high too.

Xzayvier Brown is looking impressive against VCU. It’s a tight one right now.

[OhCanada-Participant]

Yeah Brown was making some very high iq plays. He’s defenitely a better player than his stats. Fleming played well, VCU were running him off the line and tried to stay away from him when they had the ball. St Josephs had long stretches where they could not box out and Fleming really became a presence on the glass. His game needs alot of work though with ballhandling and his playmakling fluidity. He had a couple bad passes and looked stiff or mechanic at times.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

I wonder what it looks like atm…

[OhCanada-Participant]

Something like this. Im still working on one.

01 Cooper Flagg – UTAH
02 Dylan Harper – WAS
03 VJ Edgecombe – CHA
04 Ace Bailey – NOP
05 Tre Johnson – BKN
06 Kon Knueppel – PHI
07 Khaman Maluach – TOR
08 Noa Essengue – POR
09 Liam McNeely – CHI
10 Kasparus Jakucionis – SAS
11 Jeremiah Fears – MIA
12 Derik Queen – HOU
13 Nolan Traore – DAL
14 Rasheer Fleming – ATL
15 Asa Newell – ORL
16 Danny Wolf – SAS
17 Collin Murray Boyles – MIN
18 Yexel Lendeborg – OKC
19 Moustapha Thiam – IND
20 Egor Demin – UTA
21 Thomas Sorber -BKN
22 Johni Broome – MIA
23 Will Riley – ATL
24 Jase Richardson – ORL
25 Ben Saraf – WAS
26 JT Toppin – BKN
27 Hugo Gonzalez – BKN
28 Maxime Raynuad – BOS
29 Nique Clifford – LAC
30 Keyshawn Hall – PHX

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

I noticed you have Ace at 4… interesting take! Edgecombe’s been good too.

[OhCanada-Participant]

He’s kinda just too similar to Brandon Miller I think they would pick Edgecombe or Johnson.

[HitsterParticipant]

I can’t argue with much apart from Ace being at 4 and not in the top 3. If it is done on team needs and not BPA then I can accept VJ at 3 easily. Brooklyn, Spurs and Miami picks I like.

[Author]

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