[OhCanada-Participant]

Who’s the better prospect? (As per request). Lets see what Hitster has to say.

[HitsterParticipant]

Both guys I have as late first rounders to early 2nd rounders. If either are still available at 28 I don’t see Boston passing on both unless Danny Wolf was still there. Whoever T-Wolves takes at 17 could impact on either going at 31. I think both will be drafted by 35 as Philly will probably want another NBA ready guy.

Lakers are after a big and Ryan is the sort of player I could see them trading up to get.

Maxime is a year younger and slightly more athletic but I’d favour Ryan if it came to a straight choice as he has slight size advantage and is the better defender which for defensive anchor is always my biggest need.

Maxime does have the potential to play some 4 and would be a likely size mismatch there. But I just give Ryan the edge.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

This one’s actually a very good one imo… I think it depends on fit. If Maxime Raynaud gets picked at 14 by the Spurs, that’s a fantastic fit imo. If he doesn’t get picked there, he could slide to anywhere in the top Idk – 35…? His shooting is a plus, but his ability to rebound the ball is special. Very good at dribble hand offs and screen and rolls or pick and pops. He did have a great combine, especially in the scrimmage where he dominated smaller competition. His production in the ACC was underrated due to the weak conference last year, but he did lead the nation in rebounding. Next to a player like Wemby, he’s the better fit.
Kalkbrenner has better defense and is just a big dude. He can also shoot the ball, but more sparingly compared to Raynaud. But his shot blocking and just altering presence is a hot commodity in today’s NBA.
I like both their IQs, Raynaud’s more from his feel overall but Kalkbrenner’s defensive IQ makes up for his lack of agility. In a vacuum I’d go with Raynaud as the younger guy as the swing vote here since they’re dead even. I don’t think there’s a wrong answer though – ultimately it depends on fit.

[HitsterParticipant]

Raynaud alongside Wemby intrigues me and he could also play C when Wemby isn’t on court. I still like Fleming at 14 for the Spurs, pretty much offers what Raynaud does and is a more solid build with both being about the same weight.

Could the Spurs use some future picks they have due and possibly take Harper, a pure shooter at 14 and then get Raynaud a bit further down with the acquired pick or go Harper, Raynaud at 14 and then possibly make a move for say McNeeley with the acquired pick.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Fleming would be fantastic on the Spurs, Idk exactly how far Raynaud would slip… might not even… but could unlikely fall to the early second round… I think the Spurs would stay put. They have too many future picks to be adding more to the roster imo.

[OhCanada-Participant]

I’m a very big fan of both players and think both are being criminally underrated. Heres my take.

Big man prospects should be evaluated similar to American football players. I dont think age should hinder legitimate big men’s proposed draft stock or value the same way it hinders players at other positions. Especially when you start looking at players 7’0 and larger. Similar to a football player the amount of physicality a true big needs to deal with is completely different then other positions which tends to lead to more injuries and shorter careers in general. I would rather a big mature physically and develop his skills at the college level than at the pro level and if my big man is 24 years old at the time of the draft it really does not matter.

There is also something that needs to be said about a player gradually improving and earning more responsibility/understanding that process. I’ll Lauri Markannen as an example. very skilled player, high level talent. But as a prospect people questioned his physicality, defense and rebounding. Now in the pro’s he tends to be inconsistent with all of those things because he never earned his minutes by doing those things. Nobody told him you have to do this to stay on the floor. So fastforward to today it really depends on who’s coaching him on whether hes gonna give you 6 rebounds a game or 8 rebounds a game throughout a season.

[OhCanada-Participant]

So now with that being said here my hot take for the day. I think Maxime Raynuad is a better prospect than Lauri Markannen was. I bring this up because Raynuad has the 2nd most three’s for a 7 footer in a college season behind Lauri Markannen and the Raptors are currently involved in tons of trade rumours and Markannen’s name is one thats popping up. I would rather just have Raynaud!

He gave you 10 rebounds a game including 2.7 offensive rebounds a game despite 5.5 three pointers a game. So for at least 6 offensive rebound oppurtunities every game he was standing outside of the three point line but he still managed to get close to 3. Thats elite. He has good feet and can switch onto smaller guards. He has legit size 7’0 w/o shoes, 7’1 wingspan 9’2 standing reach 235 pounds compared to Markannen who is 6’11 w/o shoes and 7’0 wingspan 9’0 standing reach and maybe 230.

So if were saying Raynuad becomes a poor mans Lauri Markannen offensively but improves on all of his flaws like rebounding, defending, communication, body language then to me its a no brainer.

[HitsterParticipant]

Where would these guys have been in last years’ draft I wonder?

Maxime did improve last season and Ryan played to the same high standard as his previous couple of years. In a less deep draft last year surely Ryan would have been a top 20 pick?

Ryan will likely have made good NIL money to stay, not sure about Maxime given he is a French national.

I could see Ainge looking to cash in on Markannen given he is under contract for another 4 years so any receiving team would hope to get his prime years. It Ainge can squeeze max value out of Lauri he will do so. He’ll keep going back to the draft until he gets the right players. He tends to get the right players in the end.

He blew up an ageing Boston team and laid the foundations for another title win last year. There were issues between Utah’s two star players, he didn’t try to appease one. He shipped them both out for good returns and is willing to play the long game.

[OhCanada-Participant]

Yeah Ainge doesn’t give a fuck.

[OhCanada-Participant]

I’m kind of hoping Toronto picks Raynuad at 9. He’s the perfect fit for Scottie Barnes, theres not a single prospect in this draft that fits his playstyle better aside from Cooper Flagg.. I dont see him slipping past 14.

Aws for Kalkbrenner teams are gonna look dumb if he doesnt go top 20. I think hes in play outside of the lottery but it seems as though he will slip to the mid to late 20’s. If he goes in the 2nd round I’ve lost all hope for prospect evaluators.

Just wanted to point out despite having Raynuad higher for his abillity to space the floor I cant stop raving about Kalkbrenner. To me he s3eems like a Udonis Haslem, Antonio Davis, Nick Collison, Steven Adams type of franchise big man. Not a talent type of comparison but just as a big man you know you can bring into your lockeroom who will become a leader and a franchise big that can be relied on. I also think it is very reasonable he will have a similar impact defensively as Rudy Gobert while being a similar floor spacer as a Milwaukee Brook Lopez. He also averaged close to 70% on field goals and has the highest FG percentage in this draft aside from Khaman Maluach and the Uconn big, but those guys didnt even take 10 shots a game.

4 time Big East Defensive player
2 to 1 block to foul ratio/1.4 fouls with 2.7 blocks which is just unheard of
Only missed 5 of Creighton’s 143 games in 4 years as a starter
Averaged 33 minutes a game doing all of this

The guy is a no brainer and if he slips outside of the top 20 it just shows that these teams really don’t know how to evaluate talent.

[HitsterParticipant]

Kalk I could make a case for the Thunder at 15 as with the extensions due for a couple of guys can they retain Hartenstein long term.

The T-Wolves at 17 have two bigs who are FA’s and Gobert turns 33 this year. Kalk playing behind Gobert for a couple of seasons could take him to the next level.

Also the Lakers need a big man and had the two picks plus Knecht offer for Mark Williams in the rescinded trade. Ryan is the sort of reliable NBA ready big they would likely be after.

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