Might as well talk draft....

[KG4Ever]

Hayes is a guy that is brought up a lot. I am struggling finding the right video to convince me he is a top prospect. I see a guy playing against really inferior talent. And I see a guy that might as well have no right arm for how little he uses that hand.

He shot the 3 well this season, but he only played 10 games. Last year, in 33 games, he shot 19% from 3. I get it, he's very young. But not sure how far I can get behind a 10 game season to clearly show me his improvement in 1 year is sustainable.

He's a tad above 27% in 3s in three years (39% this year), but he's shooting 84% free throws in three years (90.9% this year). While I was already very high on Killian Hayes from watching various videos of him and I like his length, this video sort of clinched my thinking that he's the best guard available in the draft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z31Mp5nq61c&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=TheRinger

You are right to be concerned about his left hand dominance, but in a recent interview he says he has made strides in addressing it (see clip below). :
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In recent live workouts, Hayes believes he's shown a lot of new stuff since he last played eight months ago for Ratiopharm Ulm of Germany's major professional league.

"Everyone saw the progress and a lot of changes to my game,'' Hayes said on a Zoom call. "What I really improved on, really, is my body. As soon as you see me, there's a big difference and change from eight months ago to now."

The 6-foot-5 lefty scoring point guard, born in Florida but raised in France, wasn't done.

"I also shocked a lot of people with my right hand,'' Hayes added. "They see me throwing bullets with my right and finish with floaters with my right hand. Also my shooting -- some people questioned my shooting form because I had a low release. Now, my release is pretty high. I shoot it pretty well. So all those doubts went away."

"The player that I was back in March is not the same player I am today," Hayes added. "I've really leveled up a lot."

[Lipoli390]

There better be a trade down if we aren't taking Wiseman. If you aren't taking the clear cut best player in the draft you better get something for him. I'll have no faith in this season if we just take Edwards #1.

I totally agree. Like Crazysauce, I see Edwards as another Dion Waiters. That's not what you want from a #1 pick in the draft.

I agree. I'm hoping he's more like Dennis Smith Jr..

Could he be a Bradley Beal?

I wouldn't bet on it. Beal's perimeter shot was a thousand times better as a prospect than Edwards is now. We forget as time goes on, but Beal garnered Ray Allen comparisons soon after he came out of Florida. That is not Edwards. Think more along the lines of Tyreke Evans.

That's a bit overstated. Beal only hit 34% of his 5 three point attempts per game in college. That's certainly better than Edward' 29.4% on 7.7 attempts. So Beal was a better three-point shooter on significantly fewer attempts. At the same time, Edwards got to the line more than Beal and shot a slightly better percentage from the line. So it's not like Beal was Steph Curry as a shooter coming out of college. And he sure wasn't anything close to the second coming of Ray Allen who hit over 40% of his three-point attempts in all three of his college seasons, hitting 46.6% of his three-point attempts his junior year. So yes, Beal's college shooting stats were better than Edwards', but they weren't in a different league. And note that Edwards scored over 19 points per game compared to Beal's 15 points.

Beal shot 38.6 percent from three on solid volume as a 19-year old rookie. I don't see any way Edwards is able to replicate that next year, and maybe ever. And, while it's not quantifiable, Beal's shot had less wrong with it than Edwards' does. Edwards often has poor balance and tends to fade backwards on his jumper versus staying straight up. The release looks fluid, but the power distribution is wrong, which is why his shots tend to fall short at the front of the rim. Now, we can argue whether that's fixable or not (it is), but Beal was way ahead of Edwards at this point, in my opinion.

I agree that it's unlikely Edwards will shoot as well as Beal from behind the arc early in his career. And I don't dispute your observations about Edwards' mechanics. I just think it's way overstated to say that Beal's perimeter shot was "a thousand times better" than Edwards shot right now. And the pundits who made those Ray Allen comparisons were also engaged in hyperbole.

The mechanical flaws you identified in Edwards' shot are correctable. And he otherwise has a nice looking stroke with great lift in his legs. Beyond his shooting potential, he is physically far more imposing than Beal. So Edwards has the potential to be great and the Beal comparison isn't crazy, although I think Oladiop and Donovan Mitchell are far better comparisons. In any event, I don't think it will be shooting mechanics that hold Edwards back. Unfortunately, if he ends up a bust, it will be because he lacks the requisite intangibles - mainly the fierce desire to compete and win. I just don't think he has it in him.

Again, that's why I'm so disappointed in the reports that the Wolves aren't considering Wiseman. Now we wait and hope the Wolves trade down for a prospect not named Anthony Edwards and other assets. And if they don't trade down, I guess we'll just have to be relieved it's Edwards and not Ball. Then again, it might be Ball. Stay tuned.

[Monster]

Did the Wolves come out and say they were drafting Edwards or something?

[Lipoli390]

Did the Wolves come out and say they were drafting Edwards or something?

No. We're just reacting to the latest report that the Wolves will likely stay put and draft Edwards. Of course, it's a report and not a quote from Rosas so we don't really know. I'll be relieved if it turns out to be wrong and the Wolves, instead, either draft Wiseman or swap picks with Charlotte and draft Okongwu.

[Hicks123 [enjin:6700838]]

Did the Wolves come out and say they were drafting Edwards or something?

No. We're just reacting to the latest report that the Wolves will likely stay put and draft Edwards. Of course, it's a report and not a quote from Rosas so we don't really know. I'll be relieved if it turns out to be wrong and the Wolves, instead, either draft Wiseman or swap picks with Charlotte and draft Okongwu.

There have been a lot of assumptions that Wiseman is not a possibility because of the reports that the Wolves haven't talked to him.

WHAT IF......the Wolves have ALWAYS had Wiseman #1, and have interviewed and watched Ball and Edwards multiple times to see if these players could convince them NOT to draft Wiseman. Certainly makes some level of sense.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Did the Wolves come out and say they were drafting Edwards or something?

No. We're just reacting to the latest report that the Wolves will likely stay put and draft Edwards. Of course, it's a report and not a quote from Rosas so we don't really know. I'll be relieved if it turns out to be wrong and the Wolves, instead, either draft Wiseman or swap picks with Charlotte and draft Okongwu.

There have been a lot of assumptions that Wiseman is not a possibility because of the reports that the Wolves haven't talked to him.

WHAT IF......the Wolves have ALWAYS had Wiseman #1, and have interviewed and watched Ball and Edwards multiple times to see if these players could convince them NOT to draft Wiseman. Certainly makes some level of sense.

Oh, I wish, but that's not how that works. I'm absolutely positive that the Wolves would want to meet and sit down with a guy that they're wanting to take first overall -- not to mention get his medicals and see how he moves in person. I hope you're right and I'm wrong on this one, though.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Did the Wolves come out and say they were drafting Edwards or something?

No. We're just reacting to the latest report that the Wolves will likely stay put and draft Edwards. Of course, it's a report and not a quote from Rosas so we don't really know. I'll be relieved if it turns out to be wrong and the Wolves, instead, either draft Wiseman or swap picks with Charlotte and draft Okongwu.

There have been a lot of assumptions that Wiseman is not a possibility because of the reports that the Wolves haven't talked to him.

WHAT IF......the Wolves have ALWAYS had Wiseman #1, and have interviewed and watched Ball and Edwards multiple times to see if these players could convince them NOT to draft Wiseman. Certainly makes some level of sense.

Oh, I wish, but that's not how that works. I'm absolutely positive that the Wolves would want to meet and sit down with a guy that they're wanting to take first overall -- not to mention get his medicals and see how he moves in person. I hope you're right and I'm wrong on this one, though.

It would seem like malpractice akin to something David Kahn would do not to have contact with Wiseman on some level.

It would seem like an immensely misguided decisions when simultaneously trying to play the savvy subterfuge game to drive up the value of the #1 draft slot.

Something is off here...

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Did the Wolves come out and say they were drafting Edwards or something?

No. We're just reacting to the latest report that the Wolves will likely stay put and draft Edwards. Of course, it's a report and not a quote from Rosas so we don't really know. I'll be relieved if it turns out to be wrong and the Wolves, instead, either draft Wiseman or swap picks with Charlotte and draft Okongwu.

There have been a lot of assumptions that Wiseman is not a possibility because of the reports that the Wolves haven't talked to him.

WHAT IF......the Wolves have ALWAYS had Wiseman #1, and have interviewed and watched Ball and Edwards multiple times to see if these players could convince them NOT to draft Wiseman. Certainly makes some level of sense.

Oh, I wish, but that's not how that works. I'm absolutely positive that the Wolves would want to meet and sit down with a guy that they're wanting to take first overall -- not to mention get his medicals and see how he moves in person. I hope you're right and I'm wrong on this one, though.

It would seem like malpractice akin to something David Kahn would do not to have contact with Wiseman on some level.

It would seem like an immensely misguided decisions when simultaneously trying to play the savvy subterfuge game to drive up the value of the #1 draft slot.

Something is off here...

Maybe it's the Eli Manning "pick me 1 and I won't play for you" situation.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

It's also malpractice from the standpoint of driving up the potential trade offers for Wiseman if some team really liked him. Why would you NOT want Charlotte and Golden State to think that he is just as much in play as Ball or Edwards. We want to do everything possible to make it seem like we are doing our due diligence on all of the top prospects so if someone REALLY falls in love with a prospect, they aren't going to hope and pray they drop to them but instead take the initiative to make an offer to move up in the draft.

So even if we really weren't interested in drafting him for ourselves, it's still incredibly stupid not to be showing interest to the rest of the league!

[AbeVigodaLive]

It's also malpractice from the standpoint of driving up the potential trade offers for Wiseman if some team really liked him. Why would you NOT want Charlotte and Golden State to think that he is just as much in play as Ball or Edwards. We want to do everything possible to make it seem like we are doing our due diligence on all of the top prospects so if someone REALLY falls in love with a prospect, they aren't going to hope and pray they drop to them but instead take the initiative to make an offer to move up in the draft.

So even if we really weren't interested in drafting him for ourselves, it's still incredibly stupid not to be showing interest to the rest of the league!

Yeah. That's my point. It's actually beyond stupid.

And I can't imagine these guys making millions of dollars would do such a thing without something else going on. Maybe they already have suitors? A trade? Maybe it's part of some 4D chess game going on? But it's so dumb that it has to be something.

The odds are extremely stacked against us that we'd have the dumbest executive team since... David Kahn.