FNG wrote: ↑Mon Jun 16, 2025 6:38 am
Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 15, 2025 10:40 pm
https://youtu.be/JVgSKoBxgJQ
The case for Maxime Raynaud:
1. Offense. Scores inside & out. 20 PPG, 35% on over 5 three attemtps. Got to line 4 + times per/g and hit 77%.
2. Excellent rebounder. Averaged 10.6 boards per game. As we know, rebounding translates well from college to NBA.
3. Superb passer. Just watch the video
4. Fluid/athletic. 31.5” vertical. 11.31 agility time (superb for a big).
5. Plays with passion
6. From France. No better mentor than fellow Frenchman, Rudy Gobert.
He’s tall - a genuine 7’0 without shoes. His 9’2” standing reach is solid but not elite for an NBA center. His 7’1.25 wingspan makes him horizontally undersized for an NBA center. But I really like his stats and the way he plays. His three-point shot is beautiful with a high arc. And his passing is elite. He’d be a great pick for the Wolves at 17 or 31.
Wait, no analysis of his name? You're slipping, Lip. Do we really want the Wolves to draft a guy who has a disease named after him? Would you want the Twins to sign Lou Gehrig or Tommy John?
Seriously, while there are a lot of bigs that are likely to be available when we draft, I find myself comparing them all to Luka...who was the player of the year coming out of Iowa...and wondering if any of them will end up a better pro than him. Maxime is projected to go late in the first round, but doesn't he look a lot like a poor man's Luka Garza coming out of college?
As a threshold matter, and most importantly, there’s no such thing as a bad French name. There’s nothing more pleasing than hearing a French name spoken with that tongue roll in the back of the throat known as a French accent.
Names aside, I think you raise a good question about whether any of the guys I’ve profiled are any better NBA prospects than Luka Garza. Garza had great college stats. He scored more points than Raynaud and had better FG and 3-point percentages, although Raynard’s rebounding numbers were slightly better. I still believe Garza can be a good rotation player in the NBA if given the chance but I understand I’m out on a bit of a limb with that assessment. Compared to the prospects I’ve profiled in this year’s draft, I’ll echo some of Q’s thoughts and add a few of my own as to why I think there’s good reason to believe they can be better than Luka.
First, size matters a lot for success as an NBA big, and as Q noted, the guys I’ve profiled are all significantly longer or wider than Luka. And most of them are also more athletic. At the combine, Luka had an 8’11.25 standing reach and a 7’1.5 wingspan. Those measurements are on the very low end for NBA centers. Al Horford has been a very successful NBA center with similar measurements, but he’s the exception.
In contrast to Luka, Kalkbrenner has a 9’4 standing reach and a 7’6” wingspan. Those are huge size advantages over Luka. Kalkbrenner also had significantly higher no-step and max verticals than Luka (29/33 v. 24/29.5). Interestingly, the bigger Kalkbrenner also had faster shuttle run and sprint times than Luka (3.10/3.34 v. 3.38/3.51). Moreover, Kalkbrenner proved he can defend the paint at the college level, averaging 2.7 blocks per game. Luka averaged around 1.4. I’m not super high on Kyle but he has basic physical attributes that give him significantly higher potential than Luka for success as an NBA center.
The Luka comparison to Raynaud is a little more interesting. Raynaud’s wingspan is almost identical to Luka’s and they had very similar stats in college where neither one was much of a shot blocker or interior defender. But Raynaud’s 9’2 standing reach is still nearly 3 inches more than Luka’s. And Raynaud’s no-step vertical (28”) is 4 inches higher than Luka’s (4”). I like the no-step vertical for evaluating centers because centers typically don’t get running starts rebounding and blocking shots in the paint. When you combine Raynaud’s 3 inch standing reach advantage and his 4” no-step vertical advantage, Raynaud ends up with a 7” vertical advantage over Luka. Raynaud also had significantly better athletic test results than Luka in the combine. But what really elevates Raynaud over Luka in my view can’t be seen in measurements, test results or college stats. Watching the video of Raynaud and compare it to any highlights of Luka. Raynaud is a truly gifted passer with terrific floor vision. That’s what gets me excited about Raynaud even though he doesn’t have the size or rim protection I’d like to see.
As for the guys with the cool names, one of them (Rocco) is a lot bigger than Luka and the other (Konan) is somewhat bigger and much more athletic.
Stay tuned, however, because the best is yet to come when I post my profile of Thomas Sorber, who I consider the best center prospect in this year’s draft outside of Maluach.
