lipoli390 wrote:Watching the NCAA tournament I've been underwhelmed by most of the lottery prospects I've had my eye on. I've been particularly disappointed in Keldon Johnson, Alexander-Walker and Jarrett Culver. Reddish was just as underwhelming as I thought he'd be. I wasn't particularly high on Koby White to begin with and he did nothing to win me over. I'm still not sure what to think of Nassir Little. I had Barrett ranked #3 before the tournament and he remains #3 on my list, but I have doubts about him. I considered Zion and Ja the two future NBA stars of the draft before the tournament and watching them in the tournament simply confirmed my view. There is one lottery prospect who went up in my estimation as a result of the tournament - De'Andre Hunter. He was obviously terrific tonight. He has a nice looking shot with 3-point range and is solid defensively. My concern is that he only averaged 5 rebounds and 0.6 blocks as a sophomore playing 32 minutes a game. That doesn't bode well for him as an NBA PF.
So while I have a lot more research to do, I'm currently not very impressed by the pool of talent in this year's draft. If we can get lucky and move up in the top three, I'd grab Ja, Zion or Barrett in that order. If we move up to #4, I'd lean towards Darius Garland if his knee checks out and we might be able to get him trading down from #4. If we end up in the likely 10-12 range, then I'm at a loss right now since I think Darius will be gone by then. I'd have my eye on Okpala as perhaps the guy with the highest upside among those likely to be available in that range. I'd still consider Nickeil Alexander-Walker and I'd take a long look at this Doumbouya guy. I wouldn't rule out Romeo Langford and I'd seriously think about Brandon Clarke as someone we could probably trade down and still draft.
I'm not a draft guru... but I do watch hoops. And know some stuff about hoops.
I'm not certain that Romeo Langford can dribble with his left hand. I heard a podcast recently and they discussed a few mid-rounders who were in the 3-and-D category. Guys who would compete and play D and do a few things to make a rotation but have limited ceilings. Basically, they sounded like Okogie-types.
Sometimes, in a draft without star depth, that's gotta be good enough?
Just so we're all tracking, Hunter's capable of playing both forward positions at the next level. I'd suggest it unwise to pigeonhole him as one or the other at this time given what he's done the last two years. He's no slouch on the perimeter and he's more than adequate inside.
Camden wrote:Just so we're all tracking, Hunter's capable of playing both forward positions at the next level. I'd suggest it unwise to pigeonhole him as one or the other at this time given what he's done the last two years. He's no slouch on the perimeter and he's more than adequate inside.
Nice 7'2" wingspan.
Despite the poor start, he didn't hurt his draft stock last night.
As for me, I know I'll be drafting Ty Jerome even when he's 65 years old for any pickup game anywhere. He's got a crazy good old man's game already.
Camden wrote:Just so we're all tracking, Hunter's capable of playing both forward positions at the next level. I'd suggest it unwise to pigeonhole him as one or the other at this time given what he's done the last two years. He's no slouch on the perimeter and he's more than adequate inside.
Fair point, Cam. I can see him as a Covington type SF.
Camden wrote:Just so we're all tracking, Hunter's capable of playing both forward positions at the next level. I'd suggest it unwise to pigeonhole him as one or the other at this time given what he's done the last two years. He's no slouch on the perimeter and he's more than adequate inside.
Nice 7'2" wingspan.
Despite the poor start, he didn't hurt his draft stock last night.
As for me, I know I'll be drafting Ty Jerome even when he's 65 years old for any pickup game anywhere. He's got a crazy good old man's game already.
I'm with you on Jerome.I thought earlier in the tourney his defense actually looked pretty good. I only watched the extended highlights (12 minutes worth) of the championship game this morning. He also mocker Stephen A Smith after the game.
So many wild takes come out around this time [draft season] every year. And of course, they usually come from those that haven't really done their homework -- especially if their day-to-day lifestyle doesn't allow them the time to properly scout/evaluate these guys.
