Everything 2016/17 NBA Draft Thread aka Thank Nation 2.0

[JamesNaismith]

I have to hold back the puke in my mouth with the thought of drafting any of Leaf, Lydon or Peters.

[Ebonhawke]

Markkanen with the corner 3's

https://twitter.com/DraftExpress/sta...18062788554752

[DogeLover1234]

You know a lot more than I do so thx to you as well.

Seems from what I've read he needs weight to play the 5 but struggles a bit to switch on the perimeter. His NBA comp is Brandon Wright.

I also read that he disappears and makes poor decisions. I think he flunked out of UCLA? Not sure if that's true or means anything about bbiq.

I haven't read anything about him flunking out, thought he just left for basketball reasons. He wanted to play on the perimeter but the coach didn't, wanted to focus solely on ball, etc. Either way I wouldn't worry too much, Ben Simmons said last year that he didnt go to class anyway last year, probably very common.

[lewro]

I haven't read anything about him flunking out, thought he just left for basketball reasons. He wanted to play on the perimeter but the coach didn't, wanted to focus solely on ball, etc. Either way I wouldn't worry too much, Ben Simmons said last year that he didnt go to class anyway last year, probably very common.

Yeah, you're right. He was academically ineligible in his freshman yr. Before his junior yr he left bc he wants to be a sf.
I'm not sure how I feel about this guy?

[ceez]

man i want Tatum so bad

[lewro]

Raptors will work out Caleb Swanigan tomorrow. Austin Nichols, Scoochie Smith, Damyean Dotson, Nate Britt, & Antonius Cleveland as well.

So the swanigan fans get their man. Scoochie was great in the tourney. Dayton v Wichita was a good game.

[ceez]

Kurucs is pretty intriguing, more likely to be picked around where we are. have a feeling he'll go up on boards.

[ceez]

Raps working out canadians and fringe second rounders. awesome. who's the highest rated guy we've had so far? Leaf? Blah.

[magoon]

Raps working out canadians and fringe second rounders. awesome. who's the highest rated guy we've had so far? Leaf? Blah.

Probably Tyler Lydon right now, or maybe Semi if you're really big on him.

Seriously, though. We have the #23 pick in a draft that's top-heavy-deep - there's in between 8 and 12 consensus potential star players in the draft, and we're eleven picks after they're all gone, so we're combing through the fourth or fifth tier of players trying to find that one guy who can be a starter-quality-or-better player. Masai doesn't really have the assets to trade up in the draft unless he decides to do a full tank, and he won't decide on a tank prior to free agency and whatever Kyle decides (and he shouldn't), so he's really limited to that #23 and maybe trading one player for a lower-level pick, so he's working out guys in his perceived fourth and fifth tier trying to find the diamond in the rough.

And come on: Norman Powell and Delon Wright are proof that Masai can find those guys in the middle third of the draft (and after this year I think we'll throw on Pascal Siakam to that list as well). So let's not get pissy because Masai isn't working out, say, John Collins or OG Anunoby, because they'll be long gone by the time we pick.

[magoon]

Dean On Draft posted his most recent big board last week and he's one of those indie draft analysts who's right far more often than he's wrong. (He applauded the Delon and Norm picks as being steals, for example, and his analysis of the 2015 draft in retrospect was mostly correct except for underrating Kristaps Porzingis and Devin Booker.)

So here is his current big board.



A couple notes:

- The players DoD suggests will be better than the Raptors' pick (IE, are better than the 23rd player available) who appear to be in the Raps' draft range (since the ESPN mock draft gives a better idea of how execs actually rank these guys) in order of his preference: Ivan Rabb, TJ Leaf, Tony Bradley, Jonathan Jeanne, Caleb Swanigan, Jawun Evans, Ike Anigbogu, and Josh Hart. Masai's already brought two of those players in for workouts (Leaf and Swanigan).

- He's not big on Tyler Lydon. He's REALLY not impressed with Semi Ojeleye. (To be fair, though, Semi is a shooter, and DoD admits that he tends to underrate shooting as opposed to other basketball skills because he thinks it's the most teachable, which is why he originally felt that Devin Booker's pick in 2015 was a bit of a reach and that Buddy Hield at #6 was a disaster pick for New Orleans.)

[lewro]

They also sometimes do non-public workouts. Supposedly, they participated in a Jaylen brown workout last yr; granted, they had the 9th pick. Maybe Donovan Mitchell is a candidate?

[lewro]

Thx for posting Magoon. I don't always agree with Dean but he's interesting.
I like Cole zwicker. His tier/category method with NBA players as models is interesting.
https://capstrategist.com

[ceez]

actually i kind of like Leaf

[ceez]

gimme some of that Markkanen tho woof

[ceez]

dude's got a Curry-esque release. i'm moist.