Everything 2023 Draft

[planetmars]

Did they say anything about Brice? I tried watching the video but man is the host difficult to listen to. Dude really loves the sound of his own voice.

No Brice.

The guest pencil's in Nick Smith as our choice at 13. I tuned him out when he was talking about him sorry.

Talked about Keyonte George. Said he was injured mostly and that's why he had a brutal tourney. But he played in the Canada Global Jam tourney they held last year. And was good in that (I don't really remember him to be honest, and I saw most of that).

Brought up Cason Wallace. And he compared him to a PG version of Kawhi. Just a kid that is composed, hits his spots.. but doesn't say a lot. Really good defender. I'd imagine an OG/Cason interview would be wild. The guest knew Wallace since he was in the 4th grade. Most of these guards are from the Dallas area and so was the guest.

They then went into shooters. Talked about Jet Howard, Gradey Dick, Jordan Hawkins. He didn't like Howard much. Basically described him as a guy that if his hot doesn't go down he doesn't add anything else. He thought Dick was an underrated defender and good at cutting. Felt Hawkins was the best pure shooter, and he had a really good tournament highlighting what he can do. Felt like his game in the NCAA could translate well into the NBA.

They talked about Kobe Bufkin briefly. Admired his ability to get to the rim.

The host asked him for the Masai pick. The one nobody sees coming but only Masai would take. Even if he can't shoot. And he mentioned Bilal Coulibaly. A kid who played with Wemby. Just got better every year. From a kid who rarely played to a standout playing for team France. He thinks he would be a lottery pick if he came out in 2024, but he still needs development. And only GM's that don't have to worry about their jobs would likely take him. And he mentioned Masai as one of those guys with job security.

I could be missing some stuff. Just heard the interview in my car as I was doing some errands.

I agree though.. the host's voice was tough to listen to at times.

[WJF]

No Brice.

The guest pencil's in Nick Smith as our choice at 13. I tuned him out when he was talking about him sorry.

Talked about Keyonte George. Said he was injured mostly and that's why he had a brutal tourney. But he played in the Canada Global Jam tourney they held last year. And was good in that (I don't really remember him to be honest, and I saw most of that).

Brought up Cason Wallace. And he compared him to a PG version of Kawhi. Just a kid that is composed, hits his spots.. but doesn't say a lot. Really good defender. I'd imagine an OG/Cason interview would be wild. The guest knew Wallace since he was in the 4th grade. Most of these guards are from the Dallas area and so was the guest.

They then went into shooters. Talked about Jet Howard, Gradey Dick, Jordan Hawkins. He didn't like Howard much. Basically described him as a guy that if his hot doesn't go down he doesn't add anything else. He thought Dick was an underrated defender and good at cutting. Felt Hawkins was the best pure shooter, and he had a really good tournament highlighting what he can do. Felt like his game in the NCAA could translate well into the NBA.

They talked about Kobe Bufkin briefly. Admired his ability to get to the rim.

The host asked him for the Masai pick. The one nobody sees coming but only Masai would take. Even if he can't shoot. And he mentioned Bilal Coulibaly. A kid who played with Wemby. Just got better every year. From a kid who rarely played to a standout playing for team France. He thinks he would be a lottery pick if he came out in 2024, but he still needs development. And only GM's that don't have to worry about their jobs would likely take him. And he mentioned Masai as one of those guys with job security.

I could be missing some stuff. Just heard the interview in my car as I was doing some errands.

I agree though.. the host's voice was tough to listen to at times.

This sums it up pretty well. Wallace seems like a guy who can play from day one. The Keyonte George take was refreshing for me, I do remember him from the Global Jam and thought that he is one of those guys that might not jump out at you stats wise all the time but impacts the game with hustle plays and will to win.

[magoon]

I am not at all on Coulibaly. He played in France's junior league for half the year, which is meaningless, and then got replacement-level minutes on Wemby's team at a low usage rate. That's just not a recipe for NBA success.

Euro players who make it in the NBA generally follow one of two trajectories: they're a big in need of skill development but have the raw physical tools (Gobert, Jokic) or they've played really, really, really well at the Euro level (Dirk, Luka, Manu). Most of the rest either fall out of the league after a few years or top out as end-of-bench guys.

Like, here's a list of Euro lottery picks from the last ten years, going backward. It doesn't include Euro players who went through the NCAA en route to becoming NBA players - Franz Wagner, Lauri Markannen, Domantas Sabonis and Jakob Poetl - because they all took the risk of playing NCAA ball and consequently proved they could handle the American level of game, and yes NCAA ball is definitely more advanced than Euro players of equivalent ages for the most part.

Ousmane Dieng
Killian Hayes
Luka
Frank Nktilina
Dragan Bender
Georgios Papagiannis
Kristaps Porzingis
Mario Hezonja
Dario Saric

Luka is Luka, obviously. Porzingis was the only player other than Luka on this list to really get serious accolades and show real success in Euro ball. Saric had respectable ones as well. Porzingis is massively overpaid and Saric is a bench player. The rest of these guys are either out of the league or, in the case of Hayes and Dieng, currently showing themselves to be bench guys at best unless they make major leaps.

Coulibaly feels like a repeat of the Bruno Caboclo debacle.

[planetmars]

Masai has refrained from going way outside the box. Most of his picks lately have been mocked appropriately. Except for those second rounders in 2021. Nobody really saw Johnson or Banton, but it's hard to mock the 2nd round.

Bruno and Pascal were wild. Pascal mostly because we skipped on Skal and Davis.
Delon and Jak were both mocked around where we selected them. I don't remember Norm and where he was mocked. But likely 2nd round.
OG dropped and he fit Masai's m.o. like a glove.
Malachi was in that area too, and I could see us wanting a PG since Kyle was going to be a free agent
Scottie was a bold pick, but he was mocked as high as 4th by a few draft experts. I saw him in that 7-8-9 range mostly, but it wasn't that much of a leap.
Koloko was a 2nd rounder, but many mentioned him too before the draft.

I don't think he's taking Coulibaly at 13. He might buy another pick and nab him. But not at 13. If he keeps the pick, I think he gets one of the guys that have been mentioned here. He might reach a bit and get someone like Leonard Miller but that wouldn't be too wild either.

[saints91]

So I watched a bunch of stuff on Nick Smith Jr today, not a fan of his game. I went back and watched some highschool stuff too, and didn’t come away impressed.

Keyonte George on the other hand could be a great pick. I watched the Global Jam, highschool and college. Supposedly he was playing hurt since Feb, which cor codes with his drop in the rankings.

Still in on Bufkin as well.

[golden]

I am not at all on Coulibaly. He played in France's junior league for half the year, which is meaningless, and then got replacement-level minutes on Wemby's team at a low usage rate. That's just not a recipe for NBA success.

Euro players who make it in the NBA generally follow one of two trajectories: they're a big in need of skill development but have the raw physical tools (Gobert, Jokic) or they've played really, really, really well at the Euro level (Dirk, Luka, Manu). Most of the rest either fall out of the league after a few years or top out as end-of-bench guys.

Like, here's a list of Euro lottery picks from the last ten years, going backward. It doesn't include Euro players who went through the NCAA en route to becoming NBA players - Franz Wagner, Lauri Markannen, Domantas Sabonis and Jakob Poetl - because they all took the risk of playing NCAA ball and consequently proved they could handle the American level of game, and yes NCAA ball is definitely more advanced than Euro players of equivalent ages for the most part.

Ousmane Dieng
Killian Hayes
Luka
Frank Nktilina
Dragan Bender
Georgios Papagiannis
Kristaps Porzingis
Mario Hezonja
Dario Saric

Luka is Luka, obviously. Porzingis was the only player other than Luka on this list to really get serious accolades and show real success in Euro ball. Saric had respectable ones as well. Porzingis is massively overpaid and Saric is a bench player. The rest of these guys are either out of the league or, in the case of Hayes and Dieng, currently showing themselves to be bench guys at best unless they make major leaps.

Coulibaly feels like a repeat of the Bruno Caboclo debacle.

Porzingis is not “massively” overpaid, unless you’re referring only to his inability to stay healthy.

We would be drooling if Pascal could put up 23.2/8.4 on 27% USG at 121 ORTG. That’s way more efficient than any high USG Raptor. And he also offers rim protection, so there’s also some 2-way value there.

[blackjitsu]

Measurements from the combine should be in today. Can't wait to find out who is 6-2, but says their 6-5. Any players we should be worried about their measurements?

[LJ2]

Measurements from the combine should be in today. Can't wait to find out who is 6-2, but says their 6-5. Any players we should be worried about their measurements?

Wallace and Bufkin are probably the guards Toronto will be most interested in. Assuming they are going to stick to the same formula of picking guys with high motors and can defend.

[Quirk]

Wallace and Bufkin are probably the guards Toronto will be most interested in. Assuming they are going to stick to the same formula of picking guys with high motors and can defend.

I'm unconvinced that Kobe Bufkin isn't a generated player for a future NBA2k draft, but yeah, those two seem to be the most likely. The personally I chose to not abandon my Leonard Miller delusions.

[chris]

Measurements from the combine should be in today. Can't wait to find out who is 6-2, but says their 6-5. Any players we should be worried about their measurements?

i bet dick measures shorter than what he told everyone he was in college

[planetmars]

i bet dick measures shorter than what he told everyone he was in college

Hope he doesn't go swimming before he gets measured.

[MixxAOR]

Leonard Miller you are Toronto Raptor

[planetmars]

Sasser! That's my boy! Hope some how we get him. I think he's going to be a stud.

[Primer]

Leonard Miller you are Toronto Raptor

Didn't Koloko get 2nd or 3rd in this last year?

[Primer]

i bet dick measures shorter than what he told everyone he was in college

Dick's measurements are heavily dependent on the temperature of the room.