Well
@dviss1 is definitely a really smart guy when it comes to this stuff and I understand that Zion athletically is super unique, so I get what he's saying.
I think Morant is going to be incredible. If I had the #1 I'd probably take Zion, how can you pass up that sort of athlete, but Morant's special to IM. After that, I'm not very high on anyone in the draft, though obviously there are some prospects I like, just not sure there's a lot of "star talent" after those guys, but time will tell I'm sure there will be a couple of guys who surprise and a couple who disappoint!
I'm not saying Zion shouldn't be the No. 1 pick. By the same token, Oden should have been the No. 1 pick over Durant. But look how that turned out. I've explained ad nauseum all my reasons for questioning Zion before, so I am not going to rehash that.
To me, I think this draft is a very clear cut top two. I really don't like many of the guys being projected from 3-16, though. Maybe Culver and the French kid. Barrett's probably solid for me at No. 3, but I still think Culver and Doumbouya are the guys in the lottery other than Zion and Ja who I would feel best predicting for stardom five years from now.
There are a lot of guys I like being projected in the 17-50 range, though. I honestly am not sure what some of these scouts or analysts are seeing, because I think Darius Bazley, Tyler Herro, Luka Samanic, Nicolas Claxton, Brian Bowen, Matisse Thybulle, Brian Clarke, Dylan Windler, Carsen Edwards, Chuma Okeke, Talen Horton-Tucker, Moses Brown, Luguentz Dort and Kevin Porter all have a chance to be terrific NBA players, some even stars. I like several of these guys better than guys I see projected in the lottery. They either are extremely gifted specialists or guys whose skillset really fits the current NBA model. I think they could be starters or at least key rotation players on contending teams. Then there are guys like Daniel Gafford and Tacko Fall who could turn into real assets if they find an organization that can groom their strengths and hide their weaknesses, like the Clippers were able to do with DeAndre Jordan.
I think this is kind of a fun draft. This is one of those drafts where the rich might get richer because the better value seems to be in the low first and early second, IMO. You can trade down and get a guy who really can impact your team in a couple of years, maybe even two.