2024 NBA Draft Thread

Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Register Log in

The "Way too Early' Draft prognostication

  • Holland

    Votes: 8 16.3%

  • Sarr

    Votes: 41 83.7%

  • Edwards

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    49
Rastapopoulos said:
According to Sam Vecenie, the 2024 draft SUCKS:
https://theathletic.com/5009208/2023/11/13/nba-mock-draft-2024-alexandre-sarr/
View attachment 59290
Click to expand...

Doesn't mean there won't be All-Stars but yes, it does stink due to no clear cut franchise player. That makes it somewhat akin to the 2013 draft. But I don't think it's as bad as the 2013 Draft was, at the top.

Imo, here's how I view it, based on what little we've seen:

I see Isiah Collier as a possible modern Baron Davis.

Ron Holland is a Kelly Oubre/Gerald Wallace type player. Good defense, good attack, can't shoot, some shot creation but limited in skills.

Stephon Castle is very Joe Johnson-like. Maybe a little smarter. Doesn't mean he's as good overall but the moves are there. He's very quick and athletic, just like Joe Johnson was in college, with well rounded skills.

People cite Alex Sarr as the #1 and he looks impressive but his offensive skills aren't consistent and like Ayton or even Mo Bamba, there are times when he isn't driving it in 100% with his size and skills. May need more sample sizes to fully grasp him. Not saying he's going to boom/bust but it's possible that, with a draft like this, he may just be a modern day Emeka Okafor who can pass/shoot rather than the Chris Webber people would hope. The article cites Nic Claxton tier center and I suppose that does go with the Emeka comp.

Matas Buzelis is Batum/Parsons at medium, Hayward w/ defense at best....at the moment. If he was a lanky wing/forward with superstar potential and ball handling/shot creation skills, I feel he would've been hyped already like Ingram, KD, the Thompson twins, or Ben Simmons were (guys were getting hyped a year prior to the draft). I still think he's Portland's ideal pick. If I am wrong and he's a superstar, Portland will be set. If not, what I describe him as would be able to, theoretically, take over what Brogdon is doing for Portland (score, shoot, handle, make plays, defend) but taller and more fitting.

Donovan Clingan. If he's healthy (he's injured as of right now), he's on par with Kessler and Duren as a center prospect imo. Offensively, I personally think he can be a Brad Daugherty with shades of Patrick Ewing in that he's able to body people and just dunk with power and finesse. Probably not a superstar big man like Ewing, though. Defensively, he's like Kessler or Gobert. Don't be surprised if he goes Top 3, maybe even #1, if he continues playing he has recently where .

When you frame it like this, it's not as bad as 2013. It's a draft for the 3rd or 4th option, not a 1st or 2nd option. Resembles the 2020 Draft imo
 




Klintman’s game starting to open up as he’s transitioned to the international game. Love this guy’s potential, and his measurables are great. There’s a real possibility he will be available for us, with the Warriors pick looking better and better.

His game is in the mold of guys I really want on this team going forward—besides being able to defend and shoot, I want them to be able to play on AND off the ball on offense.
 
Rastapopoulos said:
According to Sam Vecenie, the 2024 draft SUCKS:
https://theathletic.com/5009208/2023/11/13/nba-mock-draft-2024-alexandre-sarr/
View attachment 59290
Click to expand...
I’m hoping teams begin to think that and just go for it this season. I hope teams like the Rockets push past the Warriors and guarantee us another lotto pick. I hope teams like Charlotte don’t see a guard in the draft they like better than Ant that they offer their pick + more for him.

Give us a chance to draft Sarr AND Buzelis from this draft, and I think we are a dynasty waiting to happen. Both of these guys would change life in Portland, even if this Sam Vencenie guy has them graded tier 3 and below.

Also, giving Ivey, Green, and Whitmore a tier-1 or 2 grade and not having Sarr in that class is just goofy.
 
As I see the board right now, this is the early top 10 big board:

Sarr and Buzelis are 1 and 2 to me. Sarr, for obvious reasons, would alter the trajectory of this team’s defense going forward, and Buzelis would be a seamless fit next to Shae and be an AS as a second or third leading scorer on a championship level team. Holland is up there and fills a need, but I think of his ceiling and always think from Brandon Miller.

After those 3, there’s a glut of guards who could rise to the top of the board. Collier, Castle (who looks real Spurs-y), and Walter all look good early and can be in that mix for a high selection.

There are international prospects likely in the mix as well. I don’t know a lot about Topic, but he’s a 6’6 PG that could challenge for first guard off the board, and Risacher looks good from the initial tapes that I’ve seen of him.

That makes 8/10 guys. Edwards hasn’t done much but could stay in the top 10 in the end, and I’m sure that eventually a couple prospects will jump into the top 10 out of nowhere.
 
Right outside the top 8-10, not in specific order:

Almasa - I like the most so far
Mara
Klintman
Clingan
Ware - looking great through 3 games
Filipowski

If the Warriors do us a solid and give us a lotto pick in the 8-15 range, I think we’ll end up with one of Buzelis, Sarr, Holland and a big from this draft.
 
If any of you watched Chet tonight and thought about what the answer to a guy like him or Wemby is, watch some videos of Alexander Sarr. In know that it will take some luck to land him but the dude has the athleticism and length of Chet but broader shoulders which will give him a power advantage over these two guys who are so slender. If we can start him next to Deandre next season then we could be a really scary team and going forward could be a contender.

Let's give this whole situation the time it deserves. We no longer have a top ten player on the wrong side of 30 we have a bunch of young really talented and promising guys learning to play at this level. They need more added to them and we have the means to do that between the vets we'll likely trade by the deadline and picks we have amassed. We're doing what OKC did and it took time for them. When they officially started the rebuild it took them four seasons to be where they are. Since we started the rebuild in a stealthy way two seasons ago, we might expect to be where they are in two seasons. That means next season sucking again and the season after that being competitive.
 
Rob Dillingham looking really good so far at Kentucky. 19.33yo on draft night, great splits through five games, 16.0/4.2/4.6 with 1.6spg on .500/.462/.800, 4/5 of the games were off the bench.

Kentucky guard, but looks more like one of the Fox, Murray kind of Kentucky guards as opposed to the Monk or Washington guards. He looks like he has potential to crack the top 10 to me. That’d be awesome if a team bets on Dillingham and pushes a forward out of the top 10 and closer to the Warriors pick.
 
Another big man—
Tyler Smith, GL Ignite
19.6 on draft night, 6’10, 215lbs, Tankathon doesn’t even have this guy in their mock right now.https://youtu.be/Y04WmAW1g0c?si=Ja_B2FObO7qkfbo-
https://youtu.be/Y04WmAW1g0c?si=Ja_B2FObO7qkfbo-






Through 5 games this year:
18.6/4.8/1.4/0.6/1.4 on .673/.647/.625 in 25.7mpg

No one expects him to continue shooting THAT well, but his stroke is silky smooth for a big man, and his defense is going to keep getting better. Not sure if this guy will be available in the 2nd, but I’d love to bring him in if he is.
 
Predator said:
I am going to seriously consider holding G League ignite against players being drafted.
Click to expand...
I’m having a hard time interpreting what you’re trying to say. Are you saying that you’re now against drafting anyone that plays in the GL? Or that you want to see GL players play against more college players?
 
BankTeller said:
I’m having a hard time interpreting what you’re trying to say. Are you saying that you’re now against drafting anyone that plays in the GL? Or that you want to see GL players play against more college players?
Click to expand...
I read it a saying that being on the "Ignite" team is a reason to downgrade a player in the evaluation.
 
BankTeller said:
I’m having a hard time interpreting what you’re trying to say. Are you saying that you’re now against drafting anyone that plays in the GL? Or that you want to see GL players play against more college players?
Click to expand...
I’m not Mediocre Man- WABC level against drafting their players, just that I’m going to downgrade them in the process. G League Ignite is pretty much trying to showcase the top picks (for a reason, to keep the team around) at all costs. It’s pretty much glorified AAU.
 
I was surfing the net the other day, and I noticed this eighth grade class of Ohio basketball players that are elite. The article went on to state that they are a special group. They are going to be eligible for the NBA in 2028/29. Coincidence that that’s where our draft pics are? Maybe Cronins playing chess when others are playing checkers, otherwise, wouldn’t be surprised at all, if he’s watching eighth graders
 
Predator said:
I’m not Mediocre Man- WABC level against drafting their players, just that I’m going to downgrade them in the process. G League Ignite is pretty much trying to showcase the top picks (for a reason, to keep the team around) at all costs. It’s pretty much glorified AAU.
Click to expand...
Well a few of us on this forum were touting some other guys in the draft process that came from a “glorifies AAU” in the Thompson twins, and it looks like we would’ve been right if we drafted one of those guys.

Again, it’s all about the prospects’ skillset, and not the competition.
 
AmirIcon said:
It sounds like Collier is playing himself to be the #1 pick which is great for us.
Click to expand...
Yes I’m also excited that he’s playing so well. There’s actually a decent crop of guards in this draft even outside of Collier.

Stephon Castle looks like a guy who could challenge for a top pick as well. I don’t know anything about Nikola Topic, but he seems to always be around the top 10 in mocks. Both guys are listed as 6’6 PGs, and it only takes one team to fall in love with their size. Rob Dillingham looks like he could be a lock for the lotto too if he continues his play. Ja’Kobe Walter, 6’6 SG, is the only SG I’ve heard at the top of the board, and some people still consider Tyrese Proctor a top guard prospect as well.

So there’s realistic shot that even if none of them are able to push to the top to allow us the top big prospect, they can still go in the mid-lotto and push the next best big prospects towards the GS pick.

Getting lucky in the lotto and drafting Sarr plus Buzelis falling to us at the GS pick would be my dream scenario if that GS pick landed mid-late lotto.
 
BankTeller said:
Well a few of us on this forum were touting some other guys in the draft process that came from a “glorifies AAU” in the Thompson twins, and it looks like we would’ve been right if we drafted one of those guys.

Again, it’s all about the prospects’ skillset, and not the competition.
Click to expand...

The difference is that everyone acknowledged that the Thomspon twins were playing for a glorified AAU team and were rightfully docked for it in the draft process -- and at the VERY LEAST it was discussed as a MAJOR CON about drafting them.

Many people stated that the "G League" was "better than college" (lol) and that Scoot would be ready right now because of it. There's a post on here saying he'd average like 10 assists a game, lol.

And this is certainly not only about Scoot.
 
Bif said:
I was surfing the net the other day, and I noticed this eighth grade class of Ohio basketball players that are elite. The article went on to state that they are a special group. They are going to be eligible for the NBA in 2028/29. Coincidence that that’s where our draft pics are? Maybe Cronins playing chess when others are playing checkers, otherwise, wouldn’t be surprised at all, if he’s watching eighth graders
Click to expand...
I think that to say Cronin is prepping for the ‘28/‘29 draft all the way in ‘23/‘24 would be an extreme stretch. Could Cronin, and Schmitz (more likely) be aware of a class that might be very good in those two years? Sure. But for the most part, GMs do not plan four years ahead (especially for the draft) because most do not last that long, especially if you are the GM on a losing team. No matter how great the plan is, there’s a high likelihood that your plan is going to be carried out by your successor.

Some GMs might plan for a big FA in a few years, but not the draft. Some things just happen by accident. In the ‘22 NFL draft, which happened to have really good defensive players, the Chiefs rebuilt an entire defense that had spent the majority of their existence near the bottom of the league in defense to now being a top 3 defense for the foreseeable future. The reason that it was possible was because they were forced to trade their star receiver who is arguably one of the three best in the league. It was something they didn’t plan on, just a happy coincidence.

In our case, any team that was going to trade for Dame was going to be a contender. Most contenders already had obligations on their earlier picks, meaning the only ones available would’ve been ones towards the end of the decade. I personally did not know ‘28/‘29 had stacked classes, I had heard that ‘26/‘27 classes are going to be really good and ‘24/‘25 aren’t going to be very good. So are you right? Or am I? Or are we both right, and there’s just going to be a crazy crop of talent that comes in between ‘26-‘29 classes? Who knows. But that’s why I’m thinking that this is more of a happy coincidence than anything, assuming that is even true.

The only way we’ll know if Cronin and Schmitz are actually seriously looking into ‘28/‘29 is if the picks from a Grant/Ant/Brogdon trade are specifically in ‘28/‘29 and not earlier like say ‘25-‘27.
 
I agree that by going out 5-6 years Portland is trying to get past the career path of the really good teams best players. The under estimated value of what Cronin did was getting unprotected pick swaps. One pic swap could be worth more than all of their first round picks because what if they could swap into a top one or two pick. I would be just as happy to see some trades to obtain unprotected pick swaps as I would protected number one draft choices. The goal is to get at the top of the draft. What if in 2030 we can swap our number 23 pick the first round for the number one pick from Milwaukee, who happened to win the lottery with their poor record that year.
I’m old enough to remember the Lakers trading an old Gail Goodridge in1978 to the New Orleans Jazz for their number one pick years later. Then they traded Mark Landsberger to the Cleveland Cavaliers for their number one pick a couple of years later. Both of those draft choices turned out to be the number one picks in the draft. In 1980 the Lakers, drafted Magic Johnson, then two years later, James Worthy. They won five rings with that group in the 80s.
 
I know he is not really a wing, but I will be monitoring this prospect as well:

Stephon Castle
6’6 barefoot/6’7 in shoes
6’9 wingspan
205lbs

It’s important to note that none of the measurements will be confirmed until the combine. If he measures between 6’6-6’7 at the combine, he’s a serious player to look at for this team.



It’s hard not to like his game. Castle is in the mold of Dyson Daniels, Anthony Black, Jalen Williams, guys in recent drafts who would be categorized as a big guard. He isn’t particularly long, but is tall and has a strong lower body, similar to Shae. His smoothness and change of pace is also so similar to Shae. Castle isn’t going to be an All NBA defender, but he is going to be a very good defender who can guard players bigger than him, like Shae. I don’t think he’s going to be a great shooter, but I think he will have years where we is near 40% on high volume from 3. He also plays just as well off the ball as on the ball, so he is going to not only be a guy that can play with Scoot, but also be a great secondary decision maker and ball handler on the floor.

I’ve been thinking about guys who would be great to pair with Shae. Would I prefer a pairing of Shae and one of the Thompson twins over Shae and Castle? Yes, because I believe Shae and a twin would be so overwhelming athletically, that combined with Shae’s potential to become a scorer, would overmatch most wing duos on both sides of the floor. But Castle and Shae would have the potential to be much better offensively sooner, and still be pretty good defensively. The best way for me to describe their potential is that Castle will raise the team’s floor, and the eventual development of Shae and Scoot will raise the team’s ceiling.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RR7
The case for taking Stephon Castle over Ron Holland and Justin Edwards, despite us needing a wing or big:

I have not liked what I’ve seen from either guy much at all. We will have to see the combine results, but I’d have an easier time on betting that Castle is closer to 6’7 barefoot than Holland is to 6’8 barefoot (there’s a couple clips of them matched up in the video). If the difference is height is that small, I going with Castle because I think he is going to end up doing most things better than Holland, mainly shooting, playmaking, and dictating the pace of the game.

If Sarr/Buzelis/Riascher are gone, I’m not sure if I would pick any other forward or big, I would just bank on Shae and Steph sharing the duties between SG and SF, and find a 6’9-6’10 PF compliment them defensively. There is going to be a glut of big men in the range of the Warriors pick between Clingan, Ware, Filipowski, Mara, and Almansa. Smith is someone I would be excited about with the Hornets 2nd, and Bradshaw could be anywhere in the that range.
 
BankTeller said:
The case for taking Stephon Castle over Ron Holland and Justin Edwards, despite us needing a wing or big:

I have not liked what I’ve seen from either guy much at all. We will have to see the combine results, but I’d have an easier time on betting that Castle is closer to 6’7 barefoot than Holland is to 6’8 barefoot (there’s a couple clips of them matched up in the video). If the difference is height is that small, I going with Castle because I think he is going to end up doing most things better than Holland, mainly shooting, playmaking, and dictating the pace of the game.

If Sarr/Buzelis/Riascher are gone, I’m not sure if I would pick any other forward or big, I would just bank on Shae and Steph sharing the duties between SG and SF, and find a 6’9-6’10 PF compliment them defensively. There is going to be a glut of big men in the range of the Warriors pick between Clingan, Ware, Filipowski, Mara, and Almansa. Smith is someone I would be excited about with the Hornets 2nd, and Bradshaw could be anywhere in the that range.
Click to expand...
Can't draft for position until you have an established All-NBA caliber player. Taking a guy with less upside because of other guys on the team who might be stars down the line is a mistake.

It's harder to find a superstar than it is to find role or complimentary players.
 
BonesJones said:
Can't draft for position until you have an established All-NBA caliber player. Taking a guy with less upside because of other guys on the team who might be stars down the line is a mistake.

It's harder to find a superstar than it is to find role or complimentary players.
Click to expand...
I take it to mean you’re in agreement that Castle should be considered over Holland or Edwards if the obvious (Sarr, Buzelis, Riascher) are gone? I just don’t see other forwards worthy of a high lotto pick right now. There’s also too big of a gap between Sarr and the rest of the bigs for me to consider Clingan or any of the other bigs. Man, this year is a crapshoot.

I’d rather gamble on Baba Miller’s potential with the Hornets, or maybe even Hawks 2nd than drafting Edwards at the top.
 
Some notes regarding our own lotto pick:

Diving into more on this class, I’m still very excited about it, but f’ing this up will have serious consequences on the future. We can all find players we ‘like’ every draft cycle and we can be fixated on that singular player, I realize that. This year, we have plenty of four shots at different ranges in the draft, we are good on ‘24 draft picks.

1) Sarr, for obvious reasons, the news of his arrival would change life on this team
2) Buzelis, even if you don’t think he can be a superstar, there are so many skills to point to that make me think he can be a great third star
3A) Risacher, I’ve heard some scouts say they like Risacher more than Buzelis, but I’ve seen more tape on Buzelis
3B) Castle, might be my third favorite prospect right now, even though he’s more of a combo guard. I’m just hoping that he will measure out to be 6’7 in shoes, but I see him being a better version of Dyson Daniels on offense, while still having the defensive potential. Depending on his measurements, I might have him above Risacher.

Outside of that, it’s so hard to justify being excited about anyone else with our own lotto pick. Collier will be near the top of the board but he isn’t going to be someone we target. If those five guys are gone and we have yet to pick, my projection for the rest of draft night becomes bleak.

I’m going to be paying close attention to what happened during the ‘13 and ‘00 drafts this year to try and bring some informed insight, eventually.

The talent pool is so undefined right now that I wouldn’t rule out looking at some of these 6’6-6’7 PGs like Nikola Topic over a SF prospect like Holland or Edwards. How much better is Edwards (projected top 10 still by most, I think) than Cody Williams (who is kind of all over the place but mainly between 15-20)? I have no idea right now.
 
@BonesJones @hoopsjock @bxb @MrDraftGuy

Whoever else that’s been following any prospects, feel free to reply as well,

Does anyone have a clear top 5 for your version of OUR big board yet? Meaning, take out Collier who is only 6’4.

I struggle finding a fifth guy that I would be happy with taking if the first four are gone. I also haven’t paid attention to many prospects outside of the ones I already like. Any insight or suggestions on guys to pay attention to would be great.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)

Featured content

Back
Top