2023 NBA Draft Megathread

[stitches]

This keeps being said but tell me specifics of this track record. Outside of Kuzma I genuinely can’t recall him being above and beyond other real good draft related posters.

Help refresh me.

Homer list for Cy:
2013: Otto Porter
2014: Aaron Gordon
2015: Sam 'Next Hayward' Dekker
2016: Dragan 'Dragon' Bender
2017: Kyle "Flintstones" Kuzma
2018: Troy 'Brown Mamba' Jnr
2019: Quinndary "The Weatherman" Weatherspoon
2020: Jalen Harris
2021: Josh Christopher

Mine:
2014: Didn't officially pick one but I loved Dante :S
2015: Didn't officially pick one but I loved Myles Turner
2016: Jalen Brown
2017: Dennis Smith Jr
2018: Elie Okobo
2019: NAW
2020: Aleksej Pokuševski
2021: didn't pick one...

You guys are welcome to post your own (links of the threads are above). The reality is... none of us is some wizard of a draft evaluator and we don't need to be. This is a message board where we share in our emotions and excitement over our favorite team. For me a respectful discussion with real arguments about the strengths and weaknesses and projection of prospects is much more valuable than whether someone was right or wrong for this or that player. Even NBA teams, who invest millions in scouting and workouts and psychological evaluations and private detectives are horrible at this thing. I don't expect any of us to be amazing at it either....

Just... engage with fellow fans in good faith ... and have fun. After all that's what sports is for... entertainment.

Cheers

 

[Elizah Huge]

Also was in on Paolo being the clear #1 while people were getting too worried about him being comped to Julius Randle.

Lol nah bro that was me.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Homer list for Cy:
2013: Otto Porter
2014: Aaron Gordon
2015: Sam 'Next Hayward' Dekker
2016: Dragan 'Dragon' Bender
2017: Kyle "Flintstones" Kuzma
2018: Troy 'Brown Mamba' Jnr
2019: Quinndary "The Weatherman" Weatherspoon
2020: Jalen Harris
2021: Josh Christopher

Mine:
2014: Didn't officially pick one but I loved Dante :S
2015: Didn't officially pick one but I loved Myles Turner
2016: Jalen Brown
2017: Dennis Smith Jr
2018: Elie Okobo
2019: NAW
2020: Aleksej Pokuševski
2021: didn't pick one...

You guys are welcome to post your own (links of the threads are above). The reality is... none of us are some wizards of draft evaluators and we don't need to be. This is a message board where we share in our emotions and excitement over our favorite team. For me a respectful discussion with real arguments about the strengths and weaknesses and projection of prospects is much more valuable than whether someone was right or wrong for this or that player. Even NBA teams, who invest millions in scouting and workouts and psychological evaluations and private detectives are horrible at this thing. I don't expect any of us to be amazing at it either....

Just... engage with fellow fans in good faith ... and have fun. After all that's what sports is for... entertainment.

Cheers

I have been exposed lmao


But I will say I dont think the "homers" list is a good measure of these things vs big boards.

 

[Elizah Huge]

I was a huge Noah Vonleh stan. It is what it is. Crucify me.

I tried telling people. I loved Gordon that draft.

I was WAY higher on Dejounte than consensus.

I have some bad misses as well.

 

[stitches]

I have been exposed lmao


But I will say I dont think the "homers" list is a good measure of these things vs big boards.

I didn't mean it to be "exposing Cy" type of post. More of a... exposing how bad all of us are, including myself. All of us will have some hits and some misses... and that's alright.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Homer list for Cy:
2013: Otto Porter
2014: Aaron Gordon
2015: Sam 'Next Hayward' Dekker
2016: Dragan 'Dragon' Bender
2017: Kyle "Flintstones" Kuzma
2018: Troy 'Brown Mamba' Jnr
2019: Quinndary "The Weatherman" Weatherspoon
2020: Jalen Harris
2021: Josh Christopher

Mine:
2014: Didn't officially pick one but I loved Dante :S
2015: Didn't officially pick one but I loved Myles Turner
2016: Jalen Brown
2017: Dennis Smith Jr
2018: Elie Okobo
2019: NAW
2020: Aleksej Pokuševski
2021: didn't pick one...

You guys are welcome to post your own (links of the threads are above). The reality is... none of us is some wizard of a draft evaluator and we don't need to be. This is a message board where we share in our emotions and excitement over our favorite team. For me a respectful discussion with real arguments about the strengths and weaknesses and projection of prospects is much more valuable than whether someone was right or wrong for this or that player. Even NBA teams, who invest millions in scouting and workouts and psychological evaluations and private detectives are horrible at this thing. I don't expect any of us to be amazing at it either....

Just... engage with fellow fans in good faith ... and have fun. After all that's what sports is for... entertainment.

Cheers

How dare you bring the consequences of our actions...

I had some good... OG, Bane

I had some bad... Okobo, Frank the Tank (though... he had a long career)

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

If Jalen Harris didnt do all those drugs my list would have been respectable lmao

 

[Bawse Dawg]

This is why the Dok pick is all time awful. Every single one of us idiots knew that Bane or McDaniels was the far superior pick. Your FO can’t go out on such a limb that no one else on earth would have done and be so historically wrong. Unforgivable.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Homer list for Cy:
2013: Otto Porter
2014: Aaron Gordon
2015: Sam 'Next Hayward' Dekker
2016: Dragan 'Dragon' Bender
2017: Kyle "Flintstones" Kuzma
2018: Troy 'Brown Mamba' Jnr
2019: Quinndary "The Weatherman" Weatherspoon
2020: Jalen Harris
2021: Josh Christopher

Mine:
2014: Didn't officially pick one but I loved Dante :S
2015: Didn't officially pick one but I loved Myles Turner
2016: Jalen Brown
2017: Dennis Smith Jr
2018: Elie Okobo
2019: NAW
2020: Aleksej Pokuševski
2021: didn't pick one...

You guys are welcome to post your own (links of the threads are above). The reality is... none of us is some wizard of a draft evaluator and we don't need to be. This is a message board where we share in our emotions and excitement over our favorite team. For me a respectful discussion with real arguments about the strengths and weaknesses and projection of prospects is much more valuable than whether someone was right or wrong for this or that player. Even NBA teams, who invest millions in scouting and workouts and psychological evaluations and private detectives are horrible at this thing. I don't expect any of us to be amazing at it either....

Just... engage with fellow fans in good faith ... and have fun. After all that's what sports is for... entertainment.

Cheers

In 2016, you and I were willing to take a swing on Skal Labissiere.

 

[stitches]

I tried telling people. I loved Gordon that draft.

I was WAY higher on Dejounte than consensus.

I have some bad misses as well.

Yep! I remember that... He was so intriguing...

I remember in 2017 you took Bam from me and I decided to go with my other favorite that year in DSJ... you won that one.

 

[Bodhi]

Its all love and fun.

Most of the dudes in here who follow this year after year are arguably better at this than the average GM though, and I mean that.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

With regard to the cold water Locke was slinging this AM. I get it... the numbers are what they are. But when you land a starter or fringe all-star in the draft it changes your organizational trajectory... and there is the slight chance you nail a homerun and it changes everything. So you take the bites at the apple... this is not quite lotto odds or investing in VC backed startups... but it is something where 1 hit makes up for a bunch of misses. So its okay to have hope that with 3 firsts and a plethora of assets to move around that we can hit a home run.

I get that some like Tony are overly optimistic... but I think most understand the risks and that if we draft 3 guys its unlikely they are all starters... we don't need all three to hit though.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Here are some of my big misses:

** Thought Josh Jackson should be the best player in 2017; thought Tatum had a floor like Tobias Harris, but wouldn't be a star.
** Thought Mario Hezonja would be the best wing in 2015.
** Thought Archie Goodwin would be an impact guard whatever year that was. Then he disappeared.
** Don't ask me what happened to Roko Prkacin. Does he even play basketball anymore?

 

[Bawse Dawg]

This is why the Dok pick is all time awful. Every single one of us idiots knew that Bane or McDaniels was the far superior pick. Your FO can’t go out on such a limb that no one else on earth would have done and be so historically wrong. Unforgivable.

Legit cost us a championship window man.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

With regard to the cold water Locke was slinging this AM. I get it... the numbers are what they are. But when you land a starter or fringe all-star in the draft it changes your organizational trajectory... and there is the slight chance you nail a homerun and it changes everything. So you take the bites at the apple... this is not quite lotto odds or investing in VC backed startups... but it is something where 1 hit makes up for a bunch of misses. So its okay to have hope that with 3 firsts and a plethora of assets to move around that we can hit a home run.

I get that some like Tony are overly optimistic... but I think most understand the risks and that if we draft 3 guys its unlikely they are all starters... we don't need all three to hit though.

The averages for ANY player becoming an impact starter or All Star are BAD. Every pick that truly hits is an outlier, with the exception of some obvious #1 picks. Jazz need to take big swings. It's perfectly fine if they whiff.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

I would be thrilled if the Jazz could walk away from this draft with Jarace Walker and either Coulibaly or Bufkin. It's a bit odd that no one has a clear picture of where Bufkin is going.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

The averages for ANY player becoming an impact starter or All Star are BAD. Every pick that truly hits is an outlier, with the exception of some obvious #1 picks. Jazz need to take big swings. It's perfectly fine if they whiff.

I don't think you have to take big swings. Mikal Bridges, Haliburton, Vassell, Trey Murphy... were not big swings but were home runs...

You just have to accept the odds for what they are. Again its not like winning the lotto. Its making good bets on the stock market type odds. Gonna take a lot of Ls but the wins may pay so big it doesn't matter.

 

[whatthe]

The average describes the average year. How often do we reach a peak year and is this a peak year? And what is the typical result during a high end year?

 

[Elizah Huge]

Lets be honest, we dont like Paolo just because he fits the archetype/look of some top 5 dudes who have failed in the past. He's probably really ****ing good.

He is really ****ing good. Not sure I get the Randle or Griffin comps at all.

Yeah, there could be something to this for me. It's partly the Duke connection, like Jabari Parker. He's a 4, and maybe he'll do just fine. I just watched him against UNC, and he wasn't able to get much space for himself due to being a bit slow-footed.

What winning player is the comp, then? PF that doesn’t defend and isn’t a good spacer; what is a good team supposed to do with that?

Of course, he could improve in both respects. That’s the path to winning.

Where in the world do you get that he isn’t a good spacer?

He’s closer to Jayson Tatum than Julius Randle.

I should've started with the caveat that I have basically just snooped around the Ringer's draft site and go off the stats and reports there. So I should pump the brakes and people should take what I have to read with a grain of salt.

That being said, 32% on an okay volume of 3s isn't setting the world on fire. You'd be drafting him to develop him, but one would hope a top-3 pick would have the most basic elements of the game down pretty good. And he's apparently an aloof/lazy defender but has the tools. I suppose having the tools is better than trying and failing to defend, but I don't want the starting seed of a rebuild having the attribute I hate the most in a basketball player: low-effort defense.

This was the discussion on Paolo last year. How in the world Cy is claiming he said he should go #1 is beyond me lmao.

 

[KqWIN]

I don't think you have to take big swings. Mikal Bridges, Haliburton, Vassell, Trey Murphy... were not big swings but were home runs...

You just have to accept the odds for what they are. Again its not like winning the lotto. Its making good bets on the stock market type odds. Gonna take a lot of Ls but the wins may pay so big it doesn't matter.

Taking a big "swing" has not really proven to be a good way to hit a good home run. I think the first question to ask of every prospect is how they're going to get on the court and contribute. If you're outside of the elite crop, it's putting the cart before the horse to talk about all star potential.