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2023 NBA Draft Megathread

ONE LOVE said:
I get the feeling DA is more risk taking than DL..

I just think length and scoring. Locke mentioned on his latest podcast that DA likes scoring.

And at #9 if say Hendricks is gone, who’s he next best pure scorer?

I think GG could be the guy.
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He basically does nothing else out there, though. He has a ton of work to do to become an NBA player and there are gonna be surefire players there. By the way, Dick has a low ceiling? Cason Wallace is "undersized"? You're up in the night dude.
 
KqWIN said:
I don't think they mentioned him at all, didn't mention Dick either. Weird that they mentioned Amen but not the other two.

I don't see Hendricks locked into #8 like others. I think there could be conflicting views on how teams see him.
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With Taylor I don’t think he’s guaranteed top 8. I think it depends on how the draft order falls. I think it’s like a 50/50 shot he’s there at 9 or 10. I don’t think he’d get past Dallas but they may be moving the pick.

He seems like a smart and coachable/likeable kid that will crush workouts and interviews so I expect him to get some more buzz in the process.

I’m pretty good and comfortable with any of Ausar, Black, Wallace, Tay Henny at 9 so I think I’ll be happy. I like Grady but I’d probably prefer Hawkins and see if you can move up or maybe a small chance he’s there at 16. I think OKC will snap up Dick or Hawkins but who knows… just seems like the things they lack are shooting and bigs/rim protection… with Chet coming in and some cap space I think they can address the bigs thing.
 
I’m not trusting Locke btw… I know his track record but it’s a different group in the front office and I don’t think he’s going to get much insight.
 
I still irrationally like JHS. I don’t have a lot of kick *** stats I can use, but I watched Indiana a lot this season and I just like him.

That’s the post.
 
NUMBERICA said:
He basically does nothing else out there, though. He has a ton of work to do to become an NBA player and there are gonna be surefire players there. By the way, Dick has a low ceiling? Cason Wallace is "undersized"? You're up in the night dude.
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Well Locke said something like the philosophy could be draft for offense and then teach them defense.

I’m not trusting him 100% but it does make logical sense.. defense is probably the easier of the 2 to teach and preach.
 
Here's an update to my player liking rankings with some added tiers:

MVP Potential
1. Wemby
All Star Potential
2. Scoot
3. Amen
4. Miller
5. Whitemore
High Level Starter Potential
6. Wallace
7. Walker
8 Hendricks
9. Dick
10. Hawkins
Hit or Miss Guys
11. Ausar
12. Black
13. George
14. Cissoko

I'm not quite sure yet on my order for the next grouping, but would be Bufkin, JHS, Rupert, Clowney in some order. Also, I like Black a lot more than where I put him, but I thought he fit that grouping better. Kinda dumb, but this is all still super fluid for me right now.
 
ONE LOVE said:
Well Locke said something like the philosophy could be draft for offense and then teach them defense.

I’m not trusting him 100% but it does make logical sense.. defense is probably the easier of the 2 to teach and preach.
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I'm not so sure about that. Part of defense is engine, instincts, and aggressiveness. I think guys can improve but defense is like passing to me... its one of the hardest skills because the guys who are best at it see the whole court and process things quickly.

Not even sure what Locke is getting at but I'm not gonna put a lot of stock into it.
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
I'm not so sure about that. Part of defense is engine, instincts, and aggressiveness. I think guys can improve but defense is like passing to me... its one of the hardest skills because the guys who are best at it see the whole court and process things quickly.

Not even sure what Locke is getting at but I'm not gonna put a lot of stock into it.
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I don't know what he means exactly.

But thinking about it if you look at all the top guys in the playoffs so far off the top of my head you've got Fox, SGA, Morant, Durant, Booker, Tatum..

Those are all offensive juggernauts.

They're average/above average defenders for sure, but in this league right now offensive scoring prowess is what separates the good and the greats.
 
ONE LOVE said:
Well Locke said something like the philosophy could be draft for offense and then teach them defense.

I’m not trusting him 100% but it does make logical sense.. defense is probably the easier of the 2 to teach and preach.
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There's also more to the game than "offense" and "defense". GG is a skilled iso scorer, but that isn't the same as being good on offense. His passing chops are questionable but his willingness to move the ball is poor. His intangibles are a trainwreck, though. Terrible body language, does nothing off the ball except beg for it, doesn't read the game or have good feel. The entire game to him is scoring and that's a tall hill to climb because he's not going to be asked or permitted to do that in the early stages of his NBA career. And depending on how the early stages go, he might not really get a second contract because if he can't do the off-ball work, defense, and ball-moving that's required of young players then he just won't play.

The fact that we're talking about an elite recruit with his polish having a good shot at being drafted in the 20's says a ton about how much the rest of his game is lacking.

But hey, we're lucky because the Jazz get to draft at 16 instead of 12 or 13, apparently, because we get to watch Gobert go up against Jokic!!1 Worth the price of admission for sure.
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
I'm not so sure about that. Part of defense is engine, instincts, and aggressiveness. I think guys can improve but defense is like passing to me... its one of the hardest skills because the guys who are best at it see the whole court and process things quickly.

Not even sure what Locke is getting at but I'm not gonna put a lot of stock into it.
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100% Also, you can do a million drills and prep for becoming a scorer in a gym apart from an in-game environment. I think that's actually the easiest skill to develop relative to passing, defense, and rebounding that all-but require a full game environment to develop.
 
NUMBERICA said:
100% Also, you can do a million drills and prep for becoming a scorer in a gym apart from an in-game environment. I think that's actually the easiest skill to develop relative to passing, defense, and rebounding that all-but require a full game environment to develop.
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I think its easier to build out a 3 and D guy and put more on their plate than it is to say take a guy like GG and make him a good defender. Lots of guys started as great defenders and developed into great offensive players. I'm struggling to think of many that went the other way... Like a guy like Melo who was awesome on offense and then turned into a defender. Maybe like Klay? I don't remember if he was ever bad on that end.
 
KqWIN said:
He does have a good rep from some people but there is some variance there. You don't need stocks to be a good defender....but his are really low. I feel like you need to watch a ton of games to really form an opinion on it.
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Yeah I only know what others have said. Haven't watched him in games hardly at all.
 
Oh, another thing they mentioned about GG to the Jazz is that they thought the Jazz would be a great place for GG to become the player that GG wants to be....which is terrifying to me. If he's going to make it in the NBA, it's not going to be by honing his awful go to scorer guy mentality. He completely sucked at it in college. He needs to scale down and improve a ton in other areas to have any chance at being an NBA player.
 
KqWIN said:
Oh, another thing they mentioned about GG to the Jazz is that they thought the Jazz would be a great place for GG to become the player that GG wants to be....which is terrifying to me. If he's going to make it in the NBA, it's not going to be by honing his awful go to scorer guy mentality. He completely sucked at it in college. He needs to scale down and improve a ton in other areas to have any chance at being an NBA player.
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That's interesting and I tend to agree. I think most of what GG lacks Hardy can instill in him (defense, passing, team first, mental).

But not everyday you get 3 level scoring walking through the door.
 
KqWIN said:
Oh, another thing they mentioned about GG to the Jazz is that they thought the Jazz would be a great place for GG to become the player that GG wants to be....which is terrifying to me. If he's going to make it in the NBA, it's not going to be by honing his awful go to scorer guy mentality. He completely sucked at it in college. He needs to scale down and improve a ton in other areas to have any chance at being an NBA player.
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I'm more bullish on GG than you are but you are correct in the broad strokes. I think the Jazz are a great landing spot for him, there honestly probably isn't a better one, but no way do I use the Jazz's first pick on that gamble. We have to get better odds at at least a solid rotational piece there.
 
ONE LOVE said:
That's interesting and I tend to agree. I think most of what GG lacks Hardy can instill in him (defense, passing, team first, mental).

But not everyday you get 3 level scoring walking through the door.
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It's not really the 3 level scoring, it's that he's as quick as he is at his size and with his bag of iso moves. Some jaw-dropping ability in there, but I think he needs to basically be reconstructed from the ground up. Like, boot camp level psychological deconstruction.

I think the farther he falls the easier it is for him to buy into all of that, too, because he needs a reality check and some humble pie. That doesn't happen if he still ends up going top-10.
 
ONE LOVE said:
I get the feeling DA is more risk taking than DL..

I just think length and scoring. Locke mentioned on his latest podcast that DA likes scoring.

And at #9 if say Hendricks is gone, who’s he next best pure scorer?

I think GG could be the guy.
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I could see GG at 9, but who is going to take him out of Dallas/OKC/New Orleans/Toronto/Atlanta between Utah's two picks?

I say go Gradey/Wallace at 9 and then take the higher upside scorer at 16 with Brice or GG.
 
NUMBERICA said:
It's not really the 3 level scoring, it's that he's as quick as he is at his size and with his bag of iso moves. Some jaw-dropping ability in there, but I think he needs to basically be reconstructed from the ground up. Like, boot camp level psychological deconstruction. I think the farther he falls the easier it is for him to buy into all of that, too, because he needs a reality check and some humble pie.
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Yeah so you've said it, he's quick for his size, iso moves, knack for scoring, scorers mentality, some of those are hard if not impossible to teach, especially the physical stuff.

Maybe it's just me but I can see Ainge (and Hardy?) looking at those and salivating.
 
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