2023 NBA Draft Megathread

[KqWIN]

No one has said that. You just cant be a little bitch about OTE to the degree you would like to be because the Twins do have actual varying levels of competition on their resume, you just have to actually do the slightest bit of research which is going to be too hard for most casual draft followers.

TJ was just rambling on the other day about how they were cooking in the TBT lol. That's who I'm talking about. You can think they are good or they aren't, that's personal opinion. If you think OTE and one TBT game is amazing competition that is a joke. You can think they are amazing and also that the competition they've faced is suspect. Both things can exist.....but if you're trying to pretend like the competition was good that is the stretch of the century. It's like denying the earth is round in order to win an argument. It doesn't strengthen the argument it makes you look comical. I love Bilal, but I would look like an absolute fool trying to convince people that the Junior French league is amazing and should not be a question mark.

The level of competition is a real concern and question mark. It's comical to act like one single TBT game just erases that concern.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

TJ was just rambling on the other day about how they were cooking in the TBT lol. That's who I'm talking about. You can think they are good or they aren't, that's personal opinion. If you think OTE and one TBT game is amazing competition that is a joke. You can think they are amazing and also that the competition they've faced is suspect. Both things can exist.....but if you're trying to pretend like the competition was good that is the stretch of the century. It's like denying the earth is round in order to win an argument. It doesn't strengthen the argument it makes you look comical. I love Bilal, but I would look like an absolute fool trying to convince people that the Junior French league is amazing and should not be a question mark.

The level of competition is a real concern and question mark. It's comical to act like one single TBT game just erases that concern.

The competition level is not a concern. It's only a concern if you question the talent which I don't question.

If you have questions about the competition level, TBT isnt an elimination of those concerns, but it should help alleviate them to some extent. The Twins put a positive impact on the game against grown men. I'm not saying the Omaha TBT team are the GOATS, but they are grown professionals.

 

[whatthe]

I'm expecting a team to take GG in the 10-14 range once he interviews and works out for them. If he slides past Sam Presti, Masai Ujiri and David Griffin, it probably means that something went wrong in his pre-draft process.

The tools are very good. A good development system would skyrocket him. He should be one of the three picks.

My wish list outside of winning the lottery so far...

GG Jackson
Hendricks
Bilal
Brice

 

[whatthe]

With the right attitude I think he can be a role player, but I don't agree with the high potential label people give him.

Maybe, but maybe not. Good development could help him a lot. He has the ingredients to be really good. It just the bad experience in S. Carolina has soured people. Well, Lauri had bad experiences too and just was put in the right place.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

I'm expecting a team to take GG in the 10-14 range once he interviews and works out for them. If he slides past Sam Presti, Masai Ujiri and David Griffin, it probably means that something went wrong in his pre-draft process.

I really hope he goes in the 10-14 range... him and Nick Smith going 10-14 means the 16th pick could get real juicy.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

I'm expecting a team to take GG in the 10-14 range once he interviews and works out for them. If he slides past Sam Presti, Masai Ujiri and David Griffin, it probably means that something went wrong in his pre-draft process.

Yeah, starting to think Utah might just take him at 9 then go with Whitehead at 16.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Yeah, starting to think Utah might just take him at 9 then go with Whitehead at 16.

I think there could be a play where the Jazz trade #16 and #28 to move up to ~#14. In that case, their target could be GG, but could also be their favorite remaining guard like Bufkin, Wallace, JHS, etc.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

View: https://twitter.com/szahn_bball/status/1276134491380158466


Like it's crazy to think that Dariq Whitehead of Duke was dunking like this 3 years ago.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

View: https://twitter.com/szahn_bball/status/1276134491380158466


Like it's crazy to think that Dariq Whitehead of Duke was dunking like this 3 years ago.

The shot form looks great. He looked a bit heavy (not in a horrible way) and had the injury issues... He's probably top 5 in the guys that people may have over-reacted about how he performed.

If he's healthy and comes into the combine in great shape I can see him jumping back into the late lotto conversation.

 

[NUMBERICA]

View: https://twitter.com/szahn_bball/status/1276134491380158466


Like it's crazy to think that Dariq Whitehead of Duke was dunking like this 3 years ago.

One-legged, too...

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

I hate watching HS stuff, but I've watched some of Whitehead's stuff and it really feels like all his stuff was just injury related. Looks like the stuff he had should have translated way better. Wish he had a better standout Duke game that I could really hang my hat on.

 

[KqWIN]

Maybe, but maybe not. Good development could help him a lot. He has the ingredients to be really good. It just the bad experience in S. Carolina has soured people. Well, Lauri had bad experiences too and just was put in the right place.

Lauri was a functional player before he became a star. GG has so much development needed just to be a functional NBA player.

I find that if these "high potential" style prospects make it, it's usually by stripping down their game and becoming a role player. The guys who actually pop later in the draft and become stars are usually guys who were overlooked due to their athleticism, age, size etc.

 

[The Midnight]

Dariq Whitehead reminds me of Terrence Jones from UK. Anyone know whatever happened to him?

 

[whatthe]

Lauri was a functional player before he became a star. GG has so much development needed just to be a functional NBA player.

I find that if these "high potential" style prospects make it, it's usually by stripping down their game and becoming a role player. The guys who actually pop later in the draft and become stars are usually guys who were overlooked due to their athleticism, age, size etc.

Hardy and the development staff in Utah is geared differently. GG path could be different. But granted it could be a glorious failure.

 

[KqWIN]

Hardy and the development staff in Utah is geared differently. GG path could be different. But granted it could be a glorious failure.

I believe in the coaching staff, I just don't believe these traditional "high potential" prospects ever amount to high potential. If you look at the later draft picks that became all stars they are not of the GG archetype. Ironically, the guys who turned into all stars seem to be the guys who aren't drafted high because they are considered role players. The only GG archetypes that make it do so by being role players and stripping out the stuff that made them "high potential" to begin with.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

I believe in the coaching staff, I just don't believe these traditional "high potential" prospects ever amount to high potential. If you look at the later draft picks that became all stars they are not of the GG archetype. Ironically, the guys who turned into all stars seem to be the guys who aren't drafted high because they are considered role players. The only GG archetypes that make it do so by being role players and stripping out the stuff that made them "high potential" to begin with.

So if we draft GG at 9 he wont be a later pick so he can be a star.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

What player(s) fits the "GG archetype" that you are pulling out of your *** exactly?

 

[KqWIN]

The most obvious source of great NBA players is can't miss prospects that get drafted at the top. But what about the others? I recommend going through the other players, looking at their scouting reports before they were drafted, and trying to find the answer as to why they weren't drafted higher (or lower). You will find many players that were drafted lower due to "low ceiling" but not many great players (if any at all) who weren't drafted higher because their performance sucked.

Consider two players:

1. Good player, but not a high draft pick because of lower potential for whatever reason (age, athleticism, playstyle).
2. Plays "like" a star, but not a high draft pick because he wasn't good at it.

There are a good amount of players in the first group that went on to be some of the better players in the league, not many if at all in the second group. Looking back you'd be surprised about some of the things said about current stars during their draft evaluation process. This isn't to say that guys in the second group can't make it in the NBA, but if they do it's usually by being a role player and by doing the thing that made everyone think they have super high potential. You have to find a way onto the court to give yourself any chance to develop in the first place.

What scares me about GG is that the thing that people laud him for (shot making/creating) is also something he sucked at and I'm struggling to see what other NBA skills he has. He is a bad defender, bad rebounder, bad passer, bad teammate, and does not have elite physical tools. If he just sticks to spot up shooting and finishing at the basket I could see him carve out a role, but I am a total non believer in the idea that he can be a high level, self creating scorer at the next level. Even if he has a massive development on offense, there are many good offensive players that can't be starters because the rest of their game is so bad.

 

[sip]

I hate watching HS stuff, but I've watched some of Whitehead's stuff and it really feels like all his stuff was just injury related. Looks like the stuff he had should have translated way better. Wish he had a better standout Duke game that I could really hang my hat on.

I've been telling you guys that for a while. He never had his legs last year after fracturing his ankle in late August and then getting injured again right when he seemed to be shaking off some of the rust. The funny part though is that he came into the season with his primary weakness being a spot up shooter but was forced into that role a lot because of health and really improved his shot. If he can get back to his old self attacking the basket with now elite spot up shooting then his ceiling is really high and he is still really young.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

I've been telling you guys that for a while. He never had his legs last year after fracturing his ankle in late August and then getting injured again right when he seemed to be shaking off some of the rust. The funny part though is that he came into the season with his primary weakness being a spot up shooter but was forced into that role a lot because of health and really improved his shot. If he can get back to his old self attacking the basket with now elite spot up shooting then his ceiling is really high and he is still really young.

He was just so invisible early in the year.