2023 NBA Draft Megathread

[Thee Idiotic Minivan K]

Brook Lopez

There’s a lot I just need to research. Smart while not a great 3pt shooter is much better then when he was in college you do need to respect his shot. Teams won’t just let him shoot open threes or play off him.

 

[Thee Idiotic Minivan K]

David Locke sure seems to be conditioning his listeners to expect that the Jazz will be deciding between Cason Wallace and Ausar Thompson at #9. He seems to think Ausar will slip a bit, which is possible if the draft follows what I jotted out in my signature. If the Jazz could make a deal with Dallas, they could take both Wallace and Ausar.

1. What would we give for Dallas’s pick?

2. Our perimeter defense would be insane. That draft would immediately make us a top 3 defense potentially.

Does Locke have any inside info on a possible Thompson slide?

I'd be OK with Cason, and I agree that he's the most likely prospect we take at #9. I do think the concerns about his potential and ceiling make sense, but that's a trap that's easy to fall for. Many of the great PGs in the NBA today were knocked for not having obvious high end potential.

Who had low upside that became great, just curious?

I can make an argument for taking Cason Wallace at #9 and Bilal Coulibaly at #16 instead of Ausar Thompson at #9. It's a thin argument, but there is one. Bilal is two years younger and is showing better shooting signals with a similar athletic profile.

If the jazz passed on Thompson for Cason, wow!! Words can’t express how terrible that would be.

 

[NUMBERICA]

Who had low upside that became great, just curious?

Umm Jimmy Butler and Nikola Jokic for starters? I have no idea your criteria but the list can be a mile long really easily.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Still wondering if the Jazz could extend and trade Clarkson somewhere (Lakers/Nets) and take back a pick at #17 or #21. Jazz could offer #28 along with Clarkson. The target should be Bilal, imo. Trade would complete after July 1. Nets could get a big like Nnaji or Bona, while Clarkson replaces Kyrie.

 

[KqWIN]

Who had low upside that became great, just curious?

Just off the top of my head for PG's. These guys were all knocked due to low potential.

Shai
Haliburton
Brunson
FVV

 

[Miggs]

There’s a lot I just need to research. Smart while not a great 3pt shooter is much better then when he was in college you do need to respect his shot. Teams won’t just let him shoot open threes or play off him.

No you don’t. He stinks.

 

[Miggs]

Still wondering if the Jazz could extend and trade Clarkson somewhere (Lakers/Nets) and take back a pick at #17 or #21. Jazz could offer #28 along with Clarkson. The target should be Bilal, imo. Trade would complete after July 1. Nets could get a big like Nnaji or Bona, while Clarkson replaces Kyrie.

I like this. Or you package 16, 17 (and a future 1st?) to move up.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

I like this. Or you package 16, 17 (and a future 1st?) to move up.

Jazz could offer #16 + #28 to the Pels to leapfrog Atlanta and get to #14 for one of these upside swings. Personally, I think the Pels are going to need Dereck Lively to matchup with Wembanyama.

Before that though, I'd find out what Dallas wants for #10.

 

[Miggs]

Still wondering if the Jazz could extend and trade Clarkson somewhere (Lakers/Nets) and take back a pick at #17 or #21. Jazz could offer #28 along with Clarkson. The target should be Bilal, imo. Trade would complete after July 1. Nets could get a big like Nnaji or Bona, while Clarkson replaces Kyrie.

Just watched Bilal. A recent comp for me would be Bruno Caboclo coming out. Really athletic, long and smooth but very raw still. Two years away from being two years away….could be hyperbole with that since he does have better shooting than Bruno iirc but he’s definitely someone we could wait on. G league him I guess.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Just watched Bilal. A recent comp for me would be Bruno Caboclo coming out. Really athletic, long and smooth but very raw still. Two years away from being two years away….could be hyperbole with that since he does have better shooting than Bruno iirc but he’s definitely someone we could wait on. G league him I guess.

He's not Bruno Cabloco. That guy didn't have any skills and never played meaningful minutes before entering the draft.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjOrzBlUH78&t=249s

 

[KqWIN]

If you look at the all NBA teams and all star teams throughout the years you will mostly find:

1. Guys that were obvious can't miss prospects that were drafted high.
2. Guys that were drafted lower because people thought they would be good role players, but low ceiling.

What you don't find as often much are guys that were drafted low because they were boom/bust prospects. These guys don't fit into group 1 because they weren't productive enough but share some similar "high potential" characteristics. They don't fit into group 2 because they weren't productive coming into the NBA and the guys in group 3 do not have the "high ceiling" attributes.

 

[Miggs]

He's not Bruno Cabloco. That guy didn't have any skills and never played meaningful minutes before entering the draft.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjOrzBlUH78&t=249s

Bruno had a really solid handle given his length iirc. He had some skills. Some. Listen this guy oozes potential. But right now it’s just that. He scored five freakin points a game in 18 minutes. A lot of those appear to be on dunks. And 1.5 points a game in 3’s. There’s still a ton of work he has to put in.

 

[Jingled]

View: https://twitter.com/DraftExpress/status/1659896907882217474

 

[Elizah Huge]

Cam and GG both have very bad AST% compared to their USG%. That doesn’t bode well for the future usually though it is just one component.

 

[KqWIN]

Two of my biggest indicators for ball handlers are rim finishing and pullup shooting (particularly from 3). I think if you can put pressure on the rim and 3 point line as a scorer the playmaking becomes easy.

Cason shot 68% at the rim this season and I think that's one of the highest, if not the highest mark in the class for ball handlers. He also had less than 10% of those baskets assisted, so it's not like he was being spoonfed easy ones. He also had a slightly higher PPS than Keyonte, JHS, and Sasser on pullup jumpers. These are guys who's main thing is their pull up jumper. Basketball isn't played on paper, of course, but on paper there's an argument to be had that Cason is elite in these two areas in comparison to the rest of the class. We don't talk about it because his defense is clearly his best attribute, but maybe we should?

He also has one of the best AST/TOV ratios in the class. So what do you get when a guy is 1) good at the rim 2) good as a pullup shooter 3) good at passing/keeping care of the ball......

 

[stitches]

View: https://twitter.com/DraftExpress/status/1659896907882217474

or ~6'2.5" without shoes... It's OK. Length is OK too... Nothing that should stop you from drafting him.

 

[Bodhi]

Two of my biggest indicators for ball handlers are rim finishing and pullup shooting (particularly from 3). I think if you can put pressure on the rim and 3 point line as a scorer the playmaking becomes easy.

Cason shot 68% at the rim this season and I think that's one of the highest, if not the highest mark in the class for ball handlers. He also had less than 10% of those baskets assisted, so it's not like he was being spoonfed easy ones. He also had a slightly higher PPS than Keyonte, JHS, and Sasser on pullup jumpers. These are guys who's main thing is their pull up jumper. Basketball isn't played on paper, of course, but on paper there's an argument to be had that Cason is elite in these two areas in comparison to the rest of the class. We don't talk about it because his defense is clearly his best attribute, but maybe we should?

He also has one of the best AST/TOV ratios in the class. So what do you get when a guy is 1) good at the rim 2) good as a pullup shooter 3) good at passing/keeping care of the ball......

Great post

 

[stitches]

Two of my biggest indicators for ball handlers are rim finishing and pullup shooting (particularly from 3). I think if you can put pressure on the rim and 3 point line as a scorer the playmaking becomes easy.

Cason shot 68% at the rim this season and I think that's one of the highest, if not the highest mark in the class for ball handlers. He also had less than 10% of those baskets assisted, so it's not like he was being spoonfed easy ones. He also had a slightly higher PPS than Keyonte, JHS, and Sasser on pullup jumpers. These are guys who's main thing is their pull up jumper. Basketball isn't played on paper, of course, but on paper there's an argument to be had that Cason is elite in these two areas in comparison to the rest of the class. We don't talk about it because his defense is clearly his best attribute, but maybe we should?

He also has one of the best AST/TOV ratios in the class. So what do you get when a guy is 1) good at the rim 2) good as a pullup shooter 3) good at passing/keeping care of the ball......

I think I heard somewhere Kobe Bufkin had about 70% finishing at the rim. His shooting indicators are pretty good too. But he kind of looked like a 6th man type to me when I was watching his highlights...

 

[The Midnight]

Jazz could offer #16 + #28 to the Pels to leapfrog Atlanta and get to #14 for one of these upside swings. Personally, I think the Pels are going to need Dereck Lively to matchup with Wembanyama.

Before that though, I'd find out what Dallas wants for #10.

Nope, no way I’m offering #28 just to move up 2 spots when we could grab the likes of Maxwell Lewis at #28.

 

[KqWIN]

I think I heard somewhere Kobe Bufkin had about 70% finishing at the rim. His shooting indicators are pretty good too. But he kind of looked like a 6th man type to me when I was watching his highlights...

Bufkin was also at 68% at the rim. He had more volume there than Cason, but also had more of those baskets assited. I like Bufkin a lot. He's a Sophomore but Freshman aged. I don't think you're necessarily wrong about him looking like a 6th man as he needs to develop out his PG skills a little bit more. His jump shot could stand to improve as well....but if he's not terrible at those things and he improves he could be a big time player. There's a filthiness to his game that is super intriguing imo. He's got a lot in his bag.