2024 NBA Draft Mega Thread
- Thread starter Saint Cy of JFC
- Start date
Kentucky's two bench guards being in the top 5 while the starter, DJ Wagner, isnt even worthy of being a first is still the funniest **** in the world.
Reed Sheppard finally getting the national attention he deserves.
Anyone want to post first round?
I like his offensive game quite a bit more than Anthony Black and defensively he is a beast.
SoberasHotRod
Well-Known Member
He's my current homer pick and so I've watched him more than most of the prospects. I don't think the Anthony Black comp is completely crazy, but I think he's a better ball handler and has more offensive upside. He is more offensively aggressive than I remember Black being. I don't think he's as good of a defender as Black. He's very capable, but doesn't have as high of defensive awareness, he's still very good though.
My pitch for Castle is that if he becomes a more confident shooter, and there are indications that could happen, he could be an all star caliber player in the league. If the shooting never comes around then he should still be a rotation level player in the league with everything else he does. He's a high floor and high ceiling guy in my opinion.
Juan Nunez is back to getting some love it seems. I think I remember him being talked about last year? I saw him #5 on someone's personal board recently.
If the Jazz are somehow able to draft Cody Williams, I'll do a little dance.
I'll have to watch some film on him. On paper, very similar production and it seems as though they both fill that connector archetype. From what I gather, it seems as though people are higher on Castle's POA defense whereas as Black was better off the ball. Black also seems to have gotten more talk as a gifted passer (although I personally though that might be overstated), whereas Castle has a more natural/smooth offensive game. They also share the same big question mark as shooters. I'm not interested in making a mountain of a mole hole with this comparison, but I'm typically a big fan of this archetype and I know there was a lot of Black fans here last cycle so I found the comparison interesting.
I haven't seen the upside with Castle that you're suggesting. I don't think his physical profile, athleticism or scoring chops are going to stand out at the NBA level. I think he projects to be a fairly solid 2-way player, but there are other big guards and wings with length, defensive impact and more offensive potential that I'd rate a bit ahead of him.
If Castle could shoot from deep he'd be a potential #1 guy.
Only other real negative on him is he wears a t shirt when he plays.
Think he is more comparable to JHS than Anthony Black .
Only other real negative on him is he wears a t shirt when he plays.
Think he is more comparable to JHS than Anthony Black .
SoberasHotRod
Well-Known Member
They aren't that similar on film, I think you'll see that pretty clearly, but can't argue that they have similarities in their production.
As far as the similarities on their question mark as shooters, I think/hope that Castle has a better chance of developing a jumpshot that could become a weapon. He's extremely reluctant to shoot from deep, but when he does it mostly looks good imo.
Here is a highlight video from one of his better games:
View: https://youtu.be/JM-KBMmGTgA?si=_x3R3ojKYBG2u286
SoberasHotRod
Well-Known Member
Agreed, and I don't think his shot is broken or anything. It's probably wishful thinking, but I look at Donovan Mitchell's shooting numbers a Freshman and it always gives me hope for other Freshman I like who don't have good shooting stats, but their shot doesn't look broken.
Castle is also doing it on a legit title contender where he has to play with basically all upperclassmen (think there is one other freshman who gets regular minutes)
Yeah, immediately you can tell he has more craft/polish as a scorer. He also doesn't have Black's fugly shot.
I think the top of this draft is suspect.....but I don't think it's horrible outside the top 5. For example, I don't think Dilly/Shep/Castle/Collier are totally outclassed by Black/Wallace/Bufkin/Key/JHS. It might turn out that this year's crop of PG's get drafted higher than last year, but if we were at #9 I think we'd have a similar level of prospect as last year.
Leif Thulin says he expects Reed Sheppard to be a bad defender in the NBA and isnt a PG.
Cited poor point of attack defense and lack of size making him a target at the NBA level. Thinks he is caught between positions and is a bench role player.
Cited poor point of attack defense and lack of size making him a target at the NBA level. Thinks he is caught between positions and is a bench role player.
And it's hard to disagree with the defense part. I forgot what game it was, but it was early on and some mid major was absolutely targeting Sheppard in crunch time and torching him.
When he isnt the help and has to be the POA, can he survive being that small?
I still have Sheppard high, but he's definitely one of those prospects where you kind of have to really sit and reflect on if it's going to work or not.
When he isnt the help and has to be the POA, can he survive being that small?
I still have Sheppard high, but he's definitely one of those prospects where you kind of have to really sit and reflect on if it's going to work or not.