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2023 NBA Draft Megathread

I personally think this is a great draft for wing-sized players. Wouldn’t hate it at all if the Jazz drafted 3 guys that fit that physical profile and hope one or more break out. I think it’s easier to find guards in FA and on the trade market than it is to find dynamic wings. Think you usually have to take shots in the draft to find those players.
I think the issue is are you willing to take a flyer on one of the Thompson brothers being able to develop legit shooting at the NBA level? Especially now with the importance of 3 point shooting?

I’ve seen too many cant shoot busts to have the confidence..
 
I think the issue is are you willing to take a flyer on one of the Thompson brothers being able to develop legit shooting at the NBA level? Especially now with the importance of 3 point shooting?

I’ve seen too many cant shoot busts to have the confidence..
I’m actually not as high on the Thompson twins as some others. I like them - just not in the top 5.

Wemby, Scoot, Miller, Wallace, Whitmore.

I’m fine with DA and JZ taking some chances on bigger guards, wings and stretchy bigs with both of later picks.
 
Man Sensabaugh going through it lately. Rough shooting streak for a few games and now coming off the bench and only got like 16 mins in Ohio St’s 4th or 5th loss in a row
with sensabaugh, when you are a poor run/jump athlete and you lack length and quickness for your position - meaning you rely solely on your production and your production sucks for 4 or 5 straight games, that's a pretty big problem.
 
You could also splice together a pretty nice video that compares Miller to Nic Batum, Cam Johnson and Michael Beasley. Some team in the top 6 or 7 that wants to draft a more polished player will take Miller. He'll be a bit like Keegan Murray last year. But these comparisons to players like Paul George and Kevin Durant need to stop.
meh, you made up your mind early on him so your bias against him is significantly clouding your judgement.
 
Hard to argue with a lot of this at this point.

Nick Smith and Rupert aren’t as high for me personally, today, but really nice mock.
honestly i'm not sure what makes nick smith an nba player. he's not big, he's not strong, he's not quick, he's not a vertical athlete, he's not shooter, he's not a PG so he's small for his position.

he has some scoring chops, but honestly, a non-athlete who is small for his position should shoot better than 29% from three.
 
meh, you made up your mind early on him so your bias against him is significantly clouding your judgement.

I do make up my mind early on prospects. It honestly only takes watching a few games and checking some high school tape. As I've said before, I look at their physical profile, their physical talent and their competitiveness. I do that with every prospect, and I've found that, based on past experience, it's more accurate to do this than to be swayed and talked into changing my mind over time. So from my perspective, I'm not allowing my judgement to be clouded. GG is going to be a very, very different player by the time he turns 21.

Jazz are completely rebuilding their team. They're redesigning their entire roster. It isn't clear what types of players or play style they want to put together. However, to raise their ceiling, they're going to need one or more star players with more on-ball creation than Lauri. The players in this draft with that potential, imo, are Wemby, Scoot, Amen, GG and Sensabaugh. Jarace, Keyonte, Ausar and Jett have some star potential, but they're more likely to be high-level starters. Miller, Whitmore, Black and maybe Dick are likely to be high-level complementary players. When it comes to drafting, I only care about star upside, especially if the Jazz are going to be drafting in the lottery.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter. The Jazz never seem to pick my favorite players. Strangely though, Sam Presti often does.
 
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I had a dream last night that we moved up on lottery night from 8th to 4th. Minnesota’s pick was 12th.
 
honestly i'm not sure what makes nick smith an nba player. he's not big, he's not strong, he's not quick, he's not a vertical athlete, he's not shooter, he's not a PG so he's small for his position.

he has some scoring chops, but honestly, a non-athlete who is small for his position should shoot better than 29% from three.

I agree with this. I don't know how much he's been fighting injuries, but I'm not seeing him consistently play as a lead guard. His lack of physical profile and strength is going to hold him back as a primary scorer. Then there's the question of who he's going to defend. Could he mature physically and come of the bench like a Jordan Poole? He's obviously talented.
 
It seems like Black is the closest thing to the Haliburton/Giddey archetype in this draft.

Haliburton is such a lights-out shooter and big-play maker, but the Giddey comp makes some sense. Black is more athletic and more disruptive defensively than Giddey, but isn't as polished as a passer at this stage.
 
honestly i'm not sure what makes nick smith an nba player. he's not big, he's not strong, he's not quick, he's not a vertical athlete, he's not shooter, he's not a PG so he's small for his position.

he has some scoring chops, but honestly, a non-athlete who is small for his position should shoot better than 29% from three.
I think you are way off on him. He is very skilled and is way more athletic than you are making him out to be. This year has been a disaster for him from a health standpoint but as long as they aren't long term injuries then he would be a solid pick if we could get him with the Minny pick. I wouldn't take him with our pick though which should be in the 5-8 range.
 
honestly i'm not sure what makes nick smith an nba player. he's not big, he's not strong, he's not quick, he's not a vertical athlete, he's not shooter, he's not a PG so he's small for his position.

he has some scoring chops, but honestly, a non-athlete who is small for his position should shoot better than 29% from three.
You must be watching a different Nick Smith Jr. I'm sure it's a fairly common name
 
I think you are way off on him. He is very skilled and is way more athletic than you are making him out to be. This year has been a disaster for him from a health standpoint but as long as they aren't long term injuries then he would be a solid pick if we could get him with the Minny pick. I wouldn't take him with our pick though which should be in the 5-8 range.
Yeah I'm pretty high on him, but also not a huge fan of combo guards in general. He just seems to have all the skills. I don't really put any stock in his stats because he hasn't had time to adjust or be healthy.

I don't get people saying he isn't athletic or quick. He's not the most explosive player, but ball in hand he's incredibly quick and slithery w/ good combo guard length.
 
Here's a mock draft from this weekend. Overall OK, I think I would take Ausar Thompson over Maxwell Lewis as of today. https://www.nbadraft.net/nba-mock-drafts/?year-mock=2023
honestly, as a byu fan who thinks byu effing sucks, after watching maxwell lewis have trouble doing anything of note against byu (and he's been pretty trash overall in WCC play), i can't in good conscience even take him in the first round. i'm not a fan of amen and ausar, but i'd absolutely take a chance on their upside before i'd take lewis. i've cooled big time on him.
 
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