2020 NBA Draft discussion

Kliq

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Time to start thinking about the 2020 Draft, with the Celtics potentially getting some decent draft picks, although barring a disaster or a big trade, they probably don't have a great chance at the lottery. I know people already have their binkies, the top recruits are: (note the rankings are just what I found online and not my personal big board)

1. James Wiseman - C - 7'1' - 235 lbs - Memphis

Wiseman is the consenus number one, although he doesn't have a death grip over the position entering the college season. Wiseman is extremely tall and long, and runs very fluidly with the potential to score at all three levels. Because of his height, he has been compared to Kevin Durant, and even poor mans Durant is probably worthy of being the number one overall pick. Wiseman spurned bigger programs to play for Penny Hardaway in his hometown. He has great shooting potential, but isn't a great outside shooter yet, and is very left-hand dominant.

2. Anthony Edwards - G - 6'4' - 215 lbs - Georgia

Edwards reclassified to jump ahead into the Class of 2020. Edwards has the potential to fall out of the lottery, or end up as the top pick. He only played three years of HS basketball at a small school in Texas, where his explosive athleticism overwhelmed opponents. The SEC will be a big step up in quality of competition, so its very possible he will struggle playing in college. NBA level athlete with a solid body already, but he settles for a lot of jump shots despite being a natural slasher. Or he could dunk on everyone, dominate in and transition, and be the consensus number one.

3. RJ Hampton - G - 6'5" - 190 lbs - New Zealand Breakers (Australian Basketball League)

Hampton is skipping college to go play in the competitive ABL. A combo guard, a lot of his draft stock will come down to how things go for him in New Zealand. Unlike in college basketball, he is going to have to earn his minutes and the spotlight won't be on him. However, playing in a professional environment and dedicating his time to basketball and only basketball could allow him to thrive and make him the most intriguing prospect in the draft. He is more of a shoot-first guard at this point, but his long-term potential is probably as a PG, and has great length for a lead ball-handler and finishes well at the rim.
 

DannyDarwinism

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I saw Cole Anthony play for Archbishop Malloy last year and he looked like he could’ve stepped on to an NBA court as a starting PG, and I don’t mean that as hyperbole. He averaged 18/10/10 for Oak Hill this year. Looks more athletic than I remember his father being. Tar Heel fans are gonna have fun next year. He’s a bit old for his class (turned 19 in May) but if you like watching great PG play, he’s your dude.
 

oumbi

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To add onto the "way, way too early to really discuss the 2020 draft, but...." thread, here is what Tankathon has as possible picks by teams. What is of interest is less their suggested order of picks than the links to each player's bio. That may be useful in this discussion.

http://www.tankathon.com/mock_draft
 

nighthob

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A few names to keep an eye on that are likely to go in Boston’s range (mid first). When I have a chance later I’ll add my thoughts on them more fully. Killian Hayes (G), Jerome Robinson-Earl (F mocks are sleeping on him), Vern Carey Jr. (C he’s all over the place on mocks), Isaiah Mobley (F), Josh Green (G/F), and Ty Haliburton (G).
 

nighthob

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OK, I have a few minutes here (unexpectedly).

Killian Hayes – Positives. He's big, in the 6'4"-6'6" range. Looks like he can easily carry another 20lbs or so. Really athletic, shouldn't have a problem defending the 1 spot. The shot is pretty good, even if his guide hand tends to drift a bit. He handles the ball well, though he has a tendency to get careless with it. He busts tail on defense. Negatives. Too left hand dominant, even when he goes to his right he tries finishing with the left hand. Leads to some real circus shots, but easier on the defender. The aforementioned turnovers due to carelessness.

Jerome Robinson-Earl – Positives. He looks like the epitome of a pace & space 4. The right size, 6'8"-6'9" and looks to be around 225-230 with room to carry more weight. Young, he won't turn 19 until November 2020, so there's hope he might grow even more (though if he reached 6'11" he'd be a top 6 pick). The ball doesn't stick to him, makes some nifty passes in space. Good finisher. High IQ player, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Shoots well from distance. Negatives. He's like Tatum, more smooth than explosive (then again, were he explosive there's no chance he's being discussed as a mid first round pick). The release on the jumper is a little slow, so he's always going to be more of a catch & shoot guy. Never going to be an alpha, but possibly a good #3 guy.

Vernon Carey Jr – Positives. Reminds me a little of Wendell Carter Jr.. Purely a C, but he's strong, sufficiently athletic, and a possible long term solution at the 5 spot for Boston. He's got a good face up game, even though he's also a little too left-hand dominant. He shows some promise as a three point shooter, but he's so big and strong that he's been able to overpower defenders to date. Negatives. Not in ideal shape, he's so naturally strong that he hasn't really needed to work on conditioning. The strength has also retarded his offensive development by allowing him to succeed as an old fashioned C at the high school level. Too much of his offense comes from post play, he needs to expand the repertoire. The jump shot has a slooow release and he needs to really work on it to make it in the current NBA. A work in progress defensively. But the potential is there for him to be quality starter.

Josh Green – Reminds me of Nickeil Alexander-Walker, right down to the weird hitch/pause at the top of the shot (though not as pronounced as Alexander-Walker's). Positives. Great size, measured at 6'6" with a 6'10" wingspan. Room to carry another 20-30lbs. Great athleticism. A real jack of all trades that can handle in transition, make some good passes, shoot, finish. Negatives. Waaaaay too right-hand dominant. He needs to learn to finish with the left. There's also that hitch in the shooting motion.

Isaiah Mobley – Reminds me of Lamar Odom with his ability to handle, pass and the smoothness of his motion. Positives. 6'10" and long. He looks to be around 220-225 and looks like he can easily carry 240-250. Handles the ball really well for someone that size. His handle's so smooth that to date no one can keep him out of the paint. The ball doesn't stick to him, either. Makes some nice passes in transition and in the halfcourt tends to find his cutters. He can shoot from the perimeter. Negatives. Doesn't shoot from the perimeter often since he hasn't had to yet. So he needs to expand the repertoire. Slow release on the jumper, never going to be an offensive alpha. Another whose upside is solid #3. Athletically more smooth than explosive. He glides across the court.

Ty Haliburton – Long, athletic PG. Positives. He's 6'6"ish, explosive, capable of carrying another 20-30lbs on his frame. Having 1s with his sort of size/length is a big advantage on the defensive end. Really good transition player. Negatives. Inconsistent shot. Needs to get better defensively.
 
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ehaz

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Can you do LaMelo now since that's who we're actually drafting?
 

nighthob

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LaMelo isn't really a Danny type. He's only reached mid first status because he looks like he's a legit 6'6" and he has a better shot than the Lonz.
 

djbayko

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LaMelo isn't really a Danny type. He's only reached mid first status because he looks like he's a legit 6'6" and he has a better shot than the Lonz.
Maybe he has a good shooting percentage - I don't know. But his shot in his YouTube vids looks just as ugly as Lonzo's, just in a different way. It looks like he never stopped pushing the ball with two hands from his chest like little kids do when they don't have enough strength yet.
 

nighthob

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It’s ugly, and still better than his brother’s. And he still sucks, and Boston won’t be drafting him. Which is why I didn’t mention him at all until ehaz chipped in with his gag. I was only responding with the reason mocks have him mid first. At 6’3” LaMelo never sees an NBA floor, but at 6’6” he probably will. However, he’s destined to be a Pelican so that they can use the franchise marketing line “We’ve got the biggest pair of Balls in the NBA”.
 

TripleOT

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LaMelo Ball is going to be a good NBA player, despite the form on his jumper. He's got the same passing ability as his oldest brother, but a lot more offense. He seems to be more athletic too. At a minimum, he's going to be a very popular NBA player. It will be interesting how the HS to overseas moves of Ball, RJ Hampton, and Kenyon Martin Jr works out.
 

snowmanny

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One of the ESPN college guys was on the radio this afternoon and said the youngest is really too young to project, but the middle kid is a 4 year NCAA player and then will have a decent overseas career, that's all.

That's from the Ball thread, Page 1, Post #22, 3/13/17. How did we get from there then to nearly a lottery pick now?

Ed: My bad. This is the fifteen year old isn't it. Jees time flies.
 

DannyDarwinism

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OK, I have a few minutes here (unexpectedly).

Killian Hayes – Positives. He's big, in the 6'4"-6'6" range. Looks like he can easily carry another 20lbs or so. Really athletic, shouldn't have a problem defending the 1 spot. The shot is pretty good, even if his guide hand tends to drift a bit. He handles the ball well, though he has a tendency to get careless with it. He busts tail on defense. Negatives. Too left hand dominant, even when he goes to his right he tries finishing with the left hand. Leads to some real circus shots, but easier on the defender. The aforementioned turnovers due to carelessness.

Jerome Robinson-Earl – Positives. He looks like the epitome of a pace & space 4. The right size, 6'8"-6'9" and looks to be around 225-230 with room to carry more weight. Young, he won't turn 19 until November 2020, so there's hope he might grow even more (though if he reached 6'11" he'd be a top 6 pick). The ball doesn't stick to him, makes some nifty passes in space. Good finisher. High IQ player, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Shoots well from distance. Negatives. He's like Tatum, more smooth than explosive (then again, were he explosive there's no chance he's being discussed as a mid first round pick). The release on the jumper is a little slow, so he's always going to be more of a catch & shoot guy. Never going to be an alpha, but possibly a good #3 guy.

Vernon Carey Jr – Positives. Reminds me a little of Wendell Carter Jr.. Purely a C, but he's strong, sufficiently athletic, and a possible long term solution at the 5 spot for Boston. He's got a good face up game, even though he's also a little too left-hand dominant. He shows some promise as a three point shooter, but he's so big and strong that he's been able to overpower defenders to date. Negatives. Not in ideal shape, he's so naturally strong that he hasn't really needed to work on conditioning. The strength has also retarded his offensive development by allowing him to succeed as an old fashioned C at the high school level. Too much of his offense comes from post play, he needs to expand the repertoire. The jump shot has a slooow release and he needs to really work on it to make it in the current NBA. A work in progress defensively. But the potential is there for him to be quality starter.

Josh Green – Reminds me of Nickeil Alexander-Walker, right down to the weird hitch/pause at the top of the shot (though not as pronounced as Alexander-Walker's). Positives. Great size, measured at 6'6" with a 6'10" wingspan. Room to carry another 20-30lbs. Great athleticism. A real jack of all trades that can handle in transition, make some good passes, shoot, finish. Negatives. Waaaaay too right-hand dominant. He needs to learn to finish with the left. There's also that hitch in the shooting motion.

Isaiah Mobley – Reminds me of Lamar Odom with his ability to handle, pass and the smoothness of his motion. Positives. 6'10" and long. He looks to be around 220-225 and looks like he can easily carry 240-250. Handles the ball really well for someone that size. His handle's so smooth that to date no one can keep him out of the paint. The ball doesn't stick to him, either. Makes some nice passes in transition and in the halfcourt tends to find his cutters. He can shoot from the perimeter. Negatives. Doesn't shoot from the perimeter often since he hasn't had to yet. So he needs to expand the repertoire. Slow release on the jumper, never going to be an offensive alpha. Another whose upside is solid #3. Athletically more smooth than explosive. He glides across the court.

Ty Haliburton – Long, athletic PG. Positives. He's 6'6"ish, explosive, capable of carrying another 20-30lbs on his frame. Having 1s with his sort of size/length is a big advantage on the defensive end. Really good transition player. Negatives. Inconsistent shot. Needs to get better defensively.
I'm really surprised to see Hayes so low in that Tankathon mock. I thought he'd be the first French lead guard off the board, so quelle suprise! that they have him so far behind Maledon, who, in fairness, looks really promising. There's a bunch of interesting lead guard prospects in this draft.

Halliburton's a weird prospect- a tall, fairly athletic PG with a 4.5/1 assist/TO ratio and a 67 TS% and good defensive numbers as a freshman in a good conference, but he hardly ever shoots it. Very smart player for a guy his age. He really stood out whenever I was watching ISU for Talen Horton-Tucker. Definitely needs to fill out though.

And on that subject, I'm skeptical about Jaden McDaniels's frame. His brother's 21.5 with the same build, and still looks two years away from being two years away from being able to play in an NBA frontcourt.

Isaiah Joe, on the other hand, at least has better shoulders, and as a SG, filling out won't be quite as important. I suspect he'll be a mid 1st type guy, and he can really shoot.

As can Matthew Hurt. His jumper is so very pretty, with range for days and a lightning release, plus a decent handle for a dude who's 6'9. He reminds me a bit of Tatum, stylistically, mainly due to the super advanced footwork. He's a worse athlete with a worse frame, but a better shooter at the same age, so he projects as more of a pure stretch 4 once he adds some muscle. It'll be interesting to see how his lack of explosiveness limits him in the ACC, but he at least looks fairly fluid. Playing next to Carey will help. Duke will once again be the team for Celtics fans to watch for draft prep, with Wendell Moore pretty interesting too.

Tankathon has Hurt at 16 and Joe at 22, those are the two guys I'm most interested in for the Celtics draft range, cause shooting is king in today's game, but we could certainly use a promising big, so Carey definitely is worth watching, and hopefully Bassey progresses. Maybe Queta comes back and has some Bruno Fernando type sophomore leap in skill level. I'm still kinda bummed we passed on Bruno (or Goga). Not a ton of exciting bigs in the Celtics projected range, but who knows, maybe some guys will emerge.
 

TripleOT

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This seems like quite the bold statement for a kid who is only mocked to go in the middle of the 1st round at best at this point
Before his growth spurt, I looked at him as a gimmick, but with NBA size, he has a good chance of doing something in the league. I guess we shall see in a few years where there's some steak behind all that sizzle.
 

nighthob

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I'm really surprised to see Hayes so low in that Tankathon mock. I thought he'd be the first French lead guard off the board, so quelle suprise! that they have him so far behind Maledon, who, in fairness, looks really promising. There's a bunch of interesting lead guard prospects in this draft.
It's the right hand, he can't even finish himself with his right. Those left-handed circus shots that he makes while going right have zero chance of working against NBA level defenders. Maledon has shot issues, but he can finish through contact with both hands. I think these days teams are more willing to bet that a player can learn to shoot at an acceptable level.

Halliburton's a weird prospect- a tall, fairly athletic PG with a 4.5/1 assist/TO ratio and a 67 TS% and good defensive numbers as a freshman in a good conference, but he hardly ever shoots it. Very smart player for a guy his age. He really stood out whenever I was watching ISU for Talen Horton-Tucker. Definitely needs to fill out though.
He reminds me a lot of a taller/longer Rondo (Longerondo?). He can be a great defender when he wants to be, he handles the ball like it's on a string. He avoids contact in the lane on the rare occasions he does shoot, and has so few FTA that it's impossible to regard the FT% as anything but statistical noise. He'd be a heck of a player if he filled out and bore down, though.

And on that subject, I'm skeptical about Jaden McDaniels's frame. His brother's 21.5 with the same build, and still looks two years away from being two years away from being able to play in an NBA frontcourt.
I'm with you this, the McDaniels are so thin they make JuJuan Johnson look like Fat Albert. They might have skills, but they seem destined to break at the NBA level.

Isaiah Joe, on the other hand, at least has better shoulders, and as a SG, filling out won't be quite as important. I suspect he'll be a mid 1st type guy, and he can really shoot.
I wouldn't want him over any of the guys I listed, but if he's there at the Milwaukee pick, he's worth it.

As can Matthew Hurt. His jumper is so very pretty, with range for days and a lightning release, plus a decent handle for a dude who's 6'9. He reminds me a bit of Tatum, stylistically, mainly due to the super advanced footwork. He's a worse athlete with a worse frame, but a better shooter at the same age, so he projects as more of a pure stretch 4 once he adds some muscle. It'll be interesting to see how his lack of explosiveness limits him in the ACC, but he at least looks fairly fluid. Playing next to Carey will help. Duke will once again be the team for Celtics fans to watch for draft prep, with Wendell Moore pretty interesting too.
I'll be shocked if Hurt goes into the 2020 draft.
 

Rich Garces Belly

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Before his growth spurt, I looked at him as a gimmick, but with NBA size, he has a good chance of doing something in the league. I guess we shall see in a few years where there's some steak behind all that sizzle.
LeMelo is going to be a solid big point guard who is athletic, has size and can shoot (despite how ugly it is). If he learns to play defense and commits to it (like Lonzo has) he will Have a long NBA career with his court vision. I’d love for him to come to the Celtics but I would want no part of his father.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Halliburton's a weird prospect- a tall, fairly athletic PG with a 4.5/1 assist/TO ratio and a 67 TS% and good defensive numbers as a freshman in a good conference, but he hardly ever shoots it. Very smart player for a guy his age. He really stood out whenever I was watching ISU for Talen Horton-Tucker. Definitely needs to fill out though.
I love Halliburton as a can’t miss NBA player at this point. I expect his assist and scoring numbers to improve this year with the Cyclones primary scorer and their primary initiator graduating. He shot a solid 69% from the line as a FR and 43% from behind the arc.
 

HomeRunBaker

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I love Halliburton as a can’t miss NBA player at this point. I expect his assist and scoring numbers to improve this year with the Cyclones primary scorer and their primary initiator graduating. He shot a solid 69% from the line as a FR and 43% from behind the arc.
Sure it was against Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday but Tyrese put up a fairly sicko 12/7/14/6 line while hitting 3 of his 5 three's. If you have a chance to catch an Iowa State game when channel surfing do yourself a favor and tune in. This kid is one of my favs.
 

benhogan

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Sure it was against Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday but Tyrese put up a fairly sicko 12/7/14/6 line while hitting 3 of his 5 three's. If you have a chance to catch an Iowa State game when channel surfing do yourself a favor and tune in. This kid is one of my favs.
this service has Halliburton lasting until the 24th pick...going to the Celtics

I'll keep an eye out for him. Who else do you see as good/looked over late 1st/early 2nd rounders? maybe some upperclassmen like Powell (SH) or Tillie (Zags)?

http://www.nbadraftroom.com/p/2020-nba-mock-draft.html
 

Kliq

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The draft is very guard heavy and really short on wings and bigs, which should shakeout interestingly. You can't really just go by a big board of best talent, I think it is very likely that the few wings and bigs that are projected as lottery picks will get drafted higher than expected.

Cole Anthony was super impressive last night and has the best chance to unseat Wiseman, imo. Wiseman has great measurables and skill, but I haven't been blown away with his athleticism. He doesn't seem really explosive and his jumping feels labored. That might just be the video clips I've seen of him and we will get a better look at him during the CBB season.
 

HomeRunBaker

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this service has Halliburton lasting until the 24th pick...going to the Celtics

I'll keep an eye out for him. Who else do you see as good/looked over late 1st/early 2nd rounders? maybe some upperclassmen like Powell (SH) or Tillie (Zags)?

http://www.nbadraftroom.com/p/2020-nba-mock-draft.html
I’m withholding judgment on the freshman until I see them play in the college environment. Aside from Halliburton a couple others I like to possibly be value steals are AJ Lawson from So. Carolina, Charles Massey at WKU, Arkansas’ Isaiah Joe, and LSU’s Javonte Smart.
 

benhogan

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I’m withholding judgment on the freshman until I see them play in the college environment. Aside from Halliburton a couple others I like to possibly be value steals are AJ Lawson from So. Carolina, Charles Massey at WKU, Arkansas’ Isaiah Joe, and LSU’s Javonte Smart.
Yep, freshmen are popcorn in a pan at this point. Nasir Little (UNC) was top 5 on mock draft boards at this time last year. Plus the Celtics won't have to worry about a top lottery pick until next season

That's great, thanks. Value picks, Celts have their own and Milwaukee's 1st, I just want to keep a list of those type of guys to keep an eye on at the college level.
 

DannyDarwinism

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Can I start getting excited about Nico Mannion yet, or best to wait til conference play? He’s a lot of fun to watch, and it’s not just the shock of red hair zagging across the court- the kid can score and run an offense. Here’s hoping he’s not just Nate Wolters 2.0.
 

NomarsFool

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So, the Celtics have:

Our own pick, call it #29 or so :)
Milwaukee's pick - top 7 protected, call it #28 or so
Memphis pick - top 6 protected

We also get the poorer of NY or BKN's 2nd rounder (which could be a decent pick, but likely not much room on the roster for another rookie)
Charlotte gets our 2nd rounder

Given all the young players on the squad, would certainly like to stockpile some of those assets for the future.
 

benhogan

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So, the Celtics have:

Our own pick, call it #29 or so :)
Milwaukee's pick - top 7 protected, call it #28 or so
Memphis pick - top 6 protected

We also get the poorer of NY or BKN's 2nd rounder (which could be a decent pick, but likely not much room on the roster for another rookie)
Charlotte gets our 2nd rounder

Given all the young players on the squad, would certainly like to stockpile some of those assets for the future.
An embarrassment of riches.
That's a ton of picks, especially with the Celtics having 7 rookies on the 17man roster this season.

This probably leads to an in-season deal, rolling those picks to future years or Euro stash picks. There's only so much room for "developing" players
 

HomeRunBaker

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An embarrassment of riches.
That's a ton of picks, especially with the Celtics having 7 rookies on the 17man roster this season.

This probably leads to an in-season deal, rolling those picks to future years or Euro stash picks. There's only so much room for "developing" players
As I was saying in the other thread this is a great opportunity to continue selecting older college players to try and fill second unit roles with on the cheap. With a few exceptions Ainge has never been a huge Euro stasher guy. That Memphis pick could be interesting though and def not anything Ainge is going to want to include in a trade as I’ve been saying for years.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Teams should be allowed to have traded players announce the draft pick they were traded for. Tell me it would not have been appointment television for Pierce and KG to get on stage together and announce the Tatum and Brown picks.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Teams should be allowed to have traded players announce the draft pick they were traded for. Tell me it would not have been appointment television for Pierce and KG to get on stage together and announce the Tatum and Brown picks.
Screw that! I’d save my popcorn for when Fultz announced the Celtics player he was traded for! LOL!!
 

Imbricus

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With a few exceptions Ainge has never been a huge Euro stasher guy.
And let's remember the last time we had the Eurostash strategy going, in 2016. We wound up with Yabusele and Zizic. (I kind of liked Zizic for a while, though he hasn't amounted to much and appears to be racking up a bunch of DNPs lately. Yabu I always thought was a mistake.)
 

nighthob

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And let's remember the last time we had the Eurostash strategy going, in 2016. We wound up with Yabusele and Zizic. (I kind of liked Zizic for a while, though he hasn't amounted to much and appears to be racking up a bunch of DNPs lately. Yabu I always thought was a mistake.)
Just think of how much better off they would have been paying someone to take James Young and drafting Zizic & Siakam instead.
 

nighthob

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One interesting thing that we haven't really addressed yet is the impact the '22 double draft is going to have on 2020. In real terms the high school class of '20 is a lot better than the class of '19 (I like the 2020 draft, but think its richness comes in the depth of its roleplayers, I don't think 2021 will have as many guys with long NBA careers, but there will be a lot more top end talent for the lottery teams).

For a lot of the current freshmen crop if you don't declare this year you might find yourself stuck in college due to more crowded first rounds in '21 and (especially) '22. Precious Achiuwa or Onyeka Okongwu are normally the types of guys that you would expect to return to college to grow their games in hopes of moving into the lottery, only there's nearly no chance for them to crack the top ten in either of the two ensuing drafts. Heck, Okongwu probably doesn't start over the Mobleys next year.

Then there are guys that are borderline #1s this year, like Jeremiah Robinson-Earl or Oscar Tshiebwe, they might find themselves having to wait until '23 if they don't go this year. Those two are interesting prospects for Boston since they’re both 4/5 guys. JRE more a PF and Tshiebwe more of a natural C (and entering the NBA at the right time as he’s no longer undersized for the 5 spot).

The same dynamic faces wings/guards like Isaiah Joe, Isaac Okoro, Saddiq Bey, Trendon Watford, and Khalil Whitney. They could conceivably get better and still lose draft stock.
 
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NomarsFool

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Memphis now #8, and 5-5 in their last 10. Ugh. They need to seriously go on a losing streak here to stay competitive with some of the truly terrible teams.

Hopefully, when Zion comes back New Orleans will play some better basketball.
 

benhogan

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Memphis now #8, and 5-5 in their last 10. Ugh. They need to seriously go on a losing streak here to stay competitive with some of the truly terrible teams.

Hopefully, when Zion comes back New Orleans will play some better basketball.
Coach has them playing with max effort. Jenkins is a Budenholzer protege, so he has the skill to get the most out of that roster.

At the moment there are 11 teams (Port, Minn, SA, Sac, OKC, Pho, Chi, Orl, Char, Det) stuck between 10-12 wins. Some of them will go into "tank mode". Memphis will continue to play hard, the Grizz feel like the Kings '19 all over again. Hope I'm wrong.

Gentry is terrible and is sure to get the least out of the Pelicans. They will handle Zion with kid gloves since they are going nowhere this season.
 

lovegtm

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Coach has them playing with max effort. Jenkins is a Budenholzer protege, so he has the skill to get the most out of that roster.

At the moment there are 11 teams (Port, Minn, SA, Sac, OKC, Pho, Chi, Orl, Char, Det) stuck between 10-12 wins. Some of them will go into "tank mode". Memphis will continue to play hard, the Grizz feel like the Kings '19 all over again. Hope I'm wrong.

Gentry is terrible and is sure to get the least out of the Pelicans. They will handle Zion with kid gloves since they are going nowhere this season.
I mean, you're wrong in that the Grizzlies aren't good enough to be the Kings '19. They're still a bad team that loses a lot of games.

You're right in that they're something like Brooklyn '18. Cleveland probably wasn't thrilled to have the total haul for Kyrie basically be a #8 pick and the flotsam that came over for Crowder, IT and picks.
 

benhogan

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Nov 2, 2007
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I mean, you're wrong in that the Grizzlies aren't good enough to be the Kings '19. They're still a bad team that loses a lot of games.

You're right in that they're something like Brooklyn '18. Cleveland probably wasn't thrilled to have the total haul for Kyrie basically be a #8 pick and the flotsam that came over for Crowder, IT and picks.
I'm speculating that its a late lottery pick since there is so much mediocrity around them. Feels like it will easily convey, #8-13 sounds about right.

Their effort/coaching will trump half those bad/mediocre teams at 10-12 wins
 

nighthob

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Jul 15, 2005
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Coach has them playing with max effort. Jenkins is a Budenholzer protege, so he has the skill to get the most out of that roster.

At the moment there are 11 teams (Port, Minn, SA, Sac, OKC, Pho, Chi, Orl, Char, Det) stuck between 10-12 wins. Some of them will go into "tank mode". Memphis will continue to play hard, the Grizz feel like the Kings '19 all over again. Hope I'm wrong.

Gentry is terrible and is sure to get the least out of the Pelicans. They will handle Zion with kid gloves since they are going nowhere this season.
The teams always play hard, it's the front offices that tank, and I'm not sure the Grizz's front office is wild about not getting a long term prospect to add to J-3 and Ja Morant. However with the new flattened odds there's still a pretty good chance that Memphis lands in the 3-4 spot. (Alternatively there will be a team like the Knicks out there that sees someone they dearly want in the late lottery that Boston can roll over the draft pick with.)
 

BigSoxFan

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May 31, 2007
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I’d gladly take a Toppin or Okongwu with the Memphis pick. I think there are some intriguing guys in that 7-12 range.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Jan 15, 2004
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Am I missing something with Cassius Winston? I haven't formed my own board yet but I can't imagine an HRB Mock without him in my Top-15.
 

benhogan

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Nov 2, 2007
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Santa Monica
Am I missing something with Cassius Winston? I haven't formed my own board yet but I can't imagine an HRB Mock without him in my Top-15.
he's exactly the kind of player you nab with a late first/2nd round pick.

Upperclassmen PGs get no respect during the draft process