2020 NBA Draft discussion

HomeRunBaker

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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
I always thought Winston had the type of game that would play up in the open court of the NBA and had been waiting for him to declare. Apparently the scouts and GM's didn't give him that same feedback. Maybe I know nothing I dunno, I'm confused on this one.
 

BigSoxFan

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I always thought Winston had the type of game that would play up in the open court of the NBA and had been waiting for him to declare. Apparently the scouts and GM's didn't give him that same feedback. Maybe I know nothing I dunno, I'm confused on this one.
I would absolutely scoop him up with one of our late firsts, if we keep them.
 

NomarsFool

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I think the Celtics are going to have to try and flip some of these picks forward if they can. It's hard to see how they are all going to slot in next year, also assuming that players like Romeo and Waters could be on the team.
 

BigSoxFan

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I think the Celtics are going to have to try and flip some of these picks forward if they can. It's hard to see how they are all going to slot in next year, also assuming that players like Romeo and Waters could be on the team.
Agreed although I wouldn’t be surprised to see Romeo dealt in the right move to improve this year’s team.
 

nighthob

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I think Waters/Edwards is an either/or situation. While it's the smallball era, three sub-six footers is pushing things.
 

NomarsFool

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Agreed although I wouldn’t be surprised to see Romeo dealt in the right move to improve this year’s team.
Maybe, but wouldn't that be selling really low? I was very much an anti-fan of the pick, but I feel like his value has gone down even further with the injuries. I'd like to see him be able to put some months together of playing without getting hurt and be able to show people what made him such a top recruit out of high school.
 

nighthob

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Yabusele says we'll keep them: no one loves our mid and late picks as much as we do.
That draft was an aberration caused by Danny's determination to hold on to James Young. Everyone knew that Boston had cleared cap space for two max signings and couldn't afford to carry Young and two first round picks. So the other GMs were all cruising for a bargain. They were willing to deal second round picks for the mid first, some were willing to take James Young with the salary to pay him for a conditional #2. But no one was willing to part with assets. So Boston decided on draft & stash rather than just pay someone to take Young's deal.
 

BigSoxFan

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Maybe, but wouldn't that be selling really low? I was very much an anti-fan of the pick, but I feel like his value has gone down even further with the injuries. I'd like to see him be able to put some months together of playing without getting hurt and be able to show people what made him such a top recruit out of high school.
Depends on the return. Certainly wouldn’t treat him as filler, ballast, or whatever term we use here but it’s also possible that you’d be selling before his value goes into the James Young tank (depending on how you value him). He’s still someone that a team could dream on. I personally really don’t have high hopes for him, which has nothing to do with his injuries. I’d only deal him if he’s needed as part of a deal for an impact big.
 

bowiac

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Just need to find a greater sucker than Danny with respect to high school recruits.
 

lovegtm

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Just need to find a greater sucker than Danny with respect to high school recruits.
And then we can find someone to finally take Brown and Tatum off our hands in exchange for Bender and Lonzo Ball. :p
 

benhogan

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NomarsFool

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There seem to be quite a few interesting international bigs this year. Makes me a bit more excited about the Celtics plethora of lower draft picks.
 

Sam Ray Not

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With Cole Anthony's stock seemingly slipping a bit, could this go from the Anthonys draft to the Cassiuses draft?
 

oumbi

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Cassius Stanley looks to be a legit way above the rim wing with a decent jump shot. Had a couple of monster alley oop finishes last night and played good D on GT's leading scorer.
The article above speaks highly of him, but on Tankathon they have him going at #54, late in the second round. So why the low ranking? Does anyone know more on this?
 

HomeRunBaker

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With Cole Anthony's stock seemingly slipping a bit, could this go from the Anthonys draft to the Cassiuses draft?
I don’t believe for a second that Anthony’s stock is slipping due to injury. This looks like a Darius Garland-type situation where mocks downgrade him with others hyped up but the real evaluators already know what he is.
 

bowiac

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I don't follow the NCAA, and basically have no idea who Cole Anthony is, but one thing I've noticed is that the track record of "unproductive, but physically gifted" guys, as measured by something like BPM, is pretty abysmal.

Anthony has a +5 BPM. It's almost impossible to find a freshman to be drafted with a BPM that low to have gone on to NBA success. As far as I can tell, the list is like Jaylen Brown, Zach LaVine, Andre Drummond, and that's about it. That's not the end of the world, but would make me less than eager to use a top 5 (or 10) pick on him.
 
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DannyDarwinism

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I don’t believe for a second that Anthony’s stock is slipping due to injury. This looks like a Darius Garland-type situation where mocks downgrade him with others hyped up but the real evaluators already know what he is.
Yeah, he's been impressive enough in every context other than UNC that I suspect his disappointing season will be mostly overlooked. It's very hard for a guard like him to flourish on a squad like this UNC team. Outside of Cole, UNC is shooting 28% from three, and he's been starting with two bigs who don't shoot at all. With the lack of spacing, there's not a ton he can do on the perimeter, and he's basically triple teamed any time he penetrates. That said, he has not been the floor general I thought he'd be, he's turning the ball over way too much, and he's not shooting particularly well either, so it's hard not to have some doubt creep in. I was all in on him as a legit #1 overall prospect after seeing him last year, but there’s a bunch of interesting lead guards in the lottery this year, and it would’ve been nice if he had really distinguished himself from the pack.
 

nighthob

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My mistake. Thanks for catching that. Though even at #31, given the write up that would seem low.
If Stanley had Isaac Okoro’s length/strength we’d probably be discussing him as a top eight pick. He’d be near the top of my list for Boston with their low #1s if he really is likely to slip that far.
 

RedOctober3829

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At the end of the first round with either pick, I'd take a look at Illinois freshman center Kofi Cockburn. At 7-foot and 290 lbs, he's huge but has a good touch around the rim and can run very well for his size. He's only been playing hoops for 4 years so there's a lot of untapped potential there. He is averaging 13 and 9 with a 52% FG and 68% from the line.
 

nighthob

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I’d rather they just draft Precious Achiuwa in the mid first as he’s capable of playing C in the new NBA. Saddiq Bey is a better late first prospect, he has real 3 & D potential.
 

jon abbey

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I don't follow the NCAA, and basically have no idea who Cole Anthony is, but one thing I've noticed is that the track record of "unproductive, but physically gifted" guys, as measured by something like BPM, is pretty abysmal.

Anthony has a +5 BPM. It's almost impossible to find a freshman to be drafted with a BPM that low to have gone on to NBA success. As far as I can tell, the list is like Jaylen Brown, Zach LaVine, Andre Drummond, and that's about it. That's not the end of the world, but would make me less than eager to use a top 5 (or 10) pick on him.
He’s Greg Anthony’s son, which is a bit of the reason he is highly touted IMO.
 

DannyDarwinism

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I’d rather they just draft Precious Achiuwa in the mid first as he’s capable of playing C in the new NBA. Saddiq Bey is a better late first prospect, he has real 3 & D potential.
Agreed on Achiuwa. I would be shocked if Ainge drafted Cockburn, who can’t shoot or defend the perimeter, though I didn’t know he’s only been playing hoops for a couple of years. He does move well for a guy his size.

If you’re gonna have a Bey bae, don’t sleep on Tyler. Not the shooter that Saddiq is, but he’s an elite defender and great on the glass. Reminds me a bit of Brandon Clarke. I generally see him mocked as a second rounder.

Speaking of second rounders, you have thoughts on Jalen Smith? Seems like a legit 6’10 roll man who can shoot (39.4 3pt% on 2.6 attempts per game, 74% ft%) and defend in space in addition to providing good rim protection. Kinda weird to me that he’s getting no first round love in this class, but then again I was in on Diamond Stone and big on Bruno Fernando, so maybe I should steer clear of stanning Terps big men.
 

nighthob

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I do like Tyler Bey, but I suspect he’s going higher than 25. I like Jalen Smith with reservations, that frame of his is painfully thin and he doesn’t look like he has a lot of room for expansion. But at his skill/athleticism level he’s going to have a long career as a useful rotation player.

As for Smith’s draft projections, it’s a function of the draft being pretty flat after the top 3 (and there are even some significant warts with Edwards, Wiseman, and Ball). From 4-40 it’s tough to see stars, even if it’s a phenomenally deep pool in terms of rotation guys. Smith’s size likely keeps him out of the lottery, but I could see him going anywhere from 15-45.
 

RedOctober3829

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I’d rather they just draft Precious Achiuwa in the mid first as he’s capable of playing C in the new NBA. Saddiq Bey is a better late first prospect, he has real 3 & D potential.
I saw Achiuwa yesterday in person. He has a ways to go in terms of being able to be an NBA player. He's a project IMO. Athletic as hell, but is a bull in a china shop.
 

nighthob

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But an incredibly long, athletic, and mobile 6’9” 220lb bull with the frame to easily add another 20-30lbs and quick enough to switch anywhere from 2-5. All you really want out of him offensively is that he learn to set effective picks and to take lots of shooting lessons from Joe Mazzulla. Wasting firsts on Tacko Fall’s Minime in hopes of finding a designated post defender is a recipe for poor depth.
 

chilidawg

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I do like Tyler Bey, but I suspect he’s going higher than 25. I like Jalen Smith with reservations, that frame of his is painfully thin and he doesn’t look like he has a lot of room for expansion. But at his skill/athleticism level he’s going to have a long career as a useful rotation player.

As for Smith’s draft projections, it’s a function of the draft being pretty flat after the top 3 (and there are even some significant warts with Edwards, Wiseman, and Ball). From 4-40 it’s tough to see stars, even if it’s a phenomenally deep pool in terms of rotation guys. Smith’s size likely keeps him out of the lottery, but I could see him going anywhere from 15-45.
Smith seems much stronger looking to me this year compared to last, 6'10 225 according to Tankathon, which is pretty similar to Achiuwa. Jaden McDaniels by comparison is 6'10 185. Smith or Achiuwa would be good fits for the C's at 17. Smith is a Sophomore, but is actually 1/2 a year younger than Achiuwa.
 

nighthob

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It’s a bone structure thing, Smith’s legs are pipe cleaners, Achiuwa is thin, but with broader shoulders and bigger bones. So he’s a lot more likely to hit 245 with no loss of athleticism than Smith. I have the same reservations about McDaniels, but, again, like Smith the skill/athleticism is a guarantee of a long NBA career.
 

nighthob

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None, alas. To be brutally frank I doubt he gets past Golden State. About the only way I can see him in Boston is if the Warriors get cockblocked on Lottery Night and work out a Wiggins/#5/Minnesota #1 for Hayward/Langford/other picks deal.
 

BigSoxFan

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None, alas. To be brutally frank I doubt he gets past Golden State. About the only way I can see him in Boston is if the Warriors get cockblocked on Lottery Night and work out a Wiggins/#5/Minnesota #1 for Hayward/Langford/other picks deal.
Even given his age? Don’t ruin my dreams.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Can Toppin play/defend the wing at the NBA level? If not I worry a bit that he’s an undersized big who’s old for his class and beating up on younger, weaker kids, though obviously he’d be great value at #17 if he slid that far.

GS, like BOS, may be more interested in nabbing a grownup with a realistic chance of making an immediate impact than in a super-young, higher upside lotto ticket like Wiseman, Edwards, Ball, or Hayes. But I do get a bit of a Joe Smith vibe (college wonder, high floor, low ceiling) from Toppin.
 

nighthob

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There’s definitely a high floor/low ceiling trade off with Toppin. The problem is that from 4-40 you’re looking at either roleplayer level talent of varying degrees or higher upside players completely without any floor at all that are more likely to be out of he NBA in four years than to be anything like their 1% projections. Put more succinctly, this is a shitty year to have a lottery pick.

EDIT: Toppin’s not a wing, he’s going to be a 4/5 that’s at least switchable. He’ll give you nice defense, decent perimeter shooting, and be a useful NBA starter. But a future star he’s not. It’s one reason I thought Minnesota’s insistence that the Warriors take a ‘21 or ‘22 pick bizarre (because those drafts have star power out to the late lottery).
 

lovegtm

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There’s definitely a high floor/low ceiling trade off with Toppin. The problem is that from 4-40 you’re looking at either roleplayer level talent of varying degrees or higher upside players completely without any floor at all that are more likely to be out of he NBA in four years than to be anything like their 1% projections. Put more succinctly, this is a shitty year to have a lottery pick.

EDIT: Toppin’s not a wing, he’s going to be a 4/5 that’s at least switchable. He’ll give you nice defense, decent perimeter shooting, and be a useful NBA starter. But a future star he’s not. It’s one reason I thought Minnesota’s insistence that the Warriors take a ‘21 or ‘22 pick bizarre (because those drafts have star power out to the late lottery).
Was that Minnesota’s insistence? I thought GSW was the one that wanted a 21/22 pick. If what you’re saying is true, both those franchises are worse run than I thought, and I didn’t have a super-high opinion of either.