re: Draft Discussion

That is weird. I was just reading where he has a 6'8 wingspan at 6'5. Lavine was 6'8.5 at 6'5.5. So Johnson is a shade smaller. He is raw too and sounds like a project, like Hayes (that came late to the game)..

I'm gonna go on record and say Johnson doesn't develop. He's more of a freak than a basketball player, imo.

Yeah Keon's ceiling is pretty high if it all comes together, but I struggle to see him being a starter if he doesn't maximize his potential to the absolute fullest. He's a great athlete and he plays his heart out, but besides showing flashes here and there, he's not much of a facilitator in the half court and can't really shoot it. So unless he makes significant strides there, he's maybe an elite slashing/driving high energy player. I struggle to see starter value unless he becomes outlier Dwyane Wade/Russell Westbrook good. My best pure guess is teams love the athleticism and may think he is going to work his butt off to maximize his talent based on how he interviews and how hard he works on the court.

Personally, I think Watford is going to be trash, but Naz Reid was also a guy at LSU who disappointed and really didn’t appear to be an nba athlete, and now he’s randomly a very good player for the Wolves and one of maybe 5 players in the league that makes life difficult on Zion.

Didn’t watch Keon personally, but most of the chatter from Tenn fans is that they dislike him and think he is overhyped.

quote:

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I can see a scenario where he’s really not that good in the league, and his style of play, or usage, rubs some people the wrong way.

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I can see that also if he think he has to be a bucket getter or be the man like he was at UConn. He had one of the highest usage rate in the big East.

But if he knows his role, he can be an exceptional player. Really knows what spot to be on the court and is one of the best cutters in the league. He admitted that he was horrible with his 3pt shot and worked hard to fix that during the off season. Saying how it has to be repetitive for him.


Kind of interested to see how Giddey does next month in the Olympics Expedition in Vegas. If he performs well for Australia, we definitely have to grab him if he is there at 10.

What about a comp of Watford with the Morris Twins? He is a bit shorter, but much longer..

My unsolicited list of guys I would like for the Pels to target in respective ranges. This is the general order I preference them in right now and in parenthesis I placed skills that I think translate or have the potential to.

Trade up targets from #10:
• Scottie Barnes (playmaking, IDEF, TDEF, 1-4 Pos. Vers., IQ/feel, motor, culture, mismatch pot.)
assuming Cunningham, Green, Mobley, Suggs are non-negotiable

#10 targets:
• Moses Moody (shooting, TDEF, IQ, floor process, fit)
• Josh Giddey (playmaking, IQ/feel, floor process, mismatch pot.)
• Kai Jones (IDEF, motor, ath. outlier, ++ceiling, rim grav., stretch pot., ball handling pot.)

Kai is the only full project I would take in this range. I’m a huge believer in his ceiling and the flashes he’s shown.

Late teen through early second round targets:
• Ziaire Williams (shooting and shot creation for size potential)
• Josh Primo (feel, shooting, 1-3 pos. vers., playmaking pot., young fresh., ,IDEF pot., upside)
• Franz Wagner (shooting, TDEF, floor process, passing, IQ)
• Jaden Springer (shooting, TDEF/IDEF pot., ability TGT rim pot., young fresh.)
• Usman Garuba (IDEF, TDEF, REB, shooting pot., motor, floor process, passing & handling pot.)
• Jared Butler (ability TGT rim, playmaking, shooting, IQ, TDEF, culture, +passer)
• Corey Kispert (+shooting, TDEF, feel/IQ)
• Trey Murphy III (+shooting, TDEF)
• Tre Mann (pull up shooting, playmaking pot., scoring pot.)
• Quentin Grimes (shooting, TDEF, scoring pot.)
• James Bouknight (+off ball movement, shooting pot., scoring pot.)
• Chris Duarte (shooting, passing, TDEF)
• Sharife Cooper (ability TGT rim, playmaking, ++passer)
• Bones Hyland (spark, scoring, motor)
• Deuce McBride (+IDEF, TDEF, pos. vers., motor, shooting)
• JT Thor (defensive and shooting potential for size, young fresh.)
• Josh Christopher (spark, scoring)
• Davion Mitchell (ability TGT rim, shooting pot., IDEF, TDEF, motor, culture)

Ziaire, Primo, Cooper, and maybe Christopher are guys from this range that I think would struggle to crack the rotation as rookies. I buy Ziaire and Primo’s upside though and I think Cooper is a guy you should take a shot with if he slides too far.

Mid-2nd to UDFA targets:
• Herb Jones (IQ, IDEF, TDEF, 1-4 pos. vers., floor process, passing)
• Joe Wieskamp (+shooting)
• Kessler Edwards (IDEF, TDEF, shooting pot.)
• Julian Champagnie (shooting, shot creation pot.)
• Yves Pons (TDEF, IDEF, motor)
• Isaiah Todd (upside)
• Mark Vital (rebounding, motor, TDEF, IDEF, culture)
• EJ Onu ( elite rim protect pot., shooting pot., outlier measures)

Haven’t really looked at Sengun or Roko yet.

TDEF and IDEF is team and individual defense.

Hayes was a far better prospect than Watford…look at the difference in frames and athleticism.

And for the people saying Watford will be a 3 and D player…I don’t see that at all. His shot creation and creativity is impressive for his size, but his defense at LSU was inconsistent AT BEST.

Hayes is 6 months older than Watford. Lottery pick and 2 years in the league already. Watford may not even get drafted

Someone got this all wrong