re: Draft Discussion

I like Smart. He'd make a nice Bench player. He can do a little bit of everything.

Cam Thomas is a pure scorer with no defense. Smart would be a decent prospect if he matures. He just terribly inconsistent/immature now.

Tbh neither of them really project to be NBA level players at this point.

Both around 10ish in a lot of mocks. Some higher, some lower. Moses above Bouknight.

Moses is intriguing, Bouknight can’t shoot, so pass.

You said he “doesn’t project as an NBA player.”

When you’re projected to get picked in the mid first round, you “project as an nba player” by definition. That’s not really up for debate.

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Not a fan of Cam Thomas. Guy gets double/triple team and still shoots it. Instead of passing it out.

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That's because he's one of three players who can score. LSU had no depth this year, evident by the fact their bench scored two points tonight.

Alot of times, a contested shot from Cam was the best option. He definitely has the tools to become a 6th man type, imo.

As far as the LSU guys are concerned, I think Cam's ceiling in this draft is a late-teens pick, but he's more than likely going in the 20s or early second round. He's going to have to sell teams on being more well rounded than he showed at LSU. He's reaaaalllly bad on defense and he's going to have to be able to contribute in other ways when his shot is not falling or he won't stick in the league. There were some flashes of playmaking in the postseason that could help his case and NBA floor spacing will help him a lot too. That being said, I'm not really big on the Pels' fit for Cam Thomas and could see his career going the Antonio Blakeney route.

Trendon is at best a second round guy. His playmaking skills for his size is going to intrigue teams, but he's really bad on defense too. His physical tools are there to be a bench player in this league, but I'm not sure his focus/game IQ are going to be up to speed. He reads the game pretty slowly and just falls asleep on defense and gets out of position consistently.

You could probably get Javonte as an undrafted free agent. Wouldn't mind getting him into our G League squad and see if he work his way up into the NBA rotation. He's a gamer and I think he is going to maximize his ability with how hard he works, but will that be enough to stick in the NBA?

I would love to get Darius Days in our system as an undrafted FA. I think he has a lot of tools that will allow him to excel in a bench role since he impacts the game so positively without needing the ball in his hands. He'll just have to be patient and get in the right development system.

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What’s the difference between Cam Thomas and Antonio Blakeney other than ability to draw fouls?

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Cam has a better frame and is a more natural/nuanced scorer. I also think he's a better shooter. He will have to rein in his shot selection at the next level, that cannot be argued.

I agree that Cam is not a lottery pick due to his indifference to defense/passing, but I could see a team valuing his shot creation in the late first.

general question, we have 3 second rounders this year? Seems like a giant waste of assets that won't make the squad likely.