Everything about Giddey’s shot — from gather to release to scissor kick — tells me it’s a strength issue. Can that be corrected? I’m not a pro strength and conditioning guy, but I’d like to hope so — aside from the shooting, I’m a sucker for a guy who has that type of awareness, vision, passing ability and sense of timing for when to change pace. I only struggle with whether he’s worthy of a seventh pick …
For the sake of the game, of these two, I'll take Williams at #7. I think he could have a higher ceiling, his shot is less messed up (yeah, still needs work), and he has that extra wingspan. I'm little concerned about not wanting to take contact and finish in traffic but if he can put on some muscle as he matures and gets some good coaching, that could change. In the real world, I'd be a lot happier with Williams at #14.
Zaire looks passive and disengaged on offense but his length of defense his passing is for real. I think he would excel in our motion offense forcing him to stay engaged and definitely would look awesome in our switch everything defense. Might have some rebounding potential too once he gets stronger.
Duarte looks super engaged and intense, jumper is legit, every on defense and the boards. His off the dribble attack game looks solid as well, even tried to dunk on William's in the fourth, William's rotated over nicely n blocked it but it was called a foul. I'd be fine with both guys
His read and react offensive play is impressive. I have faith if we took him our development staff would be able to clean up his jumper and provide more consistency
The more I read about the guy the more I like. Some of those highlights seem straight out of Jokic's textbook (see the first passing clip on the above thread lol). I know people think he's a stuff who'll be terrible defensively (which might very well be true), but he's a pretty decent shot-blocker (2nd in the league in BPG) and an active defender (15th in Steals!). He'll be bad defensively in space and he's certainly not Bam/Dray, but what other prospect falling that low has no other red flags. As for the poor shooting, he's +80% from the FT line on high volume. With his touch and high skill level, hard to think he wouldn't become at least a mediocre floor-spacer at the NBA level.
Yes, the fit is probably not ideal with Dray and Wiseman, but at #7 he's got very high chance of being the BPA.
I also feel like conditioning is one of the easiest to improve negatives for a prospect entering the NBA. With proper strength and conditioning coaches, nutrition, and $$$ for a personal chef -- if he could trade 15lbs of fat for 15lbs of muscle a lot of good things could happen.
Current vote is running 51% Giddey, but it's within 6 Twitter votes (or 0.6 DNHQ comment votes).
BTW I only count comment votes that are clear, so comments like "I hate both of them for #7 but at #14 I'd take X" I don't count as a vote. Nothing wrong with those comments, just letting you know it's not a vote.
And yeah, you can write to support@substack.com with the poll request. It was one of the first things we asked them, and they said not now. Then I asked to have embedded javascript so I could write a poll thing myself. They said no.
It’s definitely something I’m frustrated with. The basic issue is the Substack sees itself as a email newsletter company and it’s amazing we were able to convince them to add slightly better comment abilities already.
I dont see how you could pick giddey over ziaires potential, giddeys lack of jumper, handle and athleticism will be exposed in the NBA, he's a good passer but does that matter if he can't score? Who wants a Draymond with negative defense
Not super excited about either of these guys, even at 14, but I suppose I'll give this one to Ziaire. Both guys are long term projects, but Giddey just seems so 1 dimensional, it's hard to imagine him improving in all the areas it would take for him to be great.
This is another “neither at 7” grouping for me because there’s easily 7 (maybe even 14) guys I like more than these two.
For the game, I’ll go Williams. He’s skinny in the upper body and that frame isn’t gonna beef up, but he does look wiry strong and his legs are a little bigger than the rest of his body, so it might make him more solid than he looks.
This one is a close one for me. Going back and forth all day. When it's this close I should just refrain from choosing a player right? But what's the fun in that?
Going with... Z. Williams (hehe no typos for me!).
Really a coin flip for me because I'm not sold on Giddey... he clearly has passing/vision but everything else feels like large areas for improvement. His subpar wingspan and athleticism is worrisome if doesn't have an outside shot. He's "got size for a wing" but he's only 6'8". And, for comparison, that is one only inch more than Oubre, but Oubre has a 7'3" wingspan (plus athleticism) compared to 6'8" for Giddey -- can Giddey finish inside in the NBA like he did in the NBL?
Z has even more question marks because his selling point is really just his height at this point. But at 6'10" with the raw skills he has, he might eventually (3-5 years?) look like a Brandon Ingram... probably a very high-risk, high reward pick. I guess I'm more comfortable with an athletic, 6'10" player with handles and shoots ~80% from the line.
ya it's a good standard, but it's not always honored on the internet. I've seen Keon Johnson listed at 6'5" (real height w/o shoes is 6'3.5"), I've seen Davion Mitchell listed at 6'2" (6'0.0"), Bouknight at 6'5" (6'3.5"), Moody at 6'6" (6'4.5"), Kispert at 6'7" (6'6"), and Scottie Barnes at 6'8 or 6'9 (6'7").
I know, that’s where I pulled all the correct heights above. I’m just saying that people (even on this site) go back and forth between using shoes/non-shoes measurements.
Giddey was an injury fill-in for Australia against US-defeating Nigeria, who they beat by 40.
He looked comfortable, 14-4-3 in 24 minutes, 2-5 from 3, got to the line 8 times, +24.
Everything about Giddey’s shot — from gather to release to scissor kick — tells me it’s a strength issue. Can that be corrected? I’m not a pro strength and conditioning guy, but I’d like to hope so — aside from the shooting, I’m a sucker for a guy who has that type of awareness, vision, passing ability and sense of timing for when to change pace. I only struggle with whether he’s worthy of a seventh pick …
I want Williams just so we can somehow make a trade for Williamson and confuse the hell out of everyone for the next 10 years.
Williams. I like his aggressiveness.
For the sake of the game, of these two, I'll take Williams at #7. I think he could have a higher ceiling, his shot is less messed up (yeah, still needs work), and he has that extra wingspan. I'm little concerned about not wanting to take contact and finish in traffic but if he can put on some muscle as he matures and gets some good coaching, that could change. In the real world, I'd be a lot happier with Williams at #14.
https://youtu.be/f_r9eC8qCIM
Zaire matched up against duarte
Zaire looks passive and disengaged on offense but his length of defense his passing is for real. I think he would excel in our motion offense forcing him to stay engaged and definitely would look awesome in our switch everything defense. Might have some rebounding potential too once he gets stronger.
Duarte looks super engaged and intense, jumper is legit, every on defense and the boards. His off the dribble attack game looks solid as well, even tried to dunk on William's in the fourth, William's rotated over nicely n blocked it but it was called a foul. I'd be fine with both guys
Ziaire is so skinny. His paint play looks terrible right now. Giddey is far more polished at 18.
Unfortunately you can't teach wingspan. I think in this situation you pick the young guy racing up the boards and that's Giddey.
Yep this is a tough one. But...
Giddey.
His read and react offensive play is impressive. I have faith if we took him our development staff would be able to clean up his jumper and provide more consistency
https://youtu.be/-IhMdnyTawI
More in depth scouting report on Zaire, check it compared to giddeys
A good thread about Sengun: https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/comments/ogf7ew/oc_are_we_collectively_underrating_alperen_sengun/
The more I read about the guy the more I like. Some of those highlights seem straight out of Jokic's textbook (see the first passing clip on the above thread lol). I know people think he's a stuff who'll be terrible defensively (which might very well be true), but he's a pretty decent shot-blocker (2nd in the league in BPG) and an active defender (15th in Steals!). He'll be bad defensively in space and he's certainly not Bam/Dray, but what other prospect falling that low has no other red flags. As for the poor shooting, he's +80% from the FT line on high volume. With his touch and high skill level, hard to think he wouldn't become at least a mediocre floor-spacer at the NBA level.
Yes, the fit is probably not ideal with Dray and Wiseman, but at #7 he's got very high chance of being the BPA.
I also feel like conditioning is one of the easiest to improve negatives for a prospect entering the NBA. With proper strength and conditioning coaches, nutrition, and $$$ for a personal chef -- if he could trade 15lbs of fat for 15lbs of muscle a lot of good things could happen.
Z. for sure. Bad numbers watching his play gives me good vibes™️
Current vote is running 51% Giddey, but it's within 6 Twitter votes (or 0.6 DNHQ comment votes).
BTW I only count comment votes that are clear, so comments like "I hate both of them for #7 but at #14 I'd take X" I don't count as a vote. Nothing wrong with those comments, just letting you know it's not a vote.
Is it time to ask substack for a voting feature?
Cast your votes in this thread... 🤪
It’s like a logical paradox…
And yeah, you can write to support@substack.com with the poll request. It was one of the first things we asked them, and they said not now. Then I asked to have embedded javascript so I could write a poll thing myself. They said no.
It’s definitely something I’m frustrated with. The basic issue is the Substack sees itself as a email newsletter company and it’s amazing we were able to convince them to add slightly better comment abilities already.
<img src=“thumbsup.png” />
Haha I already counted Goofus and void votes
I took Ziare, in case that wasn’t clear
That sounds suspiciously like my comment, so to be clear I'm trying to vote for Ziaire
I dont see how you could pick giddey over ziaires potential, giddeys lack of jumper, handle and athleticism will be exposed in the NBA, he's a good passer but does that matter if he can't score? Who wants a Draymond with negative defense
Not super excited about either of these guys, even at 14, but I suppose I'll give this one to Ziaire. Both guys are long term projects, but Giddey just seems so 1 dimensional, it's hard to imagine him improving in all the areas it would take for him to be great.
Well... I'd take either of them at #21, neither at #7 ..... and probably Giddey at #14.
This is another “neither at 7” grouping for me because there’s easily 7 (maybe even 14) guys I like more than these two.
For the game, I’ll go Williams. He’s skinny in the upper body and that frame isn’t gonna beef up, but he does look wiry strong and his legs are a little bigger than the rest of his body, so it might make him more solid than he looks.
This one is a close one for me. Going back and forth all day. When it's this close I should just refrain from choosing a player right? But what's the fun in that?
Going with... Z. Williams (hehe no typos for me!).
Really a coin flip for me because I'm not sold on Giddey... he clearly has passing/vision but everything else feels like large areas for improvement. His subpar wingspan and athleticism is worrisome if doesn't have an outside shot. He's "got size for a wing" but he's only 6'8". And, for comparison, that is one only inch more than Oubre, but Oubre has a 7'3" wingspan (plus athleticism) compared to 6'8" for Giddey -- can Giddey finish inside in the NBA like he did in the NBL?
Z has even more question marks because his selling point is really just his height at this point. But at 6'10" with the raw skills he has, he might eventually (3-5 years?) look like a Brandon Ingram... probably a very high-risk, high reward pick. I guess I'm more comfortable with an athletic, 6'10" player with handles and shoots ~80% from the line.
OK, apparently he's not 6'10". But I'll still take Z... athleticism, wingspan, FT%, etc.
6'10" in shoes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ seems like people go back and forth on shoes/no-shoes. Giddey's 6'8" for instance is with shoes.
No shoes is the NBA standard since 2019
ya it's a good standard, but it's not always honored on the internet. I've seen Keon Johnson listed at 6'5" (real height w/o shoes is 6'3.5"), I've seen Davion Mitchell listed at 6'2" (6'0.0"), Bouknight at 6'5" (6'3.5"), Moody at 6'6" (6'4.5"), Kispert at 6'7" (6'6"), and Scottie Barnes at 6'8 or 6'9 (6'7").
These are the official combine measurements taken by the NBA.
https://www.nba.com/stats/draft/combine-anthro/
I know, that’s where I pulled all the correct heights above. I’m just saying that people (even on this site) go back and forth between using shoes/non-shoes measurements.
I also see Giddey listed at 202cm which translates to 6'7.5"... does NBL take into account shoes?
Here's my source (for what it's worth): https:/games.nbaacademy.nba.com/federation/18/team/3455/players/9948