I think we trade down to get Giddey. He has the size and playmaking ability that the org loves. All depending on what our scouts thing of him of course.
Feels like all is right with the sports world at the moment.
So far the process continues and the battle tested Bucks survived the Durant show, despite Tucker fouling out almost exclusively on Nets moving screeners forearm shoving him into Durant.
The way the west has shaken out, the Warriors could still be playing if they had made the playoffs.
Is it bad that I feel like Mr. Apricot should be running the Warriors draft room? He seems to have a way of presenting information that led to the Warriors fanbase selecting possibly the best value in the draft last year (despite having Twitter involved.) I sense a guiding touch in these mock draft reviews too
Guys, just like last year when I fell in love with Haliburton, I’ve been doing some scouting on my own and I’m growing more and more intrigued with Jalen Johnson (who seems quite the controversial prospect).
Standing at 6’9 with a 6’11 wingspan, he is a smooth athlete with a solid first step along with an intriguing handle. Defensively, he seems eminently versatile capable of guarding all 5 positions averaging 1.2 steals/blocks in 21 mpg. Watching his tape, Johnson seems to have amazing instincts and nose for the ball when it comes to grabbing rebounds/chasing blocks allowing him to put up some silly numbers for a Center despite playing SF. People rightfully praise Scottie Barnes for his talents as a passer . . . but Johnson honestly wasn’t too far behind him consistently flashing excellent vision (especially in transition).
The negatives for Johnson are that his jumper is extremely poor (his 3pt % is misleading), though thats in part because of his bad shot selection where he’s tried to take the opposition off the dribble into contested mid range shots. While he seemed to have some promise with his catch and shooting, his jumper is nonetheless a genuine concern given his subpar FT%. My secondary main criticism of Johnson was that even though he demonstrated excellent hand/eye coordination in other aspects of his game, my charting of his shot attempts displayed a lackluster ability to retain body control through contact and finish. Still, he did finish with 60.3% ATR so maybe I’ve overstating this problem.
Overall, I really like him, warts and all. If he can add a bit of muscle + shift down to PF (which is where he really belongs), he’ll be able to put up ridiculous stat-lines like 24 pts, 15 Reb, 7 Ast, 3 Blk, and 2 Stl far more.
Doc Rivers was asked after the game whether he still believes they can win a championship with Simmons at point, and Doc's reply was "I don't know the answer to that". Sure Simmons came up small in the series, but that's such a terrible answer as a head coach.
Ben Simmons is a lesson on trade value. Earlier this season he was the centerpiece for a Harden trade. Now he's presumably a negative contract.
It can happen very fast. Waiting and hoping a young guy improves their trade value through age-related progression isn't always the wiser move, they have to actually improve.
I know they lost Danny Green but they were never going to win a championship with Simmons being a complete liability on the offensive end anyways. At least Draymond can occasionally make the open 3. I can't tell if Simmons is physically incapable of expanding his offensive game or he just doesn't want to. All he needs is a reliable mid range and everything else will open up entirely
“So I count in the last 13 drafts: 1 star, 1 starter, 2 sixth men, 4 role players, 3 deep bench players.”
It should be noted that Porter would not have fallen to #14 if he was healthy. He was damaged goods in the draft and whoever picked him would have to wait a year and hope he recovered. He would have been a top 5 pick otherwise. So it’s really only 1 star/starter that “counts” when looking at that recent #14 history.
I wouldn't go anything other than a Forward at the 6 to 10 picks (If we get it). Unlike last year, this year is deep on forwards in the lottery. If Baze and Oubre walk, I can see a guard at 14, and there should be plenty intriguing options there and Bouknight one of them. Giddy is tantalizing though despite his boom/bust potential. Let's say he plays like a good 14th Pick and gives you solid bench rotation minutes. Here I think he can really add value as a player as a point with size & great distribution skills, as a point small forward which allows our guards to run wild off picks, and as a switch across 4 positions high IQ defender. Of these 2 guys, Bouknight is probably a better player in a vacuum. But if both were to play = to their draft position (14), I think Giddy gives the Warriors more options, flexibility, play making and SIZE. If picking someone for a pickup game, it's Bouknight, easy. If building a roster around 3 Hall of Famers who run a system unlike any other in the NBA, I'll roll the dice on the Aussie.
People say you have to have shooting/scoring. We have Curry (30), Klay (20+), Wiggs (career 20) and Poole (per 36, 20+) plus Wiseman, who in 2 years, will score 16-20 falling out of bed.
Add Scottie Barnes and Giddy to that mix? Holy Hot Potato Sunday, Batman. You would not be able to follow the ball as it whizzed around the court. That's another 5 year run in my mind.
Still haven't seen anything that would move me off Scottie Barnes with the 6th pick. Again, if you are going to pick a guy that can't shoot the 3, at least pick somebody that does everything else well and if Barnes could learn to shoot, he has the other tools to be a star. As for Giddey, what are we talking about, Ben Simmons without the defense? That seems like way to much risk without the reward.
I wouldn't take Bouknight at #6, but I think there is some context behind his low 3 point percentage and I don't think his shooting potential can be dismissed. This is a very good scouting report on him in general that touches on it:
> In his freshman season at UCONN, he shot 36.3% from three after factoring out the two pull-ups he took all year and missed per InStat. He shot just 29.3% from three on much higher volume this season. However, there are a couple factors that need to be thrown in before taking those numbers at face value.
> As just mentioned, almost all of Bouknight’s looks were off the catch his freshman season. This past year, 45% of his threes were off the dribble. Those shots are significantly harder and Bouknight shouldered a much heavier creation load than his first year. On top of that, he suffered an elbow injury that required surgery in the middle of the season, limiting him to 15 total games. Prior to the game in which he was injured (Marquette) he was shooting 33.3% from three and over 80% from the line: after returning from injury, 26.8% from three and 75.6% from the line. So there was a ton of variability in a short amount of time.
I'd be good with either guy at #14, both clearly have development they need to do to be contributors but have nice foundational skillsets.
I think we trade down to get Giddey. He has the size and playmaking ability that the org loves. All depending on what our scouts thing of him of course.
As a UConn fan I watched him alot the past 2 years and like Bouknight's upside but really feel that size is the need for us.
Feels like all is right with the sports world at the moment.
So far the process continues and the battle tested Bucks survived the Durant show, despite Tucker fouling out almost exclusively on Nets moving screeners forearm shoving him into Durant.
The way the west has shaken out, the Warriors could still be playing if they had made the playoffs.
Is it bad that I feel like Mr. Apricot should be running the Warriors draft room? He seems to have a way of presenting information that led to the Warriors fanbase selecting possibly the best value in the draft last year (despite having Twitter involved.) I sense a guiding touch in these mock draft reviews too
Guys, just like last year when I fell in love with Haliburton, I’ve been doing some scouting on my own and I’m growing more and more intrigued with Jalen Johnson (who seems quite the controversial prospect).
Standing at 6’9 with a 6’11 wingspan, he is a smooth athlete with a solid first step along with an intriguing handle. Defensively, he seems eminently versatile capable of guarding all 5 positions averaging 1.2 steals/blocks in 21 mpg. Watching his tape, Johnson seems to have amazing instincts and nose for the ball when it comes to grabbing rebounds/chasing blocks allowing him to put up some silly numbers for a Center despite playing SF. People rightfully praise Scottie Barnes for his talents as a passer . . . but Johnson honestly wasn’t too far behind him consistently flashing excellent vision (especially in transition).
The negatives for Johnson are that his jumper is extremely poor (his 3pt % is misleading), though thats in part because of his bad shot selection where he’s tried to take the opposition off the dribble into contested mid range shots. While he seemed to have some promise with his catch and shooting, his jumper is nonetheless a genuine concern given his subpar FT%. My secondary main criticism of Johnson was that even though he demonstrated excellent hand/eye coordination in other aspects of his game, my charting of his shot attempts displayed a lackluster ability to retain body control through contact and finish. Still, he did finish with 60.3% ATR so maybe I’ve overstating this problem.
Overall, I really like him, warts and all. If he can add a bit of muscle + shift down to PF (which is where he really belongs), he’ll be able to put up ridiculous stat-lines like 24 pts, 15 Reb, 7 Ast, 3 Blk, and 2 Stl far more.
Doc Rivers was asked after the game whether he still believes they can win a championship with Simmons at point, and Doc's reply was "I don't know the answer to that". Sure Simmons came up small in the series, but that's such a terrible answer as a head coach.
Ben Simmons is a lesson on trade value. Earlier this season he was the centerpiece for a Harden trade. Now he's presumably a negative contract.
It can happen very fast. Waiting and hoping a young guy improves their trade value through age-related progression isn't always the wiser move, they have to actually improve.
So What now with Simmons? What kind of player does he become moving forward? It's so weird evaluating him- he's very talented yet very flawed
I know they lost Danny Green but they were never going to win a championship with Simmons being a complete liability on the offensive end anyways. At least Draymond can occasionally make the open 3. I can't tell if Simmons is physically incapable of expanding his offensive game or he just doesn't want to. All he needs is a reliable mid range and everything else will open up entirely
I'm conflicted. Who are we rooting for?
Young is legit. Shit night for his shot and still can’t take him off the floor
T Young is 1-14….
SC31 playing hard… Young is so hard to watch with his garbage play.
“So I count in the last 13 drafts: 1 star, 1 starter, 2 sixth men, 4 role players, 3 deep bench players.”
It should be noted that Porter would not have fallen to #14 if he was healthy. He was damaged goods in the draft and whoever picked him would have to wait a year and hope he recovered. He would have been a top 5 pick otherwise. So it’s really only 1 star/starter that “counts” when looking at that recent #14 history.
I wouldn't go anything other than a Forward at the 6 to 10 picks (If we get it). Unlike last year, this year is deep on forwards in the lottery. If Baze and Oubre walk, I can see a guard at 14, and there should be plenty intriguing options there and Bouknight one of them. Giddy is tantalizing though despite his boom/bust potential. Let's say he plays like a good 14th Pick and gives you solid bench rotation minutes. Here I think he can really add value as a player as a point with size & great distribution skills, as a point small forward which allows our guards to run wild off picks, and as a switch across 4 positions high IQ defender. Of these 2 guys, Bouknight is probably a better player in a vacuum. But if both were to play = to their draft position (14), I think Giddy gives the Warriors more options, flexibility, play making and SIZE. If picking someone for a pickup game, it's Bouknight, easy. If building a roster around 3 Hall of Famers who run a system unlike any other in the NBA, I'll roll the dice on the Aussie.
People say you have to have shooting/scoring. We have Curry (30), Klay (20+), Wiggs (career 20) and Poole (per 36, 20+) plus Wiseman, who in 2 years, will score 16-20 falling out of bed.
Add Scottie Barnes and Giddy to that mix? Holy Hot Potato Sunday, Batman. You would not be able to follow the ball as it whizzed around the court. That's another 5 year run in my mind.
Still haven't seen anything that would move me off Scottie Barnes with the 6th pick. Again, if you are going to pick a guy that can't shoot the 3, at least pick somebody that does everything else well and if Barnes could learn to shoot, he has the other tools to be a star. As for Giddey, what are we talking about, Ben Simmons without the defense? That seems like way to much risk without the reward.
I wouldn't take Bouknight at #6, but I think there is some context behind his low 3 point percentage and I don't think his shooting potential can be dismissed. This is a very good scouting report on him in general that touches on it:
https://www.indycornrows.com/2021/6/8/22451227/james-bouknight-and-the-art-of-off-ball-movement
> In his freshman season at UCONN, he shot 36.3% from three after factoring out the two pull-ups he took all year and missed per InStat. He shot just 29.3% from three on much higher volume this season. However, there are a couple factors that need to be thrown in before taking those numbers at face value.
> As just mentioned, almost all of Bouknight’s looks were off the catch his freshman season. This past year, 45% of his threes were off the dribble. Those shots are significantly harder and Bouknight shouldered a much heavier creation load than his first year. On top of that, he suffered an elbow injury that required surgery in the middle of the season, limiting him to 15 total games. Prior to the game in which he was injured (Marquette) he was shooting 33.3% from three and over 80% from the line: after returning from injury, 26.8% from three and 75.6% from the line. So there was a ton of variability in a short amount of time.
I'd be good with either guy at #14, both clearly have development they need to do to be contributors but have nice foundational skillsets.