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2018 NBA Draft - June 21

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Lol Nathan, Jokic is the best offensive center in the league so Jokic with better defence is not something I'd bet on.

Sure, just giving an example of what's possible when big man with no athleticism to speak of starts out with a great skillset and keeps on improving it. Low athleticism doesn't mean low ceiling.
 
Sure, just giving an example of what's possible when big man with no athleticism to speak of starts out with a great skillset and keeps on improving it. Low athleticism doesn't mean low ceiling.

I agree, but I don't see the same feel for the game, I don't think it's close.

A lot of great players i this draft, but I expect a lot of fuck ups and poor draft choices. Going to be super interesting when it's all said and done.
 
I agree, but I don't see the same feel for the game, I don't think it's close.

A lot of great players i this draft, but I expect a lot of fuck ups and poor draft choices. Going to be super interesting when it's all said and done.

I'm not super dedicated to this Jontay Porter - Nikola Jokic comparison. Just making the point that athleticism doesn't necessarily limit a player's ceiling. Hell, while I'm at it, many pundits thought Dray was too physically limited to become an impact player in the NBA. Best offensive and best defensive center in the league, both written off because they were less physically impressive than their peers. Jontay has a better body than either of those guys, it's just a matter of whether or not he can hone his skills to the same extent.
 
I'm not super dedicated to this Jontay Porter - Nikola Jokic comparison. Just making the point that athleticism doesn't necessarily limit a player's ceiling. Hell, while I'm at it, many pundits thought Dray was too physically limited to become an impact player in the NBA. Best offensive and best defensive center in the league, both written off because they were less physically impressive than their peers. Jontay has a better body than either of those guys, it's just a matter of whether or not he can hone his skills to the same extent.

For each of these guys that's succeeded in spite of a lack of athleticism, there's dozens of guys who don't, or are never even seen as NBA prospects. I'm not saying that Porter can't become great no matter what (like I said I like him alot), but it's more likely than not that it will hold him back. And being that the large majority of the weak portions of his game deal with this sort of thing in comparison to the average prospect, he probably doesn't have as much room for growth in his game as most. That's all I'm saying.
 
For each of these guys that's succeeded in spite of a lack of athleticism, there's dozens of guys who don't, or are never even seen as NBA prospects. I'm not saying that Porter can't become great no matter what (like I said I like him alot), but it's more likely than not that it will hold him back. And being that the large majority of the weak portions of his game deal with this sort of thing in comparison to the average prospect, he probably doesn't have as much room for growth in his game as most. That's all I'm saying.

You'll have to elaborate on the bolded.

And while it's tempting to say that there are dozens of guys like Green and Jokic who fail due to their lack of athleticism, I don't think that's actually true. Pundits didn't see those guys as potential stars, but they always acknowledged that they had very uncommon skillsets for big men, and that's true for Jontay too.

I'm not saying he's likely to become either Green or Jokic (if he was, I'd be saying top-3 instead of top-10), but he's shown all-around potential rarely seen in prospects his age.
 
Mikal Bridges is kinda sliding on my board. He hasn't shown any ability to create off the dribble. He is just too one dimensional on offence.

I love his defence and his versatility, but his ceiling is kind capped for me at the moment.
 
Mikal Bridges is kinda sliding on my board. He hasn't shown any ability to create off the dribble. He is just too one dimensional on offence.

I love his defence and his versatility, but his ceiling is kind capped for me at the moment.

I can't help but look at him the same way I look at Kawhi, and I think it's messing with my projection of him. He has everything you need to become a top level player in the league and he is a much better shooter than Kawhi was coming out of college as well. Now, the question is, how much of what Kawhi turned into can be attributed to the Spurs or would he be the same level of player if he had ended up in Chicago like Jimmy Butler did. Hard to tell. I still have him in my top 10 just for the fact that he can contribute from day 1 and he feels an area of need. I'd sooner draft him than I would draft Colin Sexton, honestly.
 
I can't help but look at him the same way I look at Kawhi, and I think it's messing with my projection of him. He has everything you need to become a top level player in the league and he is a much better shooter than Kawhi was coming out of college as well. Now, the question is, how much of what Kawhi turned into can be attributed to the Spurs or would he be the same level of player if he had ended up in Chicago like Jimmy Butler did. Hard to tell. I still have him in my top 10 just for the fact that he can contribute from day 1 and he feels an area of need. I'd sooner draft him than I would draft Colin Sexton, honestly.

He is in my Top 10 still. This draft is really all about fit than BPA for me.

It really depends which team drafts him and what their goals are.
 
I can't help but look at him the same way I look at Kawhi, and I think it's messing with my projection of him. He has everything you need to become a top level player in the league and he is a much better shooter than Kawhi was coming out of college as well. Now, the question is, how much of what Kawhi turned into can be attributed to the Spurs or would he be the same level of player if he had ended up in Chicago like Jimmy Butler did. Hard to tell. I still have him in my top 10 just for the fact that he can contribute from day 1 and he feels an area of need. I'd sooner draft him than I would draft Colin Sexton, honestly.

Part of what made Kawhi special as a prospect was his rebound rate. He not only led his team, but his entire conference in rebound rate as a freshman (and again as a sophomore). Nothing about Mikal makes me think that he can physically dominate the NBA game to the extent that Kawhi does, and that was the key to Kawhi's success before he blossomed as a scorer. Not that I think Mikal isn't a solid prospect...he is...he just isn't off the charts in any single way like Kawhi was.
 
Part of what made Kawhi special as a prospect was his rebound rate. He not only led his team, but his entire conference in rebound rate as a freshman (and again as a sophomore). Nothing about Mikal makes me think that he can physically dominate the NBA game to the extent that Kawhi does, and that was the key to Kawhi's success before he blossomed as a scorer. Not that I think Mikal isn't a solid prospect...he is...he just isn't off the charts in any single way like Kawhi was.

That's a good point, but I also think there's something to be said for what both guys are/were asked to do on offense in college to that point. like, if Kawhi had as big of a role on offense as Mikal maybe he wouldn't be rebounding at quite the same rate as he did. I do think Kawhi is definitely stronger than Mikal, no question, and that's probably the one thing that really sets Kawhi apart from a lot of other perimeter players. I think Mikal is the more explosive athlete and better shooter, but wether he'll be able to capitalize on that and turn it into something special is hard to tell.
 
That's a good point, but I also think there's something to be said for what both guys are/were asked to do on offense in college to that point. like, if Kawhi had as big of a role on offense as Mikal maybe he wouldn't be rebounding at quite the same rate as he did. I do think Kawhi is definitely stronger than Mikal, no question, and that's probably the one thing that really sets Kawhi apart from a lot of other perimeter players. I think Mikal is the more explosive athlete and better shooter, but wether he'll be able to capitalize on that and turn it into something special is hard to tell.

Kawhi did have a big role on offense, though. He led his team in scoring as a freshman (and again as a sophomore). Mikal didn't emerge as a go-to scorer until this season. Different scenario of course, Mikal being on one of the top teams in the country and Kawhi playing for a minor-conference team, but Kawhi certainly played a big role on offense almost from day one.
 
While we're on the topic of Kawhi-like guys, keep an eye on Troy Brown if you watch the Oregon ASU game tonight. I think 3 Ball mentioned him at some point. One of the younger freshmen in the class, and leads the Ducks in rebounding by a country mile. Nice all-around skillset on offense. Already a fringe lottery pick in a lot of mocks, and could easily rise more if he continues his solid play.
 
While we're on the topic of Kawhi-like guys, keep an eye on Troy Brown if you watch the Oregon ASU game tonight. I think 3 Ball mentioned him at some point. One of the younger freshmen in the class, and leads the Ducks in rebounding by a country mile. Nice all-around skillset on offense. Already a fringe lottery pick in a lot of mocks, and could easily rise more if he continues his solid play.

He does a little bit of everything on both ends, but not one thing exceptionally well. Was PG in high school, so has decent vision and P&R ball handling ability...may be able to do some added playmaking out of the wing spot. Decent length, should be able to defend multiple positions. Those are his main selling points from my perspective.
 
He does a little bit of everything on both ends, but not one thing exceptionally well. Was PG in high school, so has decent vision and P&R ball handling ability...may be able to do some added playmaking out of the wing spot. Decent length, should be able to defend multiple positions. Those are his main selling points from my perspective.

Homeless man's Luka Doncic?
 

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