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2018 NBA Draft - June 21

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That he did. And he hit some shots off the dribble for once. Trey Burke was surprisingly useful as well. Any time you can reduce Jarrett Jack's minutes it's a positive.

Hornets, Hawks, and Bulls all won too.

Jarrett Jack has been BALLING. I don't know that I agree with this statement.

I know my fantasy team doesn't lmao.
 
Bruno Fernando seems nothing short of terrible. Can anyone explain why he's expected to enter this draft, let alone get picked in the first round?
 
Jarrett Jack has been BALLING. I don't know that I agree with this statement.

I know my fantasy team doesn't lmao.

From a team perspective he's pretty much negated Porzingis down the stretch of games. Teams know they can put all their attention on Kristaps in pick and rolls, and they'll live with Jarrett Jack mid-rangers for days.
 
Bruno Fernando seems nothing short of terrible. Can anyone explain why he's expected to enter this draft, let alone get picked in the first round?

Where do you see him first round? I'd be really surprised if he doesn't return to Maryland. It's his size + athleticism combo that makes him a possible NBA player.
 
Where do you see him first round? I'd be really surprised if he doesn't return to Maryland. It's his size + athleticism combo that makes him a possible NBA player.

nbadraft.net has him 14th. He mysteriously moved up 10 spots in their most recent update...

6'10" guys who're bouncy and athletic but don't really have any NBA-level skills are a dime a dozen, imo. Sometimes you strike gold on guys like that, but not very often.
 
nbadraft.net has him 14th. He mysteriously moved up 10 spots in their most recent update...

6'10" guys who're bouncy and athletic but don't really have any NBA-level skills are a dime a dozen, imo. Sometimes you strike gold on guys like that, but not very often.

Yeah the guy who runs that site is all over the place with certain guys lol.
 
I recommend everyone looking into Chandler Hutchison from Boise State, I'm surprised he's not been brough up yet. I have him ranked #13 right now.

He's got ideal size for a wing at 6'7 and a 7'1 wingspan and he's super athletic. He's improved greatly with shooting, though he struggles shooting off the dribble. He's at like 42% from three on the year now I believe.

His best attribute is getting to the rim. He has super long strides and can get to the hoop in one dribble from the 3pt line...reminds me a lot of Jayson Tatum last year. Also he used to be a PG in high school, so he has some ball handling skills too. He has great vision on the move as well, I think he's around 5 APG.

The main downside is that he's 22 years old, and like I said he really can't shoot off of the dribble right now. But he's made improvements every year and I guess works out with the same guy Lillard used during his pre-draft/offseason work for whatever that's worth. If his shooting numbers hold up I may even move him ahead of Miles Bridges. He scored 40+ the other day and hit 7 threes, so I think he's starting to catch peoples eyes finally.
 
I recommend everyone looking into Chandler Hutchison from Boise State, I'm surprised he's not been brough up yet. I have him ranked #13 right now.

He's got ideal size for a wing at 6'7 and a 7'1 wingspan and he's super athletic. He's improved greatly with shooting, though he struggles shooting off the dribble. He's at like 42% from three on the year now I believe.

His best attribute is getting to the rim. He has super long strides and can get to the hoop in one dribble from the 3pt line...reminds me a lot of Jayson Tatum last year. Also he used to be a PG in high school, so he has some ball handling skills too. He has great vision on the move as well, I think he's around 5 APG.

The main downside is that he's 22 years old, and like I said he really can't shoot off of the dribble right now. But he's made improvements every year and I guess works out with the same guy Lillard used during his pre-draft/offseason work for whatever that's worth. If his shooting numbers hold up I may even move him ahead of Miles Bridges. He scored 40+ the other day and hit 7 threes, so I think he's starting to catch peoples eyes finally.

I'll keep an eye on him, but I have at least a couple reservations after looking at his season averages:

a- He's shooting a high percentage from 3, but just 70.5% from the line (Tatum shot 84.9% from the line in college, in comparison). We'll have to see if he can keep that 3-point percentage in the 40's through the end of the season.

b- His steal and block totals are kind of underwhelming for an upperclassman with elite physical tools. Is this just a case of conserving energy on defense, or is he not a very smart and/or fundamentally sound defender?
 
I'll keep an eye on him, but I have at least a couple reservations after looking at his season averages:

a- He's shooting a high percentage from 3, but just 70.5% from the line (Tatum shot 84.9% from the line in college, in comparison). We'll have to see if he can keep that 3-point percentage in the 40's through the end of the season.

b- His steal and block totals are kind of underwhelming for an upperclassman with elite physical tools. Is this just a case of conserving energy on defense, or is he not a very smart and/or fundamentally sound defender?

The Tatum comp was just that one specific part of his game.

As far as his defense goes he needs some work, but I'd be surprised if he wasn't at least an neutral NBA defender. The majority of it from what I've seen isn't effort, but just fundamentals. He's second on their team in fouls I believe lol. He opens his hips on the perimeter a good amount to allow drives for example. Steal and block rates I'm not too concerned with for wings, as similarly to him, he spends the vast majority of his time guarding the corner off the ball (vs a guy like Mikal Bridges will defend the opposing best player).

He needs to add some weight, as he's only like 205 lbs... If he adds 15 or so lbs, he can guard 4's as well.
 
He seems he plays very effective style, no fancy over dribbling and finishing. Fast decisions. Thanks for highlighting him!
 
It's about time for me to update my tier-based rankings, but I'm not sure there's much to change. The gaps between the top 3 tiers have gotten slightly smaller, and the gap between the third and fourth tiers has gotten slightly larger. I don't think any further players have earned a spot in that fourth tier (of course, go ahead and point out anyone I'm foolishly overlooking). Since we have a somewhat larger sample size now, I'm going to start arranging players within tiers from left to right (so Young #2 overall, Ayton #3, etc).

Tier 1: Doncic

Tier 2: Young/Ayton/Jackson

Tier 3: Porter/Bamba/Bagley

Tier 4: Carter/Mikal Bridges/Miles Bridges/Bonga/Sexton


Here's an update of my rankings. Jackson slipped past Ayton into 3rd place after a couple big games, and he's on Young's heels. Wendell Carter rises into tier 3, and Bamba slips to tier 4, which I've split into 4a and 4b. Jontay Porter enters tier 4a, and Gilgeous-Alexander enters tier 4b, ahead of Sexton.

There's obviously a lot to talk about here, but instead of going case-by-case I'll just try to respond to your critiques :chuckle:

Tier 1: Doncic

Tier 2: Young/Jackson/Ayton

Tier 3: Porter/Bagley/Carter

Tier 4a: Bamba/Mikal Bridges/Jontay Porter

Tier 4b: Miles Bridges/Bonga/Gilgeous-Alexander/Sexton


EDIT: Bamba, of course, is quickly making me look foolish for dropping him down a tier.
 
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I've seen a few people question wether Jackson's shot blocking will translate to the NBA and at this point I think it's a safe bet. He doesn't have the tools and knack for it that Bamba has, but he is plenty long as is has good enough timing that he can block shots in big leagues. furthermore, he is routinely playing on the perimeter, guarding smaller, quicker players and is almost always capable of sticking with his man and bothering the shot if not out right reject them.

He just generally doesn't make a lot of mistakes on defense and does all the small things you want from a defender. navigates screens well, closes out very quickly, keeps an eye on his man and boxes out regardless of where he might be on the floor. He doesn't really have anything I don't like defensively. Sure, he will need to pack on some muscle, but so does Bamba and Jackson is a year younger with a great physical frame for packing on some bulk.

Offensively he is still very raw but I like his 3 point shot and he is still very quick and long and can catch his defender off guard with those big strides to the rim

I really hope he keeps flying under the radar and we end up having a shot at drafting him, because the more I see of him the more I feel like he can be a lynchpin on an elite defense.
 
Here's an update of my rankings. Jackson slipped past Ayton into 3rd place after a couple big games, and he's on Young's heels. Wendell Carter rises into tier 3, and Bamba slips to tier 4, which I've split into 4a and 4b. Jontay Porter enters tier 4a, and Gilgeous-Alexander enters tier 4b, ahead of Sexton.

There's obviously a lot to talk about here, but instead of going case-by-case I'll just try to respond to your critiques :chuckle:

Tier 1: Doncic

Tier 2: Young/Jackson/Ayton

Tier 3: Porter/Bagley/Carter

Tier 4a: Bamba/Mikal Bridges/Jontay Porter

Tier 4b: Miles Bridges/Bonga/Gilgeous-Alexander/Sexton

One of these is not like the other.... Just kidding lol. I've still not watched any Bonga lol. It seems like his 3 point shooting has normalized though some (some hard-hitting analysis I'm giving, I know lol). I really hope there's a Euro guy that stands out to me outside of Doncic and Musa, who I both like. Love Goga Bitadze if he can shoot like he did coming into this season, but he's fallen off a cliff there.

I've started to consider putting Trae Young into the first tier with Doncic, but still safely behind. He's now ahead of Ayton for me and will likely remain there if his shooting numbers remain where they're at. I always value ball handlers over bigs as is, and that's a big reasoning behind me preferring Trae right now. The other main aspect is just the whole rim protection thing with Ayton. It's now gone on so long that I think that's just what he is right now. It's so simple and easy to fix that I wouldn't be averse to betting on him correcting it at some point this season (in which case I'd probably put him back over Young), or later on in his pro career. Just am so unsure of how much having a big that doesn't protect the rim can contribute to winning.

Other than Bonga I'd probably have similar tiers. Still not there with Shai vs Sexton though, but completely reasonable. Large portion of my thinking with that is just the lack of PG's in this draft moves him slightly up for me. Lottery teams are often poorly run teams (why they're in the lottery usually lol), and I fully expect Shai to me misused as an off-ball guy off the bench. I think alot of his shooting numbers are fool's gold right now, but I could be proven wrong. Still a very small sample size.

I'd also throw in Shake Milton and Hutchison into that last tier. I'm super close to moving both ahead of Miles Bridges, but giving him the benefit of the doubt based on how he looked last year playing the 4 spot (moved to 3 this year with the adding of JJJ).
 
One of these is not like the other.... Just kidding lol. I've still not watched any Bonga lol. It seems like his 3 point shooting has normalized though some (some hard-hitting analysis I'm giving, I know lol). I really hope there's a Euro guy that stands out to me outside of Doncic and Musa, who I both like. Love Goga Bitadze if he can shoot like he did coming into this season, but he's fallen off a cliff there.

I've started to consider putting Trae Young into the first tier with Doncic, but still safely behind. He's now ahead of Ayton for me and will likely remain there if his shooting numbers remain where they're at. I always value ball handlers over bigs as is, and that's a big reasoning behind me preferring Trae right now. The other main aspect is just the whole rim protection thing with Ayton. It's now gone on so long that I think that's just what he is right now. It's so simple and easy to fix that I wouldn't be averse to betting on him correcting it at some point this season (in which case I'd probably put him back over Young), or later on in his pro career. Just am so unsure of how much having a big that doesn't protect the rim can contribute to winning.

Other than Bonga I'd probably have similar tiers. Still not there with Shai vs Sexton though, but completely reasonable. Large portion of my thinking with that is just the lack of PG's in this draft moves him slightly up for me. Lottery teams are often poorly run teams (why they're in the lottery usually lol), and I fully expect Shai to me misused as an off-ball guy off the bench. I think alot of his shooting numbers are fool's gold right now, but I could be proven wrong. Still a very small sample size.

I'd also throw in Shake Milton and Hutchison into that last tier. I'm super close to moving both ahead of Miles Bridges, but giving him the benefit of the doubt based on how he looked last year playing the 4 spot (moved to 3 this year with the adding of JJJ).

I like Shai and Bonga a lot for their defensive upside. I think they'll both be guys who, when they fill out, can defend all 3 perimeter positions and get oodles of steals and deflections using their length and instincts, especially Bonga.

The bottom of that last tier is pretty fuzzy, for sure. Sexton has had some real clunkers (as have the other guys in that tier) and I'm not sure his vision will ever be good enough for him to run an efficient offense at the NBA level. Possibly could've included Knox too; he's sort of in the same boat, though his clunkers seem to outnumber his solid games.

Not ready to put Milton and Hutchinson in that tier yet though; for a non-major-conference upperclassman to go lottery, he should be really, really dominant, a shoo-in conference player of the year, etc. Also thought about Troy Brown, who has a really interesting skillset, I think, but hasn't been able to put it all together in a game yet.
 
I also have considered putting Trae in the top tier with Doncic, but I have this image glued in my head of Doncic standing on the podium between Gasol and Dragic in the all-tournament team after Eurobasket last fall. He played alongside and against NBA players and absolutely went toe-to-toe with them. And he's gotten better since then. If he was in the NBA this year he'd probably be a starter, which would make him the youngest regular starter of all time. That's insane.
 

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