2018 NBA Draft - June 21

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

@howler1313

Most of the PGs picked in the lottery from 2017 to 2008... I can add anyone you want, just give me a name.

This is all around the rim and floater percentage. Weird that I was wrong about Kyrie's percentage yesterday... as far as Curry, the FG% was probably from his freshman year.
I didn't add Lonzo Ball because his 72 FG% was skewed because of high % of alley oops and uncontested layups off of cuts.

Kyrie I added Kyrie's PnR defense commits info because you could already tell he wasn't going to be a good playmaker back then. Very very poor when defense collapses and commits on every play style. Other than that, Kyrie was ranked in the 99% percentile on offense and the best offensive PG in my data.



Trae Young
Very high FG% on floaters and volume of floaters=bodes well.



Sexton
Low FG% around the basket+low FG% on floaters+highest FTr in college is bad.



Bayless


Trey Burke


Curry last year in college


D'Aaron Fox


John Wall


Kemba Walker


Damian Lillard


Donovan Mitchell


Malik Monk


Victor Oladipo


Austin Rivers


Derrick Rose


D'Angelo Russell


Marcus Smart


Dennis Smith


Dion Waiters


Russell Westbrook

 

[Nathan S]

@RchfldCavRaised how do you think MPJ's ballhandling/passing skills looked relative to Simmons at the same age?

 

[wremy]

MPJ to me is so intriguing...I want mismatches out there and he creates them.. I feel like he JJJ and Bagley will be the top 3 that we will have a chance to choose from at #5-#6...more than likely JJJ goes before that but I feel like Doncic Ayton Bamba are getting more top 3 push lately

 

[RchfldCavRaised]

@RchfldCavRaised how do you think MPJ's ballhandling/passing skills looked relative to Simmons at the same age?

I wasnt SUPER impressed with Simmons ballhandling/passing at LSU because I was too busy being pissed with his floating out of games when adversity struck. I saw flashes that impressed me, but I saw less competitive fire than I like so I sour faced him alot. Coming off seeing the exact same thing from Wiggins at Kansas, I just wasnt allowing myself to be impressed with Benny.

I think if he had showed a little more competitiveness, I would have better assessed his skills.

One of the smartest things he did, was get with LeBron and let them manage him. They are trying to instill the fire in him and this summer will be crucial for his next step in development. There are times where I watch Philly and most notably, the games where Embiid is not playing so they are calling on Simmons and I see that he still doesnt have the fire in him yet if not in a complimentary role.

But to answer you directly... I wasnt THAT impressed though I figured that once he was in the more open NBA game, his skills would look a little better, I wasnt expecting what all he has shown and I wasnt expecting Brown to really have him run the point.

I think MPJ possesses even more skill than Simmons and way more competitive fire. I see Embiid level competitor in MPJ. I think he has the offense already to open the floor for his passing game at 6'10 even more than Simmons during their freshman seasons. Would love to see MPJ even if just for 5-10 games at that level.

 

[Nathan S]

I wasnt SUPER impressed with Simmons ballhandling/passing at LSU because I was too busy being pissed with his floating out of games when adversity struck. I saw flashes that impressed me, but I saw less competitive fire than I like so I sour faced him alot. Coming off seeing the exact same thing from Wiggins at Kansas, I just wasnt allowing myself to be impressed with Benny.

I think if he had showed a little more competitiveness, I would have better assessed his skills.

One of the smartest things he did, was get with LeBron and let them manage him. They are trying to instill the fire in him and this summer will be crucial for his next step in development. There are times where I watch Philly and most notably, the games where Embiid is not playing so they are calling on Simmons and I see that he still doesnt have the fire in him yet if not in a complimentary role.

But to answer you directly... I wasnt THAT impressed though I figured that once he was in the more open NBA game, his skills would look a little better, I wasnt expecting what all he has shown and I wasnt expecting Brown to really have him run the point.

I think MPJ possesses even more skill than Simmons and way more competitive fire. I see Embiid level competitor in MPJ. I think he has the offense already to open the floor for his passing game at 6'10 even more than Simmons during their freshman seasons. Would love to see MPJ even if just for 5-10 games at that level.

Isn't he supposed to get his back checked out again in a couple days? Would really love to see him play too. Ever since Wiggins I've gone kind of bearish on these high school prospects where people get starstruck by an amazing NBA body and just fill in all the blanks and question marks as if it's a foregone conclusion that he's going to figure it out. MPJ seems to genuinely have an amazing NBA body and a really high all-around skill level for a player his age *and* a great mental makeup on top of it all. Almost too good to be true.

 

[RchfldCavRaised]

Isn't he supposed to get his back checked out again in a couple days? Would really love to see him play too. Ever since Wiggins I've gone kind of bearish on these high school prospects where people get starstruck by an amazing NBA body and just fill in all the blanks and question marks as if it's a foregone conclusion that he's going to figure it out. MPJ seems to genuinely have an amazing NBA body and a really high all-around skill level for a player his age *and* a great mental makeup on top of it all. Almost too good to be true.

I think MPJ has the missing ingredient from players like Wiggins, Bagley, Perry Jones etc... he has a competitive drive that you when you see in guys like Embiid, you know it will keep them in the gym AND driven to beat the other guys who compare to them. I've been really impressed watching Dennis Smith Jr show it this season.

 

[MD13]

@howler1313

Most of the PGs picked in the lottery from 2017 to 2008... I can add anyone you want, just give me a name.

This is all around the rim and floater percentage. Weird that I was wrong about Kyrie's percentage yesterday... as far as Curry, the FG% was probably from his freshman year.
I didn't add Lonzo Ball because his 72 FG% was skewed because of high % of alley oops and uncontested layups off of cuts.

Kyrie I added Kyrie's PnR defense commits info because you could already tell he wasn't going to be a good playmaker back then. Very very poor when defense collapses and commits on every play style. Other than that, Kyrie was ranked in the 99% percentile on offense and the best offensive PG in my data.



Trae Young
Very high FG% on floaters and volume of floaters=bodes well.



Sexton
Low FG% around the basket+low FG% on floaters+highest FTr in college is bad.



Bayless


Trey Burke


Curry last year in college


D'Aaron Fox


John Wall


Kemba Walker


Damian Lillard


Donovan Mitchell


Malik Monk


Victor Oladipo


Austin Rivers


Derrick Rose


D'Angelo Russell


Marcus Smart


Dennis Smith


Dion Waiters


Russell Westbrook

Good stuff. Some of those are just really strange considering what we know of them now. Russ at 40% and Mitchell at 49% is just bizarre given the combination of strength and athleticism that they both have. I'm also tempted to throw out every single one of Kyrie's stats just because the sample size was so damn small. Just by glancing at them as a whole though, tough to tell if there's really any big takeaway. I knew Trey Burke was going to really struggle finishing in the NBA, but it's not like his numbers are noticeably bad compared to the others. If anything, it just makes Young and Sexton look pretty bad compared to the rest.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

I think MPJ has the missing ingredient from players like Wiggins, Bagley, Perry Jones etc... he has a competitive drive that you when you see in guys like Embiid, you know it will keep them in the gym AND driven to beat the other guys who compare to them. I've been really impressed watching Dennis Smith Jr show it this season.

I mean Dennis Smith has been pretty damn terrible this season(to put it mildly), and the way that he continues to land awkwardly on dunk after dunk makes me a non believer in his ability to stay healthy unless he tweaks that. He will get injured sooner than later.

Without seeing Porter play in college and with his injury it's very very tough to judge him as a prospect.

 

[MD13]

I wasnt SUPER impressed with Simmons ballhandling/passing at LSU because I was too busy being pissed with his floating out of games when adversity struck. I saw flashes that impressed me, but I saw less competitive fire than I like so I sour faced him alot. Coming off seeing the exact same thing from Wiggins at Kansas, I just wasnt allowing myself to be impressed with Benny.

I think if he had showed a little more competitiveness, I would have better assessed his skills.

One of the smartest things he did, was get with LeBron and let them manage him. They are trying to instill the fire in him and this summer will be crucial for his next step in development. There are times where I watch Philly and most notably, the games where Embiid is not playing so they are calling on Simmons and I see that he still doesnt have the fire in him yet if not in a complimentary role.

But to answer you directly... I wasnt THAT impressed though I figured that once he was in the more open NBA game, his skills would look a little better, I wasnt expecting what all he has shown and I wasnt expecting Brown to really have him run the point.

I think MPJ possesses even more skill than Simmons and way more competitive fire. I see Embiid level competitor in MPJ. I think he has the offense already to open the floor for his passing game at 6'10 even more than Simmons during their freshman seasons. Would love to see MPJ even if just for 5-10 games at that level.

Have you ever thought that MPJ looks really stiff moving on the court? I can't remember if my opinion changed after his back surgery (although I think I've always thought it since first watching him), but he seemed to struggle a bit in getting low and changing direction. He always struck me as a great straight line athlete, but if this were football they'd say he "lacks wiggle". Dare I say, I always saw a bit of Harrison Barnes in the way he moved, although I always thought Barnes was a bit hopeless in that regard and MPJ is nowhere near as bad.

I'm really interested to see how he looks if/when he comes back, since it's apparently been bothering him for years and he has much better mobility ever since he had the surgery.

 

[Nathan S]

Have you ever thought that MPJ looks really stiff moving on the court? I can't remember if my opinion changed after his back surgery (although I think I've always thought it since first watching him), but he seemed to struggle a bit in getting low and changing direction. He always struck me as a great straight line athlete, but if this were football they'd say he "lacks wiggle". Dare I say, I always saw a bit of Harrison Barnes in the way he moved, although I always thought Barnes was a bit hopeless in that regard and MPJ is nowhere near as bad.

I'm really interested to see how he looks if/when he comes back, since it's apparently been bothering him for years and he has much better mobility ever since he had the surgery.

If he has any "wiggle" that's just icing on the cake for me. Having a guy his size (9'0" standing reach) who can pass and shoot at a high level is basically a cheat code in the modern NBA. Jokic has a 2" vertical and all the wiggle of a potted plant, and defenses still haven't figured him out.

 

[Photon]

Guys, you are doing it wrong. Top 4 should be Young, Bagley, Sexton, Bridges. Let the world know. Start the hype. We will pick the scrub left behind (Bamba,JJJ, Ayton, Doncic, Porter)...


Seriously though, thanks for all the great info on the draft class!!

 

[RchfldCavRaised]

I mean Dennis Smith has been pretty damn terrible this season(to put it mildly), and the way that he continues to land awkwardly on dunk after dunk makes me a non believer in his ability to stay healthy unless he tweaks that. He will get injured sooner than later.

Without seeing Porter play in college and with his injury it's very very tough to judge him as a prospect.

You havent watched him play. Carlisle is notorious for short hooking young guys and DSJ made it through that with his confidence in tact and alot of his fundamentals shored up (which is what Carlisle was trying to get him to do). He does need to learn how to land/fall or he will go the Steve Francis route of burning out those knees quick, but if he does learn to land/fall, he could just as easily take the DWade leap in his development next season without a crowded backcourt of Barrea, Ferrell, Harris and Wes taking the ball out of his hands

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

I heard on the grapevine that Young turned his ankle in practice a few weeks ago and has been trying to power through it for his team. It’s something he’s trying to keep quiet so who knows if it will ever get reported even if it’s true.

 

[RchfldCavRaised]

Have you ever thought that MPJ looks really stiff moving on the court? I can't remember if my opinion changed after his back surgery (although I think I've always thought it since first watching him), but he seemed to struggle a bit in getting low and changing direction. He always struck me as a great straight line athlete, but if this were football they'd say he "lacks wiggle". Dare I say, I always saw a bit of Harrison Barnes in the way he moved, although I always thought Barnes was a bit hopeless in that regard and MPJ is nowhere near as bad.

I'm really interested to see how he looks if/when he comes back, since it's apparently been bothering him for years and he has much better mobility ever since he had the surgery.

I always attributed his posture to him growing into his body. Durant had that same kind of gait (even though I just said a few days ago not to compare the two).

But I didnt know the back was bothering him for the last few years. If so, thats amazing. He was still easily the best player on the floor when all of these freshmen were doing their all star game circuit so if he has even more mobility and was playing through pain, then SHIT

 

[MD13]

I always attributed his posture to him growing into his body. Durant had that same kind of gait (even though I just said a few days ago not to compare the two).

But I didnt know the back was bothering him for the last few years. If so, thats amazing. He was still easily the best player on the floor when all of these freshmen were doing their all star game circuit so if he has even more mobility and was playing through pain, then SHIT

I remember being really confused first watching him in the hoops summit and all star games since he showed all the measurable traits of athleticism (running fast, jumping high, etc) but he looked so unathletic and herky jerky doing it. I wonder how relieving that pain and numbness in his back and legs will unlock his entire game, and I hope we see enough of it to judge before the draft.

Check this out, he goes into detail about the injury here:

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/coll...cle_be94d776-d6b4-5f08-8fc6-0588b8a287eb.html