2018 NBA Draft - June 21

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Really people said he wasn't athletic enough? Please full scouting report

He is plenty athletic. I think he can look good with Lebron. A big threat as a roll man because of his activity, positioning and quickness for a guy his size.

He is also a terrific rebounder, especially on the offensive glass.

Pretty crazy that he has a 32 PER, 25 TRB%, 21 OREB%, 28 DRB%, 145 ORTG 97 DRTG. I dunno, those are crazy numbers for a European big.

I think we should bring him next year. Our big man depth would be absolutely ridiculous.

I gotta say that I like him.

 

[Cavatt]

He is plenty athletic. I think he can look good with Lebron. A big threat as a roll man because of his activity, positioning and quickness for a guy his size.

He is also a terrific rebounder, especially on the offensive glass.

Pretty crazy that he has a 32 PER, 25 TRB%, 21 OREB%, 28 DRB%, 145 ORTG 97 DRTG. I dunno, those are crazy numbers for a European big.

I think we should bring him next year. Our big man depth would be absolutely ridiculous.

I gotta say that I like him.

So with he and Zizic it means we should not draft a Center? Or we should go all in on Good big guys to trade for whoever we want??

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

So with he and Zizic it means we should not draft a Center? Or we should go all in on Good big guys to trade for whoever we want??

We are in a "tough" spot. I'm usually all for BPA, but usually contending teams are not in a position to draft in the top7.

We are still not sure if we have a good quality starter in Zizic and I still think we should develop Nance into a PF.

Gudaitis is projected to be a productive bench big most likely.

Its a good question...Jaren Jackson is a hybrid and can play the 4/5 so he is intriguing.

Hmm, I dunno at the moment as we have a problem at the PG spot as well and it looks like we no longer have a problem at the 5, but we still don't know how high the ceiling is. The bigs in the draft can be game changing.

 

[Nathan S]

Not worried at all about Doncic's jumpshot. Box score reads just 2/7 from deep, but two of the misses were end-of-quarter halfcourt heaves. Shot looked sweet, quicker getting it off than I expected, and Zalgris defenders clearly had no interest in leaving him open behind the arc.

 

[Cavatt]

We are in a "tough" spot. I'm usually all for BPA, but usually contending teams are not in a position to draft in the top7.

We are still not sure if we have a good quality starter in Zizic and I still think we should develop Nance into a PF.

Gudaitis is projected to be a productive bench big most likely.

Its a good question...Jaren Jackson is a hybrid and can play the 4/5 so he is intriguing.

Hmm, I dunno at the moment as we have a problem at the PG spot as well.

Most ready to go out position is usually pg. Ugh can't miss on this pick

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Not worried at all about Doncic's jumpshot. Box score reads just 2/7 from deep, but two of the misses were end-of-quarter halfcourt heaves. Shot looked sweet, quicker getting it off than I expected, and Zalgris defenders clearly had no interest in leaving him open behind the arc.

He is so fat though....

You liked what you saw?

 

[Nathan S]

He is so fat though....

You liked what you saw?

Wasn't very physical driving to the basket, but I chalk that up to a little injury rust. One big positive for me were that he really looked like a great floor general, not just making passes, but calling out plays that resulted in baskets on many occasions. Another big positive was how he looked on defense in clutch time. He wasn't perfect; in particular he over gambled for a steal once and gave up an easy layup. But when he's locked in and going at 100% on that end, he's surprisingly quick for his size. Definitely moves more like a guard than a big, even though he has the length and strength to defend 4's. Still think he could get even quicker when he sheds that baby fat.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Wasn't very physical driving to the basket, but I chalk that up to a little injury rust. One big positive for me were that he really looked like a great floor general, not just making passes, but calling out plays that resulted in baskets on many occasions. Another big positive was how he looked on defense in clutch time. He wasn't perfect; in particular he over gambled for a steal once and gave up an easy layup. But when he's locked in and going at 100% on that end, he's surprisingly quick for his size. Definitely moves more like a guard than a big, even though he has the length and strength to defend 4's. Still think he could get even quicker when he sheds that baby fat.

I also thought he looked fine on defense.

Looked rather quicker attacking off the dribble on offense.

Obviously he is a high level floor general.. that's his game. That's his calling. He was passive and played off ball most of the game though because Campazzo has been better as of late and Doncic just got back.

My problem is his finishing ability and technique at the rim. You can see that he has problems jumping off of one leg. He also has some issues with landing. So what's weird.

He is probably the safest pick in the draft, but still uncertain about his ceiling.

And he needs to stop shooting from 3/4 court... should probably be a .380 percent three point shooter otherwise. Guy is crazy.

 

[Nathan S]

I also thought he looked fine on defense.

Looked rather quicker attacking off the dribble on offense.

Obviously he is a high level floor general.. that's his game. That's his calling. He was passive and played off ball most of the game though because Campazzo has been better as of late and he Doncic just got back.

My problrm is his finishing ability and technique at the rim. You can see that he has problems jumping off of one leg. He also has some issues with landing. So what's weird.

He is probably the safest pick in the draft, but still uncertain about his ceiling.

And he needs to stop shooting from 3/4 court... should probably be a .380 percent three point shooter otherwise. Guy is crazy.

He has a good body to take contact in the paint, so I was a bit surprised/disappointed I didn't see any of that today. He's gone to the line so much over the course of the season I have to think it was partly a fluke or injury rust. Not naturally an explosive finisher in traffic, as you said, so he'll have to develop his foul-drawing ability to keep defenders honest.

Comforting in a way that he chucks those 3/4 court heaves...you know a guy like that doesn't give a shit about his stats. Just wants to get the W.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

He has a good body to take contact in the paint, so I was a bit surprised/disappointed I didn't see any of that today. He's gone to the line so much over the course of the season I have to think it was partly a fluke or injury rust. Not naturally an explosive finisher in traffic, as you said, so he'll have to develop his foul-drawing ability to keep defenders honest.

Comforting in a way that he chucks those 3/4 court heaves...you know a guy like that doesn't give a shit about his stats. Just wants to get the W.

He doesn't get much to the rim. He gets to the lane and uses floaters and mid range jumpers. His fouls drawn are a result of some slightly biased officiating and smarts. Like a likable and less blatant Harden if you will. So it's not just about rust.

 

[Nathan S]

He doesn't get much to the rim. He gets to the lane and uses floaters and mid range jumpers. His fouls drawn are a result of some slightly biased officiating and smarts. Like a likable and less blatant Harden if you will. So it's not just about rust.

Yeah, I admit it's a little weird. I also get the sense watching him that scoring inside the arc may be a weakness. But then, he's shooting over 60% on 2-pointers and leads the league in free throw attempts, so it would be really surprising if he's suddenly Lonzo Ball level hopeless in the paint next year.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Yeah, I admit it's a little weird. I also get the sense watching him that scoring inside the arc may be a weakness. But then, he's shooting over 60% on 2-pointers and leads the league in free throw attempts, so it would be really surprising if he's suddenly Lonzo Ball level hopeless in the paint next year.

This is the first game you watched him live?

 

[Nathan S]

This is the first game you watched him live?

Yup...just noticed the last two games of the regular season are against trash teams too, so this'll probably be the only serious game I'll see unless one of those is unexpectedly competitive or I decide to fork over more money to watch the playoffs.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Yup...just noticed the last two games of the regular season are against trash teams too, so this'll probably be the only serious game I'll see unless one of those is unexpectedly competitive or I decide to fork over more money to watch the playoffs.

Watch atleast one more to form some better judgement imo. This is why I had my reservations. He doesn't look quite as good as he does on highlights. Meaning that you start to pick apart his game once you watch a full game and you start to wonder if he is going to have issues at the next level.(Issues that I had pointed out)

Although, he is not in his early season form, that's for sure.

 

[Nathan S]

Watch atleast one more to form some better judgement imo. This is why I had my reservations. He doesn't look quite as good as he does on highlights. Meaning that you start to pick apart his game once you watch a full game.

Although, he is not in his early season form, that's for sure.

Honestly, just based on highlights, I think his "early season form" was largely a result of defenses not having a good gameplan against him, and Real Madrid not having many other options offensively. Now defenses are much more keyed in on him, and he's surrounded with four hungry, talented scorers most of the time he's on the court. Naturally he shifts into more of a point guard role, only looking for his own shot when the offense is particularly stagnant.

EDIT: Also, hurts him some that RM only rarely runs pick&rolls. Not totally sure what the thinking is behind that, though most of the time their offense flourishes no matter what they do. They posted a stats thing the other day showing RM uses the fewest pick&rolls in Euroleague.

EDIT2: Per-40 averages of 8.75 assists and 2.25 turnovers over his last seven games. Could easily have season averages close to those marks, I think, if he just sat back and played like a pure point guard all game every game. He looks every bit like an out-of-control teenager trying to score the ball a lot of the time, but he's a cool customer orchestrating the offense. That's where he's really a generational talent.