2019 NBA Draft

[3 Ball...GOT IT]

Surprised Alpha Diallo isn't getting more love. Leading a fairly solid Providence team in points (by a lot), rebounds (by a lot), assists, and steals. Good athlete, good size and length for a wing, and he can shoot the 3. Not particularly efficient at 53% true shooting, but it's not hard to imagine how he could be efficient as a roleplayer at the next level. Seems like he'd be a smart grab in the second round if he declares.

I watched 3 or 4 Providence games in full earlier in the season to watch Diallo... he's an interesting player, but probably more of a guy that'll have to wait until he's done with college as a senior imo. I do think he'll have a shot at a 2nd round pick in 2020.

He's got good height/length, but he's pretty thin and doesn't have the build that you'd expect him to add much weight. Also I think teams are probably skeptical of his shooting still. He had some pretty bad misses in the games I watched and tends to shoot on the way down. I'm sure the rough Fr and So shooting seasons for him will make teams doubt the improved #s this year - and would want another year's worth of sample before using a pick on him.

Also it's pretty crazy to me how much of a difference in athleticism that him and his brother have. Not that Alpha is a total non-athlete, but from what I've seen I'd say he's average athletically for an NBA wing at best, and Hamidou is obviously elite in that regard. I'd have to think about other NBA brothers, but off the top of my head I do remember that Blake Griffin's brother Taylor was very athletic as well lol.

If he shoots well next season then I'd say he's a lock to get drafted.

 

[BankShot]

Going to try to watch Morant tonight (ESPN2 @ 9pm)...of course after fulfilling all Valentine's Day responsibilities.

Highlights are fun and all, but want to see the whole picture.

 

[1B4IGO]

Going to try to watch Morant tonight (ESPN2 @ 9pm)...of course after fulfilling all Valentine's Day responsibilities.

Highlights are fun and all, but want to see the whole picture.

We are talking about basketball

 

[Nathan S]

Not sure if anyone's up late watching Gonzaga, but wow...Norvell's release on the 3 with 2:38 left (from NBA range) was lightning quick. If you're looking for a combo guard who can flat-out shoot, he's the second best guy in the draft after Coby White, IMO.

 

[Ohio]

Not sure if anyone's up late watching Gonzaga, but wow...Norvell's release on the 3 with 2:38 left (from NBA range) was lightning quick. If you're looking for a combo guard who can flat-out shoot, he's the second best guy in the draft after Coby White, IMO.

I really like Norvell’s game. Not sure if he’ll be a star but I think he’ll be a very good NBA player at the least.

 

[BankShot]

Watched Morant, overall impressed, but some concerns.

His skill set/strengths aren't just good, they are elite...court vision, quickness, tight handle, incredible athlete, and certainly a cool-cat alpha with plenty of confidence.

But his weaknesses can't be ignored while thinking about his NBA potential...plays way out of control too often, leading to bad shots and turnovers. Also very skinny and hits the floor a lot, will have a hard time staying healthy on the next level. The jumpshot is a concern as well, sort of a push-shot, looks kind of like a junior high kid that's not strong enough for a natural motion yet.

Very intriguing, but for now I have him at #4 behind the 3 Duke guys.

 

[3 Ball...GOT IT]

Not sure if anyone's up late watching Gonzaga, but wow...Norvell's release on the 3 with 2:38 left (from NBA range) was lightning quick. If you're looking for a combo guard who can flat-out shoot, he's the second best guy in the draft after Coby White, IMO.

Some people hate Norvell and I never understand why. He’s such a safe pick in the 2nd. I’d honestly be surprised if he didn’t have a multi-year NBA career.

 

[3 Ball...GOT IT]

ESPN is pushing Morant so hard it’s getting hilarious. The national draft coverage outside of the DX guys is just so awful.

Jalen Rose just compared Ja to Damian Lillard, then compared Rui Hachimura to Kawhi Leonard lmfao.

This other guy on Get Up today ranked his top 6 and has Bruno Fernando #6 and Rui #5 lol. Pure comedy.

I guess there’s not enough of a audience for NBA draft to actually employ more than one person to follow it. Plus guys can talk out of their ass like this and have no repercussions becauase not a ton of people are watching closely.

/end rant

 

[Nathan S]

Waiting for Jackson Hoy's updated big board before I post a full ratings update (to make sure I don't leave off any interesting guys), but in the mean time, here are some major-conference prospects my model likes who I haven't heard much talk about in here:

-Collin Gillespie. His 1-2 punch with Phil Booth (who's 4 years his senior) has fueled an extremely efficient Villanova offense, helping them claw back towards the top-10 after early season disappointment. In addition to putting up great shooting and assist:TO numbers, he's also leading the team in steals.

-Xavier Tillman. His per-40 averages of 13 rebounds and 5 steals+blocks combined with a powerful 6'8" frame suggest that he has the potential to be an elite multi-positional defender at the next level. He ranks second among underclassmen in box plus/minus, behind you-know-who.

-Kerry Blackshear Jr. As the only true big on Virginia Tech's roster he's been essential to their success this year on both ends of the court, forming a potent 1-2 punch with more heralded prospect Nickeil Alexander-Walker. With a developing 3-point shot, passing, and ballhandling ability, he has the makings of a solid stretch-4 roleplayer.

-Matisse Thybulle. Washington's been the lone bright spot in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of the Pac-12, and he's the main reason why. Averaging a comical 7.2 steals+blocks per 40, he's arguably the best wing defender in the draft. Combine that with decent shooting/passing ability, and his fit at the next level is obvious.

-Xavier Johnson. The freshman point guard has stepped up to lead a struggling Pitt team in points and assists. He's had his ups and downs, and he's still raw and mistake-prone, but he's one of a handful of freshman who've flashed elite shooting, passing, and driving ability.

 

[I'mWithDan]

ESPN is pushing Morant so hard it’s getting hilarious. The national draft coverage outside of the DX guys is just so awful.

Jalen Rose just compared Ja to Damian Lillard, then compared Rui Hachimura to Kawhi Leonard lmfao.

This other guy on Get Up today ranked his top 6 and has Bruno Fernando #6 and Rui #5 lol. Pure comedy.

I guess there’s not enough of a audience for NBA draft to actually employ more than one person to follow it. Plus guys can talk out of their ass like this and have no repercussions becauase not a ton of people are watching closely.

/end rant

Fernando's B1G ranks:

Rebounding - #1
PER - #1
WS - #2
WS/40 - #1
DWS - #7
TS% - #1
EFG - #1
OREB - #2

14 PPG on only 8.3 FGA per game with 75% from the FT line. 2.2 BLK per 40. And his FT% has jumped to nearly 82% in conference play on 50+ attempts. Honestly think he could play his way in to the top 5/6.

His year over year improvement has been wild, given he was already an efficient player. Could roll the dice on his shooting potential seeing he's been a steadily good FT shooter as a 6'10" player.

EDIT: I'll post some charts later.....but Fernando compares pretty favorably to a poor man's Zion......so I can see why he's possibly gaining a lot of steam on big boards as the B1G season has gone on.

 

[Ozone]

ESPN is pushing Morant so hard it’s getting hilarious. The national draft coverage outside of the DX guys is just so awful.

Jalen Rose just compared Ja to Damian Lillard, then compared Rui Hachimura to Kawhi Leonard lmfao.

This other guy on Get Up today ranked his top 6 and has Bruno Fernando #6 and Rui #5 lol. Pure comedy.

I guess there’s not enough of a audience for NBA draft to actually employ more than one person to follow it. Plus guys can talk out of their ass like this and have no repercussions becauase not a ton of people are watching closely.

/end rant

yep nobody in the media is really is very excited at all about this draft after Zion so they just manufacture stories based on highlight reels as that apparently is the extent of their knowledge.

 

[Nathan S]

Fernando's B1G ranks:

Rebounding - #1
PER - #1
WS - #2
WS/40 - #1
DWS - #7
TS% - #1
EFG - #1
OREB - #2

14 PPG on only 8.3 FGA per game with 75% from the FT line. 2.2 BLK per 40. And his FT% has jumped to nearly 82% in conference play on 50+ attempts. Honestly think he could play his way in to the top 5/6.

His year over year improvement has been wild, given he was already an efficient player. Could roll the dice on his shooting potential seeing he's been a steadily good FT shooter as a 6'10" player.

Speaking for myself, I think it's almost always foolish to bet on older prospects who're billed as "raw" and "developing". If you're in the lottery and you draft a guy who's gonna be 21/22+ on opening night, you should be confident that he's going to be more than a garbage buckets/energy guy from day 1.

 

[Nathan S]

Another stink bomb for Doumbouya...scoreless with 3 turnovers before fouling out. He's had waaaaay too many games like that this year. If some team is crazy enough to give him a promise in the first round he should take it and run.

 

[3 Ball...GOT IT]

Waiting for Jackson Hoy's updated big board before I post a full ratings update (to make sure I don't leave off any interesting guys), but in the mean time, here are some major-conference prospects my model likes who I haven't heard much talk about in here:

-Collin Gillespie. His 1-2 punch with Phil Booth (who's 4 years his senior) has fueled an extremely efficient Villanova offense, helping them claw back towards the top-10 after early season disappointment. In addition to putting up great shooting and assist:TO numbers, he's also leading the team in steals.

-Xavier Tillman. His per-40 averages of 13 rebounds and 5 steals+blocks combined with a powerful 6'8" frame suggest that he has the potential to be an elite multi-positional defender at the next level. He ranks second among underclassmen in box plus/minus, behind you-know-who.

-Kerry Blackshear Jr. As the only true big on Virginia Tech's roster he's been essential to their success this year on both ends of the court, forming a potent 1-2 punch with more heralded prospect Nickeil Alexander-Walker. With a developing 3-point shot, passing, and ballhandling ability, he has the makings of a solid stretch-4 roleplayer.

-Matisse Thybulle. Washington's been the lone bright spot in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of the Pac-12, and he's the main reason why. Averaging a comical 7.2 steals+blocks per 40, he's arguably the best wing defender in the draft. Combine that with decent shooting/passing ability, and his fit at the next level is obvious.

-Xavier Johnson. The freshman point guard has stepped up to lead a struggling Pitt team in points and assists. He's had his ups and downs, and he's still raw and mistake-prone, but he's one of a handful of freshman who've flashed elite shooting, passing, and driving ability.

Haven't been impressed with Blackshear at all when I've watched VTech. Tillman seems like a throwback big, but I've admittedly not watched a ton of MSU. I love Thybulle though. IIRC his 3P% is weighted down a ton from a rough start to the season. He's one of my favorite seniors.

Have you watched Xavier Johnson? I've heard a lot of good things about him, but haven't made the time to watch him - as I don't expect him to declare this year.

Fernando's B1G ranks:

Rebounding - #1
PER - #1
WS - #2
WS/40 - #1
DWS - #7
TS% - #1
EFG - #1
OREB - #2

14 PPG on only 8.3 FGA per game with 75% from the FT line. 2.2 BLK per 40. And his FT% has jumped to nearly 82% in conference play on 50+ attempts. Honestly think he could play his way in to the top 5/6.

His year over year improvement has been wild, given he was already an efficient player. Could roll the dice on his shooting potential seeing he's been a steadily good FT shooter as a 6'10" player.

EDIT: I'll post some charts later.....but Fernando compares pretty favorably to a poor man's Zion......so I can see why he's possibly gaining a lot of steam on big boards as the B1G season has gone on.

I should have prefaced by saying that I still like Fernando. He has a good shot at being a first rounder.

Having him 6th overall is ridiculous though to me still. And the B1G ranks are intriguing, but the bigs in the conference are terrible.

I've tried to put less value on rim-rolling bigs who can protect the rim though. That used to be one of my favorite types of players, but I've overvalued them in the past quite often. It's one of the more replaceable archetypes in the league imo, and it's super difficult to find the top tier guys in that mold. I'm going to end up lower on Jaxson Hayes than most partially for that line of thinking.

 

[Nathan S]

Haven't been impressed with Blackshear at all when I've watched VTech. Tillman seems like a throwback big, but I've admittedly not watched a ton of MSU. I love Thybulle though. IIRC his 3P% is weighted down a ton from a rough start to the season. He's one of my favorite seniors.

Have you watched Xavier Johnson? I've heard a lot of good things about him, but haven't made the time to watch him - as I don't expect him to declare this year.

He seems kind of awkward and mechanical at times, which (especially given his age) makes it hard to project him as more than a roleplayer. But he got 8 assists and 4 steals in their win over Georgia Tech the other day, and it's hard for a big to do that by accident. He and Gillespie are probably the guys I'm most skeptical about out of the ones I listed.

Agree on Thybulle's shooting...he's a 37% career 3-point shooter, and his free throw shooting has been better than ever this year (86%). Hard to imagine his early-season slump was anything more than a random fluctuation.

I haven't watched Johnson. Weird that he wasn't a top-100 guy coming out of high school, which makes me worried that he'll regress badly at some point. And maybe he will (his last game was horrible, for what it's worth). But even if he's terrible from here on out, it seems like most of his weaknesses are due to inexperience rather than a lack of innate ability, so he seems like a prime candidate to have an explosive sophomore year assuming he returns.

EDIT: Va. Tech Ga. Tech condensed game below...Blackshear highlights at 0:35, 0:45, 2:02, 2:30, 2:40, 4:50, 5:00, 5:18, 6:10, 6:43, 6:55, 7:28, 7:36, 8:00, 8:22, and 9:05