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Re: NBA Draft 2021
Figured I might as well do my usual pitch for the main international guys.
The top guy IMO is Alperen Sengun. I'd say he's somewhere in the 6-10 range for me overall in this draft. I think the consensus is generally a late lotto pick. At any rate, he's a big man prospect with as elite an array of post moves as you'll pretty much ever see in a draft prospect. He doesn't have the physical tools to be as good defensively as Brook Lopez, but he has that same knack for playing well in drop coverage, knowing his angles and his body to make the most of the tools that he does have. You won't want him switching onto guards on the perimeter and he's probably going to want to bulk up a bit if he has to deal with the bigger C's in the league, but I think he can be okay in the right schemes. If you want to read a more thorough breakdown of him, here's a link to my earlier post when I went a bit deeper: https://forums.operationsports.com/f...&postcount=316
Josh Giddey
18 years old, 6'8" guard (and might potentially still be growing), played one season in Australia and was a triple-double threat every night. Expected to go somewhere in the 5-14 range; not sure I'm that high on him personally. Can make every pass with either hand, he led the NBL in assists this year. Scouts like his finishing ability around the rim and I have no idea what his FG% was at the rim, but he struggled to score in general. I'm not really confident he'll be all that effective at any level scoring the ball. Shoots a set shot and doesn't shoot it well. Pretty awkward getting into his shot as well. He'll probably be picked on defensively barring a change of mentality, but he does have a good nose for the ball both in terms of rebounding and in terms of jumping passing lanes. I don't know...seems like people are really high on his potential, but I see a guy that has great passing ability, but I don't really trust him to be able to create without screens freeing him up, and I don't trust him to ever punish defenses for going under those screens.
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Usman Garuba
19 years old, 6'8" F/C, long wingspan. Projected fringe-lottery or mid-1st round. He's been playing for Real Madrid for 4 years now (2 years for their under 18 team and 2 with the senior team). He's a role player/energy guy off the bench for them, playing around 15-20 minutes a game at roughly a 10/10 per 36 rate. Offensively, the only thing that's all that intriguing about him is his passing as a short roller. He hasn't really been all that much of a finisher around the rim and he doesn't look comfortable shooting the ball at all. Defensively, he's generally just a nuisance. Constantly moving his hands, poking at the ball, can hedge and recover or play drop coverage, can hang with most guards on the perimeter. An ideal PF on the defensive end, maybe C but he'll be undersized in some matchups there. Not really all that much more to him IMO. Seems like he's getting compared to Kenneth Faried a lot, but I think he has the potential to be much better defensively than Faried was. I get it though. Watching him kinda makes me think of what Pat Beverley would look like if he was 6'8" instead of being tiny; he's going to annoy opponents if he pans out.
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Roko Prkacin
18 years old, 6'9" forward, projected late 1st-early 2nd round and that sounds about right to me. He went pro at 15 I believe and has played a significant amount in Croatia and has been pretty productive. Probably a PF ideally but could theoretically end up at SF as well. He moves pretty well, plays hard, can handle physicality, etc. Seems to just be a smart player; great cutter, good at just moving into open space, knows when to attack quickly but also when it slow it down and patiently read the defense, etc. Flashes of both being a PnR ball-handler as well as the roller; there's some really promising passes in his film but also some where it seems like he just predetermined where he was going to go with the ball. He's generally struggled as a shooter both from 3 point land and the FT line, but is coming off his best season in which he jumped from the 20s from 3 point land up to 35% on 160 attempts. I think it's mostly fine mechanically, though I wouldn't be surprised if his team tries to smooth out the release a little bit and tweak his footwork; there's definitely a small hitch in his release and his feet are pretty inconsistent. I wouldn't count on him developing into a solid shooter but I wouldn't be super shocked either.
Not sure if he's a draft-and-stash candidate, but I think if I'm an NBA team I'd probably want to bring him over right away and get him working with my own coaches so we can start molding him the way we want immediately.
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All in all, I like Sengun enough to take him in the back half of the top 10. There's a risk his post game doesn't translate well enough to make him a valuable contributor, but I like the potential there. Not a fan of Giddey where he's being projected. Garuba seems like he's a pretty safe bet to at least stick on team's benches (though theoretically if that's all he turns into, maybe he considers a return overseas). I'd be fine taking him around the middle of the 1st or later and seeing if his offensive game develops to make him into something more valuable. Prkacin is intriguing assuming his draft stock remains around where it is now. He seems versatile enough to fit in pretty much anywhere and it'll be interesting to see what his future team wants him to focus on in his development.NFL: Bills
NBA: Bucks
MLB: Cubs
NCAA: Syracuse
Soccer: USMNT/DC United
PSN: ButMyT-GunDontComment
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Re: NBA Draft 2021
If anyone is looking for great footage on players. I found this channel n
Full games of misses and everything. Even defense good or bad.Hands Down....Man Down - 2k9 memories
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IHP_5GUBQoComment
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Re: NBA Draft 2021
Scottie Barnes joins -checks list- every draft prospect ever as showing off an improved shooting stroke at his workout.
NFL: Bills
NBA: Bucks
MLB: Cubs
NCAA: Syracuse
Soccer: USMNT/DC United
PSN: ButMyT-GunDontComment
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Re: NBA Draft 2021
I don't know if you know. But when you retool your jumper. You start off slowly. Think of it as him having to learn from scratch how to shoot. You want to go through each step (Beef). I think that's what he's going through. Too many young people want to acquire a jumper overnight without building on fundamentals. There are 3 points to take away from this. Barnes is willing to learn first of all. He's open to criticism of his game (from the right people of course). And final he's willing to go through the process to improve. That's what a lottery pick in my opinion.Hands Down....Man Down - 2k9 memories
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IHP_5GUBQoComment
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Re: NBA Draft 2021
Retooling or not no NBA scout wants to see that the only jumper you're showcasing is one you can't get off with somebody guarding you.. C'mon now.... Maybe there was more to his workout than what I watched in that clip, but none of that was "game speed" unless he wants to be Shane Battier.Comment
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Re: NBA Draft 2021
John Hollinger/Sam Vecenie reporting that Detroit likes Jalen Green a lot and may take him #1. Also saying they have minimal interest in trading out of the #1 spot (and same goes for Houston and Cleveland).NFL: Bills
NBA: Bucks
MLB: Cubs
NCAA: Syracuse
Soccer: USMNT/DC United
PSN: ButMyT-GunDontComment
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Re: NBA Draft 2021
I can see it. I'm pretty set on Green as my #2 but some of the concerns about Cade are legit. If you think you can unlock some of Green's playmaking potential then his scoring + athleticism then it's easy to see him as having a higher ceiling."You make your name in the regular season, and your fame in the postseason." - Clyde Frazier
"Beware of geeks bearing formulas." - Warren BuffetComment
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