Future prospects (split from tank thread)

hrdboild

Hall of Famer
#31
Woah, Marvin Bagley is considering moving up a class to play college ball this season. That would be huge for us because it would presumably place him in the 2018 draft where we expect to have a high lotto pick instead of the 2019 draft where we don't have a pick at all. Fingers crossed! Not to mention if he picks 'SC over Duke, Kentucky and Arizona our (talking about 'SC now...) tournament hopes just went way way up! This was already the best Trojan team I've seen since Taj Gibson was here so adding the top player in the country would probably put 'SC in the top 5 conversation. Potentially huge news for us if it pans out as Bagley would have likely been the #1 pick in 2019.
 
#32
Woah, Marvin Bagley is considering moving up a class to play college ball this season. That would be huge for us because it would presumably place him in the 2018 draft where we expect to have a high lotto pick instead of the 2019 draft where we don't have a pick at all. Fingers crossed! Not to mention if he picks 'SC over Duke, Kentucky and Arizona our (talking about 'SC now...) tournament hopes just went way way up! This was already the best Trojan team I've seen since Taj Gibson was here so adding the top player in the country would probably put 'SC in the top 5 conversation. Potentially huge news for us if it pans out as Bagley would have likely been the #1 pick in 2019.
Bagley is sooooooo fast too. Him and Fox would run in transition like the wind. He's already 18 so there'd be no issues with him declaring for the 2018 draft. He's a lefty like Fox too.

All Kings fans need to have their fingers crossed for this.

Even if they don't land him, he'd push another player down a spot with potential franchise talent.

I said before the last draft that I think the top-5 in 2018 will have more starpower than 2017 and if Bagley joins the fray it's the final nail in the coffin.
 
#33
Ya we will be a bottom five team anyways and if Skal doesn't step up plenty of bigs in the top 5 or grab Donic or Porter. Only teams I see is being better than are Chicago, Indiana, Brooklyn, and close call with Phoenix and Orlando.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#34
Bagley is sooooooo fast too. Him and Fox would run in transition like the wind. He's already 18 so there'd be no issues with him declaring for the 2018 draft. He's a lefty like Fox too.

All Kings fans need to have their fingers crossed for this.

Even if they don't land him, he'd push another player down a spot with potential franchise talent.

I said before the last draft that I think the top-5 in 2018 will have more starpower than 2017 and if Bagley joins the fray it's the final nail in the coffin.
Yeah read this as well. I will be lighting a candle at the altar of Bagley every day until he puts on a Kings uni. He is truly going to be a franchise changing player. I pray he reclassifies to this year.
 
#35
Yeah read this as well. I will be lighting a candle at the altar of Bagley every day until he puts on a Kings uni. He is truly going to be a franchise changing player. I pray he reclassifies to this year.
I've heard it's "close to 100%" he re-classes up and goes to either Duke or Arizona. Great news.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#38
Watched the ridiculous AAU spectacle stream last night.

Still convinced Zion Williamson may turn out to be the best in-game dunker in the NBA since prime Vinsanity. Just absolutely insane athletic ability.

LaMelo Ball, on the other hand, seems to have inherited a lot of his father's bravado and not too much of his brother's excellent court vision. If the whole game could be summed up by a single play, it would be LaMelo dribbling the ball past half court and then immediately hoisting a pointless thirty-something foot three pointer, a move he pulled several times last night. By no means is he a bad prospect by any means but I think a lot of the hype around him should be credited to his family.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#39
Watched the ridiculous AAU spectacle stream last night.

Still convinced Zion Williamson may turn out to be the best in-game dunker in the NBA since prime Vinsanity. Just absolutely insane athletic ability.

LaMelo Ball, on the other hand, seems to have inherited a lot of his father's bravado and not too much of his brother's excellent court vision. If the whole game could be summed up by a single play, it would be LaMelo dribbling the ball past half court and then immediately hoisting a pointless thirty-something foot three pointer, a move he pulled several times last night. By no means is he a bad prospect by any means but I think a lot of the hype around him should be credited to his family.
Williamson is a physical specimen. He looks like he could go play middle linebacker for a NFL team. Great athlete, and as you say, at terrific dunker. LaMelo may have a lot of talent, but at times he comes across as an idiot. To say that his shot selection needs a bit of work would ba a huge understatement.
 
#40
That game was quite the spectacle. Those type of AAU games should never have that kind of hype, those aren't even good AAU teams, no quality bigs on the floor.

Zion is a fantastic prospect, I actually spotted him on Future150's 2018 list before he was even mentioned on most of the major scouting sites, he was somewhere in the 20's and IMO it was quite clear he had star potential. What really caught my eye was some of the blocks he was getting. Also with South Carolina not being a hotspot it made plenty of sense how he could fly under the radars.

I've also been following the Ball's and their story well before it hit the limelight, before Lavar revealed himself to be an attention whore and racist, since LaMelo was about 5'8 (Now he's about 6'4"). Back then they used to say Lonzo and LiAngelo didn't play AAU ball so they could play their own style of ball, which was pushing the ball at warp speed (cherry picking) and getting extreme volume attempts up, it wasn't always pretty and always drew the ire of people watching because it looked so gimmicky, they did take Chino Hills (a public school) to the #1 ranked team in the nation using this style though..

This style was done with purpose though it wasn't just a gameplan it was to prepare the brothers for the future, and judging by the success of Lonzo (and his outstanding 3pt% at UCLA) it's hard to argue with the results; LaVar said they were taking tons of shots so that they'd jumpstart their experience/familiarity at taking shots from all over the floor. This is definitely still going on with LaMelo and it's been somethign planted in their minds since they were young, the unorthodox shooting mechanics allowed them to shoot 3's from distance from a very young age, and they've been repeating/streamlining them ever since.

So even though it's difficult to seperate, I'd advise not to judge him on that sort of 'shot selection' when it's whats being asked of him. Now that being said LaMelo isn't like Lonzo, he's a scoring guard, he's like an Austin Rivers, it seems like he could keep growing tough, he might end up 6'6" too.
 
#41
LaMelo is probably rated correctly around 20th in the class, he'll get way too much attention moving forward. Cole Anthony who I posted above is the consensus top PG in the class.

Andrew Nembhard is the 'anti-LaMelo' PG in the class, he's a poised beyond his years 6'4" floor general from Canada and ranked 5-stars just a few spots behind Ball.

Keep an eye out for Jalen Leque, who's currently ranked 50th by scout. He's got 5-star potential. 6'4" combo guard with long arms who's extremely athletic.

Another Local kid (for me here in NY) that looks like a safe bet to rise the rankings (he's old for this class by an import from Jamaica) is Kofi Cockburn, a 6'11" C who's got an advanced build and well above average athleticism/explosion.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#43
That game was quite the spectacle. Those type of AAU games should never have that kind of hype, those aren't even good AAU teams, no quality bigs on the floor.

Zion is a fantastic prospect, I actually spotted him on Future150's 2018 list before he was even mentioned on most of the major scouting sites, he was somewhere in the 20's and IMO it was quite clear he had star potential. What really caught my eye was some of the blocks he was getting. Also with South Carolina not being a hotspot it made plenty of sense how he could fly under the radars.

I've also been following the Ball's and their story well before it hit the limelight, before Lavar revealed himself to be an attention whore and racist, since LaMelo was about 5'8 (Now he's about 6'4"). Back then they used to say Lonzo and LiAngelo didn't play AAU ball so they could play their own style of ball, which was pushing the ball at warp speed (cherry picking) and getting extreme volume attempts up, it wasn't always pretty and always drew the ire of people watching because it looked so gimmicky, they did take Chino Hills (a public school) to the #1 ranked team in the nation using this style though..

This style was done with purpose though it wasn't just a gameplan it was to prepare the brothers for the future, and judging by the success of Lonzo (and his outstanding 3pt% at UCLA) it's hard to argue with the results; LaVar said they were taking tons of shots so that they'd jumpstart their experience/familiarity at taking shots from all over the floor. This is definitely still going on with LaMelo and it's been somethign planted in their minds since they were young, the unorthodox shooting mechanics allowed them to shoot 3's from distance from a very young age, and they've been repeating/streamlining them ever since.

So even though it's difficult to seperate, I'd advise not to judge him on that sort of 'shot selection' when it's whats being asked of him. Now that being said LaMelo isn't like Lonzo, he's a scoring guard, he's like an Austin Rivers, it seems like he could keep growing tough, he might end up 6'6" too.
Well I always keep and open mind with players. The first thing I'm interested in is whether they're coachable or not? It doesn't matter what they've done up to when they enter college, skill level aside, the question is, are they coachable? And if they are, then I'm on board for the rest of the journey. I'm also a believer in old habits are hard to break. However, taking bad shots has more to do with decision making than muscle memory. Although at times La Melo appears to lack muscle between his ears.

Fear thee not, I'll cut him some slack....
 
#48

Kid is actually pretty skilled for an eighth grader. Since were speculating on who the best highschool 7 footer is.
Yep Marial looks like a damn good prospect. I like his anticipation, seems to have a good feel for the game even though he hasn't been playing organized ball for long. He'll turn 18 in a few months though, so he's the same age as Brown and Bol and going into his Jr. year.

Balsa Koprivica's worthy of mention;


And I think I already brought them up but Bryan Johnson-Penn and Kofi Cockburn too. Also the top 7-footer in the class of 2020;

 
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#50

Oumar Ballo looks next up from a recently flush pipeline of talent from Mali. He's 6'10, 240lbs with a 7'5" wingspan, looks nice and mobile and to have a good set of hands.
 
#51


This kid is gonna be really, really really good. #1 player in the class type of good. Remember the name! Extremely advanced skill level.
 
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bajaden

Hall of Famer
#53
Here's a player to keep your eye on in the future. He plays for Real Madrid and won't be draft eligible until 2021, but he looks like he'll be one of the top players in Europe by that time. I'm speaking of Usman Garuba. He's a terrific athlete, and outstanding shot blocker.

 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#54
Another European player to watch, who should be a 1st round in the 2019 draft is Sekou Doumbouya, a 6'9", 210 lb SF/PF. I list both positions because I don't think he has a defined position yet. He's a very athletic player that some are saying is the next Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Celtics, who drafted Kelly Olynyk instead of Giannis in that draft, are determined to not make that mistake again, and are scouting the hell out of Doumbouya. Here's a video of him from a year ago when he was 16 years old. By the way, it's rumored that he's not done growing yet.

 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#55
Don't want to get too far ahead on this future prospects thing, but caught Zion Williamson at the highschool all star game, and he was impressive until injuring his thumb. Then watched him be a man amongs't boys in the slam dunk contest. He is quite the physical specimen. Built like a linebacker, but able to jump out of the gym. It's going to be fun to watch him next season. Another player to keep you eye on next season is Nassir Little.
 
#56
Don't want to get too far ahead on this future prospects thing, but caught Zion Williamson at the highschool all star game, and he was impressive until injuring his thumb. Then watched him be a man amongs't boys in the slam dunk contest. He is quite the physical specimen. Built like a linebacker, but able to jump out of the gym. It's going to be fun to watch him next season. Another player to keep you eye on next season is Nassir Little.
What are your thoughts on Knox? I think he’d be a good fit. Can play both SF and PF and has a good outside game
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#57
What are your thoughts on Knox? I think he’d be a good fit. Can play both SF and PF and has a good outside game
If I'm picking any time after the 10th pick, I think he has value, but I think there's a drop off after 10. I think Knox has talent, but none of it is fully developed. My biggest concern with him is lack of consistency and how he disappears in some games. It's hard to get inside a players mind. There are times when he lacks aggression, and other times when he looks as advertised. I wouldn't even think about taking him with the 7th pick, but if we were to trade down, then I think you have to give him serious consideration.

Right now, Kieta Bates-Diop is a better player than Knox. Of course he's a junior and Knox is a freshman. But if you looking to make a pick later in the draft and my choice is between Knox and Diop, I think I would take Diop. He's ready to step in and play right now. Three years from now Knox may well be the better player, but then again, maybe not.
 
#60
Has anyone talked about this kid Mac McClung yet? I don't know what his NBA prospects are at this point (he's rated as a 3 star prospect coming out of HS), but breaking Allen Iverson's single season scoring title for the state of Virginia is pretty damn impressive. He's going to Georgetown next season to play for Patrick Ewing.

I don't like scouting HS players unless it's tape from the FIBA games or Nike/Adidas/McDondalds. I'll take a crack at McClung. I've seen a few highlight vids, but never really bothered.
He looks like a good athlete, but he's one of those 2 feet jumpers. Looks like he has good explosion, but needs a bit of space for lift off. Definitely an aggressive slasher.
Now....time to bag on the kid unfortunately. In those entire 47pts he scored, I only saw 1 jumpshot that was basically a prayer. That's a gigantic red flag. Can he shoot?/ I also didn't see any passing or playmaking from him.

He looks like an undersized SG who can't shoot. Aside from the hops, I don't see any NBA potential in that video.