Looking ahead to the 2023 Draft
- Thread starter Tetsujin
- Start date
Yeah. Sensabaugh is an absolute bucket and watching him and Monk shred second units would be a blast. Dude would absolutely not help the defense right off the bat though. His scoring potential is so off the charts that I’m not sure how much that matters though. Big iso scorers like him are rare in the draft and ones that can shoot like him are even rarer.
Full disclosure when It comes to forwards n the selection at 24, I'm pretty focused on the grouping of;
Leonard Miller, GG Jackson, Dariq Whitehead, Bilal Coulibaly(though he kinda looks like a SG to me IDK if he's truly a SF like many list him at) and Cidy Sissoko.
When it comes to a player like Sensabaugh, I ask myself; Who's shots is he gonna take? If he's gonna take shots from Monk and Trey Lyles, short-term it might be not as big of an offensive upgrade as we hope for and might be kind of a robbing peter to pay paul type of situation.
Aslo does Sensabaugh look like someone you want starting next to Keegan Murray for the next bunch of years? I kinda think the defense would obviously be worse from what we have now with Harrison Barnes n worry about some matchups we'll see a lot in the western conference.
So for me, when It comes to the forwards. I kinda lean towards the defense first guys I have listed above. I just really like the idea of getting coach Brown some stonewall defender like Cissoko to move around, I think a player like that fits well next to Kessler Edwards, n fits well next to Trey Lyles at C.
If you asked me if I had to choose offense first players, the 2 that really stand out to me are SG's, Max Lewis and Brandin Podziemski. So perhaps I'm just pigeonholing things n being ignorant.
Coulibaly to me looks like he's solid on offense and defense.. I kind of reject the idea that he cant contribute to a team soon too, defending the 3pt line is of the utmost importance in the NBA n Coulibaly is WAY overqualified, that length of his will help him neutralize his strength deficiency. Coulibaly looks to me like some sort of Rich Mans version of a Dante Exum/Thabo Sefolosha/Will Barton fusion.
The fact that we could move him back and forth from the G-League to the main squad, that sounds great to me, getting this kid on the floor in the NBA n also getting him big reps in the g-league could payoff bigtime in just half a season if things start to click, n at pick 24, that sounds ideal.
Mitchell, Monk, Coulibaly, Edwards, Lyles.. I think theres something there, with a lineup like that, to quote the late great Stuart Scott I just get the feeling Coulibaly would end up looking "as cool as the other side of the pillow"
I just dont believe Coulibaly will be on the board, so I'm gonna keep singing his praises til he's out of range, which the only other player I've said that about was Taylor Hendricks early in the season. I feel Coulibaly looks like a player who could command a big contract in the NBA one day, when some of the other players were talking about look more like they might be efficient backups, which also would mean he could develop into a player we could trade for much more than the 24th pick in the draft in return.
Leonard Miller, GG Jackson, Dariq Whitehead, Bilal Coulibaly(though he kinda looks like a SG to me IDK if he's truly a SF like many list him at) and Cidy Sissoko.
When it comes to a player like Sensabaugh, I ask myself; Who's shots is he gonna take? If he's gonna take shots from Monk and Trey Lyles, short-term it might be not as big of an offensive upgrade as we hope for and might be kind of a robbing peter to pay paul type of situation.
Aslo does Sensabaugh look like someone you want starting next to Keegan Murray for the next bunch of years? I kinda think the defense would obviously be worse from what we have now with Harrison Barnes n worry about some matchups we'll see a lot in the western conference.
So for me, when It comes to the forwards. I kinda lean towards the defense first guys I have listed above. I just really like the idea of getting coach Brown some stonewall defender like Cissoko to move around, I think a player like that fits well next to Kessler Edwards, n fits well next to Trey Lyles at C.
If you asked me if I had to choose offense first players, the 2 that really stand out to me are SG's, Max Lewis and Brandin Podziemski. So perhaps I'm just pigeonholing things n being ignorant.
Coulibaly to me looks like he's solid on offense and defense.. I kind of reject the idea that he cant contribute to a team soon too, defending the 3pt line is of the utmost importance in the NBA n Coulibaly is WAY overqualified, that length of his will help him neutralize his strength deficiency. Coulibaly looks to me like some sort of Rich Mans version of a Dante Exum/Thabo Sefolosha/Will Barton fusion.
The fact that we could move him back and forth from the G-League to the main squad, that sounds great to me, getting this kid on the floor in the NBA n also getting him big reps in the g-league could payoff bigtime in just half a season if things start to click, n at pick 24, that sounds ideal.
Mitchell, Monk, Coulibaly, Edwards, Lyles.. I think theres something there, with a lineup like that, to quote the late great Stuart Scott I just get the feeling Coulibaly would end up looking "as cool as the other side of the pillow"
I just dont believe Coulibaly will be on the board, so I'm gonna keep singing his praises til he's out of range, which the only other player I've said that about was Taylor Hendricks early in the season. I feel Coulibaly looks like a player who could command a big contract in the NBA one day, when some of the other players were talking about look more like they might be efficient backups, which also would mean he could develop into a player we could trade for much more than the 24th pick in the draft in return.
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Latest ESPN mock has us taking Dariq Whitehead in the first round, Podziemski at 37 (at this point, enough mocks are starting to connect him to us that I'm wondering if he's already been promised a selection there by one of our front office guys), and Tristan Vukcevic at 54.
I'm still a little iffy on Dariq as a longterm prospect but he's still super young (Doesn't turn 19 until training camp) and at least would be a good perimeter shooter at the wing in spot minutes to start his career. We're also passing on Bilal, GG, and Maxwell Lewis to draft him in this scenario which I'm also not sure about since I personally would take all three of those guys instead of Whitehead.
Drafting and stashing Vukcevic (or just bringing him over on one of our 2-way contracts) would be appealing even if he doesn't pan out as a player but I'm not sure he's going to be left on the board by the time our late pick comes around.
I'm still a little iffy on Dariq as a longterm prospect but he's still super young (Doesn't turn 19 until training camp) and at least would be a good perimeter shooter at the wing in spot minutes to start his career. We're also passing on Bilal, GG, and Maxwell Lewis to draft him in this scenario which I'm also not sure about since I personally would take all three of those guys instead of Whitehead.
Drafting and stashing Vukcevic (or just bringing him over on one of our 2-way contracts) would be appealing even if he doesn't pan out as a player but I'm not sure he's going to be left on the board by the time our late pick comes around.
heres the OTE proday measurments...
What catches my eye here that could possibly relate to THIS draft (lot to unpack from future classes but I'll save that for next year) or this years UDFA pool;
is 6'6" wingspan from Bryce Griggs, also 9.5" hand width is a good measurement for him, kids got some paws on him. 190lbs.
Bryson Warren with a 6'6.5" wingspan.
Both of these guards I'm a big fan of, with Warren being much more the pure PG while Griggs profiles more like a 6th man flamethrowing scoring guard(he's a disciple of James Harden played for Hardens AAU team for years n certainly has copied many of his moves)
Nathan "Big Nate" Missa-Dio, from Belgium, born in '04 so he's eligible with insane measurements across the board... a 7'6" wingspan at 6'9", though I get the feeling we wont be seeing him in this draft.
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Baba Miller has announced his return to FSU. So thats the end of his bizarre saga this season, n I wish him all the luck next year. He's going to be playing for Spain at the U19 this summer so hopefully he can start his momentum there.
FSU just landed Josh Nickleberry a big transfer from La Salle last night. They have a very talented SF named Taylor Bol Bowen whos 6'9" incoming.
FSU like most of the ACC should be much improved next season, though that wont be very difficult for FSU after setting the bar so low this year.
FSU just landed Josh Nickleberry a big transfer from La Salle last night. They have a very talented SF named Taylor Bol Bowen whos 6'9" incoming.
FSU like most of the ACC should be much improved next season, though that wont be very difficult for FSU after setting the bar so low this year.
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I'm a believer in Whitehead n still feel he's the type Coach Brown would like, but also I'm still not totally buying his 3pt shot being as good as it looked this season, he's still a defense-first guy to me. one thing I'm sure of though is if his 3pt shot is as good as it looked this season we'd get exceptional value by selecting him. I'm also certain that you could almost treat him like he's a 21 or 22 year old, I believe he's kinda polished beyond his age, thats a big strong teenager. For me he seems like he goes right to the bench and breaks into the rotation, skips the G-League, Id trust him with 15mpg.
Whitehead is one of these guys, he was a bigtime football player before he was a big basketball player sorta like Anthony Edwards, Riq comes from a football family. His mom says shes a football mom and she didnt know what to make at first of him playing basketball. N it shows he's exceptional at absorbing contact.
I'm still interested to see how legit that 6'7" listing is for him, or is it a 2" shoes and wearing 3 pairs of socks type of situation.
While Whitehead isnt the guy whos gonna drop 30 off the bench for us like Terrence Davis, he can contribute all over the place much more, he's a much better slasher, he will run in from the perimeter and crash those offensive boards(and he's strong enough to make his presence felt on those types of plays -- if your too skinny u can get treated like a ragdoll in the nba doing that stuff)
Whitehead also, for many years, was known as a guy who could drive both ways with a lot of power. He's very comfortable using one side of his body to shield the ball n the other to score it, n can change back and forth..
THIS TYPE OF PLAY at 1:58 in the highlights, When you look at that play too, I cant help but think 'Sabonis sets those types of screens'...
Or look at the drive in transition at 2:24, you see how the defender cant tell which way he's going n sorta gets rocked/manipulated back n forth by Riq.
If you wanna see the upside check out the faceup jab step to the right into a cross then step-back to the left at 3:55. He's kinda got this knack for figuring out which way the defender wants to play him, then figuring out how to disappoint them.
The Podziemski thing just makes sense. When Fox subs out other teams are always gonna try and make a run and Podziemski is the type who can drop a few daggers in those moments n really keep the pressure on. He's built to play on a team who can score 176 points in a game like our Kings.
As for Vukcevic, our roster could use a 6'11" pf with a 7'4" wingspan whos mobile n can shoot the 3 and can potentially block some shots, now how far away he is from being able to contribute --- I couldn't tell ya, don't have a strong opinion either way. In a best-case-scenario he does seem suited for an uptempo team. If we take him though I am gonna be really hoping he's on the G-League team. I genuinely wonder how he'd perform in the G-League, seems like it'd be in his best interests to get reps vs that kind of competition, if he can hang I wonder what type of stats he'd put up, so I kinda hope he's not stashed wherever he lands.
Whitehead is one of these guys, he was a bigtime football player before he was a big basketball player sorta like Anthony Edwards, Riq comes from a football family. His mom says shes a football mom and she didnt know what to make at first of him playing basketball. N it shows he's exceptional at absorbing contact.
I'm still interested to see how legit that 6'7" listing is for him, or is it a 2" shoes and wearing 3 pairs of socks type of situation.
While Whitehead isnt the guy whos gonna drop 30 off the bench for us like Terrence Davis, he can contribute all over the place much more, he's a much better slasher, he will run in from the perimeter and crash those offensive boards(and he's strong enough to make his presence felt on those types of plays -- if your too skinny u can get treated like a ragdoll in the nba doing that stuff)
Whitehead also, for many years, was known as a guy who could drive both ways with a lot of power. He's very comfortable using one side of his body to shield the ball n the other to score it, n can change back and forth..
Or look at the drive in transition at 2:24, you see how the defender cant tell which way he's going n sorta gets rocked/manipulated back n forth by Riq.
If you wanna see the upside check out the faceup jab step to the right into a cross then step-back to the left at 3:55. He's kinda got this knack for figuring out which way the defender wants to play him, then figuring out how to disappoint them.
The Podziemski thing just makes sense. When Fox subs out other teams are always gonna try and make a run and Podziemski is the type who can drop a few daggers in those moments n really keep the pressure on. He's built to play on a team who can score 176 points in a game like our Kings.
As for Vukcevic, our roster could use a 6'11" pf with a 7'4" wingspan whos mobile n can shoot the 3 and can potentially block some shots, now how far away he is from being able to contribute --- I couldn't tell ya, don't have a strong opinion either way. In a best-case-scenario he does seem suited for an uptempo team. If we take him though I am gonna be really hoping he's on the G-League team. I genuinely wonder how he'd perform in the G-League, seems like it'd be in his best interests to get reps vs that kind of competition, if he can hang I wonder what type of stats he'd put up, so I kinda hope he's not stashed wherever he lands.
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I gotta say 2 games of watching the Kings in the playoffs have me thinking Berke Buyuktuncel at #37 might be a good idea and I dont mean like we need him or anything but more in the sense that what he does might fit in around here well.
First off this kid is tough as nails. He's 6'9 has all around game. He's a dog for sure, bluecollar game but also he's got some of that new-age skill/flexibility, does a lot of little things that add up to winning games. MAX EFFORT, Crazy Motor
I believe this is a younger player who could also possibly perform like hes a few years older, he's fearless, watched him at the U18 this summer, was a massive crowd favorite, he strikes me as someone who's built to play infront of a crazy crowd like we have at the G1 Center.. But make no mistake, a few years from now he'll be a lot stronger.
Absolutely no way would he be in this draft and fall to the bottom of the 2nd too, with him its a matter of taking him with that early 2nd. This kid is gonna be representing Turkey on their national team for a long time, he seems to me like the future Captain of their squad.
He's the type of player you dont run any plays for but he still somehow is always involved in the action, has a nose for the ball, not afraid to mix it up with anyone.
At the same time I'd say if the Kings really think that Vezenkov will come over this summer, he's probably not the pick.
I believe this is a younger player who could also possibly perform like hes a few years older, he's fearless, watched him at the U18 this summer, was a massive crowd favorite, he strikes me as someone who's built to play infront of a crazy crowd like we have at the G1 Center.. But make no mistake, a few years from now he'll be a lot stronger.
Absolutely no way would he be in this draft and fall to the bottom of the 2nd too, with him its a matter of taking him with that early 2nd. This kid is gonna be representing Turkey on their national team for a long time, he seems to me like the future Captain of their squad.
He's the type of player you dont run any plays for but he still somehow is always involved in the action, has a nose for the ball, not afraid to mix it up with anyone.
At the same time I'd say if the Kings really think that Vezenkov will come over this summer, he's probably not the pick.
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A few players who havent been mentioned here, I'm starting to see their names places figure I'll point em out;
6'4" SG D'Moi Hodge
Now this player in particular is super old, he's born in 1998 actually so I'd imagine that limits his chances greatly. He'll get looks though, JUCO kid who shot 40% from 3 for Mizzou on 7.1 attempts this season.
6'4" SG D'Moi Hodge
Now this player in particular is super old, he's born in 1998 actually so I'd imagine that limits his chances greatly. He'll get looks though, JUCO kid who shot 40% from 3 for Mizzou on 7.1 attempts this season.
Ya know I noticed Sidy Cissoko is in the first round of the tankathon mock but listed at 6'5 (and 176lbs!!! AINT NO WAY!!!)
You can find him listed at 6'5, 6'6, 6'7 and 6'8...
The G-League lists him at 6'8
will be interesting to see what he measures at, I'm gonna guess 6'7". One thing i'm damn sure of though is he isnt 176lbs
You can find him listed at 6'5, 6'6, 6'7 and 6'8...
The G-League lists him at 6'8
will be interesting to see what he measures at, I'm gonna guess 6'7". One thing i'm damn sure of though is he isnt 176lbs
Jake Stephens measured a 7'9.5" wingspan at the portsmouth. He's 7' and can shoot. 23 years old. interesting. 270lbs he's a lumbering big but that shot looks pure and his arms are crazy long.
He shot 41% from 3 on 5.2 attempts this season (and 82% from the ft line)
last year he shot 49% from 3 on 5 attempts per (and 80% from the line)
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The best thing for Vukcevic would be playing in the G-League he won't get playing time on any serious team in Europe due to the way coaches are (no one is looking to develop players because in most leagues you get relegated if you finish last and the good teams want are in win now mode every year) and the way he plays. I actually think he would put on big/decent numbers in the G-League similar to Alen Smailagic
Also while he's more raw/less skilled than Vukcevic I think in the long term the Croation Zvonimir Ivisic has better transferable skills and he's like 7'2 similar level shooter and better shot blocker
. He would also benefit greatly playing in the G-League rather than Europe
.
Not to many 7'2 can aviod the charge and Eurostep there way into a dunk, both at worst should be picked up by the SL squad if they don't get drafted.
Also while he's more raw/less skilled than Vukcevic I think in the long term the Croation Zvonimir Ivisic has better transferable skills and he's like 7'2 similar level shooter and better shot blocker
Not to many 7'2 can aviod the charge and Eurostep there way into a dunk, both at worst should be picked up by the SL squad if they don't get drafted.
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Yeah I think Vuk would put up decent numbers in the G-League and then you'd hope for him to come back in year 2 much improved sorta like what we've seen from Leonard Miller.
I think the Kings could probably use a 6'10 PF/SF type who can block shots over a 6'10" PF/C type though (With GG Jackson being an exception to this because he's a great athlete/multi-position defender). Much of what you'd hope we could get from Vuk as a pick we already get from Trey Lyles.
Ivisic looks promising
I think the Kings could probably use a 6'10 PF/SF type who can block shots over a 6'10" PF/C type though (With GG Jackson being an exception to this because he's a great athlete/multi-position defender). Much of what you'd hope we could get from Vuk as a pick we already get from Trey Lyles.
Ivisic looks promising
Is 38 too high for Kobe Brown? Are we sure about that?
This is a player who had a major uptick in his 3pt shooting after 3 seasons of 20%. So if we determine thats real, its a key for taking him higher than consensus as he's got a build thats ready to face older competition he's built like a tank.
He's 23 already but 6'7", 250lbs and moves well, he's got some quickness about him for a player with that build. He's a factor on the oboards and can pass. He looks pretty good dribbling the ball. Seems to have good hands and generate lots of steals. He doesnt seem crazy explosive to me yet he's got all these dunks in his highlights that look good, so I'm unsure how much hops he really has.
Podziemski at 24, Kobe Brown at 38 and Emoni Bates at 54 ---- Can we find better 3pt shooters than those guys???
PG - Fox, Mitchell, Monk, Podziemski
SG - Huerter, Monk, Podziemski, Mitchell/Bates
SF - Murray, Huerter, Edwards/Brown/Barnes, Bates
PF - Barnes, Lyles, Brown, Murray, Edwards
C - Sabonis, Lyles, Len, Queta, Holmes
This is a player who had a major uptick in his 3pt shooting after 3 seasons of 20%. So if we determine thats real, its a key for taking him higher than consensus as he's got a build thats ready to face older competition he's built like a tank.
He's 23 already but 6'7", 250lbs and moves well, he's got some quickness about him for a player with that build. He's a factor on the oboards and can pass. He looks pretty good dribbling the ball. Seems to have good hands and generate lots of steals. He doesnt seem crazy explosive to me yet he's got all these dunks in his highlights that look good, so I'm unsure how much hops he really has.
Podziemski at 24, Kobe Brown at 38 and Emoni Bates at 54 ---- Can we find better 3pt shooters than those guys???
PG - Fox, Mitchell, Monk, Podziemski
SG - Huerter, Monk, Podziemski, Mitchell/Bates
SF - Murray, Huerter, Edwards/Brown/Barnes, Bates
PF - Barnes, Lyles, Brown, Murray, Edwards
C - Sabonis, Lyles, Len, Queta, Holmes
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