Following Potential 2024 Draftees

Ozymandias · Jul 1, 2023

Really encouraging highlights from Baba Miller today. 3/5 from 3. I might have to go back and rewatch this game Argentina has looked competitive in the games I've seen.

This looks very interesting for the Kings to me.. when he plays like this I see flashes of Christian Wood

I say lets hope a playuer like this is marginalized, n then we trade up some 2nd rd picks to secure him. The kings dont have tons of spots to fill, Miller might be a match for an opening, and also worth developing. He moves like a basketball player not like a tall dude.

Tetsujin · Jul 1, 2023

So I generally avoid watching team Japan play basketball at any level (as a Japanese citizen who is a fan of good basketball there are far better uses of my time) but the Team USA game against Team Japan game just sorta showed up on auto-play on YouTube and I ended up watching most of it because…

I think Tajon Akira Jacobs could end up being the best basketball player to ever come out of Japan. I know that’s an exceptionally low bar to clear since the current two best players from Japan are Rui and Yuta Watanabe but one step at a time. Kid’s got prototypical wing size at 6’7”+, was pretty much the only Japanese guy to keep up athletically with team USA. Being on a terrible Japan u-19 team has also forced him to work on a bunch of iso creation skills he probably would never have Had to develop on a non-terrible team.

https://twitter.com/statuses/1675138598243299328

Perimeter stroke‘s also pretty good and his defense didn’t look particularly terrible out there (which is generally the only thing I really notice when players are this young/on a team that’s this outmatched). He’s apparently committed to playing for the University of Hawaii this coming season which is an interesting choice but could work out for him if he continues to develop in the right way. He’s definitely going to need to add weight to his frame while making sure not to lose too much lateral agility since he’s not quite an elite athlete but he could be worth keeping an eye on if not for the 2024 draft then for the transfer portal and drafts beyond that.

Ozymandias · Jul 1, 2023

now that were on page 3 It's time to drop a few more gems here. Crazy fun 6'5 combo guard Garwey Dual, whos about to make a bigtime splash as a freshman.

This is a name to keep an eye on for sure.

Ozymandias · Jul 1, 2023

Tetsujin said:

Good post. Will keep an eye on him for sure. The most lopsided game I could never forget was a loss suffered by Team Japan, in these fiba tourneys where Jayson Tatum and Team USA beat Rui Hachimura's Japan team by like 110 points n no one but Rui could score. I never saw a game that was more 1 versus 5 than that, puts a smile on my face just thinking about it, I'm sure Rui and most anyone else involved in that game remembers it vividly as well.

I would like to add though about the University of Hawaii.. Their basketball program is considerably better these days than it was in past decades, they do a good job recruiting all over the planet, and I'm pretty sure Kamaka Hepa, whos from Alaska and just graduated from there is going to play with the Pelicans in summer league, so there is actually some momentum. So I'm quite hopeful your right I like to see programs like this take that momentum and run with it, he seems like the next step in that direction

Ozymandias · Jul 1, 2023

man I cant wait to see how Jackson Shelstad does freshman year at Oregon, should be a good show. I really like his chances at outperforming.

Shortest player mentioned in this thread He's 6'. He can ball though, fierce and skilled competitor with an excellent feel for the game. I would say he could possibly make the 1st rd. He must watch Shai Gilgeous Alexander, he's very good with the sort of choppy steps and catching defenders off guard while their inbetween actions.

Bibby10AZ · Jul 2, 2023

Don’t know why they let Tad Boyle coach this team he is such a below average coach. This team looked terrible and played like a AAU team.

serbiangoat · Jul 3, 2023

Even though the under 20's starting on the 7th is a crappie comp compared to the lower aged ones in term of talent it always annoys me that it's on the same time as the Summer League, I doubt I will be watching any of it tbh.

Ozymandias · Jul 3, 2023

Bibby10AZ said:

Ghastly performance from this team in the 3rd place game... My goodness! So first off, as a massive fan of Team USA basketball, I'm glad they got smacked around.

That was like watching a boxer get the fight beat out of them.. I'm sitting there like 'holy **** this team has no fight to it at all'.. look like a buncha pushovers out there.. I'm watching that sitting there to see whos gonna pick themselves up off the mat n try to put a respectable showing, look like a pro, this was quite the opposite tho, this looked like we brought a bunch of nervous 17 year olds to an U19 tourney.. plain and simple..

Results like these shed far more light on some of the prospects than if they were to just cruise to victories.

Why would I be upset about a team that doesnt deserve to win losing? Same thing as when the Kings lost game 7 in the playoffs, how can i be upset with us losing when we cant even grab a rebound in the 3rd quarter, dont deserve to win..

They absolutely cant take care of the ball, their all so damn nervous every single 3pt shot is clanking, deserve to lose for that, they looked like deer in headlights out there. Team USA should rethink how many underclassman they fill into rosters like these, they went overboard n paid for it bigtime, but ya know what the college aged players on this team played poorly too, I dont really have an issue with the underclassman they chose tbh, I actually take far more issues with the older players.

But ya know its not just the coaching deserving blame,9 times out of 10 (and ive been sitting here watching these fiba tourneys every summer for a long ass time now) when Team USA gets a miserable result in these youth tourneys they dont have a real center on the roster, n this was more of the same.. To me this qualifies as by far the most egregious error, because it seems to keep happening

Omaha Billiew, I dont know how he didnt just hurt his stock... To me, if he was a top20 guy before this tournament, from what I saw, I'd have dropped him to the very bottom of the first, thats taking it too far but Ill just say his performance in this tourney rubbed me the wrong way... Asa Newell, whos 17 years old, was objectively way better IMO...

I mean if you told me Omaha Billiew was going to perform like this in this tournament, I'd have said they are about to have a disgraceful showing.. He was obviously such a key player in the roster construction and he can only get on the floor for 5 minutes in that 3rd place game(that they LOST) He'd have been better off not showing up, same thing I said about Cody Williams. Billiew picked up 5 fouls in 6 minutes and contributed absolutely nothing in an elimination game..

Mark Armstrong shoots 97% from the FT line in this tournament and 12.5% from the 3pt stripe..

Kylan Boswell finishes the tournament with more turnovers than assists. I dont think he was particularly bad in this tourney from what I saw though tbh, hes one of those guys he's not gonna blow you away but he's also like pretty high floor, so thats why I wouldnt really think his stock got hurt here, he still absolutely profiles as a backup PG that playoff teams might be interested in late 1st.

Eric Dailey Jr turned 19 in January, he's easily one of the oldest players at this tournament, he was actually NBA draft eligible in 2023 as he met the qualifications for being 1 year removed from highschool.... He shot 42% from the FT stripe in this tourney.. He grabbed 4 offensive rebounds in 125 minutes... my god...

theres actually so much to unpack here, with so many players, and most of it is quite bad.. But this is why we watch these tourneys..

I mean look at the shot distribution... In the elimination games.. Dylan Harper takes 13 and then 15 FGA's.. Dylan Harper was 16 years old in March! This is an U19 tournament.. this roster was constructed to rely on its youngest player? wow my goodness this was actually such an atrocious showing by the 18 and 19 year olds on the roster..

IDK when a movie has a ton of bad actors, I dont blame the actors, I blame the casting director. For them to have such amazing 17 year olds on this team and such underwhelming 18 and 19 year olds, ill never understand how that works

Ozymandias · Jul 3, 2023

Team USA absolutely looked like it had prospects that were way overrated, given way too much benefit of the doubt, where its some player whos actually not that great right now but they have him ranked higher as a projection of what they think will happen in the future...

This tournament served as a massive reality check for a long list of those players..

Ozymandias · Jul 3, 2023

I truly believe team USA could've sent a roster comprised entirely of 17 year olds and younger to this u19 tourny, and they'd have performed far better than what we saw from the 18 and 19 year olds that got sent instead..

Team USA is supposed to look like a bunch of 5-star players, with maybe a few 4-star guys who are really good at what they do...With the amount of talent in this country every single year, theres no excuse for this. This looked like we had some 3-star players mixed out there.. This looked like we had like very low end 4-star guys out there.. There's simply no excuse for rosters and results like these, players who are far more deserving, who'd have put up a way better fight were overlooked and got to sit at home and watch these kids who made the cut face-plant... but hey, they want to put these ill-fated centerless rosters together. we're gonna see the warts of the skill guys beneath them much more, so its good for draftwatching.

I feel bad for some of those players tho, team usa didnt put them in a position to succeed, n instead they got sorta thrown to the lions out there.. but at the same time some of those players simply werent good enough to make the team, so i really fault the roster construction.

Look at the actual frontcourt... I'd say theres a case that all of these players i'm about to list overlap in different sorts of redundancies... so its like they wanted 100 flavors of 6'7" combo forward n no real c's n got smacked for it.

Eric Dailey Jr (Listed at 6'6 btw omg he's getting shorter!)
Tobe Awaka 6'8"
Omaha Billiew 6'8
Ven-Allen Lubin 6'8

and yes I'm going to include 6'7 Cody Williams on this list. and I'm actually going to omit 6'9" Asa Newell, because that kid might actually be a lotto pick he's not in this grouping, if they took just Newell and literally 0 of these other 5 forwards, this team is much better.. This is a too many chefs spoiling the soup moment.

These guys are redundant!!! They loaded up a frontcourt of redundant guys, got no tall shotblockers.. n I guess I'll just say it like this.. I'd have picked a WAY ****ing better team... crap I wont have 6 frontcourt players who do basically mostly all the same stuff, I've never claimed to be the smartest, but i sure aint that dumb....

serbiangoat · Jul 5, 2023

I'm hoping Matija Belic plays for the u20's team he was a guy I really thought was going to be good he had a certain X -factor to him, this past season he "played" for I think Gabe Vincents college team where he didn't actually play (he tried to transfer for the upcoming season but decided to stay).

Ozymandias · Jul 8, 2023

Ya know the last pick in the 2023 draft, Chris Livingston, just signed a 4-year $7.7MM deal first 2 years guaranteed.. Maybe I'm getting old but that was like pretty high up in the 1st rd type of money not that long ago right? Crazy how that progressed so fast..

Ozymandias · Jul 8, 2023

Wow! Bob Huggins is claiming he never resigned at WVU... What a mess.. A crapstorm will follow this story... Yikes..

I have no sympathy for drunk drivers

Honestly what a sheepish way to go out Bob.. Very little respect for this... Your making big money at a University and you cant be bothered to be a decent role model enough not to drink and drive? n then you cant be bothered to just leave n let everyone start anew? You want to return in your fat slovenly drunken elder years then be the guy responsible for holding young impressionable minds accountable?!

I swear the standards for leadership around here r so pitiful. Somewhere along the way, money threw so many off the trail of what leadership is really about.. Huggins in this moment, wants to get paid to lead, but is unfit to complete the tasks required for the job, lacks discipline, old fool.

Betcha he'll cut his hair if he's gotta show up in court!

Ozymandias · Jul 8, 2023

Thats why, ya know, unsure If I've mentioned this. But I read all the John Wooden books.. Pyramid of Success n all that.. Can't help what would he think about a headline such as Huggins trying to fight for his job that he essentially also chose to callously throw away...

I would LOVE to hear a Bill Walton rant on this situation. this is higher learning? our standards have gotta be higher than this, I draw the line.

Huggins blew a .21 too. 3times the legal limit. Is it he cant afford a taxi or something? He makes over $4MM per year... N he said something so bad on radio just a few weeks earlier they suspended him 3 games n reduced his salary by 1mil. Pretty sure he said the type of slur that would indicate he's way behind the times n totally living in a bubble n lacking context with todays world, so how the heck is he ever gonna recruit the top players?

N ya know one of his assistants is now the interim coach, just go leave with some grace man.. You wanna come back to step on his toes? some people just dont know when its time to pick your chips up off the table n cash out..

funny to see someone in this sort of position, who still obviously cant stomach admitting they were wrong.. so entitled cant understand theres consequences for their actions, sounds about right for a drunk.

Funny thing is too... they bigtime overpaid for Huggins, and can do so much better, so hes basically so dumb he talked WVU into a bad contract n then let them off the hook----- FURTHERMORE, Huggins WILL NEVER land them the top recruits their after in 2025, whatever he was selling was an unrealistic lie, kind of insidious really, cuz its ambitious beyond reason n lacking context....

so if their really after the top caliber players, they need to find a new plan RIGHT NOW. The recruitment angle to this paints an even stranger picture. Never did i side more with WVU than on an issue like this. They'll be better off without em. totally a "YOUR DRUNK BOB, GO HOME!" moment

I mean could you imagine what Darryn Peterson, Cooper Flagg even Alier Maluk think about this headline? I'd imagine it goes something like "well I'm not going to West Virginia"... Everyschool in the nation would bend over backwards for those players, n their gonna chose WVU to play for drunken Bob Huggins? Bobs getting the big bucks to sell those pipedreams, n their preposterously unrealistic, i mean what even is the outlook? there is no endgame, he just sits there n they perform mediocre, he skates by getting low end 4-star player swho r really just there over minutes/shots opportunity --- basically he sits there n gets paid n they dont get much better is the outlook..

He actually did the best thing he could for this team by removing himself (unknowingly).. Cant see a single scenario where he'd be better fit.. You know how some small towns elect a dog for mayor? they could elect a dog the head coach of west virginia basketball n be better off than having bob huggins there, its that dire of a situation.

iowamcnabb · Jul 11, 2023

I thought of a fun acronym for Monte’s
draft type: M-I-L-D (mature I’d like to draft). It also describes the draftee’s personality and the type of sauce they put on tacos.

Ozymandias · Jul 12, 2023

iowamcnabb said:

Yeah but what about the case of UDFA Dominick Barlow? Who I sat in these very threads vouching for over n over..

You'd rather have Kessler Edwards because he's "mature" ? Isnt that like Ageism?

Was that like a brilliant Monte move? to pass on this youngster? not mature enough to make our G-League team?

Ozymandias · Jul 12, 2023

Rylan Griffen 6'5" SG who's quick and shows spot up shooting ability should have a major step up in production Sophomore year at Alabama.

He's got the talent to become relavent in this draft quickly, so definitely worth keeping an eye on. He went thru the pre-draft process n got lots of feedback, of the returning college players hes near the top of my list to check on to see progress.

Those of you familiar with last years Draftee's will of course remember Cason Wallace. Griffen was the SG on Wallace's HS team.

Ozymandias · Jul 12, 2023

I do wonder how much respect this draft is gonna get... Could totally see a situation where everyones just sorta waiting for '25 and '26...

but like they say ------ Thats why we play the games!

But just sort of coming out of the summer, not too much progress here, woulda hoped to see some of these '24 top propsects stake a claim already... but sheesh im still trying to forget that FIBA tournament..

Ozymandias · Jul 13, 2023

This kid looks pretty good. 6'5" 6'9" wingspan, he's pretty explosive. Headed to UCLA. Deserves mention here.

Ozymandias · Jul 16, 2023

Does Theirry Darlan deserve to be top-20, even lotto grade, as you see from most projections right now? I'm unsure. Always been a fan since he first showed up too. Definitely prefer him over Rupert from last year who's a player that effectively was overrated for the entire draft process.

I see Darlan higher than Mgbacko on CBS's latest mock... makes me wonder.. bit of a headscratcher tbh..

Ozymandias · Jul 16, 2023

All for the Clingan lotto or even top-10 projections though. Anyone who followed my comments last season knows I was raving about Clingan before most caught on (and pointing out his hype is inevitable, being that he's from Bristol CT which is where ESPN's headquarters is)

As I've mentioned before he compares to Ivica Zubac but appears to have better touch, we'll see what kind of skill level they want him to show off this season. He can shoot 3's.

I've also seen Alex Karaban from UConn 6'8 Forward projected in the late-1st... I can see that as well..

Ozymandias · Jul 16, 2023

But the player on UConn, the defending national champs, that I just can't wait to see is, Samson Johnson, 6'10 Upperclassman, with a 7'5" wingspan from Togo, he was slowed down last year by injuries, progress was probably slowed a bit early in his college days by covid.. Tall long athletic player who apparently can shoot n block shots, we'll see for sure what he can do now with Andre Jackson and Adama Sanogo gone.

I'm kinda expecting him to be good tbh, playing between Karaban and Clingan is really an ideal situation for him. He's sorta got some of the same things that Kai Jones had going on, similar frame and athlete. Jones has underwhelmed though, the NBA seems to be taking a more "lets wait and see" stance with players like this rather than rushing to scoop them up n develop them.

Ozymandias · Jul 16, 2023

screw it ill do a bigboard. a top 80, how bout that! lookin around the ones I see are too similar. I'll do a lil writeup on players I have way different opinions on than the consensus. Trying to order the teirs so the guys with the best chances to break thru the next ones are highest. Obviously these are highly speculative as its almost a full year away.

1 Caleb Foster 6'4" CG Duke Freshman (sniper, outside shot-making extraordinaire. I'm extremely high on him, shades of Dame and Jamal Murray)
2 Isaiah Collier 6'3" PG USC Freshman(likely ROY winner, safe for a team with good shooters at SG F and C, which is most teams even the bad ones)
3 Matas Buzelis 6'11" SF G-League '04 (seems relatively safe. If the Ignite perform well he's gonna look great n will vie for #1 )
4 Justin Edwards 6'8 SF/SG Kentucky Freshman(old freshman but safe. devastating midrange game, lots of made/attempted 3's will take him higher)
5 Ron Holland 6'8" SF G-League '05 (needs to sharpen excellent modern-day tools n he can run away with the #1 spot, for now I wait and see)
6 Donovan Clingan 7'2" C UConn Sophomore (one of my favorite players, ultra efficient on both ends of the floor, he can actually shoot it too)
7 DJ Wagner 6'3" CG Kentucky Freshman (will have to scrap for every inch to hold this spot, he can do it though. dynamic scorer)
8 Zacharrie Rischaser 6'8" SF '05 (gut tells me he should be higher, but I'm cool with 8)
9 Aaron Bradshaw 7'1" PF/C Kentucky Freshman (He had some sort of foot injury, when he's on the court his range will be much clearer)
10 Aday Mara 7'3" C '05 (Where will the skilled bigman play? He's got plenty of talent to climb higher. There's some sort of contract dispute ongoing.)
11 Kwame Evans 6'10" PF Oregon Freshman (always looked like a lotto pick to me, I'm sticking with my guns over the consensus. long lefty marksman)
12 AJ Johnson 6'5" SG NBL '05 (Buyer in his talent, if the field is as shaky as they say, he stands to benefit. WAY above consensus. Electric 1st step.)
13 Ja'Kobe Walter 6'5" SG Baylor Freshman (he will cruise thru evaluations/the season long as that 3pt shot is falling)
14 Elliot Cadeau 6'1" PG UNC Freshman (many have him much lower, I think he's reliable n will win a team over)

15 Kyle Filipkowski 6'11" PF/C Duke Sophomore (should have really good #'s this season)
16 Mackenzie Mgbacko 6'8" SF Indiana Freshman (wanted to make sure to put him higher than consensus, tough & too good a shooter)
17 Tyler Smith 6'10 PF G-League '05 (I'm way way way above consensus on him. Long armed athletic lefty, dynamic on offense and defense)
18 Trentyn Flowers 6'9" SF Louisville Freshman (Kyle Anderson fans are gonna love him. looks like a 1rp to me)
19 Baba Miller 6'11 PF FSU Sophomore(gut tells me he should be higher! buy-low candidate!)
20 Izan Almansa 6'9" PF '05 (I know this is low but I want to see how these PF's 3pt shooting shakes out first before putting him too high)
21 Jared McCain 6'3" SG Duke Freshman (most mocks dont have him, not only do I, but he's higher than his teammate Proctor)
22 Freddie Dilione 6'5" SG Tennessee Freshman (scorers like this seem to rise up boards late im just early here. shades of Jordan Clarkson.)
23 Thierry Darlan 6'6 SG G-League '05 (the more I looked at the field the more i felt the need to push Darlan higher n higher)
24 Stephon Castle 6'6" SG UConn Freshman(ngl im deferring to the consensus here, I dont know what to make of him, this seems about right)
25 Trevon Brazile 6'10 Arkansas PF Junior (BRAZILE IS BACK!!!!)
26 Tyrese Proctor 6'5" CG Duke Sophomore (I know this is low, I'm just much higher on his backcourt mates Foster and McCain than most)
27 Kel'el Ware 7' C Indiana Freshman (Don't fall in the trap of thinking Ware isnt extremely talented because of last season, deserves a clean slate)
28 Terrance Arceneaux 6'7" SG/SF Houston Sophomore(He should put this ranking to shame if he's half as good as I think he is)
29 Elmarko Jackson 6'4" CG Kansas Freshman (all aboard the hype train! I'm a believer!)
30 Milan Momcilovic 6'9" PF ISU Freshman (super high but he is built to warrant consideration here, these other mocks have too many nonshooters)

31 Robert Dillingham 6'2" PG Kentucky Freshman(Dillingham will have to DAZZLE to get picked in the 1st, n he might b able to do it)
32 Alexandre Sarr 7' PF '05 (very interested to see his performance this year. this is a "wait and see" ranking. how tough is he in that skinny frame?)
33 Bobi Klintman 6'10 PF NBL '03 (3pt shooting will likely determine how high he goes)
34 Cody Williams 6'8 SF Colorado. Freshman (lets see him put up stats, lots of stats, n ill march him up the board fast)
35 Omaha Billiew 6'8 F ISU Freshman (see above)
36 Tidjane Salaun 6'10" F '05 (this player looks very good to me I'm confused about why he's not thought of more highly)
37 Riley Kugel 6'5" SG Florida Sophomore (can he continue the hot play he closed out last season with?)
38 Garwey Dual 6'5" CG Providence Freshman (crazy bag of tricks, he's getting drafted for sure, highlight factory, a bit like former king Alec Burks)
39 Jackson Shelstad 6' PG Oregon Freshman (strictly a backup PG. razor sharp style, think something like Shabazz Napier)
40 London Johnson 6'3" CG Ignite '05 (should have a big uptick with Scoot Henderson gone)
41 Ugonna Onyenso Kingsley 6'11" C Kentucky Sophomore (mobile shotblocker/rim runner, frame/game like Thomas Bryant but not as mechanical)
42 Melvin Ajinca 6'8" SF '04 (massive summer will surely have a lot more eyes on his progress, Taurean Prince type qualities. Uncle Melvin was 1rp)
43 Chance Westry 6'5" SG/SF Syracuse, Sophomore (One of those 'if you know, you know' type of deals, excellent player. safe bet)
44 DaRon Holmes 6'10 PF/C Dayton Junior
45 JJ Starling 6'4" SG Syracuse, Sophomore ('Cuse should be difficult to defend on the perimeter, will Starling get a bunch of clean 3s cuz of it?)
46 Kylan Boswell 6'2" PG Arizona Sophomore
47 Arterio Morris 6'3" CG Kansas Sophomore (powerhouse explosive guard like former king Jahmius Ramsey but better. Throws down huge dunks)
48 Xavier Booker 6'10 PF/C Michigan State Freshman (will he somehow manage to play enough to go 1-n-d? Izzo usually holds these types back)
49 Jonas Aidoo 6'11" C Tennessee, Junior (the rare 3 and D Center, legit shotblocker too atleast 7'4 wingspan, all the tools to rise)
50 Johni Broome 6'10 PF/C Junior Auburn (he can play! Lets see if he improves that outside shot a bit, if he can playmake a bit more)
51 Milos Uzan 6'4" CG Oklahoma Sophomore (more I thought of it I wanted to put him infront of Bronny)
52 Bronny James 6'3" CG USC Freshman (upside to the 20's I'd think, lets see what he can do, has a great landing spot in USC)
53 Ryan Dunn 6'8" PF Virginia Junior (primed for a massive uptick)
54 Alex Karaban 6'8" SF/PF UConn Junior (clutch, 3 and d efficient player)
55 Dillon Mitchell 6'8" F Texas, Sophomore (we should see a much better more consistent player this season hopefully way more boards)
56 Adem Bona 6'10 C, UCLA, Sophomore.
57 Nikola Djurisic 6'8" SF, '04 (3pt shooting can take him far)
58 Ruben Prey 6'11" PF/C '05 (I like Prey this might be too low, hes probably more of a top40 or why even stay in type)
59 Zach Edey 7'4" C Purdue (Id say his range is the 30's, lets see how mobile he looks, seemed he was in great shape at the combine)
60 Yohan Traore 6'10" PF UCSB Sophomore (after Jalen Williams and Brandin Podziemski, I'll give UCSB the benefit of the doubt with this one)

61 Trey Alexander 6'4" CG Creighton Junior. (With Nembhard gone he'll be much more of the PG which should give him ample opportunity to climb)
62 Matthew Cleveland 6'6" SF/SG Miami Sophomore (hoping the move to Miami is perfect for him, this player has an interesting skillset)
63 Ilane Fibueil 6'5" SG UCLA Freshman (we'll see on this one, im kinda wishy washy having him this high, but he looks legit on the footage)
64 Zvonimir Ivisic 7'3" C '04 (I like Ivisic, this might be too low, hes probably more of a top40 or why even stay in type)
65 Rylan Griffen 6'5" SG Alabama Sophomore (particularly interested in his progress, he should have a major uptick)
66 Jevon Porter 6'11" Pepperdine Junior (Just gotta figure he's gonna have a massive uptick with the offense running thru him n not Max Lewis)
67 Mark Mitchell 6'8 PF Duke Sophomore
68 Matthew Murrell 6'4" SG Ole Miss Senior (Ole Miss should be better this season Murrell stands to benefit)
69 Aidan Mahaney 6'3" PG St Mary's Sophomore (I'm a bigtime believer in this player, modern day Hornacek)
70 RJ Luis 6'7" SG St. Johns, Sophomore (Pitino appears to have found a really good x-fer. No mock is complete without a small school xfer)
71 Wooga Poplar 6'5" SG Miami, Junior (Looking for a big uptick from him, Miami needs him to score a lot of points)
72 Coleman Hawkins 6'10 PF/C Illinois Senior.
73 Baylor Scheierman 6'6" SF/SG Creighton Senior (Good player, should be dominant)
74 Tyler Kolek 6'3" PG Marquette Junior. (See above)
75 Ryan Kalkbrenner 7'1, C, Creighton, Senior. (also see above)
76 Reece Beekman 6'3 PG Virginia Senior. (What kind of offense does he have? Defensively he's up to par. We'll see)
77 Oso Ighodaro 6'9" PF, Marquette, Junior. (Excellent passer, light footed shot blocker, will he expand his offense?)
78 Vincent Iwuchukwu, 7' C USC, Sophomore.(I'm an unabashed Iwuchukwu homer. He's legit though. Absolutely looks the part of an NBA big)
79 Tyler Burton, 6'7" SF, Villanova, Super Senior. (Old man Burton should actually perform quite well at Nova)
80 Isaiah Miranda 7'1" PF/C OK State Freshman (or is he a Sophomore? I dont even know with him, wont matter, not a 4 year player)

UNDER CONSTRUCTION (POSSIBLE NAMES TO ADD)
Judah Mintz, Juan Nunez, Babacar Sane, Kevin McCullar Jr., Terrence Shannon, Berke Buyuktuncel, Jalen Bridges, Jaedon Ledee, Micah Peavy, , Vladislav Goldin, Graham Ike, Nae'kwan Tomlin, TJ Bamba, Justin Moore, Tristan Da Silva, Ajay Mitchell, Mantas Rubstavicius, Zhuric Phelps, Miles Kelly, Layden Blocker, Ousmane N'Diaye, Baye Fall , Henri Veesar, Dillon Jones, Sean Stewart.

serbiangoat · Jul 17, 2023

After telling Nikola Topic he would be getting playing time, Red Star proceeds to sign Shabazz Napeir, Milos Teodosic and now Dos Santos (back up PG on the Raptors summer league squad) along with already Nemanja Nedovic who can slide to the PG spot as well. The kid needs to go to Mega to team up with Djrua there is zero playing time in Red Star, hopefully they loan him out to their small brother club FMP. Serbian basketball teams minus Mega are masters of destroying any talented players development from the region than everyone acts surprised when the National team has not won anything in like 21 years.

Ozymandias · Jul 17, 2023

serbiangoat said:

After telling Nikola Topic he would be getting playing time, Red Star proceeds to sign Shabazz Napeir, Milos Teodosic and now Dos Santos (back up PG on the Raptors summer league squad) along with already Nemanja Nedovic who can slide to the PG spot as well. The kid needs to go to Mega to team up with Djrua there is zero playing time in Red Star, hopefully they loan him out to their small brother club FMP. Serbian basketball teams minus Mega are masters of destroying any talented players development from the region than everyone acts surprised when the National team has not won anything in like 21 years.

Well... Sounds like he's more of a 2025 draft topic than 2024... Definitely worth keeping an eye on..

Ozymandias · Jul 17, 2023

K lets say the big board is 'finalized'

though I might have made really bad oversights n need to edit them in.. still doing a little bit of homework on who could actually even be eligible for this draft too as theres some mystery names

serbiangoat · Jul 18, 2023

So with the Fiba u18's Euros starting in a few days I'm looking at the Serbian Team in terms of prospects

Should get drafted eventually Topic/Markovic
Could : Bosnjakovic (has been signed to Real Madrid for a long time now and trains with the team as far as I know), Filip Jovic (not related to Nikola Jovic) good athlete (not athletic enough to dominate in the NBA) but have his skills improved enough to be a NBA player I could see him as a high energy 4 if he has a 3pointer from what I remember his ball handling was lacking which will hurt him and is a tweener.
There could be someone else some of the names I am unfamiliar with and the only other one that maybe could become a player from what I have seen is Gagic but massive doubt currently and probably will be a European level player.

https://www.fiba.basketball/europe/...ch-who-will-stand-out-at-fibau18europe-in-nis

Looks like BIg Mara is playing probably making Spain the favourites also the talented Greek Big man with a former Soviet Union name is playing as well.

Ozymandias · Jul 18, 2023

serbiangoat said:

Very interested to see Mara, Topic/Markovic and Samodurev. The player I'll be watching every game of for sure is Tidjane Salaun, I want to get a better look at him.

It seems to me like Samodurev might have the most to gain / lose here though. I'm hoping he has a great performance, I'd like to see what that does for him. I want to particularly keep a close eye on him, his progress is very interesting to me. Always gotta judge how his frame looks too, he really, desperately needs to strengthen up because it appears he's got short arms.

The 6'6 wing on Italy from the article doesnt look bad, Elhadji Dame Sarr.. Wonder how his 3pt shooting goes this tournament..

While these youth teams as a whole might not be getting all that much better from decades past ---- the best player on each team, they sure look better.. I mean that guard who kept dropping 30 for Madagascar, or Dos Santos on Brazil in the last tournament is a perfect example of what I mean.

Ozymandias · Jul 18, 2023

I think this draft is pretty good...

and I'm sure I've overlooked some headliners on that bigboard I just posted... The more I go over that list, the more I think "looks like a solid draft"

and really only the very worst teams in the NBA should be concerned with how bad this draft is, and the Kings damn sure arent one of the very worst teams..

and just to be thorough --- In the event of complete disaster where the Kings miss the playoffs n we actually keep our 1rp, and its upper lottery. We'll get a player at least the quality of Davion Mitchell, someone who is going to be cost efficient and worth keeping around.

I say the Kings can't really lose in this draft.. We're totally playing with house money here..

Judging the field, I can't help but think.. "Looks like a pretty good draft to have an extra 2nd rd pick in"

Ozymandias · Jul 18, 2023

If Aidoo has a huge junior season I just cant see how he wouldnt go flying up draft boards... I need to go and bump him and Johni Broome up that bigboard a few spots higher tbh.. In his limited action first 2 seasons, Aidoo has shot 78% from the FT line, pretty damn good for a 6'11 240lb shotblocker. The ball looks good when he shoots it too, nice rotation looks good out of his hand and going thru the net.

Judging the Centers in this draft, Aday Mara and Donovan Clingan, sort of its kind of like last year where you have 2 bigtime C's with Wemby and Lively looking like lotto picks, and then things get murky quickly, and sure enough its Kel'el Ware the 3rd guy in both of these drafts preseason.

So this is a really excellent draft to try and move up the board if your a center... n thats why I post about Aidoo here..

N so another completely game-changing name that would make MAJOR waves, would be Dennis Evans Jr. somehow getting off to an insane start freshman year at Louisville... He's expected to be more of a 2 or 3 year player though, as he's very raw, but has a 7'7" wingspan and extremely good tools for blocking shots n he's mobile, he's certainly talented enough to warrant selecting early to groom. Legit 7'1

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