Looking ahead to the 2023 Draft

[Ozymandias]

this player is kinda crazy... no? 8/10 from 3 in this game.. He's got a nice high release and deep range..


He sure is mobile, you see how he uses his first step(and the jab step) for a 6'10 guy! Very interesting. Looks like he's got good hands too.

Issues are in the area of strength for sure, years ago on his recruiting profile it says 195lbs (n that picture hes got such a skinny neck) but he appears to be much more of a PF to me than the C he's playing here in college.. As a senior he's now listed at 212lbs, so its fair to say he's still got some beefing up to do, another 12 lbs of muscle might suit him quite well.


Would you guys rather see them scoop up a non 3pt shooting PF like Tubelis over this player?


Also Pember has averaged a ton of blocks last 2 seasons but I'm gonna chalk that up in part due to the lower levels of competition and he plays hard n doesnt coast. His wingspan cant be much more than 7'1 from what I can tell.

 

[Ozymandias]

oh so lemme mention a CRAZY defensive player...

Tefale Lenard Jr. 6'7 super long armed super skinny Sophomore at Middle Tennessee State. He's averaging almost 2 block and 2 steals per game..


He's got defensive specialist written all over him. Bigtime energy player.

I've heard even with super pedestrian offensive stats this players defense is so good he's gonna get looks, and I went back n caught some games of his n I can see why they'd think that, he's very athletic.

 

[Ozymandias]

Milos Uzan 6'4 Freshman CG for Oklahoma is an NBA player! 40% from 3, 3 assists per game, he's pretty explosive seems to have easy lift. He deserves mention here.

OU just smacked #22 TCU

 

[Ozymandias]

Babacar Sane is a Senagalese player on the G-League Ignite, he's kind of a forgotten man. First time he's been mentioned here. Player who got picked up thru the NBA Africa.

He's obviously got a rediculous frame for about 6'7" and he's quite athletic. Like what I see from him.

 

[Ozymandias]

6'8 SF dead-eye shooter, sneaky good defender. Much more likely to be a 2024 draftee. UConn is pretty good though and we'll see what kind of splash he and they can make in March.

 

[Telemachus]

It does seem increasingly likely that Max Lewis could be on the board when the Kings pick though...


and also its now extremely unlikely Jalen Hood-Schifino is anywhere close to on the board in the 20's, seems to be some rumblings he might end up in the lotto.

Hood-Schifino was one of the players I was hoping the Kings would consider with their 1st rd pick. Now it is looking more and more like he won't make it out of the teens.

 

[Ozymandias]

Hood-Schifino was one of the players I was hoping the Kings would consider with their 1st rd pick. Now it is looking more and more like he won't make it out of the teens.

Hood-Schifino being ranked in the 20's by the HS scouting services was completely ridiculous(he was top15 minimum) and unrealistic expectations were set thru that lowballing. While that might seem like just a little bit off, it was actually a lot a bit off IMO, that ranking always rubbed me the wrong way. We're talking about a very well known commodity here, not some late bloomer.

The stage was always set for Hood-Schifino to blow those projections out of the water, IU was always gonna hand him the keys (after the disastrous Khristian Lander stint there they had no choice in the matter tbh). 6'5" PG's who can shoot it off the dribble like that arent the types of guys who fall to playoff teams.

You wont hear anyone else say this, and it's not meant to be a player comparison, its more in the way of how the HS scouting services missed, but having Hood-Schifino was similarly ridiculous (IMO) to how they had D'Angelo Russell near the 20's way back when.. Or more recently Jalen Suggs hardstuck at around 15.

n Really, De'Aaron was subjected to similar treatment for most of his HS career (listed at SG!) it was only til they were 100% sure he was a floor general did he get that bump into 5 star territory n stopped being treated like that... People forget how late the UK offer actually came in.. but the point is these Services sometimes hold combo guards feet way too close to the fire for not being Pure PG's, when in reality these guys are fine as combo guards in the NBA so it's just kinda senseless needling.

 

[Telemachus]

watching this Arkansas game rn, Antonio Reeves is dropping a nuke on them. They now fall to 11-11 without Brazile.

Arkansas can possibly have Brazille back, RIcky Council could return, with Baye Fall(C) and Layden Blocker(CG) incoming their starting lineup should be absolutely loaded again, scouts will flock to Arkansas again. Plus if Walsh returns he'll have a much bigger role.

Walsh also just turned 19 yesterday.

Seems to me, as of now, It'd really not be in his best interest to stay in this draft given current projections. Seems like he could actually increase his stock a ton next year.

I agree. I have been saying for awhile now that Walsh would be best served to go back to college for another year. If he improves his shooting, he could find himself in the middle of the first round.

 

[Ozymandias]

Kobe Bufkin dunked all over Trayce Jackson Davis in that IU game!


Until we see projections on him going out of our range in the 2023 draft, thats who I want.

The sell on him is quite simply this; he's a super safe bet to end up worth way more than the 1st rd pick we'd use on him. Bufkin represents outrageous value, risk/reward.

He's a 3'n'D guy too, now he's not a powerful athlete but he sure is quick, fast and can get to his spots, he's a lefty too.

You might think he's redundant with Malik Monk, and in some minor ways he is, how outstanding Monk has been as aplaymaker alleviates some of those concerns too along with Davion Mitchell being able to guard up and Bufkin being 6'4" and with us having Huerter here, not a big deal.

Its more of an 'embarassment of riches' situation than us having redundant players...

plus really Bufkin isn't exactly on the same timeline as Monk for a few reasons, he's thin and needs to add weight, whatever diet Fox was on, he needs that...

Bufkin could also make better decisions that would really help him be a CG in the NBA so having him get big minutes in the G-League seems like a smart idea. The potential reward is we get a flamethrowing combo guard.. He's also just 19 years old as a Sophomore too so he's the same age or younger than some of these freshman projected in the first.

 

[Ozymandias]

https://twitter.com/statuses/1631648355376939010

In a scenario where Fox gets hurt or needs a game off.. having this player around will look like a brilliant move, n really for the price were talking, its pennies...

You want a swing for the fences pick that also has a high floor? Here's your answer, Kobe Bufkin. This is the Anfernee Simons type of pick i've been searching for most of the season.. I'm pretty much settled on it too.. Aside from the lotto guys we're obviously not gonna have a chance at, this kid is pretty much the #1 player on my board for the kings 1st rd pick.

If he destroys March, after torching February, we simply wont have a chance at him either. So I might as well make a big stink about it now.

 

[The_Jamal]

Colby Jones is catching my eye. 6'6, big frame with what looks like a good wingspan (seeing 7'0 some places? not sure if accurate). I see a super sophisticated game where he's very comfortable with the ball in his hands either creating a shot for himself over others. Excellent at drawing fouls (although not a great FT shooter).That creation is VERY interesting for a wing prospect. Not afraid to mix it up on the glass either and looks like he can be a real asset from the wing position. He uses that frame well.

I like that he's taken a jump with the shooting this year too. From what I've read, that's been a big knock on his college career so far. Always have to be weary with the older college guys that see a shooting jump, but nothing in his form looks fluky or like he can't recreate that at the NBA level.

 

[iowamcnabb]

I would draft Bilal if he declares. His defense looks elite and he seems like a smart player that moves well off the ball and has shown enough on offense. We need length and he has it in spades. Sure he is on the same team as Wemby but his offensive rating is 117 and defense is 93. A swing for the fence type pick for sure. He could play down in Stockton a bunch.

 

[Ozymandias]

I would draft Bilal if he declares. His defense looks elite and he seems like a smart player that moves well off the ball and has shown enough on offense. We need length and he has it in spades. Sure he is on the same team as Wemby but his offensive rating is 117 and defense is 93. A swing for the fence type pick for sure. He could play down in Stockton a bunch.

I think he's pretty safe honestly.. especially in the 20's.. n like he's skinny and young but I think if he can hit his 3's you might be able to get some minutes from him off the bench sooner than later.

Theres obviously a big matter of discussion of about how much he can contribute and how soon. He turns 19 right after the draft.

I'm pretty confident that he's got a good idea how to use that length, he can get his hands on stuff in an NBA game. He does a good job at waiting to the last moment to spread out, which is a big deal in the NBA its extremely difficult to block jumpshots without being able to do that. Also when hes slashing on offense if hes got a step he can just extend right away and you can see he covers a ridiculous amount of ground.

I dont think he's a play the game at a bazillion miles per hour type of youngster, obviously his arms are so long, and he's so lean, that at times he'll have that gangly bambi on ice appearance.

With the way the Kings are pretty good, its fair to bring up that maybe we can get this kid ready in the first half of next season for a serious test run off the bench in the 2nd half.

It's also fair to say that it's very likely there will be young players on the board who should be able to upgrade our bench unit right away, like are we really gonna take this kid over Dariq Whitehead? I'd sure like to see.

I know as the months move on people are gonna show up to these discussions downplaying the talent of the players we'll be choosing from, but I am quite confident we'll have a lot of good choices on the board so I'm really interested to see where the FO goes with it and also who falls.

 

[Ozymandias]

Kobe Bufkin shows up at #28 on ESPNs best available list! without much any movement anywhere else. It seems woefully incorrect to have Terquavion Smith above Bufkin on any list right now.

ay it's the most wonderful time of the year. Win or go home time.


I absolutely love this week of the conference tournaments into the 1st round you get so many games and they mean even more.

 

[iowamcnabb]

I think he's pretty safe honestly.. especially in the 20's.. n like he's skinny and young but I think if he can hit his 3's you might be able to get some minutes from him off the bench sooner than later.

Theres obviously a big matter of discussion of about how much he can contribute and how soon. He turns 19 right after the draft.

I'm pretty confident that he's got a good idea how to use that length, he can get his hands on stuff in an NBA game. He does a good job at waiting to the last moment to spread out, which is a big deal in the NBA its extremely difficult to block jumpshots without being able to do that. Also when hes slashing on offense if hes got a step he can just extend right away and you can see he covers a ridiculous amount of ground.

I dont think he's a play the game at a bazillion miles per hour type of youngster, obviously his arms are so long, and he's so lean, that at times he'll have that gangly bambi on ice appearance.

With the way the Kings are pretty good, its fair to bring up that maybe we can get this kid ready in the first half of next season for a serious test run off the bench in the 2nd half.

It's also fair to say that it's very likely there will be young players on the board who should be able to upgrade our bench unit right away, like are we really gonna take this kid over Dariq Whitehead? I'd sure like to see.

I know as the months move on people are gonna show up to these discussions downplaying the talent of the players we'll be choosing from, but I am quite confident we'll have a lot of good choices on the board so I'm really interested to see where the FO goes with it and also who falls.

We have a pretty limited sample size, but Bilal doesn’t fit the Monte profile. Then again, the calculus may have changed now that we have a core in place. The other thing to consider is we likely won’t have a first rounder next year so we need to restock the cupboards either for a big trade or future depth.

I’m no draft expert and I don’t watch much college/international hoops but I usually find one or two draft prospects that catch my eye and I get a good feeling for and Bilal is that guy for me so far this year. I’ll take him and Tucker Devries in the second round as a help now type player.

 

[Ozymandias]

Colby Jones is catching my eye. 6'6, big frame with what looks like a good wingspan (seeing 7'0 some places? not sure if accurate). I see a super sophisticated game where he's very comfortable with the ball in his hands either creating a shot for himself over others. Excellent at drawing fouls (although not a great FT shooter).That creation is VERY interesting for a wing prospect. Not afraid to mix it up on the glass either and looks like he can be a real asset from the wing position. He uses that frame well.

I like that he's taken a jump with the shooting this year too. From what I've read, that's been a big knock on his college career so far. Always have to be weary with the older college guys that see a shooting jump, but nothing in his form looks fluky or like he can't recreate that at the NBA level.

I would guess his wingspan is closer to 6'9 than 7'

IDK if i'd consider him a wing he's more of a guard. to me, for the Kings, I'd be comparing him with guys like Reece Beekman, but I guess Beekman is way more redundant with Davion Mitchell, who's played fantastic post ASB.

I'm only luke-warm on Jones tbh.. I worry about that FT %, I feel like Xavier has very good college basketball players surrounding him too and when he's discussed that never gets brought up, and it sure deserves to be brought up because that team has shooters all over the place, what would his 3pt% look like on a team without such spacing? Now us being the Kings, of course we have great spacing n shooting here too, so yeah, lot to unpack.

 

[Ozymandias]

We have a pretty limited sample size, but Bilal doesn’t fit the Monte profile. Then again, the calculus may have changed now that we have a core in place. The other thing to consider is we likely won’t have a first rounder next year so we need to restock the cupboards either for a big trade or future depth.

I’m no draft expert and I don’t watch much college/international hoops but I usually find one or two draft prospects that catch my eye and I get a good feeling for and Bilal is that guy for me so far this year. I’ll take him and Tucker Devries in the second round as a help now type player.

We had KZ Okpala and now PJ Dozier here, there was the report the Kings were interested in Matisse Thybulle. Coulibaly figures to be somewhere on that spectrum of players, but you'd hope a rich mans version, and it appears he's got a decent chance at that.

I like the idea of resigning Terence Davis, Lyles is obvious and maybe even Metu, he's really been playing well..

So uh the way I see it Coulibaly could actually fit here quite nice if you start to shape next seasons roster out, but obviously the same can be said for a long list of these players

I do think its likely that if Coulibaly is in this draft, he's gonna be out of our range. There's gonna be a lot of movement from now til the summer and he seems like one thats either gonna rise up the board or disappear from it.

 

[Ozymandias]

GG Jackson deserves to be thoroughly revisited around here.

For starters I'll say 32% from 3 from him on 5 attempts per game is very encouraging. This is a player who was known as a pretty good mid-range shooter years ago who's made substantial progress increasing his range.

I think this player is a match with the kings for a long list of reasons. He made a terrible choice to go to South Carolina and perhaps the Kings can benefit from that by having him fall.

He's very clearly a PF. I think he could clearly avg a lot more blocks too, but why would you ever shoot it around GG Jackson if your playing South Carolina?

Obviously his FG% was horrible and South Carolina wasnt very competitive. Here on the Kings I think Coach Brown would figure a great way to sorta bring him along slowly, we put him on the floor for hustle and defense and the offense will come along after.

He's built to run, he's great in the open court. He has excellent defensive potential and there's signs of life with that 3pt shot.

This is a player we can put on the bench from day 1. He fits great at the 4 next to Lyles at the 5.

In a yahtzee best case scenario few years down the line, if he shows hes too good to be stuck on the bench, he fits at the 4 between Sabonis and Murray quite nicely too

 

[Telemachus]

GG Jackson deserves to be thoroughly revisited around here.

For starters I'll say 32% from 3 from him on 5 attempts per game is very encouraging. This is a player who was known as a pretty good mid-range shooter years ago who's made substantial progress increasing his range.

I think this player is a match with the kings for a long list of reasons. He made a terrible choice to go to South Carolina and perhaps the Kings can benefit from that by having him fall.

He's very clearly a PF. I think he could clearly avg a lot more blocks too, but why would you ever shoot it around GG Jackson if your playing South Carolina?

Obviously his FG% was horrible and South Carolina wasnt very competitive. Here on the Kings I think Coach Brown would figure a great way to sorta bring him along slowly, we put him on the floor for hustle and defense and the offense will come along after.

He's built to run, he's great in the open court. He has excellent defensive potential and there's signs of life with that 3pt shot.

This is a player we can put on the bench from day 1. He fits great at the 4 next to Lyles at the 5.

In a yahtzee best case scenario few years down the line, if he shows hes too good to be stuck on the bench, he fits at the 4 between Sabonis and Murray quite nicely too

He is also one of the youngest players in this draft. He has a lot of upside, while showing good overall talent.

 

[Ozymandias]

He is also one of the youngest players in this draft. He has a lot of upside, while showing good overall talent.

We also dont have anyone like him on the roster currently. Like, not even close. He could add an interesting ripple here, n wont slow us down not even a second, he runs like the wind.


I've mentioned this about him a while back, but if your looking at the roster currently and asking 'who does he replace?', the answer to that could honestly be Richaun Holmes down the line. Now he's definitely a PF, but he could play smallball C vs certain lineups, n thats how that could work.

 

[Ozymandias]

So FSU is done, they finish a failure of a season at 9-23. As bad teams with good players get eliminated I'll try to do a lil season wrapup/heres where im at, like this post.


I still honestly dont know what to make of Baba Miller... There's obviously lots of other PF's, lets use Noah Clowney as an example, that've leapfrogged him. Going 0/3 today means his 3pt % is gonna finish at a really ugly percentage. It's fair to say he's pretty much all upside and not much realized potential at this point... So obviously its in his best interests to test the waters, ultimately though, I'm gonna settle on saying he should wait til 2024 and work on his game.


Matthew Cleveland on the otherhand is a bit more interesting, he too should test the waters, he shot 35% from 3 this season which is encouraging considering his skillset athletecism, long arms and the horrible team he had to play with.

While Cleveland is listed at #80 on ESPN's best available list, he has a fairly unique skillset compared to players in this draft. He's a guy who you run 0 plays for and he still shows up everywhere. Extreme hustle, long arms, defensive maven, excellent athelete(will test out very well at the combine), real nose for grabbing rebounds especially offensive ones in spectacular fashion.

Both of these players on FSU, I'm expecting we'll here some interesting things about them in the predraft process.

 

[Ozymandias]

Brandin Podziemski is up to #39 on the ESPN best available list!!! He stuck out like a sore thumb when he was projected barely in the top100, if you've seen this kid play, that one was real easy to sniff out ahead of time, n ill just leave it at that. Surely we're gonna be hearing his name a lot more in the coming months.


Mo Gueye is up to #40... Which is great, as I've pointed out before, an international player like Tristan Vukcevic doesnt really deserve to be above Gueye just on some flashes of talent alone, cuz crap Gueye flashes plenty of talent too and sometimes he puts the whole damn team on his back. perhaps most importantly he's very clearly improving.. so I'm glad that was corrected. I liked Chimizie Metu at USC he was a good bit skinnier/weaker than the Metu we have now years later, they arent similar in skillset Metu has more of an oldschool game, midrange shooter while Gueye lets it fly from 3. I think Gueye is better than Metu was at a similar stage though, pretty clearly, though his game is a bit more reliant on finesse. I hope Gueye lands on a team that likes to run, he seems like the type who will do good in the G-League.

Lemme just add this too, Gueye is a vastly superior prospect than Thon Maker was, Thon was very mechanical in his movements compared to Gueye, whos got that sort of "grew up playing soccer" smooth balance type of thing going for him.

Literally all these players moving up the board I've been here posting about ahead of time.. Obviously I cast a very wide net but I do root for all these players to do good, as we all should, the better they play the more good choices we'll have.


Kobe Bufkin appeared on the list at #28 yesterday and today he got bumped up to #24, one spot above Max Lewis... which is right where we'd pick if the season ends today..





TAYLOR HENDRICKS IN THE LOTTERY!!!!! #13.... Oh I'm glad to see that... Cuz I like Brice Sensabaugh and Kris Murray, both very good players, I just dont like them as much as Taylor Hendricks, so I'm glad that conversation is creeping towards being irrelevant n comparing apples to oranges.

I honestly had a feeling if he went to the combine n measured 6'9 as he's listed at UCF that he'd probably end up in the lottery, so I'm not all that surprised to see him projected there already. The more I watched him the more I believed in his capabilities at SF. Good for him. That 3pt shot of his is pretty good, he's got some Trey Murphy III to his game.

 

[Telemachus]

Brandin Podziemski is up to #39 on the ESPN best available list!!! He stuck out like a sore thumb when he was projected barely in the top100, if you've seen this kid play, that one was real easy to sniff out ahead of time, n ill just leave it at that. Surely we're gonna be hearing his name a lot more in the coming months.


Mo Gueye is up to #40... Which is great, as I've pointed out before, an international player like Tristan Vukcevic doesnt really deserve to be above Gueye just on some flashes of talent alone, cuz crap Gueye flashes plenty of talent too and sometimes he puts the whole damn team on his back. perhaps most importantly he's very clearly improving.. so I'm glad that was corrected. I liked Chimizie Metu at USC he was a good bit skinnier/weaker than the Metu we have now years later, they arent similar in skillset Metu has more of an oldschool game, midrange shooter while Gueye lets it fly from 3. I think Gueye is better than Metu was at a similar stage though, pretty clearly, though his game is a bit more reliant on finesse. I hope Gueye lands on a team that likes to run, he seems like the type who will do good in the G-League.

Literally all these players moving up the board I've been here posting about ahead of time.. Obviously I cast a very wide net but I do root for all these players to do good, as we all should, the better they play the more good choices we'll have.


Kobe Bufkin appeared on the list at #28 yesterday and today he got bumped up to #24, one spot above Max Lewis... which is right where we'd pick if the season ends today..





TAYLOR HENDRICKS IN THE LOTTERY!!!!! #13.... Oh I'm glad to see that... Cuz I like Brice Sensabaugh and Kris Murray, both very good players, I just dont like them as much as Taylor Hendricks, so I'm glad that conversation is creeping towards being irrelevant n comparing apples to oranges.

I honestly had a feeling if he went to the combine n measured 6'9 as he's listed at UCF that he'd probably end up in the lottery, so I'm not all that surprised to see him projected there already. The more I watched him the more I believed in his capabilities at SF. Good for him. That 3pt shot of his is pretty good, he's got some Trey Murphy III to his game.

I liked it when Hendricks was kind of under the radar. It meant that the Kings had a chance of getting him in the 20s. That ship has sailed.

 

[Ozymandias]

I liked it when Hendricks was kind of under the radar. It meant that the Kings had a chance of getting him in the 20s. That ship has sailed.

Yep.. For me personally if we're talking a trade-up target, it's him, but the price will be so high its unlikely.

the 3 he hits at about 44 seconds.. I was watching this game the other day cuz these are obviously his final games in college, n he's certainly going out with a bang..

Definitely my personal favorite player in college this season and absolutely one of my favorite forwards to watch since Pascal Siakam at New Mexico State. Wish him all the luck.

He's got some Trey Murphey, he's got some Brandon Clarke(was a huge fan of his aswell) to his game.

If he can push GG Jackson down the board far enough to us then he'll have helped the Kings indirectly. It does seem like with the way the board sits rn that an early run on PF's might not be the best for the Kings, we'll see tho, depends on who drops.

 

[Ozymandias]

Best offensive foul I've seen all season, hands down

https://twitter.com/statuses/1630412774680436737

 

[Ozymandias]

Lemme throw out some extreme sleepers not yet mentioned here. These are really guys who should have a much better shot in 2024. I wonder if we'll see any of them declare just to get evaluated.

6'8 3-n-d Freshman forward Ryan Dunn at Virginia. He's played 13 mpg so far as a freshman, very little yes I know, this player is a bigtime plus defender, hes a plus athlete, hes got long arms, he fits the mold of multi-position defenders NBA teams are looking for.

6'10 225lb 3-n-d Freshman PF Bobi Klintman from Sweeden, he plays for Wake Forest and would be trying to follow Jake LaRavia's path there from relatively unknown to draftee. He's playing 20mpg and had by far his best month in February, he blocks shots, shoots 3's (36%) and can rebound.

and 6'5" 207lb CG Riley Kugel at Florida who's really been on a tear recently. he seems like the most likely of these 3 to actually become relevant in 2023. He's shooting 38% from 3, n dropping 20 a game for the last few weeks, and he can create off the dribble some.

https://twitter.com/statuses/1628615213862776834

 

[206Fan]

Brandin Podziemski is up to #39 on the ESPN best available list!!! He stuck out like a sore thumb when he was projected barely in the top100, if you've seen this kid play, that one was real easy to sniff out ahead of time, n ill just leave it at that. Surely we're gonna be hearing his name a lot more in the coming months.


Mo Gueye is up to #40... Which is great, as I've pointed out before, an international player like Tristan Vukcevic doesnt really deserve to be above Gueye just on some flashes of talent alone, cuz crap Gueye flashes plenty of talent too and sometimes he puts the whole damn team on his back. perhaps most importantly he's very clearly improving.. so I'm glad that was corrected. I liked Chimizie Metu at USC he was a good bit skinnier/weaker than the Metu we have now years later, they arent similar in skillset Metu has more of an oldschool game, midrange shooter while Gueye lets it fly from 3. I think Gueye is better than Metu was at a similar stage though, pretty clearly, though his game is a bit more reliant on finesse. I hope Gueye lands on a team that likes to run, he seems like the type who will do good in the G-League.

Lemme just add this too, Gueye is a vastly superior prospect than Thon Maker was, Thon was very mechanical in his movements compared to Gueye, whos got that sort of "grew up playing soccer" smooth balance type of thing going for him.

Literally all these players moving up the board I've been here posting about ahead of time.. Obviously I cast a very wide net but I do root for all these players to do good, as we all should, the better they play the more good choices we'll have.


Kobe Bufkin appeared on the list at #28 yesterday and today he got bumped up to #24, one spot above Max Lewis... which is right where we'd pick if the season ends today..


TAYLOR HENDRICKS IN THE LOTTERY!!!!! #13.... Oh I'm glad to see that... Cuz I like Brice Sensabaugh and Kris Murray, both very good players, I just dont like them as much as Taylor Hendricks, so I'm glad that conversation is creeping towards being irrelevant n comparing apples to oranges.

I honestly had a feeling if he went to the combine n measured 6'9 as he's listed at UCF that he'd probably end up in the lottery, so I'm not all that surprised to see him projected there already. The more I watched him the more I believed in his capabilities at SF. Good for him. That 3pt shot of his is pretty good, he's got some Trey Murphy III to his game.

Honestly, it was about time Givony moved Hendricks up to the lotto. His age, skillset, and 2-way play has warranted top 10 attention all year. Sad he's out of our range, but I think we all knew it would come.

You had a good early call on Podziemski. Anytime I caught a game late in their season, I would wonder if this is where I'd finally see him "dwindle down" and fall back to reality...... nope. He goes out and gives you 20-10-5. Just absurd. Jalen Williams' is going to make people think twice about where to rank him on their draft boards. However, with how weak the '24 draft is projecting, he could decide to bet on himself and stay in school one more year for a better draft position in a Timme-less WCC.

 

[Ozymandias]

Honestly, it was about time Givony moved Hendricks up to the lotto. His age, skillset, and 2-way play has warranted top 10 attention all year. Sad he's out of our range, but I think we all knew it would come.

You had a good early call on Podziemski. Anytime I caught a game late in their season, I would wonder if this is where I'd finally see him "dwindle down" and fall back to reality...... nope. He goes out and gives you 20-10-5. Just absurd. Jalen Williams' is going to make people think twice about where to rank him on their draft boards. However, with how weak the '24 draft is projecting, he could decide to bet on himself and stay in school one more year for a better draft position in a Timme-less WCC.

Podziemski is such a damn excellent fit next to Davion Mitchell, I'm just glad we get to entertain the possibility we can somehow get him.

Honestly when I first made the posts about Podziemski I wasnt even aware he x-ferred to Santa Clara til right about then, I knew of his recruitment from a year or 2 back, at one point he was quite a hot commodity and I watched footage of him it was easy to see why lots of the big schools were interested. I recall him being compared to Tyler Herro.

But yeah I sure did get a good chuckle when I realized "this is who they replaced Jalen Williams with?!" brilliant move, obviously Podziemski made a really bad choice to go to Illinois, and now he made a great choice to go to Santa Clara. This is a great story for the portal / x-fer system.

I do hope he continues to climb the boards.. We dont need a pure point guard, so these flamethrowing combo's like Kobe Bufkin and Podziemski who also have some degree of playmaking ability, to me, make a lot of sense.

I believe this kid should be in this draft. Im unsure what exactly he's got to prove at the college level, he's been spectacular from what I've seen. One of the most exciting players in the nation hands-down.

Podziemski and Monk can work in the backcourt too, both very far from pure PG's but combined I say they can do enough.

He's a better prospect than former lottery pick Trey Burke ever was far as I'm concerned. He's got a devastating step back J, one of the best in this draft, the most important move for any perimeter player. He's also got a devastating array of floaters. He's been dribbling so much that hwen he catches the ball he almost always gives a hard jab step or a shot fake, looks like a pro to me.

 

[Ozymandias]

wow so that was Jim Beoheims last game coaching at Syracuse.

-6'10 Bobi Klintman (Wake Forest) who I mentioned here yesterday dropped 17 points 11 rebounds a block and a steal in their victory.

-On the Syracuse front Benny Williams had a great game.18 points, 11rebs 5steals on 3/5 from 3pt range.. Williams wont be in this draft but hopefully he's primed for a big junior season and should be one of the most talented Jr.s in the nation.

-Tyler Burton's(6'7 Senior SF) played his last game in college at Richmond, his 3pt shooting was bad this year so he's destined for the UDFA pool. Strong athletic player though, he'll get looks.

-Keion Brooks Jr (6'7 Senior SF) same deal as above he's at Washington. Maybe they get an NIT invite.

-GG Jackson finishes his South Carolina career with a meh game, about as meh of a game one can have with 24 points, should be impacting the game in more facets, think he's a bit checked out.

-Seton Hall gets knocked out of the first rd of the Big East tournament. 6'11" Canadian bigman (senior) Tyrese Samuel will try and find a SL team n get some sort of deal I'd imagine. He's fairly skilled for a player with that build will have to keep toughening up. G-League should help him a lot.
They could get an NIT invite though so maybe not his last game.

-Texas Tech doomed season ends with a thud, and their coach resigning. What a disaster! There's too much possible aftermath for me to even list right now I'll get into it later when players start to move and certainly they will. Goes to show just because you get a bunch of high ranked recruits, n high ranked x-fers doesnt mean your gonna steamroll.

-Hunter Maldonado finishes his 5th year at Wyoming with 36 points, maybe he'll be pickjed up for a SL team. He's very far from draftable.

-Yet another nightmare season comes to a close for Georgetown. 6'5" Sophomore guard Brandon Murray will have some choices to make, unlikely he's in this draft, he's good enough to be mentioned here. Cam Whitmore on Villanova had a big game in this one.

-Shareef Abur-Rahim's son Jabri finishes his Junior year at Georgia. He's a 6'8" SF, whos shown some 2-way flashes n finished the year at 39% from 3. He's a pro at some point but I'd guess we'll be seeing him in college as a senior and he should be quite productive. Interested to see what they can get out of Frank Anselem in his Senior year too, judging by his first 3 seasons, probably not much.

-Utah loses in the first rd. Branden Carlsen finishs with 27 and 10.

-Grant Sherfield closes out his senior season with Oklahoma with a big dud. Milos Uzan who they have is a pretty good prospect but seems rather likely to return. Sherfield will be in the UDFA pool and surely some team will pick him up.

Todays game should be way better than yesterdays so expect another giant bulleted posts like this thats even juicier.

 

[iowamcnabb]

Vecenie released his 100 prospect list on the Athletic today. Has Whitehead, Bufkin, Jones and Jackson in our range. My current fav Bilal came in at 46