Looking ahead to the 2023 Draft

[Ozymandias]

The floodgates have opened so many players declaring, too many to list.

Ya gotta love ones like these though;

Hakim Hart (Maryland) declares for the draft AND declares he's entering the transfer portal.

 

[Ozymandias]

I definitely wouldn't mind Strawther with the 2nd round pick from the Pacers if he's still on the board then. Barnes is far from a guarantee to return, and you really can't have too much quality wing depth anyway.

There are quite a few guys projected in the late first or 2nd round that can help shore up some problem areas for the Kings. Full sized backup C that protects the rim, long defensive wings, maybe even a backup PG/SG.

Dereck Lively, Sidy Cissoko, Julian Phillips, Leonard Miller etc

He had a disappointing game in the Sweet 16 and his overall stats aren't much to look at, but if Jordan Walsh enters the draft I wouldn't mind him with the Kings late 2nd rounder or as an UDFA. I think he's got the potential to be a very defensive player and possibly more if he develops a consistent outside shot.

Yep solid list of players. If it's to be belived that Julian Philips falls to the late 2nd, All for picking him up there n stashing in the g-league, Jordan Walsh is in that same vein I'd say.

Was watching this the other day, they are some fine highlights. It'd really be interesting to see how Leonard Miller do with this team cuz of the way he moves on the run and cuz he's tall. Plus he really looks improved and confident in the paint area and also snatching boards. Stands to reason he's gonna be a player who teams have a very wide range of opinions on.

 

[Ozymandias]

Down go the 1 seeds!

For somereason I never belived Houston was gonna win the whole thing.

Similarly, I was thinking what are the chances Jahvon Quinerly plays consistent in the final games of the tourney, cuz he's hot n cold, n today he was cold n they lost. Bediako was the best player for Bama today.

 

[Ozymandias]

How good was Baylor Scheierman in that first half though.. He keeps playing like that its easy to believe he can end up near the top40

Im so excited for the Elite 8 this has been a great tournament.

Looks like its getting late early for Xavier if you know what I mean. Texas bench is gapping them hard.

 

[Ozymandias]

Can we talk about parity in college basketball this season though! I know a lot of fanbases will attribute losses to choking under the pressure.

But for me, IDK if I've seen a season that demonstrates parity quite like this one. The fact were in the Elite 8 with no #1 seeds is like a minor headline in comparison to that, I mean just look around, there's a lot of good basketball being played everywhere.

If I'm gonna speak on greater macro trends across the nation. Few things are clear, while some of the 5star talent gets poached by the G-League/OTE/even sometimes the NBL there's quite a few more international players in US colleges making big impacts for teams to make up for it.

It's very clear too, the transfer portal is going to be a great source of ire for many and a source of newfound riches for a few. Some of these teams left have MAJOR contributing X-fers. Anyone who knows the basics of ball can see how a team with some pretty good guards n bigs can be brought to another level if they get the right wing in for a xfer(see Creighton) in the case of GOnzaga they have the bigs and the wings n find a guard.

SDSU is a team that id describe as a collection of x-fers.

All the #1 seeds are out and FLORIDA ATLANTIC is a few wins away from a national championship! What a truly great season this has been.


first time since seeding began in 1979 no #1 seeds in the elite 8

 

[Ozymandias]

So kudos to Tosan Evboumwan for carrying Princeton that far. 24 6 and 9 assists for the PF on just 1 turnover in a solid showing as they got eliminated.

He sure was one of the sleepers mentioned early who came back with a vengence. Safe to say he had a very strong showing in march to help his draft prospects, or just general interest from teams. Really good passer, interesting set of skills, obvious pro.


Jarace Walkers season and college career come to a close. This player is WAYYYY out of our range so I'm not gonna dwell too much on his value but I'd say where ESPN has him right now at #6 sounds good, to me I'd say that sounds like the top of his range. he's excellent player can help teams from day 1, ferocious defender. Shooting near 35% from 3 for him is very good in my book, if an NBA team can get that from him he'll easily justify going top10.

Isaiah Wong (Miami's 22year old PG) certainly won the battle of the PG's vs Marcus Sasser, though Sasser played fine. Wong got to the FT line and took care of the ball better only 1 turnover. It would stand to reason Wong could have quite a bit to gain if Miami keeps winning. Jordan Miller on Miami is a player to keep a close watch on too.

Sasser is in this draft but with Davion Mitchell here doesnt seem to be a likely pick.

Kelvin Sampson has his work cut out for him to rebuild that roster.

 

[Ozymandias]

So Jadeon Ledee and SDSU just keep on winning! Really a good team to watch they are tough as nails.


Going into the Elite 8 I must say I have my eye on this Gonzaga-UConn game..


Timme vs Sanogo could actually be like the unstoppable force meets the unmovable object..

Sanogo's play in this tournament shouldn't really be understated in a thread like this the kid is making it rain with those jumpers. He's just got a soft touch on offense, sorta has some Al Jefferson to his game.

NGL I'm kinda rooting for an All Big East final with it being UConn vs Creighton... But I'm also thinking if Gonzaga can get past UConn this could really be the year they finally do it. Who knows, could be totally wrong, if I had to guess at this point that's what I'd say though, I'm going with the teams who have the best bigs.

 

[Ozymandias]

Could Keyonte Johnson be all that we hoped for from Robert Woodard II?!


He sure seems like the type that could vie to make the rotation from day one. Could be a really interesting pick with that early 2nd.

40% from 3 though he doesnt shoot many (3.3 per game).

A player who always manages to shoot a very high % from the floor every season.

 

[Ozymandias]

Pepperdine sophomore Maxwell Lewis will enter the 2023 NBA draft, he told ESPN on Monday.

"I'm going all-in and forgoing my college eligibility," Lewis said. "This is the right time to make this decision."

 

[Ozymandias]

7'1 Vladislav Goldin, whos a 3rd year sophomore, obviously wont be a part of this draft but he's certainly doing himself lots of favors in this push to the final four with FAU.


They're destoying KSU on the boards early in this one and Goldin has more than their whole team as of this writing..

Honestly it always seemed to me like some of the Russian 7-footers you see mentioned in draft convos coulda used the seasoning (and bulking up) ya get in college basketball. Glad to see a kid like that really hitting his stride in such big games.

 

[Ozymandias]

Really strong start to this game for Alex Karaban..


Seems like Gonzaga needs Malachi Smith to have a big 2nd half.

 

[Ozymandias]

Gonzaga looks finished... Not a good game from Strawther.. Gonzaga cant hit a 3, n it's not just bad luck UConn's 3pt defense is giving them all sorts of trouble.

UConn is firing on all cylinders in this 2nd half.. They can win the championship if they maintain this level of play, found out Dickie V and Jay Bilas are both belivers in the UConn championship, which always makes me a bit nervous, though that's my objective opinion. Well rounded team, especially difficult to beat in a game like this one where all their players are making contributions, cuz they'll almost always be able to cause problems for some of the oppositions offense.

 

[Ozymandias]

Honestly a scenario where Alex Karaban somehow is in this years draft, that might be a good for the Kings. I think we'd be interested, I know you might look at him and think '6'8 white shooter, we already have Kevin Huerter!' but Karaban is a forward and he's a surprisingly strong defender, which can be seen in this one. So I'd argue he's much more of a good fit than redundant, I dont think he's redundant at all. 3-n-D type thru and thru.


Its 26-8 in this 2nd half.. This game is over.. cant come back from down 25 without any guards.. Gonzaga looking like a deer in the headlights rn.


I had a feeling since early in the season that Donovan Clingan off the bench was the type of matchup nightmare that even the best teams in the tournament would have trouble dealing with, and its sure running true in this game..


This is actually such a massacre this 2nd half.. Gonzaga is getting completely eviscerated.. Jordan Hawkins is raining down 3's, Andre Jackson with a complete performance closing in on a triple double, the bench is making everything, there's just nowhere for Gonzaga to hide or even catch their breath.

 

[Ozymandias]

Walker Kessler has 19 points in 16 minutes in the first half rn vs our Kings...


Yikes..

Sure would be nice to have Dereck Lively on the bench for situations like these


Edit; Actually though after watching the 2nd half I'm gonna change my mind again.


1st rd pick ---- Leonard Miller
early 2nd ---- Sidy Cissoko
late 2nd ---- James Nnaji (this is a pipedream but hey idk who else to put)

Thats a hell of a draft far as I'm concerned, strong players with upside and possible rotation level guys as rookies, n their young. Nnaji can be stashed while we wait out the final year on Holmes deal. Maybe I'm seeing Leonard Miller thru rose colored glasses but I just wanna believe he could come here n do his thing n fit in, if thats the case he'd be a homerun selection.

 

[serbiangoat]

If Ognjen Stankovic aka Stank can even get a bad jump shot (hard to tell what his jump shot is he's only played 4 pro games now) he's going to be scary, the size at PG/SG at 6'7 is good sneaky handles with good trickery and elite passing he's got NBA talent in him. He looked good against Team USA in the u18's or 17's. He just turned 18 so I think hopefully next season they give him the reins at the point and don't bring in a import to stunt his growth. Plays a bit like Giddy not as big but imo a better natural slasher.
Igokea has become a good hotbed for young talent for Serbia (technically the club is in the Serbian Part of Bosnia) they also have probably the best young potential in Ognjen Radosic so a club to look out for in terms of future Euroleaguers/NBA players).

.

 

[Ozymandias]

If Ognjen Stankovic aka Stank can even get a bad jump shot (hard to tell what his jump shot is he's only played 4 pro games now) he's going to be scary, the size at PG/SG at 6'7 is good sneaky handles with good trickery and elite passing he's got NBA talent in him. He looked good against Team USA in the u18's or 17's. He just turned 18 so I think hopefully next season they give him the reins at the point and don't bring in a import to stunt his growth. Plays a bit like Giddy not as big but imo a better natural slasher.
Igokea has become a good hotbed for young talent for Serbia (technically the club is in the Serbian Part of Bosnia) they also have probably the best young potential in Ognjen Radosic so a club to look out for in terms of future Euroleaguers/NBA players).

.

Both of these players look good. IDK what to make of Stankovic's jump shot either other than clearly he's not very confident in it and almost always looks to drive first, and if you cut his drive off then he might shoot it, the shot mechanics don't look horrible to me, slow release, bit of a minor hitch at the top but its a high release for sure. thats based off extremely low sample size of looking at his shot, so im low on conviction about it. Some of the passes are very nice. Definitely a name to keep an eye on, you can see the skillset he's got is pretty solid just needs to keep sharpening tools. Plus with him I think its fair to say you'd hope he can get a little more explosive so he can dunk some stuff he's currently laying up. I actually wonder what his Free Throw %'s look like, perhaps that can shed some light on the state of his jumper, though those 2 things arent always correlated.

I must have been looking at some Stankovic clips during the summer. When I googled him many results came up that I had already visited.


Both of these players look to have a solid pair of legs on them! Radosic in his current stage catches my eye a bit more, he's impressive, he absorbs contact well, shows very solid balance and vs the players his age he's actively seeking out contact and punishing mismatches.. He looks confident in that 3pt shot too. Its easy to see why there's hype around this player, will keep an eye on him for sure. Good find, never heard of him before.

 

[Tetsujin]

Walker Kessler has 19 points in 16 minutes in the first half rn vs our Kings...


Yikes..

Sure would be nice to have Dereck Lively on the bench for situations like these


Edit; Actually though after watching the 2nd half I'm gonna change my mind again.


1st rd pick ---- Leonard Miller
early 2nd ---- Sidy Cissoko
late 2nd ---- James Nnaji (this is a pipedream but hey idk who else to put)

Thats a hell of a draft far as I'm concerned, strong players with upside and possible rotation level guys as rookies, n their young. Nnaji can be stashed while we wait out the final year on Holmes deal. Maybe I'm seeing Leonard Miller thru rose colored glasses but I just wanna believe he could come here n do his thing n fit in, if thats the case he'd be a homerun selection.

Yeah, with the way the Kings front of the roster has been gelling despite its relative youth (Barnes pretty much the only guy in the rotation who's "peaked" physically) and Sasha Vezenkov probably coming in to eat up another rotation spot, I feel like this draft is the Kings' best chance to take some upside swings and bet on the coaching staff's ability to develop and mold guys for three to four years down the line. On that note, getting Nnaji with our late second would be highway robbery (not going to happen though because it feels like some other team is going to get really high on his upside and pick him in the late 1st).

Depending on how the draft plays out, I feel like a draft and stash is in play for that late 2nd rounder (or, knowing Monte, we'll trade out of the pick for multiple more seconds down the line).

If we come out of draft night with something like
1st round pick ---- GG Jackson (I don't think there's a chance in hell he falls to us)/Leonard Miller/Coulibaly (dude gets overshadowed because he plays with Wemby but he's got so many tools and plays the hottest position in the league)/Lively
early 2nd ---- Nnaji/Cissoko/Clowney
late 2nd ---- Vukcevic (dude's draft range is all over the place. Some mocks have him early 2nd while others leave him completely undrafted. Honestly if we're going to grab an Balkan prospect in the 2nd I'd rather have Djurisic but I don't think he's around in the late 2nd and I'm not big on drafting him in the early second)/Dillon Mitchell/Emoni Bates (still think mocks are overcompensating for narrative and pushing him way further down the charts than he'll actually go but for the sake of the argument I'll agree with them and say he lasts until the mid-50 range lol)
I will be a very happy man.

Then again, nothing about how Monte has drafted has suggested he's a big "bright future" drafter (the anti-Vlade?) so I'd be happy with the slightly more realistic haul of
1st---- Kris Murray miraculously lasting until our pick/Colby Jones/Jordan Hawkins/Strawther
Early 2nd ---- Trayce Jackson-Davis (if you want someone to run elbow/post-pivot sets for 10 minutes a night while Domas rests, this is the guy lol)/Jaime Jaquez/Keyontae Johnson
Late 2nd ---- Traded for a future second or two and cash considerations.

Kessler Edwards looking capable of being a rotation cog for us going forward and Keon Ellis looking solid in G-League and in his brief stints with the NBA team color my thinking more than is probably good but it feels like the big man slot is main area we need to address with a "win now" pick (unless we move Davion in the offseason or something in which case we'd need another point guard).

 

[Ozymandias]

Yeah, with the way the Kings front of the roster has been gelling despite its relative youth (Barnes pretty much the only guy in the rotation who's "peaked" physically) and Sasha Vezenkov probably coming in to eat up another rotation spot, I feel like this draft is the Kings' best chance to take some upside swings and bet on the coaching staff's ability to develop and mold guys for three to four years down the line. On that note, getting Nnaji with our late second would be highway robbery (not going to happen though because it feels like some other team is going to get really high on his upside and pick him in the late 1st).

Depending on how the draft plays out, I feel like a draft and stash is in play for that late 2nd rounder (or, knowing Monte, we'll trade out of the pick for multiple more seconds down the line).

If we come out of draft night with something like
1st round pick ---- GG Jackson (I don't think there's a chance in hell he falls to us)/Leonard Miller/Coulibaly (dude gets overshadowed because he plays with Wemby but he's got so many tools and plays the hottest position in the league)/Lively
early 2nd ---- Nnaji/Cissoko/Clowney
late 2nd ---- Vukcevic (dude's draft range is all over the place. Some mocks have him early 2nd while others leave him completely undrafted. Honestly if we're going to grab an Balkan prospect in the 2nd I'd rather have Djurisic but I don't think he's around in the late 2nd and I'm not big on drafting him in the early second)/Dillon Mitchell/Emoni Bates (still think mocks are overcompensating for narrative and pushing him way further down the charts than he'll actually go but for the sake of the argument I'll agree with them and say he lasts until the mid-50 range lol)
I will be a very happy man.

Then again, nothing about how Monte has drafted has suggested he's a big "bright future" drafter (the anti-Vlade?) so I'd be happy with the slightly more realistic haul of
1st---- Kris Murray miraculously lasting until our pick/Colby Jones/Jordan Hawkins/Strawther
Early 2nd ---- Trayce Jackson-Davis (if you want someone to run elbow/post-pivot sets for 10 minutes a night while Domas rests, this is the guy lol)/Jaime Jaquez/Keyontae Johnson
Late 2nd ---- Traded for a future second or two and cash considerations.

Kessler Edwards looking capable of being a rotation cog for us going forward and Keon Ellis looking solid in G-League and in his brief stints with the NBA team color my thinking more than is probably good but it feels like the big man slot is main area we need to address with a "win now" pick (unless we move Davion in the offseason or something in which case we'd need another point guard).

Yup I like this post, I would point out your more realistic list is all college players while the list above has international and g-league guys, in the case of Sidy Cissoko I suspect he's more towards the realistic grouping. Seems to be increasing chances that Jordan Hawkins is gonna be out of range in the first, not too many players could've improved their stock in this tourney more than him.. Emoni Bates at the bottom of the 2nd would be so crazy. I like Strawther but idk about in the first round tbh.

I also think that Ryan Kalkbrenner on Creighton might be getting left out of these "win-now" big guy discussions.

Kalkbrenner shot 96 for 121 from the FT line, 79.3%. Thats pretty damn good!

He's got a similar frame to Walker Kessler, they list him at 7'1 260lbs and his wingspan sure appears to be about 7'5. He really runs well, blocks plenty of shots, 70%fg's from the floor.

Creighton - SDSU about to tip off, he's got his chance to showcase infront of everyone in massive games. Very interested to see how Kalkbrenner plays vs such a physical frontline.


The part of your post when you mention a big being an area of need. The more I think about it, the more I ask myself 'why not Leonard Miller?' His 3pt shooting #'s are really weighed down by an awful start to the season, n he's been at like 37% for a long stretch of games now. Leonard Miller isnt the most athletic, he's not the longest but he sure is about 6'10, maybe 6'11, n he has some interesting game.

 

[Ozymandias]

What a slugfest this has been... Not pretty basketball.. De'Aaron was recently quoted saying he cant watch a full college game these days, n cited lack of shotmaking, which is certainly rearing its ugly head in this 2nd half..

now that being said its a bit of a war in the paint. Teams are brutally missing so many Jumpers though.


While Arthur Kaluma's stats might not stand out, think he's made a lot of little winning plays..

N I hate to say it but if SDSU loses like this, man, Matt Bradley could've done so much more..

 

[Ozymandias]

Baylor Scheierman makes a clutch play!! wow!! didn't think he'd go down quietly

Hope this goes to OT

 

[Ozymandias]

SDSU moves on!

That was a putrid diplay of 3pt shooting and man Ryan Nembhard was invisible in that 2nd half.

It bodes well for SDSU they can win a game like that with Matt Bradley scoring 2 points. Lamont Butler stole the show!

 

[Ozymandias]

Jordan Miller 6/6 in the first half, he's keeping Miami in this. Very impressive showing for him so far and he's trying to get into that 2nd rd so kinda rootring for him.

Sir'Jabari Rice has been one of the more impressive 5th year seniors in the nation, and also maybe the most impressive wing player who comes off the bench in the nation.. Texas has a multi-faceted attack, they're looking warmed up n ready.

Rice is also one of those guys who I never really tune in to see, but he always ends up catching my eye. At this point with the way the teams are I'm just rooting for great performances.

The bench is easily the difference in this game right now.. Miami has 2 bench points n Texas bench is making every shot they take. We just witnessed a similar thing happen to Creighton who got IIRC 0 bench points in that 1 point loss (though Creighton is very much a big-4 and it didnt much look like it so the loss is more on the starters).

Isaiah Wong and Nigel Pack have to get going for Miami to win this, it would seem. Texas is shooting that 3 well, that might be enough if Pack cant hit a few for Miami.

Now Arterio Morris will be a factor in future drafts, not this one, for a number of reasons including some behavior stuff.. He's 2/2 from 3 though, a 6'3" combo guard whos extremely explosive and an NBA quality athlete who throws down powerful dunks. In a simiar vain, 6'9 Freshman AJ Casey on Miami might have the talent for the pros some day, but for now he's just a spot minutes guy too.

Texas really has a nice blend of players young and old.

Coaches are overrated (too much credit for wins and not enough for losses) and PG's are underrated, see this texas team if you dont believe it! N i dont mean to take a shot at Rodney Terry, because he's done a magnificent job, obviously, but my point is the players should really be commended, especially in a case like this.

 

[Ozymandias]

Jordan Miller still hasnt missed 7/7 from the field and 13/13 from the ft line.. Wow!

Might be enough to get him in the 2nd round.. Great game.

effective minutes for Dillon Mitchell in this one. Will be interesting to see if this was his last game in college.

 

[serbiangoat]

Both of these players look good. IDK what to make of Stankovic's jump shot either other than clearly he's not very confident in it and almost always looks to drive first, and if you cut his drive off then he might shoot it, the shot mechanics don't look horrible to me, slow release, bit of a minor hitch at the top but its a high release for sure. thats based off extremely low sample size of looking at his shot, so im low on conviction about it. Some of the passes are very nice. Definitely a name to keep an eye on, you can see the skillset he's got is pretty solid just needs to keep sharpening tools. Plus with him I think its fair to say you'd hope he can get a little more explosive so he can dunk some stuff he's currently laying up. I actually wonder what his Free Throw %'s look like, perhaps that can shed some light on the state of his jumper, though those 2 things arent always correlated.

I must have been looking at some Stankovic clips during the summer. When I googled him many results came up that I had already visited.


Both of these players look to have a solid pair of legs on them! Radosic in his current stage catches my eye a bit more, he's impressive, he absorbs contact well, shows very solid balance and vs the players his age he's actively seeking out contact and punishing mismatches.. He looks confident in that 3pt shot too. Its easy to see why there's hype around this player, will keep an eye on him for sure. Good find, never heard of him before.

Yeah 100% agree the crazy thing with Radosic was last year as 14/15 year old he was going against 17/18 and easily dominating at times despite his motor skills still not being properly developed and still having some kid like movement mechanics. That really caught my eye hopefully he does not go the Emoni Bates route of being god mode in HS and than dropping off at he near's his 20's

 

[serbiangoat]

late 2nd ---- Vukcevic (dude's draft range is all over the place. Some mocks have him early 2nd while others leave him completely undrafted. Honestly if we're going to grab an Balkan prospect in the 2nd I'd rather have Djurisic but I don't think he's around in the late 2nd and I'm not big on drafting him in the early second)/Dillon Mitchell/Emoni Bates (still think mocks are overcompensating for narrative and pushing him way further down the charts than he'll actually go but for the sake of the argument I'll agree with them and say he lasts until the mid-50 range lol)
I will be a very happy man.
.

I think I read somewhere Djurisic might come out next year (NBA draft net has him in the 2024 draft) his rating took a hit due to horrible 3point shooting but imo it would be crazy if he's not picked in the first round his skills are made for the NBA and the jumpshot mechanics look good and will come around. Vukcevic wrecked his NBA potential/probably stunted his career badly) by going to Real than Partizan where he has been buried whoever his manager is, is a idiot.

 

[Ozymandias]

So I've been thinking about the whole Win-now vs Upside debate (plus Monte's draft history)

What I get really hung up on is, we had major holes to fill(do we still?).. Keegan Murray starts, Davion Mitchell is the backup PG, Haliburton was a BPA selection plus a no-brainer plus we had a big chunk of minutes to give him, n Haliburton eventually gets flipped to fill another major hole.

So IDK.. the idea that Monte drafts experienced players, it makes me a bit uneasy to assume that, I believe there's more layers to the onion. I'd argue if you made a case that Monte drafts for need, you'd find quite a bit of overlap.

Also when you draft 'for need' sometimes it's actually a bit of a cost-cutting/roster flexibility maneuver. Having a reliable backup PG on a restricted rookie deal is nice, having a reliable starting forward on a restricted deal like Keegan's is even better.

Keegan Murray vs Jaden Ivey was a big debate around here last summer.. It often boiled down to a potential vs need discussion.. Now looking back I'd say clearly Keegan falls more under the category of necessity, he's a key kog here... I'd also say trading the future pick for Huerter, that would fall more under necessity now that we have time to see the aftermath of the trade.. so many hawks fans still lament losing Huerter btw.

So Monte's solving major problems with these picks..n there's no debate to be had about that.. the question however is more about the roster that he's NOW tasked with upgrading... A roster which surely the obvious needs, the necessities, many of them are vouched for and taken care of.

Plus I'd offer, do Monte's 2nd rd picks really follow these win-now trends? Queta once again surfaces as a wildcard in a draft discussion. I'd certainly argue in the case of Jah'mius Ramsey, thats a swing for the fences type of pick, he was a one-and-done guy, taking him was a gamble on an athlete to be decently efficient and skilled and defensively stout, Woodard II had more experience, he wasnt anywhere near 'complete' either, big strong player who you'd hope his tools would sharpen quickly.

Queta's shown ample promise in the g-league and still gets no burn here. Turns 24 this summer. The Pistons traded decent assets for James Wiseman and Queta blasted him twice this season. Queta's played like 150 (garbage) minutes here in a few seasons, basically Bruno Caboclo with the Raptors status..But when I look at the Centers on the Free Agent to be list, It always makes me think we'd like to resign Queta. So while we cant say for sure, he's obviously a possible draft and develop feather in Monte's hat that we just havent credited him with yet. In the event we let Queta walk some other team will pounce on him IMMEDIATELY. Is Queta a solid player who we've just deemed not a good fit? whos to say.

I think my question is; How many minutes do we have for the "win-now" 1st rd pick and at what position? I think this line of questioning will lead us to some good draft discussion so I'm hoping I get an answer, lemme cut this rant off here.

 

[Ozymandias]

Yeah 100% agree the crazy thing with Radosic was last year as 14/15 year old he was going against 17/18 and easily dominating at times despite his motor skills still not being properly developed and still having some kid like movement mechanics. That really caught my eye hopefully he does not go the Emoni Bates route of being god mode in HS and than dropping off at he near's his 20's

IDK what Radosic's contract situation could be but he seems like the quality of player who maybe the Overtime Elite League or maybe eventually the G-League could offer on him.

This summer I'll know a whole lot more about players in that 2006 born age group, there's obviously Hugo Gonzalez and the 6'10 French bigman Mohamed Diakite who looks promising, seems like it'll be a talented group.


The OTE currently has quite a bit more imported talent than I think people realize. I've started to check around and was surprised to see so many players Radosic's age or younger in the OTE already, but the most impressive ones are like 6'10 Centers and 6'2" ish combo guards. From what I've seen 6'5 players who might be pure SG's seem more scarce, n he could possibly fit in great there.

 

[Ozymandias]

I think I read somewhere Djurisic might come out next year (NBA draft net has him in the 2024 draft) his rating took a hit due to horrible 3point shooting but imo it would be crazy if he's not picked in the first round his skills are made for the NBA and the jumpshot mechanics look good and will come around. Vukcevic wrecked his NBA potential/probably stunted his career badly) by going to Real than Partizan where he has been buried whoever his manager is, is a idiot.

Yeah If Djurisic waits til next year that might be the play for him, he'll have a lot to gain if he puts it all together because his physical profile is tailor made for the NBA.

You probably remember the 6'8" German forward Paul Zipser who played for the bulls and was selected in the middle of the 2nd rd in 2016, Zipser was plenty explosive but for my money Djurisic is a far superior prospect, so to see Djurisic projected mid 40's in this years draft makes me think he should return. A player like Zipser was never going to make a real run at the 1st round, I wouldnt rule that out with Djurisic though I wonder if this is the draft to really jump 2 feet into.

Obviously we'll have more clarity on the 2024 draft as players who declare for 2023 start to take their names out of the hat, It does stand to reason there's a lot more to be gained for some players in next years draft though, which many people are saying isnt going to be very deep.


In the case of Vukcevic, I do wonder what would happen to him in the G-League playing big minutes... IDK I get the feeling it wouldnt be pretty..


Also you brought up NBAdraft . net .... they currently have TAYLOR HENDRICKS AS THE 4TH PICK in the 2023 draft! How bout that! They've also got Sweedish PF Bobi Klintman currently at Wake Forest who I mentioned as a sleeper here weeks back at 6th overall in 2024.

They also have the Kings selecting Riley Kugel in the first round in 2023!!!! Another player who I only started mentioning around here a month or so ago.. What crazy draft boards they have. Even though Kugel is a legit 6'5, he fits into the flamethrowing combo guard archetype that makes sense here that I mentioned with players like Kobe Bufkin and Brandin Podziemski, its an interesting scenario for sure.

 

[Ozymandias]

 

[Tetsujin]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1640402718232551426

Not a huge surprise. Recent mocks had him slipping to the 2nd round and next year’s draft class is so sparse that a good season will probably bump him back up to the lotto.