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2020 NBA Draft Thread


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17 hours ago, YogiBiz said:

The only reason Rondo was allowed the 33+ Minutes a game he was with Boston, is because he could play defense. Doc never had to hide him for the team to be successful. You will have to hide LaMelo. I don't think he will be able to play defense at an average level in the NBA for a while. Also Rando could finish on Miles Plumlee. 

The same thing was said about Lonzo.  LaMelo has the tools to be a good defender, and I think there's a strong argument that he looked like a better defender than Lonzo did at the same point of their careers.

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3 hours ago, CWood21 said:

The same thing was said about Lonzo.  LaMelo has the tools to be a good defender, and I think there's a strong argument that he looked like a better defender than Lonzo did at the same point of their careers.

There's no argument whatsoever. Lonzo had plus advanced metrics as a defender at UCLA and has been a plus defender his entire NBA career so far.  Melo looks like a turnstile guarding NBL players. 

Unless you think 18 in the NBL vs 19 in the NCAA is a massive gap (hint: it's not). 

See, I shat on Trae Young because of his putrid defense but at least he was a potential elite offensive player. Melo is getting the same treatment as Young and for God knows what reason. He's not a good basketball player. 

I just want to remind everyone that we're talking about a kid from the NBL, whose team went 3-9 with him, that shot 37.5/25.0/72.3 on the season and it's not like he played limited minutes either.  Everybody thinks he'll be able to shoot despite the fact that he's never been able to at any stop of his young career. And he's got the defensive awareness of a potato half the time. And what tools other than length does he have without his brother's instincts? He's an average athlete with average agility. He can't even stay in front of NBL players with his length. He's going to get massively exposed at the NBA level. 

He's a flashy passing Michael Carter-Williams without the defense. 

Edited by beekay414
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And the knock on Lonzo was that he had lapses on D, not that he couldn't defend. They really aren't comparable. Lonzo's instincts are what make him a good defender. Melo doesn't have the same level of instincts and understanding on that end. It's not lapses or a "want to" issue with him, being honest. Some people just suck at defense. 

Edited by beekay414
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But it's whatever. I'm over talking about LaMelo. He's not a good basketball player and I hate that the Draft Express guys fell victim to the ESPN hype machine. I used to love their profiles but they haven't put Melo under the same microscope as the other prospects. 

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5 hours ago, beekay414 said:

But it's whatever. I'm over talking about LaMelo. He's not a good basketball player and I hate that the Draft Express guys fell victim to the ESPN hype machine. I used to love their profiles but they haven't put Melo under the same microscope as the other prospects. 

DX is dead to me 

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7 hours ago, beekay414 said:

But it's whatever. I'm over talking about LaMelo. He's not a good basketball player and I hate that the Draft Express guys fell victim to the ESPN hype machine. I used to love their profiles but they haven't put Melo under the same microscope as the other prospects. 

almost every draft person I follow has melo in the top 3 and a lot of them at 1

and none of them (except the DX ppl) work for big companies. 

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31 minutes ago, 11sanchez11 said:

almost every draft person I follow has melo in the top 3 and a lot of them at 1

and none of them (except the DX ppl) work for big companies. 

I'm well aware, thanks. I'm talking strictly about DX here. They suck now.

And I don't really care about where they rank Melo. Everyone is buying into his size and passing while ignoring his massive flaws. Lavar did well fueling the hype machine. 

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3 hours ago, 11sanchez11 said:

I have no problem w/ melo in the top 3 (iirc I had him 8th when I last ranked them) because no one is that good and if his 3 were to fall he could be a really good offensive player. 

It's a weak class, no question, but that's not a reason to prop up a highly flawed player or ignore his massive issues. Nobody else in this class is getting that type of treatment so why does Ball? 

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My top 5 at each position

Point/Lead Guard
1. Cole Anthony | North Carolina
2. Killian Hayes | Ulm
3. Kira Lewis Jr | Alabama
4. Tyrese Haliburton | Iowa State
5. Theo Maledon | ASVEL

Shooting Guard
1. Anthony Edwards | Georgia
2. Devin Vassell | Florida State
3. Jahmi'us Ramsey | Texas Tech
4. Tyrese Maxey | Kentucky
5. Josh Green | Arizona

Small Forward
1. Deni Avdija | Maccabi Tel Aviv
2. Isaac Okoro | Auburn
3. Saddiq Bey | Villanova
4. Jaden McDaniels | Washington
5. Patrick Williams | Florida State

Power Forward
1. Obi Toppin | Dayton
2. Paul Reed | DePaul
3. Killian Tillie | Gonzaga
4. Aleksej Pokusevski | Olympiacos
5. Precious Achiowa | Memphis

Center
1. James Wiseman | Memphis
2. Onyeka Okongwu | USC
3. Udoka Azubuike | Kansas
4. Xavier Tillman | Michigan State 
5. Isaiah Stewart | Washington 

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Might as well do my top 10 overall...

1. Cole Anthony | PG | North Carolina
2. Anthony Edwards | SG | Georgia
3. James Wiseman | C | Memphis
4. Onyeka Okongwu | C | USC
5. Killian Hayes | PG | Ulm
6. Deni Avdija | SF | Maccabi Tel Aviv
7. Obi Toppin | PF | Dayton
8. Kira Lewis Jr | PG | Alabama
9. Devin Vassell | SG | Florida State
10. Tyrese Haliburton | PG | Iowa State

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11 hours ago, beekay414 said:

It's a weak class, no question, but that's not a reason to prop up a highly flawed player or ignore his massive issues. Nobody else in this class is getting that type of treatment so why does Ball? 

I dunno but you have Cole freaking Anthony as your number one overall player and he has massive flaws and wasn't particularly good in freaking college. Why are you hyping up such a clearly flawed prospect?

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1 hour ago, roger murdock said:

I dunno but you have Cole freaking Anthony as your number one overall player and he has massive flaws and wasn't particularly good in freaking college. Why are you hyping up such a clearly flawed prospect?

What are Anthony's "massive" flaws? As someone who most definitely watched more of him than you have, I can tell you flat out the system at UNC was a terrible fit for his style. Roy Williams did him zero favors. In the NBA, he's going to be a lead scoring guard. He can shoot, defend and create. He's Damian Lillard lite with defense. 

But, of course, you'd rather have MCW that can't defend cuz of his flashy ball handling. 

The issue with Anthony was finishing at the rim due to his lack of length and what not. The shot selection, as someone who watched that **** show at UNC every game, was more of a system issue. There was no plan and Anthony was taking late clock shots routinely. Still, he has the ability to hit tough contested shots better than anyone in his class. The problem last year was that he was forced to take more than he should have because UNC was a mess. 

Scoring guards are always hard to gauge but I see a ton of Dame when I watch Anthony. In a class like this, that type of upside clearly puts him at #1 for me. 

And it's not like he didn't enter college as a top 3/4 prospect or anything...

Edited by beekay414
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