2021 NBA Draft Thread

[NYRaider]

48 minutes ago, Kirill said:

Yea your synergy stats didn’t help cade either. But hey he was on a **** team.

The "he was on a bad team" excuse is such BS. He went to Oklahoma State because they were funneling money to his family by hiring his brother as an assistant coach. And when you look back at recent draft history, there have been 4 other guys that went a similar route. A 5* recruit that could play at any program in the country, chose to play for a team without much talent so they could have the ball in their hands at all times and then went on to become the #1 pick. 

The other 4 guys are:

• Markelle Fultz, the #5 overall recruit in his class committed to Washington where he put up big stats on a 9-22 team. 

• Ben Simmons, the #1 overall recruit in his class committed to LSU where he put up big stats on a 19-14 team that missed the NCAA tournament. 

• Anthony Edwards, the #2 overall recruit in his class committed to Georgia where he put up big stats on a 16-16 team. 

• Anthony Bennett, the #6 overall recruit in his class committed to UNLV where he put up okay numbers on a 25-10 team that missed the NCAA tournament. 

How well have those guys panned out in the league so far? If I were the one making the decision, this is something that I'd have to consider when evaluating Cade. How committed is he to winning? If he wanted to compete for a national championship he could have done so at any of the elite programs in the country but chose to play at Oklahoma State instead? A program that hadn't even made the tournament in any of the previous 3 seasons before he showed up? 

I think going that route also provided him and guys like Edwards, Simmons, and Fultz a security blanket. They all clearly had some big holes in their game but even so they weren't judged nearly as hard for it because everyone blames it on the fact that they were on a bad team. 

[NYRaider]

1 hour ago, DirtyDez said:

Who’s the Torrey Craig of this draft at #29?

If you're looking for a guy that is ready to play immediately in a Craig type of role but doesn't have a huge ceiling then Herbert Jones is your guy. 

 

 

Quote

Herbert Jones | 6-7 wing |22 years old, senior | Alabama

The player: Jones is one of the best defensive players in the draft, a 6-foot-7 wing with a 7-foot wingspan who can legitimately guard one through four. On top of that, he can really handle the ball and make passing reads, sometimes even running the point for Alabama on his way to SEC Player of the Year and SEC Defensive Player of the Year. The big question is with the jumper. Personally, I’m a bit skeptical of it and have real concerns about him ever shooting at the level expected of a low-usage NBA wing. But if he does, he’ll be an NBA role player for a decade.

 

Edited July 22, 2021 by NYRaider

[NYRaider]

1 hour ago, Kirill said:

Yea your synergy stats didn’t help cade either. But hey he was on a **** team.

That's another reason that I prefer Jalen Green over Cade. Green could've went to any program in the country as well, played on ESPN every night, and chose to go the G-League route instead. He went the path of most resistance with the least limelight or short term benefit, no one saw him play at all this year and he had grown men fighting for their NBA careers trying to destroy him every game. 

And to anyone that has the audacity to say that Jalen did it for the $500k salary, come on now, Cade probably cleared double that at Oklahoma State. That entire situation was extremely shady tbh. Oklahoma State received a post-season ban because a former assistant, who is now in prison, was paying recruits that should've taken place this year but they decided to push it back a year so Cade could play in the tournament. 

Cade's brother played at Tulane, then played a year overseas, came back to Texas where he was a middle school head coach for 2 years, then spent a year as the associate video director at Tulane for a year. Oklahoma State hired him in 2019 and paid him $400k over the last two seasons, seems like a pretty big jump to go from middle school coach/associate video director at a small program to a $200k/year assistant at a power 5 conference school. Not to mention that as soon as the season was over he announced that he was quitting and Cade hired him as his agent, lol. 

[NYRaider]

I might do one more before the draft. 

NYRaider Mock Draft 5.0 

1. Detroit: Cade Cunningham | GF | Oklahoma State

2. Houston Jalen Green | SG | G-League

3. Cleveland: Evan Mobley | C | USC

4. Toronto: Jalen Suggs | PG | Gonzaga

5. Orlando: Scottie Barnes | F | Florida State

6. Oklahoma City: Jonathan Kuminga | F | G-League

7. Golden State: Josh Giddey | GF | Australia 

8. Orlando: Moses Moody | GF | Arkansas

9. Sacramento: Franz Wagner | F | Michigan

10. New Orleans: Corey Kispert | GF | Gonzaga

11. Charlotte: James Bouknight | SG | UConn

12. San Antonio: Keon Johnson | GF | Tennessee

13. Indiana: Davion Mitchell | PG | Baylor

14. Golden State: Chris Duarte | GF | Oregon 

15. Washington: Tre Mann | CG | Florida

16. Oklahoma City: Alperen Sengun | FC | Turkey 

17. Memphis: Trey Murphy | GF | Virginia 

18. Oklahoma City: Ziarie Williams | GF | Stanford

19. New York: Usman Garuba | FC | Spain

20. Atlanta: Jared Butler | CG | Baylor

21. New York: Jaden Springer | CG | Tennessee 

22. LA Lakers: Cam Thomas | CG | LSU

23. Houston: Kai Jones | FC | Texas

24. Houston: Sharife Cooper | PG | Auburn 

25. LA Clippers: Isaiah Jackson | FC | Kentucky

26. Denver: Ayo Dosunmu | CG | Illinois 

27. Brooklyn: Jalen Johnson | F | Duke

28. Philadelphia: Joe Wieskamp | GF | Iowa

29. Phoenix: Herbert Jones | GF | Alabama 

30. Utah: Miles McBride | PG | West Virginia 

[Sllim Pickens]

10 hours ago, NYRaider said:

The "he was on a bad team" excuse is such BS. He went to Oklahoma State because they were funneling money to his family by hiring his brother as an assistant coach. And when you look back at recent draft history, there have been 4 other guys that went a similar route. A 5* recruit that could play at any program in the country, chose to play for a team without much talent so they could have the ball in their hands at all times and then went on to become the #1 pick. 

The other 4 guys are:

• Markelle Fultz, the #5 overall recruit in his class committed to Washington where he put up big stats on a 9-22 team. 

• Ben Simmons, the #1 overall recruit in his class committed to LSU where he put up big stats on a 19-14 team that missed the NCAA tournament. 

• Anthony Edwards, the #2 overall recruit in his class committed to Georgia where he put up big stats on a 16-16 team. 

• Anthony Bennett, the #6 overall recruit in his class committed to UNLV where he put up okay numbers on a 25-10 team that missed the NCAA tournament. 

How well have those guys panned out in the league so far? If I were the one making the decision, this is something that I'd have to consider when evaluating Cade. How committed is he to winning? If he wanted to compete for a national championship he could have done so at any of the elite programs in the country but chose to play at Oklahoma State instead? A program that hadn't even made the tournament in any of the previous 3 seasons before he showed up? 

I think going that route also provided him and guys like Edwards, Simmons, and Fultz a security blanket. They all clearly had some big holes in their game but even so they weren't judged nearly as hard for it because everyone blames it on the fact that they were on a bad team. 

To be fair, as down as people are on Ben Simmons, he has had a pretty darn good career other than one playoff series.  Edwards hasn't had time to develop completely but he cam on strong in the second half of last year.  Fultz has been injured every year and can't get right and is still young enough to develop if he can stay healthy.  Bennett is the only bust due to lack of talent/mentality.  

That being said, I still would prefer Green to Cade but I don't think Cade is a bust and definitely not because of the route he went in college.  He was a top 2 recruit in the class, the top recruit by most.  Its not like he was a 5th recruit that put up numbers unexpectedly.  

[CWood21]

12 hours ago, NYRaider said:

That's another reason that I prefer Jalen Green over Cade. Green could've went to any program in the country as well, played on ESPN every night, and chose to go the G-League route instead. He went the path of most resistance with the least limelight or short term benefit, no one saw him play at all this year and he had grown men fighting for their NBA careers trying to destroy him every game. 

The path of most resistance?  What are you smoking?

[BStanRamFan]

This kid will be a steal in the 2nd round or undrafted. I see Dario Saric with a little more playmaking ability.

 

3. Sandro Mamukelashvili | 6-11 | 240 | PF/C | Seton Hall

202-21 stats: 17.5 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 3.2 APG, 33.6% 3PT FG
Big Board ranking: 65

How often do 6-foot-11 players with point guard like passing skills and proven 3-point shots come along? Not often, and while there are obvious questions about Mamukelashvili's defensive credentials, his offensive upside is tantalizing. Detractors might point to his high turnover numbers as a senior as a reason for caution, but Mamukelashvili served as the focal point of Seton Hall's entire offense and had the ball in his hands at critical moments in nearly ever possession. He would be a role player in the NBA and could be a high-quality bench five who breathes offensive life into an NBA team's second unit.

[BStanRamFan]

22 minutes ago, CWood21 said:

The path of most resistance?  What are you smoking?

Think he meant to say "Road Less Traveled" lol 

[KhanYouDigIt]

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/263407/Raptors-Magic-Make-Trade-Offers-To-Cavaliers-For-No-3
 

 

[NYRaider]

51 minutes ago, CWood21 said:

The path of most resistance?  What are you smoking?

So you think going to play in the G-League, where no one got to see you play, playing against NBA players on a make shift team full of HS aged kids and 40 year old vets was easier than getting cashed out to play against the Big 12?

The G-League team wasn't even supposed to play their whole season against other G-League teams, they were supposed to play exhibitions against other teams from around the world as well. Instead they had to play in a bubble against better than usual competition for the G-League in general because more teams sent their top guys to play. 

Pandemic P on the bubble: 

Quote

 

The Clippers star had been in a slump before he scored 35 point to give his team a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven series against the Mavericks. George said the pressures of being cut off from friends and family while the NBA completes its season in a socially isolated bubble during the Covid-19 pandemic had taken its toll.

“It was just a little bit of everything,” George said. “I underestimated mental health, honestly. I had anxiety. A little bit of depression. Just being locked in here. I just wasn’t there. I checked out.

 

 

Edited July 22, 2021 by NYRaider

[NYRaider]

22 minutes ago, BStanRamFan said:

Think he meant to say "Road Less Traveled" lol 

No I meant to say that Jalen Green chose to play professional basketball with zero lime light instead of going to a weak program because he was getting money funneled to him through his brother and could have the ball in his hands 100% of the time. 

[NYRaider]

3 hours ago, Sllim Pickens said:

To be fair, as down as people are on Ben Simmons, he has had a pretty darn good career other than one playoff series.  Edwards hasn't had time to develop completely but he cam on strong in the second half of last year.  Fultz has been injured every year and can't get right and is still young enough to develop if he can stay healthy.  Bennett is the only bust due to lack of talent/mentality.  

That being said, I still would prefer Green to Cade but I don't think Cade is a bust and definitely not because of the route he went in college.  He was a top 2 recruit in the class, the top recruit by most.  Its not like he was a 5th recruit that put up numbers unexpectedly.  

Ben Simmons is also a freak athlete similar to LeBron James. 

I don't think Cade will bust either but I don't think he's a transcendent, franchise changing player. He's not a PG and he's an average athlete by NBA standards. He's going to have to be able to hit difficult shots consistently to score at an efficient clip. 

[NYRaider]

Jazz at #30 plz

 

[BStanRamFan]

29 minutes ago, NYRaider said:

No I meant to say that Jalen Green chose to play professional basketball with zero lime light instead of going to a weak program because he was getting money funneled to him through his brother and could have the ball in his hands 100% of the time. 

Zero lime light is also zero pressure. NBA Scouts watch him regardless, but he was out of the scope of public scrutiny which is a bonus.

He made $125K for his season in the G-League.

He took a chance going the G-League route and I respect him more for it.

[NYRaider]

9 minutes ago, BStanRamFan said:

Zero lime light is also zero pressure. NBA Scouts watch him regardless, but he was out of the scope of public scrutiny which is a bonus.

He made $125K for his season in the G-League.

He took a chance going the G-League route and I respect him more for it.

Zero pressure from the media or public, sure. But I'd say the kids that went the G-League route were under more pressure overall. They had to play against grown arse men that wanted to take their heads off. And unlike someone that goes the college route they all had to enter the draft, so the few guys who had so-so seasons can't go back to school for another year and improve their draft status, they literally have to enter the draft now. 

A guy like Isaiah Todd for example, if he went to Michigan like originally planned, had a so-so year then returned to school and went #20 next year. He would've gotten a guaranteed 4 yr/$12.5M contract with a $6.2M qualifying offer in his 5th year. Since Todd will likely be a 2nd round pick he won't even get a guaranteed contract coming into the league. And will probably get a 1 year 2-way deal worth like $450k. 

Cade's brother got promoted from middle school head coach to a $400k assistant at Oklahoma State, a program that just had a coach go to prison for funneling money to the parents of recruits. Cade probably cleared a million dollars.The scope of public scrutiny wasn't really on Cade that much either, how many Oklahoma State games were on prime time? And throughout the season all we heard was how bad his teammates were, lol. 

Edited July 22, 2021 by NYRaider