2023 NBA Draft Discussion Thread

[seminoles1]

1 hour ago, beekay414 said:

Kyrie Irving in a landslide

Also, some dude named Luka.

I didn't really consider Luka, but he was a better prospect.

Kyrie is iffy for me just because I didn't get to see enough of him. But his tools were better.

[BetterCallSaul]

5 hours ago, Texansfan713 said:

name better PG prospects than him since Rose.

Yep already said, but Ja, Kyrie, Wall, and Fultz even tho he flopped.

Scoot can’t shoot. Hard to call him the best PG prospect in a decade when he can’t do the most important thing a back court player needs to do. He has plenty of warts as a prospect. Wouldn’t surprise me to see him fall quite a bit. I feel like Amen has the same flaw (shooting), and the same strengths with better passing and size. Scoot has a respectable mid range game, which Amen does not. But Scoot Henderson’s are common. 

[NYRaider]

6 hours ago, Texansfan713 said:

name better PG prospects than him since Rose.

Wall, Irving, Fultz, and Simmons were definitely better prospects than Scoot.

[NYRaider]

This draft is weird after Vic, all of the other top guys have huge flaws. 

For the Jazz I'm hoping we come away with Ausar, Wallace, or Black at #9.

[NYRaider]

1 hour ago, BetterCallSaul said:

Yep already said, but Ja, Kyrie, Wall, and Fultz even tho he flopped.

Scoot can’t shoot. Hard to call him the best PG prospect in a decade when he can’t do the most important thing a back court player needs to do. He has plenty of warts as a prospect. Wouldn’t surprise me to see him fall quite a bit. I feel like Amen has the same flaw (shooting), and the same strengths with better passing and size. Scoot has a respectable mid range game, which Amen does not. But Scoot Henderson’s are common. 

To be fair Ja, Wall, and Rose were all so-so 3P shooters coming out of college. 

[BetterCallSaul]

13 minutes ago, NYRaider said:

To be fair Ja, Wall, and Rose were all so-so 3P shooters coming out of college. 

True. 

[BetterCallSaul]

Oh and LaMelo Ball holds the distinction as the best PG prospect in the past 10 or so years. In my opinion. Forgot about him. 

[beekay414]

1 hour ago, BetterCallSaul said:

Oh and LaMelo Ball holds the distinction as the best PG prospect in the past 10 or so years. In my opinion. Forgot about him. 

This is hindsight and even then he wasn't better than Ja as a prospect no matter how you want to slice it.

[BetterCallSaul]

45 minutes ago, beekay414 said:

This is hindsight and even then he wasn't better than Ja as a prospect no matter how you want to slice it.

Uhhhh no not rly. I loved Lamelo as a prospect. I suck at scouting NBA players, so I’ll gladly tell you who I missed on. But Lamelo was always gonna be a stud IMO. I remember the flaming of him here before he was drafted & being shocked that so many ppl hated him.

If you think I’m trying to big dog, I’m not. I missed on Okoro, Avdija, Hachimura, Patrick Williams, Tyler Bey, Suggs, Davion Mitchell, Greg Brown, and a bunch of other prospects over the last 3 or so drafts. And there’s way more whiffs if you date it way back (Tyrus Thomas was probs my biggest wtf). I will gladly eat a poop sandwich. In my opinion, Melo was a better prospect. His only real flaw was his lack of defensive intensity. He could shoot, score driving, assist at an elite level, and had amazing size for the position. His shooting improved in the NBA, but he was definitely a better shooter than the other players listed in the PG discussion. 

[beekay414]

Just now, BetterCallSaul said:

Uhhhh no not rly. I loved Lamelo as a prospect. I suck at scouting NBA players, so I’ll gladly tell you who I missed on. But Lamelo was always gonna be a stud IMO. I remember the flaming of him here before he was drafted & being shocked that so many ppl hated him.

If you think I’m trying to big dog, I’m not. I missed on Okoro, Avdija, Hachimura, Patrick Williams, Tyler Bey, Suggs, Davion Mitchell, Greg Brown, and a bunch of other prospects over the last 3 or so drafts. And there’s way more whiffs if you date it way back (Tyrus Thomas was probs my biggest wtf). I will gladly eat a poop sandwich. In my opinion, Melo was a better prospect. His only real flaw was his lack of defensive intensity. He could shoot, score driving, assist at an elite level, and had amazing size for the position. His shooting improved in the NBA, but he was definitely a better shooter than the other players listed in the PG discussion. 

Melo's a box score stuffer that's yet to impact winning. He's closer to Trae Young than he is a Ja Morant. I never bought the Melo hype and I still don't. Ja's a significantly better player than Melo is, both as a prospect and as a player.

[BetterCallSaul]

50 minutes ago, beekay414 said:

This is hindsight and even then he wasn't better than Ja as a prospect no matter how you want to slice it.

Also, I think Ja had a higher ceiling because of his ridiculous athleticism, but he was super unrefined coming out. Not a great facilitator, sloppy with the ball, and didn’t understand pacing/spacing. I think Ja got significantly more improved than Melo as prospects, but that’s just me. Ja played like he was trying to make Sportscenter’s #1 play every single second. 

[beekay414]

2 minutes ago, BetterCallSaul said:

Also, I think Ja had a higher ceiling because of his ridiculous athleticism, but he was super unrefined coming out. Not a great facilitator, sloppy with the ball, and didn’t understand pacing/spacing. I think Ja got significantly more improved than Melo as prospects, but that’s just me. Ja played like he was trying to make Sportscenter’s #1 play every single second. 

Do you remember how awful Melo was in the NBL?

[BetterCallSaul]

1 minute ago, beekay414 said:

Melo's a box score stuffer that's yet to impact winning. He's closer to Trae Young than he is a Ja Morant. I never bought the Melo hype and I still don't. Ja's a significantly better player than Melo is, both as a prospect and as a player.

I think Ja is better now for sure. Not the argument I was making. What was so wrong with Lamelo as a prospect?

 

Also, kind of hard to flame Lamelo for not winning. His team is bad, his ownership is awful, his coaches have been bleh, and he’s been hurt. He might never be an “elevator” of those around them, but the jury is still out because of those circumstances.

[beekay414]

Just now, BetterCallSaul said:

What was so wrong with Lamelo as a prospect?

Limited athlete, awful in the NBL, awful defender

[beekay414]

1 minute ago, BetterCallSaul said:

Also, kind of hard to flame Lamelo for not winning. His team is bad, his ownership is awful, his coaches have been bleh, and he’s been hurt. He might never be an “elevator” of those around them, but the jury is still out because of those circumstances.

He doesn't have the toolset to be an impact player. He's a bigger Trae Young. You don't win with those guys as your #1s. He needs to be a secondary player in order to be on a good team.