2017-2018 Draft Prospects watch.

[Ronin]

DraftExpressContent‏@DXContent 4m4 minutes ago
At 18 years and 10 months old, @luka7doncic won the #Spanish @ACBCOM MVP for the month of December, became the youngest player to ever win the award

 

[JCSunsfan]

He is starting to block more shots and look better on defense but I think I'd still take Bagley over Ayton but it's close. There's not much risk with either kid.

Ayton has similar production but better physical tools. I think I take Ayton just in size and length. Bagley is a very good player though.

 

[ColdPickleNachos]

Ayton has similar production but better physical tools. I think I take Ayton just in size and length. Bagley is a very good player though.

Yeah. Bagley is phenomenal. However, he has a relatively short wingspan.

Last measurements were...

Bamba: 7'9 wingspan

Ayton: 7'5 wingspan

Bagley: 7'0 wingspan

That's a pretty significant difference.

 

[Russ Smith]

Ayton has similar production but better physical tools. I think I take Ayton just in size and length. Bagley is a very good player though.

Yeah I think my argument is Ayton is more physically developed so he has less room to improve. I also think Bagley just plays harder, has a better motor. Ayton is playing harder on defense now than he did earlier in the year, he was terrific against ASU, but I still think Bagley plays consistently harder.

The other advantage Ayton has is he's a much better shooter, a bunch of Bagley's points come off dunks, he will likely find that's not as easy in the NBA. there's a bit of Greek Freak to Bagley's game though where he's just so long and athletic he seems to be able to get to the rim and dunk even not being a great shooter. Not nearly as strong as Greek Freak though.

They're both really good, hard to go wrong with either kid.

 

[JCSunsfan]

DraftExpressContent‏@DXContent 4m4 minutes ago
At 18 years and 10 months old, @luka7doncic won the #Spanish @ACBCOM MVP for the month of December, became the youngest player to ever win the award

I like Doncic. He is going to be a very good player. I do not believe he will be the best player in this draft class. His game is very refined for an 18 year old. I just don’t see where he can improve much given his physical abilities. He is not going to get faster. He might improve his vertical with work but not the fast twitch type of natural leaping. He might grow an inch or two and he will get stronger. To me that means his eventual position might be power forward. He does not have the speed to play guard. Maybe a point forward.

 

[Russ Smith]

Yeah. Bagley is phenomenal. However, he has a relatively short wingspan.

Last measurements were...

Bamba: 7'9 wingspan

Ayton: 7'5 wingspan

Bagley: 7'0 wingspan

That's a pretty significant difference.

I'm assuming those are accurate but a word of caution, virtually everyone I see who cites that measurement on Bagley is getting it from Draft Express, and that was done when Bagley was 15, so it's several years old. I think he's grown a couple of inches since then so his reach may be longer but I don't know that for a fact.

DE which is now under the ESPN paywall is from a camp when he was 15, Draftnet says 7 foot 1/2 inch but they don't actually cite where they got that. It wouldn't surprise me if he's a bit longer than that now though he is about 2 inches taller.

 

[ColdPickleNachos]

I'm assuming those are accurate but a word of caution, virtually everyone I see who cites that measurement on Bagley is getting it from Draft Express, and that was done when Bagley was 15, so it's several years old. I think he's grown a couple of inches since then so his reach may be longer but I don't know that for a fact.

DE which is now under the ESPN paywall is from a camp when he was 15, Draftnet says 7 foot 1/2 inch but they don't actually cite where they got that. It wouldn't surprise me if he's a bit longer than that now though he is about 2 inches taller.

Good points. If Bagley is longer than he is currently listed, that is a game-changer.

 

[GatorAZ]

Bagley might have the highest floor of any prospect I can remember. Even if he goes to a terrible situation he will put up numbers and play his ass off. Ayton needs to be in the right spot.

 

[ColdPickleNachos]

One thing that I think we as fans don't always factor in this early (but I think is very important) is how a prospect carries himself. Most athletes fall in the average category for interviews and there are proven NBA stars whose personalities don't shine as brightly as their games.

However, it's definitely an added bonus when a player has the "it" factor. I'm thinking of Devin Booker here. All class, comfortable in various situations, and walks the fine line between confident and arrogant.

I was researching Mitchell Robinson (7 footer with upside and no college game tape) and came across a couple interviews. They were awful. He had no charisma, and his answers were so ill-conceived he almost came across as disrespectful. If I had just seen his high school highlights, I'd have him as a lottery pick. After watching the interviews, I probably wouldn't touch him in the first round.

So that got me thinking and I watched several interviews of the top 7 prospects last night to get a feel for this element. I would say Porter, Doncic, and Young are solid, Bagley is fine, and Sexton and Ayton have a unique spark.

But the absolute standout personality-wise is Mohamed Bamba.

I love this kid. His maturity, sense of humor, and spirit come through in every interaction. When you combine his raw talent with that type of awareness, it makes me even higher on him as a prospect. Here's a couple videos for reference (Note: Charles O'Bannon Jr. is standing on something, so don't get too excited about the guy towering over Bamba and Ayton!)

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[JCSunsfan]

One thing that I think we as fans don't always factor in this early (but I think is very important) is how a prospect carries himself. Most athletes fall in the average category for interviews and there are proven NBA stars whose personalities don't shine as brightly as their games.

However, it's definitely an added bonus when a player has the "it" factor. I'm thinking of Devin Booker here. All class, comfortable in various situations, and walks the fine line between confident and arrogant.

I was researching Mitchell Robinson (7 footer with upside and no college game tape) and came across a couple interviews. They were awful. He had no charisma, and his answers were so ill-conceived he almost came across as disrespectful. If I had just seen his high school highlights, I'd have him as a lottery pick. After watching the interviews, I probably wouldn't touch him in the first round.

So that got me thinking and I watched several interviews of the top 7 prospects last night to get a feel for this element. I would say Porter, Doncic, and Young are solid, Bagley is fine, and Sexton and Ayton have a unique spark.

But the absolute standout personality-wise is Mohamed Bamba.

I love this kid. His maturity, sense of humor, and spirit come through in every interaction. When you combine his raw talent with that type of awareness, it makes me even higher on him as a prospect. Here's a couple videos for reference (Note: Charles O'cannon Jr. is standing on something, so don't get too excited about the guy towering over Bamba and Ayton!)

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Wow. That is impressive. There are very few 19 year olds of any kind that are that articulate.

 

[Raindog]

I don't think you can really go wrong with the top 7 or so prospects. They each seem like plus value talents that probably won't miss. Depending how high you are picking, it will probably just come down to who fits your team best positionally.

I just really, REALLY hope the Suns don't miss out on getting one of them. It will be disheartening to end up with a low lottery pick and getting another Robin Lopez or something like that.

 

[Ronin]

Clint Parks‏@Brotherhood05 8m8 minutes ago
I’ve been watching a lot of Luka Doncic lately and his ability to get by guys in the NBA is a huge RED FLAG. I love his skill and IQ but I’m seeing a lot of dribbling needed to get to his spots.

 

[Chaplin]

Clint Parks‏@Brotherhood05 8m8 minutes ago
I’ve been watching a lot of Luka Doncic lately and his ability to get by guys in the NBA is a huge RED FLAG. I love his skill and IQ but I’m seeing a lot of dribbling needed to get to his spots.

Am I just not understanding this tweet? It doesn't make any sense to me.

 

[Ronin]

sorry about that. I thought the tweet was from a scout. disregard.

 

[Ronin]

DraftExpressContent‏@DXContent 2m2 minutes ago
.@uncwmenshoops 6'7 + 21 year old junior Davonte Cacock leads NCAA Division I in rebounding at 13.4 per game

Last night he scored 23 PTS to go with 15 REBS in a 107-87 #UNCW win over #Drexel

 

[Russ Smith]

One thing that I think we as fans don't always factor in this early (but I think is very important) is how a prospect carries himself. Most athletes fall in the average category for interviews and there are proven NBA stars whose personalities don't shine as brightly as their games.

However, it's definitely an added bonus when a player has the "it" factor. I'm thinking of Devin Booker here. All class, comfortable in various situations, and walks the fine line between confident and arrogant.

I was researching Mitchell Robinson (7 footer with upside and no college game tape) and came across a couple interviews. They were awful. He had no charisma, and his answers were so ill-conceived he almost came across as disrespectful. If I had just seen his high school highlights, I'd have him as a lottery pick. After watching the interviews, I probably wouldn't touch him in the first round.

So that got me thinking and I watched several interviews of the top 7 prospects last night to get a feel for this element. I would say Porter, Doncic, and Young are solid, Bagley is fine, and Sexton and Ayton have a unique spark.

But the absolute standout personality-wise is Mohamed Bamba.

I love this kid. His maturity, sense of humor, and spirit come through in every interaction. When you combine his raw talent with that type of awareness, it makes me even higher on him as a prospect. Here's a couple videos for reference (Note: Charles O'Bannon Jr. is standing on something, so don't get too excited about the guy towering over Bamba and Ayton!)

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I pointed that out earlier in the year as a reason it's actually possible Bamba stays in school. He'll likely come out and get the money but he's an extremely smart kid, he could have gone to an Ivy league school.

he's a fascinating story his half brother is Sidiki Johnson the kid that got kicked out of Arizona before he'd even played a game as a freshman because of all sorts of behavioral issues. I don't know if they grew up together or not but it's remarkable they're related seeing how mature and composed Bamba is and how bad Sidiki was at the same age.

 

[ColdPickleNachos]

I pointed that out earlier in the year as a reason it's actually possible Bamba stays in school. He'll likely come out and get the money but he's an extremely smart kid, he could have gone to an Ivy league school.

he's a fascinating story his half brother is Sidiki Johnson the kid that got kicked out of Arizona before he'd even played a game as a freshman because of all sorts of behavioral issues. I don't know if they grew up together or not but it's remarkable they're related seeing how mature and composed Bamba is and how bad Sidiki was at the same age.

Yeah. Bamba is amazing. In that interview, he mentions that he takes it upon himself to be better than his surroundings. He also intimated toward the end (at least in my perception, though I might be hearing what I want to hear) that he is likely one-and-done.

"One of my goals this year is to be the #1 pick in the draft."

 

[devilalum]

Has anybody watched Trae Young? He talks like the Waterboy but he looks like a perfect fit for the Suns.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ronin]

https://mobile.twitter.com/JonRothstein

Jon Rothstein
@JonRothstein

One thing different about Trae Young in Big 12 play? His ability to get to the FT line. Has gotten to the stripe a combined 31 times in first two league games.

 

[Ronin]

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[Hoop Head]

Saw this Mock Draft posted by a Sixer's fansite. It's the first Mock i've seen that doesn't have Ayton going #1 or #2, he's not even #3 in this which surprised me. Of course anything could happen at the top of this draft but I'd be surprised if he fell to #4 like they predict. Even though there are a lot of good prospects I think Ayton is the closest thing to a lock at #1 in this draft due to his size and skill set in addition to history showing teams don't pass on franchise altering Centers when given the opportunity at the top of the draft.

It is about 2 weeks old now but since the Sixer's have been tanking for the last 5-6 years I thought that their fans might have a good idea how the draft could play out. It does claim to take team fit into account which would help explain some of their choices except they have Doncic going #2 to the Bulls who have a glut of guards right now and very little talent in their front court. They don't list the Miami pick as belonging to us either, which at the time of this article was at #13 overall and the Bucks pick is at #24 here, which wouldn't convey to us.

Here is how they have the top 6 picks playing out though, the Hawks taking Bagley at #1. Then the Bulls selecting Doncic at #2, Porter at #3 to the Mavericks, Ayton to the Grizzlies at #4, Young to the Suns at #5, and Bamba to the Kings at #6.

You can check out their mock here...

https://thesixersense.com/2017/12/20/2018-nba-draft-mock-draft-no-2/

and here is another Mock that I found on Fansided, haven't gone over it yet but thought I'd throw that in here also. It was posted just a day ago, so it's recent. It has Ayton going to the Hawks at #1. That's all I've seen so far. Didn't want to make another post for just this article.

https://fansided.com/2018/01/04/nba...ed&utm_medium=Network&utm_campaign=RelatedTag

 

[Hoop Head]

That same site has an interesting article breaking down the 2018 draft compared to the 2017 by positions. I found it interesting and worth reading. There has been a lot of talk of the players at the top of the 2018 draft class but not a lot about the later selections and this helps fill in some blanks as far as who might be available after the top 6 prospects go, those being Ayton, Young, Doncic, Bagley, Porter, and Bamba. They 2017 was hailed as being a deep draft but not that great at the top with Fultz, Ball, Tatum, and Jackson being the players often mentioned at the top and then Fox was added to the discussion by his tournament play as well as how he shut down Lonzo. The NCAA tournament will help clear things up this year at the top of the draft, and I wouldn't be that surprised if the top 6 turns into a top 8 or so if a few players play great while in the spotlight.


https://thesixersense.com/2017/12/28/2018-nba-draft-2017-nba-draft-comparisons-by-position/

 

[Ronin]

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[Hoop Head]

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That tweet doesn't seem be loading.

 

[Ronin]

That tweet doesn't seem be loading.

Mike Schmitz deleted the tweet. The tweet had some info on a euro player. Sorry