bird_dirt

Why do we have to have 17 a push? Draw the line at 16.5. if he goes 16 or under, Supes wins. If 17 or later, KB wins.

Bird in hand and all that jazz

That’s A-Train’s jersey in my avatar! And I can’t think of one word. I guess this season has led me speechless.

He would watch the games from a luxury suite instead of the bench.

Not interesting enough for me unless we trade a couple of DMJ, Bogi, Kobe, AJ, and drop any of the other SGs/undersized SFs.

Not me, that’s for sure. Especially after FIBA. I still don’t expect him to continue the healthy vibes though and am firmly on the Sell High train.

Reed is about as blue as you can be considering both his parents played bball at UK. Now his father’s former roommate and captain of the a championship team could potentially coach him. If he returns he either feels he needs more development or it’s a legacy decision.

There were rumblings weeks ago that Reed may potentially return for a second year. Kind of crazy considering how highly he’s projected to be drafted, but

I don’t believe this to be true at all. I think many of us are just tired of ONLY having 6-10 and smaller centers that get abused by bigger players. OO is great, but it so be nice to have a 7’er on the roster to mix things up.

Not an unexpected outcome when playing third stingers pretty much the whole game. OTTNO

“Turrible” — Charles

Ok, so are you taking Vit or Forrest for the playoff roster?

His price tag going up.

Come on Hawks. This isn’t how you show your appreciation to the fans.

Adding more fuel to the fire… https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/39906470/nba-draft-2024-projecting-30-best-prospects NBA draft 2024: Projecting 30 of the best prospects Kevin Pelton, ESPN Senior Writer Apr 10, 2024, 08:00 AM ET Atypically in the one-and-done men's college basketball era, Monday's national championship game featured two of the top four prospects in my stats-based projections squaring off against each other. Purdue center Zach Edey, the consensus national player of the year, and UConn counterpart Donovan Clingan are among the standouts in what's been panned as a weak 2024 NBA draft class. Although Edey had a dominant game (37 points, 10 rebounds), Clingan's ability to defend him one-on-one enabled the Huskies to stay home on Edey's teammates and limit 3-point attempts as the Huskies won their second title in a row. Clingan and Edey are among four prospects with a consensus projection of 3.0 wins above replacement player (WARP) or better per season at the NBA level. Only the acclaimed 2014 draft (five) featured more such prospects dating back to 2012. This year's top players are atypical in terms of establishing themselves late in the process, however. Edey was projected in the second round of the preseason mock draft from ESPN's Jonathan Givony, while Kentucky guard Reed Sheppard was nowhere to be found before his freshman season in Lexington. My projections translate performance in NCAA Division I and other levels to an NBA equivalent then adjust for age and position to project value over a player's next five seasons. Lastly, I add in ESPN's top 100 prospect rankings for the best consensus projection. For more on how my projections work and past examples, see here. Now, let's get to the projections for players currently in the top 100. 1. Donovan Clingan UConn C Top 100: No. 3 Stats: No. 3 Consensus: 3.7 WARP Clingan had the top stats-based projection heading into last year's NCAA tournament while coming off the bench on the national championship winner behind NBA-bound Adama Sanogo. Clingan's strong productivity in that role has translated into dominance as a sophomore starter, particularly during the NCAA tournament run. The 7-foot-2 Clingan would be just the third draft pick in my database projected to block at least 6% of opponent 2-point attempts and secure at least 20% of available defensive rebounds, joining Mo Bambaand Victor Wembanyama. Because he's moved all the way up to third in the top 100, Clingan now has the top overall projection despite dropping to third in the stats-only version. 2. Reed Sheppard Kentucky G Top 100: No. 7 Stats: No. 1 Consensus: 3.7 WARP Although Sheppard's 52% 3-point shooting (on a robust sample of 144 attempts) is regressed down to a projected 39% as an NBA rookie, that's still the best projection for any player since Doug McDermott -- who had multiple years of college data -- in 2014. Sheppard's projected 2.5 steals per 100 plays, second among players in this year's top 100, is almost as impressive as his shooting. Thanks largely to those key skills, Sheppard has the best stats-only projection in this year's draft. 3. Alex Sarr Perth C Top 100: No. 2 Stats: No. 4 Consensus: 3.6 WARP Sarr's stats-only projection is slightly better than the median No. 1 pick in the past 12 drafts. Playing in the Australian NBL at 18 years old, Sarr averaged 20.3 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per 36 minutes this season. Despite shooting just 30% on 3s, Sarr's 71% accuracy at the line suggests he has the potential to develop into a stretch 5 in time. 4. Zach Edey Purdue C Top 100: No. 14 Stats: No. 2 Consensus: 3.1 WARP Nobody doubts that Edey has been the best player in college basketball. The question is how his skills will translate to the NBA at 7-4. One interesting data point: No college player with a usage projection as high as Edey's has been drafted in the past 12 years. The two players ahead of him, Marquette guard Markus Howard and former Purdue teammate Trevion Williams, played go-to roles that didn't carry over in the NBA. (Williams has yet to play in the league, while Howard did on a two-way contract.) Nonetheless, Edey's dominance has earned him a spot in the first round after he chose to return for his fourth season at Purdue. And, after moving up in the top 100, Edey is the fourth and final player in the top tier of my projections. 5. Zaccharie Risacher Bourg SF Top 100: No. 1 Stats: No. 81 Consensus: 2.2 WARP On the plus side, Risacher -- currently atop ESPN's draft rankings -- averaged 13.1 PPG in just 24 minutes per game during EuroCup play at 18 years old (he turned 19 on Monday), making 57% of his 2s and 56% of his 3s. That performance was out of line with Risacher's play in the French LNB Pro A, however, as he shot just 51% on 2s and 34% on 3s. And a 69% career free throw shooting percentage across all first-division competition suggests Risacher's 3-point hot streak in EuroCup play might not be legitimate.

WLOC2 cool

UK fans are going to miss Cal’s recruiting, that’s for sure. Won’t miss the terrible - or I should say Non-coaching. I am sure if we could get a decent coach, the UK name will draw enough talent to make the team more competitive.

Gross

Bufkin is the only safe bet to hold his spot IMO. AJ could hold his own, but his place on the team seems tenuous at best. MoG should warrant a spot, but given his injuries, I’d bet he spends a lot of time with College Park next season. Lundy has no guarantees for anything more than a 12-15th man at best. I don’t mind replacing Lundy or AJ (if they trade him) with a new draft pick.

Guard is the last position we should be drafting.

I’d be more on board with something more like this. It just gets a little convoluted with the loser playing again and potentially getting in later.