What's your natural strengths/weaknesses for the 2018 NBA Draft Prospects?

[NBASupes]

Ayton-

Strengths: 

Strength

Coordination

Body Control

Size/Length/Hands

Touch

Projectability

Speed for size

Rim running

Confidence

 

Improvement Areas:

Movement on offense and defense

Using his athletic ability on defense

Aggressiveness when rebounding

Awareness in general

Aggressiveness in positioning for post feed

Vision

Communication

Impact? 

Does he want to win. 

Scheme versatile 

Doncic: 

Strengths: 

Strength

Coordination

Body Control

Court Vision

Skill

Crafty

Movement

Shot-making ability

Ball handling

Passing when keeping it simple

Clutch

Confidence

Improvement Areas:

Very poor Lateral quickness

Closeout Speed (Equivalent to Kyle Korver)

Speed

Doesn't deal with full court pressure well

Flashy passer but causing turnover

No defensive position (not just positionless)

Inconsistent shooter

Projectability isn't high at all. 

 

Bagley

Strengths: 

Elite RARE Athlete (First Step, Quickness, Agility, Speed, Lateral Quickness, Acceleration, Explosiveness, jumping)

Coordination

Body Control

Finishing in the paint

Aggressiveness

Movement

Natural Scorer

Ball handling for position

Stamina

Feel for the game on offense

Motor

Confidence

Toughness

Hands

Improvement Areas:

Strength

Defensive Awareness

Situational Awareness on offense

Off ball defense

Paint Protection

Finishing with right hand

Not as comfortable attacking with right hand

Lacking advanced skills for a scorer. 

Shot blocking aggressiveness in college

Communication on defense

Body? 

Wingspan? 

Overconfidence? 

Very coachable but does he receive information and process it quickly? 

We seen him handle a mass amount of responsibility but he wasn't effective at it on defense? Sign of more to come or can he improve it? 

 

Bamba

Strengths: 

Elite RARE Length with Athleticism 

Agility

2nd step

Finishing in the paint

Paint Protection - His best trait

Shot blocking

Handles a great deal of responsibility without fouling and showed improvement. 

Intelligence and quick mental processing

Open court speed is exceptional

Confidence

Willingness to bang regardless of size of the attacker

Toughness

Plays with his length and athletic ability

Explosive in space 

Does never seen before things

Standing reach and geometry radius

covers a lot of ground on offense and defense, when he polished, he will be a nightmare. 

Shooting touch and exit look good

Struggled more than most 1st rounders in the 1st half of the season but was superior in conference play. Pigeonholing him will be a mistake. Let him loose. 

Adjusting

Lack of flaws offensively give you hope that he can become a 20 PPG scorer one day. Maybe sooner than later. 

Everyone has fought for him who vetted him. Well liked. 

Mature

Improvement Areas:

Stamina

Feel for the game on offense and defense

Inconsistent Motor

First step but it's never really good for guys his height and frame

Inconsistent hands

Offensive and defensive polish

Frame? Too thin lower body. Limits his low post defensive ceiling

Shooting speed is slow and his shooting footwork is poor, seems to have cleaned it up recently

Passing

dribbling into traffic

finishing in traffic

Basketball focus before the NCAA's was not there. He was more of a studious individual. Is this person he has shown us during this process the real him?

Too kind? doesn't play like it in my eyes

Split personality like CP3? 

JJJ

Strengths: 

Body

Defensive awareness

Jump/run athlete

Great defending with length

Uses tools well on defense

Gives great effort on defense and communicates consistently

Quick reaction skills

Rare passion that he brings to the defensive end of the court

Shows three point consistency

good ball handling ability when given space

Shot blocking especially weakside

Projectibility 

Team player

Coachable

Improvement Areas:

Coordination

Body Control

Core Strength

Feel for the game on offense

Screen setting

Ability to attack in traffic

Ability to finish through contact

Passing

NBA Readiness?

Low post defending

Foul prone especially when defending in space

Doesn't rely on instincts to defend the post as much as he does on assignment

Shooting Form (Translate?)

Confidence? 

Toughness? 

Trae Young 

Strengths: 

Scoring

Passing

Vision

Work Ethic

Will to win

Burst off the screen

Shooting from range

Shooting when open

Competitiveness

Did I say scoring? 

Ability to run the PnR/PnP

Deep range passing, will expose lazy defense (talking to you, Mo Bamba) "Ryan Cameron voice" 

Coachable

Improvement Areas:

Passion about defense

Lateral Quickness isn't terrible but doesn't really use it

Wingspan

Body? 

Ability to run a complex offense

NBA Readiness

Defensive awareness

Offense is his best defense

Can be selfish at times, not a player stars like playing with. Might need to put him around movement players and paint protectors. Not just rim protectors but paint protector. You need to be able to cut off the lane with him like Deke with Iverson. 

Finishing through contact

Defensive energy

Advanced PG skills

Ability to run an offense that doesn't revolve around him

Decision making when teams cut off his options.

Next tomorrow will be Porter Jr, Carter Jr, the Bridges, and Sexton

 

[NBASupes]

@benhillboy @gurpilo @AHF @lethalweapon3 @JayBirdHawk @Sothron @davis171 @KB21 @Spud2nique @thecampster @coachx

@deester11 @Buzzard @capstone21

What's your personal strengths and improvement areas list? 

 

[benhillboy]

I can’t glean anything from college play.  I’ll join in on the arguments soon as SL starts.

My 3 most coveted attributes are high intelligence (or crazy “feel” like Tatum), good jumpshot form to work with, and the ability to defend 2 positions.  Through my study these types positively effect scoring margins the most.  Sign me up for whoever that is.

[NBASupes]

9 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

I can’t glean anything from college play.  I’ll join in on the arguments soon as SL starts.

My 3 most coveted attributes are high intelligence (or crazy “feel” like Tatum), good jumpshot form to work with, and the ability to defend 2 positions.  Through my study these types positively effect scoring margins the most.  Sign me up for whoever that is.

Understood, the hardest thing to take from college Basketball is coordination, athleticism, and mentality. It's so hard as they are so young and their personality types, where they land, and who's around them plays a critical role in their long term outlook. 

[benhillboy]

47 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Understood, the hardest thing to take from college Basketball is coordination, athleticism, and mentality. It's so hard as they are so young and their personality types, where they land, and who's around them plays a critical role in their long term outlook. 

Yup, see Donovan Mitchell.  If anyone here had him lighting sh@t up like Wade with a 3 in his first season I’ll take their word in this year’s draft.

[benhillboy]

I’d be interested in which Big makes the most defensive plays per foul and which one shoots FTs best?  One of the 92.9 guys said Bagley could be Embiid.  I was like “shhhhiiiiiii....”  Possible?

[nathan2331]

Supes, I've got you on some lower rated prospects in a little bit. I'll probably do Melvin Frazier and Isaac Bonga first since those are my favorite players at #30 and #34.

[deester11]

Supes, I like this thought...I'm gonna post mine after some form of non-intoxicated thinking.

[thecampster]

2 hours ago, NBASupes said:

@benhillboy @gurpilo @AHF @lethalweapon3 @JayBirdHawk @Sothron @davis171 @KB21 @Spud2nique @thecampster @coachx

@deester11 @Buzzard @capstone21

What's your personal strengths and improvement areas list? 

 

Very simple. Any pick I take makes others around them better. Either they play such elite defense that it covers other's deficiencies or their offense creates not only offense for them but offense for others.  This is one of the reasons I was such a huge Josh Smith fan back in the day.  His rebounding, shot blocking and passing ability changed the game for all of his teammates.  Horford has a similar effect on the game with his ability to play both internal and perimeter defense.  Joe Johnson's isolation ability forced double teams and created offensive opportunities for others.

I honestly ask all those promoting other players to see the team aspect of their proposed player's games.  Players who must dominate the ball to be effective inhibit offense (as opposed to players who pass openly and freely). Players who are limited offensively inhibit the team offense. You have to be honest about your chosen players team impact, not his individual ability.

[nathan2331]

Isaac Bonga:

 

Strengths:

> 6'9" PG with a 7 foot wingspan. He's not Giannis-like really, his athleticism is kind similar to Ben Simmons if Simmons never saw a weight room. Nice burst, not a vertical leaper.

> Pretty good court vision nothing crazy but he can find passers around the arc

> He's around a 90% free throw shooter, so that's something that hopefully translates. The three point shooting isn't where it needs to be but there's some promise

> He has legitimate PnR skills, I don't think he hits the roll man as much as you'd like to see, but he has that skill in some capacity

 

Weaknesses:

> Razor thin. He's gonna have a tough time fighting through screens.

>His defense needs work if he's going to carve out a defensive role. He's got tools, but he's not locking anyone up right now

> Lack of vertical will hurt him going to the rim, he's got to get craftier to be able to finish over centers in the NBA. Not a big deal, but worth pointing out

>His shooting off the dribble is pretty poor, I'm not a shot doctor so I don't assess mechanics, but the free throw percentage gives him hope

 

Summary

> Really deserves the chance to be a point guard, he's not advanced in his handles but he has good court vision and some real defensive upside.

> I see him as a counter to the Simmons/Giannis/Ball/Doncic/Harden's of the league who have size advantages over smaller point guards. Basically could function in a Shaun Livingston type of role.

> He's also 18 so perhaps being in the NBA will raise his game past what we've seen. He's like a super-sized Schröder kind of and I think they could be good for each other. I think he should be our pick at #34, but I'd honestly be fine taking him as high as #19 if we know other teams are high on him. #34 makes him stashable though if he's not ready for the NBA. I really want him on the Hawks.

 

[TheFuzz]

I like Lonnie Walker a lot. That's all I have to say.

[nathan2331]

I like Lonnie Walker a lot. That's all I have to say.

He's got game. He can be a star if he improves his outside shooting and improve his decision making. He's got everything else you need from a SG.

[JayBirdHawk]

5 hours ago, NBASupes said:

@benhillboy @gurpilo @AHF @lethalweapon3 @JayBirdHawk @Sothron @davis171 @KB21 @Spud2nique @thecampster @coachx

@deester11 @Buzzard @capstone21

What's your personal strengths and improvement areas list? 

 

I don't watch enough college ball for this.

I just want  'THE' guy that will move us in the right direction. 

All these players have strengths and definitely weakness they need to work on. There are no LBJs in this draft - what we need us for who ever we pick to exceed expections and make those around him better.

[gurpilo]

hace 7 horas, NBASupes dijo:

@benhillboy @gurpilo @AHF @lethalweapon3 @JayBirdHawk @Sothron @davis171 @KB21 @Spud2nique @thecampster @coachx

@deester11 @Buzzard @capstone21

What's your personal strengths and improvement areas list? 

 

Very difficult to make such an expert judgement. However sometimes people mix on strengths realities and potential and that lead you to wrong statements. For example

Marvin Bagley or Doncic offensive game is a reality today and can translate now. They will score at NBA. Strength

JJJ is potentially a good defensive player but still is not a defensive presence. Has tools and could develop but is still not there. Potential Strength.

People talk about what a player can become and value as much as what a player is today, this make no sense and that is how you fail on draft.

Hawks need a star, a go to player, that is Doncic or Bagley., 75% you get a good player there.

Chances at JJJ, Bamba or Porter are much much lower. They have tools, of course they have but they are still not there. Anyway I would take Bamba and a healthy Porter over JJJ any day. JJJ is a role player at best.

[AHF]

1 hour ago, gurpilo said:

 

People talk about what a player can become and value as much as what a player is today, this make no sense and that is how you fail on draft.

JJJ is a role player at best.

You have to balance between what someone is today and what they can be.  Neither what they are today nor what they can become are good or bad inherently — just need to be balanced.  Some of the biggest wins in draft history have been guys who weren’t close to stars when drafted but had the tools to become one.  Dirk, Kawhi, Giannis, etc.  all were total non impact players when drafted but what they could become was so good that they ended up under drafted.  Conversely, a guy like MCW or Laettner is very solid coming out of the gate but never gets much better because they didn’t have a lot of growth in front of them.  You have to evaluate both what someone is today and what they can be.

For JJJ, the idea that what he can be is a role player in his best case scenario is crazy to me.  His best case development is much, much more than that.

[NBASupes]

3 hours ago, AHF said:

You have to balance between what someone is today and what they can be.  Neither what they are today nor what they can become are good or bad inherently — just need to be balanced.  Some of the biggest wins in draft history have been guys who weren’t close to stars when drafted but had the tools to become one.  Dirk, Kawhi, Giannis, etc.  all were total non impact players when drafted but what they could become was so good that they ended up under drafted.  Conversely, a guy like MCW or Laettner is very solid coming out of the gate but never gets much better because they didn’t have a lot of growth in front of them.  You have to evaluate both what someone is today and what they can be.

For JJJ, the idea that what he can be is a role player in his best case scenario is crazy to me.  His best case development is much, much more than that.

It all depends. If you feel strongly that he can overcome his flaws, maybe you consider taking him. 

That goes for all of these prospects. For Bamba, if you feel like he develop into a shooter, that he's lack of low body bulk and frame will hinder him, or that you feel like his motor will be consistent at the next level, you take him as he can be a star otherwise. 

For JJJ, if you feel he can overcome his coordination, body control and core strength issues, you consider taking him as maybe the sky could be the limit. 

For Bagley, if you feel you can improve his defensive awareness, develop his shooting and polish his skills, maybe you have an once in a generation player. 

For Ayton, if you feel you can improve his defensive motor, his off ball ability, and develop him to use his athletic ability on defense, maybe he can be that Next Shaq O'Neal. 

For Doncic, if you feel you can overcome his poor lateral quickness, his poor closeout out length, and his lack of defensive position, maybe he can be that PG for the future for you. 

For Young, if you feel he can develop his defensive nature to fight at the very least, can become a more consistent shooter who makes better decisions and develop his off the ball game, maybe he can be something we never seen before at PG. 

 

It's all about what you think they can and can't overcome. That's really how you should judge this draft class. All of these guys like every class got flaws. I hear we have no AD in this class but AD had similar questions for him. He has weight issues, offensive polish issues, and ability to shoot with range wasn't in his game at that time. All of these guys are well, prospects and 19-20 year olds are usually unpolished and they have a lot to learn about the professional game on every level. 

[NBASupes]

For Bamba's section: 

That goes for all of these prospects. For Bamba, if you feel like he develop into a shooter, that his lack of lower body bulk and frame won't hinder him as much due to his athletic profile, or that you feel like his motor will be more consistent at the next level, you take him as he can be a star otherwise...

[Spud2nique]

41 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

For Bamba's section: 

That goes for all of these prospects. For Bamba, if you feel like he develop into a shooter, that his lack of lower body bulk and frame won't hinder him as much due to his athletic profile, or that you feel like his motor will be more consistent at the next level, you take him as he can be a star otherwise...

Bagley broh! 

[NBASupes]

6 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

Bagley broh! 

Every Basketball player to have ever played the game has flaws. That includes MJ, LeBron, Bird, Magic, Wilt, Hakeem, Marvin Williams, O.J. Mayo, Mike Muscala, Chris Crawford, Cal Browdler, Steve Smith and Dominique Wilkins. But what can they overcome and what can't they overcome is the question. 

[Spud2nique]

31 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Every Basketball player to have ever played the game has flaws. That includes MJ, LeBron, Bird, Magic, Wilt, Hakeem, Marvin Williams, O.J. Mayo, Mike Muscala, Chris Crawford, Cal Browdler, Steve Smith and Dominique Wilkins. But what can they overcome and what can't they overcome is the question. 

And with Bagley, he was literally born to be a star...I truly believe this. I usually tell my gf who has a “hall of fame” face and we usually track my predictions. I remember saying Chris Paul had one and a few other guys back in the day like Alonzo Mourning and others. 

Bagley has that face. He is a can’t miss prospect in my mind. I’m just hoping the Kings don’t steal him.