KB’s Draft Favorites for Hawks

[KB21]

Including trade up options

1.  Jarace Walker/Houston

2.  Anthony Black/Arkansas

3.  Gradey d*ck/Kansas

4.  Cam Whitmore/Villanova 

5.  Taylor Hendricks/Central Florida

6.  Cason Wallace/Kentucky

7.  Dereck Lively/Duke

8.  Kris Murray/Iowa

9. O-Max Prosper/Marquette

 

Edited June 22, 2023 by KB21

[shakes]

I'll take Wemby and Scoot!

[theheroatl]

This has 2002 draft written all over it. All these guys gonna be out the league in 5 years. Wemby has just as much chance of being Yao Ming than anything.

Edited June 22, 2023 by theheroatl

[Packfill]

2 hours ago, KB21 said:

Including trade up options

1.  Jarace Walker/Houston

2.  Anthony Black/Arkansas

3.  Gradey d*ck/Kansas

4.  Cam Whitmore/Villanova 

5.  Taylor Hendricks/Central Florida

6.  Cason Wallace/Kentucky

7.  Dereck Lively/Duke

8.  Kris Murray/Iowa

9. O-Max Prosper/Marquette

 

Good list. the top 5 are obviously out of reach if the Hawks stay at 15.  

Assuming the Hawks stay at 15, the "value" picks seem to all be combo guards.  Hard to get excited about any of them in the short term if the Hawks maintain their current roster (we would be talking at best, a 4th guard, but really a 5th if AJ gets minutes at the 2).  I like Bufkin, Hawkins and Wallace the best of that group (in no particular order).  

Assuming no major roster changes, I would be very tempted though if I were Hawks GM to just take a big swing on upside and take one of Whitehead, Clowney or Miller.  I would not expect any of those guys to help in the near term though.

[AHF]

4 hours ago, Packfill said:

Assuming the Hawks stay at 15, the "value" picks seem to all be combo guards.  Hard to get excited about any of them in the short term if the Hawks maintain their current roster (we would be talking at best, a 4th guard, but really a 5th if AJ gets minutes at the 2).  I like Bufkin, Hawkins and Wallace the best of that group (in no particular order).  

 

Nice call here.

[KB21]

I was traveling last night and on the road during the draft last night.  I didn’t get to watch it until around pick 39, who oddly enough became a Hawk.  I did have my twitter set up to give me notifications from Shams so I could keep up with it.  My wife wanted to listen to the CWS game instead of the draft.  

Anyway, when we got to 13, I was thinking to myself that the Hawks somehow did it again.  A player would unexpectedly fall to them.  At that time, I get there was a great chance that either Gradey d*ck or Cam Whitmore would get to 15.  
 

Then the Raptors picked Gradey.  I was gutted for a moment, because that’s who I wanted.  When New Orleans took Hawkins, I was all in in Whitmore.  
 

My initial reaction was one of let down because I was sure they would take Whitmore.  After thinking about it, I’m pleased with Kobe Bufkin.  I actually thought he’d go sooner.  I think I had him typing to OKC in my mock.  I was surprised when Toronto took Gradey over him.  He is a legit two way talent at guard and a really good fit.  He’s a better player than his teammate who went higher.  He can guard 1-3 as well as run the offense from time to time.  Good spot up shooter.  Great feel for the game. 
 

I will be curious to see what the issue with Whitmore was.  It had to be something that showed up in the medical evaluation of him.  I mean, he was a top 5 pick a week ago. 

[JayBirdHawk]

7 minutes ago, KB21 said:

 

I will be curious to see what the issue with Whitmore was.  It had to be something that showed up in the medical evaluation of him.  I mean, he was a top 5 pick a week ago. 

The slide of Whitmore in the draft rankings has been attributed to reported health issues and less-than-stellar performances at the NBA Draft Combine. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski noted during the draft that Whitmore's dip in position was in part due to "a series of lackluster workouts and underwhelming interviews."

 

Whitmore was seen “struggling at times with his shooting and intensity” during his individual team workouts, per ESPN draft expert Jonathan Givony.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Wasserman also shared an update about Whitmore (via Bleacher Report

“There have been some concerns over Cam Whitmore’s medicals, which could cause a few teams to pass in the mid-lottery, per sources.”

Additionally, here is what one Eastern Conference executive told David Aldridge (via The Athletic

“At the Hoops Summit, Whitmore was not a practice-type player and didn’t look very good during the week. But once he played, he was one of the better players in the game. That’s going to have to change at the NBA level. He’s going to have to exert some effort, some ability and skill level in practice for a head coach to put him in a game. He’s not going to be guaranteed minutes like he probably was at Villanova.”

You never want to see potentially poor medical information about a player.

[Spud2nique]

10 minutes ago, KB21 said:

I will be curious to see what the issue with Whitmore was.  It had to be something that showed up in the medical evaluation of him.

All I kept hearing during the draft was that he didn’t interview well with team and he didn’t take his workouts seriously or go super hard. Maybe teams were scared that he wasn’t _______.

3 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

The slide of Whitmore in the draft rankings has been attributed to reported health issues and less-than-stellar performances at the NBA Draft Combine. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski noted during the draft that Whitmore's dip in position was in part due to "a series of lackluster workouts and underwhelming interviews."

 

Whitmore was seen “struggling at times with his shooting and intensity” during his individual team workouts, per ESPN draft expert Jonathan Givony.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Wasserman also shared an update about Whitmore (via Bleacher Report

“There have been some concerns over Cam Whitmore’s medicals, which could cause a few teams to pass in the mid-lottery, per sources.”

Additionally, here is what one Eastern Conference executive told David Aldridge (via The Athletic

“At the Hoops Summit, Whitmore was not a practice-type player and didn’t look very good during the week. But once he played, he was one of the better players in the game. That’s going to have to change at the NBA level. He’s going to have to exert some effort, some ability and skill level in practice for a head coach to put him in a game. He’s not going to be guaranteed minutes like he probably was at Villanova.”

You never want to see potentially poor medical information about a player.

Yup this.

[KB21]

Interesting.  It will be interesting to follow his career.  He’s playing for Ime Udoka now, so he’s going to have to start becoming a practice player.  

[bird_dirt]

On 6/23/2023 at 12:53 PM, KB21 said:

Interesting.  It will be interesting to follow his career.  He’s playing for Ime Udoka now, so he’s going to have to start becoming a practice player.  

I read and saw some videos of someone talking about a potential top 5 (maybe 10?) player who had terrible workouts…out of shape, couldn’t handle what was asked and just said I’m done and left the court before the workout was over. Then when a staffer went back to the locker room the guy was caught vaping in there. 
 

No one has said who that was, but given his massive drop and the other lackluster reviews that have been said of his workouts, I would be surprised if it were anyone else. 
 

If medical reports showed other red flags (maybe a thumb injury or something with his knees?), then that seals his massive drop. 

Udoka’s got his work cut out for him. Not just with Cam but that whole youth roster in Houston. I have heard those kids have some serious discipline issues.