Speaker 1: What is up, Fellasiko's I'm Dana Valley coming.
Speaker 2: At you with a slew of people today to do
the five year NBA redraft.
Speaker 1: You heard a little bit about it and the intro
that Grant and I recorded. Grant and I are here.
Speaker 2: We are joined by our esteemed Leacher Report colleagues, Jay
Dunbar Bryan Daporak. We do not have Bryant Knox, the
other participant of this draft, but we do have his picks,
so we'll go through those and slander him accordingly.
Speaker 1: For them, they are socials.
Speaker 2: Jay, Bryant's and Brian's will be in the YouTube and
podcast descriptions, or if you're watching, they will be up
on screen. But before we get started, Brian, do you
think that you could just take the kids through and
let them know.
Speaker 1: How we approached this five year redraft?
Speaker 3: It would be my pleasure. Thank you guys for having
us and for participating. This always a ton of fun
and I'm very excited to both slander and defend slander
everyone else's picks and defend mine. So the premise here,
we are doing the twenty twenty through twenty twenty four
draft classes. Anyone who was undrafted during that time is
also eligible, namely Austin Reeves. We are starting every franchise
from scratch, so you do not have to consider team
fit here, and it was if every team is starting
from scratch with this player pool, who would you pick
to build your franchise around moving forward? We are not
considering contracts in here. We are considering injuries. So notably,
Tyre's Halliburton has a torn achilles in real life. He
has a torn achilles in this scenario as well. But
if you believe that he will be fine come twenty
twenty six when he has recovered, you can pick Tyre's Haliburton.
And that is fair game. Believe that is everything. I
guess I should note the teams were ordered in reverse
of their winning percentage over the past five years. Case
you're wondering how we arrived at the order we did,
but again, we weren't taking team fit into account. So
just to just to confuse you a little more, the
teams don't really matter. The order of the players is
really all that matters.
Speaker 2: I have I have a question, Yes, how is it
is it the second year in a row that we
have done this and you've had the first pick each time?
Speaker 1: I would like to know, I calls.
Speaker 3: Yes, I did. I knew that was going to be
an accusation. I sent a video of me running a randomizer.
I'm surprised that no one accused me of running the
randomizer like ten times until I actually got number one again.
But shout out to random. I believe random dot org
is the esteemed place that continues to grant me. Victor
Webbin yell at number one.
Speaker 4: I just am a little insulted. You didn't think we
would notice the Sora watermark on the videos. I did,
at least, I think.
Speaker 3: I only whatever.
Speaker 4: It's fine, it's fine. It's not like this is a
one player draft anyway. There's a clear number one overall.
Speaker 3: I only had to drain one small league to get
my number one pick.
Speaker 2: Well, speaking of the number one pick, you want to
take us through it, and you're logic.
Speaker 4: P thought process here.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm going to take about fifty minutes to defend
taking Victor webbit yam at number one. No ten seconds.
I mean one player in this group of players has
goat in his realistic range of outcomes. It's Wemby. He's
led the league in blocks three straight years, averaging a
career high rebounds points, basically everything decided to cut down
on threes and is now just murdering people inside. I mean,
as if he could stay healthy, he's going to be
a top ten player all time, if not top five,
if he could stay healthy, as a fair question, given
what happened last year, and he's already sidelined this year,
but with this amount of talent, I'm taking that gamble
without question.
Speaker 1: Is is there an argument at all?
Speaker 2: I'm asking the room at large here if you were
concerned about someone who's built like he is, just this
physiological anomaly to say, I know someone else in this
draft is going to make seven all NBA teams or something,
and is there any art I wouldn't have done it.
Speaker 1: I'm just asking, would could you make that case?
Speaker 4: Or no? I mean, like you're making the like the
floor case, like you're the I don't. I don't. I
don't think there is a short, short retort a response.
There's there's no argument against taking with me. We can
work really hard if we want to.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I have to agree, especially because if you as
you'll see, as we get on less injuries will show
up again. So I mean, I know what you're saying
with the tall guy syndrome. But uh yeah, I'm not
gonna work hard as Grant said to make that case.
Speaker 1: So the draft actually begins with me at number two.
Speaker 2: All good things begin with me anyway, as Grant NOAs
be my co host.
Speaker 1: I have the Wizards here at number two.
Speaker 2: I went with Kay Cunningham, and I think that we've
entered highly debatable territory.
Speaker 1: For the next few picks.
Speaker 2: I considered Evan Mobley here was probably the toughest cut
for me.
Speaker 1: Anthony Edwards as well.
Speaker 2: My logic for Kate Cunningham became, look at what he's
been able to do for an offense that has really
never optimized the personnel around him, and the efficiency quibbles
are fine, I get them. Give this guy help and
you saw it like a real secondary like even playing
along Dennis Shuder was a big deal for Kate Cunningham,
and I found myself asking who are the other primary
ball handlers in the NBA who are also as good
on defense as Kate Cunningham.
Speaker 1: Where he can do a lot of the low man stuff.
Speaker 2: He's a good rebounder now, which he will push the
pace off of and he is not going to be
a sieve when he's in one on one situations or
submarine a team defense. The list I came up with,
and I went through this with Grant a little bit.
There's healthy Jason Tatum, there's Giannis. If you throw him
into that, you can't put maybe down the line. He
wasn't eligible, but Cooper flag for this draft. So just
looking at the macro not for this draft, and that's
why I went.
Speaker 1: With Kate Cunningham.
Speaker 2: Is I don't want to play the is he a
best two way player in the game card? But if
your primary ball handler can also be a really valuable
defender and can drive that type of impact at both
ends of the floor, I'm going to bet on the
Wizards being able to assemble a more flattering supporting cast
around Kate Cunningham in the years to come.
Speaker 4: This is a defensible pick. I wouldn't have made it,
but you know, everybody gets to run their own race.
You also forgot twenty twenty two April to June Andrew
Wiggins in your list of the best two way players
not in this draft class. But I just thought we
don't talk about it enough. I guess I'm up next.
Anybody have anything on kid, I mean any commial pretty
good pick.
Speaker 3: I want to save hulster fire until after your pick,
because I think yes, and then we can go to
BK's and that that that quester surprised me, I will say, yeah, okay,
I feel I have our already been attacked a little
bit for this in the lead up.
Speaker 4: So I as the Charlotte Hornets took Tyres Haliburton at
number three, and yes, injuries are a thing. Yes he
has one of the worst ones that you can have.
Don't care. There are no players in this draft pool
who have been the best player on a championship team.
Tyres Haliburton is the only one that has been the
best player on a conference finalist that took a historical
juggernaut to seven games and might have beat him if
he hadn't gotten hurt. So I'm weighing the what has
he done much more heavily than the what might he
do post injury. With that said, the argument I made
when I wrote up the defense of this is Kevin
Durant was five years older when he tore his achilles,
and that was six years ago, and he looks pretty
good and has been pretty solid since then. I think
Haliburton has a very good chance to get back to
Oh my god, he's like fifth in MVP voting and
is an All NBA player after he comes back. I
would also say that a huge factor here, and the
reason I took him over guys like Edwards and like
Mobiley was that I think Haliburton is the rarest kind
of offensive player, which is, if you have him, you
play a certain way and it works, like he is
an infectious offensive leader, like on the Steve Nash level.
I think, and we know it it works because he
did it last year, like he was the reason. There
are others, but he was the main reason the Pacers
went to the absolute precipice of winning a title. And
that's just gonna. I'll acknowledge the risks and the downsides
and the uncertainty, but if we're trying to get the
guy that you want to build a franchise around, I'm
gonna take the one that took his the farthest. That's
kind of like the end of the justification. And so
having said that, don't feel great.
Speaker 1: I have unmoved, but I did it.
Speaker 4: You have a draft with your heart too, and this
was this is also a heart pick.
Speaker 3: There you go. So I guess we could spoil that.
B K at number four did take Anthony Edwards to
the San Antonio Spurs, and I just, I mean, I
appreciate you guys both addressing that right off the bat
in your justifications why you passed up him, in particular,
because you know, I made a list ahead of time,
and Aunt was number two on mine, and I thought
that was gonna be like pretty consensus. Web won Aunt two.
And then we get into that like three through six,
threes through seven tier that you could really go any
which way. I would imagine that is not necessarily maybe
not the consensus. But like if you ask most people
who are you taking over Aunt? Kate or Aunt or Halle?
Most people would say Aunt. So it's just it's interesting.
I'm not saying you guys are wrong, Like it's interesting
hearing that conventional thinking challenged.
Speaker 2: I Can we just sit here and say Grant is wrong?
Know what?
Speaker 4: AUNT gets to the finals?
Speaker 3: Well?
Speaker 2: No, so I understand that logic, But look at this,
and Durant specifically never played the style of game that
was so predicated on him just blitzing up and down
the floor with the ball in his hands and I
feel like coming back from what they need him to
do both on the ball and off the ball, Like
if he's your team tent Paul, I just feel like
there's more of a risk for the floor to fall
out from underneath him. And it's different with you know,
we're working on hypotheticals with Wemby, but like Tyr's Haliburton
is actually dealing with this thing as we speak.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you guys don't know this, but Dan doesn't believe
in medical science. This is the time to this feels
like the time to reveal it.
Speaker 2: For RFK, Yeah, just cut out the title and all,
and never would have suffered this injury.
Speaker 4: I know for a fact Charriis Haliburtn does not consume
artificial dies and so his achilles is going to recover. No,
I think I struggled with with all aspects of the
Achilles thing, just that I do think there's a good
argument to be made that, like, Halliverton's best asset is
the way his brain processes basketball, and that's gonna be unaffected.
You could also say that, like, well, one of the
big draft knocks is he's not super quick, and this
is a guy that doesn't have a step to lose
and so great. If he can see everything that needs
to happen, if he can't physically do it, then this
is a terrible pick. Good news is we won't We'll
all have forgotten about this by twenty twenty six when
he's back playing and so and I'll deny that I didn't. No,
but Edwards is way safer, right, Like Edwards is just
he's super durable. He's been on very good teams. He
plays both ends, mostly in the playoffs onf on the
defensive side. But like other than Wemby, I think I
think Edwards, I mean, Caid's really good. But but Edwards
to Van Moble is really like I get it, I
totally get it. Edwards is by far the safer pick.
Speaker 2: I was gonna ask Jay though, because he had pick five,
would you and you did go with Evan Mobley?
Speaker 1: Would you have Is there a case he made that
have a mobile?
Speaker 2: Should have went for Ann or if you if Ant
was still on the if you had the if the pixliplock,
would you have taken Aunt over Evan Mobley?
Speaker 5: I probably would have taken it. I think was with Brian,
I mean I had I had a graphic made up
for the article that goes with this exercise beforehand, and
I had Webby and ant On there and maybe that's
just because they're the biggest stars, but I also thought
that they were going to be one and two. But yes,
I did take Mobile at five for our fictional Houston Rockets,
and you know, he's, like he's already.
Speaker 1: Their point card in real life, I think at this point.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean that's not saying much, but okay, true,
So yeah, I mean, he he's already the defensive player
of the Air ring defensi player of the Air, top
ten mv VP guy last year, and you know, he's
if he doesn't grow at all, he deserves a spot.
But I mean, I know earlier this year they're trying
to run the offense through him a little bit more
with Garland out and with like other roster changes, but
you know, and that didn't go quite swimmingly. But you know,
that's still like a new role for him, and just
his where his baseline already is and his potential for
growth offensively is just he could push up into that,
you know, higher. This pick could look low in a
couple of years, even at the end of this year.
So I was happy to get him at five.
Speaker 1: We should probably do like a superlative things at the end.
Speaker 2: But I think this ends up being one of the
best picks of the drafts because I had my big
board was Wemby, and then I flip flop between Kate
and Evan Mobley, And anyone who has read my redrafts
of that draft class in the past knows that I'm
a notorious flip flopper on.
Speaker 1: I think I think Mobley.
Speaker 2: Was an excellent pick here Jay excellent value too, and
everyone who passed on him except for me as an idiot.
Speaker 3: But I don't want you taking mobiley mobilely over Wemby.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that's fair bet a past, but you also
rigged the draft, or so I might be.
Speaker 3: I mean, I had Mobile lower than consensus, I think,
and I guess, so I don't know. I mean I
saw there was I think an athletic place recently that
was saying like they were hoping for the best version
of the Calves is if Evan Mobley is their best
player and they have been underwhelmed with the returns so far,
like they want him to take another leap and now
they're starting to doubt if that's in there for him.
So I think that's kind of the the tough thing
for a couple of these picks is like, you know,
you're not only basing it on what they are, but
projecting moving forward. Like mobiley, if he hits his ceiling
is going to be in this range, but like what
if this is more or less who he is as
a player, And that that was a factor for a
pick that I've made later on that Dan, I know
you're gonna frist me over the coles for so we'll
get there.
Speaker 1: Jay, you also had picked number six. Who did you take?
Speaker 5: Oh? Jeez? Who did I take? When you go to
the drop board? Oh? Maxie? Yes? So this one, I
I was kind of struggling between Alpie, Shangoon and Maxie.
And while I was kind of trying to not be
a prisoner of the moment with you know, some of
the stagnation that Mobile's going through at the moment, MAXI
kind of you know, he's he on the NBA for
a few nights not long before this raft, so that
might have been a little bit in my head.
Speaker 6: But he's I've also kind of planned through my flag
a little bit with him. He's just he's just kind
of the guy that I sort of sort of gravitate
to his just his his just mentality and is worth
ethic on top of his talent, just his leadership and
the growth that he's shown there. And I mean, I think,
like just putting a ceiling on this guy is a mistake.
And I said that the last time we did this exercise,
when I think I took him in the top five
as well. And his just his growth is just across
the board. His efficiency up, is his averages are up.
I think he's like second and scoring right now. So
I feel pretty good about it. I might regret that
leaving Shanghun on the board, especially you know, with his
growth as well.
Speaker 5: I mean we're in some like pretty this this stretch
here is a lot of talent up at the top,
so I mean you kind of can't go wrong. But
I'm happy with Maxi. But like I said, I could
be provedrouns.
Speaker 4: I mean, I think he's we're good. We're running out
of guys that you could say I could envision him
being the best offensive player on a really high level team.
And now there's some more speculative picks, but Maxi is
like certainly playing like that guy right now and has
for a couple of years. This we're officially in territory
of like, yeah, I get it, and we can't. You
almost can't knock it because there's a case for MAXI
for sure, I Shangoon just sitting there and we're going
to talk about him that that's the only other one
that I think you could really Yeah, that makes this tough.
Speaker 2: Shows shanng Goon went BK had that pick Brian Knox right,
nooneh doesn't know him or isn't watching on screen, had
the Shangoon pick at number seven went to the Orlando Magic.
I want to ask Brian, as the resident Sixers fan,
who would you have gone with when it becomes between
like a Maxie Shangoon.
Speaker 3: Oh man, I mean it is hard not to be
a prisoner at the moment, but like both guys, with
both guys in that respect, like Maxie is putting up
such insane numbers right now, but he's also playing forty
one minutes a game and is about to have his
hamstring tear into four pieces, whereas Shangoon, you know, is
not playing for Canadian tips. Who's playing for a coach
who actually respects a normal minut's allocation, although he's honestly
playing thirty seven minutes a game, so I guess it's
not that much better. He Manadoka is trying to get
his tips on as well. Uh Man, I I'm just
gonna be a homer and say Maxie because I didn't
see this type of a leap coming from him. It
there was some concern last year that he I don't
want to say stagnated, but like he wasn't fully ready.
You know, like there is the question of ken he
be the number one option a really good team, Like
you knew he could be the number two next to
Joel Embiid with all the attention that he commanded, but
with them beard out, he was starting, you know, he
was the number one guy on the Scotting report most nights.
He kind of struggled with dealing with that type of attention,
especially when he got double teams started to figure it
out midway through the season and then got hurt and
it was the last season, so it didn't really matter.
This year. I mean, Embiid has barely played, Paul George
has barely played, and he is just single handedly carrying
the Sixers every night. I mean it's close with him
and Shenguin. But you know, I do worry a little
bit about, you know, building a round a center who
is not either an elite three point shooter or an
elite shot blocker. You know, Jokic is the one exception
where he's just such a ridiculously good passer that it
doesn't matter. And I know Shangun is baby basically baby
Yokic in that regard. And he's also added a three
point shot this year on low volume, it's still shooting
almost forty four from three, which is just a revelation
for him. So like, I really don't think you could
go wrong, but I'll just be a homer in Saint.
Speaker 2: MAXI grant would you have picked because I would have
warned With Shangoun, I.
Speaker 4: Think I think it depends on where you. I think
I probably would have gone MAXI. And the reason is,
like I said, I'm we're already past like this is
our alpha on a championship team level type of guys,
I think, And like you don't want to make the
scalable and portable, like this is way too early. It
feels like in a draft with five draft classes to
be thinking about that. But like like Brian's. I feel
like Maxi Maxi can be good. Maxi can be a
number two for sure, because the shooting play is no
matter what right like that's he's a good enough shooter
that if he's off the ball, like you're terrified, you
have to account for him. And he's so quick he
can absolutely be on the ball. He's showing this year
even more than ever. Defensively, like Shangun, I think has
proved he can be part of a very good defense.
I don't think anyone would make the case that he's
the most important part of some good Rockets defenses. Maxi
is has generally been regarded as not a good defender,
but how much does that matter at his position? I
would say less so than the shan gun concerns. I think,
I go Maxi there, but it's it's close. I think
we could be a debating these two all day.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I just looked at it through the perspective of since
it was from scratch, who do I think would need
more ancillary help around them to build? And I look
at I know Houston has Durant now, but the offense
is killing it even when Durant's not on the floor,
and Shangoon's there. I think just his level of passing
and then the just his body type and having a
center bring the ball up the floor. I think he
needs less talent around him to raise the floor of
an offense than a tires max he does.
Speaker 1: Is where I landed.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's fair.
Speaker 2: You had pick number eight, Grant, who which team had it?
And who did you take?
Speaker 4: The Toronto Raptors had it, and I this is a
little and I'll admit to this is another pick with
your heart a little bit. But and I've been prefacing
this for several picks. I do think we're out of
number one options. That's been the knock on Jalen Williams.
I would note that the Thunderworld plus five point four
in the playoffs last year when I think they won
the championship, when Jadab was on the floor and Shay
was off. So he made strides towards answering that can
he be the guy without another guy as an offensive leader.
I think it's like it may be the type of
thing where from series to series, because the Thunder going
to be in a lot of playoff series, he can
he'll answer the bell sometimes and he won't, so he's
like a one point five option or something like that.
But I think he's just the portability thing and the scalability,
Like he's good at literally everything. All defensive player, last
year All NBA player, has shown the ability to shoot
over forty percent from three when he's not tasked with
a ton of playmaking. He's just like, I don't know,
he's other than Caid, I guess, And maybe Edward's like
the most complete player in this pool, and at eight
I think I think you do that, especially if you believe,
which I still am inclined to, there might be some
like if he were on a different team or had
been tasked with first option creator stuff, he might be
able to do that more regularly or maybe all the time.
Speaker 2: Plus I have another follow up question, are you planning
at all to draft anyone who's played a game this season?
Speaker 4: Let's see, Yeah, my next pick has played this season,
so yeah, I you know, again with the with the
I think he'll be okay with the shooting risk, the
thunder or just sand bagging it so they don't have
to pay him, and they they did it. He's not
going to play sixty five games, have to pay the
super max rates. Honestly gamesmanship.
Speaker 2: Do J or Brian, do you have any thoughts on
Grant going j Dup here with some of the other
names that are still on the board.
Speaker 5: I do not.
Speaker 3: I mean, I I hear the concern about can he
be the number one option? But I mean every NBA
franchise wants a star two way wing, and you're you're
not going to get many better in this age range
than j Dup. So even if you have to find
someone who can lighten the scoring load on him in
the future, like just historically, you're going to run into
another star wing in the playoffs. He is the guy
you throw on that wing and just let him go
to work. So I think it's a great pick there.
Speaker 5: Yeah. I would have had him there too. I think,
you know, there aren't maybe one number one option left.
We'll get to him later, but yeah, J jumps the
pick for me too.
Speaker 2: I went at number nine for the Pelicans and took
Chet Holmgren and two players gave me pause here not
to pick Chet, and based off where they ended up
going in the draft, apparently I would have been the
only one who had pause at this spot when looking
at a Scottie Barnes or Apalo Bencaro. I do not think,
let's start off here, that chet Holmgren can be the
number one option for an offense.
Speaker 1: I think he can.
Speaker 2: We've started off the past two seasons when he's been
healthy of wow, look at what he is doing. Though
in a more more expanded offensive role. He gets conflated
among the bigs who I feel like people think they
can only stretch the floor, and his game just basically
spans every level. And this season I'm kind of sold
of putting them if he can go on drives or
catch the ball on the move, He's just more equipped
to deal with physicality and finishing near the basket. And
that kind of tipped the scales for me, because when
you start to go through the list looking at the
other end of the floor, Let's just assume Victor woman
Yama plays in sixty five games in every single season.
Who are the list of players that you think could
realistic challenge him for Defensive Player of the year. Chet
Holmgren is on that short list in so far again
as one exists.
Speaker 1: Maybe some people don't think that they do.
Speaker 2: And that's where I just he's he's scalable. I know
Grant doesn't like that word in the top ten. He
called it no, no, or whatever. But his offensive game
is scalable and his defense is he's a defensive Player
of the Year type anchor. The health gave me pause,
but he hasn't dealt with anything chronic, and so that
that was me was okay. He's had a lot of
like the Anthony Davis ism of oh, he's just dealing
with all these different injuries and some of them are serious,
but they're not reoccurring.
Speaker 1: And so I felt confident enough to take him here.
Speaker 4: I will say that he was. I wasn't sure which
between him and Jado, but I was going to take
until like the last minute. I really, like, I really
did think about him. The positional value is just like
it's stupid. Did you get all that from a center
that can defend the rim for you? Like it's it
was a real it was a real tough one. I
I would push back a little bit on the like
the chronic nature, like is it bad that his bones
break a lot? Like it's our concerning level with trail.
Speaker 2: So isn't Anthony Davis's most chronic injury injuries themselves? And
if that's the Dane isn't that the territory that Chet
is falling into, which is still a problem. It's just
let's give him more than you know, like three seasons
and change to see if it actually is an always
injured thing.
Speaker 4: But yeah, I mean the hip one is like, don't
get undercut, Like that's a little bit out of his control.
Speaker 2: I would cone, but it's not like he reaggravated the
Liz Frank injury that you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: Like, that's what I was trying to look at it through.
Speaker 2: Any thoughts from Jay or Brian on why my pick
was one hundred percent correct?
Speaker 1: Or do we just wonder?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 1: Number ten was the Utah Jazz who had this one?
Speaker 5: That was me?
Speaker 3: Yep, this is so I'm just gonna invite Orlando Magic fans. Uh,
you can find me on Twitter at the T O
P O K and I that's correct. Yeah, so blame
me all you want there. I will never see it.
But uh, spoiler, I did not I had back to
back picks here, and I did not take Paolo Bancaro
with either of these picks. So we'll start with I'm
and Thompson. Look, he's I don't think aman's going to
be a number one option, and Poolow is more established
in that role for sure. So if that's what I
was going for, then I would have preferred Polo. But
again I'm thinking going back to the Jadub thing, like
you're going to run into star Wings in the playoffs.
You're going to you know, assuming Jason Tatum comes back
healthy next year or Jalen Brown, you know, Boston gets
back to being what they were, there's a chance you
see those guys in the finals for the next couple
of years. If you're sticking in the West and Jadab
is in the West, you're going to see Jadab in
the playoffs. You need a star on both ends of
the floor that can deal with a player like that,
and I think I'm in you know, he he's more
of a box of clay right now, then more of
these guys who are more well formed, Like, we don't
know exactly what Amen's going to be, but so far
he's taking a leap this year as a playmaker. He
finished fifth and defensive Player of the Year race as
a sophomore, got a first team All Defense not last year.
You know, shooting is going to be the swing skill
for him. He is not a good three point shooter
that has not come around this year. If that never
comes around, that's going to limit his ceiling. But still,
he's just so defensively versatile that I think that gives
him such a high floor. And if the playmaking holds true,
even if he doesn't turn into this elite number one
option scorer, like, he's going to be a guy that
you just want on your team because he can blow
up the other team's game plan. So that is that's
why I went him at number ten.
Speaker 2: Do you are we discounting him offensively at all when
you say he can't, because I think in year three,
no one was going to say that Yannis would.
Speaker 1: Have counters or be a number one option at all.
Speaker 2: If you think that Giannis isn't a true number one option, sure,
but I would say at this stage Amends maybe even
shown a little bit more as a pastor than Yiannis did.
And there are two different types of players on the ball,
Like he has this amen, Thompson has more of this
like nuclear boletic athleticism, where Yannis so often in the
beginning just felt like more of a brute force, especially
once he kind of filled out. Is there did that
factor into the equation all for you that, oh there
is more offensive or do you maybe distrust more that.
I don't know if Amen Thompson like Giannis is taking
mid rangers, has on all counters, is taking threes even
though people don't.
Speaker 1: Necessarily loves when he does it.
Speaker 2: I'm just curious as to whether you like or at
large or we maybe underrating the ability for Amen Thompson
to broaden his offensive horizons down the line.
Speaker 3: I mean that was baked into this that again, like
he is less fully formed, so like there's a chance
that he takes a big leap offensively, like the playmaking
is already taking a big leap. But yeah, I mean
maybe the scoring comes around and then pair that with
the defense. Like That's why I'm willing to gamble at
him at number ten, even if there are some more
fully established options that we're still on the board at
this spot.
Speaker 1: Nobody had anything else to add. You want to take
us through your pick number eleven.
Speaker 3: B Yes, which I know you in particular love this
pick Indiana Pacers at number eleven with Paolo Bancaro still
on the board, take Jalen Johnson and I'm willing to
go to bat for this one, because we've seen Jalen
Johnson this year without Trey Young. I mean, he just
looks like a two way superstar at this point. It's
not a matter of should they move on from Trey
Young or not. I don't really care about that, but
it's clear the Atlanta Hawks, Jalen Johnson is the best
player on the Atlanta Hawks right now and they should
not go back to Trey Young. This heliocentric Trey Young offense,
and Jalen Johnson is the side piece. Jalen Johnson is
averaging almost twenty two to ten and seven, shooting fifty
six percent overall forty one point five from three. And
this isn't just a small sample sized thing. Last year,
he was already breaking out before the shoulder injury. But
he was at you know, nineteen ten and five last year,
and that was with him being more of a sidekick
to Trey Young. So when I was kidding, I mean,
Paolo was the other guy obviously that I was torn
between because he is a more established number one option offensively.
But then I was just going back and forth comparing
the two, and I just kept asking myself, like, what
is Paolo definitively better? At than Jalen other than drawing
fouls free time.
Speaker 4: You know, so go ahead, Dan, I think, so, Dan,
you take Polo next, and then maybe we should kind
of have a little bracket around these three picks because
I think it's interesting.
Speaker 2: Yes, so, yes, I had the Kings at number twelve,
and I took Paalo bank Carol.
Speaker 1: Like I said, I consider taking with my previous pick.
Speaker 2: Here's the two things that I don't understand with the
Jalen Johnson over Plow picks. But I think the Amen
Thompson pick is pretty easily justifiable, just you're betting on
the speculative nature of what he could become. Offensively, Jalen
Johnson won has not like it's he's had three breakout
seasons because he just can't really stay healthy. It feels
like you've also surrounded him this year. The offense has
been good when he's on the court without Trey Young.
He has a better spacing environment around him still than
Paalo basically ever had until this season, and probably it's
a better spacing environment than Polo has right now. The defense,
I think it's to call him a two way superstar,
I think stretches it. He's fine, but like, I don't know,
he doesn't do anything for me. Is it really like
someone who's gonna grab rebounds and can go up and
down the floor and end possessions?
Speaker 1: I guess sure.
Speaker 2: But opponents are shooting thirty one percent from three when
Jalen Johnson's on the floor, and Jalen Johnson has nothing
to do about that, and so it feels like some
of those numbers gets kewed. And so I look at
what Polo one is done in the playoffs, like he's
had some they've been short appearances, but he's had some
really monster cameos there. And when you start to look at, well,
the confines in which he has worked with the Orlando
Magic are just so bad. And you can point to
this season before his groin injury and say, well, he
hasn't done enough for He just hasn't done enough as
to progress and be more efficient, which I think is
a real concern. But you're just kind of looking throughout
the course of this dude's career and this is like
the spacing around him has been atrocious that they've ranked
in like the tenth percent tiler or worse of teammates
spacing around Paolo for basically his entire career. I guess
if you think he is a ball stopper, can't play faster,
and you think he's never gonna be able to play
at different cadences, my pushback there would be we kind
of thought that the same thing about Luca at one point,
and at least before he left Dallas he proved that
wasn't true.
Speaker 1: I just thought other picks.
Speaker 2: I'm sure people would have taken Pallo, you know before,
like I'm taking him now, well before I just Jaled
Johnson specifically, and did before Brian takes him? Did either
Did it stand out to any of you or you
both kind of at the point where we might just
need to recalibrate how we feel about Paalo Bancaro.
Speaker 4: So I want to. I think you're right in to
cite the environment and like it just he's not been
set up to succeed all that well because of the spacing.
The counter to that to me is like, well he's
why can't he help the spacing and the pace of
that offense? Like and the reason that's especially relevant is
I think Paolo is a player that if he's on
your team, you are built around him because of how
he plays and I would be concerned that unless he
does the things that you pointed to play faster, improve
shot selection space better, like we're seeing it like the
magic Now everyone's losing their minds because hey, maybe they
won't be bottom ten in offense this year. And he's
your best off He is your off defensive centerpiece, right so,
like how good are you really? He's still very young,
that could change. I would say that I have the
next pick, and I would not have taken him had
he been on the board, because I do think you
constrain yourself. It's almost a reverse of my Haliburton argument.
You have Haliburton, you're gonna play this way, it's gonna work.
You flip it. You have Palo, You're gonna play this way.
It has not worked. And so unless he makes real strides,
I think he's like he's like, it's a paradox. You
have to be built around him. And I also I'm
not sure you can build around him, like right, like
he can't be a complimentary player right now, So I
don't I don't know. I think you just like box
yourself in a little bit with him. This is all
terrible analysis. If he becomes a better three point shooter
and gonna move the ball faster because he's really young.
But that I right, Brian, Like, that's kind of the thinking,
right you just like, Okay, this is how we play
because we have Polo, and so far has it hasn't
It hasn't produced results.
Speaker 3: Yes, that is exactly, But it's kind of the same
with Zion. I mean, Zion is an even more extreme
version of this, especially with the injuries, but even remove
the injuries, and it's like, all right, you have this
six six power forward who doesn't shoot threes and can't
defend the rim, so you have to build a very
specific roster around him. And with Paolo, I think it's
kind of the same way, whereas Jalen Johnson, I think
it's a much more plug and play and could fit
in a variety of systems. But yeah, I mean I
absolutely acknowledge like this pick could age very badly. If
Pollo makes these strides it very well good?
Speaker 2: You know, I just does the context of shouldn't the
context of what we're actually doing here matter at all?
Speaker 1: Too?
Speaker 2: You're starting a franchise from scratch, and so you want
to take someone who's Yeah, if he could just be
the second or third best player awesome, So I get
there there might be a rigidity to how you have
to build around Pallow. I don't think you can build
around Jalen Johnson and hope to be okay, finished top
four in the East Shore. You're not winning multiple playoff
series Janellen Johnson as your best player.
Speaker 4: I think you're right. And I think too that what
taking guys like Johnson and Thompson over Pallo is illustrating
is like everyone's acknowledging there's a chance that Polo's ceiling.
Everyone acknowledges Polo's ceiling is higher than those guys and
several players taken earlier. I think the disconnect is maybe
you your stance on him reflects that you think there's
a greater percentage chance of him hitting that ceiling than
maybe the rest of us that passed on him. Think
you know what I mean, Like the ceiling is hard
to ignore, but it's like we've seen the floor and
the I don't know what's the analogy falls apart like
the middle stories of the Pallo experience, and they haven't
been all that great.
Speaker 2: So I'm the only one so far who would have
taken him by now at twelve Jay, what about you?
Would you would he still be on the board for
you if you had picked it twelve?
Speaker 5: I mean Grinan and I talked about this before and
we were kind of laugh I was just laughing about
the prospect of him having to defend himself. So I
am enjoying this conversation. But I think, I I don't
know's it's a tough one because I think your point
is well taken. Dan, where at this point in the draft,
if you're building a franchise, you're you get a shot
at a franchise star with Polo and you're not that
Jamon Johnson. Isn't that right? So I think I would
take the shot of pollow and him advancing, you know,
getting to his ceiling based on those parameters, just because,
like like Grant said, we all agree that the ceiling
is higher, and if I'm starting a franchise, I want
a star and he might not be there yet, but
that's that is that's what you have to take a
shot on. So I think that's that's where I plant
my flag. But Brian's argument is is you know, totally valid.
Speaker 1: I think it's s us.
Speaker 2: By the way, as a segue to Grant's you thought
I couldn't get one in as a segue to Grant's pick,
this isn't even specific to Polo. For me, I would
have taken who Grant is about to choose before jail
like that. I think I'm having trouble wrapping my head
around the jail and Johnson of it all more than
the I understand the concerns about Polo, but if it
wasn't going to be Polo, why wasn't it some of
these other guys that were about to discuss?
Speaker 3: He is going to remind you when Jalen Johnson is
all NBA this year. I want this podcast to come
back to haunt you.
Speaker 4: It will be noted. So this is where the heist
really starts. Guys, I think so had I don't know
what I would have. Jalen Johnson was off the board,
so I didn't really have to think that seriously about
him here. But like I said, if Polo were still there,
I think I would have gone Scottie Barnes. There is
there is some recency here because he I mean, the
Raptors are way better than we expect this season. How
much should that matter? He seems like a lock to
make an all defensive team so far? How much should
that matter? But he's been a good defender for his
whole career. I pulled some of the stats up just
to do some cherry picking for the write up for
this exercise, and he's just like, whether you want to
sort it by this, many players in this pool have
averaged a block and a steal, or have averaged five
rebounds on five assists. Like it's just like him and Wimby,
or like him and one other guy most of the time.
So the versatility was huge here. I'm not going to
sit here and make the case he can be a
number one offensive option. I just don't unless unless his
absolute apex to this point in his career as a
shooter is just the baseline going forward. We could talk
about it then, but he's not there. I just think
if he's your second best player, you're a pretty good team.
I think at this at this stage and that was
kind of enough there. Didn't really think about anybody after
him all that hard. So yeah, I don't know, I
don't need to belabor it. I thought I thought he
was just the most well rounded, the best value here
of anybody that was left.
Speaker 2: I think is this the most obvious, one of the
most obvious, aside from since Wemby at number one? Is
this the most obvious selection based relative who's on the moor?
Speaker 4: I feel like you're diminishing the wisdom of this. I think,
did you mean to say inspired?
Speaker 2: Yeah, because I'm looking at the players to come and
BK had the next pick, right, Yeah, So we moved
to number fourteen, and it's I really like Franz Wagner
and maybe there are some matters, maybe there's a Franz
Wagner person out there. It's at all I would take
in Franz over I just don't know. I definitely would
have been prepared to make that argument. Does anyone have
any thoughts about BK taking Franz Wagner at number fourteen
based off players to come?
Speaker 4: I think it's a totally defensible pick. I didn't take.
I didn't think about him, just because I still don't
think the shooting is good enough and for the type
of player he is, that that was kind of a
deal breaker for me.
Speaker 2: Brian, where do you land on the Franz or Pallo discussion?
If you're the magic or do you think that he
is more valuable to their long term than Paolo.
Speaker 3: I mean, it comes down to the shooting. Like last
year was just so bad from him, and now this
year he's starting to look better again. So if that
is sustainable, I don't know. I mean, I think it's
a question that they need to answer. Like I hate
to go back to the you know, do you need
to break up Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown thing with
Boston because I think that that was sillier and obviously
they didn't, but those guys were both more well rounded
than Paolo and Franz. Like, I think we actually might
reach a point, especially based on where Orlando is financially
in the wake of the Desmond main trade, where they
might have to make that decision at some point. Probably
wouldn't happen for another year or two at least, but
I don't think it's a completely unreasonable thing to ask.
I'll say, the only other guy I would have considered
that fourteen is who Jay took it fifteen, So we
can go there.
Speaker 2: Well, can we point out the poetism poeticism of Franz
Wagner going to the Bulls in this draft when they
traded away that picked.
Speaker 3: Hey but has panned out well for them. Lots of playoffs, playing, playing, tournament.
Speaker 2: Success, life lifeline, that extension is going to hit like
Cocaine Jay.
Speaker 1: Can you take us through who you picked at number
fifteen and where they went?
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, for the Atlanta Hawks, we selected Austin Reeves.
Speaking of guys who you know own the NBA for
a short stretch this season, I mean, he's dropping like
insane scoring games, taking over la I just like I
think I picked this up from one of your redrafts stories, Dan,
But just the number is his numbers over the last
three years without stuff ours, without a D, without Luca,
without Lebron he he he has a He runs a
top ten offense in that time frame, So I mean
just the last couple of years alone. He probably warn't
a spot here in the middle of this draft, but
his growth this year is like, frankly unexpected at least
from me. And I mean the fact that he's scoring
as much as he doesn't and he can be that
like main option for short stretches just kind of I
was happy to get him here. I jumped right on him.
So fun, fun guy to have on the team too.
Speaker 2: Would am I the only one who would have taken
m a memo ball by now or is it we'll
get there?
Speaker 4: I mean reason is the only undrafted Uh? Is he
only undrafted guy to get picked here?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 4: Right?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah?
Speaker 3: And it wasn't even close. There was like Nazi Marshall
I think was the only other one. Jose Alvarado.
Speaker 1: Keep naming form Repelicans.
Speaker 3: Future Pelican Ellis.
Speaker 4: I don't have I don't have an issue with this pick.
It's just like it comes down to do you think
reeves numbers without stars are sustainable, like on a team
where there it's not just the stars aren't playing, it's
like they're just arn't any and he is the guy
all the time like that, which like I don't know
why you would doubt that, given it's been several years
of him kind of doing this, and especially what he's
done this year. I wonder if they'll be, well this
he's a Laker, so there probably won't be that much pushback,
but like, well, no, I was gonna I don't think
I think it's justifiable, oh.
Speaker 1: For for sure.
Speaker 2: And also initially I think it helped his profile that
he was on the Lakers, but now I think people
outside of LA have your probably to overcompensate for people
near La who are like trumpeting up Austin Reeves is
this next big thing? And I think we you maybe is.
I don't know if it's a point for him or
against him. If you're doubting whether he can do stuff
as the primary guy, it's almost easier based off the
stuff he does the best now to fit him in
as the primary guy and trust him less as a
secondary guy because he's not going to give you a
ton defensively. And so unless you're if your primary guy
is Luca, those two can actually work together on offense.
It's well, how do you build out the defense around them?
And so if Austin Reeves is just your focal point
of the offense, it becomes a little bit easier to
build out your your defense rather than focusing on our
top one and two options aren't going to be the
best defender.
Speaker 1: So I think it's a completely defensible pick. I'm just
LaMelo ball. Pilled is all, Well, well, Jay's.
Speaker 4: Got another one here that also is not LaMelo ball.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so I think, well, let me first reveal a pick.
So I went with Desmond Baine for the Okay, see thunder,
But so to speak to LaMelo a little bit.
Speaker 1: I just.
Speaker 5: Going to this exercise. Last year I passed on for
similar reasons. It's just LaMelo is sort of unserious. He
just doesn't Basketball doesn't seem like his main priority. And
I think in the long term with guys like that,
I just I don't want to commit my franchise to
somebody who is at that sort of approach of the game.
I think that like, his talent is there, but it's
not so transcendent that I want to deal with that
sort of mentality. So I took the safer pick. Even
though you know Bain is kind of struggling in his
transition to Orlando so far. I think, you know, it's
been a short stretch, and like I said before, I'm
trying not to be a prisoner of this fifteen game stretch.
He's a forty three point shooter. You know, he's going
to plug in, he defend well, He's not going to
be a franchise star. LaMelo, in his best scenario, can
be that. But I think it's a very very outside
shot and I'm not willing to bet on it.
Speaker 4: And that's not even factoring in the health stuff for Lamebelo,
which is okay, I drafted Terry's Halburton, so.
Speaker 2: We are here.
Speaker 4: We don't have me saying this, yeah, but uh, I
mean that had that had to have been for me,
that would because it's not Alburton. I will consider injuries,
I think.
Speaker 2: Just for the stage of the draft rat if the
injuries are I don't think he's ever going to be healthy.
Speaker 1: That, Like Grants, that would have been a bigger packer
for me.
Speaker 2: If you're at sixteen and you're building a franchise from scratch,
I'm gonna just take the guy that I think even
has the to Darryl Moriot a five percent chance of
turning into a franchise player. Where Baine feels like he'll
top out, he's a he's an infinitely scalable number two.
But that does kind of feel like Jay said, where
he'll top out.
Speaker 4: Well, I mean you took Paolo, so you you got a.
Speaker 2: Type, the healthy one.
Speaker 4: So I'm like you, well so, and Brian's not here.
But Bryant did take LaMelo Ball with the next pick
at seventeen for the Lakers.
Speaker 2: And Steel like automatically the steal of the draft, right,
I mean.
Speaker 4: You gotta do it, like just for the reason you
said it is like we're starting a franchise. We're now
into these guys are all starters that are still gonna
come off the board here. But like there is that
slim chance that if he is healthy and he does
get more serious and you put a real team around him,
LaMelo could be the best player on a team that excels,
like right, like in ways that I mean, there's I'm
looking at down the list, there's a couple guys you
might still squint and see that with, but he's the
last like obvious one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, pacomb Doattier would have been the move. Yeah, So
can I actually ask LaMelo Ball? I'm genuinely asking because
now I've heard it twice and I've heard it about
what is like what is the evidence that LaMelo Ball
doesn't take basketball seriously?
Speaker 1: Like what are we basing?
Speaker 2: Is it because he got a speeding ticket three years
ago or something? Because well, I think some of that's unfair.
Speaker 4: I think he just shot selection like the one legged
stuff like if you're making that at forty percent, keep
it up or but like he just isn't, And I
think some of it is unfair. But the speeding ticket,
just like his persona, the general like silliness. You do
see riot ups where it's like his teammates love him
because he is like loose and like a fun guy.
It does feel old manny, but I am one, So
I'll just say, like, what's what is the track record
of a guy with his personality and his like again
unseerious approach becoming the player we think he might be too,
you know, like top option leader of a great team.
Like I don't know, there's not a lot of precedent.
I guess I would say for someone like him reaching
the level he would.
Speaker 3: Need to reach, I feel like with him it's a
chicken or the egg thing, like is he playing on
serious basketball and that's why the Hornets suck? Or do
the Hornets suck and that's why he's playing on serious basketball?
Like is he a good, good stats, bad team guy
and if he goes to a good team he can't
contribute meaningfully to winning? Or is he just like his
style of play will preclude him from meaningfully contributing to winning.
And I think six or five plus years into his
NBA career, we still don't have an answer to that question,
which is but it's not start.
Speaker 2: It's not on the same scale as Zach Lavine to
where he's played because with the Hornets, it's there's the
unseerious version of the Hornets and then there's Okay, they're
starting to get more serious. But and LaMelo is a
part of this problem, which I think should impact his value.
He's not healthy or Brendan Miller's not healthy, and so
they finally give LaMelo spacing and he's back now as
we're recording this. But this is kind of the once
Brendan I was looking forward to this season to questions
for me, where Ken LaMelo stay healthy?
Speaker 1: So far that's not looking great.
Speaker 2: And then the second question was what does he look
like around actual spacing where it feels like there is
more of an ecosystem for him to operate in, because
I would have more questions about how does he scale
back his game or adapt his game when the Hornets
are built to and now that Konk Nipple's there doing
what he's doing, the centers have overachieved in Charlotte' seaon
James is just the defensive monster. I'm hoping they can
string together because we need a verdict on LaMelo. But
like that that could be part of impacting his value too,
is we just don't know, and by this point we should.
Speaker 4: A couple things. Looking down the list here of the
top thirty guys, I think you could make the case
that other than Ill just he's coming later. It doesn't matter,
I'll spoil it Alex Sar other than him, LaMelo is
like the only guy that has not played in what
you would term like a relevant stretch of NBA basketball
in his career, right like Charlotte has been bad the
whole time he's been there, and so like the second
the related point I would make with that is that he,
more than anybody full stop on this list, is needs
to be like observed in a different environment, because if
he goes to another team and it's we got all
the same stuff, then okay, it's the it's the chicken,
I guess in the chicken or egg analogy, And if
he goes somewhere else and it works and it's different,
like okay, now we know, but he's unique almost other
than Sar maybe who who's got like half the track
record if that a third maybe career wise, like we
just we've never seen him play meaningful basketball, So like,
how how do you, how do you make judgments on him?
That's that's why he fell, I think ultimately, because this
seems this will seem really low to a lot of people.
Speaker 2: Do you assign any value to when you look at, Oh,
the offense with him on the floor during these years
has been decidedly above average, and you look at the
person now that he's I don't want to say dragging
all the time, but because I can't get that out
of my.
Speaker 1: Head, maybe just being stubborn.
Speaker 4: Well, all that stuff cuts both ways too, because like
it's decidedly better, it's above average, but okay, if he's
this offensive centerpiece that like, I don't think you'd say
the offenses have been objectively great. But then like you've
always you've been right to cite all the time, like
the level of shooting talent around him has been abysmal
for almost his entire career and especially lately. So a
guy like him with no shooting around him, that's just
like you're taking away all these weapons that he could
utilize and look a lot better along. I don't know,
he's definitely someone we should have spent time talking about
because again like seventeenth, seventeenth and you know, and he's
been an All Star like that.
Speaker 2: I don't remember where I took I think I was
the one who took him last year. I don't remember
where I took him. I'll have to go double check
that and see what it was. Bka also had the
next pick at number eighteen of the mesto.
Speaker 4: Oh no, this is you, ran right, this is me,
And I will say I surprised myself a little bit.
Didn't talk about prisoner at the moment, so I was good.
Speaker 2: Grant, it's either they have to be injured or recency biases.
Speaker 4: Here's the thing. So I've made it a point that
like I would like someone that's gonna help my team win,
and the Pistons have won a lot, and it is
all It's not all kid Cunningham during there's well the
next guy that comes off the board, you break my
heart with Dan and I really almost took him. Kind
of wish I did. Uh. But the most improved conversation
Jalen Duran is like, way up there. He's a plus
offensive player that has added he can just take his
guy off the dribble from the top of the arc,
which is not common for a center. His pick and
roll defense is good now. He's a huge part of
the reason the Piston just dominate the paint on both ends.
He's a conventional center though in many respects, which is like,
you're not going to use him to switch, You're not
going to space the floor with him. He's also like
just I think he's twenty two and he's taken this
leap now, so I think he's gonna finish this season
as like a top five center and maybe better than that.
And if you were putting together all NBA teams, you'd
be talking about him right now because he's an ended
that needs to hold up and the Pistons need to
keep winning, and he needs to keep mattering. But given
his youth and just the strides that he's made year
over year, now I just kind of couldn't leave him
on the board anymore. But the guy you take next
Dan is the one that I've it's gonna haunt me.
Speaker 2: So at nineteen I went with Denny Avdia, which is
just he's still kind of young, but not someone that
you would expect to He's the past three years, the
season over in season improvement has been Insaney. We're kind
of reaching the point where you don't get to say anymore, Well,
he's just not at this level. It's not going to
be sustainable campy for a good team. He's basically actually
like twenty five plus five plus, Like those twenty five
and five seasons still matter.
Speaker 1: He'll give you really impactful defense.
Speaker 2: And I think again, I kept han't remind myself that
we were starting a team from scratch. I feel like
if you were starting a team around Jalen Duran, just
to bring it back to the other I don't know
what you're ceiling is with Jalen Duran. As you're it's
easier to fit the perimeter parts around him. Then you
have to think, oh, Denny Avdio needs the ball in
his hands or you want to put the ball on
Denny obvious hands most of the time. So I guess
it makes it easier from that sense. But Jalen Duran
feels a little like straight to DVD bam Adabaio for me.
And we wouldn't build around bam Adebayo as our best player.
Speaker 4: Well yeah, yeah, no, I have no pushback. I think ida.
I guess if I had to make a case, I
would just say that I think Duran might be a
massive part of why your team is like very difficult
to deal with on both ends. At the center spot
might be someone it's Isaiah Stewart's doing a lot of
the lifting defensively, But like, I think you could we're
getting to the point where you could say you can
build a top ten defense around Duran in the middle.
Avdia as his offense has scaled up so much, I
don't think he's quite the same level of defender he's,
which is like, what are you gonna do? He can,
He's only got so many calories to burn. But yeah, offensively,
Avidya is just like he's just a better player. He's
he seems like he might be a true first option wing,
which is like kind of what he looked like at
the end of last year, which makes you think it's
pretty real. So yeah, I I I should have flipped
the coin and just taken Ovdia.
Speaker 1: We're on to pick number twenty. Memphis.
Speaker 2: There was a Memphis Grizzlies who went there, mister Taborik
who went to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Speaker 3: I'll be honest, I was just that you took Denny.
So I was scrambling here. So this guy, I'm I'm
interested to see if or how the perception changes of
him in the coming years, because I took Josh Giddy
and I can already hear Grizzlies fans screaming like about
his reputation from the playoff from a couple years ago
when he was got completely played off the floor against Dallas.
You know, I will say this, like, obviously there's this
perception because they traded Okay, so he traded him just
for Alice Caruso, did not get picked back, just a
straight up trade, and I Thunder immediately won the title.
And now you know, that's just a punchline more for
the Bulls than for Giddy. But like, Giddy is part
of that, so I think that's going to be baked
into the perception of him overall. But since they traded
Zach Olvine. After they traded Zach Lavine last year, he
played I believe twenty five games, averaged about twenty points,
nine and a half rebounds, eight assists, shot forty five
percent from three point range, almost fifty percent from the field.
This year, he's averaging twenty ten and almost ten, shooting
forty six percent overall thirty nine percent from three point range.
So if the three point shot is real, and we're
operating in a now thirty nine game sample size, so
I'm not saying that it is. But if this progression
that he's shown from three point range is real, I
think that does raise the ceiling on Josh Giddy more
than the national perception of him might suggest at the moment. So,
you know, I don't know that he's a number one
guy on a title team. I don't think he's the
number one guy on the title team, but I mean,
he is a big part of why the Bulls have
gotten off to a surprisingly good start this year. And
you know, I looked at the other guys in this range.
There are a couple of guys I was tempted by
that I think probably have a higher long term ceiling,
a few of whom went like significantly later than Giddy.
But I don't know. I mean, I'm I'm intrigued by
what he's shown post Lavine trade last year and then
in the early going this year enough that like, you know,
he's been in the NBA for this is his fifth season,
but he also just turned twenty three, Like he's still
really young and has a chance to continue growing.
Speaker 2: This would have been tough. I get everything you're saying,
but it also if.
Speaker 1: You are could you make the case and I guess
you kind of did.
Speaker 2: If you are building from scratch, it makes even more
sense to go with someone like Giddy because his limitations
are best worked around by making him the central focus
of what you're doing.
Speaker 3: Right. Yeah, I mean like it's similar in a way
to the polo problem, where you do have to the
build a very certain way around him. But yeah, like
if you know he's going to be your centerpiece moving forward,
then you can target the exact type the archetypes that
you need instead of having to force him into you know,
I think he just had no chance in Okay because
he needs to be the primary playmaker, have the ball
in his hands, and obviously they have shake coaches Alexander.
It was just never going to happen for him there.
But seeing what he's been able to do in this
role makes you think, like, oh, okay, there is a
reason they took him number six overall in twenty one.
He's showing the upside that he had coming into the draft.
It just took a couple of years for him to
get there.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think you're right to have questions about like
viability and like a championship team or like he might
run into the same stuff where he gets played off
the floor in the playoff type of thing. Should the
Bulls get there? But also like, he's probably an All
Star right now, and if you want to really simplify it,
I don't think anybody coming off the board after him
is this if you had the All Star voting happen now,
would be anywhere close to that. So like, and given
his youth, that's not just like, well he's not some
he's thirty and he just happens to be playing better.
It's like he's really young and he's reached this level.
I'm not a giddy guy, but I think that's just
the right pick at this point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, are you trying to say you don't emote or
that you're not a fan of Johnson.
Speaker 4: Both?
Speaker 2: You also had pick number twenty one, mister Taporak going
to the Dallas Mavericks.
Speaker 1: Who did you select?
Speaker 3: I did? I took Trey Murphy the third here, And
this is really just me trying to get Trey Murphy
his own team. We've seen this whenever Zion is not
playing and Trey Murphy is I feel like the Pelicans
have had to be dragged into featuring him as a
number one option, and they still haven't really committed to
the bit in the way that they should. But Trey
Murphy is one of the highest volume, most accurate three
point shooters at his position over the past few years.
I mean, over the past three years, averaging eight attempts
from three per night, shooting thirty seven percent overall. Like
every team wants that type of a player, a hey volume,
high efficiency forward and so like that alone is tempting,
But I also just think he's got a higher ceiling
if they actually was on his own team and it
was featured as a number one or number two guys.
The Pelicans have just been built so strangely over the
last few years that we haven't quite seen the ceiling.
So this is just me betting on I believe there's
more more untapped upside in Trey Murphy, even though I
mean he's older. He's twenty five, turned twenty five in June,
so he's older than a lot of guys coming off
the board. So like some of the guys after him
probably have a higher ceiling as well. But I don't know.
I just I really I like him a lot. I
think he's got a chance to be something special if
he's not playing on one of the most dysfunctional teams
in the NBA.
Speaker 1: I don't know, it's tough to imagine.
Speaker 2: I don't know what his ceiling would be as just
your primary guy.
Speaker 1: We've really never even seen it.
Speaker 2: And even now, to your point, it's if the ion
is gonna be healthier Derek Queen is there, they're probably
gonna want to run more stuff through Derek Queen. I
just have I don't hate the pick. I just have
trouble in envisioning it because we haven't seen it.
Speaker 4: I mean, isn't in some ways the fact that the
Pelicans don't think it's a good idea to use him
that way, doesn't that like suggest that it is in
fact a good idea. They've decided we can't try this,
and like their decisions don't work, so by default he
should be Yeah. I don't know either, But like I also, Brian,
so your point, like, it's not just eight three is
a game. It's he shoots him super deep, he can
shoot him off the move, and he's not like I
don't know, he's not Kyle Korver where if you close
out and run him off the line problem solved. It's like,
oh god, we're all getting dunked on now, Like he's
that just speaks to like maybe they should explore what
like more. Trey Murphy looks like, I think that's right, Dan,
Do you want to get real on brand in a second?
Speaker 2: Here, I have the next pick, and I think in
this skill of the draft, we should probably term this one.
I went with Reed Shepherd to the Philadelphia seventy six
ers at number twenty two. This is when we're talking
about where we're at in this exercise this right now. No,
Reed Shepherd's not going to make an All Star game,
but he's shooting over forty eight percent from three. He's
developed a nice chemistry with Alpern, Shannggoon, Shony could move
away from the ball. Shony has done a bunch of
stuff on the ball. He's shooting over forty five percent
on self created threes. Yes, he's not a starter, so
he is getting some lineup bumps there, and the fact
that you're not the primary option helps him. But that's
also kind of his appeal to me, is you like
guys who could toggle.
Speaker 1: Between two existences.
Speaker 2: He is, you know, Grant and I coming out of
his draft class, that thought, oh, this is someone who's
not gonna submarine your defense either, and in what very
little action we saw from him, even during Summer League,
you kind of started to question. But he's hands, he'll
get some steals. There's a lot of guys around him
to insulate him. But give me, at this point, I
could envision him. No, is it the most likely outcome.
Speaker 1: I don't.
Speaker 2: I mean, yes, it is the most like the outcome
because it's all NBA teams, But I'm going to look
for someone who I think can hit that ceiling. And
I think at this point, you know, I I thought
about him when I took Denny Avdia a few picks ago,
because I'm just I want to bet on that, because
Denny Avia is probably not going to make multiple ll
MBA teams if we're being honest read Shepherd. It's the
mystery box element. You could say, well, it's the odds
are against him doing that as well. But so I
even think this is late for him. I kind of
had I loved Denny Avvida, but I'm kind of thinking
I should have made a point and taken Read Shepherd there.
Speaker 4: I mean at this point in the draft, I think
as I look down at I think we're all a
little risk averse because we didn't really pull the trigger
on you know, guys with as little experience as Shepherd
and as much upside as Maybe I'm telling on myself
with my next pick, but I do redeem myself even later.
It's just like Shepherd's sort of an exceptional case because
he had such, you know, really high pre draft billing
as far as his ceiling. But I think I think
just going with potential, even especially when you've seen glimpses
of like what that might look like this year, is
a pretty good way to go. Because like my next guy,
maybe we should just put him up now. I take
Jalen Suggs next for the Knicks, and like, man, that's
a boring pick compared to Read Shepherd, but like and
the justification is he's you on the short list and
some people would say the best defensive guard in the
league if you think Aman Thompson is not a guard
and has had a season one season injuries or factor
there too. Staying on brand for me where he shot
almost forty percent from three plays, super hard like, seems
like he's going to be on winning teams a lot,
assuming he's healthy. But like, what's the Jalen Suggs upside?
We may have actually already seen his best season and
it was two years ago. Compared to Sheppard, that's a
lot less exciting.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I I like the pick, but I'm
I don't know, I'm intrigued to see what he becomes.
I'm just intrigued to see how the magic shakeout in general.
So you know, it feels like he he's another guy.
If he has more of an offensive ceiling that we
haven't seen yet, this is going to look like a
great pick. I mean, it's kind of a a lowercase
version of Tom and Thompson where I don't think he's
got the same type of ceiling as Ammen. But you know,
defense alone, like point of attack defense is so important
in the NBA, and you're getting one of the better
ones in the league. And now, I mean this year
he is shooting a career high like fifty two from three.
Speaker 4: So there's totally sustainable.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there there's a room for growth.
Speaker 2: There's the dials all go to eleven element to him tho,
where I kind of understand where it's Look, it's uninspiring
because he's following me selecting what if Steph Curry could
make all defense and so that's really just eclipses value
of his I understand where he's coming from.
Speaker 4: It's hard, it's hard to look good after that. Yeah,
I mean, I think I said all I want to
say about Segs. We need we kind of need to
get to. Uh, he's not here to defend himself, so
let's let's get to This is.
Speaker 1: In fact why he is not on the podcast.
Speaker 4: He knew Peyton Pritchard of twenty four to the Cavs.
Here's the thing. I do think Peyton Pritcheart is a
starting caliber NBA player, you know, just hasn't really been
in position to do that on some very good Celtics teams.
That's that's all. Great shooter, great shooter. Like I mean, look,
how different is he really Dann from Read Shepherd? If
we're going to be honest, Oh, I'm just I'm just
really trying to bother you.
Speaker 2: I don't actually who do who do you trust more
to shoot off the dribble?
Speaker 1: Read Shepherd or Peyton Pritchard?
Speaker 4: How far away from the basket?
Speaker 2: Are we look Peyton Pritchard is the like to read
Shepherd is like Kyrie Irving to Steph Curry is just
exceedingly valuable players.
Speaker 1: But reacheppers in his own you know, goat class there.
Speaker 4: Also, how old is Presser does it?
Speaker 5: He's sneaky old twenty seven. He kind of is what
he is at this point right like this. He's a
nice Ancelello piece for the Celtics, one sixth Man of
the Year last year. But kind of we're at the
point of the draft where you're taking some swings and
even you know, you could probably get a better real
life pick at this point too. But if we're talking
about upside, there really isn't much left with Pritchard, so
I I I probably would have passed on him. Dan
has convinced me to swing for the swing for the
fences with you know, talent, and I think I had
we had this conversation before we did the actual draft,
I probably would have considered that a little bit more.
But I think by the end of the draft here
we are all kind of shifting our mindsets a little
bit to swing for upside, and that's kind of what
I would have done a little bit And which that's
what you do. I did do for the Warriors at
twenty five. I was hoping this guy would fall to
me Stefan Castle, I guess earlier in the draft I
was trying to be resistant to like early play with
Mobile and Bane to some extent. But this guy has
had a before his injury knocked him out for a
short period, has had a great start to the season.
He's actually kind of become more Stefan Castle than he like,
he's just leaned into everything he's his his strength have
come out even more and his weaknesses have come out
even more. He's he hasn't quite improved his his bugaboo.
His one knock on him is that he needs a
he needs a long range shot and that hasn't shown
up yet, right, But everything else he does well has
been there. His scoring is up. His he's been a
better playmaker. He's been better, I mean, he's been as
good defensively his his overall shooting is better, but that's
because he's just been you know, that's all been inside
the arc. So like his one thing we need from
him is is long range shooting. And his turnovers are
still like they're kind of out of whack this early.
I don't expect to stay over four per game, but
that's where it is right now. But I think just
the upside is there. He can probably be your Robin
to somebody's Wemby, so that somebody's Batman Wemby. But yeah,
I was excited to get here. I would have considered
him earlier in the draft. And you know, I mean
I I the two guys I was hoping for in
these two slots were Shepherd and Castle. Obviously you sniped
me on on Shepherd, but I was happy to get
Castle down here at twenty five.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, like, I do you think, I guess
you sort of answered it. But like let's say you
let's say you knew he was gonna shoot it like
this going forward? Is he still someone you would pick here?
Because I almost would, just like he's so good at
every he's so good at everything else. It certainly the
shot is worth the weight, right, like it's worth gambling.
But do you do you feel like you need that
to be a given to take him here?
Speaker 5: I mean, I think it's still I think in this
range and given the players going around him, I'd still
take him. But like I said, his ceiling goes exponentially
off if he does get that. I mean his aggressiveness
at the rim, I mean just his his base. He's
got such a strong baseline with everything else that he
does well that I think you're he's got a decent
floor anyway. So yeah, I would take him here the
ringing repeat of the year. I forgot to mention here,
considering who's going around him.
Speaker 1: He did.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's I think at this stage too, you could
even make I know you talked about betting on upside
being important, but in a real draft, if we weren't
building from scratch, you like to get a player who
would even have like, oh, second third best player on
a title contender at twenty five is just objectively good value. Jay,
you had picked twenty six with the LA Clippers. Who
did you take for them? And did you select carbon credits?
Speaker 5: Oh? I was waiting for I was waiting for that
some sort of dig, but no, I kind of went
somewhat of a safe route. I think we're in a
similar situation here where you know you got I took
Jaden McDaniels for the Clippers. He's a guy with you know,
he's got such a solid baseline, he was all defense
once I believe a second team great in transition, great
in transition. He just you know, he just doesn't have
the three point shot yet. But this year he's starting
to show that he's putting a lot of work over
the offseason on his handles, and you know, he's his
three point shot is look to be improved in the
early If that sticks, he can be one of the
better two way wings in the NBA. And I think, like,
like I said, at this stage, that's I'm happy with
that getting that down here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's It does feel like a safe pick.
But at the point in the draft, and especially you
know you mentioned the improved handle, the stretch he had
Rampy Edwards wasn't playing was kind of absurd, and so
that would be I think, yeah, there's players that you
could bet on from here, and some of us do, oh,
they have the better potential to become a star. But
if you were saying, hey, I'm gonna get my second
or third best guy and then work my way back
from there in free agency or trades or whatever, I
get the logic of where this was coming. Like, he's
just the proof of concept with him is is huge,
I think too.
Speaker 4: Like we've talked several times with different picks for different
reasons about like, well, you're gonna run into Jason Tatum
or you're gonna run into who Like Jane McDaniels is
one hundred percent someone you need to get through a
playoff gauntlete just because he's the guy you would just
throw on you name Star Wing or Combo forward X.
Like again, it's a different approach, but like, you know,
it's good. Contrast with Castle, who's like the value is
more speculative, but McDaniels is like, yeah, I could absolutely.
He is someone that will be on the floor in
Game seven of the finals, and like you don't, You're like,
because he has to be, so I mean that's I
don't know how much better you're gonna do this.
Speaker 2: Late in the draft, we move on to pick number
twenty seven, which was the Phoenix Suns. This was a
BK pick correct, Yes, yeah, Shadon Sharp be get backstory here. Bryant,
despite many think he might be a Celtics fan at
this point, having he does root for the Portland Trailblazers.
I will say this surprised me a little bit because
I have no idea what.
Speaker 1: Shade and sharp ceiling is supposed to be anymore.
Speaker 4: Maybe that's the argument. It's just because just athletically, he's
don't know what percentile you'd put him in. It's single
digits in the NBA. Just think maybe maybe the creation
gets better. I think if we're gonna if we're gonna
concede like this is, we're also in this speculative portion here,
Like I don't know, I could imagine him becoming just
like a spectacular offensive player, but I could also imagine
him being kind of Jalen Green for forever. So I
don't know, I don't I don't know where you go
with that.
Speaker 1: How do you two?
Speaker 2: If you're Brian Jay, you have any thoughts about the
would either of you have taken Shane and Sharp here?
Speaker 3: He was not on my board in the top thirty,
but I like after really the top twenty two twenty
three ish, Like, there are just so many guys in
this range that I think you can make an argument for,
and there got a bunch of guys went undrafted.
Speaker 4: They talk about those at the end for sure.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so like it's hard for me to poke too
many holes in any of these picks at the end,
because yeah, there are a bunch of guys that I
think you can make a case for, and it really
just comes down the personal preference at that point. But mean,
Shane Sharp wasn't looking really good this season before you
got hurt?
Speaker 1: Yep, Grant, isn't it twenty eight for the Milwaukee Bucks?
Who did you?
Speaker 4: Yeah? Just, I mean sar has looked markedly better in
a lot of key ways. They see Alex argoes to
the Bucks at twenty eight, I should say the three
point shooting might be real. Uh, he's a super mobile
big doesn't have great hands, but even those are better.
I could just see him being you know, give him
two three more years a seasoning and he's like an
all defensive caliber big guy that can space the floor
and make plays off the dribble. I mean, maybe the
Wizards will be good enough by then for that stuff
to matter. Maybe not, But I just I just took
a took a flyer on someone. I think his upside
is pretty, you know, pretty darn high. It just again,
we need to see him in like a winning environment
to get a real sense of it. But this was
a hard pick because there's a half dozen guys, I
think you could justify taking here, and I you know,
it was stars extent. It was just a chance Stars.
Speaker 2: Interesting though, because if you really leaned into the unknown
quantity of it, all, you could have justified taking him
before LaMelo or something. Is that I'm gonna just I'm
gonna swing that this guy is the number one type
cornerstone because of what he could do defensively and as
you mentioned, all the stuff he's able to do offensively
even if he's still not that that physical presence there.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's just the wizards of it all makes it
so hard too. It's just like he's not played a
real basketball game yet, so I don't I know, nobody
has taken him seriously on a scouting report, Nobody Like,
I don't know how you factor all that stuff in
just the the physical tools, or you go and yeah,
it's vibes. It's vibes and physical tools. That's all the
next guy, you keep doing this the next I really
thought hard about the next guy too.
Speaker 2: So I took Jabari Smith Junior at number twenty nine
for the Denver Nuggets. This is one of those picks
where I feel like I could and I'm I'm not
being an asshole. Now, I feel like I could look
like a genius or a moron if we just fast forwards,
like one or two years down the line. I think
he's underrated defensively the fact that he has played so
many different positions on defense so far, and maybe you
look at it and say, well, they've done a lot
of that because you don't trust him as a five. Sure,
but I think a lot of teams would play Jabari
Smith Junior a ton or more at the five than
we've seen in Houston. The offense is I think the
handle can be.
Speaker 1: Good enough to at least attack closeouts, whether he follows
all the way through on those drives.
Speaker 2: Do you trust him working from the mid range, whether
it's dribbling into it or from a standstill.
Speaker 1: That's where it gets murky.
Speaker 2: But this is just he's been what the third option
ever since he arrived or lower because he's lower now
ever since he arrived in Houston, And so you're trying
to extrapolate from that.
Speaker 1: It's dangerous, but just give me as of.
Speaker 2: Right now, he spaces the floor and can be awesome
and versatile on the defensive end, and so I will
take that at number twenty nine. Yeah, final pick, mister Taporak,
the Boston Celtics.
Speaker 1: Jay's Boston Celtics. Who did you give them?
Speaker 3: Well, they are just so desperate for a center right
now that I went with Ka Conglu, which again, like this, Dan,
I feel the very same way you do about this
Jabari Smith pick that could look like a genius or
just a total idiot with this one, because Brandon Miller
was the other guy I seriously considered here. We just
haven't seen enough of him with the injury last year
in particular, But I know he's back now. He missed
a good chunk of time already this year as well,
so like in a year, if he stays healthy, Brandon
Miller is obviously going to be the pick here. But
I you know, I when someone gets to that banged
up this early in the career, he just have some
modicum of concern there a Conglu. Maybe this was Grant.
I might be subscribing to your recency bias because this
was shortly after the game that he hit eight threes. Yeah,
but I mean he's just added that to his game.
But like he didn't. He barely took any threes at
all his first three seasons, was a low volume the
last two, but was starting to shoot them. And now
this year he just came back into shooting five threes
a game to shooting almost forty one percent deep, you know,
not starting still a ton, but he was buried behind
Clint Capella for most of his early career and now
they have Chris Worzingis as well. You know, I think
he could be a starting center in the league. I
think you want a stretch five, so you know, ideally,
if you're like starting to build a roster, you want
your your center to be able to shoot threes if
you can build a team from scratch. And he's decent,
not not an elite rim protector, but it's fine on
that end of the floor. So I don't think he's
gonna be like a top option on offense, but I
think he gives you enough scoring wise, and I don't
have any major concerns about him on either end of
the floor. So at this spot, it felt it out
like a safe pick. But I mean definitely guys on
the board who have higher upside than him that you know,
in a year from now, I'm not sure he's going
to make the cut.
Speaker 4: Yeah, do you guys want to talk about some of
the guys that are still on the board, because you
mentioned one. Brandon Miller was just he was staring at
me for like three picks, and I was like, why
am I not doing this? I think he's the one
that if he could, And it was the same concern
you had of just like we've seen so little, like
how how can you take him? Does anybody else have
like an obvious I can't believe this guy's still on
the board? Dan, was there one that that you're surprised
nobody picked?
Speaker 1: Yeah, Patrick Williams is just sitting there.
Speaker 2: He I was a little surprised that no one went
the us R Thompson route and the judgment, So that
was another guy. I want to say, I'm collectively proud
for no one buying into the Dyson Daniel Sham I think.
Speaker 1: That was a very useful player.
Speaker 2: But we got ahead of our skis last season and
we've kind of just the spacing in Atlanta, they have
a floor spacing five on the court virtually at all times,
and his efficiency has been dog shit, and I just
I thought someone was I would have expected someone to
take him. He has that most improved player and again,
I think he's very good. But we assigned a lot
of value to someone who hadn't really played his first
two seasons and then all of a sudden turned out
to be a useful NBA player was billed as Oh,
but that's the danger in selecting most improved off of
virtually a non existent baseline.
Speaker 4: To me, yeah, I think any of the concerns you
would raise about either of the Thompson's or someone like
Castle or existing Daniels and are way more severe, like
like he can't, he's not like a good ball handler,
and he's a nominal point guard who also can't. I'm
not gonna he is. Like if you're if there's ten
guys that you would have thought about, maybe he's one
of them. But like, I never really seriously considered picking him.
I'm trying to think who else.
Speaker 2: Have been given consideration. Let's just call name Hawks current
Hawks players.
Speaker 4: I think there's like other guys in that class I
would have taken before. Resa say, like, don't you take Bozellos,
Keishawn George even you might take before.
Speaker 2: Look, I thought I didn't put this in my right up.
I really thought hard about Keishaw George was one of
my last two picks, but that was had I been,
you know, attending grant grant school of what's happened in
the past two weeks, I might have done that.
Speaker 4: But still accepting applicants.
Speaker 5: I will say going into this, I thought the twenty
four class was going to have the fewest players selected,
But it turns out twenty three only had two.
Speaker 4: Oh my god, that's.
Speaker 5: Right, Wemby and then and then twenty four had sa
Shepherd Castle. So I think if Miller had Miller had
getten selected, I did think about him too, but so
maybe they just did deserve a little bit more. But
it's kind of funny that they ended up being last
in this exercise, right.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean Thompson, I think, yeah, we mentioned Asar
Brandon Miller. You gotta go down pretty like Lively maybe
as someone give some thought to how may Hawks is
having a great start. I don't know if I would
have gone with him. Man, Yeah, that's George Toomani Kamara. Maybe, like,
if you really want to Galaxy, bring it. Walker Kessler
is not in the twenty three class, but I gave
him a quick look because he's hurt, and uh, let's yeah,
I don't know Jay and Ivy, probably not Keithan Murray.
Probably Keith and Murray. If he'd been healthy to start
the year, maybe we would have talked about him anybody else.
I just want to I want to appease all the
fan bases that are going to be mad that we
didn't take their their players.
Speaker 5: Christian Brown.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm.
Speaker 2: Maybe Christian Brown's a good because I think he could
have fallen in Jay took Jaye.
Speaker 1: McDaniel's right.
Speaker 2: He could have kind of fallen into that of you
know what you're getting and it's just this super high
end role player.
Speaker 1: So I think he could have That's that's a good
call out. King did.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Yeah, somewhere out there, there's a redraft of that class
where I think I took him like third. This was
quite a while ago, but uh yeah, I'd say we've
settled the Franz versus kaminga.
Speaker 1: Oh it's not it's not TBD. Still, yeah, I.
Speaker 4: Think I think the jury has returned a verdict. To
deliberately change the subject. Andrew Nimhard is way down there
in the twenty two class.
Speaker 2: Did you mention I feel bad I didn't take an
apologies if you mentioned him, But I just offensively.
Speaker 1: I couldn't bring myself to do a Blakol.
Speaker 4: Didn't mention him. Yeah, he's he's an upside play right,
like he's he fits into the Castle kind of. I
mean he hasn't produced like Castle, but yeah, I think
he's someone to definitely have considered.
Speaker 3: What about Jalen Green.
Speaker 4: Yeah about mentioned Shade Sharp as like a version of
Jalen Green, and Jalen Green's just sitting right there. He Yeah.
Speaker 2: Look, I mean he came back for a second and
looked pretty good. So if he had been playing that
way and never got injured, maybe he like forces his
way into the you know, the latter half of this discussion.
Speaker 4: I mean, like it's a stretch. But like Aaron Smith,
if we're taking guys like McDaniels and Suggs and stuff like.
Speaker 1: That, if you took contracts into consideration, Smith might have
made that one.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's the quintessential. I feel like he can do
more and he's never gonna do more.
Speaker 4: He's like quietly been topped out for like three years
and we're just still waiting. I mean, Isaiah Stewart's there.
You can make the case he's mattered more to the
Pistons than Durham, and I took Duran.
Speaker 1: I can't.
Speaker 2: I don't see anybody else that's would have been at
least yeah, I say they can let us know in
the comment, like to Cason Wallace.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Wallace on his next team, Yeah, right when he
gets one, just like Josh Kitty. I mean, there's it's
too crowded there. But they're gonna have to pick between
him and Caruso at some point. And if they pick,
they picked Caruso. Caason Willace is going to break up
so very quickly.
Speaker 2: Can we go one by one and we'll start with
I feel like we haven't heard enough from Jay. Were
there any like on both sides of the spectrum a
pick that you thought was particularly good value that was
made versus one that you were a little surprised by
that stands out? And if you don't have an answer,
because I'm just throwing this on everybody off the cuff,
that's fine too.
Speaker 5: I didn't have I mean, I think, honestly, I think
Aunt was pretty good value up at you know, whatever
he ended up going, because I expected him go second.
And I know that's probably a copo because it's such
top of the draft, but I mean, uh, beyond that,
like I was, like I said, I was super happy
to get Castle down low, but I really don't want
to call out my own pick. So but yeah, I
mean I guess I didn't really, uh you know, I
didn't really.
Speaker 1: I guess this question is mood because of the Peyton
Pritchard pick. There's just that's I'm trying not to.
Speaker 5: I'm trying to.
Speaker 2: Bryant did get one of the better value picks. I
think shang Gun at seven I thought was really good value.
Speaker 4: Yeah that's a good one. No, I mean, I'll just
my Haliburton pick. I'll just get out ahead of it,
like that's a potentially a wildly uh terrible pick. I think, Dan,
you're getting Avdia at nineteen. Just he was jumping off
the page. To me, if he is this, then he
should have gone seven eight spots earlier. I think, just
if this is the level he's going to be at, like,
what are we? What are we doing? How is he
down here in the Jalen dur and Josh Giddy.
Speaker 1: Range all right now? Now say good things about me?
Taking read Shepherd even after that, it's you stay.
Speaker 4: True to yourself. That's I mean, what else can we do.
Speaker 2: I'd like to commend Brian by making a divisive pick
at number one. Yea, I know you put a lot
of thought into that one, but you made the brave decision.
Speaker 5: Well.
Speaker 3: I liked you trying to find the contrarian take on that.
I appreciate.
Speaker 1: I couldn't. To be clear, I don't believe it.
Speaker 3: I was just right.
Speaker 1: What would be the case to not take him?
Speaker 3: And yeah, it's an interesting thought exercise, like how how
many injuries does he need to have before you're like,
I'm starting to get nervous.
Speaker 2: So many more unless the membership calls him home or
probably just in the bag until til the wheels fall off.
Speaker 4: I think what you might if, okay, injury is aside,
you could say, maybe Wemby doesn't become someone you build
the offense around, and like you just got to have
that at number one, and it's just like, also, maybe
he does, and then maybe the is so good that
it doesn't matter. It's I mean, it's he's number one.
There's just no scenario where he doesn't go number one.
Speaker 1: This is a lot of fun, though, guys, thanks for
bringing it to the table.
Speaker 2: It was agonizing in some instances when you got like
to certain picks, but it was a lot of fun overall.
We'll probably be doing this again at some point. I
imagine he's becoming an annual thing. But grant other than that,
as anyone has any other thoughts, are you ready just
to take us out of here?
Speaker 4: Yep? Thanks, thanks again, Jay, Thanks Brian, Thanks Bran Knox
with us in spirit today and you can't defend yourself,
so what a sport? Just everybody, please, thank thanks everybody
for listening, for watching. Remember rate review, subscribe, tell your friends,
tell your enemies, join our discord links for that YouTube
and podcast description. Until we draft again or otherwise come
speak to you. And we've closed with shouts to Franklin
Latina and apologize to Jared