2023 NBA Draft Megathread

[KqWIN]

He's interesting. I think Miller got a bit overhyped but I'd have zero problem taking him 5-7 range. My way too early actual top 10 is:

Wemby
Scoot
Amen
Cam Whitmore
Brandon Miller
Nick Smith Jr.
Anthony Black
GG Jackson
Ausar Thompson
Keyonte George

Prolly lower on Nick Smith than many. Its just the player type I guess.

I could see Miller being more of a late lottery pick and I could also see Clowney rising to a late lottery pick. Miller feels like a worse prospect version of Jabari Smith and Clowney might be similar to Sochan. I could see the intersection where Clowney actually gets selected ahead....but I'm starting to feel like if it's close at all you should take the true wing anyways.

I like Wemby, Scoot, and Amen as a solid top 3 in that order. I'm more skeptical about the group behind them, but I'd probably have Cam, Black, and then the rest right now.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

I did the math on it on a separate thread but don’t remember the exact picks. I think it was if we ended up with picks 8 and 9 pre-lottery there is like a 47% chance or so that one of those picks moves up in the top-4.

The cutoff from 9 to 10 is pretty significant.

20.2% of moving into the top-4 vs 13.9%.

It would be really nice if Minny hit a 5 game skid and kinda just didn't have the energy for this ******** anymore and combusted. I still think they end up 12/13ish after losing in the play in. I think we are a play in team still unless Ainge meddles. Even then I've all but given up on making it to 7/8 ish. To many meh teams and I think the Wiz, Bulls, or maybe the Heat decide to pack it in for the year cuz it aint working. With the Wiz it would be trading Beal, Bulls trading Derozan or Lavine, and Heat it would be if Jimmy or Bam got hurt long term.

We just need a super ****** run from the Wolves over these next 13 or so games. Maybe they will tap out mentally.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

I could see Miller being more of a late lottery pick and I could also see Clowney rising to a late lottery pick. Miller feels like a worse prospect version of Jabari Smith and Clowney might be similar to Sochan. I could see the intersection where Clowney actually gets selected ahead....but I'm starting to feel like if it's close at all you should take the true wing anyways.

I like Wemby, Scoot, and Amen as a solid top 3 in that order. I'm more skeptical about the group behind them, but I'd probably have Cam, Black, and then the rest right now.

With Miller iirc he was awesome in the mid range in HS. I can't see his player type doing that in college since its a cluster **** once you drive past the three point line. He might be PG with above average defense but not like PG's awesome defense. Will want to watch him... the Houston game was really disappointing.

I like the group from after the top 3 to about 11ish. Can talk myself into most of them. Not a fan of Dillon Mitchell but he likely goes outside that group. Would love to nab two guys from that group or one guy and a flier on Whitehead or Dick. Cam and Black are the guys I think with the most seamless fit and I like what they are doing.

 

[KqWIN]

With Miller iirc he was awesome in the mid range in HS. I can't see his player type doing that in college since its a cluster **** once you drive past the three point line. He might be PG with above average defense but not like PG's awesome defense. Will want to watch him... the Houston game was really disappointing.

I like the group from after the top 3 to about 11ish. Can talk myself into most of them. Not a fan of Dillon Mitchell but he likely goes outside that group. Would love to nab two guys from that group or one guy and a flier on Whitehead or Dick. Cam and Black are the guys I think with the most seamless fit and I like what they are doing.

The 32% from 2FG and 39% at the rim is just.....damn that's terrible haha. I don't think he's PG and it's not fair to make that comparison. But you can be a lot worse than PG and still be very good. I'll be watching to see where his shooting goes from here and whether or not it was just a blazing hot start. He seems very Cam Reddish like to me, who I admittedly took the bait on.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

The 32% from 2FG and 39% at the rim is just.....damn that's terrible haha. I don't think he's PG and it's not fair to make that comparison. But you can be a lot worse than PG and still be very good. I'll be watching to see where his shooting goes from here and whether or not it was just a blazing hot start. He seems very Cam Reddish like to me, who I admittedly took the bait on.

Maybe... if he's a worker with a good attitude I don't think having Cam Reddish's level of talent is a bad thing, but yeah you'd want more if you were drafting 4-7.

Will watch what Miller does the rest of the year. I liked Jabari last year so maybe I have a type. Not giving up on Jabari at all but if there was a redraft today he likely goes somewhere between 8-10.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Isnt the thing with Reddish just that he takes really bad shots and isnt actually a good shooter?

Miller's thing seems to be he is a great shooter, but he cant really create separation and isnt strong enough to finish in the paint. I think those things could be teachable because he is a prospect with great size and shot fluidity. I probably jumped the gun about him being a top 5 talent though. Still, the size/length/off ball athleticism/passing/shooting/rebounding/defense are all great attributes to have. Maybe when he's able to put on legit strength he can become more of a efficient primary scoring option.

He/Alabam have also had one of the harder college schedules among the top conferences. They have played 4 ranked teams already with two of them being #1 ranked teams. They are the first college team to beat two #1 ranked opponents before conference play since the 60's or some **** like that.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Isnt the thing with Reddish just that he takes really bad shots and isnt actually a good shooter?

Miller's thing seems to be he is a great shooter, but he cant really create separation and isnt strong enough to finish in the paint. I think those things could be teachable. I probably jumped the gun about him being a top 5 talent though. Still, the size/length/off ball athleticism/passing/shooting/rebounding are all great attributes to have. Maybe when he's able to put on legit strength he can become more of a efficient primary scoring option.

I think Cam's issues are general attitude but might be misreading things.

I think Miller has a better handle than those guys. I think he could end up being like Smith Jr. but those are guys you take shots at to see if they can add the other stuff. The HS tape combined with the shooting on a very good team is what has me intrigued.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Still dont know what to think of Mitchell. He's been really good at what he's doing, but he isnt doing much that would make him a lottery pick unless his shot looks good in practice.

He's more of an idea at this point. He hasn't shot a 3 this season. He's shooting FTs at around 40%. He doesn't pass much. He's a great end-to-end athlete with serious bounce, which sometimes shows up in his rebounding. But otherwise, there are several other wings who are better basketball players in the late 1st or early 2nd round. People got excited about Greg Brown at Texas a couple years ago, and Mitchell could be similar if he doesn't develop. I honestly think he could slip to the 2nd round.

Julian Phillips, Jordan Walsh, Leonard Miller and a couple others have an argument for going ahead of Mitchell, imo.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

He's more of an idea at this point. He hasn't shot a 3 this season. He's shooting FTs at around 40%. He doesn't pass much. He's a great end-to-end athlete with serious bounce, which sometimes shows up in his rebounding. But otherwise, there are several other wings who are better basketball players in the late 1st or early 2nd round. People got excited about Greg Brown at Texas a couple years ago, and Mitchell could be similar if he doesn't develop. I honestly think he could slip to the 2nd round.

Julian Phillips, Jordan Walsh, Leonard Miller and a couple others have an argument for going ahead of Mitchell, imo.

His FT shooting is 55%. He had a super low volume and just went 6/6. I wouldnt read anything into his FT shooting until he gets more attempts.

And I would definitely say he is much better than Greg Brown. He knows his strengths and plays to them. Seems to be much higher IQ/feel than Brown.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Like Walsh might be more a RoCo type and less of a Bridges type dude.

Walsh has a high motor, he's a relentless defender, he's got a handle, and he can play on the ball. He's got more to his game that he showed before coming to Arkansas. I could see the Iguodala comps people were making, tbh. He's not as explosive as Iggy, but he could be that complementary two-way wing. He's a guy whom I could see really rising during the workout process. He might kill people in workouts.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

He's more of an idea at this point. He hasn't shot a 3 this season. He's shooting FTs at around 40%. He doesn't pass much. He's a great end-to-end athlete with serious bounce, which sometimes shows up in his rebounding. But otherwise, there are several other wings who are better basketball players in the late 1st or early 2nd round. People got excited about Greg Brown at Texas a couple years ago, and Mitchell could be similar if he doesn't develop. I honestly think he could slip to the 2nd round.

Julian Phillips, Jordan Walsh, Leonard Miller and a couple others have an argument for going ahead of Mitchell, imo.

With him it seems he is the athlete who will figure out basketball later... I just don't think those guys pan out all that often. I honestly can't think of many. The league just seems too skilled for those types.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Hot take twitter crowd is saying Noah Clowney > Brandon Miller. Thoughts?

I think Brandon Miller is primarily an off-ball, floor-spacing wing. His upside is based on the idea that he can do a lot more than that, like create on the ball, playmake, score at three levels, defend multiple positions, etc. If you regard Brandon Miller as mostly just a shooter, then you start to evaluate him alongside other wing shooters in this class like Gradey Dick, Jett Howard and some others, and you start asking yourself if Miller is really a better shooter than those other guys.

People seem to be split on Miller, depending on how well-rounded they think his game is. In any case, I don't see much point in comparing him to guards or even smaller wings. Miller may ultimately end up playing at the 4.