Lol what… how is that even comparable? If GG came back for his sophomore season and put up better numbers I’m sure everyone’s opinion would change.
2023 NBA Draft Megathread
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Lol what… how is that even comparable? If GG came back for his sophomore season and put up better numbers I’m sure everyone’s opinion would change.
How is it comparable that two extremely young freshman struggled?
Yeah, that's the point. If by some chance you were a talented enough scout to identify Bufkin's talent as a Freshman and were able to convince him to enter the draft, and draft him, you'd have just gotten a lot of value vs drafting him when then stock is high. Playing the game like Simple Simon makes you draft Luke Kennard ahead of Donovan Mitchell because every stat says Kennard is the better scorer/shooter (and yes this is directed at you because you were one of those people).
Bufkin should have been drafted in the top-10 if you recognized his talent? Cause that’s what you are saying about GG.
If you thought others were onto him and he wouldnt be available at a later time you could get him, sure.
Obviously the difference between GG and Bufkin is that GG has/had a lot more eyeballs on him throughout his career, so it's not like you are unearthing a hidden gem, you are polishing one that has some dirt on it.
Bufkin is considered lottery'ish pick, not because he struggled as a young freshman. He's considered lottery'ish pick because he made a huge jump in his second year.
With that said, I still haven't watched GG, so I don't know if I will like him or not...
If the Jazz take GG and he busts I will gladly admit to being wrong. I won't flame management for taking the risk. If Anthony Black's shooting does develop he has high potential but I'm very hesitant he actually will get better shooting the ball. Maybe that's me being skeptical because Dante Exum never developed. I know that's not fair to Anthony Black but it is what it is.
I'm not a fan of Cason Wallace. I just think the point guard position is becoming less and less important in today's game. Especially PGs with less than ideal size. Playmaking is more important and point forwards can play make. It's much more important to have wings and forwards with size who are switchable on defense and can shoot and self create.
Think about this. Let's just pretend GG Jackson and Cason Wallace were both free agents. Who do you think would be more in demand? I think that tells you who teams value more in the draft.
One guy that has really stood out in the 2 camp scrimmages is Johni Broome. If you havent watched, you should look into him.
He's young for his class and was a dominant big man his first two years at Moorehead State. He transfers to Auburn his junior year and didnt lose much in terms of production and his advanced stats increased. He's mobile, physical, protects the rim and has nice touch. He's showing off an improved shooting stroke at the combines that gives him a bit more upside. Will turn 21 in July. Could be a 2nd round steal as a 10 year backup big type, similar to a Richaun Holmes.
He's young for his class and was a dominant big man his first two years at Moorehead State. He transfers to Auburn his junior year and didnt lose much in terms of production and his advanced stats increased. He's mobile, physical, protects the rim and has nice touch. He's showing off an improved shooting stroke at the combines that gives him a bit more upside. Will turn 21 in July. Could be a 2nd round steal as a 10 year backup big type, similar to a Richaun Holmes.
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Cason's size is good. Celtics have great switchable two-way wings and still thought it prudent to get Brogdon, White, to add to Smart... all of which are in Wallace's functional size wheelhouse. I'm not sure you have watched GG defend... I can tell you that Cason is very much the better and more switchable defender right now even though he is smaller. The assumption that GG is a going to be a good defender is purely based on his size as the on court evidence is not good. Plenty of dudes his size have sucked on defense.
Cason would get more and it wouldn't be particularly close. He is the better basketball player of the two. Good guards will get more than ****** wings... FVV is a lot smaller than Cason and gonna get a bag.
We will see on draft night. GG is VERY polarizing so a team may take a chance on him in the mid teens but I think he's more likely to end up in the 20s than top 9.
I don't mind the YOLO mentality.....or the idea behind it I guess. You want to maximize your chance at getting a star even if it means a higher risk at a bust. I just think people calculate those chances poorly. The guys who turn into stars are often the guys like Mikal who are cast as role players. They aren't guys like Ziaire Williams who sucked at being a star at the college level.
Mikal, Bane, Brogdon, Brunson, Butler, Haliburton, Shai (yes read some of his predraft scouting reports), Sabonis, Siakam, FVV, Booker, Jokic ect.......These are guys who became big steals later in the draft. The reason why they weren't drafted higher isn't because they sucked coming into the league, it's because people thought their potential was lower coming into the draft because of X, Y, Z.
Mikal, Bane, Brogdon, Brunson, Butler, Haliburton, Shai (yes read some of his predraft scouting reports), Sabonis, Siakam, FVV, Booker, Jokic ect.......These are guys who became big steals later in the draft. The reason why they weren't drafted higher isn't because they sucked coming into the league, it's because people thought their potential was lower coming into the draft because of X, Y, Z.
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One of my favorite things about GG is in addition to the poor shooting percentages and poor defense... he has a hilarious 1:3 assist to turnover ratio.
For real. Like you could maybe sell me on one of these things developing. But the amount of improvement it would take to just get to baseline ability and get on an NBA court is massive. You can be really, really good at offense like Christian Wood and still not really have a place on the court come playoff time if the other parts of your game are lacking.