2023 NBA Draft Megathread

[Elizah Huge]

I’d still give JHS the shooting edge all things considered, but it’s not by much. Scoring/Shooting is seen as a bigger weakness for Cason/Black just because they are A+ in other areas.

I honestly wonder the conversation would be around Wallace/Black if they were just average or bad on defense but we’re exactly the same on offense. Having defense as your best attribute might just be a little too boring for some people.

Cason is just kind of meh to me. I think he will be a solid player but don’t see a ton of upside. He seems like a high floor low ceiling type of guy to me. Could be totally off base but that’s what I’m feeling.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

OMP is rising it seems. Barlowe had him at 20 on his mock draft and said he was told by some scouts/teams that dont be surprised if he goes higher. Measured huge, played well at the combine, tested well athletically, the tape says he's a good defender, and supposedly has an outstanding personality. If HH sees his stocks though he will call him the worst defender he has ever seen.

Everyone is rising... the tape measure, the scale, and eye test are more important than basketball. I'm sure I'm the only one that would look at the measurements and question the stock numbers... or its a legit question you yourself have asked.

With 28 I'm open to just about any prospect. Anyone that wants to reach for this guy in the top 20 is likely passing some better bets.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Cason is just kind of meh to me. I think he will be a solid player but don’t see a ton of upside. He seems like a high floor low ceiling type of guy to me. Could be totally off base but that’s what I’m feeling.

I'm so on/off with Cason. I think he might just be a bit too small (dont attack me) for his skill-set given his lack of on-ball burst, lack of natural PG feel, lack of handle. Kind of the same thing as Davion Mitchell, but not to that degree.

Then there is the fact that he shot 40/24 from the field on 10.6/4.2 attempts per game while averaging 11.2 ppg in SEC play.

 

[KqWIN]

Cason is just kind of meh to me. I think he will be a solid player but don’t see a ton of upside. He seems like a high floor low ceiling type of guy to me. Could be totally off base but that’s what I’m feeling.

I get the feeling, and I kinda see Cason as the higher floor lower ceiling version of Black myself. Having said that, it's often the guys who are seen as role players who end up being the star players. I think we could be falling into a trap with Cason where it's so easy to see him being a solid player it limits our imagination for him to be a star. When it's not as easy to see a prospect as role player (i.e. GG, JHS, NSJ etc) the imagination and hopium can run wild. Ultimately I think Cason lands somewhere between Melton-DWhite scale, which is still an awesome player, but I try not to undersell his chance to be even better.

This is true for Black as well. It's so easy to see him be that connector type, but I'd caution on pigeonholing him into that. It's seems as though Shai is the most common guys are comparing themselves too this year. Every tall PG/combo guard says they're like Shai just like every smallish combo guard said they were like Mitchell after he broke out. TBH, I think Black has as good of a case to be compared to Shai as anyone. The best thing Shai does is get to the line, and Black really stands out from the rest of the pack here. It's interesting to read the predraft stuff on Shai as well, because many thought he was more of a role player than star.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Cason is just kind of meh to me. I think he will be a solid player but don’t see a ton of upside. He seems like a high floor low ceiling type of guy to me. Could be totally off base but that’s what I’m feeling.

I think its fair to feel meh on him. My biggest concern is the back. Was it a MP Jr. type issue or did he just trigger something and never had enough time to recover properly. The reasons I feel good about him:

- Midrange shooting was good... so shows some shooting promise.
- The Kentucky guard thing is quite literally the most reliable draft trend. Its kind of dumb but the list is long and impressive.
- The back injury thing - this draft is full of dudes who may have had injuries that slowed them down a bit. Maybe it affected him and is a non-issue going forward.

I like his game overall but those are the things that make me a bit more hopeful for him.

If the medicals aren't clean on the back I can see him sliding to 16. If they are clean I'm drafting him at #9 no hesitation.

 

[KqWIN]

I'm so on/off with Cason. I think he might just be a bit too small (dont attack me) for his skill-set given his lack of on-ball burst, lack of natural PG feel, lack of handle. Kind of the same thing as Davion Mitchell, but not to that degree.

Then there is the fact that he shot 40/24 from the field on 10.6/4.2 attempts per game while averaging 11.2 ppg in SEC play.

On that last point, you have to consider his health. It was viably effecting him. If that's a long term concern....not good obviously. But I have no clue if his health issues are something to be concerned about long term.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Everyone is rising... the tape measure, the scale, and eye test are more important than basketball. I'm sure I'm the only one that would look at the measurements and question the stock numbers... or its a legit question you yourself have asked.

With 28 I'm open to just about any prospect. Anyone that wants to reach for this guy in the top 20 is likely passing some better bets.

He played basketball very well this season.... There's more to basketball than getting credited for blocks/steals. He's also 20 years old and had a large jump from his sophomore to junior years. Of course I think his stocks being low is a bit puzzling, but if he plays good D he plays good D, doesnt have to be creating steals/blocks for that to be the case.

Stocks are used as an indicator to see if something is there, but I dont think it's an indicator for good defense. If I see a prospect I havent heard of and he has high stocks, I'm going to be intrigued and want to take a closer look. If I see a player play and I recognize he's play great on-ball/off-ball D and his stocks are low, I'm not switching to thinking he's a bad defender.

Take it to an in-class example, Podziemski has great stocks. Do you really think he's a better defender than JHS?

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

JHS shooting numbers are worse than Wallace and Black.

And he doesn't put much pressure on the rim.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

And he doesn't put much pressure on the rim.

Doesnt put much pressure on the rim, but he does get in the paint and has the size to control the area he is in to get to his spots.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

He played basketball very well this season.... There's more to basketball than getting credited for blocks/steals. He's also 20 years old and had a large jump from his sophomore to junior years. Of course I think his stocks being low is a bit puzzling, but if he plays good D he plays good D, doesnt have to be creating steals/blocks for that to be the case.

Stocks are used as an indicator to see if something is there, but I dont think it's an indicator for good defense. If I see a prospect I havent heard of and he has high stocks, I'm going to be intrigued and want to take a closer look. If I see a player play and I recognize he's play great on-ball/off-ball D and his stocks are low, I'm not switching to thinking he's a bad defender.

Take it to an in-class example, Podziemski has great stocks. Do you really think he's a better defender than JHS?

I wasn't judging him... I have not watched him at all. I just think its funny when guys rise because of measurements and the athletic testing... its a little suspect when they go from mid second round to top 20 based on the tape measure... thats all.

In the chaos that is college basketball... my guess is most of the good defenders don't have poor stock numbers... just a guess.

Podz is likely a worse defender but might survive on smarts (Ingles/Niang style)... both guys I think the value is what do they bring on offense... not that we should ignore defensive impact.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

With Cason you hope between the injury and Kentucky guard thing he has a glow up on offense similar to Maxey. Maxey was a pretty meh offensive guy... you could see he was fast as hell... but he's far exceeded expectations thus far. Say Cason is an efficient 15/7 guy on offense and world class defender... that's fantastic to have. I think he has a pretty clear path to get there.

 

[Shad]

Is it Draft day yet?