https://theathletic.com/4156999/2023/02/16/nba-mock-draft-walker-wembanyama-henderson/
Babe wakeup... new Vecenie mock just dropped... highlights
Jarace up to #5 in Orlando
Black up to 7 with Washington... Vecenie shares my basically exact thoughts...
At the end of the day, I just buy Black being an impact player at the next level because of the way he impacts the game. He’s a monster defender both at the point of attack and as a switchable player up and down the lineup. Offensively, he puts pressure on the rim at a high level because of how quickly he can get downhill. But moreover, all of this is paired with terrific processing speed. He reads and reacts to what’s happening at a super high level. You see this most in his passing ability, when he hits the right guy almost every time while on the move. It’s not an accident that Arkansas is 15 points per 100 possessions better when Black is on the court versus when he’s off it per Pivot Analysis, and he’s the only player on Arkansas with whom the team is better both on offense and defense when he’s on the court. He makes his teammates better, and his presence helps his team. Teams are coming around on Black for these reasons, but he’ll need to prove that his shot isn’t entirely broken during the pre-draft process. The mechanics don’t look awesome, but he doesn’t seem to have bad touch. He’ll just need to show he can make improvement there, and he’ll go in the top 10.
Jazz take Rupert at 13... not a fan...
Jalen Hood Schifino goes at 14... the highest I've seen him.
Jazz take Kris Murray at 16... with Sensabaugh, Hendo, Hawkins, Lewis, Whitehead, GG (I hate GG but would understand the pick at least) on the board... I would literally throw up if this happened.
Dereck Lively at 26... Filipowski on the board still. I actually am cool taking a center there as I think Lively has upside and is an elite rim protector. If we had Robert Williams backing up Kessler that's okay by me. Would like be happier to see Terquavion Smith or Leonard Miller here.
