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2023 NBA Draft Megathread

I've been having fun putting together a 2023 redraft big board. I've worked on it throughout the year and will post it in pieces in the following posts. As a summary, here is the list with tiers. I had the hardest time with the 3rd pick, but ended up going with a homer pick.

GOAT Tier
1. Wemby

For Sure All Star Tier
2. Brandon Miller

Potential All Star Tier
3. Keyonte George
4. Scoot Henderson
5. Cam Whitmore
6. Amen Thompson

Very High Level Player Tier
7. Ausar Thompson
8. Jaime Jaquez Jr.
9. Podz
10. GG Jackson

Winning Two Way Player Tier
11. Cason Wallace
12. Derek Lively

Young Long Defenders Tier
13. Bilal
14. Taylor Hendricks
15. Jarace Walker

Guys that should be at least good, and could be great Tier
16. Kobe Bufkin
17. Grady Dick
18. Anthony Black

Solid role players that belong in the league Tier
19. TJD
20. Tristan Vuckevic
21. Jordan Hawkins
22. Brice Sensabaugh

Older Guys I like that will most likely be solid backups Tier
23. Craig Porter Jr.
24. Marcus Sasser
25. Toumani Camara

Guys that I think make it in the league Tier
26. Noah Clowney
27. Ben Sheppard
28. NSJ

Guys that might not be NBA players Tier
29. Julian Strawther
30. Andre Jackson Jr.
31. Kris Murray
32. Jalen Wilson

Not enough information:
  • Jett Howard
  • JHS
  • Dariq Whitehead
  • OMP
  • Kobe Brown
 
TOP 10

2023 Redraft Big Board:

1. Victor Wembanyama
- Surpassed my expectations offensively and looks to be every bit of the defensive presence he was billed as. Needs to get more efficient as a shot maker, but that should improve in time.
Defining Stat: 31.2 USG%, 1st by far among rookies and 6th in the entire NBA.

2. Brandon Miller
- He can score in a variety of ways and has a clear path to be an all star level player with his size, skill, and defensive versatility. He was a little inconsistent and didn’t play with any real aggression or killer instinct when I watched him. Still, he’s clearly the number 2 player from this class.
Defining Stat: 32.2 mpg, highest in the class, also shooting 52.5% from mid range which is by far the best in the class

3. Keyonte George
- I tried not to be a homer with this pick, but Keyonte had some of the most impressive plays of this draft class. He makes a ton of rookie mistakes that he needs to work on, but at his age I would focus more on his highs than his lows.
Defining Stat: Keyonte draws 24.6% of the fouls while he is on the court which is 3rd behind Wemby and Scoot, he had the highest FT% 84.8, for any of the rookies who shot at least 100 FTA

4. Scoot Henderson
- I can’t put Scoot as much lower than Keyonte since if you look at their stats for the year they are very similar. Keyonte had his hot streak in the middle of the season and Scoot had his at the end of the season. Both are very high level distributors, but need to get much more efficient.
Defining Stat: 63.2% of FGM were unnasisted, by far the highest in the class.

5. Cam Whitmore
- As a guy who appreciates defense and intangibles, it was difficult to put Cam this high over other guys I like better, but he might be the most gifted scorer in the draft class and he still has a lot of room to grow. Scoring is valued in this league, and as such I think he has future all star upside for sure.
Defining Stat: Cam scores 27.6% of his team’s points when he is on the floor, second only to Wemby.

6. Amen Thompson
- He doesn’t look like the high scoring lead guard he was being discussed as before the draft. I’m not sure his shot ever comes around and if it doesn’t his upside is a super role player. He seems to have embraced that role in the second half of the year and was really effective.
Defining Stat: 24.7% of pts from fast breaks, highest in the class.

7. Ausar Thompson
- Ausar has some of the most amazing plays of the season early on and was still effective as a defender as the season continued, but he really hurts spacing on offense and turns the ball over too much. Still, I think he has almost as much potential as his brother and so I think you have to keep them right next to each other.
Defining Stat: 31.8% STL% is best in the draft class, he’s also the best non big at blk%

8. Jaime Jaquez Jr.
- I think he was the 3rd best player this year, but probably doesn’t have as high of a ceiling as the guys in front of him based on age. That said, he is already the type of player that every team needs and I think he will have a long and successful career. He is a very good all around player.
Defining Stat: 53% FG% on post ups, second best in the class.

9. Brandon Podz
- I’m not sure anybody was as consistently good as Podz throughout the year. He is one of the rare young players to have a positive effect on the floor while having a relatively high usage rate. I’m not sure I see a future all star, but he is a very solid player.
Defining Stat: Best net rating of the draft class at +5.9

10. GG Jackson
- Some people might have GG Jackson even higher than this on a redraft. He is super young and showed a ton of potential as an offensive force in the future, being super long and having great shooting touch. I think it is concerning that he has already had to be disciplined by his team in his first year after questionable decisions made in the pre draft process.
Defining Stat: GG takes 25.5% of his teams field goal attempts when he is on the court, which is 3rd most behind Wemby and Cam.
 
Last edited:
11- 20

2023 Redraft Big Board:

11. Cason Wallace
- I could write a novel about Cason Wallace since I have seen the majority of his games. He makes so many high level plays that don’t show up in the box score. He can score at all 3 levels, is a top 20 perimeter defender already, and just a guy who you never have to worry about being on the floor at any time, which is rare for a 20 year old.
Defining Stat: 61.2% TS% is 4th overall and by far the best of any non big.

12. Derek Lively
- Drafted to a perfect situation for him, and has really been perfect for Dallas, giving them exactly what they needed. He is the best rim protector of the class besides Wemby. He’s very basic, but extremely efficient on offense.
Defining Stat: EFG% of 74.4, which is highest in the entire NBA.

13. Bilal Calibouly
- He remains one the youngest players in the draft class and this year was supposed to be a year where he wasn’t playable. He ended up shooting better than I expected and showed the potential for high level defense. He leveled off during the year, which is concerning, but his length and athleticism remain good things to bet on.
Defining Stat: 69.4% efg% in late shot clock situations, which is 2nd best in class

14. Taylor Hendricks
- Moves his feet well and looks like his length and athleticism will cause other teams problems. Shot the ball better as the season went on. I think his “feel” for the game will ultimately determine his upside.
Defining Stat: 5.9 3PA per 36 minutes, highest (besides Wemby) for anyone average 1Blk/36min or more.

15. Jarace Walker
- Despite his lack of playing time, I still think he has a ton of potential and think him and Hendricks are still very close as prospects. He shot the ball very well and showed some of the ball handling/passing that he was known for.
Defining Stat: 4.2 assist per 36 minutes, 2nd highest for a non guard besides Wemby

16. Kobe Bufkin
- A little bit of bad luck when he got hurt just when playing time opened up. In the small sample size we got to see him, I saw the potential as he played good defense, hit shots at 3 levels, and just generally looked the part. The big watchout right now is he takes too long to make decisions, but that should get much better with reps.
Defining Stat: 5.03s/touch which was highest in the class.

17. Grady Dick
- Was about as bad as you could be for the first half of the year, but has legitimately been one of the best rookies for the second half of the year. It reminds me of how Gordon Hayward had a rough first half of the year, but then finally showed signs of a future good player towards the end of his rookie year.
Defining Stat: 37.1% on 5.5 3’s per game post all star break, he was probably the best 3pt shooter post all star break.

18. Anthony Black
- Black was the most difficult to place in the redraft. I still really like him despite where I have him here. I just think he has a long ways to go before he is a plus offensive player and while he is a very good defensive player I don’t think he’s good enough to offset his offensive shortcomings. I really hope he proves me wrong.
Defining Stat: DEF RTG of 108.9, best among all rookies

19.TJD
- Very basic player, and does almost nothing exciting, but sometimes basic players get the job done. He has nice hands to catch passes and rebounds in traffic. He’s smart and has a high sense of where to be on the court and what he does well that can help his team.
Defining Stat: Player Impact Rating of 12.7, 2nd behind only Wemby

20. Tristan Vuckevic
- We probably don’t have enough information since he only played 10 games, but he was incredibly impressive in those 10 games, averaging 19.9pts, 8.4reb, and 3.4ast per 36 minutes, and he didn’t even shoot the ball as well as he is capable of.
Defining Stat: Highest +/- of any rookie to play 10 games at +7.5, which he did on the Wizards.
 
The Rest

2023 Redraft Big Board

21. Jordan Hawkins
- Had some of the highest highs of any of the rookies and showed that he could be used as a 3pt weapon. Sometimes I watch him and feel like there is a little bit more to his game, but other times I’m not sure. He was in and out of the rotation for the Pelicans and never was able to secure a spot in the rotation.
Defining Stat: 99.1% of 3pt fgm were assisted

22. Brice Sensabaugh
- Very good body control and can score from multiple levels. Can get his shot off in traffic and quickly. Showed some ability to facilitate, and if he can develop that he could be very good. His defense is so bad at this point, he really needs to improve if he wants to be a positive contributor on an NBA team.
Defining Stat: 12.4% of his passes end up in assists which is highest in the class

23. Craig Porter Jr
- He produces and the team plays well when he is on the court. He doesn’t do anything particularly special, but just does everything on a basketball court well. I think he’ll have a long career as a backup PG and will be seen as the type of player where he can take the reigns of a team when someone gets hurt.
Defining Stat: 50.9%FGA, second among guards to only Amen

24. Marcus Sasser
- A small player who just produces and gets the job done, kind of just like he did in college. He was one of the best passers in the class.
Defining Stat: 8.2 adjusted assists/36 min which is highest in the class

25. Toumani Camara
- Really nice defender who has length and is a smooth athlete. His shot looks better than his percentages. Can handle the ball a little. If he was younger he would go even higher, but he’s been a nice surprise from a late 2nd round pick.
Defining Stat: 2.0 deflections per game, 4th in the class

26. Noah Clowney
- He finally got some minutes towards the end of the year and showed some promise. He has a lot of potential as a rebounder/rim protector that can hit an outside shot. He doesn’t seem to have great feel, but somewhat hard to tell in limited minutes.
Defining Stat: 7blks in game against Toronto, one of the highest blks in a single game this year

27. Ben Sheppard
- A high IQ guy who doesn't make a lot of mistakes. He doesn’t overly impress you when watching him, but his advanced stats are impressive. I would have him higher, but for a guy drafted as a shooter, he didn’t shoot that well.
Stat - 3.53 a/to, best in class, and 4th in net rating at + 4.7

28. NSJ
- I believe in his shot, even if it hasn’t consistently fallen, but he doesn’t provide much else on the court right now. He had a stretch of good games, but never put it together for an extended period of time.
Defining Stat: % pts from 3pt, 62.6%, highest in the class, and unlike Hawkins, who is right after, much less of them were assisted.

29. Julian Strawther
- Had a monster pre season and looked like a huge steal, and then did almost nothing all year. He didn’t have a lot of chances, but did get spot minutes here and there in which he really didn’t do much. Maybe he is the type of guy who needs the ball in his hands to be effective so isn’t meant to be a role player, but isn’t good enough to be a star in the league.
Defining Stat: -9.8 net rating, which is 3rd worst on Denver this year

30. Andre Jackson Jr.
- Minutes have come due to injuries and lack of other options. He’s shot the ball ok, but on very low usage. He’s primarily been seen as a defensive player, and has done a decent job on the perimeter. I think he could develop in to a decent bench player.
Defining Stat: Andre Jackson commits 32.2% of the fouls when he is on the court, which is highest in the class.

31. Kris Murray
- One of the least inspiring prospects I’ve watched this year. He moves so slow, but doesn’t finish well enough, yet, for it to work like others who move like him. I thought he was a clear bust, but ended the season with some decent games, so maybe not.
Defining Stat: 26.8% 3pt% was the worst of anyone in the class that took at least 2 per game.

32. Jalen Wilson
- Awkward looking shot, but goes in at a decent rate. Can play some defense. Isn’t a ball stopper. I mostly don’t see an NBA player when I watch him, but maybe BKN is seeing something I’m not as he has been got minutes over other guys.
Defining Stat: 13.8 AST% on drives, which is highest in class

First round picks from 2023, but didn’t play enough for me to evaluate:

  • Jett Howard
  • JHS
  • Dariq Whitehead
  • OMP
  • Kobe Brown
 
fishonjazz said:
That's a really tough one.

I think I had Cam #3 pre draft and I still might take him 3 in a re do.

He wasn't the third best player this season from that draft but I would take him 3rd because I think in a few years he will be really really hard to stop

Sent from my CPH2451 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I remember watching the draft and as the first 8 picks came and left, I remember thinking OMG!!! We Whitmore might fall to us, then he did. I thought to myself that this might actually turn into an all time great draft for us. Then it happened the Jazz drafted Hendricks my excitement level dropped from a 10 to a 1. I was mad. Then it was starting to look like Cam would fall to us at 16 and I started to get hopeful again. Then, he did fall to us, there was no doubt in my mind we’d take him. Key was never on my draft board. To me he was another JC like player with no defense so he wasn’t even in my mind when considering who the Jazz might pick. So, obviously when the Jazz drafted him over Cam I lost my damn mind. It wasn’t a fun draft for me to watch. We could’ve had Cam at 9 and of course Key at 16. How great would that have been.

I don’t hate Hendricks but Cam is just on another level for me. Hendricks I think can be a high level defender but he will always be limited offensively because he doesn’t have a great ball handling skills
 
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