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2023 NBA Draft Megathread

I just have a bit of a hype cap on Bilal because I don't see the ball handling/creation upside but everything else is pretty promising.
 
Saint Cy of JFC said:
Sounds like Bilal won't be able to workout for NBA teams. Teams will have to draft him based off his role player potential because he doesn't really show the advanced skills most teams desire out of lottery prospects on the main team.
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I'm guessing DA got the chance to watch him warm up and practice as well... but maybe they don't allow them to sit in on practices. Every piece of info will be under a microscope. I think at 16 its a possibility but I still see him going later.
 
Jingled said:
I'm really hoping he's still on the board at 16.
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Ehhh… if someone picks him it shifts another prospect I likely feel better about drafting down a spot. He’s not on my please don’t draft list but I wouldn’t be sad if he went 10-15.
 
Elizah Huge said:
No thanks to Bilal at 16. If you want to take him at 28 that’s perfectly fine.
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Hard pass at 16 for me. Hard yes at 28 (though probably not my first choice if someone like Whitehead is sitting there).

The idea that we should be scared that someone will draft him prior to 16 is el oh el.
 
Elizah Huge said:
No thanks to Bilal at 16. If you want to take him at 28 that’s perfectly fine.
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If we made a minor trade up from 28 to get him I'd also be cool with that. I'm okay with Bilal at 16 depending on the draft board... but I'd guess I would have him 20th or so on my own draft board right now.
 
If OKC reaches on Lively at #12 or someone reaches on Bilal, at least one of Keyonte, Bufkin, Hawkins, or GG will be there at 16. Would be happy with any of the above there. Would also be very sad if they were all off the board at 16. Feels like there’s a serious tier drop after that.

I have a tough time seeing Bilal go before any of those players so people high on Bilal should rest easy.
 
NUMBERICA said:
If OKC reaches on Lively at #12 or someone reaches on Bilal, at least one of Keyonte, Bufkin, Hawkins, or GG will be there at 16. Would be happy with any of the above there. Would also be very sad if they were all off the board at 16. Feels like there’s a serious tier drop after that.

I have a tough time seeing Bilal go before any of those players so people high on Bilal should rest easy.
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I would like Nick Smith, GG, and JHS to go 10-15... Bilal not quite in that group for me... but I want Hawkins, Bufkin, or Miller at 16. I could see all 3 being gone and I'd settle for Keyonte, Bilal, Sensabaugh, Howard, Sidy.
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
I'm guessing DA got the chance to watch him warm up and practice as well... but maybe they don't allow them to sit in on practices. Every piece of info will be under a microscope. I think at 16 its a possibility but I still see him going later.
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I'm not 100% sure, but I think I saw a pic of Ainge at the actual practice. I'm guessing they got an in person interview as well, likely with the agent there too. The Jazz sent people to watch the Twins on their Euro tour, so hopefully they have a decent idea of how Bilal stacks up against other elite athletes in this draft. The other thing to think about is that Bilal's decision is not finalized. I'm curious if draft and stash is still a possibility, because if he's not coming over immediately he might want to roll the dice and just go into the 2024 draft. In the very early conversations about him we talked about the possibility of giving him a promise to stay in a stash situation, but his stock has grown way past that imo.

I think the middle of the first is likely where he lands. There are unknowns who get drafted higher, but they are usually US high school players that have been on the radar for awhile. Bilal wasn't necessarily on the radar in France and without a predraft process I think it will be hard for him to get higher unless he gets more offensive reps. I mentioned this before, but I do wonder what affect his senior team play is having on his draft stock. I think he's playing well and establishing himself on the defensive end in particular....but there was probably more excitement about his offensive potential when he was just dominating the junior competition. So while he's playing well, he might also be losing the mystery man hype.

I'm a huge believer in Bilal, but I still think a Jaden McDaniels/Herb Jones type is what's most likely and he's senior team play has been confirming that. He has improved his case as an A+ defensive prospect, but at the same time his play has somewhat muted those high end outcomes that might have been come about from watching his junior team footage. I am firm on him as a prospect at #16, I think that would be an outstanding pick and despite his question marks I still have him at play at #9. The prospects at #9 aren't without their faults either, and I am a big fan of the late bloomer trajectory. Can't forget how young he is either, so I would be careful to make to many strong judgements on what type of player he can become.

I wonder what would have happened to Poku's draft stock had be played more for his senior team instead of the lower league. He got all this unicorn hype doing some weird **** against bad competition, but if he was playing for the senior team he would have been in a more structured role like Bilal. The jury is still out on Poku, but it's getting clear that he's not some 7 foot unicorn ball handler and more like a Muscala type. I think the unicorn stuff was kind of a distraction from what his real NBA skills were and what his path to being an NBA player was. I do believe that when players are so raw, we tend to lose sight of what the realistic path to being an NBA player is. I'm not trying to discuss whether or not Poku was a good pick, but I do think that he was aided by the mystery/hype created from dominating **** competition and that's interesting to think about as Bilal is losing his mystery.

The good news for Bilal is that his archetype is one that every team is dying for, so I think he ends up being drafted mid first round if his play/role stays the same. So even if the hype about him being a scorer lessens, being cast as an athletic defensive wing with excellent length and some offensive potential ain't a bad thing. If in the NBA he becomes the player that we're seeing today for Mets92 a lot of teams would be very happy with that.
 
KqWIN said:
I'm not 100% sure, but I think I saw a pic of Ainge at the actual practice. I'm guessing they got an in person interview as well, likely with the agent there too. The Jazz sent people to watch the Twins on their Euro tour, so hopefully they have a decent idea of how Bilal stacks up against other elite athletes in this draft. The other thing to think about is that Bilal's decision is not finalized. I'm curious if draft and stash is still a possibility, because if he's not coming over immediately he might want to roll the dice and just go into the 2024 draft. In the very early conversations about him we talked about the possibility of giving him a promise to stay in a stash situation, but his stock has grown way past that imo.

I think the middle of the first is likely where he lands. There are unknowns who get drafted higher, but they are usually US high school players that have been on the radar for awhile. Bilal wasn't necessarily on the radar in France and without a predraft process I think it will be hard for him to get higher unless he gets more offensive reps. I mentioned this before, but I do wonder what affect his senior team play is having on his draft stock. I think he's playing well and establishing himself on the defensive end in particular....but there was probably more excitement about his offensive potential when he was just dominating the junior competition. So while he's playing well, he might also be losing the mystery man hype.

I'm a huge believer in Bilal, but I still think a Jaden McDaniels/Herb Jones type is what's most likely and he's senior team play has been confirming that. He has improved his case as an A+ defensive prospect, but at the same time his play has somewhat muted those high end outcomes that might have been come about from watching his junior team footage. I am firm on him as a prospect at #16, I think that would be an outstanding pick and despite his question marks I still have him at play at #9. The prospects at #9 aren't without their faults either, and I am a big fan of the late bloomer trajectory. Can't forget how young he is either, so I would be careful to make to many strong judgements on what type of player he can become.

I wonder what would have happened to Poku's draft stock had be played more for his senior team instead of the lower league. He got all this unicorn hype doing some weird **** against bad competition, but if he was playing for the senior team he would have been in a more structured role like Bilal. The jury is still out on Poku, but it's getting clear that he's not some 7 foot unicorn ball handler and more like a Muscala type. I think the unicorn stuff was kind of a distraction from what his real NBA skills were and what his path to being an NBA player was. I do believe that when players are so raw, we tend to lose sight of what the realistic path to being an NBA player is. I'm not trying to discuss whether or not Poku was a good pick, but I do think that he was aided by the mystery/hype created from dominating **** competition and that's interesting to think about as Bilal is losing his mystery.

The good news for Bilal is that his archetype is one that every team is dying for, so I think he ends up being drafted mid first round if his play/role stays the same. So even if the hype about him being a scorer lessens, being cast as an athletic defensive wing with excellent length and some offensive potential ain't a bad thing. If in the NBA he becomes the player that we're seeing today for Mets92 a lot of teams would be very happy with that.
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I think he is moldable. If he goes to a bad development team he will be limited. If he goes to the Spurs or to us, I think he can reach unexpected heights. But he does need a strong patient coach behind him.
 
whatthe said:
I think he is moldable. If he goes to a bad development team he will be limited. If he goes to the Spurs or to us, I think he can reach unexpected heights. But he does need a strong patient coach behind him.
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Definitely, I think team environment will be as important to him as any player in the draft. The one caveat I have, and this is what I really like about Bilal, is that his defense is almost in "can't fail" territory. His offense can go in a lot of different directions, good or bad....but I think defensively he's going to be good no matter what. His physical tools + mentality are too good to fail. He's physically gifted, but he also plays hard and stays engaged. There's some carryover to his offense too. While he is timid to shoot or create for himself he is very active in cutting and crashing the glass. For this reason I consider him to be a relatively "safe" pick with a great deal of upside.
 
Keonte is the guy I could see being an all star and being picked out of the lottery. It's funny because I was super out on him when he was mocked in the top 10. Now it seems like he is being mocked too low.

I still don't love him for the Jazz, but I could see him being a Jamal Murray level player. He is super smooth with the basketball and I think he can improve his shot selection and thus his efficiency.
 
SoberasHotRod said:
Keonte is the guy I could see being an all star and being picked out of the lottery. It's funny because I was super out on him when he was mocked in the top 10. Now it seems like he is being mocked too low.

I still don't love him for the Jazz, but I could see him being a Jamal Murray level player. He is super smooth with the basketball and I think he can improve his shot selection and thus his efficiency.
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I could see him being the guy that pops. I also could see him being an inefficient one way gunner. There are a few guys in that 10-18 guys that I could see surprising us.
 
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