2024 NBA Draft Mega Thread

[HermanG]

I mean, if you don't wanna take Dillingham that's fine. But even that would be more about what I think he can (or can't) be in the league. And less because I think he would be redundant with Sexton or Clarkson, who we have no clue if they will even be here.

If there was a perfect Lauri clone in this draft I'd take that player #1 still.

But really I am alluding to the talk about Sheppard not fitting in with our roster. I asked for clarification yesterday and didn't see anything. On top of the fact that not drafting Sheppard because of our current roster is a really stupid decision. I still have no idea what is meant when people say he's not a good fit, there is overlap, etc. with the current roster. Who the hell is like Sheppard on the current roster? We have a surplus of perimeter defense and shooting or something?

Where fit comes into play is if for instance we were to draft an offball guard who cannot pass or create off the dribble.

That would put too much pressure on the other guard as we dont have frontcourt players who could handle or pass much either.

So likely everyone loses, and we setup that guy to fail early.

On the flip side, drafting a guy who is a fit with our current rotation guys likely gives him the best chance to get minutes and thrive on those minutes.

Imo Sheppard is a fit. His shooting gives him an easy path to rotation and since we got combo guards and play finishers around him we give him a chance to succeed as a facilitator without demanding fully developed PG skillset.

 

[stitches]

Like you just can't have a defense at the quality level of the Wolves without elite size across the board. Conley is a rare exception because of insanely high IQ and exceptional wingspan to height ratio. And to make up for Conley everyone else is at elite length/size measurements

Agreed... size and length raise both the floor and the ceiling of the defense. Doesn't mean you need to aim at being THAT type of team with that type of distribution of offensive and defensive talent, but if you want to be a good team on D, you need positional length.

 

[underdog]

As far as I'm concerned, we only have one contender caliber starter on our team at the moment (TH, Brice, and Keyonte have not proven it yet, nor has Kessler). Wanting to draft players who are a good fit with our other players than Lauri is premature. There’s been shortsighted GMs in this league, but I don’t think Danny is one of them.

 

[HermanG]

The more I look at our roster... the more I'm convinced you consider this a blank slate. If you are drafting Dilly or Topic the evaluation isn't necessarily do they fit with Key... its are they talented enough to be primary ball handlers. I think with Shep his game should fit well enough with a primary ball handler that he could still get 28-34 minutes a night and you may just have to finesse the rotation a bit if your primary offensive engine is not over 6-4.5".

I think you want to avoid having two Walker Kessler's or two Collin Sexton's if there are other good options on the board... if not then go ahead and double up on that I guess.

I think you want to avoid a Magic situation though. Like why are they drafting Anthony Black with their current group of shooters they are building around.

Magic is a great example of why focusing on just BPA isnt always such a great plan.

Had they traded down, let us get Black and then drafted Wallace or Hendricks at #9, I think one of those two could already be playing a significant role for them in these playoffs and would be a better long term fit with the others.

 

[stitches]

IDK if the Jazz will ever become an elite D, but Lauri/Hendricks/Walker/Keyonte can be part of a high level defense if you insert a Steph Castle type (assuming he can raise his game to get starter minutes over time).

I think Keyonte is the weakest defensive link out of all our pieces that are likely to be here for when our next contention window opens. The good thing is... the PG is the position that's actually the easiest to hide and compensate for. I think Stephon Castle fits well in that type of a lineup, except for that lineup probably lacking in shooting from 2 spots... I kind of feel like in today's league, you cannot really put 2 non-shooters(or bad shooters) on the floor at the same time and expect great results. He needs to get to at least like 33-35% from 3 IMO.

 

[HeatCheck]

Reed Sheppard is my guy in this draft. If the Jazz are in position to draft him does anyone think the Magic would consider a Key for Black type deal? I've never seen a worse 3 point shooting team in the playoffs than the Magic. Some are comparing Castle to Black so why not just acquire Black who seems very redundant with Suggs in Orlando? A backcourt rotation of Shep, Black, Sexton, Dunn and a sprinkle of Brice could be a well balanced unit.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Sheppard won't be a defensive weak link individually. However, there's an opportunity cost to Sheppard in that the best defensive teams in the NBA have multiple long defenders whose length creates a compounding effect. A team that has three or four long defenders on the floor together is difficult to move the ball against. When the Wolves have Nickeil + Ant + McDaniels + Gobert on the floor together, the driving lanes are almost entirely shut down and the passing windows are small--small enough that the Suns, without a true PG, can't operate well.

The Jazz's lineup with Kessler + Lauri + Olynyk was very effective defensively, not because they're each individually great defenders (Olynyk isn't), but the combination of those 7-foot bodies just ate up a ton of space, making it difficult for offensive players to navigate. Guys who are big and long don't actually have to move as much to have a defensive impact.

Hendricks + Lauri + a true big gives the Jazz a good start at creating that kind of defense, but they probably need to follow through with one more long defender.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Sheppard won't be a defensive weak link individually. However, there's an opportunity cost to Sheppard in that the best defensive teams in the NBA have multiple long defenders whose length creates a compounding effect. A team that has three or four long defenders on the floor together is difficult to move the ball against. When the Wolves have Nickeil + Ant + McDaniels + Gobert on the floor together, the driving lanes are almost entirely shut down and the passing windows are small--small enough that the Suns, without a true PG, can't operate well.

The Jazz's lineup with Kessler + Lauri + Olynyk was very effective defensively, not because they're each individually great defenders (Olynyk isn't), but the combination of those 7-foot bodies just ate up a ton of space, making it difficult for offensive players to navigate. Guys who are big and long don't actually have to move as much to have a defensive impact.

Hendricks + Lauri + a true big gives the Jazz a good start at creating that kind of defense, but they probably need to follow through with one more long defender.

Sheppard will definitely be a defensive weak link individually.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Reed Sheppard is my guy in this draft. If the Jazz are in position to draft him does anyone think the Magic would consider a Key for Black type deal? I've never seen a worse 3 point shooting team in the playoffs than the Magic. Some are comparing Castle to Black so why not just acquire Black who seems very redundant with Suggs in Orlando? A backcourt rotation of Shep, Black, Sexton, Dunn and a sprinkle of Brice could be a well balanced unit.

God damn trading Keyonte for Black would be monumentally stupid

 

[stitches]

Sheppard will definitely be a defensive weak link individually.

Would he be weaker link than Keyonte? I'm talking... i'm not talking about having both on the floor at the same time... if you could have one of them defensively - which one would you rather have on the floor?

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Would he be weaker link than Keyonte? I'm talking... i'm not talking about having both on the floor at the same time... if you could have one of them defensively - which one would you rather have on the floor?

If I was a primary offensive option I would want Reed Sheppard guarding me. He got targeted successfully in college constantly. He can work in a good defensive scheme, but he's going to be a target.

 

[underdog]

Agreed... size and length raise both the floor and the ceiling of the defense. Doesn't mean you need to aim at being THAT type of team with that type of distribution of offensive and defensive talent, but if you want to be a good team on D, you need positional length.

Yes, when building a contender, at least one of our guards should have more length and be a good defender. 6-2 or 6-3 is fine for a point guard if he is a playmaker and can shoot or defend well. I mean we’ve got lots of great players who are 6-3 or less (Chris Paul, Fred VanVleet, Kyle Lowry, Mike Conley, Darius Garland, Stephen Curry, Trae Young, Damian Lillard, Ja Morant, Jalen Brunson, Kyrie Irving, and Tyrese Maxey all listed as 6-2 or smaller and De’Aaron Fox, Donovan Mitchell, Marcus Smart, Scoot Henderson listed as 6-3 on the NBA website.)