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2024 NBA Draft Mega Thread

stitches said:
Watching the Alabama vs UConn game now. Castle just makes so many winning plays... and he makes them in so many different ways... unselfish outlet passes, skip passes to free shooters, hustle plays for loose balls, strong rebounds against bigger players, moving the ball quickly and decisively creating advantages for his team even if he never ends up with a stat for said play, entry passes, smart cutting without the ball, defensive positioning, fighting through screens, doesn't seem to be forcing anything at any time. I don't think any of the other players in this draft do as many high BBIQ, high positive impact plays... I just don't see a way he isn't at the very least a really high level glue guy. We need a player like that so bad... do we even have a single player of that mold on this roster? A player who doesn't care one bit about his stats and does all the little things to make you win games?

And his shot really doesn't look bad. It looks natural and it looks like it should be going in more than it is from 3... and from FT... it's pretty good already. I don't see a reason to think he couldn't develop into at least average shooter. I'm not sure he will be able to shoot it off the dribble, but even if he's an off-ball shooter with the handle he has he shouldn't have any problem punishing opponents for either leaving him open(like they did in this game) or for closing out on him by attacking the close outs and making good decisions against a rotating scrambling defense.
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This… if you watch him he reminds me of Joe Ingles a bit in the way you think… man he did a lot of stuff to help you win… then he may only have like 8 points 4 assists and 3-4 rebounds. He’s very smart finding space and the making quick passing reads. Not like Joe from a game standpoint just in that I can see him being a valuable connector.
 
bigmike said:
Call me a throwback but I love the fact that the the two teams competing for title tomorrow night are led by the two best big men in the country.

Nothing would make me happier than Edey and Clingan both blossoming in the NBA, and Jokic leading the Nuggets to B2B NBA championships.

Let's bring the big man back. A little piece of me wonders if the "small ball/positionless" era of NBA basketball was really just in response to the Warriors and Steph/Klay being the two best shooters of all-time playing together at the same time and then adding an all-time unicorn (Kevin Durant) into the same mix.
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The Warriors' teams were based on putting 5 guys on the floor who could all dribble, pass and shoot. It becomes very difficult to defend when Steph has the ball and pulls a defender or two 30 feet out on the floor. Steph stretches the defense, then Draymond initiates with a 4-on-3 advantage. Someone is getting an open look or an open drive to the rim. It was an offense built around Steph Curry's unique ability to warp a defense.

They also ran some unique motion way up high to draw defenders out. Will Hardy seems to be trying to do that sometimes, just with less talent to work with.

If a big man doesn't move well laterally, teams will attack him in pick-and-roll, such that the big is drawn out on the floor and the guard can get by him. Teams with bigs who stay in drop coverage need their perimeter defenders to really lock down their space, something that Quin Snyder's Jazz could never do. The ideal, modern big is able to switch on defense and recover to the paint if need be. This is where someone like Edey is probably going to struggle.
 
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I just checked and Exum is shooting 50% from 3 on almost 4 attempts per 36 minutes. It feels like there are so many examples of guys who improve their 3pt percentages significantly over their career
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
This… if you watch him he reminds me of Joe Ingles a bit in the way you think… man he did a lot of stuff to help you win… then he may only have like 8 points 4 assists and 3-4 rebounds. He’s very smart finding space and the making quick passing reads. Not like Joe from a game standpoint just in that I can see him being a valuable connector.
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I would say more Draymond. He had a lot of very Draymond esque plays last game
 
bigmike said:
Not saying you were implying the opposite (I wasn't clear) - but with Castle, I think the mentality stuff is clearly reflected on the court.

He seems to play the right way. Doesn't force much, plays within the team, always plays hard on both ends, doesn't seem to bitch much, never seems fazed, etc.

I don't see a lot of PG in his game yet, I think he's clearly an off-ball guard in the early stages of his career. But I'll be shocked if he's on the board at #8-9 (a legitimate "we couldn't believe he was on the board" type outcome). In this horrendous draft, he's one of the safest looking picks to be a very solid two-way player with a high floor. I also think he'll learn to shoot well enough; his mechanics aren't awful, no reason he can't get there.
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Castle is going to be fine on the defensive end. He'll guard 1 -3, maybe even 4. He'll be solid, get rebounds, push off of rebounds, etc.

The issue is on the offensive end. If Castle doesn't have the ball in his hands, defenders are going to back way off him and double-down in the paint because they know he isn't much of a threat to catch and shoot. It's the same way teams guard Kris Dunn or THT on the Jazz right now. If Castle is playing on the ball, defenders are still going to back off, go under on screens, and let him try to force the ball into paint defenders.

There's a long list of players, many of whom were pretty dominant in college, that haven't been viable in the NBA until they knock down enough shots. It includes lottery guys like Tyreke Evans, Justise Winslow, Dyson Daniels, Isaac Okoro, Emanuel Mudiay, Kris Dunn, etc. If you look at Castle's current shooting profile, it's not that far off from Johnny Davis, another "if he can shoot" guy. I think there's enough risk with Castle to keep him out of the top tier of this draft, such as it is.
 
The warriors and thunder both have 2 rookies who are a major part of their winning season this year. I think the key is to pick guys who have a great feel for the game and don't have any major weaknesses that they still need to develop.

I'm not saying that's the direction we should go, just that it is possible to get better while using rookies to fill rotation holes.
 
SoberasHotRod said:
The warriors and thunder both have 2 rookies who are a major part of their winning season this year. I think the key is to pick guys who have a great feel for the game and don't have any major weaknesses that they still need to develop.

I'm not saying that's the direction we should go, just that it is possible to get better while using rookies to fill rotation holes.
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Reed Sheppard
 
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