Following Potential 2020 draftees

[Miggs]

So multiple reports coming out that Isaiah Stewart has impressed people with his shooting.

I wouldn't be surprised if he's somebody the Jazz would have interest in if that's true. He is known as a positive locker room guy with extremely high character.

Is he the best basketball player on the board with our needs being a consideration? That’s honestly all I care about. Enough with finding high character guys and players being a “good fit.” They’re kids. Many kids do stupid ****. Unless a kid’s a complete dirtball, I don’t care too much about character outside of work ethic. Find the best player and let our leaders help him to be a pro and mature.

 

[SCS]

Is he the best basketball player on the board with our needs being a consideration? That’s honestly all I care about.

No. At least not on my board anyway. And I agree with you to a degree. I was just saying I wouldn't be surprised if the Jazz were interested in him if he can shoot on top of everything else.

 

[SCS]

If I was taking team need, talent, fit and realistic chance the prospect could be on the board I think that my short list would be Precious Achiuwa, Paul Reed, Devon Dotson. You'd have to keep open the possibility that someone like Aleksej Pokusevski, Kira Lewis Jr or someone else falls into your lap of course.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

I think Dotson is likely to go in the early 2nd round. I'd be surprised if the Jazz don't have 5 guys ahead of him as realistic options at #24.

For me, I'd take Josh Green, Theo Maledon, Leandro Bolmaro, Jalen Smith, Paul Reed and probably Jahmius Ramsey ahead of Dotson, and that assumes Jaden McDaniels gets red-flagged.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

He's a lottery prospect on my board. I buy his three point shot. His defense is far from perfect and still needs work but he is capable of protecting the rim and being a drop big in a drop big scheme (like the one the Jazz run). A center who is capable of shooting threes (he has flashed the capability of attacking closeouts too) and defending the rim is very valuable.

If he was available and the Jazz took him I'd be happy with it. And I'm sure it's something that they would consider because having a stretch 5 is an element that they have wanted on the roster. That's why they tried Jeff Green at 5.

I don't know if they would pull the trigger on it though. Especially since it seems like they love Bradley. Having three 5's who are best as drop bigs on defense is not ideal. I don't think you want Smith at 4 defending in space very much. I don't think that is playing him to his strengths.

Offensively, I think Smith could play some minutes at the 4. Whether he'd survive on defense is the question. It could be match-up dependent. Smith could be a solid help defender as well. Think Zach Collins.

It seems like the Jazz have gone away from switching defensively in favor of just funneling guys into Rudy. It's probably because Conley and Bogey aren't that switchable.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Sleeper

 

[Eminence]

I'd be darn happy if we wound up with Josh Green or Paul Reed. Not real up on the internationals, but not a huge fan of a lot of the other college guys y'all are discussing (well, Vassell, but I agree he's out of range).

 

[SCS]

I think Dotson is likely to go in the early 2nd round. I'd be surprised if the Jazz don't have 5 guys ahead of him as realistic options at #24.

For me, I'd take Josh Green, Theo Maledon, Leandro Bolmaro, Jalen Smith, Paul Reed and probably Jahmius Ramsey ahead of Dotson, and that assumes Jaden McDaniels gets red-flagged.

I don't think we could differ more on prospects lmao. We agree on Smith, Reed and Green to degree but everyone else we're like on complete opposite ends lol. Ramsey is another one I wouldn't touch in the first round. Like Maledon he's atrocious on defense. And offensively I don't see one skill he brings to the table that will help him see the floor (I don't buy the shot, his indicators aren't good and to the eye he just doesn't have very good touch. It's kind of a line drive)

I think where we fundamentally differ is that I like prospects with at least one bankable NBA level skill. One skill that will open the door to playing time which will open the door to more opportunity. You seem to like prospects with a good base of size/raw skill, etc even if they don't have a bankable NBA skill yet. Not saying either is wrong. We just look at things in a polar opposite way. It's interesting to me actually.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

I don't think we could differ more on prospects lmao. We agree on Smith, Reed and Green to degree but everyone else we're like on complete opposite ends lol. Ramsey is another one I wouldn't touch in the first round. Like Maledon he's atrocious on defense. And offensively I don't see one skill he brings to the table that will help him see the floor (I don't buy the shot, his indicators aren't good and to the eye he just doesn't have very good touch. It's kind of a line drive)

I think where we fundamentally differ is that I like prospects with at least one bankable NBA level skill. One skill that will open the door to playing time which will open the door to more opportunity. You seem to like prospects with a good base of size/raw skill, etc even if they don't have a bankable NBA skill yet. Not saying either is wrong. We just look at things in a polar opposite way. It's interesting to me actually.

I do believe in Jahmius Ramsey's shooting, and in his athleticism. I think he could start right now for the Rockets ahead of McLemore and Daniel House and fit right in. As for his defense, I cut him some slack since he was an 18 year-old freshman this season. He has the tools to defend, and I think he'll pick that up.

I look for guys whom I think have starter potential, understanding that other rotation players aren't hard to pick up in free agency or through small trades.

 

[SCS]

I do believe in Jahmius Ramsey's shooting, and in his athleticism. I think he could start right now for the Rockets ahead of McLemore and Daniel House and fit right in. As for his defense, I cut him some slack since he was an 18 year-old freshman this season. He has the tools to defend, and I think he'll pick that up.

I look for guys whom I think have starter potential, understanding that other rotation players aren't hard to pick up in free agency or through small trades.

I think Ramsey is a good athlete but the athleticism doesn't really show up in game situations very much. In all the games I've seen he hasn't popped except when he comes over for the occasional weakside block. He's more explosive than fluid and he needs room to load up.

I think that the approach of trying to find the guys with starter potential is a risky approach. You can talk yourself into 40 or 50 guys in a class who theoretically could eventually start (maybe more) if they develop this or that. And only what... 10-12 from this whole class will actually be consistent starters. And only a fraction of that will actually even make the NBA at all. You can also talk yourself out of guys for reasons that might not be accurate.

That's why I've started to subscribe somewhat to the John Hollinger approach. Historically only around 20 guys in a class really make it in the NBA. Some will be all star level, some will be starters, some will be simple rotation players. But the goal really is to find who those guys are. That's why I'm not afraid to look at guys who may just be role players. I think that the approach of swinging on theoretical upside due to age/size/raw ability is where a lot of teams fundamentally fail the draft process. The draft IS about upside. It is. But I think that the hunger to hit on a star has kind of made the idea of getting a role player a bad thing when getting one is actually a win. If you're consistently just getting actual NBA players from the draft year after year you are gonna be really good. And I think that the guys who have instantly translatable NBA skills have a leg up. The more standout the skill the better. So that's kinda what I look for.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

I think Ramsey is a good athlete but the athleticism doesn't really show up in game situations very much. In all the games I've seen he hasn't popped except when he comes over for the occasional weakside block. He's more explosive than fluid and he needs room to load up.

I think that the approach of trying to find the guys with starter potential is a risky approach. You can talk yourself into 40 or 50 guys in a class who theoretically could eventually start (maybe more) if they develop this or that. And only a fraction of that will actually even make the NBA. You can also talk yourself out of guys for reasons that might not be accurate.

That's why I've started to subscribe somewhat to the John Hollinger approach. Historically only around 20 guys in a class really make it in the NBA. Some will be all star level, some will be starters, some will be simple rotation players. But the goal really is to find who those guys are. That's why I'm not afraid to look at guys who may just be role players. I think that the approach of swinging on theoretical upside due to age/size/raw ability is where a lot of teams fundamentally fail the draft process. The draft IS about upside. It is. But I think that the hunger to hit on a star has kind of made the idea of getting a role player a bad thing when getting one is actually a win. If you're consistently just getting actual NBA players from the draft year after year you are gonna be really good. And I think that the guys who have instantly translatable NBA skills have a leg up. The more standout the skill the better. So that's kinda what I look for.

There are so many rotation-caliber player floating around the league, and the Jazz have enough rotation players on their roster at this point, that I'm really only interested in swinging for upside. That is, trying to draft someone who can lift the ceiling of the team if they pan out. If they fail, then so be it, but I'm looking for star or near-star potential.

If you want rotation-caliber players, there are a dozen of them in the 2nd round this year.

 

[SCS]

There are so many rotation-caliber player floating around the league, and the Jazz have enough rotation players on their roster at this point, that I'm really only interested in swinging for upside. That is, trying to draft someone who can lift the ceiling of the team if they pan out. If they fail, then so be it, but I'm looking for star or near-star potential.

If you want rotation-caliber players, there are a dozen of them in the 2nd round this year.

If you're looking for stars then total projects that don't possess a standout NBA skill/trait isn't the place to look.

Also history says there's only 5 all stars on average per draft. Usually most of them go near the top of the draft.

Oh and I'd like to point out that several players who were pegged as "just role players" ended up becoming all stars. Rudy Gobert, Kyle Lowry, Paul Millsap, Pascal Siakam, Domantas Sabonis. Wanna know why? They had standout skills/traits that allowed them to get on the floor for a team in a specific role. And once they had their foot in the door they were able to expand their games.