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Following Potential 2025 Draftees

KqWIN said:
Yeah, I'd agree about none of them being positive defenders at the next level....but when I'm watching these clips, none of them are really THAT bad. And tbf, I still think clips that show highlights/lowlights don't paint the full picture so I'll have to find some full games to watch.

Another way to look at this is that it's the opposite of what we often say about college offense. I wouldn't say that college basketball is "harder" to play than NBA offense, but there are things that we generally accept that will make things easier in the NBA. Having better teammates, better spacing, better offensive systems ect. But that flips on the defensive end. Because of the lack of talent, it's easier to defend on an individual level and especially in a team concept. The NBA prospect level guys can often struggle to create at this level because of X, Y, Z. When it's not an NBA prospect level guy, the offense is just hopeless and defense is so easy.

There's a lot of clips of them guarding individually in isolation.....but it's guarding a guy who is probably not that good and the paint is clogged and there are no shooters. And these guys are good enough to lock those guys down in that situation. Kon, for example, is obviously not a great athlete by NBA standards, but at the college level guys are like bouncing off his chest at any contact and he's not really that slow compared to his opponents. He's like a defensive wall when guys test him. I think it can bait you into thinking he might do the same vs pros, but it's just a whole different sport.

And it's even more extreme in off ball defense scenarios. You don't have to be great at closeouts. There's no mental energy required to stay in the possession. You won't find yourself in a situation where you have to zone up two guys to let the defense recover. It doesn't matter if don't navigate a screen.....I can go on forever about this. Individual defense isn't less important in the NBA per say, but there's this giant list of things you have to do in addition to individual defense that do not come up at the NCAA level. It really is chest vs checkers.
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I know you are going to hate this, but for me I feel pretty comfortable with keeping defense as a 90% subjective analysis. I feel like I'm keyed in enough to defense as something I really value that I've been pretty accurate in the past with which prospects are going to be good and bad defenders in the NBA. Yes there are many differences between the NCAA and the NBA when it comes to defense, but in general guys who care, have BBIQ, and the physical tools make good defenders in the NBA. Usually that stuff comes through in the film.
 
SoberasHotRod said:
I know you are going to hate this, but for me I feel pretty comfortable with keeping defense as a 90% subjective analysis. I feel like I'm keyed in enough to defense as something I really value that I've been pretty accurate in the past with which prospects are going to be good and bad defenders in the NBA. Yes there are many differences between the NCAA and the NBA when it comes to defense, but in general guys who care, have BBIQ, and the physical tools make good defenders in the NBA. Usually that stuff comes through in the film.
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Personally, I think those things show through numbers more than they do through film. Maybe my opinion would change if I had infinite access and time to watch film, but I feel like I watch a decent amount of film and I'd rather start with numbers first and use film to confirm/reconsider/contextualize the numbers.

It's kind of hard to decouple the different forms of analysis though. We all have some amount film, numbers, and outside opinion baked into our opinion without even trying.
 
Saint Cy of JFC said:
Im not disagreeing about considering Yang at 21, but your qualifier makes no sense.
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Like if Collins opt out and leave in FA then we ship Lauri to a contender, we are left with only Kessler & Filip in the front court. There's also Hendrix but yeah, we can use some Yang.
 
jom2003 said:
Like if Collins opt out and leave in FA then we ship Lauri to a contender, we are left with only Kessler & Filip in the front court. There's also Hendrix but yeah, we can use some Yang.
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Only Kessler plays the same position as Yang...
 
HadAnEffectHere said:
After thinking it through, I'm pretty convinced Philly is taking Edgecombe if they don't trade the pick. He rates too highly by all stat models and is way more ready to go right now than Ace or Tre or the other guys.



Why should Lauri get as much as Pascal Siakam got?

Make an argument as to why Lauri should match the Siakam return (2 so-so firsts and one bad first) let alone surpass it.
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-Lauri is 6'11 that shoots the three well
-Beats Siakam is almost every stat category
-27 yrs old (Siakam was 29 when he was traded)
-This is subjective, but I think Lauri is a better player than Siakam. Siakam has had better players around him than Lauri has. Lauri would be even better with better teammates. The game plan against the Jazz is stop Lauri and you probably win.

There are probably other reasons too that I am not thinking of
 
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