Exactly, his athleticism is fine. Besides it’s about time we actually drafted a BASKETBALL player instead of drafting someone who can jump really high. “He will struggle defensively too” despite having excellent defensive metrics and being one of the leaders in steals. We are literally playing FVV at point. If he was black suddenly the comp becomes Mike Conley instead of generic white guy.
Sheppard makes Zero Sense on the Rockets. Small Forward and Center are a Huge Need. Cody Williams of Colorado brother of Jalen Williams of OKC. Cody shot 58% from the Field, 6'8, Long Arms, Laterally Quick. nbadraft.net has Cody Williams going 3rd
Bruh Amen and Cam would destroy Ben Shephard 1v1 so don't talk about Rox not getting any "basketball players". You realize Amen was literally 4rth on the rookie ladder right? Why do you act like we didn't get anybody with basketball skills? Cam Whitmore didn't get destroyed in March Madness and score 3 pts in a pathetic display, how's that for a basketball player?
The team has an army of young wings needing minutes especially if you consider Amen more of a wing than a guard. Cam, Tari, Amen and even Bari could possibly be a wing occasionally. And the we have Brooks if he isn't traded. How is a rookie wing going to see minutes on this team? They'd be in the Gleague getting minutes.
Spoiler: Risacher profile https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/39294731/2024-nba-draft-why-zaccharie-risacher-go-no-1 Zaccharie Risacher has put together a historically productive season for a teenager, moving to Bourg from ASVEL for his final season playing in his home country of France. The son of Stéphane Risacher, a six-time French League All-Star, Risacher has stepped into an important role for his club in both Pro A and EuroCup slates and taken a leap in terms of confidence and performance. Jeremy Woo breaks down Risacher's game, looks at his strengths/weaknesses, and provides a player comp for him moving forward. Zaccharie Risacher | SF | Age: 18.8 | JL Bourg Risacher's strengths In many ways, Risacher fits the quintessential NBA wing prototype, supplying a mix of positional size, on-court smarts, scoring, playmaking and positive defense. While he's not demonstrably off-the-charts yet in any of those areas, he has a very strong all-around developmental base for a player his age -- he turns 19 in April. Risacher measured at 6-foot-9 ½ in shoes at the 2023 Hoop Summit with a 6-10 ½ wingspan, giving him good size but average length for a small forward, comparing closely with wings such as Shane Battier and Memphis' Ziaire Williams. Since Hoop Summit, he has made significant strides as a player, rebounding from a poor showing at the 2023 FIBA U19 World Championships, moving to a new club that's invested in his development, and emerging as one of the best young players in Europe. Risacher's defensive play has been largely excellent this season, showcasing versatility in guarding smaller players on the perimeter and the capacity to switch, rotate, and navigate effectively at his size. That type of ability and awareness always bodes well for teenage players' chances of getting minutes early in their NBA careers and helps scouts envision a reasonable floor for Risacher in a 3-and-D role. On the offensive end, Risacher has been effective with his touches, shooting an efficient 56% on 2s and 47% on 3s (though just 70% from the foul line), a big step up from his career averages. His flashes of off-dribble shot-making and aggressiveness point to some untapped upside, giving him the ability to maximize his size to shoot over defenders when unable to get to the rim. While not a high-volume scorer, his patience and all-around feel for his role have been notable, and there's a degree of safety in his overall profile if his improvements are real and sustainable. Risacher's weaknesses The primary hole in Risacher's profile at this stage of his career is that he's not an advanced shot-creator nor an exceptional jump-shooter. He plays a bit upright off the dribble and lacks a creative handle attacking defenders in space, which makes it hard to envision him becoming a top offensive option in the pros without a huge leap in the shot-making department. His scoring upside is tied heavily to becoming a top-flight shooter -- and while he's performing well statistically in that department this season, Risacher is a career 35.9% 3-point shooter in our database across levels. The thought of featuring Risacher offensively right now probably requires a structured off-ball role, in which he's scoring off of more designed touches in the halfcourt, but he may not be that caliber of shooter where he warrants it. In an NBA system, Risacher is more likely to play a tertiary scoring role early in his career, spacing the floor with his shot, attacking the basket on a straight line, and allowing a lead playmaker to create opportunities for him. Risacher's all-around play has been solid and inspires some confidence in his trajectory, but to hit a high-end outcome in the pros befitting of a top draft selection, he must keep developing as a scorer. If he's just an average shooter in the long run, he may not warrant the type of capital it seems a team will have to invest to draft him. Risacher's NBA player comp In a high-end scenario, you can look at Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton and think optimistically about what Risacher could become. His shooting development likely has to top out for him to get there, but he could be good enough all-around to become a top starter-level player in most contexts. If Risacher doesn't add a ton off the dribble, you could see him succeeding in a role similar to New Orleans Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III, working as an athletic spacer and cutter who adds value away from the ball and defensively. And while he's not as athletic as Murphy, Risacher should be able to find NBA success with realistic, steady growth, so long as his body and shooting ability continue to improve. Why Risacher could go No. 1 In a year when teams may focus on need earlier in the draft than usual, there are two ways of looking at Risacher's case for potentially going No. 1: From the perspective of "everyone always needs wings," look at which teams have holes at his position and help rationalize him as a need pick. Risacher will supply more polish and NBA-ready ability than Colorado's Cody Williams, or Ron Holland and Matas Buzelis from G League Ignite. Risacher is enjoying a better individual season than those prospects, his floor is probably higher, and he's young enough that you can also make the argument for his realistic upside. And you can argue Risacher from the best player available perspective: a team might sorely need a point guard (San Antonio), but it's also entirely feasible that a front office might not view any of the guards in this draft class as legitimate franchise building blocks, with Nikola Topic, Isaiah Collier and others providing different strengths and weaknesses. You can look at what Risacher has done this season and decide you'd rather go in his direction and address need later on. He probably doesn't have the sheer upside of a top-pick contender such as Alex Sarr, but it might take less outlier-level development for Risacher to settle in as a very solid starter in the NBA -- which, considering the tempered expectations for this draft class on the whole, might be all a team decides to hope for. He doesn't possess the star power you hope for in a top choice, but value atop this draft starts to become relative and situational. When looking at the very flat talent curve in this draft class -- not much separates the top prospects from each other -- Risacher represents a reasonable mix of both safety tied to his skill set, and upside tied to his age, which should have a good deal of appeal.
Not against Williams but to say Sheppard makes 0 sense is a stretch. Rockets can use shooting wherever it comes from. As far as C and SF being huge needs, thats debatable. Especially SF.
Not seeing Jamal Shead mentioned in any of these threads. Surely wish he'd make one more run with the Coogs.
How is small forward a huge need when we have an incumbent starter there with 3/60 left on his deal, plus Tari, Cam, and maybe Amen, if Amen isn’t a PG? Seems like we have a glut of dudes there, if anything.
Shead is likely going in the second round, maybe around the time our pick comes up. If we want him we should try to pick him up then
So, even Stone's haters say the only thing he's good at is drafting in the mid to late first round. Then some people are saying the players at the top of this draft would be mid lottery picks in other drafts. Isn't this perfect? In the year with an allegedly weak draft we have the #3 pick and a GM who's specialty it is to pick players of this calibre? We should take the best player available regardless of position and yes if they show out that might mean we have to bump someone out of our core. That's a positive not a negative. That's what's best for the team. Alternatively we should trade the pick to upgrade Brooks. We should offer Brooks and #3 for Bridges and Sharpe. They can convert Brooks to an extra pick from a 3rd team if they like. Bridges would give us amazing minutes at the 3/4 spots. I wonder what he's capable of when he has a star scorer (Sengun) drawing attention and kicking the ball out from the post. FVV is a better PG than anyone on the Nets and if Green takes that step up then as they say fuggetaboutit. Bridges will have FAR MORE assisted attempts than he ever had in BKN which would dramatically improve his efficiency and defensive stamina. We're going to f*ck this league up as long as management doesn't take any big risks. Only trade for known commodities, don't panic about cutting your losses on a player or two. Just let Udoka keep sculpting this thing and we're headed for multiple titles. It's one of the most exciting summers in 20+ years for us. I know it's in fashion to be emo about the weakness of this draft but be an objective observer for a second. We're in an unbelievable position. A dynasty is possible here.
https://theathletic.com/5488236/2024/05/13/rockets-spurs-nba-draft-lottery-third-pick/ From an attribute standpoint, looking at playmaking, shooting, defending, have you identified any clear needs for this roster? Outside shooting is one, but are there other glaring areas for improvement? Udoka: We’re trying to have internal growth with our guys we have, first and foremost. But shooting is always at a premium, so you look at that. Versatility across the board with how we defend and want to play. And well-rounded players, we want shot creation as well. Trying to cover all the bases and with that third pick, you can do that with a lot of these players.
I still don't understand the fascination with Mikal Bridges. He's not that much better than Brooks, his efficiency and defensive rating have gotten worse every season the last four years, and it's clear Brooklyn is seeking a massive overpay for him as though he's a legit star, which he's not. If I'm spending that much, I think I go after Lauri, since he actually fills a needed role for us that Bridges does not (a guy who can go get a bucket). Otherwise, I agree with your post overall--we should just let the front office do its work and rely on internal development.
Dillingham is going to be a beast. I like taking him way more than a big. Cal hated on him at UK. He should’ve been played a lot more.
He's a clear offensive upgrade over Brooks. Bridges numbers last season suffered due to him being forced to be a primary option which is above his means. He's a definitely a upgrade to Brooks as a 4th option level guy on a team.
I know many fans see Amen as the PG of the future, but his size gives the Rockets the flexibility to go in any direction they want really, and you can never have enough playmakers in today's NBA. That's why I personally gravitate toward Sheppard, Topic or Dillingham. Drafting one of those guys allows you to hedge your bets a little on Amen as the future PG. And Aaron Holiday proved there's minutes to be had behind FVV on this roster. If they're sold already on Amen, I could get behind a 3 and D wing like Risacher or Williams. What I have a harder time with is posters claiming there's some huge need at center. Is there? With Sengun, Adams and Landale, where is Clingan gonna play? And I buy that Sarr could play next to Alpi, but Clingan doesn't have that same mobility.
I mean that's kind of my point. So we're spending a huge haul of assets to... get a better 4th option? One who doesn't even fit our timeline? Just seems ridiculous to me. I mean, sure, if they'll be reasonable and take like one pick plus Brooks for him, that's probably worth it. But they're not going to be reasonable, so why are we still talking about it?
