Sure, but you take and hope you get lucky knowing you have a year to work with them IF you even need them. By then we may be discussing replacing Cam on the bench as he takes Jalen's spot... Who knows???
One or two who will have longer and maybe better careers, this is a war of attrition kind of development.
Im disappointed in the combine measurements, but I’m comfortable with drafting Shepard #3 IF he can play point guard. I’ll be seeking out info on that question over the next month because as folks mention in this thread, you probably don’t draft him #3 if you don’t think he can play point. I won’t be surprised if the org buys into other players regardless of fit. There’s a very good chance they could have a higher grade on Riscecher, Topic or Clingan, then Sheppard.
I don't care if they're short as long as they are highly skilled. I'd take a rookie Chris Paul right now in a heartbeat! I value IQ, toughness and Skill. Sheppard APPEARS to have all 3. The scouts gotta figure out how much of each
Sheppard is considered more of a combo guard than a point guard (always has been - even in high school), but I guess we'll see if he could do PG duties. One of the reasons I wanted every position on the court to be able to pass and have BBIQ is so we don't need a specific PG guy. We have a 6'7" elite athlete with high IQ that could be a PG, but it seems like he'll have to grow into it a bit. I posted this video in the past in the NBA Draft forum, I think, but if you want to see the beauty of basketball, watch Sheppard's MBC basketball team dissect and destroy Strive for Greatness - a team with Wesley Yates, Bronny James, Mookie Cook, Mackenzie Mgbako, Rob Dillingham, etc. In fairness, i think MBC plays together a lot, but just watch the first few minutes which has a lot of Sheppard highlights and you can see what smart basketball and teamwork can get you. Sheppard was out there making sweet passes, blocking passes with his face (lol), hitting deep jumpers, etc. I would love to see some of the passing and scoring shown by MBC on the Rockets, but we'd need people that can hit jumpers, first, I guess.
A very under-researched wish list... 1. Sarr - really love the length, defense and budding offensive game. I think he slides Jabari down to the 3 and you have a lot of protection for Sengun on defense. Probably an easy fit backing him up too. Probably gone but I'm running to the podium if he's available at 3. 2. Sheppard - shooter. Not a point even though he's small but that's ok because Amen is huge and does everything but shoot and this allows him to be the point with a sharpshooter at the 2. You might hide him a bit on defense but at least it feels like he's got the FVV mentality of small-but-dangerous. Feel like this selection also puts Jalen on notice, which I think is appropriate at this point. I've been firmly in the wait and see camp but this is the decision year. Very much rather Jalen be the post-all-star Jalen but it can't be 2 months a year, be him all the time. 3. Topic - this guy is a heat seeking missile for the rim. I don't think he fits this team at all but he's crazy talented and I'd love the problem of figuring out what to do with him. Kinda hoping he gets pick #2 and pushes Sarr to us but this kid looks good af. 4. Risarcher - 3&D forward with upside. Feels like a high floor pick. 5. Clingan - a real big. Probably a waste of a gift wrapped #3 pick but this draft is weird. Very literally one of the other guys will be available, unless he's coming in having suddenly developed a sharp 3 point shot this isn't the pick.
thanks for this. I guess I’m fixated on Shepard needing to play some point because if he was playing a lot of 2 he’d be the shortest 2 in the league. I just looked up the measurements of the nba shooting guards. Maybe I’m overly worried about height but doesn’t the 6’2” height with no wingspan give u a little concern?
He'd play more of a SG role on offense, but he's paired next to a 6'7 PG so on defense, he'd guard the PG spot. Even then, if his shooting translates, and it really should, you'd have a Steph Curry quality 3 point shooter with more athleticism. His gravity alone should open up enough super easy passes to make him at least serviceable running point.
Topic is going to fall down the draft board quite a bit now that he's had another leg injury just today.
His height/wingspan is a concern, but nothing you can do about it, I guess. The only thing that could possibly fix it is if Amen can cover for him. He's played defense against bigger guards, so it's not that bad, but with the NBA I'm guessing it'll be a tougher task for him. There are no perfect players in the draft, and even Reed's got his warts, but there are CJ McCollums out there making a living at this height (or thereabouts). I also like the fact Sheppard isn't just about shooting or scoring - he's a legit defender as well as a pretty good passer with a good IQ out there. I also worry about his 3 point shot/percentage - as in "how legit is this for an NBA season?" The only answer to that is to put him out there and see if he'll shoot like Kyle Korver/Steph Curry or end up being the modern-day Rockets version of Dave Jamerson.
It certainly seems pretty legit, though he likely won't shoot 50%+ at the NBA level, I'd be shocked if he shot under 38% One of the reasons why he didn't have more volume from 3 in college is that he essentially doesn't ever take bad shots from what I've seen thus far. That amazing shot selection combined with him being one of the best shooters in the world is how he put up video game type efficiency numbers. When the shot he wants isn't there, he tries to move things around and find a better shot either for himself or for someone else. That's why I think most of what he does should translate to the NBA. As to Dave Jamerson, he played at Johnny Buckwheat Junior College....on teams that were trash even for the MAC. There's a bit of a difference between that and playing for Kentucky.
This is exactly why I'm of the "wait and see" approach. He was something like a 37% 3-point shooter in high school. High school 3's aren't even 20-foot jumpers, but they also are probably more easily defended since defenders running out don't have to go another 4 feet to reach NBA distances assuming he isn't jacking them up from out there (from stuff I've watched, he'd jack from way behind the high school 3 pt distance, though) . Or maybe he really, really improved to the college-distance 3. Hopefully we see him stay solid at the NBA distance if we pick him up.
Take a look at his film, he was taking NBA 3's, not just college 3's. Also, yeah, you'd expect improvement from HS to college.
Lmao. After getting off the phone with an nba team. I project this to be the new cam whitmore loophole.
Hmm... didn't look bad but reading that's the 2nd knee injury this year. Maybe trying to push his recovery to keep his draft stock up? Also reading the Spurs had eyes on him, I wonder if they'd just take the plunge because he seems like a Spurs guy and they need that tip of the spear on offense. Or if it's really that bad would he wait until next year, which at this moment looks like a deeper field? Tough break for the kid.
Yeah, there were talks about how he was less explosive coming back from injury, so he probably rushed it. Now he's going to be saddled with the "injury prone" label.
