Some thoughts from today's scrimmages. I have a large draft board I have been working on for over a month now and today was certainly helpful in moving prospects up and down my board. I'm not an NBA scout by any means, just a nerd with some extra time on my hands. Some players I was interested in coming into these games. Game 1. Greg Brown - I was once really high on Greg Brown. Looks lost. 0 impact on the game. No hustle getting up and down the floor and in some cases resulting in open shots for the opposing team. Terrible positioning and basketball IQ. He has been falling further down my board last few weeks and this doesn’t help one bit. I thought he could be Josh Smith 2.0 at one point but I dont care about his measurements if he is stromile swift. Seems like a project with bust potential. Makur Maker - Very impressive ball handling. Very impressive passing. Very nice shooting touch off the dribble especially at his size. Good Rebounding. Nice Defensive impact. Great screen setting. Didn’t shy from contact and played big. Can hit 3. Great feel for the game and IQ. Made the biggest impact today imo even over Hyland. Could be a major steal due to limited visibility this year. Perhaps Thon becoming a bust hurt his stock just like Terrance Mann playing well has seemed to help Tre Mann's stock. He is more skilled than a lot of bigs going before him in mocks. Seems to be more of a physical presence than Bol Bol or Thon Maker. Sandro Mamukelashvili - Good basketball IQ. Decent handle and passing. Terrible defense. Just a wide open lane to the rim when he was in there. It doesn't matter if he has a good feel for the game with that kind of defense. No thanks. Johhny Juzang - Forcing things. Turnover prone. Not shooting well. Bad defense. I expected a little more from him but he just looked bad. Nah’shon Hyland - Reminds me of Quickley for some reason. Definitely helped his stock today. Still not convinced from one game to bring too much higher on my board but a closer look at his film is warranted after this game. Seems like he has decent two way potential. He took over the game today which should account for something. There are a ton of guards with his skill set and I'm not overreacting to his performance today but definitely one to keep an eye on moving forward. Jerico Sims - He measured very well. I really wish he would have run the floor better and used his athleticism a little better. Decent impact defensively and as a rebounder. Pretty one dimensional on offense today. Still seems pretty raw but he was at least able to use his size to his advantage. Standout of the game. Makur Maker Honerable mention - Nah'shon Hyland. Game 2 Neemas Queta is a HUGE person. Definitely alters a ton of shots shots but seems a little slow and stiff in his movements, especially laterally. Despite decent footwork, he would get killed by NBA guards on switches and could be a liability in today's game. Good on the boards though. Has ability to block shots and also steal the basketball. Nice hustle. Really good at imposing his size on both ends. Pulls down offensive rebounds and can finish around the rim. Better passer than I expected. Way better overall than I expected but not the best fit for the Rockets style of play. Joe Wiescamp - Great measurements. Good shooting. Good shooting form. Great set shots and can shoot in traffic and even shoot a little off the dribble. Good footwork. Decent ball handler for his size. Nice defensive rotations. Plays pick and roll defense very well and has good switching ability. Good timing and discipline on shot blocks. Plays with a ton of hustle. Doesn’t rush his shot and looks for the best pass out of the post or driving to the basket. Always moving to the right spots off ball to help his teammates however he can. Excellent feel and IQ on both ends of the floor. Good athlete and even more physical than I anticipated. Looks like he could be a nice glue guy some day. Could have a nice floor and immediate impact at the next level. His combination of measurements, fundamentals, feel and IQ is really nice and a rare thing at his age. I just love players like this who can help in so many ways on both ends. Wouldn't be surprised at all if he stayed in the league longer than some projected first rounders. I would love him as a Houston Rocket especially with his off ball ability and high IQ on both ends. Throw in his great combine measurements and what's not to like? Reminds me of Shane Battier. Quentin Grimes - Good shooting. Very nice stroke. Looks to have a lot of confidence. Good shot creating and pull up jumpers. Could be a walking bucket. Ability to drive and kick was pretty solid. Beat Wiescamp off the dribble a few times. His defense was also a little better than I thought it would be. Very active off the ball. Some really nice ball handling for his size. Some really nice assists. Great feel for the game. Much better passer than I expected. Didn’t force anything and scored well in the flow of the offense. More athletic than I thought stacked up with these guys but needs to be a little more physical on defense. Good mentality and feel. Looks to have a good basketball IQ. I knew he could score in a variety of ways but he impressed me today with his activity of ball, ball handling and especially his court vision and passing ability. He seems to have a lot of confidence and played very under control. Has a very well rounded game and could definitely be a useful player for an NBA team. Josh Christopher - I know he was the game's leading scorer but I was a little disappointed to be honest. Really good physicality for his position. Nice finishing touch. Not always the smartest plays although he did settle a bit in the second half. Needs to work on his passing. Some really ugly turnovers. Did make good desicions in the open court though. Needs to assert himself more in the game and use his physicality better outside of driving to the basket. I expected him to be the most dominant player on the floor today and he did have the most points in the game but it was all very one dimensional. Played much better in the second half. Does not seem like a good shooter at this stage although can hit a midrange shot off the dribble. I expected him to play good defense as a physical two way prospect but was beat numerous times gambling in passing lanes. Lacks discipline on both sides of the ball. Pass accuracy is very questionable. A few nice outlet passes and made some good decisions on fast breaks so the potential is there I guess. Seems he could thrive in the open court. His first step was clearly better than anyone who played today and good lateral movement on D. Unfortunately he reminds me of Terrence Williams. A questionable shooter who uses physicality to get to the rim with a little bit of tunnel vision. He was capable however at making simple reads driving to the basket but way too many turnovers and sloppy plays. He played good man D for the most part. Gets some steals but also gets beat gambling. Decent help on the boards. Interesting skill set. I can see the potential but he really needs the ball in his hands and his ball handling needs a lot of work to be that kind of guy in the NBA. He is very undisciplined. Probably slid down my board a bit but maybe he was nervous today especially in the first half. Ended the game the way I wanted him to play from the start. Forced shots toward the end even if they happened to go in. I was on the fence about this guy in the very end of the first round but would probably pass on him at that point in the draft. Could be an excellent flyer in the second round. Isaiah Mobley - Decent footwork for his age. Good offense. Plays within the flow of the game and made some nice cuts off the ball. Has fluid movements but doesn’t seem very physical. Not great defensively today. Still had a nice feel for the game but nothing about him really screams out at me. Ariel Hukporti - was always high on this guy. Runs the floor better than I expected. His impact was minimal though. Seems way more raw than I expected on both ends. Decent around the rim but Queta ate his lunch for the most part. Daishen Nix - Decent passer. Decent defender. Didn't shoot well at all and didn't make too much of an imprint on the game as a passer. At one point I saw him as a dark horse second round pick, especially being so heavily recruited out of high school. I just don't see it. Yves Pons - Very solid midrange jumper. Solid defense. Good feel scoring within the flow of the offense and didn't force his shots. Looks pretty athletic. More physical on the boards than I expected. He is more like what I expected Greg Brown to look like today. Could be a really nice piece in the NBA as a two way versatile defender. Would fit nicely with how the rockets want to play especially on the defensive end. Great lateral quickness for his size and fluid hip movement. A little bit of patrick patterson in his game. Could be Usman Garuba of the second round. Would be very happy if the Rockets somehow landed him in the second round with a bought pick. If no one slides to use in the first round and we traded say #24 for two second rounders and took Wiescamp and Maker I would be very happy with that. Standout of the game. Joe Wiescamp. Honerable mention - Quentin Grimes and Yves Pons.
Side note - During the two games some players were interviewed. One that stood out was Trey Murphy. I have always loved Trey Murphy. He is a solid first rounder for me. His interview today actually made me consider moving him even higher on my board. He has the right mentality, seems extremely intelligent and regardless of where his ceiling might be, seems like a very very solid player who could impact a franchise for many years. His skill set is increasingly valuable in the NBA and I would prefer that over some other prospects that might bust more easily. Call me crazy but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he is more valuable than someone like Josh Giddey. It is a travesty that he is in the second round in the majority of mock drafts imo. Would be an excellent fit on the Rockets. Also Sharife Cooper interviewed well. Very relaxed and confident demeanor. He is getting slept on big time. He is a baller. I know teams like to choose people with better measurables early on in the lottery to try to hit on a star but Sharife is one of the best basketball players in the entire class imo. You see it not only in the stats but they eye test is hard to deny how good he is at basketball. Wouldn't be surprised if he worked on his shot and became a taller Ty Lawson type allstar. I know its tempting to take the most athletic guys but the Rockets need to be careful in this rebuild not to be the Oakland Raiders. These guys are so young and sometimes its better to take the best basketball player period. Who's to say that young guys who are extremely skilled and have a great feel for the game can't continue to improve? That kind of skill at an early age should be just as indicative toward potential as someone with freakish athletic ability ie Terrence Williams, Thomas Robinson etc. Would be a pretty bad fit on the current team but man I would love Sharife Cooper on the Rockets.
I’d love Wiescamp if he’s at the bottom of the first or top of 2nd. That’s a good rotational player. Kispert, Wiescamp, Grimes, Hyland and Maker should be in play later for us
https://www.si.com/nba/2021/06/25/nba-combine-notebook-post-lottery-cade-cunningham Based on some of the chatter I heard over the course of this season, there was enough love for Cade Cunningham atop the draft that he felt easy to pencil in, regardless of who won the lottery. That no longer appears to be the case. In addition to Cunningham, league sources expect USC’s Evan Mobley and G League Ignite’s Jalen Green to receive serious consideration from the Pistons’ front office, led by general manager Troy Weaver. The strong sense I’ve gotten is that Detroit will explore all its options before committing one way or another, and that the decision on who to take is far from a done deal. Most of the talk surrounding what might become of the Pistons’ pick has revolved around Weaver, who is regarded by his peers as a sharp scouting mind and a freethinker. He arrived from Oklahoma City after the 2020 season, overseeing a successful draft that landed Isaiah Stewart and Saddiq Bey in the teens and Killian Hayes, a Weaver favorite (who missed a large chunk of the season due to injury), at No. 7. It’s relevant to note that Weaver is known as a contrarian, preferring to examine all sides of a decision with disregard for consensus thought. Weaver is also known as a believer in the value of bigs in the modern NBA, and was widely thought to be bullish on James Wiseman entering last year’s draft. Some around the league think he may ultimately favor Mobley’s versatility and defensive prowess. Others have pointed to Green, a high-upside scorer, as an ideal fit for Detroit’s roster. Nobody knows exactly what they’re thinking yet, but many in the know have cautioned to expect the unexpected. None of this is meant as a disservice to Cunningham, who has ranked as SI’s top prospect from rail to rail this season, and is the player I’d personally prefer. He can certainly fit on court with Detroit, with a highly malleable game that revolves around his uncanny ability to make positive decisions with the ball, and a much-improved jumper. And he may well end up the No. 1 pick, whether it’s the Pistons, or, speculatively, if Detroit finds a pathway to trading back and still landing the player it wants. Weaver and his front office hold the cards atop the draft here, and it’s a situation the rest of the NBA will monitor closely in the days and weeks to come. __________________ According to league sources, the Cavaliers have begun to explore trade options involving leading scorer Collin Sexton. Sexton, 22, is extension-eligible this summer, averaged 24.3 points per game last season, and appears likely to seek a maximum contract. Also eligible for an extension is 23-year-old center Jarrett Allen, who is also expected to command a lucrative deal. Cleveland. There’s belief around the league that Cleveland prefers to move on from Sexton, rather than sign him to a deal that would greatly inhibit their flexibility moving forward. The Cavs hold the No. 3 pick in the draft, and could end up selecting another guard, which could further expedite the process of a trade. __________________ As for the on-court portion of the combine, scrimmages began on Thursday and will conclude on Friday, with a series of agency-run pro days scheduled by the NBA in the days that follow. Two games took place Thursday afternoon, with several players beginning to set themselves apart from the group with strong showings. The primary notables from day one, as I saw it, are as follows.As for the on-court portion of the combine, scrimmages began on Thursday and will conclude on Friday, with a series of agency-run pro days scheduled by the NBA in the days that follow. Two games took place Thursday afternoon, with several players beginning to set themselves apart from the group with strong showings. The primary notables from day one, as I saw it, are as follows. Josh Primo, Alabama […] Jason Preston, Ohio […] Quentin Grimes, Houston […] Bones Hyland, VCU […] __________________ Wrapping up with some minutiae: as it turns out, the Pistons and Cavaliers got lucky twice on lottery night. The way the lottery works is that the league draws combinations for the first four slots in order, with any team repeats being thrown out and re-drawn. According to a source with knowledge of the proceedings, the NBA had to draw six times for four slots, with the order being Detroit, then Houston, then Detroit again, then Cleveland, Cleveland again, and finally, Toronto. Conspiracy theorists, do your worst.
Thanks for your perspective! You went pretty in depth on 3 guys I've been high on for a while. Murphy is a potential stud role player. 40/50/90 guy who can credibly guard 2-4 AND he already has connects to Houston? Should be pick 23 if he's still available. I think it's 50-50 he's gone. Wieskamp I knew was going to measure out impressively but I wasnt expecting the athleticism he showed. He might be trending higher than I anticipated. Finally, I love Josh Christopher's ability to get to the cup. I think he has a chance to be better in the NBA.
For the love of all that is holy let’s get a 6’9 wing that can shoot and play D. How is this guy not the 5th pick lol
https://hoopshype.com/lists/nba-dra...ects-with-michael-scotto-and-bryan-kalbrosky/ Which prospects are rising in the draft according to scouts? Kalbrosky: I think the No. 1 name that’s come up is Scottie Barnes. People are getting really excited about his unique size and athleticism. I think that he was seen as a notch below the top five guys before the combine. I think he’s kind of solidified himself in that same tier with a 6-foot-7 height and a 7-foot-3 wingspan, as well as one of the best shuttle runs among all participants. He’s a great playmaker and on-ball defender who is versatile and switchable. He can play almost any position on the court. If his shooting comes along, he’s going to be a special guy to watch for sure. Another guy who’s really risen for a lot of people is Jericho Sims out of Texas. One scout I spoke with said he’s pretty sure that he’d bet anything Sims gets drafted based on what he saw from him in a team workout. Now that he’s had the combine workouts to show his athleticism, it became even more apparent. He had a 44.5-inch vertical. He’s also one of the faster guys out there with a 7-foot-3 wingspan. I think Scottie Lewis is somebody worth watching as well. He changed my mind a lot during the combine so far. He had a 42-inch vertical leap that was among the best among all participants outside of Jericho Sims and Keon Johnson. He also had the best mark at the three-quarter court sprint and the fastest lane agility time. With his unique length as well, he’s somebody, who I think, with a 7-foot wingspan, can guard multiple positions and is a great defensive playmaker in a similar mold to Marcus Smart and De’Anthony Melton. The last guy is Joe Wieskamp out of Iowa. He was a little bit behind the scenes, almost playing alongside Luka Garza, who was the consensus college player of the year. I think he’s done a lot to help himself during the combine so far, especially in the eyes of scouts who notice that he’s not only a 40-plus percent three-point shooter in college but surprisingly athletic. He is somebody who finished in the 97th percentile off the catch, shooting three-pointers last season but also had a 42-inch maximum vertical. Across the board, there are some guys changing their bodies a little bit that are raising some eyebrows. Luka Garza and Daishen Nix of the G League Ignite program both come to mind in that sense.
Dashien Nix is legitimately overweight. Who was the last successful fat NBA guard? John Bagley in the 80s? Thats not even including the fact that he cant shoot.
Yes, Kai Jones and Mobley would be duplicative. Draft Option A Cade Cunningham Kai Jones Scottie Lewis Draft Option B Evan Mobley JT Thor Vrenz Bleijenbergh
Luka Garza was a big deal for Iowa (go Hawks!), but at 22.5 years old, I don't know if he projects to be drafted. Which might wind up better for him, if his game can translate to the next level.
