Brooklyn Picks -- Cash 'em in, or let 'em ride?

Sheppard is going to make some GMs look foolish. Big game player. High IQ. High motor. Active hands. Ridiculous shooter.

Doubt he's there at 8 though but I'll take Jalen's brother as a consolation prize.

 

They might both be gone in the top 5.

I think Williams goes no lower than 4 ..... Risacher & Sarr are the top 2, you can flip flop them depending upon the teams then Williams, Topic & Sheppard round out the top 5 in no specific order.

I really like Cody Williams ..... and Sheppard, thought there might be some outside chance we could get both at one point, if some dream scenario rolled around where the Rockets pick falls in the top 4 and Sheppard fell to 8 with the Brooklyn pick but that no longer seems likely - Sheppard has moved up into the top 4-5.

 

4 big games in a row for Cody and he could go first.... that's just how close this draft seems (to me).
Let's keep the dream of two top 4 picks alive (until it dies!)

 

I pretty much agree with this. I feel like consensus is starting to coalesce around those guys as the top 5.

 

Is he 6'3? That's the question. JJ Reddick was mentioned earlier but he's 6'4, same height as Jalen Green. I like Sheppard primarily for his defense and if he turns out to be 6'1 or 6' that would make picking him early tougher. But, the Rockets might be the best landing spot with Amen if that was the case. I actually hope he goes through the full suite of combine tests. I suspect he's more athletic than people think. Some of the steals he gets and stuff like blocking jumpshots aren't just basketball IQ.

But, on offense, I'm skeptical of low volume high percentage shooters (I'm more skeptical of Cody Williams). If they're coaches had faith in their ability to make more shots, they would run more sets for them. It's not just like Steph where he just had to prove he could be the same player in the nba. For Reed Sheppard to be a star player he'll have to do something we haven't seen yet.

 

Sheppard is Kentucky basketball royalty, from his dad to his mom to his sister. This kid was born with a basketball straight out of the womb, there is zero % chance his shooting is low volume fluke.

Also he will be a pg in the nba. His lateral speed and 1 on 1 defense will be questionable but he will make it up with steals which generate valuable transition opportunities.

 

Reed is a perfect combo with Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun. And Udoka.

Do what you have to do to get him.

 

I'm not skeptical of his ability to shoot open shots or that his percentages are a fluke of lack of accuracy. I'm more skeptical in his ability to get himself open and get a good shot up in challenging scenarios that would be required to be an elite player. Can he double his attempts in the nba at high efficiency? If so, why isn't that happening now? That's more of the risk with low volume shooters. For example, Grayson Allen is shooting an amazing 47.4% from 3, better than Steph has ever shot. Why isn't he getting up 10 3PAs a game? The answer is he can't. He can't get himself open or make the high difficulty 3s to put up that many shots on elite efficiency. Maybe he works on that in the future. He just doesn't have that right now.

Obviously, he's no Garuba type that just selectively takes wide open easy 3s once in a blue moon.

 

He does show some ability to make threes in a variety of ways, off the dribble, off screens, catch-and-shoot, etc. But yes, it is a question given his lack of height, length, so-so athleticism.

 

That’s totally fair. But Grayson Allen is still a valuable role player, which is my downside for Sheppard.

 

I’m not really projecting him to be an elite player. I think what he can reliably bring as a 6’2-6’3 PG who will give consistently good defensive effort + very good shooting when a little open + ability to attack closeouts or kick out + promising passing. That’s not the most exciting player in the world but with 1-2 years of development he could be a starting caliber PG who’s skills are so helpful and compatible with practically anyone else.

We have guys who are going to draw the double team and we can definitely use more off ball scorers who can hold their own defensively.

Just a safe pick I think, not a very high ceiling unless the shooting is replicable in the NBA at high volumes.

 

Win a Top 4 pick and hope he isn't drafted ahead if the pick isn't the number 1 overall (assuming you want Sheppard).

Wemby and Chet are likely going to make shooting even more important in the near future for Western Conference teams. I know shooting can be taught to some players, but a player needs to be really special to overlook shooting if they can't shoot at least 35% in their season leading up to the draft. For someone like Sheppard, there is a pretty good chance he's chunking over 8 3PAs a game forcing Wemby and Chet (and other rim protectors) to help away from the paint any time there is a good screen set.

On whether or not Sheppard has upside, if he shoots 50% in the NBA on 10 or more 3PAs, that's 15 ppg not counting cuts, transition, any thing inside the arc, and free throws. If his shooting transitions well to the NBA, he will be an offensive weapon. The Spurs getting Sheppard would be bad.

 

And we need an elite ELITE shooter going forward with Amen and Alperen.

Hopefully Jabari becomes one too, that would help. I’m also still holding out some hope for Tari’s jumper.

 

I’m still pretty high on Ja’Kobe Walter personally. He’s like Jabari though, good shooter who can’t hit shots lol

 

1. Sarr
2. Rissaccher
3. Topic
4/5. Dillingham/Reed Shepphard
6. Cody Williams
7. Walter

The Rockets could use almost any of those guys. I feel like the drop off after 7 is steep and you're in the G League Ignite territory. I am not drafting any more G League Ignite players in the lottery. We need the Raptors and Grizzlies to pick it up so the Nets can drop to 6. Spurs own the Raptors pick and we need that to land after ours. I'm thinking that they're going to have Rissacher/Williams/Topic penciled in as their first pick. Their second will be either Dillingham/Topic/Sheppard in that order. They need a PG and a Wing. As much as they might like Sheppard, he's a guy you draft when the rest of your team is figured out. I could see the Blazers taking him though as they already have Scoot at PG and Shaedon at SF.

 

BKN taking care of (losing) business so far today.

TOR struggling with the Pistons- I was hoping they would make up a game on this one.
MEM has the Hornets, which could also be a nice catchup opportunity!

Meantime we probably want DAL to beat GSW to keep alive Houstons play-in dreams.... a lot to monitor today!

 

I should add that, despite my optimism, I cannot see either MEM or TOR passing BKN. Both teams appear to be tanking pretty hard!

 

I agree. I'm still confident that, if we keep the pick, we'll be able to grab a quality roleplayer in that 7-9 range. I'm just not sure if they'll stand a chance at seeing playing time next season.

 

Honestly my position is that I am hoping for a top 4 pick victory. Then let's see what fallout there is from the playoffs.

Some star always gets disgruntled and if we have a package of Green*, salary ballast and a top 4 (or worst case 7-10 range) pick, then who knows what we might end up with?



*for me, no matter what Green does, he is not a potential A1 star.

 

Well, I fear we're going to need at least two or three stars to shake loose, because Oklahoma City and Utah are in a much better position with the number of picks they are holding. Of course, I suppose there is a chance that we have the best trade package of any of the markets a player might actually want to go to.