I’m a Sheppard guy but gonna throw a curve ball. IF Risacher and Sarr are off the board, and IF our front office is not sold on Sheppard, I would consider Tidjane Salaun: 18 yrs old/ 6’9”/ 7’1” wingspan 22 min 33% 3pt on 4 attempts 77% FT 9 pts 4 reb 1.2 steals Tari-like motor and defensive intensity Shot better as the season went on Possibly highest upside in the draft Better prospect than Couliboly taken #7 last year.
Isn't he a kind of perfect fit in Atlanta, paired with 6'5 Murray who can run the point and guard the 2? They're trading Trae this summer. They're not trying to build around Murray/Trae anymore so they won't avoid a particular position.
Shepp should fit anywhere, like literally anywhere but I do think they need Sarr more....just an observation. Capela, Trae and Dejounte have them stuck at Play In and 8-10th seed for couple years now. Has to shake the whole business up.
If Sheppard is selected by the Hawks, Risacher is likely to fall to 3. Saar is likely to go at 1 in my opinion.
I don't dislike him, I just wouldn't take him this high. I think he's going to be a solid NBA player but probably not an allstar type. If we were picking 9, he'd be on my radar along with Cody Williams & Salaun. I just think that at 3 you have to take a change on a player who has a high chance of being special & despite the size issues, I think Sheppard can become a special player eventually taking over the point spot. He posted very solid stats as the pick-and-roll ball handler, in the 93rd percentile with 1.091 points per possession and 1.163 points per possession overall - 95th percentile. He just has a great feel for the game & makes winning plays on top of being one of the very best college shooters we've ever seen. If he were 2 inches taller, he'd almost certainly be going #1 ..... I see a guy who's always going to get his team a good shot, even if he isn't blowing by defenders in isolation, he's going to make the right decisions - he's going to need the right guys around him and for the most part, I think we have them in Jabari, Tari, Cam, Sengun & Amen. I think it's quite possible he goes 1 or 2.
This has been my dark horse all along. I’ve liked what I’ve been able to find on him. He looks bigger than 6’9 though.
Haven't heard much about Isaiah Collier who some mock drafters compared to a younger Stephon Marbury. Bulky, shifty guard with decent handles.
Bad on D, has injury issues and isn't a good shooter. Seems like a relic of old times like he'd fit in the Steve Francis era along side Marbury. If he stays in college and develops his shooting he could be the next Brunson imo.
No, he isn't, in the slightest. You need to step back, this draft is a WEAK AS **** draft, nobody in this draft comes closed to Jalen, Jabari, Amen or Sengun as a prospect, not close.
JJ also had a LOT more to do at Duke than Reed did at Kentucky. And was a significantly more decorated player coming out of college. We'd be lucky if Reed had a career as good as JJ's tbh, that's the level of prospect we're talking about in this draft.
I think Sheppard is the BPA at #3. But, my assessment of him has changed quite a bit after watching him more. For one, the IQ vs athleticism argument needs to stop. Sheppard is a very good athlete, I see no evidence of that being a weakness of his at all. Sheppard lacks length but he should be fine defending PGs and smaller SGs. The only thing to worry about is that in college there are plenty of times where he used his athleticism to be more of a defensive playmaker. He will have to learn to avoid this more in the NBA because NBA guards are bigger and more skilled. He will have to stay down and stay disciplined. But, i see no reason why he can't do that. So, I think I'm more high on his defensive upside than most. On offense, I would say I've confirmed some suspicions and realized some others. Sheppard is a great shooter that takes great shots. He gets a lot of shots off of teams just not honoring his deep range. He will just casually side dribble out of a PnR and shoot it because no one has stepped up. Maybe he gets those kinds of shots his rookie year but he won't be able to walk into easy jumpers for his whole career in the nba. He will have to take some more difficult shots in the nba. But, that's fine. It just means he's likely more of a 42% shooter than a 52% shooter. But, by far, Sheppard's biggest weakness is ball handling. When you watch his games he's regularly stood up on drives. I've never seen a small point guard, expected to go this high in the draft, be forced to pick up his dribble in the backcourt this much. He just does not have an advanced handle. Just the slightest bit of ball pressure makes him pass the ball. I really hope he works on this, if we draft him. Otherwise, he can't be a primary playmaker on a great team. That brings me to the last point. I think he has very normal balI IQ. Not bad, not great. He very rarely makes a Luka/Lebron/Nash kind of play where you're left wondering how he even saw that. He makes very standard passes to the open man where the open man should be. In fact, he's prone to jumping to pass, particularly after he's forced to pick up his dribble. He's had decent success with that in college but it won't work in the nba with longer, quicker and smarter defenses.
Sheppard was smart to declare for this draft. In a normal draft he is barely top ten. If we keep the pick, I would probably still take him, because he or Dillingham are probably the only 2 out of this draft that could even have a chance of earning minutes this year on our team. I don’t see Sarr or Risacher dropping to 3. Guys whose basketball acumen I respect are very high on Topic, so maybe he’s a good stash pick to let him recover and work on his shot.
