I prefer Carter Bryant for a wing honestly. Not sure if Kon is athletic enough to do more than shoot open 3s in the NBA. Prob with Kon is if his shot struggles like Reed did he will be useless on the court.
OTOH, had he played well against Houston, there would be no chance he falls into the ~10th pick range. If the Rockets are going to take someone with immense potential, that guy is going to have question marks or he'd be a top-5 pick. Hell even with that game, he is going higher than 10 in most mocks.
It's not a question to me of him being a gamble since most of these guys even in the top 10 are probably gambles - it's the NBA Draft, after all. My question, and I ask this as someone who watches very little college basketball, are you guys certain he's anywhere near as good as a Derik Queen or Rasheer Fleming? What makes him so much better than those 2 other than maybe he's taller? I haven't started looking at these guys much yet and only know most of the prospects from high school hype.
just my 2 cents, but Queen is such a different player archetype it’s hard to compare the two. Queen is closer to a Sengun type without the passing skill. Not a defensive guy, but absolutely gifted offensively in the low post. He also looks like he’ll at least develop a solid mid-range shot. A much more polished, NBA-ready player than Maluach. I’m not a huge Maluach fan for the rockets mainly because he’s a developmental prospect. Very raw. What he has you can’t teach and that’s the ability to move laterally and stay with smaller, faster players at 7’2”. He’s out of position a ton, there are questions about his hands, and he doesn’t rebound well for someone his size. But he’s very new to the game and has excellent physical tools. With a couple years of good coaching and floor time in the NBA, he could become a very unique and valuable player. At this point in the rebuild I don’t want to take on a project, even if he’s a potential giant rim protector. I think u can find defensive bigs on the market. And I just don’t see how any developmental project gets on the court for us at all the next couple seasons. It’s hard to develop prospects without in-game minutes. If we are forced to draft the pick I’d rather grab a shooter. They’ll make an impact sooner and return value on their rookie scale deal, as opposed to a project like Maluach. Flemming I haven’t watched as much as Queen or Maluach, but he’s supposed to be great on both sides of the ball.
And to think the Rockets pick from Phoenix just got that much better on the last day of the season. Up to 9th, when most of us had the Suns a certain playoff contender, with perhaps a low 20th pick or a high teens pick. But to get a 9th pick with a potential top 4 pick is outstanding.
The top Cs in the draft: 1. Maluach. What separates him from others is he is young (18 on draft day), athletic, 7'2 and with a reported 7'6 wingspan. Although he started bball late, he has shown defensive instincts and above average understanding of bball concepts. He also played in the South Sudan Olympic team. People think he is a bad rebounder, but the dude has the highest true rebounding percentage in Duke by 4%. Its just that he only played 20 mins a game and he shares the court with Cooper Flagg. 2. Derik Queen - Sengun lite. Basically the opposite of Maluach. 3. Thomas Sorber/Asa Newell - People are saying Newell is like Kal-el Ware. Sorber is a traditional rim runner with passing skills but he injured his foot which tanked his stock. People dont know how well he will recover. 4. Rasheer Fleming - my fav prospect in this draft. I am assuming Maluach is gone by Toronto so Fleming would be my choice.
He's certainly got much higher upside. People who are 7-2 and can move fairly fluidly and has a good shooting touch just in general are going to be highly sought after. If we assume all three of Malauch/Flemming/Queen work out to above average expectancy, Maluach is still the only one who can legit play center on defense.
https://www.si.com/nba/draft/mock-d...o-round-projections-with-tiebreakers-resolved SI projecting Kon with the rockets pick. I would be very happy with that.
he can handle the ball and facilitate. He’s a very good passer and ball handler for his size. Also a very high IQ player. Willing defender although capped by athleticism. Could have shown even more versatility on another team but had to play his role at Duke. I’m good with trading the pick but if we do pick at #9, Kon would be a great outcome. Can come in and knock down shots, not gonna embarrass himself, and show up in other skills. Advija/Klay vibes.
What do you think about Kalkbrenner from Creighton? Probably not a 1st rounder and also too good to make it to our pick in the 2nd but I'd be willing to trade two seconds to move up to take him. He might be close to hitting his ceiling but as a senior showed legitimate two way potential. Finished as a dpoy finalist and one of if not the best interior scorer.
yes. Kon doesnt seem like a bad pickup, we need more forwards. He also has some playmaking potential he isnt strictly a 3nD.
You can find shooters on the market, you can't find 7'2 centers with 7'5 wingspan on the market. But tbh I think this is moot he is gone by Toronto.
I'm not sure if Kon is a Stone player. He likes prospects with high upside and who are elite in some sense, either athletically or offensively.
