So you wouldn’t call a player like James Harden a generational player? And you wouldn’t roll the dice if you had a feeling for a similar type of success from a player in this draft? I think you better be damn sure if you’re trading Amen.
Knowing what we do now (he had a great rookie season), #1 by a mile. Flagg as he was viewed before he actually played in the NBA, still probably #1 but it would be closer. The thing with Flagg was that he was a very "complete" prospect. He basically checked all of the boxes. Size, athleticism, scoring ability, jump shooting, defensive ability, ballhandling, playmaking. The top three in this draft class each have parts of their game that look better than any one of Flagg's skills, but each of them also have things that you can criticize. Dybantsa - Phenomenal physical tools, elite scoring ability (one of the best pure scorers ever as a freshman in college ball), but lackluster defense, doesn't do much off the ball, not a great playmaker. Peterson - Elite scorer and athlete, great defensive player, but he's an average-sized shooting guard and he struggled with injuries this season. Boozer - Good at everything on offense, interior scoring, playmaking, jump shooting, good ballhandler for his size, decent defensively, might be statistically the best all-around age 18 college season of all time, but questions about his physical tools translating as well to the NBA since he's not an elite athlete and relies a lot on his strength and basketball IQ to get his points. I think the consensus is that the top of this draft class is overall stronger than 2025's, but Flagg would still go #1.
This is accurate. All of these guys have all-star potential, but are not in the same class as Wemby or Flagg. I would trade Sengun for any of them, but Amen for none of them.
I personally have a very high level of belief in Boozer, he is #1 on my board. Call me contrarian if you want, but I think he will be special. So I would do Amen for him for that reason. I'm not sure I would trade Amen for Dybantsa or Peterson, who are my #2 and #3. Those guys have enough issues that I think it's very possible they could end up being worse than Amen. With Boozer, I think he's high-floor-high-ceiling where as most seem to think he's more of a safe pick. But all of that more reflects me being that high on Boozer personally than being down on Amen. Sengun for any of them, absolutely. Sengun + a pick even.
Give me Dybantsa or Peterson. Would not trade up for Boozer/Wilson or glut of guards (who I like but not love) Sam Vecenie ranked prospects since 2015 • The players who fell off last year’s list to make way for the new four? Brandon Ingram, LaMelo Ball, Jabari Smith Jr. and Paolo Banchero. • The highest-graded players on my board who didn’t make the previous list? Jahlil Okafor, D’Angelo Russell, James Wiseman, Anthony Edwards, Jalen Green and R.J. Barrett. The big miss is obviously Edwards, who went No. 1 in 2020. I was too skeptical of his ability to consistently create rim pressure and paint touches, as he often settled for pull-up jumpers. • There are only two drafts not represented here. The most recent one is 2024, which featured zero Tier One or Tier Two players. No player in that class would have even rated within my top-35 prospects of the decade. The 2020 class is also not featured with Ball falling off. That makes sense looking back, as that class featured an immense level of uncertainty given the pandemic. But with Ball, Edwards, Deni Avdija, Tyrese Haliburton and Tyrese Maxey emerging as franchise players, it’s clear I undervalued that class. AS PROSPECTS (not as NBA players or what they turned out to be) 1. Gumby 2. Flagg 3. Zion 4. Cade 5. KAT 6. Dybantsa 7. Boozer 8. Peterson 9. B.Simmons 10. Fultz 11. Ja 12. Ayton 13. Luka 14. Scoot 15. Tatum 16. Chet 17. D.Harper 18. C.Wilson 19. Suggs 20. Mobley
