[The Athletic] Who should go No. 1? Ranking by Coach that faced all 3

Is it just me, or are a lot more people coming out that see Paolo as the best player in the draft? Before the lottery It seemed like most people said there was a clear top 2 in Jabari and Chet and just the order of the two were still a question mark and Paolo being the clear 3d pick. Right now I am reading more and more scouts and news outlet listing Paolo as their favorite player in the draft.

 

You are seeing more and more visibility of the posts and articles Rockets fans want to see now that we are highly likely to get Paolo. Some analysts have always liked him the most, of course, and now confirmation bias is kicking in among Houston fans

ESPN, Ringer, Tankathon all still have him third.

[edit: for what it is worth, I am feeling the same. I really wanted Jabari and now am getting unreasonably excited about Paolo. Of course if we get Jabari or Chet after all, I will go find all the articles to get me excited about them and convince me Paolo is a bum!]

 

You are probably right - but just fyi Ringer has Paolo at 1 on their big board (they were amongst those I was talking about).

 

Paolo is no 1 prospect he is the only playmaker and iso creator among the top 3. In the NBA offense> defense especially when that offense has playmaking. Like who is more valuable Cade or Mobley? Who won ROY Barnes or Mobley? In the NBA the best players are always the scoring playmakers, we see this with Lebron, KD, Giannis, Curry etc For a team like Orl without that true centerpiece (Wagner is more of a robin than a Batman), they should pick Banchero. They need someone who can serve as an offensive hub and more importantly be the face of the franchise. You cant be the face if you are waiting for somebody to pass you the ball so you can take a wide open 3.

Jabari is undoubtedly the worst prospect among the 3 thats cuz he is the only one who has role player skillset, dude cant score in iso situations he needs a tesm with a star already. He cant create for others and is more of an individual contributor thats not what you want from your no 1 pick. He has the highest floor but lowest ceiling, OKC and ORL should stay far away from him and let him drop to no 3.

 

If we get Banchero, I nominate his nickname to be Shrek.

 

You are right - I was looking at their mock where they have him 3.

 

The biggest treats this platform has to offer is that Joe Schmoe with the cool avatar knows more about basketball then Coach Musselman!! Smarter than Rafael Stone too? CHECK!

This place is like a dose of English comedy.

 

If that happened I wouldn't be too disappointed at all. I just don't see OKC letting that happen with Presti over there.

 

Yeah, and they don't have the pressure to select number 1.
3 is the best for the Rockets.

 

Everyone was sprinting to blurt out an opinion. It was amateur twitter analysts that pushed false narratives and the casuals ate it right up. Now that deep dives are being conducted the tide shifts. I wont be surprised (but maybe a little let down) if Banchero goes 1.

 

This is a weird stance to take. Fultz has been a bust by every measure. Between the broken shot and his health I'll be shocked if he remains in the league much longer. If you did a re-draft, it's entirely possibly he'd fall out of the first round so I don't know why you're so adamant that he deserved to be a first round pick.

 

His ranking is not a surprise to me, since this is how I think all three players would rank as of today. Paolo is just more ready and should be the odds-on favorite for ROY.

But you read between the lines on his Jabari Smith scouting report--that's the one guy in this draft who has potential to be a top 5 NBA player some day. Elite shotmaking + elite defense. I think he has Kawhi upside, but he's 6'10 with a projectable frame.

One look at Chet's calves and I'm happy we're not #1.

 

Yeah but thats with hindsight. At the time he was seen as the 2nd coming of Kyrie and was more or less consensus top 1.

 

Tbh this is the perfect timeline. Much as I love Jabari I wouldnt be pissed if we get Banchero or Chet. I'd even be ok with a trade down for Duren and Dyson Daniels.

 

any internet detectives find any comments of his PRE draft? Lol I don’t believe that for one second

 

I agree with this and he would be perfect to play with Green so I would be happy

 

I am fine with any of them, TBH.

DD

 

Even before the draft, Danny Ainge said that he didn't think the best player would be drafted at #1, which is pretty unusual since it weakens your trade position (though also encouraging more offers). Then he traded down to #3 and got Tatum.

 

it’s pretty simple…Fultz is a bust because he had an injury that fcked up his shot

Did that injury exist while Fultz was in college? No. So to say he didn’t think Fultz should even be a 1st round pick is nonsense and laughable.

acting like the broken shot and health concerns existed when he played against Musselman’s team is incredibly disingenuous

 

Yeah but Ainge and his team were prob the only ones who had Tatum #1. Thats what gave them incentive to trade down cuz they knew everyone else was gonna take Fultz and Ball.