What is your current Rockets Top 5 Draft Big board?

No. 1: Victor Wembanyama
Position: C
Ht: 7-4
Team: C, Metropolitans 92 (France)
Age: 19
Comp: 2023 version of Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Ralph Sampson, Kevin Durant

Overview
Even before his first steps in the NBA, Wembanyama has done the impossible; even the NBA has been unable to over-hype him.

The NBA has tried, taking the unprecedented steps of putting some of his games on NBA TV and on its app. Wembanyama has consistently shown everything that would make him the most coveted prospect since LeBron James came out of high school in Akron and landed with his local team, the Cavaliers.

Wembanyama will not play for his hometown team. The Pistons, Rockets and Spurs have the best chances, 14 percent, of coming out of the lottery with the top pick. He is such a supreme prospect that any team would consider him a life-changing addition worthy of Rockets franchise owner Tilman Fertitta’s Mardi Gras call to “Pray for Victor!”

Wembanyama not only would be the next of the NBA giants with length that comes with a eight-foot wingspan, he brings a fluid grace reminiscent of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar coming out of UCLA more than 50 years ago. Incredibly, he has 3-point shooting range to be a threat in pick-and-pops or transition, but even off the dribble, and a handle tight enough to attack defenses.

He is very much a modern big man, more frequently facing up than playing with his back to the basket. But even then, his size allows him to finish with slams or deft touch when he gets to the rim. Though he more often looks to score, Wembanyama has shown a feel for passing both in the halfcourt and with outlet passes.

Defensively, he is tenacious at protecting the rim, but can also slide his feet well enough to defend on the perimeter. Even then, he can challenge opponents outside and still get to the rim.

He also seems at ease with his celebrity and the expectations that come with his undeniable talent, entirely comfortable with standing out in any crowd, not just physically but as a celebrated prodigy.

If there is a potential negative, it could be the history of other extraordinarily tall players, as the Rockets know well from their years with 7-6 Hall of Famer Yao Ming. Wembanyama has had injuries over the years. Unlike Yao, he is extremely slender. That puts less weight on his legs and feet but also will have strong defensive players try to bully him.

Still, any team would gamble on that risk when considering the substantial potential — and expected — reward.

Scout’s Eye View
“If he stays healthy, he will be the greatest player to ever play the game.

“He’s Kevin Durant, except 7-5. He’s the best shot-blocker you can think of, but better. He’s going to be switchable. No one is going to be able to drive around his length. He’s going to be able to guard anybody on the floor. Even if you beat him, he’s still going to be able to block your shot from behind. When he’s on the floor, guys aren’t even going to attempt shots at the rim with him there. He’s going to be dominant defensively.

“Offensively, he can play point, he can play five, he can be a stretch four, he can be a wing. The absolute definition of the modern position-less player at 7-foot-5. He can almost touch the rim just standing there. Off the dribble, from 30 feet — ridiculous.

“He’s what Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) would look like if Kareem was growing up in today’s game, learning to play the modern game right from the start.

“His maturity, his calm demeanor is mind-blowing. This guy is already star. His personality is not going to need to grow up. He’s already mature personality-wise. He’s a very impressive person.”

 

My final big board. Top 6.
1. VW 2. SH 3.BM 4. Amen T. 5. CW 6. TH

PS 7. JW 8. AU. T.
Let's hope for the best.

 

My final top 8 pre lotto.

1.Wemby
2. Henderson
3. Amen
4. Whitmore
5. Miller
6. Thompson
7. Ausar
8. Wallace

 

At least its a pre-lotto list

 

With zero scouting or research done yet.

Wemby
Scoot
Bmill
Cam
Amen

 

My final Big Board

1) Wemby
2) Brandon Miller
3) Jarace Walker...will be our version of Robert Williams (w/ some 3's)
4) Cam Whitmore..bigger Marcus Smart that Ime can mold and develop
5) Amen Thompson....6'7" point guard (point-SF)
6) Taylor Hendricks.....just don't trust his competition
7) Scoot Henderson


G-League stats KPj vs Scoot Henderson
20/21...Gms....mins....Pts....FG%...3P%....FT%...Ast...Rebs...stl....TOV
KPj........15........36.0....24.1..44.8...32.0....78.0...7.2....5.2......1.5....4.2
Scoot....19........30.7....16.5..42.9...27.5....76.4...6.8....5.3......1.1...3.4
22/23

20/21...ORtg.....DRtg.....Ast/TO...Ast Ratio...TO Ratio....eFG%....TS%
KPj.......109.9....105.5......1.52........21.6............14.2........57.6......58.2
Scoot...115.9....118.4......1.98........25.7............12.9........45.5......53.7
22/23

Im not sure why I'm suppose to believe Scoot Henderson is better
than KPj.....because Scoot has a good PR firm pushing him?

Scoot
https://stats.gleague.nba.com/player/1630703/

KPj
https://stats.gleague.nba.com/player/1629645/

 

I think this is a somewhat legit criticism (as I'm still unclear how to evaluate G League stats).

That said, it seems plausible to me to conclude that the way the Ignite play is different than other teams (including RGV). Glancing at their stats closer, KPJ (on RGV) played the most games, most minutes, took the most shots (by far), etc. Armoni Brooks and KJ Martin were 2nd and 3rd in some of those metrics, and the other guys are just nobodies for the most part. It seems pretty clear that KPJ was a huge focus for the RGV and the Rockets. They wanted to see what he could do. Now if you look at the Ignite, Scoot is definitely a focus, but they're also clearly giving a lot of attention to Leonard Miller and Sidy Cissoko as well (2 other likely 1st rd picks). I'm also seeing some 32 year old guy getting a ton of minutes and shots...for some reason haha (Scoot was hurt part of the year...so maybe that?). Anyway, the point is that this team is clearly trying to evaluate and develop multiple guys, while other teams might be only interested in developing 1 guy (or maybe only focused on winning a championship...or who knows). I'm guessing this partially explains the difference in stats for guys on the Ignite vs guys playing on other teams.

As another example, Nix's stats on the Ignite were significantly worse than his stats a year later with RGV (plus Nix still sucks...and are we suggesting Scoot is on the same level as Nix based on their stats?).

I think with Scoot and even the Thompson Twins, I'm not paying a *huge* amount of attention to their stats (especially raw stats). I'm largely going off how they're playing (via video clips), and what other professionals say. If a Sam Vecenie says Scoot is legit, I'll assume he's legit. If Coach Spins says Amen Thompson could be a big asset in the playoffs, I'll defer to his expertise on the matter.

I would feel better if these guys dominated their leagues though.

(on a side-note, I think I saw something about the NBA allowing other G League teams to get these guys, so they're not all on the Ignite?)

 

I know Amen has his flaws (well, one clear obvious one), but if the Rockets are picking at 3 and looking to draft a guy based on their greatest needs, I'm taking Amen, too. Miller may be the safer prospect on paper, but Amen gives Houston what it needs most in terms of legitimate playmaker and floor general. Combine that with Miller's off-the-court stuff, and I don't think it's absurd for someone to have Amen higher on their list. He's higher on mine.

 

Umm... Are you really going to ignore the fact that KPJ put these numbers up after a year in the NBA and was a full year older in 2020-21 than Scoot is today? That's a massive difference, and it's pretty disingenuous to post these numbers without that context. Scoot is a much stronger prospect in the draft than KPJ was, and it has nothing to do with PR skills. Acting like that's the sole difference in these guys and pretending that's the sole reason why Scoot is the favorite to go No. 2 in this draft is just asinine.

 

Until he starts to brick shot after shot and posters on here wanting stone fired and saying Ime didn’t hire the right shooting coach and can’t develop rookies.

How you going to feel when everytime he takes a shot you pray it goes in.

Shooting is king in the NBA

 

CJ Stroud can play Basketball, Better PG, play like Jason Kidd.

 

Overtime Elite was founded when? How many teams.

Their wikipedia page


* Founded in 2021
* "Players between the ages of 16–20."
* That league is a start-up. Founder is Dan Porter, "an American Internet entrepreneur". He sold his first company to TicketMaster. Then jumps from company to company every few years.




There could good prospects, but I'd seriously take their stats with a grain of salt.

 

Scoot Henderson has Two Important Skills, His High Motor and his Foot Speed Similar to Green, Stronger Body than Kevin and Scoot Foot Speed on Lateral Defense will be way better.

 

Ja Morant shot 30% his freshman season as the same age as Scoot and Amen.
Kawhi was a 25% 3-point shooter in college.
Jabari shot 42% in college and was seen as one of the best, safest shooters in the draft and just shot 30% his rookie year.

All of the above are true. Shooting is important, but it's a skill players can improve upon, and Scoot and Amen can get better in that area. It's a coachable, teachable skill. You can't teach athleticism or court vision, and those two have both. If I could take a prospect with everything, yeah, I'd obviously prefer the athletic playmaker with superstar potential and the elite jump shot, but that guy doesn't exist in this draft. And I'm a believer that a great playmaker can make guys around him better shooters, so if Amen or Scoot never get better than below average, but they're getting clean looks for guys around them, I can live with it.

 

More games? KPj 15 Scoot 19......yes if KPj had less minutes he would have had less
turnover, etc....see how that works?

I would argue to say that if KPj was allowed to play 4 more games, he may
have found a groove and posted greater numbers.

When Jalen Green and Kuminga were with the Ignite Brian Shaw was the
coach and they just tossed the ball out there and went iso much of the time.
The roster had: Jalen Green, Kuminga, Isaiah Todd, Nix [highschool All Star team]
plus Amir Johnson, Bobby Brown, and Jarrett Jack as vets.

I will trust that things are different now, but I doubt it. Leonard Miller was
highly rated prospect prior to the season. Many had Too Early Mock drafts
having Leonard Miller around #7.

 

Disingenuous? Umm

Are you really going to skip over the fact that KPj played 50 games
as a rookie in a 65 game season with Cleveland?

Along or next to 6'1" PG Collin Sexton and 6'1" PG Garland.
Basketball-reference.com lists KPj as a SF that season.
Sexton played 65 games in that 65 game season
and Garland played 59 games in that 65 gm season.
So not much room to practice at PG for KPj.

The next season as a Rockets KPj played 26 games for the Rockets....
after a crash course with new teammates in the G-League. You act
like KPj played with those G-League teammates the year before.

In fact KPj got injured at the tail end of his rookie year....many were
questioning whether KPj would be ready for the beginning of the
season. If you recall KPj had his locker moved near the toilets
because they questioned his health. I think Prince was given his locker.
KPj saw the disrespect and called the organization racist.

It's not easy going from SF to PG at the highest level (NBA).....
has Scoot Henderson been playing PG and going to PG clinics
all his life. Let's switch him to SF and see how he does making
a position change at the highest level (NBA)

 

@mightybosstone Disingenuous? Umm

Are you really going to skip over the fact that KPj played 50 games
as a rookie in a 65 game season with Cleveland?

Along or next to 6'1" PG Collin Sexton and 6'1" PG Garland.
Basketball-reference.com lists KPj as a SF that season.
Sexton played 65 games in that 65 game season
and Garland played 59 games in that 65 gm season.
So not much room to practice at PG for KPj.

The next season as a Rockets KPj played 26 games for the Rockets....
after a crash course with new teammates in the G-League. You act
like KPj played with those G-League teammates the year before.

In fact KPj got injured at the tail end of his rookie year....many were
questioning whether KPj would be ready for the beginning of the
season. If you recall KPj had his locker moved near the toilets
because they questioned his health. I think Prince was given his locker.
KPj saw the disrespect and called the organization racist.

It's not easy going from SF to PG at the highest level (NBA).....
has Scoot Henderson been playing PG and going to PG clinics
all his life. Let's switch him to SF and see how he does making
a position change at the highest level (NBA)

*If PG and SF were equal.....SF"s would average as many assists as
PG's do.....now, I will give you that the league is changing and
everyone is expected to pass the ball. But we haven't completed the
NBA morphing yet. And don't confuse Wide receivers as quarterbacks
either.

 

Sorry, I realize I wasn't clear in my original post. When I was talking about KPJ's stats, I was giving those numbers relative to other players on his team (and Scoot relative to other players on his team). I was not comparing Scoot and KPJ's stats to each other. So KPJ played/shot/did more relative to Armoni Brooks, KJ Martin, Scrubby McScrubber, etc. on the Vipers. Scoot was not necessarily getting the most minutes/shots/etc. on his team every game, and if he was, it wasn't by much.

The point of that exercise was to show how much KJP mattered on the Vipers, while Scoot was not as prioritized on the Ignite (likely for the reasons mentioned). We can compare the stats, but my general point is that I'm not sure how apples-to-apples they really are.

Also, as a side-note, when looking at Scoot's G league numbers, I think it is beneficial to include his whole year, which includes an additional 6 games. Doesn't impact the KPJ vs Scoot comparison much (if at all), but just a general note about Scoot's stats (*most* people seem to be unaware of this fact).

 

Scoot was/is not the main event on that Ignite team?
I doubt that. Scoot has been overhyped since before the season.

I watched one game and it was Wemby vs Scoot.

I was not impressed by Scoot. Not at all.

As I've said, I would guard Scoot for the drive (take the angle)......LaBradford Smith,
J.R. Ryder, heck Kenyon Martin or Josh Christopher.....unless you got
an outside shot.......you just another high leaper that teams try to
cut you off at the pass before you get to the rim. I'll pass.