Geaux_Hawks wrote:BDM22 wrote:atlantabbq99 wrote:Just for fun, i went ahead and compared #1 to #4 and #8 in the last five drafts...
Wembanyama vs Amen Thompson and Jarace Walker
Banchero vs Keegan Murray and Dyson Daniels
Cunningham vs Scottie Barnes and Franz Wagner
Anthony Edwards vs Patrick Williams and Obi Toppin
Zion vs DeAndr Hunter vs Jaxson Hayes
So ya LOL, no thanks.....
In this draft it's more like having the #10 or the #13 and #17. That's a better comparison.
Or just go back to the 2013 draft if you want a comparison of 1 vs 4 and 8.
Anthony Bennett or Cody Zeller and KCP.
Spurs would be out of their minds to do this. Draft is too flat.
See this is where I think people are overstating "weak draft". There's no Wemby/Zion/Simmons/AD of course, but I do believe there's far more upside than what 2013 had.
The 2012 freshman class was just very underwhelming as a whole. A lot of them didn't even declare for the draft. To boot, the upperclassmen were far from impressive.
This year, there's more guys that have the skills and abilities, but still need time to development more. Some have consistency questions. Some have concerns about there size limitations. It helps that the international class also has some talented guys coming over too.
To me, this years crop is more in line with 2020. 2020 had a similar issue in terms of no clear cut #1. There were plenty of casuals that didn't even recognize the top prospects. Yet 2020 has given us Ant, Hali, Melo Ball, and Maxey so far.
So I wouldn't take 4 and 8, but the reason behind it has more to do with me liking Sarr than it does not liking the idea of picking between the 13th and 17th best prospect in another draft. I think the 10th best prospect this year would still be a lottery talent in most other years.
First, that wasn't me saying that about chopping the top 10 in previous drafts to equal this one but actual NBA executives on lottery night that were saying that. Obviously, NBA execs get it wrong all the time, but just stating that it's not my random opinion. It's the people who get paid to do this.
As for 2020, that draft was looked at as having a lot of boom or bust guys at the top with Ant, LaMelo, Wiseman, etc. where as this draft is more "good or bust" vibes at the top. Ant was inconsistent in college and but he still exploded for huge games at only 18 years old. No one questioned the talent, which was on a level or two beyond what we've seen out of this class. Just didn't know if he had the mindset. This year we're questioning the talent.
The other main contributor in 2020 to people not knowing prospects was the fact that it was the covid year. Draft process was different than every other year. Which is why you saw guys like Maxey, Bane, Haliburton, etc late in the draft. This draft doesn't have that excuse. We've seen them play. The scouts have gotten up-close looks.
Undoubtedly there will be a few all-stars in the mix here, but it's just next to impossible to pinpoint. That's why (as a fan of neither of these teams), I'd rather have more shots at it with #4 and #8 than #1, even though I do like Sarr. It's just that I like him about 10% more than 2-10 and am not confident at all that he's the guy that will turn out in this group.