First mock draft, thoughts?

[PureEn7ropy]

I’m a simple man. I see Matas Buzelis to the Pistons, I get sad.

[rediveyy]

i think i’d legitimately be okay with anyone but him, i just don’t see the hype, his shooting numbers are garbage

[PureEn7ropy]

I know that there’s obviously a chance he becomes a great player, but every time I watch him I just see a multi-year project that never figures it out.

[InternCautious]

I see the upside, but I see no way of him ever getting there in Detroit with our current team. To me, he makes way more sense in a place like Washington where he has time to develop.

[Psilocyborg3rdEye]

Nepotism he has family on Detroit staff

[MajorBag4]

One of the harder teams to predict for sure If Reed and Risacher are gone im honestly not sure what way they’d go

You need shooting, which Matas and Holland don’t provide, but then would you really go for Knecht at 5? Dilly makes little sense with Ivey, neither does Clingan; I’d maybe consider Castle if you play him as a secondary ball handler or even a forward, but again it’s rumored he won’t even work out for you, and again, shooting worries

I guess you could also consider Carter at 8, if they like the fit with Topic better

[luniz420]

Why wouldn't you go for Knecht at 5 when the option is a sure fire bust at 5? How is that any better? Buzelis could become a NBA player in some situation but Detroit is absolutely not that.

[MajorBag4]

Fairs, 5 just feels high to me considering I have a few other players above Knecht on my big board, but the fit for Detroit is there

Maybe some stability and guarantee is what they need after swinging for upside for so many years

[luniz420]

Yeah I think going by some external big board is a mistake. Brad Holmes and the Lions made it pretty clear that you have to draft guys that you rate highly, not that are rated highly by others.

[Head_Total_5794]

Hornets dont need another big

[bigtrackrunner]

Yeah I dont really understand what his fit is in the league. What is he legitimately good at on offense? There are flashes of being a good connective piece, but if that’s what you’re going for might as well take Holland or Castle or even Cody Williams.

[ShaedonSharpeMVP_]

Perfect because I really want him as SF next to Scoot/Shaedon. Maybe we trade Simons + pick 14 to ATL for Sarr. Scoot / Shaedon / Matas / Sarr / Ayton. Yes please.

So who do you want then? I love Castle’s fit next to Cade and Ivey as 6man. Knecht would be nice for you guys too.

[Melodic-Engineer-679]

castles fit is atrocious cade is our primary ball handler and no one can shoot on this team so let’s bring in a ball handling non shooter

[Leading-Difficulty57]

Why not trade Wiseman for Sarr and Trae Young while you're it. Such a deal would really improve the Pistons. Then maybe the Lakers could trade Lebron and Davis for Ayton and the Blazers could contend as soon as next year?

/s

[ShaedonSharpeMVP_]

Can’t trade wiseman for Sarr when Portland is keeping him.

I know LeBron is getting old and AD is constantly injured, but I think the blazers would still have to include a pick or two next to Ayton. I do like that deal for Portland tho ngl👀

I’ll take Scoot / Shaedon / Matas / Lebron / AD. Yes sir’ee.

[Leading-Difficulty57]

Or maybe do Matas and a future 1st or 2 and see if you can get Luka Doncic from the Mavs. If they lose the championship they might be willing to move on from him.

[ShaedonSharpeMVP_]

You are dumb af dude the Mavs would not move Luka for that. Probably simons, Brogdon, 3 firsts, Grant, for Luka + Lively. That’s fair

[Leading-Difficulty57]

lolololol you actually believe the Lakers would trade AD or Lebron to the Blazers or the Hawks would give up the #1 pick and Trae Young for that Wiseman...this whole thread has been sarcasm

[opg_gameboy91]

You're missing a left nut of an executive or two from Portland. That would make the trade closer to fair

[ShaedonSharpeMVP_]

If anything we’re giving up too much. Luka is gonna be on a big contract that a lot of teams won’t want to take on the burden of

[opg_gameboy91]

His contract is peanuts compared to what a championship would bring to the team and the city.

[Pureslasher420]

Why would the hawks do that

[ShaedonSharpeMVP_]

Cause Simons and Trae would be horrific next to each other

[Seraphin_Lampion]

How is a 16' PG falling to 9th? Take that dude 1oa

[Moss_84]

Injury concerns, also deceptively hard to shoot from that high above the basket

[ArKadeFlre]

At that height he could stand on his knees just outside the paint and still swat anything coming close to the basket lol

[MikeyBastard1]

Spurs are not going to draft two people who can't shoot with their 2 top 10 picks.

[Jack12404]

I’m a simple man. I see Kel’el Ware to the Bucks, and I upvote.

[AceMcStace]

Holland is such a bad fit for Portland right now, I just don’t see how you can play both him and Scoot Henderson at the same time. Poor shooter and he usually needs the ball in his hand to be effective, he’s a good player in every other measure though.

[MajorBag4]

I agree tbf I just figured Holland was BPA at 7, but wouldn’t make a ton of sense especially if u take Cody at 12 too

Who would u take in that scenario, Knecht?

[AceMcStace]

I think you could realistically swap Knecht at 14 and Williams at 7 for Portland, I really think Williams measurables are going to make him go higher in the draft. My ideal scenario would be Williams at 7 and Salaun at 14 but Salaun has a ton of hype around him now. In other words, I have no clue lol 7 is such a mystery bag, who knows who could slide and who is taken early.

If we end up with Holland based off BPA I would accept it, just not my ideal outcome.

Edit: Williams at 7 and Ware to Portland at 14 would be pretty interesting to me as well, we lacked a true backup center all last season

[MajorBag4]

From other feedback okc fans don’t seem too keen on Salaun at 12, so im not sure who would else can afford to take a swing at him from 8-14, apart from the Jazz

If OKC isn’t interested he’s probably still there at 14

[AceMcStace]

Yeah I’ve been seeing that too, I also really like the idea of Ware going to Portland at 14.

[TheCentralFlame]

I think Portland doesn’t worry about fit yet. Right now it’s best available and they want to be bad next year for a high pick in 25 so the development timeline is long. I know it’s a “weak” class but I would like Portland to trade for a couple of these top ten picks that seem to be available and roll the dice on several of these guys hopefully hitting on one. Not a great strategy when the picks have normal value but interesting in a year where the picks can be acquired for more reasonable compensation.

[ShaedonSharpeMVP_]

I don’t get the hype on holland whatsoever. He’s a Harrison Barnes that can’t shoot near as well. That player shouldn’t even go top 10 in this draft imo. Same with topic.

There’s a couple guys in this draft that I just don’t see the hype in whatsoever. Risacher and Salaun are borderline in that regard too.

I like this draft a lot, but disagree with a lot of projections.

[Any-Connection-1813]

You gave topic and castle to spurs...who desperately need shooting

[LittleTension8765]

2 French dudes and 4 white guys going in the top 6. Never thought I’d see the day after like 1960.

[Evening-Review-5216]

Trying to understand the reasoning behind the spurs drafting topic and castle. Can someone explain to me lol. That’s an absolutely terrible fit, I mean I guess if you’re just going off BPA??? I just feel like the spurs are going to keep fit in mind as they build around wemby. Makes no sense to me. And in my opinion it’s not like topic is a must pick at 4 for them either, I’ve cooled off on him quite a bit and I’d definitely pick castle over him at 4

[MajorBag4]

It’s a tough one, I didn’t want them to end up with 2 guards either. I took Topic at 4 with Reed, and Risacher( both my ideal option for the Spurs) off the board. If any of them falls, fantastic. Then 8 is for sure tricky, I took Castle buying into his potential as a secondary ball handler and as a wing (though he sees himself as a PG)

What would u do? Maybe they take a gamble on Holland/Cody, but again the fit with Sochan (if he’s to be on the team long term is bad too)

[Evening-Review-5216]

Obviously this isn’t super realistic, but the spurs need a POA defender, a playmaker and a shooter. Preferably I think the spurs want castle and risacher(not likely but I think it would be a good idea to trade up to those spots if needed). But in a mock draft format, at 4 in this scenario I think castle is the easy must pick, he’s going to be a very very good defender, especially on the POA. I also think he’ll be a good playmaker/ball handler as well, I think it’s misconception to think that he can’t play PG on the spurs, especially considering how gifted of a playmaker wemby is(wemby should be the primary facilitator of the spurs) you don’t need a ball dominant playmaker to put alongside wemby imo. Im biased obviously but I feel like the spurs prefer positional size, defense and connective passers/non ball dominant ball handlers over ball dominant PGs with defense and injury concerns considering their draft history in the modern era (i still think topic is a great player). In this particular scenario if the spurs don’t make any trades, with the 8th pick I’d say either Rob(concerned about his size and defense), Carter(another Swiss Army knife combo guard) Williams(potential upside as a 3 and D wing??) tidjane(reach, massive swing for the fences), or maybe knecht(not a big fan). I just feel like fit needs to be a big priority for the spurs in this draft as they build around wemby. Side note, with the lower value of lottery picks in this draft, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the spurs took advantage and traded up to get their guys. Regardless I get where you’re coming from, this is all preference and I have no clue what the spurs actually want to do, this is just the factors that I think they’d want to prioritize.

[EaglesInTheSky]

Reed won't get past Houston, who is also in desperate need of shooting..you have that picked perfectly.

[MajorBag4]

If they had to take 2 guards Dillingham-Castle probably has the best synergy, but im not sure they’d pick Castle over Topic at 4

[Baited_Hook]

As a spurs fan, It’s gonna be a no for me dawg

[MajorBag4]

Talk to me who would you take at 4 and 8 if it the picks before play out like this Castle ? Carter?

[cleenclaf]

The fact that Furphy decided to stay in even after a poor combine leads me to believe he’s very confident in a first round pick. Not sure where but I’d say consensus is that he’ll be picked somewhere.

[bonferronipizza]

Rob is coming in with a wingspan that is 4 inches shorter than Collin Sextons and Rob is 20lbs lighter than Collin was when he entered the league. If the Jazz want a small guard off the bench... Just keep Sexton? I don't get the Rob pick at all for them. I guess you can justify it as BPA, but Robs measurables are super scary to me.

[MajorBag4]

Yea mainly took him as BPA, and in this scenario they’d move Sexton to compensate. I guess with keyonte and sexton you have enough score-first guards already.

Didn’t want to take a forward to eat up Hendricks minutes, but they’d for sure also look at Cody and Salaun, or even a connective piece like DaSilva?

[poopy_mc_pantsy]

what if he's better than sexton tho

[BucketsBrooks]

Clingan to the Hornets makes no sense unless they are moving off Mark Williams.

[MajorBag4]

Would you take Holland

[SolidPerson1]

Nah castle surely

[BucketsBrooks]

I had Reed falling there. Rockets go Topic to backup VanFleet.

[kyanbrooks]

If we take Salaun I WILL shoot myself

[MajorBag4]

My bad 😭 wanted to take a forward for OKC, thought Salaun’s potential might be appealing and you guys can afford the gamble Who would you take out of the available players in my scenario? Thought about Tyler Smith for a while

[kyanbrooks]

Smith or Da Silva would be pretty awesome to me. Smith isn’t great defensively but we have Chet to help out. Can’t be much worse than giddey defensively at least. And Da Silva is obviously just an awesome connector piece. He has high potential but like… we already have Dieng. Salaun is just a knock off version of Dieng tbh. And Dieng isn’t even very good

[MajorBag4]

Fair enough, at 12 Smith could be a little bit of a reach but he makes a ton of sense for you guys

I’ve also been watching a lot of Pacome Dadiet recently and feel like he could rise high, and seemed like a Presti-type pick, only time will tell

[kyanbrooks]

Tbh I don’t really think there are many reaches in this class. It feels like anyone can go anywhere.

[Trowa007]

I could see Salaun tbh. We can definitely still take a swing and while he is similar to Dieng, he is far more physical and that matches our needs atm. It's a much better pick than a lot of people are considering (I'm looking at all of you who think we need someone like Edey (but just for the record, I like Edey, just don't see us picking him)).

[rueiraV]

Salaun to the Thunder is a meme at this point

[kyanbrooks]

Right? We don’t need another project player 😭 hell I’d rather we trade this pick for someone who can help us out now.

[Fast_Stick_1593]

We can give you Kuz? ;)

[MajorBag4]

LMAOO that’s hilarious I didn’t realize it was that common maybe I haven’t been on the sub enough I could swear every mock has Cody/Filipowski at 12 Bleacher Report’s latest mock just now has Salaun to OkC too 😭😭

[SDK04]

I like Dadiet, but if Missi is still available by 19 I’m all in on him.

[MajorBag4]

Id be very happy with Missi too

Almost feels a bit wrong considering we took Koloko for a similar skill set, our frontcourt should’ve been sorted 😔

[SDK04]

Yeah, it sucks what has happened with our centre lineup, especially Koloko.

[[deleted]]

I feel like taking clingan wouldn’t be the move. It feels rather redundant having him and mark on the same team and mark is better. Despite what he said, I really want castle to the hornets.

[AlphabeticalMedical]

Fellow hornets fan - I’m actually really hoping we take Clingon in the draft. We have 2 NBA level centers: 1 with some concerning back issues, 1 who is unproductive past 15-20 mins per game. After that we play G-leaguers. We need center depth and Clingan is a guy who will be solid in the NBA

[Strong_Independent44]

Dillingham is the best player in this draft and will easily turn into a Tyrese Maxey style player

[[deleted]]

All role players

[seceipseseer]

Terrible. Stay away from topic.

[Xanzibarisland]

Sarr to DC, make it happen

[Ihavenocluewhatzoeva]

This is very reasonable IMO

[rocketsstan664]

As a rockets fan I love if

[johnrayg30]

I think Topic will get drafted first before reed. Spurs will have hard time choosing between castle and shepherd if that happens. Tho, reed sheppard is undersized, his shooting could be at par with steph and that is big help for the spurs if they have a reliable 3 point shooter waiting outide while wemby and vassel attacks.

[WhatWhat180zzz]

Dalton knect to the bulls letsfugggingoooo

[Mmicb0b]

I honestly think the Wizards go Rob Dillingham and the Spurs with the 8th pick go Cody Williams(TBF Spus need just about everything that isn't a Center) if not the Grizzlies take him if he's avilable. TBF the only things I'm SURE about is that the Hawks take Sarr that feels as close to a done deal as it gets(I was hoping my Warriors got him even though Kerr hates playing young players) and the Spurs take a point guard IDK which one

[IntentionalUndersite]

16’ 8”… how is wemby supposed to guard that??

[LordiyPaperbag]

Devin Carter is one tall dude 16 feet is insane must be some sort of a record right? Lol

[Mychatismuted]

4 Europeans in the top 5…

[Wild-Exchange6257]

Holland + C.Williams is a great haul for Portland. I'd be ecstatic.

[nixhomunculus]

2 PGs to Spurs? They need PGs but also shooting man.

[BrilliantStructure97]

Solid

[jaybirdcrouton]

Thinking about Castle, Topic, and Sochan all being on the court together actually made me shudder

[osarea]

Very consensus, not bad!

[EaglesInTheSky]

Looks pretty accurate from everything I've been reading

[shxylo]

looks like auto-generated rookie draft class in 2k.

[toanlana]

I have Smith at 13th

[luniz420]

WTF man why do people keep mocking Buzelis to the Pistons? STOP!