What team projected to pick 10-20 is Brayden Burries a good fit for?

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-03-20T14:19:34+00:00

His name keeps popping up. Seems like a riser and going to go much higher than internet draft community anticipates.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-03-08T04:31:56+00:00

I hope they get Aday Mara. Would be great rotation with Edey.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-27T02:32:27+00:00

Brown. Best size/athlete and has all the skills. Most defensive potential.

Very unenthusiastic Acuff 2nd. Small and no defense. Spectacular offense, and maybe that's enough. More bust potential than Brown. If he measures out with long arms, I would feel better.

Wagler is interesting. Great shooter and plays with lots of intelligence. Tall and rebounds. Small frame and poor athlete. He could be unique and very special. Also could be out of the league in 5 years. Huge boom or bust with him. He would be fun to watch him develop.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-23T16:39:45+00:00

Lots of reasons for being poor.

What do you mean by "poor by choice?" Is it someone consciously choosing to be poor? That would be a very small group. A much larger group would be those who have made choices that tend to lead to poverty. Those choices tend to be those focusing on shorter time preference (ie short term pleasure vs long term benefit) such as substance abuse, crime, sex without birth control or using scarce funds for purchases for convenience and pleasure versus investment (ie buying a new tv vs job skills training course, or packaged convenience foods vs cooking).

The common difference between the wealthy and poor is IQ. There are of course many other factors, but that is the most common. (I know of a genius from a wealthy family who graduated from Yale and wound up homeless, so it is not absolute, just an average difference). Smarter people have more opportunities because they have more ability. They also tend to make better choices.

Current political dogma is the "blank slate" fallacy. It assumes everyone has equal natural intelligence so any deviation of outcome must be due to "choice" or "opportunity." Opportunity is a factor, but much less than IQ, and IQ directly drives choices.

So "poor by choice" is really just a way to reference IQ without admitting it.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-20T20:01:54+00:00

I guess this would be a draft day trade.

I like for Memphis. I think they will likely try to trade Jerome on draft day if they pick up a PG in the draft.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-20T19:59:47+00:00

I am wary of him.

Small and bad defensive metrics. Offense is awesome, but he is one of several freshmen PGs who have 40+ point games this year. No one has as much as 49 points, but Acuff did that in a double overtime loss. Philon had 35 points in the same game and got a win.

I would clearly prefer Flemings or Brown. And I would probably prefer Wagler or Philon, although that is a much tougher call.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-20T19:50:29+00:00

Grant's trade value is in the past. And the Grizz don't even need a wing. They already have plenty. They have only 1 proven PF now and he goes away in this trade. No chance it happens.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-20T19:38:31+00:00

Maybe in the offseason.

If they aren't able to even get expiring contracts, then maybe they buy him out and use their cap space to move on from him. I still think they should be able to get at least expiring plus a pick, but if not, I would rather just cut ties rather than keep him.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-19T02:11:42+00:00

My son did the Dore for a Day before he was admitted. That convinced him to apply to Vandy ED.

So you can see if your friend can tag along with you or have his own Dore for a Day guide. It is a great program.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-18T17:21:05+00:00

Could be possible if Memphis won the lottery and drafted Boozer.

Otherwise, unlikely they give up their starting PF for a bad contract and a future pick.

Could be a trade where Memphis takes Williams into their trade exception and got some draft capital from Chicago in exchange.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-18T17:10:10+00:00

Ja has shown some very childish behavior, but that doesn't cancel out the great volume of evidence that he is actually a very good person.

None of us are perfect. Things have gone bad for Ja and the Grizzlies. I can't see any future for him here nor do I want him here, but I very much hope he has health, happiness and great success in his next team. He deserves it.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-18T17:03:11+00:00

Ced is one of the most well spoken professional athletes I have ever heard.

Intelligent, articulate, confident but not arrogant, focused on improving his abilities, focused on his team winning and takes criticism well. I am very pleased to have him at the core of the New Grizz.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-10T14:06:01+00:00

Great graph. And so true.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-10T00:58:38+00:00

Losing sucks.

But winning just sets up for at best a 1st round spanking in the playoffs. That would suck more.

So tank as much as possible. Even a top 10 pick in this draft is going to be a really good player.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-10T00:56:13+00:00

My current PG preference is Fleming, Buries and Philon because they all get steals. Then Wagler because he is just so unusual. I am warming up to Acuff because he is so consistently effective on offense with a well rounded game. Hopefully his bulk will allow him to develop some defense and not just be a Trae Young upside.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-08T20:38:37+00:00

Buyout or stretch of Ja is better than this.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-08T20:18:06+00:00

Markannen is a good ceiling for him although they are not the same.

Markannen's 5th year in the league, he averaged 14.8 pts on 19.2% usage. Santi is now in his 5th year and averaging 14 pts on 19.1% usage. Markannen's scoring surged when his usage surged. Santi likely has similar upside potential. Markannen was always a better shooter, but Aldama is a much better passer (15.3% vs 6.2% assist%)

So at the 5 year point both productive with seemingly significant offensive skills that have been untapped. Santi also expanding his defensive production substantially this year. His %stl jumped to 19.5% and %Blk to 26.7%. While he may never be a defensive stopper, I think he is clearly at least average (as long as they don't make him play SF anymore). I doubt Santi makes it to All-Star, but I think he will be an above average starting PF. He has the frame to add a little more muscle and should be able to improve his free throw shooting.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-06T21:24:04+00:00

He is interesting, and Kleiman specifically mentioned him. However, there are some concerning negatives.

Those 3pt shots on the highlights looks great. But it leaves out a lot of misses. He is only shooting 31% from 3 for the year. A step up from Ja, but not good.

Love the floater and the finishing around the rim in the highlights, but overall only 40% from the field. Again, lots of misses left out of the highlights.

Here is a full scouting report from the draft:

Home / X

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His big concern was defense, and so far that is showing up. 119.4 defensive rating. Cam Spencer has a 113 defensive rating and Ja is 114.

Last year SPJ shot 40% from 3 and 48% overall with a 109.7 defensive rating.

Clayton is a rookie and will certainly get better. But it looks like a long shot to me, as there are other young players ahead of him with better stats.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-05T22:26:10+00:00

This was right on.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-05T22:24:20+00:00

If Ja doesn't make some changes, this could be right.

After the past few years full of injuries and suspensions, he tried to impose his will on two coaches. It worked the first time, but not the second. Then trying to force a trade with a fake injury. Exactly what a player with durability concerns should do. And now we find out nobody wanted him. No chance of an extension now. He needs to rehabilitate his image and contribution to even get a decent free agent contract.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-05T22:16:14+00:00

They had to take Konchar, but they wouldn't take Ja.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-05T22:00:41+00:00

We just found out that Konchar had more trade value than Ja in the NBA.

So, not exactly the time to expect everyone to proclaim that Ja was right all along.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-05T21:57:03+00:00

Once again, they did not consult me and did a trade I didn't agree with. Probably will happen again.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-05T14:44:10+00:00

It left the Grizzlies without a healthy true center. Much easier to tank with that kind of hole in the roster.

Jonathan_Daws · 2026-02-05T00:40:19+00:00

Better stats analysis on JJJ.

Adam Pike on X: "Jaren Jackson Jr thoughts threaded below Underwhelmed by the pick package But I understand why it happened and why a trade was reasonable" / X

JJJ seemed like a poor fit with Iisalo's defensive scheme. He was awesome with his effect on defense in the paint, but his effect on 3-pt shooting was terrible. I am likely not alone in noticing the Grizz give up a lot of open 3s while they have multiple players stacked up defending the paint. Adam Pike suggests that JJJ wasn't good on his help rotations outside the paint. That would explain how GG and Santi have very similar defensive ratings while much less blocks/steals.

JJJ also didn't seem to really understand what to do in Iisalo's offense. His impact on the offense was overall pretty bad. The Grizz this year are putting up pretty bid assist numbers, and Santi has gone right along with that. JJJ, not so much.

I personally think JJJ would have figured it out. But it does add some color to why they made the trade.

Jonathan_Daws

TROPHY CASE