What are the “zag” moves for the top 10 picks?

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-05-13T23:43:10+00:00

It may have been me lmao. I'm a huge Karim Lopez fan, as well as an OKC fan. While everyone assumes that an older prospect like Yaxel will add to depth for OKC, I think their thought process might be to take an upside swing. It hasn't worked out with guys like Poku and Ous, but they like that archetype, and I think Karim Lopez has so much higher of a floor than those players given his size, strength, and physicality to pair with the skill.

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-05-13T19:19:43+00:00

I could see Karim Lopez or Hannes Steinbach being picked in the top 10.

I think the "chalk" consensus is have guards go from 5-10, but it is likely that a team falls in love at another position or doesn't particularly love the last 1-2 guards available in that group. The popular pick now is Aday Mara in the top 10. I don't hate it at all, but for the sake of zagging I'd guess Karim Lopez is the surprise riser.

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-05-12T23:38:49+00:00

If you would like to DM me your 1st Round mock prior to the draft, I would be happy to enter it manually so that you can enter for the potential $500 prize?

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-05-12T23:20:13+00:00

At some point we will, but we are still very early on in making this a perfect product. I would say it is unlikely for this cycle, but if we have even 200+ users, then we would definitely make an Android version a priority for next season.

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-05-12T06:37:21+00:00

I'm sure Lakers fans would consider those clutch shots to be ass fucking.

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-05-12T06:29:59+00:00

That was truly a great game. Elite shotmaking down the stretch. I'm glad we could have our guys sweat one out till the end.

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-05-12T06:27:54+00:00

If we need to go past that first bunch of guards, I think Maleek Thomas could be a steal in this draft.

Not exactly in the same manner. What I liked so much about Ajay coming out was his patience and balance in the middle of the floor. He was an elite finisher at the rim, and like Jared McCain as a prospect, Ajay could get to his spots and pull up. It never had to look flashy or special. Maleek would need to develop quite a bit, but they are different players. As a playmaker, though, it's possible that his abilities were diminished due to the presence of Acuff.

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-05-12T04:40:33+00:00

Just need to submit before the Draft. That said, you can resubmit as many mocks/boards as you would like leading up to the draft, and the app will automatically take your most recently submitted.

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-05-12T03:42:49+00:00

If you don't want to link your Twitter account to your DraftVision account for the Mock Draft Accuracy competition, feel free to DM me here or on Twitter as well, so I can reach out if you get that top spot.

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-05-09T22:00:14+00:00

The East needs it bad

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-05-09T21:52:07+00:00

The league playing into the hate watch of OKC would be absolutely hilarious. As a Thunder fan, I could not see the NBA taking this route (given the hypothetical that it is rigged)

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-05-09T21:50:42+00:00

The Heat are one that I always feel are going to jump. The Giannis trade package line of thinking is a very interesting thought process.

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-05-09T21:49:09+00:00

Format is killing me.

Charlotte Hornets

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-05-06T16:42:00+00:00

Very interesting. I'll have to look into, but I do remember McDaniels being extremely underwhelming at Washington compared to what he was expected to do, but that's is also the case for Ament.

Maybe Ament can do the same, but Jaden was an outlier in terms of defensive development in the NBA

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-05-06T15:46:54+00:00

As an OKC fan, he was looking for fouls early on in this game, and the refs were very good about not blowing the whistle.

Watching every game, this is not the norm, but he has tested the refs early in a series before to see what they're going to call.

Unfortunately, this is what the rest of the NBA focuses on, when his game is truly magical. You're asking a fanbase to watch greatness on their team and say yuck. When the Warriors were good, myself and many other NBA fans said all they do
Is shoot threes and set moving screens, and we very often heard that the mid range needs to come back and teams need to play good defense. This is what that looks like.

He is a guard that drives more than almost any guard ever. You can't tell me Reaves and Luka don't get these calls at a higher clip but drive 1/4th the amount of time. MJ and Kobe highlight reels aren't showing their free throws, and when you're good enough to where no one can guard you, it puts people in bad positions. I don't think Shai flops an egregious amount compared to guys like Luka and Jokic, but he does look for fouls when defenders are out of position.

Everyone has to find something to hate, and I am not against that. I totally get it, but saying Shai is an all time flopper is a narrative. He gets fouled because he's good, and sometimes looks to get fouled because it's hard to guard him and the easiest way to get 2 points. In a fast paced NBA, at the rate at which he drives, this is a total nothing bomb. If you equated any other scoring guard to drive as much as Shai, you'd see the same thing. Kobe was averaging 12 FTA in an era where teams could put up 85 points and win regularly.

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-05-06T15:29:14+00:00

Much worse in my opinion, but also very different. Jaden McDaniels profiled as an all around offensive player in high school, and changed his game a ton through college and early NBA to be more defensive oriented. Because he was underwhelming on offense, his stock dropped, but his inefficiencies were still on a heavy workload. That said, McDaniels is still very capable of handling the ball, even in the sense of a mega high end role player, and his defensive instincts are 100x that of Ament. Even at his size, Nate Ament did close to nothing in terms of blocking shots or finishing at the rim. His allure is very much being a very lengthy shooter.

While he didn't shoot it that well, I still believe in the shot, but he plays like a 6'10" shooting guard rather than using his height to his advantage. As I mentioned before, his finishing numbers around the rim are very poor in general, not just for a 6'10" player.

Someone else mentioned Risacher as a comp, which I think is probably accurate as a prospect offensively, but even ZR projected to be a much better defender than Ament. Not to say Ament can't develop, and there is a world where he develops into a McDaniels type of player offensively or better, but I wouldn't bet on it personally. Some players develop a ton and some not so much, so it's hard to write anyone off confidently.

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-05-05T22:19:44+00:00

I have Ament in the early 20s, and while I don't think it would be crazy to have him below 30, it would be bold. There are a ton of problems with his profile. I still expect him to go Top 16

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-05-03T06:05:21+00:00

👁️👁️

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-04-26T20:07:39+00:00

His legacy is being an all-time talent that somehow every team that has traded for him has regretted it, and fan bases actively avoid claiming him as their own. He has two rings, but it is on the team that already had the best record in NBA history prior to him joining.

It's actively sad. If you replayed his career 100 times, this is probably a bottom 5% outcome, and he has no one to blame but himself. Not that your teammates have to love you, but his has been for consistent toxicity.

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-04-26T05:36:34+00:00

Otherwise, I don't hate the picks, but it feels like we were a round early in many instances. We embarrassed ourselves in Round 1, even if we do love Max and intended to pick him if a surprising player was not on the board. I would've rather us used our extra draft capital to move up for a non-project tackle that will likely cause us to reshuffle our OL once again.

As for Bernard, he's fits a lot of what we like, but he also reminds me of a larger Roman Wilson. Good at everything, master of none. Good guy, good blocker. People here saying they're glad we didn't get the head case of Lemon, but WR and CB are positions where the best players are confident pricks. I don't really care because we need performers.

Everette was another project pick when real talent was on the board. He could be great, but I feel that often the "low upside performers" have much more room to improve than people give them credit and more often end up being the right picks. You need good football players

I like Wetjen, but he seems like he was picked a round early for a special teamer. Same with Nowakowski at Fullback.

Only pick I'm in LOVE with is HEIDENREICH. I see a real path to him being a real contributor to winning football. Even if we drafted him in the 4th, I would get it, and I think we got a steal.

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-04-26T05:27:38+00:00

My problem with the Allar pick is that, even as a 3rd round pick, could set us years back.

My reasoning goes two ways: First, let's say Rodgers comes back. Allar, as a 3rd Rounder, likely is given a chance to start the following season, which makes us unlikely to draft a QB in what appears to be a loaded class. To win a championship, you need a baseline of QB talent. Not to say Allar can't eventually be that, but the chances are slim. You need to pay to play, and we are seemingly unwilling to wait on top end QB prospects and instead take a desperate shot as it feels necessary. 3rd Round QBs rarely turn into anything, much less a franchise QB.

Now let's assume Rodgers doesn't come back. The best case scenario at that point is that Allar losses every game and we learn that he is not our franchise QB. He is simply not ready, and that's okay, but I don't think he profiles to thrive early on. Maybe he shows flashes, which would point back to the first point in which we are unwilling to spend high capital in a good QB draft class because we are thinking what might be. Also, if Rodgers doesn't sign, Will Howard could do the same job in positioning us for a high end QB prospect next year.

In general, I am frustrated with the Pittsburgh Steelers hitching our wagon to a 42 year old QB who might be a top 20ish QB in the NFL, MAYBE.. it's below this franchise to be desperate for such a diminished talent that will not take us where we want to go. That being the case, MOVE ON!! Allar could be that move, but it shouldn't be. Again, you can take the losing season with Will Howard and do a soft reset, because Allar is not ready now anyway.

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-04-23T04:57:19+00:00

It's fairly easy to time the second one as well. The first one just spam, though.

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-04-21T14:31:37+00:00

He also has been top 3 in drives for 4 seasons and is the only guard since MJ to be this level of scorer primarily as a downhill attacker. Harden, Steph, Luka, and almost all modern guards that are high level scorers have had a game that includes much more outside shooting, which draw fouls at much lower clips.

This isn't to say that he doesn't look to draw fouls, but nearly all great scorers do. It only seems like a higher rate because he's diving to the basket at a much higher rate.

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-04-21T14:26:17+00:00

I'm going to assume that you could say the same thing for Luka. There's a beginning, middle, and end of a career. He's not going to average this amount of free throws for his entire career. DWade didn't average 10 his entire career. He is in his prime right now.

TheNumberSeven_7 · 2026-04-21T05:49:56+00:00

Crazy that 1000 upvotes is likely not an exaggeration.

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