Should Joe consider playing Amari Williams?

[slamtheking]

I don't know.  He's a long way away.

Should have taken Kalkbrenner or Raynaud.

Should have taken Kyle Filipowski!  I don't mind the Williams pick, it was in the second.  Kyle and Hugo would have been some good young blood on this team.

Interestingly, Filipowski was taken 32nd overall in 2024.  We had #30 that year, and #32 in 2025, when both Kalkbrenner and Raynaud were on the board.

Stats this season:

Filipowski: 9.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 0.5 blocks
Kalkbrenner: 8.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.8 blocks
Raynaud: 10.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 0.5 blocks

well if we're going to play the woulda/coulda/shoulda draft let's look at 2016
#3 - JB - arguably would go #1 in a redraft
#16 - Yabu --> Should have grabbed Siakam who went 27
#23 - Zizic --> Should have grabbed Dejounte Murray who went 29
#31 - Devonte Davis who was traded but should have taken and kept Zubac who went at 32
#35 - Rade Zagorac who never played for us but should have taken Malcolm Brogdon who went at 36
#45 - Demetrius Jackson - Should have taken Georges Niang who went at 50
#51 - Ben Bentil -- of all the picks we could have traded or stashed someone, this was the one.
#58 - Abdel Nader actually played for us
If we grabbed Siakam, Murray, Zubac and Brogdon to go the JB, that's a playoff team that would be making deep runs nevermind adding Tatum the next draft.

I understand the first round picks because we were saving cap space to make a run at two max free agents, but I was yelling at my screen to pick FVV those last two picks.

good point - he went undrafted and I didn't pick up on that.  add him in place of Bentil or Nader and C's would have picked up 7 NBA-caliber players in one year AND gotten Tatum the following year instead of getting 1 that's contributing to the team.

[obnoxiousmime]

I don't know.  He's a long way away.

Should have taken Kalkbrenner or Raynaud.

Should have taken Kyle Filipowski!  I don't mind the Williams pick, it was in the second.  Kyle and Hugo would have been some good young blood on this team.

Interestingly, Filipowski was taken 32nd overall in 2024.  We had #30 that year, and #32 in 2025, when both Kalkbrenner and Raynaud were on the board.

Stats this season:

Filipowski: 9.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 0.5 blocks
Kalkbrenner: 8.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.8 blocks
Raynaud: 10.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 0.5 blocks

Every draft is different, but I think generally Stevens does not want to use draft picks on unathletic, low-ceiling big men. If you can get guys like Queta or Kornet off the scrap heap, why would you bother using a pick and roster spot on a guy who probably won't even be as good as they are? And if these guys were such big missed opportunities, why are there similar types of players available seemingly every year in the late first round or second? Nobody wants to expend resources on these guys because they all project as backups on good teams and you can find similar types every year.

[Roy H.]

I don't know.  He's a long way away.

Should have taken Kalkbrenner or Raynaud.

Should have taken Kyle Filipowski!  I don't mind the Williams pick, it was in the second.  Kyle and Hugo would have been some good young blood on this team.

Interestingly, Filipowski was taken 32nd overall in 2024.  We had #30 that year, and #32 in 2025, when both Kalkbrenner and Raynaud were on the board.

Stats this season:

Filipowski: 9.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 0.5 blocks
Kalkbrenner: 8.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.8 blocks
Raynaud: 10.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 0.5 blocks

Every draft is different, but I think generally Stevens does not want to use draft picks on unathletic, low-ceiling big men. If you can get guys like Queta or Kornet off the scrap heap, why would you bother using a pick and roster spot on a guy who probably won't even be as good as they are? And if these guys were such big missed opportunities, why are there similar types of players available seemingly every year in the late first round or second? Nobody wants to expend resources on these guys because they all project as backups on good teams and you can find similar types every year.

If choosing between a solid backup and somebody likely to never be a rotation player, I'd take the backup.

[No Nickname]

I don't know.  He's a long way away.

Should have taken Kalkbrenner or Raynaud.

Should have taken Kyle Filipowski!  I don't mind the Williams pick, it was in the second.  Kyle and Hugo would have been some good young blood on this team.

Interestingly, Filipowski was taken 32nd overall in 2024.  We had #30 that year, and #32 in 2025, when both Kalkbrenner and Raynaud were on the board.

Stats this season:

Filipowski: 9.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 0.5 blocks
Kalkbrenner: 8.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.8 blocks
Raynaud: 10.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 0.5 blocks

Every draft is different, but I think generally Stevens does not want to use draft picks on unathletic, low-ceiling big men. If you can get guys like Queta or Kornet off the scrap heap, why would you bother using a pick and roster spot on a guy who probably won't even be as good as they are? And if these guys were such big missed opportunities, why are there similar types of players available seemingly every year in the late first round or second? Nobody wants to expend resources on these guys because they all project as backups on good teams and you can find similar types every year.

If choosing between a solid backup and somebody likely to never be a rotation player, I'd take the backup.

While it's a small sample size, if you look at Raynaud in December (9 games) he's averaging starter minutes with these stats:

30.1 mpg
15.4 ppg
9.2 rpg
54.7 fg%
40.0 3pfg%