Mock Draft fun

[Celtics2021]

you really see Johnson going at 14?  pretty much all other mocks have him going at 20 at the earliest --> somewhere that our 1st and Hauser could get us a higher pick to get him.

I have seen him at 14 and 17 in mocks released today by the Athletic and ESPN, respectively.  CBS also has him at 17.

[CFAN38]

you really see Johnson going at 14?  pretty much all other mocks have him going at 20 at the earliest --> somewhere that our 1st and Hauser could get us a higher pick to get him.

I do and this was before the opening of the combine.

Morez just measured 6'9 barefoot 250lbs with a 7'3.5" wingspan and a 39" max vert. I have to point out he gamed the system a little on the max vert because his standing reach was only 8'11. ( guys "cheat" by not stretching all the was to reduced standing reach and help vert numbers).

This makes him bigger than Al Horford 6'8/243/7' 0.75"and Bam @ 6'8.75"/242lbs/7'2.75".

I was expecting Morez to be 2" shorter and still thought the lottery was a real possibility.


He is the rare big who will be big/strong enough to hold up against all but the biggest centers while still being able to switch/hedge onto smaller perimeter players. Add to that the real possibility that he eventually shoots the ball and he has the real chance to be a top 8 guy in a redraft years from now. I have also been really impressed with the maturity he has shown in his post game interviews, already comes off of as pro at a young age.

[CFAN38]

Apparently Ament (small forward from Tennessee) measured 6'9.5" barefoot today and doctors have told him that he has more room in his growth plate and could possibly get taller by another two inches.

Too bad he's a pretty uninspiring player on the court.

Yeah.  Someone will draft him high because of his measurables, but I do not see it in terms of basketball skills.

He really measured well at 6'9.5" 211lbs and a 6'11.5" wingspan

Also not comparing the two but...

https://www.tankathon.com/players/compare?players=nate-ament--jayson-tatum

Tatum and Ament's fresh stats are not drastically different. If I was a owner/GM/fan or a rebuilding team I would absolutely get behind Ament in the top 10. His archetype is roster changing. 6'11 guys who can dribble/pass/shoot are hard to come by and raise a teams ceiling. 

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Zuby Ejiofor continues to be the guy that I think would be available at our pick and would be great value.

[aefgogreen]

That would be cool if the Jazz drafts Cam Boozer. Son and father both be affiliated with the Utah Jazz. And son was actually born in SLC, Utah.

And if my non-exhaustive research is correct, I don't think there has ever a case where both father and son were all-stars. There is now a chance this could change.

[perks-a-beast]

1. WAS - AJ Dybantsa

2. UTA - Darryn Peterson

3. MEM - Cam Boozer

4. CHI - Caleb Wilson

5. LAC - Keaton Wagler

6. BKN - Kingston Flemings

7. SAC - Darius Acuff

8. ATL - Aday Mara

9. DAL - Brayden Burries

10. MIL - Mikel Brown Jr.

11. GSW - Yaxel Lendeborg

12. OKC - Nate Ament

13. MIA - Karim Lopez

14. CHA - Labaron Philon

15. CHI - Ebuka Okorie

16. MEM - Dailyn Swain

17. OKC - Hannes Steinbach

18. CHA - Morez Johnson Jr.

19. TOR - Bennett Stirtz

20. SAS - Cam Carr

21. DET - Isaiah Evans

22. PHI - Allen Graves

23. ATL - Tyler Tanner

24. NYK - Meleek Thomas

25. LAL - Henri Veesaar

26. DEN - Koa Peat

27. BOS - Chris Cenac

28. MIN - Christian Anderson

29. CLE - Joshua Jefferson

30. DAL - Amari Allen

ROUND 2

31. NYK - Luigi Suigo

32. MEM - Sergio De Larrea

33. BKN - Tounde Yessoufou

34. SAC - Alex Karaban

35. SAS - Jayden Quaintance

36. LAC - Milan Momcilovic

37. OKC - Flory Bidunga

38. CHI - Ryan Conwell

39. HOU - Richie Saunders

40. BOS - Braden Smith

41. MIA - Rueben Chinyelu

42. SAS - Andrej Stojakovic

43. BKN - Tarris Reed Jr.

44. SAS - Jaden Bradley

45. SAC - Zuby Ejiofor

46. ORL - Tyler Nickel

47. PHX - Bruce Thornton

48. DAL - Felix Okpara

49. DEN - Milos Uzan

50. TOR - Ugonna Onyenso

51. WAS - Izaiyah Nelson

52. LAC - Trevon Brazile

53. HOU - Emmanuel Sharp

54. GSW - Jeremy Fears Jr.

55. NYK - Keyshawn Hall

56. CHI - Baba Miller

57. ATL - Otega Oweh

58. NOP - Tyler Bilodeau

59. MIN - Tobi Lawal

60. WAS - Tamin Lipsey

Guys I think who will go back to school: Malachi Moreno, Billy Richmond, Matt Able, Aiden Tobiason. Maybe even Jayden Quaintance. I dont think hes shown enough to even be a first rounder.


Great, great draft. I was hard pressed to find a guy in the first round who I think will bust.

[Neurotic Guy]

Is it too late to go back and tank?

Why would they want to do that? It was a very enjoyable regular season. Who cares about the playoffs.

I do get the sarcasm, but I did love this regular season and unless the C's managed to get top 3, not sure I'd be all that happy about it. And pretty unlikely they would get anywhere near that.

I am just cluing in to what happened with Indiana.  It is me or is the outcome of their tank just terrible.  They gave up Mathurin and what turned out to be the 5th pick in the draft for Zubac.  Good player, good center - will help them. But they were counting on Zubac PLUS a top 4 pick (or better).  They rolled the dice making their pick top 4 protected - and lost. By getting 5th, not only had really bad luck, but have to forfeit the pick. We'll see what LAC gets but it seems the Clips risk paid off nicely. They get as high a pick as possible and a good young player in Mathurin.  I guess I don't feel all that strongly about Zubac - maybe I should?

All in all, I like how the draft order ended up.  And the Indy pick supports the idea that tanking assures you of nothing. Glad the C's didn't tank. 

[No Nickname]

Is it too late to go back and tank?

Why would they want to do that? It was a very enjoyable regular season. Who cares about the playoffs.

I do get the sarcasm, but I did love this regular season and unless the C's managed to get top 3, not sure I'd be all that happy about it. And pretty unlikely they would get anywhere near that.

I am just cluing in to what happened with Indiana.  It is me or is the outcome of their tank just terrible.  They gave up Mathurin and what turned out to be the 5th pick in the draft for Zubac.  Good player, good center - will help them. But they were counting on Zubac PLUS a top 4 pick (or better).  They rolled the dice making their pick top 4 protected - and lost. By getting 5th, not only had really bad luck, but have to forfeit the pick. We'll see what LAC gets but it seems the Clips risk paid off nicely. They get as high a pick as possible and a good young player in Mathurin.  I guess I don't feel all that strongly about Zubac - maybe I should?

All in all, I like how the draft order ended up.  And the Indy pick supports the idea that tanking assures you of nothing. Glad the C's didn't tank.

And on top of that the Clippers also get a 2029 1st round pick too!

[Neurotic Guy]

Is it too late to go back and tank?

Why would they want to do that? It was a very enjoyable regular season. Who cares about the playoffs.

I do get the sarcasm, but I did love this regular season and unless the C's managed to get top 3, not sure I'd be all that happy about it. And pretty unlikely they would get anywhere near that.

I am just cluing in to what happened with Indiana.  It is me or is the outcome of their tank just terrible.  They gave up Mathurin and what turned out to be the 5th pick in the draft for Zubac.  Good player, good center - will help them. But they were counting on Zubac PLUS a top 4 pick (or better).  They rolled the dice making their pick top 4 protected - and lost. By getting 5th, not only had really bad luck, but have to forfeit the pick. We'll see what LAC gets but it seems the Clips risk paid off nicely. They get as high a pick as possible and a good young player in Mathurin.  I guess I don't feel all that strongly about Zubac - maybe I should?

All in all, I like how the draft order ended up.  And the Indy pick supports the idea that tanking assures you of nothing. Glad the C's didn't tank.

And on top of that the Clippers also get a 2029 1st round pick too!

Wow - something going right for LAC.

[Who]

I guess I don't feel all that strongly about Zubac - maybe I should?

I go back and forth on Zubac.

I feel confident in his rebounding & offensive game but I am not fully sold on his defense. I feel confident in his man-to-man defense but I am still unsure about how good of a team defender he is.

He got some attention for DPOY 2 years ago but I wonder how much of that was actually him and how much of that was the terrific work his perimeter players were doing to shrink the floor for him and make his job easier.

His impact dropped off last season while in LAC. He did not seem to have as much defensive impact as the year before. His teammates weren't playing as well defensively either. He was more exposed. He is not an athlete. He is a plodder. A big body in the paint. When his teammates control the space around the paint for him, he is an intimidating figure around the rim. When his teammates do not control the space and he has to defend in open space, he looks closer to an average defensive C.

I feel his big impact defensively 2 years ago was more about his teammates. That Zubac is more of a solid defender than a high level defender. I do love his one-on-one defense though. He would have been fantastic against Embiid. We would have won that series if we had Zubac instead of Queta or Vucevic (or even both of them). His defense on Jokic was fantastic. He is a strong man-to-man defender but I believe closer to a solid team defender than a high level one.

[Who]

I was watching some Kingston Flemings highlights. A few things stood out:

(1) His speed is impressive. His change of speed and change of direction moves are even more impressive. He is going to cause defenders a lot of problems.

(2) He was listed at 6-4 but turned out to be 6-2 in the predraft measurements and with an 8-2 standing reach. He looks that. He looks a smaller to average sized guard. Not the big guard he was listed as.

(3) His stat profile is interesting. Only 20-25% of his shots were 3s. Despite his great driving moves, he only received 3.5 FTAs on his 12.6 FGAs for around 25% free throw rate. That is worryingly low. That would be an average mark for a PG in the NBA but for a college player with NBA athleticism and above average speed & driving capabilities, he should be getting way more FTs in the college game than that. So his 3PTAs are on the low side and his FTAs are on the low side. Seems to rely more on the midrange shot.

(4) Lacks strength. Despite his great ball-handling and speed, defenders were able to hold him off on some of those drives due to their superior strength. Those guys were not NBA athletes. NBA defenders will be much more effective blocking him off physically. This guy has gotta get stronger.

Looks physically timid. May also explain his lowish FTAs. May be a reluctance to take contact.

He will probably need a few years to get stronger and improve that 3 point shot. Impressive speed & handles though. If he can develop those, he could be really good. Or just average (solid starting PG) if he doesn't.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I was watching some Kingston Flemings highlights. A few things stood out:

(1) His speed is impressive. His change of speed and change of direction moves are even more impressive. He is going to cause defenders a lot of problems.

(2) He was listed at 6-4 but turned out to be 6-2 in the predraft measurements and with an 8-2 standing reach. He looks that. He looks a smaller to average sized guard. Not the big guard he was listed as.

(3) His stat profile is interesting. Only 20-25% of his shots were 3s. Despite his great driving moves, he only received 3.5 FTAs on his 12.6 FGAs for around 25% free throw rate. That is worryingly low. That would be an average mark for a PG in the NBA but for a college player with NBA athleticism and above average speed & driving capabilities, he should be getting way more FTs in the college game than that. So his 3PTAs are on the low side and his FTAs are on the low side. Seems to rely more on the midrange shot.

(4) Lacks strength. Despite his great ball-handling and speed, defenders were able to hold him off on some of those drives due to their superior strength. Those guys were not NBA athletes. NBA defenders will be much more effective blocking him off physically. This guy has gotta get stronger.

Looks physically timid. May also explain his lowish FTAs. May be a reluctance to take contact.

He will probably need a few years to get stronger and improve that 3 point shot. Impressive speed & handles though. If he can develop those, he could be really good. Or just average (solid starting PG) if he doesn't.

He's very reminiscent to me of Tony Parker. Quick. Relentless at getting into the teeth of the defense and compromising it.

Could be fun with Flagg in Dallas. Don't love him in LA, Brooklyn, Sac, Bucks, or Warriors. Atlanta might be interesting too, because Snyder's system is all about the the ability to compromise a defense.