The G League is pretty bad. I would lable Begarin’s league no more than a notch below and that is likely pushing it……maybe a half notch is more accurate.
The top tier players are decent as these are guys who turned down good euro deals to be one step closer to the NBA. Most of the bench guys are there bc they didn’t receive interest from the top euro leagues.
The athleticism is probably better in the G league, but I'm not sure that the skills are overall. I'm not sure where I'd put my money if Begarin's team played Maine in a neutral site. Probably Maine, but I think that they game would be close.
The thing is we don’t have to compare Begarin’s league to see what we have in him as we all got a great look at him this summer. The kid would be at worst a late lottery pick in this summers draft regardless of the competition he’s playing against this winter.
Oh I agree. I love what he brings to the table physically, and his handle (while loose now) has upside.
I don't really have opinions on players until I see them on an NBA court. When I saw Brown on an NBA court for the first time, I saw him developing into an Ok offensive player who got most of his value being a good, versatile defender. A 3 and D guy, with more D than 3. Instead, he's turned into a CJ McCollum type. He really is an efficient scorer. Hopefully he figures it out on the defensive end because he could be so much better than CJ McCollum.
I agree with most of this, except that I'd have Pascal below Sabonis at least and maybe Brogdon and Dejounte too. He has regressed mightily...in Toronto. In retrospect, that's lot of very good players from a draft that started as "the Simmons draft" and was "a 2 man draft" up until draft day. Picks 3 and below were considered by many to be consolation prizes.
Yeah, the notch or two below G league is probably worded poorly. If the G league was the 4th best league in the world (I'm not sure it is, just throwing out a number) then Serie A is 5th or 6th. It's not a huge deal. I just mentioned the G league because it's closer to the G league than P5 or D3, and everyone is familiar with it.
I’ve dubbed him “Pay Day Pascal” as that contract was the best thing to happen to him personally and the worst thing to happen to him professionally. His entire approach and demeanor changed once he got a few of those checks hitting his account.
All true. It's a shame the G League isn't to the NBA as Class AAA is to MLB.
It's the NBA's fault for pursuing the NHL's pre-1980s minor league strategy to save a few bucks. So the result is a whole league full of guys playing to catch the eye of European scouts so that they can land overseas gigs. Most teams have, at most, four of their own guys on a roster. So it doesn't even serve the purpose that it's alleged to have. The NBA really just needs to move to 22 man rosters with 12 active players so that teams can actually have minor league teams where the players are at least playing for time on the big league club.
Yeah, I didn't realize how bad Pascal has been the last year +. I also have a hard time determining what kind of value Sabonis would have around the league. Sabonis is having a strange year in that he's slipped some in some categories but he's having his most efficient year by far. I'd still have him ahead of Pascal. At one point last year, I'd have had Sabonis 3rd though. I thought he'd have a 3 point shot by now. Maybe it still happens.
While I agree with this I'd also point out that this year's draft is pretty weak on starpower, although I think it's pretty deep in roleplayer talent. Put another way, Jabari Smith Jr's most likely outcome is high end 3 & D F and he's likely a top 3 pick. If you squint really hard you can can see a top 50 player there (JSJ). Begarin's similar, you can see the physical tools necessary to be a top 50 guy. He's at least aggressive on both ends of the floor, which sets him aside from Langford and Nesmith who are both extremely timid offensive players.
I liked Murray for Boston, and when the Brown rumors began popping up openly hoped that Boston would trade back with someone that wanted Murray to pick up extra draft capital.
I remember liking Rocket Roddy, after he got to the NBA. Back in those days there was no game tape of European players on YouTube, just those awful DX scouting videos. So back then I always used to say that I wasn't competent to offer opinions on European prospects.
I think that describes most of the starters too. They couldn't secure good overseas offers and need to show European scouts something. The ACB is pretty clearly better than the G League. The G would be in that next group of leagues (Russian Super League, Turkish Super, Italian A, French A, Greek). Perhaps near the top of it, but I'm not sure that it's any better than any of them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_French_NBA_players if it helps any. I was trying to figure it out too, but I'm not a draft guy. I like reading the opinion of those willing to be wrong over and over again to make pre draft and draft night predictions on players. I also like reading the opinions of all the paid experts who are wrong just as often or more. I'm not being facetious either. It's fun to read HRB's opinion on guys like Luka and Bagley even if he was way off. Anyone and everyone who makes pre draft and draft day predictions are going to have a lot of misses and a lot of HUGE misses.
I thought for sure it was Roddy as I was all over him too. He had the physicals to be a real good NBA guard but had the durability of Dante Exum.
I watched Baldwin against URI and he was a train wreck. Clips I’ve seen show some Cade in his game in that he’s well rounded, can shoot with range, can rebound but isn’t super explosive. I’d need to see him play with some success before passing judgement but I wasn’t impressed from what i saw.
Train wreck is a little harsh, but then I didn’t see the URI footage. His 1% projection is probably 6’9”/6’10” Klay. But, as I said, I have a lot more faith in Jabari Smith Jr turning into an elite 3&D guy that can double as a tertiary scorer.
I think it's kind of an average top 5, with nothing of note afterward. Assuming Shaedon Sharpe comes out. Otherwise, I think CHET is fun, Paolo is decent & Ivey could be useful. Haven't really deep-dived anything, yet, though.
Mobley also has a much bigger frame and can probably reach 240-250 without losing athleticism. Which is another reason I don’t buy Holmgren’s listed weight. He makes Mobley look fat in comparison. I think there’s a role for Holmgren as a perimeter shooting big. But with that frame I can’t see his drive game surviving in the NBA. Or, more precisely, I can’t see his body ever being able to absorb the contact from guys 60lbs heavier.
I kind of like the idea of
Imagine listing all the people for category 1 and not mentioning Grant Williams?
TimeLord went even later, but as chilidawg mentions, both were late firsts
Worth noting that this is because of a very specific situation: the Celtics have 3 core non-star players (TL, Smart, and White) for 3-4 years on reasonable contracts that will get better as the cap rises, Jaylen on a below-market deal for 2 more years, and Tatum on a lower-than-expected deal due to missing All NBA.
Yes that is the big difference between Mobley and Holmgren’s physicals and it is a BIG deal. I still don’t like his transitioning to the next level. I have his upside as Porzingis but his floor of a guy who could really struggle reaching his theoretical potential.
McGusty will be 25 when the NBA season starts next year. It’s very difficult to get a handle on guys when they’re in their physical prime and playing kids. I do like the way he finishes with his left hand. There’s a lot to like there, but watching his game tape is a lot like watching Jay Scrubb beating up on JuCo players or Juhann Begarin torturing French B level players.
Banchero struggled badly agaiant UVA’s defense in the first meeting too. I’d say that has zero relevance to his NBA future though.
Griffin has the raw talent to be a rich man’s Marcus Smart. Which is, potentially, a better result than Banchero, who looks like an offensive roleplayer.
Interesting comparison. He seems to me to be a scoring wing, but hasn't shown much ball handling ability. Smart has always struggled to shoot, but seems to me to have always been a better ball handler than Griffin has shown.
I've seen plenty of Duke freshmen, including Tatum and Ingram, light up Virginia. I can't remember the last time a touted Dookie struggled against UVA the way Paolo has this year. Maybe that's an aberration, but the great ones usually get it going at some point in a game.
