I have had this line of thinking for awhile now. A month or two ago someone posted on here that the number one overall pick is likely regarded to be a bad salary, in terms of the talent at this year’s draft.
I briefly watched a few minutes of the Colorado UCLA game last night. Side note: I don’t know how any of you guys who watch college basketball can make it through even a half it is awful. Anyway, I was watching only to watch Cody williams. He has potential for sure but in a normal draft he would be in the Jalen Johnson pick range for me. Late teens through late 20s. But he is being talked about as a number one overall.
When people on here talk about the draft they mention basically a top nine that could all be number one in some regard.
Would it be a better strategy to view this year’s draft in terms of salary and not overall position? In other words if you could get your guy at 9 or 10 and there really isn’t much of a difference between that guy and whoever you have as number one, wouldn’t it make much more sense to not hamstring yourself capwise? Draft players that have a skill set that would translate somewhat immediately to capitalize on the first couple of years of lower salary.
This is what I have been telling myself in a hopeful way since we improved our roster at the deadline. I doubt a guy like Cody Williams will be there at 9 but if we can get a guy with the same impact at 9 as we can at 1 or 2 then it would make total sense from a cap perspective to move to bottom of top ten. Top 5 picks at this point is a 4 year $40 million contract or more.
I still would rather have a top pick in case a major consensus emerges but when you look at mock drafts right now they are all over the place. So if we win a bunch to end the season this is the exact type of thinking we need to think. The only other thing I will say is that a top 5 pick is more tradeable than 9th or 10th but then again if no one is excited about anyone in the top 5 maybe it will be reversed this season.
I still think there are some major diamonds in the rough in this draft, because we haven’t had a truly “weak” draft in a long time. But time will tell. It is really amazing how the excellence of Brandon Miller has changed the trajectory of the franchise to the point where people almost consider this draft a throwaway haha
I agree with this. Over time, most every draft tends to produce comparable talent. The so called “weak” drafts are really just those where the talent isn’t as obvious as in some others. I think QC had a nice post articulating this earlier in the week. That’s where talent evaluation is critical. I’m less concerned with having a super high pick, especially for the reasons Chef just stated. But having a scouting department who can identify those diamonds in the rough will make or break you in a draft like this. You could end up with a Giannis or Jokic, or you could just as easily end up with a Kai or Alexis Ajinca. So more than the pick itself, the most important decision we have to make is who we bring in as GM. If we can secure another core piece in this draft we could lock in a trajectory of being a perennial playoff team, or dare I say, even a contender. So it’s imperative that we get this hire right.
The way I view this draft is that it isn’t a “top heavy” draft like last year. There’s not great depth to it either, but there is talent to be found.
It’s a draft that will really encourage teams to adopt the “best player available” mentality. Because of the general lack of draft board consensus, I think there will a lot of perceived reach picks-possibly quite early in the first round.
Because of that, there will be a lot of swings and misses in this draft.
I agree and it makes it entirely impossible for me to see them in an NBA context. Which is probably why I feel so confident that not only I don’t know what a guy will become but that none of us do. NCAA Men’s Basketball is North Atlantic Salmon where NBA is Pacific Salmon (regarding what you can buy, not what lives in those).
I’ve seen him pretty high in some mocks and as low as 8 right now. Kinda reinforces for me that as much as this is considered a weak draft we can still get a really good and useful piece wherever we fall in the top 10. There’s going to be some good players to come out of this draft.
That was a tough shot he hit over Brandon for the game winner. B. Mill couldn’t have contested any better.
If he pieces it all together, the potential is there to be a hell of a player. Could play with Mark, with Grant, with Miles. Would allow you to play 5 out with a 7ft’er, who can handle and move with rare fluidity and quickness for a man his size. Outside shot is coming along.
A lot to like, plays like a savvy 10 year vet. Sadly, he moves a bit like one, too. If he had some wiggle and burst, he’d be a lock for the top 10, IMHO.
Wait, what? I thought Knecht was actually pretty athletic. He had this nasty one against Michigan St. earlier this year, he has noticeable hang time and finishes with both hands.
The thing that stood out to me against Carolina was that nobody could stay in front of him. Even when we put our best defender on him, he got to the rim at will all night long. Maybe the Auburn highlights put it in slow motion or was more of the catch and shoot type. And maybe he’s more slippery than twitchy, but he’s definitely a pro caliber athlete to me.
I’d have zero concerns if he was our pick in whatever place we get this year. I do like Matas’ Frank Wagner similarities too.
Yeah, I’ve heard that going around that he’s viewed as athletically limited-which is very incorrect. He just doesn’t have great lateral movement in the defense side of the ball, which is being conflated as a lack of athleticism. He’s a meh defender. And that’s the question about his nba upside IMO-not his athleticism.
He’s not a top notch athletic specimen, but he’s quite athletic. Last edit: Dalton is able to use his length and strength to score on the college level-but will that be relatively neutralized on the nba level? (Another common critique I’ve read. But you can make this argument about almost every draft pick)
He has basically the same scouting report as klay Thompson.
To expand, he lacks burst, change of direction, acceleration … his movements are never sudden. Given a runway, he’s absolutely fine and can take it to the rim. He’s clearly intelligent and uses what he has well, and doesn’t try to do things he’s not good at. There’s a vet craftiness to the way he moves and uses his body. I like him, especially as a shooter, but struggle to see him cracking the top 10. That said, I can absolutely see him having a long and productive career.
