The Official 2018 NBA Draft Talk Thread 6/21

[str8up]

De'Anthony Melton is going to go a lot lower than he should too, although understandable.

I had him as a lottery pick going into the season.

 

[Bigblackted4]

Marcus Smart replacement

 

[Bigblackted4]

De'Anthony Melton is going to go a lot lower than he should too, although understandable.

I had him as a lottery pick going into the season.

Why do you think he’s falling

 

[tremonthustler1]

Why do you think he’s falling

He didn’t play

@Kliq_Souf Philly is picking again. @KevJ be ready

 

[No Homo]

Thought this was interesting..ill leave it here..top teams in using analytics for draft purposes (just about all have spurs ties).

Which teams are the most analytical when it comes to the NBA draft?

Given the advances of the tools, I polled a set of current and former NBA front-office executives and analysts to get a sense of which teams do the best job of incorporating analytics in an impactful way in their draft process. Some of the results of that poll were expected (Houston taking the top spot), but others were surprising and are evidence of Buford's influence on the use of analytics in the NBA. Here are the top six teams, ranked by the impact of their usage of analytics in the draft process:

1. Houston Rockets: No surprise here that the Rockets were the only team mentioned by every person polled. Morey has championed the use of analytics in all areas of basketball decision-making, and his colleagues throughout the league recognize the value he has created there.

2. Boston Celtics: The Celtics traded out of last year's top spot, allowing the Sixers to draft poorly projected Markelle Fultz and the Celtics to draft analytics favorite Jayson Tatum. That move alone makes them analytics legends.

3. San Antonio Spurs: The Spurs were one of the very first teams to employ an analyst to build a draft model and were one of only three teams (the Rockets and Celtics were the others) to have representatives at the very first Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.

Oklahoma City Thunder: Sam Presti, a Buford disciple, helped the Spurs hire their first analyst and hired his own as soon as he became general manager of the then-Seattle SuperSonics. (Full disclosure: That analyst was me.) The team has utilized analytics in its draft process ever since.

5. Brooklyn Nets: Perhaps a surprise entry, but another Buford disciple (notice a trend?), general manager Sean Marks, has changed the process in Brooklyn, and folks around the NBA have noticed. Said one current NBA front-office type: "Sean is definitely doing things the right way."

6. Utah Jazz: Since joining the Jazz in 2012 following his tenure with the (wait for it) San Antonio Spurs, general manager Dennis Lindsey has built a highly competitive team through the draft, including finding values such as Rudy Gobert (27th pick) and Donovan Mitchell (13th pick), as well as undrafted players such as Joe Ingles and Royce O'Neale.

Balancing analytics with all of the other information coming at a general manager in the weeks leading up to the draft is not easy. GMs are inundated with opinions from scouts, their own observations, interviews with the athletes and "background" information from teammates, coaches, trainers, team managers and other people who have some connection to the athlete. And they must weigh the opinions and input of the team's owner.

The general manager has to distill the truth out of all of that information, and each has his own process for doing that. Including analytics in a meaningful way in that process does not always come naturally to people who have been very successful in the basketball world without using analytics. It takes time, effort and thought to effectively use analytics in decision-making.

In a league where, according to the universal agreement of those polled, only 40 percent to 60 percent of teams use analytics in an effective way in the draft, Buford owns the third spot in our "rankings" and trained the next three GMs on the list. Buford has found an effective process for incorporating this information to provide the Spurs (and all of the teams that have been hired out of his front office) a competitive advantage.

 

[No Homo]

Also heres the espn top 60 draft or bust chart

The numbers in the column go in order of either ALL-STAR STARTER ROLE PLAYER BUST

1 Marvin Bagley III Duke 16% 38% 35% 11%
2 Luka Doncic Slovenia 14% 39% 35% 12%
3 DeAndre Ayton Arizona 12% 37% 36% 15%
4 Jaren Jackson Jr Michigan State 8% 42% 40% 10%
5 Mikal Bridges Villanova 15% 28% 45% 12%
6 Mohamed Bamba Texas 7% 40% 41% 12%
7 Wendell Carter Jr Duke 10% 35% 39% 16%
8 Collin Sexton Alabama 11% 30% 38% 21%
9 Zhaire Smith Texas Tech 10% 30% 45% 16%
10 Trae Young Oklahoma 12% 26% 39% 23%
11 Michael Porter Jr Missouri 9% 30% 44% 17%
12 Kevin Knox Kentucky 7% 32% 45% 16%
13 De'Anthony Melton USC 10% 27% 38% 25%
14 Troy Brown Oregon 7% 30% 43% 21%
15 Keita Bates-Diop Ohio State 8% 23% 45% 25%
16 Mitchell Robinson NA 9% 28% 40% 23%
17 Jevon Carter West Virginia 8% 24% 37% 31%
18 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Kentucky 4% 32% 41% 24%
19 Miles Bridges Michigan State 7% 24% 50% 20%
20 Robert Williams Texas A&M 7% 26% 44% 23%
21 Jacob Evans Cincinnati 5% 21% 48% 26%
22 Jarred Vanderbilt Kentucky 6% 25% 41% 27%
23 Moritz Wagner Michigan 6% 19% 45% 31%
24 Ray Spalding Louisville 6% 22% 37% 35%
25 Goga Bitadze Georgia 8% 28% 30% 34%
26 Donte DiVincenzo Villanova 7% 21% 38% 35%
27 Dzanan Musa Bosnia 7% 23% 49% 21%
28 Omari Spellman Villanova 8% 19% 37% 37%
29 Jalen Brunson Villanova 8% 20% 35% 37%
30 Khyri Thomas Creighton 4% 20% 47% 30%

31 Kostas Antetokounmpo Dayton 4% 25% 46% 24%
32 Isaac Bonga Germany 6% 28% 38% 28%
33 Lonnie Walker IV Miami 4% 19% 47% 30%
34 Kenrich Williams TCU 4% 18% 41% 37%
35 Malik Newman Kansas 6% 20% 39% 35%
36 Kevin Hervey Texas Arlington 4% 16% 46% 34%
37 Tony Carr Penn State 6% 19% 39% 37%
38 Trevon Duval Duke 6% 21% 34% 39%
39 Kevin Huerter Maryland 4% 23% 45% 28%
40 Chandler Hutchison Boise State 3% 14% 44% 38%
41 Aaron Holiday UCLA 4% 20% 40% 36%
42 Melvin Frazier Tulane 3% 18% 45% 34%
43 Gary Trent Jr Duke 4% 17% 43% 36%
44 Brandon McCoy UNLV 3% 24% 35% 38%
45 Landry Shamet Wichita State 5% 14% 31% 50%
46 Chimezie Metu USC 3% 17% 45% 36%
47 Grayson Allen Duke 3% 18% 42% 37%
48 Alize Johnson Missouri State 2% 15% 39% 44%
49 Devonte' Graham Kansas 3% 17% 34% 47%
50 Bruce Brown Miami 3% 15% 41% 42%
51 Josh Okogie Georgia Tech 4% 17% 44% 35%
52 Anfernee Simons IMG Academy 2% 17% 42% 38%
53 Shake Milton SMU 2% 15% 38% 44%
54 Theo Pinson North Carolina 3% 14% 38% 44%
55 Jerome Robinson Boston College 2% 15% 39% 44%
56 Gary Clark Cincinnati 3% 15% 34% 48%
57 Rawle Alkins Arizona 2% 14% 42% 43%
58 Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk Kansas 2% 15% 43% 40%
59 Bonzie Colson Notre Dame 4% 15% 33% 48%
60 DJ Hogg Texas A&M 2% 12% 47% 39%
61 Hamidou Diallo Kentucky 2% 15% 44% 39%
62 Keenan Evans Texas Tech 2% 16% 36% 45%
63 Vincent Edwards Purdue 2% 11% 44% 43%
64 Devon Hall Virginia 2% 11% 39% 48%
65 Doral Moore Wake Forest 3% 20% 30% 48%
66 Justin Jackson Maryland 3% 13% 44% 40%
67 Allonzo Trier Arizona 4% 9% 37% 50%
68 George King Colorado 2% 9% 33% 57%
69 William McDowell-White Australia 5% 19% 32% 45%
70 Issuf Sanon Ukraine 2% 15% 35% 48%
71 Isaac Haas Purdue 1% 15% 34% 50%
72 Rodions Kurucs Latvia 2% 11% 50% 38%
73 Elie Okobo France 2% 11% 52% 36%
74 Brian Bowen NA 3% 12% 41% 44%
75 Jaylen Barford Arkansas 3% 7% 35% 55%
76 Arnoldas Kulboka Lithuania 2% 11% 48% 39%
77 Gabriel Galvanini Brazil 3% 11% 38% 47%
78 Yago Dos Santos Brazil 6% 11% 28% 55%
79 Matas Jogela Lithuania 2% 14% 40% 44%
80 Billy Preston United States 2% 15% 32% 52%
81 Tadas Sedekerskis Lithuania 1% 8% 42% 48%
82 Yante Maten Georgia 2% 6% 28% 64%
83 MiKyle McIntosh Oregon 1% 10% 31% 58%
84 Karim Jallow Germany 1% 8% 42% 48%
85 Tryggvi Hlinason Iceland 5% 8% 24% 62%
86 Dakota Mathias Purdue 3% 8% 26% 64%
87 Melvyn Govindy France 4% 11% 27% 58%
88 Amine Noua France 1% 4% 36% 59%
89 Aleksandar Lazic Bosnia 1% 6% 37% 55%
90 Vanja Marinkovic Serbia 0% 2% 35% 63%
91 Georgios Kalaitzakis Greece 0% 1% 6% 92%

 

[tremonthustler1]

Hami at 61?

 

[Flight]

I feel like MPJ is being leveraged by teams that ain't trying to deal with the back. These teams hyping the shyt out of this nicca.

Or his agent is leaking shyt..

 

[Lakerman0834]

De'Anthony Melton is going to go a lot lower than he should too, although understandable.

I had him as a lottery pick going into the season.

Me and @CantStop shoulda been drafting all those years instead of garbage Kupcake. Kobe woulda had 10 rings

 

[SchoolboyC]

Giannis little brother got a guarantee?

 

[Lakerman0834]

This shouldn't hurt that much. He played the last couple games of the season plus the combine and workouts with this injury. I'm sure teams already knew about it.

@JeremyWoo
From my understanding of the situation, Kevin Huerter was dealing with his hand injury at the combine and played through it during workouts in the week that followed. He was shut down after obtaining a promise from a team picking in the 20s. Draft stock not in danger.

Im pretty confident Lakers gave him the promise but I wouldnt be shocked if hes taken before the are up

 

[tremonthustler1]

@JeremyWoo
From my understanding of the situation, Kevin Huerter was dealing with his hand injury at the combine and played through it during workouts in the week that followed. He was shut down after obtaining a promise from a team picking in the 20s. Draft stock not in danger.

Im pretty confident Lakers gave him the promise but I wouldnt be shocked if hes taken before the are up

Supposedly it was Utah

 

[42 Monks]

Grayson is legit breh i can't even hate. dude is gonna be marcus smart x jeremy lin if he gets to the right situation

 

[SchoolboyC]

Grayson is legit breh i can't even hate. dude is gonna be marcus smart x jeremy lin if he gets to the right situation

Is that supposed to reassure me

 

[42 Monks]

Is that supposed to reassure me

for the intangibles and playmaking, yeah

dude might be a douchebag but every winning team needs an a$$hole to win. grayson has been slept on since his sophomore year imo and he's always played like a strong jeremy lin/old larry hughes on a team filled with emotionally frail one and dones.

i hard for that cac. he can play