ITT we post terrible draft comparisons and assessments

[42 Monks]

Celebrate some classic hot takes.

I'll start.

NBA Comparison: John Wall
Strengths: Rare combination of size, speed, agility and athleticism to go with the vision and mentality of a point guard … Has great intangibles with natural leadership and communication skills ... Also an extremely competitive kid who rises in big situations and has a killer instinct ... Very quick first step and adept ball skills that really help him when attacking the basket … Showed in China he was adept at absorbing contact and still finishing the play ... Has added strength and was not overwhelmed by the pro game physically … Really difficult cover in transition, great at pushing the ball on the break with explosive ability to finish while also being an adept passer on the run ... While he possesses great quickness at 6’5, he's also quite good at using change of speed and direction … Good passer, has run the point throughout his life and is a creative passer who is good at finding his teammates in scoring position … Very good at creating for himself, getting to spots where he can get good looks at the basket … Understands the pick-and-roll quite well, should thrive as he learns to run it against NBA competition … Really good with the in-out dribble, particularly with his strong right hand … Has shown real ability to finish at the basket with either hand … With his size and strength, can post-up, and punish smaller guards … Great feel for the game ... Shooting mechanics and balance seem to be improving since his time in the pros … Length and lateral quickness could make him a strong defender in time, definitely seems willing to put in work as a defender … Very strong rebounder for a guard, good nose for the ball and covers a lot of ground … While he does at times force the issue, China showed that he is leaning more on his strengths and has a greater knowledge of what he does best … Averaged 31.5 mpg and seems to be a candidate to get well accustomed to NBA level conditioning … At only 19-years of age, already has a great knowledge of the game, seems to be quite willing to learn and has ability to fill out his solid physique even more so … Showed a level of perseverance by staying in China to recuperate from his ankle injury to play in Guangdong’s last two games, when some just believed he would head home and prepare for the draft … Competitor, consistently gives a strong effort and shows a great deal of confidence in his ability ...

peep breh at the :35 mark doing the " you crossed me handles so elite "





“He's got the athleticism and the size to be a Derrick Rose, John Wall type of guy. His shot needs a little bit of work. He only shot 30 percent from 3-point range in the Chinese Basketball Association. But the way that he came back from an ankle injury late in the season — he starred in the playoffs, played alongside Will Bynum, had pros raving about him from his team. You have to like some of elements that he brings, one of the top five prospects in this draft for sure." — CSN's Scott Phillips on Mudiay

please contribute.

 

[FunkDoc1112]

Deshawn "Michael Jordan" Stephenson

 

[Flex Grossman]

I remember when Anthony Bennett was baby Karl Malone

 

[Tate]

Is Luka Doncic The Best Prospect Ever?

Doncic vs LeBron

LeBron is the gold standard for prospects in the lottery era, and it is sacrilegious to suggest that any young player may be on his level. At this point you may be thinking that his skill cannot possibly be that far ahead of LeBron, because LeBron is amazing at everything which is why he is the best.

But is LeBron really THAT skilled? He is a career 34% 3P 74% FT. His shooting is average, and there is no evidence that his passing touch is special either. He nevertheless makes a big impact with his passing because he has great vision as well as feel for when to attack vs. dish.

LeBron’s transcendent physical profile paired with great vision and IQ overpowered him as a player, and just having an decent skill level was enough to make him arguably the greatest player ever.

To compare him to Doncic, let’s consider the following:

1. Is LeBron’s physical profile more transcendent than Doncic’s skill level?
2. Is LeBron’s vision and IQ for an elite athlete rarer than Doncic’s height for a point god?
3. Is LeBron’s skill level a stronger “weakness” than Doncic’s athleticism?

For #3 I would say no because LeBron’s shooting splits prove that his skill level is not special, and Doncic is already a decent athlete at age 17. For #2, it is hard to measure vision and basketball IQ but Doncic is approximately Magic Johnson’s height which is as tall as point gods have been made thus far. Again, no seems to be a reasonable response.

The challenging question is #1, mostly because it is difficult to isolate Doncic’s skill level from his statistics which are still a relatively small sample. And if his performance declines this season and then he does not improve at age 18, his skill level will seem less transcendent. But based on what he does so far, it is not clear that any prospect has a much better skill level than Doncic.

Granted, the top point guards such as Curry and Chris Paul are more skilled than Doncic, but that’s about as relevant as Shaq or Dwight Howard having physical tools superior to LeBron. Because Doncic’s physical profile is so far ahead of Curry and CP3 and LeBron’s skill level is so far ahead of Shaq and Dwight, it doesn’t really detract from the transcendent quality of either player involved.

Ultimately the answer to question #1 is inconclusive. And with my earlier argument that transcendent athleticism does not yield greater upside than transcendent skill, there is no clear reason to rate LeBron as the superior prospect. This is especially true without the hindsight bias of LeBron’s greatness, as he did not have any pre-draft statistical sample validating his greatness like Doncic does.

Of course this is all intuitive analysis from afar. I could be wrong, and perhaps if they were compared side by side during the draft process LeBron would clearly outshine Doncic. But it is extremely easy to argue that LeBron waffle crushes most #1 picks– you cannot assemble any compelling logical argument that Markelle Fultz, Ben Simmons, or Andrew Wiggins are superior talents.

I am not arguing that Doncic is necessarily superior, rather that he appears to be in the ballpark of LeBron’s greatness. I have no idea which one actually should be rated higher. But how many other prospects can you say that for? That is the best possible assessment for a prospect, as no teenager will ever be conclusively better than teenage LeBron