I have mentioned on twitter that I think there are roughly 35-40 1st round ranked prospects in this draft. That number is higher than what I anticipated coming into this season, and I feel some of those 1st round ranked guys, returned back to school or decided to go elsewhere.
Since I have made adjustments to my board a bit, especially with Djurisic returning back to Europe. I still believe in Djurisic’s game, but sometimes other teams don’t, or at least, not yet. That’s why Sasha Vezenkov hasn’t made the jump to the league as a prior 2nd rounder, and now he’s a multi-award winning international player.
I do think Djurisic is on this kind of path, but unlike Vezenkov, does a far better job as a playmaker from the wing than turning from a soft touch, perimeter oriented PF into a SF.
That’s enough on Djurisic.
Let’s look at the players I have ranked beyond #10.
#11 - Leonard Miller - I have written about Miller before, but in short, great combination of athletic tools, size, ball-handling ability, and finishing. Like most rookies, needs that defensive refinement to stay out of foul trouble, but he learned a lot and adapted quickly in this past season.
#12 - Anthony Black - Almost a jumbo initiator that does a great job of reading the floor at both ends. I don’t think his FTr is easily translatable unless there is more refinement with advanced ball-handling; great two-way connective piece until he’s able to draw real defensive gravity.
#13 - Sidy Cissoko - Also another player that I am more optimistic on, due to his NBA physicality, the willingness to play aggressively at both ends, the improvisational dribble when the defense moves and adjusts, and the initial playmaking ability out of pick-and-roll and some advanced reads. He doesn’t back down defensively, and that goes two ways; it leads to defensive fouls, or he stands his ground with some verticality and forces a turnover or a bad shot. I just believe in the foundational skill set more than others.
#14 - Kobe Bufkin - He’s a guard that I’ve described as having wing-like movements, which ties into his ability to extend at the rim and finish with soft touch. I wish he handled screens better, and maybe that improves at the NBA level with better communication and clearer concepts of applied coverage, but if he did, I’d likely have him mid-late lottery. Just, he, like other small NBA guards (and the point guard position has had the most increase in average height and weight) will likely be targeted in the regular season and the playoffs.
#15 - Brandin Podziemski - Simply put, I think he’s a more polished offensive prospect than #11-#14 here. He has a quick jumpshot, one that he makes accurately against contests, he’s comfortable shooting at three levels of the floor, and I think he has the best touch of anyone in the draft. He’s engaged on offense, on-or-off the ball.
Players that hit pull up 3s in transition and have floater range to 15’ have a strong foundation for projecting really high end level shooting. Fast? No. Big? Not really. Skilled? Yes. Crafty? Yes. Can see the floor? Yes. Physical? Yes. Name another guard that rebounds like a center in this draft. He chased down and competed for 8.8 rebounds per game with 13.7% rebounding percentage. That rebounding percentage is in line with his freshman year at Illinois as a non-starter and he still had a 12% total rebounding percentage.
His Hoop Math shooting profile is 60/43/44/77. Like I said, 3 level shooting.
#16 - Dereck Lively II - In theory, the perfect center next to Anthony Davis. He flashed his 3-point shooting abilities in high school even up to Pro Day. He’s a drop coverage center that’s more than happy to just defend, and doesn’t demand touches offensively, which is rare at the NBA level. The defensive motor and awareness is there. If he brings 3-point shooting accuracy at five NBA corners to the next level, you’re looking at the relative idea of Myles Turner. I just wish he was more physical setting screens and wasn’t as foul prone.
#17 - Trayce Jackson-Davis - I talked myself into his skillset when I felt his archetype is closely related to Domantas Sabonis. Sabonis fell in his draft for similar reasons; too small to play center at the NBA level, doesn’t have the shooting range, not an explosive athlete. Yet, he’s an incredibly effective connector at the NBA level and a hub in the Sacramento Kings offense. TJD, adds a stronger post base, some lob-threat ability, and that similar connective playmaking from the high post area. At 17, if you’re ending up with a Sabonis archetype, it’s a steal.
#18 Kris Murray - In the end, we just want a wing that can hold his own defensively, shoot 3s, and attack closeouts. Kris can do all of those things. I think he’s a better rim protector than a perimeter defender, but a 4/3 that’s switchable at the position and can play both ends of the floor is always helpful.
#19 - Max Lewis - He has the movement skills, coordination, and a foundational triple threat ability that’s easy to expand on. Like Sissoko, he’s flashed improvisational ball-handling depending on how he’s being defended, and that’s tough to teach for players in wing-like size. Ultimately, the optimistic projection of him is being a three-level player, incredible isolation scorer, and also a rim threat.
#20 - Jett Howard - He fell on my board after rethinking how important defense is at the NBA level, and how tough it is just to get solid wing defenders. I still think optimistically of his offensive ability; movement shooter with real touch out to extended NBA ranges, ball-handling ability to create separation, and some playmaking chops to go along with a pull-up jumper. That’s basically hitting on every important offensive perimeter skill outside of rim pressure.
#21 - Jalen Hood-Schefino - Two way shooting guard learning the craft of playing point guard. Great mid-range ability to expand on, especially off of screens. Point of attack defense, even through screens.
#22 - Brice Sensabaugh - Lethal isolation scorer and three-level scorer, wish I could trust him defensively, or see a more expanded role as a playmaker. It’s tougher for me to see isolation scorers that don’t create for teammates as often. There are just going to be other higher usage players that can generate offense trying to include teammates as a whole.
#23 - Jordan Hawkins - Legit point of attack defender, movement shooter, and spot up shooter. Just wish he was more wing-sized. I don’t think he’ll be able to get the spacing for his footwork on movement shots like he did at UConn. He got great screens there, but the same just doesn’t happen at the NBA level. The screens aren’t always consistently great, and defenders are just bigger and faster, so it’s the wing-movement shooters that get more value across the league.
#24 - Keyonte George - Like Sensabaugh, incredible isolation scorer and more of a rim pressure player that’s capable of playmaking. I’m not a fan of the shot selection, even if he does make incredibly contested shots. There’s a difference between taking shots more within the offense like Podziemski and having it contested, vs. trying to create offense, not getting separation, and still taking highly contested shots. Killer go-to scorer.
#25 - Nick Smith Jr. - Three level scorer with real touch, wish he was a better athlete to get more rim pressure, or more physical with shoulder bumps on drive attacks to get better separation. Great catch-and-shoot player, can absolutely attack closeouts into floater range. Killer pull up jumpshot.
#26 - Dariq Whitehead - Two way wing with comfortable, contested 3-point ability. If injuries weren’t an issue, I’d have him in the mid 1st round.
#27 - Olivier Maxence-Prosper - High motor, two-way 4/3. Projects as a great role player because of his defensive ability along the perimeter and the paint in isolation situations, as well as developing 3-point range and attacking closeouts.
#28 - Colby Jones - Physical, bigger shooting guard with 3-point range and some ability to hit tough shots in the paint. Two-way role player who will hold his own defensively; knows his role. He gets a lot of Josh Hart comparisons because of this, except Hart had really tremendous shooting percentages and great rebounding ability.
#29 - Julian Strawther - Yes, he was the guy I wanted the Lakers to get last year. Like Hawkins, he’s a movement shooter with his feet under him, except he’s wing-sized. Like Podziemski, great touch, especially with his floater game. I felt he was pretty much the same player that he was last year, and just got more usage leading to great scoring games.
#30 - Ricky Council IV - He’s the exact duplicate of all the prior archetypes at shooting guard that prior NBA drafts would have placed him in the lottery. He’s a really explosive athlete, flashed some isolation shot creation, and has the kind of free throw rate that I think is translatable to the NBA level because it’s been consistent for his three year stint in college, and is mostly due to defenses being on their heels and being overwhelmed athletically once he’s attacking the rim.
This post is more of a summary of guys that I have written about before, but with a few more added names to fill in the gaps. The guys that I did make posts about, whether it was the 47th pick guys to look at or other players to watch from #11 and later, are guys I generally consider 1st round ranked players. I just also wanted to include other players that I haven’t mentioned, and add some description as to why I didn’t have a preference for them at the Lakers’ picks.
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