The 2023 NBA Draft So Far

The 2023 NBA Draft So Far

All right boys let’s talk about how the 23 draft is going of course Chad was drafted in 22 so he’s not going to be in this video he’s great of course and to the surprise of no one we are going to start with wemi so couple things with

Wmi uh he’s been playing at Center more often which I think has helped his rebound numbers get kind of insane lately the Spurs have also phased out of the soan point guard experiment now it’s more so a brandom Kellin Johnson Devon Vel point guard by committee Trey Jones

Obviously the backup and soan might still get some opportun here and there and yes if you watch any Spurs game you were going to see times where wemi either is like cut into the basket maybe if somebody sets an off ball screen for him or he’s got a seal around the rim or

Just within the flow of things he’s got an opportunity around the rim but whoever has the ball misses him and I do think the discourse got like a little crazy there for a minute where it was like are the Spurs players intentionally not looking for wemi like look I think

It’s just a team of not natural Playmakers who are seeing passing Windows a second later than they should or they’re just just not confident to make the pass I mean Tre Jones is the best passer on the team of course and you combine that with the fact that the

Spurs offense is not exactly the beautiful game 2014 Finals Spurs we’ll put it like that and like yeah it’s going to look rough sometimes as far as wem’s like what it looks like on offense for him it’s just a mix of a a whole bunch of things right it’s some

Screening on the ball it’s some face UPS it’s some post-ups like he had in the Pelicans game recently a couple post-ups uh on Brandon Ingram that looked pretty good like he’s spinning off of Ingram in the post and able to get a lob in their two recent Laker games you know you got

Players where he like driving past Christian Wood on a catch on the wing and then that’s a dunk or he’s like closing the distance that Jackson Hayes is giving him after like a fake dho action bump into him go to a hook shot a couple times in their recent Rockets

Game going at Jabari in the post where he just looked like physically overwhelming Jabari on some plays there was of course also the dunk on shenon like all the signs are there to me that wemi can be a matchup nightmare like against I mean everybody’s smaller than

Him but you know like wings forwards versus centers you know going off the dribble versus certain guys all that it’s not perfect all the time right now of course and you know we could talk about the jumper now I mean he’s in the 20s on threes he’s in the low 30s on

Mid-range and I think some of the threes are fine some are a little more like yeah you didn’t really need to take that one whether it be pick and Pops or spot UPS or occasionally some pull-ups like he’s pulled up in transition a few times

I mean yeah he’s going to have to get better as a shooter I also feel like he will as far as the defense so when he’s guarding centers he’s in more of a drop coverage as opposed to like the help defense coming off of wings and stuff um

He’s still been playing with Zack Collins a little bit here and there but it’s a lot more of just w at five and so you he’s on shenon and the Rockets game he’s on Vu and the Bulls game they just had stuff like that and the thing that I

Noticed in the Pelicans game was just the amount of times that they just wouldn’t shoot the ball when he was in the paint at least most of the time I mean herb Jones had a really tough layup over him in the Rockets game shenon had like a couple shots over him valent

Junis had like a couple over him in the Pelicans game like it’s not like he’s stopping 100% of things around the rim because nobody is with that being said I think you still have to be very encouraged and I mean just as far as lineup data goes the wmi at center with

Malachi brandom in there instead of Zack Collins in recent games has a defensive rating of 99 which is actually an insane number obviously not a very large sample size all that stuff still you should be very encouraged with wmy at Center but if I didn’t make it obvious enough yes I

Think very highly of wemi I think he is on track to being one of the best players in the league but you know you got to get there first and as far as what the Spurs are going to look like around him over the years I don’t know

Man now let’s go to scoot who had the beginning of his season kind of Al there because of an injury but since he has been back he’s been able to show off some more stuff he’s definitely able to get downhill whether it be on pick and

Rolls whether it be some dhos I mean in the Mavericks game he’s like beating Tim Hardaway Jr at like basically half court and he just throws it down on well I think the paint was kind of open for him in uh their game against the Warriors

Not the one they just played but one from like 10 days ago now he’s got a play where like Brogden screens for him he gets sarch on a switch he like hits him with a between the legs dribble freezes him for a second gets downhill finishes with a moody kind of helping on

The wing on on him he had a similar play against like yvan in the Jazz game where he kind of freezes him on like a rejecting a screen and gets downhill so like you do have these moments but what you also have is something that I think is pretty normal for athletic point

Guards who can get downhill and everything which is sometimes he just takes on a little more than he really should with you know just a bunch of bodies in the paint and then it’s like oh you know we appreciate the spirit scoot but also that was a tough finish

Trying to get around three dudes you know as far as the passing I mean I do think his turnovers have calmed down a bit from like the first week or so of the season he could pull off some good stuff I mean he had a couple of like

Like he had one skip pass to Jabari Walker in the Suns game that was really good but he also had five turnovers in that same game where a lot of him being you he he’ll like reject a screen from like eighton on the wing get downhill and then like Eubanks was waiting for

Him at the basket so he’s trying to make like a wraparound pass to somebody and then it’s just you know sometimes you’re just getting caught up in the air I guess and again normal athletic rookie point guard things as far as the floater and the pull-up two I mean you know the

Pull-up two was a big thing for him coming into the NBA and I mean it looks really cool I’ll put it like that but yes he is shooting 29% for mid-range right now I feel like that number will go up now as far as like minutes and

Usage and everything I mean the Malcolm Brogden scoot thing is like a thing among Blazers fan circles right now because it’s we want to see Scoot and all that it’s just and to be clear I get it because I’ve been in the same spot as a fan myself it’s just like chony is

Going to play Brogden Brogden is going to handle the ball a lot he’s going to take his shots they’re probably going to trade him around the deadline or whatever and then scoot is going to be brought along a little more slowly which is probably going to be fine in the long

Run and like that that’s just this stuff goes man I think my expectations for scoot were also a little too high to start his career again he did have the ankle injury still feeling good about him though anyway let’s go to Brandon Miller now relocating from the wing to

The corner when Terry Rosier is driving which by the way I would love to see Brandon Miller with Lamela more often but okay it’s just you know lamelo’s hurt right now um things like Miller catching it on the wing pump fake two dribbles in getting to the pull-up

Coming across a couple of down screens stagger screens pin down whatever you want to say and then from there it’s take a couple dribbles in and then maybe it’s getting to the floater or you know a recent one in the Philly game where overall he had a rough shooting night

But there was one where he runs a pick and roll and then embiid actually comes up high on the screen and Miller crosses over and actually splits the sort of not a hedge but I guess like a high drop if you will he was able to finish and sat

On that one he’s at like what 38% from three on the year obviously we like that number yeah man I think while sure there’s some inconsistency between like the shot making right now which is a normal rookie thing or sometimes his handle might look a little awkward like

He’s probably going to get a little better there again normal rookie Wing thing but all the SIDS are there to me that Brandon Miller can be someone who can play off of a main ball handler like lamelo but also handle more ball handling duties himself in time which he

Gets a little bit right now but not a whole lot it’s definitely like the Terry Rosier show with lamelo out and I guess the big swing thing for Miller is probably going to be like how often he gets to the rim how many free throw attempts he gets stuff like that now

Let’s go to Hae Haw the big thing with him coming into the NBA was like oh he likes to operate within the three-point line and you you know will that work in the NBA well luckily he ended up on Miami who are totally fine with you

Being the player that you are I me he you know he had to get better from three and he’s already doing that and that’s good but I like how like Miami is allowing him to sort of spot up sometimes like on the baseline or in the dunker spot they’re allowing him to uh

Just kind of get downhill like they’re running pick and roll for him Spain pick and roll for him and like haime is just how strong he is already going at NBA Defenders is like kind of wild I mean it makes sense he was a four-year guy he’s

Like 220 lbs the recent went against the Hawks he’s got a play where Clint capella switches on to him and he just kind of doesn’t care like it’s leftand dribble spin off of him I think he drew a three-point play or at least like finishing through contact did a similar

Thing against bogdanovich where it’s like between the legs dribble into a back down which then becomes a hook shot and it’s all happening in like one second it’s just craftiness strength size he’s gotten his cutting on a bit as well the three’s been better like I

Mentioned also he knows what to do on defense I mean he is routinely playing over 30 minutes a game Miami got another one as an NBA fan I’m happy for him as a Celtics fan I’m like they are never going to go away the guy had 10 free

Throw attempts against the Bulls it’s just like my goodness now we go to Derek Lively who I mean he has missed the last few games and that’s rough and I don’t know if there’s a timetable for his return at least the last time that I Googled it if I missed something my bad

But uh and of course with Lively it was well lob threat rim protector and yeah all that is real I mean the most noticeable thing to me for him on defense is when he has these straight up contests at the rim and of course he can

Move well I mean when he’s on the court they’ve got the equivalent of about the 15th best defense when he’s off the they dip to about equal to the 20s and as far as the dunks I mean he gets off the floor really fast the second jump is

Fast and when he dunks the ball man there’s like an extra ump behind it if that makes sense and obviously he’s a lot threat for Luca and Kyrie and also on offense he is making some plays like in the open floor like if there’s two to

The ball and the ball handler like one dribble to the rim and then like a gather step finish or making the play out to the corner that stuff is really intriguing as well I think Lively has just been great and more than you could have asked for I think going into the

Season like asking a rookie to start Play 25 minutes a game for a playoff team like that’s you know that’s really impressive stuff now on Dom and Thompson who did miss a lot of time because of an injury but did recently get like a 20-minute stretch versus the Mavericks

So I just locked it on that we actually did get some on men cooking we got one like double behind the back dribble rejecting a screen into like a gather step where he fakes a pass and then makes a floater over I don’t remember who the defender was for Dallas we also

Had a couple of Pull-Up twos or a floater over ran Holmes on a deep dve as jock landale was screening for ramen thought his energy on defense was pretty good whether it’s like just guarding a Tim Hardway junor drive or helping on like a Seth Curry mid-range like he’s

Like helping from the wing a little bit it was cool we just need to see more of them I do wonder how yoka is going to manage the like amen minutes because I mean outside of that 20-minute game there have been a couple of lower minute games and I mean look clearly the

Mission for everybody involved with the Houston Rockets this year is be an actual team which they’ve accomplished so far and I’ve very much enjoyed watching them and I love their defense and everything it’s just that if that’s the energy you’re going with then for a

Guy like a man it’s like is he going to be able to get 25 minutes a game and be able to run second units and all that well the one thing he has going for him is I think like his brother he could also be a very good defensive player so

That could help it’s just you know the leeway is just much smaller on this Rockets team this year cam also had some good drives in that game showing off what he can be now we go to assar U little assar defense update for you in their last one or the recent one

Against the Nets he was on cam Thomas a lot a little bit on Mel Bridges and uh he was just chasing cam Thomas around screens and I thought it was just good stuff I mean assar screen navigation was noticeable from day one in the recent Jazz game he had a couple plays where

Like he’s switching onto um fonio or he’s like closing out on him but he’s doing it with like purpose which led to him like losing the ball and msar getting credited for a steal or whatever um you know in that same when he like played just tough defense on Kelly oin

And got him to travel you know assar just he’s just a disruptor on defense you know and I’ve already said nice things of how I think he can be a connector on offense obviously some of that depends on the jumper but attacking off the catch and all that we’ve all

Gone crazy over the rebound numbers thear is great when will the Pistons win a game I do not know now let’s get to pods for the Warriors and I’ve already said nice things about him recently talking about U I like how he relocates off the ball I like how he’s willing to

Cut and all that I like his quick decisions with the ball and everything but you know to to add on to I mean his recent one against the Blazers One play that just kind of sums up pods to me where he gets a screen from Jackson

Davis up top and he like kind of spins into the screen off of Simons and then he like crosses over to his right hand and then and then like swoops the ball across his body as he Euro steps past a wreath at the basket and he finishes and

It’s just like yep that’s pods it’s craftiness and the handle the whole thing and of course he’s a good passer next we have Keon George who just had maybe his best game of the season before he went down with an injury there an interesting thing is that Keon is

Shooting better on pull-up threes than he is on catch and shoots some of the stuff we saw in summer league for him just the tough jumpers some of that’s carried over so far so that’s cool the Jazz do run some actions for him that are cool like they’ll they’ll run like

Some Iverson Cuts like when you go from One Wing to the other sometimes there’ll be like a screen or two screens even for him when he’s doing that um I like when he throws it to like Walker Kessler or whoever and then he immediately Sprints and like gets the dho and then we’re

Flowing into like a pick and roll or whatever recent one against the Thunder he like got by chit on a switch uh he in the Blazers game had a couple times where he’s like rejecting a screen or just using the screen and then going right at DeAndre and drawing contact I

Mean Keon’s free throw numbers have been silently climbing the past few games before he went down we’ve got lobs to John Collins off Spain pick and roll we’ve got bounce passes to Walker Kessler on the roll like Keon George look he’s a rookie so like sometimes the turnovers are going to be

There and not all these tough shots he’s attempting are going to go in but uh there’s definitely something there with Keon okay now we are going to get to Anthony black on the magic who sure the stats do not jump out at you but when you watch him it’s just kind of solid

Play after solid play Man I mean their last one against the Pacers he did have a really nice block on halber and on a drive when he was helping off of I think it was nard but he had a number of plays where he was like helping off of nard

And he’s like helping on like an Obi top and drive and getting him to pass out and then pao’s closing out to nard or a play where it was a handoff action for it might have been Goa or Wendell I don’t remember but uh because Wendell’s

Back now and then it’s just a quick kick to Cole Anthony for a three uh you know black will randomly just like screen off ball for guys within the flow of the offense or it’ll be more of a set play where he’ll like screen on the ball he’s

Been able to get some like rolls to the rim off of that you know he’s he’s a good cutter the Closeouts are good the sort of just the the defensive stance or the ball pressure or just the way he keeps his head on a swivel looking around everywhere defensively like black

Just a smart player doing solid things man and uh yes there are questions about like how consistently can you get to the basket and where will the jumper get to I mean right now his three ball does have a bit of a windup and as far as like pull-up shooting like yeah that’s

Going to be something he’s going to have to build hopefully over time like I think it is fair to question where he can get to as a scorer but as far as just a player doing positive things yes definitely it feels like kulab bali’s release has been faster maybe that’s

Just me seeing things but it just looks like it and he’s like really confident with the way he’s getting into these catch and shoot threes his percentages have been good recently for the Wizards his handle I think is good enough to where he can like attack in a straight

Line drive right now I think asking him to do more than that right now would probably put a little too much on on the plate for him but like that’s fine I do think that in time he’ll be able to handle more ball handling probably also

Putting on a little more weight to where he can handle more like physical drives and all that and then of course we see how good of an athlete he is and everything like I am pretty optimistic about kabali where I feel like he can be this like Swiss army knife for the

Wizards and uh play in just a whole bunch of different lineups and be switchable and be a help Defender and the whole thing but again he’s probably got to put on some more weight uh get a little better on the handle things like that that’s I do want to talk about

Craig Porter Jr real quick he did go undrafted but we’re going to consider him for this draft anyway it’s crazy how there are just going to be random stretches where it feels like he just takes on a lot of responsibility for the Cleveland offense you know earlier in

The season it was happening it happened again recently with like a 19-point game for him like you’ll just see these pick and roll reps he gets or like bounce passes to Jared Allen or finding maxu when he’s moving off ball or flowing into pull-ups or like getting physical

And then making a turnaround jumper like for mid-range it’s just like the amount of confidence and sometimes the way Cleveland leans on him it’s just like this dude went undrafted like what happened here but it’s not every single game I don’t want to go like too crazy

But certainly Craig Porter Jor is cool uh now let’s get to Taylor Hendrick who actually has been playing for the Jazz recently although in his last few games he actually hasn’t gotten a lot of minutes I don’t know what to do with that but just for a refresher on

Hendrick the thing with him is like he’s an athlete who you hope can like be a lob threat can make threes be a help Defender for you and probably play like some Center but more so as like a big Wing type of guy and the long-term question is like is off the dribble

Stuff pretty much and uh defensively I mean in the Kings game he was playing off of Trey Lyles a lot little bit off of Davon Mitchell a little bit off of Kevin herder in the Blazers game he was playing off of like tumani Kamar some possessions on Malcolm Brogden even some

On Jabari Walker a lot he’s got his arms stretched out pretty much all the time and you know in the Kings game he did have some nice efforts he did have get like a couple of Threes made over him by like Kevin herder or um Keegan Murray as

Keegan was making basically every shot in that game I thought Hendrick’s contests were fine in a recent one against the Pistons there were a number of times where he was like ended up switched on bonovich or he’s just closing out on Alec Burks switching onto Marcus Sasser and throughout all of it I

Was like dude just looks super solid doing all this man and then as far as the three ball the Intriguing thing with it is how quick he’s getting it up also he’s been shooting like okay so far Cas Wallace uh I mean I recently said nice things about him and talking about his

Like ball pressure on Jaden Hardy and stuff he’s tough on the ball he understands defensive rotations and he still has basically not missed his jump shots this year it’s it’s wild even if the volume is not super high and also for a guy who is what is he 64 is what

He’s listed at he does fight himself around the rim a lot whether it’s like dunker spot or not being afraid to get in the mix inside or setting a screen along the Baseline I don’t know we do have to mention Tani Kamar with the Blazers I’m just going to say this man

Whenever I watch the Blazers he is extremely noticeable with his defense hustle and I don’t know where his offense is going to get to but based on how spirited he is when he’s out there I feel like he’s going to work pretty hard on it let’s see Grady dick and Jed

Howard just haven’t really played much Marcus Sasser occasionally looks like a pull-up God or a step back God he’ll have like random games of like five threes or whatever jarus Walker hasn’t played a whole lot and Jordan Hawkins he hasn’t gotten as much minutes since the

Pelicans main guys have come back I do think Jordan Hawkins is ready to just be a gunslinger as far as what the percentages would be on more attempts and more minutes I don’t know but that dude definitely is is ready to shoot some buckets and lastly Julian Strather

I just think he’s a good fit with the Nuggets I feel like you know just movement shooter it just makes sense

going over most of the guys
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