Latest NBA Mock Draft: Risacher goes No. 1, Clingan falls to No. 7 | CBS Sports

Latest NBA Mock Draft: Risacher goes No. 1, Clingan falls to No. 7 | CBS Sports

the NBA draft happening in less than one week time regarded as one of the most wideopen drafts in recent memory especially when it comes to those lottery picks Atlanta Hawks have the number one overall pick for the second time in the common draft era and as you take a look at our draft analyst Adam finklestein’s latest mock he’s got Zachary rash ahead of Alex SAR for that top overall pick and then Yukon big man Donovan clinging sliding out of the top five but still checking in at number seven I’m Tommy Tran joined by Mike odonnell to take a look at Adam finklestein’s Mock and talk about some of these draft prospects as we get you ready for the NBA draft and let’s focus on the San Antonio Spurs which last year had the top overall pick in Victor web and Yama for the fifth time in franchise history they have yet another top five pick they also have a top 10 pick thanks to the Raptors here Stefan castle and and a name that we’re learning here tjan salon let’s talk about castle first and what he might bring to the table for the Spurs franchise you know when you talk about San Antonio and the Spurs culture I think Castle fits in really well freshman Big East Rookie of the Year 6’6 big point guard so you need someone to play with wanyama that can get out in the open floor understanding space drive and kick you know kind of play off of wemi that’s cuz that’s really what you’re D I mean nobody’s going to come close to that Talent level but at at a 66 point guard he’s got got a 6’9 wingspan his ability to switch really one through four positions defensively that’s the first thing you kind of talk about where NBA Scouts and coaches look at Castle and they’re like my goodness the potential is off the charts because of how good he is defensively his outside shot needs to improve there’s no question about it but he dropped 15 against Purdue in the in the national title game and he’s just a Relentless and ferocious attacker of the rim um highly competitive guy too so fits fits really well in with that culture okay speaking of fits Adam has Dalton connect out of Tennessee going there to the Charlotte Hornets at number six so what type of fit do you think this makes with this pairing well let’s just put defense to the side because Charlotte doesn’t really play much defense and Dalton connect there’s some defense to be desired in his game as well but Dalton connect is the best scorer in this draft and when we look back in 5 years I think Dalton connect going to end up being the best player out of this draft he’s over 21 points per game and he’s a thre level scorer I’m a huge fan of the way Dalton connect is able to manipulate defenses within space in ball screen in transition he and is such an athletic finisher think of connect at worst as an athletic version of Tyler hero he was third of the nation in scoring efficiency behind Zach Edy and Jane Le and he does so many things on the court that kind of make you take take a step back and say whoo had no idea he had it in his bag you have to worry about his threes over 41% from three and he’s going to score 20 he can give you 30 he’s had multiple 40-point games as well he dropped 40 against Kentucky that was musty TV you know when we watch the NBA and we talk about how Steph Curry when he gets hot everybody’s on Twitter saying we’ve got to you got to get to Steph Curry’s game Dalton connect has that type of heat checkability easily the best score in the draft defense must improve but I don’t know if there’s a player in the NBA right now that you could say is just can be able to lock in and guard Dalton connect consistently for over 30 minutes you share a lot of the same sentiments as our colleague Matt norlander who’s interesting I was with him yesterday and he put together his big board which you can find on CBS sports.com and again not a mock draft a prospect big board he was trying to project these prospects for a like a lengthy NBA career you actually had dton connect as number one given a lot of the attributes uh that you had talked about if we get to Donovan kingan Matt also puts kingan in this pot of one to six players it could be the top overall pick and certainly clingan’s gotten a little bit of Buzz I wouldn’t call it steam Adam’s got him dropping a little bit outside of that top six to seven to Portland what do you think about kingan at the moment I I’d be shocked if kingan drops out of the top five or top three but if Portland gets kingan at seven if he falls to seven that’s that’s a huge win for the Trailblazers for a number of reasons number one you’re getting the best rim protector in the draft uh he’s got a lot of years ahead of him the reason why kingan may drop is because of those foot injuries which Tommy you and I have talked about that and that is an issue right you’re taking a gamble it’s a risk when you’re trying to invest in a player but if he drops to seven he goes to Portland you’re getting a player who is absolutely ferocious around the rim you saw what he did in the instad blade term and every time he’s on the floor offenses have a really hard time stopping him and defenses have a really hard time slowing him down that’s one of those things when you look at 7′ three intimidating shop Locker Great rebounder excellent finisher in the post he’s not a traditional Center in that when I watch kingan defensively I think of Rudy goar and his ability to alter shots offensively a lot of Roy Hibert in his game fellow colleague at CBS his passing ability really underrated love his ability to drop dimes especially in that point of attack on the top of the three-point line what is the turn level for you in terms of the injury for Nia topich it’s an ACL and Adams got him right now outside of the top 10 currently slotted 12 to OKC so uh my initial reaction is well we have no idea have I actually gotten in there and seen him on the courts but when you read everything and say well it’s a minor injury to the ACL which is just so different than ACL injuries from 10 to 15 years ago we just treat those differently and if it wasn’t for that injury topic would probably be the number one or number two pick in the draft a lot of about a month and a half two months ago there were a lot of mock drafts who had him one two or three and topich is certainly a guy that when you if you pair him with the Thunder think about putting him with jayen Williams and Chad holgren in pick and roll action he is regarded as the best pick and roll player in Europe and you add uh you add topich to this thunder lineup big Ricky Rubio Vibes with Nicola topic he is a master in pick and roll excellent at court mapping and we say Court mapping is just essentially he’s able to take a picture of the court and understand where everybody is and where everybody’s going to be that’s what enables him to be such a great passer about 14 points a game over five assists a game and the there’s two areas of I would take maybe concern outside of injury defense is good not great but it’s not bad and he only shoots barely over 30% from three so a lot of teams in Europe would go under him in pick and roll action the NBA defenses are Taylor May to push up on a guy and force you to make threes consistently I like that Thunder lineup though if the Thunder can get topic I mean throwing lobs to Homen that’s tough stuff a young Squad with uh plenty of potential still ahead as we saw this postseason for the OKC Thunder the Phoenix Suns didn’t make it to the postseason but they had a first round flame out uh to the uneducated eye it looked like they were missing a Chris Paul type of player to go with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker here but Adams got Tyler kak out of Marquette to stand out with the Eagles here what do you think a potential fit at 22 you know what I like about you Tommy is we’re going from one great passer to another I could care less about athleticism but Tyler KCK was the best passer in college basketball last season period led the country and assist almost eight assist per game very capable three-point Shu oder 38% from three tenacious Defender BigTime floor General you’re going to need really high IQ guys offensively who know how to manipulate space for Kevin Durant Devin Booker and Bradley Beal and when you watch highlights of kic I couldn’t think of a better player to pair with that Trio of scores if they all stick together next season you need guys that aren’t just good passers or flashy passers you need guys who understand how do I like to get to my spot how does Kevin Durant like to get to his spot how does Booker like to come off pin Downs in flare screens Tyler Kix from day one is going to be able to step into that role and understand their pace and space on the offensive end so much Goran dragic in Tyler kik’s game I love that fit for the Suns okay six days away from the NBA draft we’ll have you covered here on CBS Sports HQ Mike certainly appreciate it he will be with us for our on the clock draft coverage show presented by Jeep Tim Doyle also will be in the house again there’ll be two rounds Barclays and Brooklyn will take care of June 26 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern and we’ll get you ready before that

Mike O’Donnell joins CBS Sports HQ to break down Adam Finklestein’s latest NBA Mock Draft.

Full first round here: https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/2024-nba-mock-draft-frances-zaccharie-risacher-taken-by-hawks-with-top-pick-alex-sarr-falls-to-no-2/

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