Atlanta Hawks NBA Draft talk W/ David Lee

Atlanta Hawks NBA Draft talk W/ David Lee

welcome in Hawks fans where Bryce is back at it again for another Hawks episode as we continue to go through this Atlanta Hawks off season the draft is inching more closer and there’s some rumors starting to come out about the Atlanta Hawks haven’t really heard that much leading up to it but had to bring on a guy who’s been working really hard on evaluating prospects and giving his thoughts on some of the top uh prospects for Hawks this year david Lee you may know him as D Leaf three on Twitter uh X or you know whatever and also does some great work on his YouTube channel as well uh Atlanta Hawks film ATL Hawks Film u so you know David how are you doing today man i’m good i’m good man looking forward to talking through the draft with you ah yeah man it’s it’s definitely a time where I think if you really are a real basketball junkie you really enjoy this oh for sure um and you know obviously we we we last talked at the trade deadline so it’s more about oh moves around the league and now we’re like all right now we’re what’s happening with the draft so obviously this week’s kind of been a little active for the Hawks um we’ll start with the front office moves u they made moves earlier this week we know they were searching for a president of basketball operations they ended up hiring a senior VP of basketball operations and uh I forgot the second title but I know it has to do with analytics i think it was like director of analytics i could be wrong about that uh and you know Bryson Graham was the guy from the New Orleans Pelicans that they hired he’s a guy who has been with the Pelicans since 2010 grew up through the system became their GM for a year even though David Griffin was the main decision maker and now Hawks pride him away what did you think about those moves when you saw them and we acquired those guys yeah my immediate reaction was I’ve always loved what the Pelicans have done in the draft um outside of the draft too they ended up getting Naji Marshall who was undrafted i by the way I can’t remember if he’s from Georgia but when the Pelicans played us in the 24 season and I was sitting in the media section I kept hearing like people like really cheer hard for him so I don’t know maybe he just has family in Georgia but slight tangent but yeah I think they’ve done a great job with the draft uh I love the Trey Murphy pick herb Jones use Missy has worked out good for them and then the guys I mentioned before Naji Marshall and guys like that so um I think we have somewhat of an idea of what his philosophy is as somewhat of like a lead draft decision maker and he’s taken guys with plus length versatility athletic guys he’s taken a lot of wings over the years and um he’s also been reported as a guy who made a lot of those decisions and that’s been like for Pelicans beat reporters and people who are really familiar with the team and so knowing that he has that expertise and that track record definitely makes me feel comfortable about that that particular move and then Den Woody um he’s also like a very reputable front office exec um I think Brad said it best he was like “No one thinks about the guys behind the number one but in our case if so is going to be the number one having all these guys with experience I think is only going to be a positive.” And as long as they’re I think also like with the the verbiage of Sham’s report where he’s like they’re adding to like sort of like people who are they’re going to be working under him it it kind of also makes me feel good about like the overall vision of this team remaining consistent from where it’s been over the last couple years too and it’s not like throwing a massive change into the way they evaluate things now I think also like you have to balance experience and then also like what Clay or Sally thinks is best for the team too so I don’t know i think it’s going to be interesting like it’s kind of like we have no idea where they’re going to go in the draft even if we do have some preconceived notions based on you know Graham’s history or Denwitty’s history or or some of the things the Hawks have done the last couple years so I kind I think also kind of gives them an advantage too um there’s a lot of different this this board is really interesting like I I’ve said a couple times but they’d have to try hard to make me upset honestly with this draft because there’s so many guys I like at 13 so many guys I like at 22 so yeah it’s going to be great yeah definitely man and uh Denwy is the senior VP of strategy and analytics so I just want to correct that but yeah I mean you know that’s the thing about this draft that I think has been so exciting is it feels like there’s so many good prospects at the selections that they are at so it’s it’s one of those things where it’s like hey they go in these directions i get it i understand it yeah and you know especially with CET now that he seems to be the main decision maker going into this but having a team around him to help make those decisions i think that that’s going to be interesting to see what that vision looks like because they’ve been still evaluating scouting before these hires i’m sure Quinn has been involved in these decisions because he was involved in the Zachary pick last year so it’s interesting to kind of see now how the board if the board even changes once they bring these guys in get some maybe intel that Pryson had with the Pelicans even did what he had with the Sixers and just kind of see how that changes things um I I think the big thing that’s came out also over the last 24 48 hours is that Hawks seemingly have some noise that they may want to trade up they may want to and they said it looks like maybe a big which I know has been a big topic discussion a lot of people you’re either with a Kong Woo and think hey let him be the starter this year or you’re like we got to get size and they don’t think he can be the guy uh which we’ve heard you know a center being mentioned for that uh for the Hawks if they do decide to trade up so my question to you is if they do trade up who would you like them to go after if it was you and you were like “Okay let’s target this guy.” And like I guess who do you think is is like realistic yeah I think and it’s tough because I think you have these you have flag at number one obviously and then depending on your sort of opinion you may have Dylan Harper and I think after the first two or three tier or first two two or I’d say the first four players on my board there’s like a much larger tier where depending on the Hawks needs in particular I think the guy to trade up for who makes more sense for the Hawks than any other team in the lottery is common Malawatch and I I think that’s it’s very apparent you know he’s very clear value proposition he’s a rolling cut and cut big massive guy he’s has a 96 standing reach um he’s 7 foot2 in shoes and and he was elite as a roller at Duke i I just pulled his numbers but he was at 1.76 points per possession as a pick and roll man which is obviously elite efficiency the average half court play in the NBA is 96 so you have to extrapolate that across college you know competition levels all that and so it’s not going to translate immediately of course he’s also younger than every other big he’ll see in the league but that’s just an idea of how how efficient he was at the like the most fundamental play type for the guy you want next to Trey Young like you couldn’t ask for more of a more polished play finisher but also he isn’t without his faults too like there’s he’s new to basketball um his hands are a little bit shaky he’s not as big as he is he’s not super uh gifted as a drop coverage defender like you may expect although he takes up a lot of size he’s actually really good on the perimeter and there’s um one of my favorite Twitter accounts his his ad is Polarfall he’s he’s a biome he’s in biomechanics so that’s what his PhD is in so I I’ll ask him questions about certain prospects and their movement and he says he thinks that that’s Malawatch is like very light on his feet which makes it harder for him to finish through contact and um sort of like defend with verticality but it makes him really good on the perimeter because he has like this intrinsic ability to keep his feet moving but also like keep them off the ground so it’s it kind of like it may kind of work like think or make you think differently because he’s this big but he’s not really like a drop coverage defender which I don’t think is a problem i think it’s more so about how much more do they value him relative to the rest of the bigs in the class relative to everyone else in the class and I think that’s the point where it goes to if you’re going to have to move up and I think the reports were saying that Toronto was looking at him i’ve seen Washington linked to him i’ve seen New Orleans i’ve seen Brooklyn so it’s like you probably have to move up to six to eight hawks are at 13 and 22 i don’t think 13 and 22 gets you up to 6 through8 you’d probably have to throw in either a future first or Kobe Buffkin and you probably have to throw some salary in there too and so it’s it’s it’s tougher there because it’s like I don’t want to give up future draft capital i think the fact that they have two swings at the at the uh the ball here is really important too in this particular type of draft class and so I would only do it if you could somehow get off a contract that you feel may not be as valuable long term like if it’s Terrence man and if you could minimize the amount of future draft capital you have to give up but I think he makes perfect sense for Atlanta i think he’s Now there are other guys I would trade up for but it it would just mean you’d have to get a lot higher and then you have to talk about the opportunity cost so like VJ Edgecom is someone I really like but how duplicative is he with Tyson Daniels or then you know the other guys in that range like Coniple is someone that’s been floated around i think he makes a lot of sense for the Hawks too but it’s like how much are you willing to give up for him and I think the teams that are picking like Philly the issue is like Philly uh San Antonio those guys are trying to win right now so like they would probably take f they wouldn’t take future draft capital to move up they would want players who can contribute right now and if you look at the Hawks roster I mean the guys who are untouchable we’re not really we’re not going to move off of like a Zachary or Jaylen Johnson or Dyson Daniels or Trey Young to move up and trade a rookie like Coniple or Ace Bailey or VJ Edgecom m and I think that’s what makes it tough because it’s like the teams that are that you would want to trade up for are looking for immediately contributing pieces and the Hawks in my opinion aren’t as willing to move off of those guys to try and get younger when they probably feel good about their young core right now and then all the other like contract pieces we have the rotational players we have probably aren’t as interesting the teams outside of Enka and you know maybe I don’t think George Ning has immense value either so I think that’s why like I think it comes down to mile watch and then it’s more so about okay where do you think these other bigs can land because at 13 I mean you could have your pick from Thomas Sorber Colin Murray Boils Baron Jre could be there should probably be there Maxine Row would be there likely so it’s like you you’re gonna have a lot of options and it’s like is it worth taking those options off the board I don’t know how do you feel about it you know I I agree with just you know you don’t want a player that’s not necessarily or just maybe a replicable player you have I think this draft class I remember last year even after last year’s draft class people said the draft class was going to be one of the better draft classes we’ve had in a while because there was supposed to be a lot of talent now obviously I think we’re going through the era of NIL and how that changes things and guys going back to school etc etc but I I think that if the Hawks want to trade up I think it’s it’s about value i think that’s what it’s always about is just value what do you have to give up to acquire because it’s again it’s not like you can’t get a good player at 13 it’s not like you can’t maybe you have a board for a reason like it’s not like your number one guy your number three guy it’s like I really hope we don’t have to draft our number three guy unless you just feel like he is like not at all a 13th overall worthy pick so I think it just kind of depends on what the Hawks feel like is worth it for them specifically because um I I think the big thing especially if it’s a big again some people are debating if you trade up for a center is does this mean a Congoo is going to the bench some people have asked do you trade a Congu for the pick i mean which I would feel like okay so you’re right back where you started where you still need a center yeah and you have a guy like at least a Congu at least we both know hey Kongu could go give you 30 and 10 on a game or 20 and 10 like we we seen it i have no idea if this guy who we draft’s going to we we have hope we have potential but we don’t know he may not be as effective in his first year in the league so I think these are all things that they have to take into consideration but I don’t blame them for looking up because they may feel like hey that is one of our biggest needs to get some size and we have a guy that we think would be really good and obviously you know the Duke connection you know everything like that so I mean he’s he’s basically Corv’s son and I think that’s that’s a factor for sure i mean I when I went to watch the Georgia Tech game when Duke came to play us I mean Landry and Kyle were there which they’re they’re doing their due diligence as they should on multiple prospects for that Duke team but I think they’ve had a lot of visibility on Malawatch uh throughout his development and it’s it’s beyond just his years at Duke too like if you watched him just at Duke you might be like “This guy’s worth trading up for.” like he’s very onedimensional but if you have to watch the stuff from when he played for South Sudan in the Olympics and he was going against NBA players and was playing consequential minutes and looked like he belonged or some of the stuff even before that too um and I think that’s where he becomes really interesting but I think the other thing is like at his like there’s only so many guys in this draft who are his size and even then like there’s no big we could trade up for or even like generally I feel like there’s there’s really man I’m I’m just thinking about all the options but like there’s no big we’re going to trade for and he’s going to be ready to start day one like playing big man in the NBA is one of the hardest things to translate to positionally like outside of guards I’d say the next level would be bigs and then I think wings have the easiest path to to to sort of transition to the NBA because it’s much more simplified role when you’re a big man especially in his role he’s going to be the crux of the defense he’s going to have to be organizing people defensively he’s going to have to figure out his positioning and drop coverage he’s going to have to use his his arms and his hands effectively to deny passing lanes like especially the Hawks play a very like at the level screening type of defense like they they’re their big men are very active and the more movement you’re asking from a big like the harder it’s going to be for him to translate because he has to figure out his positioning and and communicate with guys so I think with that in mind I’m not I don’t think they’re ever they should never be looking up to say okay we’re taking this guy to be the starter day one it’s more so like we know when Ja is on a great contract four years 64 million we could also we could stomach that as a backup big if whoever we take does surpass him but go ahead and take someone who you think has the ability to push him and like I said I feel like there’s a plethora of options like I’d even list some of the other guys like in addition to the ones I said earlier but like Ryan Cochr Brener or um Hansen Yang like there’s a lot of guys that I think could make sense for the Hawks at the five position and also I will say like I understand that we haven’t had a sevenfooter in a long time but there’s more to size than just height and there’s guys in this draft who aren’t as tall as Malawash but are just as impactful defensively if not more so because of their length or their mobility or their versatility so I get it but it’s it’s not the end all be all it’s not it’s not the end all like the end of the conversation or like the most important thing in general like size is more than height is pretty much how I’ve been looking at it yeah and then also think about Mother Watch too is like hey he’s still young like he’s still growing it’s like it’s like it’s the same thing with a lot of these guys who are like 19 one year like these guys still growing it’s not like they are NBA body ready right now bang you know what I’m saying not everybody has that unless they maybe third year fourth year guy coming out a little bit more developed so I think those are things you also have to take into account too but if that is a move they want to take it sounds like that’s something that they want to aggressively uh address and then they think also will fit within the system because that’s always the biggest thing just make sure it fits within within what you want to do as a team yeah yeah and so let’s say they do let’s say they don’t trade let’s say they stay at 13 and they’re just going to stay put give me give me if if they do this because some people may not be happy if there was a guard at 13 that you could see the Hawks potentially being interested in taking who would you see that be yeah i mean it’s and I think part of it the way I look at the guards in this class is like it’s hard for me to separate how I feel about what the Hawks need so but also I do think in general the guards are weaker this year than the bigs and the wings and it’s also just like the league is transitioning a little bit in terms of like if you’re not extremely versatile as a guard or an alltime offensive talent it’s really hard for you to bring the same impact as a wing or big and in this particular class I think that you know of course Dylan Harper’s at the top of the pyramid for guards below him uh I think Jeremiah Fears is there i think it’s tougher for the Hawks to take someone like him because of his size but also just like he’s very he we we didn’t see him in a low usage role by any means like he wasn’t expected to come out in this class but he came in and took over the offense because that team really needed the offensive help and so we haven’t seen him in a complimentary role so I I feel like they would hesitate to take him just because you don’t know what it looks like when he’s not on the ball um I think it’d be similar to what they did with Kobe Buffkin so Kobe Buffkin was someone who was able to scale up on ball in his time in Michigan but was also a very good complimentary player playing off the ball off the catch attacking closeout so they had Jayce Richardson in for a workout um ago i think that’s the last couple days yeah I think they would definitely take a look at him i think Walter Clayton Jr not at 13 but maybe later in the draft at 22 they could take a look at him i think taking a guard at 13 would be a bad approach just because from what I’ve heard from like different like people who have real sources in the draft community like I mean Sam Vini was I just listened to one of his podcasts and he was saying it’s much more likely that guards are dropping to 22 than bigs or wings and like you could have at 22 you could take Nolan Trayori who was a consensus top five player in the class before the season started he had a rough up and down season he’s 6’4 um his frame is really small but like he at least has the size with the height you could take a look at Casper i don’t think he’ll fall to 22 but that’s something you could look at 13 um personally I would not like them to take Jerger Demon but he’s at least 68 um his problem is that like he’s very he lacks aggression struggled a lot against pressure and was not a consistent shooter so it’s like what do you do besides make flashy passes and to me he’s just shy Josh Giddy at this point and that’s not someone that I think could be an NBA player but I think they will look at they’ll probably they’ll definitely take a look at Jace they’ll take a look at Jerger I’d assume maybe Casper um but I I think taking a guard at 13 is is a bad use of assets because I think you’re going to get a similar crop of guard availability at 22 so go ahead and get your bigger wing at 13 um I would prefer they go bigger wing at 13 and 22 to be honest okay okay no that’s fair that’s fair uh glad we got our uh Giddler uh reference in there um but but yeah I mean no I I get that for sure like guard is like even though people like to talk especially talk about the backup point guard position as a big issue for the Hawks it’s one of those things where I think I think a lot of people are in the consensus as well a guard isn’t that isn’t a place that they really are like hey I’m cool with us not touching that in the draft if that’s not what we want to do and some of the me reasons you just mentioned are some of the reasons why um but so going into the wings then if there what in terms of wings that you think may be be available at 13 who would you like the Hawks to take if everything falls the way yes so my favorite wing throughout this has been Carter Bryant played at Arizona again not a guy who’s expected to come out in this class but stepped up when they had some injuries and and sort of played his way into NBA draft contention um he’s been rising a lot and so it’s I think Houston could look at him i think Toronto but if he gets past them then you could look maybe the Hawks could get him at 13 um I think another guy is Noah Sangu his team they just won the semi-final game today which means he won’t be in any he won’t be able to come work out for any NBA team before the draft and so that could it could negatively affect impact his draft stock because they don’t they may not be able to verify measurements or get to see him in their setting and so these teams that kind of really need a win to hit I could see them maybe passing on him and I think that’s someone who’s like super moldable he’s the second youngest player in the class elite transition athlete you can’t have enough 610 guys i’d give him a look too um the other guys wing-wise I look at Nick Clifford he’s older he played five years of college basketball but I will say that this is a different era i mean you got the co eligibility nil is incentivizing guys to return and it’s it’s not a bad thing to have a really polished player and outside of like guys like Cooper Flag Clifford was one of the few wings in the country who did everything rebounded exceptionally well a good tertiary playmaker his ISO numbers were fantastic one of the best for players in this class above 66 um he brings a lot of value like he kind of reminds me of a a more shifty Josh Hart and the issue with him though is like his shooting has been very sporadic so as a as a as a sophomore or junior was it was really bad junior year was really up and down so he has hot and cold stretches frequently even this season he also was hot and cold so it’s like if his shooting isn’t consistent I at least feel like he could bring that that defense and that rebounding value so he’s someone I look at and then probably the next name at 13 would be Cedric Coward and he’s also a little bit of an unknown just because he only played six games this season which is one of his first like times that he’s played against like real D1 level comp he he transferred from he was he was at D3 early on and then ended up going to a low major and then played at a mid- major this season but over the course of his career he shot the ball exceptionally well like he’s at like a over 60 effective field goal percentage over 400 plus shot attempts he’s a legitimate three-point shooter ridiculous wingspan um he’s gotten some JDub comps i don’t think he’s as shifty as JDub i don’t think he has guard skills like JDub but I do think he has like immense wingspan and a lot of utility as a as a wing so he’s like the type of guy that could really destroy closeouts or just shoot over people because he has such a ridiculous frame so those are the guys I look at i My guy has been Carter Bryant wing-wise i believe in him in terms of like the defense is really special and then it’s like the offense is a lot more rough but um I think he he would need time and I think like again I don’t think the Hawks should be in a particular rush but I do know they they likely want to win so it’s like he at least brings the defense and the rebounding early on and it’s like if you just have that skill to bank on and bring impact early then we can bring you along slower on the offensive end and so yeah he he’d be my guy for sure at 13 hey and especially with the development program they have in Atlanta and how they help people progress even just in a year i think that’s something that when you look at a prospect like that you can say we can bank on hey we think we can help him get up to snuff on certain parts of his game obviously you’re not going to do everything during the season but maybe we can make him a little bit better confident as a as a driver i know it’s funny um they worked with that on with Garrison this past year they had talked about Garrison obviously we know him as a shooter but they had worked with him on like hey attacking the rim if they’re taking the three-point shot away just to give him something else so it’s not just it’s shooter bus so you know that’s something I think you know Carter Bryant’s been a very popular name and so that is that is a pick that if they went in that direction I would I would also be happy with as well so now let’s get to the bigs if that 13 you know I feel like 13 for bigs is a weird spot because I feel like a lot of people feel like it’s either the undersized big or you know could you potentially be overdrafting a big i don’t feel like there’s a lot of people feel like oh this is a perfect unless a guy maybe falls a couple of spots lower than expected maybe so who do who do you like at 13 yeah I think that bigs wise and this is really like I I consider him like my number one for the Hawks i’m taking Colin Murray Boles over anyone um outside of Malo watch falling the 13 then I’d have to think about it otherwise like I’m taking him immediately he was he was so much fun to watch at South Carolina i like to tell people this is like Julius Randall if he cared about defense and like was really good at it and Colinary Boys is a legitimately like awesome defensive prospect and his biggest sort of selling point is defense and then you look at the offense and it’s like wait this guy’s yes he’s 67 he also has a 7-1 wingspan and he’s super strong and he had great ISO numbers and he played on an awful South Carolina team and he still was like top six in BPM which is influenced by like your onc court net rating so he was dragging a awful team in a really tough SEC and was so productive and he improved from his first year like exponentially like in terms of creative for himself but in that first year in South Carolina we saw him in a more reduced role which again is very important for the Hawks because you can’t take guys who have only been in one context like the Hawks at this point they need a they need to take a someone who at least ideally you can try and get someone who has some sort of creation ability or at least upside to create for themselves just because it’s really tough to build a roster and you’re going to keep asking this to Trey Young after year after year and yeah the you know the goal is or the hope is that Dyson grows and Jaylen grows and Zach grows but you need to take more bets at that more bites at the at the pie and so I think he makes a lot of sense because he’s so impactful defensively i think he can guard one through five um he can be a really dominant small ball five for them because he’s a great decision maker and he’s so strong uh so yeah he’s a guy take hands down no question asked i don’t care about position if he’s on the board I’m taking him the next big would be Thomas Sorber uh he played similar to Colin Murray Boles played on a Georgetown team that wasn’t great but when he was on the floor they had the best rim uh defensive field goal percentage in the country he averaged a ridiculous amount of blocks per 100 possessions um his defensive impact was among the best in the country he has a 76 wingspan he is 69 and I understand why again people are a little bit fixated on the height which makes sense because we’ve seen from time to time how Jacob’s height can impact his effectiveness then I would just tell people to hey look at his numbers with Jaylen next to Onika and if the idea is or even look at ona numbers with Mohamd Gay next to him so what what we’ve learned is because with when Mo Gay was next to him we’re talking about like a 110 defensive rating which is in the top half of the league jane Johnson next to him we’re looking at 111 112 which again is like a top 10ish top 12ish defense in the league so when he has the right pieces next to him at power forward you can live with a 69 center um and if Mo continues developing as that that guy who can rim protect on the weak side we’re fine and I think that Sorber in particular is already more gifted as a rim protector than Ona and he’s also like he just has a a level of physicality and verticality in terms of his reach that isn’t as accessible on Jaca his issue he had he had a toe injury that ended his season and he doesn’t have a history of foot injuries but it’s always a point of concern with big so we’ve seen how that sort of impacted on Ja he’s also not going to be able to work out for any team this season or this this uh leading up to the draft and he also won’t be able to play summer league so I don’t think he’ll be back until September and that’s a long time that’s a lot of development to miss as a big and again that’s one of the more consequential period or one of the more consequential positions that you need that developmental time for so something to consider with him but I definitely like him a lot and offensively too he’s he’s really intriguing um he has a smooth shot though didn’t really go in a lot and um he but he has a lot of skill and touch on the basket and then the other guy man honestly at that point like Maxine Reno would be in play for me so he played at Stanford averaged 20 and 10 uh led the led the nation in double doubles in terms of like high major um the only guy who averaged more was Jax Lindberg at UAB but he was right behind him he made the most three-pointers by a sevenfooter in D1 history extremely skilled um was took guys off the dribble again playing for a team and this you’ll notice a theme like with these bigs these are all guys who played on batter or not batter but like worse teams than than some of these other prospects and they had to carry so much of a creation load that’s like you can envision them translating smoothly with Trey Young facilitating a lot of their offense Jaylen facilitating a lot of their offense in a more reduced role but they still have that ability to scale up when necessary and that’s what I think is really important and the last guy I’d probably look at is Hansen Yang and the I honestly like I the only reason I say last guy is cuz like I really do believe in Hansen i have him really high on my board but I also think the Hawks could get him at potentially get him at 22 and so I wouldn’t want them to reach for him but he’s like uh I think he’s a game-breaking passer like he can make every pass you could ever want from a big man i just posted a clip before we started like his high to low passing and so that that makes a lot of sense in my mind with Jaylen where Jaylen could hit get a go screen let’s say Trey has the ball jayen comes up gets a go screen forces a switch you you throw the ball to Hansen Yang at the top of the key he can throw that lob pass over to Jaylen for easy offense high to low uh sort of mismatch hunting he’s great in the dribble handoffs he’s a great screener um he his shot is also a little bit more projectable than some of the other bigs in this range he shot it really well at the rim now the CBA is not great defensively like I watch a lot of his stuff and I’m just laughing at some of the clips like they don’t really know how to play defense over there uh but he did he he saw comp he saw like NBA level centers not NBA level former NBA level centers I should say like Taco Falls over there um some other guys that like have legitimate size so it’s not like he was physically dominant i do think some of the things with him is like his athleticism and his verticality isn’t there so he’s not going to be a lop threat but at the same time he’s 71 so um his touch his touch helps him a lot but yeah I think he can legitimately be like one of the best offensive players in the class and I think that with his passing he’s like there are some guys of course like guards that can generate more advantages off the dribble and can make more I guess creative or or driving kick opportunities but I think he has ability to be the best playmaker in the class which is crazy to say for a center but it’s just like his ability or his his threshold to become a playmaker is so much lower because when you consider screen assist and stuff you do with the chop of the key and some of the bounce passes he can make the transition outlets like I legitim I sat down I have a I have like 50 clips of his passes and I have one of every type of pass like anything you could ask for big he can do and so I think I would want to bet on that offensive talent they kind of I think ideally you’d want to go like winger big but also you go like more defensively minded versus offensively minded because you don’t want to be too defensively minded you end up being like Orlando you don’t want to be too offensive minded you end up like the 2022 Kings so like you got to find some balance somewhere and I think if you take that offensive bet then you try and you know also take a defensive bet that was someone who you know guys who can scale up on both ends i think Yang his mobility is is better than I expected when I saw him at the combine but he does have a lot of work to do um to be an effective drop coverage defender it happened at times but he was inconsistent and I think any big will take will lead time like it won’t be there’s no one we can take will be perfect so those will be my guys okay yeah i mean listen I remember the Yang Yang’s hype’s been going from the Hawks community the Yang dynasty whatever you want to call it um you know he’s he’s definitely been someone who’s writing on the boards for sure uh you know Kyle Murray Boils is always interesting because you know me being a South Carolina and he covers South Carolina so I’m very much aware of him what he does for the team um obviously with them having a down year this year but you know I think a lot of people are just like I said it’s it’s the same thing we’re saying with Bayaka is the height thing like can we really is is that really going to change the team for the better i know some people have brought up the Jaylen Johnson like I guess he’s Jaylen’s backup I guess in that situation which some people are like I don’t know if I guess some people are like that’s maybe is that too repetitive maybe in terms of the type of player even though Jaylen is a different type of player in terms of some other things like a passer things like that and then Collins is like a guy who you said defensively he’s the best defensive probably front court player in terms of versatility at least in the draft as well so outside of flag I think he’s the best and that’s and like to get something like at 13 and also his range is reportedly pretty viable like I thought he was like people like there’s there’s draft Twitter which is typically you know a echo chamber and people are like they’re sort of in their own head about where they think these players are worth and then there’s like the actual NBA front offices and where they value and there’s there is some concern from NBA front offices about like how he fits into their system but I think if you have a coach in a system that makes sense then he’s going to be he’s going to return at least top five value and like Atlanta makes sense because we play a switching defense and we have Tyson Daniels and we have Quinn Snyder who can like scheme up how to make him effective offensively and I think he’ll play that small ball five also I just got a response to one of my tweets but they said that uh Raphael Barlo who’s broken a lot of draft news like he’s the one who mentioned Malawatch he just replied to my Yang tweet and he said that Yang will be in ATL this weekend for a workout so okay uh I guess I’ll have him in and get to check him out yes sir david breaking news on the on the podcast but nah nah that’s definitely good for show i mean it’ll be interesting now I do want to ask you one person before we move on to 22 because he’s a name who’s popped up but I know you said you’re not a big fan georgia as well a lot of people listen obviously you have people who are Georgia fans are like “Bring them bring them keep them in the home state.” But you are just like “I’m not really moved.” What What about him kind of just like “I’m not moved.” because some people kind of have him in there i think it was reported earlier the Hawks brought him in for a workout they did so what what’s up with him what what is like your feeling on him yeah my fear for him is I don’t like his frame and I don’t like his skill set for what I think he is in the NBA i don’t think he’s a five and for a lot of his minutes I want to say 60 to 70% of his minutes he played next to Serell who was a massive body took the biggest assignment in the front court you know held up on the glass and I think some of that probably in his favor the fact that he was that effective at the rim with another big and the fact that he’s that explosive you know I definitely I understand that but it’s more so like I think he’s a four in the NBA and if he’s a four in the NBA I don’t think his handle’s there i don’t think his shots there i don’t think his mobility is there on the perimeter and it worries me that we saw Georgia be so much less effective with him as the only five and his shot has never like if you look at his shot like from um like high school through college like it’s not necessarily projectable and and and that makes me worry too because it’s like if he doesn’t have the handle but he’s super explosive but at least he can shoot then you know we’re looking at Obie Topphen and that’s a valuable player if he can’t shoot and the handle doesn’t develop which it could be harder for guys who play upright like he does then I don’t really know what you’re looking at and uh for his high school career he shot 33% from three on 139 attempts um and for his college career he shot 29% on 89 attempts but the free throw numbers have also been inconsistent like he was under 70% in high school he was at 74.8% in college and so if you believe in him as a shooter I think it makes sense but if you think that he’s the type of guy that’s going to come in and be a fiveman I don’t know if I buy that no matter what and it’s like I think it’s more so about how he moves and and that’s my biggest concern also like I’ve I’ve talked a lot about like advantage creation like guys who have the ability to scale up and down guys who could be play finishers but also somewhat create for themselves i don’t think he can do that and if he’s going to be a play finisher you got to be you have to be really good at finishing plays and his his role man points per possession was not great now I will say Georgia’s guard play wasn’t great either so they didn’t always find him in the most effective places and and again Trey Young has maximized Dwayne Demond Alex Lint you could throw any big out there and he will make them viable but I think at 13 you just have many you have so many other guys that I would I personally believe more in and again the front office may think differently i just don’t know what he what he is going to be uh in the NBA context and if you want to take John Collins just go trade back for John Collins but even John Collins face up game is was way more developed at that point and it was actual like you could throw it to Jon and he could create something for himself out the post i didn’t really see that with Asa and and it’s again I think for him it’s more so like yes I do have these concerns about him i also like these other bigs so much more and I don’t buy the shooting if I bought the shooting he’s a special athlete you know it could be different and he has looked better in better context like when I watched his uh9 tape I was like okay he looks pretty good here but it’s like it gets high level comp it wasn’t necessarily there so that’s my biggest thing i I just want the Hawks to stay away from play finishers and if they’re going to take a play finisher take a shooter like Rashir Fleming and not someone who I don’t really feel comfortable projecting as a shooter okay okay no that’s fair that’s fair i just haven’t asked anybody about that yet so it’s interesting to get that type of insight just into him as a player um and just kind of seeing why you know like I said because you’re not the only person there’s been some other people who who also been looking at some tape and film and it’s like yeah it’s just you know it just kind of depends on what you said yeah in the shooting he’s a very athletic guy is he a five is he a four because all these things when the front offices evaluate will determine the value in their eyes of that type of player so now let’s get to the the 22nd pick obviously this is a pick where I think either the two Hawks fans feel like 13 is a player that you hope could contribute in the rotational way first year 22 is like “Hey this guy might be in the GLeague maybe uh but more likely.” And or maybe someone who could be on the roster uh we’ll just run through it right like we did earlier if they went guard here who would you like yeah I think I think Walter Clayton would be pretty high on my board i think he’s like a I think he’s like a Peyton Pritchard type player he if I had to give y’all the best shooters I’d say he’s second best in the class behind Trey Johnson and it’s because of his pull-up shooting and the different angles the movement shooting um I think he’ll bring a lot of value as a high volume three-point attempt player in the NBA i think as a decision maker he’s not exactly there um he’s a little bit older too which means that I don’t know if he’ll ever get there but I think that just that amount of three-point attempts and then also like some of his his contortion around the rim he could be a real bucket getter in the NBA and he’s not a slouch defensively either he did get lost sometimes like even on that play that last play against Houston he was out of position but he closed that gap and it was an aggressive closeout and it forced that travel and so I think that with his athletic gifts and like you would hope he’s bigger but I think if you’re looking at a guard he’d be in that range i think Trayor would be in that range who we talked a little bit about earlier uh I’m not as much of a fan of like the the international guards in this draft so like Ben Sarah is like the only other guard that I might take a look at and I’m not 100% convinced on him yeah it would probably come down to those two I think um I can’t really honestly like this is a a pretty pretty weakish CL or I guess this is another guy but I think it’s a little early for him but Javon Small is someone I like but I think it’s a little bit early for him too but yeah it would probably come down to Walder Clayton and um Treyori okay okay yeah i mean Walter Clayton is a guy obviously we saw what he did in the tournament it’s kind of funny i feel like you have those guards like going back Napier oh yeah um you know Carson Edwards from when he played Purdue guys who like score you can tell this man kind of carried the team a little bit while he was there at school had an NCAA run and you know so people are like man he knows how to win those intangibles so he is a guy I think I’ve heard a couple of times people wouldn’t mind if they wanted to go in that direction um now looking into the Wings who would you like at 22 if they did decide to go Wings yeah so in that range um I think Rashir Fleming is more of a floor of a forward but I think if you if you go with the guy that you think has some creation ability at 13 I think I’m fine with Rashir Fleming shot 40% from three uh explosive athlete he’s also John Collins like but it’s the shooting that separates him from Asa Newu to me and also like the defensive versatility his wingspan is ridiculous i think he’s at um he’s at 75 and a half so his wingspan is is 9 in longer than his height which is ridiculous and so what that means is when you’re that short but you have that much sort of horizontal and vertical reach you can typically move a lot faster than people that you’re going to be guarding and so like there there’s some legitimate plays with him where you’re like this guy could blow things up defensively in a way that we don’t really see for most prospects like blowing up alioops flying across from the weak side like he makes a lot of sense for the Hawks um another wing I like is a Dutiero i think he’s he’s a lot of fun to watch like if he’s if you type in Adi the Arrow dunks you’re gonna see some some really explosive stuff and I think he’s I think he’d probably be the most explosive athlete in the class um but he has some self-creation ability he’s improved a lot since his time at Kentucky and he’s also like a pretty he’s a menace defensively like I kind of think of him as like a chaos agent like a Tasmanian devil type player and you know you want a guy like that in your rotation that can sort of muck it up on both ends so he intrigues me a lot and then um the other guy would be Drake Pal so he was a top five play he was top 10 in the high in the high school class in in his recruiting class uh kind of got pigeon holding a role at UNCC and and didn’t pop the way people expected he had the highest vertical in the draft combine somewhat similar to Dutiero but I think he’s more projectable as a shooter like that’s that’s one of the knocks on the he can’t really shoot it drake Powell shot it pretty well um he added value in a low usage role and again this is a common theme you want guys who can provide value in multiple different ways and he can definitely do that defensively he can scale up hopefully and then you’ve seen him in that low usage role so I think those would be the guys I look at for winks would you would you give Will Riley a look here too so I like Will Riley um I think my concern he’s like there’s no precedence for his for his frame like I tried like there’s a database and I typed in his measurements and like the closest thing was um Imani Bates and Imani Bates bucket getter hooper hasn’t carved out an NBA role and part of that is because he’s so thin and so will Riley had his struggles defensively he also wasn’t active like his steal and block percentage rates are some of the lowest you could ever find for a 68 player since 2008 and if you’re going to be that thin and not be disruptive defensively it doesn’t really matter how gifted you are as a offensive creator but I will say that like there’s Illinois’s offense was drastically better with him on the court because he could get to his own spots and because he generated good offense and he’s a better passer than most people so I think it’s tough um it’s harder for me it’s hard for me to justify the Hawks adding a negative defender or a guy who isn’t going to at least be a neutral that isn’t going to be like a alltime or not alltime great but like a reliable offensive creator and I think if you’re looking for someone who can come and give you buckets off the bench resign Carris Levert um if you believe in Will Riley’s like longer term outcomes because I think he’s another guy that like didn’t shoot it that well um in college but like his his priors are a little bit better but I think the problem with him is just like will he be able to fill out his frame because I think I that is funny though i was able to find like um I was looking for some pictures of him for like the comparisons I was doing and I found like Indiana’s trainer and they said he he added 10 pounds of muscle throughout the season and I was like okay well that changes things because if you can you know over the course of three to four months or so put on that much weight and put on that much functional muscle maybe he could fill out his frame and if he gets above like 200 or so like I’ve comped him to like anemic Tobias Harris and it’s like someone who isn’t your secondary creator he’s more like a tertiary guy but you could give it to him he can create a bucket in the shot clock and a good shooter um so yeah he I I don’t know if they brought him I don’t think they brought him in for a workout i think again it’s cuz I just I like the guys above him it’s something about him as a player man i don’t know i don’t know it’s it’s it’s tough but I’m I’m intrigued by him i just don’t know if we can take that risk if that makes sense no I get that i get that for sure yeah i just want to bring him up because I know that’s the names I’ve also heard obviously they talk about shooting uh is the biggest thing but um you know and that’s obviously a need for the for the Hawks but like I’ve heard the frame because I I think I was talking to uh Barlo’s brother James and he was like yeah he was like I mean you think Zach’s skinny like Yeah he’s he be he’s even skinnier so yeah u you know that I just wanted to ask about that so now going to the bigs at 22 this seems like a spot that there is a lot of strong value potentially at Bigs so who do you like there i think Ray No could get a look here um K Brener Kraton uh back-to-back defensive player of the year in his conference um Luke Cornet type big really dominant at the rim uh was able to wall it off with his size all year not as sexy of a big as some of these other guys like I I don’t love him as much but he’s like a very clear NBA player in my opinion and and one of the guy one of those guys you look back in like to five years and be like he went 25 like how because of of like the the value he brings pretty immediately um Yon Behringer would be a guy I look at so his measurements just came in today he measured at 611 barefoot with a 74 wingspan uh this dude he could really move like he moves like a wing which is very rare for his size um but he’s he’s very raw like if if Malawatch is raw or if Malawatch would be like a medium rare steak then like Behringer is like bloody like he’s you know they they put it on they just seared it you know they didn’t try to cook it through and I think that’s you know that’s a give or take it means that he could be he has a very high ceiling but it also means that you know he could be Jericho Sims or worse and at the very least he’s bouncy and he can move really well and again with Trey Young you kind of have the the wherewithal or like the leeway to take guys who are like athletes and then bet on them you know turning into something else so I think that they should take a look at him um the other guy in that range would be uh Reo i think Reo could fall there and then um I’m also a big fan of Amari Williams who was the big at Kentucky had a had a ridiculous assist percentage they ran a lot of offense through him he’s a really gifted passer he measured it in at 610 or 611 with a 76 wingspan so um he’s interesting i think that’d be the the bigs I look at um I don’t know where you are on like Danny Wolf or Derek Queen but I mean I uh I asked about Danny Wolf cuz he intrigued me because I know he’s a big who could shoot he’s I think he he’s a good passer as well but I also am like would he be another negative defender in the front court potentially and I don’t know if that would like I could see why the Hawks could like him but I also could see why the Hawks wouldn’t take it derek Queen I’ve also heard just mainly about there’s a lot of work to do especially I think what offensively um for him um so they said you have they said it’s better if you could pair him with a particular type of front court teammate instead of like oh yeah you’re our guy like you need somewhere where he can really grow yeah yeah I was thinking like Derek Queen one of my favorite fits for him as low as I am on him relative to everyone else like I think Washington makes a lot of sense for him because Alex Sar is the exact type of big that helps him insulate and then they also have like Bal and Kaishan and Bub all these really big guys at their position with length and so he wouldn’t his defense wouldn’t be as big of a problem but I think my thing with Danny Wolf is like he turned the ball over so much again a guy who like I don’t think he’s a true five yes he’s seven foot but like he just does not move oh actually no he’s 610 and a half he did not move well um I didn’t think he had any sort of ability to defend above the rim um his wingspan isn’t bad but it’s like he just doesn’t he doesn’t really know how to use it I guess like and he’s more he’s more floor bound than you’d expect i mean but the dude he was legitimately their point guard which is not normal for a big man yeah and so that for a team that like I think for a team like Orlando or a team like even Minnesota you know you you might be able to convince me for them but I I just don’t think we have the luxury of adding someone like that who would make it so tough for us defensively and again this is another guy who didn’t really shoot it um in his high school or preNAA or pre his years like prior to NCAA he shot just 23% on 26 threes uh in his three NCAA years he shot 33.3% and he’s never has been he’s never been a good free throw shooter either and so it’s like you have all this skill but you have a lot of defensive concerns and we don’t know what you are as a shooter it’s tough for me to say the Hawks should take make a bet on that as much as I do believe we need some offensive creation from the front court position I would take the strength creation from Colin Mory Boys and Thomas Sorber i would take the passing creation from Hansen Yang i would bet on you know Ryan Caulk Brener being eventually becoming like Brook Lopez Light before I look at Yang or Queen or before I look at Queen or Wolf i know that Queen has his fans among the Hawks fan base and I understand it i just can’t get there because I’m like I don’t know how this dude can defend and I don’t know how he can defend in our system he can move his feet the motor wasn’t consistent and he’s another guy like again the shooting just wasn’t consistent enough like if he had a track history of shooting man he he might be a top five pick just because of how special his footwork is his ball handling the way he could drive the ball but that’s why that’s why this draft is so open because all these guys have swing skills and it’s just about for the Hawks i think I know your point was okay if you take 13 maybe they can contribute immediately it might be flip-flop you might and that may that might sound like it doesn’t make sense but like if you take uh Nick Clifford at 13 who’s 23 he’s he’s in a rotation but if you take someone like Hansen Yang or you take someone like even uh one of the guards you take one of the wings who are younger those guys might need more time so I think it’s more so about like where these where the guys are coming into as opposed to where they’re drafted and I think that was like why of course the there are expectations that come with a pick that’s why Zach was expected to be rookie of the year and expected to average 15 because he was taking number one and there are there are expectations sides to where they’re picked at but I think the Hawks would find it advantageous to say “Okay we’re going to take the guy you know not really paying attention to where their situation is or how immediately they can contribute but like where we think the value is and how they align with our areas of need.” And if the value is Cedric Coward at 13 and then like a a more raw guy at 22 then I think that’s that’s what it ends up being okay yeah i mean that I mean that definitely makes sense think to um with them trying to win I think you also have to figure out okay how big of a role is a rookie going to really play in that you know are we really going to be relying on a rookie to be like hey we need you to be like a big role in like trying to win games especially seeing how they’ve handled rookies like think about Zack i mean they kind of had him on a mini restriction and you know because I I think Quinn just didn’t want to overexpose him plus obviously he had a shorter off seasonason than some people because he’s wrapped up playing a little little bit later and you know some people are going to be like well he’s young he should be able to play but it’s like that’s not the point you’re playing 82 games you’re going against grown men like I mean that’s not something that oh he’s 19 he should be able to fine because the last thing you want is Zack to get hurt yeah wait can I ask you something real quick i found this when I was looking through on my pod but who do you think average more fourth quarter minutes after the deadline terrence man or Shea i mean I just I I just have the images of Terence man finishing at the four in games so So um I would say Terrence man yeah like Reese Shay was ninth in average fourth quarter minutes like there were multiple times where they closed when knee over him or Levert or man or and I think that’s you know to your point how a rookie could be treated uh we do have that trade exception which I think you could maybe like give a team some cap relief because we’re if we take two rookies we’d be like 40 million below the first April and that’s before extending or resigning Caris or resigning Larry Nance or extending other people well actually no not not extending because it wouldn’t count but like if you resign Carris and Larry Nance it would eat into that but you if you resign both of them for reasonable amounts you could still have 20 to 25 mil that you could just take in a player for and get like reasonable depth back like I think you could you could call LA and see if they want cap relief for Rui Hachimar or you could call Orlando try and get Go Pat could call um you might call Toronto see if they need some help too cuz like all those teams want more cap flexibility for free agency or for for different trades you call Phoenix so I think they could get depth without having to rely on rookies and I think like what I would do if I was a Hawks runoff is like overall I’d take both rookies i’d take one big I’d take one wing and then I’d use the TPS i’d resign Carvert i’d resign Larry and I try to use the TPS to find a guy to give me rotational minutes that’s like making a big number like I didn’t even look at Chris Middleton or Marcus Smart but the Wizards don’t they don’t need cap relief like like other teams do but like I would look for guys like that that are making a lot of money but aren’t as useful to their team but like give us some real NBA depth because I said at times throughout the season we have the best 12 to 15 in the NBA it’s still a 12 to 15 so if you’re playing the other teams 8 through 10 or 7 through nine you need real NBA guys and so if they could add a guy without giving up assets because you can just absorb them into to the into the TPE then I think you’re golden like the Hawks are in a really really good position like I I other teams should be envious of where the Hawks are you’ve got a very very exciting young core you’ve got two first round picks you’ve got a massive TPE they don’t use TPS traditionally under Tony this is a year to use a hammap

David Lee joins me once again to discuss and break down prospects in the NBA Draft for the Hawks, including whether the team wants to trade up and who they could select.

Topics
00:00 – Intro
1:00 – Front Office Additions
4:30 – Hawks trade up possibility
15:00 – Best picks at 13
36:30 – Best picks at 22

#atlantahawks #nbadraft #nbadraftprospects #nbaoffseason #nba #nbanews #nbapodcast