BIGGEST NBA Draft Needs | 76ers take Ace Bailey, Hornets take Kon Kneuppel, & MORE

BIGGEST NBA Draft Needs | 76ers take Ace Bailey, Hornets take Kon Kneuppel, & MORE

hq spotlight here with you on a Friday that is spotlight I can speak NBA draft team needs so we are just a couple of days away from the NBA draft coming up this Wednesday we’re going to have all of our cover coverage for you on CBS Sports HQ but right now we have two of our experts and what we’re going to do is we have our NBA expert John Gonzalez our college basketball expert Colin Games why can’t I talk today i don’t know i think you’re doing a great job i don’t know you just got on set and things went way downhill i am I am the most tan I’ve ever been though join with us he’s done a lot of fishing recently all right John is going to give us uh the team needs and Mike’s going to follow it up with a player that you think could potentially fit that team so we’re going to start with the 76ers which happens to be John’s team uh there’s been a lot of talk about this team they have the third overall pick ace Bailey was going to go there maybe he’s not going to go there anymore what does this team need yeah Brad Bockin and I were talking about this yesterday and what they need to do is move this pick because this is a team with Joel Embiid and Paul George that’s on a a condensed timeline right but they’re not going to do that probably so if I’m just looking at them keeping the pick and what could they potentially use while everybody could use a shooter everybody could use a wing defender they need a contributor right now somebody who can step into the lineup and play some minutes for a team that look everybody knows that the Sixers had a disastrous season last season but this year coming back you think in theory ostensibly Embiid will be healthy Paul George will be better they’re going to have designs on an Eastern Conference that’s pretty topy turvy and whether or not they can be contenders in the East along with the Cavs and the Pacers and the Knicks so shooter wing defender so you’re saying an NBA rangy 3 and D type player is what you’re asking for oh I have the player for you John ace Bailey is the guy now I understand you’re picking three and really leading up to the draft everybody talked about how this is just one two and three everybody knew that it was going to be Cooper flag Dylan Harper Ace Bailey and now all the reports coming out saying that essentially that he hasn’t worked out with any team he has an interview with any team see canled right and so supposed to be there today exactly and so there are now rumors that he’s going to get out of the top three if if John what John is saying and you need that rangy three and D type player he’s your guy at 6’7 he’s got a seven foot wingspan there’s a lot of Rashard Lewis in his game where he’s about a 40% three-point shooter the big money maker for Ace Bailey when you’re talking about gravity and giving space for Joel Embiid he shoots over 50% from three in the corner spots and that is the most important three-point spot in the NBA i just think it’s a great fit for the Sixers uh even though it’s been talked about leading up to it I think it’s a perfect fit so are you going to play mediator when he doesn’t want to be on that team and you’re going to come and and convince him no this is a good spot for you yeah very positive guy yeah yeah i could do it 100% but that but that is a concern yeah this is what I was going to say to you all of that on paper sounds fantastic what you’re selling me for the Sixers is great but the Sixers have been a trash fire for 25 years now they haven’t made it out of the second round yeah for a very long time for since Alan Iverson was there and so I would want a player who wants to be in Philadelphia knowing the situation knowing the fact that they have designs on potentially trying to get out of the second round and trying to squeeze whatever you can out of Joel Embiid who’s only intermittently available i’m a little concerned about him not even wanting to take a visit oh we I thought we were just talking on the court skill sets and best fits i mean you’re over here throwing about personality i mean okay that’s fine but it’s I I do think if you’re at three and regardless of the situation I mean he has maybe the highest upside out of anybody in this draft it would be would be a really good pick if you go to Philly you have to know one word and this kind of has to do with you can you guys see this oh nicely done do you know what this Do you know this word you guys see it no john john john john it’s a noun it could be used it can be used as anything you don’t know it though yeah no we’ll teach it to you by the end of the show i wrestle alligators in Florida i don’t know what Let’s continue on here 76ers picking third overall let’s go to the Hornets at four uh very bad record last season 19 and 63 john with an H or W uh what do they need i love the H or the W uh they could use a lot so I think ultimately here it comes down to two players right now on the roster lamelo Ball and Brandon Miller lamelo Ball again has had some health issues some availability issues so I’m looking at maybe a combo guard somebody who can play alongside LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller but also somebody who can step into that starting role as a point guard when LaMelo Ball is invariably unavailable due to his latest injury issue i like LaMelo Ball and his talent sometimes though he’s a little bit of a freelancer works outside the system he’s more of a jazz musician i’m looking for a guy who you know he’s going to step in he’s going to pay attention to the coach is going to pay attention to the offense and again he can bridge the gap between those two really good players that they have in LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller so you need a high level floor spacer yes high IQ someone who doesn’t demand the ball all the time very fundamentally sound all of those things sound great i have got the player for you John i knew you would yeah coniple I I think would be what you’re describing what a perfect fit for the Hornets to play alongside Brandon Miller and LaMelo Ball and I think he’s going to go in that three to five draft range though the Hornets taking him at four four would be perfect there is an undersized Wally Zeriaak to his game he’s shot over 40% from three in those spot up threes he’s got a lot in his bag put it on the put it on the deck make plays he can read screens it’s really good screen navigation as well but the spacing of making shots while not having to demand the ball I think would be a really good fit for the Hornets i realized a really good job for you if this doesn’t pan out price is right like you are selling these players well yeah yeah yeah abc always be closing i like that uh let’s go to the Jazz at five here look they got a hockey team in town if you’re talking about jersey sales here sweater sales uh all of it’s going to the hockey team right now let’s bring it back to the Jazz worst record in the NBA last season where do you begin with them yeah I believe in Danny A he’s a really smart guy they’ve got a a lot of useful players but I suspect that they’re going to be moving on from some of them they could go a lot of different directions here they could move on from Walker Kesler and John Collins so maybe they need a big They’ve got Lari Markin who’s been sitting there he basically had it functionally a no trade clause last year because when he signed his contract it didn’t kick in uh for him to be able to be moved until after the season so he had a a whole year of just sitting around in Utah a lot of people think he might get moved on eventually too so maybe you’re looking at a power forward or a wing and then that back court Colin Ston Keianti George Jordan Clarkson who’s still on the team for reasons surpassing understanding he should have been moved on years ago isaiah Kier I kind of like him a little bit because he’s a good passer uh they could go in any number of directions here this is an easy one best available oh okay well now you’re finally making it easy on me best available absolutely is VJ Edgecom if he’s there at five that’s the whole thing and I know we’re really talking about just best fits but if VJ Edgecom falls to five at Utah what an absolute home run pick and he’s one of the best players in this draft obviously he’s going to go in the top five he is the best on the court athlete in this draft class so much Victor Oladipo in his game he was Big 12 freshman of the year and I just love his toughness too he plays with a great defensive tenacity i think he may end up being the best shot blocking guard in this draft class as well i if if it’s best fit best available and VJ Edge comes there at five it’s a no-brainer have to go Edgecom working our way through the NBA draft team needs and the best available fit uh by our host here let’s go to the Wizards at six second worst last record uh second to worst record in the NBA this postseason John they’ve got a replacement parts but then they also need some new ones yeah this is a team where they have an identity of young core talent that they want to try to develop alex Sar I think has uh all defense potential down the line we’ll see what how his offensive game develops i’m a big fan of Bal Koulali they’ve got Bub Carrington who I think could become a nice player uh I think you know Jordan Pool isn’t long for that world ultimately so maybe you’re looking for a Jordan Pool replacement some sort of combo guard here that would fit into the Whiz system in the timeline right you you’ve got this young core where they they’ve been rebooting the Washington Wizards for years and years and years they’re still doing that here but eventually I think Jordan Pool who had a better year last year maybe you can flip him for some assets moving forward and that’s where you’re looking to fill a hole i think you’re making a mistake here John it’s you’re not you’re not one to make a mistake you say combo guard I say na nigh this is a great spot for Kaman Malawatch coming out of Duke defensive anchor when you talk about rebuilding constant rebuild and and the lack of consistency malawatch is a guy that could be a defensive anchor and rim protector for 12 years in the NBA he has the can’t teach measurables 7 foot2 with a 7 foot6 wingspan one of the best things about his game John though is that he’s more than just a shot blocker and a big presence if you watch film on him one of the more underrated passing big men in this draft class i thought he grew as a passer really well in Duke’s elite offense they could use big why not could use everybody right yeah that’s absolutely right yeah let’s go to finally the Pelicans here at seven this is a team of course uh that drafted Zion speaking of Duke a while ago hasn’t worked out now he has you know I mean first it was the injuries now it’s off the court stuff they’re dealing with they’ve tried so many different things to get this Pelicans teams going none of it has necessarily worked where do you turn in the draft yeah same thing here with Utah same thing here with the Wizards this is Yeah they could use pretty much everything right they had designs on hopefully picking one or two but because of the lottery balls not bouncing the right way they’re picking now down at seven i look at two different positions both in the pack in the back court here cj McCullum is getting a little bit older he’s on an expiring deal i really like Jordan Hawkins i think Jordan Hawkins could potentially step into that role but absent Jordan Hawkins maybe the organization doesn’t have that same designs on elevating Jordan Hawkins into that role eventually C.J mccollum is going to move on you’re going to have to have somebody in that starting back court as a shooting guard and then Deontay Murray he’s going to miss most of the season with an Achilles injury and then even when he comes back what kind of Deonte Murray are you going to get i like De Jonte Murray a lot but that’s a difficult injury to recover from so again potentially a combo guard or we could just say okay I let’s go CJ McCullum shooting guard or let’s go point guard so you want a combo guard you want scoring guard you want shooting any kind of guard oh man you are in luck trey Johnson of Texas the freshman sensation averaged almost 20 a game he’s the guy i don’t think he’s going to fall all the way to New Orleans but he is 100% the guy you would pick in this in this situation close to 40% from three he has a ton of Ray Allen and Michael Red in his game 6’10 wingspan and he was the best player in college basketball last season regardless of class of coming off down screen stagger screens his screen navigation was like an NBA veteran and I think we can look back in five years and say even though Cooper Flag might be the best player Trey Johnson’s going to be the scorer out of this draft class a lot of people you mentioned I mean you have him here at seven i mean people have him as high as what three 100% oh yeah so the chances of him being there at seven uh slim um but I I could absolutely come on give it to us i mean there’s a chance it’s the NBA draft well if Ace Bailey goes three then then absolutely it could blow up and you’re kind of going best uh best fit best available so if he does fall to seven I mean that is a no-brainer home run pick they should have had you and Happy Gilmore too i’d be okay with that still time is there still time be the ball be Mike O’Donnell John Gonzalez we appreciate it getting ready for the NBA draft coming up next Wednesday June 25th coverage on CBS Sports HQ begins at 8 Eastern

Mike O’Donnell and John Gonzalez join CBS Sports HQ to look ahead at the NBA draft and discuss teams biggest needs, and prospects best fits.

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