I'm mostly looking at the mock drafts to get a feel for who is rising, who is falling.
For the past few weeks, Ty Haliburton has gotten a lot of praise and moved up draft boards, despite kiid promising us he's not a Top 7 guy. But who knows, maybe his stock will peak too early. But at this point he is likely be gone by 8.
Killian Hayes has seen an increase in boosters. Though not everyone is sold.
Wiseman's position has stabilized. There used to be some concern he could be a Whiteside, but now it seems folks feel he's more of an Ayton. (My comps -- I haven't seen anyone use those, or any comps really).
Vassell moved up and then plateaued around 8-11.
Since NYK are picking 8th, I'm mainly rooting for Bigs such as Wiseman and Toppin to go in the first 7, to bump talent down our way. It's not really a Big Man's game anymore, and we have the promise of Mitch.
Okongwu really impressed me, but he looks to go in the 5-7 range.
I like Vassell a lot too. Avidja sounds good, but will likely go Top 7. He had buzz a month back, but has fallen into neutral or dropping slightly.
I'll be happy if we have a choice of TyHa, Vassal, Killian.
And will be interesting to see if there will be any late risers.
The year we drafted Knox, I loved that we had a choice of 4 Wings -- Bridges x2, Knox and Porter Jr. But Shai G-A was a late riser and had good buzz the last couple pre-draft weeks. Thus far, Knox was the worst of the 5 choices.
Similarly, I was pleased we had a choice of Franc or Smith Jr. -- and now we have both and nether looks like a starter.
Moral of the story: you still have to make the right choice given the players on the board. And don't worry about consensus, reach a little lower to get the player you want if there's a guy you feel is right.
For instance, after Franc and Jr. Smith went 8-9, the next 5 picks were:
10 Zach Collins
11. Malik Monk
12. Luke Kennard
13. Donovan Mitchell
14. Bam Adebayo
I'm not a Monk fan, and Canard is still just a decent prospect who could go either way, but Zach is quite good if he can stay in one piece, while Spider and Bam Bam are all-stars.
(also John Collins went 19 & OG 23)
Poll
