Bryce Simon
Appearances
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
So I don't know how much a great shooting combine performance does for Dylan Harper. Cause I just think at this point you can go back through high school and the film and you have so many numbers with synergy now and all of that to, to get, to, OK, well, he had one maybe workouts, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Maybe private workouts is where teams feel better because they they put them through their own shooting workouts. And I have heard some of those like they put a lot of weight into because it's moving and they wear them down and those type of things.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
So, listen, I said it at the top. Ace was a guy that I thought could challenge Cooper for the number one pick coming into the year. Because it's... To me, and I'm not saying they're the same type of players, it was a lesson learned from Brandon Miller. Like... prototypical NBA wings are going to be valued, especially ones that can get buckets.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Yeah, first off, this is my fifth year doing Pistons work, and this is the first year I am not part of the tank race conversation. And so I'm glad that you want to talk NBA draft and brought me on because the Pistons post will not be talking NBA draft. Maybe some second round prospects, as it looks like their pick will convey. Yeah, so this is interesting.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
So again, conference play for ace Bailey, 19 points a game on 46, 39, 73 from the free throw line. And he also rebounds like, listen, ace, the passing is going to be a question. The defense, I think he has potential and you see some of the defensive playmaking at times. I see communication at times, but it's not always consistent, which he's a young kid. That's going to happen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
I think he has potential to be a real two way player, not three and D like, hopefully he's more than that as a score, but I do think he has defensive potential. The big questions is honestly, S is the shot diet. It's, it's a little bit of the Jabari Smith, Jr. You're people are going to give the Jabari Smith, Jr. Comparison of that's what you hear all the time. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Like he lives on this really tough shot diet because he can't create his own shot. And in college, you know, he's bigger than guys and longer than guys. And he's scoring over that. Then you get into the NBA and it's like, he either has to be elite shooter or find a way to get better shots. But now these defenders are longer and better and all of that, all of those things.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
And so I think that's where the question marks come in with him. I think people are, are dropping him too low. I think not having him in the top five would be tough for me because he is this six, eight, six, nine wing that we've seen have huge games, like huge scoring outputs and can really put the ball in the basket along with some of the other shooter too.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
I should have said that at the top, very much an off ball player for me.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
I think he'll benefit in terms of the off-ball player, in terms of that space where somebody breaks down the defense and now he's getting good looks and all of those type of things. My biggest worry is, though, I don't know if he has the handle to take advantage of the space on the ball. And that's where I think I've come down just a little bit.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
I thought Ace May would be—and he still could be, right? like hub of your offense, like the primary option. He can do it with the ball in his hands. He can do it without the ball in his hands. All of those things. I'm not saying you can't run zoom action for him or something like that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
I'm just not sure he has the wiggle and the tightness in his handle to like break you down in isolation and get something better than a mid range pull up over a two different types of players. Now, Can he tighten his handle? We've seen players do it. I'm not like, that's the crap shoot with all of this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
It's just not as far along as what I thought, but he makes NBA level shots when you watch him play. And again, he's a six, eight, six, nine wing who has real two way potential that can make shots. That's had big games that rebounds. Is this not what every single NBA team is looking for? Right? Like wings like that. You're always taking a chance when you draft somebody.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
I think taking a chance on that archetype that has been productive makes a lot of sense.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
I'll be honest with you, S. I don't know how much credence I've given it. I'm like, there's no way he's really going to turn down being the number one pick. Listen, if that's what he wants to do, like if he loves college, he loves being the guy at Duke and all of that, you know, my immediate thought was money.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Yeah, I think so. I think Dylan is probably better than Kasperis, but... like if, if he led Illinois through the NCAA tournament, and especially if he cut that, my biggest thing with him right now is his turnovers. Like I watch him a lot and it's like, listen, I've loved him going back to the summer. Well-built kid.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Another, for those who don't know, Casper is a primary initiator, not quite as big, very unique type of player. Yeah. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Yeah, but orchestrates the offense, has all the live dribble, hook pass, both hands. But I do have some questions about the turnovers in terms of reading the floor at time, getting himself into trouble, those type of things. The shooting, again, it's funny. In a world where people are complaining about too much three-point shooting, if you... Follow NBA draft covers.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
There seems to be a lot of questions about guys knocking down shots at a high rate. He's at 34% on the season, but had some big games as well. Another guy that I think the defense is okay. I thought the pre-college defense was better than what I've seen in the season. And then the other guy, your guy, VJ Edgecombe, defense is not the concern. With VJ. VJ is going to guard.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
They love to guard. He really loves to do it. You turn on a game and you're going to see highlight level verticality contests, chase down blocks. We talked about low man rotations. VJ does that. He's engaged on the ball. There's a chance for him to be a real impact on the defensive end. I'm a little concerned offensively. Okay. Now he has been better.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
So you talk about like improvement throughout the year. Yeah. Like that is something that is true with him. The shooting was bad, bad earlier in the year. But it's come around recently. Very much come around. He's up to 37% on the season in conference play. And again, I don't want to overstate this, but I do think it matters.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
He's at 17 points on 48, 42 from three and 88 from the free throw line. Um, I think he's a guy that people would like to see him do a little bit more with the ball in his hands, right? Like some of that stuff. But the fact he's knocking down shots along with the defensive potential and all of that has definitely put him back.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
And I wonder if Duke could, I almost think Duke could match what his first year salary would be in the NBA.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Yeah, I mean, I think if he showed some more on-ball stuff, some creation, whatever, I could see a team falling in love with Vijay over Ace and or Dylan. Like, I think... Right now, I would have Dylan 2, Ace 3, Kasperis 4, Vijay 5. But if you told me by the time we got to the draft that Vijay ends up the number two pick with the right team, I wouldn't be shocked. It wouldn't be crazy to me.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
So, so there's some interesting names. What I will say is I think this draft has gotten a little bit overstated because here's what I've learned the last two years. We only talk about drafts in terms of if it's a good draft or a bad draft or whatever, based on the top. That's the only that like, that's how it ends up getting, you know, labeled.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
My least confident tier is the tier we're about to talk about in this range, where if I was drafting a lot of these guys, you know, maybe some of these guys would end up in the back end of the lottery, but like whoever I'm taking six through 10 in the next mock draft. I'm a little nervous about throwing out those names six through 10. Does that, does that make sense? Yeah. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
now the long-term risk of that is like come on please don't do this cooper because like i listen yes he could get hurt playing either place next year but one place would be one year at 11 million if they were able to go get that amount and in the nba it would be four years you know whatever guaranteed money guaranteed money and so i'm just like money wise please don't do this even though like
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Um, some of those guys, we still got a month to evaluate them, all of that, where you get to the end of the first round and I'm like, okay, I really liked this guy into the first round, top of the second, stuff like that. So the rest of the lottery is, is a little all over the place for me. I will throw out a name.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
I'm not saying he's my favorite guy, but if you want like star potential, there's two names. I think that you take swings on. One is Trey Johnson at Texas who had a huge game last night in an upset win. The dude can get buckets and you talk about like a, he has a very difficult shot diet at six, six. And again, it's like, okay, is that a positive S or is that a negative?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Like, is there a reason that he's not able to get easier shots for himself and isn't able to get to the rim and finish? And does he have the speed, but he can make shots. Like I guarantee you that, you know, he can make shots and then it's what's the rest of his game. Completely other side of the spectrum here. Common model. Watch Cooper flags. Teammate. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Big man who I thought was going to be like a top five pick. Like he was the guy that I pegged to like, Hey, I really hasn't shown all of the things I was excited about. But you talk about size, you talk about a big man, potentially spaces the floor. floor, eventually defense, all of those things, movement, mobility.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Like that's another, like, if you just want to get about excited about upside and ceiling, those are probably the two names in this range compared to some other names that are like, this guy's going to be really, really solid. Like Liam McNeely, I think is going to be a really good pro, but he may not like excite your fan base because he's going to come in and be your leading score or something.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
If they're drafting at seven or something like that, like, That's higher than some people have him on their board, but I think that would make sense for them. Does Toronto need to add what I just said in Liam McNeely, who is one of the best shooters in the draft, does way more than that, or Con Canipple, another Duke player. Great name. Incredible name.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Do they need, do they need Jaguar at, you know, out of BYU, another, you know, a guy that needs the ball in his hands, but may not be able to shoot. Do they need to add any of those guys? Right. Maybe they're Toronto is the team that's better off taking common. And that's where I say like, I don't love having some of these names at six, seven, eight on my board.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
But when you talk about team specific, it's like, okay, this makes it Derek queen is another name that like, yeah, really intriguing player.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Probably my hardest evaluation. I don't know what to think, but it's like, Okay, you have this like interesting big who can pass and do these things. All right, send him to Golden State. I love that. Like, let's see, like, let him go there and figure it out and contribute to that. So I think that range in the rest of the lottery is really going to come down to a lot of fit type stuff.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Not solely, but I think a lot is like, hey, You know what? We're a team. Liam McNeely makes a lot of sense. Just come in, be really solid, make shots, be a good defender. That's what we can add to our team, and that's what we would value this year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
My thing is, if you're a prospect and you want to go to OKC, I don't want to go to OKC. I would tell my agent, listen, I realize it would look good for me that Sam Presti drafted me. How do I get in the rotation there? How do you play? You know what I'm saying? Like, uh, I was thinking the other day, like, could they draft a guard?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
I am a little bit of like the old school would love to see guys love college basketball, stay in college basketball, all of that. I just don't see any way that it makes sense. And like he's consensus number one right now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
And then I was like, no, they have topage sitting on the bench recovering from injury on top of everybody else. So no, I don't, don't, don't draft me. Okay. See, I want to go somewhere where I'm going to get a chance to play. And that's obviously a compliment to Schleck's Oklahoma city thunder.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
I appreciate it. I enjoyed a chance to talk some NBA drafts. Thank you very much.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
And also like... Do you think they could go get the money? That's what I would be most interested in.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
That would be my thought as well. Like this isn't a high school recruit. This is a kid averaging 20 a game right now. Could you go get him? Like we know schools can raise seven figures, right? We've seen it for guys that aren't even close to as good as Cooper. That was that aren't. aren't living up to those numbers and not the same exposure and the same name and any of that stuff.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
We're talking five times though. That's at least six times. Almost. I would be, I would be fascinated to see if he said like, Hey, You know, Shire, I'll stay, but you got to match what my rookie year money is in NIL. I think you're right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
It's a great question. We'll talk about some of the other guys as we go throughout. I think coming into the year, I actually had ace Bailey in a similar tier with Cooper and, Because I think ACE is a like NBA prototypical idea of a wing, right? Like what you're looking for. We'll talk about ACE later.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
As it turned out, to start the year, when Cooper was struggling a little bit offensively, and that's where the questions were, it was actually Dylan Harper who was hooping at Rutgers, Ace Bailey's teammate. And I think there was a point there where Cooper never left number one on my board, but it was actually Dylan that May was in the same tier as him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
And for me, tier means, okay, if me and you are in the same tier S and a team is drafting... I would understand if they took me over you, if my skillset made more sense than your skillset made. Right now, Cooper Flagg should be the number one pick for all 30 teams in the NBA. There's no question in my mind. He's in his own tier on my board, number one pick, and it doesn't matter who's picking.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Now, are there teams that maybe he fits the roster better and all of that? Sure. But what he's done offensively is what has risen him
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Yeah, so I still want to start with the defense and the impact he can make on that end of the floor. I think Cooper Flagg is, if you want to assign a position, to me, he's like a natural four that can play some three, right? He has some versatility there. I don't know that he's like your all NBA level point of attack defender. I don't know that he's that, but...
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
But he has this big time athleticism, off ball rotator, low man. Like we always talk about those low man rotation rim protection guys, right? I think that is Cooper. I've watched him do it in high school. For those that don't know, he played at that awesome Montverde team last season that had
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
If you follow the draft, Derrick Queen, Liam McNeely, these other guys that are all big time players as well, Asa Newell, all of those guys are potential lottery picks in their own right. And that's part of why the offensive question marks were there was he played on this insanely talented offensive team. Here's what's impressive about Cooper.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
I really look at conference play numbers S because when you get it, I think a player can surprise people. The first 10 games of the season, you can come into a college season and scouting reports, not as out. You haven't had time. You get into conference play. Everybody's a known quantity. I think the rotations ratchet up teams, right? He's averaging 20 to a game on 54, 47, 85 overall.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Almost seven free throw attempts over four assists. I was looking at the synergy numbers. I don't always go to the numbers, but like catch and shoot, he's at 39%, whether it's guarded or unguarded on dribble threes. He's at, excuse me, those numbers. Yeah. Right at 40% dribble jumpers. He's eight of 20. So he's doing a little bit off the bounce. It's just like, A lot of those offensive questions.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
And here's the thing that's exciting offensively. I've seen him run the ball screen as a handler. I've seen him run it as a screener. He can pop. He can roll. He can go play in the dunker. He can stand in the corner, knock down a three. He's a great cutter. And here's the last thing. He plays really hard. And he, like, for a star, a superstar, he'll dive on the floor.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
He'll do all the little things. He'll play his ball. Like, he does all of the intangible things as well.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Okay. So like I said at the top, I think I want to be clear. He should be the pick for all of these teams, right? A hundred percent. Right. Just because Toronto has BI and Scotty Barnes and RJ Barry. I don't think if they get the number one pick, they should be like, you know what? We're actually going to take right. Right. Right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
You know, so-and-so they should, but because of that roster, I'm like, okay, Toronto don't love it as much. I'm not saying the Wizards shouldn't take him because they have Alex Saar, but I think that'd be interesting fit. But I'm like, okay, that, that would be, I think where he really slots in are actually places that have four men.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
But I think it's like, Hey, you move on from those guys and let Cooper flag be the guy. So it's either the Pelicans. And it's like, you know, how funny would that be? Kind of like, it would be very funny. You move on from Zion, the most recent big time Duke guy for Cooper Flagman. Like, okay, let him and Trey Murphy and Misi and whoever else, let those guys build out this thing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Or in Charlotte, I think him and Brandon Miller complement each other very, very well. That would be very fun. forward combination. I would have said Mark Williams two weeks ago, but I don't know what that means for him anymore. Um, and then obviously you have LaMelo ball there as well. So I think those are the two teams for me that it's like, I would go ahead and move on from miles bridges.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
I'd go ahead and move on from Zion Williamson. I'd let Cooper flag come in. Um, Utah would be interesting, but those are the teams that stick out for me, I guess, are those two.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
It's funny you say that we'll get a chance to watch these guys in the tournament because two of these guys will not be in the tournament, most likely, which makes it very, very interesting. I find myself go. I did this last year with who was Colorado. Colorado had Cody Williams, Tristan Da Silva and KJ Simpson. And throughout the year, they struggled at times.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
And I'm like, can all three of these guys be first round picks if their team isn't? And so my point is Rutgers is like right around 500 right now. and may have the two best players in the draft after Cooper flag. So I will give you my four names in the next tier and then we can go wherever you would like.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Correct. Yes. So these guys would be Cooper is the first pick for all 30 teams. Yeah. Whoever gets number two between, I would draft one of these four guys, no matter what, but I would factor in like, oh, we have this roster. We need a ball handler. This guy makes more sense or we really need, you know, whatever. So Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper at Rutgers. Okay. Casper's Yaka Jonas at Illinois.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Okay. And then Vijay Edgecombe has moved back into this tier, the wing at Baylor, guard wing, whatever you want to call him, at Baylor. So those are the four guys that I have in this next tier. These are the other four guys I'm pretty excited about.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Yeah, so Harper is like your on-ball primary creator type of player. He shot the ball better so far this season than what I thought he was going to. Now, if you look at the numbers, you're like 33% from three. I wasn't expecting a lot. Now, I will say this. He is one where the conference numbers have dropped a little bit. He's down to 30% from three. So it's one of those, I think,
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
At the end of the year, you go back and evaluate. It was like, did he just have a hot shooting stretch? You know, is there because there were questions around the jumper. He has a nasty, nasty in and out hesitation dribble. He he has a strong body. He's not super explosive as but he gets to the rim. He gets to the paint using this kind of creative but practical handle.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
And then this really, really nice body control. And then the defense is good. Like that's one thing with this top five is. there are some ace probably has the most defensive questions, maybe Casper as well. But as we mentioned with Cooper defense is going to be a calling card for him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
I don't know that it's a calling card for Dylan Harper, but I think Dylan Harper is very good on the defensive end as well. So just kind of your on ball crew, primary creator, good size, really good size, right? Like he's not like six foot or something like that. Defends really like how much do you believe in the jumper with Dylan Harper? I think is what it's going to come down to with teams. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
It's funny. Here's what makes me feel better about doing NBA draft. I've got to know scouts from different teams over the last couple of years. And like, I'll talk to a scout about a player and one will be like, oh, he's a lottery pick. And then the other one will be like, he's, you know, he's a second rounder for me. And I'm like, oh, okay.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
Well, this makes me feel better that, you know, sometimes my guys are in different spots than other guys. I've had scouts be like, we had a whole sample size to evaluate a shooting. We're not, I think at the combine, it's, I think maybe you can evaluate confidence mechanics, some stuff like that, but we're going to get, well, let me pull up as totals here. You know, we have 103 point attempts.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Check In | Cooper Flagg's best fit?
We have 130 free throw attempts from Dylan Harper to really evaluate. What is the jumper? I will mention he's 74% from the line. I've had plenty of people tell me in the actual like NBA and media realm of NBA draft that that free throw percentage is a, not a better, but a very good indicator indicator, right? Yeah. You know, just in terms of touch and those types of things.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Like this year, people like, well, he, or last year with, well, Alex Sarr doesn't look like a number one pick. Zachary Reese, the shade doesn't look like a number one pick. Guys, what a number one pick looked like changes every year, right? Like there was nobody in that class that looked like a number one pick. And so for Atlanta, I don't hate that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I don't hate the idea of adding the backup point guard that could either be the heir apparent to Trey or you figure it out. So maybe there's a couple of teams in there that could surprise.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Yeah, so Ace Bailey is still third on my big board. I think he's probably the consent... I don't know if consensus might not be the right word. Yeah, in general, I think that's still the guy you're going to find at three. I think you will find a mixture of opinions in terms of some people will say Ace is definitely number three for...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I think it's justified in terms of I haven't been as like a mid first round pick. This is just like when you look at the wingspan and the size and what he can do offensively and all of that. I think this is what an NBA team NBA teams are looking for. So I do think he's an interesting prospect.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
It is tough because, you know, we had the Eastern Washington film and then we got six games of Washington State. And I've watched that film, obviously, but it would have been nice to get the rest of the schedule in a league, you know, that was a jump, right? But he's a career 39% three-point shooter. He's a career 83% free throw shooter. He rebounds. The defense, I think, is more...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
theoretical than practical I would like to see him actually be better on that end and that's one reason why I may not be quite as high as some others I got a chance to see him in person not this past season but when he was at Eastern Washington and he was really impressive just the athletic build the wingspan all of that so I think when you're looking for wings especially potential two-way wings that's why a guy like this rises in the process
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
He's turned 20 now, um, playing overseas. I have him as like a rotational forward advantage, exploiter cuts, offensive rebounds, attacks, closeouts, um, Not great vertical pop, so can he finish those? There's some questions around his shooting, but then he's also a good defender. Other people are higher on his defense than me, but I think it's fine.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I just don't think it's elite the way some have him. Maxime Reynaud is a big that I absolutely love that's an older player that can be a stretch, skilled big for a team. Obviously, Janai Broom. If Yaxel Lindaborg stays in, he's a name that's interesting here.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Cockbrenner is another one the big out of Creighton that would be interesting what a name gotta be careful with that one so but here's the thing is I don't know what some of these guys are going to do Yaxl is the big one that I just named in terms of He's got a lot of money on the table in college basketball.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
And that's where I don't know the end of the first half of the second may be as exciting for people as other drafts, because some guys that would have normally stayed in may go back because they're just going to even compared to it into the first round pick guys. They may have more money on the table for them going back, at least for a one year sample.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
We don't have to say it this way anymore, but if 30 different teams, any team that landed number three would draft Ace Bailey. I don't know that that is the case for everybody, though. I think some people would have Vijay. Some people, you know who I think is a good riser in this range is Trey Johnson. I think he's done really well for himself late in the cycle here, getting later in the cycle.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I think the 28th is the withdrawal, the NCAA withdrawal. I'll give you like Alex caravan is a guy that we would talk about in this range right now. And like, he didn't go through the draft process. Like he's already back at Connecticut. And so there's, there's, and here's the other one is overseas guys. We see more and more overseas players.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
That maybe have went ahead and stayed in and been like second round draft and sash or whatever that are now going, Hey, no, I'm actually just going to go play in college and make whatever these guys are making. Like, I don't even want to throw out numbers because I don't even know where they're at at this point. I know it's ridiculous. That's all I know. I didn't get any of it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
That's why I'm salty about it. Not that I would have got any of it because I wasn't good enough. I don't know what Americans pay in NIL right now. I did get a little bit EA Sports money. Thank you, Ed O'Bannon. I appreciate it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Oh, Bannon sued, right? EA Sports for likeness and all of that. And then I got this thing in the mail one day, like, if you play during these years, college basketballs, fill out this form or whatever, go online, whatever it was, and you'll get compensated. So I got like a thousand bucks, I think. I think it was $500 per year. What?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
kid and then played two years of division one here's the thing though my best friend made me feel bad about it because he goes that was literally our childhood EA sports was our childhood like you being a part of this is like sacrilegious or something because we grew up playing EA he was joking I think he was a little bit serious but I think he was mostly joking yeah
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Yeah. Why do I not take a like I'm a teacher, man. Like, yeah, I'm taking a G if I can get a G. So for real.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
And then my teammates who played all four years, I assume they got a couple grand. And that's where it's unfair. I had no NIL. I started, I played, whatever. But it was not like I would have actually made money. I always looked at it of... I got a free education from American university in Washington, DC. Like this is, this is more than payment for me.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Other people, it's a little bit different, right? Like that's where that was unfair was I was in college at the same time as like Steph, you know, and like Steph literally could have been making money because he was like,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
the face of college basketball, you know, that year, I don't know that maybe not the face, but a Blake grip, like we played Blake Griffin the next year, my senior year, we opened with Oklahoma, like Blake Griffin actually could have made NIL money. Okay. Okay.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Okay. So real quick, I, I had tore my ACL two games before the NCAA tournament, my junior year. And I, I was coming back from injury. It was, it's a long story. That is a long story. So I won't go into that. So I wasn't getting to play this, but they scheduled this game for me. Like they, they tried to schedule games to go back close to home.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
You know, my guy, Sam, he likes con can nipple a lot. He's a little higher on him than I am. I just see Ace Bailey and still like this is what the NBA is looking for in terms of a wing with shot making some potential defense, all of that. So I'm still there at three. There's not many teams. I probably wouldn't take Ace Bailey at three. Obviously, it's Phillies. We know that now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
So your family could watch you play because I was from Kansas. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. It was really cool. So every year, really cool. Yeah, every year we would try to go some... Coach Jones would try to schedule somewhere close. Obviously, he must not be able to get Kansas or Kansas State or whatever. So we wouldn't play Blake Griffin's Final Four Oklahoma team to start the year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
And here's what I will tell you. this will sound a little bit arrogant. I'm not usually intimidated on a basketball court, right? Like I, I'm kind of arrogant when it comes to that. Like I worked really hard and I felt like I belonged. We walked into the gym and that dude is drenched in sweat three hours before the game going through a workout routine.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
And he was just like this physical specimen that I've never seen before. And I was like, Oh my gosh, this is, this is not going to be good. And, uh, They blasted us by 40 and ended up on SportsCenter top 10 about four times. So it was it was a sign of the. Hey, and here's the thing, guys. We didn't suck. We went to the NCAA tournament the year before.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
We went to the NCAA tournament that year and had Villanova down at halftime. In the Wachovia Center in Philly. Wow. In the first round in Villanova went to the final four. So like if we weren't some trash team, it's just like we had nobody that could match his level of physicality. Like he it was I've never been intimidated that way. And like I played Roy Hibbert, I played other dudes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
It was just like it was something different.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I think he can pass a little bit of... What I don't... I think he's an advantage exploiter. So I use that term a lot. When I say advantage exploiter, that is somebody that can catch and shoot, but is also able to attack a closeout when he gets a hard closeout. And then if he gets rotation, then he can make the pass out of that as well.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
And in probably some realms score, whether it's a mid-range jumper, floater, all the way to the rim, I think Carter Bryant is a little more than 3 and D because I think he can exploit advantages because I think he can really pass... The handle's a little shaky, but I think he can probably do it in straight lines.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Nick Clifford was the answer early. I would say probably Rashear Fleming is still a player I'm higher on than most.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Okay. I'll give you two real quick. Colin Murray boils on the offensive end. Makes me more nervous than I thought. I had CMB really high at one point. I think he's incredible defensively. I'm like, this is the Draymond green thing in terms of like, okay, well, does he find a team that gives him the Draymond green offensive role? No, Now he has great touch and stuff like that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
And just to answer that question, I think. I think Philly should make this pick, whether it's ace or like trust your scouts, but make this pick. Do you want to go make a move for an established vet not having? And I'd be pissed if I did that. And then Joel and PG come back and they're injured again. And I missed out on getting a little bit younger with Tyrese and McCain and those guys.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I'm a little nervous there. I'll give you a sneaky one. Like Vijay Edgecombe's offense makes me a little nervous as well. Like I'm not completely sold on the jumper and I think it's very elongated. And that makes me a little bit nervous, even though I think he's an awesome athlete, awesome kid, really good defender.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I mean, I just say Cooper flag, right? Okay. Okay. Non Cooper, non Cooper division.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Yeah. Get some coop in here. I think it's just the way he approaches the game. Like, I think that's the more I've talked to scouts, you know, a couple of years ago, I wasn't in it. Like when I first started doing this, I didn't really know people. Like I, the more I got into this where I can talk to scouts and, you know, stuff like that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
It's like this mental side of the game of the NBA game is so important. Like it truly is. And I think Cooper has all of that. I was so impressed with the way he handled himself at Duke, the season he had, even just being better offensively than what I thought he was going to be.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
But everything you hear about the way he approaches the game, his toughness, doing the little things, I find that to be a skill. And I think that's really impressive in a number one pick.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Yeah, so I think the Trey Johnson, I alluded to early. Him in Utah, I really like that. I like that for Trey, and I like that for Utah as well. And I know people will be like, but they have so many guards. I'm like, yeah, but are any of those guards really that good or long-term? Like, to me, Keontae George is a backup guard. Isaiah Collier is a backup guard. Sorry, Keontae. Like...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
how long is Colin Sexton there? How long is Jordan Clark's in there? So I would just keep throwing it at it. And again, I think it, the way they would use him really makes a lot of sense. And then I'll throw out the one I talked with Andrew about yesterday. So I can also talk about the, is it gif or jif? Cause like my students argue with me.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
GIF. Okay. About the GIF that I was not able to find. Danny Wolf to OKC is really fun. I like that. I don't know that he actually fits the dribble pass shoot because I'm not sold that he can shoot, but it just seems like he would make a lot of sense for Sam Presti. And the GIF issue is like, whatever. We went down this rabbit hole eventually to the Teen Wolf movie. No Teen Wolf GIF.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
So I'm making this pick. If I'm Daryl Morey, I don't know what they'll do.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I mean, Heart and Shine should be on every big man's film, whatever, with the little floater game. Every big needs that. When he misses, I'm like shocked. And he went through a stretch. Was it last round or the round before? I was like, wait, he missed like four in a row? What is going on here? Game four.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Yeah, but I'll tell you the other one is Charlotte. And this is a little bit of a cop out, but I like Khan or Vijay for Charlotte. Vijay has been the one that I've like said a lot. I don't mind Khan there either, but I think Vijay would make a lot of sense for Charlotte. Like just putting him in between LaMelo and Brandon Miller. I'll give you another one. I don't think he's going to be there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Common Malawatch to the Atlanta Hawks. I'd love that. I love the idea of that for Coleman.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I don't think he's making it to 13 to be clear. They would have to trade up and that's not quite as common as like the NFL draft, right? Like the NFL draft, you always see these trade ups, but I would like that fit a lot.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Did I? Of course I did that on purpose.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Yeah, and listen, I will be clear. Some of it's his own doing. Some of the negativity around Trey is Trey's fault because of body language stuff. I mean, guys, I literally had NBA scouts send me the same clips I was worried about in terms of standing off the ball with his palms up. Like, why aren't you passing me the ball right now? And then kind of, I don't want to say throwing a fit, but...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
And I don't like to judge that stuff from film, right? Like it's hard. I'm not out in person watching a lot of these games. But when I have an NBA scout who has seen him in person bring it up, it was a little bit like, OK, I was on to something here. What I would say is like he is like a really good shooter, guys. And he has good size. He has a high release. He can get it off quickly.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
He can do it off movement. He was 15 to 29 on three pointers off screens. Five of 12 off handoffs. I know that's a low number. The good catch and shoot numbers. Like a lot of his percentages are brought down because he tried to create an isolation, which I don't think is his game. Like he's not a super twitchy guy. So his shot diet was very difficult in those situations.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Here's what I said about him. Shooter advantage, exploiter to attack on a second side, not a primary shot creator, really good secondary. Here's the thing. His quickest way to fail in the NBA is to not accept that role. If he's willing to accept that role, I think Trey Johnson is going to be awesome in the NBA. But if he wants to be this on ball guy,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
whatever SGA James Harden, you know, whatever type Kate Cunningham type of player. I don't think he's going to find a whole lot of success, at least not as much.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
No, I mean, I don't think it's, I don't think it's ideal. Um, I, he just, he's too much better than whoever I have at number three to, to not take him. So like my dressful philosophy is you don't break tears for fits. Right. Um, And it's just like Cooper is the number one pick for 30 teams in the NBA, in my opinion. And Dylan Harper is the number two pick for 30 teams in the NBA.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Now, if they found a trade they liked and whatever, like I would be OK with it. But no, I don't think it's like perfect when you consider Darren Fox and Steph Castle and however they want to use him. Like if so on is still there, that's another non shooter. Like I think Dylan's probably going to shoot a little bit. But no, I would rather Dylan was going to a place where he was the primary creator.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Now, to my point earlier, maybe it works out OK where he learns to play off the ball a little bit and he has good enough size to do it. And then he runs the second unit. The problem with that is, well, now Steph Castle doesn't get to run the second unit. Right. So like there's a little bit of overlap there that isn't ideal. But from a talent perspective, for me, it's still a no brainer.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Um, first off, I just realized that I don't know what I'm going to listen to while I mow the lawn on Saturday morning. Cause usually Saturday slam and jam is so got it. Got to figure that out over the next few hours. Uh, what am I going to listen to while I do that? So, um, I, I don't know guys, like I'm struggling a little bit here.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I told you off air that if, if OKC dominated this game too, and I don't know that they dominate, but they felt like they had this one pretty well. like in control that I was like, I think they may win this in five. Like I'm, I'm, I'm struggling to find the silver lining for Minnesota, you know, like nah, figured it out a little bit offensively.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Maybe that's something, but here's where I would be worried is like, like Anthony Edwards, you know, I had 32 on 26 shots, but like Julius Randall has not been good since the first half of game one. And they had him so frustrated that Finch like kind of benched him for a while. It seemed like, and yeah,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
We had a listener over on Game Theory bring up an interesting thought as we were previewing the series. They were like, whoever's better in this series between J-Dub and Julius is probably going to win the series. And since the first half of Game 1, it hasn't even been close, right? J-Dub has been the better player, and Oklahoma City has been the better team for those six quarters.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I actually think a team... There's some things with Philly that I've had people tell me, like, Bryce, I think you're missing some stuff here in terms of, you know, how processing and stuff like that and putting him in with that team. And that's a great point with the way they've drafted.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
And so, I mean, you got 22 from Jaden McDaniels on 15 shots, four threes. Yeah. Is Conley all of a sudden going to start doing stuff? I don't think Gobert is the answer. I don't know. I just think this OKC defense is so good, guys.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
So I didn't know, like first action of the game, they run something off the ball to get SGA switched on to Ant. And then they went to like the mid post isolation. I'm like, OK, that's kind of interesting. I felt like Ant tried to do some like post isolations. But my thing is,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
There's always Hartenstein or Chet or somebody lurking or J-Dub running off the ball to steal it whenever your back is to the basket. It's just... It's really hard. I think you just have to have a little more creativity. Like you say, maybe play a little better pace and get into your stuff. And I just... This is what OKC does, though, is they take you out of your flow.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
And they the other thing I was thinking about today is they have so many guys they can throw at him. They have so many different options. OK, he gets it going against Kaysen. All right. Well, there's Lou. Oh, he gets it going against those guys. All right. Let's put two on the ball for a little while or, you know, whatever.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
And it's just like when you have that many answers, it's just it's hard because you can always keep the offense off balance and guessing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
That is fascinating, Alex, because I was thinking about that last night. I was like, I'm going to go on slam and jam and say that I think OKC is creating better looks. And I bet somebody is going to throw stats at me that say I'm wrong. And so luckily you said it and I didn't have to. I can just agree. No, I'm I think they got some good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Philly actually had a really nice draft last year between getting Jared McCain where they got him and even Justin Edwards is a guy they ended up getting and looks like maybe a rotation player. I think a... I would love to see Ace go somewhere where you said initially, where, hey, go play this Michael Porter Jr.-ish, this Jabari Smith Jr.-ish type of role where other people create shots for you.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Like, do you think how often does OKC give up a look that they don't want to give up? You know what I mean? Like how many of those are like, I'm not saying you strategically leave Jade McDaniels open in the corner, but you, it's the NBA. You have to give up something. Right. And it's just like, in regards to that, I just, I think OKC is relentless.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
And I think they dictate what they want from you outside of Julius in the first half game one. And aunt did, you know, aunt's going to get his at times. Cause aunt's incredible. Like aunt is, is really, really good. And I, I actually thought his process was OK last night. I think he had like six assists and no turnovers. Is that right? I think he had no turnovers. Yeah, no turnovers last night.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
So it's just I agree with you. And I don't know how they class it and maybe it just seems like OKC does contest everything would be my issue with that stat. But maybe I'm off. Maybe I just think that that's what happens and it's not what's actually going on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Listen, I usually support Gobert. I just don't think it's been great. And this was like I said earlier, I just it's not always the defense. It's that he can't punish anybody on the offensive end. You know, he just he struggles to catch the ball. And then if he does catch the ball, he struggles to actually put it in the basket. You know, he's averaging three and a half points on three.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
38% from the field. He averaged less than 10 in the series before and eight in the series before that. And even the percentages aren't great because you know where every shot attempt is coming from. And what you said about the mid-range is something I thought about Like, okay, he's deterring them from getting to the rim against a lot of teams. That matters a lot.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Does it really matter against an SGA J dub led Oklahoma city thunder team? That is perfectly fine. Pulling up at 15 feet and knocking down that shot consistently. We even saw it when they went zone three different times. three different times when, when Minnesota went zone Caruso did it back to back.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
And then Chet did it in the third quarter, got to the middle of the zone and felt very comfortable hitting a little shot from eight to 10 feet before he could get, they they're just very smart about not attacking him where he can make more of an impact.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Um, yeah, I don't mind them going to that. Like with that lineup, you have, you know, you're essentially playing five out. You have five guys that can really attack off the bounce, can shoot it. Um, I mean, that's probably what you have to find here in terms of like, you got to find a way to score the ball if you're, if you're Minnesota. Right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Um, and then hope that OKC has a game where they, they don't make shots. Cause I think if OKC makes shots, like, they're winning. Like they're just going to win because they're that good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
My thing is, again, this OKC, I know I sound like I'm giving OKC a lot of credit, but like I think they deserve it because it's not just the players, but the way that they were, you know, constructed and how Dagnall makes decisions, which I've really loved his rotate. I've really appreciated. OK, I'm playing this hot hand like what Kinrich played yesterday.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
He came in and played a little bit more in game one, scored like eight points. He goes to him in game two. It doesn't look as good. And then he only plays him two minutes and keeps him out. Like I just, I always appreciate that diagonal. It seems to have a really good pulse on that stuff.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
You just work on knocking down shots. Do that work. Work on your defense, your all-around game, because that's the ceiling to me, guys, is this two-way wing. Not 3 and D wing, a two-way wing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
But to your, to answer your question, I don't know that there is something specifically that just going to really cause the thunder issues because they can match it. You want to go small? We'll go small. We have the guys that can defend you on the perimeter and, And so I just struggle to figure, I understand Minnesota trying different things.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I just don't know if they're going to find one that has consistent success throughout a series.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
So here's the thing. So think about that. Like, that's a good change up, right? Like, let's throw out Daniels and not Dante Nas. And offensively, that's really interesting. Defensively, run around, scramble, put two on Shea, scramble out of it, whatever. Guys, if that's not your identity, that's something that works for a couple minutes, not for a couple games. You know what I mean?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
It's like whenever people were saying, hey, Minnesota should go zone because it worked for Denver. I went back through and looked at all of my Minnesota game notes. And I'm not saying I like take... great notes always on zone possessions, but usually I make note of it for a team because it shows up.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
And I'm like, Sam, I don't have a whole lot of notes on zone being something they were great at or whatever. It's like, so then you try to go to it in the biggest moment of the season. How much confidence do the players even have in that strategy, let alone the coach? So it's hard to get away from your identity at this point in the season whenever there's more on the line now than at any point.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
A guy that really guards, that makes defensive plays, that can rebound, and then develop his strength in his lower body and all of that, where then he can do a little bit more two, three years down the road and maybe ends up being your second option. But I think if you thrust him in the second option...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
So I tracked two possessions of it in game one. One, they immediately gave up the baseline cut to Hartenstein and he got the lob. The second one was a tough J-Dub mid-range. So like whatever, that's neutral possession defensively. In this game, like I said, I already highlighted the Caruso back-to-back ones. Chet had one.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
They gave on the very first one after a timeout, they gave up a wing three-point attempt to Dubb. He misses, but then Kaysen got an offensive rebound and then I think scored a layup off of the offensive rebound. I think they had two good possessions when they went to it in the third quarter. They forced back-to-back three-point attempts that were contested from Oklahoma City.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Also, real quick, Andrew, I've texted you about this. As good as OKC is, and they are awesome, And for as much as this is a dribble pass shoot team, they might be the worst lob throwing team in the NBA. Right or wrong? Yes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I'm just like, this is the ultimate WeDraft skilled players organization, and they missed so many lobs. Even the one Kaysen threw to Chet in transition last night was an awful pass.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Awful lob passes actually play best to highlight reels because it makes the finish look better. So like everybody's like, what do you mean? That was awesome. Like, yeah, it was still an awful pass. Like it ended up being a great looking play aesthetically. But yeah, I was just like, man, this is my biggest critique. That's my nitpick on the Thunder is throw better lobs.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Can we incorporate that into practice, Mr. Dagnall?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
first option early on in his career, that's where I'd be a little bit nervous about his progression and how successful he is.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
So it was funny. That was like, I was ready to go on game theory. We recorded right after I put my laptop away guys. Whenever it was like 14, I like, I put it away. I was like, okay, I'm just going to relax here. Once Sam texts and says, we're ready to go, you know, whatever. I'll go put it on the charger for a little bit. And I had to go back and get it because I needed notes on overtime.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
And I was just like, this is unbelievable. Yeah. Brunson and cat were awesome. Like if I'm a Knicks fan, that's my takeaway is they didn't look like they could guard Jalen Brunson, the Indiana Pacers and miles Turner, who I think has been awesome in this playoffs up to this point, didn't look like he had any business trying to guard Carl Anthony towns in that game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
You got decent games from the two wings. Here's, here's what the underrated aspect of that comeback. I mean, obviously losing a game is the most important, but, Brunson was about to get out of that game with like 30 minutes played. And if I told you that you could get a game one win where Brunson only played 30 minutes, you would be like, sign me up.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Cause we know Tibbs is never going to do that on purpose, but, in the second, they actually paid well and pain gave him good minutes. So Brunson was able to set and then the foul trouble. So I, I think they, they were, they were the better team for three and a half quarters. Like that is, that's your biggest takeaway to me. The series comes down to, can you respond? Um,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
In the Pistons-Knicks series, I think it was game two, Cat played awful. He was awful. And Detroit stole one in New York. It ended up being the best thing for the Knicks because it made them go, we have to make sure this guy is always involved in what we do offensively. We can't mess around. Jalen was doing too much ISO stuff. And it ended up being a positive. Can that happen from this?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Can this be a positive for the Knicks in terms of we can never, ever let our foot off the gas against this team because they are relentless and they're always coming?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Three-point attempts...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Because like some of these, like, I mean, the difference between playing 13 games and playing 11 games could be. Yeah, possibly, possibly.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I was like, surely this is LeBron is a great answer. Cause like, if it's wrong, you don't feel stupid. It's like it, you say LeBron. And if it's yeah. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
So I was a little nervous if it was legit, like, like just because that's not always his, his thing. But I figured in Cleveland, there was a series or a run where he had to be that level of score. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Jokic has also done it. Interesting. I was not going to say Jokic. I thought me. Giannis.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Also incorrect. I was going to say, I really, I refuse to say James Harden after some of the, I mean, he doesn't always play game seven, right? So there was probably some games one through six where he did score.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I actually thought Booker. Man. Yeah, I guess he had the finals run. Wow. I'm looking at dames now, and it's like, yeah, just... You need the games like because there's some years where he scored a bunch like he had had them, but they just didn't go far enough. Fun question.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
And so is the the question is counting this game or this this game is not counting this game, not counting this game, though, that you like know the answer.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Subtracting one may put us at zero. So this is going to be this is going to be a fun one. OK, I'm going to say. I'm going to say.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
That was the only one I had in my mind was the 2004 Pistons. Yes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
23 2023 yeah don't help him also it's wrong so it doesn't matter Bryce do you have any guesses for the final team so so I'll be honest like after the Pistons won I just looked up NBA championship so you don't if I had to guess just looking at the teams I would have said the 06 heat correct answer
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
So I was going to say, I clicked on them. They actually shot it well in the regular season. So I was like, man, I think maybe they had enough. So they just had the playoffs was down for them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Like Middleton went... Middleton was at 34% on almost eight attempts. Lopez shot 32%. Holiday was at 30%. Dante shot 17% on four attempts. Giannis was taking three attempts per game, so...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Yeah, sure. Four. I got a point. That's all I care about.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Yeah. Two players still playing in this year's playoffs. Okay, so I know one is Josh Hart. That is correct for one point. Yeah. Do you remember? All right, so Jokic is out. Cade had one. Giannis. So I assume it's not SGA.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Indiana triple doublers. I'll go. He's had a really good playoffs. I'll go Julius. That is correct, Bryce. Wow. Okay. We've got a game on our hands. It's kind of crazy that Josh was the easier answer for that one.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
And real quick, like with Philly, let's play Philly out. You're telling me there's not chances for him to be the number one option on a team where they're two of their three best players are going to miss how many games next year. And Tyrese Maxey isn't playing 48 minutes a night.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Six. I was just thinking about other answers with that. Pritchard would have been the answer if it wasn't the final four. Correct.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Beasley would have been another name. Even though they only played one series, I think he would have been an interesting name as well. Caruso has been awesome.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I forget.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I mean, how many teams in the league don't have times where, hey, we could really use a guy to run the show when our best players off the floor. What do we talk about with the Nuggets? How are they going to win the non-yoke? How are they going to be neutral in the non-yoke? Heck, the Oklahoma City Thunder is... When your SGA is on the floor, you feel really good about the offense.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Oh my gosh. I said seven. You misunderstood me. You didn't hear me correctly.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Okay, so Brunson's out. Tyrese is out.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I'm going to go to old friends. Okay. I love this guy. Like I get to do stuff at Nick's film school now. And I just like try to do stuff to like promote him since I have this opportunity right now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Even though he gave up an awful backdoor and overtime, I feel like Josh Hart touches the ball a lot between transition rebounds, balls, like they use him in ball screens because other teams try to hide people on him. So I would say it's either Josh Hart and Mikkel Bridges. I'll go Josh Hart.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Great answer.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Excitement. This is going to end up being Tyrese toe on the line. Can we go to can that give me to overtime at least if OK, so symbol after I will. OK, I guess I'll take my L that the Knicks. Uh, the Knicks. And then you said, okay, so I'll go Indiana. No, you said Indiana. Okay. Indy second. Yeah. So I'll go. Okay. See Indiana, Minnesota.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Is J-Dub going to do what he needs to do in the non-SGA minutes? A name I'll throw out to you. Look at Trey Murphy III, who I thought had a big breakout season this year in terms of like... hey, is this guy actually maybe a potential all-star eventually, potential number two, high-level number three option? Here's his usage percentage. 15-6, 16-6, 18-7, 23-7.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Honestly, honestly, If my Neesmith question strategy wasn't so piss poor, I probably would have won the game. Like my strategy there of trying to get it correct blinded me into like saying two is dumb because obviously you're going to go over and like it just... I just was like, I want to get this one right. So like my pride got in the way.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
No, that, that was it. You know, motor city hoops on Twitter and blue sky. I am doing some, uh, film work for Nick's film school during the playoffs. So like I do these video breakdowns over there on their YouTube where I, you know, I broke down, you know, so-and-so's play or, you know, I, I looked at a preview of how Indiana pushes pace offensively leading into the series, stuff like that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
So if you're into that video work, check that out. But otherwise the pulse game theory, um, I appreciate you guys a lot. Truly, I get excited when you send me the text. Like, hey, you want to come on?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
And I didn't tell you this at the time, but I rearranged my schedule this morning so I could make this happen because I was like, I am not missing this because I enjoy recording with you guys so much. So thank you so much for having me. And hopefully this year we can spend some actual time together at Summer League, right? Like last year, we met, we took the selfie, and then that was it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
That was it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Points per game, 5.4, 14-5, 14-8, 21-2. What's wrong with progression that way? Why do guys have to come in and do it right away, especially, in my opinion, where I'm not sure Ace is ready for that, right? Like, LeBron came in and he was ready, right? Victor came in and he was ready. Aces team just went under 500 with the number two pick on it. Like, obviously, he's not quite ready for that load.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
So why thrust him into that in the NBA? That's that's how I feel about it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Okay, so one, I think Trey Johnson is a great fit in Utah because of how they run their offense. I don't know that Trey is the answer to your question necessarily what you're asking. I do just want to say, like, I think Trey could be a high level secondary guy, like a second. I don't know how many primary guys are in this class outside of the top two. Right. Like we all know Cooper.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I think Dylan Harper is a run your team bucket getter, like primary option guy. In his ceiling, right? There are no sure things. Trey is really, really interesting as an off-ball score, big-time bucket getter if he accepts that role. If he wants to play on the ball, I'm a little more nervous because the athleticism isn't there. Here's the fun name, guys, is Derrick Queen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Derrick Queen is a very, very fun name. So if you want to make me take a deep cut here... that dude, when you just watch that dude offensively, like if you want to talk upside, go the synergy, click on field goals made and whatever. And you're like, this dude is a bucket off the bounce. He's got these moves. He's got a long first step. He draws fouls.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
And I'm like, I don't know if it works or not, but if you want to take a bed on an upside, like offensive hub type of player, Derek queen might be the name in this range.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Oh my gosh. Cause it's, it's always like, so let's see offensively. Like, I don't know that he's like the passer that like those guys are. I think he's a good processor. I don't know that he's quite the passer of like, like Nikola Jokic is my least favorite comp ever. Jokic and Draymond are like, if I hear somebody comp to those two guys, I'm like, I'm out.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Those guys are like one of a kind type of players. Um, I'm trying to think like I put a Nas Reid type of role is like his worst case. I'm trying to think of a big that's that level of score in the way that Queen is able to attack. Maybe like a super like Nas, you know, like Nas Reid. He's not the shooter Nas Reid is, though.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
What's up, guys? Thanks for having me back. I appreciate you having me back. Remember the first time you asked me on, I was like, man, this is kind of surreal, you know, being able to come on a podcast I've listened to for however long. And yeah, I used to be like, I don't know how people do this. Like, how do you know the draft and the NBA and all of this?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Yeah. Okay, so let me go through some of this stuff. Maybe you guys will come up with a name. Off the bounce, has euros, bumps, floaters, left-hand finishes, draws foul, covers ground with his first step, loves his spin move, has momentum off the catch with his cuts, short rolls, dunkers. He's a quick finisher, so he's not an explosive guy. He is a high-level processor.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
He'll short roll, catch everything, and then the jumper is a question.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
like is that like how does he compare to someone like boogie okay that's i think somebody had brought that one up that boogie was was an interesting comp for him i don't know that he's as big as boogie though yeah i don't think so yeah that's yeah that's the thing it's like he's just not quite as big he so he feels a little bit throwback to me yeah i mean he probably would have been like the number two pick if this were 2007 or something
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Yeah. And that's what I had somebody reach out to me with Queen was when his measurements came in, they were like, Bryce, I just want you to understand that this is below average for well below average for a five and like neutral at best for a four. And so there was some concerns whenever the measurements came in, in terms of the wingspan and the standing reach and and some of that stuff. So.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I did early in the cycle. I was super high. Like Common was a guy I thought. So for people who like track this or I guess for people who don't early on, this was a considered a top five draft. That's why when people talked about how good this draft was and they hung on to that notion for too long, it was Cooper, Ace, Dylan, Vijay and Nolan Traore.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I thought common was the guy that was going to break into that for me. Like when I first turned on the film, you know, right after last year's draft started looking at the 2025. I'm like, I love this dude. This is my archetype of player. And it just, he didn't show that upside. He hasn't shown the floor spacing and some of those skills, but, The defense is really interesting.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
He showed some movement on the defensive end, obviously the size. I would say the biggest difference is like Klingon is just so strong, guys. Like you just trust his base and the way he sets screens and holding up. Common, I'm worried he gets rooted out and moved because he's so long. Sam's favorite thing to say is the high hips. Common has those high hips.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
And now I'm like right in the middle of it, trying to do the best I can. So I'm excited to talk about this. And then, I mean, honestly, I'm just going to sleepwalk until the end where I'm super excited about trivia and making a fool of myself.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
And then the other thing is Common struggles to catch the ball at times. Like It's a little Rudy go bearish, which like watching Rudy in these playoffs have really like, man, like he's not getting played off the court defensively. He can't do anything on the offensive end. Like he never makes the other team pay because he doesn't catch the ball or doesn't finish or whatever.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Common has some of that, whether it's rebounds or, you know, he'll, he'll have the highlight lob dunks, but I'm a little bit lower on common because he's, I think there's some of those worries and I'm a little less excited about the upside, even though it sounds like he's gaining steam in general.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Yeah. So Jeremiah Fears is going to be one of the funnest names I think to watch. And what we've talked about over there. So if you go to the draft order, right, and you go through, OK, who were teams that could really use a point guard, like especially a guy like Kasperis Yakishonis is a guy that I think you can play on or off the ball. So there's a little bit more positional versatility there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
You don't have to draft him as only an on ball guy. It seems like there could be a breaking point for primary creators, true primary creators after number eight with the Brooklyn Nets. Obviously, they could use one right as we sit here today. But like to use one of everything, let's be honest, that that's fair. That's fair. Toronto at nine.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I don't think, I mean, they could, all of these teams could, but it's like they have how many different guys who can play with the ball in their hands. Like their entire starting lineup already wants to do that. Even though their wings Houston, I don't think so. Portland has plenty of guards, Atlanta, unless you're drafting trays, backup slash potential replacement. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
San Antonio has Fox and Steph Castle that does that a little bit. Oklahoma City is the inverse of Brooklyn. What could they use, right? Like I hate trying to draft for the Thunder because it's like, well, they're never going to play because they're awesome and they have depth and they just drafted Topich who didn't even get to play this year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
So then it's like nine to 16 when you get to Orlando where it's like, could some of these guys fall if they don't get in the top A or does somebody trade into that area to draft them? So I think that's something to watch.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Still a Buffkin guy?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Guys, you won't find a bigger Kobe Buffkin fan, man. I love Kobe Buffkin, and it just hasn't worked out yet, right? Yes. Yes. Come on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
yet dot dot dot yet exclamation point I almost took fears to Atlanta actually like I was like man this is kind of interesting to me where I mean okay if you're going to play this they built this team around Trey right we're going to get all of these wings we're going to get you know I guess you know the big that runs the pick and roll why not have that guy in the second unit let fears do that for 18 in the non Trey minutes as a rookie and if he's awesome
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
then you trade Trey young. And you know, if he's not, I always, I'm still trying to figure out like, okay, where does that work? Where does the team feel? Okay. With that. So Atlanta has pick what 13 is, is that a place for a backup point guard is, is that good value if you're Atlanta? And, but my thing is that's that changes every year, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
What's up, guys, man? Thanks for having me. Yeah, things are not great record wise in Detroit, but the vibes are better, even though they are one in four. And we're recording this after a win, which was nice. A much needed win for the Detroit Pistons.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
The defense, like it's crazy. The defense is so much better. And that wasn't the side of the ball that I thought was going to see much improvement. I know JB is kind of known as a defensive coach, but I don't know how many quote unquote good defenders were on this team whenever you looked at it in the preseason. And I will tell two guys that have really made great strides are the young
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Cade Cunningham and Jayden Ivy. And obviously offensively, a lot of good things from those two as well. But defensively, those two have really locked in. I've kind of made the joke that in just a couple of games, we've seen more weak side rotation X outs than all of last season from this team and just some really good possessions overall.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
So JB's really put a stamp on the defensive end early on in the season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Um, yeah, like, you know, Jaden Ivey, former number five overnight pick is starting, which is always nice to see. I think the stat that really stands out to me, they showed it on the broadcast on Wednesday night. Last season, Cade and or J.I. were only on the court for like 70 some percent of the of the minutes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
And so far this year, it's right under 100 percent, which essentially means they're either playing together or they're getting staggered. which always seemed like the right play with those two guys, right? You start them together, then you stagger JGI to the second unit, and JB has been able to figure that out and unlock it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Yeah, so I mean... They've been competitive. They lost a game to Boston. They probably should have won. They lost to Indiana on opening night in a game they probably should have won. So you got to figure out how to win.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
And it's not just at the end of the game, guys, like there's points throughout a game that this team still has to figure out into the second quarter, start of the second half, those type of things. I would say the quote unquote disappointing, like Tobias Harris hasn't got off to a great start, even though his gravity is fell on the offensive end and is rebounding a SAR Thompson.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
The most recent, not the most recent second, most recent number five overall pick. There's so many, it gets confusing, right? When you pick number five, three years in a row, you kind of get lost.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
It's ridiculous. Still hasn't played because of the blood clots from last year. And Jalen Duren hasn't been the same factor and force that we saw last year. And definitely at least at the very least, Jalen Duren hasn't taken any strides forward.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
So I think where I differ from a lot of fans is they need like a third point guard who's comfortable not playing on nights whenever J.I. is under control and can handle the second unit, but then can come in and calm things down whenever he doesn't. Or the big worry, guys, is, I mean, Cade and J.I. aren't going to play 82 games this year. So what happens?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Who plays the backup point guard whenever... Those guys aren't both available. So I think that's where a lot of the veteran point guard conversation comes from.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Yeah, Monte Morris, the guy they signed last year who only played seven games. And then they traded. Monte was hurt. But just a guy that can steal space. Tyus Jones would have been the perfect name, right? But that's way over their ability. People bring up Markel Fultz and Dennis Smith Jr. I just don't think those guys are the right type of guys.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Because if you do bring them in and want to play in minutes, they need to be able to really space the floor. And neither of those guys do that alone. you know, with the things they do do well. And I'm also like, do Fultz and Dennis Smith Jr. want to sign up for a Pistons team when they know they're going to play third fiddle, you know, being a creator behind Cade and J.I. So, yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
You said it, not me. Who's not in the NBA. Killian Hayes, who's not in the NBA. Killian Hayes is not currently in the NBA. And listen, I like Killian, but it was crazy. It was so strange. I didn't try to punt him to the moon like Tim Baumtamps, but I just want to emphasize he's not in the NBA right now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
I've always thought that they could play together, guys. And I feel like I've been in the minority there, but I thought J.I. was a little bit of an off the ball player. I didn't think he was primarily an on ball guy. I think he's a stagger into the second unit and let him run the second unit against other teams. Second unit on ball guy, but not as a starter. J.I.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
has turned himself into a good offensive rebounder. He here's why it looks really good right now. If like I want to be fair is he's knocking down catch and shoot threes, as you mentioned, the three point percentage. But he can cut off the ball. He can come off zoom actions and staggered and those type of things. I think he fits perfectly fine. And here's where it helps, too.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
When you have gravity like Tim Hardaway Jr., even Tobias Harris, even though he's not shooting it well right now, Malik Beasley, having those guys' third and fourth options offensively help with the overall spacing of the team as well.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Yeah, I mean, I think we're seeing it right now. And again, I know it hasn't always turned into wins, but guys, those both of those guys are playing really well on both ends of the court. And that's what they're not one in four because of Cade and J.I. 's play. Now, if you want to critique anything, the turnovers have been pretty bad from Cade.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
They're over five per game right now, and he's had a couple of really bad ones. But it's because right now, Tobias Harris is shooting 15 percent from three and averaging 12 points a game. And because a star Thompson isn't in the lineup and Ron Holland's playing 13 minutes a night and, you know, really isn't ready offensively.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Fontecchio hasn't found his game during isn't playing his best offensively. I think what we're seeing right now where these guys are on the floor for almost 100 percent of the time, either together or one of is exactly the vision this organization should have for those two. Well, and I want to point this out real quick. J.I. is taking the primary defensive matchups. He guarded Donovan Mitchell.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
He guarded Tyrese Maxey. He guarded Tyrese Halliburton while he's doing these things on the offensive end.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
So all for the move to permanent five man, I think this is what Isaiah Stewart's ultimate role in the NBA is, is as a backup five who can moonlight at a four. If you take on certain matchups, say, you know what we used to see from the Minnesota Timberwolves, or if you're taking on the nuggets and you feel like you need to put somebody on Jokic and have another bigger guy off the ball, whatever.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
But I think it should be like an 80 20 split in the second unit. I do not like the three-point usage going the way it's going. I do not understand. I'm not sure why. JB recently had a quote from my co-host Amari Sanko for the second, who's the beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. And JB kind of took the quote-unquote blame for that, saying they had really emphasized Isaiah rolling to the rim.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
And he is a really good offensive rebounder. If you see the offensive rebounding numbers, they're awesome for his minutes per game. But really, that's not his game. He's not a rim gravity guy. I do think Stu needs to be able to space the floor, pick and pop trail threes, corner three, stuff like that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
So I'm hoping he's able to figure that part out, even though I do like seeing the majority of his minutes at the five off the bench.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Yeah, I'm trying not to be overly optimistic about one and four start, but it has truly been competitive, guys. This team had the Celtics down six with two minutes to go. And if it weren't for Drew Holiday actually banging back-to-back threes and then a great defensive play, they probably beat the Celtics. And so it really has looked better.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
I think they're top 20 in both offense and defense, which I know most listeners are like, come on, dude, like top 20. But whenever you've lived in the realm that I've lived in watching this team,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
dude top 20 is hilarious thing to say about your team like listen on a positive note top 20 out of how many teams doesn't matter don't worry about how many teams it is total listen when you've lived listen guys i came in in 2020 i'm not a lifelong pistons fan as we will find out whenever i get crushed at trivia a little bit later
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
I came in in 2020 when they decided to trade Blake or no, sorry, wave Blake trade, Derek Rose buy into Sekou Dumbuya in the start of Killian Hayes. Yeah, that's all I've ever covered. That's all I've ever talked about on my podcast. That's all the film breakdowns I've ever got to do. So seeing a top 20 defense in a borderline top 20 offense at the same time is
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
is amazing for me i'm not a spoiled oklahoma city thunder fan who has the top three offense and defense and all the draft picks and all the best young players in the league it is i don't know if i can cuss or not but it is bs
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
It wasn't all great. God forbid you watch this interesting seven-footer with a crazy skill set that plays on the wing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Yeah, I mean, I said about the JB hiring, some people questioned it like, oh, he couldn't get teams over the hump. And I'm like, who cares? You know how far away this team is from getting over the hump in the playoffs? If if JB gets this team to the point where we're questioning his ability to get them through the second round of the playoffs, he he did his job like.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Build the statue, hopefully better than Dwayne Wade's, and then fire him and hire the coach that does get them over the hump. Because that's what this team needs. They need to go from almost unwatchable and non-competitive. to what we've seen through five games.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
I'm just terrified that I'm getting excited about it after five games and we're not going to see it for, I mean, it's not going to be 82 games, right? Like every team has their nights, but if they can do this for 75, 80% of their games this year, this is a real step forward because it's on the back of the two guys that I think matter the most in Cade and J.I.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Hey, talk about James. James Edwards just cuts bait and goes and covers the second best team in the East. I love James, but come on, man. Fight through it with the rest of us.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
OK, so here's the thing is I'm not here's why I think I do a decent job covering the team is I don't have a lot of fandom. The only the only team that I'm fanatic about are the Kansas City Chiefs in football like that. That's it. Like I'm a fanatic. I live, breathe, die like by them winning and losing. It ruins my night when they lose. With the Pistons, it's not as much. But here's the thing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
For your listeners who don't know, my real job is as a teacher. My students don't understand that concept. So do you know what it's like going to school every day teaching 12, 13, 14-year-olds? And the team that you podcast about is on a 20-game losing streak and a 22-game losing streak and a 26-game losing streak? Yeah. And mind you, these kids know nothing about basketball, actually.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
God love them. But they just come in and they just talk trash to you. And what am I supposed to say? Like, the team I cover sucks and there's nothing I can do about it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Andrew, I want to remind you, you came on Game Theory and I rigged the game for you to win. Do you remember that? How I helped you win?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
I just want to remind you before we start this game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Honestly, I was hoping you'd say they were all ridiculously hard, so everybody's like, oh, I didn't know that. Why would Bryce know that?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Okay, lucky number three. Lucky number three. Let's see if I can start off with the correct one. Okay, here we go.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Well, they just started the youngest lineup in their franchise's history, so they must have...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
So the first name that came to mind was actually Charlie Villanueva. Bryce, that is correct.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
So, no, it's funny. I've always wondered how you guys kept track of the numbers that have been selected so well. And now I see the little trick behind the scenes. I love it. Number eight.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
You really could have went easier. You could have just asked me the name of the Pistons mascot, and I still would have missed that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
No, no. Like, yeah, I probably wouldn't have got Hooper.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Well, his rookie season was... So his rookie season, he would have set the rookie record if it would have been an 82-game season. I'm pretty sure. Like, if you look at what he was making per game, if you take it out over 82 games, but it was that first year after the COVID year, so it was 72 or how many ever they played. Wow. He had a 50-point game too, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Because if it was five, I definitely would have went over.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
All right. Back to Bryce. So that means Contavious Caldwell Pope is also on this list. A great guess.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
I only have one more that I think might be on the list. I have two more.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
All right, Bryce, what was your other name? So I just know this guy got a ton of buckets for the Pistons. I don't know if there's enough threes, though. Jerry Stackhouse.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Well, that makes me feel better than that. Because I was like, I feel like this is the obvious one for me to say. So...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
No, that is incorrect. Drummond didn't play that much his rookie year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Because it was just the games he's actually played. So the games he missed don't matter.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
No, thanks, guys. I had a blast. Always down to join anytime you get the pistons on the wheel again or NBA draft or whatever. So thanks for having me. And I'm glad I didn't embarrass myself too much in trivia. This is two times, two times I haven't acted too much of a fool. So thanks, guys.