u/Nickname-CJ

For context I’m a 23yo and after spending time in college as an athlete, working for my parents, and trying some odd jobs, I finally found a job interesting enough to move to a new city by myself. The job I moved for hasn’t really been working out for me and I’ve been struggling so I’m getting ready to leave it.

Having grown up around entrepreneurship and successful business for the majority of my life, I’ve been trying to start my own media production company. I’ve got lots of experience with it and invested into the equipment I needed. But starting it off and getting clients has been pretty difficult while trying to balance my current job where I work too much for not enough pay.

At this point, should I try and stockpile as best as I can, pivot to another job, or just go all in on my company?

The draft has concluded and for now, we know where these young men will begin their nba careers. Just like last year, I want to give my predictions on what each player will look like as a rookie and try and contextualize why. If there are any trades I missed please let me know so I can correct them.

This year’s class was surprisingly chalk and most teams drafted fairly well considering where the prospects were generally ranked, their fit, and team timelines.

Last years predictions
2024 predictions
2023 predictions
2022 predictions

1. WAS - AJ Dybantsa

- 20.1ppg 5.3rpg 3.7apg 1.3stl 0.3blk 30.9mpg
- 48.2/32.8/81.4
AJ comes in as a 2nd or 3rd scoring option for the wizards behind AD and Trae. He won’t be burdened with extreme usage right away, allowing him to focus on quality scoring, and hopefully better defensive effort.

2. UTA - Darryn Peterson

- 17.9ppg 4.1rpg 2.8apg 1.3stl 0.5blk 29.4mpg
- 43.5/36.8/82.1
Similar to Ace Bailey last year, DP gets to work Will Hardy’s system with a lot of off ball action and high quality shots while getting way more on-ball usage. As long as health isn’t an issue, he should be a solid player on both ends of the floor for the Jazz.

3. MEM - Cameron Boozer

- 19.1ppg 8.7rpg 4.8apg 1.2stl 0.7blk 31.2mpg
- 52.5/36.2/82.3
Cam has the easiest path to usage and the ROTY. Whether the Grizzlies trade Ja Morant or not, Cam will likely have the ball in his hands the most on the team. Playing with other legit scoring options will open up his passing game considerably, while simultaneously making his scoring load easier due to the threat of the pass.

4. CHI - Caleb Wilson

- 17.9ppg 7.5rpg 2.6apg 1.1stl 1.0blk 31.7mpg
- 51.1/28.3/69.5
Similar to Cam, Caleb has some of the easiest path to usage this season. The Bulls look like a transition heavy team, and Caleb should thrive in the new system. Josh Giddey will get him a lot of quality looks while he figures out how to play more on the wing.

5. LAC - Keaton Wagler

- 13.3ppg 3.1rpg 3.2apg 0.6stl 0.3blk 26.2mpg
- 38.2/34.6/82.8
Wagler will likely be a pseudo 6th man this season while he learns how to adjust to the NBA game. He’ll probably start l mainly off-ball before getting more touches as the PG.

6. BRK - Mikel Brown Jr.

- 15.6ppg 2.8rpg 5.1apg 1.0stl 0.1blk 28.3mpg
- 40.1/37.3/83.2
The Nets are going to lead the league in 3PA and Mikel will likely slide into the starting lineup within the first two months. He should get plenty of burn as the best prospect of the other guards and be a 1st team all-rookie candidate.

7. SAC - Darius Acuff Jr.

- 15.7ppg 3.5rpg 6.3apg 0.6stl 0.3blk 32.6mpg
- 37.5/34.4/84.9
Acuff is going to get the ball in his hands a lot this season and he’ll get the chance to show everything. Athletic defenders will be able to zero in on him because of the lack of other real scorers, but being with Sabonis might help him out a bit.

8. ATL - Kingston Flemings

- 8.3ppg 3.4rpg 3.9apg 1.3stl 0.4blk 24.7mpg
- 42.8/31.8/82.3
With CJ McCollum on the team, Kingston should be off the bench for a while while adjusting to nba defenses. The 3PT shot should take some time to come around but I expect some hot stretches towards the end of the season.

9. DAL - Morez Johnson Jr.

- 8.6ppg 5.6rpg 1.2apg 0.8stl 0.7blk 23.9mpg
- 54.3/33.7/73.7
The Mavericks should free up front court space by getting off of Gafford. Doing this would get Morez some quality minutes towards the trade deadline. He’ll play a similar role to CMB.

10. MIL - Brayden Burries

- 12.1ppg 3.7rpg 2.4apg 0.9stl 0.2blk 26.8mpg
- 44.8/34.1/77.8
Tyler Herro is likely getting moved at some point either in the off season or before the trade deadline. Burries will either play next to Rollins or off the bench.

11. GSW - Yaxel Lendeborg

- 13.5ppg 7.4rpg 3.3apg 1.0stl 0.7blk 29.3mpg
- 55.3/44.2/83.1
Yaxel gets the chance to slot into the Draymond role with more scoring opportunities while playing with Steph curry.

12. OKC - Aday Mara

- 4.7ppg 4.3rpg 1.6apg 0.4stl 1.3blk 17.8mpg
- 63.4/0/60.8
Mara gets to play 3rd string C and will provide strong impact in limited minutes. Probably takes JayWill’s minutes.

13. MIL - Nate Ament

- 10.2ppg 4.1rpg 1.7apg 0.7stl 0.4blk 23.1mpg
- 35.2/25.3/73.9
The season will start very poorly for Ament. He’ll get decent minutes while shooting horrifically before finding a hot streak sometime in February.

14. CHA - Hannes Steinbach

- 7.3ppg 7.5rpg 1.0apg 0.8stl 0.6blk 23.2mpg
- 49.8/22.7/70.6
Hannes should get solid back up minutes behind Moussa before getting some starting opportunities later in the season. The rebounding will translate right away, but I think the finishing and defense will behind for a bit.

15. CHI - Dailyn Swain

- 6.1ppg 3.1rpg 1.3apg 0.8stl 0.2blk 18.6mpg
- 41.8/22.7/84.7
With the amount of wings that Chicago has, Dailyn probably won’t see the floor much to start off. But later off in the season, he should likely be able to find minutes on the wing. The shooting will probably be rough this season.

16. OKC - Bennett Stirtz

- 6.3ppg 2.0rpg 3.2apg 0.6stl 0.2blk 17.8mpg
- 49.5/42.4/78.4
With OKC offloading Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe some guard minutes should’ve opened up. Stirtz should be able to find high impact minutes similar to how Cason Wallace did in his rookie season.

17. DET - Ebuka Okorie

- 13.2ppg 2.3rpg 2.7apg 0.9stl 0.1blk 24.6mpg
- 42.9/33.8/86.3
With Detroit being desperately in need of ballhandlers and creators, Okorie should be able to find a role and significant minutes pretty early. He can function as both a score and a combo guard off the bench.

18. CHA - Christian Anderson Jr.

- 10.7ppg 2.1rpg 5.6apg 0.8stl 0.2blk 27.5mpg
- 38.6/36.2/88.3
With LaMelo Ball being traded this opens a huge minutes for Anderson. Since he struggled in college to get to the rim, those challenges will likely still be in the NBA. He’ll get a large usage share and likely be all-rookie.

19. TOR - Allen Graves

- 4.5ppg 2.9rpg 1.0apg 1.0stl 0.4blk 13.6mpg
- 38.4/35.0/75.2
A guy who’s kind of redundant with many of the players on the roster, it might be difficult for Graves to see much time. He’ll probably get some good burn in the G-League.

20. SAS - Jayden Quaintance

- Redshirt Rookie
I think the spurs will sit him for the year to ensure he gets a full recovery.

21. MEM - Karim Lopez

- 8.1ppg 4.2rpg 1.0apg 0.6stl 0.7blk 20.5mpg
- 44.2/27.3/68.6
With the Grizzlies rebuild, Karim will get more minutes than most late 1st Round picks. He’ll slot in as a backup 3/4 and probably show some interesting on-ball flashes.

22. PHI - Labaron Philon Jr.

- 7.3ppg 1.8rpg 2.7apg 0.5stl 0.1blk 16.2mpg
- 41.8/33.3/80.2
Philly has a decent number of guards on the roster and Philon will likely take some time to fully out play them

23. ATL - Zuby Ejiofor

- 3.2ppg 2.0rpg 0.6apg 0.5stl 0.5blk 13mpg
- 55.4/25.0/65.0
Low minutes and low usage will probably get him in the g-league this season.

24. LAL - Cameron Carr

- 9.3ppg 2.8rpg 0.8apg 0.5stl 0.6blk 19.3mpg
- 40.8/35.4/74.8
Carr probably replaces any Knecht minutes as well as some of Kennard’s. Good off-ball player and will thrive next to Luka.

25. DAL - Sergio De Larrea

- 3.5ppg 1.2rpg 1.3apg 0.4stl 0.1blk 9.3mpg
- 35/35/70
Assuming he even comes to the states this season, Sergio likely sees more g-league minutes than not.

26. SAS - Tarris Reed Jr.

- 4.7ppg 4.0rpg 0.7apg 0.5stl 1.0blk 17.9mph
- 54.7/0/58.7
With the Spurs being desperately in need of backup bigs, Reed probably gets decent minutes; taking either Kornet’s minutes or someone else.

27. BOS - Chris Cenac Jr.

- 3.5ppg 4.1rpg 0.3apg 0.6stl 0.6blk 13.6mpg
- 64.3/30.6/70.2
Boston needs significant big man minutes and Cenac can likely find a role off the bench as an energy big who can space the floor.

28. BRK - Joshua Jefferson

- 5.9ppg 3.2rpg 1.2apg 0.5stl 0.3blk 16.7mpg
- 38.7/25.9/68.3
With Brooklyn getting Julius Randle, Jefferson probably gets a lot of G-League reps with the ball to develop stronger playmaking.

29. SAC - Alex Karaban

- 4.1ppg 2.0rpg 0.3apg 0.2stl 0.3blk 14.4mpg
- 33.9/34.2/74.9
Karaban will have to learn how to play on the NBA 3pt line despite being a strong shooter at UCONN. Probably gets decent rotation minutes

30. PHO - Koa Peat

- 2.4ppg 1.5rpg 0.3apg 0.3stl 0.4blk 10.1mpg
- 45/0/60
G-League Demon

Potential 2nd Round Standouts:

- Isaiah Evans
- Ryan Conwell
- Henri Veesaar

Hey everyone. I’m a videographer and photographer who just recently moved to Portland and I’m looking for work. I’m new to the city so I’ve only recently gathered my bearings and got my affairs in order.

If anyone is looking for someone to do legit video work, photo sessions, marketing, advertising, or anything like that, message me. If you know anyone who also might, that would be extremely helpful as well.