What are your hot takes for this draft? Just curious, since this draft has sort of become a little too predictable, and I know for a fact that something unexpected, like a Yang Hansen to Portland, or Cam Whitmore falling down from top-5 to pick 20 something might be in the books.
Now, from the 60-75 range, these are all guys I did somewhat minimal scouting on, or didn't really formulate an opinion on to give a proper ranking. For context, my big board consists of every player who was invited to the combine, except for players who weren't in CourtShare's database, or the bottom tier of guys who never got invited.
TIERS:
YER A WIZARD!! - For me, it's come down to AJ and DP for Washington, and as a Wizards fan, I still don't know who to choose.
BOOZER, WILSON, & WAGLER - I mean...
GUARDS GALORE - My personal ranking of Brown, Acuff, Philon, & Flemings.
LOTTERY CONSIDERATION - Guys who should probably go in the lottery.
PENDELUM PLAYERS - High upside guys with a not so bad floor.
FRINGE FIRST ROUNDERS - Guys who I project to go late first round to the early second round.
PROJECT PLAYERS - High upside guys with a pretty questionable floor/concerningly raw game as of right now.
COMBINE RISERS - Guys who showed out in the combine and improved their stock (in my opinion).
SECOND ROUNDERS - Fairly self-explanatory.
CONFLICTED - Didn't know where to put them, some might even end up as UDFA's or go back to college.
COMBINE INVITES - Guys who invited to combine, but I didn't really formulate that much of an opinion.
WEREN'T COMBINE INVITES - As I prefaced in the intro, these guys weren't invited to the combine, but I threw them into the board anyways.
Every year, we get someone like a Jaylen Wells or Paul Reed to come out of the second round that plays insanely well in their rookie year or slowly develops into a formidable player in the league. Who is a projected second rounder who can be a surprise?
My pick is Sergio De Larrea. He is probably one of the most underrated prospects in the draft. While the stats and analytics don't look pretty (9.5 PTS, 3.7 AST, 0.7 STOCKS), he has solid play for someone playing in two professional competitions with Valencia in Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. In terms of the eye test, he is nifty in the paint, with great court vision and playmaking ability and a solid, quick jumper (39% from 3) that all links back to his high IQ. To add on with the benefits of his high IQ, he heavily implements it in his game, patiently controlling the pace of the game and reading/fending off of coverages and being an off-ball weapon with his spacing. With the ball in his hands, he abuses the pick-and-roll, while also being a natural at reading the game and setting up many scoring opportunities with his passes. On the defensive end, his pressure and anticipation forces slip-ups, and eventual points off of turnovers, as well as being a solid offensive rebounder. De Larrea is versatile through his size, standing around 6'6-6'7, with an approximate 6'9 wingspan, making him fit as a guard, wing, or forward. The limitations with his game is his speed, as a lack of a first step limits his ability to go further into developing an even better creation game. Secondly, his on-ball defense, not his off-ball defense, or help defense is what brings him down. I have De Larrea in the 17th spot in my big board, but in a mock draft standpoint, I expect a much wider range, from mid 20s to going to the early 40s.
So what do you guys think? Who's going to be that second round standout?
YER A WIZARD!! - I'm going to be completely honest, now that we have the number one pick, I'm reconsidering who I really want to be a Wizard. AJ OR DP I CANT CHOOSE
BOOZER & WILSON - I mean... pretty self explanatory.
GUARDS GALORE - Made up of guards (or wings) all in the same range from 5-9, in my personal ranking.
PENDULUM PLAYERS - For these guys, it can go one of two ways. Either they develop into what their ceiling is, and somewhat reach their potential with high level production, or they phase out, and are out of the league or a benchwarmer and are spoken more as semi-busts. Basically how a pendulum works but with production and potential either being great or shit.
SAFE PICKS - These are players who I feel like aren't going to necessarily be a franchise guy, but could be consistent enough with their production to stay in the league as solid veterans.
FRINGE FIRST ROUNDERS - Guys who are interchange between going in the first or second round. Simple as that.
STOCK RISERS - I decided to have a little fun and be optimistic by predicting a few guys who's stock could be higher than what it is now, whether it's through the combine or extensive scouting, with GMs liking their game.
CONFLICTED - I had trouble putting all of these guys in a specific section since there isn't really a picture-perfect option, unless you count consistently being on a team just for the sake of it, so I just threw these guys into the deep end and called it a day. These guys are probably going to end up in the second round or even be a UDFA when it's all said and done.
As a Wizards fan, I think we get either 1 or 5, and getting 2-4 would honestly shock me. I also think one of Chicago, Memphis, or Dallas rises up to 2. I see Utah and Sacramento falling if that were the case.