[Cactus Jack]

Wanted to give my thoughts on some names that we haven't discussed (Sheppard, Dillingham) or that aren't getting as much press (Risacher, Sarr, Clingan, Castle).


Potential Impact Players:

Ron Holland:
If healthy, he'll show that his G League numbers were more of a reflection of his relatively young age (he has an early birth month), being banged up, and being asked to carry too much of the offensive load.


Solid Rotation Pieces:

Ja'Kobe Walter:
Defense and intangibles offset any deficiencies in his offensive game and make him a safe selection if you are looking for someone who'll probably be in the league in a few years, as he'll have a role in most systems.


Johnny Furphy:
The Aussie isn't a sure thing. I wouldn't want to ask him to go get 20, but good positional size and a high floor given what he does well makes him worth taking a chance on for a team with other pieces in place. He doesn't knock it out of the park, but you could do much worse.


High Upside:

Matas Buzelis:
Hurt his stock in the G-League but 6'8 players with his shooting and offensive skillset will get plenty of opportunities. Probably needs to find himself in the right organization/system, and I'm not sold on it being Detroit. May be a "second city" player, whether as part of a trade package or as a free agent signing.


Ulrich Chomche:
Youngest player in the draft-- barely met the cutoff date. Hasn't been playing very long, so he's obviously raw. Born in Cameroon, and will draw extremely unfair comparisons to Embiid, who he is nowhere close to. Still, he's a 6'10, 230 lb., gifted athlete who leaps well and has good timing & instincts. If an organization really commits to developing him, he could become a force if he develops offensively.


Tidjane Salaun:
I see no middle ground here. The 6'9 Frenchman is either a Nando De Colo or Nicholas Batum; either way, it's going to take two to three years to see which. I can see why a team looking to tank next season stashes him and cuts bait later if he doesn't hit.


Too Risky:

Dalton Knecht:
Very limited upside for the range he's projected to go in. Two seasons of JUCO where he averaged 13 then 23, two seasons of low D1 at Northern Colorado where he averaged 9 and 20, and a Super Senior year at Tennessee where he averaged 20. I'm not sold on an overlisted 6'5 two guard that is already 23 years old and doesn't exactly make it look easy. At best, he's got a limited window as a guy who isn't overly athletic, will struggle to defend, and doesn't have a second or third skill that stands out.


Zach Edey:
Maybe he's worth a late first or early second round flyer for a team who wants to bring him off the bench and see if he can carve out a role. If you are an established front office that commits your 8th-12th roster slot to an experiment on a college star with name recognition that could turn into a Roy Hibbert, you won't take as much heat when you miss. If I'm in a front office role and can't afford to miss, there's no way I'd bank my career on him.


Overall:

You'll notice a trend in weak drafts over the past two decades-- an American crop that doesn't have a bona fide #1 or clear pecking order early and foreign-born players who end up amongst the best picks. France, Canada, and Australia continue to grow their grassroots systems while AAU culture can poison domestic talent. Look for this to be another 2013 (Giannis, McCollum, Gobert, Steven Adams) or 2014 (Embiid, Wiggins, Jokic, Smart, Clarkson).