Draft Thread 2018: LA Has The #25 & #47 Overall Picks... And #39 Now

DeAndre Ayton is my favorite prospect since Embiid. Terrific athlete with tremendous natural abilities.

 

He was one of the first guys I profiled in this thread and it was before he'd settled in to college. The draft analysts really, really want Doncic to be the guy this summer, but I think anyone who picks him over Ayton is making a massive mistake. Ayton might not come into the NBA on fire, but I suspect he might. Doncic to me looks good, but doesn't have the ceiling of Ayton. I think both have pretty high floors.

 

Gary Trent Jr. is another interesting name for us. He's the SG for Duke right now. His standing in most mock drafts is all over the place. Some have him in the teens and some have him at the end of the 1st round.

Pros: Silky, silky shooter. Smart player. Decent passer. His footwork as a scorer is pretty impressive at times. He knows how to find a little space on the floor to get his shot off.
Cons: Not very athletic, not inspiring defensively, and suspect ball-handling skills.

He could be a diamond in the rough because while he doesn't display much athleticism very often, I think he's got more athletic ability than he lets on. The big question is can he defend at the NBA level and I'm not certain of that. Again though, the question seems to be more effort and willingness than physical ability. Videos of him before Duke show a more complete basketball player.

Still his shooting is just tremendous. If he were able to compact his shot a little more to get it off a little faster I think he could be a really, really good player. He could honestly top out as a Klay Thompson-esque guy. He might be better served to stay one more year though. Klay stayed and learned good defensive principles.

 

Also looked into Troy Brown and Shake Milton.

Troy Brown- 6'7" SG/SF out of Oregon

Pros- Physically very strong, smart player, very good defender. He's shown a little shooting potential. He has a way of being unpredictable.
Cons- Shooting is inconsistent and it's a long stroke. Ball handling is good not great.

I compare him almost to Lance Stephenson in the way he can sometimes just find the weaknesses in a defense so effortlessly, but in a way that's wholely unpredictable. He gets to the rim pretty consistently, but he's not a high flier so he's got some interesting finishes around the rim. The shot is very suspect to me though. It takes a long time to go and has a little bit of a sling-shot to it.

Some mocks have Troy in the teens.

Shake Milton- 6'5" PG/SG out of SMU

Pros- Tall and very long for a guard, a great shooter, plus vision and passing ability.
Cons- Bean pole, effort comes and goes, can be lazy, good-not-great athlete.

I'm not sure of a good comparison to Shake. He can really light it up from outside. His jumper is unconscious when he has a chance to set his feet even though his landing is inconsistent (tends to have his legs drift apart). When things are tight he competes, but he tends to drift when the game isn't competitive and I don't like that. For all his length and height, he's not a great athlete, just a pretty good one. That length lets him find odd angles though attacking the glass sort of like Ingram.

Most mocks have him in the high twenties.

 

I don't want to undermine their breakdowns and whatnot, but I really value(d) what DE did. Now that they're with ESPN Insider, their content has really been gutted. Here's their list without the little analysis they do provide:

1. Doncic
2. Ayton
3. Bamba
4. Bagley
5. Jaren Jackson
6. Porter Jr.
7. Trae Young
8. Wendell Carter Jr.
9. Miles Bridges
10. Sexton
11. Mikal Bridges
12. Knox
13. Robert Williams
14. Troy Brown
15. Dzanan Musa Cedevita
16. Chandler Hutchison
17. Daniel Gafford
18. Lonnie Walker IV
19. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
20. Bruce Brown
21. Khyri Thomas
22. Trevon Duval
23. Anfernee Simons
24. Shake Milton
25. Mitchell Robinson
26. De'Anthony Melton
27. Keita Bates-Diop
28. Hamidou Diallo
29. Melvin Frazier
30. Landry Shamet
31. Brandon McCoy
32. Rodions Kurucs
33. Jalen Hudson
34. Jevon Carter
35. Grayson Allen
36. Chimezie Metu
37. Devonte' Graham
38. Jacob Evans
39. Aaron Holiday
40. Kevin Hervey
41. Rawle Alkins
42. Jalen Brunson
43. Arnoldas Kulboka
44. Bonzie Colson
45. Alonzo Trier
46. Amine Noua
47. Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk
48. Vincent Edwards
49. Ethan Happ
50. Alize Johnson
51. Ray Spalding
52. Mortiz Wagner
53. Matur Maker
54. Isaac Haas
55. Karim Jallow
56. Maximo Fjellerup
57. Dakota Mathias
58. Milik Yarbrough
59. Donte Grantham
60. Elie Okobo

 

I watch when I can. This draft seems pretty polarizing because the talent isn't nearly as deep as last year. Most mocks get very, very different after the first 8 or so guys.

Troy could very well be lottery talent. I'm just giving my impressions of what I've seen thus far. I think he's got a really solid feel for the game. He's the kind of guy the Lakers FO would probably pick: solid player without a real position. He needs to work on his shooting though. It's slow, cumbersome, and inconsistent.