2021 NBA Draft Safari

["MVP"]

Barnes is a stud. I think he's a top-3 pick most years. Since the top of this class is legitimately loaded, he'll probably fall to the 6-8 range. ESPN last had him at 11 in their mock. As I said, not a bad consolation prize if the Cavs don't have the good fortune to move up to take someone like Mobley or Kuminga.

Not often you see 6'9, athletic point guards that dominate games defensively fall outside the top 5.

He also seems to have the same level of intensity and focus as Sexton and Okoro. Seems like a perfect fit for the culture we're trying to build.

 

[Nathan S]

Freshly updated projections for all college prospects. Some very quick notes:

-Barnes is widening his lead at the top. Barring a late-season collapse, he'll very likely be the highest rated college prospect in this class.

-I added another column to my sheet, which is the change in rating since I last updated projections. Barnes and Liddell have made the biggest gains among top prospects, with McBride, Jackson, and Boston all inching upwards as well. Cooper, Champaigne, and Wagner all lost a little ground.

-I color coded my uncertainty column. I used a different color scheme than the other columns because uncertainty could be a good or a bad thing depending on context. For a players with high ratings, a low uncertainty may be a good thing as it indicates high confidence that the player will be above average (e.g. Josiah-Jordan James). For players with middling or lower ratings, a high uncertainty may be a good thing as it leaves open the possibility that the player will significantly outperform his projection (e.g. Jalen Johnson)

-As always, these ratings are best taken in context with qualitative prospect rankings, not taken as a rankings in and of themselves.

 

[Smooth]

What the Cavs lack most behind Sexton and Garland right now is play making, so however that comes into play they have to seriously consider it... I wouldn’t take it over a forward to slide into the 3/4 spot but it’s right up there..

Call me crazy but add a veteran deadeye shooter on the bench (Wayne Ellington or Reggie Bullock at worst) and putting a bench unit of Barnes, Bullock/Ellington, Windler, Prince and Nance out there would be pretty fun to watch..

 

[Muffinalt]

Barnes is a stud. I think he's a top-3 pick most years. Since the top of this class is legitimately loaded, he'll probably fall to the 6-8 range. ESPN last had him at 11 in their mock. As I said, not a bad consolation prize if the Cavs don't have the good fortune to move up to take someone like Mobley or Kuminga.

Not often you see 6'9, athletic point guards that dominate games defensively fall outside the top 5.

He also seems to have the same level of intensity and focus as Sexton and Okoro. Seems like a perfect fit for the culture we're trying to build.

He seems like such a nice fit for us. Compensates for Sextons weaknesses, and like you say seems to be this years Collin, Okoro.

Just that damn shooting. Id still be very very happy if we ended up with him.

 

[I'mWithDan]

Lottery temp check.......

Pick ranks are from the 2.0 consensus mock. So not my ranks, just looking at where guys are slotting and how my stuff views them.

Scottie Barnes.....just steadily climbing. Looking at historical data and his skill set, it is crazy he's not a top 3 guy yet. I would put him #2 behind Mobley currently. A strong finish and I could see him being the #1 player in this draft.

Looking at PDIFF numbers......the stone cold lock top 3 should be Mobley / Barnes / Green to me.

Green's performance is just so impressive relative to his impact, age and the competition he is playing against. I would be ecstatic with a top 3 pick in this draft (please ).

Overall......just a hell of a draft though. Even in the consensus mock, which tends to lag scouts, 9 of the 14 guys are above median players. That is wild, relative to a typical draft. This isn't even showing guys I think should be lottery picks like Wagner, Butler, etc. It is possible the final big board will be almost 14 guys, all above that PDIFF median and all actual lottery picks. The overall quality of this draft, 1-14, is just really high.

Cade's profile is still just so severely hampered by turnovers.

 

[I'mWithDan]

Some might call this blasphemous but guys

Their net impact and the way they score in college is just really similar. If Barnes learns to shoot, he might be Kawhi.

 

[Nathan S]

Really solid games by Wagner and Springer today. Love to see it.

 

[Ohioplayer00]

Lottery temp check.......

Pick ranks are from the 2.0 consensus mock. So not my ranks, just looking at where guys are slotting and how my stuff views them.

Scottie Barnes.....just steadily climbing. Looking at historical data and his skill set, it is crazy he's not a top 3 guy yet. I would put him #2 behind Mobley currently. A strong finish and I could see him being the #1 player in this draft.

Looking at PDIFF numbers......the stone cold lock top 3 should be Mobley / Barnes / Green to me.

Green's performance is just so impressive relative to his impact, age and the competition he is playing against. I would be ecstatic with a top 3 pick in this draft (please ).

Overall......just a hell of a draft though. Even in the consensus mock, which tends to lag scouts, 9 of the 14 guys are above median players. That is wild, relative to a typical draft. This isn't even showing guys I think should be lottery picks like Wagner, Butler, etc. It is possible the final big board will be almost 14 guys, all above that PDIFF median and all actual lottery picks. The overall quality of this draft, 1-14, is just really high.

Cade's profile is still just so severely hampered by turnovers.

You can talk about his TOs but the games of his I watched his TOs never come from playing out of control....most of them come from trying to make a play for a teammate. The kid plays under control, NEVER forces up a bad shot, rebounds, great court vision and gets to the middle and to the rim with ease! He WILL be #1 pick in the draft. And no matter where the Cavs draft if he’s there when their pick comes up you take him!

On another quick topic....who is Kofi Cockburn of Illinois? That’s a BIIIIIIIIG BOY! 17 points and 9 rebs in one half! They’re calling him Baby Shaq!

 

["MVP"]

Watching FSU-UNC. Every time I watch FSU, Barnes just strikes me as the player that could make everything the Cavs are building make sense. There was just a scramble for a rebound that Barnes wasn't really involved in, and Barnes smartly boxed out a UNC player to get inside position so when the ball was batted out, he was able to grab it. It's the little things, but his BBIQ is through the roof.

 

[Ohioplayer00]

Cade taking over! His teammates have missed at least 8-9 point blank shots that he has thrown them a dime on! 25 points 10 rebounds and what I like about him is he doesn’t let the non ball handling players bring the ball...(unlike Sexton and Garland)! When those players grab a rebound he’s right there to get the ball....he doesn’t run away from the ball down court
One thing he is not good at is splitting the double team.

 

[MirORich]

Cade taking over! His teammates have missed at least 8-9 point blank shots that he has thrown them a dime on! 25 points 10 rebounds and what I like about him is he doesn’t let the non ball handling players bring the ball...(unlike Sexton and Garland)! When those players grab a rebound he’s right there to get the ball....he doesn’t run away from the ball down court
One thing he is not good at is splitting the double team.

great game from him today.

40 points
12-21 FG
3-8 3P
13-14 FT
11 Rebounds
3 Steals
2 Blocks

Final few minutes of regulation and OT, he had 20 points, 10-10 FT, and had a block and steal. About a clutch of a performance as you can get in a tight game, especially the 10-10FT all taken with the game swinging between 1 point down to 4points up of OKST

 

["MVP"]

Yea that's a pretty impressive game from Cade. Man this draft is loaded.

 

[MirORich]

With Barnes on the bench UNC has stormed out of the gates on a 13-3 run to start the second half. Let’s see what type of turnaround FSU can orchestrate once Barnes checks in, which should be soon after this tv timeout

 

[Derek]

Jalen Green 9-14 (6-8 on 3's) for 26 points in a win over the Charge yesterday

Kuminga 8-18 (2-6 on 3's) for 20 points and 13 boards

Jalen Green through 11 games:
18.3 ppg
4.2 rpg
2.5 apg
2.5 to
1.5 steals
.548 2PT%
.424 3PT%
.778 FT%

FTr is kind of low, but he's still boasting a robust .649 TS% and .584 eFG%

 

[I'mWithDan]

Jalen Green 9-14 (6-8 on 3's) for 26 points in a win over the Charge yesterday

Kuminga 8-18 (2-6 on 3's) for 20 points and 13 boards

Jalen Green through 11 games:
18.3 ppg
4.2 rpg
2.5 apg
2.5 to
1.5 steals
.548 2PT%
.424 3PT%
.778 FT%

FTr is kind of low, but he's still boasting a robust .649 TS% and .584 eFG%

FTR you’d like to see for sure......with Green though, the one truly unique marker is that scoring prospects tend to not do a whole lot else. So seeing him posting 4 AST and 3 BLK/STL per 100 is pretty wild.

I think he is the one guy I have been most impressed with this year, maybe save Barnes. Just the package of size, athleticism and refined skill.