2024 Draft Prospects

[MasterIchiro]

Last draft we canceled Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore and devoted all resources to Scoot and Miller.

I cannot imagine that this is true, but if so that would be a reason to fire a GM. You don't just ignore prospects out of a fear of being spread too thin.

Totally not what I said. But ok.

[GoBobs]

Thought experiment for the injury replacement crew.
ie: Melo, Mark

Let's say we draft Clingan because we are worried about Mark, but Melo gets hurt. Does Clingan being there really do a lot for us?

Opposite side, let's say we draft Topic because we are worried about Melo, but Mark gets hurt. Does Topic being there help?

Essentially which is better? No Melo, but Mark and Clingan. or No Mark, but Melo and Topic.

It comes down to if you believe in Mann and Micic more at PG or Nick R and Grant Williams more at center.

Either way replacing Melo with Topic is a plan to replace a guy who was injured last year with a guy who was injured last year.

Replacing Mark with Clingan is a plan to replace a guy who was injured with a 7 footer who has a history of foot injury and can't shoot free throws.

We need more guys that box out so we stop getting pushed around by the Beef Stews of the world. Draft the guy who weights 300 lbs and plays physical.

Seconded. The only area where we disagree is that I think it makes more sense to trade down if we're going to target Edey rather than burning a top five pick on him.

I love Clingan and think he has even better defensive instincts than Mark and better ability to finish through contact down low. The two potential red flags you point out have given me pause as well; the injury track record so far is concerning. Additionally, he's going to be a hack a Shaq target in end game situations due to his abysmal free throw shooting. If not for those two things, I think he'd be my guy.

As for Edey, I think to function best, he needs to ideally be paired with a long and mobile stretch 4 (a Christian Wood, Jabari Smith or Johnathan Isaac type) which we really don't have. Doesn't mean we couldn't acquire that elsewhere or have Edey contribute productive minutes off the bench in the interim though while also serving as Mark insurance. He would be a massive upgrade over Richards

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If Brook Lopez can be 2nd in defensive player of the year voting I am not worried about Edey. He is going to get put on a poster plenty and he is going to get blown by plenty. He will make his share of monster blocks as well though.

It isn't like Trae Young where he will be a liability and never make a defensive play. It is more like he will be a liability but also sometimes make the play.

Guys who are driving to the hole will have to always account for where Edey is when he is in the game because he is capable of blocking anyone.

He was tied for 7th in the NCAA last year in total blocks, 3rd in defensive rebounds. No one was ahead of him in both categories.

[dmutombo321]

Edey's post defense is incredibly underappreciated too. As good as Mark is patrolling the paint in drop coverage, my two disappointments were how he routinely got bullied by stronger and more physical centers (Gafford, Capella, the aforementioned Isiah Stewart, etc) and his difficulty in finishing through contact when he had a defender established behind him.

Edey may be a liability guarding stretch 5s and in the pick and roll but nobody is bullying Edey down low in the post. Nor is anyone stopping him on offense.





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[GoBobs]

All these guys, but especially the guys we haven't seen as much off and are more like 2 years away. What matters the most is what is between the ears.

This interview with Edey after the championship loss tells you everything you need to know. After a historic run in the NCAA for an individual player, he says they lost because there were stretches where he needed to be better.

It would be so easy to blame others and most human beings tend to. Looking at yourself is the mindset of somebody that is going to work on getting better.

Watch on YouTube

This team needs maturity in the locker room. Grant Williams and Micic was a good start.

[JMAC3]

We are going to spend all this time talking about Edey for him to have the same career as Luke Kornet.

[MasterIchiro]

UConn went small and exposed Edey's limitations as a help defender. He's too slow. Not hard to play him off the court in the NBA. Though smaller, virtually every center in the NBA aside from Boban is faster than Edey. He was so slow to recover off backdoor cuts.

[JustBuzzin]

We are going to spend all this time talking about Edey for him to have the same career as Luke Kornet.

It's funny the hype he is getting. I would be shocked if he goes in the lottery.

[JMAC3]

Edey's post defense is incredibly underappreciated too. As good as Mark is patrolling the paint in drop coverage, my two disappointments were how he routinely got bullied by stronger and more physical centers (Gafford, Capella, the aforementioned Isiah Stewart, etc) and his difficulty in finishing through contact when he had a defender established behind him.

Edey may be a liability guarding stretch 5s and in the pick and roll but nobody is bullying Edey down low in the post. Nor is anyone stopping him on offense.





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Edey also played against college sized centers all year long. To assume he isn't getting bullied by Valanciunas, Embiid, Sabonis is a pretty far leap from him guarding Qudus Wahab and Clifford Omoruyi

[GoBobs]

UConn went small and exposed Edey's limitations as a help defender. He's too slow. Not hard to play him off the court in the NBA. Though smaller, virtually every center in the NBA aside from Boban is faster than Edey. He was so slow to recover off backdoor cuts.

They got him some for sure, but they also dominated every other matchup on the floor that didn't involve Edey. He still had 37 pts on 15-25 from the floor vs a projected top pick who's only real NBA level skill is defensive upside guarding the rim. He was easily the best player in that game.

[LofJ]

I seriously love that old school big men can still dominate in college, but it's a different game from the NBA. There's a reason why Jahlil Okafor busted out of the league, Kanter couldn't stick in one place, and Luka Garza is glued to the bench. They just don't have the foot speed to hang in the NBA. Check out Edey's alarmingly low steal rate to get an idea of how much he would struggle to defend in the NBA.

[JustBuzzin]

Best player in college, but there is a reason he's not even a projected lottery pick in a really weak draft. Scouts see it the draft experts see it. The dude is just too slow to survive at the NBA level. He literally had a game in the tournament vs NC State were he was legit ripped 7 times in the post. In a much faster league with quicker guards there is no way he can do anything in the post with his slow mechanics. This is no hate it's just the truth.

[MasterIchiro]

UConn went small and exposed Edey's limitations as a help defender. He's too slow. Not hard to play him off the court in the NBA. Though smaller, virtually every center in the NBA aside from Boban is faster than Edey. He was so slow to recover off backdoor cuts.

They got him some for sure, but they also dominated every other matchup on the floor that didn't involve Edey. He still had 37 pts on 15-25 from the floor vs a projected top pick who's only real NBA level skill is defensive upside guarding the rim. He was easily the best player in that game.

NO NEED FOR THIS

UConn''s whole plan (worked like a charm) was to erase Purdue's perimeter game, and let Edey try to beat them with 2 point baskets.

The one time Edey tried to kick out to shooters he heaved the ball over the shooter's head for a backcourt violation. Edey was also slow to react to double teams which UConn used sparingly to protect against kick outs. NBA defenders are going to poach him clean before he can even think to pass, and passing is an area of his game that is lacking.

There's a place for Edey, but he's not as valuable as Clingan nor Castle.

[yosemiteben]

Last draft we canceled Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore and devoted all resources to Scoot and Miller.

I cannot imagine that this is true, but if so that would be a reason to fire a GM. You don't just ignore prospects out of a fear of being spread too thin.

Totally not what I said. But ok.

Sorry, thought you were saying that we choose to have "a very narrow focus on 5-6 players" that is "more likely to help the scouts tease out the finer details and run deep dive analysis" and that we chose not to do that exercise for Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore so we could "devote all resources to Scoot and Miller."

If your point was that we actually looked at Cam Whitmore and Amen Thompson with the same depth of analysis as Scoot and Brandon, then I definitely misinterpreted what you were saying.

[MasterIchiro]

I cannot imagine that this is true, but if so that would be a reason to fire a GM. You don't just ignore prospects out of a fear of being spread too thin.

Totally not what I said. But ok.

Sorry, thought you were saying that we choose to have "a very narrow focus on 5-6 players" that is "more likely to help the scouts tease out the finer details and run deep dive analysis" and that we chose not to do that exercise for Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore so we could "devote all resources to Scoot and Miller."

If your point was that we actually looked at Cam Whitmore and Amen Thompson with the same depth of analysis as Scoot and Brandon, then I definitely misinterpreted what you were saying.

We looked at them deeply enough to cut ties.

Some prospects get only 1 audition/interview. Some get 2. Others get zero.

You do have to allocate different levels of analysis.

And we surely benefited from the prolonged narrow focus on 2 great prospects.

We will not be trading back.

[GoBobs]

UConn went small and exposed Edey's limitations as a help defender. He's too slow. Not hard to play him off the court in the NBA. Though smaller, virtually every center in the NBA aside from Boban is faster than Edey. He was so slow to recover off backdoor cuts.

They got him some for sure, but they also dominated every other matchup on the floor that didn't involve Edey. He still had 37 pts on 15-25 from the floor vs a projected top pick who's only real NBA level skill is defensive upside guarding the rim. He was easily the best player in that game.

What a load of ****.

UConn''s whole plan (worked like a charm) was to erase Purdue's perimeter game, and let Edey try to beat them with 2 point baskets.

The one time Edey tried to kick out to shooters he heaved the ball over the shooter's head for a backcourt violation. Edey was also slow to react to double teams which UConn used sparingly to protect against kick outs. NBA defenders are going to poach him clean before he can even think to pass, and passing is an area of his game that is lacking.

There's a place for Edey, but he's not as valuable as Clingan nor Castle.

NBA defenders will have to come from farther away to double because the floor is more spaced out. It will be easier for Edey to score in the NBA not harder.

People acting like these NBA centers are going to stop him are smoking the good stuff. If Clingan can't stop him you think Joker, Sengun, Sabonis or plenty of these other NBA centers who play no defense are going to stop him?

Plenty of know it all's said Sengun didn't have a place in the league due to footspeed. Same thing was said about Luka. Turns out those concerns were overstated.

[EmpireFalls]

I kind of want to tank next year so maybe we should take a raw guy like Holland.

[JustBuzzin]

I kind of want to tank next year so maybe we should take a raw guy like Holland.

25 draft looks nice, but if Melo/Mark can stay healthy we are most likely playing for a play in seed.

[Chapelchilla]

If we have Melo, Miles and Mark playing 60+ games each we are likely in the 5-10 range next year with a lotto picks production being the difference. Trading down seems fine with me and if not I think we need a guy with at least one elite skill - Reed, Sarr, Topic and maybe Clingan seem to have that. Unless one of the the developmental "jack of all trades, masters of none" really shines in the predraft process I think you get a guy with something definitely elite to work with.

[Snidely FC]

there is still incentive for one more year in the lottery

The Hornets still owe a top-14-protected first to the Spurs. If it does not convey next season, Charlotte will send San Antonio 2025 and 2026 second-round picks. Charlotte has seven second-round picks available.

[Walt Cronkite]

there is still incentive for one more year in the lottery

The Hornets still owe a top-14-protected first to the Spurs. If it does not convey next season, Charlotte will send San Antonio 2025 and 2026 second-round picks. Charlotte has seven second-round picks available.

Really betting on themselves to succeed...