#1 CAMERON BOOZER
I watched every Duke game in the NCAA tournament. I spent most of them wondering, one, does John Scheyer actually know what he is doing? (or is he just really good at faking it). And two, how exactly is Cam Boozers game supposed to translate to the NBA?
I am not very sure the NCAA tournament gave us answers to either of those questions. The plan for Duke seemed to be the same as for Flagg. Put Boozer all over the floor. Have him screen and roll to the elbows within the flow and isolate him at the top or in the post throughout the game.
A solid plan, yet easily exploited by UCONN in the most important game of the season. They switched every screen, dared Boozer to beat them 1v1 and he wasn't really able to do it. (Unlike Flagg, who had more skill.) He looked like a power forward from the 80’s trying to barrel through a modern defense. It was not a great look.
But after thinking about this, and trying to visualize what Boozer will look like in the NBA, it clicked. He is going to be like Julius Randle without any of the headaches. And that is the moment I moved him to number one on my board.
What team wouldn’t want the Julius Randle inside/outside mismatch nightmare skillset paired with world-class, jokic level intangibles? And that is why he is my number one pick.
#2 DARRYN PETERSON
I don’t totally understand what happened at Kansas with Peterson. The story I got was that he had taken too much creatine before a game, had full body cramps because of it, and developed PTSD over the possibility of it happening again. If that is the case, I am ok with chalking the whole thing up to boys will be boys.
What I do know about Peterson is that the first time I watched him at Kansas, I thought to myself, wow, this guys reminds me of a slightly shorter Kawahi Leonard mixed with Michael Jordan.
And so yea, I am going to rank this guy ridiculously high. I think there are some Dylan Harper parallels here. Not that their games are very similar but just in the, lets definitely not overthink this one. This dude looks like a freaking stud.
#3 AJ DYBANTSA
I am not a hater. Its a loaded draft. Would love to have a 6’9 guy with athletic upside and scoring ability. I just like the other two guys better.
#4 MIKEL BROWN JR.
I love these types of players. I have seen a lot of Mikel Brown Jr. and his game is exactly what an elite NBA guards game needs to be. He is an alpha. I love him. He was the best player in FIBA U19’s and it wasn't even close.
#5 CALEB WILSON
I love Caleb Wilson. The first game I watched him, I was like holy cow North Carolina has a freshman that looks like prime Kevin Garnett. This draft is ridiculous. Certainly has the highest possible ceiling in the entire draft. Obviously has a lot of development to do, but man he is a freak!
#6 KEATON WAGLER
I am a big Keaton Wagler guy. I have watched a lot of him and he is going to make it. He is so skilled, can hit every shot, make every pass. The IQ is awesome. I love him for the NBA.
#7 KINGSTON FLEMMINGS
I mean this draft is stacked. I watched Flemings a lot in AAU. Funny story, I was sitting there courtside and I was like whoa, who is this PG from San Antonio. He makes the right play every time. Oh wow, and he can score. Oh wow he is fast. Wait, he is getting by every player whenever he wants…. Look him up. Oh he is a five star recruit with offers from everywhere in the country ha.
Dude knows how to play. Draft him.
#8 DARIUS ACUFF
I like Darius Acuff. I just like a few of the other guards better. I do kind of buy into the whole, too small to finish at the rim consistently and not quick enough to do the same things in the NBA. But I don’t anticipate too many complaints for whoever drafts him. Dude is awesome. This draft is nuts.
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#9 Brayden Burries - I am just not a very big Burries guy. Oh he does everything! But what does he really do actually? I watched plenty of Arizona games and he never really pop’d for me. I would much rather take higher upside players.
#10 Nate Ament - I would take Ament over Burries. I watched a lot of Tennessee. Ament is raw and it is probably going to take a few years. But you see guys like this all of the time. They look way better on an NBA court with a ton of space then they do in the toilet bowl offense they were running at UT. Ament is reasonably quick, but there was nowhere to go with two bigs posting up underneath him.
#11 Karim Lopez - I have never seen him play but the description checks all the boxes that I want as an NBA team. Yes please.
#12 Yaxel Lendeborg - I am totally down to draft Lendeborg. I hope he ends up on a playoff team and I think he will be able to play in a playoff rotation.
#13 Aday Mara - No problem with Mara either. I think he is really good. 7’3 knows how to play. Can rebound and block some shots. If somebody needs a center, sure!
#14 Cameron Carr - I love Carr. He is super athletic and can hit threes and I liked him at Baylor. A guy I googled while watching, like, is this guy on NBA radars? Ok, yes he is. Great, draft him.
#15 Christian Anderson - Loved him at Texas Tech. He can really shoot and he is shifty. Draft him!
#16 Bennet Stirtz - Who doesn't love Stirtz. Draft him! At worst he will be able to run a second unit. He is going to be good for a long time. This draft is crazy loaded.
Mo Johson - boring! I guess if you need a big body. But bleh
Heines Steinbach - no idea. Never seen him, never heard of him.
Guys that can make an NBA rotation
I buy the Allen Graves stuff. He can be a rotation guy. Draft him!
I think Dailyn Swain will make a rotation
Ebuka Okorie is bucket! Rotation guy for sure
Jayden Quantice should be able to hang around. He can block those shots.
Labaron Philon, I don't know. I loved him in college, but he might have some struggles.
SLEEPERS
I have two big ones this year.
#1 Chris Cenac Jr - I just think this guy is way better then what we saw at Houston. First of all, to play as much as he did on a great Houston team was impressive. Second of all, this guy has some serious upside. He is mobile and can attack the basket. He can shoot and he has great size. I really think this is a guy that we look back at and wonder how he went so low. There is some Karl Anthony Towns in there. I am a big Cenac guy and would take him really high.
#2 Zubi Ejafor - How could this guy possibly not make an NBA rotation? He is awesome!!! The best player by a mile on a fantastic St. Johns team. Plays his freaking BALLS off. He is going to make it work, and somebody is going to be very happy with him in their rotation.
And two small ones…
#3 Alex Karaban - Hello!? All this guy does is win. Just let him run around out there. Dude knows how to play.
#4 Trevon Bazille - Clear lottery pick level talent with a bozo brain. He is projected in the 2nd round? I totally get it. He is a nutso. But he also is kind of like Lamar Odom. Hes got the talent.
