2017 draft sleepers

Incredible trade by the Jazz to get Mitchell. Unbelievable. Jazz are high character and Mitchell was great with them pre-draft.

 

Dug around a bit on him... honestly he definitely flew under my radar.
Posted in the GARM... but he is a LOT like Semi, but with better athletic measurables, better defensive potential, and younger.
Where he's worse is in his shot translating to the NBA and being more of a definitive PF, instead of a PF/SF hybrid.

The last point could be a positive... though in today's NBA, those hybrids if they work out can be awesome. On the other hand, they often don't work out - it's like pick a damn position.

If Oliver had to pick a position, it seems to be clearly PF. If Semi had to pick a position it seems to be SF.

nbadraft.net had Oliver at 37 and Semi at 46. Draftexpress had Semi 23rd and Oliver 54th.

There's a ton of upside to this pickup ... because a lot of this is mental. Oliver seems to try to do too much way too often, which has led to a high turnover rate... instead of just making the smart play... and he doesn't always hustle 100%. Those are actually pretty huge red flags in the NBA when you are a borderline draftable player. But if he can learn to be in the right spot, quickly make the right decision, and give it 100% in his at first limited minutes, the kid has all the skills and athleticism to grow into a legit NBA rotation player.

 

The thing that made it even more incredible was the cost to move up 11 spots and INTO the lottery, was Trey Lyles. Of course, that speaks to how they f'd up that pick in 2015 (Lyles was picked 12th).

Maybe Lyles can turn it around... but while the measurables are there, he was a ho hum player at Kentucky, who was honestly just a BAD player in Utah who got worse his second year. He's young....

Not sure if Mitchell will pan out... but I have to applaud Lindsey on the move.

All of which makes me angrier about the Lou Williams trade in retrospect. I get the guy had some big 3 point games, and was great against the Thunder, relatively speaking. But he sucked against the Spurs, and, honestly, the bench in general was a more dangerous and better unit before Lou was added. Something from a chemistry perspective never clicked. Meanwhile we lost our first rounder and still have a $7 million contract on the books.

Heck, we could have used that first rounder to move Brewer or even Ryno for cap space.

I don't blame DM for the move... it definitely made sense and was a "cheap" pickup for a 6th MOTY type candidate. It just didn't work out like hoped, imo.

 

Semi has work ethic. He's a gym rat. Always working. This kid has motor problems. How do you fix that?

 

Like I said, how do you fix motor and bball iq? Show me other stars with those problems coming out of college that even made any kind of substantial career in the Association.

 

Who said he was a star?
The kid went undrafted. There's a reason.

Also, I think maybe you're using work ethic as a catch all phrase.

The weakness seem his motor. Slight different, but he might be in the gym 8 hours a day for all I know as a pro... but he just has a tendency to float at times in games.

How do you fix that? Not sure... I think its clearly been pointed out to him over and over again, and he knows it now, not being drafted. Either he'll have that chip on his shoulder and become more of a hustler... or not, and it likely won't work out then.

 

That boy Nick said he was a star.

And yes, work ethic and motor aren't the same thing but they are closely tied together. Motor is linked to both work ethic and bball iq

 

Fair enough... I just think he has clear and obvious potential. He's got NBA skill sets and size/athleticism.

I'm definitely with you on work ethic. But you just never know. It's why Skal went so low last year, and he still seems to just kind of "float" out there when he finally got time for Sac... but he gave results.

We shall see.

 

Yeah. We shall see on Skal. Has skills. But from what I know about him, once again, don't see it.

 

I think he's already proven he belongs in the league with his end of year play when finally given time. It's just a matter of can he improve and become consistent and how good.

Completely different subject... the Spurs, man. I don't know how seemingly the perfect guys "fall" to them every time.

 

Oh?

Better cross your fingers. They are on a mission to surround Kawhi with CP3, Paul George, and another superstar (I won't name) while keeping Simmons, Dedmon, and Pau.

Better hope that doesn't happen. Paul, Simmons, Kawhi, George......and a fifth guy. That is suffocating defense plus plenty of offense. And they're going for it.

 

Exactly. And Derrick White is a perfect complimentary type player to that. A pure shooter... going to an organization that will only further help there, and a really smart bball player.

Obviously I don't see him as a Danny Green replacement... yet... but could he become that if they have to move Green to make cap space?? it's possible...

 

I have no problem giving him a chance. It cost us nothing but a few measly Benjamins.

 

Undefeated said he was expected to be signed by Rox?

 

Aside: I would've put Bam Adebayo on this list except I couldn't get a bead on his shooting. If he continues to strike the three he'll be one of the best players in this draft.

 

It's still just summer league, but John Collins is really starting to stand out a ton... and he was relatively unheralded in the draft process - I mean he went 19th which I think was a drop below projections.

Swanigan has also been good. I'm still not sure if it will translate against the big boys, but increasingly possible I guess.

 

This guy is ballin. Very solid.

 

Jonah ball'n



Reminds me of a more athletic, better all around Horry with a very good handle. Don't see what the Sixers are gonna do with him with Simmons and their bigs. I think he's got starter to star NBA potential.