NBA Draft Preview - What should the Raptors do at 19? - w/ Ersin Demir

And we are talking NBA draft 2026. We're going to be talking about key takeaways from the NBA draft combine, key withdrawals, players who are rising up draft boards, favorites, risers, and potential deep prospects to look out for. We're going to be talking about positions, specifically point guards, top point guards for the Toronto Raptor to look at, 19 top wings, top forwards, and top centers. And then we are going to be doing midway through the show, we're going to be doing a mock draft. We're going to go from 1 to 30. We're not going all the way to the uh second round. We're going to go from 1 to 30. NBA mock draft. Myself and Ericson. Erison is one of my favorite draft people. People in this community know him. You know where to find him. His draft stack uh link is right there. It's also in the description. Erison, how are you doing?

>> Hey Rob, thanks again for having me on, man. I was looking forward to this one all week. Shout out to you. Shout out to Raptors Nation. I'm doing well, man. I'm excited for the draft and for the first time in my life, believe it or not, I'm going to visit the states. I'm just going there for the experience on draft night in uh

>> You're going to the draft.

>> Be there.

>> Yeah. Yeah, I'm going to go there for the first time.

>> Oh, man.

>> I feel like a real tourist in New York City on draft.

>> That's fun. That's fun. Are you going to be in the building?

>> Yeah, in the building. I'm just going for the experience.

>> Oh, you're very impulsive of me. You're going to be with a whole bunch of Nick fans who are going to boo every international player.

>> You know, shout outs to Kristoffs Porzingis.

>> Okay.

>> With them.

>> You're going to boo? You're going to boo the internationals. Okay. All right.

>> Okay. So, first and foremost, let's start with key takeaways from the NBA draft combine. There have been some guys who measured very well, some guys who measured maybe not so well. So, let's start with what were your key takeaways from the NBA draft combine?

>> That first one is Morris Johnson, man. I think he made himself the most money at the comeback. The way that he was talked about as a kind of a utility port on the side, which was crazy. He's what 6'10" and with the way he moves. Yeah, man. He was the biggest winner of the comeback. And some of these guys measured out very well. I think Boozer is another one. I don't I'm not worried about him at all. And I'm not the guy that know this athletic testing and everything. I'm not valuing that much, but there's one sleeper who's going to be making real B. Aaron and Krummer from Tennessee State.

>> Okay. What kind of buzz?

>> We're talking like second round, first late first round buzz.

>> Nah, second round. Second round. Maybe one of those out of the nowhere. He's more of a a Keon Ellis type of guy. And I like the comment in terms of, you know, I expected quite the the results that came were expected. Some guys, they really made themselves some money, but I think Morz is one of those guys that really stood out to me. I mean, you know, we're watching the NBA playoffs right now. We're down to four teams. You know, we got the Knicks, we got the Cavaliers. There's so many examples. The Spurs and the OKC Thunder. There's so many examples of guys who are on these teams right now contributing major minutes who were totally slept on. Sam Merrill, right? Sam Merrill totally changes the floor for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He comes in. Dean Wade, very slept on. Isaiah Hartenstein. Alex Caruso.

>> Yeah.

>> Like you go down the list. Devin Vel was a, you know, later guy. You know, you can go Kell Johnson, late first round pick, right? Obviously, it helps to nail the WBY, Steph Castle, and, you know, uh, Dylan Harper picks. It helps to hit on Carter Bryant. It helps to It helps to nail your lottery picks, but I think great organizations, it's always going to come down to what do you do in the middle of the draft to the late end of the draft. Can you find those? That's the guy, AJ Mitchell. Now, you may not know this, but the Toronto Raptors passed on AJ Mitchell, not once, not twice, but three freaking times uh a few years ago. Some people might be doing some counting and be like, "No, no, no, it was twice." No, I assure you it was three times. The Toronto Raptors had the 31st pick. They had at the trade deadline the 29th pick, and they had the 19th pick. AJ Mitchell goes 38. Now, there's a little nature nurture argument of would he have really developed without their shooting coach, without their winning culture, etc., etc. I have no idea, but I know that this guy is super talented and he is swinging a series at some point. Like, he might start tonight. He might actually start tonight. That is ridiculous. Like, we're talking two years and he was a second round pick last year. And what a contract. They have they have him for three more year. They have them for two more years after this at less than $2 million. That is what great organizations do. They find these players. So obviously when we talk about the when we look at the mock draft, when we talk about the overall strength of this draft, at least part of it is obviously like we're talking about those top four guys, but so much of it is like what is in the middle of this draft? What is at the end of this draft? So you know, um Baba Miller, how are we feeling about Baba Miller right now? There's another one, man. But he's a little bit more complicated maybe for later in terms of, you know, the physicality and the way again the the the lateral pace and how his body's developed and how he's moving. That's another value riser. But again, he's from my example, he's kind of, you know, a little bit further in terms of, you know, being in the NBA role compared to Morz who has a specific role already instead of Baba Miller who has to be a little bit more utilized. What would you think would be a fair comp for Baba Miller? I heard somebody say Giannis onto the Kmpo and I nearly spit out my coffee. I was like, "Okay." Let's Let's not be crazy. Everyone is Giannis now, you know. Caleb Wilson is Giannis. Everyone's Giannis.

>> I think Paul Reed is one, man. I think Paul Reed is one. He's the taller Paul Reed. Paul Reed is that, you know, uh that utility to tools guy and his role is to be a complimentary piece. And Bubble Mill is going to be the same thing. I think

>> B defensive.

>> I think he the way he moves his body, he will learn how to defend in the NBA. But yeah, he switched teams so much, man. He's really context reliant. And his freshman year at Florida State, he had a ridiculous ban of 20 games. You remember? Because he took a couple of thousand dollars it was from Florida State as a reimbursement

>> and then he was suspended 20 games. So that freshman year it really lost it kind of messed up his development but he was very good this season when I wrote about him as well the phys the physical tools are clearly there but he's more so uh if you sign him on a two-way he does well year one yeah there man you just give him a spot

>> I think it's weird because with Baba it's different context now obviously with the transfer portal guys are transferring transferring transferring I don't like the situation I to go somewhere else. I don't think it's the worst thing in the world. There's pros and cons to both sides, right? If you think about the pro and con of being in different situations, it's like, okay, maybe you never get the continuity of going and developing under one coach, but you do get the influence of three different coaches, three different systems, three different structures. And at least for the Toronto Raptors, they really do value this. Like they've always valued guys who played different positions growing up who got you know they value guys who went from Jo to the NBA like I don't know

>> uh Jonathan Jonathan

>> mobile exactly

>> right like Jonathan mobile is a great example of like a very weird development path right um even even Colin Murray Boils this was not a fivestar recruit you know this is a guy who's come up playing different positions and with mobile at least you know like he played point guard in high school So this kind of like Baba Miller is very interesting from the Raptors perspective because he's played in different situations. He's had a very unique development path. He's played professionally overseas and you know he grew up playing a little bit of point guard. So this is a very interesting thing. We have 6'11" guy with a lot of point guard skills. This could be interesting. It could also be a bust honestly. You know he could definitely bust. Um, yeah, in terms of this overall draft strength, let's talk about, you know, we walked into this draft cycle with like tremendous depths, but now we've had a lot of withdrawals. Which withdrawals to you, like I know there have been so many, you know, which withdrawals to you most hurt this drafts? Like was it Creas? Like was it Condan? Like the the depth is evaporating right now. Like I was thinking we might get a role player at 50. Now I'm like I don't know if there's an NBA prospect at 50. Um, which draft withdrawals do you feel hurt this draft stock the most?

>> Well, it go it goes both ways because last year was a good example. A lot of guys came back and I expected the same for this year.

>> Okay.

>> And looking at later on in the season, Patrick and Gonga going back to Duke made more sense to me because yeah, man, he played alongside Boozer. Next year is going to be a little bit different. They will expect more from him. That's a good contest to come back. But these Florida guys, yeah, man, they have the continuity. They have coach. Why would they go to the NBA now? That spot will wait for them. Although, I'm not really shocked with the the decision that has been made because let's compare it to the 25th pick. College teams will pay a much better money, man. So, I was hoping for more of these older guys just to return and, you know, bank on next year because the death will will never be like in the pre-NL era in my opinion. It will never be the same again. You have just your underassman, juniors standing out, and your seniors who are forced to leave. I think that's the new new future.

>> I mean, at some point, these guys have to come to the NBA. There's got to be a draft that is just going to be stupid deep where there's just going to be a catch-up period, right? Because you take guys like Krie. Krie is 21 years old. How long can he stay in college? He stays one more year. So, he comes out when he's 23. So eventually this guy goes from maybe a mid first round, late first round target to an early second round target. See I think like you know you look at last year Hugo Gonzalez was easily like first round for me for most of the draft cycle. loved him, right? But that's a guy who like a lot of people were talking lottery in earlier part of the draft cycle, right? So, it's like it's it's similar situation where like I think those early second round picks are going to become very valuable as some of these guys run out of eligibility years in college and have to come out. Now, the beauty of this will be, yeah, they made all their money in NIL, but now they're going to be bargain discounts like AJ Mitchell,

>> right? Where you're going to be able to get these guys in the early second round. So, I think right now if I'm a draft team, I am hoarding second round picks from teams that are bad. Hoarding. Like, I just want every pick between 31 and 40 for the next four years because I have a feeling that is going to be a roster building cheat code, right? Um, and I'll call it I I'll call it what it is, the AJ Mitchell green zone of the draft, right? Late first round picks. Pton Watson. I mean, that was basically and Pton Watson, Kevin Johnson. This is like all we're talking 29 to 39, right? So, it's kind of like last year Elijah Martin, Maxi Marino, h you know, I'm kind of like kicking myself over there. But if Elijah Martin turns out, like that's a pretty cheap asset to have on your books. Um, so that kind of makes me think I've been talking about this draft and the overall strength. All drafts are not created equal. Obviously, Steph Castle's draft where Reed Shepard went number three. I don't know where Reed Shepard goes in this draft, but I'm betting it's not top five, right? Rob Dillingham, that's a guy who went number eight in a weaker draft. I'm pretty sure he probably goes mid first round to late first round in other drafts. So, every draft is not created equal. And I think a lot of people, they get really excited when their team has a top eight pick, but when their team has a 19th pick, they're just like, "What's a 19th pick going to do?" Well, I mean, 19th picks can do a lot in a good draft. So, where is the draft strength? So, if the average draft, let's take a trailing average of the last 20 years. Think about what the 19th pick overall is. What is this 19th pick in terms of relative draft strength to other drafts? Do you get what I'm saying? Like, is this

>> an average 13th overall pick, an average 10th overall pick, an average 14? Is this an average lottery pick?

>> I think it's a combination of three things. In the past, guys were forced to make money in the NBA. They forced their way to the NBA and NBA teams were more keen to make mistakes with these picks.

>> That goes away now because guy won't give up his eligibility unless he's sure that he's playing or getting his money or whatever. That makes it easier for NBA team. That's the first part. And the second part is you know the good underassman, you know 95% of the top 20 or 90% what are you going to call are going to be under the you don't have a junior scene is going that high usually the axels this year's example will go higher so it's much easier to if you have a grassroot scout in order guys stand out okay you can take a bet so it's much easier to make a feasibility test with these picks and to come back to this year's class the number 19th pick will be an average pick in my opinion This class is strong, but the number of guys returning because they didn't pan out or they might use an extra year or they can use more money in college, it's going to be topheavy. You know, a strong class is always measured topheavy. This is a very topheavy class, much stronger than others. That's the easy part.

>> But in terms of depth, I don't know if this class is better, man. I don't think it is.

>> Relative to the average class, you mean? relative to the average class. I think this class has the chance to have a lot more rotational pieces because a lot more older guys come in and a lot more ready guys come in. That's a strength for me. But in terms of the top, yeah, outside of the lottery, it's going to be you know what you're getting because you have a big sample size on these guys.

>> Okay. So, the history of the 19th overall pick. I'm going to give you some names and I don't know who's 19 on your on your board right now because I think the last board I read from you was April

>> it's going to change. I was going to work on that in the next two weeks,

>> right?

>> I don't think I'm going to change too much if that makes sense. Just

>> I mean a lot of guys went a lot a lot of guys you had top 19 are back in school. So guys that are currently ranked 19th on on most mm mock drafts are guys like Okori Bennett Sts Jaden Quintons aforementioned Morz Johnson. These are the guys that are in that range. So based on that I mean I don't know you could have those guys Christina Jr. these are the guys that are in that range. I mean I could do an amalgamation of every single mock draft. I have no idea who would come out right in that 19th zone. But I'm basically talking about guys who are ranked between 17 and 21. That's who I'm talking about. So based on that, I want to like like ask I want to ask you based on how long you've been doing this if the following players are better than that player that you have in your mind. Nolan Trayor or 19th overall pick in this year's draft?

>> 19th overall pick.

>> Okay. Jacobe Walter in in 2024 or the 19th overall pick in this year's draft?

>> As of now, I'm calling Jacobi, man.

>> Brandon Pajki or the 19th overall pick?

>> Tough one, but the Golden State Warriors are bad and he's having a lot of gravity from the other guys. 19th overall pick, man.

>> Okay. So, think about this in terms of where you were on them as prospects then, not the benefit of knowing who they became.

>> 19th overall pick three times.

>> Okay. Jack Jake Clarabia

>> or the 19th overall pick.

>> Okay. Okay, so the 19th overall pick in this year's draft is better than the 19th overall pick in the last four years. What about Kai Jones? Kai Jones or this 19th overall pick?

>> The Kai Jones from back then 100%.

>> Okay, Sadi Bay or the 19th overall pick in this year's draft?

>> Sadique Bay.

>> Okay, so we are getting into average territory. Malik Beasley or the 19th overall pick in this year's draft?

>> Malik Beasley. I mean that team was great, man. Damn. a lot of good players in terms of they they're still in the league, you know. I thought Kai Jo is not, but Kai Jo is another example. You

>> Kevin Herder or the 19th overall pick in this year's draft?

>> 19th over.

>> Okay. Lucas Somic or the 19th overall pick in this year's draft.

>> Yeah, that's easy, man. 19th overall pick.

>> Okay. So, like John Collins or the 19th overall pick in this year's draft?

>> John Collins, man. John Collins was very good.

>> Okay. So, I'm getting the feeling that this draft based on the last 10 years is like slightly above average

>> for the 19th overall pick.

>> Yeah.

>> So, maybe the 19th overall pick is equivalent to what is traditionally the 17th overall pick. Whereas, maybe earlier we were thinking maybe the 19th overall pick is like a lottery pick in this year's draft.

>> Cuz I could also ask the question, who is 19th on your board right now and where would they go in an average draft? And to me that question is probably answered with like 15 to 17 usually. Okay. So let's move off of that. And I want to talk about positions specifically. I break down positions into four. Now people can talk 15 different positions if you want to talk basketball. I talk in four positions. I talk point guards, I talk centers, I talk forwards, and I talk guards. Okay. So in terms of point guards in this range Anderson Bennis Stirts, how do you feel about this position point guard the depths at 19 and who do you like? Who do you not like?

>> At 19, you have to go for a guy who can contribute, man. You know, at 19 swinging for the fences and getting your next all-star guard. Yeah, that's that's a bet I don't think Toronto will make in this stage because they went to the playoffs. They gave Cleveland a lot of good run for their money, right? Won all home games and eventually they lost. Okay, it happens. So, they should go for a guy who can lead the team. I think Ben Stur is by far the favorite of course, but again, Minnesota needs a guard. A lot of teams need a guard and so he might not be there.

>> How do you feel? Okay, so I've heard some crazy people comparing Ibuka Aori to Tyrese Maxi. What would have to go right for Ibuka Aori to become a starter level player in the NBA?

>> He measured out very well with 185 I think it was.

>> Of course, he's always had the smaller stuff against him, but

>> 6'8" wingspan.

>> Yeah, this guy's handles are next level, man. And the rim pressure is that's what you're buying. And him executing out of his advantages, you know, as a pure scoreer, of course. And honestly, I'm not a hottake machine by any means, but I'm thinking about this one every day. The last week, a Bua Aorei to Dallas at number nine. I'm dying on that, though. That's the pick that I'm going to make.

>> Wow. You think he goes nine?

>> I think he can go nine, man. I think he's going to absolutely crush it

>> if they take him over Learon Phylon. Really? How do you feel about

>> How do you feel about their new GM?

>> I don't know, man. We're going to see. Messiah, of course, Messiah's the legend.

>> Smith has always been Yeah, he's of course coming from this business, he's going to make the right decision, but again, he's going to go impulsive. Hansen Yang was impulsive, bro, at Portland. That was crazy to go at, of course, he swings, but he misses. But this one I think is going to do a similar thing. Go for Ibuka. Just trust his gut.

>> I was scanning through this entire draft to find the next Chinese prospect

>> for for the Dallas Mavericks to take at nine and shock the whole world again. Man,

>> I think Aori has a very interesting handle and a great deal of burst, which is physically very wowing. Like when you watch him, it's hard to argue that there were four players in the entire country who had more of a responsibility for the offense than he did. Right now, a lot of people don't watch him because he plays on the West Coast, doesn't play for the, you know, the biggest school in in, you know, in the country. And so, you know, if he'd played for Duke, he's probably top 16 pick, I'm thinking, right? But he didn't. So, this might be a guy that the Raptors look at 19. Christian Anderson is another one. Now, to me, Christian Anderson feels like if you if you want to if you have concerns about Sts and his athleticism and his ability to get skinny around screens and his ability to defend and you have issues with Aorei and his ability to process the game or his ability to maybe, you know, get the mechanics consistent on his jump shot, then Christian Anderson feels like splitting the difference in the middle and just getting something that feels a little bit more short. His weaknesses don't feel as glaring to me, but his strengths don't pop off as much to me. Like with starts, the strengths are obvious. With a Cororey, the strengths are very obvious. Talk to me about Christian Anderson.

>> Yeah, we have to go a little bit uh a couple of years back when he was playing for Germany at the FIA summer circuit. Yeah, man. He just produced produced and the game was all feasible to translate to college. And what really disrupted his career early was he was uh committed to Michigan and then the coach got fired and then he was an assistant I think he's at the net now Jaw and then he went to Texas Tech and he played as their sixth man and he had a terrific year and here too at the range of course with JTE together and to make it happen with him you have to future him. I think that's the biggest thing I in the NBA you have to really use him as a as a leading guard as the main engine. And I don't know if the the Raptors are team to put him in a situation like that. I don't think that's the case. It would hurt Scotty Barnes. Maybe help him a little bit in terms of having that second guy who can lead the team. But compared to Ibuka Aori, I think CA is a much better floor general if that makes sense. But that comes with the price of of course you have to give him the ball a little bit more than you want. And with Ibuko Cororei is pure offensive creativity, man. And with CA, it's more so, how do I say it? A little bit more mature of a game despite them being similarly aged because of the background that Anderson has. His father is helping out with team Germany as well. And for me, honestly, that's worth a lot, man, what he does outside of college. And I was really in awe in before the season because everyone was talking about Michael Brown. I was like, this guy is

>> maybe similarly sized, but he measured out much smaller than him. Actually, I was wrong there.

>> Why does X get hype and Anderson doesn't? That's something that I didn't really understand. I had him laundry before the the season. kept him there for quite a while but I think him that that number 20 to 25 range as well because of you pay a price to play him the way that he needs to play. I think that's take away some value. Do you think he can ever play any offguard offball role or does he have to have the ball in his hands to orchestrate offense? Like have you seen examples either, you know, youth level with Germany or, you know, even with his club here where he is able to function next to another uh primary play playmaker

>> 100%. But again, man, he's not really sized to do that.

>> He's got the shooting

>> to be one.

>> He's got the shooting.

>> Yeah.

>> Right. I mean, Emanuel Quickley doesn't necessarily have the size to play the two. Jamal Shed doesn't have the size to play the two either, but because Scotty does have the ball a lot, right? And based on what he showed in the playoffs, oh my god, right? Scotty Barnes arguably top five player in the playoffs. Number one in rim assist, number one in assists off of drives, crazy analytics. He really just pulled this team up and Brandon Ingram just didn't show up. So, you know, the one thing that the Raptors consistently faced was Emanuel Quickley wasn't playing and Jamal Shed's man does not respect him as a jump shooter. Christian Anderson will be more respected as a jump shooter than Jamal Shed

>> easily on day one, right? But so will Bennett Stirts. So like you you have a Cororey going potentially lottery to the Mavericks. How high could Bennis go? You mentioned the Minnesota Timberwolves.

>> Yeah, because of he fits a glaring need of teams in the playoffs and that's worth a lot of money as well, but with a Cory is, you know, really betting a long-term potential and I think that's more appropriate in that range at 10, 11, 12. If you have really a really outlier rotational player at 14, of course, you should take him every day of the week. But at the other end, I feel like Sturge is by default put in that box in this class rather than him being 100% outcome in that. He could be end up Tyler Kolic and you're overpaying, right? So at the end of the day, not to compare white player to white player, but

>> we have to only compare Bennis to black players.

>> This is this is this is the rule of the podcast. We we cannot because Raptor fans are trying to tell me he's Grady Dick part two. So, you know what? Like we can't

>> we can't have that.

>> Um are there any other point guards that you are like you feel have action at number 19?

>> Sergio Dea man from Valencia. Valencia is in the final four in the Euro League.

>> Is he staying in?

>> Yeah, he's staying in. I made a mistake by quoting an article from last year. I feel really stupid until today because it was April 25. I was I read it like 26

>> but man is just you know he's playing in that role already. It's all Jean Montero at Valencia and they qualified for the final four. They went to they went they lost the first two games at home won two away and then finished it at home. It was crazy against

>> Are you sure?

>> I thought he withdrew.

>> No, there was a tweet from Giboni. I think it was that

>> he withdrew. Not that he's singing.

>> I really like him actually.

>> I really like him.

>> But at 19, it feels like yeah, you're um

>> reaching.

>> You kind of put your hand back in the shelf where the good stuff is. And a lot of people don't really know him. And I think for teams that have done their homework, it's a good position to be in to keep him out of conversations.

>> Okay. Talking wings, right? or guards. Actually, we'll talk guards and we'll talk forwards. In terms of guards, who sticks out to you? Um, one guy who did a lot of good for his draft stock in my opinion is Cam Carr, right? Effortlessly scoring, pops off the page athletically, jumps out of the gym, like can play has a lot of defensive upside. Wasn't necessarily the greatest defender at Baylor, but, you know, has a lot of defensive upside. How do you feel about how do you feel about him? Could he possibly fall past 14 15?

>> Yeah, I think so because for me the frame is still, you know, you have to really invest in that.

>> Mhm.

>> And him having an excellent scrimmage is Yeah. a testimony to a season at Baylor where he was shooting lights out as well next to Tundday Yufu who was not really having that much gravity as a shooter which makes it more impressive for me. Yeah, man. He absolutely outdooked eyes at scrimmages. That's a shout out to him. I think he improved his draft stuff. But for me is if you draft him for like a team like uh let me put an example fringe for the the Hornets for example,

>> they have a lot more expectation. Yeah, man. He might not pan out. And for the Raptors is the same thing.

>> But he feels a need at what the Wolves

>> as a shooter. That would be a much benefit for me. He's really into that. Uh he's easier to put in a box for me in terms of, you know, he's going to play a role and has

>> I don't think the Wolves have a pick. Uh it's the Hornets, the Thunder, the Grizzlies, the Bulls. That's 18, 17, 16, 15, and then 14 is the Hornets again, and 13 is the Heat. So, the Wolves are picking 28th.

>> Yeah. I don't know why I said the Wolves, but this

>> I think you meant Grizzlies. I think he went Grizzlies at 16 from the Magic. So, the Grizzlies get to pick from the Magic.

>> Unfortunately for the Raptors, they're picking right behind the Grizzlies, Thunder, and Hornets. That sucks. Those are three teams that actually, in my opinion, know what they're doing in the draft. And at least typically tend to go for the same players the Raptors do. I don't know about the Thunder so much. Sorry, sorry about the Hornets, but I know that the Thunder and the Grizzlies definitely go for the same players the Raptors do. So, if there's a, you know, there's there's a love affair with like a Kareem Lopez or something and all the teams are interested. Unfortunately, the Raptors the last dog at the bull. Thankfully for the Raptors though, the team that picks right behind them is the Spurs 20th. So, at least they're picking ahead of the Spurs cuz I guarantee you like if you were picking Grizzlies, Thunder, Hornets, Spurs, then Raptors, like you're [ __ ] Like you're not getting the player you want guaranteed. Like they're going to pick STS then they're going to pick like the worst thing I think of being at 19 for me is knowing at 15 then the next three teams know what they're doing that you're going to watch number one, number two, and number three go off the board. One, two, three. Like that. You know what I mean?

>> Um well al although it could be worse. Like it could be worse. like your player one, two, three are all on the board and then your team goes and picks Hansen Yang. It could be worse. Like [ __ ] you know, it could be worse.

>> Okay,

>> we're going to see things like that in this year's class again, but I'm 100% going to be a surprise, maybe two, compared to these consensus boards that are out there.

>> Dalen Swing is another guy who's gotten a lot of buzz for his very interesting driving game and overall downhill gravity. How do you feel about him? And then the final two players in this guard board or wing should be Tundu and Isaiah Evans. Not necessarily guards, but wings, right? Like so Cameron Carr versus Dylan Swain versus Tundu versus Isaiah Evans. What's the separator? Who do you like the most in that group? Is there a big gap or is like they're all the same?

>> Nah, that's a big gap for me. Swain, man. I love him. Savior. He was one of the better wing defenders at the high majors,

>> but he was very raw offensively, man. And then he followed this coast to Texas and then his offensive really popped this year. That's what he has proven his value. He's proving himself as a defender in the Big East and then he went to Texas again, coach Miller, and now he was the engine of the team and they again went to the NCA tournament. Swain for me, yeah man, it's just in terms of he's older as well. Yeah, man. It just it brings the experience. I would bet on a guy like that every day of the week at 19. I think that's would be tremendous value because you're getting a player who he's not raw because he's proven himself right now in in year three, you know. So, you're getting a good guy you can use in your rotation right away in terms of uh him playing in a role as a defender, but you know, you can rely on him to make shots and create advantages out of closeouts. that's going to be his role early on and he had a featured role at Texas so that's going to be a little bit context but I like Swain a lot man I think he's going to be you know one of the better upper classman in this draft he's going to be picked for that of course but he's going to make it happen because of his impact in both ways and he has proven it but again, he's played for one coach but again Ben did as well so yeah how much value do you want to put on that

>> how do you feel about that a guy playing only for one coach. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

>> I think it's a bad thing, man. It's a bad thing. It's just, you know, in terms of habits, new environment, a guy like Baba Miller has basically played everywhere. I would rather pick that and then he can combine all the good stuff and learn how to filter away the bad stuff and then he goes from uh yeah, a specific situation to an NBA team with much more media people, etc., etc. So, how do you handle with that? How do you

>> I'll give I'll give you the devil's advocate version of this. Bennett Sts played division two, then he played for Drake, then he playing for Iowa. So that's very very different competition on level one, level two, level three. The only reason he stays with that coach is cuz that's the only coach who believed in him and he decides to be loyal. So shout outs to Bennett Sturs, the most loyal guy in collegiate basketball, not Grady Dick. Um, I don't know, man. I'm I'm kind of like I really like this guy. But for you, Dalon Swain is ahead of Cameron Carr.

>> Damn it.

>> And then Cameron Car is ahead of Tundu

>> or they're they're similar

>> in terms of now value 100%.

>> Prospect value like where where you have them. Okay. So Cameron Carr, Tundu and Isaiah Evans. Does Isaiah Evans get any action for you at 19 or it's just too early?

>> Not at all. What do you not like about him?

>> I think it's more so the Duke tax that you're paying. I don't see it with him, man. It's just, you know, Raptors took all these shooters. You buying one again. It's just Yeah, it's just a different label. You You like the Android, you have the Samsung phone. I'm going to go Who am I? That's That's how it feels for me, man. Because And you pay the Duke tax. Maybe it's other way around. You had Who you pay Samsung prices now for basically the same thing. So Isaiah Evans is a Huawei.

>> Yeah, for me it is, man. It is. It's just I'm not hating on him, but I get why people like him, but let's

>> No, you're you're hating on me because I used to have a Huawei. Now I feel Now I feel Now I feel poor because I didn't have an iPhone. Like

>> I have a budget one as well, man. But let's say he plays for Let me see. Um Okay, Texas. I have I have a Google Pixel now though because Scotty Barnes advertises Google Pixels. Yeah, he does.

>> I have still Chinese phones, man. I mean, it's just about

>> Chinese phones. Dude, I was I was digging through like old phones the other day and I found a Nokia from like 2001.

>> I was like, why do I still have this? This is such a This is such a hazard. But I think I kept it as a potential like memory.

>> Yeah, 2001. A cell phone. That's That's cool. I have a 2009 Blackberry as well. This is insane. Um, okay. Uh, in terms of forwards, traditional forwards, Alan Graves, Nate Man, Kareem Lopez, COA. I can tell you I I want to say this politely. If the Raptors pick cop, I'm going to stop the stream and just quit. Like,

>> yeah,

>> I hate this pick idea even. Like, there were some people talking about him as a top 15 pick. I was like, I don't get it. I don't see it. But the other three guys, I'm very intrigued. Made a man obviously walked in with a lot of top 10 buzz. Some people see Zachary Sache with him. Do you see Zachary Sache with him?

>> Nah, I think it's complexion comparison. They just look very similar.

>> They do long necks, light-skinned guys, tall shooters. Yes. What's the difference between these two players? For me, native event is more of uh kind of the blueprint, but but very little on it. And then he he had some uh there was some, you know, rings in the paper. He was very skinny, but he worked on his physicality a lot at Tennessee, man. First half of the season, yeah, man, it was not good.

>> And then it was like, will he will he stay in the class? Maybe a return. I was more in the camp of him returning for year two,

>> right?

>> I was wrong because yeah, a guy like that would always hold his value. But in the second half of the season, he's really proven his value, you know, in terms of the production. He's looking a lot more, you know, not not checked or anything, but a little more buffed compared to the to the high school version of him. So, you see, he's putting in the work, and I think that's worth a lot. And he might need an extra year, but that's why he's potentially going lottery because you bet on the long-term potential. For me, it's not Zachary Reese at all, man.

>> But, you know, you know who else was really good in the second half? of their season. Zachary Sich.

>> Yeah. In his specific role at uh I'm still in awe why he went number one. I can understand why they took him that high, but

>> where was your click?

>> Where was he on your board that year?

>> It was It was the other way around. It was crazy, man. I was like coming into the season, I was hoping he would get a big role. I had him uh I think I had him at number two and I moved him down. continuously throughout the season. I think I had him at number six or five or something like that. I was like, I don't I don't know, man. He's too much of this goal is really comfortable for me. You can have a specific role, but you can't really go from, let's say, the seventh eight option and be a star next year. But he was forced to do that on a team with Trey Young and with Jaylen Johnson. So, it was a he was doomed to fail anyway. I mean, he's what, 21, 22 right now. I I still I can't say I see the vision because I really don't at this point. I don't see the vision for him being a starter in the NBA or something. But still, I understand why people thought he was going to make it because at least at the level he was playing at, he was athletic.

>> Yeah.

>> You know, but in the NBA, you're not athletic. You're just another guy.

>> One of the many guys.

>> You're just a normal guy. You're not You're not the most You might be the third, fourth most athletic guard wing on your own team, right? Like it's not going to fly. And that's when I look at guys like KA Pete and that's the irony. KA Pete is the Zachary Siché comp. Not because he plays anything like him or looks anything like him, but because he's been able to get by using athleticism and the holes in his game haven't been exposed. You ever seen that guy shoot a jump shot? Oh my god, dude. This is like some toddler [ __ ] Like I There's like five-year-olds out there with better jump jump jump shot forms than him. He's gonna get so exposed at the NBA level, but you know, he's tough. Um Kareem Lopez is another player that, you know, and Allen Allen Graves where I feel like this is a lot of like if it works, wow. I don't really see it with Kareem. What do people like about him? Cuz I I watched him play and you know, there's some intriguing moments. Like I watched, you know, I' I've been putting him off. He's the last prospect I scouted. I did this uh mostly over the last two days and I'm watching him and there's moments that he has where like, okay, that's a very interesting move and there's some good athleticism there and a little bit of functionality and oh, there's a good defensive play here, but overall I walk away feeling very uninspired by him.

>> Well, actually coming back to Co Pete, I was very high in preseason and then I dropped him rapidly. Man, it was the first game against Florida. who was giving the whole entire front cut work, man. It was crazy. The footwork, the angles, how he moved his hips. I was like, "Wow, this guy, if he ever shoots, it's going to be fantastic." But that if he ever shoots, it's still very far away. So, that's for me the reason that why would I take a guy top 10 and then he would pop up in the late first round anyway. So, I was kind of dropping him as well. And with Karim Lopez, honestly, it feels like a quota. the MBL next stars program they they partner with the NBA right so they have to have a couple of picks just like the Git night you know guys are going to be picked whether they kill it or do bad etc etc and with Karim Lopez is if you go back three years ago yeah he I understand everything but he's kind of stayed a similar player me as of today I was kind of disappointed in the lack of development

>> they're not comparable as players Yeah, he screams like 11th guy on the bench who waves a towel to me for the rest of his career. Like I don't see it like some people are seeing Haime Hakez. That feels like a very racially motivated, you know, comparison to me. Hime like Haime was inspiring to me as a prospect. Like I liked him a lot.

>> Um with Kareem, there's elements of it for sure. You know, there's like a move every now and again, but the overall impact to me was lacking. So that's a player that I walked away not very very high on. Allan Graves is

A player that I am very high on. I did like him a lot, but he was a six-man last year. He didn't play a huge role offensively, but he did a lot with the minutes that he had. And he has some very interesting defensive tools that remind me a little bit of Colin Murray Boils. And Raptor fans right now are like build a statue around Colin Murray Boils. We love Colin Murray Boils. Colin Murray Bole's amazing because he showed out in the playoffs, man. Like we're in a situation where rookies are not supposed to do well in the playoffs. Colin Murray Boils bodied Jared Allen bodied Evan Moley he looked better than them sometimes you know so Allan Graves >> yes no what do you feel >> n I really I did uh watch him the other day because I was very interested in all the hype I never watched the entire season >> but I came across with this man this Santa Clarity and coach Herb Sand there he's so good at recruiting Man, Sasha Gavalov, you know, he killed it at the FIA U8, went the Villanova, failed because of the lack of play, goes there, absolutely crushes it. Elijah Mahi from the Jo ranks, fantastic shooter, man, physical guy. And Alen Graves playing off of the gravity of these guys, it helps him a lot at that level because the WCC is not good because Gonzaga, it's St. Mary's and there's a lot of cupcake competition that you're playing. So, I feel like the numbers are inflated, but not to a degree that it's going to be, yeah, man, it's just a numbers guy. I think he's much better than that. He shows some really flashes of, okay, this is what NBA teams are looking for, man. In today's quote unquote modern 34 combination, I think that's the best part for him. And he has the size. He measured out well. He was like 69 and he's physical >> but the physicality how to use it is the the samples I have of quality competition has not really been there. Who's he playing? Yeah. Gonzaga, St. Mary's if you want to count them and then Kentucky in the tournament. That's it. So the don't the don't tell me show me thing with him is kind of real for me. But I'm getting the benefit benefit of the doubt man.

>> What's the last day for prospects to withdraw? Is it passed?

>> No, I think it was uh I think the early entrant date was I think that one passed, but I'm not really sure. I never keep >> I think it might I think it might be today, but like I mean he was the guy that I felt like maybe he should go back Alan Graves, right? But a lot of people were saying Carter Bryant should go back last year and he ended up going to the lottery. So to me, if Alan Graves has a top 20 promise, then obviously he should stay. But if he doesn't have a top 20 promise,

>> if he doesn't have a top 20 promise, I'm like, what's what's the downside of him going um into the draft? Like to me, that's this is not a problem. Okay.

>> A lot of desperate teams, man. Kentucky will pay him. A lot of teams will pay him, man. So,

>> Oh, for sure. He he would have gotten paid for sure. Um, center. Okay. Five names that are worth considering. Tus Reed Jr., not a fan. Uh, Chris Cak Jr., Morice Johnson, Jaden Quinton, and Henry Visar. These are the five names that I've kind of narrowed in for that center position or big man role. What name is like Jaden Quinton to me is like the is he's the man of mystery right now. Okay. Because on on a on one side of it and and CNK as well, I mean you you're talking about two guys who have massive measurables, right? A questionable there's questions. I think CK answered a lot of questions this year personally. We talked about him earlier. We've talked about in every single every single podcast we've done. I think the last two podcasts we've done, we talked about Chris. How do you feel about him? Jaden Quinton, Morris Johnson, Taurus Reed, Henry Visar. Like how do you rank these five players?

>> I'm gonna put that the perspective for the Raptors.

>> That's the first thing.

>> And my own perspective is not similar, but I'm leaning in the same direction because with center the center position is expandable, man. I think the Raptors are a perfect example. You don't want to pay that much money and rely on him if that many years. That's the last thing that you want to do. So why would you draft a younger guy to rely on for three years because you drafted him with a top 20 pick and not go for a ready player. I think Visar is the best player amongst the value that he will bring in. You know, the floor spacing physical sevenfooters. Yeah, that's what everyone wants but not at the price of this guy can't defend but this guy can defend. I would go for him at 19 every day of the week. But if you go for the Raptors for sak at 19 I don't get it. You're looking to win. You're not looking to develop players, right? So, he has to stick in and

>> we're looking to develop and win. So, ideally, of course, you know, we got to find a way to replace Sandra Mama Kelpi. I don't think he's coming back. So, okay, maybe like let's be real. I don't think Henry Visar is going to play meaningful NBA minutes right away. He's going to have also conditioning period. He's also a little bit older than some of these guys. So I think the Raptors have always looked at like who helps us in three years, who helps us in three weeks, who helps us in three years, who helps us like in five years. You know, they're they're looking at all the timelines. Obviously last year, they could have picked a center because they had a huge positional need at center with Kaman Modash. They could have also picked a more ready player with more, you know, refined skill set in Cedric Coward. They didn't do that. They picked a guy who had a lot in common with their best player because they just believe in this very every team says they want to pick the best player available. I think the Raptors actually mean it, you know. So, if they've got four point guards, they'll pick a fifth point guard. They will. If they have no center and no power forward and they have nothing but wings, they'll pick another wing. This is just a team that believes in this. And so, for me, I think Visart, this is interesting. We are completely opposite on this. To me, Taurus Reed is the furthest down. I would not pick him in the first round, period. I could be wrong. I don't think I am. Visar to me, I understand the productivity at the high school and sorry, at the collegiate level, but dude, like something about the way he moves freaks me out. I don't like his movement patterns. Feels a little bit hitchy and he doesn't strike me as like very coordinated, physical athlete. Now, I could be wrong. You might have watched more of him. Is he physical? Do you think he can put up with NBA physicality? I know the jump shot is very real. The jump shot is like I watching him shoot jumpers. I was like, "This guy might be one of the best two shooters in the draft." Three shooters in this draft. He's amazing shooter. People say this guy's a big man. He's a good shooter. He's This guy's not a good shooter for a big man. He is actually a great shooter.

>> So, I don't know. Yeah, you can be you can be big, but you need to be tough. I think he's big, but he's not tough enough.

>> Well, that's the thing. But like I mean look look at the guys who are thriving in the playoffs right now, right? The the big string the big the big guys who don't have the physicality are getting exposed. If the Raptors want a guy who can meaningfully contribute in the playoffs next year, I mean granted that's ambitious, right? 19th overall pick. Contributing in the playoffs is ambitious. But if they're going to get a guy who can contribute in the playoffs, I think first of all, you need a guy who has the physical the the tenacity for physicality, which is where I lean more towards Morz and Jaden. Now, a lot of questions here. Morz, to me, the biggest question mark is decision-m offensively at least. The jump shot is promising actually, like really promising. I like the mechanics. It's okay. Repeatable. Centers are barely ever guarded anyway. The Raptors had a top five defense this year. I think he sort of completes the puzzle defensively as a rim protector. So, it's very interesting. Jaden Quinton to me might be the best defender in this entire draft if he's healthy. He is so interesting defensively.

>> I got questions about touch, health, um, processing. Like, he's smart. Like, I I can tell from listening to him that he's really smart, but I don't know how smart he is on the basketball court. some of the some of the stuff he does like wo. Um, also really small sample size this year. Like we played four games. I think he played one good game and three kind of mediocre games. So I I mean I have questions but like the upside for me. Um, and then there's CK and it's just like I don't know how I feel about Chris. I didn't like him as a prospect in high school and now I've watched him a little bit in college and I'm still lukewarm on him. The only thing I really like about him is that he chose to go to Houston and he actually did play a lot better defensively this year.

>> I don't know.

>> No, for me it's more so what do you look for? I think of of all the names, Morz is by far the best name that you have to pick. But in terms of Yeah, the the Raptors are kind of really built around guys like that. Really high motor.

>> Okay, let me ask you a question. If you were the Spurs, who would you pick?

>> Morzman. Okay. If you were the Sunder, who would you pick?

>> I would go for a guy like honestly if I look at the the if I look at the hardest team, I'm going to pick a guy similar to him, but a little bit more of that, you know, that buff, the pure toughness, but Teras Reed is too early, man, for 20. I want to lead Teras Reed, but yeah, he's not for me. He's not worth it at 20, quote unquote. How do you feel about Terrace Reed's defense?

>> Honestly, I don't really care about that, man. Because when he came to Michigan, he was the the guy between Holland Digon. Han Dickson was a star, an all-American, and he played behind him. Second year, it was kind of his front court, and then he transferred to Yukon, and in year three, he was again, man, he was just second pal. And this year, it was about him. Honestly, I don't really care about the defense because he slides into a role and really masters that role. I think he was the the reason why they were so good because they again hit hit strike and at the five pass out of the double and they had a lot of guys who can really have the gravity to okay if we if we feed him in the post and he's going to pass out of that double we going to get a fantastic look. He's more of a system player with the NBA physicalities. That's why I like him that much and that's why I think he will go first round man. It's more so the Yukon text as well in all honesty man because this this guy plays for uh can you say UCLA? Yeah. No doubt that he's not going to be the first round. That's crazy.

>> How do you feel Luigi compares to these guys now to me like Raptor fans wanting a few things from the center position. They want size. So they don't want to hear anything about 6'7 center. They're just like no no no that guy's too small to play center. This guy is not 67. He's 73. Okay. I think Raptor fans still have an aversion to Italian prospects because of Andrea Barnani. Unfortunately,

>> like I think every Raptor fan like who is a true Raptor fan has walked through the grocery aisle here and Andrea had this uh pasta commercial, Primo Pasta. It's really funny commercial. It's horribly acted. I think Andrea himself would tell you he laughs about it every day. And uh if you're a Raptor fan, you walk through the grocery aisle, you just don't even look at the Primo Pasta and sauce. You like literally will buy any other brand but Primo Pasta. That is the worst brand deal in history because it backfired for them. How is Would you take Luigi 19th if you were No. Too early.

>> What?

>> I think the the center depth is good in terms of the value that you get now.

>> What's the gap between him and Visar?

>> Both good shooters. one has proven it and one played in Europe at Mega and might go to college if he doesn't get a top 20 promise because I think it was I saw a tweet of someone in Italian and he said yeah that he literally said okay if he doesn't go top 20 I'm going to go to college

>> why would you rush to pick him there's no need for that

>> he has one of the best agents in my opinion in pro sports and someone who's going to push his weight is uh expanding his kingdom rapidly. It's just crazy, man. He's just uh

>> Yeah,

>> super power broker. Um, Nicol Nicola Yokic's uh agent as well. Um, very major hand with Mega Basket in Serbia. So yeah,

>> he always talks at the third person about Mega Basket. I'm always laughing, man, because these Americans are buying it. It's crazy. It's his club. It's so funny. It's so funny, man. Yeah. Okay. So, let's uh let's talk draft sleepers and then we'll get into the mock draft. So, two questions I want to ask you. One question is who is a prospect that people are really really high on right now that you think everyone is wrong about. tough one, man. I've been uh this guy

>> you're you're very high on a so

>> yeah now for me it's Michael Brown man it's just you know the combination of because this one guy is always you know giving me a tough time man because when I talk about him and he's someone close to him and honestly I can understand him because he's defending his guy you know so but for me the back injury bro it's it's yeah it's a big worry man and he's missed time

>> and the healthy version is worth a lot is worth a lot. He measured out very well. I think he he's actually proven everything that he has to prove at doable and he didn't play with a vertical thread that really hurt his playmaking as well. They had Saland was more of a physical five. I never understood why they took him and then amongst my friends I was like this is the most vers deal that you can have. They paid to I think it was two three million. He's not the guy that you need right now. He needs a vertical outlet. A guy like, for example, Moras would have been tremendous with a guy, a playmaker like him behind or put in every athletic sevenfooter actually.

>> Mhm.

>> There's a lot of reasons to like him, but the injuries compared to the you have to make him this guy to make it work is I haven't seen him, you know, why is he better than Christians? That's a question that I have been answering all year. I couldn't find an answer. a Buo Corey. I'll play them in my opinion. I'll play them, man. What's the difference? Two inches. I will draft a guy five and then take another guy at 25 because he's 6'2 versus 64 65.

>> I didn't feel I didn't feel very inspired watching him either. Um, how do you feel about Braden Burries?

>> It's recency bias because he's playing for Arizona,

>> right? would have been the same impact on a team where he didn't have that many key pieces like Ivon Kachenkov. That guy is crazy. He was so good.

>> You think he's a little bit overrated because he played at Arizona?

>> Kachenkov? I hope

>> no. Bryce,

>> I think he's coming back. Oh, Berries. I think so, man. Is more so the new blue blood. The new blue blood in town. Do you feel Morz Okay, I personally feel Adai Morz and Yakel is probably the best defensive three front court I've seen in collegiate basketball in very many like okay actually let's be real Duke last year with uh with Cooper Flag and Kaman Malawatch was also pretty amazing but that being said like this Michigan front court was NBA size front court incredible how does Morz operate without those at Illinois. He didn't really get the runway to play,

>> but his motive was always what stood out. I think that's why Michigan was immediately on him in the portal because they were

>> right

>> keen to going to give him a bigger role and he's going to absolutely crush it for us.

>> The motor is the biggest buy and motor is the biggest value for me with bigs.

>> Durability and motor, man. durability. You can't predict that, but motor, this guy is going to outplay a lot of people just like Colin Mor.

>> Okay, Um, another question I have for you. I have two more questions for you. So, I said I initially have two questions. Now, I have four questions. My bad. My questions multiply. You know, they're multiplying. Before we get into the mock draft, which we've been teasing heavily for like the last hour, uh, question number one is, is there a player in the second round currently mocked that you think should be a first round talent?

>> So, basically a player that the first question was really like who who is everyone high on that they shouldn't be so high on. Now I'm asking who's everyone low on that they should be a lot higher on.

>> I don't think it's lower but very unknown. Is Aaron Krummer from Tennessee? know Tennessee State. I've already said his name in the beginning as well,

>> right?

>> I get a lot of Keon Ellis vibes, but with the if this guy managed to continue to bulk up, he's going to be a fantastic defender in the NBA. Absolutely crazy. He absolutely dominated that, you know, I think it was the GL Gley combine.

>> Mhm.

>> And then this guy, man, he measured out well, very skinny. So that that really makes me afraid of he won't go first round, but a smart team in the second round is going to grab him and going to give him the Keon Ellis experience, but without the the context of the the Kings who Yeah. gave him a lot of time, take him out. Gave him a lot of take him out and then trade him for a for a bag of chips basically. So I hope that won't be his future but I'm very very high in Kruma man very high in Kruma and again for me it's more so the focus on the seners this year because I've I've taken this stance of okay the top 20 guys I know who they are and after that I don't really care anymore I'm going to look for the best senior that was been my that's been my you know whole emphasis was one we talked about him already guys who came in with a lot of promise had some bad runs for two years and then you know trying to maximize their potential the last let's say last season and the last one is Travance Pillars from Wake Forest I'm going to write about him next well Travance Pillars is if you like Jo guys going to the NBA Travance Pillars is going to be the next thing at Moy area JO a like three blocks a game if it's not more than that and then at Wake Forest in there and this guy he's not a volume shooter but the touch around the rim the physicality the gravity inside the lane is just wow really convinced me I think he can be a firstrounder if everything clicks

>> the team is going to grab him

>> what about Ruben Chinu

>> still see him as like a late like a mid-second round flyer or is he like if he goes 29th 30th are you like feeling like oh okay someone's is really betting on some upside here.

>> Yeah, I think the the two names that I'm going to mention, I think they're both Nigerian and I don't want to make that comparison, but do you remember the guy that Utah took? I think it was uh he was very productive in college. It was his name, man. It was a 20 he was a picked before Jaden Jade McDaniels, I think was Udoka. Yeah, I feel like I need to forget forgetting this guy's name. It was seven, eight years ago. But for me, it's the the hands is very important for these really role player heavy fives in the hands of I don't know, man. He has everything, but but the hands is just something that always got in my way. But in terms of the value that he will have is second round and he's going to have a Dylan Carpel type impact, man. He's going to absolutely crush it for his value. I think he should return to Florida. I think he has a year left and he won.

>> Okay, Um,

>> I see in the chat Udok Azubuki. Yeah, that was that one, man. It was just like the Mitch. It was kind of like these wide receivers playing without gloves, man. It's just uh Yeah, some of these fights they could catch ball with I feel like that way as well.

>> DeAndre uh DeAndre Eaton can't catch a basketball right now either. Although that's that's like a very magnified because he's playing for the Lakers in the playoffs. So like every decision is magnified. But like there were times where like I'm looking at guys like Rudy Gobar and I'm just like man sometimes Rudy Gobear feels completely unplayable in situations. You know what I mean? From a situational perspective, he's bringing you everything defensively and everything is maxed out to the 99th percentile. Like Rudy Gobear is a once in a generation type defender, right? I could still argue that there were times where I wish the Timberwolves didn't play him against the Spurs because it allowed WBY to just sit in the paint with no consequence because if he got the ball by some miracle, he wasn't going to do anything with it. So, I do think offense is important, but like offensive competency is important from the center position. Like just a guy who can at the very least read the floor, extend an advantage, or hit an open shot, catch a basketball. Like this is very basic [ __ ] we're asking from centers, you know, who have uh Ruben's defensive prototype. And honestly, some of these guys, they have like these long arms, high motor, great athleticism, don't know how to play basketball at all. So, I'm really hoping that Chinu figures it out, man. He like every time he plays, he like gives me that like vibe, you know, like of high intensity, high motor.

>> Exactly. But it's like, does he know how to play basketball? I'm still not sure after watching for two years now. I'm still not sure. Okay, final question I have for you is what is the thing you are most right and most wrong about in your pre-draft analysis from last year? So, a little bit of a reflective period now that the rookie of the year has pretty much been announced. Cooper flag, we've seen one year of most of these guys. Granted, you know, Dylan Dylan Harper is still writing the story of his rookie season right now, but who is the guy that you feel like, "Oh, man, I really got that right." And who's the one you're like, "I really missed on that."

>> I don't know, man. I'm just not uh I don't want to be understood wrong, but because I want to say I'm focusing on my misses, man. I think that the the hits is are fun, but honestly, I don't really care too much about it, man. I feel really bad about the Conanup. That one really Yeah, that one haunts me honestly. I feel like because of, you know, I was really ignoring all the late season stuff. Well, that was really the the cream of the crop because that was the only opportunity for him to show what he's really who he really is when the flag was out,

>> right?

>> Yeah. And he's Yeah, he's a top 50 player in NBA right now, right? And he's one of the reasons, the main reason why Hornets will be maybe contending for the home court advantage next year.

>> I love change that entire team. Yeah, I was like, yeah, he's he's kind of overrated.

>> So, yeah, that one me, man. So,

>> you know what it is? Duke tax.

>> You already said it. The Duke tax, right? That thing that and and look, man, I went through it myself, right? Like, for the longest time, I had this belief that white players, white North American players get overhyped. So, anytime I heard about this white North American player, I was like, I'm taking 30% off right away cuz you want this guy to be good because he looks like you and you're in America, right? And it's like the media cartels in America, most of the people who call these games, announcers, analysts, draft people, they're white. They're white guys, white nerds, right? So, they want guys like Coniple and Cooper Flag to do well. Caitlyn Clark, they want her to be a bigger deal than she really is, right? So I always say like okay initially skepticism but right now the Bennett Sturts okay look at this Bennett Sts Chad Homegrren Coniple Cooper Flag white Americans are back man it's happening it's happen Paige Beckers Caitlyn Clark it's happening man I blame Trump for this really I really do but this is the only good thing that's come out of this situation Yeah. And then you had Tyrone Hero.

>> They call him Tyrone, right? Tyrone Hero.

>> Dude, the average American reads at a uh grade six reading level. So he did not make America great again, but he did make apparently make white hoopers great again. Okay, on that very controversial note, I I also focus a lot on my misses. For real, I do. Um, I'm thinking like, you know, I'm still haunted by the fact that I had Ryan Rupair uh 13th on my board once. I had Jordan Hawkins fifth. I've had some, you know, misses. I think about those a lot. They become like very big in my mind. Whereas like the case Wallace top 10 stuff early early doesn't get to me. I really missed on AJ Mitchell too cuz I didn't watch him. I wasn't watching UC Santa Barbara. I wasn't watching him. Why? Like why the [ __ ] would I be rating him? I wasn't watching him. Yeah.

>> Um, I feel good about my Carter Bryant stuff last year. I feel good about that. Like I've seen real progress from him all year. I do feel like if there's a player that I mean I got very low on Noah Seni throughout the draft process. I feel very good about that right now. So, who the [ __ ] is this player that I just missed on last year? Chat, let me know. I I'll like I I haven't figured it out yet. For me, there's actually one where I'm really proud of because with with this Google SEO, you see every now and then who reads these articles, right? Danish Jenkins, it's crazy. Every day someone is googling that name. I was like, this guy's going to be undrafted and he's going to prove a lot of people wrong. That was basically what I said when I was writing about him.

>> Oh, damn.

>> And for me, it was the positive Pino tax, the Juko toughness and the Pino tax. I was like, I'm not betting against this guy by enemies. I don't care if he's shown Kustaf bad stuff. He has proven his value to me with when I was watching him and I was like, "This guy's crazy for not being drafted. Why is he undrafted?"

>> Mhm.

>> He's playing for Coutino as well. I think that was one of the the undrafted hits. This was just home run. Just how do you call it? Four run or something where all these bases are covered. This one's like, "Okay, this one I really hit." That one made me proud. But yeah, again it's just

>> I'm thinking like last year I was higher on Nolan Triori than I want to than I want to admit right now. I was at times I had him top 20, top 22, top 23 for the most part. I don't think I ever got higher than that though. So I don't know why I don't think I was high on Keshan George at all. So that's definitely one where I wish I could take it back. You were super high on Trey Johnson. Are you still super high on Trey Johnson?

>> You're still high

>> expendable in Washington, man. It's just, you know, uh victim of all the great moves that they're making there. Trey Jones.

>> Um, I'm looking at my last year's board and I'm like, where was I super wrong? Early early early in the process, I had Kaman Malawatch Force, but I eventually moved him uh to eight. Um, no. I moved him to seven. I had Colin Murray Boils eight. Not too mad at that. I mean, Colin Murray Bo is further ahead right now. I understand that. Uh, Javan Baron, I think maybe I should have been a little bit higher. I really like him.

>> Hugo Gonzalez, I think I would I would if I can go back, I probably put Hugo Gonzalez top 20. I had him just

>> Yeah, you were very high on him because when we did that mark last year, I remember you spoke very highly. I was on Barry Jay as well. You know, when I was writing about him, it was a year before last year's draft. I was like, "This guy has all the tools to be a firstrounder." But I don't know. That was my stance. And I don't know, was him physically just Yeah, changing entirely, man, to this.

>> I mean, the guys who put up like really big numbers on bad teams, I'm not really sure how to how to judge them. like guys like Jeremiah Fears, Ace Bailey, like there's rumors right now that the Jazz would have to trade Ace Bailey and the number two pick just to move up number one to get AJ Devonsa. That kind of gives you a perspective on like how the NBA world values Ace Bailey right now. I don't see anything. You know, I had Dylan Harper number two all year. I never wavered. Not for one second. I never put Jagor Damon up there. I never put Ace Bailey above him. Is there a world where Dylan Harper ends up being a better player than Cooper flag?

>> I don't know, but they will always be Yeah. overshadowed by WY, man. Well, Dallas Yeah. If they do it right this time, they will build around it. So, he's going to be the

>> This is This was my big miss. Will Riley, I had Will Riley like I I think uh 29 to 31. If I can go back in time, I'd probably put him top 20. That's another one. Yeah, for sure. But I don't think I had any major misses last year. Like, okay, putting Carter Bryan at four sounds crazy, but I'm just saying, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait, wait a couple years.

>> Just give him three years, man. Just give him three years because he has no opportunity to he's put in a box at the Spurs because they have no room for it to

>> Right.

>> Right. So,

>> in in hindsight, it it's going to require a lot for him to be better than Khan if we're being really honest and Colin Murray Boils and all those guys. But in hindsight, the point was I put Carter at four when most people had him at 27. So I feel like I was closer to right than wrong. But still, that feels like emotionally I was trying to do something like almost to the point where I feel like if I had put him 12th, no one would pay attention. I put him at four, so people started talking about it a lot. So I almost feel like subconsciously sometimes when I feel like a guy is very underrated, I might overrate him just to balance it out. Um, Red Salute saying Flag is way, way, way, way better than Heartbird. I disagree. I think he's better, but I don't know if he's that much better. Um, okay. Let's get to this mock draft, man. Fun times.

>> Love mockdrafts.

>> It's always fun. It's always fun, chat. I love it, man. You know.

>> Okay, chat, I need you to uh pick No, wait. This is not the right way to do this. Okay, chat, I need you to pick an order. Erison first or Rob first? I need you to pick and we will we will go based on

>> rock paper scissors.

>> Rock, paper, scissors. Okay, let's do it.

>> Rock, paper, scissors.

>> I can't see your hand. This is cheating. This is

>> This is the This is the worst cheating. Okay.

>> Okay, you won. And apparently your name is now Arson.

>> Arson first.

>> Everyone Everyone picked you. Nobody picked me. Okay, All right, All right, I see how it is. [ __ ]

>> You know what? It's It's not polite to say [ __ ] the chat, but [ __ ] the chat. Nobody picked me. Not one person. Okay, there. One person picked me. Okay, cool. Yeah. Yeah, you go first. Okay, your first pick

>> and AJ the Benson, man. AJ the Benson number one.

>> Okay, so no controversies here. You are going with AJ. If they didn't they make the trade for tra I will go there soon for the wizards just as context.

>> Wait, what the [ __ ] did what what what just happened here? Oh, they make it makes a sound. Did you hear the sound?

>> Yeah, it's like a parade sound or something.

>> What the [ __ ] was that? Okay, cool. Uh, so I am on the board at number two with Utah. Now, I'm gonna I'm gonna make I'm gonna make you an offer. Okay. I will offer you Ace Bailey and the number two pick for AJ Debons. Do you agree?

>> Are you sure?

>> Yeah.

>> Okay, let's make it interesting, man.

>> Okay,

>> I'll take that offer.

>> Okay,

>> Can I change my pick? Well, you can't change your pick. You just

>> Yeah,

>> like you you are now picking for Utah. Okay, cool.

>> I'm taking Good deal.

>> Okay, cool. So, I'm now taking So, I take Agent Bouncer. You are on the board at number two. I'll be back on the board at number uh You'll be back on the board at number three. Who are you picking at number two?

>> Darren Peterson.

>> Okay, Darren Peterson. I I hate this sound. I Okay. Okay. No, no ceilings mock. If if you can hear this, is there a way for me to turn off the sound? It sounds like a parade every single time. Okay, whatever. It's fine. All right. Her hedgeon said, "If you rightclick the tab that the page is on, you can choose to mute the page in the drop down menu." Rob. Okay. If you rightclick the tab that the page is on, you can choose to mute the page in the drop down menu. Okay. Let's try. Oh [ __ ] success. Thank you, Tetrah. Tetrahedra, you are a genius. And I am a [ __ ] apparently. That's that's why nobody wanted me to go first. Okay. Uh, let's see. And you are on the board at number three. So, you picked you picked Aaron Peterson. You're on the board at number three. I'll be Chicago. So, number three is you. Who are you picking? Memphis.

>> Yeah. Just Cameron Boozer, man. He says, "I think that's the best fit." That's a no-brainer. Me.

>> Okay, Cameron Boozer, Memphis. Is there any consideration for Caleb Wilson here? I read your I read your mockdraft. Last Mockdraft, you had him at seven. So, I'm assuming you're way higher on Cameron Bruiser than Caleb Wilson. What's the separator for you? Is it the shooting? Is it the offensive upside? The basketball IQ? No, it was what caught my attention with Caleb Wilson at North Carolina was he has to dunk everything otherwise the touch ball was really kind of you know how do you say that exposed me a little bit the lack of touch I think he he has to be a creator more of that six creator to really be the outlier I don't really think that's his game man

>> the defensive is top side is real, but the offensive part is I don't know. I'm not really convinced that he is the defacto number four pick. I don't know. It's just it feels too too forced to me that he is the number four guy or else you're an idiot. Basically, that's the sentiment right now.

>> H I think there was a fourplayer draft in 2021 and the Raptors went off the board and said, "Fuck Jaylen Suggs. We're going to pick Scotty Barnes anyway.

>> If something like that does happen this year, it'll probably be the Chicago Bulls picking Katon Bogler

>> or Kingston Fleming or Darius Akuff and just saying screw it.

>> I don't think they should. I think this is a very big thing to get wrong if you're wrong. So, I'm going to go with Caleb Wilson at number four despite everything you just said. Um, I love his defensive versatility. I think yeah, the touch issues are real. I don't know if that's fixable necessarily. I don't know if the jump shot will ever translate to the NBA level, but I do know that I'm getting a high level transition athlete at that level with a lot of untapped potential, high upside, high motor, crazy positional versatility, a lot of utility in the modern NBA. And worst case scenario, what's this guy going to become? Like a three time Okay, maybe he doesn't become a five-time all-star. He'll make he'll probably be like a Dyson Daniels level defender if you know on on that level and like the ability to switch the way he can do it and the synergistic match with their system like how they want to play. They want to play like up and down like Indiana. He's going to look very productive in their system I think. So, you know, you're saying like he wants to dunk everything. It's like okay, who's going to stop him?

>> Who's going to stop him from dunking everything? So,

>> yeah. Um, okay. Number five, you are on the board as the LA Clippers who have a draft pick now.

>> Are you making any offers

>> to you for the number five pick? Uh, no.

>> Because with this pick, I'm absolutely clueless, man. Because I refuse to go Keon Wler. All these concerns, I was like, why why should Clippers go for W? Because they because they traded away Shay, so they they can get Shay part two. That's the theory.

>> It waits. It doesn't make any sense for me, man. I should they should just either trade back on draft night and collect more.

>> So So you could make

>> or just go with a new uh a new

>> So if you want to trade this pick, who would you trade it to? And what would you trade it for?

>> I would trade it to um

>> Are you interested in Are you

>> Okay, I was going to say, are you interested in a seven foot center who has great touch around the basket named Yakoba Purle? I'm happy to give it to you. No problem.

>> You good? You good? Off the yaka purle business.

>> I'm going to I'm going to add some extra spice to this one, man. Because for sometimes sometimes you have to think out of the box and go with what works. And for me, seven footers, you know, the elite physicality works with the Clippers with Zub. I'm going for Adar at number five. Okay.

>> Whoa. Oh, okay. Damn. Okay, you have officially you you've put some people on notice here.

>> He's not. He said number 12 Gomez.

>> Oh, damn. There he is. Yikes. Okay, at number six, the Brooklyn Nets. This is me. I really like me personally, I'm I'm not a big Darius Auff guy. You are a very big Darius Akov guy.

>> Sell me on Darius Auff over Kingston Flemings.

>> Yeah, Darius Akoff is the I'm going to need 30 seconds to explain this.

>> Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.

>> But I'm all in on these Detroit guards, man, in terms of how they have natural feel for angles and that mid-range jump. And for Darius Akoff, he managed to balance everything, all three levels at Arkansas. If you look at his rim attempts, mid-range and three, it's very balanced. And if you look at the film, he's always making the best decisions in terms of, you know, how he exploit his angles. The other side of the coin is he takes away a lot of of breaks on defense and he was horrible at times on defense, but his offense for me was good enough that I take that for a grain of salt because in NBA he doesn't have that luxury and Caliparic kind of gave him that luxury. But again, he's the he's the main man to really showcase these guys. And for me, a long story short is for me, he can he can build a team and lead a team and he can bring you so much offensive value that the defensive rating that you're giving up is not feasible that it's going to work. But you would just go for it, man. Because yeah, with this archetype, with this natural, you know, offensive talent, you just take it and then try to try to work things around it. Just like Dyson Daniels in Atlanta didn't work out with Trey Young, they moved from him. But and not to say that he's Trey Young, but Daryus Akov's game is built on physicality and this is a jack dude, man. But yeah, he's 61.

>> There's such different options here. The three names that I'm really thinking about, Darius Akov, Kingston Fleming, Katon Ller. So different. All three present a very different vision of what is a guard in the NBA, right? Keaton played a lot of one for Chicago this year, right? So he's bringing up the ball initiating, right? So did Darius, so did Kingston Flemings. I'm going to I'm I'm going to go with my gut. I'm going Katon Waggler.

>> Okay. You are on the board as Sacramento Kings. Yeah, the last time that we spoke, I was asked for for this guy number three for the Kings, man. And the Kings lost on draft night. I'm going there as a couple.

>> Yep.

>> That starting point guard role there is perfect for I I really hope this will happen on draft night.

>> Okay, number eight, the Atlanta Hawks. I am on the board and the Atlanta Hawks are picking Kingston Flemings. Easy peasy pick. They need a guard. They need a point guard badly. I don't think Dyson did a really good job at times. Nikquil did a good job at times. CJ McCollum did a good job at times. They've made some swings. You know, Kobe Buffin didn't work out, right? Zachary Shay didn't work out. I'll be very surprised if Kingston Fleming doesn't work out, dude. Like, very productive. Insane analytics. Um, great. The thing I don't like about Darius Auff is just I don't believe in players who don't play defense. and he's going to be probably the worst defender in the NBA next year. So, it's very hard. Also, Sacramento needs a player like Darius Seikov. He's box office. Like, he's really fun to watch. He'll make that product work. So, I think everyone got what they needed here. You know, I feel pretty settled with, you know, Jaylen Johnson. And I just feel like Keem

>> I feel like

>> Kingston Flemings can be a part of a system better than Darius Auff, whereas Darius Auff is either going to be your franchise player or he's going to be like a bust. I don't see I don't see a m a medium range outcome for him.

>> Am I am I wrong on that?

>> No, not me either. It's just, you know, you go for the 99% outcome and if you have it, you're set for the next 10 years. But the degree of not having that guy is Yeah.

>> And you have to be an allNBA level guard or at least an all-star level guard to justify not playing defense.

>> Otherwise, you just end up in like an Anthony Simons purgatory. You know what I mean? Um, okay. Number nine, you are on the board as the Dallas Mavericks. Messiah Yujuri, Mike Schmidt. What are you doing?

>> I've got to expose myself here, man. Okore. Give me a

>> Oh my god. You got the picky one.

>> Scroll down

a little bit. This is the second time you've reached. But you know what? In hindsight, if these work out, you're going to look like a genius. Um, if they don't, I mean, you're going to sound like me trying to pick Ryan Rupair 13th overall three years ago. I've had some bad years over that as well, man. Killian Hayes number one. It's been me as well.

No, Killian Hayes number one. But back in the day, I was so biased towards Europeans. It was I didn't care. The the other guys were better in all honesty. You would have also picked Andrea Barnetti number one. I know. I know what I'm saying. Me too. Me too. Don't worry. Me too. Lamarcus Aldridge. I would have picked Barnani number one. I still would pick Barnani number one. I still believe in my head that it could have worked out.

Okay, number 10 for the Milwaukee Bucks. I am man confused. What the [ __ ] do I do with the Milwaukee Bucks? So, I'm not very high on MueL Brown Jr. You're not high on Muel Brown Jr., which means he's going to slip cuz neither one of us are going to pick him. I'm taking Leber and Phylon. As much as I like what I saw from some of their guards this year, I still feel like he's on a different tier. So, I'm going to pick Leber and Phylon and just let the dust fall where where it is. I'm planning for life with Giannis and without Giannis. He fits both, right? So, I I got that.

Okay. Number 11, the Golden State Warriors. You I don't think they should go for a young guy, man. That experiment has been horribly for them. I'm going with Yel. They need a defender with him and Draymond. Yeah, it was good. But yeah, not lottery good in my opinion. But going for defense in that last lost Steph run, yeah, give me Excel and Draymond. It's just going to be Wow.

H. Okay. OKC at number 12. Interesting. It's interesting because OKC has the Clippers pick and the Clippers have Pacers pick. But if the Clippers hadn't traded this pick to OKC as part of that deal for Shay, very interestingly enough, they would have two lottery picks. Nevertheless, where is OKC going here? Now, there's a few places that I could see OKC going. I could see them going Cameron Carr. I could see them going Nate Attent. I could see them going Bennett Stirts with a massive reach. I could see them picking Muel Brown, Morz Johnson, or Jaden Quent. I could see them going all those places. However, I'm actually gonna pick someone that they're not thinking about.

Enhance Steinback. Yeah, man. You read my mind, man. I was going for him for the Heat. Yeah, like I I think he's a very interesting player and with their ability to develop jump shooters, I think they can figure it out. If he works out like wonderful fit for what they want to do and what they can do, great athlete, tough, very tough, good rebounder, makes a lot of sense for them. Hans Steinback goes off the board at 12 to the OKC Thunder.

Number 13 to the Miami Heat. you actually I want to go for guard but I don't see any reason to go for one and the front court is yeah everyone is already in place but this feels like too good of a fit if that makes sense I'm going Morz man to Miami. Morz paired with Kal wear and bam out of bio that's very interesting. Yeah. That is a very interesting. Just jumbo size everywhere. Yoic ball ender just plus size everywhere. But this guy's motor might trade Yoic to be honest but yeah. He will outwork rare for sure. Yeah.

Okay. Now we are at 14 and Mel Brown and Bradenberries have fallen a little too far. This kind of gives you hope as a Raptor fan that someone really good is going to be on the board at 19. Man, I'm looking at the names on the board right now, right? If I'm a Raptor fan, think about this. If you're a Raptor fan, are you excited about the prospect of Cameron Carr? Yes, you are. Are you excited about the potential prospect of Native Attent? Probably. Dylan Swain, Bennett Stirts, Jaden Quinton, Muel Brown, Braden Bears. One of these guys is going to be on the board when the Raptors pick. One of them is now praying it's the right one. And I'm not even talking about Christine Jr. um Terrace Reed, Allen Graves, like the Raptors will have a pick. Like they will have a choice at at 19.

And and I honestly think like I'm really thinking about this draft and I'm just like my god. Like if Jaden Quinton is there at 19, like holy crap, it's hard hard player to pick pass up on. That being said, at 14 I'm going Jaden Quinton. Now, this means my Brown and Bradenberries are really gonna fall here. Like, they they are falling falling to the point where I don't even think this is realistic that they could fall. But two players like this always fall every single year. So, it I think this is realistic. You just keep ending up in the wrong wrong situation.

Uh Jaden Quinton because quite frankly, you know, I think he fits with what Charlotte wants to do, you know, athletically and I think defensively he just really anchors what they want to do. There's parts of me that think maybe they could go guard here, but you know, it kind of depends on what they're doing with Kobe White. And, you know, they they already have a very I think they were thin on front court, you know, and I don't think you can you can rely on Musa to like hold it down by himself, you know. So, they did pick a center in last year's draft, obviously with a second round pick, but I think here you're showing up center depth and you're taking a very big swing on defensive player, you know, of first team all defensive type of upside. So. Yeah, they can afford it. They can afford to. Yeah, they also have a pick at 18. So, you know, for them, this is just about picking up Jaden Quinton before OKC or Memphis picks them up. Uh or or Chicago picks him up. Chicago could really use him.

Speaking of Chicago, you're on the board of 15 for the Chicago Bulls. Who are you picking? Now, this is the moment when Michael Brown's fall ends, man. I'm not a fan of Michael Brown, but in terms of what the Chicago Bulls, easy enough is still guard despite them having a lot of them. But this is the type of guy that can be Yeah. If everything clicks and I hope his injuries will Yeah, it will not be hurting his way in the NBA. He's going to be a star today, man. For sure. I think this is good value.

Speaking of guys whose fall has ended, Bradenbur's fall ends at Memphis at 16. I think this is actually really um kind of fits. He fits them. He really fits what they do. Um him and Jayen Wells is going to be feeding a lot of people, man. It's just. Totally. They need maybe J's successor. But yeah, it was not with the 16 big man. That's that's a little bit too rich.

Okay. 17h. 17 is you. Which also means you're going to be picking for the Raptors at 19 by the way. Okay. Would it OKC pick at 12? Okay. They have a center. Mhm. Yeah. I'm absolutely clueless, man. What did I do? What do I need? I'm banking on okay you are done with the with the development type of guys you go for ready guys I think Karim Lopez for some reason is pos is a popular pick for them I don't see honestly why would they pick. I think Swain has a lot in common with some of their players. I was gonna I was going to go for Swain just for depth because the defensive prospect of him is proven to me. And he's going uh bring some value in terms of them just punting the 17th pick for hypothetical future guy and then yeah, it never going to happen. So for me it's Swain at the 17.

Okay Swain is going to the OKC Thunder at 18. I am the Charlotte Hornets and I picked Jaden Quinton for them at 14 and at 18 I'm going to pick Cameron Carr for them. I understand it's not necessarily like, you know, they need a point guard, they need a point guard, they need a backup point guard. I don't care. Like to me, this is a team that gets up and down. This is a player that gets up and down. Athleticism, you're batting on maximum talent here. Last year, you went for solid floor. You went for really solid players who fit a role. Now you're a young up and cominging team. You're trying to maximize all of this. Let's go up. Okay. At number 18, Cameron Carr goes off the board.

You are the Toronto Raptors at number 19. What do you do? This one's easy, man. This one's easy. I was like, if Messiah was still here, I would take Karim Lopez, man. But yeah, it's over. I'm going stirs. the boosters of course.

Okay. So this is interesting. Yes. Um. Very consensus. Very consensus. Okay. So this very interesting. So when I did the mock draft for for our channel, I ended up with starts. When Cheap Seats, who is another content creator that I sometimes do stuff with, uh Mark, when he did it, he picked Christian Anderson. And I was so pissed. I was so pissed. I was like, "Bennis Stirts is right there. How can you do this?" It was, but you know what it was? It was trauma preparation because on draft night, there's a very good chance the Raptors will pass on Bennett Stirts and I'll be sitting there being like, "Why?" Uh, tell the Raptors why you picked Benz. Tell Raptor fans because because we know Bobby Webster is never going to answer anything. So, just let them.

Honestly, the Raptors are a playoff team right now. It's just improving the margins right now and they need the floor general. take the floor general and put pressure off, you know, Scotty Bournes as a creative for us. I think that's the main idea. We do need a floor general. We had a floor terrorist, Emanuel Quickley, uh, for most of the year. You know, he terrorizes the court with his pull-up jump shooting and blatant disregard for open passing lanes. Um, seriously terrorizing, but uh, you know, it's it's nice to have a floor general uh, backing him up. Honestly, I love Jamal Shed so much, but like if he can't figure out the jump shot next year, like he's he's fringy uh in terms of like his rotation role in the NBA. Like he's he's got a he's got a great gimmick, you know, like he's a great passer, great point of attack defender, but like he gives up so many inches on that end and then the inability to shoot is is really hard. Uh some people are upset. They're saying we have 10 guards. You don't have 10 guards. And by the way, if you're watching the NBA right now, you can never have too many guards.

Okay, moving up next. Uh, the San Antonio Spurs, my second favorite team in the NBA, I will be picking. Damn, this is hard because on the one hand, Nat is such an obvious pick here. Such an obvious pick. Like to me, this is like he was made to play for the Spurs. They need a they need a range E4 34. They need shooting around Wemby. Why not? Like, why not pick him? But then I'm thinking like Chris Cak and him. That's where I'm torn here. So, I'm going to go with Native Man to the Spurs. Feels like a very Spursy pick.

All right, at 21, the Detroit Pistons to join franchise player Kade Cunningham, who had a whopping 13 points yesterday. Overrated. Can you scroll down a little bit? Just. Yep. This is not the range where Yeah. For me, what do they need, man? They have so much. It's It's crazy. They have so much. Mhm. And. That is. No, they have already os maybe the best defender in the league already as of now. Kate is the number one guy, but they kind of need the sidekick for Kate. David Jenkins deserves another chance. I think Isaiah Stewart is expandable at this point. I don't understand why he's still on the team. Honestly, it's easy to say now, but Paul Reed should deserve another chance as well. For me, it's. I'm going for shooting depth. They need they need the floor spacer. And this is a situation where the player that I'm going to pick is likely going to return to school. When I did the mock draft on my newsletter, I took him from Detroit as well. Is Milan Mloic. That's the guy that they did. And with Osan next to him, I can play next to put it like and I can stop the traffic go myself. So for me is go for go for the maximum offensive rating improver in Mo which is gravity as a shooting man. Mhm. I could see it. I think he's going to be a first round on draft as well. But. I thought he would go late first round. I think this is very high for him at 21, but I could see it.

Um 22 for the Philadelphia 76ers. I I think I'm gonna go with Kareem Lopez. I don't love it. I would rather pick Alan Graves, but I don't think they're going to do it. So, just go for the guy who's falling. Okay. At 23, the Atlanta Hawks. It's you. They pick Kingston Fleming at eight. Yeah. What the hell do I need, man? I'm leaning toward a five, actually. They could use a good big. They could also use I mean, yeah, I don't think you're going to go backtoback guards here, but like. You could put Christian Anderson and just ramp it up your guard depth. I could argue you don't have a point guard at all on your roster going into the next season with two would mean that that would be weird. But. Okay, scroll down a little bit. I'm just. I'm seeing all these names. I was like, yeah, this is not uh not No, no, no. For me, it's really hard, man. This is where the hard part of the draft, where the real draft starts, if that makes sense. Totally. And for me is how much support does Jaylen Johnson need? He's going to be the main guy. So, for me is they have Tyson Daniels as well. So, how many quote unquote cars do they really need? That's my biggest question. Wouldn't I just go swing for the fences here? That's my idea. And looking at the board now is if I take a sender, why would I take a sender if I can get a expandable sender in second draft in the second round? me. Mhm. I was leaning towards either Terra Reed, but to give some more breathing room to Jaylen Johnson, go for more of that inside hop four, five Joshua Jefferson. Not going to do that either. He measured very poorly. I'm going with Christian Anderson, man. You sure you don't want to go with Visar here? No. Okay. Christian Anderson hit it.

So, we are going backto back guards. Okay. Um, now 24 for the New York Knicks. Where did they go? Allan Graves. Boom. They go Allan Graves. They got a great defender. really interesting upside swing potentially, you know, going to be a guy who can shoot the basketball a little bit at the next level and play easily guard at least three positions. He's going to be learning from the best uh in OG and an OB. He has magneto hands. I I like Alen Grace a lot. Yeah.

Okay. Number 25 for the Los Angeles Lakers. I'm going to give Luca. Yeah. Another five. He needs a five. bad Jackson A is not gonna cut it. He makes Jackson Ace look like a really good fight. He makes every fight look good is going to join in Slovenia as well, right? So. Yeah. Who you going with? Uh. Visar has to be older dude, man. So, I'm going for Louisis. I actually don't hate that. Um, they they desperately need, you know, pick and pop big with him or they need somebody who can, you know, be rim attack vertical vertical lop threat.

Okay, 26 for the Denver Nuggets. I actually think this is the place for KA Pete if I'm being honest. Like this feels like that's the one fit for him. And if it's not there, I'm not really sure where it is. Although at this point now, Chris Sak has fallen all the way to 27. Is he gonna be the Boston Celtics pick at 27? That's on you. One man. No. No, he's not. I'm going for If I look at their core team, they have a defensive disruptive guard in Gonzalez. Of course, Tatum, Jaylen Brown. Yeah, they're the guys, of course. And then I like Pritchard as well as the more of that offensive engine, but do they really have a point boy point guard? They don't need one, but do they have one is my question. I don't know. I think this is where Amari Allen is going to be coming off the the board, man. Going with Allen.

Okay, Amari Allen. That feels like that feels like it makes sense. Okay, now for pick 28, the Minnesota Timberwolves don't even have to think twice. They run to the podium. Christine Ax Jr., perfect fit. Makes total sense culturally. Speaking of just like the profile, I look at him, I'm like, that's a Minnesota Timberwolf. You know, like in Harry Potter where it's like Gryffindor the sorting hat. If there was a sorting hat for the NBA, Chris Cack ends up a Minnesota Timberwolf. Okay. I like it, man. The tough guy environment. He can learn from Randle how to really play bully ball. Bingo. And then have guys like Terren Shannon and Anthony really pushing him and to not be lazy. Not that he's lazy, but he's coming from Houston, so he's going to continue the level of Yeah. Intensity that used to. Reputations are hard to shake, man.

Okay. Uh now the Cleveland Cavaliers who are heading to the Eastern Conference Finals. They are up 29. You are on the board, my friend. Who are you picking for the Cleveland Cavaliers? This is. Yeah, they have everything. I don't know what they need. They might trade this pick to be honest because they don't um they are very very over the cap. They're in the second apron. This is a hard contract to even fit on your books. So, if I'm the Raptors, I'm calling with 50 plus multiple seconds to try and see if we can get squeeze another asset. But, um, who do you pick? This is the moment where I'm going for cheap, high-end player. Who can contribute. Alex Cariban, man. I. I was I was literally hovering on him because I was waiting for you to pick him. I knew you were going to go Alex Cariban here. I I agree. I I think at this point in the draft, you just have to look at this and just say, "Okay, can this guy give me serviceable role player outcome for four years?" Cuz if he can, that's already better than the average 29th to 30th overall pick.

At 30, the Dallas Mavericks with their final pick of the first round, uh, Hansen Yang. Clearly, no. If he's still on the board, I find it very hard at this point that they're going to pass on Luigi. So, he goes number 30th here. Now, if what you're saying is, you know, he wanted a top 20 promise, well, then, you know, so this is our mock draft. We alternated obviously, uh, AJ Debasa goes to Utah as part of a trade. That was the only trade that was executed. Darren Peterson ends up going to Washington. Memphis gets Cameron Boozer. Chicago gets Caleb Wilson. Adimara gets a massive reach in my opinion at, you know, for the LA Clippers. Dude, I I I think this guy's fringe lottery in terms of actual value, but the fact that he's 7 foot three barefoot is getting a lot of people really excited and he's pretty coordinated. Uh Katon Bogler is going to be the face of the franchise in Brooklyn potentially. Sacramento gets their face of the franchise and Daryus Akuff as they shop for someone to take on that expiring deal of Zack Lavine. Atlanta gets reinforcements for Jaylen Johnson and uh Kingston Fleming. Ibuka Okori another wow riser for the Dallas Mavericks. Msiah Jur's first pick. An African player. Just really I feel like this is very racist but yes it works. Um, it's not racist if it works for you. It's only racist if it works against you. So, this is like racially motivated thinking. Um, as you picking a Buo Corey and then Milwaukee Pixel Bear and Phylon, I don't see anything controversial here. If there's a controversial pick, it's probably going to be Muel Brown Jr. and Bradenberries falling to 15 and 16. I think some people would see that as pretty low. Dalen Swain was basically born to play for the OKC Thunder. Cameron Carr was born to play for the Charlotte Hornets and Bennett Stirts just feels like a Raptor, man. Um, this many mock drafts can't be wrong, right? Like every mock draft I see, Bennis St. Benz KC mocks Beners to the Raptors today. I don't know. May maybe all of this is a jinx. You know, he'll go 18 to the Charlotte Hornets. I can see the Charlotte Hornets picking him up. In fact, he makes more than he makes perfect sense for the Hornets. He makes more sense for the Hornets than Cameron Carr. I have no idea why I didn't pick Bennett search for the Hornets to be honest, but yeah. Um, Mom Shalovich, so you you had all the all the risers. All the surprise risers for you. All these uh bad grades are all my picks. They're not bad grades. See, like I I can only ever get a B for any of my picks. You can get an A+. Because if actually turns into Uric Maxi. Yeah. Yeah. You get you get an A+. Uh I do think if there's another guy who kind of fell a little bit further than people were expecting, Kareem Lopez and Alan Graves. I just feel like these guys are what I call positionally ambiguous players. That can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you market it. I think these guys are doing a pretty bad job marketing themselves right now as positional versatility guys.

So yeah. Um, okay, cool. Well, that was fun. I think mothdraft's a really good way to talk about the draft. I think, you know, however people feel about it, like people like, "Oh, well, you know, we could just wait for the draft." Yeah, but this is a good opportunity to talk about it. Um, before we get out of here, I just want your pick for the Eastern Conference and Western Conference finals if you have one. Spurs, OKC, New York, Cleveland. Who you got? Going Cleveland in six games because. Controversial. Cleveland if Cleveland can know put the Knicks out of the paint and limit their rebounding. Mhm. Allen and Mobly have this. They have this against Mitch and Cars. They have this. You know, they can score as much as they want in Knicks, but if they don't have their rebounding next to them, they're vulnerable. Their margin of error rapidly increases. I'm going with Caval. I mean. And in the West, I'm going with Webby, man. I'm going with Webby. I'm going in seven games. Both still won on the road. Seven games. I think the Spurs. You're going underdog both times. I'm going for the Spurs winning the title, man. Spurs winning the title. That would be magical. Yeah. I I mean right now in terms of teams that I'm rooting for, it's Spurs number one, OKC number two, New York number three, and then Cleveland number four. I don't like Cleveland cuz I don't like Max Drew. But that's just my that's that's my own issue. Max Drew headbutted Scotty Barnes, so now I don't like the Cleveland Cavaliers. But yeah, I could see a world where Cleveland like again I personally I know I'm in the minority when I say this. I think Donovan Mitchell's better than Jaylen Brunson. I think he's amazing. And like yesterday against Cade, he showed it. Like he was the best player on the court and there was no second. It was like who's the second who's the best player? Donovan Mitch. Who was the second best player? I don't know. I don't know who the second best player was. It doesn't matter. He was so dominant. And to me, there was a time when the Knicks were looking at Donovan Mitchell to come and save their franchise. And they were thinking about like Jaylen Brunson's going to be his number two option and all this stuff. And now because of the marketing of the Knicks, they're just like, "No, Jaylen Brunson's number one option." I think there's levels to this. I think Donovan Mitchell is going to be like leaps and bounds ahead of him. But. He has I still think the Knicks will win because I don't trust James Harden at all. I trust him. I trust him. I think he's here to bring back that. Yeah. Did you watch game though? He sucked. He sucked yesterday, man. He sucked the last two games, three games. It's his legacy. His legacy game. He doesn't have the worries to worry about anymore. Can he legacy game? Dude? I watched two possessions yesterday where he didn't even look at the shot clock and it was expired. One of the smartest, most cerebral players in NBA history. Don't even look at the shot clock. I don't know. I I I'll believe it when I see it. I got the Knicks and the Spurs. I I know it sounds crazy. We're both picking the Spurs here. I think the reason that I'm not as high on OKC is because JDub, he just hasn't been very good this year. And with him coming back, I think it disrupts their chemistry a little bit. They didn't look very good against the Lakers. I know they swept the Lakers, but they didn't look good against the Lakers. The Spurs inspired a lot more confidence against the Minnesota Timberwolves. So, they were both play playing teams that were depleted, but I feel like even though the Spurs won and six and OKC 1-4, OKC hasn't played basketball in a week. You know? Come on, man. This guy goes from Co Bear to Arnesty. Yeah. Is in a good position. Yeah, I think I think WBY is going to shut [ __ ] down. Like, this is the number one rim defense versus the number one rim offense in the NBA. It's going to be a chess match. And yeah, I I I think OKC is just going to obviously they can get hot. They can hit threes. They can have a hot three-point shooting series where Chat goes crazy, AJ goes crazy, Kase goes crazy, and it'll it'll work. But I just feel like it's hard for me to imagine that they're going to if if if OKC wins, it won't be easy. That's what I'll say. Yeah.

Anyways, man, uh it was great podcasting with you. I always love these conversations. Tell the people where they can find you, man. Hey, it was a lot of fun, man. And again, thank you to you for inviting me again, you know, shout out to Raptors Nation next year. Second round, I hope so. Sixth pick, second round. We were this close. Yeah. Just just know if we had Jared Allen and they had Yakob Purle, we would be in the finals. I'm telling you, man, the gap is that small and so large. Yeah. Despite Peru putting these Cavaliers to seven games, taring them out, I think it's good. Yo, after six games, after six games, the Raptors were at 669. Cavaliers were at 669. We played them dead even for six games, 33. And honestly, if the Cavaliers win the championship, we'll be able to say we beat we had a winning record on the season. We beat them 4-0. In the playoffs, we lost 34. So, I mean, we beat the NBA champions seven times in a season. Go figure. That's that's how that's how we're gonna say it. Anyways, man, um you can find at uh uh e Demiermbba.substack.com. Link is in the description. Definitely go uh follow him. He he writes very in-depth, very detailed. And of course, you know, the thing that I most appreciate about you is that you're original. Like you're not like you do this long enough, you learn to listen for people who are regurgitating what other people just say and you and I hate that. Me personally, I hate it. When people talk about the draft, I read everything about the draft. Everything I can, anything I can get my hands on, I read. So if someone is out there making content, I've probably watched your content. So when somebody goes out and they're saying like the same thing that this other guy said about the same guy, and I'm just like, "God, man, have an opinion. that's just your opinion, you know. So, to me, the originality of opinions is what makes good scouts. You're good scouts. So, I'm very, very happy that you were on. And, you know, we can agree or disagree on Trey Johnson or, you know, we can be wrong or right about um Carter Bryant or Coniple. It doesn't matter. You know, for me, Carter Bryant, that was a discovery for me. You know, I watched him. I saw something. I liked it. I wrote about it. That's just it. You You know, you're the same way, right? like and and that that to me is very cool, right? I'm not waiting for somebody else to put Carter in the lottery, for me to put Carter in the lottery. You're not waiting for somebody to put a Cory at number nine for you to put a Cory at number nine, right? You're just going to do it, you know, and whatever. We'll all be idiots in the end sometime, you know? That's the common denominator, man. But sometimes you get some really big wins and that feels good. Yeah. I mean, look, at at the end of the day, like pull-up jump shooting, defensive versatility, we can all watch the playoffs. you can all see what's working, what's not. But Cory has a ton of things that work. You know, if if it if it works, he's an all-star for sure. I I completely get it.

All right, man. Thanks a lot for coming on. Uh yeah, people go go follow him. Go subscribe to Pentar Basketball and uh the draft cannot come soon enough. Peace. Okay. All right.