We're one week away from the NBA draft. Bryce, it's time to do a mock draft. Hello and welcome to the Game Theory podcast. I'm your host, Sam Vini. Bryce Simon is over there. I'm excited to dig in to this NBA draft cycle. Man, how are you today?

I'm good. Uh this is another case where we are late because of me. Uh, I was adamant that I was able to catch my son's coach pitch baseball game and uh, so we were a little bit late. Got caught talking to his coach who is also my boss as in my principal at the middle school. So, and my father-in-law. So, little bit late here, but hopefully everybody's okay with that. as I think mock drafts, especially one week away from the draft, are always pretty exciting for everybody.

Absolutely. It's 100% right. Uh I'm excited to dig into this. I'm excited to talk through draft prospects. The NBA draft guide over at The Athletic is live and I am thrilled that I get to share that thing with you. I want to shout out the design team over at The Athletic. They've done a phenomenal job with that thing. I am so appreciative and grateful to them. Also want to shout out the video team. The video team uh that I work with over there did an amazing job on the top 10 videos. The plan for next year is to even do more of those videos if we can get the time to do so. Probably do them earlier in the year as well uh than what we did. Obviously, they have their hands full with DNE's NFL draft guide, which is just a total uh just behemoth and be what's it called? The beast. Yes. So, I I listen to a Chief's podcast and like they all they talked about it all draft season. The beast is this, the beast is that, Dane Bugler does an amazing job. Like all the time they were giving him props.

Yeah. What DNE does with that thing is like impossible. I have no idea how anyone can like have the amount of stuff going on uh that he does with like ranking a thousand players in the NFL draft. the the NFL draft is just like a total like thing that I I totally understand why NFL scouting staffs have to be as massive as they are because every position is so specialized and so uh you know difficult to evaluate in and of itself. So crazy. Um but I'm very appreciative of everyone over there. Uh appreciate you guys for subscribing. Hit the subscribe button if you're here uh and you aren't subscribed. Game theory podcast with Sam Vassini. We appreciate everyone who comes through. also can announce Bryce and I have recorded an NBA draft show over at the Substack. So, if you want to double dip, that will go up tomorrow morning. Uh, go hit the subscribe button over at game theoryv.substack.com. There's a little QR code there if you're watching on Spotify or on YouTube. We appreciate everyone who comes through there. You guys really really uh do an amazing job of supporting the show through your subscriptions over there. Uh, Bryce, I think I'm just ready to go, man. I think I'm just ready to talk draft and run through it. The thing that I have not done yet is I have not pulled up the typical fano mockdraft thing that we use the simulator. Let's see if we can get that going here real quick.

Bryce, before we do this, give me your overall thoughts on the strength of the 2026 NBA draft.

Yeah, so I had one takeaway coming in. I wanted to prep prepare something because I feel like you always ask me like, "Hey, any overarching thoughts or anything like that?" And I think, and I said this over on the Game Theory draft show on the Substack, was I think I've got to a place where I really appreciate the depth of this draft. And so, we're going to talk about the top three and the top four and then, you know, where the strength is after that and all of those things. What I said over there was if I'm in the 20s, I think I'm going to have an opportunity at getting a very quality basketball player. maybe not a superstar, maybe not even a starter, but there are a lot of players where I think you can select them and feel like, hey, this is going to be a rotation player for us. And obviously, there's tears and levels to it, but I even think that does go into the first five picks or so of the second round. And so I think one week out that is really where my focus is or my biggest takeaway is is man I I kind of come around on the depth of this class overall throughout the first round and even a little bit into the second round.

I absolutely uh am intrigued by the depth while also acknowledging that I think I am a little bit lower on the depth than you are in this class. I do have 35 guaranteed contract guys, but I only have like 25. Honestly, like the more I think about Kristen Knack, the more I'm like a little bit questionable on it. Uh, but 25 first round guarantee, guys. First round grade. These guys are locked in. I'm for it. Um, and I love it, guys. Uh, there are 30 picks in the first round. those teams that are at the bottom are, you know, maybe not quite getting like a normal average first round pick, but that's okay because I love the strength through the lottery of this class. I think that, you know, you go all the way down into that like 11, 12, 13 range, you're going to come away with a really good player in this class and I'm really really excited about that. I think we can just start. I think we dive in and we just go for it. Bryce, shout out to the folks over at Fansspo. They do an amazing job with this little mockdraft simulator thing. and Bryce. Typically the way we do this is that we go back and forth on picks. I think this one, let's just sell each other on picks, right?

Okay.

Let's just like kind of have a conversation and choose one.

And the first one is the Washington Wizards at number one. I think we just go with AJ Debansa. I think you and I both believe that AJ is the number one overall pick. I think that you and I both have him ranked number one. Uh I have seen the Shamstrania reporting regarding AJ uh and regarding Darren Peterson, particularly Darren going in uh only to Washington. I didn't really think much of that to be honest with you. I think that Washington has been doing their due diligence on Darren Peterson this entire way. Honestly, the fact that they had like multiple workouts with him also made me think that like they were still kind of trying to sell themselves on Darren being in that mix. I kind of took it the opposite way that everybody else did, I guess, in some respects, just kind of knowing the draft process in the way that I do. Um, yeah, I think that at the end of the day, AJ Deansa makes the most sense. He's the guy that when I watch him play, I think he certainly creates the easiest shots out of anybody in this class because of his ability to get to the rim and his ability to get to the foul line. He's an elite level player getting to those areas of the court. Uh obviously I am a huge fan of what he brings to the table in terms of his uh just like comfort level with the spotlight as well. like this is a guy that if you are Washington and you are planning on building an organization around the number one overall pick year, which it feels like they are, man, I I feel great about the way that AJ Deansa is going to handle that spotlight. I don't think that Darren would, you know, struggle with it. It's just not inherent to who he is. Like, he wants it to be a little bit quieter. He wants to go out there and hoop. And that's not to say Darren Peterson's a killer. That's not or not not a killer. That's not to say that he is a guy that like I don't believe in. We're probably going to take Darren Peterson number two if you made me guess and we'll talk about him there. But I I think that that dude would almost be better off going number two overall if honestly I genuinely believe that because I think that you know he's not a guy that wants to like just be out there all the time and like to be the vocal leader of your organization and everything. He wants to go out there and hoop and do his business and that's who he is and I respect the hell out of it. I love that dude for it, but there's a difference between, you know, all the everything that occurs there, right?

Yep. Uh AJ Deansa has been my number one player for the entire cycle. I haven't really wavered a whole lot on that. I do think Darren Peterson and Camboozer both have I think the gap I had coming into the year. I do think they closed that gap and that had more to do with them than it did what AJ Deansa did. But like to me just as the player obviously the mid-range bag and what he's able to do there like he just has so much ability with some footwork stuff with the elevation with the ground coverage with his steps. I think his passing I realize what the assist to turnover ratio is. I get it. But I do think he can be a positive passer. I I I think he sees the floor. I think he will be unselfish. Is there going to be some growing pains? Absolutely. I think he's aware and navigate secondary defenders. Um I do think he'll learn to use his strength and physicality even more holding his line to the rim. And I do think that's important because it's not like he has the best like handle that generates insane separation the way maybe some guys do. And then defensively, I think there's a lot of potential. It is unrealized potential. Like absolutely the the fundamentals, the open hips, the shot fakes, all of that stuff really really has to grow, Sam. Like no question about it. I do think that the tools are there to be very impactful. And I will just mention this. I had a lot of positive notes about how he communicated defensively. And I bring that up to just say if you're communicating, there is some level of awareness, engagement, scouting, you know, awareness. Like there's something I I don't know which one. Maybe it's a combination of all, but that tells me you're engaged defensively. Like you have a level of, okay, I I got to take care of business on this end. He just got to sh up the fundamentals of his footwork, his hips, his shot fakes, going for shot fakes, those type of things. But, um, this is just like a wing with size that scored 25 a game in college and has these tools like it's the production plus the tools for me that kept him at number one all year.

Someone asked, "What are your thoughts on his feel and his basketball IQ like comparatively to Demar De Rozan basically, right?" And to me, the key with AJ is that uh I thought the feel for the game and the passing ability really improved throughout the course of the season. I thought he got way better at diagnosing his reads, not settling for mid-range jumpers, making passing reads to his teammates, understanding where he's supposed to go with the ball. I think Dear does a lot of that, too, for what it's worth. I think that he didn't enter the NBA with the skill set that AJ is going to be entering with. Uh, I even think AJ's like a level ahead of Jaylen Brown in terms of where he was entering the NBA with all of those skill sets and frankly like might be a level ahead of where Jaylen Brown is right now with all of those things. It's a lot more similar to Jaylen Brown to me coming out of Cal than it is to Demar D Rozan. Uh, even in terms of the defensive side where Dear I think is just not a very good defender across the board. Jaylen does things well on defense. Jaylen is able to guard on the ball. he's able to be a switchable defender. I think AJ has those same properties as an onball defender as well. It's uh just the offball stuff, the engagement. Like one example I gave uh on the Wizard show that I did earlier today was, you know, I think teams might be able to hit AJ with like zoom actions, right? Where, you know, middle Chicago guy at the top of the key with a dribble handoff, early screen on the wing. AJ has to fight through the early screen, stay engaged to be locked in on that action, then fight through the second screen, get through that. Like, he might struggle with those early on, I think, unless teams start peel switching and everything like that with him. But I think by and large AJ's going to be able to at least be like a solid defender who certainly won't get attacked in the way that Demar gets attacked. Um, yeah, I understand the point of comparison though.

Yeah, I mean it it is a comp that I've given like a little bit more a more athletic Demar D Rozan. Um, and the only reason is because I just when I watch AJ, I think right now here's my question. To me, his like elite skill or or go-to thing in the NBA is going to be playing in the mid-range, I think. Right. Maybe not in the exact same way, but get to 10 to 15 ft, shot fake, reverse pivot, step through, just rise up, you know, draw a secondary defender, make the pass out. I'm not saying he can't do other things, but I do wonder if that's where he's going to be most comfortable early in his career. And so, like, that is why I've compared it a little bit to Demar D. Rose, and I don't think it's definitely like the best or a one to one. But I do think the upside then is ability to space the floor, be better defensively. Um I think he's going to be a really good rebounder and impactful on the boards. So um again I to me this is 100% AJ Deon at number one.

Okay, number two. I will just talk a little bit about the Jazz here in general. At number two, I do not think they're going to care that Darren Peterson is not coming in. They proved it last year with Ace Bailey. They're fine with guys that don't come in to visit their organization. I don't think this means anything in terms of Darren Peterson. Uh the fact that he's not going there and like trying to manage his way to different areas. Like I think Darren Peterson's going to go play for whoever he gets drafted by. I'm not worried about that at all either. Uh by and large I kind of didn't take away a whole lot of that from the Shams report either direction. Now, like, do I think that there are probably some other motives in terms of why Darren Peterson is maybe not going to Utah? Keonte George and Darren Peterson are rep by the same agency, the team slash what used to be called Wasserman. Keonte George is eligible for an extension this year. You could take that one of two ways. If he doesn't get an extension this summer, you probably don't want Darren Peterson there because Darren Peterson will take up usage and thus potentially harm Keonte George's stock in some way. Or you could take it as, okay, let's like withhold a draft workout from Darren Peterson until we come to an agreement on a extension with Kee George and then we'll be like, yeah, come on, come on in. We're fine with that. There are just a lot of different things that are kind of, you know, you could take away from him not going to Utah. I would imagine a lot of it has to do with the way the agency is handling it. And I don't blame them. The agency should be using whatever levers at their disposal in order to do what is best for all of their clients. To me, this is the easy like I'm taking Darren Peterson. I have Camboozer at number two on my board. And I'm still taking Darren Peterson here. And here's the reason why. I think that it's razor thin between these top three prospects, AJ, Darren, and Cam. I did a thing over at The Athletic where we had it as um who are my 20 best prospects over the course of the last 11 years that I've been doing this job. And I had AJ 6, I had Cam 7, I had Darren Peterson 8. It's razor thin. It is so close between all these guys. Those are rankings of all prospects over 20 or over 11 years of me doing this, right? So to have them be that close says to me that I want to consider the team context that they're in in some respect, right? And the reason that that matters is that okay, you have Jiren Jackson who you traded for, you have Lowry Markin, and you have uh Walker Kesler who you're probably resigning. Again, I love Sam Amik as a colleague. I don't think much of the report that came out yesterday in regard, not in terms of Sam reporting it, just in terms of what the ultimate result will be. I think Walker Kesler is going to be back in Utah if you made me guess. Uh Utah's probably going to match whatever contract he gets because I saw Tim McMahon report that five years $130 million is on the table. They can't be that far off if that much money is already on the table because the money if you think Walker Kesler is going to get $35 million a year and they're already offering 28. Yeah, Utah is just going to match whatever. So, it's fine. It's not that big of a deal to me that this is where they're at. It's good to report where Walker's head space is at on it. Certainly not taking any shots at Sam. Again, big fan of him as a colleague. Um, but that's just kind of where my head is at on it as well. If you take Camboozer, eventually you're going to have to trade one of Lowry Marketing and Jiren Jackson. My guess would be Marketin. Given that, I don't love the idea of testing this out for a year, seeing what it looks like between those four players, including Kesler, and then making another trade because a I worry about you hindering one of those guys trade value because they're not in the roles that they should be in. And B, once you trade those one that significant player who's taking up a lot of usage within your organization on top of you already having Ace Bailey, who I really loved his rookie year, but I don't think is going to be able to like handle the ball in the way that you want him to be able to handle the ball. I think that what this is going to result in is you setting your organization back just by one more year in terms of when you're trying to contend. Because when you trade somebody who's that integral, there's often a period where it takes a second for everybody to kind of readjust to new roles and everything, right? Part of why the Knicks were so successful this year is that this team is basically the same exact team as what we saw last year, right? Just throw in a couple of different guys like Jordan Clarkson, right? So having that chemistry, I think, is going to be really important for this Jazz team. And to me, their highest upside swing at this is actually taking Darren Peterson and Darren Peterson becoming a superstar. Because if Darren Peterson becomes the kind of top 10 player in the league that we think he can become, it's easier to make everything else fit in around Darren than it is to make everything else fit in around Cam because it will then involve additional moves. If you take Darren and it's right, it's just right. And this team's off and running probably by year two of the Darren Peterson era. I think this team's gonna be a playoff team next year right now. Like I said that about the Raptors coming into this year. I feel the same way about the Jazz. I think they're going to be a top six team in the in the West next year just point blank based off of this roster. So, I'm taking Darren Peterson and trying to hit the idea of I've got multiple ball handlers in the back court now. I've got an awesome player in Ace Bailey. I've got these three bigs that I can trust in Larry Markin and Jiren Jackson, Walker Kesler. I think this is their route to the highest upside as a team.

Bryce, your thoughts?

Yeah, Darren Peterson is is my pick as well. And I think what so I think there's a world where the Keonte George Darren Peterson backcourt doesn't work. But I think that's more defensively than offensively. What I like is you have two guys to your point that can do some things with the ball in their hand. And I think if Darren is really able to be a little bit more of the high school on ball point guard type stuff, not not fully because one in Utah you're running a lot of offball actions and stuff anyway to generate offense and you still want Kee George to have the ball sometimes. I'm still kind of interested in Isaiah Call. You're at least off the bench handling the ball and creating and generating shots for teammates at times, but he can also play off the ball. So my point here is what I always push back whenever people just say, "Oh, you can't have too many ball handlers." My push back is you can if they can't play off the ball because only one of them can have the ball at a time. What we know about Darren Peterson and Keonte George is they can play off the ball. So I really like the fit and to your point, I think what you said at the top is most important. I have AJ slightly above these guys more than what you do, but that's semantics in this point of the conversation. I have Darren Peterson and Cam Boozer close enough that I am willing to consider the ro roster construction and team fit to make my decision even though I do have Cam 2 like you do and so therefore I would still take Darren Peterson because I think he slots right into what this roster needs.

Yep. Okay. Darren Peterson at two. This is the easiest pick on the board for me.

Sprint to the podium. Memphis

sprint to the podium. Camboozer at number three. He just sticks everything that the Memphis Grizzlies have wanted over the course of the years. Camboozer is what this front office has really looked for under Zack Kimman. It's super productive players, highly competitive players, winners, guys that uh are going to help you win the possession battle at the end of the day, multi-skilled, multi-talented players. I think all this makes sense. I want to point out one thing we really emphasize on the Memphis Grizzlies offseason preview. And for all of you here with us, either live right now, one, thank you. Or if you're watching after the fact, also thank you. If your favorite team probably has an offseason preview already posted or I promise it's coming in the next four or five days because it has to because it has to be out before the draft. So go check those out or maybe another team that you're interested in. But Camboozer is skilled. I have no worries offensively about pairing Camboozer with Zack Edy cuz I don't think Camboozer needs to go play in the post. I don't all the time. I don't think he needs to go play in the dunker spot or anything like that. He can play off the ball. He can play in the weak side corner, have gravity, provide spacing, all of those things. Do I have some concerns defensively? Yes. But that's more of just like the general Camboozer defensive concerns that I have in terms of okay, what's he going to look like chasing fours around the perimeter at times or when he gets put in the ball screen action, what's that going to look like? That's just a Camboozer thing. It doesn't I still have a number two on my board, so I'm not like crazy concerned. But offensively, he's so skilled that I have zero concerns putting him with a big like Zack Edy who spends most of his time in the lane because Cam Boozer doesn't need to spend his time in the lane when Zack Ed's also on the court. It'll be fine. So, I have no worries about that whatsoever.

Totally agree with you. I think we can just move on from this a little bit quickly here because this is just a very obvious pick. And honestly, like this is also this is just an incredibly obvious pick here. Uh Caleb Wilson is going fourth overall. I'm sorry. Like I I think that that is where this ends up. Uh I know that there's been reports about like a them looking at AUF. I totally get them looking at Auff. I loved Darius Auff as a player. Um Caleb Wilson fits everything that Bryson Graham has talked about in terms of size, length, athleticism, physicality. Underrated. We mentioned this on the NBA draft show coming tomorrow. Dude is a dog. Like that dude fights. He's a scrapper. He's competitive. He's physical. Like I'm all about the Caleb Wilson experience. I wish that I liked his overall skill level from like a shooting perspective, from a ball handling perspective, just like a little bit better, right? If I did, I would have him higher. I just couldn't quite get there on those skills yet. But there's a reason that he averaged almost 20 and 10 this year. He's a superb athlete. He plays with an unbelievable motor. He wants it, man. That guy absolutely wants it. And I love the fit with him and Josh Giddy and Modis Buzzelis. I think across the board like this is this is perfect.

I would for me would not have Caleb Wilson really in consideration for the top three and I would not have him anybody else in consideration for number four. like he's almost in a little mini tier of his own where he just is the number four overall pick for me. And to your point, some of the skill level stuff, I'm interested to see where it gets to, like where does the jumper end up, the ball handling, all of that. He's going to be incredible in transition. I think he'll crash the boards. His passing is interesting. We've talked about this before because I think he has passing like ability, but it's a lot more in like structured situations knowing that he's running the high low with Vasar and stuff like that. What I'm interested to see from Caleb Wilson is okay, if he breaks down his man, creates an advantage, then can he read those situations out of like a live dribble, out of structure? So, that will be part of his development along with defensively, you know, like I think I'm a little lower on his defense than other people. And I think I'll sum it up here. I don't think he has good point of attack technique, but it's combined with unreal point of attack tools and recovery ability and disruption.

Can I can I pause on that real quick?

Yeah, sure.

I'm skeptical of I don't like the way he backpedals and I don't like the way that he flips his hips and backpedals and things like that. I'm a little bit more worried about the onball defense than some people are. I will just unpause now. Continue. No. So, but there are things that to your point, he plays hard like you said earlier and and all of those things. So, um, yeah, I think it's going to take a little bit with with Caleb Wilson, but there's, as much as I like a couple of the players we're going to talk about either over the next two picks or next three or four picks, I still would just un for me unquestionably, not for everybody else. I don't like to use that term for other people. For me, I would definitely have Caleb Wilson four here to the Bulls.

Uh, Rachel asked, Thiago splitter going to be good for his development? Uh everything I know about Thiago is that devel like as a coach for young guys, he's totally good at that. I I think we can question some of the decisions he made in the playoff series. Uh and some of the rotational decisions that he made throughout the course of the regular season in Portland, totally get that if you want to make those cases. Uh, you know, having talked to people that were with him in Paris, having talked to people that were with him in Portland, I think development wise, I think he's going to be totally fine for this team and I think he'll do a pretty good job. Okay, this is where the fun starts. The LA Clippers at five. Let's reduce to a board first. I would say that we are looking here at and we'll pull it up. We're looking here at Darius Akuff, Kingston Flemings, Katon Waggler, Mike El Brown, Braden Burries. Do you want to throw a Daim Mara in there? This would be early for me for Mara.

It would be early for me for Mara as well. Like to me, it's really a twoperson conversation. For me, it's really a one like it's one name really stands out. But I think Waggler and Mikel Brown Jr. is kind of the debate for me. Assuming that like we're going to assuming LA, the the Clippers are planning for a future with Darius Garland.

Okay. So, I know that you have AUF ahead of W or AUF ahead of Mike Brown on your board.

I have AUF fifth on my board.

I do as well. I don't think that Darius Akuff and Darius Garland is a tenable defensive backcourt at the end of the day.

I agree 100%.

I also honestly worry a little bit about Kingston and Darius because when you talk to people around the league about how these guys are going to grow into their frames, right, everyone's totally fine with Akuff's frame. Like he's obviously physically strong. He's powerful. People think Waggler is gonna have not a ton of issue putting on weight. He's already up to like 190 pounds. He'll continue to add weight. He's gained like 20 pounds in the last year. That's going to be okay. I've gotten really good reports on people who think Mike El Brown's going to continue to fill out as a guy who was like under six foot tall uh as a like sophomore in high school and has hit a growth spurt and just like continues to add to his frame and continues to add to his explosiveness. I have not necessarily gotten that same level of enthusiasm about Kingston Flemings's frame is what I would say. He's just a little bit more narrow. He's a little bit shorter. uh or not shorter rather shorter armed. And if you're kind of looking at how these guys are going to fill out, I would bet you that Waggler and Brown and probably Auff frankly are going to play a little bit bigger than Flemings does. So, for me, as much as I like Kingston Flemings and actually have Flemings ahead of Mike El Brown on a on a board, I agree with you that for this Clippers team, I would actually have Mike Brown ahead of Kingston Flemings.

Yeah, I I I'll be honest. I would struggle to take Mike Brown over Darius Auff even in a Clippers context. It's closer in this specific context, but I I I would struggle with it. Um, Waggler, I'm okay with it because I have Waggler and Akuff very close. But if if you're going to try to pitch me on Michael Brown over Waggler, you're also going to have to pitch me on him over Auff. And you might somebody might be able to get me there, but that would be tough for me. Like that's just kind of how much I believe in Darius Auff. And I'm being a little bit lower on Mike El Brown.

I'm also with you generally on the AUF over Mike El Brown idea. Um I think the Clippers are certainly exploring avenues of trades. I think they're understanding what they could get and figuring that out. We're not going to mess with trades here. I don't think that's just going to derail us, I think, too much if we start to do that. Um, explain what makes So you you would go Waggler here at I would go Waggler to me. I would also go Waggler here.

Explain to me while why you would go Katon Waggler.

Yeah. So to me, what I like about Waggler is the ability to play on and off the ball. We saw him do it at Illinois um throughout stretches of the season, you know, where he started a little bit more off the ball and then eventually they put the ball in his hands. I believe in his ability to knock down shots from the three-point line. We broke all of that down over on the substack. The three-point shooting numbers and the consistency whether it's off the catch, guarded, unguarded, movement, stationary, off the dribble. We acknowledge the needed growth in the mid-range, including even just the floater numbers, although I do think he has touch and that will come around. But I do think he's a guy that can play off of Darius Garland or he can play with the ball in his hands and then he can be the guy operating a ball screen, generating paint touches and doing those type of things. And I just think that in general he provides a little bit of a more allaround game when it comes to being impactful on the offensive boards, on the defensive boards. I I do I'm really really interested to see where the defense ends up especially in a role like this playing with Darius Garland where he's not going to have to have all the primary on ball usage if we see a little bit better defensively. And then finally, you mentioned the frames for all of these guys earlier. I say it every time I talk about Waggler. I'm sure I'll say it again a week from now when he gets drafted. Even though the frame isn't there yet, I watch him and I think he's a guy that understands how to play with physicality. And when he has the necessary physicality, it's going to allow him to create advantages even more.

I would agree with all of those things. I also like the idea of Waggler playing off of a super high level guard, if only because of the quick decision-making. Like you watch Mikel Brown, you watch Darius Akuff. Those are two guys that generally will dribble the ball. Let's go with uh and that's not a bad thing. Like they're both exceptional playmakers with the ball in their hand. They will really dribble the ball. And next to Darius Garland, I worry about things getting a little bit stagnant. With Waggler, the ball would not stick. Waggler makes quick decisions. He's not afraid of the unselfish early pass. He'll hit early hit aheads. He makes unselfish swing passes. uh like you said, you know, awesome offensive rebounder. I think that playing him next to Garland would even free that up.

A little bit more. I think that uh certainly does a really good job of just like you win the possession game with Katon Waggler is kind of the thing. He doesn't turn the ball over. He crashes the offensive glass. He hits the defensive glass reasonably hard. Uh I I I am a fan of Katon Waggler. Like I I think that he's going to be an awesome basketball player. I had him and Waggler exceptionally close. Uh, in terms of who I would rank ahead, uh, I had them exceptionally exceptionally close.

Him and Auff, you mean a Wagler?

Auff. Yeah, sorry. Him and Auff. Uh, I ended up with Auff ahead because I think Auff is almost like scheme agnostic where he's just such a force of will that it's going to work. He's just going to be awesome. But I do think that Waggler's ability to kind of morph into whatever you need him to be is going to be really valuable at the end of the day. So, uh, I'm good to just take Katon Waggler here if you are.

Yep.

Okay. So, Katon Waggler number five to the Clippers. The Brooklyn Nets are up next, but before we do that, we got to shout out our friends over at Cash App. Is your debit card boring? If you could draw any personalization feature on your Cash App card, what would it be? We would obviously just make a basketball card where it looks like a basketball. And every time you pull your card out to pay for something, you just be able to see a basketball and it'd be like you're dribbling a basketball right into whatever you're paying for. If you weren't up to speed already, Cash App is a way is way more than just a safe way to send and receive money. With the Cash App card, you unlock a ton of perks without all the hidden fees. Enjoy benefits like exclusive early access to nationwide concert pre-sales, uh, plus discounts on everyday purchases and popular brands you're already spending money on. Add your card to your digital wallet to make your money move easier. Uh, Cash App does more than you think when it comes to having your back and making sure your money stays your money. Cash App just released a new status program for the way people spend. Actually called Cash App Green. Now, when you spend at least $500 a month with Cash App card, you earn green status, which unlocks benefits like up to $200 of free overdraft coverage. If you overdraft unexpectedly, there are no hidden fees. Uh, you also unlock higher borrow limits and custom personalized cashback offers every Friday at places you love to shop. New Cash App customers can earn $10 if they use the code cash app 10 in their profile at startup and send $5 to a new friend within 14 days. Terms apply. Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App's Bank partners. Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, member FDIC. Cash App Visa debit Flex cards issued by Sutton Bank member FDIC and Bank Corp Bank uh North America pursuant to a license from Visa USA Incorporated. C terms and conditions for the Sutton prepaid card, Sutton Debit Flex Card, and Bank Corp debit Flex Card. Cash App Green features savings, direct deposit, roundups, overdraft coverage, and discounts provided by Cash App, a Block Incorporated brand. Visit cash.apple/mpodcast for full disclosures. Okay, we're up the Brooklyn Nets now at number six.

I mean, this one is very easy for me.

So, the names just to narrow it to a board. Sure. Right

there. Yep.

The names here, I think, are Darius Akuff, Kingston Flemings, Mike Brown for you and I. Right. Yep.

Now, we've obviously heard rumors of Nate Aement going to work out there, of Kareem Lopez going to work out there. I've heard some Ada Mara buzz. I haven't really heard much Bur's buzz there. Um, but for the three of us or for the two of us rather, it'd be the three players, Auff, Flemings, Brown is upside swings.

Yeah, I would agree. And to me, this is just Auff all day for them to he's the he's the one of these four that I think has the highest ceiling. like the potential to just be a monster scorer and creator and even playmaker like what we saw in college from him. I think that's one thing I always like to bring up in that conference. Sam 484481. He didn't score 23 and a half points a game on bad efficiency or something. He he scored 23 and a half a game on crazy efficiency while having almost a 3 to one assist to turnover ratio. 6 and a half assists per game. The playmaking is there with Darius Akuff as well. I've made the point I I fully buy his ability to play off the ball when necessary. So I I know they drafted, you know, some playmakers and stuff last year. I don't even think any of those guys showed enough for it to matter in general. But let's just say you are worried about that for some reason. Cool. I will let Darius Akuff run off floppy action or a staggered or a flare screen on the weak side, whatever he needs to do because I believe in his ability to knock down those shots as well. The big question here, as we all know, is the defense. Like, can he get it to a playable level at the NBA level? I I think he has the physicality, the frame, those type of things to do it. He just has to lock in and show it over the next couple years. It's not going to happen next year. He's going to be a bad defender his rookie year. I feel pretty confident that that's a fair statement, but can we see growth and then a little more growth and then a little more growth? And if he's that type of offensive player that gets to a little below neutral defensively, I think this is a home run pick for the Nets at six.

I would agree. Uh it's really hard for me to see him not being successful in the NBA. He's just an absolute killer. Like you you watch the way that dude plays, he is I mean this like in the best possible way. Like that guy's like a savage. He takes no prisoners on the court in like any way, shape, or form. He got better throughout the course of the season. And he got better when they entered SEC play, which was the best or second best conference in the league this year, depending on your opinion of the Big 10. He averaged 25 and 6.6 assists versus only 2.1 turnovers per game. shot 49 4383 and got to the line six times per game. He took six three-point attempts per game. He's a modern guard, Bryce. Like the way that he looks on the court, like it looks like an NBA guard, right? And I will say this, like people will bring up the idea of like, oh, Cal guards, Cal guards. I think that Cal's offense, shout out John Caliperry, got a lot more modern this year. To be honest with you, I don't think that this is a circumstance where it's like, oh, you watched Tyrese Maxi and oh my god, they're running all these curl actions for whoever like was it Brandon Boston on that team for some reason that comes to my head like you know you're running all these like random actions for these guys, right? This team was a lot more free flowing like they would get into Spain actions. They would get into a whole lot of really fun, you know, well spaced actions across the court. He emphasized shooting this year. I think that all of that makes it so that it's uh you know, you saw the look of what it's going to look like on an NBA court a little bit more than you typically do for a John Caliperry situation. So, I'm a huge fan of Auff. I think that I just buy into this dude as a human being. Like, this dude's going to be a killer on the court at the end of the day. Um I I'm totally good with taking him with Brooklyn here at number six. I I think that they I think this is what they should do. And to be clear, like I don't think any of these guards they took last year should have any bearing on what they do this year. It's not that I'm low on Demen. It's not that, you know, think whatever about Ben Seraf, think whatever about Nolan Trayor. This is your guy. Like if you draft this guy here, this is your guy.

Agreed.

Okay. Darius Auff at number six. Number seven, the Sacramento Kings. They should just be taking best guard available.

Yep.

Right now, their point guard projection is Nick Clifford. And I like Nick Clifford as a player. I don't really think of him as a point guard.

Right.

So, I think they should just be taking best guard available. It's where the talent is. It's where their roster need is. Everything like that.

This comes down to Kingston Flemings and Mikel Brown for me. Um, and really like I I will hear out cases for either of them on this team because this team does need like a significant upside swing and I do think that Mike Brown if you squint probably has a better upside than what Kingston Flemings does.

I agree with that. I just was going to say like I know how Nick Clifford played in college. I watched a ton of Nick Clifford. I understand what he I don't think he's a primary creator. Like what excited me about Nate Clifford, I was very high on Nick Clifford in that draft, but was him taking those tools to an offthe-ball secondary um type of role. To me, it's Flemings or Mike Brown. I would take Flemings just because he is a higher on my board. I do have him ranked above Mike Brown and I think that he fits in

really well here, just being that like on-ball primary guy. You know, the speed, the pace that he plays with, the ability to break down the defense. I love the way he competes defensively. But Sam, but this is where now I will hear out. Let's take the upside of Mike El Brown and the potential to really knock down shots. The ability that I would say he has more of an ability to play on or off the ball than Kingston Flemings does. There's obviously a little bit more size with him. So, I would take Kingston Flemings, but it is close enough for me that if you felt strong on the little bit more of a quote unquote ceiling of Brown, then I would probably be okay with that.

>> I'm going to say we take Kingston Flemings here.

>> Love it.

>> I really like I've come around a little bit on Michael Brown. Um, but the reason I'm going to take Kingston Flemings here is that this Houston team had very little spacing around him. They had very little, you know, real offensive high-level talent around him. All due respect to like Kristen A, but like his bigs were Kristen Aack and Jojo Tugler. They ne they didn't guard any of those guy either of those guys outside of like 10 feet, 15 feet. If Kristen Hack wanted to shoot mid-range jumpers or threes, teams were completely comfortable with him doing that. Still, Flemings ended up getting to the rim three times a game. He also has a pretty good mid-range game as we saw. I thought that he oftentimes had to settle for mid-range jumpers. If you go back and you watch his high school tape, he definitely has a penchant for mid-range jumpers. It's I I went back and did that like early in the season just to like kind of understand because I hadn't watched a lot of the high school tape coming into the season. Really any any high school tape coming into the season on Kingston. But I still think that his speed is going to allow him to get to the rim in an effective manner. I do think he's the best defender of these guards. Although I think that his defensive prowess has gotten a little bit overstated. I would argue I see people compare him to Casem Wallace. He's like nowhere near Casem defensively.

>> No. No. Yeah.

>> But like he took on the third assignment a lot of the time for Houston defense.

>> Manual Sharp took on the assign like if that he took on that assignment.

>> 100%. So I think that Flemings is a safer pick frankly than Mike Brown. I think he makes better decisions than Mike Brown. I think that he plays off of the ball a little bit better than Mike Brown. If you have guys that want to play on the ball a little bit more consistently. Uh, I think he makes quicker decisions on the ball. Um, kid is like an awesome kid. Like incredible high-level worker, high-level character. Uh, want to buy into all those skills in the biggest way imaginable. Um, yeah, I I would go Kingston Flemings here and feel pretty good about it.

>> Cool. Let's do it.

>> Okay, number eight, we have the Utah or the uh Atlanta Hawks. So, this comes down to for me, we've talked a lot about center for the Atlanta Hawks, and we've talked a lot about guard for the Atlanta Hawks. I'm working under the assumption that CJ McCollum will be back in some respect, right? I don't really think that should change this pick necessarily, though. I think that at the end of the day, they should be doing what is best for them from a long-term perspective from the center position and the guard position. I think there is a case for taking Mike Brown. I think there is a case for taking Braden Burries. I think there is a case for taking Adie Mara Han Steinbach or uh MZ Johnson Jr. here.

>> I agree. I would more narrow it down to just the best player at each of those positions for me. Which means for me the conversation is do we go big guy with the Daimara or do we go with the guard Mike El Brown? Like like I like Braden Bur. I actually think for Atlanta, if I'm going to go guard, I would rather have someone that I feel like is a little more on ball like Mikuel Brown than Braden Burries because I have Nikil Alexander Walker and Dyson Daniels and some of these like if I'm going to go guard here, you know, for the future after CJ McCollum, assuming he does come back, I would just go Mike Brown. And to be clear, he's the best player on my board right now. But for Atlanta, we're in a tier now where I don't really care quite as much about my like rankings one over the other. I'm definitely in play of okay, if a Dimara and and those bigs you brought up as well. It's just I would take Mara above those, you know, Steinbach and MZ and and all of that. So, I I would be between those two guys and it would just come down to what position we thought would would make more sense here.

>> I So I have MZ as my top big.

>> Nice.

>> I think if they're taking a big, they probably want to go with more of like a giant big.

>> Yeah. Yeah.

>> As opposed to a, you know, like a MZ size big where it's like 9 foot standing reach, you know, not quite as like he's he is bigger than a Yaka Kong Woo, but not that much bigger than aa Kongwoo, right? I think they can find a big later at 23 if they want to take one too. Like they can be the top of that run of bigs that we expect later in the first round.

>> The more I've thought about this, the more I actually kind of like Michael Brown here.

>> Sure.

>> Yeah.

>> Is an upside swing cuz like they have the infrastructure to like help him defensively too.

>> Yeah.

>> With the Kil Alexander Walker and especially Dyson Daniels.

>> Yep. I you know what else I like is I think it puts him in a situation where he's going to come off the bench as a rookie and learn from CJ McCollum and learn from Nikil Alexander Walker and not be put into a high super high usage high I mean it might be high pressure because this is a team that might be in the playoff I assume will be in the playoffs but I think it'll be in a role that I actually think could be really good for his long-term development. So, I I I hadn't considered this as much. I kind of just like, hey, this a Daimara, I kind of like this and I also think it makes things interesting after this pick, but I think this could make a lot of sense for Atlanta. Um,

>> so I I will also just say here, I think this is a pretty strong trade down candidate.

>> Okay.

>> If the board was to shake out this way.

>> Sure. Uh if a team like now I don't know if I would go as far down as like 16 on the board unless I'm getting significant value or like 15 or whatever because Chicago and Memphis have been rumored to want these pick to want a second top 10 pick, right? Um, I I think that if a team like the Warriors or, you know, uh, Oklahoma City, if Oklahoma City loved someone here and really wanted to move up from eight or from 12 to eight and was willing to give me a future first, I probably don't want 17 to be honest with you, if I'm Atlanta given that I have 23.

>> Yeah. But if they were willing to give me a future first in addition to number 12 to get number eight, I would probably do that. I know we said we're not going to do trades. If Oklahoma City is just willing to give up a future first here to go to number eight to go get like Merez Johnson, does that just make sense for everybody? Um, I would rather them take somebody else, but I've I'm a little lower on Merez than I think a lot of people. Like I have him as a lottery pick, but like if I'm if I'm Oklahoma City trading up, I'm trading up for Yakel, but and but sure like um Okay, so I'm trying to think from Atlanta's perspective here. So what am I going to 12? And if I know they're taking MZ, so I have nine three picks. What what I'm trying to figure out is like Michaelel is probably going off the board next. Am I going to be able to get Mike Braden Buries Ada Mara? Maybe it doesn't matter. May maybe you just go to 12 and then you take Steinbach if those guys are all gone.

>> Um

>> so my theory is I have all of the bigs right next to each other. I have MZ Steinbach and like Mara very close, right? So, I'm just like good with whatever happens there. And it's really like do I want my top pick of the guards or do I want the additional first round pick that I would be getting back?

>> Yeah, sure.

>> Do you just want to take Mike and just say screw it and just kind of

>> Yeah, because I I don't want us to get into the slippery slope of we're making trades and then now we get to other spots as well. So,

>> okay, we'll just take Mike Kell. Number nine, the Dallas Mavericks. So, my read currently is that they don't really want to trade Kyrie Irving. So, if they don't want to trade Kyrie, I think Braden Bur is like an amazing fit here.

>> 100%. Yes.

>> And I Braden Bur is the top player remaining on my board. He's a great fit next to Cooper Flag. He's awesome in transition. I think would play exceedingly well next to Kyrie. I I think this is like simple to me.

>> I agree. I I think this would be a great spot for him and I think it would be a great pick for the Mavericks. Braden Bur's 100% for me.

>> Real defender uh at the guard position. can shoot, gets aggressive, physical, very polished with his footwork. I like I like this quite a bit.

>> Yeah.

>> Can operate a ball screen like he can play on the second side. He's again like I don't know like I don't think his comp is Kyrie Irving but in terms of learning from somebody who throughout their career has had to play this on and off ball role I think Brain B like that would be a good spot for him to be in to kind of learn the nuances of of being able to do that.

>> I would agree. Okay, so number 10, the Milwaukee Bucks. So this is the disaster scenario for the Bucks. All of the guards are gone and they're choosing now between like Nate Aement, Yakel, Adai Mara, Han Steinbach, Merez Johnson, maybe a couple other guys. I would not take Yaxle here. I think Yakel fits a lot better. And we're assuming Giannis gets moved in this circumstance, right? So, let's assume

>> that they're rebuilding, right?

>> Yep.

>> So, Yakel probably doesn't track here.

>> Agreed.

>> Any of the bigs like really for you here? I was going to say if if we don't want to go just with the ultimate Nate Ament, let's draft and develop and you know just take this bet on the size and skill and all of that and you know help this player develop.

>> So the the point of I will mention here too that Jimmy Hasslam the team's owner now is a massive Tennessee booster and I can see a world where they're just like we're taking day. But we've also discussed the potential of trading Miles Turner if you trade Giannis and you know I know Turner had a down year and we don't have to get into all of this but just the the value that a floor spacing big could bring. So if they are moving Miles Turner and if you don't necessarily believe in like the Nate Amit ceiling or whatever, is there an argument for one of the bigs? You know, whichever one it is, whether it's MZ or a Daimara or Hans, you know, your choice. I think for them, I would probably just go MZ and just say like, hey, let's hope he turn he like monster defender that we're going to buy into. He develops a three-point jumper and all. I think I would go a mint, but I could be talked into one of the bigs.

>> This is like where it's going to be really unpopular. Like what I say here, I think I would take Steinbach.

>> Okay.

>> I think Steinbach's really good. Um, he has great hands. He catches everything. Like he is like guaranteed to be a productive NBA player in some respect to me. Now like I will hear out that, okay, what is his defensive position? and how does he make this work? Everything like that. I just think he's a massive human being who does a really good job of catching, finishing around the basket and is awesome in ball screens. He can short roll. He can catch below his waist. He can make passing reads at a reasonable level. uh he can dribble a little bit out in space. Given the way that the board has worked out, I kind of like that player best for the Bucks as opposed to like Mara where I'm a little bit worried whether or not he can play more than 25 minutes a night and MZ where like it's a defensive first kind of aspect here and on top of that like Steinbach is a better shooter than both of those guys too. So, like he helps you with whoever you draft, like whatever you bring in for a Giannis trade, everything like that. Like I I kind of like the Steinbach pick personally or but I like Steinbach more than I like Aean is kind of the thing. Um I listen the we are truly in a spot now where these players are in a little bit of a tier for me. Like there's some names you could say right now where I'd be like Sam that's really breaking a tear. Steinbach is not. I I'm a touch lower, but this wouldn't necessarily be a reach for me.

>> So like I I'm not I'm not adamant one way or the other on uh the Bucks right now where like I'm I would be okay. Again, I would probably go Nate Ament and just say, "Hey, I'm I'm trying to take the biggest swing I feel like I have available to me." But,

>> okay, what makes Aean such a positive swing in your opinion?

>> Um, I do think that there is an intersection and a potential like the size and I do think that there is a skill level there. I I understand like the inefficiency that he had this last year at Tennessee and being under 40% from the field. He did still rebound. Um, we've seen him be able to do some things with the ball in his hands and passing and all of that. I think that there is potential for real disruption, but I I again I know that what I'm saying right now is potential and ifs and those type of things. I get it. Which is why if we don't think that this is if this is too early for him, I completely understand. I do think Milwaukee is one of those teams that could be a team that's willing to go ahead and take that that chance with him.

>> It's just a big swing because I don't love his ability to play physical because he has very high hips. Yep. And because he doesn't really shoot it well enough right now, I'm fine with going aim here. I'm fine to I'm fine to go follow your lead on this if only because I think there's like a reasonable chance that this ends up happening. Um I I like the like from everything I know about the like and understand about the human being. I've not met Nate Ament, but like serious-minded individual, smart, his impressed in interviews, like I've been, you know, like I'm I'm positive here. The other question is like could they move down? Like could Charlotte do like 14 and 18? Could Oklahoma City do 12 and 17 for this pick? Like is there is there any way that something like that happens here? Again, we're not doing trades. So,

>> we're not. But I do think this would be another spot where for Oklahoma City it would make sense. Again, for me, it's Jaxel. Maybe it's Morett, but like because I know who I'm going to push with the next pick and it's somebody and it is it's Yaxel. And so, if Oklahoma City could jump Golden State and into 10, that would make a ton of sense for me.

>> All right, let's go aim it here at 10. Uh, look, he averaged like 17 points a game in the SEC. He just really can't finish at the rim and has never finished at the rim. Uh, it it's not I'm not as enthusiastic about this as some people seem to be, but it's fine. Um, number 11. You want to push the Axel for Golden State?

>> That That would be my number one guy. I

>> I would hear out the idea as well.

>> What if I told you that they're getting LeBron? Would that change your tune on this?

>> No.

>> Would you want to go like could you go Mara if you're getting LeBron? Because I really like the idea of Mara in their scheme due to his passing ability. I think he'd be like amazing in their split actions. I think that he would be awesome as a rim protector, which is something that they really need because even like even with Horford, right? Like you need somebody who can go protect the rim given that Horford is 40. So, and

>> I kind of like the I I like Mara

>> and the minutes per game probably thing doesn't matter as much for them. They have, you know, some minutes from Quinton Post if assuming he's back and Draymond's going to play some small ball five and

>> sure.

>> I think as like a high impact player, Mara probably makes the most sense.

>> Okay.

>> for these guys,

>> this is right. Again, I'm not going to push back on any of these because we're not talking about any names that aren't in my tier, like this tier of players. So, I'm completely comfortable if if we think that that's a really good fit.

>> I literally like we said this on the um offseason preview that's coming with Golden State in the coming days. Uh, we said literally they should just be living in the state of Michigan.

>> Whatever player they like best out of Michigan, Mara, MZ or Yaxel, like those three all work there. I think Mara makes the most sense personally. I I think you can make a case for MZ. The thing is that Merez doesn't really dribble or pass super well and like I kind of in envision that as being an important skill within what Golden State tries to do. Uh, I think you can make a case for Steinbach too for what it's worth. Like if you really like Steinbach shooting next to Draymond Green, honestly I hadn't really thought about that. Like if you really believe that Steinbach can shoot,

>> sure.

>> Him next to Draymond, you know, obviously he's going to be productive. That's actually not a bad fit the more I think about it.

>> Yeah. No, I mean I I think I don't think he's the passer that that Mara is, but obviously the potential to space the floor is more there's more there with Steinbach than there is Mara. I think Steinbach then offers a little bit more movement defensively. I don't I don't know that he's the same level of rim protector, like just straight up rim protector that Mara is. I know the rebounding. I think Steinbach is one of the best rebounders in the class, if not the best rebounder. I think

>> I think he's probably the best rebounder in the class.

>> I will say this.

>> Yeah, sure. Um, I do think all of the Michigan players as while we're on this topic, I think their rebounding numbers are not as um good. It doesn't show how impactful they are because they took rebounds from each other because they all played together. But Steinbach is obviously incredible on the boards on both ends. That's what I really like about him. It's not just four offensive rebounds. It's also almost eight defensive. It's seven and a half defensive. Oh, I think we go Mara here. I think Mara's I think Mara's passing ability is the separator for me.

>> That works for me.

>> Yeah. Um All right, let's go Mara here at 11. Number 12 is Oklahoma City. Okay. I am like just a bit skeptical that Oklahoma City is going to be a Yaxel team.

>> Okay. Uh, everything we know about Yaxle does not scream thunder if I'm being honest. So, let's just Okay, we'll live with that. So, then we're looking at MZ or Steinbach.

>> Yeah. So, MZ, Steinbach. Um, Swain is an option here. Uh, I wonder if they would take Mara if Mara falls to them. I think they could take Mara, honestly, but he's gone. I think it's probably one of those guys. I think it's probably MZ or Steinbach. I think it's

>> I think we go MZ here.

>> It feels very thundery to me. Like very physical, awesome human being, like great character. uh tough could work with chat. Like it's it's a really good fit to me, man. And I get that they have Sorber already, but like I think that it's just an I think it's such a good fit that you just make it work.

>> Yeah. If we're going to go one of the two bigs, I have Merez slightly above Steinbach and I think he makes sense here for the Thunder as well. So I would go MZ.

>> Yeah, man. It's hard because like Sorber is

>> I I agree with you. Like I think the Yaxel fit is better. It's just like the personality stuff with Yakel.

>> It doesn't scream thunder to me. On top of the fact that I don't think they've ever drafted somebody this old.

>> Here's the thing with Oklahoma City. It doesn't matter who we pick because there the there's so much depth. We're going to get like the the same thing's going to come up. I could try to pitch Cam Carr here and then we're going to end up in the same thing of well they have all of you know this player this player this player this player when is he it just is their roster right now and especially until we know how they're going to make who is moving off the roster to make space right like literally the roster spots until we have an answer to that I don't know like if you told me they're moving Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins then I might try to pitch Dalen Swain or Cam Carr I I don't know the answer to how they're going to open up roster spots to take in one or two draft picks. So, I think it's the same conversation no matter who you pick or what position you pick.

>> Yeah. Someone asked like what's the personality stuff with the Axel? It's not a bad thing. Like his teammates love him like he's like he's a character. It's just like he is a uh there were work ethic things early in the year at Michigan that kind of improved from what I gather. Uh, he is somebody that you know we've seen it like in videos like he'll go out and have a good time. Uh, just a different he's like kind of a different dude. Not in a bad way. He's just kind of a different dude. And when I think of Oklahoma City like I tend to think that they tend to go for more like the buttoned up like professional uh like ready to go from the jump guys. Uh, again, this isn't like taking shots at Yaxel. It's just more their organizational philosophy more than it's Yaxle on this stuff.

>> Sure.

>> So, I mean, the other the other guy here is Swain. Like, I think Swain ticks every single box for Oklahoma City. Um, I think there's a chance he gets the 17.

>> Uh, I think that I think we go MZ here. It just it fits everything that they do.

>> Yep. I'm I'm I'm in on that. Yeah. Okay. So, Merez Johnson here for Oklahoma City.

>> Where is Merez?

>> He was up there.

>> This is not updated. Yeah. Okay. Number 13, we have the Miami Heat. This is a team that I think probably could take MZ or uh could take Yax Lenderborg because I think they are typically like pretty willing to be like, "Yeah, we'll figure it out." Like they did with Kell Wear, right? Um,

>> you know, Kell had some questions about like work ethic and everything like that. Um,

>> and just like intensity on a possession by possession basis, things that have kind of borne themselves out a little bit in the NBA. Uh, I think we we could toss Yakel here. We could toss Steinbach here. They desperately need more size. Like this is an organization that just really they only have Bameabio in Kel Wear and like that is it in the front court right now. This pick also might not be theirs if they're able to accomplish a Giannis trade. You know, that would be a whole other conversation, but I I think that we could go any I think we could go either Steinbach or Yel here.

>> I would go Yaxel. Um Okay. for this. I I like the I like the idea of putting him in Miami. Um I think he fits a role for them. Um Yeah. And that's a team

>> playing next to Bam or where in the front court at the four.

>> Yep. And you know that's a team that's trying to obviously trying to win now. We'll see what happens there where they're at with it. But um and I think he he makes the most sense for a team that's trying to compete as opposed to a team that's maybe rebuilding a little bit.

>> Just a crazy versatile defender as well in a team that loves to operate with different schemes defensively. Um yeah, I I think Yaxel would be awesome with the

>> the only other name so good

>> was like Swain. Um just because like I think he could fit into like what they do offensively trying to get downhill and and all of that. But I think Yak Yaxel's higher on my board and I think Yakel makes a ton of sense.

>> Okay. Uh number 14. This is like the one of the easier picks I've seen.

>> Han Steinbach.

>> I want Steinbach here if I'm them. Like

>> this is a home run if they can get Steinbach at 14.

>> You should say who's picking for anybody.

>> The Charlotte Hornets. The Hornets just need like a bit more size and strength on the interior. I love Musa Diabate. He's just skinny, right? Uh Kulk Brener is quite skinny. I I think that Steinbach is just a massive human being. Uh very wide shouldered, very strong, very physical. Uh I think that this is like Steinbach just easily here. Like other names you'll bring up. Jaden Quaintance has like the medical concern with the knee. Cam Carr, you know, just kind of more of what they have to me. KA Pete, I think, you know, gets to 18, so you're not worried about that. I don't think Steinbach would have any chance to get to 18. Uh, yeah, I I would go I would go Steinbach here pretty easily.

>> Yep. I think adding to that center rotation is something we've talked a lot about. And, you know, his ability to rebound, some of the potential skill, maybe they he provides them a floor spacer at the center position. This this tracks really really well.

>> Yep. Okay. Number 15, Chicago Bulls. A lot of options here, honestly. So, they've taken Caleb Wilson already. Best guys remaining on my board personally. We've got I think we actually went 14 for 14 on my lottery picks, which is kind of funny. um Dalon Swain, KA Pete, Christian Anderson, Cam Carr, Okori, Phylon Sts, and then like whatever the acquaintance decision would be. I think those are your names here.

>> So the the name that immediately jumped out to me was Cam Carr and just adding a

>> offball wing, if you want to call him a guard, whatever, but offball shot maker, athletic, gets out in transition and really runs. Like you think about the level of athleticism this team would have, you know, running the floor whenever you already have Modis Bizelis, we added Caleb Wilson, now you add Cam Carr, but with Cam Carr, you also add in the ability to really really shoot the basketball and space the floor. I I'm not saying we have to go there, but that was the name that jumped out to me.

>> No, I actually like the shooting here. I think it's totally fine pick to take Cam Carr here. Um, I like the shooting here. I think it would really blend well with the uptempo idea of what Caleb Wilson and Josh Giddy and, you know, Modis Buzzelis could bring to the table. I like the shooting in terms of the spacing here as well. I I think that that totally tracks to me. I will say I I'm a touch lower on Christian Anderson, but I'm also like aware enough of like where what looks like his range is. This seems like a team like do you think he tracks here where his floor spacing can play off of Josh Giddy but then he also play with the ball in his hands or is like that a defensive concern? Like I feel like this is the range where we need to start talking about Christian Anderson.

>> So we will be talking about Christian Anderson with the next pick. Um Okay. But for me.

>> No.

>> Uh I would worry too much about the defense with Anderson and Giddy is my two backcourt players. I think

>> not to say Cam Carr is like an awesome defender, but I think you can make it work with his length a little bit easier than what you can with Christian.

>> I I will say I think some people for me some people are a little are higher than I am on Cam Car's defense. I think he's going to be disruptive defensively and all of that. I I think there's some other, you know, room for growth, though.

>> Well, yeah, he's just he can't hold his line on defense. Like, if you go through his chest, it's

>> cut off point is concerning. Yep.

>> Yeah. Okay, we will go Cam Car here. I feel pretty good about that.

>> Cool.

>> 16 with the Memphis Grizzlies. But before we get to the Memphis Grizzlies, we got to shout out our friends over at Shopify. Where is my Shopify overlay? There we are. Uh, look, starting a new business can be terrifying. So much work goes into it and you're not sure if it's going to work out. It can be hard to make that leap of faith. Trust me, when I started this podcast and this, you know, entire show and substack thing and everything that we've begun, uh, I had no idea what I was doing. And you wonder if anyone's going to listen, if you're going to make a fool of yourself. Now though, like I understand I was right for believing in myself and launching this business. Uh, largely because it helps to have great partners like Shopify on your side. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e-commerce platforms in the US. From household names like Mafuku, Hines, Mattel all the way to brands just getting started. Get started with your own design studio with hundreds of readytouse templates. Shopify helps you with uh build a beautiful online store that matches your brand style, accelerate your efficiency. Whether you're uploading new products or trying to improve existing ones, Shopify is packed with helpful AI tools that write product descriptions, page headlines, and even enhance your product photography. Get the word out like you have a marketing team behind you. Easily create email and social media campaigns wherever and whenever your customers are scrolling or strolling. It's time to turn those whatifs into cash today with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at shopify.comgame theory. That's sopy.comgame theory. Shopify.comgame theory. Okay, we're halfway through the first round. price. We've got the Memphis Grizzlies up for me with the Grizzlies. I am going to say guard makes sense here. They have Camboozer. I probably want shooting as well, which is why Okori is like a little bit less interesting to me. I know that they have Ty Jerome. I know that they have Cam Spencer. Jaylen Wells was like a little bit inconsistent this year in a way that was somewhat concerning to me. Cedric Howard can definitely shoot as well, but struggled a little bit late in the year as a shooter, too. Like from the halfway point onward. Felt like he had a bit of a wall. I do like Christian Anderson here. I also kind of like starts here a little bit. He ticks a lot of the Grizzlies boxes. Um, I'm not quite as high on phylon as some people are, but I would understand that idea. I would prefer now like you can make the case for like rim pressure here too with Okori, but I think I like the Christian Anderson like Bennett starts duo a little bit better here to me.

>> So, I am one of those people that likes Phylon quite a bit. Um, he is in the same tier for me as Christian Anderson, Aorei, Bennett Stirts. I think I'm a little low, just a touch lower on Anderson than others. So, if we were going to go guard, I would I don't think a Cororey I I do like the idea of somebody that can space the floor a little bit, which to me would be Phylon Anderson or St. Like I I don't I'm not those guys aren't all the same level of floor spacers and shooters, but I do think that all of them can do that. For me, it would be Phylon, but I I understand that for most people, this is Christian Anderson is most likely going to come off the board before him. I also like the idea of Christian Anderson here, if only because this is a team that already has like real rim pressure with Cam Boozer and Zack Edy. I also think Anderson is a much better ball screen passer than what Leberaron Phylon is. And I think that like the ability to play like, okay, let's go 14 with like ghost act or 41 screens with ghost actions with like Anderson where he's like slipping to the wing and then Boozer's making decisions that way or like you have Edy being able to, you know, roll to the rim and finish at the rim. Or you have a situation where like you're running a boozer edy ball screen. Like I want Christian Anderson as the guy on the weak side who's like wide open from three, right?

>> Yeah.

>> So I'm trying to think through that like all of this, right? I'm trying to think through how this all functionally works for the Grizzlies. And that's why starts works for me, too. Starts can do all of this stuff. I think Phylon is not quite as good at it and I think that Aquari can't really do it right now.

>> Agree.

>> Right.

>> Yeah.

>> So, I Christian Anderson's the name that like ticks to me at the end of the day here.

>> I I'm cool with this. I I've again I'm a touch lower on Anderson than others, but this isn't this is the R this is the tier like this is the range for me. We are into this tier. We've Swain is a guy that but I don't know that he makes a lot of sense with the current roster. Like Swain's the guy that I'm going to have to find a team for coming up soon because we are starting to but I don't think this is the spot. So I'm cool with Christian Anderson.

>> Bryce, I have good news for you because we're going to take Christian Anderson at 16 and I think we're going to take Dalen Swain at 17 for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

>> Love it. Like yeah. uh just ticks every box in terms of big ball handler that they need, right? Like they need a ball handler uh who can yes they need shooting as well and the fact that we're ending up with Morz Johnson and Dalon Swain, you know, as guys with questionable jump shots is not ideal to me, but these are the guys that they take at the end of the day. And I'm very comfortable with going to get like a bigger ball handling wing who can at the very least dribble and pass and create in isolation situations and get downhill and give them like another option in that respect, especially if we think that they're going to lose Aaron Wiggins. Uh given that Wiggins can be somewhat valuable in that respect.

>> Yeah, I I like this uh addition for them in Swain. And one thing I always like to bring up with Swain is if we can get anywhere close to the Xavier level defense that we saw with the Texas offense that we saw this past year, this is going to end up being a really, really good selection.

>> Yep, I would agree. Um, we're starting to run into, if you're watching along, just the thing that we're using, the fans thing, we're starting to run into guys that are not in the draft, like Brilen Mullins, Thomas Hal, Patrick Gunbo. Like, ignore those names. We're obviously not going to draft them. Uh, it's just that they're on the list here. Um, okay. Number 18, the Charlotte Hornets. very analytically inclined team, very uh like smart organization now under Jeff Peterson to me.

>> And they took Han Steinbach for

>> they took Han Steinbach. That's right.

>> At 14,

>> they really want to try and win the possession battle. I'm open to a lot here. Uh I'm open to a lot of different kind of options. I guess I can see them being a Allen Graves team for sure. I think that all three of these next spots are like 100% Allen Graves teams that on actual draft night they very well might take Allen Graves. So, we helped out the center position. Yeah, I I do really think they can go anywhere. I I do like the idea of adding somebody at like the four position for them. I've said I don't love the COA PE fit there. I guess if with Steinbach you could talk me into it a little bit more because of the potential of Steinbach to space the floor and those guys playing together. Um, this would be a little aggressive for me for Graves, but tierwise it it's not crazy. If they bring Kobe White back, does Phylon or any of these STS like is there still room for another guard? Do we add to the wing room?

>> Um,

>> yeah, this is a tough spot.

>> Yeah, not that's fair cuz unless we're going super early on an Isaiah Evans or something, which I think this is too aggressive for that. I will say that like I wonder if this is a Kim Lopez spot

>> because they do tend to like to draft a little bit younger. They are very analytically inclined. I can see a world where they like Kim Lopez. Uh potential to dribble, pass, shoot, potential to play the four with like Miles Bridges. obviously can't really shoot yet, but very capable driver. I can see this being Karem Lopez.

>> I would be I would be okay with that. It's It's high a little bit high for me. It's also high for me, but I think that given what they need, Kim Lopez is an interesting player here.

>> Sure, let's do it. I'm cool with it.

>> Okay. Uh and the way just the way that the front offsets more than what they need, uh it's just it feels Kim Lopezy to me. Uh this is another team, Toronto.

>> Yeah.

>> Uh

>> again, this is like an Allen Grave spot to me. I think that this team is probably going to lean into like some analytically inclined principles now under Darko and Bobby Webster. I think that um like probably going to try and max possessions where they can. Probably going to try and uh just find guys that really work with Scotty Barnes. I again I know Phylon made shots this year. I'm like a little bit skeptical of the shooting still on Phylon, which makes this like a little bit more challenging to me to take him. Um

>> I I had Allen Graves on my best fits over on the podcast with The Athletic I mentioned earlier.

>> I I again I'm not as high as others. Like I have Graves in the mid 20 mid to late 20s on

>> I am a 30 so I'm like way lower. But it it ticks a lot of like it ticks the Colin Murray Boils box like in a real way. like all of

>> I think this also comes down to whether Mamu Kellishes Vely is back or not cuz if Mamu Kellishve is back I don't love I I think I might try to the problem is to your point like this is where the wing this is one of as much as I do like in this range

>> like it's a little bit tough to find because I I would love to give them a wing you know what I mean but Yeah.

>> Who's the best floor spacer right now? Sturts and then Isaiah Evans.

>> Sturts is a good name here. Actually, I actually really like Stirts here. Sturts is a guy who can really knock down shots next to Scotty Barnes and can play next to Scotty. You can use him in screening actions. You can use him off the ball. You can use him. Man, I actually really like Stirts here.

>> Let's go starts. I don't see this very often. And I think that would be fun.

>> All right, let's go. Starts. Uh, awesome shooter, decision maker, passer, playmaker. I think would really work well in the dark uh offensive ideals. I think Sturs makes a ton of sense here. Number 20, the San Antonio Spurs. Yet another uh Allen Graves team to me. Uh, a team that could really use him uh as a guy who can rebound and do things like that. Um,

>> I think I'd go KA Pete though if I'm gonna go at at the four position. This is a team where KA Pete can make sense.

>> I think Ko Pete makes a ton of sense here to be honest. I think that dude is a like really good player. He's physical. He guards. Uh, he is strong. I think it would really work next to Wemi at a high level. The issue is though like I wonder if they only are taking guys that have potential to shoot.

>> Sure. Yeah. Um,

>> I think it's one of those two guys for me.

>> Yeah. All right, let's go. Let's go Graves. I think Graves ends up in this 18 to 20 bucket on draft night. As much as I disagree with it, I am skeptical of Graves being a super high level defender is part of the issue here. I think he makes great decisions. I think he's a sharp passer. Um, I think that he is somebody that like has a bit of size and they needed somebody with size who can make real decisions at the end of the day. I think Graves could make some sense here actually because Graves rebounds the ball. He is bigger and like I the hands are at least good defensively.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah. Let's let's go with Graves here because he has a better chance to shoot than Cook Pete does. At least I would take Copat over Graves. I want to be clear about that. I think that they might take Graves over Cook Pete.

>> Uh okay, number 21. I think they were just taking Learon Phylon and running, right?

>> Yeah. Like the way a few picks earlier I was like, "Okay, Sts is there. Um, you know, Graves is there, Kareem Lopez is there." I think at this point if I'm Detroit, I just make the talent play. They need some more ball handling. I think Phylon is going to be able to shoot it. I think to my Swain point earlier, there's a potential like if you get his freshman year defense with his sophomore year offense, I think at 21 for Detroit, adding a guard with the talent of Learon Phylon would be uh a really nice addition.

>> Yep, I'm good with that. Uh, they have the kind of physicality on the interior as well to make up for his how skinny he is. And I think that this tracks for me. This would work for me. Vylon at 21. Okay, number 22. This is my co. This is my COA beat. Like

>> this is the one where it makes the most sense to me because KA Pete is going to be really good in the dunker spot. He is physical. He can rebound. And with Joel Embiid unfortunately playing a lot more of a perimeter-based game now because of just kind of has to it feels like I like the idea of Koa going baseline to baseline and then at times short rolling and playing high low with Embiid if Embiid is on the block. I think that this

is the spot for him. He's a good defender. He's physical. He's strong. He makes good decisions. Yes, the jumper is a total mess right now, but I am good with literally everything else that that guy does on the court.

>> Yes. Yep. Uh we've talked about this a lot in terms of this being a good spot for him, so that makes sense to me.

>> Okay. So, we're going to take COA Pete at number 22. Now, at number 23, the Atlanta Hawks are up and we took a guard at 22 or number eight rather. And we can just take Jaden Quaintance here and be pretty happy, right?

>> And like this is >> this is the range for Acquaintance where I I would guess he ends up in the 20s on draft night >> because there's some concern about the knee.

>> I think we're about to get into like the big conversation again, you know, like we were really heavily with the Mara, the MZ, the Steinbach. I think we're about to get into the range of teams that could use bigs. And I mean there's two for me that are above the others. Um, that may not be true for everybody else, but yeah, this makes sense for me. And to your point, you said this an hour ago whenever we made the pick that wait till 23 and and get a big and we get here. Acquaintance is still on the board. Terrace Reed Jr.'s still on the board. Uh, Vesar, Edifur are still on the board.

>> So, >> and like I'm I'm genuinely really interested to see how long I know people are seeing Quaintance work out. Like I don't know that every team like feels like he's going to play a lot next season.

>> Oh, >> you know, like >> Yeah, >> you know the there are teams that will be conservative with bringing him back is what I'm saying. Uh I will be very interested to see how I think each individual team will have a different plan for how they would deal with incl like I can see some teams like just not having him on the board as a firstrounder either.

>> Sure. uh because of we we'll see where it goes with it. But yeah, I uh I have some some worries with where Acquaintance is going to end up on draft night is what I would say.

>> Yep.

>> Okay. 24. This is the New York Knicks. You're NBA champions. I think this is just a big and the reason that this is a big is that we when we did the offseason preview, we kind of explained that they need somebody who can play like next season if they lose Mitchell Robinson.

>> Y >> and if they don't lose Mitch, they can do something else, right? And they can take a big at 31 or whoever falls, right?

>> But I think to me, you're taking whoever the best big is that you can play basically. And to me at this point with what's left, I know Aquari is still on the board. I know Josh Jefferson's still on the board. I do have Terrace Reed is the best big that makes sense here.

>> I think he makes a ton of sense, especially if Mitchell Robinson leaves. If Mitchell Robinson doesn't leave, I think I could still make a quality pitch um to draft a big because of the minutes and the games missed and all of that from Mitchell Robinson. I think they're like, "Okay, are you going to pay Mitchell Robinson and then use your first round pick and have all of this um you know, all of these resources into the center position?" But I I think Terrace Reed Jr. is very good. I know the way a lot of people view him. I think he's going to be able to take some of those things and apply it to an NBA game and the way that, you know, not just a I don't think he's just a a post isolation big. I think he has uh touch and skills that are going to apply and at the very least he can defend and rebound. He's very physical. All of that. I I really like Terrace Reed Jr. in this range in general and the Knicks specifically as one of the teams. Yeah, I I think Reed is the name here. I think that this is what we're going with. Uh where in the world is Terrace Reed? Terrace Reed is not going 42nd overall.

>> Um, okay, number 25, the Los Angeles Lakers. I am wondering if they consider everyone's kind of pigeonholed them with bigs a little bit.

>> Yeah, >> I don't know that they're like locked in on bigs now. Like I don't think that they can really take like Ibuka Okorei, but

>> I I thought about it. Just probably not. Like to your point, probably not, but I thought about it. He's the best player on my board right now.

>> So, >> does Zubie work here?

>> I think as much as anybody else, I guess, would be my answer. Sam, I I don't know that there's one. And I think a little bit depends on how their offseason goes, right? Because if LeBron leaves, I think Joshua Jefferson could make sense here. And you know, I think Zubie could because Zubie in the best world where things work out for Zubie, he can play a little bit of four and a little bit of five and so that gives you some versatility there. Um, I think you could also go Isaiah Evans and just some floor spacing.

>> I'll give out Isaiah Evans. That's interesting.

>> Yeah, >> I would go Zubie over Evans just personally for where I have them on my board. But like I think Evans is kind of an interesting name for them that I haven't heard a lot of.

>> Yeah. I just think surrounding Luca, Austin Reeves, LeBron, maybe maybe whatever, like with floor space, I don't think that that's a bad idea. Um, I don't love I I think they missed out on like the true centers that are ready to play next year type of stuff.

>> Yeah.

>> Outside of Zubie, Vasar is interesting because he he gives you a different type of big. I'm a little nervous with the physicality stuff with Vasar, but I really buy the skill level and so I I would hear that out as well. Um, Zubie is probably the best bet to just be able to play on an NBA court next year though, right?

>> I think that's right. I think we go Zubie here.

>> I feel pretty good about it.

>> All right, 26, the Denver Nuggets. I would I'm not totally sure what they would do to be honest. I think they could take a guard like they could take Oori or something and just get like the rim pressure of having somebody like with Joic maybe have a rim pressure guy off the bench. I think you could look at Isaiah Evans. I think you could look at uh look I don't think a team is going to take Richie Saunders in the first round if you made me guess but like I really love Richie Saunders. The other name that I think would be interesting here is actually Sergio De Laarea is like a bigger guard who can dribble pass and shoot. I kind of like a Corey here. One, just like the talent and this being a like at at some point just like, hey, we're going to take somebody that's that good. And I do wonder if it's a if it's a dynamic, if it's something that they could use, like a little bit of a change that I don't know that they have on the roster. And maybe that I maybe it wouldn't end up fitting, but just like, hey, we have this rim pressure point guard off the bench for us. I kind of like that, Sam.

>> I think that this is a total change of pace in a way that I like.

>> Yeah.

>> Uh for them, >> I am somewhat skeptical that they would take someone this small, but I don't know, maybe they would. I different totally different player type that than what they have, which is a good thing to me.

>> So, let's go Aquaria at 26. 27 the Celtics. I mean, man, Kristen A is still on the board. This is pretty funny. But again, this is more where I have snack on my board personally, so I'm not wild.

>> He's the best player on my board, so I think he I I think this makes would make sense.

>> Um, >> he does not to me fit what Boston wants to do. I'm just going to straight up say that.

>> You don't think he's going to space the floor? I think he might space the floor, but I don't think he I think Joe Missoula would lose his mind in terms of like him making the right decisions consistently and being available in the right spots.

>> Okay. Um then Joshua Jefferson is the name that I have that meets that the most would be the next.

>> Jefferson I think is a good name here. Vasar is a name that people have connected here just because of the shooting, right? Like the ability to step away and fire is a real floor spacer. And if they do end up doing a Giannis deal, not saying that they are, Vasar would really be beneficial, although they would probably be giving up 27. You would think in a deal like that, but maybe not. Maybe they would keep 27 and it'd be future picks that would go out uh as like the Bucks would just prefer to not have 27 this year. Are they team?

>> Uh, they could be a De La Rea team. I would agree with that. Uh, dribble, pass, shoot really ticks, Actually, I think Dera might tick the most boxes for them to be honest.

>> Yeah, I like that.

>> 6'6, dribble, pass, shoot, guards. Uh, not super physical defensively, but like knows where he's supposed to be defensively at least. Obviously, they went to Spain last year with Hugo Gonzalez, so they're comfortable drafting internationally.

>> Like Richie would make sense if they're willing to wait a year.

>> I mean, Richie would make the most sense, but like >> if I'm them, I might just try to move up from my second round pick to get Richie at the end of the day.

>> Sure.

>> Um, yeah, I think Richie Saunders is really good, but Boston has 40. Like could you move up using two first you two second round picks along with 40 to like 35 and maybe get Richie Saunders?

>> No, because the Knicks are going to take him at 31.

>> They might, but like if you're the Knicks, you might need somebody to play next year.

>> No, I was I was just joking. But yeah,

>> so I think we go D La Rea here. I think he ticks the most boxes for what this team tends to like.

>> Perfect.

>> Okay, 28. the Minnesota Timberwolves. I think that they would be like absolutely a de la team if he was to fall for what it's worth. Um I can see them going with somebody like Joshua Jefferson.

>> Yeah, >> I can see them going with just like a pure shooter like Isaiah Evans. Obviously, they're looking for a point guard, but like with Okori being gone, that becomes harder. I wonder if like they could be a tradeup team that tries to go get like one of the guards in that, you know, 17 to 22 range.

>> So, I think Jefferson would be my pick maybe no matter what, but especially if they have some plans for like the Julius Randall, Nas Reed, all you know, one of those guys eventually getting moved, which I think at some point probably does happen. If you told me like those guys are on the team for the next three years, then I would probably go like Isaiah Evans, you know, so I could get the floor spacing. But

>> I think this is a good spot for Joshua Jefferson.

>> Yeah, I'm good with Joshua Jefferson here. Super smart. One of my favorite guys to watch in the class. uh you know 68 69 245 pounds you know can move his feet well defensively rebounds the ball but maybe to me this is the conversation with Camboozer where if Camboozer is the best passing like forward in the class or not I think Jefferson has like a very real case for that.

>> Sure.

>> Okay. 29 the Cleveland Cavaliers. I'm just gonna say now, having thought about their cap situation, I'm somewhat skeptical that they're going to keep this pick and I think somebody might move in and grab this pick. And that way they don't have to have the locked on capold of the 29th overall pick. Like one of those teams at 31 to 34 could easily slide into this spot, I think. And then the Cavs just trade down a couple of spots. I legit just had somebody one that gave us some love for one of our offseason previews, which always much appreciated. Um, but also pitch this idea that they're a fan. They cover one of the teams in that early second round and they're like, "Hey, I think this is a trade that could work because it saves Cleveland some money and all of that." So, definitely a really interesting idea.

>> If we think that they're going to trade it, can we just slot Chris Sak here? Like if we think there's a chance they trade this, like does Sak make sense? Also, they need a long-term developmental big like

>> Yeah. Yes. Yes. I think that makes sense. I think Sak ends up in the first round. I think there's enough talent and all of that that I could see someone going up to 29 to go ahead and get him, you know. So, sure. Yes.

>> Yeah. I will say like for Sak right the worry for me is that he is definitely a project and as we went through teams from realistically 20 onward right all these teams are like trying to contend and might want a rookie who can come in

>> way yeah >> a little bit earlier right >> y >> like San Antonio could use like a physical presence and they like to play younger guys if they can Detroit like probably just not SNAC team in general to me, but not impossible, I guess. Uh, but they need somebody who could play like reasonably soon.

>> Philly, I mean, like if they're taking a big like I think they're taking someone who can play behind Embiid sooner rather than later, honestly. Um, Atlanta, maybe it's an axe spot, but then New York, not really to me because he can't play next year. The Lakers, not really to me. Denver just not really what they tend to look for. Boston not really what they tend to look for in my mind. Uh Minnesota has known been known to take these developmental swings. I think Minnesota could take him. So I I would at least kind of note like that's where my worry would be with Sak is like it gets a little bit tricky to find the spot for him after a certain point.

>> Uh, number 30 left on my board here among first rounders. We've got Vasar. We've got Richie Saunders, but Richie Saunders obviously has like the torn ACL. Um Isaiah Evans, Alex Cariban, Emanuel Sharp were into the second round now with those guys. Like I wonder if like Isaiah Evans

>> Isaiah Evans would be Yeah. Yes.

>> Cooper flag connection. They played last year together at Duke. Could that make sense? Maybe

>> go get a floor spacer.

>> Yeah. Best player left on my board. Floor spacing at pick 30. Yes.

>> Okay. To run through the board. Debansa at number one to the Wizards. Darren Peterson at number two to the Jazz. Camboozer number three to the Grizzlies. Caleb Wilson at number four to the Bulls. Katon Waggler number five to the Clippers. Darius Auff number six to the Brooklyn Nets. Number seven Sacramento Kings take Kingston Flemings. Eight, the Atlanta Hawks take Mikel Brown. Nine, Braden Burries to the Mavs. 10, Nate Aean to the Bucks. 11, Adai Mari to the Warriors. 12, Morz Johnson to Oklahoma City. 13, Yakel Lenderborg to the Miami Heat. 14, Han Steinbach to the Charlotte Hornets. Cam Carr at 15 to the Bulls. Christian Anderson at 16 to the Grizzlies. Dalen Swain at 17 to the Thunder. Kim Lopez at 18 to the Hornets. Bennett starts at 19 to the Raptors. Alan Graves at 20 to the Spurs. Leberon Phylon at 21 to the Pistons. Coped at 22 to the Sixers. Jaden Quaint at 23 to the Hawks. 24 Terrace Reed to the Knicks. 25 Zubie Edgia four to the Lakers. 26 Ibuka Okori to the Nuggets. 27 Sergio De Laa to the Celtics. 28 Joshua Jefferson to the Minnesota Timberwolves. 29, Christristen Knack to the Cavs, 30, Isaiah Evans to the Mavs.

>> Uh, where did we where did we screw up? I actually don't really think anywhere, Bryce. I think I feel okay about this.

>> Yeah, I felt good going through it. Uh, it was a lot of fun. I always like going through these to kind of see, you know, if there ends up being a player that I have higher that it's like, man, it's really tough to find these spots or whatever. Uh, my range kind of stayed. We took most of my top 30. Um, as we went through kind of my tiers, I've rarely had a player that really, you know, got stuck in a tier for five, six picks beyond. Um, so I feel pretty good about where my board's at a week out.

>> I do too. And can the Knicks please take one of Richie Saunders or Emanuel Sharp at 31? Like those are the two names. Like my goodness. Like if you end up losing either Clarkson or Landry Shamut, it's so hard for me to imagine a better fit than Emanuel Sharp just coming in wreaking havoc defensively for five minutes, seven minutes a game and then knocking down shots if he can do it. Like that's that's just the home run to me. And and to the point that I you know the 35 I so Richie Saunders on the board, Vasar on the board, Emanuel Sharp on the board, Malik Thomas as an early second round pick to me was like like I would be I would be cool with that as an as an early second round pick. I understand there's concerns, Sam, like I truly do. but just as a talent in this second round, not to mention Alex Cariban. And then even as you get a little bit deeper, then there's some other names that are interesting, maybe not as exciting, but to my those first five to 10 picks of the second round, I think will be fun. And I'm kind of interested to see if there is any movement in those first five picks um to go get any of those guys.

>> Yeah, I would agree. Uh all right, Bryce,

>> less than two hours. Less than two hours. Insane.

>> I tried to zoom through a little bit at a certain point. What can I say? Okay. Uh, tell the people where they can find your work. Tell the people what's going on.

>> Yeah. Motor City Hoops on Twitter, Blue Sky Substack. Go check out the Game Theory Substack. If you were here for two hours of this mockdraft, I can kind of promise you you're going to like the content we have over on the Game Theory Substack with the video breakdowns, the draft show that if you're watching this live right now, I think the draft show is dropping tomorrow morning. I know it's already recorded.

>> Um, >> so this is we did this on Tuesday night live on YouTube. Um, you know, at 8:17 Pacific time is when we're finishing this. The draft show is going live on the Substack on Wednesday morning, probably at like 4 a.m. Pacific time.

>> Yeah. So, go check that out. And then again, all of the video breakdowns that Sam and I have done throughout the year are over there. I I'm almost positive every player that was drafted has at least one and maybe even some of those names we talked about in the second round. And then keep it locked here. We'll obviously be live on the draft nights. We will continue throughout the offseason if there's trades, free agency, summer league, all of that. We'll continue to bring you great content and go check out the offseason previews. Lots of really cool feedback there. It's a lot of work for Sam and I, but we really enjoy doing it. We will end up having all 30 teams um offseason previews. We recorded 25 of them. We have five more to go over the next week, but go check out your favorite team or any other teams you're interested in.

>> Go to the athletic. Keep me employed over there because guys, the NBA draft guide is out. I appreciate everyone who's gone through and looked at that thing. Um go follow me on Instagram as well. I'm posting more on Instagram. That's my goal. I'm trying to be a little bit more active there. Uh so just Sam_sini on Instagram as well. Um, and you'll get the videos that if you don't subscribe to the Substack, like I'm posting the videos that we did for the NBA draft guide for the top 10 guys over there. So please go hit me on Instagram uh and you will see some NBA draft stuff. You also eventually will get to see my bookcase that is getting built next week and you will get to see all of the books and movies and things that I end up buying. So, uh, I appreciate everyone that follows me over there. Uh, that's all we got. Uh, I appreciate everyone for coming through. Until next time, we'll talk soon. Bye.

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2026 NBA MOCK DRAFT! | One Week Out! | Game Theory Podcast

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