[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Also included players that signed 2 way contracts. Didn’t include summer league or exhibition deals, as they are way unpredictable whether they stick or not…

Spurs – “A” – Victor Wembanyama/ Sidy Cissoko/UDFA Sir’Jabari Rice/ future picks

Hornets – “B” – Brandon Miller/ Nick Smith, Jr./ Amari Bailey

Blazers – “A” – Scoot Henderson/ Kris Murray/ Rayan Rupert

Rockets – “A+” – Amen Thompson/ Cam Whitmore

Pistons – “B” – Ausar Thompson/ Marcus Sasser

Magic – “B-” Anthony Black/ Jett Howrad/ future picks

Wizards – “B+” Bilal Coulibaly/ Tristan Vukcevic/ (Tyus Jones/Danilo Gallinari/Mike Muscala)

Pacers – “A” – Jarace Walker/ Ben Sheppard/ Mojave King/ Isaiah Wong

Jazz – “A” – Taylor Hendricks/ Keyonte George/ Brice Sensabaugh/ UDFA Joey Hauser

Thunder – “C” – Cason Wallace/ Keyontae Johnson/ future picks

Mavericks – “A-” Dereck Lively II/ Olivier Maxence-Prosper/ UDFA Mike Miles

Raptors – “B” – Gradey Dick/ UDFA Markquis Nowell

Pelican – “B+” Jordan Hawkins

Hawks – “B+” Kobe Bufkin/ Mouhamed Gueye/ Seth Lundy

Lakers – “B” – Jalen Hood-Schifino/ Maxwell Lewis/ UDFA D’Moi Hodge/ UDFA Colin Castleton

Heat – “D” – Jaime Jaquez, Jr.

Warriors – “A+” – Brandin Podziemski/ Trayce Jackson-Davis

Nets – “A-” – Noah Clowney/ Dariq Whitehead/ Jalen Wilson

Nuggets – “C-” – Julians Strawther/ Jalen Pickett/ Hunter Tyson

Clippers – “D+” – Kobe Brown/ Jordan Miller

Celtics – “B+” – James Nnaji/ Jordan Walsh/ (Kristaps Porzingis)

T’Wolves – “A” – Leonard Miller/ Jaylen Clarke

Kings “A-” – Colby Jones/ Jalen Slawson

Bulls -“B” – Julian Phillips/ UDFA Adama Sanogo

Bucks – “C” – Andre Jackson, Jr./ Chris Livingston/ UDFA Omari Moore

Grizzlies – “B+” – GG Jackson/ Tarik Biberovic/ (Marcus Smart)

Cavs – “B” – Emoni Bates/ UDFA Craig Porter, Jr.

Suns – “B-” Toumani Camara

Knicks – “D+” – UDFA Jaylen Martin/ UDFA Jacob Toppin

76ers – “C+” – UDFA Terquavion Smith/ Ricky Council IV/ Azuolas Tubelis

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Forgot Holmes was involved in a trade, although it doesn’t effect the grade. Hahaha.

[HitsterParticipant]

Isn’t Nnaji with Charlotte via Boston. I’ve seen him listed as a Celtics player but more sites say he is with Charlotte. I’d have loved him as a long term guy on the Celtics though.

I might have flipped the grades for Magic and Thunder but that is a very minor point otherwise great draft grades.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

I guess you’re right about Nnaji being a Hornet. Average pick, decent value but not great fit. Redundant with Mark Wiliams being a plus version of a similar player.
I wasn’t impressed with the fit of the Thunder picks, so graded them kind of low. Cason fits about anywhere but OKC. They would have been better off trading out of the draft into 2025 and beyond imo. I guess the Magic could have just drafted Anthony Black and traded out too.
I didn’t like the way ESPN did the draft. Too hard to keep track of all those trades. I had the draft on mute, some live feed of what was going on to make it a bit easier, but it was still difficult keeping up with all the trades just happening and not much announcements detailing on the fly. Shams and Woj tweets aren’t the easiest to keep up with either while the draft’s going on. Kind of frustrating tbh.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Jazian Gortman just signed a 2 way contract with the Bucks…

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Oscar Tshiebwe gets 2 way contract with Indiana. Miles Norris and Leaky Black on 2 ways.

[HitsterParticipant]

The guys with two ways are being signed before the drafted guys sign their contracts!

The Thunder have a lot of picks due and I guess they and the Magic are reluctant to trade out from the later lottery with no guarantee they would get such a high pick back. The option could have been to have targeted an establshed player but you then have salary cap issues and teams are reluctant to trade away established players.

I’d have liked Gradey or Jordan Hawkins better on either Thunder or Magic personally. I think Jett Howard went a bit high. I like Carson Wallace on Thunder as it gives them a combo guard who can play off the bench behind SGA and Giddey or even in a 3 guard line up with them if Dort goes to the bench. He can do some ballhandling too and is a potentially elite defender.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

The Sixers should get an A for adding 2 potential late first-round/early 2nd round picks in Terquavian Smith and Ricky the IV as UDFA’s.
Also, Marcus Bagley is an extremely interesting talent who has a prototypical 3-D skill set but he never got to play because of injuries and drama he reminds me of Martel Webster for some reason, or maybe even CJ Miles.
I do not like the Magic picking Anthony Black when they already have 2 other PGs who can’t shoot, I am really surprised they did not move this pick for a vet who can get them in playoffs or maybe they trade Suggs or Fultz. Also drafting Jett Howard over Grady Dick and Jordan Hawkins is somewhat mind-boggling.
I really like what the Mavericks did although they are another team I really wanted to see Grady Dick land with to space the floor alongside Luka, getting Lively II at 12 is going to be a steal. Also, Richaun Holmes is the perfect PnR partner for Luka.

[OhCanada-Participant]

Magic drafted Jett Howard over Dick and Hawkins because of the Michigan ties but what I don’t understand is why they didn’t trade down. I wonder if other teams were interested in Howard. I probably would have smashed my TV if Toronto picked Jett over Grady.. I feel like Orlando did bad here. I would rather have Hendricks and George or Sensabaugh then Black and Howard. I’d rather have Podziemski and Jackson-Davis as well to be honest.

Norrin I know you don’t like Jaquez at 18 but the Heat are gonna make that ‘D’ look real bad. He’s gonna be a very good player for them, high level starter that provides many roles. Perfect fits for him was Miami and Denver.

Love the Mavericks draft. I think Cason Wallace is great but I’ve got no clue why OKC didn’t just draft Lively. They need a Center Holmgren should not be banging with Jokic, Sabonis, Gobert, etc.

Grady Dick is exactly what Toronto needed. I mean aside from Brandon Miller he is probably the best fit of all the players in the draft because he adresses the teams largest flaw which is perimeter shooting. There may have been players with better upside but Grady is going to fill a need immediately and have a chance to be productive and earn a spot on the all rookie team.

Hornets are going to regret passing up on Scoot.

No clue why Leonard Miller went so low. To me thats more shocking than Whitmore at 20.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Great Gradey Dick pick! Hahaha…

[HitsterParticipant]

I try to refer to him as Gradey on here as Dick is certainly used as another word for penis or means an idiot in the UK and I feel sorry for Gradey having to have his name on his gear.

[ZouldiersParticipant]

I knew a lot of people including Heat fans (not me though) hate the Jaime Jaquez pick but me personally I absolutely love it. He’s the type of NBA ready prospect this team needs with his scoring, rebounding and defense. They already swung for the fences last year with Jovic so this year it’s all about getting that plug in type of player and Jaquez is that guy. His ceiling to me is a lot higher than usual with his IQ and feel for the game and that determines a guy’s ceiling.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Saw you even called that pick… Good call. All our scores are in from the draft. I got a lucky 96 points.
Jaime Jaquez, Jr. could end up being a hidden gem. I still thought it was a reach, but then it only takes one more team to bite. I was worried the Lakers would pick Jaquez from the UCLA connection. I think that would have been a bad fit. He’s got a chance with Miami though to carve out a career.

[OhCanada-Participant]

Yeah your mock was really good this year. 86 for me not too bad. 96 is pretty high. It says my best year with this account is 97.

[ZouldiersParticipant]

Got 91 this year haha. I don’t really mind the score but finally nailing the Heat pick is special because that was the 1st time I nailed it lol.

[HitsterParticipant]

I thought JJ went a few places too high for the Heat and with Cam Whitmore still on board he would have seemed an upside pick. But the Heat as one of the most successful and well run NBA teams had clearly done their research and JJ is the sort of intangibles player who will scrap and whilst no part of his game may be outstanding like some high profile prospects his overall game has few if any weaknesses and he is NBA eady.

He is the sort of player that team mates and especially the star players will like and for a win now team he can come in and take minutes right away. If Spol and Pat Reilly were happy to draft him I cannot argue against their success.

[Andrew1984Participant]

My top three steals heading into the draft were all taken by Denver!

[kobyzParticipant]

“A+” i have for:
Hornets – it was very tempting going with Scoot potential and star quality but Brandon Miller was really the right pick cause Ball and Scoot together is really complicated path building contender, Miller put them in great position going forward, Nick Smith, Jr. is mive boom or bust pick at 29, Amari Bailey is a steal in the second round.
Magic – Anthony Black just feel like their guy, exactly what they need at the one and beside their star point forward Banchero, at 11 they rightly tried to solve their hole at shooting and the 2, Jett Howrad was one of 4 great pure shooting prospects that to me rank very close to each other, choosing Howard over Dick, Hawkins and Bufkin may be surprised but i think Howard was overlook by most and he’s the most intriguing of that bunch, really remind Klay Thompson as a freshman
Jazz – Taylor Hendricks, Keyonte George and Brice Sensabaugh, gut guys without reaching that perfect fit for their system and the mold of the team
Mavericks – Dereck Lively II, Olivier Maxence-Prosper, getting without reaching two defensive minded guys to compiment, and also on offense, the backcort of Kyrie and Luke, seems like big step in the right diraction… also getting rid of Bertans
Lakers – two great value picks, type of talanted players Lakers know how to get the most of
Warriors – above-mentioned
“A” i have for: Spurs, Blazers, Rockets, Wizards, Raptors, T’Wolves

[HitsterParticipant]

I think Cam fell further and from a lot higher than Leonard Miller to be fair Oh Canada. A lot of people had got Leonard as a later first rounder and he didn;’t fall as far as Rayan did.

When players start to fall we have the issue that teams may not have worked them out or have decided to go for another position. Plus how much value is there on promises. If a team swerves then other teams further down have the same problem or someone suddenly trades up to get the falling player.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Quite a few prospects fell. Leonard Miller slid quite far, so I get that debate. He was 14th on my big board. Imo Miami could have gone that direction at 18. GG Jackson could be the man… in 3-5 years… The Grizzlies did good there. TJD could also be the steal of the draft. Cam Whitmore definitely in the convo. Rupert slipped a little bit, thought it was possible but good value where he was picked.
Promises, especially before the actual draft are the worst thing for basketball teams. It’s as bad as deciding to shut down workouts because you think you’re going a certain place. It’s disruptive to the mind of a prospect, and it’s hurtful to a team that may have found a better gem than the prospect they just promised. (Not to mention promises make you scrap your mock/big board. hahaha)
On a side note about Whitmore, I strongly doubt his “medical” issue was even half as bad as MPJ’s a few years ago. Just sayin’.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Anybody have any thoughts on Kai Sotto making Summer League roster with Orlando? Not sure personally, but he could be a sleeper to make a roster at some point.

[ZouldiersParticipant]

Huge chance to make the roster but man he has to show effort though. Even in the Japan B-League, he doesn’t show effort. If he does the usual big man plays like rim running, blocking, rebounding and make hustle plays and effort he’ll get a chance.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

It’s official, Jake “Sloth” Stephens signed a 10 day exhibition contract with the Kings!

[HitsterParticipant]

Go Sloth!

I hope they don’t exhibit him that would be cruel but great news he is getting a chance.

Regarding MJP he is still fragile but he has a title so I guess he’s the one laughing now, Kawhi slipped a lot on his draft night and the Spurs stepped in and he’s had a pretty good career too.

With Cam the pressure is off him now, at best he’s lost some guaranteed salary but is still on a roster and can get playing time.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

When Cam figures out the NBA, he’ll have a chip on his shoulder for sure. He lost a lot of $$$ in the draft. He’ll make some teams regret some selections imo. Might be year 2 when this happens though.

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