Hoops Tonight - NBA Draft Predictions: Bronny James to Lakers? Hawks decision at #1 w/ Sam Vecenie - The Herd with Colin Cowherd

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
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See terms eligibility and Responsible gaming Resources at DKG dot
co slash MMA. All right, welcome to hoops tonight here

(01:48):
at the volume. Happy Tuesday, everybody, Oh love you guys
are having a great week. Well, we are going to
be diving headlong into the NBA Draft today, which is tomorrow.
It feels like the NBA Finals were yesterday and here
we are. The draft has already to take place. I
can think of nobody better than mister Sam Besini, my
good friend, somebody that I trust as a basketball mind

(02:08):
more than most. But I know I'm gonna, I'm gonna,
I'm gonna come off as pandering here, but I think
he's the very best at covering the draft as well.
In addition to diving into a year round, he also
gets the players themselves on his show with him. They
go over tape together, he picks their brain. It's just
it's an incredible Uh, it's just an incredible process that

(02:30):
he goes through to properly cover the draft. If you
guys haven't checked out his draft guid yet, you have to.
If you're not following or subscribing to his YouTube channel yet,
you need to. But Sam, I'm really excited to get
into this draft today.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
I was telling you.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
Before we we uh, before we started the show, that
this is one of the hardest shows that I've ever
had to prep for, just simply because I don't look
at the draft at all during the regular season, and
that I try to cram it all in in a week.
But also there's just so much up in the air
this year. It feels like nobody knows where anybody's going.

(03:04):
And obviously you're a lot more well connected, and it
seems like from what you've told me that it's been
like that for you as well. So why don't you
just tell us a little bit about this draft and
what it's been like covering it this season.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
Yeah, thanks for having me. I mean, the big thing
that I would take away from this is that because
the talent is so flat at the top, right, there's
no Victor wembin Yama. There's no like everyone knew Kay
Cottingham was going number one the year that Kay Countingham
went number one. There's nos that I'm Williamson. I would argue,
there's not even really like a Markel Foltz where people
felt like, you know, longso Ball and Jason Tatum in

(03:37):
that year were pretty similar at least, if not, you know,
in the same tier to Markelle Fultz. It was very
clear that Markell was gonna go number one that year.
I would argue, there's not even you know, for instance,
I do tiers in the draft guide every year, and
I don't have a Tier one or a Tier two player.
Tier one guys are like guys I expect to be

(03:58):
all NBA players.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
Tier two I noticed that I was confused. I was like,
am I missing pages? Like what's going on here?

Speaker 1 (04:05):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (04:05):
So Tier two is guys that, like I think, you know,
very realistic chance that they're all stars. It's like you're like,
I thought chet holmme Grid fit into that bucket. I
thought Paula Banco fitted into that bucket really high level.
I think both those guys are probably gonna exceed that
at the end of the day. But you know, I
had some questions about them in general, and I felt
a little bit more confident putting them into the All
Star bucket as opposed to like the definite like you know,

(04:27):
top fifteen guys in the league, like All NBA bucket. Right,
I had Victor in that bucket last year. I don't
have anybody in those two tiers. And I'm not like
Stingy with those grades. In the four years I've been
doing the draft guy prior to this one, I've ranked
sixteen players with a Tier one or Tier two grade. Look,

(04:48):
sometimes it works out and you have Brandon Miller with
a Tier two grade. Other times it doesn't work out,
and you have James Wiseman with a Tier two grade. Right,
And I think I had Tier two's on like Anthony
Edwards and LaMelo Ball year. You know, I think I
had you know, I think Evan Mobley was two. I
think Jalen Green was two. I think Sugs was the two,

(05:09):
and I still believe in basically all those guys in
some respects. But yeah, I would say that this class
does not have a guy that I look at and
I can confidently project all star like an all star
future onto them undeniably just by the law of large
numbers in the way that development works. Once these kids

(05:32):
get into situations, guys will emerge as all stars, no
questions asked. But when trying to find like a middle
ground in terms of that evaluation and like an expected outcome,
I don't know that I can like confidently tell you
this specific player like I have Alex R at number one.
I don't know if I can tell you that Alex

(05:52):
aar I am expecting a number one level of production
or an all star quality level production for him. I
think he has a chance to be that player. I
think there are certainly outcomes that he can hit where
he becomes that player. But I don't know that I
can sit here and tell you for sure that you
know that that's what I expect of him either, And

(06:14):
that goes all the way through my top group of prospects,
So you know there will be all stars that come
out of this class. It's just going to be really
hard to identify them, and I think that they're going
to be maybe even a little bit more development based
than what we've seen in previous years.

Speaker 2 (06:28):
Yeah, that makes sense. So let me put you on
the spot here. So if you had Jalen Green as
a Tier two prospect, does that mean that if Jalen
Green was coming out of this class you would have
had him number one.

Speaker 3 (06:39):
I'm not even close.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
That's super fascinating to me, and I'm not surprised because like,
obviously I went through all these guys today and like
Alex Sar obviously you had at number one. That was
a guy we're going to talk about Zachary Rosasche here
in a minute, because he's actually the Veguas favorite to
go number one, which I really want to dive into
here in a minute. But as I was watching Alex,
I'm like, good player, really good defensive player. Doesn't feel

(07:01):
like a number one overall pick to me, you know,
And so like that makes sense to me, and like
and to your point, like just that kind of that
kind of tier that you're talking about, that tier too,
And I by the way, Chet and Pawlow like they
both have exceeded expectations. I would say, when they got
to the NBA, they both have been better faster than
we expected. And that's I think that those sound properly

(07:22):
rated to me. So like I wanted you had mentioned
to me before we started too, that you wanted to
that you were expecting a lot of draft d a
trades or things surrounding the draft that involved trades. Let's
get to that as we kind of go through the picks.
So I want to start with number one here. So
according to DraftKings, Zachary Versace is the heavy favorite.

Speaker 1 (07:46):
To go number one overall.

Speaker 2 (07:48):
As I was watching his film, I'm like, interesting, kind
of like weak side shooters, super confident, can drive, close
out some interesting stuff on the ball. I thought about
what you talked about with me when you came on
during the finals, and we talked about like the two
things that you look for in in uh like in
terms of success for modern NBA basketball with spacing and

(08:09):
then groundcoverage on defense. And I thought about his length,
and he's pretty mobile, and he's pretty good on the
weak side, like jumping passing lanes and being a help defender.
But again, I I don't even see the angle there
over Alex sar So, like, what is what is? What
do you think is driving the intel that Zachary's gonna
go potentially number one overall? Do you expect that to happen?

(08:30):
And if so, is it gonna go? Do you think
he'll end up in Atlanta or do you think there'll
be a trade there?

Speaker 3 (08:35):
Yeah, So the easiest way for me to talk about
this right now is first and foremost, I don't feel
wildly confident about anything with Atlanta. And the big key
with Atlanta is there are just a number of voices
in that room. From what I understand, Quinn Sneider is

(08:58):
certainly a voice in that room. They convinced him to come,
you know, out of after he left Utah, and like
they didn't convince him to come just by telling him,
you know, you're the coach and that's it, right, Like
he has a voice in the room whenever it comes
down to crunch time. Landry Fields certainly is a voice,
you know there is there are differing degrees to which

(09:19):
you will hear from folks that ownership and uh, you know,
Tony Wrestler and his son Nick Wrestler will have a
voice when it comes to it on draft night. So
that creates a lot of differing incentives. It creates a
lot of very challenging things for opposing teams. Is they're

(09:42):
trying to get a plan for what Atlanta's trying to
do to parse through. I would say that right now, look,
I have the Nachary Risichet marked or mocked right now
at number one. They I know that Atlanta has certainly
reached out to a few different teams looking at potentially
moving down the board. They're trying to figure out is

(10:03):
there a way we can trade down? Which makes sense? Right,
They're looking at a number of different options on a
board where one through five or so looks pretty steady.
Right in terms of talent. There are teams that have
preferences in that group. There are teams that maybe have
one of those guys a little bit ahead of the other.

(10:25):
But it makes sense why you would try and trade
down when all of the talent is relatively flat. The
problem that I understand the running into is like who's
gonna move up in that case? Who's trying to you know,
get to Zachary versus Chet When you know, I kind
of just outlined that I don't think that his likely
outcome is necessarily like all star. I think he's going

(10:47):
to be a really good starter. I think he's gonna
be a guy that you know, like you said, like
great week side shooter. I think he can attack closeouts,
But the problem is, I think he struggles to maintain
advantages after attacking. He's very skinny right now, So it's
a big hope that he can continue to develop his
frame and really get stronger. Despite being like kind of
thinly framed, Like he doesn't have a lot like wide shoulders.

(11:10):
He's actually like quite skinny in terms of his shoulders.
So like the worry there is how does the frame develop?
Is he going to be able to actually maintain the
advantages that he creates in space? In traffic? I think
that he generally has struggled a little bit with contact
this season. If you look at him when he's like
driving to the ram and trying to finish, if he
gets bumped, I think that like he kind of loses

(11:30):
control of the ball, loses control of his touch a
little bit. So I I have him at number five. Personally,
I really like him, and again I have him in
this top group, So anybody in that top group of players,
like I'm not going to crush Atlanta for taking them,
because I just don't see it as all that different.
But yeah, like you mentioned Dlex Sar Like, I just

(11:52):
think Sara is bigger, covers ground a little bit better.
He's definitely a worse shooter than what risus Schet is,
but I think that if you look at where the
league is going, like these dribble pass shoot bigs are
kind of worth their weight in gold, and I would
just rather take in informed. This NBA draft is all about.
This is the easiest way for me to explain it.
This NBA draft is all about informed bets.

Speaker 1 (12:15):
Right.

Speaker 3 (12:16):
You're trying to think about this in terms of bets,
not in terms of you know what this guy is
going to be. I am trying to figure out who
are my best bets in terms of the intersection of
upside and like relatively high floor. I have Stephan Castle
ahead of Zachary rissa Chet. I think Steph's upside is

(12:38):
higher than risus Chet because I think Steph can pass,
I think that he can play through traffic. I think
he's a better defender than risus Chet, But undeniably his
floor is lower than risus Chet's because risus Chet can
shoot it, and Steph Castle right now struggles to shoot it.
If Steph Castle continues to struggle to shoot it, it's
gonna be a problem for Steph. But if the shot

(12:59):
comes to, the informed bet that you're taking would be
that Steph Cassel is probably going to become an All
star if the shot comes together in time. So thinking
about this draft almost more in terms of like bets
and like informed bets, And I don't like love it
seems like dehumanizing on some level, and I don't necessarily

(13:19):
love framing it that way, but that's the way that
you almost have to think about it in terms of
like investing in this class in some way.

Speaker 2 (13:28):
Well, in the ruthless world of sports, that is how
it works, unfortunately, But I agree with you it is
kind of it is kind of funky talking about it.
I always feel like it's weird being like a super
micromanergy about prospects too. You're like, oh, this guy struggles
with this, It's like, but he's awesome about all this
other stuff. It's kind of just the weird nature of
the job in so many different ways. Totally, Yeah, I'm confused. So, like,

(13:51):
if Atlanta were to take Risus Shay. How does that
clash with Jalen Johnson, because don't they kind of are
they viewing him more as a threat.

Speaker 3 (14:01):
I think it's actually a good fit with Jalen Johnson
for what it's worth, because Jalen, I think, is probably
gonna be best as like a crash and like bang
athlete who runs up and down the court and transition
and is physical and is you know, driving. I think
Versus Shay can like help space the floor and then
you can have guys at the three and four. Jalen

(14:23):
Johnson's like this immense athlete who's you know, driving and
trying to pass and playmake and do everything that we've
seen him do in his breakout season this year in
his third year, Versus Shay can be the you know,
kind of off wing who can really knock down shots
and be able to like have like high level defensive
capabilities on the weak side, uh, taking up a bunch

(14:45):
of space with his frame and with his length. And
Jalen Johnson as well is a pretty good defender. So
I actually really like that fit. I do like have
questions about what it would mean for somebody like DeAndre Hunter.
Do they try and just move you on Hunter the
summer at the end of the day. Uh, I have
some questions about, you know, what it would mean for

(15:05):
their guard room just in general. That's another piece of
this Atlanta conversation is nobody knows with the rest of
the well straight up, just with the rest of their roster, Like,
you know, how are they going to get under the
tax Like are they gonna trade Clint Capella? Are they
going to try and do it via the potential to
John sat Murray trade like it? You know, will they

(15:27):
consider moving Trey Young if someone tried to blow them
away with an offer. There's just so many different variables
with the Hawks right now, and that's what makes rejecting
their pick hard. Folks around the league that I talked
to do tend to say risset Chet's name more than others.
But Donovan Klingon went in there, had a great workout

(15:49):
with Atlanta from what I understand, really, you know, fits
a lot of what Quinn Snyder particularly is looking for
from the center position, having come from Utah, having had
Rudy Gobert, who was this unbelievable screener, unbelievable drop coverage
rim protector big. I think that Quinn Snyder would do
a lot of really great things with Donovan Klingen, But

(16:10):
Donovan Klingon would not be a particularly sexy number one
overall pick, right as I'm sure you watched when you
saw Klingon, you know, really good player, like gonna be
an awesome player if he snuck like an All Star
Berth kind of like how Jarrett Allen did that year
in Cleveland, would by no means surprise me. But I
would say he projects as like a top ten starting

(16:31):
center in the league. And that's just like not something
teams are wildly enthusiastic about taking it. One.

Speaker 2 (16:39):
Yeah, what I had mentioned the fit, I was more
meaning on the defensive end. Do you think Jalen Johnson's
good enough on the ball, Because I always get worried
about the as someone who rooted for the Lakers last year,
When you have a three and four that both suck
on the ball, it could be a little bit of
an issue. And so that's more what I look at, like,

(16:59):
I almost want one of my three or four to
be a guy that can like fight over screens and
chase a shooter around.

Speaker 1 (17:06):
Or chase a ball handler around.

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Speaker 2 (17:52):
What I like about the Alex sarfit is like it
makes sense, Like you think of Jalen Johnson and Alex
Sar as kind of like this foundational kind of front court. Obviously,
right now, Alex Sar is not good enough offensively to
play the four.

Speaker 1 (18:06):
Actually, one of the.

Speaker 2 (18:07):
Things that I'm one of the reasons why I'm higher
on Alex, even though the shooting is obviously an issue. Well,
first of all, his shooting has been making some improvements.
It seems like year over year the form isn't awful.

Speaker 1 (18:19):
It's not.

Speaker 2 (18:19):
It doesn't cause me any major concerns. And the main
thing is is he's really comfortable with dribble handoffs, which
makes me think, like, especially if Quinn Snyder were to
kind of continue to kind of like build out more
of a five out type of system where there's more
ball in player movement and Jalen Johnson's coming off of
dribble handoffs out of you know, Chicago action out of

(18:40):
the corner and stuff like that. Like, I just imagine
Alex Sar being a really functional piece there. I liked
the short role reps he was getting with Bryce Cotton
out in Perth to like just when he was just
making quick decisions on the role. Like I just kind
of see him as more of a shoe in natural fit.
But to your point, like what it's like, if you
like Zachary Rissasche, how how long how big of a

(19:01):
drop off is it to like a Cody Williams as
a big, lanky wing that can that can play if
you were to trade down, how big of a drop
off is it to go from an Alex Sar to
a different big further down in the draft. But at
the same time, if you can't actually trade down because
no one else wants to trade up, then you're kind
of stuck. And so like to me, Alex Sar just
kind of seems like a more natural fit in Atlanta.

(19:23):
But I mean, the Vegas numbers seemed pretty confident that
he's going to be headed, that it's going to be
Zachary Resachet. So if ver Sachet goes one, who do
you think goes number two?

Speaker 1 (19:33):
To Washington? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (19:35):
The name that I've gotten mostly connected there is Sar.
You know, it feels like you know that that seems
like where this is headed is Alex R to Washington.
Will Dawkins, who is now the general manager of the
Washington Wizards, was the assistant general manager of the Oklahoma
City thunder Prying prior to getting the shob you know,

(19:56):
played a role in drafting chet Holm Grin. Alex Ar
certainly also repped by w M. E. Bill Duffy, the
same agent that he's represents chet Holmgrin. It's it's a
pretty easy connection to make there in terms of you know,
Will Dawkins, I think wants guys that have this immense

(20:19):
upside athletically and allows him to play a potentially interesting
five out brand of basketball in a similar way to
how Oklahoma City has built their roster. It is difficult
to find senators who can dribble pass shoot, or at
least that have potential to dribble pass shoot. It's part
of the reason, like we're not going to talk about
this guy today, but you know, Kyle Philipowski seems to

(20:41):
be a guy that's like kind of falling down boards
whenever I talk to teams, Like, I don't know where
his flora is on draft night quite yet, but I'm
way higher on him because he's a genuine dribble pass
shoot big man in an NBA that is like begging
for those guys right now. Alex Aar has potential to
genuinely be that on offense, even if it is trying

(21:05):
to think about the extent to which I want to
say is quite theoretical right now at this point. The jumper,
you know, when I watched him throughout the year, I
thought it had way too much offhand interaction more than anything,
he'd get like a bit of a side spin on
the ball. When I saw him later in the year,
he clearly had been working through cleaning that up in

(21:26):
a real way. It looks a little bit less side spinny.
And then I saw him in a pre draft workout,
and you know, look, there was like a very very
small amount of side spin, but it was clear that
like he's making that adjustment, you know, in real time
being a teenager kind of fixing his shot. I think
he has good rhythm through the shot. I think he
has very good balance for a guy he moves like

(21:47):
a wing at seven feet tall, right, like seven foot
four wingspin, and you know that ground coverage defensively is
really critical. He's very comfortable dribbling with the ball in
his hands. You mentioned kind of the dribble handoff game,
the short role passing that I think he's flat, but
it's all it's all in flashes though right now with
Alex it's not you know, this is not chet Holmgrin.

(22:07):
When chet Holmgren came out Againzaga, I was like, this
is the most like anticipatory big defender that I've evaluated.
Like he just doesn't have Victor's tools, right, you know,
Victor is foot four with an eight foot standing reach,
which gives him this like immense margin for error. But
like Chet's anticipation defensively is unbelievable for a guy that is,

(22:29):
you know, seven foot with seven foot five winspan. And
then on offense, he's a forty three point shooter at
Gonzaga who could like grab and go on the break
and like be functional with his balance and coordination. Like
Alex isn't any of that yet, but he has potential
to get to a point where he is like a
fifteen point you know, eight rebound, you know ree assists

(22:49):
per game guy that's also a really high level defender
with like all defense level upside because of how much
ground he can cover on the weak side. And I
think even in switch scenario down the road.

Speaker 2 (23:01):
Yeah, I love how aggressive he is in ball screens too,
Like one of my biggest pet peeves watching bigs defend
in ball screens. This used to always kill me with
Daniel Gafford when I was scouting him. But when the
Mavericks got him where it's almost like they just they
almost find themselves in no man's land where they're not
bothering the ball handler or bothering the roll man in
any way, shape or form, like what And he gets

(23:22):
burned for it sometimes. But I like how Alex is
aggressive on the ball handler. And one of the reasons
why I think that could be beneficial is, like, especially
against certain types of teams with the guards are a
little hesitant to make those passes or when they struggle
to make those passes. His length, being aggressive in ball
screens I think could be useful. I think he does
have a pretty damn high floor, which is why it

(23:43):
made sense to me that you had him at number one.
Like he's going to be a solid NBA center. It's
just a question of whether or not he has that
true upside, and obviously only time will tell. As you said,
it's an informed gamble. So number two on your big board,
you had Reed Shepherd out. Obviously he had that rough
game in the NCAA tournament, but he had just a

(24:06):
historic shooting season at Kentucky. I was really fascinated reading
in your draft guide his his background and just the
pedigree that he came from, and just like, just like
that's crazy. His dad was the most outstanding player in
the NCAA tournament back in ninety eight, was it ninety eight?
I think, yeah, like that, that is crazy. He's Kentucky royalty.

(24:29):
Like it's the easiest way to put it, like he
is University of Kentucky royalty. Like his dad, Jeff is
one of the like beloved players in the University of
Kentucky's basketball history, and his mom, Stacey is like one
of you know when she retire, you know, stopped playing
at Kentucky. I think she was like one of the
ten best players in University of Kentucky history.

Speaker 3 (24:47):
Like it's crazy.

Speaker 2 (24:49):
Yeah, I think that's what you had in the bios.
She's a top I think she's like top ten all
time in scoring at Kentucky, which is crazy. So I
do you read in my brief little film session I
did with him, I kind of view him as a
guy that I think could be a really good fifth,
like fifth best player on a good team, just because
he does everything really well, functions within a team really well.

(25:11):
Just a deadly shooter from all these different ranges. He's
got the ability to get shots off from every kind
of footwork, Like he can hop into it, he can
left right, he can right left, he can come off
the movie, he can go off the bouts. Like, there's
so much that he can do creatively a little bit.
Ausa reeves in there with some of the creative rise
and fire stuff from the fifteen to eighteen foot range.
Where where do you see? Where do you want him

(25:35):
to go? Where do you expect him to end up?

Speaker 1 (25:38):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (25:39):
So I like the idea of him in Hugiston personally,
when I look at that young Houston core, I see
you know, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith, Jalen Green, Tari Eason,
you know Cam Whittmore certainly I think deserves to be
mentioned in that group. And then Alfred Shengun of course,
is like their you know center that you know could
be an All Stars soon as next season. And the

(26:01):
one thing that I think they're missing there is like
a super high level shooter at the end of the day,
getting read to like operate in dribble handoffs with Aupura
and Shngun like that would be disgusting to me. I
also think Reid like really fits well with a men
Thompson in terms of like having that secondary playmaker out
there if you want to try and make a man
a point guard, which is what he was drafted as,

(26:21):
even though this year he played kind of more on
the wing and like even in the front court at
times after sheng Gun went down. I think that Reed
just makes a ton of sense for them as like
a connector and is the kind of guy that helps
you win. I think that his anticipation defensively is just
like outstanding. He has physical tools that are very limiting.
He is six foot one, not super long in terms

(26:44):
of his uh, you know, arm length or anything. He
has like a six three six four wingspan something like that.
But he blocked shots. You know, he has a forty
inch vertical leap and he blocked like point seven shots
this year, which is a crazy number for a guy
that measured in just under six foot two. He is
somebody that like really scrambles well on the back line defensively,

(27:07):
Like he makes these crazy like scramble reads where he'll
just like force steals at a super high level. And
one thing that like I've watched a lot of recently,
and we'll talk about this when we talk about Devin Carter.

Speaker 1 (27:18):
Two.

Speaker 3 (27:18):
I know that you are a fan of after watching
his tape. The degree to which you can space the court,
not just in terms of percentage, but in terms of
how far away you can actually shoot from. That is
really important to me, if only because if you don't

(27:40):
have these immense athletic tools or an immense bag of
like tricks where you're crossing dudes up. I think that
being able to shoot from thirty feet is kind of
a differentiator because It gives you so much more space
to operate away from help defense. If you can change
pace and you can shoot from thirty feet, it's just

(28:01):
hard to stay in front of guys just point blank.
At this point in the NBA, Reid made fifty percent
of his threes from beyond what is the number here?
I have from beyond twenty seven feet this year, So,
like crazy, I kind of think that you're gonna have
to account for him in such a real way. It's

(28:23):
kind of like Tyrese Haliburton, right, Tyre's Halliburton has that
kind of funky load into his shot.

Speaker 1 (28:28):
So what did he do?

Speaker 3 (28:29):
He just learned how to shoot from thirty feet at
the end of the day, and that's how he became
so valuable as like a floor space there and then
allowed him to use his passing ability and take advantage
and really get into the teeth of the defense and
spray the ball out. I'm not saying that Reid is
that as a passer. I don't think he is. I
think Read's the best transition passer in this draft class.

(28:50):
But in terms of like half court reads, I think
he's still figuring it out. But I also think that
like that shooting gravity gives him way more upside than
what people are thinking in the class when mixed with
the fact that he can also handle the ball.

Speaker 2 (29:03):
I like the Houston Fit a lot too, just because
I imagine with them playing a lot with pace and with
all their athletes in transition. I loved watching his footage
at Kentucky operating in transition, where like everyone's kind of
scattered and that's when he can really get into some
nifty footwork and dribble combinations and to pull up three
point shots. And I just imagine defense is reacting to

(29:26):
him there and then just athletes running around him and
him being able to find those reads. I enjoyed watching
him today.

Speaker 3 (29:33):
Or even even better with that real quick or a
men Thompson like sprints down the court all the way
and then you've just got Reed Shepherd like trailing and
sprang out to the wings, right. Yeah, Like it's just
it's really synergistic in the way it would work. I think.

Speaker 2 (29:48):
Yeah, the thirty footers two are great when you get
to be old like me, that's how you that's how
you play lazy basketball. You're you're six six and you
shoot thirty foot three point shots and you don't have
to worry about landing on someone's ankle.

Speaker 1 (29:58):
Okay, so uh.

Speaker 2 (29:59):
Stefan Kass from Yukon famously was being left wide open
in the tournament but making some making making him pay
hit a couple of them. I really enjoyed watching him too.
It's kind of there were some fun players I enjoyed watching.
There's some fun players in this in this draft. The
to me, Stefan Castle kind of reminds me of like
a bigger version of Jalen Hood Chafino, if that makes sense,

(30:22):
in the sense that like he's very it's very pace
pace heavy. I know, I know, but you gotta remember,
like like I've I that that burned me too.

Speaker 1 (30:32):
It's a whole other thing. But uh uh.

Speaker 2 (30:35):
The what I mean by that is, like I he
reminded me of Jalenhod Chafino when I was scouting him
last year, where it's like the jumpers, the big question mark,
more of like a power methodical put you in jail,
kind of operate from the short range kind of area,
deadly hook and floater, short jump shot, that sort of thing,
but just a way better version of him. And the

(30:57):
main reason why I think his footwork is better. I
think he's got more counter moves in that short to
mid range that allows him to operate. And like, honestly,
like I didn't see anything with his jump shot. He's
a little down in front of the face, a little
bit of a long load, but I think that can
be worked out in time. I'm I'm pretty high on
Stefan Castle. I saw you had him way up at

(31:19):
third on your list. Where do you see him ending up?

Speaker 3 (31:23):
I'm really glad that you brought up the shot because
you know, you mentioned that, like he has like the
load up here and then like it comes up and
it's kind of a funky shot, and he has like
a little bit of a hitch kind of at the top.
I think that that's mostly when he's kind of going
to his left. I think when he's going to his left,
because like most right handed shooters right just more comfortable
stepping back to their left or kind of you know,

(31:44):
drifting to their left a little bit, just helps them
get into rhythm a little bit easier. But with him,
what I see is he drifts a little bit too
far to his left, and I think it kind of
like throws off his grat like center of balance. And everything,
And I think the SHOT's a little bit hitchier when
he's going to his right. He tends to take those
shots off the hop, and I think that, like it

(32:05):
just looks way cleaner, And I think that everything like
kind of tracks a little bit easier. And if I
was an organization kind of working through his shot, like
I would love to just you know, kind of with
his shot prep and like you know, getting into the
shot and his load into it, just like start having
him take things off the hop a little bit more.
Like he does this a one to two step from
the left side, take it off the hop in the right, Like,

(32:25):
I just think it looks cleaner, uh, going off the hop.
But in terms of where I see him going, you know,
san Antonio has been connected with him, you know, for
a while now, you know, for a couple of months.
It feels like that is a situation that everyone would
be like pretty amenable to in terms of both san
Antonio and Castle's camp. If you know, there was somebody

(32:46):
who fell to number four, Like if Red Shepherd got there,
I think it would be a question. If Rissuschet got
to four, I think it'd be a real question. But
and then I think the Castle would very likely probably
go six at the latest. You know, maybe eight would
be the latest, let's say, because I would be surprised
if he would get beyond the San Antonio second pick

(33:07):
at number eight, right. But somewhere in that four to
eight range, I would say is where Steph will end up.
I think that you kind of hit the down on
the head in terms of what the offense is. I
think he's a really sharp passer. If you'd even go
back to his high school stuff, you can see some
like really impressive ball screen reps utilizing his passing ability
where he'd hit skip passes pretty well and he'd be

(33:28):
able to really really be able to get downhill out
of that screen and maintain that advantage, kind of like
you mentioned keeping guys in jail, kind of on his
hip and everything. The big question is the shot though.
And the other thing I will say is I don't
know if I think of him as an all defense
level defender, but I think of him as this incredible

(33:50):
chess piece defender who is kind of above average doing
every assignment on defense. Like they had him in the tournament.
Guard Marks, who was an All American point guard at
the point of attack and just make his life miserable.
You know, they had him guard produce point guard Braydon
Smith throughout the season. They would have him like Chase

(34:10):
Baylor Shireman, another potential first round pick this year, off
of screens because you know, Creyton just ran Baylor off
of screens constantly. They would have him guard like true
off guards, like scoring guards and things like that, as
opposed to winings. I think he can guard fours with
how physical and strong he is. There's just a lot
of versatility in what his role can be on defense,

(34:32):
and I think that, particularly in San Antonio, it would
be really valuable to have somebody like that next to
Victor wen Binyama, next to Devin Vessel, particularly as well,
because Vassell looked like a guy who's going to be
a really good defender coming out of Florida State, and
it just hasn't really happened at this point for him.
In the NBA, I would love to get somebody like
Steph Castle in there that can like just take on

(34:53):
a lot of different assignments, and you know, hopefully the
offensive game just continues to grow and develop.

Speaker 2 (35:00):
So we're gonna move to a little bit more of
a rapid fire format here because as usual, Sam, we
just have a tendency to go for a very long time.

Speaker 1 (35:08):
And I know, I said, it's.

Speaker 3 (35:11):
So funny you like you like complained. No, you didn't complain.
You were like, thank you so much for coming and
doing this. Thank you, Like I know, it's crazy busy.
I'm just like Jason, I love doing this, Like this
is great. These are like by some of my favorite
conversations that I do is with you and like thinking
about the game in different ways. It was just like,
very funny.

Speaker 2 (35:29):
Complaining in our profession is always relative. That's always something
we have to keep in mind. But I want to
I want to get to a bunch of additional players,
and I want to get to Brownie in the next
sixteen minutes.

Speaker 1 (35:40):
So we're gonna go a little bit more.

Speaker 2 (35:41):
Rapid fire here really quickly, really quickly. If if you
when you talk to people from San Antonio, when you
do some digging on that front, what would be their
dream outcome for getting four and eight?

Speaker 3 (35:55):
Who is I don't not come there, So I think
that their dream outcome would be finding a way to
get risa schet and castle. If they could find a
way to move up and get like you know, four
and five or three and four in some way. Uh,
if they could figure out a way to do that,
I think they'd be really happy on draft night. I

(36:15):
think it'll be a little bit difficult, but that would
be my guess in terms of how they foresee a win,
especially if Risu sche goes one, I think it'd be
a little bit difficult.

Speaker 1 (36:25):
To do that. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (36:26):
I really enjoyed Stefan Castle Like he just no matter
how big the game was, no matter how big the
situation was, he just forgot sped up. He just was
always kind of playing at his own pace. He was
fun to watch. Donovan Klingon I like a lot of
stuff with him. I love how he functions in that
Yukon offense, just as like a really good You talked

(36:48):
a lot about his screening in the uh in the
in the Draft guy that you did. But I also
think he has got a really good instinct for when
to slip like he always can. He always just kind
of has his eye on when his defenders showing, and
as soon as his defender decides the show, he just
doesn't even bother seting the screen anymore, just gets out
of there and then like he just he's got good hands.
He finishes most most of his catches around the basket.

(37:09):
The one thing that freaks me out with him is
I worry about him being a little bit matchup dependent
because I don't think he's quick footed enough to guard
in space. What's your take on, Dovin klingon No.

Speaker 3 (37:20):
I agree with all of that. I think he's like
pure drop coverage is a big What I will say
is generally, you know, in terms of the scouting, I
think you really nailed what he is. It's not a
complicated evaluation. He's just an elite level drop coverage big man,
an elite level rim protector, great finisher at the basket.
The thing I will throw on is he's a really
good high post passer and like passer in terms of

(37:42):
he can run dribble handoffs, deny drible handoff, find a
cutter like a super super high level. He manipulates defenders
already really good at that. But if he gets down
to like the three to six range on draft night,
there are a bunch of teams, So like the three
six range, the Rockets have Shengun, the Hornets have Mark Williams,

(38:05):
the Pistons have Jalen Duran and then four is San Antonio.
They Victor Weeb Nyama, Right, So like those teams don't
need a center in theory, right, there are a number
of teams in the like seven to twelve range, or
so let's call it seven to eleven range. I throw
Oklahoma City and I guess that have like a real
degree of interest in him, and that's kind of the

(38:26):
one that I'm targeting, Like I if I'm Memphis in particular, right,
Like that's my favorite fit in this draft would be
Memphis ending up on draft night with Donovan Klingon. Maybe
if he falls to five, they trade a future first
round pick and number nine to move up to number
five to assure themselves Donovan Klingen, who would be this
incredible fit within their scheme setting screens for John Morant

(38:49):
being the drop coverage defender to let Jaron Rome on
the backside defensively. But if Donovan Klingon gets into that
three to six range, look for somebody to move up
to get him. In my opinion, because if you hear
as I hear things from teams, it seems like there's
a lot of interest in him in that like seven

(39:10):
to twelve range, and I think somebody will try and
spike up to grab him.

Speaker 1 (39:13):
That's super interesting.

Speaker 2 (39:14):
So you're saying these front offices basically have like a
bunch of a bunch of game plans that are contingent
on what's on, who's going where. So if this guy slips,
then we're prepared to draw trade up if in the
event that that happens. I really like the clinging fit
with Memphis as well. I think they're rangy enough around him.
I don't think I don't think people realize good yet

(39:34):
how good GGI Jackson is too, and just slott it.
If they get a legit center and it's Morant Baye
Jackson and then Jaron Jackson and then a legit center
like that, I think they're going to be right back
in the mix at the top of the conference next year,
especially as a regular season team with all their youthful exuberance.

Speaker 3 (39:53):
They have Marcus Smart too, Like that's the other thing.
They have Mark Smart right, like gg Jackson, Like I
want to see where it goes with GG Jackson, Like
I'm really interested in Like if I was redrafting last year,
I think I would have gig like in the top
seven of that class, like point blank. But you know
next year, like Marcus is going to be the guy
that's like really valuable for them, and like we'll see

(40:15):
what GG looks like. It's a little where I'm at.

Speaker 2 (40:17):
Well, and and then also there's that they would inevitably
have to have a small ball look anyway where you
can imagine GG being the four of next to Jaron Jackson. Now,

(40:41):
you and I are admittedly biased on the Williams family.
I think I think you and I might be the
two biggest Jalen Williams fans in the world. Although I
did almost get in trouble with Sam the other day
on the phone because I told him that I thought
that Jalen Williams has potential to be better than Shay
and and Sam had to quickly put him put me
in my place.

Speaker 3 (40:58):
But Cody would I don't even I don't even know
that I did that. I was just like, oh wow,
like I was, I was taken aback.

Speaker 2 (41:05):
But I love take so obviously, you know, it's kind
of funny. I there's a little bit of Jalen in
Cody's game, mainly the pull up jump shot footwork looks
similar in the sense that they both look really good
going left. They have that same right left footwork where
they both kind of lean back a little bit. But
Cody just has this like a totally different look to
him because he's like lanky and in a little bit

(41:27):
a little bit taller, a little bit skinnier. Tell us
a little bit about Cody Williams and where you want
him to end up.

Speaker 3 (41:32):
Yeah, I think he really is kind of like a
you know, when Jalen was that young, Jalen was still pretty,
he was shorter actually, like when he committed to Santa
Clara as a senior, he was I want to say,
like six foot three or so, like honestly, it might
have been like six foot two and then like grew
before he got to Santa Clara and then kept growing
all the way up to like six four and a half.

(41:53):
I think he is without choose now, but has that
enormous seven foot two wings fan. Cody is six '
seven seven foot one on wings band, so big and long,
just very skinny and is continuing to grow into his frame.
I think that the footwork is a driver is where
I see the similarities. I think that a lot of
that looks quite similar. I'm glad you brought up the
pull up game, because you know Cody's pull up game

(42:15):
is definitely still developing. I would say you didn't take
a ton of pull up jumpers in high school where
he went to. I think Perry down in your neck
of the woods in Arizona. You know, just a really
really good upside bet. I think is a wing that
could be like a playmaker. I think he passes really well.
I would like to see him be like a little

(42:35):
bit more disruptive defensively, but I think he can get
there just with his lengthen with his physical tools. So
I look at what Cody Williams has and I ended
up with him six on my board. You mentioned the
Britischet comparison earlier in the show. I have them literally
five and six, So I don't see an enormous difference
between the two of those players. They're different types, but

(42:56):
I quite like j Cody Williams as well.

Speaker 2 (42:59):
That's I think a good indicator of this draft right
there is Rische might end up going number one, and like, yeah,
Cody's not a perfect corollary. They played a different style,
but there are two lanky wings right that you like.
I think Obviously, Versasche is a much better shooter at
this point, but Cody shot well in catch and shoot situations.
It seemed like when I was looking into it today,
all right, we have three more quick players that we're

(43:21):
going to get through.

Speaker 1 (43:23):
First.

Speaker 2 (43:24):
Probably the guy that I had the most fun watching today,
Devin Carter out of Providence. I really like thought it
was fascinating. He was seeing really aggressive coverages, which I'm
assuming had a lot to do with the roster that
he was playing with, but like it seemed like towards
the tail end of the season his playmaking was improving
after struggling with it a little bit to start the year.

(43:44):
But freaky athletic, really good score. Just I thought he
I thought his motor really impressed me. Just in general.
He just was like he just seemed like a Foxhole
type of dude, Like a guard that I'd love to
have competing alongside me. So tell us about Dev Carter
and where you hope to see him end up.

Speaker 3 (44:03):
Yeah, kind of a like, you know, very different players,
but like a Derek White like kind of starter kit
to me. You know, Devin I think is the best
athlete in the class. Just kind of you know, I
keep saying point blank, but point blank, he is a
forty inch vertical leap guy. He is. You know, any
combine tests you put him through, he's gonna win. I

(44:24):
think he literally won almost all of the combine test thing.
And he's not one of those guys where it's not functional.
It shows up all over his tape, like he blocks
one shot per game. He gets into passing lanes and
you know, creates transition opportunities. He had like thirty half
court dunks or something this year at six foot like
a six foot nine wingspan. He is a serious, serious leaper.

(44:48):
And then the big thing is like what is the handle?

Speaker 1 (44:51):
Right?

Speaker 3 (44:51):
It's a lot of straight line stuff, a lot of
like trying to change pace. How he started to account
for that this year was he just started moving back
and taking deeper three right if teams were gonna collapse
down on him whenever he shot, Okay, I'm just gonna
take twenty seven foot threes, right. That's the big question
with Devin. You know, his first two years in college
one at South Carolina, one at Providence, which is where

(45:12):
he ended up this year as well. I made like
twenty seven percent from three this year got way better
way up to the volume. Was it like thirty eight
percent or so from three on seven? Three point attempts
per game, a lot of pull up shots, a lot
of contested shots. The thing I love about Devin though,
is like I've seen him work out, Like I've talked
to people about him everything that you see on tape.

(45:36):
In terms of why you love him being a fox
hole guy, it's who he is off the court, like
incredible work ethic, you know, great competitor, like all of
the boxes get ticked there. I ended up with him
at seven. I'm probably the highest person in the public
sphere on him. I've talked to teams that are higher
on that him than that honestly. So yeah, I love
Devin Carter.

Speaker 2 (45:57):
Yeah, it's it's kind of reminds me of the JJ
Reddick convers Obviously it's different from a coach, but it's like,
give me a super competitive dude who loves basketball and
has the natural talent, like the understanding of the game.
I just feel like they're going to find a way
to figure it out. That's the kind of the way
I feel with Devin Carter. It's like super competitive, loves
the game, relentless worker. Any elite athletic tools like that

(46:17):
just automatically, to me, makes you a super interesting player
and a guy that I'd be willing to take a
bet on. All right, two more quick ones. Dalton Connect
out of Tennessee. You and I talked a lot about
him during the tournament this year.

Speaker 1 (46:32):
The Jeco Brethren, the Jewco Brethren.

Speaker 2 (46:34):
I know, Yeah, this is Dalton's like the much much
better version of me. He's like what I would have
been like if I was way better at basketball, similar
kind of to height, like a six y five and
a half without shoes on six ten wingspan kind of
a score first mentality. Really showed some high level shot
making in the NCAA tournament. What do you kind of
see him looking like as an NBA player? Where do
you like to see him end up?

Speaker 3 (46:56):
Plug and play shooter? For sure, really needs to improve
on defense in terms of hitting like top ten upside.
I would like to see him land in a scheme
where like he'll run off of all that like floppy
stuff that Tennessee would run him off of, run him
off of all sort of like flares and try to
get him shots early in offense. To me, that's where

(47:16):
he'll hit like a real ceiling. But you know, regardless
of where he goes, he's gonna knock down shots and
he's gonna be valuable.

Speaker 2 (47:22):
I think, hmm, So we absolutely have to per per
our agreement as NBA media members discuss Brownie James, and
I obviously have not watched him nearly as closely as
you have. So why don't you just give us just
your pure, unadulterated, unbiased perspective on what Bronnie James looks.

(47:42):
Because important little disclaimer here, like I don't give a
shit about the nepotism angle. Like he's gonna get his opportunity.
He's gonna get several years to figure out whether or
not he's an NBA player, So like everyone just needs
to accept that that's the reality.

Speaker 1 (47:58):
He's gonna get his shot. The question is if he gets.

Speaker 2 (48:02):
Two three years in an NBA organization to try to
figure this out, what NBA level tools does he have
and is there a realistic shot for him to round
out into an NBA player eventually.

Speaker 3 (48:15):
So the idea behind Brownie James is like a three
and T guard, not like a three and D wing.
He's like six foot one and a half, right, So
he is a guard. The names that will come up
are Gary Harris and Avery Bradley, Like those are the
two most popular names I've heard from teams and if

(48:37):
they like him or like anybody, that's like trying to
figure out a point of comparison. I don't think people
quite understand how good those guys were in high school
and college. Both of those guys were five star recruits
coming out of high school. Avery Bradley a top five
kid in his class. Gary Harris was like, you know,
top twenty kid in his class. Gary Harris eventually went

(49:00):
on I think he won Big Ten Player of the Year.
If he didn't win Big Ten Player of the Year,
he was first team All Big Ten. Was like an
outstanding outstanding player over multiple years at Michigan State. Top
twenty pick, was fantastic, you know, became this awesome three
in d guard, like you know, could guard even up
to the three eventually. Avery Bradley was a guy that

(49:20):
averaged like eleven three and three in his freshman year
at Texas or maybe like eleven five and three and
was by the end of his year at Texas one
of like the great perimeter defenders in college basketball. Like
he was a monster at the point of attack, which
is why he ended up going in the top twenty.

(49:42):
Bronnie was I thought a good defender this year for
a freshman. I didn't feel like he was particularly crazily
disruptive anywhere. I would say defense was his best attube
this season as a basketball player. And we really wouldn't
be having this conversation if it wasn't for Lebron being involved.

(50:05):
I kind of have gone back, I'm.

Speaker 2 (50:07):
Gonna cut you off really quickly here, Just how much
do you think let me play Devil's Advocate surgery before
the season. Does that imp Doesn't that have a substantial
impact on what his USC film slash statistical production would
have looked like?

Speaker 3 (50:25):
I think it has an impact for sure. My issue
with Bronni has kind of always been though that I've
never seen him as like a half court shot creator
at all. I've always seen him he's pretty good in transition.
I think he makes like pretty solid passing reads. I
think he's smart and like understands the game and in

(50:46):
an intuitive level in a way you would expect from
Lebron's child, right, just the genetics that kind of filter
down whatever it is, Like I think he sees the
game in the open court in a really positive way.
It's just really hard for me to envision a player
that averaged, you know, under five points per game as

(51:08):
a freshman at six foot one being a draft prospect,
Like I've kind of gone back through, but like back
to like two thousand and seven, two thousand and eight,
like something like that. I believe Bronnie James would be
the first player drafted that is like under six foot
two and averaged under five points per game as a

(51:33):
one and done player. It's just an extremely uncommon degree
of production and size to be entering the NBA draft. Now,
you and I just talked about how much we love
Devin Carter, and like we truly like adore that guy's game.
I think that there are outcomes where if Bronnie had

(51:57):
stayed in college for a couple of years, we could
have been looking at Bronnie as a similar player to
Devin Carter. Because Devin Carter started South Carolina averaged like
seven points per game, eight points per game whatever. First year,
moved up to Providence average fourteen points a game, you know,
and six rebounds or so, and then this year was

(52:17):
you know, twenty points eight rebounds for as this like
was one of the best players in the country. You
could have convinced me of that pathway. But where I'm
worried now about Bronnie is I don't think he can
play point guard in the G League unless they force it,
like if they might force the issue, Like let's just
be honest about it. So I'm worried about him getting reps,

(52:40):
being able to develop his ball handling and develop his
half court feel as a playmaker in the way that
would allow him to get the most out of his
game long term. Maybe he will, maybe he won't. I
wish the best for the kid, obviously, Like the kid
has gone through a crazy number of difficult situations between

(53:05):
the heart condition, the pressure that's on him as Lebron
James's kid, the fact that he seemingly is as well
adjusted as he is, and like everybody will kind of
tell you he is quite well adjusted. And you know,
I've been in like media scrums with him before. He
seems like a really really nice dude and like a again,

(53:26):
like a mature beyond his years in some way like teenager,
but like at some level, like the game is the game, right,
and you got to be able to prove it. Like
everyone talks about like Tony Allen, Right, Tony Allen's you
know more our age ish, Right, do you remember how

(53:47):
good Tony Allen was at Oklahoma State, Jason, Oh my god,
Tony Tony Allen won the Big Twelve Player of the Year,
He won the Big Twelve Tournament MVP. He led Oklahoma
State to a thirty one and four record and led
them to the Final four. And that guy like Boston
like tried to make him point guard for a minute
or whatever, but he eventually settled in as like one

(54:11):
of the great defensive players in the league. And that's
the vision that people have for Brownie. And there's just
like no to me, Like, I just don't know what
the backing for that is based on what we've seen
so far. Is maybe the fairest way to put it,
but maybe he can get there.

Speaker 1 (54:29):
Do you think quickly?

Speaker 2 (54:31):
Do you think do you think this was a strategic
move on the family and Clutch Sports part to capitalize
on more of the intrigue around him knowing because like,
here's the thing, I would imagine he'd actually make more
money going back to USC in nil.

Speaker 1 (54:47):
Deals so or at least close.

Speaker 2 (54:50):
So, like, do you think they're actually trying to avoid
him putting more college tape out there that kind of
dampens or kind of like minimizes some of the intrigues
around his potential.

Speaker 1 (55:02):
Nay.

Speaker 3 (55:03):
I think that everything about this has been strategic from
Clutch like Rich I've never heard an agent be more
public about the way he's handling a prospect and Rich
Paul has been with at this point, and to me,
all of that is very strategic. Coming out and saying
that he won't take a two way is trying to
drive him down the board at the end of the day,

(55:23):
because if you're you're trying to stop other teams from
taking him, you know, coming out and saying that he'll
only work out certain places, that that's trying to drive
him to a specific situation. So I think the whole
thing has been trying to control the process, drive him
to specific situations.

Speaker 1 (55:40):
You know.

Speaker 3 (55:41):
Let's be honest, Like it seems like the Lakers. I'm
not going to sit here and say, like, for sure
it's the Lakers, but the way Rich Paul is handling
this process is exactly the way you would handle it
if your goal is to get him to a specific
destination without saying that that is one hundred percent the goal,
and that I know that's one hundred percent the goal.

(56:04):
Everything he has done has been acting like that is
the goal, at least, let's say so like and I
respect it, like I understand the goal. I understand everything
about it in terms of like making more an il
lesson nil if he had just stayed in school. The
most popular college that I got for Brownie because he

(56:26):
did enter the transfert transfer portal, so college's you know,
kind of had a sense of what was going on
the most popular name. I'm not saying he would have
gone there. I'm just saying the most popular idea I
got for Brownie James was for him to go to Dukane,
which is where Drew Joyce just got the head coaching job.
Drew Joyce played high school basketball with Lebron at Saint

(56:48):
Vincent Saint Mary's his dad. You know, I believe Drew
Joyce senior or the second, I can't remember, Drew coaching
Ducaine now is the third or not was a coach
at Saint Vincent Saint Mary, you know, for Lebron. And
then Drew Joyce who just took the Duquane job, was
the head coach, or was an assistant coach under Keith Danbrot,

(57:09):
who was Lebron's head coach, also at St. Vincent Saint
Mary's early in his career, so there were a lot
of familial connections where if you're gonna send Brownie somewhere,
it would be very comfortable, right. That's a place where
you know that Bronnie will be treated well, where you
know that he'll get every opportunity to succeed. And honestly,
like in the A ten level, I think that'd be
great for Bronnie to get a chance to like thrive

(57:30):
and get a chance to play on the ball and
showcase what he's capable of. But you know, ultimately they
decided to go a different way, and I respect it.
I just have concerns as to whether or not it
was what was best for his development because the G
League is a higher level of basketball.

Speaker 2 (57:46):
At the end of the game, it's gonna be very
sink or swim for him for sure. Yeah, and again,
my last take on it again is like I hate
when people complain about the nepotism, because guess what, nepotism
has existed in every single field for as long as
I can possibly remember, not even the first time it's
happened in the NBA, Like big who cares. He's going
to benefit from it. He's going to get a lot
of opportunity as a result of it. But guess what,

(58:08):
no good coach is going to put him on an
NBA floor in a meaningful basketball game if he doesn't
earn his opportunity to be there. So like it at
a certain point, like we talked, we opened the show
with it, like this is the nature of the ruthlessness
of professional sports. He might have his opportunity to grow
and to learn on the fringes of the NBA, but like,
no one's gonna just hand him a starting role on

(58:31):
a legitimate NBA team. He's going to have to earn it.
He's just going to get an opportunity by virtue of this.
But that is all we have time for today, Sam,
Can you please just tell everybody how to find your
draft guide, how to find your other NBA draft content.
I think it was. I can't even tell you how
much it helped me today in my crash course on
this NBA draft to just as a reference as I

(58:55):
was going through film like it just was such an
incredible product and I want you to shout it out
to everybody's we can get as many people over there
as possible.

Speaker 3 (59:03):
We have a testimonial. Go to the Athletic where the
draft guide is up. It's like one hundred and thirty
thousand words on the seventy five best prospects in this class,
recorting to me, at least you'll be able to read
about their backgrounds a little bit, get more of an
understanding of where they come from, understand their strengths, their weaknesses,
and kind of where I stand on them as prospects.
Go to the Game Theory YouTube channel. I have interviewed

(59:24):
like eight or nine or ten of these kids, where
you'll be able to watch film of me breaking down
film with them. Right today I released Donovan Klingen, Right,
Donovan was super fun. He's like this awesome kid, really
good personality. Tomorrow I'll release Tristan da Silva, who's like
one of the most mature and like super high IQ
basketball players I've gotten a chance to talk to as

(59:44):
a player rising from college to the NBA. So go
to the Game Theory Podcast with Sam Senior YouTube channel.
You'll see all that, and look, I'll be going live
for the draft, so I'm excited to kind of run
through it and talk through it all with you guys.

Speaker 2 (59:59):
Yeah, I know you're sick of me telling you thank you,
but thank you again for making the time to do
this for us today.

Speaker 3 (01:00:05):
That we might as well record it, Jason, we might
as well record it right because we're gonna do it
anyway over the phone.

Speaker 1 (01:00:11):
So exactly exactly.

Speaker 3 (01:00:13):
Product out there in the content space.

Speaker 2 (01:00:15):
Right exactly, might as well might as well have it
help our jobs a little bit, all right, guys, That
is all we have for today. Tomorrow I am recording
a video on the five Biggest Takeaways from this postseason,
which is also going to feature some of the things
that Sam and I have talked about over the course
of the last few weeks. And then obviously we'll be
reacting to the draft on Thursday morning. As always, I
sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting the show and we'll

(01:00:36):
see you tomorrow.

Speaker 4 (01:00:39):
The volume

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Hoops Tonight - NBA Draft Predictions: Bronny James to Lakers? Hawks decision at #1 w/ Sam Vecenie

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Hoops Tonight - NBA Draft Predictions: Bronny James to Lakers? Hawks decision at #1 w/ Sam Vecenie