day 120 updatejust wanna state up front there's not a ton of separation in the top five. real solid class, deep..
1. Ray McCallum Jr. PG - LR #1
This ended up being close than I thought but R-McC is still my pick for #1. Plus scoring with elite jump shot, plus defense, plus handling, okay rebounding. As long time readers will know I don't really put that much stock in scoring volume, but it is worth pointing out the volume he's producing even while dropping ten dimes a game. His Passing attribute still has room to grow but not by a heck of a lot.
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2. Shabazz Muhammad SF - LR #3
With no preseason on record I'm leery of the scoring chops. It's just so hard for a perimeter player to get into the 50s FG%. Yes he has A Inside, but Vince has A- Inside and much better Outside and he's not even close. So I think the scoring drops off. The good news is that Kina Grannis just released a new album, In The Waiting, you can find it anywhere music is sold online. That's the real good news. The good news for Golden State is that Muhammad is well above average efficiency right now, so even with some slippage he'll be a plus scorer, and while he's not great at anything else he's not bad at anything else either, so there's a high floor.
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3. Tony Mitchell PF - LR #2
Got buried in the DC but is by a pretty wide margin the best overall big prospect. Blocks are high enough to grow to the 2 range, rebounds should hit 12 at least, very low turnovers, strong scoring. Whoever the next Grizzlies GM is will have a real hidden gem on their hands.
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4. Giannis Antetokounmpo SF - LR #4
The only thing holding Giannis back is his more modest preseason and the fact that Shabazz can play shooting guard. Giannis has a much more rounded game and while I'd like more rebounds from the small forward, I'm a lot more confident in his ability to get those into the 8-9 range than I am Shabazz growing into the 7' range. Definitely a higher ceiling, definitely going to be a good player, the floor isn't as sturdy is all.
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5. Isaiah Canaan PG - LR #8
Peaked in High School actually put up better scoring efficiency than McCallum, but in the preseason he was behind so they're probably even. Otherwise he's just a little behind in blocks and handles. Should be a real good player.
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6. Victor Oladipo PG - LR #5
Probably the best backcourt scorer in the class, Oladipo's extremely modest ast:tov ratio suggests the turnovers are really gonna balloon if he plays PG full time, and his d/r package is well below the other two. Should still be at least a solid starter going forwards though.
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7. Cody Zeller C - LR #6
The low blocks probably relegates Zeller to a curiosity role, but man those Handles are sublime and he's chipping in some legit scoring punch. I think his path to legitimacy is to hit some home run rebound TCs, a 20-14 type guy with no blocks and no turnovers could be intriguing.
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8. Jerome Moiso C - LR #7
Really like the d/r. The scoring is not great right now, but with the d/r in such good shape you could drop 25 into Inside and have a real two way stud on your hands all of a sudden. One of the most interesting prospects to me.
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9. Robert Covington SF - LR #9
RIP Dump. Cov is who he is at this point, will need something massive to be worth starting but if you can afford two wing backups he should be fine there. Would be a lot higher if he was an inch shorter and thus SG eligible.
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10. Anthony Bennett PF - LR #10
Doesn't play any defense, scoring efficiency declined throughout the regular season and overall is probably only a slight plus on that end. Very low turnovers aren't enough to save him. What can I say, the class dropped off fast.
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rest of lotto
Rudy Gobert - the best chance of becoming an okay scorer of the three d/r guys in the class, but it's not a great chance
Dennis Schroder - overall a solid player except his scoring makes Rudy Gobert look like Firsto Picko
Otto Porter - middling bleals, middling scorer, horrific turnovers, terrible B.O.
CJ McCollum - turns it over only slightly more than McCallum except he plays SG. and a bad scorer.
Nerlens Noel - better d/r wise than Gobert but nobody cares about pure d/r players
Ben McLemore - okay at d/r and awful at everything else. get used to the Bench, McLemore
Kelly Olynyk - in limited minutes looks like a real good scorer with 0 blocks and godawful handling. plus he's a thug
Jamaal Franklin - the defense of Anthony Bennett, the scoring of Nerlens Noel, the handling of Victor Oladipo. by their powers combined, he is Craptain Planet! pray for cleveland
