Wizards NBA Draft Preview with Yahoo’s Krysten Peek
[Music] good news is is we have someone with us who can play that projection game far better than we can cuz she spent the time studying it I know she was at the draft combine in Chicago she’s been writing about it all year long for Yahoo sports it’s our pleasure to welcome Kristen Peak to the show Kristen thanks so much for uh joining us uh appreciate your time and and how are you doing what are we 26 hours 27 hours from the draft yeah I mean uh tomorrow is a combination of Christmas Day and graduation for me just uh being covering these players and and uh being in the gym with them from the time that they’re 15 to now um it’s the best time of year I know there aren’t a lot of people that are super stoked about this draft class but I do think that there is going to be some value and some long-term players and like every other year pass there is going to be a guy we just don’t know where it is yet yeah totally as I’ve been saying for a month uh to our audience like the 2013 draft’s the worst ever unless you were the Milwaukee Bucks and it’s the best draft you’ve ever had uh and and at least since you drafted Kareem back in the day um when you look at this draft the top and the Hawks are so interesting one because we’re still not 100% sure what they’re going to do yet and also there’s potential for moves you know you have the Shantay Murray and Trey young situations Clint capella there like it feels like everything is on the table for the Hawks as we sit here whatever the number is 27 hours from the draft what’s the latest you’re hearing and and what you expect the Hawks to do when they get on the clock tomorrow night I don’t think the Hawks are willing to uh give up or vice versa what the Spurs are willing to give up in future picks for what the Hawks want for the for the Spurs I think they’re the only team that would be interested in moving up to get Zachary rishe um but uh also with that is they would have to give up some future first round picks uh that they actually acquired in the dejonte Murray trade which is kind of ironic but when you’re looking at next year’s draft class and the year after next year with Cooper flag and Ace Bailey I don’t think that the Spurs are going to be willing to give that up just with how uh how you know meticulous they’re being in this rebuild process kind of building around wimy so I do ultimately think that they do take the pick and they I do think they’re heavily considering ret just with his upside at the wing position and just you know how much he’s shown improvement over the course of his season over in France playing for JL Borg in the lmb proa league and also Donovan Clinton I think at 7 foot2 he was the anchor in the defense for a Yukon team that won back-to-back titles and uh he has the longterm potential to be a very productive starting NBA Center the reset argument is so interesting to me because if you tell a team hey in the first round you’re going to get a guy who at the worst is is a really excellent three and D player most teams are psyched but at the first pick in the draft to get a guy who who might not have any playmaking ability is like a gigantic gulp type of situation what is the projection that you have having watched him play watched him grow reading interviews talking to people around the scouting World about what his ceiling is as someone who has just not had the ball in his hands as much as we typically see for a top two or three pick nevertheless the first pick overall I think why why people say that oh he doesn’t have playmaking ability is just because the way that players develop in in Europe in France is significantly different than what we’re used to seeing here in the states we’re seeing more ISO ball that’s why you see the shot creation at a higher rate with these college players and American players over in Europe they are first taught team basketball and I know I know this is gonna sound childish but it’s more of make the extra pass uh catch and shoot be be a catch and shoot shooter you don’t have to be the iso player so I think his shot creation will come I’d much rather have a player that is a dynamic passer at 69 has defensive versatility and is an excellent three-point shooter with the upside of becoming a shot Creator than the than the opposite right so that’s why I value ret at the wing position and just look what I mean b kulali teammate with with Victor Bama last year average maybe five points per game was a lottery Pick and coming into his sophomore year I mean I don’t know if you’ve seen the videos or the photos but it looks like he’s added 20 pounds of muscle mass and he’s I think going to have a breakout year so anytime you see the projection of these French players and this wimy wave as what I’ve called it um I think the upside kind of outweighs you know the the ceiling or the floor of what what you’re seeing at 18 or 19 years old Kristen Peak uh NBA draft writer for Yahoo sports with us here on the Hoffman show um yeah it went I mean all you have to do especially here in DC is go yeah remember Bal and it’s like oh yeah nope that’s right cuz we immediately we saw more than we thought and frankly more than we were told that we would see uh from belal the other guy that I think at this point is being universally uh mocked to Washington at two assuming that R goes one to Atlanta is Alex SAR his upbringing is a little bit different because he spent time in the states spent time in Australia how does he fit in kind of along those same lines question wise of what his upside is and coming out of the French system but also kind of not really yeah with Alex I mean I think when we’re looking at uh the development and the way that the center position is becoming more of a hybrid role you look at Minnesota they played three guys at one point that are seven foot plus uh you of course have in the Western Conference you’ve got T hram and also Victor wanyama and then uh I think palan Carol you can even throw him there as like a positionist big uh in the NBA so the value you have having Alex star at 71 and his already skill set Elite rim protector great footwork good hands he has the potential of a pick and pop game to kind of grow in that sort of regards I think that’s what makes him more valuable than Donovan Clinton or any of the other centers that are projected to go in the first round and with Alex I mean he said already that or he has and his people have said that he wants to be more of that hybrid for four or five and not day in and or night in night out being tasked to guard you know some of the bigger bodied uh bigger bodied centers in the NBA when you look at Washington is SAR the guy that you like I’m putting everyone on the board uh you know so R sh is back on uh SAR is on uh guys like Steph Castle who are number one on a lot of boards whoever else you want to throw in who’s the guy you would want to be available to if you’re Will Dawkins on the clock at two for Washington I think either Alex s or Donovan Clinton I mean I didn’t watch every game of the Washington Wizards but I God bless you Christen because uh I watched enough for anybody last year and uh I think I think will still owes me many apologies and and the thing is is like if you want that Center that’s goingon to Anchor your defense then Donovan Clinton is going to be the better match but if you want that positionist kind of hybrid role then Alex Stars so at two I’m taking a seven foot plus whatever because they don’t come around I mean yeah they do come around every year but in terms of the skill set and just the floor of those two guys and what you’re getting from a 192 year old um screams upside of course I love Steph Castle I just don’t think it’s a right fit of course I love Reed Shepard but I think they’re going to be more in that Houston and Spurs talk um Shephard to me is a fascinating piece uh I I know the fit everyone’s drawing it to San Antonio because Shephard uh it appears will’ll have some defensive challenges in the NBA uh and those challenges can be covered for and wiped Away by Victor Wim Andy’s presence and you just can’t teach people to shoot like Reed Shepard what do you think Shepard’s ceiling is and but also if he doesn’t go to one or two places that are you know maybe up towards that ceiling how far could he fall I don’t think I mean if he falls he’s not falling past six I can tell you that to Charlotte but you know with Reed sepher I think everyone is just like very focused on his three-point shooting as they should be he’s a great shooter he can do it in the catch and shoot he can do it off the dribble transition threes off the PNR great high IQ player but I think what we’re forgetting is he’s also six foot two and so the shots that he were a that he was able to get off and you know the blocks that he was able to have at Kentucky in the secondary unit he’s not going to have them at the same rate in the NBA he’s 6-2 with a 63 Wings stand and so as much as I love Reed Shepard I don’t see his upside being as great as some of the other guards projected as the top like stth Castle I think could really have a long-term career or long long time in the NBA being a starting NBA guard just with his thigh at 6566 those inches help a lot what he does defensively and the fact that his shot is coming around one thing that I think is so interesting about this draft Kristen is Kristen Peak from Yahoo sports is our guest is it it like because people generally think it’s not very good and there are a few teams that are in weird places in their organizational rebuild Houston at three is one of them they have no business being a top five team but they have that Nets pick all of a sudden uh because the Nets can never catch any luck on these types of things they win the lottery in a year they have to give their pick away uh in return for the James Harden deal so there’s talk that maybe they want to get out and trade that pick for a veteran player um you know San Antonio is in a very interesting spot as they hold the fourth and eighth picks of course you know all this just recapping and setting up the question for the audience here but if you’re if you’re a team like the Wizards and Will Dawkins has said like I I like this draft better than a lot of other people there’s talent to be had like would you consider trading like a Kyle kozma to Houston for number three like what kind of opportunities are there I guess is really the question for Washington or is it just not worth it and and really the goal is looking a year two down the line especially with the long-term Vision the Wizards have knowing how good these drafts are the next two years it’s definitely not worth it to throw to throw someone like Kyle kozma into trade talks with this draft definitely not next year maybe just with the the bigger upside and start potential that you have across the board I’m talking once probably through six in next year’s draft so if Washington can just be patient with the rebuild hope that they have a swing and a hit with either Clinton or with star adding to the pieces um getting bah back for his sophomore season um I you know I think I think there could be something really good growing but to to entertain trades to trade down in this draft for whatever pieces you want you have to remember there there is going to be yes I know there is going to be a guy but the uncertainty in not knowing it would just make me want to take best available Prospect at the top and also if that if that Prospect isn’t what you need for a team fit team fit and I think SAR and kingan are the two guys that they’re kind of they’re kind of uh hoping to see there at twoo which I just to uncore this like the the idea that you would say oh yeah if I’m GNA wind up trading kozma for a first rounder which is of course they would love to get two I don’t know whether they’re going to get two but you could have the number three pick guaranteed or some pick in next year’s draft the idea that you’re like do not give me the number three pick I want some pick next year like I guess that better as much as anything else would underscore how much of a at the very nicest a crapshoot this draft is nevertheless how bad it is listen there’s a reason why there was a a buzz and way more Executives and scouts at the Nike hoop Summit this year right after the final four and that’s because they wanted to get eyes iners these decision makers these GMS uh eyes on the on the players that are coming up next year and and they did not disappoint the top players played very well I know Nolan tayori the French point guard you know VJ edcom said he’s the best point guard I’ve ever played with in my life so you have a top guard also commenting another guard saying he’s the best one I’ve ever played with like that is exciting for any NBA G GM to hear especially if you’re looking for like that franchise changing guard to come in and change the tide uh last thing for Kristen Peak here staff writer uh NBA draft writer at Yahoo sports with us here on the Hoffman show the Wizards also have a pick at the end of the first round is there somebody in that the end of the first round I know you know it could be one of like 40 players because everyone’s boards especially in this year’s draft are crazy of guys that could go 15 or could go 50 um but is there anybody in that late 20s range that you really really like that you think has huge upside that would kind of fit the mold of positional size and upside that Washington seems to be looking for I mean if you take a big at two um I think Johnny Fury the Australian shooter who played one year at Kansas would be a good option is he a finished product no but I think I think the fact that he turned down a lucrative nil deal to return to Kansas means that he walked away from the combine with a promise and I think that promise is somewhere in the back half of the first round I think he’s about one or two years away from really being a guy that pops offensively but he he has a really smooth stroke like he can shoot the living you know what the ball um so I think there’s going to be one of those things where it’s like okay we’re going to take him now because he would have been a lottery tick next year and if you’re looking for that positional size I know a San favorite right now around the draft Community is donon Holmes who um you know played at Dayton has that 610 611 frame more of a promising pick and pop he shot nearly 40% from three out of Dayton uh and so like again you look at a team like the Celtics who just one playing fivan out you when you’re looking at that size you want to be able to Plug and Play a guy on the perimeter and not be a liability defensively Kristen Peak NBA draft writer for Yahoo sports Kristen enjoy tomorrow should be a wild wild day uh and and night of we’ll see about the trades but certainly of picks because we just don’t know uh but great work uh in the leadup and reading a lot of your stuff and and really appreciate your time here on the radio yeah thanks for having me this is the Hoffman show on the team 980 and the Odyssey app
Yahoo! Sports NBA Draft analyst Krysten Peek joins the show to talk about the huge night ahead for the Wizards in the 2024 NBA Draft!
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