Potential Rockets Draft Picks? How Bout Rob Dillingham? (w/ Locked on NBA Big Board’s Leif Thulin)

Potential Rockets Draft Picks? How Bout Rob Dillingham? (w/ Locked on NBA Big Board’s Leif Thulin)

[Music] welcome to Houston sports talk with your host Robert land thanks for checking into the best Houston sports podcast part of the believe Network and joining me to look at the Rockets drop prospects is locked on NBA Big Board podcast host Leaf tulen great to finally meet you Leaf I’m a huge fan of the show appreciate it I’m happy to happy to join you guys if you could wave a magic wand who would you give to the rockets at number three maybe best fit and who’s likely to be on the board yeah a that’s a really good question and it’s it’s not so simple because I I think a lot of people project it to be Donovan kingan and and I personally don’t like limiting what Alper and shenon U brings to the table and I know like he’s deficient defensively but where he’s deficient defensively he’s unbelievable offensively at the center spot you could look at what Damonte sabonis does and because he played the five he’s able to stretch defenses and create passing Avenues as the as the offensive hub and so I I personally don’t love the fit with Donovan kingan but that’s the one that I think is most tied to the rockets and then you look at the long-term potential versus the short-term returns uh I think you could go for a guard my personal favorite is Rob Dillingham but then you you say okay well how long has B Fleet there because you just paid him a ton of money it becomes interesting so if you’re going to mix mix all those different things I think the guy that kind of has the requisite ability to impact shortterm and then maybe the long term as well would be Stefon Castle because I think he doesn’t need the ball to thrive could turn into the point guard if you see alen and him like de kind of deficient shooting so I think the Rockets don’t have a clear-cut answer and it depends really more about which players you prioritize that are already on the roster um in terms of staying on the team so if if you’re making me answer I’d say Dillingham because I think he’s the guy that has the most projectable role and he could play with the ball score Square points and and you have enough kind of athletes on the wings to compensate for his lack of defensive prowess I heard you say Dillingham is number one on your board the other day I guess the concern with Dillingham is you watch the playoffs and little guys get hunted left and right so how great does he have to be offensively to make up for his defensive liabilities because feels like he’s gonna have to be you know a Steph Curry like shooter or somebody that’s just you know wildly uh incredible offensively yeah and and I don’t think he’s a great fit for Houston frankly I I just don’t think there’s that many players that fit amazingly anyway in terms of what’s being built and the timeline what I think he’d have to do in order to be worthwhile of taking that sort of pick is his offensive skill set reminds me of that of Trey young it’s not as good as Trey Young’s and wasn’t in college either but what Trey young does is he scores the ball and he creates for others at a high enough level to make up for his defensive lack of effort and and Dillingham will give you more effort but he is going to be hunted like there’s Point Blank he’s going to be hunted I think that you could make the argument that Dillingham will have the effectiveness of Darius Garland who’s been an All-Star in his five-year career he’s been a one-time All-Star kind of have a game more similar to Trey young but the effectiveness of Darius Garland and then you you just have to rely on the athleticism of your wings in place and I think the Rockets have the requisite athleticism to compensate for his lack of defensive ability but uh like you said he’s going to be hunted but he is quick and so sometimes those quicker guards can make themselves adequate Defenders for stretches I he’s just very frail Le Bill he’s very thin you talk about the smaller guys and I thought you were going to say the consensus is more Reed Shepard I noticed on you know Tenon has the Rockets taken Shephard and I I believe that sort of an amalgam of what’s out there and Rockets fans definitely are excited about Reed Shepard because of the shooting obviously you have the same deal where is he big enough and can he handle the point guard is another thing what do you believe as far as Reed Shepard going into the NBA could he be a point guard do you think he’s got all the requisite skills to be a point guard and what worries you about him I’m a little lower on Shepard not because I don’t think he’s going to do what he did well at Kentucky and so for those of you listening who didn’t watch a ton of college basketball Reed Shepard shot 52% from three at Kentucky and Reed Shepard had a lot of steals and a lot of blocks and so people kind of conflate the Steals and blocks to saying he’s an excellent Defender I I think he’s a better Defender than Dillingham but I still think he’d be hunted all the same without the playmaking Acumen that Dillingham possesses and Dillingham for what it’s worth shot 45% from three and he shot over 50% on catch and shoes he just sh shot harder shots than Reed Shepard did I’m not saying that dillingham’s as good a shooter as Shepard but he’s a far better playmaker in my opinion he’s more of a natural point guard if I’m going to you know kind of bet on upside which is what I prefer to do in most classes this year maybe a little different I would tend to take the player who’s got more scoring potential with the ball in his hands than someone I project to be cast off of the ball that said I think he will Shepard will be picked as a point guard but I wouldn’t pick him over the guy who played point guard over him on the same team if that makes sense if if you’re picking between two players to play point guard why not take the one who won out the point guard position who also boasted ton of pick pick and roll potential Dillingham was excellent in pick and roll with college spacing so put in with NBA spacing he’s cat quick shoots 45% from three and has all the finishes in the world so I I like dillingham’s potential more in shepher because I think he’s a proven more proven commodity with more upside at the point guard position uh whereas Shepard to me is someone who’s going to use his intangibles his his kind of his brain to make plays for other players not necessarily as an eight gifs and then he shoots the ball he reminds me more of a little bit better version of pton Pritchard when Dillingham reminds me of Garland like I said and so if to look at those type of archetypes one of them has been an Allstar the other one is a bench player I think Shephard probably starts for a team but I don’t think he’s necessarily like that point guard you can’t miss on so I wouldn’t take him at three because I believe in upside more than safety so what I’m hearing is you like dilam better because you think he’s going to be better offensively and with Shepard the Rockets fans are just so worried about shooting this team has got a bunch of potentially really good players but there’s not a lot of great shooting starting with Jaylen most of all in amen uh you know that they hope would be their future at the guard position and we’re going to get into that in a little bit but you know Reed Shepard it looks like he comes into the NBA though as much better defensively than Dillingham he’s got the more of the width he’s had the ability to get the Steals and even some block shots is that fair do you think I mean how does Dillingham make up for as small as he is or is it just you know a Trey young situation on defense I think that Dillingham is going to be a bad defender in the NBA I’m not going to mince words about that I also think Reed Shepard will be a subpar NBA Defender uh Reed Shepard had good numbers but he gets drawn comparisons to Derek white who’s a point of attack like monster defensively he’s an amazing defensive player reed Shepard was not a good perimeter Defender he had great anticipation and hand ey coordination like he plays in the gaps and he steals passes that are thrown in college basketball that you can’t get in the NBA because there’s better spacing he pokes the ball away when he’s helping but he’s not going to be able to help in those situations because of the better space in the NBA Reed Shepard’s going to be targeted just as frequently as Dillingham he may Faire better but marginally so so you take the offensive upside at least in my opinion you take the offensive difference more than the defensive difference to matter more because neither are going to give you that much production defensively and frankly for the Rockets if you’re going to pick defense U and the kind of the wanting a two-way potential player you might as well go with Donovan clink even though I don’t believe in it I I believe he’s going to be the most projectible player in this class because he’s a drop coverage big can really protect the well if you want to Anchor your defense because you have the player that has the unique skills offensively then you could go for kingan but I don’t think you want a guard for their defensive potential because I don’t think any guard other than Devon Carter in this class is really very good defensively yeah it’s funny you mentioned Donovan cing and I want to get to him in just a couple of seconds because I I think there’s a great question to ask you regarding him but quick reminder for any new listeners early this week draft expert and believe in Wizards host Matt berno uh came on the show and a couple of weeks ago I had on upside swings host Cooper clein so if you want some different angles on the Rockets potential selection go check those out I’m G to put the Links at the end of the show on YouTube all right Mal what’s the difference between where Donovan kingan is right now and where Walker Kessler was two years ago and this probably a good time to mention you work on the Utah Jazz broadcast so you saw this guy up close the last couple years I think he’s one of the best comparables for kingan kingan is in my opinion more refined uh he plays probably better better drop coverage defense than Kesler did at Auburn uh I do think Kessler is a better endtoend athlete I think Kesler runs the floor like a deer kingan Lumbers a little bit kingan is good at prevent not fouling that’s the thing that I think he does very well as a rim protector is obviously both them block shots they both deter shots but kingan to me is better at not fouling and I think he’s got better touch indicators as a free throw shooter and a jump shooter than Kesler demonstrated yes he was regarded as someone who when he was in North Carolina for his freshman year before he went to Auburn had could stretch in stretch the floor and be one of those stretch bigs turned out he wasn’t a very good shooter at Auburn he played more hey I’m going to run the floor and get dunks and defend the hoop and he blocked four shots a game which was unbelievable kinging to me is the projectable I’m going to play Drop coverage defense I’m going to pick and roll and then if you pass it to me I’m going to slow down and make the right reads I think he’s a more skillful finisher than Kesler but not quite the explosive athlete in terms of verticality kingan only had a 29 inch backs vertical but his reach is huge he’s 7 foot2 so that really doesn’t matter that much in terms of his defense but in terms of exploding for Rim finishes I would prefer Kesler kesler’s a better Runner but kingan’s more skilled around the basket a little more Savvy and a probably a better passer but I do think they’re pretty comparable and that demonstrates how poor this draft is compared to some previous years kesler’s picked 22nd and was a sophomore cay was a sophomore and is well rumored to go top five and so I I think that’s a really good indication of the difference I would say probably kling’s the better Prospect but I don’t think it’s night and day by any means yeah it’s funny you say that because our remember watching a lot of Auburn when Kessler was there because I was checking in on Jabari and Kessler was somebody that I was very high on but as maybe a steal towards the bottom of the draft which is where Utah got him bottom of the first round anyway so uh yeah that’s that’s to me that those two guys there there does seem to be some similarities there and and you you took the words right out of my mouth it’s it’s this draft is just you know that kind of week where kingan is even being talked about in the top five which is crazy uh are you hearing uh if any of the teams below the rock Rockets are anxious to move up where’s the best opportunity to maybe swap picks and add a veteran asset or is that just like impossible with this this draft as it is yeah I think teams are being tight lipped about that stuff regardless because if there’s a prospect that one team really loves I guarantee they’re not going to kind of say we’re going to move up for this guy and so it’s the rumors aren’t very one reliable and two not very free flowing in the case of Donovan kingan the team that really wants him though is Memphis Memphis is drafting ninth though and so I don’t think that’s an appealing trade destination for Houston necessarily unless they were to get a win now player but Memphis despite being bad this year has a roster that can conceivably win now I don’t think they’re likely trade Partners despite the I mean obviously they’re in the same division as well so that doesn’t necessarily help Inspire good faith in terms of making trades but that would be the team and and there’s a chance Memphis could get kingan if kingan falls outside the top three you get to number four F the Spurs have a center that’s for sure uh number five the Pistons have a center and Duran number six you could make an argument he could go for the the bla um the Hornets excuse me but Mark Williams is there and he’s young and up and coming number seven the Blazers I doubt would pay go for another center with DeAndre Aton number eight you get to San Antonio once more they already have W Bama of course number nine Grizzly so if kingan doesn’t go in the top three to the Wizards or Rockets because I doubt he would go one over SAR to Atlanta uh there’s a chance they stand Pat but that’s the team that I think would move up for kingan and I I know you asked about just generally the trade but I think that’s the the the one piece that like is a team that clearly has a player they they have their eyes on and it’s been well known so you could maybe try to like kind of say hey look we’re gonna make we’re gonna take him like and threaten it but I don’t think they’re gonna really take the bait Jackson Gatlin with lock on Rockets mentioned the idea of swapping with Portland and trying to get Malcolm Brogden is there any reason Portland would consider moving up I don’t dislike that idea I think it gives you a veteran leader like van Fleet stabilized you guys at times this year I think brogon would do more of the same and help you win uh as for Portland I don’t think for them three and seven are all that different of a pick I think they’d probably take castle at three if that were to happen and and if he were there at seven they’d clearly take him but I don’t think they’re all that different of a pick for the Blazers because their guards are in place and like I mentioned there’s there’s not much of a need for a big for them so it becomes an interesting thing but I would do that if I’m the Rockets I like Malcolm braga’s chances to help lead and and influence the team in positive direction more so than a rookie even though the rookie could have long-term potential and picking third it’s pretty weird to say like we want Malcolm Brogden who’s kind of been at this point of his career a trade piece more than an actual winning player the last few years but uh that’s kind of what this draft is it’s it’s not well regarded yeah that thought process there is brogen’s a floor leader that could give you a minutes when van vet’s off the floor and all of last year udoka was scared to death of taking van vet off the floor so his minutes were just way too much for somebody with his size and you know the amount of punishment that he was going to take on the defensive side of the ball let me ask you about castle because um it sounds like he he’s a guy that could maybe even hit big if the shooting is there or comes around the Rockets have Ben Sullivan who’s a shooting guy that they trust maybe they can help him out with the shot a little bit I’ve heard that it’s not super broken what do you like about castle what I like about castle is the fact that he was able to impact the game on a winning team without shooting well and what I mean by that is he was able to play multiple positions uh he wants to play point guard at the next level which in my opinion raises his ceiling he wants to influence the game on both ends of the floor he was mainly a defensive player and while many people say well you didn’t get to see what he what he did at Yukon I initially kind of pushed back and said well I also think the role was perfectly tailored because they had a guy in Andre Jackson the year prior who played the exact same role and they knew how to get a guy to score off the ball but in in recent probably the last two weeks I’ve started to move him up because he shot 18 to 2 five at shooting drills at the combine which I know that that’s a one-off thing and and a lot of people can do that but it showed improved form so if he shoots the ball better that lends a a lot of help to the the worries about hey can this guy shoot like how often does a player actually shoot very well when they’re not very good at at shooting like David lock for locked on Jazz and and my boss who I do stats for he has this analytics uh program he does each draft and he basically eliminated Castle Holland and velis from from being productive NBA offensive players um based on their shooting splits and and and he he kind of acknowledges that that’s not an infallible structure but more often than not that those type of splits that that show you’re not a good shooter typically have you not playing much in the NBA well the reason I believe in Castle is he’s demonstrated he can play different roles he can play the point guard he can play the shooting guard he can influence winning at a higher level than most these players who are reliant on one trait if that one trait goes sour and their swing skill doesn’t pan out I still have faith he’ll he’ll win basketball games and he looks to be improving pretty rapidly and people forget he missed time with a knee injury that I think sapped him of some of his athleticism which is already a plus um so I if I were the Rockets I would probably take Dillingham because I’m very high on him but I don’t think they actually would I think Castle is the more likely pick my problem with Castle is he comes out the other day and says I’m not going anywhere where there’s a starting point guard and it’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard a draft guy say because if you’re a competitor you say I’m gonna take the starting point guard job you know that’s number one number two the Rockets have a starting point guard Fred Van Vleet but he’s gone next year you know he’s got a $40 million option they’re not going to pay him you know they got money coming up with Shen goon and potentially Jaylen green at least one of those guys I think they’re going to sign to a bigger contract and and I just think they let either Van Vleet walk or you know they they get him at a much much cheaper price but you know I just I I just had no respect for that take I just thought I was ignorant and I thought Lee frankly I just think it was um not a wellth thought out thing and lack competitive desire from that guy I tend to agree with your your logic of I don’t like players making those type of statements but in his case I think it it was probably publicity that it was pushed by his agent saying Hey I want to be a point guard and the teams that will prioritize me make me playing point guard uh are the ones that I want to prioritize working out for and put forth my best foot in the case of the Rockets I would not be shocked whatsoever if they take castle and he plays kind of off ball for a year and then van Fleet leaves and they’re like hey well we got him or alen Thompson and we’re going to see what comes out of this and because Al and Thompson can defend at such an elite level that there’s a world where you could still employ him as a two guard as an off off ball player and then you have a supreme athlete backward in terms of Thompson green and and Castle I I could very much see that but I can see how that red rub a fan of a team or someone who works for the teams that do have point guards employed um but I think it’s more just an agent related publicity stud yeah I would fire the agent that told me to do that but um every Rockets fan you mentioned amen every rocket fan loves him I mean I’m sure you watched a lot of video leading into last year’s draft on Amen and a lot of us who watch amen believe is highest upside of course is at point guard but the biggest concern isn’t as much the shooting but the handle what did you see with the handle and How likely is it that a 21-year-old who’s as much of a gy rat as amen is can develop a handle considering I’m sure he spent thousands of hours already working on it I mean sometimes naturally people are better at other things than and he’s just a crazy athlete but the handle is not one because he’s an unbelievable athlete I do think his handle is a little less important because team players are going to play off of him because he doesn’t shoot very well so it’s not like he’s going to lose the ball and be have it stolen from him due to high pressure so that doesn’t worry me as much but yeah I think that’s a valid concern in terms of look at how much Faith you have a point in a point guard that doesn’t handle the ball particularly well that’s why I think it’s not impossible that a guy like Castle would come into the equation and play the point guard um I don’t think that’s necessarily the pick I actually think kingan is the most likely pick as I’ve said but I don’t necessarily love it for the Rockets because I think shanon’s unbelievable I think the actual point guard for the Rockets is Alper and Shang goon you want to put uh the athletes around him um to defend and make up make up for his defensive lack of ability and and be able to score enough points and and use his incredible skill set to win games so I don’t think it matters that much for Thompson because of just the the way they have other players who have the ball in their hands to facilitate and create did you ever get any clarity as to why cam Whitmore dropped last year all the way to 20 uh liked cam Whitmore in the draft but I mean I think there was a coach that that spoke negatively on his character and his knee scared some teams I think some teams were more worried about character and some teams were more worried about the kind potential for a degenerative knee issue for a guy who’s Uber athletic and obviously that’s matters in what he brings to the table so I don’t have Clarity for each and every team but I know there are some teams that are more scared by uh kind of that interpersonal Dynamic and some that were more scared by the health of his his knee just generally anything particular that you see when you watch the rockets and some of the younger players like what do you see with some of these guys you know who who do you think has got the best chance the the one or two guys to really turn into a star player well shanon’s clearly the best player in the rockets in my opinion and the guy to build around I think shanon is very very similar to damont sabonis and damont sabonis is an all-nba caliber big who in in my opinion probably isn’t good enough to lead a really good winning team even with dearen Fox because of defensive limitations but offensively he’s good enough to make you a top five offense each year like the Kings have been I think he’s clearly the best player I think Jaylen green is very Jackal and high there there are weeks and months and you know this better than I do where he looks spectacular and you see all these things come together his jump shot looks a little smoother that week and you know he can attack the rack but then there are games where he’s kind of sitting on the bench and doing nothing um so I’m not that high on Jaylen green I think there’s just limitations to his upside because he shoots it inconsistently and teams learn how to play athletes as for Whitmore and and obviously Fred’s an established player so I’m not going to really touch on him you look at tar een really like him Javari Smith I liked him at College a ton but I never saw the upside and I think he’s kind of an odd man out of place right now because shenon you’re considering drafting some bigger player to make them better defensively that makes Jamari Smith less of a a commodity personally as a jazz fan I would love to try to buy low on Jabari Smith right now let me ask you on Jabari because you you talked about um what what he’s lacking I guess as far as the ability to play off of shenon but you would think with shenon and Jaylen guys that create double teams he’s a guy that everybody thought was going to be a knockdown shooter I mean the Hope was that he was GNA be tall Clay Thompson but the problem is he hasn’t look like that guy I mean he improved last year but they’re still playing him defensively like he’s not a threat at all from three-point range I mean they they’re still giving him a lot of space he he’s always has the ability to to shoot the open shot there’s no going to block him at 6′ 11 so you would think you know this is a guy that should be closing in on 40% but we haven’t seen it I mean what what are you seeing with jaari I think it’s just confidence honestly I think he plays with a lot of guys who do not pass the ball well like frankly I think the Rockets have too many players who are selfish and too many players that stunted his growth his rookie season and then his his next year I think they would growth like he got became a better rebounder scored more points and he played basically the same amount of minutes I think he is a good shooter will be a good shooter and is a good Defender but I don’t necessarily know if it’s he’s going to show that full-on capacity for the Rockets because like I said I believe they’re going to try to get an interior Defender to compliment shenon with I don’t know if I necessarily believe that’s the best idea because like I said he’s that special offensively at the five spot but shenon and jaari Smith are are similar enough in terms of they occupy similar spaces on the floor that I don’t think he actually gets as good of shots as uh you might imagine based on the athleticism of Amen Thompson or jayen green crashing to the floor Shang goon likes to isolate and operate from the top as well and create passing lanes and he’s kind of a stagnant standstill shooter and that’s why I always pushed back about the Klay Thompson thing and I’m not saying that to you I’m saying that to draft evaluators he wasn’t a guy who came off pin downs and shot he was more a standstill catch and shoot I saw him as like Rashard Lewis with plus plus defense which is why I never had him as high as other play other people despite watching probably 25 Auburn games because I thought he was that fun to watch yeah I just watched him at AUB and I thought well you know he’s he’s not a catch and shoot guy but if you watched Auburn who was supposed to throw him the pass that was going to be the good pass to that was the worst watch Ever the guards were awful yeah that was a big issue so I was hoping okay you get them with NBA guys and it’d be a little bit different but uh yeah it’s I still say it’s an open book because the guy’s still so young even after uh two years uh lock on NBA Big Board uh remind people what’s going on over there yeah appreciate you you bringing that up uh so myself Richard ston and James Barlo are are running the ship here at lock loed on NBA Big Board we produce episodes every single day every weekday that is about the NBA draft sometimes it’s mock draft sometimes it’s big board sometimes it’s debating philosophy and so we’re really excited for the draft and trying to produce content that’ll make you guys Rockets fans NBA fans in general knowledgeable about the players that you guys could be Drafting and and why we think they’re worthwhile to be picked at certain different spots so uh tune in to an episode see if you like it and I I hope you do and and thank you for allowing me to plug that it’s at Leaf to lean uh it’s uh in the comment I in the description but uh if you want me to spell it out for you guys on audio it’s uh Leaf Le if THU l i n check it out check out lock on NBA Big Board I mean if you’re a draft junkie or if you’re somebody that’s a Rockets fan just like I gotta catch up what’s going on with these guys who should they pick and there’s other guys we didn’t hit that he hit he hits on there all the time and you’ll get a good real panoramic scope of what those guys can do uh thanks so much in a busy season for giving us the time Le really appreciate it of course I appreciate you giving me the opportunity you’re listening to Houston Sports Talk hey don’t forget to support us by subscribing and commenting on YouTube you can always listen to us on Spotify apple or your favorite podcast app tell your friends about us and share our Show links on social media spread the word everybody thanks for listening [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

Bleav Host Robert Land asks NBA Draft Expert & Locked on NBA Big Board Host Leif Thulin @LeifThulin about potential Rockets picks & his thoughts on the current Rockets Core 6.
(:30) Who should Rockets pick at #3?
(1:59) Is Rob Dillingham good fit?
(3:26) Reed Sheppard vs. Dillingham?
(8:04) Donovan Clingan vs. Walker Kessler?
(10:28) Can Rockets find trade partner for an asset?
(12:12) Potential Malcolm Brogdon for swap?
(13:32) Stephon Castle’s potential
(17:30) Amen Thompson development
(18:52) Why did Cam Whitmore drop in draft?
(19:27) Which Rockets will turn into Star?

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