NBA Draft 2024: Atlanta Hawks team building, Alex Sarr, Donovan Clingan, Zaccharie Risacher (Part 2)

NBA Draft 2024: Atlanta Hawks team building, Alex Sarr, Donovan Clingan, Zaccharie Risacher (Part 2)

on today’s show it is part two with myself and Andrew Kelly diving into the top of the draft board with regard to Alex sawar Donovan klling and Zachary rishe and all of that is coming up you are locked on Hawks your daily Atlanta Hawks podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day Hello friends welcome to episode 173 seven of the lon Hawks podcast I am your host Brad Rin coming to you on the middle of the week here in mid June as the Atlanta Hawks get closer and closer to the NBA draft in today’s podcast be myself and Andrew Kelly actually part two of two so if you missed anything from part one I encourage you to listen to that podcast it should be available in this same podcast feed right now more team building stuff on that one for agency trades roster construction Etc part two is GNA be heavily draft focused we should also encourage you at the top of the podcast make the L hwks podcast your first listen each and every day check us out across the board in the podcast space that includes apple and Spotify as well as YouTube overcast Etc and again this is part two of two myself Andrew Kelly talking all things at the top of the NBA draft board and here we go with part two this is actually part of team building too be hondage to players um with the pick in this class that is thought of as being not exactly topheavy let’s just say um there are there are I should be fair and say there are people that like the top this class more than others but no one that I’ve talked to around the league is like in love with top this class that’s probably fair to say um knowing that and knowing where the Hawks are and knowing what their roster is and they’re trying to win now to some extent like how are you evaluating these players I I’ve been enjoying your like treatises that you’ve been tweeting out these these these 7,000 character tweets about the draft but um team building wise philosophy wise before we actually get into players which which we’re about to do how are you approaching this if you’re the Hawks like just just the process of evaluating this pick knowing where they are right now well appreciate you uh and others sticking through the treatises I’ve been writing on there that’s been fun to uh to draw up this year has been kind of interesting just because even though there’s not like a consens consensus at the top there’s still a few guys that I think are more likely than not to be the pick so I’ve kind of been focusing uh on them more than anybody else but um yeah it’s it’s a tough year to pick at the top like I I think that everybody knows that at this point you know I know that some I’ve kind of decided that there is like a clearcut guy I don’t think there is like nobody that I’ve talked to people who do this for a living people who work for teams have told me that this is just a tough draft to to pick um at the top I mean I think there are still some compelling options I mean there always are even in like a down draft but I really just kind of center around three guys that I think are make sense all to varing levels and just fit along with like Intel and MOX that um and these three guys are generally ree the uh French Wing Donovan kingan Yukon and Alex SAR who played for Perth and the NBL um these are kind of the top three guys at least for me um that I would consider I mean really I like re SE a lot we won’t spend much time on him just because I don’t I don’t see a way the Hawks take him but I am a big fan of his game I just just want to mention that um but for me you know it really just kind of depends on like what your goals are your comfort level with these guys and what additional moves you might make um there’s moves that you could make that could make Reese appealing you know if you’re going to trade DeAndre Hunter like say you dump on the Pistons just to get off his salary you might be looking for a wi that can step in that’s you know somewhat ready to play re has a pretty mature game he’s somebody that you could look at um there if you see yourself taking more time to kind of reassemble this team on around Trey to try to unlock the maximum playoff upside I think SAR is someone who can make a lot of sense I mean he moves incredibly incredibly well at 71 one of the fastest bigs I’ve ever watched um super reactive Defender really fun to watch He’s somebody that makes a lot of sense and then finally my preferred option here um as long as Medicals check out like I think that’s a very important disclaimer is uh Donovan kingan from Yukon um I just think that he I me we can’t really say that any of these guys are locked in as starters but if you had to pick one I think kingan’s the guy you would pick to um have upside to start for you right away um just the the tools that he brings to the table I think are really compelling when you have a team like headed by Trey young you know when you’re always going to struggle a bit for perimeter defense having a rim protector who can raise your Flor on defense even if you don’t have the best Personnel around him is a really important thing and I think that kingan just has a great projection on that end I mean we’re talking about a guy that has a 97 standing reach most times that you see that it’s on like weird prospects like a Taco Fall someone who’s not really an NBA player but just has crazy measurements and the only other guy that you really see with that is like Rudy goar and I don’t think that’s a crazy comparison for him I mean I know that Rudy goar gets like a lot of hate but I mean this is a four-time defensive player of the year he’s always on good teams his teams are always in the playoffs like that kind of player is a good Target especially in a draft where there’s not a lot of certainty so I think that’s somebody that kind of comes to mind as like a comparison for Clingan but just the offensive game as well like he’s a very good screen Setter I think that could be important um capella we’ve seen like the value he can have as a screen Setter for try that’s something you want to have in a Trey young offense if you acquire like a Brandon Ingram like another score that’s something you would like to have he’s a good passer I mean he improved his assist a turnover ratio from like around 05 to two over the past year has some really nice passes over the top of a defense you can run some cool actions with him and Jaylen Johnson if you can get some uh Cuts things like that going for him in the high post I think he could feed him there’s just a whole lot to like in his game so I kind of gravitate towards him right now at number one but that all kind of pins on uh Medicals Yeah you mentioned medical and like I don’t know if there’s anything bad in there at all but he he had an injury this year early in the year cost him some time he has some questions I’m not gonna say concerns just questions about like whether he can play a lot of minutes because he didn’t play a lot of minutes as a as a freshman which which made sense because he was the backup but this year even like he was kind of capped around 28 29 he played 30 couple times in in the uh in the tournament but you know a lot of guys are playing you know mid high 30s in college games pretty regularly and he’s he’s he’s huge I mean that’s a good thing but you know guys once you get to a certain size there’s always a little bit of a question about injury stuff because some guys can carry it some guys can’t we’ll see but I agree with you on that you know you’re overall point about they’re not being clear number one I I’ve said a million times that I I agree with you on that and I think that that right now it’s it’s gotten you know it’s to be expected it’s gotten to that point in the cycle where uh Hawks fans have kind of just dug into their various Corners um I think for the most I should say the most part there is a large Alex SA or bus contingent which I understand he’s a guy who’s talented um you know people that are in are out on cling in uh R is kind of somewhere in the middle I think I mean even there’s people that still like want run Holland or want re Shepard or whatever um and that’s that’s part of the deal here but I I generally think that it’s fairly open and you can make a case for any of these guys and more like I’m just to raise my hand I’m a little bit lower on Reay I think than some are but I’ll be the first to note like there’s a lot of value potentially in a 69ine forward who can shoot the ball and and defend like it’s just as a pretty interesting archetype especially as you mentioned if they were to move on from DeAndre or you know whatever happens there uh you you mentioned the the Rudy the Rudy goar comparisons for the defense of cling and you know put the Rudy I agre weird Rudy disdain to the side he’s he’s an awesome player on offense you mentioned the passing uh I agree with you what is the what is the worry case for clinging on offense like if you make the I think it’s going to basically swing on whether his defense is as good as you think it’s going to be or not but on offense like what what is it what does it look like for you like top level or not top level for him on offense because it does matter and he’s not like necessarily seen as like this huge lob finisher just by how big he is like what do you make of that whole thing especially let’s assume for a second they’re gonna build around Trey Long Term I think that’s part of the appeal of taking Clingan my personal opinion would be to pair a guy with Trey that makes a lot of sense with Trey but um what do you think of his offense I think if you have to point to a glaring issue in his game there’s not really many but free throw percentage that’s something that you want to look at like he was below 60% there so he’s not quite to like you know hacka Shack levels but not too far from that there’s also the thought by the way that he’s like gonna be a long-term shooter and I don’t think you can uh I don’t think you can project that he did shoot threes in high school and in workouts like if you watched like his Draft Express interview he singles out that something as him he’s been working on it he start pretty well at the combine like it doesn’t look bad I don’t think you can project it though like to your point but I do think that’s something that he sees himself is working on but free throw percentage that’s something that he really needs to improve I think he’s a good role man he’s not a great role man like Clint capella like you know he gets like a lot of hate for like understandable reasons sometimes because his hands are just you know falling off but he’s still a very good role man he’s a very huge Target when he’s in the air and uh Clingan just doesn’t get off the ground quite as fast so that’s something to kind of keep him I think could be a good rle man but not like an elite you know like Rudy goar has like been an elite role man but Clingan also has some ability to score that’s not a dunk like that’s like another thing that’s like a a positive for him is that um he has pretty good touch like you know within six feet eight feet of the basket so you have some options there if he can’t get all the way to the rim to dunk it um I think his postgame he had really good numbers on that this year but he doesn’t play with a tone of physicality like he seems to have like more of a upright kind of center of gravity um despite weighing a lot he you can see that he has a lot of uh potential to add muscle mass like he’s still pretty skinny despite being massive so I think that’s something that over the next two years of his you know rookie contract I think you’ll see the training staff try to figure out you know what is his ideal playing playing weight you know how much muscle should we seek to put on him and those things like that but he needs to play with a little bit more physicality I think in the post that’s something that can make him go from somebody that can punish a mismatch to actually being you know a genuine threat there so I think improving in the post is something to look at um getting in better conditioning that can help with just fatigue and uh uh a lot of different areas on offense like shooting I think is something that you can look at for improvement for him but like I said the really only glaring issue is just free throw percentage but I I do think that’s something like he his touch is pretty good so I do think that’s something he can improve in time Today’s Show is sponsored by the folks at better help we all car the r things they are cting stress whether it’s or small we keep things bottled up it can start to affect us in a negative fashion therapy is a safe space to get things off our chest and also figure out how to work through whatever happens to us and what Happ be weighing you down in that moment therapy is helpful for everyone and you can also learn positive coping skills how to set better boundaries in therapy and they also Empower you to be the best version of yourself it’s not just for people who have gone through major trauma I know I have my own stresses when it comes to work in the future and more and we can all benefit from getting things off our chest in our lives if thinking about starting therapy do so right now with books at betterhelp it’s entirely online it’s design to be flexible and Su your SK schedule at better help and it really is a big factor if you’re like sort of short on time like I often am having it be flexible to your schedule is really really helpful all you have to do is fill out a brief questionnaire and they get match with the license therapist you also switch therapist anytime for no additional charge get it off your chest right now with better help and the place to go is betterhelp.com lockon MBA get 10% off your first month with betterhelp one more time the place to go is better that’s better HP betterhelp.com lockon MBA what do you make of the you know I’ve seen a lot of discussion about clinging I I have said and I think others have Echo this too he’s definitely the highest floor of these three for me like I I have a hard time borrowing medical thing or whatever um I have a hard time seeing him not being a pretty good NBA player I think the defense is just it would shock me if he’s a bad Defender like I think he’s be really good defensively as even kind of a baseline but there is a gap between like good Defender and Rudy goar like I don’t mean to make it as simple as that sounds but you know what I mean like what happens if he’s not Rudy gobear and he’s more like you know I used if a zubach as a comparison who’s like I think is like an underrated and really good starting center in the NBA but isn’t like someone that anybody anybody’s gonna get excited about in number one overall Walker Kessler’s another one where’s like he’s a good Defender no question about that but like and also he’s another white guy which I’m sure he’ll get compared to walk kler quite a bit uh what what is the case for klling in if he’s not like a a game record defensively and he’s just good yeah I mean that’s good counter argument I I think I’m just asking I don’t I don’t even know my thing is like I really don’t have a great answer to that just because I’m projected him to be a good Defender like I just don’t really see much that I think one thing that just really separates him is just how great his tools are I mean he’s 73 in shoes I believe his wingspan was like around 7 seven I mean I mentioned the standing reach earlier like his tools are just better than guys like Kessler and zubot you know if Kessler was like two inches longer for standing reach like his defense would be better there would be more balls that he could get to so it’s like there’s not a lot of like circumstances where I see him being less than like a good Defender you know I mean he may not you to your point you did say like in between you know R I think we agree like he’s I’ll be surprised if he’s not a good Defender I really will be his RI protection is just so good I mean his instincts and feel for where the ball is the number of balls he can get to that other guys just can’t I mean just the number of pin blocks that he has is crazy like actually pinning it against the backboard you just don’t see that as often and he has a ton of those so it’s really like it’s tough for me like I think like the to your point like he just maybe like he just can’t play as many minutes so like the amount of defense that you’re able to actually field for a 48 minute game is just like less than you would like but it’s really really hard for me to see him being less than like a very very good rim protector I just like I think the projection is very confident yeah not to make it all about Rudy but one of Rudy’s freak things in a good way is that he can he can play yes like and that’s not something that a lot of guys that that size can do he’s even bigger than Rudy I think um so yeah that’s just something to keep in keep in mind because you know that is one of the I would say almost consensus not necessarily knock just skepticism about about cling it’s just like can he play 30 even 33 minutes a game 32 minutes a game because like that’s all you need nobody’s gonna ask him to play 37 minutes a game like that’d be crazy but may the playoff that’s what I think really is like the answer to your question is like maybe he he can only play 25 minutes versus like 31 minutes or something like that and that and that matters at this level I mean and also yeah not to say like okay I I don’t think this but I had someone say this to me that I think is smart offline uh and they’re basically like I don’t think you can take Donovan clay number one unless you just literally think he’s going to be Rudy Oar like that level and I don’t necessarily buy that I think that if you think like a possibility you can still take in this class is the big caveat there like I think in a normal draft where you have a guy who might be in you know a tier one Prospect which I don’t I think there are none of those guys in this class personally um I think in that kind of class you’d have to believe that walk that walk that Donovan kingan is a defens a future defensive player of the year to take him number one overall in this class I don’t think you have to believe that I think they would be helpful but I think you might if the combination of maybe not believing all of all the way in on someone like SAR or someone like re and believing that like kingan really is going to be like a foundational defensive player for you that might be enough and I’m not saying that by the way just he’s not a zero on offense like that should be I think he’s a good offensive player like he’s not you know an elite scorer Elite shooter but like he brings a lot of value to to offense just based on his finishing his screening and his passing yeah no and I’m I I never want to put the picture of otherwise because I I think I maybe haven’t just talked about it enough I know our mutual friend Tyler Jones has been on this corner a lot like klan’s offensive numbers at the college level were excellent like excellent and part of that maybe if you want to be a skeptic is like Yukon had a great system and great coaching and that is worthy of interrogation because like that that did happen but like Kevin Pelton hasn’t number one on on his stats model for a reason like keev his and that’s not just defense his offensive numbers are really really really good at the college level um it is but you know that’s not like any anything that hasn’t been seen before so we can move on froming I just think that it’s he’s interesting to kind of dive into and I wanted to spend a little more time with him because I think you led with like you have number one it seems like right now like so I’ll just ask this question to make it clear draft is today as we’re recording this podcast you take Clingan if you’re the Hawks yeah I would I mean he’s just the one that I ultimately come down to as that’s the guy that I’m the most comfortable with like the way I’m looking at it is if my job was on the line like who would I want to take there and ultimately it would be as long as the Medicals are good I just think like his cumulative profile like when you look at the stats when you look at the improvement from one to two on a team that won back-to-back titles as their best player when you look at his projection as the best rim protector in this draft somebody that could anchor your defense the body has the ability to raise the floor in your defense significantly um when you look at some of the you know the fruit that he has to pick like getting in better shape um playing with more physicality that can make him more of a weapon in the post and unlock a little bit more offensive upside there I just think there’s a great you know Collective profile that makes him like the easiest bet in this draft like the least likely to fail like barring injuries and you really can’t fail at this pick too like that’s it’s an important thing when you don’t pick next year when you don’t pick in 27 when you you know you can’t tank in 26 like you really need to hit on this pick so I think getting somebody that can perhaps be a starter even for you out of the box is like a big deal so I do lean him um I I like s a lot and we’ll just kind of use that as a pivot to him um SAR has incredible tools um his ability like his agility to defend and space like that I’ve tweeted some of it but I mean it is incredible what he can do sometimes on defense I think that he’s not always as engaged like as it shows in highlights like there are times he falls asleep on defense a little bit more than like an Evan Moy when I remember evaluating him but his ability to still recover even when he’s in bad positions and make a play is just unbelievable um so I think that when you look at like the max like you know tippy top ceiling like I I think that SAR probably does have the highest in this draft but that doesn’t necessarily mean I would take him you know there’s a lot of um probabilities you know how likely do you think it is that he reaches this um but defensively I mean his projection is really strong um if you when you look at like what he defended at The Rim I believe it was like in the low 40s so he was excellent at defending at The Rim he also doesn’t foul a lot that’s something too that you generally don’t see that a lot from like young brim protectors like jiren Jackson like famously fouled a lot you know at Michigan State yeah it still does Alex s does not really do that he already has a good job of like staying straight up when he uh contests so he’s already I think pretty mature on that in like being engaged all the time is something he needs to work on defensively but other than that like the tools are excellent my concerns with SAR are just on offense like there’s I think despite the skill flashes like there’s some real concerns there and I mean the thing is like skill flashers are great like you you want to see upside like the ability to develop in ways that can make you like an offensive focal point but there’s a lot of guys that have had skill flashes and just not had that role in the NBA like go back and watch like Nick claxon’s highlights his last year at Georgia like with him shooting thre shooting off the dribble I mean SAR looks more natural than claxon did at Georgia but he does not play that way in the NBA James wisman had a lot of flashes you know Jonathan Isaac had J wisman J shot out on the podcast we love that uh no I I’m with you by the way we’re just focusing on like NBA projection here like he’s not really like a a true rle man like he didn’t roll to the basket much at all I believe only like 12 times something around that per energy um most of the time he was popping like when he ran pick and roll he wasn’t really looking good to rim too much he’s not a great like vertical athlete I mean he’s better than cling in that regard but he’s not like an Evan Moby like shoot out of the gym kind of guy there’s not a lot of tape of him catching lobs um for a number of reasons honestly one of the reasons one thing I was going to say and I probably will say it 10 times between now on the draft I’m I don’t know this is true but there it’s kind of out there in The Ether right now that s doesn’t really view himself as a center like he hasn’t said that he does not but like he plays like a guy who doesn’t view himself as a center does that make sense like if you watch the tap the flashes are incredible I think defensively it may not matter because I think if if you’re the biggest guy on the court you just do what you got to do but um I do think that in general there is a little bit of a concern about that like not maybe concerns the wrong way it might actually work to his benefit if it like really comes together but uh he doesn’t do the big man stuff right now he’s not really doing that right he he plays more like in a nutshell he plays more like a wing like if you look at like his Synergy profile you watch him on tape like he’s mostly spotting up and his best offensive skill is basically if you can get him in a opportunity where he can attack downhill in space against a big like he’s always faster than these guys he loves to get to a spin move like that’s like his signature offensive move when he’s on a drive and he always finishes with his right hand but what you want to do is you want to get him at a standstill or transition where he has a lane to the basket to attack but there’s not a lot else like he’s not a good shooter right now he’s not a good role man so like he’s really not great at Big Man things but he’s not really good at Wing you know Wing things either every now and then he will flash a nice pass um he has kind of a cool turnaround jumper you’ll see from time to time he can do some B up scoring so that’s something that his offensive game I think is you’re looking to develop like the touch like you’re looking to make him like a shooter somebody that can stretch the ball out from three but also somebody that can work a little bit from the high post I think it’s something that you’re looking at from him but he’s not like you know a Clint capella type role man like he’s going to be trickier to kind of integrate into an offense that’s trying to win and that’s part of what I think is um what what favors kingan over him it’s just kingan’s a lot easier to immediately integrate into an offense trying to win versus wasar where you’re going to want to let him experiment and kind of figure out his optimal role Today’s Show is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook summertime means baseball the NBA finals and much more you bet out all of that at FanDuel Sportsbook FanDuel number one sports book and right now if you’re a new customer get $200 in bonus bets guaranteed that’s $200 you can bet on everything from 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arrive as this readymade product I think he’s he is much more of a long-term bet than someone like clinging is um which makes sense I mean he’s it’s more of the toolsy um but you know there’s this whole thing about like positions and stuff like that with regard to where he would play next to jayen and um if he’s not playing Center and all that stuff but like even just forgetting all that like I don’t think Alex star is gonna be a very good NBA player like in October of this year like that’s not and that’s not a shot to him I I wouldn’t draft that way anyway I wouldn’t worry about that’s not what it’s not it’s not what you’re drafting for but like he’s not a plug-and-play player like you gotta have a plan for him you got to know what you gotta know what you’re trying to get out of him development wise um which isn’t it’s not a pro or a con it’s just a fact that you have to keep in mind when evaluating someone like him is that he’s not like an in thebox player that you just open up and he just you just use him in a certain way like he’s going to take some um some molding roster wise some molding to his game um and there’s a big split around people that I trust that are smart like about what he’s gonna end up being if it all works and obviously if it all works it’s gonna be really awesome no matter what I feel I feel like but like is that as a as a more traditional center or is it more of like you know face up face up four who is just all all World Defender that does everything that’s all great it’s just trying to get to that point and you’re hoping that that’s probably in two or three years yeah exactly and to your point too about like his role like I don’t see him as a center right now I think you know I’ve tweeted before like his measurements are actually very similar to Tyson chanders coming out so I do think he can eventually play center and we do see that eventually where you know fors move on to Center but he needs to get stronger and he just doesn’t do big man things well enough I think to operate as like a lone big right now like he’s he needs to play next to another big right now to be like optimally effective if you’re trying to win if you’re not trying to win like that does change things a little bit because you can play him through mistakes but on a team that’s trying to win you know then he’s coming out in crunch time he’s not getting as many minutes there’s just a lot of different factors that come into play and I have heard just through interviews that he does see himself as somebody that can do everything on offense like I he he sees himself having a big role so that’s something that you have to kind of bake in you know to developing him is you know he really wants to operate on the ball so that’s just there’s going to be growing pains I think with sard with regardless of who takes him yeah no and I think almost more so this not about Atlanta being a worse situation for him but because the Hawks want to win like if you go to Washington and you’re alexar the canvas is pretty clear for you like you know you can get I’m not saying they’re gonna use him that way but like you could get away with doing a lot more of that with him as a rookie than you could in Atlanta like I don’t think that anybody’s got patience for that to be a primary source of what the Hawks are doing as a rookie like on a team trying to win you know my my line is always rookies are generally not very good um put that aside but like there’s not going to be Reps for him to be an on ball player in Atlanta as a rookie like that’s not gonna exist I mean you got you got Trey and right now you still deante but even jayen like guys are gonna get those rips ahead of him so um there this is doesn’t matter but there would be a lot of interesting discourse in October and November um with how the Hawks were using or not using Zar they draft them I’ll say that yeah it would be very interesting for sure yeah and I go back to like I’m I’m a big fan of his overall like his defense just really pops like the comparison I always make is just like it’s like a quarterback playing out of structure you know when you talk about when the pocket breaks down what kind of plays can you make like that’s alexar like you know he can do a lot of different things when things break down he’s a super fluid athlete he just has a lot to work on offensively and finding his optimal role like he might be someone and you know some people I’ve talked to who are scouts think of him as like you know ideally he’s more of like your third maybe even fourth option in offense so he’s more of a complimentary type player while being you know an engine on defense but if he sees himself being a top two guy like you know there’s some possibilities for conflict there so it’s just creating the optimal context for him I think is just going to be a little bit of a challenge for a team like Atlanta compared to the Wizards like you mentioned yeah I there there are two paths to success for Alex star like this is not even the the third path of him not working out but like there’s the he becomes a moreon ball like truly unlocked crazy you know I don’t want to make the Giannis comparison but like that kind of mole of a player um or there’s the more Evan Moy path where like he is your third or fourth option on offense but he gets a ton of value defensively and becomes an All-Star level player doing that like those are both realistic outcomes like they are possible um obviously both would be great it’s just hard to you know figure out which one of those you actually might fall in and then there’s of course like the possibility it doesn’t work because otherwise if those were the only two options he’d be in one pick there’s a third of him not working out that well on either side I mean I think honestly I have a hard time thinking he that he’ll be not good defensively I think that there are levels to that but I have a hard time seeing him fail quote unquote defensively it’s just that if his offensive gate doesn’t work yeah like you know I’m confident in his defense being good I mean I think like claxon’s kind of like a reasonable you know median outcome for him like he he moves too well and he’s already advanced enough as a rim protector that it’s hard for him you know for me to not see him being good there well yeah and but you know as well as I do if let’s just say becomes Nick Claxton exactly a lot of people would be frustrated by that outcome and number one overall I’m not I’m not saying you should be but you know how this is realistically you get tagged as being the number one overall pick when you arrive people some people expect you to be a star right so if you’re if you’re quote unquote just Nick Clon who’s a good player it’s a starting level player in the NBA that would be seen by a lot of people as a failure I feel like whether whether that’s correct or not I’m not you know what I mean like whereas like Moy look I’m sure you see I’ve already seen people say that if if he only quote unquote became Mobly that would not that wouldn’t be great it’s like well man that’s your expectation if he’s Mobly then like you’re you know he’s a confident number one if you feel very strongly that he’s gonna be EV Moby like very strongly then you take him by one I uh I agree all right that’s enough on that uh anything you want to say about anybody else we talk about R if you want to I know you’re not like passionate about him but if you want to make the case or make the case against uh the floor is yours if you’d like to do that yeah I would have him third in that group like you know cling in like I just like you know collectively the whole profile I like him the most if his Medicals just aren’t great where you have you know a different kind of plan for where to take the team then I would go SAR R like I like his game a lot he’s a mature player like that’s one of the things the first things that jumps out when you watch him is like he plays like an NBA Wing already as a teenager in France and they played 60 plus games this year like you just don’t see many teenagers play that much um his shooting that’s something that I’m pretty bullish on overall um he might be more of like a 36 you know type shooter than more of like a 39 type shooter and that’s a very big difference um I think when you’re looking at like an optimal case for him he ends up being like along the lines of like a Trey Murphy type like a good you know upper 30 shooter on diverse actions like somebody that can shoot off dribble a little bit somebody that can shoot off screens um a great spot up guy just a diverse shooter and a good finisher around the rim um he has good tools overall he doesn’t have a great wingspan but he’s close to 610 in shoes um he’s just somebody that I see as somebody that could be very scalable so if you if we go back to you know maybe a a scenario where they trade DeAndre Hunter he’s just somebody that could fit in pretty well he’s a good on ball Defender I watched uh the playoff games against uh Monaco in the French league and he spent like an inordinate amount of time defending guards especially in the first two games over the last uh couple Mike James came back who’s like the best player in Europe and he didn’t defend him as much but against guys like ellot Kobo I mean his hips just really stand out like he can he can be very versatile in his assignments so that’s something that I like a lot about him it’s just hard for me to see like a path for for him being like the best player in this draft like there’s a lot of path where he’s like a top three top five player somebody that’s like very valuable that every team wants to have on their team but not like a star so I think that’s kind of like what an optimal you know ceiling outcome looks like for Ray but it’s just hard for me to get behind him with when I see like little path to being the best player in the draft yeah that’s really the hard thing is I agree with you I I think that there are not many scenarios where he where he’s the best player and that doesn’t mean you have to be like that’s the misconception too about number one overall pick you don’t have to be the best player on the draft like you got to be you know it’s there’s there’s a floor aspect there’s a medium aspect um there’s a projectability aspect there’s obviously a range that you have to hit um to be a quote unquote good pick there but I I I tend to agree I don’t see a ton of star Equity not that you have to have that but that is one of the reasons I’m probably a little bit lower on him I’m more in the camp of like you know I’m sure you seen this too there are people that have him in that top one or two I know gabon’s been high on him all the whole cycle but there are people that I trust that have him like seven or eight and it’s like I can see why you know what I mean it’s not that doesn’t mean he’s gonna be a bad player that he’s a bad Prospect but if you don’t believe in the star equity which I kind of don’t it’s like hard to get me to number one or number two in this class even if I do see a lot of the pathways to him being really good because you you know really good is really good especially if you’re a two-way forward he’s a off ball wink like he’s just not really like an on ball scorer he hasn’t really shown a lot of that I mean he can do like some cool step backs and you know shoot while tightly guarded like I think there is like real upside for him as a shooter and I think in some ways like we kind of undervalue guys who are off ball just because that role is so scalable like guys that don’t that don’t you know dominate touches in your offense that are easy to get looks for a great you and I you and I both cap for bogies and it’s 100% true Bogie’s still like really underrated I think for what he does for the Hawks like he’s a very very very good player who was you know he has some on ball chops too but like he’s mostly all an offb player and that’s you know but again uh you know not to relitigate the Trey Murphy thing again but you and I both Pok fun at this but like there was a there was a post that had the low-end outcome for Ray as Trey Murphy and I was like well that would be the number one pck the draft because that’s not really I mean Murphy Murphy’s gonna get over hundred millionar Trey Murphy is a very good player and like that’s no one’s low in outcome in this draft like I’m I’m sorry it’s not that’s not a real thing um I mean even even even kingan who I you seem to like quite a bit uh the low-end outcome for Donovan Kling is not like a top 50 player in the league like that’s or maybe it is and that’s why you have number one but I don’t believe that to no I don’t I don’t think you can project the top 50 you know median outcome for anybody no I mean if you could this would be we we’d be done here like how many guys in my adult life have been uh a prospect where you could project a low-end outcome of a top 50 player in the league like it’s not a very long list uh Lebron I mean Anthony Davis like the elite number one types I think you you kind of can like Zion I would have you know guessed like he’s at least top 50 but definitely not in this no definitely not anyway we’re uh we’re off the rails Andrew thank you for all the time I’ve kept you at least one minute longer than I said I was going to uh if you have anything else you want to say please feel free to do that if if not we can we can sign off here but uh I appreciate the team building aspects by the way just say this out loud you and I can talk for three hours about this stuff very easily I’m not gonna make you do that but I appreciate it yeah thanks for having me man it’s been fun and I appreciate everybody too uh interacting on Twitter giving me their own draft thoughts it’s been fun to discuss the Hawks again after like a rough season so it’s been fun it is a fun time uh I do wish everybody was a little bit temperature down like you know how this is it’s just what it is like people are really dug in and that’s fine I I’m am not opposed to people having strong opinions it’s mostly what I don’t love is when when when we get to like this player is the only option and everybody else sucks like that I don’t like that but everybody else but you’re right it has been way more entertaining this break between the lottery and the draft than it would have been last year now granted last year would have been just the wathon that have been that would have been fun in its own way but uh I do appreciate the uh the the sort of diverse opinions I had someone on the show before you this week that uh has Ron Hall number one and it’s like I understand I’m not saying I have Ron H number one but I I at least get it like there are many guys in this class I can I could I could write a case for to be at the top and that makes that makes it kind of interesting even if it’s kind of also vexing for the team has I mean I’ve seen people that have Zach Ed at one like I’ve seen Ron Holland at one I can’t I I can’t get there with but yeah I mean there’s just a lot of at one this year yeah we agree on that all right well Andrew uh do you you want to plug your your Twitter if while we’re I know it’s on the screen for people on watching on YouTube people people listening on audio they can you can follow me at a and d l n k l I appreciate it check it out Andrew’s always talking about basketball and team building and things and occasionally a a watch or something he can yeah and there you have it all right well as for everybody else thank you again Andrew please subscribe to the podcast everyone we will have more coming up later this week we’ll see you all next time

Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) hosts episode No. 1737 of the Locked on Hawks podcast, and he is joined by Andrew Kelly (@andlankell) for Part 2 of a 2-part discussion. The conversation begins with a look at the team building decisions for the Atlanta Hawks, including free agency, trade targets, and much more. Then, the discussion pivots to the 2024 NBA Draft and candidates for the No. 1 overall pick, including Alex Sarr, Zaccharie Risacher, and Donovan Clingan.

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