Going Higher or Lower than the Consensus on NBA Draft Prospects + Trail Blazers Hold A Draft Workout

Going Higher or Lower than the Consensus on NBA Draft Prospects + Trail Blazers Hold A Draft Workout

in today’s show Tyler Mata from No Ceilings joins the program and we talk about prospects we like more than others and Prospects we don’t like as much as others welcome to lock on Blazers we’re battling the consensus let’s get into [Music] it you are locked on Trailblazers your daily Portland Trailblazers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every every day what’s up world it’s your pass first point guarden Trail Blazers reporter Mike Richmond you’re listening to another episode of Locked on Blazers part of the lockon podcast network available wherever you get Podcast and also on YouTube coming at you each and every weekday Monday through Friday so make it a part of your daily routine make get your first listen tell your friends to do the same it’s locked on Blazers your team every day in today’s episode of fun one First Time guest to the program Tyler mataf of No Ceilings the gang over there doing wonderful draft work at no ceiling.com Tyler how you doing Mike I’m awesome uh draft is rapidly approaching finals seem to be winding down uh really fun time of the year parsing through the rumors and the smoke screens and all that kind of stuff it’s it’s it’s a lot of fun how are youed we’re we’re less yeah we’re less than three weeks away or two excuse less than two weeks away I believe as as you listening to this dear listeners 12 Days 12 days away um so for folks like Tyler who who are going to really have to get into it it’s crunch time it is crunch time to to pour over and for um the casuals like me I just get to I’m just reading stuff I’m just doing a little more I’m doing a little more reading uh than I normally would um in today’s show we’re going to kind of um mix things up a little bit instead of talking about sort of the same handful five six seven guys that we’ve been focusing on for the Blazers and the lottery um I’m gonna get Tyler’s opinion on someone that some prospects he’s higher on the consensus and and Prospects he’s a little lower on the consensus and then to close the show Blazers held a public draft workout today with some uh potential Lottery guys guys that could be in the range we’ll talk about uh that workout to close the show but let’s let us start with uh with a prospect you’re higher on than the consensus this can be anybody based on what you’ve seen and all the draft boards you read Tyler who do you like more than other folks out there um and so for a while uh it was Stephen Castle who I’ve had at one for a while now um but it seems like that’s kind you know some people are trending that way While others are trending the other way there doesn’t really seem to be a whole lot of middle of the road with him um but the one clear guy that I feel like I’m way higher than everyone else is AJ Johnson um he played for the ilara Hawks I have him at like middle of the first right now um and pretty much everywhere you see you’re G to see midc um but I would be kind of surprised at this point if he doesn’t end up going first round um super raw really Talent really talented kid the numbers with the NBL were awful ignore them don’t look at the numbers uh because you’re going to look at them and be like what are you talking about this dude doesn’t deserve to play a minute but super athletic really raw really talented kid um and reminds me a lot of a guy on your guys’s team Anthony Simons and kind of his his road to the NBA so why do you when you say throw out the numbers give me give me the like give me the broad Strokes if I’m if because if I am looking at the numbers like yeah i’ I’ve I sort for me a casual I’ve never understood it tell me tell me what you like that maybe other are missing or or what you think you’re seeing yeah he played like three minutes a game or something with ilaro um he he you know to put it bluntly he kind of got screwed in that system where they just didn’t play him at all but when they did play him when he was out there the effort was always there he was always playing really hard he was always really intentional about what he was doing he was committed to doing the little things um and a guy who was I think fivar recruit originally slotted to go to Texas for him to go to the NBL and then Play 3 minutes a game but then still have that effort still have that intentionality still have that focus on doing the little things that you expect from a player that contributes to winning basketball that was really big for me in terms of talk speaking to his mentality and his willingness to play and his desire to play and get better so he’s still really skinny still has to get a lot stronger but once he does I really think think the athletic tools are going to pop uh even in his limited minutes there were some awesome flashes of offensive creation and handle and shooting and playmaking where it’s like oh okay this is the guy that we saw in high school who was a really highly touted point guard athletic recruit who was supposed to go to Texas and then decommitted went to the NBL there’s just so much potential there and and that’s really the thing it’s like if you’re PTI if a team is patient with him um if I only had one pick in the first round probably wouldn’t use it on him because he is going to be a longer term project kind of like Anthony Simons was where you kind of just throw him in the G League let him develop physically let him get used to the physicality and the speed of play let him get minutes figure out how to play and then ease him in keep him around the team get him used to that culture there’s so much upside with him though and he is skinny but he still plays physical he doesn’t shy away from contact and I think it’s a lot easier to add muscle and improve the frame than it is to change mentality yeah I I I do think playing hard is a skill that guys um that we think we we we tend to think like oh they they’ll just turn it on some guys are wired to play hard some aren’t and I I I like it it to like keeping your elbow in on jumpers some guys when they take a jump shot have to say okay I really got to keep my elbow in I gotta like I got to get my base clean so they’re thinking through a jump shot if you’re thinking through playing hard you are not playing hard I I really do think it’s a skill U AJ Johnson 65 160 160 that’s a skinny person um yeah so yeah I think shout out to Texas losing both Holland and Johnson from that recruiting class probably would have been probably a little more talented um what is his like General range you said like if he’s if you have him as a first round guy what where is he where do you mostly see him um I so like most of the you know mock drafts and stuff that you’ll see from other outlets he’ll be early to midc round um I would be surprised if he fell out of the top 40 and it wouldn’t shock me if a team kind of in that 20 to 30 range used a second round or like their second first round pick on him to get that extra year on the contract to get that that five guaranteed years give themselves a little longer leash a little more uh kind of Runway to develop him and then still reap the benefits of putting of investing those time that time and resources into them so um I I would I’m leaning towards that kind of 25 to 30 range uh I think a team will jump in for him but it would kind of surprise me if he falls out of that top 40 to 45 range where we typically see guys get more guaranteed contracts yeah Blazers have 34 and 40 um they’re a little tied up in terms of NBA contracts particularly if they take both of their first round picks yeah they’re probably going to make some trades and so it’ll be it’ll it’ll take care of itself um but uh they do have they would probably have all three of their two-way spots open and I think there’s a world in which they try to sign both of their second round picks to two-way spots I I think that is very realistic um and maybe Johnson could be could be that guy okay you mentioned Stefan Castle I like him too I think he was when I was pitching you on this on this it for a show he was the kind of guy because I’d watched your uh breakdown your film breakdown of him you know if he’s a point guard I think he’s a really interesting player he’s probably not an NBA point guard like at least not early on in his career he’s probably not an NBA point guard although his people his Camp certainly wants him to be an NBA point guard shout out to shout out to the representation um what um what did you see early that you said okay Stefon Castle is is really good because for me what popped was the defensive versatility but what else for you has have you seen so I with Yukon it was immediately the just the defense being incredible from go yeah um and coming out of high school he was not a good Defender at least I didn’t I I was really underwhelmed with this defensive tape in high school and I was like oh God like okay like you you’re kind of this creative you know offensive engine you’re physical you have really good positional size but you’re a mediocre shooter at best and you’re not defending like what are you and then he goes to Yukon and plays a completely different role he’s a completely different person on the court and him proving that it’s like okay I can be this offensive engine I can also be this role player who is arguably the best perimeter defense per perimeter defender in the country and then I can also be an an awesome rebounder and passer and play finisher and cutter and do all the the little things it’s like okay this is a complete player and the the detractors are just they’re always going to point to the shot and it’s a very legitimate concern I have concerns about it too um but generally guys of his caliber you know lottery picks um who shot under 30% the vast majority of them end up improving somewhat and when I say improving somewhat I mean like 35ish career three point percentage and I think if can get to that I think that’s more than enough because he’s incredibly smart um he doesn’t Force stuff he doesn’t play outside of who he is and as the year went on we saw that confidence in the shot grow steadily so I don’t think he’s ever going to be Steph Curry but I don’t think he has to I don’t think he has to be this lethal shooter and I think the mid-range game is going to come along nothing with the mechanics look horrible to me you know there’s some small tweaks here and there but I don’t think anything has to be reworked and I have him at one because I I do view the upside as that kind of Jimmy Butler type of player where he’s really physical really dominant on the defensive end and is he going to be this awesome outside shooter probably not but is he going to be awesome at basically everything else I think so and in this draft I’d be really excited to take that swing at one yeah I I don’t think he’s a great fit in Portland is the only reason I haven’t talked about him a bunch on the a bunch on the show because it’s like they just they’re kind of they’ve invested in a lot of guys that play similar spots like even if they if you know assuming they trade Malcolm Brockton they still got three youngsters with with scoot Henderson Shaden sharp and anrey Simons that kind of would be in a similar spot as him even if they trade Anthony Simons they’ve the last two drafts they’ve invested in guards would it make sense to go three straight guard guard types he probably can’t play three with consistency I mean maybe eventually but not early and I feel the same way about Shaden sharp like he could play a little bit of three but you kind of want plus length there particularly if you’re to play scoot Henderson at at um at point guard you want plus length you don’t want like guys who are passably small forwards you want actual size at those spots that’s like the ideal version of the Blazers but Castle I really like I really like as a passer I re I I I um you know when when they got to the final four and Alabama said this dude can’t shoot let’s dare him to shoot he won the game in the first half he said yeah so I he said so I get to take practice jump shots in the NCAA Final Four tight and he nailed him and it totally changed the calculation for Alabama and it kind of um he’s not going to get he might not get that full-on treatment not everyone is uh is Nate oats but like um he I I I’m with you I see a world in which he is like 35 is like slightly below League average I think League average is like just under 37 this year because everybody shoots threes good goodness gracious um 35% with the other tools I’m I’m with you um he he was he would have been my guy as well let’s let’s talk um some let’s just put on our take a sip of haterade I saw you had a little cup on this on the side there take a sip of haterade let’s talk about some players that we’re lower on than the consensus uh join us in that second segment and we will do just that first I want to tell you that Today’s Show is brought to you by prize picks America’s number one fantasy sports app 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NBA it’s prize picks pick more pick less it’s that [Music] easy all right still chatting here with Tyler mataf of no ceiling so we talked about some prospects you were higher on the consensus in the first segment let’s let’s shift gears who are some folks that are higher up on the draft boards that you see higher up in mock that you see that maybe you don’t have as warm fuzzy feelings about when you watch him on tape um oh god um all right so I the obvious one for me is modest melis um okay I this ignite team this year was brutal they it was a really poorly constructed team and neither him or Ron Holland were done any favors and I think it really reflected in their years where they were asked to do a lot and it didn’t work I know they put up with some really good numbers in some games but the process of what they went through I just I was really really underwhelmed um now to Mod’s credit I was really impressed with the defense I thought the defense was much better than I was anticipating uh the way he moved his feet laterally the the footwork was really good the kind of help Rim protection was really good um but like his rotations were kind of inconsistent and I’m just not sold that he has the lateral foot speed to like actually wings and offensively he he didn’t shoot and the whole selling sales pitch of him coming out of high school is he’s this 69 610 lethal shooter and even going back to his high school shooting stuff it all felt pretty mundane to me whereas a lot of stand stuff is a lot of just being bigger and shooting over smaller Defenders um I was never really sold on the offensive creation the self creation and if he’s not going to shoot it then I don’t know what he really gives you on offense um but this is where it’s like okay in a lesser role where he’s not asked to do all of the self-creation and offensive creation and he he has an actual point guard and now he’s the fourth option on offense when he’s out there does that kind of give him more juice to his legs because that jump from high school three-point line to NBA three-point line that’s a big one so the drop in three-point percentage wasn’t shocking but it was a big drop so when he’s asked to do less do we see the efficiencies rise and that’s where I hope it kind of comes and you know like when we look at Team Fitz while I might be a little lower on him if he went to a place like Portland a post-draft kind of big board he might rise up a little bit because when we’re looking at offensive creation stuff he’s not going to be asked to do anything because scoot Shaden Anthony Jeremy Grant all those guys Malcolm BR Brogden DeAndre Aton he’ll be exclusively off them so will that preserve his legs a little bit more another year at that line another year of strength and conditioning does he have that that energy that strength to be that better shooter that a lot of people build him as that’s where I get a little more excited about him so in a vacuum I’m a little lower on him than most but like Blazer specific I I I see it and get a little bit more excited about it yeah he he is actually a decent fit in terms of his archetype with the Blazers right he’s big he could probably he could Pro I mean he’s so skinny so that’s that’s a he’s probably not an NBA 4 this fall like he’s not a power forward in the NBA in October but he could like uh as some of my older listers will know it’s pretty easy to put on weight as you AG that that one’s pretty simple um but like I think his frame could fill out and then he’s like a four he’s pretty good end to end athlete um it’s just like what does he do in the half court I’m with you I saw him once in person when the ignite played the remix and the physicality of the g- league was too much for him like he just couldn’t hang they would try to post him up and he’d go like mid block and he’d end up catching it at 19 feet and it’s like okay well that’s not that’s actually not a great you didn’t just gain an advantage by posting a guy up at 11 feet and then by the time you catch it and square you’re now you know whatever a step and a half inside the three-point line um in that same game though he crashed from the corner and caught a ball above the square and dunked home a rebound and it’s like oh that that the that’s the thing people like you know it’s like I watched him play I thought I thought he was pretty bad in that game like if I I I joked like it’s like if I didn’t know anyone’s name coming in you know if it’s like it’s like there’s no names on the back of the jerseys and you’re just watching kind of blind you wouldn’t have been like oh yeah the big the big kid like he’s good you would have no idea you would have been like yeah that dunk was cool but otherwise and he had like an maybe an end to-end layup that was like oh yeah someone at his size who can dribble that’s that’s pretty intriguing but it’s like he shot bricks and he got pushed around and it’s like and that’s like one a one game Scout but I’m saying just like immediate First Impressions but so yeah I I can understand being a little lower on him also like at one point he was supposed to be the number one pick in the draft right like he was supposed to be you know this was before the ignite season it was like Maus bazis he’s not going to go to college should have gone to Carolina go tar Hills but he’s not going to go to college like he’s gonna he’s he’s gonna go the professional route and he’s going and this is like a number one pick in the draft type this is like when um the good people at the four-letter Network were like touting that the ignite had seven firstr draft picks on the roster um so the hype has changed a little bit the hype has changed I can see being down on him though because the shooting is such a weird thing right it’s like what is if a guy isn’t an on ball Creator right then most players in the wing Mo most players on the wing like the the value you’re going to have is being able to be a standstill shooter like that’s just the archetype in the league like they’re just we’re getting to a place where very unless you’re really creative as a passer and ball handler you have to be able to shoot moderately well and he was a straight up bad shooter like he was just bad at it um I wonder if there is so okay let’s let’s assume that he’s always a low-level shooter is there another skill he could add that you feel like could get him to like NBA starter level in the nearish future the the defense would have to be awesome and yeah it it it took steps towards that this year um that the defense was way better but again like I he just doesn’t have I I don’t know what he does offensively because he doesn’t have that quick twitch explosiveness where you know he’s creating his own shot and he didn’t do that really in high school he didn’t do that at the ignite uh like you said he has some vertical pop where he has a straight line to the to the rim whether it’s in transition or offensive tip dunks there’s really good stuff there um there’s some optimism with his passing but if he can’t really create for himself and if he’s not really shooting does the passing do anything for you because he’s not going to be big enough to play five so you know it doesn’t make I I think he just he really has to shoot it and you know to his credit I mean this year he was sub 30% uh from three but with Sunrise Christian as in you know his last year in high school um I believe he was like 43% from three and sorry just pull yeah 43% from three on just over 100 attempts but with in his Nike EB um circuit he shot 29% on just under 70 attempts from three so it’s like he’s always been buil as this lethal shooter but there’s only been one season and one setting where he’s done it can he of course yeah I I really hope he turns around and becomes a shooter because if he does then we’re kind of talking about a really intriguing kind of three and D piece at the forward position I think he is exclusively a four um which you know makes lineup construction a a little trickier but I think he’s going to in time be strong enough and be a good enough athlete where it makes sense so I I think it’s unfortunately I hate having evaluations be dumbed down to this specific or this this simp simplified but a lot of the times it is and it’s like if he doesn’t ever shoot it over 30% and that’s a really really low bar that’s it’s like I don’t know what you’re giving me on offense and at that point I’m not sure the defense is so Elite that yeah would have to be exceptional yeah I I will say the Blazers do have a lot of wings that can’t shoot maybe that’s their they do you guys have a lot a lot maybe maybe that maybe they just want to add another like cornering the market yeah exactly like how many guys with like up you know positional size who really can’t shoot on offense can you play at one time I think that U it’s maybe an maybe an interesting little uh experiment they could run out here in Portland okay the Blazers held draft workout today six guys coming into the practice facility a public draft workout where they announc the names as opposed to some secret ones they’ve held over the last couple weeks uh let’s talk about who worked out for the Blazers and get Tyler’s opinion on a couple of them we’ll do that to close the show join us in the third segment won’t you first I want to tell you that Today’s Show is brought to you by LinkedIn jobs when you’re hiring for your small business you want to find quality professionals that are right for the role that’s why you got to check out LinkedIn jobs because LinkedIn jobs has the tools to help you find the right Professionals for your team faster and for free LinkedIn isn’t just another job board LinkedIn has a vast network of more than a billion professionals which makes it the best place to hire and it gives you access to professionals that you can’t find anywhere else because it’s LinkedIn and they do all of that while making the process easy and intuitive hiring is easy when you’ve got that many quality cans to choose from so easy in fact that 86% of small businesses get a qualified candidate within 24 hours hours of posting on LinkedIn jobs there’s already two and a half million small businesses using LinkedIn for hiring so join the gang post your job for free at linkedin.com loock onba that’s linkedin.com loock onba to post your job for free terms and conditions [Music] apply still a pass first point guard I’m still Mike Richmond you’re still listening to lock on Blazer still chatting here with Tyler mat CF of No Ceilings okay so the Blazers held a draft workout on Thursday you’re listening uh your listeners to Friday June 14th show appreciate you listening we do it 5 days a week wherever you get Podcast free on all your platforms including YouTube uh blaz is held a draft workout on Thursday Tristan D Silva from Colorado uh Nicola jurisic from Mega Kyle filipowski from duke David Jones of Memphis pel Larson from Arizona Jamir young uh from Maryland I don’t think Jamir Young’s likely to get drafted David Jones is a second Roundy type pel larsson’s a second Roundy type that could definitely be in a wing forward from from Arizona definitely could be in the Blazers range at 34 40 I want to talk about those first three guys D Silva jisk and Phil palowski let’s start with D Silva I think he’s a name that is that folks like this is like a one of those names that it’s like people are like oh okay the more I watch it draft folks the more I watch it this is a first rounder this is a fringe Lottery guy are you a d Silva believer yeah I I have him top 10 um wow okay and you know when we were just talking about buellis where it’s like oh man could he even become Tristan D Silva it’s like why not just take D Silva and get it in the building right away um the tricky thing with d Silva is like none of his numbers are like holy crap that’s outstanding but they’re all really good and they’ve all been really good to above average for his for basically his entire career um and so much of what he does doesn’t show up in the Box Score necessarily where he is one of the best team defenders in this class his rotations his versatility his ability to kind of switch pick and rolls to hard hedge and recover to rotate from the weak side and stay vertical without fouling to jump passing Lanes it’s incredible and then offensively 87th percentile as a spot up shooter really good rebounder really good connective passer the ball doesn’t stick with him he’s a quick decision maker quick processor I’m a huge huge huge Tristan D Silva fan he does seem to fit what the Blazers need they need more shooting on the wing desperately 28th in in in three-point accuracy last year and they were relatively low in volume although the volume thing in the every team in the league shoots between 30 and 43s yeah um so it’s like you’re talking like four more attempts per game you jump up into the top half um he does they could use more playmaking like they don’t have that so another connective passer it’s like Jeremy Grant doesn’t really pass um so they they they could use that skill set I do Wonder their thinking front office wise is Tristan dilva is he old is he ancient he’s so he’s just a man in his 20s a 23y old adult no no no that couldn’t possibly be obviously they drafted Chris Murray last year so maybe they don’t care about it um but I wonder like if at 14 or if you know with both their lottery picks if they’re just upside over everything right and they just want to draft for what players can be because they need to they got to shoot for the moon and they don’t and like the idea of like this is a productive player but we don’t see him becoming more than a role player doesn’t appeal to them but like how many guys in this league have upside how many guys in their draft range at seven and 14 and this is kind of what I’m warming up to I think I’ve I’ve I’ve kind of warmed up to the idea of dton connect in the same way it’s like sure maybe this doesn’t have like he doesn’t have star player in the league upside because it’s just like he’s already close to what he’s going to be and he’s just going to sharpen his tools some of the guys you’re drafting with upside you hope that they become role players in the league like that’s the like what are you hoping that mat Pelos and Ron Holland become you know I I think that’s um it’s the same thing so I’m I feel similarly on to silvo as you um but I I’m not I’m just curious what the Blazers might do um let’s talk Phil palsky I’ve seen him a bunch I’m a Carolina guy ACC guy I don’t think he’s an NBA like highlevel NBA player he’s just like what position does he play he’s like a big slow four um what are your thoughts on flip uh a I will say at the high school level a darling of NBA draft prognosticators he was supposed to be the next guy and I think at Duke he showed to be a guy more so I I’m a little little lower on him uh you kind of consistently see him like late Lottery middle of the first I have him more towards the end of the first like early 20s um I just I I don’t know how he scores or um because he’s supposed to shoot it the shot looks good it hasn’t fallen it it it doesn’t fall so I’m just kind of at the point of I need to see it with him with the shot and you know it looks good hopefully it goes in one day but at for the last two years it hasn’t gone in um um his interior game and he’s got a decent handle for his size he can attack Closeouts but again if he’s not shooting at an NBA level guys aren’t going to close out on him so that ability to attack Closeouts vanishes um a lot of his kind of interior scoring is him just throwing his body into his Defender chest and being super physical and trying to play bully ball that gets you through 90% of college competition that doesn’t really pass in the NBA uh what he do he’s an awesome passer at he good pass um so offensively you know you have that with him where you can run some really fun creative you know pick and roll D stuff with him you know have him initiate from the top of the key the elbows the post wherever he’s going to be a really good passer um and then defensively I’m just not sold on the rim protection and I he he moved a lot better in space I thought this year defensively he had that hip surgery when you talk about a 20-year-old having hip surgery and never ideal but he was moving a lot better this year than he was last year so that’s encouraging I’m just not sure he’s a full-time Center defensively awesome rebounder plays Super physical which leads to him drawing a ton of fouls but also him committing a lot of dumb fouls so as like a backup four five I’m intrigued with him but when I keep seeing him mocked like end of the lottery I’m like I’m hoping for a starter at that range and I’m just not quite sure he has that upside necessarily unless he goes to like a couple very specific places yeah I I kind of view him the same way I think he has like Pretty Good Feet in the post but I but he also like he got overwhelmed against DJ Burns and Armando Bott like the physicality of bigger centers in the ACC gave him a little bit of trouble um and that’s what you’re going to see at the pros right and so like then the footwork where he’s like able to okay I can get on balance and take fadeaways and get over the top of folks at eight or 10 feet and he’s pretty good at that it’s hard to do that when you’re getting overpowered so I I I I wouldn’t be surprised if if uh Phil palski a a pro like I don’t I would you know like I I could see him be a pro but I have a trouble I have trouble seeing him as like an NBA starter because I don’t think I don’t I don’t I do not view him as a center but he’s like Center he has the physical tools of a center um otherwise um Nicole jisk I I feel like this is a pretty intriguing Prospect who is like if maybe he wasn’t in this draft would be relatively high up in the next one um what are your what are your thoughts on him the big thing he and he’s kind of been on draft Radars for the last two two three years and the big thing with him was God is he ever going to shoot it as he ever going to shoot it and up until these last two months he hadn’t and then these last two months he’s been on an absolute Terror uh with mega um the shot has looked really good it’s been falling a ton really Dynamic stuff uh really creative on ball Creator and uh shot Creator um and when the shots falling he looks awesome but when it’s not and we only have like a two- Monon sample size of it falling it’s like oh boy what are you giving me because the the defense is pretty rough the playmaking is awesome really good playmaker but it’s kind of this whole symptom with mega where it’s like their whole offense is kind of set up for whoever’s the on ball Creator they’re allowed to shine and boy do they look good we saw it with nicoa toic um and I don’t think jurich has the juice to be an on ball NBA cre the threshold for that is so stinking High you have to be so good and it’s like the top 2% of the league gets that is afforded that uh that leash and I don’t think he’s going to get there I don’t think that’s a slight um but when we talk about him as like an off ball guy I just I’m not sure I’ve seen the consistency with the off ball movement the movement shooting the consistency shooting off the catch um The Cutting all of that kind of stuff he’s pretty stagnant once he’s off the ball but the the ability if if the if the shot off the catch really does get there if these last two months have been real and that development is there that’s it’s like okay this is a guy that you could Pro potentially steal at the end of the first early second to be this kind of you know this buan bogdanovich esque type of bench Creator where you can bring him in have him run the second unit have him be this kind of fun Dynamic scorer and if the defense is really killing you if the shots not falling yeah yank them and you kind of know how it’s going to go pretty quickly and no harm no foul um so I think the Intrigue is there where it’s like yeah top 40 draft pick sure why not um but you know if you’re just looking at the last two months he looks like a top 20 pick if you take in the last two years it’s more like second round flyer let’s see what how real these these recent shooting developments are yeah I think he’s pretty intriguing at at 34 I I can’t imagine that his people agreed to a two-way contract so I think it’s prob not you know so like if you want him on the team you’re probably and then in second round um I think this year especially with day two of the second round you’re going to see a lot of um this would never happen but I think there’s G to be a lot of negotiations that happen before folks are on the clock where they you kind of know what your deal is when by the time you’re drafting him this obviously like teams don’t tamper that doesn’t happen in the league it’s not like never incredibly rampant and like the basically qualification for running an NBA team but like I I wonder it’s like you know if the Blazers clear up roster spots for him I think like a six seven 20year old who can maybe shoot and go get his own bucket is like so tantalizing at 34 you know like so that’s like um I would that’s what they need right they need another player of size who can go score that’s like kind of the archetype that they’re after they could use everything they’re kind of light on talent but like specifically that I think is really you is really intriguing for him so that’s that’s like a um that’s that that’s a a name that I would Circle but I think you would have to give him an NBA deal like I think you’d have to say you’d have to clear roster spot for him and give him an NBA deal um okay the last two guys I want to ask you about real quick David Jones is every time that I see like a here’s the best analytics player in college basketball David Jones from Memphis is always on the list and I’m like who is this guy who is David Jones I’s a solid player um I I’m I’m not completely sold on the NBA upside with him uh I’m not I’m not sure I totally buy the shot um but everything you hear about him is that he’s an awesome kid awesome worker awesome teammate so you know that alone if you’re able to shine and you know really shoot well in a workout and impress front offices when you sit down and talk to them and you interview well a lot of the time that’s enough to at least get you in the second round so if he ends up going second round or being one of the kind of first udfa guys it wouldn’t totally shock me um I’m not sure I would draft him just Bas purely based off of the production and kind of talent um the age is a little concerning for for me too just how much upside is there left and if the shot still hasn’t taken that leap yet it’s like okay um so potential kind of two-way guy for me right now yeah 63 college senior I I do think Blazer fans would Riot um but it’s but whatever it’s that uh I think the riot is maybe good for Content um pel Larson from Arizona I was intrigued by him and then I watched the final couple games of Arizona and I was like H maybe I’m maybe I’m not as excited I he feels like a connective forward like with some passing stuff do you think he’s a second round Talent ye yes I he’s he’s been one of the most frustrating college basketball players over the the last two years for me um because when he looks when he’s playing well he looks awesome he is a stud he’s knocking down shots he’s passing he’s slashing he’s attacking the rim he’s defending at a high level but those games seem to come once every 10 games and there just isn’t that consistency there so when you catch him on a good night it’s like oh my God why isn’t this guy a first-rounder he looks awesome and then you watch him literally the next game and it’s like oh I forgot he was on the court and it’s so frustrating because guys who are that talented you’re like come like give it give me like I know what you’re capable of you just showed me where did it go and that’s just kind of how his whole college career has unfortunately gone at least in my eyes um so again if if he gets in a workout you know he’s shooting well he’s knocking stuff down he looks awesome you turn on the right game you watch the right highlight clip you’re like God this dude rocks he is so good he’s you know one of the main pieces on a really good Arizona team why wouldn’t we spend a top 40 pick on him it won’t shock me I wouldn’t spend the First on them if you go second be like okay it’s just the that level of inconsistency just really really frustrates me yeah that’s it’s it’s hard it’s hard to know with those guys right is it is it just if he was in the right setting you could you could maximize him right setting right role maximize them or is it just like the plight of of of human existence is that you can’t be your best self all the time so uh he’s an intriguing one Tyler thanks so much for joining the program it was a whole bunch of fun absolutely I appreciate you having me uh if folks are looking for more of your work where can they find it uh yeah you can follow me on Twitter at tf1 um all of our stuff is over at no sealings nba.com uh basically everything we do is free there’s also a paid tier that gets you access to our private Discord where we share Intel and have q&as and you can talk with us whenever you want um and we will be launching a draft guide soon as well um not entirely sure on the price of that I think it’s like 10 bucks is give or take um but that should be coming out uh next week um yeah so no no seing nba.com check it out Tyler does great work the whole gang at No Ceilings are going to make you smarter about the draft and look you only got you only got two weeks left it’s time to get smart it’s time to do it um that’s what we do five days a week R get Podcast and also on YouTube we’ll do five more of these next week you’re not getting this with other Blazer podcast so if you want to find it come back and get it and then tell your friends to do the same I appreciate you listening I’ll talk to you soon [Music]

Tyler Metcalf of No Ceilings joins the program and we talk about prospects we’re higher on than the consensus or prospects we’re lower on than the consensus. Plus, a quick breakdown of the Trail Blazers latest draft workout which featured Tristan da Silva, Kyle Filipowski, Nikola Djurisic among others.

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