02-23-2026, 04:57 AM
(02-23-2026, 04:46 AM)DL2RimRocker Wrote: Agree with a lot of this Gump, but there isnt a clear choice past 5 that I can see.
Guys like Cenac and Burries are late lotto picks or later in several mock drafts I've seen and I'd be comfortable taking either of them over guys like Brown, Acuff, Mullen, Arenas and Ament who are usually projected to go higher. I like Wagler a lot but his limited athleticism is concerning at the NBA level.
If we were picking top 5 I'd completely agree with you but 6 through 20 will be where GMs and scouts will have to earn their pay in this draft.
You may be right ...and if you are, and everything after 5 is TRULY all the same caliber, then of course trading down is a plus, assuming you get 2 shots instead of one, all of the same value of player.
But I would have to be persuaded of that. I think the lure of "2 instead of 1" can be a temptation DESPITE there being a player you really think has emerged as the best choice. And the idea that "we do like one guy the most, but we will trade back, and STILL get the same player" is also a mind trick you can play on yourself, and end up screwing yourself out of the one player worth having when someone else surprises you and takes him.
If they get ONE player who is all-star caliber, that's a win. Identify that guy, and if you can pick him, get him and don't look back. There is no such thing as picking that guy "too high" -- there will be tons of bad picks, and the goal is to make a great one, somehow or other.