2026 NBA draft thread

[Winter]

On the other hand, what if you actually took Burries and Carr?

You gave Burries a year with Kyrie to take the reins eventually at the point, and your backcourt is now Burries and Carr. You'd need to add another big somehow, maybe another PG for insurance, but the spacing problem is almost certainly solved. You've got solid trade pieces to get the rotation right. You've got playmaking skills and with Flagg, Burries, Kyrie, Marshall, and even Carr.

This won't happen, but I enjoyed thinking about it.

[KillerLeft]

So far down what list? The media/tankathon boards? There’s no way to know how all 30 teams have these guys stacked. It’s just as likely that these “late risers”, as labeled by the media, have been in consideration ahead of the talking heads for months now, no?

That's a fair point, actually. 

But, I kind of think (assume?) that the constant and consistent list with only minor, tedious variations from outlet to outlet originates from pretty substantially sourced information. 

And, my point wasn't to talk about THIS "list," so much as it was to consider and discuss RBWS's point as a concept. IF, as you suggest, those guys might have been high on some team's board all along, then taking them wouldn't haven't anything to do with the "hype based pressure" he wanted to discuss. At least the way I took his meaning.

[Smitty]

I just used the ESPN mock draft simulator for the first time. You can trade picks. I did the trade back option with OKC and ended up with:

12) Burries (G)
17) Carr (W)
30) Ejiofor (F)
48) Suigo ©


Yeahh... I can get on board with something like that for sure.

On the other hand, what if you actually took Burries and Carr?

You gave Burries a year with Kyrie to take the reins eventually at the point, and your backcourt is now Burries and Carr. You'd need to add another big somehow, maybe another PG for insurance, but the spacing problem is almost certainly solved. You've got solid trade pieces to get the rotation right. You've got playmaking skills and with Flagg, Burries, Kyrie, Marshall, and even Carr.

This won't happen, but I enjoyed thinking about it.

Great minds. I went through the same thought exercise the other day. Then Carr blew up and the scrimmage… so who knows.

[F Gump]

I think on the court performance is a much bigger impact to player evaluation than combine.

This ^.

Every actual NBA scout and draft evaluator says that the Combine is something they regard as more of a singular data point and less of something decisive to rank players by. For the most part, they have been watching these top guys for YEARS and have MANY prior facts that have already framed a working evaluation. The measurements are new info, but maybe not as much to the scouts as to us. 

My analogy: in the high school race to determine a valedictorian, the final exam in the last semester counts, and a really good or bad one might move you up a bit or down a bit, but it doesn't outweigh everything else prior to that date.  

I suspect there's a ton of knee-jerk - or maybe even misdirection - in what we are getting fed this week, about who is impressing and who is falling, and by how much.

[hakeemfaan]

https://x.com/thehoopherald/status/20550...69851?s=46

[Smitty]

The Golden State Warriors are “intrigued” by 19-year-old prospect Karim Lopez with the No. 11 pick, per @MarcJSpears

Lopez is projected to be the first Mexican-born player taken in the 1st round, making his jersey a guaranteed “hot seller” in the Bay Area.

(Via @957thegame)

[Mavs2021]

https://x.com/thehoopherald/status/20550...69851?s=46

LOOOOOOOOOL.

Good we take the tall one at #30.

[Mavs2021]

The Golden State Warriors are “intrigued” by 19-year-old prospect Karim Lopez with the No. 11 pick, per @MarcJSpears

Lopez is projected to be the first Mexican-born player taken in the 1st round, making his jersey a guaranteed “hot seller” in the Bay Area.

(Via @957thegame)

...and let´s all be grateful Cuban is not the Mavs majority owner, cause you know we´d have cultured into the play-in and taken him at #13 to sell jerseys.