The draft wasn't too bad once you got to the later stages of the 1st and then the 2nd round
It wasn't an ideal poker hand to start off with but given the circumstances I think overall this turned out to be as good a draft as it possibly could have been.
Yes
Iggy and
Kyle Guy were drafted which is good. I agree with above post that
Kyle Guy ( a real favorite of mine) could have been a featured star in his final year at Virginia and being picked so late the percentages of making it are relatively slim. But that said I hope
Iggy and
Guy can carve out a bit of a career in the NBA.
The three Euros drafted in the second round do not jump off the page. Big man
Smailagic is very young so he has some time. Dallas nabbed a shooter in
Sirvydis.
But the most important part of this draft was yes all four of the top white prospects were chosen in the first round!!! That made the night.
Pin me against a wall and I would tell you I can evaluate basketball talent better than football and baseball. About a month into the season I said here at CF
Tyler Herro was the
best white freshman and that turned out to be the case.
Herro had on a colorful suit ( ha) which prompted ass wipe Jay Bilas ( can't stand him) to mention Austin Powers. There were a few fancy outfits last night but at least unlike the NFL draft nobody was wearing a
dress. That alone is a victory. Ha.
Herro did surprise most by ending up as a lottery pick. Now I thought one more year at KY would be the move but it is hard to argue that when a player gets picked in the lottery. That said he has been compared to
Nik Stauskas. Nik, who left Michigan after his sophomore year was the 8th overall pick in 2014 and has a middling NBA career. And at this stage Nik was probably a better shooter than
Herro.
But
Herro has great form and shot 95% from the free throw line which portends good things for long distance shooting. Also
Herro is a much better all around player than
Stauskus. And when it comes to instincts and basketball IQ
Herro is top of the line.
Bitadze has the all around center skills to become a solid 10 year starter for the Pacers.
Luka Samanic is the premiere white athlete in this draft and should blossom into a fun player for the Spurs. Might take a year or two given his age.
Sweating out the latter stages of the first round but the Cavs nabbed
Dylan Windler as the 26th pick Wonderful.
Windler in my estimation is the second best white athlete in this draft. Very nice leaper and moves with fluidity. And has three point range. Sort of like Gordon Hayward. I really like this pick. And I like
Windler an awful lot.
None of these teams are front liners but perhaps that will work into their favor and allow them to get nice playing time.
All of the white players chosen in this draft have true
basketball skills. It was heartening to see teams draft them over so many of these black freak athlete types who lack proper skills.
Note
Ty Jerome is part black which I think most here know. But he is a very smart and skilled player which makes up for his lack of jumping and running ability.
Sure there were other white players of intrigue like leaper
Max Strus and crafty
Ethan Happ. Both have "NBA talent." But in this day and age no NBA team would dare pick a white guy like
Happ who had a 46% from the free throw line. The room for error for white players has decidedly decreased over the years.
But all in all given the relatively slim palette I am pleased.