OT: The Ringer: 2024 NBA Draft Guide

[temery]

Clingan is on the list.

NCAA tournament: Which NBA Draft prospects have boosted their stock heading into the Sweet 16?

With two rounds down, Yahoo Sports takes a look at 10 players who have played above the competition and how it's helped their draft stock.

www.yahoo.com

 

[Incursio007]

Givony says "an NBA GM texted me asking Rudy Gobert or Donovan Clingan?" Gobert is a max salary player.

If true, that’s actually insane. I for one do believe he can develop an outside shot. He has good form and rotation on ball.

 

[Kembacity]

Only first round talk I've seen was Gus Johnson in the Nova game and he didn't really seem to know what he was talking about

“A body that’s at rest, stays at rest…
A body in motion, stays in motion…
NEWTON! And his laws, of physics!”

 

[auror]

Clingan is on the list.

NCAA tournament: Which NBA Draft prospects have boosted their stock heading into the Sweet 16?

With two rounds down, Yahoo Sports takes a look at 10 players who have played above the competition and how it's helped their draft stock.

www.yahoo.com

I had no idea Yahoo still employed writers.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Givony says "an NBA GM texted me asking Rudy Gobert or Donovan Clingan?" Gobert is a max salary player.

That is beyond high level praise by an nba gm. Gobert is one of the great defensive bigs of this generation, like Mutombo.

If they think Clingan can be like that, he’s not dropping out of top 10.

 

[Malamute]

Clingan is on the list.

NCAA tournament: Which NBA Draft prospects have boosted their stock heading into the Sweet 16?

With two rounds down, Yahoo Sports takes a look at 10 players who have played above the competition and how it's helped their draft stock.

www.yahoo.com

Lazy analysis. Gotta love the low release point mention, at 10 feet!

 

[ToolzieFan]

Updates:

2. Castle
8. Clingan
50. Karaban

The Ringer's 2024 NBA Draft Guide

Who will go no. 1 this year? The race couldn't be more open. We rank the top prospects in this year’s class and unveil our latest mock draft.

nbadraft.theringer.com

 

[HooperScooper]

Figured this is a good place to put this article from the Register. Some quotes from NBA scouts on many of the UConn players.

One Eastern Conference scout is enamored by Castle, seeing vast improvement since he first saw him at Damian Lillard's camp last summer.

"I love Castle," the scout said. "How many freshmen in the country compete and defend like he does? Not many."

"I saw him three times this year, spaced out, and each time he's better," he added. "I’ll tell you what, the way he competes defensively, for a freshman, that really elevated him with me. He's going to be able to guard people early, which over the course of the first couple of years in the NBA will give him a way to get into his games until his offense comes around."

"How good does the jump shot become?," the scout continued.

"Players in the NBA who were marginal shooters often become good shooters because they have good instruction and … they don’t have to go to class. Will he let someone tweak his shot a little bit?"

How some UConn players can improve NBA chances in NCAA Tournament

Some of UConn's best players can enhance their NBA Draft chances in the NCAA Tournament, but the Huskies are focused on another title.

www.nhregister.com

Alternate access:

UConn's best players can improve NBA Draft stock in March Madness. Why Huskies 'don't care about that'​

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Figured this is a good place to put this article from the Register. Some quotes from NBA scouts on many of the UConn players.

One Eastern Conference scout is enamored by Castle, seeing vast improvement since he first saw him at Damian Lillard's camp last summer.

"I love Castle," the scout said. "How many freshmen in the country compete and defend like he does? Not many."

"I saw him three times this year, spaced out, and each time he's better," he added. "I’ll tell you what, the way he competes defensively, for a freshman, that really elevated him with me. He's going to be able to guard people early, which over the course of the first couple of years in the NBA will give him a way to get into his games until his offense comes around."

"How good does the jump shot become?," the scout continued.

"Players in the NBA who were marginal shooters often become good shooters because they have good instruction and … they don’t have to go to class. Will he let someone tweak his shot a little bit?"

How some UConn players can improve NBA chances in NCAA Tournament

Some of UConn's best players can enhance their NBA Draft chances in the NCAA Tournament, but the Huskies are focused on another title.

www.nhregister.com

Alternate access:

UConn's best players can improve NBA Draft stock in March Madness. Why Huskies 'don't care about that'​

Love his defense, but it would be cool to hear NBA scouts talk about his offense too because he does have that talent.

Would hate if scouts looked at him as a potential 3 and D guy instead of a jumbo PG.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I know he's not coming back and I'm not even hinting that he should, but the thing that bums me out about Castle is with the injury it really feels like he just got on the court. His improvement is remarkable and I can't help but torture myself with thoughts of how good he'd be as a sophomore.

Again, to be clear, he is not coming back, nor should he. But he's my favorite freshman in quite some time.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I know he's not coming back and I'm not even hinting that he should, but the thing that bums me out about Castle is with the injury it really feels like he just got on the court. His improvement is remarkable and I can't help but torture myself with thoughts of how good he'd be as a sophomore.

Again, to be clear, he is not coming back, nor should he. But he's my favorite freshman in quite some time.

Can’t remember a freshman so mature in both actions on and off the court. The kid is beyond his years. Even talking to the media, just humble, soft spoken, yet incredibly driven and bought in. Really think it’s going to be an extremely seamless transition to the NBA for him.

 

[Scrutiner]

Pop

Thunder Draft Report: UConn's Donovan Clingan

The OKC Thunder will be right in range for Connecticut big man Donovan Clingan who could help round out their rotation.

www.si.com

Here’s a scouting report OKC has on Clingan. They don’t seem to think he’ll ever develop a 3 point shot.

Consider this statement before you ascribe too much relevance to this "sage's" report:
"the OKC Thunder still have an absorbent amount of picks, including a projected lottery pick in the 2024 NBA Draft."

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Can’t remember a freshman so mature in both actions on and off the court. The kid is beyond his years. Even talking to the media, just humble, soft spoken, yet incredibly driven and bought in. Really think it’s going to be an extremely seamless transition to the NBA for him.

You have to be super mature to sacrifice how he has. The kid is a PG through and through and he’s humbly sacrificed that in the name of winning for us. It’s easier to do when you win like we do though.

Hopefully an NBA squad can see past that and do the right thing for him. He’s an effortlessly great decision maker and playmaker on the court. It should honestly be a no brainer that he’s a better prospect, especially as a lead guard, than Rob and Reed.

 

[caw]

You have to be super mature to sacrifice how he has. The kid is a PG through and through and he’s humbly sacrificed that in the name of winning for us. It’s easier to do when you win like we do though.

Hopefully an NBA squad can see past that and do the right thing for him. He’s an effortlessly great decision maker and playmaker on the court. It should honestly be a no brainer that he’s a better prospect, especially as a lead guard, than Rob and Reed.

Even as a SG he's a better prospect IMO. Rob is a sparkplug at best, a ballhog at worst and a horrid defender. Reed is great offensively and he has fantastic defensive metrics but gets lost both off and on the ball if you watch him. I can't recall a play Castle got lost on defense. Beaten, sure, but not lost. Throw in Castle's height advantage and it really shouldn't be a question.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Even as a SG he's a better prospect IMO. Rob is a sparkplug at best, a ballhog at worst and a horrid defender. Reed is great offensively and he has fantastic defensive metrics but gets lost both off and on the ball if you watch him. I can't recall a play Castle got lost on defense. Beaten, sure, but not lost. Throw in Castle's height advantage and it really shouldn't be a question.

Agreed defensively he’s a better prospect. Offensively both guys are way better as a SG. Rob is the same kind of prospect as Quickley and Maxey. Scouts are probably looking at Reed like Austin Reaves (who shouldn’t be looked at as a top 5 pick but that’s another story).

Castle’s strength is his decision making and ability to make the game easy for others around him. He’s not as good of a pure scorer or off ball player as those other guys at SG but he’s a way better pure PG than either of those guys.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Athletic article with stock up and stock down players from the tournament. No surprise at the two guys who made the stock up list:

Stephon Castle, 6-6 freshman SG, Connecticut

The thing that stood out about Castle was the misery he inflicted on Northwestern star guard Boo Buie in the second round, picking him up full court, denying easy catches and chasing him around screens to contest shots as a trailer. Yes, it helped that he had Godzilla behind him (see below), but Buie missed his first 10 shots and finished 2 of 15 as UConn crushed the Wildcats.

Castle isn’t asked to take on a big offensive role but reads the game well and is very effective in transition; when his number was called on a half-court pick-and-roll, he jailed the defender then dropped in a nice left-handed finish for an and-1. On one other notable play, he turned down an entry pass to big man Donovan Clingan to wait for a cutting teammate to present himself, knowing that teammate would have a better angle for a high-low that eventually yielded an easy bucket for the big man.

Castle’s shooting, however, is still a question mark; he’s only made 17 of his 61 3-point attempts this season. He has too much guide hand on the ball on his jumper and a tendency to lean sideways as he gets into his motion. But those flaws look fairly correctable, and he doesn’t need to shoot like Kyle Korver to make an impact in the league. Overall, the weekend cemented my thought that he can be a high-ceiling NBA wing.

Donovan Clingan, 7-2 sophomore C, Connecticut

“Cling Kong” blocked eight shots on Sunday — at least, that was the official count — and had fans behind us guffawing when he moved his feet on the perimeter and pinned this shot by Northwestern’s Ryan Langborg against the top of the backboard. (Also, check out the dime by our guy Castle at the end.)

In person, Clingan looks every bit of 7-2. In his two tournament games, he grabbed 22 rebounds in 47 minutes, shot 14 of 18 from the field and even had two steals. He hasn’t made a 3 this season and is only at 55.6 percent from the line, but before games, you’ll see him comfortably shoot long, on-target jump shots.

More importantly, his defensive movement and end-to-end transition once again held up well. UConn is an unusually slow-tempo squad for such a dominant team (just 315th in KenPom’s adjusted tempo), but a potential Elite 8 matchup against a fast Illinois team would be the next big test for Clingan at this level.

NBA Draft stock watch: Jared McCain, Donovan Clingan up; Reed Sheppard and others downNBA Draft stock watch: Jared McCain, Donovan Clingan up; Reed Sheppard and others down

 

[aceboon]

Athletic article with stock up and stock down players from the tournament. No surprise at the two guys who made the stock up list:

Stephon Castle, 6-6 freshman SG, Connecticut

The thing that stood out about Castle was the misery he inflicted on Northwestern star guard Boo Buie in the second round, picking him up full court, denying easy catches and chasing him around screens to contest shots as a trailer. Yes, it helped that he had Godzilla behind him (see below), but Buie missed his first 10 shots and finished 2 of 15 as UConn crushed the Wildcats.

Castle isn’t asked to take on a big offensive role but reads the game well and is very effective in transition; when his number was called on a half-court pick-and-roll, he jailed the defender then dropped in a nice left-handed finish for an and-1. On one other notable play, he turned down an entry pass to big man Donovan Clingan to wait for a cutting teammate to present himself, knowing that teammate would have a better angle for a high-low that eventually yielded an easy bucket for the big man.

Castle’s shooting, however, is still a question mark; he’s only made 17 of his 61 3-point attempts this season. He has too much guide hand on the ball on his jumper and a tendency to lean sideways as he gets into his motion. But those flaws look fairly correctable, and he doesn’t need to shoot like Kyle Korver to make an impact in the league. Overall, the weekend cemented my thought that he can be a high-ceiling NBA wing.

Donovan Clingan, 7-2 sophomore C, Connecticut

“Cling Kong” blocked eight shots on Sunday — at least, that was the official count — and had fans behind us guffawing when he moved his feet on the perimeter and pinned this shot by Northwestern’s Ryan Langborg against the top of the backboard. (Also, check out the dime by our guy Castle at the end.)

In person, Clingan looks every bit of 7-2. In his two tournament games, he grabbed 22 rebounds in 47 minutes, shot 14 of 18 from the field and even had two steals. He hasn’t made a 3 this season and is only at 55.6 percent from the line, but before games, you’ll see him comfortably shoot long, on-target jump shots.

More importantly, his defensive movement and end-to-end transition once again held up well. UConn is an unusually slow-tempo squad for such a dominant team (just 315th in KenPom’s adjusted tempo), but a potential Elite 8 matchup against a fast Illinois team would be the next big test for Clingan at this level.

NBA Draft stock watch: Jared McCain, Donovan Clingan up; Reed Sheppard and others downNBA Draft stock watch: Jared McCain, Donovan Clingan up; Reed Sheppard and others down

not surprised that Hollinger would miss that Clingan has made a couple of 3s this year

 

[HuskyInfinity]

not surprised that Hollinger would miss that Clingan has made a couple of 3s this year

All season Hollister has, without fail, cherry picked stats and done any sort of critical research in an effort to downplay those two’s prospects.

Last draft update when he poopoo’d Castles 3p stroke, I pointed out in the comments that he had been shooting 38% on 3s on twice the volume over the latest half of his season and his response was: “ya well it definitely could happen but I’ve seen him in warmups and the shot doesn’t look right”

As if his in-game stats don’t hold more weight than his warmup shots…..

 

[BoukofJames]

Athletic article with stock up and stock down players from the tournament. No surprise at the two guys who made the stock up list:

Stephon Castle, 6-6 freshman SG, Connecticut

The thing that stood out about Castle was the misery he inflicted on Northwestern star guard Boo Buie in the second round, picking him up full court, denying easy catches and chasing him around screens to contest shots as a trailer. Yes, it helped that he had Godzilla behind him (see below), but Buie missed his first 10 shots and finished 2 of 15 as UConn crushed the Wildcats.

Castle isn’t asked to take on a big offensive role but reads the game well and is very effective in transition; when his number was called on a half-court pick-and-roll, he jailed the defender then dropped in a nice left-handed finish for an and-1. On one other notable play, he turned down an entry pass to big man Donovan Clingan to wait for a cutting teammate to present himself, knowing that teammate would have a better angle for a high-low that eventually yielded an easy bucket for the big man.

Castle’s shooting, however, is still a question mark; he’s only made 17 of his 61 3-point attempts this season. He has too much guide hand on the ball on his jumper and a tendency to lean sideways as he gets into his motion. But those flaws look fairly correctable, and he doesn’t need to shoot like Kyle Korver to make an impact in the league. Overall, the weekend cemented my thought that he can be a high-ceiling NBA wing.

Donovan Clingan, 7-2 sophomore C, Connecticut

“Cling Kong” blocked eight shots on Sunday — at least, that was the official count — and had fans behind us guffawing when he moved his feet on the perimeter and pinned this shot by Northwestern’s Ryan Langborg against the top of the backboard. (Also, check out the dime by our guy Castle at the end.)

In person, Clingan looks every bit of 7-2. In his two tournament games, he grabbed 22 rebounds in 47 minutes, shot 14 of 18 from the field and even had two steals. He hasn’t made a 3 this season and is only at 55.6 percent from the line, but before games, you’ll see him comfortably shoot long, on-target jump shots.

More importantly, his defensive movement and end-to-end transition once again held up well. UConn is an unusually slow-tempo squad for such a dominant team (just 315th in KenPom’s adjusted tempo), but a potential Elite 8 matchup against a fast Illinois team would be the next big test for Clingan at this level.

NBA Draft stock watch: Jared McCain, Donovan Clingan up; Reed Sheppard and others downNBA Draft stock watch: Jared McCain, Donovan Clingan up; Reed Sheppard and others down

Clingan has made two threes this year John!

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

Every one of these articles gives away that they have maybe seen each prospect 3 times (at most). Some of the notes are a little off, and some are outright wrong.
I'm glad SI and the athletic aren't doing the drafting, but the problem is that these articles influence their thinking, and more importantly, the thinking of the fans that pressure the teams to make certain picks.
Even the damn stats, which are available to every person who has the internet aren't correct.

 

[husky429]

Every one of these articles gives away that they have maybe seen each prospect 3 times (at most). Some of the notes are a little off, and some are outright wrong.
I'm glad SI and the athletic aren't doing the drafting, but the problem is that these articles influence their thinking, and more importantly, the thinking of the fans that pressure the teams to make certain picks.
Even the damn stats, which are available to every person who has the internet aren't correct.

The Athletic is a great resource. Vecenie's big board with all the analysis he puts out is better than you'll find anywhere.

The Ringer sucks. Don't evem get their stats right.

 

[aceboon]

All season Hollister has, without fail, cherry picked stats and done any sort of critical research in an effort to downplay those two’s prospects.

Last draft update when he poopoo’d Castles 3p stroke, I pointed out in the comments that he had been shooting 38% on 3s on twice the volume over the latest half of his season and his response was: “ya well it definitely could happen but I’ve seen him in warmups and the shot doesn’t look right”

As if his in-game stats don’t hold more weight than his warmup shots…..

I'm amazed that he's been able to squeeze out a career this long off of the PER stat that nobody even references anymore. His writings always get stats wrong and his analysis of players and teams misses proper context.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

The Athletic is a great resource. Vecenie's big board with all the analysis he puts out is better than you'll find anywhere.

The Ringer sucks. Don't evem get their stats right.

I think Vecenie is great. He's one of the best draft analysts out there. I don't care for most of the rest of the Athletic as it pertains to the draft. I think SV is the only one that really does the research, and he actually moves the needle with front offices.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Love his defense, but it would be cool to hear NBA scouts talk about his offense too because he does have that talent.

Would hate if scouts looked at him as a potential 3 and D guy instead of a jumbo PG.

Scouts love his defense and athleticism. They don't look for scorers. Contrary to what we believe about defense and NBA, if you can't defend in the NBA you are unplayable. Professionals won't stop scoring on a person who is a major liability.

As far as scoring, if his shot comes around he's Jru Holiday. Scouts are gonna live him.

 

[superjohn]

Scouts love his defense and athleticism. They don't look for scorers. Contrary to what we believe about defense and NBA, if you can't defend in the NBA you are unplayable. Professionals won't stop scoring on a person who is a major liability.

As far as scoring, if his shot comes around he's Jru Holiday. Scouts are gonna live him.

Scouts don't look for scorers?

If you can't defend in the NBA you are unplayable?

Say hi to Dame Lillard, James Harden, Trae Young and a bunch of other players.