Ja Morant

[UofCT]

Currently listed as #2 in NBA mock drafts. I was curious where he was ranked coming out of HS since clearly everyone missed on his recruiting. According to his wikipedia page he was unranked by ESPN, 247, and Rivals. I did not realize we had a major connection to him and it's kind of annoying that we never expressed interest. See below.

Morant was born in Dalzell, South Carolina to Tee and Jamie Morant.[1][2] His father was a high school teammate of Ray Allen, a future Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, and played basketball for Claflin University before starting a professional career abroad.

 

[husky429]

Who has him 2? Highest I've seen is #3

 

[WrenchFan69]

Currently listed as #2 in NBA mock drafts. I was curious where he was ranked coming out of HS since clearly everyone missed on his recruiting. According to his wikipedia page he was unranked by ESPN, 247, and Rivals. I did not realize we had a major connection to him and it's kind of annoying that we never expressed interest. See below.

Morant was born in Dalzell, South Carolina to Tee and Jamie Morant.[1][2] His father was a high school teammate of Ray Allen, a future Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, and played basketball for Claflin University before starting a professional career abroad.

Murray State accidentally found him in an aux gym playing 3v3 while watching another kid. Nobody knew about him. It's a great story really

 

[WrenchFan69]

Who has him 2? Highest I've seen is #3

NBADraft.net
Their site looks bad but they're surprisingly accurate

 

[Cardiac]

Who has him 2? Highest I've seen is #3

Nbadraft.net #2 to Phoenix

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Murray State accidentally found him in an aux gym playing 3v3 while watching another kid. Nobody knew about him. It's a great story really

Here's the link to that Athletic story. The kid wasn't even ranked by 247 in the '17 rankings.

Can't fault any team not having the foresight to commit Morant, it's just a rare moment in today's sports where an under-the-radar, incredible player was discovered by a lucky assistant coach. He's this year's Steph Curry or CJ McCollum.

 

[JimHurley]

Goes to show you that just because guys aren’t ranked by recruited sites doesn’t mean they can’t be great college players.

 

[husky429]

NBADraft.net
Their site looks bad but they're surprisingly accurate

Ahh ok. Draftneft is notoriously crappy though

 

[WrenchFan69]

Ahh ok. Draftneft is notoriously crappy though

I can't find the accuracy breakdown I saw before last year's draft, but it had them top 5. And they were solid on last year's first round. I don't know if he'll actually be taken before Barrett, but I really doubt he falls past 3.

 

[husky429]

I can't find the accuracy breakdown I saw before last year's draft, but it had them top 5. And they were solid on last year's first round. I don't know if he'll actually be taken before Barrett, but I really doubt he falls past 3.

I'd put my money on zion, barrett, ja beong the top three in that order

 

[gtcam]

this kid is THE REAL DEAL

 

[Tenspro2002]

Goes to show you that just because guys aren’t ranked by recruited sites doesn’t mean they can’t be great college players.

Absolutely. But the "rankings are meaningless" people are wrong too.

If you have the option, take the higher-rated kid rather than the kid nobody has heard of. That doesn't mean there aren't stunning counter-examples like this, of course.

 

[UofCT]

Who has him 2? Highest I've seen is #3

I’ve been following nbadraft.net since 2001. It’s as accurate as you can expect for a draft site

 

[Hey Adrien!]

On Saturday, Morant went off for 40 points, 11 assists and 5 steals. First time in 20 years a player had a stat line like that.

Looked deeper into the play-by-play. If you take his 40 points and the 23 points scored off his 11 assists, Morant scored or assisted on 63 of the team's 82 points. That 76.8% of the team's points.

Insane.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Absolutely. But the "rankings are meaningless" people are wrong too.

If you have the option, take the higher-rated kid rather than the kid nobody has heard of. That doesn't mean there aren't stunning counter-examples like this, of course.

I count myself, not in the "rankings are meaningless" group, but in the "take rankings with a grain of salt" group. The list is a lot longer than Steph, Morant, McCollum. There's a boatload of NBA players, and damn good college players, that are under-ranked and under-recruited. The kid Gardner at ECU is a great example. So is Bowman at BC. This is on the coaches to identify the skills, the BBIQ, and the desire needed to excel. That's why, in another thread, I wrote that it's really important to hit on those guys you get between 50 and 200. Because unless you're Duke, Kentucky, UNC or Kansas that's where most of your recruits will be located.

 

[husky429]

I count myself, not in the "rankings are meaningless" group, but in the "take rankings with a grain of salt" group. The list is a lot longer than Steph, Morant, McCollum. There's a boatload of NBA players, and damn good college players, that are under-ranked and under-recruited. The kid Gardner at ECU is a great example. So is Bowman at BC. This is on the coaches to identify the skills, the BBIQ, and the desire needed to excel. That's why, in another thread, I wrote that it's really important to hit on those guys you get between 50 and 200. Because unless you're Duke, Kentucky, UNC or Kansas that's where most of your recruits will be located.

Agreed. I think the best case scenario for me as a fan would be 1-2 5* per year with a one and done occasionally. With those 3-13 spots on the roster being 50-150 guys that fit the style of play with high upside and intangibles. Someone like CV would really fit that bill for me: obvious limitation but as a 6th man he could kill teams off the bench with his energy.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Agreed. I think the best case scenario for me as a fan would be 1-2 5* per year with a one and done occasionally. With those 3-13 spots on the roster being 50-150 guys that fit the style of play with high upside and intangibles. Someone like CV would really fit that bill for me: obvious limitation but as a 6th man he could kill teams off the bench with his energy.

Also we need to remember that there are guys who might have only 1 real 5* skill, but they are overall a 3* player. But that 5* skill, like shot blocking, or shooting, or locking down on D, or playmaking at the PG spot, can make a team much more dangerous.

 

[ConnZag3]

Planning a trip to Murray in a few weeks to check him out since I haven't yet been to a game at Murray. Hope he puts on a show that night as he seems to every night.

 

[metsfan2323]

The Knicks sure could use this kid. They need a PG more than they need a forward (Zion). IMO Ntllikina's future is as a 2 guard.

 

[UConnStats]

The Knicks sure could use this kid. They need a PG more than they need a forward (Zion). IMO Ntllikina's future is as a 2 guard.

He’s really bad so far. Not sure he even sticks in the league.

 

[StepbackCity]

Imagine Morant, Booker, Jackson, and Ayton as the suns core going forward, that’s scary.

 

[ZenConn]

Imagine Morant, Booker, Jackson, and Ayton as the suns core going forward, that’s scary.

I was just thinking that. That's a real good lookin lineup.

 

[husky429]

Imagine Morant, Booker, Jackson, and Ayton as the suns core going forward, that’s scary.

Just about 0% there. Can't imagine that's a long-term viable roster.

 

[metsfan2323]

He’s really bad so far. Not sure he even sticks in the league.

He's 20, still growing and has his moments. He's not really bad he's really inconsistent offensively and already a good defender. He needs to develop his shot and become a two guard.

 

[UConnStats]

Just about 0% there. Can't imagine that's a long-term viable roster.

I’m just going to keep being the contrarian here I guess, but I think Booker is one of the more overrated young players I’ve ever seen. So many turnovers, way worse 3P% than people expected, no defense. He’s all volume no efficiency. People talk about building a team around him, but he’d be much better off trying to emulate Klay. He has way too big of an ego for that though.