James Bouknight Declares for NBA Draft

[Ratso]

My prediction: #17 unproven with injuries and whatnot.

the combine is a different story

 

[husky429]

Sometimes I wonder how many people on the 'yard are senile.

 

[Umami Zen]

Sometimes I wonder how many people on the 'yard are senile.

So..What's your point? LOL

 

[WeAreUCONN]

Thanks for sharing, archetypical lost old guy.

The Women’s forum is down one from here. I think that’s more your scene

If you say so little buddy. Thanks for the pointer.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

My Draft tiers:
Each player in a particular tier is listed in no particular order. In general, I hate comparing players to others, but in draft reports I find them useful and might include them here.

Tier 1: #1 pick

• Cade Cunningham. A do-everything 6'8 220 "guard" who can play any position in the NBA from the #1 to the #4. No brainer #1 pick, IMO.

Tier 2: #2-#5 Picks

• Evan Mobley. A start from Day-1 do everything big. Such a smart and physically gifted player. Reminds me of Tim Duncan.
• Jalen Suggs. A start from Day 1 alpha guard. Only area of improvement I see is shoring up his 3pt shot.
• Jalen Green & Jonathan Kuminga. I haven't watched them play at all, but I see these two at these spots at most mocks.

Tier 3: The "surefire" lottery picks. Here I go from "most likely" to "I'd still bet on it, but not certain"

• Scottie Barnes. A long 6'9 facilitator and versatile defender. If he keeps developing his shot, he can become an all-star.
• Corey Kispert. He's so much more than an elite shooter. I can't see him dropping any lower than Indiana, as he brings them an immediate contributor to an already pretty talented lineup.
• Kai Jones. Just too much potential to leave him out of the lottery. An elite athlete at 6'11 and hit 38.2% from 3.
• Moses Moody. Yes, he struggled in the tournament, but he's just a bucket-getter. Could become the best pure scorer in the draft.
• Keon Johnson. Maybe the best athlete in the draft and really heated up his offensive game later in the season (three 20+ point games since 2/7).
• Bouk. No chance he's going higher than 6th and I have it hard to see him "falling" past the lottery. I can't see teams taking too much stock in his one NCAA game and even in a struggling game he scored 15 with 37.5% shooting. Not bad for an "awful" game. Too much scoring potential and special athletic ability to keep him off the lottery.

Tier 4: Have solid chances of being lottery picks

• Davion Mitchell. Just a great player and each year there's one older player whose stock rises due to the tournament. This year, it's Mitchell. Came into the season as their elite perimeter defender, but he's been shooting at an incredible clip (52.3 fg%, 45 3p%). Personally, I think he'll make the lottery.
• Jaden Springer. Thick guard with good outside shot (43.5 3p%) and stepped up his offensive game late in the season (five 20+ point games since 2/6).
• Franz Wagner. A 6'9 disruptive defender who plays a diverse offensive game. His 1-10 performance against UCLA is arguably one of the worst tournament games from a potential lottery pick I've ever remembered. Maybe not enough pure scoring to entice teams to take him in the lottery, but he reminds me kinda of Shawn Marion in terms of his size, defensive ability and "five-tool" overall profile.

 

[CL82]

He will go to the NBA and sign for millions. I would be concerned about his thin body frame and the fact he always seems banged up. I would be concer About his long term
Longevity

He will get stronger, in the spacing in the NBA will help him.

 

[Huskybass]

All the Mock drafts I've looked at have Bouk going somewhere between 8th and 16th.

Go show them just how great you are Bouk!

 

[rollskies]

My Draft tiers:
Each player in a particular tier is listed in no particular order. In general, I hate comparing players to others, but in draft reports I find them useful and might include them here.

Tier 1: #1 pick

• Cade Cunningham. A do-everything 6'8 220 "guard" who can play any position in the NBA from the #1 to the #4. No brainer #1 pick, IMO.

Tier 2: #2-#5 Picks

• Evan Mobley. A start from Day-1 do everything big. Such a smart and physically gifted player. Reminds me of Tim Duncan.
• Jalen Suggs. A start from Day 1 alpha guard. Only area of improvement I see is shoring up his 3pt shot.
• Jalen Green & Jonathan Kuminga. I haven't watched them play at all, but I see these two at these spots at most mocks.

Tier 3: The "surefire" lottery picks. Here I go from "most likely" to "I'd still bet on it, but not certain"

• Scottie Barnes. A long 6'9 facilitator and versatile defender. If he keeps developing his shot, he can become an all-star.
• Corey Kispert. He's so much more than an elite shooter. I can't see him dropping any lower than Indiana, as he brings them an immediate contributor to an already pretty talented lineup.
• Kai Jones. Just too much potential to leave him out of the lottery. An elite athlete at 6'11 and hit 38.2% from 3.
• Moses Moody. Yes, he struggled in the tournament, but he's just a bucket-getter. Could become the best pure scorer in the draft.
• Keon Johnson. Maybe the best athlete in the draft and really heated up his offensive game later in the season (three 20+ point games since 2/7).
• Bouk. No chance he's going higher than 6th and I have it hard to see him "falling" past the lottery. I can't see teams taking too much stock in his one NCAA game and even in a struggling game he scored 15 with 37.5% shooting. Not bad for an "awful" game. Too much scoring potential and special athletic ability to keep him off the lottery.

Tier 4: Have solid chances of being lottery picks

• Davion Mitchell. Just a great player and each year there's one older player whose stock rises due to the tournament. This year, it's Mitchell. Came into the season as their elite perimeter defender, but he's been shooting at an incredible clip (52.3 fg%, 45 3p%). Personally, I think he'll make the lottery.
• Jaden Springer. Thick guard with good outside shot (43.5 3p%) and stepped up his offensive game late in the season (five 20+ point games since 2/6).
• Franz Wagner. A 6'9 disruptive defender who plays a diverse offensive game. His 1-10 performance against UCLA is arguably one of the worst tournament games from a potential lottery pick I've ever remembered. Maybe not enough pure scoring to entice teams to take him in the lottery, but he reminds me kinda of Shawn Marion in terms of his size, defensive ability and "five-tool" overall profile.

This is almost exactly how I look at it. I could see Bouk going anywhere from 6-14, but if I had to bet I would put him around 10.

I would also add Ziaire Williams into the lottery somewhere. Although I am personally not as high on him, I can see him going relatively high based on height/potential.

I’m definitely interested to see how the lottery pans out this year because you have someone like Kispert who is really polished and could be an immediate contributor in some capacity (not saying he will be a world beater, but he could knock down shots right away and continue to develop), but then there are guys like Bouk/Barnes/Williams who are no where near polished but have an infinitely higher ceiling, IMHO.

Overall a really great draft class and i’ll be happy no matter where Bouk ends up, but I do hope he stays in the lottery range.

 

[auror]

I would also add Ziaire Williams into the lottery somewhere. Although I am personally not as high on him, I can see him going relatively high based on height/potential.

Yeah I see Ziaire in the lottery in a lot of mocks. But man, I don't get it. He was genuinely awful this year. I guess it's a little Jaylen Brown-esque, but man.

 

[rollskies]

Yeah I see Ziaire in the lottery in a lot of mocks. But man, I don't get it. He was genuinely awful this year. I guess it's a little Jaylen Brown-esque, but man.

I completely agree with you. Didn’t see much from him, but I still see him lottery in a ton of mock drafts, some higher than James which makes zero sense to me.

I think there will be a team that takes him mid-first round based on potential. IMHO, being a star in high school doesn’t cut it, really didn’t show much of anything in college. I feel the exact same way about Josh Christopher. Both of them were extremely hyped up in high school and were average at the college level. That doesn’t mean they can’t turn into something, but it seems like they both need a lot of work.

On the flip side, Bouk has improvements to make, but the flashes he showed were unbelievable. You can physically see the upside with him as a player.

I’ve seen this a lot this year of players that were extremely hyped up in high school and got to college and were meh. And maybe they were a star in high school, but I also think the nature of social media has a lot to do with it too, but that’s another discussion.

Edit: I understand that both JC and ZW have the physical tools, I just think both of them left a lot to be desired on the court this season. Also, the injuries certainly didn’t help either of them.