Sam Vecenie Athletic Mock Draft

[Scrutineer]

Lolz, what are you talking about?

Sanogo conserves energy to stay on the court because he had no backup? He has the best backup in the entire country this season, if your theory is true and he's conserving energy so he won't be benched that's about the most selfish thing he could possibly do and Hurley is ridiculous for not pulling him.

How is DC getting NBA attention? Because he's a 7'2 behemoth who controls the paint and has great instincts.

Some could argue DH is conserving DC's energy lately........... makes me wonder if he's showcasing AS, or hiding DC.

 

[ManFromOZ]

Has Bouk now fallen out of favor with The Swarm? 11 minutes seems odd

The dude is working his way out of the Association. He is not only out of favor, he's no longer the flavor for the Hornets. He has had two years of chances. A lottery pick that flames out - not the first and certainly not the last.

 

[ManFromOZ]

Jackson is coming back. He has 0 chance of getting drafted at this point. He needs to do nothing over the summer except attack the rim. He needs to become a slasher type player on offense. He has to learn to beat his defender off the dribble. The ability is there.

Jackson needs to totally rebuild his shot. Bad mechanics and form is way off. Sort of a push shot. Will kill it overseas. That's the ceiling.

 

[Scrutineer]

I find them mostly enjoyable.

don't say that, cuz it may make stinky red down thumbs pour on you, and then i'll feel bad.

it seems that recently across the land, not everyone is as big a fan of 'free speechin' as many of us are. let the chips fall where they may, an all that.

No, no, no, you're wrong on people not "likin' free speechin'".

You have to understand that we are simply being protected, for our own good, by the process of "content moderation".

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Donovan top 5 pick lol. Even if he becomes a knockdown 3 point shooter, nearly impossible for a Sophomore to be a top 5 pick, and that is including extreme development. He only has a chance to be a real lottery piece if he plays big minutes, UConn goes deep in tourney and he gets more eyes on him, or he really develops. Just because you are tall doesn't guarantee you NBA minutes. His touch is fairly bad for someone that large. I still think he has first round potential, but not top 5.

Ja went top 5 as a sophomore. Jaden Ivey last year too. It’s possible and DC has the tools to get there with a good enough summer.

Zach Edey is projected to go late 2nd round.

DC moves a lot better than Edey. Tbh I haven’t watched enough of him to know a lot else. He doesn’t shoot at all from 3 I see.

7’2 shooters that move like him with his hands are not common. With big minutes next year to put up some video game numbers he’s bound to do and a 3 point shot, scouts are going to be salivating. That’s not even going into his passing ability.

 

[boiwerebad]

Ja went top 5 as a sophomore. Jaden Ivey last year too. It’s possible and DC has the tools to get there with a good enough summer.


DC moves a lot better than Edey. Tbh I haven’t watched enough of him to know a lot else. He doesn’t shoot at all from 3 I see.

7’2 shooters that move like him with his hands are not common. With big minutes next year to put up some video game numbers he’s bound to do and a 3 point shot, scouts are going to be salivating. That’s not even going into his passing ability.

The difference are those guys are guards in a guard-dominated league. I also don't know what you are talking about as Clingan being a shooter. He shoots 51% from the line and its not like he is shooting mid rangers. His touch is fairly bad even though his actual shot looks fine. Expecting a guy to go from a literal non-factor outside of 3 feet to a knockdown shooter is comical. Walker Kessler transferred to Auburn because he thought he could become a shooter and shot 20%. This idea that a guy will magically jump his stock or completely reinvent his game is comical.

 

[boiwerebad]

The dude is working his way out of the Association. He is not only out of favor, he's no longer the flavor for the Hornets. He has had two years of chances. A lottery pick that flames out - not the first and certainly not the last.

Charlotte must have something in the water, feels like half the team is actively trying to leave the NBA.

I imagine that Charlotte is kind of over his antics, and he has not been good enough to warrant a spot. I cannot find the article but do believe he has had ~3 DWIs in the span of a few months. Also, I heard that the crash/suspension back in 2019 at UConn was him taking the blame for a former Husky who was visiting, while trying to make a pro career, but who knows with what has been happening Why did James Bouknight get suspended for 3 games by UConn in 2019? All you need to know.

Also crazy that outside that 40 pt game against Creighton, he never hit 25 points in a game.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Ja went top 5 as a sophomore. Jaden Ivey last year too. It’s possible and DC has the tools to get there with a good enough summer.


DC moves a lot better than Edey. Tbh I haven’t watched enough of him to know a lot else. He doesn’t shoot at all from 3 I see.

7’2 shooters that move like him with his hands are not common. With big minutes next year to put up some video game numbers he’s bound to do and a 3 point shot, scouts are going to be salivating. That’s not even going into his passing ability.

DC isn't athletic and doesn't move very well at all. He's a lot less athletic than Drummond was. I wonder if people confuse footwork with quickness and footspeed. Shooter? In what way? If he can become a knock down 3 point shooter, then I can see him getting some real interest in the league as a Brook Lopez type. That would set him apart from guys like Edey.

 

[Scrutineer]

Somehow I typed at bay and my phone got “hornets” out of it

Sounds like you may have used ChatGPT..........

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

@boiwerebad @HuskyHawk

I know DC hasn’t shown a 3 point shot but we saw Sanogo develop one over the summer. From some of the posters here they say he looks good shooting them in warm ups. Maybe after a summer working on it and more of a green light next year he can showcase it? If he shows potential scouts will hop on it.

No one is athletic as Drummond but he does move well. He doesn’t lumber up and down the floor, he’s really good rim to rim. He has a great skillset overall to work with at 7’2. It’s rare. A lot of it is just potential, but that’s what the NBA loves. Lol

 

[ClifSpliffy]

james is on many nba teams radar for trade for one simple reason -money.
he's locked in at 5m for a couple years, and in that business, possible ceilings on an inexpensive player is a very big deal.
last time i checked, since he was sent to the g this month, he was something like 17/4/2.
flyer-city, as in 'taking a flyer on.'

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

james is on many nba teams radar for trade for one simple reason -money.
he's locked in at 5m for a couple years, and in that business, possible ceilings on an inexpensive player is a very big deal.
last time i checked, since he was sent to the g this month, he was something like 17/4/2.
flyer-city, as in 'taking a flyer on.'

Needs to go to a team where the veteran leader is someone other than 21 yr old Lamelo Ball

 

[boiwerebad]

@boiwerebad @HuskyHawk

I know DC hasn’t shown a 3 point shot but we saw Sanogo develop one over the summer. From some of the posters here they say he looks good shooting them in warm ups. Maybe after a summer working on it and more of a green light next year he can showcase it? If he shows potential scouts will hop on it.

No one is athletic as Drummond but he does move well. He doesn’t lumber up and down the floor, he’s really good rim to rim. He has a great skillset overall to work with at 7’2. It’s rare. A lot of it is just potential, but that’s what the NBA loves. Lol

Sanogo can shoot a wide open three, and this is a good development piece, even though it is a very limited jumper. That doesn't mean everyone will become a shooter. Jackson has been at UConn just as long and has arguably became a worse shooter. Also Clingan needs to focus mainly on his conditioning and touch around the rim/patience. Thinking he will all of a sudden turn to a pure shooter feels like investing in the wrong things

 

[ClifSpliffy]

Sanogo can shoot a wide open three, and this is a good development piece, even though it is a very limited jumper. That doesn't mean everyone will become a shooter. Jackson has been at UConn just as long and has arguably became a worse shooter. Also Clingan needs to focus mainly on his conditioning and touch around the rim/patience. Thinking he will all of a sudden turn to a pure shooter feels like investing in the wrong things

2/17/23.
7.5 and 6 boards per 13 minutes a game.
68% shooting percentage. 2nd in the league. 8th o boards, 15th total boards, 4th in blocks. 13 mpg.
the only thing 'bad' aboot his shooting percentage is that he often sends an opponents shot into the seats, bad for them.

 

[PAHusky]

I think some of you who are really high on DC are confused about what NBA teams are looking for in a player these days. He has size and great hands and finishing, but outside of Jokic every other center in the league is way ahead of him athletically and almost all of them can shoot from deep too. Wenbayama (spelling?) is a freak and not the best example but he’s a lock for the number one pick and he’s taller than DC and just miles ahead of him as a player.

There’s almost no way he’s a lottery pick, let alone a top 5 pick. I think he’ll be amazing for UConn and probably an all american, but his game doesn’t translate well to the modern NBA and that caps his draft ceiling.

 

[husky429]

I think some of you who are really high on DC are confused about what NBA teams are looking for in a player these days. He has size and great hands and finishing, but outside of Jokic every other center in the league is way ahead of him athletically and almost all of them can shoot from deep too. Wenbayama (spelling?) is a freak and not the best example but he’s a lock for the number one pick and he’s taller than DC and just miles ahead of him as a player.

There’s almost no way he’s a lottery pick, let alone a top 5 pick. I think he’ll be amazing for UConn and probably an all american, but his game doesn’t translate well to the modern NBA and that caps his draft ceiling.

Wembanyana, who probably has more hype than any prospect since Lebron... it not exactly a fair comparison. He doesn't even play the same position as Clingan. He's a 7'4 SF.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

What were y’all saying about Hawkins at the rim?? LOL

 

[HuskyHawk]

Seth Davis has an interesting article in the Athletic about bigs in the draft. It touches on the point I made in the 2024 draft thread about Bigs who can dribble and shoot. As an example it looks at Grant Nelson from ND State, a 6-11 guy who moves well, dribbles and shoots. Six NBA scouts all said they'd take him over Edey.

"In the future, the NBA is going to feature a veritable herd of extremely tall, multi-trick ponies who are as proficient at draining stepback 3s as they are protecting the rim. In this futuristic world, the 6-foot combo guard could become an endangered species just like the traditional back-to-the-basket big man, who has gone the way of the woolly mammoth in today’s NBA."

“We’ve heard this term ‘small ball’ for a while, but what NBA teams were really trying to do was play ‘skill ball,’ ” says veteran NBA coach and current broadcaster Stan Van Gundy. “But if you can get size to go along with that skill, that’s going to make you even better. You look at the NBA now, and most of the best players are like that, guys like (Nikola) Jokic, Joel Embiid, Giannis (Antetokounmpo). Even Luka (Dončić ) is 6-7. I’m not saying they’re all going to be 7-3, but seeing guys 6-10 or bigger play like Victor are not going to be all that rare. Those guys are definitely the future of the game.”

It's not hard to see why. Durant, Giannis, Tatum and others all fit that description.

The Unicorn Era: Victor Wembanyama heads a coming stampede of skilled big men

One lucky team will draft Victor Wembanyama. The other 29 are looking everywhere for 7-footers with potential, including North Dakota.

theathletic.com

 

[Umami Zen]

Heard a recent interview with Kareem about Victor's skills and approach to the game.. Obviously different eras of BB but he was envious of Vic's future because had Kareem played in a different era/different coaches.. He would have wanted to have played like Vic with the ball in his hands more often rather than strictly as a post player..

 

[boiwerebad]

Seth Davis has an interesting article in the Athletic about bigs in the draft. It touches on the point I made in the 2024 draft thread about Bigs who can dribble and shoot. As an example it looks at Grant Nelson from ND State, a 6-11 guy who moves well, dribbles and shoots. Six NBA scouts all said they'd take him over Edey.

"In the future, the NBA is going to feature a veritable herd of extremely tall, multi-trick ponies who are as proficient at draining stepback 3s as they are protecting the rim. In this futuristic world, the 6-foot combo guard could become an endangered species just like the traditional back-to-the-basket big man, who has gone the way of the woolly mammoth in today’s NBA."

“We’ve heard this term ‘small ball’ for a while, but what NBA teams were really trying to do was play ‘skill ball,’ ” says veteran NBA coach and current broadcaster Stan Van Gundy. “But if you can get size to go along with that skill, that’s going to make you even better. You look at the NBA now, and most of the best players are like that, guys like (Nikola) Jokic, Joel Embiid, Giannis (Antetokounmpo). Even Luka (Dončić ) is 6-7. I’m not saying they’re all going to be 7-3, but seeing guys 6-10 or bigger play like Victor are not going to be all that rare. Those guys are definitely the future of the game.”

It's not hard to see why. Durant, Giannis, Tatum and others all fit that description.

The Unicorn Era: Victor Wembanyama heads a coming stampede of skilled big men

One lucky team will draft Victor Wembanyama. The other 29 are looking everywhere for 7-footers with potential, including North Dakota.

theathletic.com

Great synopsis. The idea that big guys are gone is a myth. The unskilled big men like Jason Collins or Greg Ostertag are gone, but big guys who can do something elite, or do everything solid, are still prevalent in the NBA. Also feel being under 6'3 is now rarer and rarer too. Damian Lillard is 6'2 200lb and considered small. Kind of funny to think about, but we are now seeing more and more 6'4 to 6'6 PGs, while even 10 years ago, those people were seen as unicorns.

Overall, the skills required to be in the NBA is only increasing, so now, you not only have to be athletic enough, but also skilled.

 

[auror]

New Vecenie Big Board.

• Has Hawkins up to 15.
• Jackson 53
• "As much as anything, I’m trying to project some ins and outs here. We’ll get that information officially soon, and I’ll update this when it comes out. But there is certainly a matter of guesswork at this stage. For instance... Connecticut center Donovan Clingan’s high school coach was reported as saying a couple of weeks ago that, “he knows he needs more time.”

 

[Austin316]

New Vecenie Big Board.

• Has Hawkins up to 15.
• Jackson 53
• "As much as anything, I’m trying to project some ins and outs here. We’ll get that information officially soon, and I’ll update this when it comes out. But there is certainly a matter of guesswork at this stage. For instance... Connecticut center Donovan Clingan’s high school coach was reported as saying a couple of weeks ago that, “he knows he needs more time.”

Does more time mean more PT or time adjusting to better competition? Two completely different things if you think about it.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

Does more time mean more PT or time adjusting to better competition? Two completely different things if you think about it.

Time in the weight room, and refining his skills

 

[YearoftheHusky]

Does more time mean more PT or time adjusting to better competition? Two completely different things if you think about it.

Time in school.

 

[REB1094]

New Vecenie Big Board.

• Has Hawkins up to 15.
• Jackson 53
• "As much as anything, I’m trying to project some ins and outs here. We’ll get that information officially soon, and I’ll update this when it comes out. But there is certainly a matter of guesswork at this stage. For instance... Connecticut center Donovan Clingan’s high school coach was reported as saying a couple of weeks ago that, “he knows he needs more time.”

His PPG has steadily increased while his 3P% has steadily decreased, which is opposite to what I expected. The threes aren't falling but he's getting better at finding 2 points, either with the 1-2 dribble pullup or getting to the rim

After today he is at 16.5 PPG, 17.1 if you ignore the Stonehill game. Yet he only has 1 game shooting above 33.3% from three in the last month (4-10 vs. SJU)

41.1% FG, 37.7% 3P, 87.9% FT (102-116!!!)