Sam Vecenie Athletic Mock Draft | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Sam Vecenie Athletic Mock Draft

PAHusky said:
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.
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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.
 
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.

theathletic.com

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 theathletic.com
 
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..
 
HuskyHawk said:
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.

theathletic.com

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 theathletic.com
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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.
 
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.”

 
.-.
auror said:
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.”

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

Expand ...


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!!!)
 
MJKI said:
The neweset Sam Vecenie mock draft on the Athletic has Hawkins going 18; he's working his way up towards the end of the lottery at this point. I know Sam watches a lot of UConn games and tends to be very pro-UConn players, but still very encouraging to see a mock draft with Hawk that high.
Aside from Hawk, no mention in the 2 round mock of Sanogo or Jackson, which isn't overly surprising at this point. Still wouldn't be shocked to see Sanogo end of 2nd round though
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Hawkins is a mid to late first. Good player. I can see a Jeremy Lamb line career.
 
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