The Ringer NBA Show - Mocking the Draft Lottery, With Tate Frazier! | Group Chat

Episode Date: June 18, 2026

With the 2026 NBA draft just days away, Justin and J. Kyle Mann are joined by Tate Frazier to break down their mock draft. The guys go through “can't miss” prospects like Cameron Boozer to the hidden gems flying under the radar. They debate who's got the bag to be a franchise cornerstone and which player could pull off the biggest draft-night heist. (00:00) Intro (6:11) Draft Picks (57:50) Wrapping up Hosts: Justin Verrier and J. Kyle Mann Guest: Tate Frazier Producers: Victoria Valencia and Ashleigh Smith The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit ⁠https://fanduel.com/playwithaplan⁠ to learn more about the resources and helplines. Buy any two Ferrero Brands and you could win $1 million. Visit GoAllInAndWin.com to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello and welcome to group chat. I am Justin Varyer. And joining me as always, Jay Kyle, man, but special guests, the Bill Rafferty of the ringer. Tate Frazier, what's up, Tate? I appreciate that intro. I wish I had rafts sayings and, you know, little clips for you guys. I'll do my best to try to get it going. But happy to talk about college basketball players at any point.

So this is the time to do that. So I'm excited to break down all these guys. And great to be on with you. The pod starts. Bitterman. I figured we would assemble three college bluebloods here, right? I mean, Kyle, is Kentucky still considered? One, it's been a while for you guys.

I'm going to, that's it. You just say goodbye. He's out. But at the very least, I know Tate and I, you know, more recently have been champions. So you can kind of waft off of that. It's okay. I am going to harbor resentment for you for the rest of time for even, positing something so preposterous.

We've won titles with how many coaches now, Tate? I think four, five. I mean, just step off. That's all I got to do to that. That sounds nice. You have to have something. It's okay. All right.

So the draft is what? Like about five days away, maybe four depending on when you listen to this. So we have assembled our two college ball knowers in order to go through a mock draft. Tate, just in general, before we get into this, I think you guys are going to trade off. I'm going to basically sit back, play moderator, and just, like, wait for guys to go up on the dais

and ask them about, like, how proud their parents are. But just in general, about this college season or even, like, as we transition to the draft, is there anything, like, you think differently than consensus about this? Are you, like, top four guys? And then everybody else, is there a guy that, like, you like more than others?

Like, give us, like, your big picture look on things. Yeah, I do think it is a big four, the four horsemen. And I think everybody kind of has their own flavor of the day when it comes to which guys they like the most. and it does seem to be like a shuffling of the deck for each one of these teams trying to figure out which one of the four they really like. And Kyle Mann and I were texting this morning just kind of about the personalities of the top three guys in particular, a little bit more brooding, a little bit more isolated, not necessarily the cheerleaders. And then you have Caleb Wilson who seems to be a guy who is the ultimate cheerleader. So it's fascinating the personality styles that we have with these top four guys.

And then as far as like a hot take that I have, I think I have a number five guy that I feel pretty good about it, number five. and it's Mikel Brown Jr. I have kind of worked through all of the guards and I still keep coming back to the big guard himself. And so I feel pretty assured in the fact that I think he's the number five guy on the board, but I've obviously seen a lot of different people kind of swap in different guys at number five.

But for me, it's Michael Brown Jr. You know, I've gotten to the point, Justin, where I've heard you talk enough. This is my first point I'm going to make is you love the word dais. There's something about that word that I think. You just like it. What am I supposed to say?

He's an editor. Yeah. I have much more gravitas than you is what's going on here. He loves an opportunity to say dais. But I was going to jump off of Tate's point there. Yeah, Caleb is like very much the. And I think I didn't have this epiphany until this morning tape for some reason where I was like, damn, like all three of them are quiet. And Peterson's gotten the most shit for it, I think, because he's just kind of like, you know, I do my own thing.

I keep to myself. But I keep hearing that AJ, and if you look at AJ, he's just got those like intense eyes. And Boozer has some of that going on too. They're all, I'm not saying that they're not effective leaders, but they're all quiet leaders. And I think that's an interesting thing. And then Caleb as the fourth guy is very much a lot smilier. You know, I think his, like, charisma with the mic was probably the best, right? Of the, like, the commissioned reporters that they had at the finals.

Yeah, I mean, there's been a lot of people talking about his interviews, too. Like, everyone's just like, man, once you get this kid in the room and you talk to him, I mean, he just kind of passes all the tests as far as, like, personality-wise. And you can lead by example. We've seen it plenty of times in the NBA. I think it almost gets a bad rap when you're kind of more of a quiet reserve guy. I almost have to give Peterson credit for admitting that fact and just being like, I'm a loner. He's pretty much the only one that's leaned into that. So I think, like you said, everyone's a little bit harsh on Peterson. But Caleb is totally like going to buy in to whatever city he goes to. And I think that's an encouraging sign for whoever gets him, you know, most likely at number four.

So face of the franchise for the Bulls, like, do you think he could immediately, leave Josh Giddy considering his great PR right now? I think so. You know what I mean? I think Bozellis and Caleb maybe has a little combination there. That could be a lot of fun. And then Tiago Splitter, I mean, I just think hearing his press conference and

kind of how he wants to formulate his team and kind of fit the personalities of his team, I think that'd be a really good fit for Caleb. So we'll talk about it obviously as we go through the draft. But I think as far as who he is as a person, it's easy to fall in love with Caleb. And I think the other guys, it might be a little bit of a longer

sort of lull into the relationship. But again, I think they're all special in their own way, and I'm excited to talk about them all. Yeah. Unfortunately, Tiago just wanted to make just the average salary as an NBA head coach. I'll no longer be seeing him. All right, why don't we take a quick break first,

and then we come back. We'll get into these mock picks. This episode of the Ringer NBA show is presented by Ferreiro. The world is watching. Go all in for your team this summer with Ferreiro. Enter for the chance to win a range of progress. just by purchasing your favorite treats.

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you guys are going to alternate picks. Kyle, I feel like we have to give Tate the first pick just because he's the guests. Are those house rules? Okay. Okay. So first on the clock, the Washington Wizards, I think a lot of people are respecting DeBanza here, Tate, but except for probably Darren Peterson, who I think would like people to believe that it is him. Where would you go if you were running the Wizards right now? I do feel like the Wizards are going to have an internal conversation, especially with the Trey Young News. I think there is probably a couple of people that fist pumped and celebrated, not Joe House when he heard that news, but I think it was obviously A.J. and Darren Peterson, as far as the fit for Darren Peterson, he's like, well, they do need a lead guard. I am a lead guard,

and I'm, you know, by all accounts, he was going to be the number one pick before we had the very strange year at Kansas. We don't have to get through the minutiae of that. There's also been some questions about the creatine. He had cramps in high school as well, which has kind of come back to the surface. So there's been a conversation about him. But I do think that AJ is the safest play. I kind of go back to the banal, you know, kind of take with the number one pick. It's like, who expects to be the number one pick? Who wants to be the number one pick? AJ obviously wants to be the number one pick. It seems like he's put himself out there. He's very forward-facing with his situation. And he is a hub. I mean, he is a guy who can be

a franchise guy for you, someone you can believe in, someone you can buy in. And I think that he kind of checks all the boxes, six nine, two-10, you know, obviously 26 points per game in college. You know, the rebounding was great about seven rebounds per game. played about 35 minutes a game and a 40 minute game. He can obviously give you, you know, the energy that you need to be that next level player. And you talk about highlights. I mean, this is a guy that can sell tickets for you.

So if you're the Wizards, I think don't overthink it. I know Peterson is right there and you can talk yourself into it. But I think AJ DeBanza goes number one. Yeah, the Wizards in an interesting spot where they can, you know, they, you could look at it in a couple of different ways. You could look at it as, you know, in a vacuum, this is an interesting young core. if you just go with the guys that they've accumulated over the past few years with the shitty lottery luck that they've gotten. I know people are kind of down.

And, you know, Justin, I know you and I and Rob talked about this on group chat. In the fall, we were like, there's something happening here. You know, as the season wore on, it was like, oh, my, my God, the nausea of how bad it got at times. But I'm not totally distracted from the fact that, you know, Saur, I think, has proven that he's, you know, for the questions about his physicality and things like that, he looks like an NBA. like rim protector. He looks athletic. Trey Johnson was up and down, started the season hot but got cold. Will Riley looks like he's going to outperform his draft spot. I just think they have a lot of interesting guys.

And if you throw DeVonza in there, I think he's going to sort of take a lot of those orbiting pieces and give them, you know, more efficient purpose. But then if you, they're in the interesting position where they can audition these two distressed superstars, who I think if you look at them on paper as a team, I was asking, you know, our group chat with Bill and House this morning, like, does AD ever play for them? I think if he ever did, I think on paper,

this is kind of an interesting basketball team in the short term. So even for a season, AJ would slot in there, and it automatically is kind of a balanced team, even though it's kind of side unseen at this point. Yeah, it's interesting because, well, for one, it does feel like players in recent drafts have been trying to force their way to the Wizards.

Like we had A's Bailey before that. We had SAR in the draft before that. This year is a little bit different because they have the first pick, but, like, watching Peterson, I'm like, is there just something about D.C. that I don't know about? I guess it is ultimately the opportunity because, like, it is a more metropolitan city than, for instance, like Utah or some of these, like, really small markets. And so I get it from that thing, or from that perspective, but also just like it seems like they needed a star player in order to drive a lot of those role players that kind of was talking about.

We'll see about Sard. The injury kind of worries me going into next season. We'll see if he's healthy to start the season, let alone throughout it. But like just having these two veterans there, T, is something that's really confusing to me because not only with the Wizards, but you also have the Jazz and some of these other bad teams that Pacers don't even have a top five-pit because they went out and got veterans at the trade deadline. Does the Tray Young situation or the AD situation change anything about how you're approaching this? Just because like these guys at the top are supposed to be like a hair margin like difference, like Peterson, Boozer, and DeBons are supposed to be all kind of on the same. tier, does like fit actually matter to you with the Wizards? Are you just going best player no matter what? I'm going best player. And I think that he does fit in with the young court. He took about

Trey Johnson. He has a relationship with Will Riley already talked about him. Kishon George, I think is a really nice piece for them as well. Bub Carington, I've always been a fan of. I know Bob has had some up and downs, but I think he's still a solid piece for them. And I think in general for D.C., I wouldn't focus too much on Trey Young Anthony Davis. I think that those things will be figured out. I suspect, and Kyle was kind of alluding to that, that Anthony Davis probably won't be on the Wizards. I think that he will move on. And I don't know what that looks like or how that looks. And Trey Young, I kind of feel the same way.

And I think A.J. would actually be better if they cleared the decks of the veteran guys and kind of let him be the son on that team and let everybody else orvert around him, especially with that young core. So I feel like, to me, that is the play for D.C., and I think that's what they end up doing. A lot of ball handling size on this team if the Wizards do end up taking AJ. If you think about AJ can, I mean, we saw when Richie Saunders went down for BYU, AJ's usage, I think it went up north of 30% for that part of the season. Then you think about Keishon George, who's run some one. You think about Will Riley can really handle the ball. Bub's not tiny.

That's one of the interesting wrinkles about that team is the ball handling size for me. But I think best player available is the way to go just because you can't get this far with what they've given up to get here. and then think about fit. They had all these stabs trying to get it to the number one pick and didn't quite get there. If they were to think about fit right now and not just take best player available, I think that would be a catastrophe.

So I think if in Tate's mind as the Wizards, that's A.J. DeBantza, I think that's the way to go. Well, I think that's a particularly interesting question going into number two now, because obviously not only does A.J. have the background with Utah. Maybe they'd be interested in him. But now we're starting to see, like, dribbles of information or rumors are just complete bullshit at this point in the draft cycle,

that like maybe Danny Aange might go off the reservoir, go Camboozer at two. Darren Peterson, obviously, another wild card there. Maybe he slides down to even beyond that, even beyond three. I'm curious, Kyle, because you just put out a new draft board on The Ringer.com. You have Camboozier as your top pick. Would you be as bold as the Utah Jazz to jump Darren Peterson and take Cambooser at two? I don't think you can lose, I think, is kind of where I'm sitting with this. And they've demonstrated that they have the stomach to take guys who have their details that can be left out, I think.

But people can go research that for themselves. But they've taken players in the past, Aintas in particular, players who have sort of circles around them that have questionable, you know, operating history. I think. And everybody that has kind of followed the Peterson thing, that's the vibe that I have gotten is if, as you start, to kind of go through the receipts like a like an auditor it's like where exactly did this go wrong i know tate has probably spent a lot of time trying to figure this out too um the thing that i keep hearing for people is just like the communication between the school and the camp was just there was a disconnect you know whether who was right or wrong um but it seems like coming from the camp that was

that was the issue so the a a a i say all that to say that i think if any team was going to have the stomach to kind of just say, we'll take the dude and we'll figure that out. It's the pedigree of a Danny Aange who has seen a million of these situations and probably has a method of going through and doing that. Darren Peterson fits like a puzzle piece into what the jazz currently have going on here. I know that they have said, you know, Keante, they said that they're not going to extend him this year. They're going to wait and see if he can, at least that's what, that's the messaging that's getting put out. Keonti George, who had a good year after having two bad years. maybe that could be a sign that they're saying,

you know, we're open to bringing in a Darren Peterson. You could read it that way. But if I look at the jazz, I think Cam Boozer could slot in and make you huge with a really high-level skill set if you wanted to look at it like, okay, we have Mark and we have Boozer and we have Jaron Jackson Jr. To me, that's the pick that I'm going to make if I'm the Jazz. So that's who I'm selecting.

I just think that that combo of Jaron Jackson Jr. and Cam Boos is really, really interesting because you have a lot, you have shooting, you have playmaking, you can really guard a lot of different types of teams, really physical.

That's the way that I would go. So we're pairing Cam and Jaron Jackson, Jr., and we're just going to play five centers all the time. We're basically going to be that Denver Nuggets graphic where it's like bowl and Yokic and the bubble team where they just did that basically.

Yeah, I mean, I think Markan still has a great market. I mean, I think that you're going to be able to get something good. He's not distressed. I think his value is still really high. Nothing is really done. Nothing's really taking the air out of that, in my opinion. So you might be able to go and really take a stab at answering some more of your backcourt questions. And it doesn't mean that Keontes gone. It's just, yeah, I think that that boozer in Utah makes a whole lot of sense because he has personal experience. That's another thing you're thinking about with Utah is, you know, he has personal experience with Utah and he might hang around, you know, since his dad is. there or maybe he wants to get away from his dad. I don't know. Tate, do you have thoughts on that? Yeah, I do think it's fascinating with Carlos being involved. And I think that obviously there's a lot of familiarity between the Boozer family and the Utah Jazz. Also, like the Kevin Love Comp that

I've seen throw out a lot with Cam Booszer, I think that going to Utah, maybe that helps with that comp for a lot of people. I also think just in general, I mean, Cam Booser's passing ability. I know he's a big, but I just think being able to create is maybe a little bit underrated at this point. There were times during the season with Duke where they didn't have a true point guard and Caden Boozer was still kind of getting his feet underneath them and they just said, hey, Cam, you take the ball late in the game and you handle business for us. And I do think that at times he can kind of be that player for them as well. The Kessler thing is strange. I know he's asking for a lot of money. So the front court doesn't seem as short up as it maybe, you know, was kind of thought. So I think

that this is almost a safe pick for Utah. And as far as the long, you know, kind of game for what Utah wants. I think that Cam Boozer fits and checks a lot of boxes. And I wouldn't be shocked if the Aangest had Boozer at number one on their board. And for them, this might be them in their mind getting the number one pick. So I just think that that's the reason why it makes a lot of sense to me.

I think Cam Boozer is a low maintenance star that you bring in there. And I think that fits really well in Utah. And I've heard a lot of talk about like Keante George and Wasserman slash the team and kind of they don't want to step on his toes and the Darren Peterson would make that an issue. I don't buy that as much. I feel like that's agent

propaganda that's been put out to the people. But I don't think that really matters here. And I think Cam Boozer at number two makes a lot of sense. I think he'd make Boozer would make Keontes' life a little bit better because a lot of the questions about Keonté are like, is this guy ever going to be a true offensive engine? Those were the pressures and burdens put on him. You know, the efficiency shooting and getting up the ball. Having a playmaker like Boozer, I think would make Keontes' life.

Maybe have him settle into a role that's more natural for him. This is kind of shaping up to be the ultimate test of like fit versus talent here. because you have a team like Utah going out and getting Jaron Jackson basically just to sit him, to do that in advance of the offseason so you could get the business done early. And I have to wonder, like, do the jazz all of a sudden start to regret that? I know they don't know that they were going to leap up into the top of the draft. And obviously, they hadn't had a lot of luck before that. But now they're in a situation where, like, if they wanted to go cam, then things get super confusing.

It's funny, Kyle, but the way you kind of laid it out where it's like, you could just fucking trade Lari Market. It is true. You don't have to keep all of the players there. This doesn't have to be a problem for as long as you wanted to. But having said that, like, all of a sudden, your leverage on all this situation, just craters, right? Like, and I guess the question is, like, from there, for you, Kyle, like, is it Lowry that doesn't fit at that point? Would you be thinking if you have Cam and you're just like, best player? I'm going to just build my team around him and shift things from there.

Is it Lowry that doesn't fit? Is it Kessler ultimately? is it Jaron? Who's the guy that is the odd man now? It's tough because I think once if you assume they're going to take Boozer, Boozer can take guys off the dribble a little bit, can kind of straight line go to the basket.

Jaron can do that too. You just, you don't want to stack too many sort of hats on hats with these guys who can't get to the rim or who can't create off the dribble because I don't have any doubt about the spacing between like Boozer and Markinen and Jackson even together.

But that's kind of a stagnant. downhill idea because especially if you have Ace Bailey and you believe in him, he's not like a super downhill guy either. So I would imagine you could go four or five with Boozer and Jackson, have Ace at the three. And then I think you would need to have some kind of drink stirring guys who could create off the bounds at the one and the two. You know, they have some options there.

But I think Lowry would be the guy that would come to mind for me just because you love his shooting, but he's still so valuable, just kind of circle and bow. to that point about and you know maybe you're right maybe teams will see that and be like we know you want to get rid of him they i'm sure though they could figure out a way to play this because there are a bunch of contenders that would probably enjoy having lowry so i think you could get some assets for him um that's just the direction that i would go but that in terms of the ball i think the ball handling is kind of the key kind of stressing variable there that would make me this episode is brought to you by activia you might already be eating yogurt but not all yogurts are created equal

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But I guess like if anyone's going to do it, it's going to be the ages. All right, Memphis at 3, Tate. Is this an easy choice for you? Like, is this a clear cut? It's tough because, you know, obviously to me, I mean, Darren Peterson at number three makes a lot of sense. And I think, you know, looking at that team, I think Cedric Coward is the perfect kind of guy

that you can pair with his personality next to a Darren Peterson because Cedric is a guy who can be more forefacing. He is a gregarious guy, very affable guy. So I think that it kind of works as far as that. I like Jalen Wells, a lot as a piece. Then obviously you have a distressed asset with John Moran, and they're going to probably shop him around, I would assume. And if you bring Darren Peterson in, I think that's a perfect situation where,

hey, thanks a lot, John. We appreciate your time here, but we're moving on to our next guard here in Darren Peterson. And I think the fact that Darren can play a true point guard role, at least we suspect, and also can play off the ball as he showed at Kansas. I think that also is a very intriguing thing for them. I know that there's a lot of conversation about Peterson not willing to work out for anybody but the Wizards. I don't read too much into that. I think Memphis has kind of understood the cold shoulder that they're willing to get,

especially when it comes to agents and their players and what they want. And a big market seems to be always to sell. But I do think that if I'm here at number three, you got those two guys off the board. I think you're licking your chops a little bit. I know Boozer would be great in Memphis. I think personality-wise, he and Coward would be great together. But I think that Darren Peterson is just too tantalizing. So at number three, give me Darren Peterson and let him pop there in Memphis.

And I think that he could end up being a star. I thought you were going to butt that right there. I was waiting for the like, Caleb Wilson. I thought for sure, he's, he's keeping us on our toes. It's funny how like there are some markets I was thinking about this the other day that are, they're not going to be like on the apps, you know, they're not going to be getting dates just off the,

off the first glance on the apps of just like, you know, they're going to, you know, whatever. Turfell, by the right, but yeah, keep going. And then, and then they're the teams like. They're all swiping left originally. Right, right. See, I missed the entire app, all that stuff. So I didn't even know how to, like, correctly address the reference. But anyway, yeah, and then they're the teams that are like, like Memphis and Utah, like, they're like, we know.

You keep hearing about this. They're like, we're used to all this, like, nonsense of the bullshit of, you know, we won't work out. You don't initially want to go here. They're more the teams that are like, we go to church. They know, like, we go to church together. You're going to kind of see me and we'll win you over. I feel like that's kind of the analog. It's like LA in the big markets.

They're like, we know we're going to get, we're going to get some action on the apps. But I don't know. That was just thinking about that the other day. It's a personality connection. Yeah. Totally. Totally. What I read from the Peterson thing from afar was that he knew he wasn't going number two

and that he was just breaking up to continue this tortured metaphor a little bit farther than anyone to imagine I could. Tortured. Come on. Well, it was good when you did it. It was torture when I got it back. when he just knows he's not going to Utah that cam stuff is real he's probably going to go to and he just wanted to get ahead of that in order to save face does that like is that at all the possibility Kyle uh it's possible um it's it's hard to know what's going on with that camp

to be honest with you man i mean he might just want to go number one and i tell you the other thing that you were talking about that i think is interesting is like as much as i really really enjoyed and one of my favorite things about Peterson this past year was him going on and off ball a lot like him showing the off ball stuff. I'm not convinced that he is excited about that. I kind of feel like Peterson is just like, I'm hardened. I'm a system. I kind of wonder if that's how he is because I think the strongest thing about him is that he can go on and off ball like that. I also just think in the West, as we saw with the Spurs, like having multiple guards and versatile guards. I think you're going to have to have a plethora to really make sense. And I think for

him, it's like, I can shoulder some of this burden early on in a game. I can pass it off to Cedric if I need to for a little while, let him do what he needs to do. I can take it back in the crunch time moments, you know what I mean? So I think there's a sell there to Darren Peterson that maybe he buys into where it's like, we're not going to put all this on your plate from the start. And then when you have shooters, like a Jalen Wells around you and some of these other pieces that Memphis has been able to acquire. Yeah, Cam Spencer. Like, they just have one, the grisional. The Grizzlies have just done a great job drafting in general. Like, if you go back through their draft history, I mean, it's just hit after hit after hit.

So, I mean, they've been able to figure it out. And I just think that once they get him in the building, they can sell the idea. I think Memphis, the city, will really galvanize around a guy like Darren Peterson. And maybe if he feels that love and feels like, hey, I'm the franchise guy. Everybody knows me. Everybody loves me. We see like a better version of him because at Kansas, it felt like at times he was almost antagonistic towards like the fans because they expected so much from him. He had the, you know, interesting issues, you know, not playing in games.

They kind of all turned and started to love Melvin Council, who was his back court partner instead of him. It just got into a weird, awkward situation. I don't think that Cedric Coward has the personality to want to take away. I think they're all going to try to get him to invest and involve himself. And I think that's going to be a win for him in the end. But I'm with you. I think that he's got to be on ball originally just to keep him engaged. And then from there, it's like, hey, that's a lot to put on your plate.

Let's help you out a little bit. Cedric, you take over. let's pass the baton. And I think this is a tough team. So I think that, you know, Darren Peterson eventually buys in. Yeah, that seems like the perfect context for someone who presumably just wants

to run his own team because there are very few options where like a team is just waiting for their next star. If anything, everyone has someone or they already have that one growing in house. And so other than maybe like the nets or the kings who aren't going to be in this area.

And so like to get into Memphis feels like even though perhaps like won't be the best market. I don't know if he'll be in love with like the hotel selection there. But living there, he won't have to worry about it. But it does feel like he could be the engine for what's next there because you're right. They do such a good job mining guys from the middle of the draft, the back end of the first round. They'll be able to support it, but what they need is a new focal point, regardless of what's going to happen to Jai.

If anything, Jha is just there until he's not, he's just a waystation until we get to what's next. And Peters can could very much be that guy. Yeah, the cryptic Jha tweet after they draft Peterson would be what I was interesting. You know, like that's what I'd be watching out for, like the thinking face or whatever it is, you know, that would be great. It's kind of interesting to think about if somehow this just like really reset the jaw situation and we could get John Peterson together. Like that would be pretty.

And then you put Cedric at the three and then I don't know. But if I'm Memphis, I would be going in this with a little bit of trepidation because you come out of this area where your superstar basically just kind of like lights fire to the whole situation. And you're like, all righty, here we go. Let's jump out of that right back into another, like, you know, Darren may acquit himself of that stuff immediately. It's hard to say.

It's, you know, that's, and that's been the crux of all the debate about him is like, you know, how much of this is a bug and how much of this is a feature with Peterson, like what went on at Kansas. And I think if you're picking him, there's some worry about that. And if it were Memphis, yeah, I would be going into that being like, did we just sign up for another troublesome superstar? But the talent is so immense, man. I've said it repeatedly, he's the most offensively talented player in this draft.

But that alone isn't enough to take you number one or bet on you. All right. Number four, Chicago Bulls. Kyle, I think you're up. I am. You know, I'm going to take Caleb Wilson here. Shocker, shocker, shocker. Wilson, the Bulls are basically a formless void at this point to me.

I don't really even know for sure what's nailed down. is a really interesting conversation with them. You've got a new philosophy coming in. We used to be able to kind of predict what they were going to do because of what Archeros is draft history. Bryson Graham comes in, and it's hard to know which direction he's going to go at this team. I mean, Giddy might stay.

He might go. It seems to me, like, Bozellis is the guy who has the most kind of flexibility positionally in what direction he could go play style-wise. I think you pair Buzellis is. and Caleb Wilson just as a starting point together. That is a really, spatially, I think giddy,

Buzellas and Wilson is a little troublesome, but I think Buzellas and Wilson is a really, really fun wing pairing. And then, you know, the Bulls have another pick in this draft, too. They could pick something that really compliments those two guys. So I like this pick. I think Chicago would love Caleb Bulls.

What do you think, Tate? Yeah, I think it's just, this is a no-brainer for Chicago. You just get to sit there and watch the other three teams, kind of battle it out and kind of, you know, try to figure out, where they want to go with this. And then you sit there and you say, okay, we'll take Caleb. Or they could take Darren Peterson. Let's say that Memphis decides to go for Caleb.

Like, whoever's there at number four, I think they feel good. They also don't have to really do anything. They just need to sit there and wait it out. And I know there's been a lot of conversation about kind of Caleb's, you know, three-point shooting. And I think he finished like 26% on a very low volume there. But as far as like the mechanics of it all, like it isn't broken. And if you watch them in the mid-range, like the touch, the feel, I think it's all there. I think it will eventually get to a place where it does translate. So I'm not too concerned about that. And as far as like the flashes and the instincts,

they're all there with who Caleb Wilson is. And I just think there's a lot of two-way upside for him. I think defensively he's going to buy in. I think he's going to take a lot of onus on that side of the ball, especially early in his career because he understands if you play defense, you're going to get on the court. So I just think for Caleb. And then as far as like the personality, like this guy is going to lean all the way into

Chicago. He's going to be everywhere. He's going to be eating Chicago dogs. He'll be at White Sox games. Like he's just going to be a. man of the people and completely get Bulls fans excited about the future. And I think that's just, Chicago fans have just been waiting for something positive to believe in. And I think Caleb Wilson gives them something to believe in. So I think it's an easy

pick at number four for them. And I'm excited to see what it looks like. So I know things didn't go great for our guy or tourists. But the one thing that I always kind of saw in the midst of all the shit that was happening there was that like his like basic theory, I thought rang true, which is like he wanted guys with a size who could dribble past shoe, right? You wanted athletes. You wanted multiple ball handlers. It worked well from the start with Lonzo and Al's Caruso basically ripping and running and like kind of opening things out from there. Obviously, things did not go well practically since that first season. But like at the very least, there's still the guts of that identity. I think they were kind of trying to like rejigger like where

they were in order to like lean more toward guys that they were getting in the draft. And I think one good thing about putting Tiago in there, it really seems like he spiritually wants to carry on that. Like his offense, especially the one that he ran in France before he got to Portland, was very much like Nola Roach style where you're moving and a lot of like the no-screen stuff and a lot of guys that would thrive in that environment. And so I do feel like Kyle, like Bezellas, Caleb, even Giddy for now, even if he isn't a long-term guy, these are guys that kind of fit that sort of identity. Yeah, it's that little hiccup where we had DeRosen and Caruso and Lonzo.

That was a fun. I feel like it was just like three months, right? Where they were, where they were really one team in the East or the NBA over like the first two months. Yeah. Yeah, it was just like a bunch of handlers out there. I mean, if we're, if we're being like literal and we're talking about them doing the, it's so funny that the like Noah La Roach thing became like a standard household term in basketball. People may have no idea what the hell we're talking about. It's just like a, it's an interesting, it's a style of like spacing and and cutting after a ball handler drives for people who don't know. a lot of good YouTube videos about it out there. But, I mean, that's going to stress,

that's going to stress Caleb's things that he needs to work on in the short term, I think, and that's one of the big questions I've heard from other scouts is like the driving kick stuff is like, can he grow in that way? Which may, if they do end up playing with the bigger ball handler thing, that might suggest that Caleb plays like four and five most of the time, like Dunker Spot Catching Lobbs types of stuff.

Yeah. Speaking to just the skills and things like that, I agree with Taylor. Like, I think the shot's going to be there. He shot like 71% from the line. Like the touch is good. Anytime he got to his spots, it looked nice. So I think he's probably going to be like a stationary shooter from three,

but I think he's going to get there. And the defensive upside is just off the charts. He has so much stuff. His defensive impact for what it was, considering how loose his technique is, was pretty crazy. And if you just think about if he tightens some of that stuff up, he could become one of the best defensive players in the league.

All right. Before we get to the rest of the draft, why don't we take a quick break, come back, do that. The Ringer NBA show is brought you by Fandul. Another NBA season is in the books, but the fun doesn't have to stop there. On the biggest stage in the world, Fandul is changing the game,

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You basically have your pick here, and it really is kind of eye of the beholder. where are you going number five with the clippers yeah i teased this at the top i just think that uh he's the electric guard on the board i like his size i do think that a lot of people yeah michael brown junior is the pick um i won't you know sugarcoat it anymore here i know that a lot of people talk about his three point shooting it's like 35 percent for the season but he takes a lot of threes which means he has a lot of confidence and i really like the shot i think he has a really nice shot i think the volume is there because he believes in his shot i think he has good vision i think he's big i think he's a really good passer. I know there's the back issues that a lot of people have talked about.

The medicals have come back pretty clean. There was some weird stuff. He's kind of like the the light Darren Peterson situation in college this year where he didn't get the same kind of fanfare about it, but there were some weird things that were happening at Louisville and some issues, you know, with his playing time and things like that. But man, when he does play, he's got a lot of firepower. I think that, you know, the clippers here are just trying to find someone that can play next to a Garland who could fit in with the Kawhi Leonard. When I talked to him last spring, I asked him like who's the best player in the draft, right? And I, you know, I kind of gave him the three guys to choose from at the time, which was Boozer, AJ and Darren Peterson. And he said, me, which I thought was a

great answer. And I just kind of like laughed at it. And I was like, okay, you know, Michael Brown definitely believes in himself. So I just think he's got a lot of energy. I think he's got a lot of belief in himself. And I think he's going to be ready to roll. You get him out to L.A. He's working out here today, which is Thursday. I know they had a really good workout with Burries the other day. I think it was a couple days ago. But I just think once they see Mike L. in person, see his size, see his ability, and watch him go through a workout. They're going to fall in love with him. And I think if they don't trade back, this is a perfect pick for the Clippers at number five. Yeah, Mike Hell's always kind of hovered around that top three, almost like a little

brother. Like, you know, we saw him, you know, in Portland at the Hoop Summit. It was like, you got the guys. And then it was like, oh, Mike Hill's pretty good, too. He was always sort of in that order. Right. For people who don't know, too, I mean, the stuff that went on at Louisville, it was like there was a back injury and there was a lot of, like, causality arguments. that went on that caused tension that you can read about that went on out there where it was just, I think that caused a lot of unrest in the program. And then my main things with him are defensive. He's pretty skinny.

He's shown to me, like, he's probably going to get attacked, not that that's a unique thing among the guards in this draft. And I've worried about the finishing at times too. But the shooting, I think, is the strongest argument for him. You were talking about his audacity and his confidence. I mean, he shot 40.4% on threes in the pick and roll this season. So he can get it off in every which way. I mean, you can run him off of screens.

You can have him as a dribble pull-up shooter. He's very versatile in that way. And he's ambidextrous with his passing game. I think that's another thing that's really nice about Mikel. And he's grown. He's grown to, he's bigger than a lot of these guys. So he and Wogler are sort of peers in terms of the bigger live dribble kind of creator scores in this class. So my understanding with Mikel,

when I've only watched like two games, and I remember, like, getting the big waff of, like, La Mello vibes from him. Maybe not just, like, in how he plays, but maybe how he carries himself. But everything you hear is just, like, the upside is there. And yet, as I'm reading the NBA draft guy, we have on the ringer from our guy, Kyle Mann,

you have him 12th. So, like, not only past the group of guards that I think could go here, but beyond even guys like Hans Steinbach and your guy, quitons, Am I getting any of these? Quaintants. We're close. Acquaintance without the A.

My rule of thumb is you got to be good enough for me to pronounce your name properly. You know, like, Janus got so good. I learned like the Nigerian version, Adi Dekumpo. You know what I mean? Like, that's how good he got. So I think you get there eventually. We got past the tier of guys that I knew. And then I'm like, oh, shit, I actually don't know how to pronounce this guy.

I never said this out loud. But anyway, Kyle, Michael Brown, you have at 12. So are you just not a believer? No, no. I mean, that's, I would say, no, no, that's not the case. It's just, I think my archetype, like, to your where I have him is maybe a little different than the way other people see. I think people see him as like a pure offensive engine, and I'm not totally there in terms of, you mentioned Lamello. Lamello's thing is just kind of like kinetic, kinetic, kinetic, Connecticut, moving, moving, like just always and has a lot of flare.

and I kind of wonder about that with Mikel about like physicality inside the arc. Can his game, does his game need to be at the speed that he constantly plays at? Can he slow down and be a little bit more of similar to another guy that we're getting ready to talk about? And that's been my biggest thing, which has made me kind of slide him more into the archetype of the Keontes or the or the like Anthony Simons is another guy that I bring up a lot with him. It's like, these guys are good one. These guys are scores. It's like are they max contract offensive engine guys? I can't quite get there.

That's the line that I'm below with Mikel. But he's an undeniable talent. And he could outperform that and make me look stupid. That's extremely possible. All right, Nets are up now. Kyle, so you have your pick of guards here. You have Wogler as your fifth guy. You have Burrys at six.

Do they take another point guard, though? Like, that's the problem with me with Brooklyn. I'm like, how many point cards can one team take? Like, you talked about all centers starting. Is this a team of all point cards at some point? My God. Well, I mean, Wogler differs from all the other playmakers that they've taken and that he can shoot the freaking ball.

It's true. Just, Jesus Christ. No, I mean, Wogler and Yeager together would be a pretty impotent downhill idea, I think. But Wogler can get into the pain and has some... I was talking about Mike L. About how the sort of pace and the speed that he plays at, Keaton is the opposite. Keaton is very slow. Like, it's not that he's like a slow athlete laterally.

It's just he has a way more exacting kind of incremental way that he plays. And it's very mature. And I think it's only going to advance and get better. I think he's going to become a technique wizard as he continues to get better. And I think he also, we were talking about going on and off ball with Peterson, Keaton is good enough that he can play off ball during the times when he's not kind of getting his, taking his lumps as a primary creator. So he's a legitimate big-time shooter.

I have a lot of belief in him in that sense. So the question I guess will be like in the actual draft is whether or not they want to put him next to Garland. I think his size kind of eases some of the worry on that front. Defensively probably still be a question. You know, people have brought up a whole lot that in the half court, Wagler like doesn't dunk. Like he's only had like one dunk in like the past three years across multiple levels. And he's 6-6, which, you know, how much do you care about that? Your mileage may vary.

But I think that Wogler is a big-time talent. I'm a big fan. Tate, where are you on Wogler? I'm a big fan. I think that the only issues I really have with Wogler is just like when he has defensive pressure, which he's going to face in the playoffs, I think he'd be a great regular season player early on his career. But once he gets like actual guys, like a Steph Castle picking up Wogler to me,

if I forecast in the future, I don't like. the promise of that. But if he goes to a team like Brooklyn, he'll have some time to develop and kind of fight through some of those hiccups that he will have early on. And I do think as far as being able to kind of get off ball, be a catch and shoot guy to get into a rhythm, and then I think you can kind of load into him being a primary ball handler throughout his career. I think that is something that I see as far as like forecasting what his future looks like. But yeah, I'm a big fan. I think whenever you have a guy like this that is kind of an under the radar prospect, there's probably a little bit of imposter syndrome that you have to

fight through early on in his career. So I think bringing him into a system, having time and a runway for him to develop into the player he can be is a best case scenario. So Brooklyn, to me, would be a great fit. And I think he could play like a two guard type situation as well and just get some shots up, get into a flow. And then the more that you kind of believe and see, especially in the pick and roll, you're like, all right, let's give him the keys and let him go. So I'm a big fan. I just, I wonder how far he could slide down depending on if teams kind of fall in love with some more sure guys, you know, like a Kingston Fleming's or a Braden Burys or something like

that, but I'm a big fan of Wogler as a player. I almost wish he stayed a little bit farther under the radar. Like, he didn't pop as much as he did at Illinois, because it seems like he's the type of guy who would benefit a lot from the players around him. Like the kind of theory of like putting him in the warrior system or like, well, around more veterans so he could flow around there and then just steadily gain more and more.

But if you're trapped him at five or six even, like you're kind of expecting a lot from him at least from the jump i guess if the clippers hold on to garland like at the very least there's be a little bit more of a time share there before they see it to him but like i don't know just like just straight from the jump like it feels like he's the type of guy who needs a little bit more time and the clippers i mean if they're going to keep kawai they're going to actually compete at the very least for a playing spot for the immediate so i don't know um seven kings tate where you going this feels this feels like the obvious one and i think everybody is sort of pointed to the fact that this is obvious.

I mean, Darius A-Coh, I think for me, the Kings are going to be between two guards who are totally different stylistically. I think it's going to be A-Cuff for Kingston Flimmings. I think Flimmings is sort of your Davion-Mitchell defensive stopper and hope that he grows into more of an offensive prospect as time kind of wanes on. But I just think when you have a player like Darius A-A-Cuff, who is so tough, scores at three levels, distributes, plays well out of the pick-and-roll. Excellent at setting the pace. Kind of has a moxie as almost like a veteran-type mindset. No defense has been a very scrutinized point when it comes to Darius A Cuff. But I'm of the camp that when you have a guy like this who is just someone that can,

one, sell tickets and two, get people to believe in him as a true star in this league. I know he's a little bit undersized. But they have the relationships. Scott Perry and his dad are very close. I know B.J. Armstrong, who's the assistant GM there, has had his eye on A Cuff for quite some time. I thought they were going to have to trade up for Darius at some point. And we were talking about this.

And Kyle's like, what are they trading? You know what I mean? Like, what do they have to offer to trade up? Which I think is a very fair conversation. So if the Kings are sitting there at 7, A-Cuff is still on the board. I think it's an easy decision for them. I think they take Darius A-Cuff, and they are very excited about what his future looks like.

And he's had a lot of NBA and basketball people around him for quite some time. And I think he's really going to grow into a superstar. And I think getting him at number 7 is a steal for the Sacramento King. So I'm going to take Darius A-Cuff. If you're trying to trade up for A-Cuff, there's big like Michael Scott with the, the oven mitt in the Christmas episode. He's like, oh, look at this craftsmanship, you know.

Very well, me. I don't really know who they're going to dangle. But, yeah, A-Cuff. The thing that I've heard people bring up, and this is a series where he is just like, is he going to be in the running for worst defensive player in the league? Like, he's going to get targeted a whole lot. You hear that about Trey Young.

You hear that about Kianti. You hear people, you know, so these skinny guys who are scorers, it's like, it's going to be. an uphill battle and he's going to have to prove a lot of people wrong because that noise is pretty loud. Well, let me ask you this, because you're talking to a lot of draft people, a lot of league people, a lot of college people at this point.

Did the Jalen Brunson winning a title thing have any effect on everyone? Is everyone all of a sudden being like, I don't know, A-Cuff, you get the right system around him? I don't know if that's in Sacramento, but like if you get him to the right team, are people going to be more open to that now? Well, I mean,

it's interesting because A-Cuff and Brunson are very different stylistically, if you just want to talk about the basketball side of it. Brunson really sets up shop into paint in a way that that A-Cuff doesn't. A lot of A-Cuff's trips to the rim are passing. He kind of is shooting a floater, kind of just going, you know, Brunson goes in there and just like he builds camp and he's just like, I'm cool, I'm content. I got all the little upfakes and everything.

But on the human side of it, I think it is a pretty interesting idea where it does mirror the Nix a little bit, where you're drafting familiarity, you're drafting somebody that you know a lot about, that the difference being here that he played at Arkansas with, like, if you want to go and, like, surround him with the other dudes who were at Arkansas, you're not going to have the same results.

I can't even think of a, this is, I was curious to throw this to you. Like, is there a parallel for the Villanova thing? Honestly, Justin, I think your Yukon teams are the closest thing. Like, if a team was like, I'm going to go, we have castle, let's go get clinging,

let's go get caravan. And, like, I don't even know if it's replicable, like, in terms of how they went about drafting guys that had history together. Yeah, I think UConn's the right answer. And obviously, Barry, you can speak to that even more. But I think that's the only one that these days that would really fit. I mean, maybe there's like, I mean, we've seen the Duke thing tried to work out, R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish once upon a time. And I think they both hated each other more than people really suspected at the time.

And Villanova with Jay Wright is kind of coached in a different but similar way with Dan Hurley. I think they have the DNA that's built into them. And I think when you understand the ultimate goal is there, you have championship DNA, you know, to use one of those, you know, things that everyone likes to point out. I think Ucom would be the obvious answer. And, you know, even if there is like, yeah, I mean, Caravan to me is one of those guys where, you know, early second round, you might just bring him in if you're like to Spurs. I don't know what pick they have exactly around in that area. But maybe you just do that and say, hey, this guy knows how to play with him, knows how to find space, good jump shooter. we feel good about that.

So yeah, I think Yukon's the obvious answer. Wembe for Klingin. Just lock it in now. I'm in. A-Cuff and Sacramento just quickly, it's just so funny because I feel like they've been drafting team leaders who want to be there for so long. I'm sure this one will go right,

but it's a whole other story. 8. Atlanta Hawks. Kyle, I thought a lot about this lately, naturally. I feel like Kingston Flimmings would be amazing in Atlanta. I think that, There's been a whole lot of talk among Hawks fans about like, well, we do need a big. But if you're getting, if you're in this situation, I've had people also say that this is purely a best player available franchise. So I think Kingston kind of checks both boxes in terms of needs.

And he's a high upside player where I think if you put his speed and his ability to pass the ball, which I think is underrated in there with the guys that could protect him defensively. I think he's going to do fine defensively because he's, you know, fast and he's pretty strong and he's really competitive. I just think if you put him next to Dyson, Daniels, Jala Johnson, just all the link that they have, he would be an awesome compliment. And I think he would help that team in the short term. I agree. Tate, you want to go with Dallas at 9? Yeah, I think this is, you know, after all the shuffling of the deck with the guards, I think that you look at this guy and you're saying, well, why wasn't he taken already? Braden Burrys out of Arizona.

Another guy that I think defensively doesn't get talked about enough. I think he's a really good defender. There was a lot of conversation about Darren Peterson dodging the game against Arizona. I think some of that was a fair speculation because I think he saw Braden Burys and was like, I don't know if I wanted any of that.

I'm cramping just thinking about it. You know what I'm saying? I think there was some of that involved. I don't want to read too much into the line there. But yeah, led the Wildcats and scoring has a really balanced. kind of shot profile in general, can get down to the rim, can be a catch and shoot guy. I just think that, you know, if you're Dallas, you're sitting there, you see all these guards

that are coming off the board and you say to yourself, hey, feel pretty good about Braden Burry's. He's a little bit older, too, so I think he can help you in the short term. I think he can help you in the long term. And again, I just think that he is a really solid person from what I've heard. Everybody's enjoyed him, being around him. He's had great workouts. So as far as being able to put him with the team that is hoping for larger aspirations, he doesn't have to be the franchise guy when you have flag there already. Maybe there's some, you know,

mentorships that could happen with the Kyrie Irving as well. We'll see how that works out. But I just think Burry's there with the Mavericks would be a really good fit. Burry's and Flag is just match me in heaven. When the Burry's report came out about him being considered at five, if he gets taken at five, I'm going to be insufferable, Justin. I'm just going to warn you because there was a whole lot of them. Just because I said that, it's going to go the other way. Karma's going to kick me in the ass. But there are a whole lot. a mouthy commenter saying I was an idiot for mocking that there. Burries is a playoff

player man. I mean like you're talking like you're talking about the ball pressure, Tate he's going to dish it out and I kind of feel like he's going to be able to take it. I just think that that's an increasingly demanding filter for guards coming into the league. Like Burries is tough on both both ways man. Right. And if you're going

at this based off of like the new front office regime not only UJerry but Mike Schmidt is in there, like what is his type of player? It seems like it's very much this type. There's two-way guys with some scale. Chinese and big, right? Is there what?

Not anymore. That's our problem here in Portland. Just left us with the bag. That's fine. I still believe in Yang. I still believe. Number 10, the Milwaukee Bucks. Let's go out on this one.

Hearing a lot of Nate Ament vibes, right? But I keep looking at Kyle Mann's draft board and I keep scrolling. I don't know where to find him. Oh, wait, no, here he is at 20. Kyle is not a fan of Native Men. Here's my issue with Amit and with Chris Sanak from Houston is I, it's not that I'm, I'm always careful to put it this way. It's not that I'm out on these players. It's just their draft position represents the value or the level of investment and confidence.

It's like, it's not that I don't think it can happen. It's just am I comfortable in the investment with a player who is a hypothetical kind of stretch three, four, who has like no rim pressure? a mint was really bad in the paint this season using senac as the other guy is just like a guy who seems more like terrified to go in the paint that those guys if you're not if you're a hypothetical on both sides of the spectrum there I'm just kind of like well you better be and and I just worry about omit what is he going to turn into now granted he has a lot of just positives I mean he's pretty he's a smooth mover he's a smooth player with the ball I think he's got some passing upside they may see him you know, we were text, I know we keep referencing this, and I know this is annoying to listen to for people. We keep referencing text messages we had. Bill and House and Tate now we're talking about where the star bets are in this draft, and we all kind of agree that it falls off after like 9, 10.

And if you're a team like Milwaukee, who's going to be retooling, everybody expects, you know, Jan has to be traded here. Soon, you're in a position to make a bet like that, I think. So, you know, if I'm Milwaukee, I'd be considered. that rather than going with like an established kind of role player. I'll take the talent bet because when am I going to have the chance again based on their pick situation? So it makes sense, but that's where I stand on it.

Tate, I don't know what you. So you're going to take native minute number 10? This is, this is my board. This is what we're projecting what could happen. Okay. Well, let me ask you this then. Just quickly, like if it was you, who would you take, given all the players that are off the board at this point?

If it was just Kyle Mann in that war room, like who are you turning it? I mean, 10 on my board is Jaden Quaintens, but there's a lot of disagreement about whether or not he's healthy. I think he has the highest defensive upside of all the bigs in this draft. And for me, that's a... Yaxel, you still have all of the Michigan guys practically. Mara. Mara is interesting. And I tell you, I don't know where you fall on Mara, but, like, seems like he's the type of guy who could go higher depending on if you're a true believer there. where are you on Mara or where would you go at 10 if you had the pick?

Yeah, I mean, I think the question with Mara is like, if you're bringing him to a team to be an actual franchise type guy, I don't think that's the right fit. I think he has to go to a team where he's just like a plug-in to an already kind of established order of things. And I think really just kind of like figuring out how long could he play and affect a game? You know what I mean?

It's like the motor of a die Marr would be the big question. But the skill was obviously there. So I think for, you know, some of the teams kind of like in the 12 to 16 range feels more like Mara, even Atlanta, as Kyle mentioned before, maybe that makes sense for Mara. But again, it has to be like an established order that's already there, a real team. That just needs like another piece there at the center. I mean, Native Men is an uncommon type player.

I mean, dribble, pass, shoot, his growth plates are still open. He can still grow. He's 6-11 as it currently stands. So, I mean, there is upside. And if we know anything about Milwaukee's history, this is a team that took Thon Maker number 10, right? So we have to understand that they have taken big swings before. So it would not shock me at all if they did that again. So I think that's why a minute is kind of there.

If they wanted to be a little bit safer, maybe they go with the Yaxel Lindaborg just to bring him in and say, hey, we have a nice piece. Maybe it's a trade piece that some other teams could have some interest in and maybe they just go for the safer route there. But I do think Native Mint makes a lot of sense. I've seen Milwaukee Bucks fans very upset about this. But I think there's a world in which if a mint goes to a clean slate type team, kind of has a free runway, doesn't have a. expectations, doesn't have pressure. He could develop in three years. We're saying, how did Native Mint not go top five in the draft? Because he does have that type of talent. But we saw him at Tennessee seemed spooked by the paint, willing to fade away at any juncture,

just to stay away from the rim. So I think those are the things that kind of keep you away. And obviously, when you watch someone that intently and that closely, it does make it a little bit harder to kind of buy in. But yeah, number 10 for me, I think the safe pick would be Linda Borg, even though I don't know how safe that actually is, but, you know, I think they admit it makes sense. Linda Borg, a point on that one, there's a, I've heard a lot of concern about like the type of structure that it's going to take to get the most out of Lindaborg, like in the short term. Granted, he's a really talented player. I don't think that it's like he's like a cancer or anything like that. It's just more of a focus thing with him from what I understand.

So him coming into a team that has like really established structure, really established developed. as strong as an organization. And it's not that the bucks aren't strong. It's just that there's just no framework there in terms of who they are right now. You know, if you're honest, we're there. And he was like, come on in here and be under my wingspan, young Yaxel. I would feel pretty good about that. But that's kind of my hesitation.

And we do this all the time where if you have a top 10 pick, I think there's sort of a mirage that you're in a position to make an upside swing. And that's one of the most dangerous places in the draft year in, year out, where you're straddling this like, well, should we not waste this opportunity to take this talent because we're here? Teams repeatedly do that. And then we'll see players in the 11, 12, 13, 14 range get looked over because they're not as sexy as the upside since.

And those are players like Donovan Mitchell, Van Bucer. Devon Bucer. I mean, Shay, where did Shea go? 11. 11, yeah. It happens a lot. Or the guys that seem like kind of less attractive ideas are just there in playing. side. It's hard to tell who that's going to be

in this year's draft, but it happens every single year. Why don't we wrap it there? Thank you, Tate. We went through the entire top 10. It's absolutely going to play out like this, so we look forward to just telling you how right you are

after the fact. No, I won't Buries to go number five so Kyle can have his victory lap. So that's what I'm rooting for. He's going to go 11, and it's going to, that's what I deserve. He also has him at 6th on the board here. I just want to point that out. So he's confident, but he's like not all the way, top five confident. He's just a stable idea to me.

I just, I think Burries is just, I don't know. It might not, there are people who think he has on ball upside too. If you think that, then yeah, I mean, he's a big Burys fan. He could have played in these playoffs. I think you could have. I agree. All right. Tate, thanks so much for joining us.

Of course. Appreciate you guys. All right. Why don't we wrap it there? Thank you to Victoria Valencia. Thank you to Ashley Smith for filling in today. We'll be back on Monday. Talk to you then.

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