The Ringer NBA Show - The Draft Mailbag, Vol. 4 | Draft Class (Ep. 281)

Episode Date: June 1, 2018

The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor and Jonathan Tjarks are joined by Danny Chau to answer listener-submitted questions about the 2018 NBA draft. Topics include: trading into the lottery, concerns for Deandre Ayton’s defense, and whether Miles Bridges’s measurements will impact his draft stock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, we have a fun mailbag episode of Draft Class for you today where we talked about the early entry withdrawal deadline in the NBA draft. We talked about draft rumors and some of the defensive concerns for Dandre Aiton and whether they're overblown or not. But before we get into that, let me tell you about our sponsors. Today's ring our NBA show, Draft Class, is brought to you by Hotel Tonight. If you love to score amazing deals on incredible hotels, you'll love Hotel Tonight. Hotel Tonight partners with hotels to help them sell their unsold rooms, helping you find sweet, deals at cool, top-rated hotels. Even though their names Hotel Tonight, you can also book in advance for spontaneous

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Cepciona's back. It's the best show on TV, and it's not even on TV. Go check that out on the Ringer's YouTube channel and all of our social media pages. And now it's time for Draft Class. Welcome to the Ringer NBA show. My name is Kevin O'Connor, and this is Draft Class. Calling in from Dallas, Texas, it's Ringer staff writer, Jonathan Charks. What's up, guys? It's finals day. Wish I was more excited about it. Yeah, we're recording this on Thursday, and you'll be hearing it on Friday. But yes, today is game one of the finals. That's why usually Danny Chow is sitting across from me

in L.A., but I'm here at S.F. So unfortunately, I'm not able to see you, Danny. But he's on the show today. Danny, what's going on? It's real lonely without you, buddy. Hey, man, but you do have Isaac there. I'm not on the level of the great Kevin O'Connor. We also got like a wall between us. Is your back turned to Isaac right now, Danny?

No, I'm actually sitting in your seat right now. Okay. And so we can't see each other. We can only hear each other through the mics. Yeah, he's just this disembodied voice. Anyway, our music is provided by the band Oso Oso and the podcast is produced by Isaac Lee. Let's do it. The first Friday of the month, which means it's mailbag week. So thank you, everybody, for submitting so many great questions for today's podcast.

We're going to get to those in a minute. But this week was the NBA's early entry withdrawal deadline. And a lot actually happened in the rumor mill as well. So we're going to start off with that. May 30th was the deadline for prospects testing the waters to stay in the draft or go back to college. Danny, who was some of the key players staying in the draft this year? Yeah, so it was interesting. We had two Kentucky Biggs in Wenian Gabriel and Jared Vanderbilt, who decided to stay in the draft. We have two the Lenova guys in Omari Spellman and Dante DiVincenzo,

Georgia Tech's Joshua Kogi, who we all love, and my guy, Kevin Herder, let's go. He's in. Yeah, I mean, how much money has he made in the last two weeks? Feels like he's made a lot of money. Yeah, so Kevin, like, you saw him at the Combine. We've heard so many reports about how good he looked. What specifically stood out? Well, Herder shot the ball well for sure. I mean, we already knew he could do that at Maryland, but it was nice to see him doing it against a higher level of competition, a lot of good defensive players on the other end of the floor.

But also, Danny, the thing that I think is underrated with him is his passing ability. He has good vision off the dribble. And again, that was encouraging to see him doing it against quality defensive players. I think personally, and I know you feel the same, Danny, he could easily rise into the middle of the first round. My biggest thing with him watching him in Maryland was that you looked at his body and you're like, oh man, can he get much stronger?

But earlier this month, he took a picture with a bunch of his teammates in a workout in a gym and the dude was freaking yoked. Like his arms were huge. I don't actually know how he measured at 194 pounds because he looks bigger than that. I wonder if it's like last year.

Remember the photo of Markell Fultz looking absolutely ripped before the draft? Maybe he'll slim down a little bit, But still, he did look like he was a little bit stronger when I did see him in person, which was encouraging. Yeah, and all of his athletic tests were pristine. Like, he was a plus athlete across the board. Charks, what do you think about people comparing him to Clay Thompson? Is it outrageous or is there a little bit of truth to it?

I mean, Clay is a hard guy to come to. Clay is such an outlier in terms of his ability to impact the game without really ever dribbling. Like, I don't know that he'll be an all-star that ever dribbles. I can see more like to stick within the racial comparison, could see a better Kyle Corver. I think that's more realistic. It's not inconceivable because, like, great shooter, really big, pretty good feel for the game. I wouldn't go that far, though.

Clay Thompson's ambitious. Yeah, and in the draft guy, the comparisons we have for him are discounts Clay Thompson, Alan Crabb, and Nick Stouskis. Obviously, with a lot of these players, the wide range of outcomes for them depends so much on situation, which is why for some players, it's best to go back, get another year of development in and then go to the draft. And there were a handful this year that did decide to go back to school, including PJ Washington from Kentucky,

who had a pretty good combine, looks like a good small ball five, but maybe more opportunity for him this year back in college. Tias Battle from Syracuse, Jalen Hans, Ethan Hap, and then the guy that I know you really like, Charks, Jonte Porter from Missouri decided to go back to school. Hashtag Team Jonte. Hashtag

the best Porter. The thing with Jontal will be interesting to Washington Street in Missouri, they have Jeremiah Tillman and we'll see if Kwanzo can build a team that spaces the floor. They're losing their point guard. So I think it's smart for him to go back considering where he was flexed to go

drafted. But I am a little worried about Kwanso's ability to manage a roster. I think Washington was really big. The biggest thing for him was Gabriel and Vanderbilt going pro. That should give Washington a lot of opportunity in Kentucky. He could have a really, really big year if the front court's a little less crowded, I think.

Yeah, Charks. I thought PJ Washington had a really good NBA combine as well in both scrimmages. To me, he looked like a type of player that I know you like a lot and is important in today's NBA, a potentially versatile guy who can defend multiple positions up to three or four positions. But also, he did display a little bit more of a jumper than he showed at Kentucky. I thought he had good form, good touch. His numbers aren't great. But again, that's a nice extra wrinkle for a big man that projects as a versatile guy. If he can extend his range to three, if he can do that over and returning at Kentucky, I think it would be huge for him going into

what is a weaker draft class next year. And just a few rumors. ESPN's Adrian Ward Drenowski reported the Nuggets to use the number 14 pick in the draft to dump Kenneth Farreed's contract. Finally, they've been trying to dump him forever. The thing is he only has one year, $13.7 million left.

It's only one year left now. But Charks, who are some teams that you think are a match to absorb Fareed's salary if it means adding that 14th pick? I'm going to pound my fist right now. The Mavericks better take this pick. Let's go. Quit being ambitious. Quit chasing the Marcus Cousins.

We're rebuilding here. We need these picks. Just take it. Take the hit. We need more lottery picks. I think Dallas for sure. Atlanta, Sacramento, the Nets probably.

I think those four teams have the space. They're all rebuilding. I think it's honestly a no brain of all four than just grab this guy and grab that pick. So what exactly would they be giving up? Like, I mean, it would be peanuts. Nothing. Yeah.

Like a trade exception or something. Well, that's what it used to be like. This is what it used to be like in the old days, like really just seven years ago, where teams would give up their first round picks in order to dump salary. That's the cost of doing it. We saw it in last year's draft, too, with Toronto getting rid of Damare Carroll in order to dump him on the nets. It's worth pointing out, Denver almost has to do this because of the Jokic contract. If they keep for Reid and re-sign Jokic now, they're going to be way into luxury tax for a decent but not great team.

So I think they have to do it. Do you agree, Danny? Is this something they have to do? I don't really know their cap situation. Like, I know they've been trying to get rid of Farid. I know they've been trying to get rid of Wilson Chandler. At this point, actually, yeah, because I mean, Millsap is making how much money?

He's like the third highest $29.7 million. Yes. And then $30.5 next year. He's the third highest player in the league, right? Yeah, and here's a tough thing. So right now they have Yokic at like $1.5 million. Right. But if they don't re-up him now, taking the one-year offer,

he'll be unrestricted next year. and they can't afford to put them on the market, I don't think. They have to pay them now, which means someone else's got to go financially. Unless they're going to pay a ton of money to the whole team. Yeah, and if you think about it, like 13.7 million isn't that much for one year. Like, I'm pretty sure the Nets who have been doing this for seemingly the past two years, they'll definitely eat that contract. Their salary cap books look pristine in the next year or two.

I would eat it right up. One year, $13.7 million for the 14th pick in the draft? Are you for real? That is too sweet of a deal for any team with cap space to take. I mean, there's a lot of good players in that range that are going to be available. Whether it's a Robert Williams, a rim running center, a Colin Sexton point guard could be available there. Lonnie Walker, an athletic 3-and-E wing. There's a ton of guys at that 14th pick that you would love to have a shot at.

Maybe the next is Audubon Mitchell? Yeah, exactly. And Denver knows about trading out of that pick last year, unfortunately. I could see actually them doing like the Brooklyn getting that 29. So Brooklyn pays 50 like that money to go out from like 29 to 15. That would kind of make sense for both teams. I see what happened last year with Utah. There's another rumor this week from sporting news is Sean Devaney who reported that the Celtics have interest in trading up in the draft for the longest human in the universe.

Texas Center, Mobamba. Bill Simmons and I were at dinner last night with Tommy Alter and John Gonzalez. And Bill and I argued about Obama's future in the NBA. kind of like, you know, we have in past podcasts. But I think Bamba would be a guy for Boston to trade up for. I think he'd be a great piece that they're lacking a young big man to groom behind Al Horford. And this is a question submitted from Jay Sharp.

Is he the guy worth trading up for, Danny? And if not, is there a guy worth losing their assets for? Yeah, I had a similar discussion with Bill a couple weeks ago. I laid out my perfect plan from Obama. Here is my plan. You teach him how to shoot threes from like 32 feet out. as a trailer on a break. 32 feet?

Yes. That seems really far, isn't it? It's pretty far, but think about his arms and think about how much, like, how much distance that shortens for the shot. He would be completely unguarable

if he shoots that shot. But anyway, like, for the Celtics, it's obviously an ideal situation for him and for pretty much any player drafted in the lottery. He wouldn't really feel the pressure to become, you know, oh, he's Rudy Gobert with a jump shot.

He can kind of work his way up and kind of maybe replace Aaron Baines's role as they move forward. But if I'm moving up, I think I'd rather get a player who can kind of emulate the things that Al Horford already does right now. And I think that's Jared Jackson.

Oh, I was hoping for Wendell Carter. I was hoping for Wendell Carter. Hashtag team, Jerry. You had me so excited, Danny. So would you either have Bamba or Wendell if you're a Celtics guy? I have Bamba ranked as a customer. So you have Bamba over Carter?

Yeah, I do, yeah. Okay. So Bamba, but look, it turns out of where these guys fall and it's the type of thing where what is the price? How much are you giving up to move to the sixth pick in the draft? If you're not giving up a player, what gets it done? I'm curious.

What do you guys think? It's something like Terry Rozier, the King's pick, and the Grizzlies top eight protected pick next year enough. Would a team trade out of the draft entirely for that? Devaney said Jalen Brown, which obviously the Mavis would do in a second. But I don't think that's really realistic, is it? Yeah. Yeah, I don't think they're...

I brought that up last night either, and we all kind of agreed. We don't think Boston would do that either. Yeah. Boston Herald Mark Murphy actually refuted Devonay's report this morning and said, on Boston's interest in moving up for Bamba, a league source said, quote, don't waste your time on that one. Well, we just did anyway. So it's time to move on to your questions. But first, a quick break to hear from our sponsor.

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Use the promo code, The Ringer, NBA 10. That's capital, all capital letters, the ringer NBA 1-0 at Sonos.com to receive this offer. And now, let's get into your questions. Thank you again, everybody, for submitting your questions. First up, from at McElips Tyler. Since Luca Dantritch has been rumored to be falling,

do you believe that any team would trade out for him? And if so, who? And Tyler added, I could see teams trading up and taking on Chandler Parsons' contract from the Grizzlies if Donchurch is still at four. What do you think, Charks? Man, I think Memphis, they would have to think about it. They probably wouldn't do it.

But if they can get off Chandler Parsons' contract, that would just be, like, that's paying a steep price if you're going to get off that monster deal. Do they have any other picks that they have to give out? Well, they got that Celtics pick going out at some point. Yeah, so that pick, I believe, is top eight protected in 2019, top six protected in 2020, and then becomes unprotected in 2021. See, I think they're thinking next year that pick is gone. I think they're, so I think they want to get a young guy here because probably next year

they don't have a pick. I think that's their plan. Well, I think Memphis, Memphis, they're going to get Marcus All back. They're going to get Mike Conley back. They're going to have a competitive team. I could easily see them fighting for the eight seed. ending up as the 10th spot. And if you're in that slot, that means you're going to defer the pick to Boston. It will just be picked like 11 or pick 12, which is fine. You'd be happy with that if you're

the Celtics, I would think. But if you're the Grizzlies, maybe you'd be better of bottoming out and retaining that pick. Well, they're not going to do that. I mean, they're pretty committed to Gasol and Conley, it sounds like. Well, that's why, as Tyler brought up, the Parsons angle is interesting. Because let's say, I don't know, the Clippers. Let's say the Clippers call up and they're offering the 12th pick, the 13th pick, Tobias Harris, Patrick Beverly, and a future... Oh, I would do that in a second.

For four in Parsons. Would you take that if you're the Grizzlies? Yeah, for the guys of the Grizzlies, yeah. You guys would. Both of you. You're competitive now, and you get two lottery picks. Like, that's pretty great,

like, find the middle path there. I mean, I would do that. Even if Luca's at four, though, you do it. Oh, I don't think it's going to be at four. So, I mean, if he's there, I'd have to really love Luca, Don, I would still think about it because like you're getting two good players now, two lottery picks and dumping Parsons, that could save your whole franchise. I think I'd probably still do it.

Or it could ruin it because you're not taking Chandler Parsons. Even if theoretically, Lucas Camp was like, we don't want to play in Memphis, we don't want to be there. Are you really going to take that threat serious? Are you really going to let him Eli Manning you or are you just going to do it anyway? I think it's more about dumping Parsons contract, really. Like that would just be, I mean, that is freaking, talk about a. on cost, that contract. But then what are you doing with your cap space? I mean, look, it's a horrible deal, but he only has two years left.

He'll be a free agent in 2020. It's not like he has four years left or anything like that. It's not going to murder them. It has, but it's not going to pass 2020. I mean, it kind of is. If you have Tobias Harris there, you're a much better team. And you want to compete now. So you have Tobias Harris.

And you have two picks. That's kind of thing. It kind of hits two birds with one stone. It keeps them competitive. It keeps young blood flowing. through the team. And it dumps Parsons contract. I don't see how the Grizzlies turn that down,

especially given the way we've seen how their franchise has kind of dealt with the idea of tanking, at least. Isaac, would you do that deal if you were the clippers? I would not. Because remember the Blake Griffin deal that went down this year, the reason why they made that,

a big reason why they made that, was to free themselves from a long-term, potentially crippling contract, right? And Parsons, I get it. He has two years left as opposed to Blake, who has a lot more than two years left and gets paid more than Parsons. But if you're Jerry West, then you just got rid of your most beloved player of the franchise to free up cap space. You're not going to immediately strap yourself again. Maybe your goal was to get a star player.

And maybe if you really, really think Luca is that and you really, really think Luca is going to be there at four, maybe you make that deal. but you would have to be certain that Luca is there at 4. I mean, I think you make it on draft night. Yeah, you do it on draft day, right? You do it beforehand, yeah. In which case, I understand that argument more. At the same time, I don't think I'd do it just because Luca, as much as we love him here at the ringer, any draft pick, really. No one's a sure pick, right?

Maybe LeBron, maybe Anthony Davis is a sure pick, but even Anthony Davis got injuries. I don't think putting your hopes and dreams into one basket, strapping yourself from the cap for the next two off seasons. I don't know if that's a smart move. Well, I think because that means you do that, you're rebuilding. That means we're not going to be competitive now. I think Clippers want to be competitive now, I'd imagine. Yeah, Steve Balmer doesn't want to lose like three seasons in a row

just to maybe have a chance to contend for the championship. Balmer wants a star. Jerry West wants a star. The Clippers want our star. And if they can find that player with the fourth pick, whatever pick, this last week that they do want to move up. So it does make sense if it's

Luca or Michael Porter, whoever it's a player it is that they perceive as that top player, if they have a chance to go get them, I think they should. But the real interesting thing to me, we touched on this a little bit last week, but I think it's worth getting into it briefly again now. A question from Theo Hendrix. Why are we seeing Luca Donchage

drop to fourth and fifth in Mox anyway, Danny? Well, I mean, it could be a smoke screen. Like, yeah, I think this is a where the kings want to kind of play hard to get, maybe. There have been early rumors about how Bill Duffy and Dantrish's camp doesn't necessarily want him to be going to Sacramento at number two.

And so this could all just be a game of shreds for all we know. It could be. My conspiracy theory, and don't read into this at all, but if it's true... I always do. I always believe in the conspiracy theory. If it's true, that Lucas Camp doesn't want him in Sacramento, If I'm Sacramento, I would put out the noise, well, we don't want him. Like, because there was noise at the NBA draft combine at Sacramento.

Yeah, they're not all about Luca. They want Marvin Bagley. They want Michael Porter. They're not really that hot for Luca Donchich. But if you really are, you're just going to put it out there that you don't want him, even if you do, because you know you can't have him anyway. That's my conspiracy theory for that might explain why he's dropping. All of a sudden, it's baffling to me. Next question from Trevor Zigggraph.

This is a really good last name. Oh, shout out Trevor. Zickrass. I know that guy. Yeah, you do. Trevor Zickrath. Great last name. He asks, should the overblown

defensive concerns for Jason Tatum and Ben Simmons in the past be applied to DeAndre Aiton? The raw tools are there so the rest can be coached up, right? And I think, sure, the concerns might have been overblown for those guys, but we can't undersell the importance that situation played in the success of both Tatum and Simmons in Boston and Philadelphia, respectively. those guys fell into ideal developmental situations that empowered them, obviously on both ends of the court, to score, to pass, to playmake, but also they're in a situation in a defense-first culture surrounded by other good defensive players like Joelle Embede and Al Horford and so on and so forth. If Simmons is with the Lakers or Tatum goes to the Sons or the Kings, those guys might not be playing defense at the level that they did as rookies, right, Danny?

Yeah, the thing is we're using Jason Tatum and Ben Simmons as comparisons here, and both of them were impact players on serious playoff teams, whereas Aiton is probably going to be drafted by the Sons, who were the worst franchise of the past three years. I think one point of a comparison that Charks would probably bring up is Carl Anthony Towns. He was so much further along on defense than Aidan was in their respective college careers, and we've seen how much he struggled on that end,

even like, you know, three, three seasons into his NBA career. Yeah, I think, and like what Kevin was saying, like, Aden's going to have to be the Embedder, the Horford for his team. He doesn't get a play, he's a five. There's going to be nobody helping him out on defense. And it's a whole different animal, being the five, anchoring a defense, quarterbacking the coverage, protecting the rim. That is way, way more harder than what Simmons and Taney had to do,

which is guard one man switch screens. Being the five is really, really hard defensively. And that's probably worth emphasizing. The town's point. still really baffles me because with Carl Anthony Towns, he had flaws at Kentucky, but he was still a very good overall defensive player who projected as a guy who can make an impact early. And then he goes to the Minnesota Timberwolves where he's mentored by Kevin Garnett.

And then he has Tom Tibado as his head coach. And then Jimmy Butler's his teammate. Everything was there for him. I got a theory about that. I got a cat take. Let's go. Why his defense has struggled. So my theory is Towns gets to Minnesota.

And they're kind of like, hey, man, be like Clint Capella, set hard screens, roll hard to the rim, protect the rim, play defense. He's like, bro, I can get 50 points in the game. Like, let me get my shots, please. I'm 21. I'm not trying to play great defense, trying to get my stats, trying to get my stats, get my shoe contract. Because like, look at his development as a player. I think when Towns was 25, 26, he'll be like, okay, I've gotten my stats. Time for me to start winning. But I think right now he wants to get his stats, which is understandable given how skill he is. And that's somewhere with eight and two. And Town did get his stats. Like, he averaged 25 and 12 last season and then 21. I know he can get 30 probably. You know what I'm saying? He can get even more points. His rookie year stat line was on par with Tim Duncan's, honestly. If we don't count wins or whatever, just looking at the raw numbers. Just his offense, yeah, just his offense.

Yeah, his offensive numbers were incredible. So, yeah, I mean, I get it. He wants to show what he can do. He doesn't want to, like, die on, like, fight through screens and quarterback the defense. I mean, that's a lot of work. Right now he wants to score. That's my take on it. And Towns is all.

also still only 22 years old. I mean, it can take a while. It takes a while for a big man to develop the instincts and the understanding and the knowledge, everything that it takes to essentially be the quarterback of the defense. It's not an easy job, as you said, sharks. And I don't know if it's as much as he just wants to get his stats. It's just a steep, steep learning curve for a young big man to take that on. There also is the kind of liberation aspect of it.

like he was asked to be, you know, a post-up, back to the basket big man under Cal. And when you're drafted as like the franchise player of a team, you know, they're going to give you the liberty to kind of like spread your wings and stuff. So I think he just kind of wanted to take advantage of that. Doesn't that sound exactly like Aton, though? He was posting up a lot of Arizona and a really cramped floor with bad guards. You get to the NBA and just be like, man, I'm about to get buckets. That's something's going to happen with Aton, too. Is Aetton ahead of Jackson for you, Charks?

Or are you sad on three? I got Jackson had Aiton. And Danny, you also have Aiden 2 like I do, right? I still have Aiden at number 2. I just can't really get over his physical superiority over pretty much every player in this draft.

Even though we have a human being on earths, we have two other like just complete freaks at center. And yet Aiden just stands like in a different tier with him. He's got the body for the game. I mean, you talk a lot about guys who come to the league with a man's body.

He's ready to play from day one. No, he has a Superman's body. Like, that guy should be like on Mount Olympus. DeAndre Aten certainly does have a Superman body. And we're going to get to more of your super questions. But first, we have to take a quick break to hear from our sponsor. Today's draft class is brought to you by Burrow. Burrow has reinvented the luxury couch.

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I'm going to say right now, like, DeAndre does need a burner account. I interviewed him last year at the McDonald's game. I've never heard of player drop so many takes. Yeah, he'll just say it. He doesn't care. He'll put his name on his takes. It's Trey Young for me because he's going to get a lot of jokes about his hair, so he might need to respond to those.

This is true. He's got a... I kind of feel like it would be a low-profile guy, someone who's maybe not in the lottery right now. For some reason, the guy who comes out, in my mind, is Raleigh Alkins. A guy who... Hashtag Savage Life. Yeah, very, very savvy with his brand,

but might, you know, be doing some, you know, underground stuff. I don't know. Next question from at N. Primetime from Nick. Which player in the draft class are you relying on to save you from a burning building, Danny. Jared Vanderbilt, definitely. If I'm falling from a window, he's definitely getting the board there.

He's grabbing me, you know, good hands, quick reaction. I think I'm safe with him. He's best rebounder in the draft. I think that's a good bet. For me, it's Jacob Evans, small forward from Cincinnati. Play is hard. I think he'd be willing to do whatever it takes to save me from a burning building. I'm relying on you, Jacob.

How about you charge? Guys, isn't the obvious answer, Moamba? Look those arms. You pluck you out of the building from the first floor. Get you out of the third floor. That's easy. Mo Bamba. Speaking of long arms,

a question from DJ Marasco, can sharks dunk? Can you sharks? I once caught an alley-oop and kind of dunked it when I was like 16. I've never actually dunked on my own. I'm a blow-the-rim player, fellas.

Blow the rim. What does kind of dunk mean? Yeah. I caught it and I threw it in the basket and went in. You know what I mean? Like a Superman like Dwight Howard? Well, it was near the rim.

I caught and threw it at the basket. You know what I'm saying? Like I grabbed the rim. I threw it at the brim. I caught the rome. I caught the rim and it went in. I don't know if it's technically a dunk though. You know what I mean?

It sounds like a violation. Yeah. No, like the ball is near the rim. I caught it and then I grabbed the rim and I grabbed the rim and the ball went in. Offensive basket interference. Yeah, I don't know if it counts or not. I mean, I'm a bolder-room player, fellas. I hate to break it to do, though.

I have dunked on lowered rims, but that's pretty much about it. How about you, Danny? I have photoshopped myself dunking. Nice. Yes. Hashtag blog boy. You should make that your Twitter header photo. I want to see this.

It's a really bad Photoshop, but it was pretty convincing to the people of Facebook. I love bad Photoshop. Okay. Yeah, I'll pull it up. That's great. Please send that over.

Next question from at lawyer Barrett. Who's the best, quote, if he could shoot player in the draft? Who is it, Danny? I think it's Jared Vanderbilt, the guy who's going to save me from a burning building. He's clearly a very,

very gifted defensive player. He kind of knows how to play the game. He can run the floor, make the great pass. The only thing is he just throws a bricks. Yeah, I would also say it's Vanderbilton.

He's also the, if he could stay healthy player in the job as well. Suffered a lot of leg injuries throughout his career, but man, if he's healthy, I think he's going to be a player for a long time. The question, yeah, I like Van der Milit. More so than the shot.

I think one more guy to put in there is Trayvon Duval. Like, if that guy could shoot threes consistently, he'd be a real player. That guy is a crazy athlete, great size for a point. decent passer, but he can't save his life. He actually is revising his shooting mechanics right now

with at shot mechanics on Twitter. Coach Colin Castelaw, he has a YouTube channel and he's been working with Trayvon Duvall. So it'll be interesting to see if maybe Duval comes back with an improved jump shot. You never know sometimes with these guys. I think the most important thing for a shooter is they have to have the willingness

to change their mechanics and to commit to that. Next question from at J.O. Who will be the better NBA player? Gary Trent or Grayson Allen Charks. I don't know, Kevin, you have some Grayson Allen takes, right? I don't know about that one. What's your take on Grayson? I think Grayson has been

quite underrated. There's too much conversation on the tripping stuff. I don't care. I don't care about him. I mean, I care. I care about him tripping players. You can't do that. But he is a hardworking, ficy, gritty player who can drain threes. And he's a

really good athlete. And he really rebounds and he can pass. Yes, he's not a super explosive guy who will dunk on people and he's going to have issues perhaps defending. But as a late first round pick or early to mid-second round pick, sign me the hell up for a guy like Grayson Allen with his mentality on the floor. To me, as Grayson Allen, even though Gary Trent was better at the NBA Combine than he was all last season, Grayson, to me, has steel potential easily. I'll go with Grayson too, but I'll just say that if he has this whole Draymond flailing limb thing. I don't think he's good enough to be on that level of like, oh, I'm going to trip you and

you're just going to forget about it. No, I think players are going to take huge offense if he pulls any of that shit. He's a personality. He's a personality evaluation, really. Like, he's got game for sure. Just what's long on that head of his? From Marantor, who is the best irrational confidence guy in the J.R. Smith Swaggy P-mold in this year's class?

I mean, that's easy, isn't it? That's got to be the MJ of Delaware, a.k.a. the big ragu, aka Dante Divencenzzo. Here, the national title game. That guy will not hesitate to shoot shots. That guy has got all kinds of swag. Do you sign off on that as well, Danny?

Or do you have somebody else? It's definitely the red-headed guy who dropped like 33 points in a national title game. Yeah. One other guy, it could be, maybe just throw another name out there. Josh Akogi. I like him a lot at the NBA draft combine.

Sometimes he steps away from his lane that you would expect as a three-indy guy and jacks up some shots. A lot of confidence. That's okay. I don't mind an irrational confidence guy, especially because I think there's a little bit more to his game that he hasn't quite developed yet. But maybe in a situation where he doesn't get to the level that you want, that confidence does turn into a rational confidence and you'd rather him not have it. Yeah, another guy to Malik Newman from Kansas, that guy has a very high opinion of himself and he'll take shots if he gets the ball. There's no question about that. That's a really good one.

Moving on to some longer-ended questions. From Alex and Manessier, the Warriors have bought two second-round draft picks that have yielded a decent role players two years in a row now. Patrick McCaw and Jordan Bell. What goes through a GM's head when they sell a pick

and in what situation might it be the right choice? I mean, I think the first thing worth pointing out, I don't think any GM wants to sell a pick. That's purely ownership. That's not really a basketball decision. That's straight about cash. Yeah, it certainly is ownership.

A GM is not going to deal a pick unless they have to. It's like we talked about earlier with Kenneth Fareed. You will deal that pick if you need to dump a salary. That's when it makes sense. You'll deal the pick if you literally are up against the tax and you can't add another body. We already have 15 roster spots and you're better off

getting rid of it and taking on cash. Then it makes some sense. But when it doesn't make sense is when the ownership is just cheap and they don't want to add a player for whatever Godforsaken reason there is like last year when the Bulls traded that pick that ultimately yielded Jordan Bell for the Golden State Warriors. I don't get when teams do that. That to me is just when it's unforgivable,

but it's not the GM. It is the ownership, as you said, Charks. From Francis Parker, I know Jonathan Charks was high on Miles Bridges. Do his height and wingspan measurements concern you guys? And just to give some quick context, Miles Bridges measured in at 6'7 with a 6 foot 9 and a half wingspan

and 8 foot 7 standing reach. I mean, it's definitely a concern. I wish he was longer. but there's always flaws and prospects and I believe he has the same measurements as PJ Tucker he's such a big bodied guy such a broad shoulder as explosive guy

I think he can make it work without the link though it'd be nice to have obviously I've looked around and tried to pinpoint PJ Tucker's wingspan because it's not really out there so it's somewhere between 6 foot 9 and 7 foot so like watching him play

it looks like he has a 7 foot wingspan he's just out there he's bodying dudes but he's also like really reaching for the ball and you could see how long his arms are. But yeah, there's no real measurement for that. It's certainly interesting because I think, you know, obviously length matters a ton. Length is incredibly important and I don't want to undersell that. However, I don't think you should necessarily drop a guy down your board if you project him as a PJ Tucker type of player. If he

plays that intensity and that's how you value him as a rebounder as a defender with a mindset like that, then you're not going to drop him just because his wingspan is a little bit shorter than what you would hope for. The question ultimately with Bridges, Miles Bridges from Michigan State, that is, is with defensive effort, you know, will he continue to maintain that effort on the end of the floor? Like, PJ Tucker, that dude, we saw him in the Western Conference Finals, unstoppable. Yeah, PJ is like Patrick Beverly. Like, those guys went to Ukraine, they said, we are not going back. Some of the rebounds he was pulling down for Houston.

It was ridiculous. Unbelievable. I don't care if his wingspan is 7 foot 1 or 6 foot 8. the dude's effort in intensity, intelligence, reading the floor, body and guys, that's what made the significant difference for him more so than if he had a couple extra interest

on his arms. Granted, that helps, but it's his mentality that separates him from other guys. PJ Tucker's a guy who spent five years overseas after his first chance of the NBA, five years. And he came back a much better player and he's been highly successful

ever since coming back in the 2012-13 season. He's been fantastic. So, Charts, You brought up PJ Tucker as a physical comp, but is that someone who you're looking at and being like, hmm, teams should maybe look at Tucker as a guy to kind of, you know,

use as a template for bridges? Not necessarily. It's more like it's survivable, not having great arms if you're really, really strong and you're thick and you're explosive. I mean, they're not that similar players. Right.

I think Miles obviously is a whole different kind of offensive player and then the defense isn't there like PJs. It was more just like it's a survivable size body is all I was. saying. So here are some guys with similar-ish measurements to Miles Bridges. Trevor Booker, Solomon Hill, Landry Fields, Joey Graham, Jared Dudley, Chuck Hayes, Alonzo G, similar-ish body types. Those guys all survived. Was that Landry Fields after he got juiced up or before? We'll go with after, Danny. And that's why I like Miles, because he has like this enforcer bulky body, but he's so skilled.

Like he's shooting three, like he's, you know, off catch threes, off dribble threes. Like, he's this weird hybrid of a player. I mean, he's going to be really fast and got to watch next year because he's such unusual guy. And he's an unbelievable athlete, right? So if he, if he's a little bit shorter, he kind of makes up for it with his vertical jumping up for rebounds.

He's a great rebounder. And I think he could become a great defender in time as well. Last question from at Max Eubonis. A bit out there. But could teams potentially look to trade out of this year's draft? and into next years, even though this year is a quote-unquote better draft since the high-end talent this year is Ardrey Biggs, whereas next year is full of more wings. Is this something you would consider Charks, or would it not make sense because of the wealth of talent in this year's lottery? I mean, I don't think so.

I think like if you were trading down maybe and they're going to give you a pick for next year, but these teams are top lottery, they're bad. They need good players now. They can't wait another year for a good young player. I think that's a little too long-term perspective for teams that, kind of have to improve and sell their fans some hope next season. Yeah, the idea of the Hawks trying to sell their fan base on another year of playing a bunch of D2 guys. I don't think that's a feasible reality for them.

I think they have to definitely go for a chur-fire prospect right now. I mean, I'd be down to trade down and get a pick, but I think trading out is ambitious. Yeah, we certainly did see in last year's draft how trading down can make sense. Boston traded from one to three and picked up a future pick. So not only that they trade down, they also added a future pick. I think that's the formula, not outright trading out of a draft, but trading down and then adding additional picks, whether it's in this year's draft or in future drafts. I think the only way you would trade out, Danny, is in a situation where if you're Atlanta or, let's say Phoenix, you have your second first round pick at number 16, and there's not

another young player you want to draft. Maybe you trade out of that pick into next year's draft, but I don't think you're going to trade a top eight, top 10 pick out of the draft entirely, unless you're getting a lot back. But middle of the draft, end of the first round, I don't have a problem with trading out at all. In fact, I think it could be quite smart for some teams to do. I think Phoenix at 16, that could be moved for sure. That's a very movable piece on there, whether it's for a player or a future pick. It would not surprise me. They have so many young guys already. Fingers crossed for Terry Rosier. Hey, scary Terry.

Get him a starting job. Drafted number 16 a couple years ago. I think the Celtics spent one a little bit more than that after his playoff run. Granted he kind of plummeted his stock in that game 7 with some of those shots. Oof. Rough. Rough game for Terry. But a good overall playoff. It's all we have time for for

questions, which means Isaac, we're ready for grades. Sure. Hey, Isaac, get the listeners. Give them an A. That was good questions. Sure. I will give all the listeners an A, except for Francis Parker who questioned Miles Bridges's height and wing span. I did not take kindly to that. Don't come at my guy Miles Bridges.

But everyone else, you got an A. As for you guys, let me start with Charks. I'm disappointed to hear that you've never dunked. And you've only done like a pseudo dunk with an offensive basketball interference. I've pseudo dunked, giving my props. I'm in no position to judge. I'm 510. But you're also like 6.5?

6.4 or whatever. You're right. It is embarrassing. What's your windspan, Charks? I got to get that measured. I can't. This is too important to just guess. We'll have to get a measurement.

Next time you're in L.A., we're going to have to give you measurements. The NBA ringer a combine. But hey, let's give Charks some credit. He had to play against actual NBA players growing up in Dallas. Like, he played against West Johnson, right? Yeah, no, I saw him play a lot. I ever played against him.

I tell the story about Dorel Arthur. I were getting, that was a guy I played. Yeah, Derell Arthur wrecked me. And I was like, my career is over. The NBA is not happening. Well, for that you get a D plus. Hey, Derello Arthur, 10-year NBA vet. I'm not mad about it.

Okay, Kevin O. Conner, aka Kevin O. Conspiracy. You had a nice little theory about the Sacramento Donchich publicity chess that's going on. I think that was a really fun theory that I don't actually know if either the Sacramento front office or Donchich's team are wily enough and or scheming enough to make those plays. Isn't that kind of something out of elementary school, though? Like if you have a crush on a girl and you find out that she doesn't like you back and be like, I don't want her anyway. Oh, here we go. I'm here for Kevin O'Connor's dating stories. It feels like a pretty elementary conspiracy.

Sure. I think you just revealed a lot more about yourself than about the Sacramento's Rochester thing. Kevin O'Hartz-Hartz-Get. Kevin O'Hartz-Git. Kevin O'Hartzick is actually probably the better one. So you get a seat. for conspiracy. Thank you.

And last but not least, Danny Chow, you photoshopped yourself, dunking. That's something. And you're a man of many talents. Also a very nice Landry Field slant.

I think he's a scout now or something. Is he? Yeah, he's an NBA scout. Oh, wow. I didn't know that. Well, you get an A-minus Danny. Oh, thank you.

Stanford, right? Yeah. Stanford grade, yeah. Anyway, the guerrillas just dropped a new track called Humility, and I want to listen to that, so we're out of time.

Jonathan, that was fun. Thank you for calling in from Dallas. Yeah. And thanks for the listeners. Those are great questions. We appreciate it. Thanks to listening. Beautiful questions.

Danny and Isaac out there in L.A. Thank you guys. Thank you. Thank you, man. I look forward to seeing you back here on the good part of California. Oh. Nice. Well, from here in San Francisco,

thank you so much for listening to draft class. Please rate the Ringer NBA show five stars on iTunes. Give it a thumbs up. Tell your friend about the show. It mean the world. And please check out the Ringer's 2018 NBA draft guide at NBA draft. dot the ringer.com. We'll be updating that again very, very soon without more Scuddering reports.

And special shout out to my friend and the biggest NBA fan I know, Elon Musk, who is too down in the dumps to join the show this week because his rocket's lost. Maybe next week, Elon. Anyway, thank you again for listening to the show and for submitting all those awesome questions. Have fun watching the NBA Finals. Peace out.