Draft Preview: Wembanyama Expectations, Henderson vs. Miller, Lillard Trade?

we have the NBA Draft. Some dreams will come true for a lot of young prospects as well as organizations impacted. So I want to get into some of these top picks, what it looks like and what we're looking forward to seeing out as some of these guys. You're doing well.

not much suspense at the number one picks there. I could be wrong, though, I could be wrong.

But with that being said, what are your expectations for as much hype as we've had, and I think deservedly so, around this young man, what expectations should we have for what he will be able to do immediately coming into the league next season.

and they you know, went ahead and win a championship. Now, the guy before that, David Robinson, came in the Spurs, really didn't have much. So I would compare this more to David Robinson coming in to a rebuilding team rather than Tim Duncan coming in to a team that was pretty much set and you know, he was obviously the final piece. The other thing is that you know, look, I mean there's certain things about him that are just evident right away. The fact that he has multi skilled,

the fact that he's tall. I mean that is just that just comes right as you and and he can play both ends of the floor. The obvious things his body. You know, he has got to put on some weight at some point, get stronger. You know, you can just imagine Joe and be snacking on him for lunch and a low post things like that. But I mean, if there's anything that this, you know, the NBA Draft and

prospects coming in. Anything has ever taught us is you know, don't put too much weight on what that player did, uh, but just look at the basics, you know, the tools, the foundation he has coming in and with Victor Wenbiyama, the foundation is just outstanding. I mean, that's why he is, you know, going to be obviously the number one pick. That's why the Spurs are right now thinking about how can we build around the sky? Do we give it some time for a year or two or do we

just go for it? So those will be very interesting decisions that the Spurs make just in terms of how they want to approach this new era in San Antonio basketball.

but at the expense of making you know, shortcuts. Do you sacrifice a little bit in the process do you just let this happen organically? And the Spurs have been very good at doing that. If you look at back at how those championship teams were built over the years, it's really through the draft and player development, you know, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, obviously Tim Duncan, and then they would add little, you know, pieces on the fringe that could help them out, you know, coming off the bench,

back up things like that. So the Spurs really don't make a lot of big Bowl trade moves. They've been very good at player development, identifying exactly who they want and then just giving them time to grow. Of course, it's easy to say that when you do draft a Tim Duncan and you can build around him. But I can probably see a similar situation here. And I know Greg Popovich is getting up there a little bit in age, and you know he may not want to coach that

much longer. But I don't think Bop will put the franchise in a predicament where he says, you know what, I'm on only going to vote coach for four more years. We got to try to win a championship really quickly. I think they'll take the proper steps as they have for so long. It's a great organization, and I do believe that they're already riding up the blueprint as we speak, Sarah.

I think they have a plan in mind as far as how this is going to go, and a lot of that's going to be dict dictated by how well Victor win Benyama does as a rookie. If it's clear right away that he is the the no doubt rookie of the year from the time he steps on the floor, and we've seen players like that, like Lebron James. As soon as a guy stepped on the floor that night in Sacramento, I mean, you knew that this guy was

going to be special. Uh. Then that kind of dictates what you're going to do for the next year.

draft board in what may happen? The number two pick is the Charlotte Hornets, and the question becomes, I know the names that are out there, Scoot Henderson UH impressed with g Leaguan Knight, Alabama star Brandon Miller the fit not only for the organization but alongside a player in the Hornets and LaMelo Ball who spent a lot of time injured last season and didn't see the floor that much.

In questions with what ownership will look like. And so when you look at the number two overall pick with the Hornets, what are your projections the direction they may go, and what both Henderson or Miller may look like.

even then, who are you going to take? Who do you project to be? To Which player between Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson do you think will be a special, special player? And one of them might be pretty good, a perennial All Star, But any of those two you have to have a chance to be a generational talent, just somebody who can carry your team. And there's a lot riding on us. Obviously, you know, the Charlotte Hornets

are sort of spinning their wheels a little bit. You know, they haven't really gained traction just in terms of making the playoffs, just really building just a base foundation where they can be contenders for a while. Obviously, you know you have LaMelo Ball, He's a good start, but the rest of the roster is just sort of shaky. You're not sure what you really have. Miles Bridges, what happens with him? Does he come back as he signed all those things. But first and foremost, who's going to be

the better player? Brandon Miller Scoot Henderson? I mean me personally, I think Scoot Henderson is. I think he's like the real deal, and I think he can be a good backcourt partner for LaMelo ball. He can play off the ball a little bit. But then again, some people might say, well, you know what, Brandon Miller is a good balance guy for the front court. You know, a good swing man who can score. And so now you have the backcourt player in the front court player and you can build

from there. Look, the bottom line is it's an inexact science. And someone told me about the draft. It's a lot of imperfect people judging other imperfect people. So we really don't know. Nobody has a crystal ball. But the Hornets are a little bit under the gun here that you know, who do you take at number two? It's going to be the biggest draft decision of this draft.

of seasons. What do you think about that circumstance, set situation, and if you were running the Trailblazers or if you were Damian Lillard, what would you hope for throughout the course of this draft but also heading into next season.

I personally think it's time for a reset. If I'm Portland, I would take Scoot Henderson and then I would see what I can get for Damian Lillard. You know, you can really rebuild that team, stock it up with some good young players, have some players in your player development, and just take your time, you know, maybe two or three years. I think your fan base would understand. I think obviously they would miss Damian Lillard, who's been just a tremendous not only a tremendous player, but just a

tremendous presence in the Portland community. He does, he does and says all the right things. He's exactly the type of player you want for your team. At the same time, I think he could probably use a fresh start again. He's on the clock a little bit. He wants to win a championship. I certainly can understand that, and he may have a better chance to win a championship somewhere else. He even said he doesn't want to be part of any rebuild, so you have to take that into consideration.

If you're the Portland Trailblazers.

and Email Udoka. Some young promising prospects that we've already seen in Jalen Green, Jabari's with Junior Alpria and Shangoon. Interesting to see what they may do. The number five overall pick to the Detroit Pistons, who had the worst record last season, and again some changes that they had made in terms of what these next teams may do.

Intriguing prospects out of overtime elite your neck of the woods in Atlanta, the Thompson Twins, a lot of people very excited about what they may potentially be able to bring and translate to the next level. So with those teams upcoming picks, but also the Thompson Twins in particular, what have you seen out of them and in the times that you've gotten a chance to watch them play, and also hopes for what they can do at the next level.

way they've come through the system over time. E Lead has done a very good job and preparing them as well as they can. You know, you're talking, you're still talking to teenagers, preparing them for the NBA Draft, and the team's there. You know, Short the short has a fifth pick, Rockets have the four Rockets also have the twentieth pick as well in the first round. So this is a good chance for them to you know, keep

stop piling that kind of young talent. And again, you have to deal with the growing pain when you have a young team. You have to instill some discipline, some roles and things like that. But but if you're the Rockets, you know, what do you have to lose at this point? You know you're not ready to be a contender, but you want to be right there in a couple of years. And so I can see them taking one of the

Thompson twins. You know, there's also Anthony black Are from Arkansas who's probably the best after Schoot Henderson, the best guard in this draft. So he's going to go pretty high. Cam whip More from Vilanova obviously is also pretty good. And then so you've got the Houston at four. They've also got the twentieth pick. You've got Detroit at five. Detroit, there's another one of those teams that just has a good young cores and you just want to keep adding

to that base and then just see what happens. You know, he got a new coach and Monty Williams, he's a guy who can be patient, you know, and then maybe another year or two, maybe you try to see what you can get in free agency. In draft. By the way, you've got Orlando at number six. Orlando also has the eleventh pick, so you know, do you try to if you're Orlando, do you try to package the sixth and

eleventh then move up. Is there someone there who you really like so much that you feel you may not get at number six that you're willing to sacrifice the eleventh pick as well. I'm not so sure. And again that's just so yet another team. Let's try to stop pyle young talent. And then when you look at the rest of the top ten, I mean, these are teams that just with the exception of the Dallas Mavericks, who obviously have you Lukadantic and two years ago went to

the Western Conference Finals. You have teams that are just in the belm, like Indiana number seven. They also have the twenty six and the twenty nine to pick. I suspect they're going to trade at least one of those picks. The Wizards at eight, you know, and again they have to decide what they're going to do with Bradley Beal, and they've got Chris Nash Porzingis who can become a free agent. Just to see what's going to happen there. The Jazz at number nine. They're also one of a

couple of teams that have three number one picks. In additional number nine pick, Utah has sixteen and twenty eight. I don't think they'll hold on to all three of those first round picks. It's very rare for a team to hold three first round picks. Are usually going to make a trade. And then of course Dallas Mavericks number ten. I just think that you know teams right there, they're just take, you know, the best player that just comes their way, and they can go a variety of ways.

You know that they could pull surprise or just whoever falls from the top six to seven spots.

It happens every year, and particularly with teams that may not have a number one pick trying to move into the first round, and you know, with a new cap situation salary cap, and it's a little bit difficult to how can I say, load up on a list players with the salary and the penalties involved in that, going over the cap, the luxury tax, all those things, and some teams just don't want to deal with it, and they're probably more than willing to go with younger players

rather than older and more expensive players because the owners just probably just don't want to put that tax bill. So for those teams, I can see them trying to come in and trade into the first round just so they can ease their salary cap and tax burden. I know,

its a very complicated situation. Each team is different. Some teams want to be contenders and they'll do whatever they can to stay contenders, and other teams are like, you know what, if we're not right in that championship mix, we don't want to pay you know, hundreds of millions

of dollars for our sally. So you'll see a lot of these things play itself out, a lot of drama just in terms of how teams look at themselves for next season, whether they feel confident themselves for next season, and how much of that tax bill do they want to pay.