Was That a Reach?! Breaking Down the Most Questionable Draft Picks

Athlon Sports

Draft debates get spicy! Which NBA picks were reaches and who got left on the board?

Transcript

00:00Who was the pick that you thought was a reach?

00:09I'm going with Colin Kanupo.

00:10I think he's going to be a good player.

00:11I think he was a very safe pick.

00:13It's like, this guy's 100% going to be in the NBA.

00:17I'll give it for at least 12 years.

00:18He has a defined role.

00:19We know exactly how we're going to use him.

00:21However, two picks later was Trey Johnson.

00:24You know, I think that guy could be a star.

00:26His floor is lower than Khan's floor.

00:29I feel like Khan's floor is, I'm an NBA player.

00:31Trey's is like, maybe I'm Romeo Lankford and I'd never really pan out at all.

00:35But I think if you're the Hornets, you've got to swing a little bit harder.

00:39There's nothing going for you.

00:41Get Trey Johnson in the building.

00:43I understand not picking Ace Bailey.

00:44That guy's got some issues, but Khan felt a little too safe.

00:48With Khan Knipple, there's a high floor for sure.

00:52I did see an interesting comp for Klay Thompson,

00:56just because of the way he comes off his screens and is able to shoot movement threes.

01:01If he can turn into Klay Thompson, it's a great pick.

01:04But yeah, I think there's less intangibles that would make him a star as much as, you know,

01:11some of the other players that win later in the draft.

01:13Here's the only thing I'll say about Khan Knipple is that his brothers have the weirdest names.

01:18Well, first of all, Khan, K-O-N, and his brothers Kager, Kinston, Cash, and Kidd.

01:24I don't like any of those.

01:26I don't like any of those names.

01:27Kays means a lot to the family.

01:29They were talking about this on the broadcast last night.

01:30Like the Kardashians.

01:31Exactly.

01:31That's the Knipples.

01:32You know, maybe he will be good.

01:33I'm wrong with you.

01:34Keeping up with the Knipples.

01:35Yeah.

01:36Let's hope his middle name doesn't start with a K.

01:38Oh, gosh.

01:41My reach was Noah Essenge at 12 to the Bulls.

01:46And so this guy was projected to go top 10 by some experts.

01:51But the reason that I feel that this was a reach is that his team, which is Ulm in the German league,

01:57is currently in the German league finals against Bayern Munich and were up 2-1 when he left them.

02:03They've since lost their game on Tuesday, and now the series is tied 2-2.

02:12Which shows his value.

02:13I mean, how good is this guy?

02:13Yeah, that's a good thing.

02:14Granted, he's only averaged 3.7 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in the finals.

02:21Oh.

02:21So he wasn't like a massive part of that team.

02:23I will say you still don't want your guy ditching your team.

02:28I wonder if he had to though.

02:30No, he could have missed the draft.

02:31But it's the NBA draft. You're not going to skip the NBA draft.

02:34Yeah, that's true, because he's not under contract yet.

02:36He is getting picked, but he's not under contract. You're correct.

02:38The number 26 pick who went to Brooklyn, Ben Serif, who was his teammate on the team, decided to stay.

02:45Ooh.

02:47So I think that is notable.

02:48I think there's a difference between going top 10 versus maybe being picked in the first round.

02:53Yeah.

02:53Like, if you're a projected top 10 pick, you're going to want to show up.

02:57I mean, you're not building towards winning a German league final.

03:03You're building towards making the NBA.

03:05And so for him, this is a bigger moment for him, being drafted by the Bulls especially.

03:09I mean, a historic franchise like the Bulls versus beating Bayern Munich, a soccer team, in basketball.

03:16Hold on. Ben Serif did not get the green room invite, as you're alluding to.

03:22But I will say, there are guys on that team who will never see the NBA.

03:28And this is the peak of their career or something.

03:33And to leave them behind like that, I think, personally, is a red flag.

03:38Would be a red flag for me if I was a GM.

03:40It shows a little bit of me first, I think.

03:43But do you think it was more so I could be at the NBA draft and be on TV?

03:46Or more like, imagine if I freaking tear my Achilles in this game and now I'm not drafted?

03:50When asked about it, he said, the draft is really special.

03:53It's maybe the best day of my life.

03:56I trust my teammates.

03:57I know they'll do their job.

03:58It's not like this guy is carrying the load of this team either, though.

04:01I don't know.

04:03Those stats are a little misleading.

04:06You see a lot of these Euro guys come to the NBA and you're like,

04:08these stats, why is he so good?

04:10So he probably is better than those stats.

04:12Yeah, definitely.

04:13But it's not like he's the star player right now on this team.

04:16Like, he's not carrying the load.

04:18I mean, how many minutes does he play, like 15 minutes?

04:21Like, he was playing more during the regular season.

04:23Yeah, if your eighth man misses a game due to getting drafted,

04:29I think you can pick up the load from that elsewhere.

04:32Other than that, I think the fit on the Bulls is a little weird,

04:35just because I feel like they may have just drafted another Patrick Williams here.

04:39Who they're trying to get rid of.

04:40Every player on the Bulls fits a little bit weird.

04:43That roster is so poorly constructed.

04:44I like that.

04:45Who is your range, Joey?

04:47I'm just going to go with Hansen Yang.

04:49He went 16th.

04:51He was a guy who wasn't really talked about much entering this process.

04:56And I just feel like the Blazers probably could have moved back to take him,

05:01maybe even gotten him in the second round, traded up in the second round.

05:04It just didn't seem like a guy who was going first round.

05:06Now, people are really high on the guy.

05:08He moves really well.

05:10He could be very good.

05:11You know, he's a project.

05:12What's his nickname?

05:15Chinese Jokic.

05:16So he can move the ball pretty well.

05:18Yeah.

05:18I don't know.

05:19It could work out.

05:19It could work out very well.

05:20But I just think at this pick, it probably was a little bit of a reach.

05:23The reason I don't love it, like I usually, I love the idea of him right now.

05:28But the reason I don't like it is because who went right after him?

05:31Walter Clayton Jr.

05:33The guy who just like basically the best college basketball player last year,

05:36led Florida to a national championship.

05:38I would have taken a little reach on him.

05:39I know he's a little older and like he's not exactly that big.

05:43But I'm taking the guy who just dominated college basketball over this project that

05:47none of us have really seen.

05:49So that's why I don't love it.

05:50And also the Blazers.

05:51They got Donovan Klingon, Robert Williams.

05:53They have a lot of big guys.

05:55I think they honestly could have used Walter Clayton Jr.

05:57This is probably a guy who's going to set the G League probably for a little bit develop.

06:01I think I disagree with the Walter Clayton Jr. thing.

06:04Granted, they're pretty all in on Scoot right now, given they just traded Anthony Simons away as

06:10well and replaced him with Drew Holiday, who's probably going to be more of a mentor figure.

06:14I heard that the hope is that they'll be more of like a Carl Towns, Rudy Gobert sort of pairing

06:20with him and Klingon.

06:21Okay.

06:22Um, just because Hanson Yang can shoot threes.

06:26Obviously, that's an optimistic look at it.

06:28Interesting pick.

06:29Interesting that he went so high, given that I think Jonathan Wasserman ranked him as the 45th best prospect.

06:35Don't love that.

06:36But another Combine riser who showed out at the NBA Combine and now in the first round.

06:42And Jokic was a late pick, right?

06:44Was he second round?

06:45Yeah.

06:46So you never know.

06:47No one thought that guy would be better than Carson Edwards, if that's the same draft,

06:51who's kind of like a Walter Clayton Jr., sick in college, a little undersized.

06:54I mean, they showed a Taco Bell ad while Jokic was getting drafted, so.

06:57Both.

06:57Uh-huh.

06:58Still haven't seen a Taco Bell ad with Jokic in it.

07:01I know.

07:02They should do it.

07:02It feels like it should happen.

07:07Good.

07:07Hey, guys.

07:08How about that?

07:11My-

07:11Hey.

07:12My-

07:13Hey,

07:15Hey.

07:15How about it?

07:22How about it?

07:26My-

07:28Hey,

07:30г-

07:32What?

07:33How about it?

07:34Coffee?

Category

Transcript

Recommended