I'll be doing my NBA draft recap.
I'm not going to go through every single player that was drafted and so forth.
Actually, I want to take a little different angle.
We've been talking about this.
We'll talk about the international aspect.
We'll talk about some notable players that were drafted.
I'll talk about it.
Of course, Bronny James, my thoughts on it, which I'm sure will be different than a lot
of thoughts you'll hear, but I'll give them anyway.
So just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.
Okay guys, it's your boy GD back with the all things basketball with GD podcasts.
And guys, we're in the midst of summer, so a lot taking place, of course, right after
the NBA finals, you have the NBA draft, which of course I'll be covering tonight.
Also, you've got free agency that just started up.
I'll talk about that as well.
You got Olympics around the corner.
You got WNBA action, all these different things.
And I still owe you guys a clear spotlight on Jerry West.
I will get to that as well.
Some point during the summer once things ease up, but I will have that Jerry West's clear
spotlight coming up.
But tonight I want to focus on the draft.
So with that said, let's get right into it.
So of course they had the draft that was a two day event Wednesday night and then a Thursday
night.
The NBA draft is almost becoming like an afterthought.
That's the distraught.
I mean, I look up and down the draft.
I'm sure there's going to be players that eventually pop, but I don't think it's going
to be a right away thing with a lot of these guys.
You look at the first six picks in the draft.
All from France.
So I guess it's the WNBA effect.
I guess since they watched WNBA last year, they saw some other guys over there.
So have that all in all out of the 60 or so picks in the draft.
20 of them were international.
So you got a third of the draft being international players.
Of course that brings into discussion the state of American basketball as a whole.
I'll get into that.
But let me first just deal with the draft itself.
So in the first round, you had four guys, French origin who went in the first round
at the top and these names who boy, it's going to be a time with these names, but we'll try
it.
Zaccharie.
Risa.
Risacher.
And he is the small forward out of France.
He's 69.
About 195 pounds.
So like 19 years old, he played in the French league.
He also played in the EuroCup games as well.
He was the first pick for Atlanta.
Atlanta is a team that I think will be going through a lot of changes.
You'll see that in the offseason, but they take this French kid.
A 69 forward.
Whether it be small forward, power forward depends.
But that's who they take with the first pick.
So and there was a lot of buzz as to who they would pick among those two French guys and
they pick the Zaccharie kid.
So he compares a lot to Franz Wagner of the Orlando Magic.
If you're getting that type of player, you're looking pretty good.
But he's a number one overall pick talent wise.
That's a story for another day, but that's who Atlanta takes with the first pick.
Then you go to the second pick and that's Alex Sarr.
And he's like a power forward center type.
He's seven feet tall, 224 pounds, that is.
And guys, he has a brother that's in the NBA right now, Olivier Sarr.
And he's actually with OKC.
Sarr played in the NBL League.
And then he joins the Washington Wizards, who already has a French player over there.
Bilal Coulibaly, who they selected last year.
So you have that and Alex Sarr, he compares to a Mitchell Robinson, hopefully more healthy
than Mitchell Robinson.
But that's the type of player he stands to be.
So I think he's more suited for center, if that's the case.
But now Washington has himself a big man in Sarr.
And then with the sixth pick in the draft, the Charlotte Hornets, they take a power forward
in Tidjane Saluan, that's who they take an 18 year old, he's six nine, two 17.
And he was picked by the Charlotte Hornets, another French player of course.
So you have three of them going in the top six, like I mentioned.
And then we as we go all the way down to 25, actually, my New York Knicks took this guy.
Pacome Dadiet, he's kind of a wing, a small forward shooting guard type.
And that's who the next pick he's six eight, 210 pounds.
18 years old, so he's very raw.
I was listening to him in the press conference.
He sounds like a guy from up the street.
And Queens or somewhere.
Yeah, well, a French guy, he sound very, you know, he had his English down.
That's for sure.
So that's who the Knicks took.
He played in Germany by the way, guys.
qAnd he compares to a Jaime Jaquez.
So if the Knicks were to get that type of production that the Miami Heat got from Jaquez
last year, I think the Knicks would be happy with that.
But that's who they end up picking.
Now there's rumblings, whether he'll stay overseas or come over to the States.
I think the last thing I heard is that he does have an interest in coming to the state.
So we'll see.
So that's your four French men that went in the draft.
Now let's talk about another international player who went in the lottery, Nikola Topic.
And he was picked by the Oklahoma City Thunder at pick 12.
He's six six, about two or three.
He's from Serbia, guys.
So he's 18 years old.
And the thing is, he should have went higher.
But he missed some time due to injury.
So it kind of dropped him a little bit in the lottery to a 12.
In the Oklahoma City Thunder, you know, they got a ton of picks guys.
So they took him and he compares to this.
Vasilije Micic, who actually he got traded during the seasons.
I think he was with the.
Well, he ended up with the Charlotte Hornets and he actually played.
He looked good, two guys, by the way, playing in the stead of LaMelo Ball who was injured.
So that's your international players that went lottery.
Now the G League ignite.
They had this is their last year of the existence, by the way, guys.
And they had a couple of guys that went in the lottery at pick five.
You've had Ron Holland II, small forward, about six, seven.
And he went to the Detroit Pistons.
And remember, guys, I actually talked about it in my last episode, how Detroit Pistons
didn't have any GM or coach at the time of their drafting.
They now have a coach.
We'll talk about that when I talk about free agency and all those sort of things.
But they pick this kid, Holland, 19 years old.
He compares a lot to Will Barton, guys.
Will Barton, who was a long time Denver Nugget, kind of a swing players shooting guys, small
forward.
He projects to be a small forward in the leagues.
So explosive kid.
So we'll see what happens there.
And then Matas.
Buzelis.
And he's a six, 10 forward.
He can play either forward position from what I understand.
And he was drafted by the Chicago Bulls at pick 11.
And he compares to a Lauri Markannen.
Now if that's the case, he blossoms into a Lauri Markannen.
You got a very good player there.
So you will hope that for the Chicago Bulls.
Now for the Notables at pick number three, you finally get a American born player in
Reed Sheppard.
He he's a shooting guard.
He goes to Houston guys.
So Houston adds them a shooting guard kind of on the short side, he's six three.
He compares a lot to a Steve Nash, but more so like a Mark Price.
And if you guys Google or go on your YouTube and see Mark Price, Mark Price was a smaller
guard point guard, but he can shoot the lights out guys.
And if this kid can come close to that, you got a very good player in in chapter.
He goes to the Houston Rockets who definitely can use some scoring punch at pick number
four that went to the San Antonio Spurs.
Stephon Castle of the UConn Huskies to do the eventual NCAA champs.
So Stephon Castle goes there.
He's kind of a combo guard from what I understand.
The Spurs are hoping that he becomes the point guard of the future over there.
You saw last year the failed experiment with Jeremy Sochan.
So they definitely needed point guard play.
He's a six six guy.
So he's got some height there.
He compares to a Dante Exum, but I think for the Spurs liking, they would rapidly
compare to a Tyrese Haliburton.
Could he be that good?
We'll see.
But Stephon Castle going to the San Antonio Spurs at pick four.
Six seven, Donovan Clingan, the center for the UConn Huskies.
He's seven two over 280.
And guys, you remember in the NCAA tournament in the final game, he went toe to toe with
Zach Edey.
And held his own.
He compares to a Jakob Poeltl, the center that's playing now with the Toronto Raptors,
a guy who could give you a solid double double.
And he goes to Portland.
So Portland now has them a young big man.
You already have over over there.
DeAndre Ayton. What happens with him?
We'll see what happens there.
But Donovan Clingan could be a major building block for the Portland Trailblazers were there.
Then with the eighth pick, Rob Dillingham, the point guard out of Kentucky.
Six one.
So he's more likely that not will be a point guard.
He was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs, but he was dealt to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
So he compares to like a Immanuel Quickley, a Tyrese Maxey, even more so a Kemba Walker.
You know, John Callipari likes those type of guards.
And he's a guy who really shot up the draft board once the draft came.
So he made it all the way up to pick number eight.
And now he's going to the Timberwolves who can definitely use a point guard of the future.
Mike Conley's not getting any younger.
So he has this young guard.
He can grow and teach the tools of the trade when it comes to being a point guard.
That was a bit of a surprise, guys.
I didn't think Zach Edey would go lottery, but he did.
He went up with the ninth pick to the Memphis Grizzlies.
He's seven four, and he's pushing three bills, guys, over 300 pounds.
I say he compares to a taller Jonas Valanciunas.
And guys, he was a two time College Player of the Year.
The knock on him, speed.
They say he's very flat footed.
During his time at Purdue.
But I tell you what, this kind of helps.
Jared Jackson, Jr.
Now he could slide back to the four.
He was playing the five last year because she had no Stephen Adams at the time.
So now you bring in an Edey.
You put Jackson back at his natural position of power forward.
And I think that'll serve Jackson very well in going back to power forward.
Zach Edey going to the Memphis Grizzlies with the nine pick.
The 10 pick Cody Williams.
He goes to the Utah Jazz, Utah Jazz.
I mean, they're just loading up with all these picks and just throwing it against the wall.
See what sticks.
So Cody Williams coming out of Colorado.
19 years old.
He's about six, seven, six, eight.
So he projects to be in a small forward, possibly a shooting guard.
He compares favorably to Brandon Ingram of the New Orleans Pelicans, a guy who can light
it up.
Oh, by the way, guys, he has a brother already in the league and Jalen Williams for the Oklahoma
City Thunder.
And that's J-A-L-E-N, because you know, they got two Jalens over there.
Go figure.
He was another one hampered by injuries and probably should have went higher, but he
go at the 10 pick for the Utah Jazz.
So what Danny Ainge doing over there?
Who knows?
But here's a kid who has a promise.
You can fill him into your lineup and then at pick 13.
So we're rounding out the bottom half of the lottery.
13 and 14.
You have Devin Carter going 13 coming out of Providence.
He's a two way player, guys.
He's a combo guard.
He could play point or just shooting guard.
And he's going to Sacramento and Sacramento.
draft Carter here.
He compares to Ayo Dosunmu.
The guard that's with the Chicago Bulls.
So he compares to him.
And then at the 14th.
You have Carlton "Bub" Harrington.
He is the point guard/shooting guard.
He's about six, four.
He compares to a Spencer Dinwiddie.
That's who he's comparing to right about now.
He play for University of Pittsburgh.
Just 18 years old.
He ends up getting traded to the Washington Wizards.
So the Wizards now have a young guard there in Carrington.
So that's the lottery portion of the draft guide.
Let's talk about some other notable players.
As we go through 17 Dalton Knecht.
He's a swing man coming out of Tennessee.
He's six, six guys.
He compared to Mike Miller tight.
He played two years at Northern Colorado before transferring to Tennessee.
He's 23 years old.
One of the older players in this draft.
He goes to the Lakers and he'll be under the tutelage of JJ Redick.
He's a guy who knows how to get his shot.
So Dalton Knecht.
Who actually was thought to be a lottery pick fell in the draft.
He fell right into the laps of the Lakers.
So definitely a player.
I'm sure they'll try and work into their system.
At pick 23, AJ Johnson.
Now this is a peculiar pick guys at pick 23 for the Milwaukee bus.
He's a combo guard.
He could play the shooting guard or he can play a point.
He's six, four guys.
He compares to a Bones Hyland of the Los Angeles Clippers.
He played in the NBL.
So he's coming from the NBL and he gets drafted into the NBA.
19 years old.
So very young.
So a young piece there, especially, you know, you got Dame over there.
The shooting guard position was kind of in flux during the season.
So you have a guy like AJ Johnson can he develop quickly and be part of that rotation there.
We'll see what happens there.
And then at pick 27, I think it will be a steal guys is Terrence Shannon, Jr.
playing out of the University of Illinois.
Now he compares to a Donovan Mitchell type even going further back.
Rich Mitch Mitch Richmond.
So you definitely like those comparisons.
The six, six guys again, 23 years old, and he's going to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
So adding another piece there for the Timberwolves, a team that's on the uptick.
You know, you have Anthony Edwards over there, Karl Anthony Towns, those guys.
And then remember, too, they picked up a dealing Rob Dillingham.
So you add in a Terrence Shannon, Shannon, Jr.
who I think could be a surprise player guys.
I was hoping the Knicks would grab him, but they went for the French kid instead.
I hope it's not one little steal where it comes back to haunt the Knicks.
What can you do?
So he goes 27 right after him, a player that the Knicks was iron, but did not take Ryan
Dunn.
He's coming out of Virginia.
He's six, seven.
He compares to kind of a poor man's Herbert Jones for the New Orleans Pelicans.
And he's the best defensive.
He's the best defender, rather, in this draft, according to a lot of trap knicks.
So Ryan Dunn, which I thought, you know, the Knicks, you know, just in case they lose
the OG Anunoby, you know, you got a guy you can groom.
His offense isn't there, but he's a very good defender.
Somebody I thought Thibs would like, but the Knicks didn't go in that direction.
Then we slide into the second round.
You see guys like Kyle Filipowski coming out of Duke, power forward about 6 11 to 30.
And he gets drafted by Utah.
And I'm like, this is like a typical Utah type of pick.
He compares actually to Isaiah Hartenstein guys.
He's one of the most skilled bigs in the draft.
You have a John Collins there, and then they also drafted a forward last year that they
didn't really play.
Then two picks later, the Knicks get Tyler Kolek.
And this is a point guard out of Marquette.
He's 23 years old and he compares to TJ McConnell.
The backup point guard over there with Indiana, the best backup point guard in the league,
in my opinion.
So the Knicks add a guy like this.
And then remember guys, you know, there's worries about Jalen, Jalen Brunson, you know,
with the hand.
He should be fine for training camp and all these sort of things.
Here's a guy who can run an offense and I'll be interested to see how he looks in summer
league.
So I'll definitely be watching that closely.
This is a guy who he also transferred.
He played at George Mason that one time, but he ends up at Marquette and he plays well.
So we'll see what happens there.
Six one by the way.
Few more of these guys.
Then I'll turn to my attention to Bronny James at pick 49.
Actually pick 49 and pick 53 a couple of UConn Huskies.
Tristan Newton.
He's the point guard there.
And he goes to the Indiana Pacers, so you draft more guard help.
And then can Spencer another guard with UConn and he goes to the Memphis Grizzlies at
pick 53.
So you got a couple of Huskies there in the draft.
And now I want to turn my attention to Bronny James.
He goes with the 55th pick guys.
Now let me talk about the good things.
Let me start with that first.
I watched tape of Bronny James.
I'm not going to go as far as some would say that the kid can play.
The kid clearly can play.
Of course we know he had the incident with the cardiac arrest that kind of sidelined
him.
He didn't get the play until January of this year.
So he missed about a couple of months before he got back on the court.
And the coach there did the prudent and wise thing didn't give him a lot of minutes.
He played about 19 minutes per game.
And you know, with that comes limited opportunity.
He average close to five points a game over to assess and nearly three rebounds.
What the tape I saw of him, I saw flashes of a player that can be a very good player,
very solid player.
He compares if he develops and he does what he needs to do.
He's at six to about six to six three to 10.
So he's a solid kid.
I think he compares to a more athletic Marcus Smart because he's a very good defender guys.
And he can leap and get up there.
He has a nice shot.
Although we didn't see enough of consistency on it.
He only shot 36.6% from the field, 26.7 from three and 67.6 from the free so line.
And then of course, his father is LeBron James, as we all know, he gets drafted to the Lakers.
So there's a chance at history being made guys, if he were to end up playing with his
father in a game.
So you have the nostalgic aspect of it and the actual chance at history being made.
You know, a lot of the pundits I've heard Stephen A talk about him, you know, he's
dresses the fact that, you know, him going at the cardiac arrest.
Us, you know, perhaps losing his life, which, you know, thankfully, he did not.
And I echo that, you know, thankfully, the kid is still with us.
And he's pursuing this dream of basketball.
So definitely I afford him for persevering through that.
And all the things that go with that.
So with that said, I think, and I think I'm gonna be totally by myself when I say this.
I think the kid has, I don't think they've done right by Ronnie James.
By that, I mean, let's start with Rich Paul, his agent, his agent, who happens to be LeBron's
agent.
He goes and tells other teams not to draft them or else the kid is going to go to Australia
and play.
If I was the other teams, I would call their bluff.
I would honestly call their bluff and say, Oh, really, you're going to send LeBron's
kid to play in Australia as opposed to playing with a NBA team.
I would have called his bluff because I wouldn't even believe that.
I don't believe LeBron will let his son go over to Australia and play.
I don't believe that one second.
I was always of the mindset that Bronny should transfer, which he initially announced that
he was transferring out of.
I was of the opinion that he should transfer go to a bigger name school, maybe.
Or maybe not even a bigger name, but go somewhere where you can get your numbers up, where you
could get consistent play just for a year.
And then you go into the draft.
And if you've done that, I would say I don't see any reason why he would end up being a
lottery.
He could have been a lottery pick guys if he did his transfer, went to another school
that would feature him and go play and put up numbers.
Then you got a kid that now is a lottery type player and his chances to get a bigger bag
is there.
I understand LeBron is his father and, you know, they got all the money over there.
But I'm pretty sure Bronny wants to carve out his own knit and his own name.
By transferring to another school, he could have did that.
He could have carved out something for himself and got himself where he could be a lottery
pick in the 2025 draft.
I believe that.
I'd solidly believe that.
So I'll say something that's not very popular, but you know me; doesn't stop me from doing
it.
I think Rich Paul did that kid a disservice just for the sake of making history.
He did that kid a disservice by not allowing him to make his choices to go to another school,
put up numbers and become a lottery pick for next year.
The money isn't going anywhere.
In fact, the money could have been greater if he went that route.
But I think Rich Paul selfishly.
Steered this kid towards this grandiose idea of playing with his father LeBron James.
That's the way I feel about that.
I think he probably was done a disservice by doing that.
Let him carve his own lane where he can go and make a name for himself.
Now he's got to be on the Lakers in the shadow of LeBron and with new coach J.J.
Redick.
And let's be clear, it's going to be a circus next year because of that aspect of it all.
LeBron having the chance to play with his son.
It's going to be a circus over there next year.
And I'll talk about the Lakers offseason when I get to the free agent, these stuff.
But it's going to be a circus.
And this young kid is going to be involved in that circus.
No fault of his own.
I think it's idea of Rich Paul putting them in this position and did LeBron have an influence
on this?
All of this?
I, one was saying, why wouldn't he?
Why wouldn't he have an influence on all this?
Being Rich Paul's ear, so I know it's going to sound bad, but I don't.
I hope LeBron didn't put the bug and Rich Paul's ear to have his son go this route and
become a second round pick in this draft.
Just in order to play with LeBron and fulfill a dream.
I hope that wasn't the case guys.
I really do.
I don't want to say.
LeBron is this bad father or anything like that, but I hope that's not the case here.
Cause I just, I feel bad for the kid.
I feel bad for him because of course he's going to have to earn his way.
Any way you slice it, wherever he went, he was going to have to earn his way.
I think it was wrong for Rich Paul to put these ultimatums on these other teams, not
to draft them.
And oh, by the way, to use his clientele also as a deterrent as well.
Like if you were to draft Bronny, some people say, oh, that happens a long time, but no,
no, it's just something that just doesn't sit right with that.
For me at least.
So, and then you have the team dynamic.
His son is going to be there.
So you're going to have this situation there.
They even so much so today, even they had a segment top a list of what Bronny is going
to call his father during games.
And I'm like, this is what we're dealing with guys.
Is this the route we're going?
Really?
So yeah, so I don't know.
Maybe it's just me, but I think Bronny James was done at this service throughout this whole
draft process and everything else.
So I'm going to leave it there.
I'm going to leave it there for I get some trouble anyhow.
So I just want to touch on one other thing and then I'm through.
I talked at the top about the draft not being this, you know, not a great deal of buzz around
this draft.
And actually, I was talking about this with a friend of the show, of course, he's been
on the show, Dee when we were talking about the erosion of the American game as far as American
born players, the erosion of that.
I think American basketball can be saved guys.
And you want to know how these legacy players that's coming up in other words, players,
former players, sons that are playing basketball right now.
And I got a list of them.
Of course, we start with Carmelo Anthony son, Kiyan.
He's a junior right now in college about to be a senior.
And he's very promising.
I think the kid looks good so far.
I don't know where he's going to end up at college.
He could end up at his father's alma mater.
Syracuse will see, but he looks good.
Carlos Boozer has two twins looking good right now.
Cameron and Cayden.
Jermaine O'Neal has a son playing Jermaine O'Neal, Jr.
Six, five, and he's looking good.
Gilbert Arenas, his son Alijah.
He's looking real nice.
He's a sophomore.
Trevor Ariza has a kid playing a sophomore as well.
Chuck Hayes, son Dorian Hayes, Dominique Wilkins' son is following him to his alma mater.
Jacob Wilkins.
He's going to the University of Georgia.
Then you have guys like Mark Alarie of Duke fame.
His son, Xander, he's going to the University of Miami.
Ray Allen has a son that's playing right now.
Walker Allen, Matt Barnes, his twin boys Carter and Isaiah.
Their freshman right about now.
Shane Battier, he has a freshman son that's playing Zeke Badi.
Dee Brown, his son, Anakin Brown.
He's a senior right now who's heading to Jacksonville University.
Oh, by the way, he has a sister that's in the WNBA -> Kalani Brown.
Ron Harper's son Dylan Harper, who's going to Rutgers.
Robert Horry, son Christian Horry, he's going to UCLA.
So the list goes on and on guys.
Even Vernon Maxwell has a kid playing ball.
Trey Maxwell, he's going to Hampton University.
Randy Livingston, he has a son RJ Livingston, who's actually going to play for him while he's
in high school, rather.
King and Martin son Cameron, he's playing right now.
Tracy McGrady has a son.
He.
Scottie Pippen has another son, Justin Pippin, who's actually going to University of Michigan
go blue.
So you have that.
Jason Richardson, he has some twin boys as well.
I believe one is going to Michigan State.
I'm not sure about the other.
Dennis Scott III.
Well, son, his father's Dennis Scott, but Dennis Scott III he's going to Georgia
State.
Etan Thomas, someone I follow on Instagram.
His son Malcolm Thomas going to Villanova.
Damian Jones, his son Dyllan Thompson is going to Georgia Tech.
Oh, by the way, his mother is Tina Thompson of the WNBA Houston Comets when they was
running that dynasty.
She was one of the linchpins there.
So I think these these kind of young players here, I think can revitalize things.
Of course, they have to have success in college and bring that into the pros.
But I think that could save USA basketball if you want to put it that way.
And will the international players still be coming over?
Of course, I don't think you can stop the floodgates on that.
But I think you could have a resurrection of American basketball if these kids click
and, you know, make it in the NBA.
So I would say all hope is not lost, guys.
In terms of American basketball, there is hope on the rise.
And I just would like to see more development of these guys, more all around skills, not,
you know, these mixtapes where you're dunking and flying all over the place, some fundamental
basketball.
And I think you'll be in a good place if you do that.
So with that said, I'm going to leave it there.
So as always, guys, I thank you for listening.
Much appreciated.
Your support is always welcome and appreciated.
allthingsbasketballwithgd.com is the website.
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That'd be nice.
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All right.
So that's it for me guys.
Next time you hear from me, more than likely I'll be talking to free agency stuff.
There's a lot of things happening I want to address with that.
Of course, WNBA basketball.
You got the all-star game that's coming up.
Like I told you guys, I'll be there.
So I'll give you all the little inside stuff to that.
Olympics is coming up as well.
And then of course, Jerry West's player spotlight.
That'll be coming down the pike eventually.
So all right guys, that's it.
I thank you for listening as always.
We'll talk soon.
Take care.