Early Draft Storylines
Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2018 5:39 pm
The college basketball season is over and the deadline for prospects to officially retire their school’s uniforms and declare for the draft has officially passed. With PBSL kicking off the playoffs, the lottery teams have begun scouting for hopefully their next player to build towards the future. Let’s dive into some storylines!
I’ll Always Be #1 To Myself
Let’s start storyline #1 with what many in the PBSL community have referred to as the player who is the obvious #1 prospect in this class: Sean Garcia. The 6’1 freshman point guard helped lead the Georgia Bulldogs to win the national championship this season, which is only adding to a very impressive lists of achievements. Garcia is no stranger to winning championships. Rated the #3 senior in the class of 2017 thanks to leading his Mcminn High School Cherokees team to the state championship and was later named the Tennessee Gatorade Player of the Year.
Sean Garcia has an elite blend of skills on the offensive end. He’s a flashy passer, dangerous from beyond the arc and is very quick with the ball in his hands. He also flashes somewhat of a alpha-type of aggression on defense. As the 6th man off the Bulldogs bench, Garcia was relied upon to matchup with the opposing team’s best guard. For his size at 6’1 and 190 lbs, Garcia isn’t afraid to go for the rebound either. Best part about Sean is that he isn’t considered weak in any area for a young point guard. He will need to add some bulk to handle the PBSL interior defenses if he wants to finish in the paint more efficiently, but Garcia is coming into the league as perhaps the most well built and balanced pure point guard coming out of college since the league changed it’s draft method.
Word from sources is commissioners office is nearly ready to post Sean Garcia’s Lakers jersey to PBSL.com.
Player Comparison: Funky Cole Medina, Brooklyn Nets
Should I Stay Or Should I Go
He stayed. Many front offices anxiously waited for the decision many in the community thought was a sure thing. Alfonso Williams was declaring for the draft and joining Sean Garcia in this class of one-and-done’s. With a press conference setup outside of the University of Washington’s locker room, Alfonso Williams, joined by his head coach Augustine Carleton, announced he was returning for his sophomore season to develop his skills and help lead his team to a Pac12 championship. According to sources close to his family, this was not a surprise. Alfonso grew up in Quincy, Washington, a small town of maybe about 7,000 located two hours east of Seattle. It was always Alfonzo’s dream to play for the Huskies. With many experts picking the Huskies to win the Pac 12 conference mainly because of Alfonzo Williams, the team went on to disappoint the nation while fighting to stay above .500 in the standings.
The most disappointing part of this for the lotto teams is that the Huskies didn’t disappoint because of Alfonzo. The true freshman was every bit of a phenom as he was built up to be. Towering at 7’0 and weighing 242 lbs, Williams entered college as maybe the most ready-now freshman in college’s short history. If he had entered the draft, it was a strong possibility that Alfonzo Williams would be the top pick in the draft. We’ll wait and see if that was a smart move on his part.
If You’re Patient, You Won’t Be Saari
For Dustin Saari, the story never changes. Dustin has always been the youngest in his class, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell. Dustin was always bigger than his classmates despite being the youngest. On his middle school basketball team, Dustin was already as tall as his coach by 6th grade. By the time he was a freshman in high school, Dustin was the tallest player on his team. And the youngest. Unfortunately, because he was always bigger, he never had to develop his skills at a young age. Although he was great in high school, his dream school Duke decided to offer Dino McKim out of South Carolina. After missing out of Dino, head coach Oliver Nevarez put the pressure on Saari. The Gamecocks saw potential in one of the nation’s youngest seniors despite his rawness.
Dustin put in the time to develop his game during his two year stint at South Carolina, but you can tell he was working off of his natural talents. And in college, he was no longer the biggest guy on the court every night. While some don’t believe Dustin is ready to join the PBSL, the young prospect thinks the lack of top talent in this class will get him a spot in the mid lottery. While incredibly raw, the potentials are there for Dustin Saari to be a stud in the league. His height, once his greatest strength, is now just average if that. At 6’10 and decent defensive potential, don’t think Dustin will be the next DeAndre Jordan or Hassan Whiteside, but the comparisons of Greg Monroe before his training camp bumps may help a team overlook the time it will take to develop him. The decision for general managers to weigh is if investing 1 of your 3 insurances in a long-term investment is beneficial. It won’t be until after his rookie contract until we are talking about Dustin Saari as a reliable starter, but the reward may be there for those willing to roll the dice.
Can You Drown In Offers In This Small Of A Pool
Early indication is that after viewing the pool of prospects, even playoff teams are contemplating their potential offseason moves and may opt with a more conservative strategy. As almost always is the case, the top of the draft sees its fair share of trades being made. However, with a perception that the class is “weak” some general managers may reconsider trading into the draft. There’s also another thought that because there’s no clear cut top guys and there are no true tiers of talent, this may be one of the more fluid drafts we’ve had in a while. Teams in the top 10 may be more willing to move down or out of the lotto, especially teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks who have the pieces and cap flexibility to transition into a competing team and don’t need to take on another young player and wait multiple seasons for them to grow.
It’s uncertain which teams may be thinking about rebuilding after this offseason, but the taxman can be very persuasive. If it’s time, it may not matter how strong or weak this draft class is.
You Know There’s Always One
Buddy Pedraza, F Cole Medina, Kevin Whittaker, Keith Pfeffer, James McCormick. There’s almost always that one guy that goes from good to really good due to training camp. A quick look at David Tomlin reminds me of a guy who, with that one random training camp blessing, can go from possible-starter to possible-All-Star. Right now, Tomlin projects to go in the Top 5 due to need of a PG by several of the bottom teams in the league like the Warriors, Pelicans, and Thunder. While his potentials doesn’t scream offensive production, his athleticism if off the charts and he has the handles to be a weapon with the ball in his hands. He can also play decent defense, but much like the others, nothing to call elite. Having a guy with this kind of athleticism get either a training camp blessing or an investment from his team in paid trainings can make for a solid starter on a team, but is paid trainings worth the points to just be solid?
I’ll Always Be #1 To Myself
Let’s start storyline #1 with what many in the PBSL community have referred to as the player who is the obvious #1 prospect in this class: Sean Garcia. The 6’1 freshman point guard helped lead the Georgia Bulldogs to win the national championship this season, which is only adding to a very impressive lists of achievements. Garcia is no stranger to winning championships. Rated the #3 senior in the class of 2017 thanks to leading his Mcminn High School Cherokees team to the state championship and was later named the Tennessee Gatorade Player of the Year.
Sean Garcia has an elite blend of skills on the offensive end. He’s a flashy passer, dangerous from beyond the arc and is very quick with the ball in his hands. He also flashes somewhat of a alpha-type of aggression on defense. As the 6th man off the Bulldogs bench, Garcia was relied upon to matchup with the opposing team’s best guard. For his size at 6’1 and 190 lbs, Garcia isn’t afraid to go for the rebound either. Best part about Sean is that he isn’t considered weak in any area for a young point guard. He will need to add some bulk to handle the PBSL interior defenses if he wants to finish in the paint more efficiently, but Garcia is coming into the league as perhaps the most well built and balanced pure point guard coming out of college since the league changed it’s draft method.
Word from sources is commissioners office is nearly ready to post Sean Garcia’s Lakers jersey to PBSL.com.
Player Comparison: Funky Cole Medina, Brooklyn Nets
Should I Stay Or Should I Go
He stayed. Many front offices anxiously waited for the decision many in the community thought was a sure thing. Alfonso Williams was declaring for the draft and joining Sean Garcia in this class of one-and-done’s. With a press conference setup outside of the University of Washington’s locker room, Alfonso Williams, joined by his head coach Augustine Carleton, announced he was returning for his sophomore season to develop his skills and help lead his team to a Pac12 championship. According to sources close to his family, this was not a surprise. Alfonso grew up in Quincy, Washington, a small town of maybe about 7,000 located two hours east of Seattle. It was always Alfonzo’s dream to play for the Huskies. With many experts picking the Huskies to win the Pac 12 conference mainly because of Alfonzo Williams, the team went on to disappoint the nation while fighting to stay above .500 in the standings.
The most disappointing part of this for the lotto teams is that the Huskies didn’t disappoint because of Alfonzo. The true freshman was every bit of a phenom as he was built up to be. Towering at 7’0 and weighing 242 lbs, Williams entered college as maybe the most ready-now freshman in college’s short history. If he had entered the draft, it was a strong possibility that Alfonzo Williams would be the top pick in the draft. We’ll wait and see if that was a smart move on his part.
If You’re Patient, You Won’t Be Saari
For Dustin Saari, the story never changes. Dustin has always been the youngest in his class, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell. Dustin was always bigger than his classmates despite being the youngest. On his middle school basketball team, Dustin was already as tall as his coach by 6th grade. By the time he was a freshman in high school, Dustin was the tallest player on his team. And the youngest. Unfortunately, because he was always bigger, he never had to develop his skills at a young age. Although he was great in high school, his dream school Duke decided to offer Dino McKim out of South Carolina. After missing out of Dino, head coach Oliver Nevarez put the pressure on Saari. The Gamecocks saw potential in one of the nation’s youngest seniors despite his rawness.
Dustin put in the time to develop his game during his two year stint at South Carolina, but you can tell he was working off of his natural talents. And in college, he was no longer the biggest guy on the court every night. While some don’t believe Dustin is ready to join the PBSL, the young prospect thinks the lack of top talent in this class will get him a spot in the mid lottery. While incredibly raw, the potentials are there for Dustin Saari to be a stud in the league. His height, once his greatest strength, is now just average if that. At 6’10 and decent defensive potential, don’t think Dustin will be the next DeAndre Jordan or Hassan Whiteside, but the comparisons of Greg Monroe before his training camp bumps may help a team overlook the time it will take to develop him. The decision for general managers to weigh is if investing 1 of your 3 insurances in a long-term investment is beneficial. It won’t be until after his rookie contract until we are talking about Dustin Saari as a reliable starter, but the reward may be there for those willing to roll the dice.
Can You Drown In Offers In This Small Of A Pool
Early indication is that after viewing the pool of prospects, even playoff teams are contemplating their potential offseason moves and may opt with a more conservative strategy. As almost always is the case, the top of the draft sees its fair share of trades being made. However, with a perception that the class is “weak” some general managers may reconsider trading into the draft. There’s also another thought that because there’s no clear cut top guys and there are no true tiers of talent, this may be one of the more fluid drafts we’ve had in a while. Teams in the top 10 may be more willing to move down or out of the lotto, especially teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks who have the pieces and cap flexibility to transition into a competing team and don’t need to take on another young player and wait multiple seasons for them to grow.
It’s uncertain which teams may be thinking about rebuilding after this offseason, but the taxman can be very persuasive. If it’s time, it may not matter how strong or weak this draft class is.
You Know There’s Always One
Buddy Pedraza, F Cole Medina, Kevin Whittaker, Keith Pfeffer, James McCormick. There’s almost always that one guy that goes from good to really good due to training camp. A quick look at David Tomlin reminds me of a guy who, with that one random training camp blessing, can go from possible-starter to possible-All-Star. Right now, Tomlin projects to go in the Top 5 due to need of a PG by several of the bottom teams in the league like the Warriors, Pelicans, and Thunder. While his potentials doesn’t scream offensive production, his athleticism if off the charts and he has the handles to be a weapon with the ball in his hands. He can also play decent defense, but much like the others, nothing to call elite. Having a guy with this kind of athleticism get either a training camp blessing or an investment from his team in paid trainings can make for a solid starter on a team, but is paid trainings worth the points to just be solid?