Big Board Version 5.0
Post Off-Season Events Board Gets Us One Step Closer to the 2023 NBA Draft
With the Portsmouth Invitation Tournament, the NBA G League Elite Camp, and 2023 NBA Draft Combine all in the books, we move to the final stage of the 2023 NBA Draft Season.
Again, my tiers are for saying this is how I would set my order for the 2023 NBA Draft. While I may think players within a certain tier could go in a different order, I would argue strongly that a team SHOULD NOT draft players in the tiers below them. So, the Tiers for my Big Board are: Alien Tier: Do you NOT KNOW the name of Victor Wembanyama?; Tier 1: Always in Contention for the Top Spot; Tier 2: They ARE the Third Pick; Tier 3: NBA Starter Skills Pack; Tier 4: Major Potential, Major Concerns; Tier 5: Stick Them In the Rotation; Tier 6: I Believe! I Believe!
Let me break down just exactly what these new tiers mean. The Alien Tier was really created for Victor Wembanyama to emphasize how we have never seen a player like this before and how if you are lucky enough to win the #1 pick this year YOU DON’T PASS HIM UP! Tier 1: Always in Contention for the Top Spot are players that in other non-Victor Wembanyama drafts have the talent to be considered the #1 overall pick. Tier 2: They ARE the Third Pick are players in this draft that I think have a legitimate case to be the third overall pick in this draft and I would not argue if they did end up there on draft night.
Tier 3: NBA Starter Skills Pack are the prospects I believe have multiple skills in their profile that project them as NBA starters one day. Tier 4: Major Potential, Major Concerns are the players I acknowledge have a high ceiling and I understand why some people have them highly ranked, but I see major concerns in their profile that knock them down my board. Tier 5: Stick Them In the Rotation are players who think have AT LEAST one skill that will keep them in an NBA rotation for their career. And last, but not least, Tier 6: I Believe! I Believe! are the players that I think will go undrafted, but who I would get on the phone pronto to make a Two-Way player because they have skills I want to develop in the G League.
Alien Tier: Do you NOT KNOW the name of Victor Wembanyama?
1) Victor Wembanyama, C/PF Metropolitans 92
Congratulations to the San Antonio Spurs for winning the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery!!! While I am disappointed that my beloved Detroit Pistons will not be the ones to select Victor Wembanyama, I am happy that Mr. Wembanyama will end up with a team that has a stellar track record both developing top big men AND know how to handle European prospects.
Wembanyama not only finds himself with one of the best organizations, but also winds up in an ideal situation where he will have the freedom to do everything on offense his first few years in the league to find his exact role. Flanked by a pair of fantastic young wings in Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson, Wembanyama has floor spacers and wing defenders to give him space on offense and keep him patrolling the paint on defense. The Spurs also have a solid young point guard in Tre Jones who plays great point of attack defense and has ELITE vision and caretaker abilities dishing out 448 assists to just 110 turnovers last season. That is just slightly over a 4 to 1 assist to turnover ratio.
Oh and did I mention Jeremy Sochan already profiles as a perennial NBA All-Defense star? Then sprinkle in Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley, and even underrated gems off the waiver wire and trade line in Sandro Mamukelashvili and Devonte’ Graham and Wembanyama has AT LEAST 8 other teammates in San Antonio’s rotation who perfectly complement the French Phenom’s skills. It’s almost like Greg Popovich, Brian Wright, and R.C. Buford planned this out…
If you haven’t watched Wembanyama in the French League Finals against Monaco, PLEASE do so asap!
Tier 1: Always in Contention for the Top Spot
2) Scoot Henderson, PG/SG G League Ignite
Why EXACTLY has Scoot fallen out of favor? HAS Scoot fallen out of favor? I mean perhaps since the team that employs LaMelo Ball, the Charlotte Hornets, ended up with the 2nd overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft everyone assumes Scoot can’t be the pick at Number 2. Am I one of those people who assume LaMelo and Scoot can’t play together?
Keepin it real with y’all here, I am on the fence when it comes to Scoot to the Hornets. What I am not on the fence with is keeping Scoot at #2, though. But Steve, how can you say you’re not sure about Scoot at #2 to the Hornets and yet you have Scoot definitively #2 on the Big Board? Well let me break it down in the three thoughts I have when it comes to Scoot and the Hornets.
Number 1: Scoot and LaMelo need the same kind of complementary players around them to maximize their potential. Think Ja Morant in Memphis or Trae Young in Atlanta. YOU KNOW they will score and get so many assists, but they do not play defense and need guys with length and size to help make up for their physical limitations. Scoot and LaMelo both show a severe lack of defensive talent that necessitates the their backcourt-mate be someone like Desmond Bane or Dejounte Murray. I think if Memphis of Atlanta had say a Tyrese Maxey or Darius Garland instead of the guys they have now, the team would be picked on again and again on defense because neither guard would be any good at defense.
Number 2: Scoot and LaMelo also parallel Trae and Ja in that they work best when given the most usage. LaMelo had 30% usage this season, Trae had 32.6% usage, and Ja posted 34.9%. That is a TON of usage. If you have this much usage, you absolutely need to be one of the most efficient players in the league so you don’t sink your team’s offense. AND, you also need more defensive minded teammates since players with that high a usage typically are not asked to also be one of their team’s top defenders. So does LaMelo take less usage with Scoot there? Can Scoot and his 27.6% usage from this past season fit in to an offense alongside LaMelo? Neither LaMelo or Scoot has much of an off-ball game right now so the adjustment period is going to be long and awkward, but who will have to adjust more?
Number 3: this is just me, but I feel strongly that Scoot and LaMelo have personalities that would bump into each other. I’m not saying they would be bad teammates, but they are both supremely confident point guards who want to take the final shot, lead the comeback charge, and create the easy looks for their teammate. If you see-saw possessions with this basketball personality type, then how does the one not getting the ball respond? One of these two NEEDS to become an off-ball floor-spacer similar to how Dejounte did this past season for Trae to keep double teams from hounding the ball handler.
The more I think about it the more I would have to feel SUPREMELY confident that either Scoot or LaMelo would gain complementary role player skills to supplement the other. I think the best guard duos always have complementary skillsets. Joe Dumars shooting and elite defense took pressure off of Zeke’s attacking and mid range game. Klay’s size and catch-and-shoot game paired perfectly with Steph’s all-time great off-the-dribble shooting and point guard only defense. And Manu spaced the floor and got to the free throw line while Tony Parker murdered inside the two-point arc and set up his teammates for countless easy baskets.
Scoot and LaMelo have similar games. Keep the ball in their hands, let them attack, they will see passes no one else does, let them run the offense. I’m not gonna say the two of them CAN’T work together in the future, but for a team in the Hornets who do not have a fantastic track record of developing players, I think it makes a ton of sense to go with ONE of either Scoot or LaMelo and then get the players around them that best complement their elite skills.
Charlotte is DEVOID of talent right now and could end up losing Kelly Oubre and PJ Washington in free agency this offseason…oh and Gordon Hayward seems to always be injured and he is on a expiring contract…and did I mention Terry Rozier is ALSO a guard who loves to put up shots and has major defensive deficiencies? Adding Scoot to this uncertainty does not help LaMelo nor does it provide Scoot an environment that supports his skillset. You’d basically be rocking with Scoot and LaMelo AND Terry Rozier hoping Hayward has a fully healthy season in him and PRAYING you land 3 wings and 2 solid big men in free agency.
While Scoot remains number 2, I feel like Charlotte is a terrible situation for him if they keep the roster as is.
Tier 2: They ARE the Third Pick
3) Jarace Walker, PF/SF Houston
4) Cam Whitmore, SF/PF Villanova
5) Ausar Thompson, SF/SG Overtime Elite
6) Amen Thompson, PG/SG Overtime Elite
7) Brandon Miller, PF/SF Alabama
If you have noticed one major shift in just about every version of the Big Board, it’s Brandon Miller’s positioning. While I buy into his shooting as top notch, I do have a harder time buying into the rest of his game.
What I absolutely but into 100% when it comes to Brandon Miller is his three-point shooting. To put up 276 attempts from three as a freshman, sink 38.4% of those attempts as the Number 1 offensive option for a team that finished the season ranked #1 in just about every poll out there is rare. While I clench my teeth in old man anger at the mention of KD as a NBA comparison for Miller, I still get it. Miller IS NOT KD, but there are few players standing over 6’7” that shoot from distance like this.
What I also bought into with Miller from the first time I watched him at Cane Ridge High School is that he is a natural scorer who will get buckets no matter what. While I like a healthy balance of “Eye-Test” and Statistical Analysis, there are players that you watch and they make bucket-after-bucket that you just immediately gravitate toward whenever their team is playing. While Miller attacked more in the midrange in high school, he still displayed a smooth jumpshot that the opposition almost never blocked.
And if I were lobbying for Brandon Miller as the #2 overall prospect in the 2023 NBA Draft, the ONE THING I would be putting at the top of the elevator pitch is how much Miller changed his game in the last 18 months. Go look up any preseason scouting report on Miller and they ALL say roughly the same thing in Miller’s areas of concern: “lives in the midrange and takes a lot of tough jumpers. Needs to take more threes. Can he extend his game out to the three-point line and attack off-the-dribble from distance?” To which now the scouting response would be, “YES he can extend his game.” In addition, I don’t know that anyone gave Miller the “ball-hog” label, but he was considered a player who REALLY looked to score and NOT play-make for others. 77 assists and a 12.9% assist percentage later and we see Miller improved there as well.
But the concerns for me when it comes to Brandon Miller are many. For starters, Miller’s finishing at the rim in the halfcourt was absolutely terrible. Per synergy Miller shot 39% at the rim in his halfcourt offensive possessions. Another thing very concerning about Brandon Miller’s game to me is his efficiency from two-point range against Top 50 teams in college basketball. Against top 50 teams Brandon Miller shot 38.5% on two-point shots. Both things REALLY showed up when I rewatched all of Brandon Miller’s film in the last month. Especially alarming is when you see Miller get stonewalled by Liberty and Longwood.
I also think Brandon Miller’s man-to-man defense is lacking. I admit, this is NOT a huge deal as Miller does display good IQ and skills in terms of team defense. At the top of the draft, however, this is something in my own personal evaluations I value and Miller is lacking compared to his peers here in Tier 2. Brandon Miller is the worst man-to-man defender among the other prospects in this tier when I watch and rewatch film—and if I already have concerns about you generating offense from two-point range then this is something that knocks you down to the bottom of the Tier.
And the most concerning thing of all is whether or not Miller was involved in the murder of Jamea Harris. Let me be clear here, MILLER WAS NOT CHARGED WITH ANYTHING IN THIS CASE AND IT HAS BEEN REPORTED TIME AND TIME AGAIN THAT HE HAS FULLY COOPERATED WITH AUTHORITIES IN THIS CASE. No one should say Miller is guilty or label him as “problem” because what we know publicly says otherwise. BUT, the reports of Miller’s interviews at the 2023 NBA Draft Combine regarding the Jamea Harris case being concerning to teams and them wanting more information than Miller can provide does have to factor into the entire scouting profile. For teams that are risk-averse or ones that have dealt with players getting into legal trouble, they may not want deal with any of what comes with Miller right now.
While I may be the most skeptical of Draft Sickos out there when it comes to Brandon Miller, I’m also not blind. I recognize Brandon Miller’s potential is incredibly high (it’s why he is in this tier with all the other players I feel this way about—it’s also why he has NEVER come out of this tier all season for me), Miller is just the player here in Tier 2 I would bet on last due to all the red flags I point out here.
Tier 3: NBA Starter Skills Pack
8) Keyonte George, SG/PG Baylor
9) Taylor Hendricks, SF/PF UCF
10) GG Jackson, PF/C South Carolina
11) Gradey Dick, SG/SF Kansas
12) Anthony Black, PG/SG Arkansas
13) Cason Wallace, PG/SG Kentucky
14) Jordan Hawkins, SG UConn
15) Kobe Bufkin, PG/SG Michigan
16) Dariq Whitehead, SG/SF Duke
17) Dereck Lively II, C/PF Duke
18) Jalen Hood-Schifino, PG/SG Indiana
19) James Nnaji, C Barcelona
There is a lot to like about Anthony Black’s overall game. He is one of a few “He Does Everything Well But Shoot” players in the 2023 NBA Draft. Listed as a guard, Anthony Black can fill in at a few positions just based on his skills alone.
The first thing that really stood out to me when I started watching Anthony Black’s film last summer was his love of doing the little things. The best example I can give of this is Black’s stats for Team USA’s FIBA U18 America’s Cup Gold Medal performance. On a team featuring Kel’el Ware, Cam Whitmore, GG Jackson, and Brandon Garrison it was Anthony Black who led the squad in rebounds, assists, and blocked shots. Black is a point guard who will set up teammates for open looks, but is also incredibly physical on both ends of the court to eat glass and contest shots.
Black’s physicality on both ends is something that REALLY carried over in the 2022-23 NCAA season. At Arkansas, Black posted a 57.8% Free Throw Attempt Rate and and pulled in the second most rebounds for the Razorbacks at 182. He also made 76 of 118 shots at the rim for 64.4%. Shots at the rim made up 35.8% of Black’s offense as well so he is in attack mode first and foremost on offense. You see this ALWAYS as Black will use screens as the primary ball handler to get into the lane and draw contact. More impressive is his ability to do this as an off-ball cutter. He finds a way to cut into the lane and get the opposition in trouble. To me, this is one of the most underrated skills this draft cycle.
And the defense! Black can hang in man-to-man with about three different positions. Not only is he willing to be physical to give the opposition fits, but his lateral movement and overall basketball IQ make him incredibly hard to shake when he is on you. While Black may struggle against the top athletic point guards in the NBA and his small ball 4 skills might also be eliminated by really swole dudes, there are still very few prospects who come in ready to be a swiss army knife on defense you feel confident can guard the wing position at the very minimum.
But yes, Black is not a reliable three-point shooter right now. 30.1% from long range on 93 attempts is bad. Shooting 32.1% in the first half of the season is a little improvement. Shooting 27.5% in the second half of the season is putrid. To further complicate matters, Black shot 70.5% from the free throw line (a number that remains the same in both the first half and second half of his season). 70.5% isn’t bad, but it is in the in-between space of “I have Major Shooting Form” concerns and “Oh he’ll be fine just look at how well he shoots from the line.” Based off all the numbers we have, it is hard to feel confident in Anthony Black’s three-point shot.
More worrisome to me is Black’s inability to standout anywhere else on offense. While Black took 83 shots in the paint he managed to only drain 30 of them for a terrible 36.1% If you have questionable shooting and can attack the rim, the next logical step to me is a floater or runner to make teams have to stick with you and not sag off, waiting for you at the rim. Black also took just 35 total shots in the entire midrange area on the court. Black has no midrange game right now. What this boils down to is, Black will take threes, but not make many; look to get to the rim as much as possible, and when that fails TRY to create something in the paint. Team’s right now do not have to worry much about Anthony Black on offense.
Still, at six-foot seven-inches tall and weighing in at 210 pounds with the handle and vision of a point guard, the mentality of an old school power forward, and the love of getting his sneakers dirty has an intriguing set of skills that I KNOW will get plenty an NBA coach excited.
Tier 4: Major Potential, Major Concerns
20) Nick Smith Jr, SG/PG Arkansas
21) Rayan Rupert, SF/SG New Zealand Breakers
22) Bilal Coulibaly, SF/SG Metropolitans 92
23) Jordan Walsh, SF/PF Arkansas
24) Jett Howard, SF/SG Michigan
25) Brice Sensabaugh, PF/SF Ohio State
Color me skeptical of both Michigan’s Jett Howard and Ohio State’s Brice Sensabaugh. While I can feel the hot glow of lava filled hate from Columbus and Ann Arbor at linking these two (I’m a Michigan alum. I know), I think they are VERY similar in their scouting profiles: easily identifiable offensive skill and questionable defense and physicality.
Brice Sensabaugh led his Ohio State team in scoring in what might be the most surprising One-and-Done season this Draft Cycle. Scoring 16.3 points per game on shooting splits of 52.3% from two-point range, 40.5% from three, and 83.0% from the free throw line is very impressive. The 58.7% True Shooting Percentage beats out the likes of even fellow freshman sensation Brandon Miller by a hair. He is also one of a few players who not only took a lot of attempts in the midrange, but EXCELLED in that area. Sensabaugh was 51 of 103 in the midrange for 49.5%. That is excellent and gives you an indication of the advanced level of scorer Brice can be.
What is not so hot is the defense and Sensabaugh’s projectability to a reduced offensive role. Sensabaugh is not a good athlete either straight line or laterally. Laterally is where he is really lacking as quicker players with good change of direction erase him on D. Sensabaugh also did not display any defensive chops at a power forward. The skill he was really lacking was as a weakside rim protector managing just 13 blocks all season. A lesser athlete who can’t at the very least be a reliable power forward help defender is someone that I don’t feel confident in ever being a good NBA defender. If he is a liability on defense then it will take some major defensive roster construction to hide the forward that is too slow for guards and not big enough for forwards.
Sensabaugh also had an incredibly high usage rate at 34.0%. To put this in perspective, this is more than Brandon Miller, Scoot Henderson, and even an upperclassmen like Jalen Wilson who all were THE focal point of their team’s offense. Unless someone is a MASSIVE Sensabaugh fan in the top 5, Brice is not going to get this kind of time with the ball in his hands in the NBA. How does his game translate when he isn’t allowed to run the offense and everything revolves around him?
To give a bit of an idea, while Sensabaugh’s three-point percentage looks fantastic, it is inflated by one area on the court. From the left wing and the left corner Sensabaugh shot 38 of 74 which is a phenominal 51.3%!!!…but from everywhere else in three-point land on the court, Sensabaugh shot 22 of 73 for an Anthony Black-like 30.1%. Why is this a big deal under how Sensabaugh’s game will translate? Well for starters, it’s clear Sensabaugh favors the left side of the court and is not good anywhere else so defenses will keep him away from the left wing and corner. More importantly, if you are not a top 5 pick given the ball and time to work your game, you HAVE TO fill a role. For Sensabaugh he WILL need to be a good three-point shooter from everywhere.
MAYBE Sensabaugh can be a floor spacer if asked to fill a role right away, but it is not a good sign for any player when your shooting numbers are that lopsided with one area being fantastic and the rest being straight up bad. Also, there are going to be some out there that question Sensabaugh’s reliance on midrange shots as they hate this kind of player. I’m not one of those people, but this is something that will knock Sensabaugh down since there are NBA teams that do not like this kind of player. Throw in a NEAR 2:1 turnover to assist ratio and the questions about Sensabaugh’s role player abilities become even more concerning.
Am I allowed to just say “Ditto!” for Jett Howard? All jokes aside, Jett’s season at Michigan was WAY more three-point friendly than Sensabaugh’s and Jett also displayed more passing chops, yet the questions about defense and role remain the same.
Jett put up 14.2 points game and dished out 2.0 assists per game while shooting 49.6% from two-point range, 36.8% from three-point range, and 80.0% from the free throw line as a Freshman at the University of Michigan. While you may think that three-point percentage seems underwhelming for a guy dubbed one of the best shooters in the Draft Class, Jett put up 7.3 attempts from long range per game which translated to a 64.0% three-point attempt rate. Jett is as LEGIT a shooter as they come. Couple this with being six-foot eight-inches tall and 215 pounds and you have a great combination of size, shooting, and passing that every NBA wants.
Jett’s passing should definitely not be sold short. This is a player that can pass off-the-dribble as well as from a standstill. You saw Jett make plenty a tough pass for the Wolverines and really show a side of his game many did not know he had coming out of IMG academy. The passing was WAY better in Jett’s first 17 games of the season before he had to deal with injuries late in the season. During this span Jett boasted a 2.6 to 1 assist to turnover ratio. Jett also posted a 60.2% True Shooting percentage during this span! For someone who ended up with an average 23.0% usage, this is an impressive array of skills to come in ready to be a good NBA role player at the very least.
Why am I so low despite all these positives? It can be summed up in ONE stat: 2.8 rebounds per game. Why am I focusing on just ONE stat for ALL of Jett Howard’s negatives. It all boils down to what I see on film: a player that DOES NOT want to be physical. Just sticking with the rebounds for a minute, Jett posted a total rebound percentage of 5% and a defensive rebounding percentage of 8.7%. To put this in perspective, five-foot seven-inch Kansas State guard Markquise Nowell posted a total rebound percentage of 5.6% and a defensive rebounding percentage of 9.7%. Five-foot eight-inch Farleigh Dickinson guard Demetre Roberts posted 5.3% total rebound percentage and 9.8% for his defensive rebounding.
Jett is posting rebounding numbers WORSE than players OVER a foot shorter than he is. Oh and did I mention Jett’s offensive rebounding percentage is 1%? These numbers are not just bad, they are bottom of the barrel terrible and raise all the red flags possible about a players skill and WILLINGNESS to get in their and mix it up on the glass. It is not ONLY a question of Jett being bad at rebounding, but also shows that he DOES NOT want to do this. Those combination of things always makes me bump down prospects more than others because I do not know about that player’s desire since I am not there with them 24/7, but what I see on film makes me doubt they even want to be taught this skill at all.
And no, I am NOT overreacting to some of the worst rebounding numbers you could ever see in an NBA Draft prospect because this lack of physicality also shows up in defense. To be generous, Jett needs a lot of work on defense as there is a lot of tape where the opposition just blows by him. To Keep It Real, I don’t think Jett WANTS to play defense right now because his effort on defense is severely lacking. Watching Jett’s defensive film I am reminded of Ben Simmons’s one year at LSU. It is not a matter of whether or not he can do it PHYSICALLY as all the tools are there, but more a question of what the player in questions WANTS to do and how they envision their role in the NBA. It’s also not a good connection for me and why I can’t bump Jett up any higher.
While it pains me to be so down on one my fellow Wolverines, objectivity remains one of my guiding principles in all my work and Jett has major concerns when it comes to being physical on a basketball court. If they are not addressed at all, then this someone who AT BEST is a useful shooter off the bench that isn’t playable in the playoffs since he is a terrible rebounder and doesn’t defend.
Tier 5: Stick Them In the Rotation
26) Tristan Vukčević, C/PF KK Partizan
27) Toumani Camara, PF/SF Dayton
28) Olivier Maxence-Prosper, PF/SF Marquette
29) Kris Murray, PF/SF Iowa
30) Colby Jones, PG/SG Xavier
31) Brandin Podziemski, SG/PG Santa Clara
32) Seth Lundy, SF/PF Penn State
33) Julian Phillips, SF/PF Tennessee
34) Max Lewis, SF/SG Pepperdine
35) Jordan Miller, SF/SG Miami
36) Marcus Sasser, PG/SG Houston
37) Chris Livingston, SF/PF Kentucky
38) Isaiah Wong, PG/SG Miami
39) Jaylen Clark, SG/SF UCLA
40) Jaime Jacquez, PF/C UCLA
41) Jalen Wilson, PF/SF Kansas
42) Trayce Jackson-Davis, C Indiana
43) Ben Sheppard, SG/SF Belmont
44) Julian Strawther, SF/SG Gonzaga
45) Terquavion Smith, SG NC State
46) Noah Clowney, C/PF Alabama
47) Leonard Miller, PF/SF G League Ignite
48) Nathan Mensah, C San Diego State
49) Jalen Pickett, PG/SG Penn State
50) Sidy Cissoko, SF/SG G League Ignite
51) Adam Flagler, PG/SG Baylor
52) Mike Miles, PG TCU
53) Andre Jackson, PG/SF UConn
54) Landers Nolley II, SG/SF Cincinnati
55) Sir’Jabari Rice, SG/PG Texas
56) Jalen Slawson, PF/SF Furman
57) Jazian Gortman, PG/SG Overtime Elite
58) Hunter Tyson, PF/C Clemson
Toumani Camara is someone I left off my board for a majority of the season because I felt like he might transfer or run it back for his fifth year. After dominating the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament and jumping straight to the NBA Draft Combine where he kept up his stellar performance, Camara AT LEAST solidified himself as a high second round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
A great athlete with legit hops and great size, Camara checks a few boxes every NBA team wants. To get an idea just how good of an athlete Toumani Camara is, just go on YouTube and search “Toumani Camara Dunk.” From his time at Georgia to his time at Dayton no rim was safe. Measuring in at the combine at 6’7” without shoes 220.4 pounds with a 7’0.5” wingspan, Camara can man both forwards spots and might also pull some small ball 5 duty with his combination of hops and plus wingspan.
Camara does lack perimeter offensive skills right now, however. Camara’s first three years in NCAA basketball he never took more than 2.3 three-point attempts per game in a full season and—more alarmingly—never shot over 66.9% from the free throw line in his entire four year career. The majority of Camara’s shots came in the paint and at the rim. This may limit Camara’s chances of being more than a rim runner and roll man. He does not create much of his own offense and was mainly kept at power forward as a result.
Why I give Camara the first round grade, however, is due to his massive improvements as a shooter in this final season and the fact that he has defensive versatility. In Camara’s final 27 games of the 2022-23 Season he shot 43.1% from downtown on 2.4 attempts from distance per game. While I do not expect him to be a 43% three-point shooter in the NBA, it is ALWAYS a positive sign when a prospect posts career highs in attempts and the percentage also ends up being a career high. At the very least it shows major improvement. And finally, at 6’7” and 220 with a 7’0.5” wingspan with that athleticism you CAN ask Camara to guard the small forward through the center position. Camara’s combination of skills and natural gifts are rare to find in guys you want to project as an NBA role player.
Another name that appears in the top 58 that was left off my board for most of the year is Ben Sheppard. Perhaps a month ago Sheppard was considered a sleeper, well now after the NBA Combine Sheppard is no longer a sleeper, but many a Draft Analyst’s pick for the next “Small School to NBA Starter” storyline.
Scoring 18.8 points per game, pulling in 5.2 rebounds per game and dishing out 2.9 assists per game in the process this past season, Ben Sheppard also showed a lot of versatility on the basketball court. Scoring is the obvious number 1 thing that sticks out in Sheppard’s profile. He even dropped 25 points, 3 assists, and 4 rebounds in the second scrimmage game at the 2023 NBA Draft Combine and was THE winner of the Combine this year. Sheppard IS a bucket and is one of the most natural scorers in this Draft Class.
Sheppard is limited defensively and his free throw percentage is concerning for me. Sheppard measured in at 6’5.25” and weighing in at 194.6 pounds with a 6’7.75” wingspan, so while he does have the size and wingspan to match up with NBA wings, he does not have quickness to match up on guards. Perhaps NBA teams can hide Sheppard more by sticking him solely on small forwards, but he also shows a lack of strength to hold up against more stout wings. For now Sheppard is stuck between being too slow to be asked to guard quicker guards and should be kept away from stronger wings.
Also, Sheppard NEVER shot above 71.9% from the free throw line in four years at Belmont. Even more concerning is that in three of those four years, Sheppard shot BELOW 69% from the free throw line. For me, anytime a guard or wing is below 70% from the free throw line it is a problem. For someone like Sheppard it is most concerning as he had the ball in his hands a lot at 27.7% usage and you WANT that player getting to the free throw line a lot. You cannot be wasting opportunities at the charity stripe if you are marketed as someone who creates a lot of offense.
In Sheppard’s defense, he could improve his defensive IQ and also could switch his game up in the NBA to be more of a complementary role player where these concerns either go away or become less of an issue. Still, Sheppard is one of the best 6th man prospects in this draft with a profile and skillset very reminiscent of current Detroit Piston Alec Burks who ultimately learned how to pick up role player skills while maintaining primary scorer skills to best serve NBA teams off the bench. It is easy to see Sheppard follow that same path.
Tier 6: I Believe! I Believe!
59) Mojave King, SG/SF G League Ignite
60) Myron Gardener, SF/PF Little Rock
61) Matt Bradley, SG/PG San Diego State
62) Drew Peterson, SG/SF USC
63) Thijs De Ridder, SF/PF Antwerp Giants
64) Deandre Williams, SF/PF Memphis
65) Kobe Brown, PF/C Missouri
66) Jaylen Forbes, SG Tulane
67) Amari Bailey, PG/SG UCLA
68) Azuolas Tubelis, PF/C Arizona
69) Qua Grant, PG/SG Sam Houston State
70) David Singleton, SG/SF UCLA
71) D’Moi Hodge, SG/PG Missouri
72) Omari Moore, SG/PG San Jose State
73) JT Shumate, SF/SG Toledo
74) Armaan Franklin, SG Virginia
75) Caleb McConnell, SF/SG Rutgers
76) Nate Laszewski, PF/C Notre Dame
77) Kevin Obanor, PF/C Texas Tech
78) Joey Hauser, PF Michigan State
79) Connor Vanover, C Oral Roberts
80) Tevian Jones, SG/SF Southern Utah
81) Taevion Kinsey, SG/PG Marshall
82) Jake Stephens, C Chattanooga
83) Pete Nance, PF/C North Carolina
84) Ricky Council IV, SG/SF Arkansas
85) Ousmane N’diaye, C/PF Baskonia
86) Antoine Davis, PG/SG Detroit Mercy
87) Justin Powell, SG/SF Washington State
88) Zyon Pullin, PG/SG UC-Riverside
89) Adama Sanogo, C/PF UConn
90) Efe Abogidi, C/PF G League Ignite
91) Mouhamed Gueye, C/PF Washington State
92) Tosan Evbuomwan, PF/SF Princeton
93) Oscar Tshiebwe, C Kentucky
94) Drew Timme, C Gonzaga
95) Tyler Robertson, PG/SF Portland
96) Tajion Jones, SG/SF UNC Asheville
97) Kamaka Hepa, PF/SF Hawaii
98) Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu, PF/C Memphis
99) Alex Fudge, PF/SF Florida
100) Damezi Andreson Jr., PF/SF Detroit Mercy
Someone who should be discussed in the same breath as Ben Sheppard is San Jose State’s Omari Moore. Putting up 17.7 points per game, pulling in 4.7 rebounds per game while dishing out 4.8 assists per game, Moore actually showed to be the superior playmaker to Ben Sheppard. While many will look at Moore’s 52.5% True Shooting percentage and immediately hit him with the “inefficient volume scorer” label, I believe that is unfair when you look at his entire profile.
Number one, there are VERY FEW players in College Basketball last year that had to take on the offensive burden that Omari Moore was tasked with. Not only did Omari take 518 total shots, but 272 of those came in the paint and at the rim, and another 198 came from three-point range. This all for a 21-14 San Jose State team that had NO player taller than 6’8”, only ONE three-point shooter to drain greater than Moore’s 33.8%, and ZERO other dudes who scored OVER 10 points per game. This is one player I DON’T WANNA HEAR complaints about his “inefficiency” because without him his team would have no offense.
In addition, Moore has legitimate point guard skills. Moore averaged a 26.8% assist percentage for his four year career. Even more impressive is the fact that the past two seasons Moore posted 29.9% assist percentage back-to-back. As we have seen, Moore did have the ball a lot, but he justified that by not only being the primary scorer for the Spartans, but also being the lead playmaker. Couple this with his primary ball-handler skills and his measurements of 6’5.25” without shoes, 188.6 pounds, and 6’9.75” wingspan and you have a great mixture of scoring, playmaking, and physical tools.
Where Moore is lacking is in his vertical athleticism. While Moore was able to get to the rim quite often, he did struggle finishing when it was heavily contested. I also did not see many dunks from Moore in transition. He is much more of a smooth technician than anything else. Moore does not have the hops to get through contact and should not be expected to generate much contact as a result. His Free Throw Attempt Rate of 24.7% shows this better than anything.
I really like everything Moore has to offer and he most likely will receive another bump up the board in my final Big Board post as a result. In addition to everything I laid out here, Moore also showed consistent fight and hustle on defense that bodes well for his chances of sticking on an NBA roster. If you are someone who sticks to the cliché of looking for prospects that dribble, pass, and shoot, then you need to have Omari Moore in your top 58 this year.
Armaan Franklin is one of the more forgotten names in this 2023 NBA Draft Class. Which is odd considering Franklin was Virginia’s leading scorer and three-point shooter this past season. Listed at six-foot four-inches tall and 200 pounds, Franklin profiles as another shooter and guard defender out of Virginia to help stabilize any NBA rotation.
While Franklin’s 12.4 points per game may not seem like much, he gave Virginia a major scoring punch this year they were severely lacking. While much of the press went to Reece Beekman for the NBA Draft hype, it was Franklin that kept the Cavaliers in games and was the engine of the offense. While Jayden Gardener was not far behind Franklin scoring 12.0 points per game, Gardener took only THREE attempts from three-point range all season. Behind Garndener, the five-foot nine-inch guard Kihei Clark managed just 10.7 points per game.
Franklin took 166 three-point attempts and drained 37.3% of them. Quite frankly, without this constant three-point pressure I don’t know that Virginia would have had a three-point attack at all. They ranked 278th in three-point attempts amongst all the teams in Division I NCAA Basketball, so imagine how bad that would be without Franklin. Just take a look at his shot chart and you will find only one area from three-point distance which isn’t red.
I also like Franklin’s ability to cut off-the-ball. Franklin displayed a willingness and savvy to be able to cut from anywhere along the perimeter. He definitely leverage his three-point shot into drawing defenders into him before dicing his way inside for easy layups. I particularly like that Franklin managed to cut into the paint and get to the rim. He put extra pressure on the defense by doing so and was not just looking for the easiest or clearest lane, but the one that knocked the defense off balance if he got into.
Franklin’s lack of ball skills and his size are ultimately what keep him in UDFA territory, I fear. At six-foot four-inches tall Franklin is limited to playing the guard positions. In today’s NBA game, also, being six-foot four-inches tall means teams want you to play the point guard position. Seeing as Franklin hardly dribbled the ball and never posted more than 49 assists in a single season, point guard is out of the question to start his NBA career. Franklin will really have to lock in on defending point guards and teams need to see if his wingspan gives him the ability to guard shooting guards as well.
Franklin still has a great chance of using his shooting and off-ball skills in addition to his Virginia pedigree to find a role as a three-and-D guard next to a jumbo creator. We just saw Gabe Vincent do this in this year’s playoffs with the Heat and there are players such as Lonnie Walker IV and Malik Beasley who inhabit this role as well for playoff teams. As long as Franklin proves to be a consistent shooter and keeps up the line of good Virginia defenders in the NBA, then his path to being in an NBA rotation will reach its end sooner rather than later.
Thank you so much for reading the Big Board updates here on RezBall! Please leave a comment, like the post, and subscribe here to the SubStack if you are not already. Be on the lookout for one final update to the Big Board before Thursday’s Draft and look for me on the Woodward Pistons Draft Show on YouTube all week as me and the Crew have a TON planned for y’all.
Love the Omari Moore shoutout! He’s one of my favorites from this class. I’m with you on the Brandon Miller pieces too.. he really needs to develop a start-stop game in order to mix things up on offense at the next level.