The hard part about making a big board is that typically most of my analysis goes into the top prospects, and otherwise I’m taking guesses on thin sliced analysis. I always have a better idea of how I really feel about prospects after seeing exactly when and where they go, so grades may vary slightly from pre-draft board.
The under-the-radar player I hope can get out of Houston and on a real team is Usman Garuba. He hasn't shown much in the NBA, but I still hope he can be a spot contributor on a good team.
If Wemby fully reaches his potential, there is no combination of lesser players who would approach his value. If he just becomes Rudy Gobert with somewhat better offensive ability (even if not elite), he's probably at least as valuable as Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero. The Spurs would have been insane to trade this pick, and giving it a C+ makes no sense.
The injury risk is real, but the existence of Gobert, Kareem, & Shaq (shorter, but given his size and conditioning an injury risk), suggest it is possible for very tall guys to have productive careers and not get hurt.
Also, even assuming Cam Whitmore is a likely bust, isn't it worth it to take a flyer on him at pick 20? At the very least it's not a crazy idea.
Predraft Ousmane Dieng was almost identical to Rupert, I don't understand how one went 11th and one went 43rd
The under-the-radar player I hope can get out of Houston and on a real team is Usman Garuba. He hasn't shown much in the NBA, but I still hope he can be a spot contributor on a good team.
If Wemby fully reaches his potential, there is no combination of lesser players who would approach his value. If he just becomes Rudy Gobert with somewhat better offensive ability (even if not elite), he's probably at least as valuable as Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero. The Spurs would have been insane to trade this pick, and giving it a C+ makes no sense.
The injury risk is real, but the existence of Gobert, Kareem, & Shaq (shorter, but given his size and conditioning an injury risk), suggest it is possible for very tall guys to have productive careers and not get hurt.
Also, even assuming Cam Whitmore is a likely bust, isn't it worth it to take a flyer on him at pick 20? At the very least it's not a crazy idea.