Hamidou Diallo - ranked as top SG in the draft behind top man Luka Doncic
Diallo supposedly offers aggressive scoring, handles and capable defense. We put these to the test with a few scouting trips to see the young star. Diallo indeed has strong handles and potential to develop into a capable defender. He is likely to be quite aggressive from day 1 offensively, he won't shoot 20 times, but he'll launch his share of jumpers. Offensively, is where we see a challenge with Diallo though. He loves to shoot above the break threes but his ability to make them is very questionable. We see him as somebody who will shoot a lot from there but not make a high %. Scouts doubt if he ever manages 35% from three on high volume attempts. That's not good, considering his mid-range game is poor and his post game is rare. If you are considering him, looks like you'll be drafting a good (but not great) overall player who will struggle with efficiency throughout his career.
Cam Johnson, Nassir Little and Caleb Martin - ranked as top SFs behind top man Rui Hachimura
We start our trio of Small Forwards with sharpshooting Cam Johnson who is labelled as a 3&D player with great fundamentals. Wow, the young man impressed us from all over downtown. He will be spending a good amount of time above the break and in corners - that's a good thing. Johnson is a solid shooter from downtown as advertised. He is not a Stephen Curry type of sharpshooter, but his teammates can expect him to knock down around 40% of his threes on good volume. Not too bad. But wait, the dude also offers CSL ready defense with both blocks and steals in progress and well capable of developing into and very good shut-down player. At 6-9 - we see potential to develop into CSLs Otto Porter type of critical defender who plays good supporting offense and does nothing to hurt the team with average to good handles, passing and rebounding. Did we mention elite discipline and IQ?
Muscleman Nassir Little has power forward's physique and nose for rebounds with lottery small forward's perimeter game. Not a bad combination. Similar to Johnson, Little will be able to shut down his man with elite level defense supported by steals and blocks. Offensively, he executes his corner shots at elite level but prefers to shoot above the break, which lowers his overall % a bit. His mid-range and inside game is not great, however, although he does show ability to draw contact at high level consistently. Key difference between Little and Johnson? Little is 3 years younger and it shows. He'll be very raw coming in and will need time to develop. The potential is there.
Final player to review today is small forward Caleb Martin who looks to be the second coming of Carmelo Anthony. Martin is the worst three-point shooter of the top small forwards but by far the best mid-range and inside scorer. His mid-range game reminds us of Rip Hamilton and, while he doesn't shoot inside a lot, he is very capable of finishing there at high percentage and draw some fouls. Caleb is also CSL ready, he will play his mid-range game effectively at CSL level from day 1 and, with his exceptional handling and passing, will bring a total package on offense with potential to grow even more. His three-point shooting is going to be a challenge however. He is not awful but he is below average and will shoot a bit too much from there. I suppose comparisons to Carmelo make sense here. Defensively, Martin is going to be very average. He has the talent but shows very little interest and enthusiasm there. Carmelo indeed.
