Future Friday Nikola Topić

Future Friday Nikola Topić

[00:00:00] Dustin: All right, everybody. Welcome to the 369th edition of the Holy Back Forward Podcast. I am Dustin here in Rip City and I got my man,

[00:00:10] Dillon: Sage, chilling live and direct Beaverton, Oregon, ready to talk about a very interesting prospect that, uh, you know, draft people will say a lot of things about him. But I think actually watching him shows a lot of what he can and cannot do.

[00:00:28] Dillon: But the one thing that I always struggle with is finding all this information and putting it down so succinctly like you do. So tell the people about Nikola Topic.

[00:00:39] Dustin: Yeah, 2nd in our list of 2024 draft prospect future Friday, uh, participants, I guess, you know, features whatever verbiage you want to use. We did Alexander last week.

[00:00:55] Dustin: Nicole top pitch. Is up next and uh, [00:01:00] Nicola topage is an international point guard. He is 66 201 pounds He’s got that seven foot wingspan He’s only 18 years of age right now will turn 19 in august. So he’ll be 18 at the time of The draft, making him one of the drafts, uh, youngest eligible prospects. Uh, he was previously playing for, for mega in Serbia, but then transferred over, uh, to red star, which is another star had his, his rights on loan.

[00:01:28] Dustin: Yes. He was on loan loan with mega. Now he is, he’s back to a red star. Uh, his father played for the Yugoslavian, uh, national team. He was an Olympian in, in 96 played in the, in the FIBA games in 98. So basketball definitely runs. In, in the family’s, uh, genes, uh, via tank Aon here are his, uh, 20 23, 20 24, uh, per game averages.

[00:01:54] Dustin: Um, 19 games nearly 31 minutes per night, averaging, uh, [00:02:00] 16.4 points on 49.8% from the field, uh, on nearly 12 attempts per game. Uh, averaging, uh, 28.2% from downtown on 4.1. Attempts from three, getting to the line nearly four times a night and converting at an 88 percent clip, 6. 1 assists to just 2. 7 turnovers, 3.

[00:02:24] Dustin: 6 rebounds, uh, nearly a steal and not enough to really register, uh, for blocks. He is currently registering a 19. 84. The big boards tank a thon he is up to number two and the ringer recently released their 2024 draft guide And if we were doing this for sar, he is number one on their draft board But we are moving on to topage and he has number four on their draft board Um, I would say we’re gonna say this a lot 2024 prospects [00:03:00] I like him, I don’t love him, and I still think there are plenty of players I would take over him in the past couple of drafts that we have done this, but that’s just a matter of fact, and you can’t change who’s going to be eligible for this draft, so you kind of have to take it for what it is.

[00:03:16] Dustin: You’re, you’re going to have to, it’s like if you’re buying a house right now, and like you absolutely say you want to buy a house. You see the interest rates, you’re going to overpay for something that was better when the interest rates were lower, right? Like if you take top pitch in the top five, that’s not going to be what you would have done a couple of years ago, but that’s what’s available now.

[00:03:36] Dustin: And if you want it, you have to overpay. So that’s just, that’s how it’s going to be with all of these prospects. Uh, let’s start with the good, the positive on offense. You have a six, six, I would say a pure point guard with a really nice wingspan. Um, You have to love the fact that he’s producing, uh, overseas and competitive basketball at such a young age and basically given exclusive [00:04:00] on ball reps like he’s, he’s not playing off the ball at all.

[00:04:03] Dustin: Sage, what pops when it, when it comes to topage on tape?

[00:04:07] Dillon: Well, I think that we have a stereotype of European wings and guards, like they’re really, you know, great team basketball players, like they fit a role and fit around star players, like you think of Nicholas Batum in his prime, he could have played with anybody with top pitch.

[00:04:26] Dillon: He isn’t like that. He’s pretty awful off ball. He is 100 percent an on ball point guard that uses his quick first step to get an angle to the basket and then either dish it or use finishing craft to score under the basket. He is not going to dunk it. He is just a pure blow the basket

[00:04:46] Dustin: score. And he is a classic Steve Smith of under the rim candidate on a nightly basis, who, by the way, can finish with either hand.

[00:04:56] Dustin: That’s a good bonus. I, I, you know, [00:05:00]

[00:05:00] Dillon: comping him is going to be extremely hard. He takes such an odd angle to attack the offense. When most players are attacking, it’s like a line, a straight line to the hoop. When Topic attacks It’s like 120 degree angle of attack. So it’s different. Um, but he uses his quick first step to get that angle against low level defenders and get to the free throw line.

[00:05:31] Dillon: He has really awesome playmaking skills off of that quick first step. But I worry that he’s doing this and taking such wide angles against not even close to NBA quality defenders. And when he can’t, when he played with the real team in a bench role, he was getting walled up defensively. So the, the, the way that he moves is so [00:06:00] upright.

[00:06:00] Dillon: I, I, I mentioned it, I was talking about it in the blazers ed radio, um, Tuesday. Okay. He looks like Bob Cousy dribbling the ball because he’s so straight up and dribbling. He doesn’t, he has no bend, but he gets so skinny to the hoop. It really doesn’t matter, but it’s just such a weird thing to look at when people try and get more explosives, explosive to, you know, the sides when he’s just angling to the basket, finishing, but offensively, it really isn’t anything other than finishing at the rim.

[00:06:35] Dillon: Yeah. He can’t. Yeah. He he. He struggles at shooting off the dribble. He struggles at everything. But the rim is where he’s at home. And I wonder

[00:06:46] Dustin: if this is something you can teach him out of. And I don’t I don’t think it necessarily is him playing so upright. I know this one when we touch on the defense.

[00:06:57] Dustin: You’ll notice that as well. He plays extremely [00:07:00] upright and stiff, yet he’s still able to finish crafty around the rim. But. As I’ve watched and others have called out, he really just operates in a straight line drive. There, there’s not a lot of east west wiggle or, or shake to his game. And if you’re playing upright, you’re not going to be able to do that.

[00:07:20] Dustin: I also do worry about the upright handle. You called out the Bob Cousy comp. It kind of does look like that. And you just have to wonder if, like, if that’s going to be a problem for him at the next level where you’ve got world class defenders and What’s Herbert

[00:07:36] Jones

[00:07:36] Dillon: gonna do to him? What’s Drew Holliday gonna do to him?

[00:07:39] Dillon: Marcus Smart? They’re gonna He just doesn’t Do you

[00:07:43] Dustin: think, like It looks to me like he has stiff, fur hips. I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t say they’re necessarily completely stiff, but they, they, it doesn’t look like there’s a lot of wiggle going on. Well,

[00:07:54] Dillon: what, what’s the team that loaned him out? I, I’m sorry, I apologize.

[00:07:57] Dillon: What’s the team that loaned him out? Red Star to [00:08:00] Mega. So, Red Star, I watched, uh, two of his games. He, he has a knee injury and is not playing currently. But I watched two of his games, and those players, like, On his team right now, it’s like end of the bench rotation guys. And then the, the Chris Paul of Europe too.

[00:08:18] Dillon: So he’s off the bench and going against much more athletic players. And I believe he, he got like five assists, but was getting consistently walled up defensively with like, you know, the quality of like NBA role players defending him. It really worries me that he’s going to struggle against. actual athletic players getting that, especially since the wiggle isn’t there.

[00:08:43] Dillon: And then as, as his players get more athletic, he’s going to take wider angles to the hip, to the hoop and not be able to score. So the playmaking is there. I have no doubts about the playmaking, but the way that he utilizes the playmaking [00:09:00] is quick first step to the hoop. If he doesn’t have a quick first step to the hoop, where’s his offense coming from?

[00:09:07] Dustin: First of all, Chris Paul of Europe is just a wild statement, but also an incredible compliment as well. Um, so, shout out to you for bringing joy to me on this, uh, birthday.

[00:09:20] Dillon: It was that old Clippers point guard. I forgot what his name was. Uh, well, I’m not going to look it up, but like,

[00:09:27] Dustin: Let’s just stick with Chris Paul of Europe.

[00:09:29] Dustin: I like that. But yeah, right now if he’s, if he’s not getting to the rim, there’s not much in the mid range or a float game. He’s not an off ball shooter. He struggles to shoot from three. He’s got a somewhat low release. It is a bit of another, it’s not fluid. Like I don’t think I’m projecting him to ever become an off the dribble score from, from the perimeter.

[00:09:51] Dustin: Do you think he’s going to be a

[00:09:52] Dillon: good catch and shoot

[00:09:53] Dustin: guy?

[00:09:56] Dustin: If I said so about scoot, I have to kind of say so [00:10:00] about Top itch because the mechanics aren’t bad and the thing about having a low release is generally you’re getting catch and shoot opportunities because there’s enough space for you to get that shot out right so you have to think that as long as he continues to work like the form looks It’s decent, like, it’s not completely unhinged like a Michael Kiko Crist.

[00:10:21] Dillon: Yeah, I love that we pick him as the bad shooter. But, as we’ve seen Oh, Chris, all of Europe is Milo to, to, uh, Milo’s, uh, Tito, Tito Asik. He played on the clip, and Shabazz Naper’s on that team

[00:10:36] Dustin: too, so they have, they have guards. Shabazz is the man, but also, you know, we, I also thought Scoot would be a But Scoot at least had mid range to that More consistent shooter.

[00:10:48] Dustin: Yeah. With the space he’s given, and he has, he struggled this year, and he is a young point guard who is also more physical. So what I worry about, and I think again, a lot of these prospects, they’re going to take some [00:11:00] time. And a lot of these prospects, they have to kind of be tailored to a certain style of play.

[00:11:06] Dustin: And you have to have certain players around him with topics. You need a bunch of play finishers. You need a bunch of defenders. You, you need a bunch of physicality, uh, Right now, he’s going to take a couple years to get the strength up there. There’s no doubt about that. I think you want to work with him with a with a flexibility coach game doing all that yoga, like stretch him out, like get him more fluid.

[00:11:26] Dustin: Because right now, if if he stays that the fluidity level that he has right now that he’s not going to stay in the NBA, like it’s just it’s not going to work with the caliber of athlete that he will be going up against. But I love the vision. I love the playmaking, the passing. He’s already mastered the pick and roll at 18.

[00:11:45] Dustin: It is also tough. Because you’re watching a team overseas with, with mega and he’s exclusively just basically running pick and roll. So you’re not getting a lot of variety and you have to project as to what this player can do as a [00:12:00] lead guard, because there’s much more to the NBA than just operating out of the pick and roll.

[00:12:04] Dustin: Can he, you know, make the. Hockey assist or is can he be a connective piece? So could he play off ball in that role? Almost like how Golden State utilizes their three guard lineup, right? Not Alonzo Ball hands at once, but you get the ball with them in space and they make a quick decision. I would assume he would be able to do that, but again, you’re just not getting enough opportunity.

[00:12:25] Dillon: Yeah, I can’t tell right now. I don’t think

[00:12:28] Dustin: nobody knows. It’s all projecting right now and what he’s able, um, to do. But I think in this draft class there, there is enough there to warrant the top five. selection. Uh, usually young players overseas tend to do pretty well. Um, but yeah, he’s, he just, there are some, some questions offensively and it does make it a little bit more challenging.

[00:12:57] Dustin: And we’re seeing this right now with scoot. [00:13:00] When you have a player who is position non versatile, right? Scoot can only play point guard right now. Poppich can only play point guard with the ball in his hands. Like, it would kind of be disastrous if you went long stretches with him off ball.

[00:13:16] Dillon: Well, especially because If he hits his all time ceiling of shooting, league average, he’s not a good, like forms fine, but the ball doesn’t go in the rim enough.

[00:13:27] Dillon: And I think that he’s going to start to have shooting hesitation when teams just allow him to take wide opens. And

[00:13:35] Dustin: there’s such a difference Sage in just shooting standstill in an open gym, and then having to shoot off movement, having to shoot off the dribble, having to shoot with defenders in your face, having to shoot on the road, having to shoot with pressure, time and situation.

[00:13:47] Dustin: Like Everything goes into having to shoot in rhythm, off rhythm. Did you catch the ball correctly? Uh, are you having a good game? Are you having a bad game? Like everything goes into

[00:13:57] Dillon: shot. There’s a decision [00:14:00] making element to shooting in a actual game versus. By yourself at a gym. What about the defender?

[00:14:07] Dillon: Is he closing out? Is he gonna, do I have to sidestep? Do I have to pass? There’s so many more decision making opportunities that you have to do. If you’re in a game versus in the open gym, I’m sure in the open gym, he can hit 20 straight, but he doesn’t have to think about all of the context in a, in a game versus, you know, chilling in a, in open gym, but yeah, I believe in the playmaking, it’s just.

[00:14:33] Dillon: The, all the other things about being an offensive player, I don’t really get like, I know he’s gonna set up whoever he’s on a team with, but how’s he gonna, like there is, I know there’s a touch there somewhere, but I, I, I have these questions about what he can do offensively in the next level. And if we’re going to talk defensively.[00:15:00]

[00:15:00] Dillon: I remember you and I would tease each other about Benedict Mathern’s defense and A. J. Griffin’s defense. Nikola Topic is worse than those two. And he’s doing it, he was doing it in a worse league than NCAA. He doesn’t have effort and it’s getting bullied in a bad, you know, Serbian league. When he goes to the NBA Yeah, he would

[00:15:23] Dustin: get flagged.

[00:15:24] Dustin: He would get whistled for a lot of those take vows that are that has been brought to the NBA this year, where it’s just we need to stop a break. It’s where you just kind of stick your arm out and kind of grab the defender. Like, okay, that’s my foul plays incredibly upright does not get down in the stance.

[00:15:39] Dustin: Not the best footwork. Like, I, I can see NBA coaches targeting him on on defense considerably. So that’s why you have to put defenders around him. You have to have a room protector behind him. He has to hide. He’s he’s going to get it. I mean, especially with point guard being the [00:16:00] most talented crop of positions in the NBA on the plus side.

[00:16:06] Dustin: He has six six. He does have a nice wingspan that does make up for that does give you some cushion that gives you a softball rather than if you’re short. You know, six foot six two and you’re, you know, you don’t have the extra wingspan. I think getting some strength into him, getting some more fluidity will help.

[00:16:26] Dustin: I think if he can just not be like Michael Porter junior bad, that’s, that’s his goal. Like I know, I know that’s a really low bar, but like you can’t go into a game and defense is like, just feel like there’s chum in the water.

[00:16:40] Dillon: Yeah. He’s barbecue chicken to any degree. guy that can dribble. I’m sure he can do it, but I’ve never seen him play like adequate defense.

[00:16:51] Dillon: He’s really bad. And I remember when we were talking about the potential of him earlier, I was like, Whoa, this defense is [00:17:00] atrocious. It hasn’t really gotten that much better. And then if he comes back this year, cause it is a knee, I don’t know. He, he, the timeline says in the next three weeks, I would be curious to see if he improves at least his positioning defensively, because he’s now on the legitimate basketball team.

[00:17:22] Dillon: He’s. Gotta play some sort of defense if he wants to, to play like he’s been so productive for his old team that he like they had to play him if they wanted to win. They had to play him. They, they, they got him loan to him. They had to play him now that there’s like two legitimate point guards. He has to play defense as well as, you know, he

[00:17:47] Dustin: was, he was essentially the phoenix and Steve Nash, right?

[00:17:50] Dustin: Like he was so good. Yeah. He ran their offense. He was their conductor that you had to find ways and he probably exerts all of his energy on the offensive end of the floor with all of [00:18:00] those ball handling responsibilities. So it is a trade off there. But like you said, once you start to move up and you’ve got other options and unless you can prove yourself to become a Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns, you’re going to have to play more passable defense.

[00:18:16] Dustin: Yeah, like

[00:18:18] Dillon: I think if he went to a team that was like, Defensive oriented. He wouldn’t get off the bench with how bad defensively he is. Like it’s a legitimate problem defensively. And then you couple that with he’s not going to score until until he finds the Bruce Brown, Gary Payton type of offense where he can put the ball in without getting two feet in the paint.

[00:18:45] Dillon: We’re going to have some issues here. What’s your comparison

[00:18:50] Dustin: for

[00:18:50] him?

[00:18:51] Dillon: Andre Miller. Both of them weren’t, both of them are excellent playmakers. Both of them are under the basket scores, but he’s [00:19:00] so different than. Any other point guard or lead guard coming into a draft that we’ve seen ever since we did this draft coverage, that it’s going to be tough to really find a comparison.

[00:19:11] Dillon: So I had to go back and think of Dre Miller.

[00:19:15] Dustin: Yeah, that’s, uh, interesting and I’m not mad at it at all. Like, I don’t really know who to compare him. He’s so different than everybody else, like no one else. The ringer says shades of Gorondrojic and I don’t really believe the hype on that one. Um, Drojic was lethal in the mid range.

[00:19:31] Dustin: His shot was gorgeous. Um, and he was predominantly a lefty. Topic has a little bit of a left right. finishing ability. The thing that sticks out to my mind when I see a 6’6 point guard, like that really puts you in a completely different comparison level because you don’t see point guards that tall. I mean, there’s shades of Sean Livingston in there somewhere.

[00:19:55] Dustin: I guess, yeah. Given the, um, You know, he was, you know, there’s [00:20:00] shades of like pre injury Livingston and post injury Livingston. Like he’s never, or I shouldn’t say never. He’s not the mid range shooter that, that Sean was. But you talk about the, the playing the upright position, the height, the, the floor, the floor vision.

[00:20:17] Dustin: It’s there. Um, but I don’t think there’s a like, oh my God, this is a slam dunk comparison for, for Toppitch. And then. If you’re Portland, and let’s say he’s on the board, when you have a pick, wherever it is, how would he fit? Would you target him? Would you not?

[00:20:37] Dillon: I wouldn’t target him. I think putting, let’s talk about Topic again.

[00:20:43] Dillon: He’s a really good playmaker, needs to have the ball in his hands to be efficient at all. Has no shot, has no offense, and is a bad defender. I think that’s five bad things for the Blazers. And then Scoot does the same things with the playmaking, the driving to [00:21:00] the basket, but he also can go above the rim.

[00:21:02] Dillon: So we’re getting like a poor man Scoot Henderson with less versatility offensively and then no effort defensively. He would be low on my Blazers list. Like, but for the Spurs, you obviously take him because he is a point guard and they don’t have one really. Yeah. But for us, since we have Sku Henderson, if there’s any of the top seven there along with Topic, like if Cody Williams is there, we take Cody, Jacobi Walter, we take Jacobi and are extremely happy.

[00:21:31] Dillon: I guess he’s the head of Reed Shepard, but Reed Shepard’s a pro that I have no worry about busting. I’m kind of nervous about a Topic bust. So I, he’s, he would be rather low for me on my list for the Portland

[00:21:45] Dustin: Trailblazers. So teams who draft young point guards traditionally don’t follow that up by drafting another young point guard.

[00:21:53] Dustin: The most recent example I can think of was the Sacramento Kings. In 2017, they took De’Aaron Fox. Three years [00:22:00] later, in 2020, they took Tyrese Halliburton, and then in 2021, they took Davion Mitchell. It’s a slightly different because there was a three year gap between Fox and Halliburton and Halliburton was the clear best player available when he dropped all the way down to, I believe, 11 or 12 in 2020.

[00:22:19] Dustin: So it’s not like they had no choice and they were able to flip him into DeMontis, a bonus. I think there are some scenarios where I could see Portland picking up top itch. If you get a top five pick, Probably not, but you do have that Warrior’s pick that if it conveys right now, it would be 10. If he’s sitting there at 10 and you’re picking between Toppi and like Clinging or Kyle Kowski or just some other player that you are not confident in or just you just don’t like your options, would you take him over done?

[00:22:51] Dustin: Probably, yeah. Probably. Yeah, I would. Um, because Ryan does

[00:22:55] Dillon: six eight and can. You know, he does everything you want defensively. [00:23:00]

[00:23:00] Dustin: I, I like the, I’m a gambler in this draft. I will take, take a high ceiling over a low floor, especially when you have two, two picks and you also have two really high second round picks.

[00:23:11] Dustin: Um, I haven’t seen enough of Collier, so I will not be able to answer that. What I would say though, with, with Toppitch, on paper right now, what you said, everything is true. Bad fit. Bad fit with the Blazers, but let me play devil’s advocate here for a second. If we had so much confidence in Scoot Henderson this time last year, and I think our confidence is still there in him, I’m not going to let one half season of Scoot deter me from adding to this team.

[00:23:44] Dustin: Like, I still believe he’s going to become a league average shooter. I believe that. I think he’s going to become lethal in the mid range, and I think he’s going to become, uh, capable from three point. I think there is a level of off ball skill set that is yet to be unlocked. Portland currently [00:24:00] does not have a note.

[00:24:01] Dustin: Yes. Portland currently does not have another playmaker that would look for him or would make him a better player off ball. Anthony Simons can dribble, but he’s looking to score, right? We, we, we just do not, Malcolm, Malcolm Brogdon, same thing, like he can dribble, but he’s not looking to pass and set teammates up.

[00:24:17] Dustin: He’s looking to get, get to the, get to the, get to the cup and score. Toppitch is that pure point guard, and I’ve said throughout this season, Besides rebounding, playmaking is a glaring weakness on this Trailblazer roster. And I’m all in favor of reducing and providing more playmakers into this, uh, into this team.

[00:24:40] Dustin: And it would be interesting to see if Topic could, you know, unlock something in D’Andre, something in Shaden, and then also Scoot. Now, I think we’re a few years down the road, but from that happening, he has warts, Scoot has some warts, like, we, we know this. [00:25:00] And we don’t have the coach at the moment who is creative enough to, to make it happen.

[00:25:05] Dustin: But you only get a pick once in your life in the 2024 NBA draft. You have to take a long term approach to that pick, not thinking how we’re not in a position to say, we need this player to play this way right away. Next season, we’re going all in for the championship. We need to take a five year outlook, which is traditionally the standard length of a rookie scale contract and say, how is this player going to fit?

[00:25:31] Dustin: With this current team, but also do we have the, do we have the flexibility to add other types of players around him? So, at the moment, 100 percent agree, bad fit. I can see if, I can see a path where it does become a, a good fit. Um, there’s a

[00:25:46] Dillon: lot of what there

[00:25:48] Dustin: is a lot of things that have contingencies that but given this draft is so open ended and there’s not a there’s not even a clear number one, let alone a clear top three [00:26:00] that if we walk out with with top of the first pick, I’m not going to just be like, oh, up in arms, like, because I trust what they’re doing.

[00:26:08] Dustin: They’ve done really well with their draft picks so far. And I think it’s a bigger plan in place. I would say if you took him with that first pick rather than the second, it could be a mental blow to Scoop Henderson. So there’s a lot of mental massaging that you’re going to have to do when you take players at the same position.

[00:26:28] Dustin: Overall, I probably would look to target others, but in a case where you’re looking at your board, you’re up and there’s just nothing you like, he’s there, take him, make it work later. Obviously it worked out for the Kings. I mean, if you look at it, they probably should have kept Halliburton and Fox, but they still got another all star out of it because they player fell into their laps.

[00:26:48] Dustin: They didn’t overthink it. They said, let’s, let’s take him. We’ll figure it out. And they did, they made the playoffs for the first time in 16 seasons last year. And Halliburton is flourishing in [00:27:00] Indiana.

[00:27:00] Dillon: But I don’t think, I don’t think Toppers is Halliburton.

[00:27:04] Dustin: No, I don’t think so. Nobody is really great in this draft.

[00:27:07] Dustin: But statistically, someone is going to boom from this draft. Like, it just, it happens. I think every draft that I’ve been a part of has at least one all star. 2000 is a, is an outlier when it was just Michael Redd. But even 2013, you’ve got multiple defensive player of the year, Rudy Gobert, CJ McCollum, borderline all star, Giannis, MVP, Victor Oladipo, all star.

[00:27:29] Dustin: Like, is it a bad draft? No, it’s not. Yes, you can’t change that. What you can only change is who you’re going to pick. Like, not change, but that’s the only thing that you can determine is who you’re going to pick when you’re on the clock. Chances are a future all star is going to be on the board. It is your job to identify that player.

[00:27:47] Dustin: Is it topage? I’m not sure, but there, it isn’t, I am intrigued by him given the age. The passing ability of the size, you just don’t see that a lot. Um, and I’m interested in a long term [00:28:00] outlook with he Henderson and, and sharp. Um, but I have anything else on top pitch before we, I,

[00:28:09] Dillon: we have to hit like the draft board has to go absolutely horrific for me to be okay with, with topics being one of the draft picks, just because of the, I’m not really confident in him to, hit Andre Miller, to be completely honest,

[00:28:27] Dustin: like you’re, you’re, you’re speaking truth.

[00:28:29] Dustin: Like, I’m not disagreeing with you. This is me just saying this draft class is so open ended that I’m not in love with anybody. I like a couple of prospects. I don’t love any of them. So if, if this is me saying, if, if Cronin and the scouting department identifies him, I’m just going to, to trust them because I, I, this draft, there’s, there’s just, it’s a bad year to have two lottery picks.

[00:28:52] Dustin: Usually I would be up over the moon, but this year it’s like of all the years to have two lottery picks. Of course, it’s 2024. You

[00:28:59] Dillon: know, [00:29:00] like, like, let’s just say that they took, uh, they took Nicola over, uh, Jacoby. I think I would be the one man rioting in downtown Portland over the. Layton. Layton bad pick.

[00:29:14] Dillon: Again, if it goes, if it goes absolutely horrific, I guess I could talk myself into it, but you need to have a creative coach.

[00:29:23] Dustin: There’s so many things. I think I’m going to have to talk myself into a lot of these picks. Like,

[00:29:27] Dillon: I, yeah, like, I, I think that it’s just, I mean, like, if, if we, the Spurs should take him.

[00:29:37] Dustin: Like, let them. And they will. That’s, that’s another reason why I’m not really getting too, uh, worked up over it because I, I don’t think he’s even going to make it to our selection. I think, uh, the Spurs really need a point guard and chances are they’re going to be picking above us. Um.

[00:29:51] Dillon: Like, Washington and San Antonio.

[00:29:56] Dillon: They should, if, if we were the speed bump for them, they should [00:30:00] trade and like, we should make a switch and we get a little sweetener. I know we

[00:30:05] Dustin: don’t have. Big boards yet. He would be in my top 10. I don’t know if he’d make my top five, but I would have him top 10.

[00:30:12] Dillon: So, yeah, I think he would be in my top seven, most likely.

[00:30:17] Dillon: But if it was if it was blazer centric, he’s down more. But he’s one of the most productive. Players this year and he definitely has and he has an NBA skill set that we can go in and say hey He’s a playmaker. There’s a lot of other things. We probably have to set seven picks for you Know who also might be Gravis Vasquez might be a comp for

[00:30:41] Dustin: him.

[00:30:41] Dustin: Whoo gravy. Yeah. Yeah, he was solid

[00:30:44] Dillon: Yeah, no problems there. Yeah, both under the basket scores. Both have really good playmaking. I think I think top is just faster than gravy because gravy was so goddamn [00:31:00] slow. But I like it’s that type of tall initiator point guard that isn’t good at. Defense that he is again.

[00:31:12] Dillon: School hunters and clears them as a prospect. So hard. Like I would, we looked at Lonzo. We looked at Tyrese, we looked at Tyrese, uh, Maxie. There’s also a decent comp. Yeah. Yeah. Except the defense.

[00:31:29] Dustin: Yeah. Except, except offensively Lonzo is a, uh, an interesting comp.

[00:31:34] Dillon: I’m just trying to think of all the point guard prospects that we’ve looked at in the last four years.

[00:31:42] Dillon: Topic isn’t really measuring close to any of the, like the Kate Cunningham’s, the, those type of

[00:31:48] Dustin: players. But I would also say, none of the prospects would measure, positionally, are going to measure up over the last four years. Like, we talked about Saar, who is the, at the moment, the consensus number one [00:32:00] player.

[00:32:01] Dustin: I, there’s plenty of bigs I’m taking over S. A. R. in the past three years that we’ve done this. The

[00:32:08] Dillon: only person that I’d fight for if I was in the draft room is Jacoby Walter. And he’s not my number one guy, so that, I guess I would fight for, for the guy, so. But thank you to everybody for listening to our, uh, Future Friday on Nikola Topic.

[00:32:28] Dillon: Um, we will be back next week for maybe Jacobi Walther, maybe Cody Williams. Um, I’m going to do some content. over the weekend for PJ Hall of Clemson. It will be out on my YouTube page. And then I don’t want to pay for extra slots on the podcast. So I will label it and won’t number it. But if you want to listen to it on the Holy Backboard feed, you absolutely can, but it will not count as any Holy Backboard content.

[00:32:58] Dillon: It’s solo Sage, [00:33:00] you know, second round, late first, second round content.