https://www.thestrick.land/strick/aleksej-pokusevski-and-the-importance-of-versatile-4-knicks-2020-nba-draft

I still say Haliburton is that guy. Probably not available at 8, but maybe. Available at 5 I bet, but yes, Son of Leon may take precedence.

Kevin Udwary: Yes, it is my eyes that aren’t working! Thank you, my bad. Still, he has a solid FT%, at least. Everyone in this draft has red flags. It makes it pretty damn dumb to trade all your picks to move up. Hopefully teams are looking to fleece us and we don’t take the bait, and come away with 2 potentially ok players.

Yeah, hopefully that didn’t come off overly harsh. I didn’t intend that.

FWIW, the model I found on the internet (but in no way vouch for) projects him at a .343 3pt%. It’s below league average, but I can’t find averages specifically for PFs so may be fine. He also did up his attempts as a sophomore and I’d want that trend to continue in the NBA, otherwise even a good shooting PF ends up looking like Bobby Portis.

@alderalmo
Part of Obi’s CAA team is Sam Rose, the son of the #Knicks president.

The connection is shown here.

“No, I didn’t get to meet Leon (Rose) before CAA because I believed I was introduced to Austin Brown, who is my head CAA agent. And everyone on my team of agents — Mitch (Bukhar), Kristina (Kozica), and Sam (Rose), those guys right there I’m on the phone with those guys every single day. I believe I’ve never had a zoom call or talked to him before other than the zoom call with the Knicks,” Toppin said.

But while it’s true that Toppin hasn’t met Rose before the Knicks zoom call, Rose’s imprint is all over Toppin’s draft preparations.

Sam Rose is the son of Leon. Curiously, Toppin opted to station his training camp in Cherry Hills, South Jersey, Leon’s bailiwick.

Toppin has been training under Rick Brunson, Leon’s first NBA client. And he’s been hitting the Peak Skills gym and lifting weights in Adrenaline Sports Performance, which is co-owned by another former Leon’s client, Dajuan Wagner. Leon is a family friend of the Wagners even before he became the head of CAA basketball. Leon used to play against Dajuan’s father, Milt, in Camden. Rose’s senior advisor William Wesley, Milt’s best friend, is Dajuan’s godfather.

When Toppin signed with CAA, his brother Jacob transferred to Kentucky from Rhode Island to play under John Calipari, a CAA client and a known close ally of Rose and Wesley.

Those intertwined connections make Toppin a real possibility for the Knicks, whether at No. 8 or via Draft Day trade.

This would be fine if he took 4.5 threes a game. He didn’t. He took 4.5 FT/G.

Yes, it is my eyes that aren’t working! Thank you, my bad. Still, he has a solid FT%, at least. Everyone in this draft has red flags. It makes it pretty damn dumb to trade all your picks to move up. Hopefully teams are looking to fleece us and we don’t take the bait, and come away with 2 potentially ok players.

Kevin Udwary: Also, 4.5 threes a game isn’t low volume.

This would be fine if he took 4.5 threes a game. He didn’t. He took 4.5 FT/G.

He took 2.2 3PA per 40min in his college career and 3.3 per 40 as a sophomore. By comparison, Vassell took 5.5, Nesmith took 8.1, Poku took 8.3 in Greece, Avdija took 5.4 despite being a terrible 3pt shooter, even Okoro took 3.2 per 40.