NSL Draft 2024

 

The NSL Draft of 2024 has come and gone over this past weekend, as the teams looking for that boost of youth for the next years to come got to finally take action and add to their team. There felt like maybe an unprecedented amount of manoeuvring in terms of picks swapping hands prior to the draft, as teams jostled for position to take the guy they thought would be best for them, or best full stop, with the draft looking like you could almost substitute anyone between pick 10 and 40 and end up with the same level of guy, potentially. This was reflected I think in the number of moves made, as well as the ”reaches” we saw compared to the NBA. Even up the top, we saw some jumps and falls with basically no one being wrong in what they drafted, now, on paper. Hindsight will always have the final say though in the coming years.

 

Here's some of the stories that I think might have been key to the draft.

 

Bigs Reign

As always, bigs came at a premium, possibly even more so this year than others. That said, I can’t recall a draft that had as many genuine big men/Centers, that were all threats to go in the 1^st round. Last year there was Wemby, Lively…and Clowney? This year they were littered throughout, and in true 2k thinking fashion, they all went early. Some in the NBA even went earlier than expected there, but still went higher or same here. Edey at 9, Ware at 15 and Holmes at 22 particularly.

-         Alex Sarr:                  2 NBA            1 NSL

-         Donovan Clingan:   7 NBA            5 NSL

-         Zach Edey:                9 NBA            6 NSL

-         Kel’el Ware:             15 NBA          12 NSL

-         Yves Missi:               21 NBA          17 NSL

-         DaRon Holmes:       22 NBA          22 NSL

-         Kyle Filipowski:       32 NBA          24 NSL

Everyone clambered to get at the big men, whether they were just big, or they were athletic and big. 2k is still a big mans game, and if you can get some starter quality production from an athletic low cost big man, instead of having to pay Ayton like cash for the same thing, then you instantly get a leg up. For this reason, Ware and Missi were each especially coveted and Filipowski went where he was projected to be NBA draft in Mocks after the Knicks #1 target went where they were originally drafting, as expected.

 

 

Trading Down

I don’t have stats to back this claim up, but by my reckoning, we definitely saw more people trading down in this draft than ever before and that was entirely due to the consensus that the talent pool was very even across the board. This meant then that people had to simply get to where they thought they could either maximise their value of their picks, by acquiring veteran players, veteran players and lower picks, or just more rolls of those dice. It also meant that people were looking to get to spots where they were happy to, and knew they could “reach” for that guy they had their eye on and simply couldn’t do without. Even pick 1 moved.

-         1 moved down for 3 and 6.

-         5 moved down for 8, 25 and 27.

-         16 moved down for 24, 35 and a future 2^nd.

-         17 originally moved down for 23, but then also again for 18 and 21.

-         19 moved down for 21 and a future 2^nd.

-         23 moved down for 30, 34 and 43.

-         27 moved out entirely for 3x future 2nds.

-         There may have been more, these are just top of my head.

 

 

The inevitable “Reaches”

I know that the NBA draft isn’t a gospel on team need and overall draft talent, but we obviously use it as a guide created by genuine professionals applying their craft, so when we deviate from them, we call it a “reach” or a “slide”. Every year this happens as we see something we like more than what the corresponding picks in the NBA saw or wanted, and so we go for it.

 

Dalton Knecht was the first big “reach” of the draft, after he was touted to go in the top 10 in the NBA but fell all the way to 17. That didn’t deter the Mavs, who had jostled around a lot in the lead up, from then taking their guy at 7 and saying to hell with it.

Ryan Dunn was next, and was my guy (76ers) from very early on, and naturally he started to rise up NBA draft boards even being touted as high as 22 to Phoenix in a mock hours before the NBA draft. That didn’t eventuate in the end, as the Suns simply swapped backwards with Denver to keep the “order” sound, and Dunn at 28 but with a true NBA skill and the label as the best defender in the draft, I knew I had to get to 16 to get him. And burned the bigs like Missi in the process, as well as an on the clock offer of pick 23, pick 24 and a future 1^st. Ironically, the original two 1^st round picks I held a week earlier.

Isaiah Collier was always touted to move up in our draft being a high upside big bodied PG in the 2k system, and was too tantalising for the Nuggets at 20 to pass up on. Dig has form, and we always knew this pick would be a reach down.

Kyle Filipowski has been mentioned of course, but again here as he was the first of the NBA second rounders off the board going 24 here compared to 32 in the NBA, to the Knicks looking for a young big.

Tyler Kolek was always rumoured to be a Bulls selection and it ended up being at 25 instead of his NBA spot of 34, behind a record sized NBA 2^nd round pick contract for the talented PG.

 

The 2^nd round is where it can get completely spicey for the reaches, since they’re all basically hit and hopes anyway. This year was no difference.

The 76ers did their usual thing immediately taking NBA pick 41, Adem Bona, at pick 31 which was to the ire of others picking in the 30s, looking for that athletic big man after not having a shot at the 1^st round variants.

Bobi Klintman jumped from pick 37 to 32 here, with his positional size.

Surprise, another big man moved up in Oso Ighodaro from pick 40 to 36, on the back of signing with the Suns that morning.

Cam Christie, who was on some NBA draft experts boards in the 20s, but went 46 in the NBA jumped to 38 here with his mix of youth, size and shot making for his age.

Melvin Ajinca, a stash 2way wing, went up to 41 here from 51 in the NBA as the Warriors look to the future.

Bronny James, who many believe shouldn’t have been drafted in the NBA despite going pick 55, went to 43 here after a draft day trade for the man with a guaranteed contract, and a name to bring in the crowds.

Ulrich Chomche from pick 57 in the NBA, did the young athletic big man thing to go to pick 47 here.

And likewise Ariel Hukporti from 58^th and final in the NBA, to pick 50 here.

And finally, we had 4 players selected in our draft who went undrafted in the NBA. The first of those this year was pick 51, Nfaly Dante, who signed a 2way deal with Houston for now. Then Pick 55 becoming Yannick Kraag, a Euro stash. Pick 58 turning into Justin Edwards was next, and finally, Pick 60 going to Trey Alexander.

 

 

The Corresponding “Slides”

For every reach, there has to be some that slide, and this year was no different. They probably weren’t seen as “poorly” as in the past, but they were still there to note.

The Jazz, whom have made a living catching sliding draftees were the beneficiaries of the slide of Tidjane Salaun out of the NBA top 10, and into pick 13 here.

Bub Carrington, pick 14 in the NBA, slid down to the Cavs at pick 21 here, probably due to a lack of PG need and some exciting other prospects.

The Cavs again caught the next larger slide, being Tristan De Silva going from pick 18 in the NBA to pick 27 here.

Pacome Dadiet was the first of the NBA 1^st rounders to be picked in the 2^nd round, but had to wait to here his name at 35 here compared to 25 in the NBA due to his raw game, but with youth on his side.

AJ Johnson similarly, sliding all the way from pick 23 in the NBA to pick 37 here due to his age and NBA landing spot, which was both said to be an odd choice and also not a great spot for immediate playing time in the NBA Bucks.

And the final 1^st rounder to slide was Baylor Sheierman going from Pick 30 to pick 39 here, with comparison that may or may not be accurate, to Sam Hauser, eventually.

The 2^nd round crapshoot saw stash Juan Nunez go from pick 36 in the NBA, to pick 45 again to the Cavs here, despite being a 76er target at 32 for a long while.

Jaylen Wells slid from 39, down to 46 here, while pick 38 in Ajay Mitchell went all the way down to the 76ers at 54.

Pelle Larsson went from 44 in the NBA, to 52 here, being an older rookie.

And, finally, Antonio Reeves from pick 47 went all the way down to the penultimate spot of 59 here.

 

 

The Verdict

In the end, we all have our likes and dislikes, our boys, and our own specific wants and needs, and there is no real wrong pick until it’s proven that the dude you loved is out of the NBA in 6 months time…

A great time was had by all that attended it seemed with shout outs and thanks to the hosts of the day and the always fun and entertaining banter that ensued.

Good luck to everyone and enjoy your rookies development! May they all become stars and we prove the NBA wrong for not seeing it!