2026 NBA draft thread

[Smitty]

Really good means someone pretty darn close to starter material on a championship team. Max is not that. He played a lot of minutes on a tankathon team. Big deal.

He’s 22 years old my guy…

[windjc]

He’s 22 years old my guy…

What is your point? That doesn’t mean he has incredible upside. We need someone better and if Max becomes a 25 point scorer and creater and defensive stopper along the way then great.

[Dirknows]

I don't think Peterson will be setting up offense for others either.  I see his role as a primary offensive hub in the NBA (Kobe, MJ, ect) or an SG that can initiate offense from time to time.  Put him on the Mavs, I'm all about it.  They will need a Derek Fisher, John Paxson, BJ armstrong, Steve Kerr (off the ball shooter playing the point) to win a championship.  That role is easier to find.

I see the easiest way to unlock Flagg's offense is to get him a Chris Paul-type point guard (Acuff?) or do the above and put him in his ideal role as Scottie Pippen-like slasher/defender/scorer (SF/PF).

I think Flagg showed everyone last season his offensive ceiling is much higher than Scottie’s, more on the Kawhi/Tatum end of the spectrum. Not quite elite, but a notch below. And who knows, he’s still only 19.

[windjc]

I think Flagg showed everyone last season his offensive ceiling is much higher than Scottie’s, more on the Kawhi/Tatum end of the spectrum. Not quite elite, but a notch below. And who knows, he’s still only 19.

His ceiling is not quite elite? Jeebus. He broke all kinds of rookie scoring records last year. What is elite ceiling to you?

[mvossman]

Max was also 18 years old his freshman year. 2 years younger than Burries. I don’t really get this comparison between the two though. Max has developed into a really good off-ball guard at the highest level. Burries is a prospect that shows more than he did coming out of college, but who cares? Nobody knows what these guys will become when it’s all said and done.

The point is that Max is clearly not the player he was in college and Burries wont be either.  The 2 years in age difference is a good point, but I would argue that years of college experience is a bigger driver of development curve than age.

[Dirknows]

His ceiling is not quite elite? Jeebus. He broke all kinds of rookie scoring records last year. What is elite ceiling to you?

I meant elite scorer as in Luka/SGA automatic bucket type guys. And I was referencing his ceiling as a scorer, did you ever consider Kawhi or Tatum an elite scorer?

[Luka77]

https://x.com/BrettSiegelNBA/status/2064838125734567988

I will be surprised if he goes late first.  I think right outside the lottery him, Anderson and Stirtz will get close looks.  One will probably go late teens.  One may go late teens/early 20's.   Maybe one slips...my uneducated guess is Stirtz goes mid 20's.   I don't think Okorie is the one who slips.

One of these guys would be great in Derek Fisher, BJ Armstrong, Steve Kerr, ect role that I was talking about above.  Okorie would be my favorite for that type of role.  

The Mavs then may have to find their primary offensive SG at some other point.  This draft might be the one that gets them many of their complementary pieces, but not the all-star they are seeking.  

I think the worst thing the Mavs can do is try and force someone like Burries into a role they can't play (Primary on-ball creator or Primary off-ball scorer).

[Luka77]

So you think he is Max Christie based off his one college season.  Lets do a little comparison:

            Max                        Burries
Pts        9                            16
Rbs       3.5                          4.9
Ast        1.5                          2.4
Tov        1.5                          1.5
Stl          .5                           1.5
Blk         .5                            .5
3PA        3.5                          4.6
3P%       32%                        39%
TS%       49%                        62%
OBPM      .8                           6.0
DBPM      1.1                         5.7
BPM        1.9                         11.7

This was each players only year in college.  Do you see the difference?  Its glaring.  Clearly Max developed and became a better player than he was in college.  Honestly if you just look at his freshman season you wonder why any team drafted him (it was the second round) and why he didn't stay another year in college.  There is expectation that Burries will show a lot of improvement as well, but he is starting from a much higher place than Max did.  The scouts are not looking at Burries stat sheet when they say he could develop into a lead guard eventually.  There is room to grow.

He is a slightly better scorer (7 point/per game), playmaker (.9 better assists /game) and better rebounder (1.4 better/game) than a 19 y.o Christie in college.  

They are only approx. 2.5 years apart in age (2 years and 7 months), and Christie has already played 4 years in the NBA.  

I would guess if put Christie back in college at the same age, he would perform similarly to Burries.

At best, you can say Burries might be a slight upgrade over Christie overall as a prospect but I still don't see an offensive hub or primary creator that is being suggested now or in the future.

[Razzmatazz_Hopskidillydoo]

Not a fan of Burries, but if all the other guards are taken, I'd be okay with him at 9.
Not excited, just okay-ish.

The thing that worries me is if the Mavs are presented with a choice of Burries and Flemmings and the Mavs went with Burries.
Not the end of the world type of disappointment, but still would be.

From all of what I have seen and heard of Flemmings is that this dude is cerebral, and you'd need that in a PG.
And in this draft, I'd like to walk away with a better PG than hoping for a good SG who can one day share PG duties.

[KillerLeft]

And it's not limited to the center. 5-out is the name of the game. Spurs scheme has Wemby playing off the worst shooter on the floor. OKC won two games because Caruso was able to punish the Spurs for leaving him open.

Case in point on display tonight. Foul trouble forced NY to play Sochan, who won’t even look at the rim with Wmbenyama 8 feet off of him. Consequently, the Knicks can’t even get a decent shot off.

[mvossman]

He is a slightly better scorer (7 point/per game), playmaker (.9 better assists /game) and better rebounder (1.4 better/game) than a 19 y.o Christie in college.  

They are only approx. 2.5 years apart in age (2 years and 7 months), and Christie has already played 4 years in the NBA.  

I would guess if put Christie back in college at the same age, he would perform similarly to Burries.

At best, you can say Burries might be a slight upgrade over Christie overall as a prospect but I still don't see an offensive hub or primary creator that is being suggested now or in the future.

The first sentence is completely ridiculous.  80% more scoring is "slightly better".  These numbers are not close as can most easily be seen by the box plus/minus where one guy is less than 2 and the other is almost 12.

I think you are overselling what Max is and underselling what Burries can be.  Clearly we are at a point to agree to disagree.

[mvossman]

Not a fan of Burries, but if all the other guards are taken, I'd be okay with him at 9.
Not excited, just okay-ish.

The thing that worries me is if the Mavs are presented with a choice of Burries and Flemmings and the Mavs went with Burries.
Not the end of the world type of disappointment, but still would be.

From all of what I have seen and heard of Flemmings is that this dude is cerebral, and you'd need that in a PG.
And in this draft, I'd like to walk away with a better PG than hoping for a good SG who can one day share PG duties.

I think there is a good chance they do go with Burries.  I'm guessing they like his physical size better and his positional versatility.  I was a little surprised that the Locked on Mavs guys both picked Burries over Flemings today.  I probably lean the other way, but I would be fine with either.

[Luka77]

The first sentence is completely ridiculous.  80% more scoring is "slightly better".  These numbers are not close as can most easily be seen by the box plus/minus where one guy is less than 2 and the other is almost 12.

I think you are overselling what Max is and underselling what Burries can be.  Clearly we are at a point to agree to disagree.

You do know that Christie also took 8.4 shots and 2.1 FTA per game compared to Burrie's 11 shots and 4.3 FTA per game.  Burries offensive role was vastly different than Christies in college.

[mvossman]

You do know that Christie also took 8.4 shots and 2.1 FTA per game compared to Burrie's 11 shots and 4.3 FTA per game.  Burries offensive role was vastly different than Christies in college.

Which make the massive difference in TS% (49 to 62) even more glaring.  Max was incredibly inefficient on low volume.

[Luka77]

I think Flagg showed everyone last season his offensive ceiling is much higher than Scottie’s, more on the Kawhi/Tatum end of the spectrum. Not quite elite, but a notch below. And who knows, he’s still only 19.

I can see that. If you like that comp better.  I wasn't using the Pipen comp as a one-to-one comparison, more of the style of play/role on a championship team.

If you like the Kawhi comp better, the Mavs will still need a VanVleet-level PG (similar to the archetype I mentioned), OG, Siakam, and Gasol to surround Kawhi (i.e Flagg).