05-31-2026, 12:27 PM
(05-31-2026, 12:04 PM)Winter Wrote: Most of the first round after #9 are all 20 years old or older. There are a few exceptions. The biggest exception is Jaden Quaintance at 18.9 years old. He probably has the highest ceiling of anyone after #9. He is such a project though, that I'm not certain he'll get many minutes as a rookie. It's really hard to know who takes a chance on him and where. But he does fit within Schmitz's comments about youth (even though I don't know how serious to take that).
A few others under 20 are Karim Lopez, Allen Graves, Ebuka Okorie, Meleek Thomas, Koa Peat, and Chris Cenac all at 19. Most of the players at #9 or below are right at 20 years old. These include Mikel Brown, Burries, Carr, Johnson, Philon, Evans, Steinbach, and Swain. Late in the first round are guys like Karaban, Stirtz, and Jefferson who are all over 22.
The two oldest players in the First Round are Karaban and Lendeborg. It's going to be interesting to see where Lendeborg goes in the draft. He certainly would have been a top 5-10 lottery pick if he were 19 years old. I'm curious to see how much teams penalize older players with that kind of skill.
Nearly all of the 2nd round is over 21 years old and most over 22. For me, the most interesting pick in the 2nd round is Baba Miller, but Tarris Reed, Brazile, J. Bradley are right up there. Lots of small guards in this round.
I saw a recent post-withdrawals mock that had Baba going to us at 30. Yesterday's mid-2nd rounder is now a late first-rounder due to all the withdrawals.