2026 NBA draft thread

[DanSchwartzgan]

If Masai really is going to take the player he thinks turns out the best, Ament should be in that conversation.  The beginning could be pretty ugly though

This should absolutely be the mindset, whether it's Ament or someone else.  We have too little long-term talent to get pigeon-holed into taking a guard just because mock drafts and current positional need would point in that direction.  There are other ways to get guards and we have to have a vision for players beyond what they will do in 26/27.  

With that said, if you study drafts, there is a disproportionate amount of failures in the 6-9 range.  Once you get past that point, teams will take someone with one sure-fire NBA skill and hope they can grow other parts of a players game.  But at 6-9 the tendency is to take upside guys who have higher ceilings.  But, they also have lower floors than the guys taken in the top 5.  You have to be right if you are taking the gamble.  

One thing about Ament...I wonder if Risacher isn't going through the same "ugly" that you'd expect Ament to go through his first two years.  Which of them projects to be better?  Would we rather have Gafford/Ament (if that is what Masai decides to do) or Morez/Risacher (especially if the latter means moving from #30 to #23)?  The world has seen Risacher score 30 points in an NBA game (4 times).  We have a much better idea what is possible with him than we do with Ament.