Dok has assets that will get him drafted in the first round though. He doesn't have to be ADavis or Towns, who are generational.

He has soft hands, can catch and pass out of a double team. He has nimble feet for his size.

And he's younger than De Sousa. He's going to grow into a force. Some people are comparing him with Jahlil Okafor. That guy is like 6'9 tops.

No but he can be a good shot blocker/ rebounder at the next level.

For your viewing pleasure:


http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...102-story.html

Davis and towns are great, but that’s the mold of today’s bigs in the league.

Look at what’s happened to okafor. The traditional post up big man in the nba isn’t exactly a hot position anymore.

Doesn’t mean he can’t play in the league, it’s just not valued like it previously was

Jakob Pöltl is a 7 footer for the Raptors. He was drafted #9 by Toronto in 2016.

He attempted zero threes in college or NBA.

Zero. He was a 43% free thrower in college.

Don't write off Doke yet.

Georgios Papagiannis is a 7 footer for Portland. He was drafted #13 by Portland in 2016.

He attempted zero threes in Euro league or NBA.

He was a 50% free thrower in the Euro league.

there are more, I could go on. I won't though, Doke can be lottery.

One more, just to show that there isn't a trend of NBA teams ignoring bigs who can't shoot.

Bam Adebayo was drafted last year by the Heat at #14. Zero threes, 60% free throw percentage. He's only 6'9.

Newman will go. He would have been a lottery pick out of high school if it was allowed. He can help an NBA team.

l hope Vick goes.

I just don’t see how Doke leaves. He’s just not ready. I don’t agree with KCC’s opinion that there is no room in todays NBA for the Doke’s of the game. That said, I’ve not seen a single mock draft with him being drafted. He’s going to play in Europe?

He can't even cover college players in the pick and roll game so NBA players would annihilate him.

I watch Poeltl every few nights here. He's an elite defensive big who is able to move his feet exceptionally well for someone his size and deals with the PnR game about as well as any 7 footer. No, he can't shoot but he does enough on the defensive end that it doesn't matter. Udoka does not provide those qualities right now.

If he wants to play in the NBA, he needs to get really good at something that isn't shooting within 5 feet from the basket (because that doesn't matter in the slightest in the NBA). And at the college level, he isn't particularly good at anything other than that right now.

Didn't Poeltl block like a kazillion shots in college?

He did in his freshman year and not so much in his sophomore year (which likely had to do with his offensive usage rate going up significantly and consequently not exerting so much energy on the defensive end). In the NBA, he's morphed more back into a Steven Adams/Andrew Bogut type player, which is what he resembled in Year 1 Utah.

This is called moving the goalposts.

Doke won't make it, because big men have to be able to shoot with range now!

*response providing several big men who don't shoot with range who were drafted high*

Doke won't make it, because big men have to be able to do something other than what I just said they have to do!

I mean, I don't understand this narrative: Udoka Azubuike will not be drafted ever in the first round or just this year? Because, if he comes out, he'll be drafted in the first round. Just hope it's low enough that he sees the merit in returning.

But knowing his backstory, if he can achieve any kind of financial success and get his family out of Nigeria, then I wish him every success and next man up.

But I think he'll be a beast next year if he stays. This was his first full year, you realize.

I don't think he'd go in the first round this year. From what I've seen, he isn't projected in the first anywhere.