POST-LOTTERY NBA Mock Draft [Picks 1-14] | AJ Dybantsa to Wizards, Darryn Peterson to Jazz

0:02 Back here on HQ, the NBA draft is going to be here before we know it.

0:06 And there is a ton of talent in this freshman class.

0:09 It's arguably the most talented freshman class

0:11 that we've seen in a hot minute, decades ever.

0:15 Take your pick.

0:15 And our very own Gary Parish has put

0:17 together his first NBA mock draft post lottery.

0:22 So this is what we have going on.

0:23 Um AJ Devon stuff, you saw it there,

0:25 has emerged as the leader to go number one overall.

0:28 And that is exactly what the mock reflects GP.

0:30 So let's start at the top and we're going to make our way down.

0:33 Starting with the Wizards who congratulations.

0:35 They have that 14% chance.

0:37 They got it there.

0:38 They have AJ Devonsa in this latest mock.

0:40 And then you have Darren Peterson going number two to the Jazz.

0:44 And that should surprise nobody.

0:45 I think most mock drafts including uh

0:48 anything you're going to see in the betting

0:49 markets are going to replicate that with Deansa

0:52 going one and Peterson going two.

0:55 There was a a time not too long ago where

0:58 most people had Darren Peterson projected to go number one,

1:00 but because of the way his one season at Kansas

1:03 unfolded uh with him constantly in and out of the lineup,

1:07 at least early in the season, sometimes uh by his own decision,

1:11 um that has led to some front offices with some questions.

1:14 Not questions that Peterson cannot resolve,

1:17 but questions that have led to most people believing that at this point

1:21 anything other than Debansa having his name called first would be surprising.

1:25 then Peterson likely goes to Utah,

1:28 but obviously that would be up in the air because as you've noted,

1:31 this is an incredible freshman class and the only thing I'm certain of is

1:35 that Debonsa comes off the board um before the Grizzlies pick at third,

1:40 but he's the only one who is definite to come off the board before the Grizzlies

1:43 pick at third because the Jazz could

1:45 obviously go in a variety of different directions.

1:47 Although at this moment it looks like the pick would be Darren Peters.

1:51 Now, I want to go quickly back to your mock

1:53 if we can show it because you mentioned the Grizzlies.

1:55 That is a team that GP knows very well and has covered extensively.

1:59 So, we have Caleb Wilson and Cameron Boozer who

2:01 is also available for the picking for the Grizzlies.

2:04 But GP, you have the Grizzlies taking Caleb Wilson over

2:07 Cameron Boozer there where Boozer ultimately would go to the Bull.

2:10 So, just kind of walk us through that mindset

2:13 there where the Grizzlies would maybe pass up

2:15 on Cameron Boozer and then and then go

2:17 the other direction with that freshman phenop out of UNCC.

2:20 Yeah, I want to be clear.

2:21 I'm a fan of both and I think both of these young men are going to have

2:25 long and productive NBA careers where they make

2:28 I'm not exaggerating hundreds of millions of dollars.

2:31 But with the third pick of the draft, and you're right,

2:33 as noted, I I I live in the Memphis area.

2:36 I am at FedEx Forum right now.

2:38 This is a Grizzlies franchise that thought it had star power a few years ago,

2:43 but ultimately that thing had fallen apart.

2:46 Uh a trio of John Morant, Jiren Jackson Jr.,

2:49 and Desmond Bane looked good on paper,

2:51 did some nice things in the regular season,

2:53 but never had the postseason success that anybody uh thought uh was

2:58 on the way at which point they move on from Desmond Bane,

3:01 move on from Jiren Jackson.

3:03 John Morant will be the next presumably to be moved out of the franchise.

3:07 Simply put, this franchise needs a star and I think Caleb Wilson is the best

3:12 swing for a star you can make with the third pick in this draft.

3:15 Cameron Boozer, terrific, reigning national player of the year.

3:18 I have no doubt he will be a great NBA player,

3:21 but I am trying to find a st superstar

3:23 with a third pick in this draft for the Grizzlies.

3:25 And I think Caleb Wilson has the best

3:27 opportunity to become that if he maximizes his potential.

3:31 I want to talk again about Cameron Boozer going to Chicago.

3:34 Before we move on, because this is a a franchise

3:37 who has been so desperate for success for so long,

3:40 and it feels like, you know, they're a playin team time and time again.

3:44 What kind of new energy in life could a player,

3:47 a generational talent like Cameron Boozer really inject into this roster

3:52 as it's currently constructed and even beyond that towards the future?

3:56 Again, he's terrific.

3:57 And I don't say this as a hyperbolic thing to say.

4:01 There is very there are very few men who have

4:04 ever entered the NBA draft as decorated as Cameron Boozer.

4:08 A two-time Gatorade National High School player of the year,

4:11 swept all of the college national player of the year awards.

4:14 Led Duke to a 35 and3 record.

4:16 He's won two gold medals with USA basketball.

4:19 Won three Peach Jam Championships while he was in high school,

4:22 four Florida State Championships while he was in high school.

4:25 This young man has impacted winning in a positive way every step of the way.

4:30 The only question about him at the NBA level is

4:33 whether the stuff he does so well will translate into superstardom.

4:37 In other words, he's a lot of things,

4:39 but not Cameron Boozer, a great athlete, doesn't play above the rim.

4:43 These are all of the reasons if I'm the Grizzlies,

4:45 I'm looking towards Caleb Wilson as opposed to Cameron

4:48 Boozer because Wilson is an extremely gifted athlete

4:53 who you can see it translating to the NBA if it pops in a pretty easy way.

4:59 Uh, with Boozer, there's some more questions about how great can he actually be,

5:04 but the floor is very, very high.

5:07 Uh, he seems to be wired the right way.

5:10 Seems to be a a serious young man with no

5:12 red flags that sometimes prospects carry with them into the draft.

5:16 Um, I'm very high on Cameron Boozer, just like one spot lower than most.

5:21 Okay, now let's round out the top five here.

5:23 And we have the Clippers at five.

5:25 And in this latest mock, they're taking the SEC player of the year,

5:29 the fresh SEC freshman of the year as well in Darius Auff,

5:33 who is absolutely phenomenal, has been so fun to watch over this past season.

5:37 But what about his ceiling?

5:38 How do you think he can transition for this Clippers team?

5:42 Well, you think of all of the great guards

5:44 John Caliperry has coached at Memphis and also at Kentucky,

5:47 now at Arkansas, and none of them were ever

5:50 this impactful in one year of college like Darius Akuff Jr.

5:54 was John Wall terrific number one pick in the draft.

5:57 Derrick Rose terrific number one pick in the draft.

6:00 Neither one was as awesome of a college player as Darius Auff Jr.

6:04 was in that one year with the Razerback.

6:06 So this is a range in the draft where you do start

6:09 to run into a string of lead guards whether it's Darius Auff Jr.

6:13 uh Katon Waggler Kingston Flemings Mike Brown.

6:18 But my favorite of the bunch is is Akov.

6:20 First player to lead the SEC in both points per game and assists

6:23 per game since Pete Maravic did it for LSU uh back in 1970.

6:28 Think about all of the people who have played in that conference since then.

6:31 Nobody had ever done what Akuff just did.

6:33 He's a special special talent.

6:35 I wish he was a little taller.

6:37 Sure.

6:37 I wish he was more of a positive defender.

6:40 Absolutely.

6:41 But there's some real special star shot making ability,

6:44 shot creating ability that's just hard to replicate.

6:48 Um, I can't promise you that he's going to be an NBA superstar,

6:52 but I can promise you if you're looking for 63 guards

6:54 that can be that, he he very much looks the part.

6:58 Yeah, when we think of the phenomenal players that coach Caliperry has coached

7:02 and Darius Auff has done things that they have never done in one season,

7:06 it certainly says a lot.

7:07 GP, hang tight.

7:08 We have more to come.

7:09 Picks one through five in this post lottery mock in the books.

7:14 We got more to talk about, but in the meantime,

7:16 just check out the offseason dates to know

7:18 the draft combine that kicks off this week,

7:21 the NBA finals, game one, that is June 3rd, and then the NBA draft.

7:25 That is what we're ultimately looking forward to here,

7:27 the first round kicking off on June 23rd.

7:31 We are going through the very latest of Gary Parish's mock draft.

7:35 This is the first post lottery that we're going through as we

7:38 look forward to the NBA draft a little bit later in June.

7:41 So, we've already covered 1 through five.

7:43 We're going to pick things back up at 6 where we

7:46 have the Nets going with a guard and Illinois's Katon Waggler.

7:51 So, let's welcome back Gary Parish so we can have this conversation here.

7:54 Um GP Katon Waggler's story is so incredible

7:57 and so fun because I don't know that there's

7:59 another player who boosted their draft stock from just

8:03 a singular run and what a run it was.

8:05 I don't want to downplay it at all from Illinois where we were

8:08 talking about him maybe a year or so ago being like I don't

8:11 know ranked the 100th plus prospect and now we're talking about him going

8:16 sixth to the Nets in a in a mock draft which is absolutely remarkable.

8:20 insane to be ranked 150th in your high school class and less than a year

8:24 later be projected to comfortably go in the top 10 of an NBA draft.

8:29 Particularly in a time where we feel like

8:31 we know everything and there are no secrets.

8:33 Like somebody sent me a link the other day

8:35 to a ranking of the best fifth grade basketball prospects in America.

8:40 Now that's obviously ridiculous, but it does exist.

8:44 And so for Katon Waggler to really be off of most people's radars

8:48 to the extent that he was and make this type of jump very very unusual.

8:53 Averaged about 18 points per game at Illinois.

8:56 6'6 jumbo guard.

8:58 Shot roughly 40% from three.

9:00 So he's reliable from the perimeter.

9:02 Great positional size.

9:04 Processes things extremely well.

9:07 I know before somebody points it out that the Nets

9:09 did take a lot of guards in last year's draft,

9:12 but that should have very little to do with this year's draft.

9:15 The truth is, I'm not sure they hit on any

9:17 of them or that anybody on Brooklyn's roster right

9:21 now has the potential ceiling to be what I

9:25 believe Keaton Waggler can become if he's available at six.

9:29 This is an easy pick for me.

9:30 Okay, let's go to the Kings, who man, it's been a a tough tough season.

9:34 They probably were not the luckiest team in the lottery here,

9:37 but you have them going with Kingston Flemings out of Houston.

9:41 How much does he address what this franchise needs?

9:44 And there are a lot of needs to be fair.

9:47 Well, yeah, he's a piece.

9:48 You know, all drafts are not created equal.

9:51 This is not a situation where like once upon a time you get the number one pick,

9:55 you can draft Victor Wimyama and then whatever else you do,

9:59 you know, you've got a centerpiece forever.

10:01 Um maybe uh AJ Debansa is that Darren Peterson could

10:05 be that Kingston Flemings has the potential to be special,

10:09 but I don't think you can draft anybody at number

10:12 seven in this draft deep as the draft is and you

10:15 know sell 10,000 season tickets the following morning or or change

10:20 the trajectory of your franchise in any sort of meaningful way.

10:23 But what Sacramento does need to do is is fill up the roster with young,

10:28 talented pieces that collectively can become something

10:32 that that fan base can be proud of again someday.

10:34 It was just a few years ago where

10:36 it looked like maybe they had tapped into something.

10:39 Now it looks like they're just trying to shed whatever

10:41 is left of that and move on to the new thing.

10:44 Kingston Flemings at number seven here would be an opportunity for them

10:47 to to start fresh and start moving in what is clearly a new direction.

10:51 Okay.

10:52 So, one through seven, we have that covered.

10:54 Here at 8 is where things get a little interesting with Atlanta and GP.

10:58 You have said this is where the draft really breaks.

11:03 It it does for me.

11:04 And I think if you start looking

11:05 at other mock drafts and comparing and contrasting,

11:09 what you'll find is that almost everybody has AJ Debons at number one

11:14 and then almost everybody has the next six players the same in some order.

11:20 I might have Caleb Wilson ahead of Cameron Boozer.

11:22 Others might have Boozer ahead of Wilson,

11:24 but everybody's got them going in the top seven along

11:27 with the other seven players that we have discussed so far.

11:30 For me, this is where the draft starts to break a little bit.

11:34 But it doesn't mean you can't find, you know, all-star level guys.

11:37 In fact, the guy I've got the Hawks selecting here is somebody who,

11:41 you know, does have that type of of talent.

11:43 Mike Brown Jr.

11:44 was a five-star guard, went to Louisville,

11:46 and had moments this season where he looked like

11:48 he might be the best guard in the country.

11:50 Truth is, he just didn't play that much,

11:52 was limited to only 21 games because of a back issue.

11:56 Is that going to be a thing moving forward?

11:57 If so, we got problems.

11:59 But if not, you know, Atlanta would have an opportunity to grab somebody here

12:02 who is a top fiveish talent all things considered.

12:06 Um, but the medicals are going to going to tell a story either way.

12:09 Um, if you're the Hawks, you're feeling really good about this.

12:12 You've got a playoff team already.

12:14 You've got a star in Jaylen Johnson already.

12:16 Now you can add to that.

12:18 And if Michael Brown's back is not a problem going forward,

12:20 he certainly looks like somebody who's got the talent

12:22 to be special in that league for a long time.

12:25 Yeah, Michael Brown um only playing what 21 games last season.

12:28 But let's go back to the draft so we

12:30 can pause and take a look at where we're at.

12:32 So, of course, we had Devonsa going number one.

12:35 Peterson going to the Jazz.

12:36 Caleb Wilson going three to the Grizzlies.

12:39 Cameron Boozer going off the board at four to the Chicago Bulls.

12:42 Then we have Darius Akoff over to the Clippers.

12:46 Katon Waggler to the Nets.

12:47 And then Kingston Flemings to the Kings.

12:50 Uh Michael Brown Jr.

12:51 over to Atlanta.

12:52 And now we're getting interesting to uh the Mavs

12:54 here because it's not that long ago where we saw

12:57 them just kind of do the impossible and get

12:59 that number one overall pick where they got Cooper flag.

13:02 There's a new team president who's in the building saying,

13:04 "Hey, we all got to move on.

13:05 We can't keep crying about the whole Lucas situation.

13:08 They're calling Cooper flag a little prince in waiting who they want

13:12 to turn into a king." That is the verbiage there and the messaging.

13:16 So, who do you have?

13:17 I know we just showed a GP,

13:18 but dive into it for us who they're taking here at number nine to really

13:21 build towards the future here in Dallas

13:24 and just move past the whole Luca Donut situation.

13:28 I've got the Mavericks with the ninth pick taking Braden Burries out of Arizona.

13:31 You might remember COA Pete.

13:33 I don't mean to bring this up, but in the opening game of the season,

13:36 got 30 points against Florida, your alma mater.

13:39 Um, and at that moment it looked like, okay,

13:42 this is going to be the star of Arizona's freshman class.

13:45 And in many ways, he's was.

13:46 But Braden Burries went on to be Arizona's leading scorer this season.

13:50 Um, was just terrific.

13:52 Shot 49% from the field, 39% from three on 4.6 six attempts per game.

13:58 Remember that's an Arizona team that didn't shoot a lot from the perimeter,

14:01 but when they needed one, Burries could go get him one.

14:03 He's a physical guard who can really knock down shots from the perimeter.

14:08 And I I think with the way basketball is played today,

14:10 you can't have too many shooters uh around a player like a Cooper Flag.

14:15 If you are Dallas right now, you'll probably as a fan of that franchise

14:19 never properly understand how somebody reached the point

14:22 where they thought it was a good idea to trade a in his prime Luca Donuch.

14:26 But what's done is done.

14:27 Now you're just trying to move on with the next

14:29 thing and a core of Cooper Flag and Braden Burries.

14:32 Well, that's a that's a good direction to go.

14:35 All right, so let's round out the top 10 here.

14:36 We have the Milwaukee Bucks who are dealing with murmurss of, you know,

14:41 what they're going to do with their superstar in Giannis.

14:44 So, who knows what's going to happen there,

14:46 but you have them taking Nate Amen out of Tennessee.

14:49 Kind of an up and down season for him.

14:51 But when we think of his upside, what can he bring to this organization

14:55 that feels like they're just holding their breath,

14:58 waiting to see what's going to happen with Giannis and not really, you know,

15:01 being in this unknown, which it feels like for almost a season now.

15:04 Well, I really do think what they plan to do with Giannis

15:08 should impact and probably will impact what they do in this draft.

15:11 In other words, if you're going to keep Giannis,

15:13 I don't know that I select Nate Ament here.

15:16 I might want to go get somebody a little more ready to contribute immediately.

15:21 So, if I'm staying in the Giannis business,

15:23 I might go Yaxel Lindenborg out of Michigan.

15:26 But all indications at this point are

15:28 that the Bucks and Giannis are headed for a divorce.

15:31 Uh perhaps the nicest divorce ever, but a divorce still.

15:35 And at that point, you are in Milwaukee rebuilding.

15:38 And it's probably worth a roll of the dice on the biggest

15:42 upside player who would be available at this point in this draft.

15:45 And in my mind, that is Nate Ament.

15:47 He's the uh typical long wing who's skilled and g great positional size.

15:54 In fairness, more of a prospect than a player.

15:57 He wasn't competing for first team all-American

15:59 honors in his one season at Tennessee.

16:01 He was good, but not consistently great.

16:04 But when you look at it on film, you can at least see it.

16:07 You know, with so many of these players,

16:09 you can put a ceiling on what you think they can be.

16:12 And Aean is one of those guys where he's not quite there yet,

16:16 but you can see it if you really really drill down on it.

16:20 And that's why he's worth a top 10 pick in this draft.

16:23 You're betting on what he can become, not what he is.

16:26 But the good news for Milwaukee is once you are moving on from Giannis Antmpo,

16:30 you're not in the win now business anymore.

16:32 You've got time to let a young person develop.

16:35 All right, this next team is in the win

16:37 now business and you already mentioned Yaxel Lindborg.

16:40 So you have him going to the Golden State Warriors at 11.

16:43 Yakel's story is is so remarkable when we think of UAB.

16:46 Fast forward to national champion at Michigan, right?

16:50 And this is a win now team.

16:52 Steve Ker's going to be there for a couple of years.

16:53 We're assuming that means we still get, you know, Draymond and Steph.

16:57 So what does Yako Lindborg fit or what does he feel that is missing

17:01 with this Golden State Warriors team based off

17:03 of what we we saw this past season?

17:05 Well, they just need players that can impact winning and and do it immediately.

17:10 You know, Steph's not getting any younger.

17:11 Neither is Draymond.

17:13 Whatever they're going to accomplish together with Steve Curry as their coach,

17:16 needs to happen ASAP.

17:18 And so, for a different franchise, Yakel's age, he's already 23,

17:24 might be a turnoff when you can instead draft

17:26 an 18 or a 19year-old with years left to develop.

17:30 But if you're the Warriors, it's not a turnoff at all.

17:32 or at least it shouldn't be because uh

17:34 the 23 years old thing that that's that's a pro,

17:37 not a con when you're trying to win right now.

17:40 So, he's a big physical wing who uh from a body standpoint is

17:46 going to look comfortable in the NBA from day one and like you mentioned,

17:50 his story is is really terrific.

17:52 Was at UAB uh didn't even win the American

17:56 Conference Player of the Year award two years ago.

17:59 And then a year later after that, he's the Big 10 player of the year

18:03 and um the best player on the team that won the national championship.

18:07 And now he can be a player, a rotation piece for a Golden State

18:11 Warriors franchise that's still trying to get healthy

18:14 in the postseason and see if there's just

18:16 a little bit left of that Stephen Draymond magic.

18:19 All right, so I I know Dubs fans certainly hope so.

18:22 So just to quickly recap,

18:24 we pick things back up here with nine where we had Braden

18:26 Buries going off the board pairing him with Cooper Flag in Dallas.

18:30 Then we have uh Giannis Anttompo's current squad as it stands right now.

18:34 The Bucks taking Nate Amen.

18:36 Yakel Lindborg going off the board to Golden State

18:39 at 11 as they are in win now mode.

18:41 We're picking things back up at 12 where we're going backto

18:44 back Wolverines GP with a DI Mara where it just kind

18:48 of seems a little unfair that OKC could get this sort

18:53 of a talent with how loaded their roster is right now.

18:56 They're about to sweep the Lakers for for God's sakes.

19:00 It does seem unfair.

19:01 It's not.

19:02 For the record, it's not.

19:04 There are rules in place and Oklahoma City is playing by them.

19:07 It just seems that Sam Prey is better at playing

19:09 by them than anybody else by a wide margin.

19:13 This is a a strategy pool for the Thunder here.

19:17 Um, as you know, with the way the CBA is now written, it becomes very expensive,

19:23 if not impossible, um, to to hold together any sort of championship level team.

19:28 And that is going to be the case for Oklahoma City uh, sooner rather than later.

19:33 I think most people expect right now the Thunder are about

19:36 to win a second straight championship and then they might have

19:39 to let their starting center Isaiah Hartinstein walk because it might be

19:44 too expensive to keep him at a rate of around $30 million.

19:47 So because of the second apron and other financial concerns,

19:52 the Thunder might have to let a veteran important piece go

19:56 and then you look to the draft to try to replace him.

19:59 and Adie Mara would check that box as a 7 foot3

20:02 center who anchored uh the best defense in college basketball this past

20:06 season at Michigan was basically a whatever player in two years

20:10 at UCLA after being a five-star prospect coming out of Spain.

20:14 Uh but Dusty May at Michigan really tapped

20:16 into something and if he could now hand that off

20:19 to Sam Prey in Oklahoma City then the rich

20:22 could get richer by actually shedding some salary.

20:26 Hard to believe, I know, but that's how well this franchise has been set up.

20:30 Um, it's certainly been a masterclass in how to draft

20:33 and develop talent and all of that that we're seeing with OKC.

20:36 Two more teams to get to.

20:37 Right now, we're talking about the Miami Heat at 13

20:40 where we know that Spo can take a guy

20:43 out of the GLeague and make him an all-star

20:45 it seems like in two seasons or something, right?

20:48 Um, they're trying to maybe recreate some magic that they had at number 13,

20:52 like 2019 vibes with Tyler Hero.

20:55 But what do you have them doing here at 13?

20:57 I've got the Heat taking Learon Fine out of Alabama.

21:00 He's a lead guard who in a different draft would probably go in the top 10.

21:04 And I want to be clear, he could go in the top 10 of this one,

21:06 but in this mock, I've got him available at 13.

21:10 Terrific in his sophomore season at Alabama.

21:13 Played more on the ball than he did in the previous year,

21:16 and he was better because of it.

21:17 22 points, five assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game.

21:22 Shot above 50% from the field.

21:24 He was right at 40% from three-point range

21:27 on nearly um six and a half attempts per contest.

21:32 Um a little bit of concern that he's not a top shelf athlete.

21:37 He's very light, still weighs, I think, less than 190 pounds.

21:41 That can be problematic in the NBA.

21:43 But you're talking about a lead guard who can get his own shot,

21:46 set up for other people, and also make a reliable jumper from the perimeter.

21:51 This is a guy who's going to score points in the NBA, I think, for a long time.

21:55 All right, finally, we got to talk about

21:56 the Hornets here where it was an exciting season.

21:59 It feels like the future is very bright for this franchise.

22:02 And we have our third Michigan player that is going off the board here, GP.

22:07 I know.

22:08 I don't know that in the preseason I would have

22:10 told you that I thought Michigan had three top 15 picks,

22:14 but after winning the national championship

22:16 and on that run the Wolverines were on, it

22:18 became clear that they weren't just winning

22:20 with a bunch of good college players.

22:22 They had real NBA talent and Morz Johnson proved to to be a part of that.

22:26 He was just like Adimara a big piece of that defense

22:30 that rated number one in the country

22:32 at kenpom.com and adjusted defensive efficiency.

22:35 He's a 6'9 physical specimen who can guard multiple positions.

22:39 I'm hesitant to say one through five,

22:42 but it's something close to one through five.

22:44 And so, you're right, that was a fun season in Charlotte this season.

22:48 You got LaMelo Ball, you've got Keniple.

22:51 I can certainly understand why you might want to use

22:53 a lottery pick to shore up things on the defensive end.

22:56 and Mo Johnson coming from a championship culture.

22:59 Um, I don't think that's a a negative either

23:01 to just drop him right into that Charlotte franchise

23:04 and see if they can be more of a factor

23:06 than they were this season next season in the East.

23:09 All right, there you have it.

23:10 We just broke down GP's first mock draft

23:14 post lottery of course AJ Deansad of all

23:16 of these talented players or talented freshman I

23:19 should say going off the board number one.

23:21 So GP, before we let you go, when you think about it,

23:24 all the all the talent we just broke down, especially in the top,

23:27 you know, three, four, five players,

23:29 how excited are you for the future of the NBA

23:32 and what we have to look forward to?

23:34 There's been a lot of conversations like, oh,

23:35 we don't have a face of the NBA anymore.

23:38 But when you're seeing all of this talent, literally Cameron Boozer,

23:41 Caleb Wilson, Darren Peterson, AJ Devons are right there.

23:43 Even just at one through four, how much hope does that give you for the future

23:47 and excitement that lies ahead for the association?

23:51 Well, this has been described, I think, accurately,

23:53 as the best freshman class in the history of college basketball that has

23:57 created one of the deepest drafts in the history of the NBA.

24:01 So, that's all good stuff.

24:02 Moving the sport in a proper direction.

24:04 I'll just personalize it for you if you don't mind.

24:07 As you noted, I live in Memphis.

24:09 I'm in FedEx Forum right now.

24:11 My little boys are Grizzlies fans, age 9 and 12.

24:15 And their whole life, like literally their whole life,

24:18 they have done nothing but ask me for Grizzly stuff.

24:20 A John jersey, Jiren Jackson jersey, uh Jiren Jackson Jr.

24:25 shirt, a Desmond Bane, whatever.

24:28 Posters on their walls, in their bathrooms,

24:30 and for the first time ever, they don't have a favorite player.

24:34 Jiren's been moved.

24:35 Desmond Bane's been moved.

24:36 John Morant is presumably on the way out.

24:39 The other day, my 12-year-old asked me for a Khan Canipple jersey.

24:44 And I love Khan Canipple, but it broke my heart.

24:46 He needs a favorite Grizzly.

24:48 And the hope here is with the third pick

24:51 that he's going to have a new favorite player.

24:53 Like I remember when I was a sports fan around his age,

24:57 like I love Daryl Strawberry.

24:59 I love Doc Gooden.

25:00 I was a Mets fan from, you know, a very early age.

25:03 And those guys always hold a special place like in my mind

25:07 to this day because they were my first favorite professional sports athletes.

25:11 My younger sons have lost those people and now hopefully they will get it back.

25:16 And same thing in Washington, same thing in Chicago.

25:20 A bunch of NBA franchises,

25:21 fans of them are going to have new favorite players later next month.

25:24 And that's going to be a testament to how strong this draft class is.

25:28 Yeah.

25:28 Which is powerful stuff, right?

25:29 because there's so many young fans that are

25:31 always watching and always looking up to these guys.

25:34 You know what, GP?

25:34 I feel like I can get some Desmond Bane Orlando

25:38 Magic jerseys and you guys can just be Magic fans.

25:42 I can pull some strings and we'll we'll let you on board.

25:46 I think we are I think we are ride or die here in our hometown,

25:50 but I don't know if I can suffer through another one like this past one.

25:53 So, if we get going down that path again,

25:55 I might switch it up and come to Orlando.

25:57 I'll text you and let you know.

25:58 Yeah, let me know.

25:59 Um, we're always open.

26:00 We always need more voices to sing the song

26:03 and we would be happy to take you on board, GP.

26:05 We certainly appreciate it.

26:06 Always fun breaking down your latest mock.

26:09 The first one post lottery and of course a lot

26:12 of fun stuff to look forward to the draft in late June.

26:14 But the conversation continues with Gary Parish

26:17 and Matt Norlander on the ION college basketball podcast.

26:20 Of course, you can watch that latest episode right

26:22 now by scanning that QR code on your screen.