re: #tAuburnBasketball Thread

It comes down to whether he wants to play at Auburn with his teammates.

I don’t think a team steps up in top 10 picks to take him. He’s small and not a great shooter. He certainly has “court vision.”

He not poor so maybe he wants another year to prove something in college.

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and I think NBA teams will overlook the shooting

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I don’t think they’ll completely overlook it, but I don’t think it’s as big of a knock as a lot of people think. With that said, if he came back and proved he can even be average from 3, then I think that boosts his draft spot a good bit and would be easily in the lotto.

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Yep, he's shown he's great to elite at the stuff he's good at doing. He can't control his size and I think NBA teams will overlook the shooting since he's so good in other areas.

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Take the Auburn glasses off.

Say he played for UF........would you say he is a "just outside the lottery" pick? His distribution is outstanding. You are right about his size, but it is a factor. His shooting is below sub-par. He is a liability on the D end of the floor. He won't be able to drive in the NBA like he does in college........so where will his points come from?

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Actually he will be able to drive easier than he does in college

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o.k.. College teams are eaten up with 6'10"+ players around the rim.

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o.k.. College teams are eaten up with 6'10"+ players around the rim.

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Not sure what you are attempting to do here.. is it sarcasm? An incomplete thought?

There is almost no space in the college game. Watch even these high level games, deep into the NCAA tourney. When someone drives, the defense collapses. Sharife has a really hard time finishing with a collapsing defense, and when he kicks it out to even wide open shooters, we didn't convert them at a great rate.

In the NBA, when he beats his man off the dribble (which he will do, again, I haven't seen anyone even almost capable of staying in front of him yet), he will find maybe one help defender at the rim. Depending on who it is, he might be able to finish. If it's Rudy Gobert or someone of his ilk, he will use his extraordinary vision to find a wide open shooter who will then make the defense pay.

His court vision and quickness will play much better in the spacious NBA. If you watched him this year, his 2 pt% struggles were mostly in a clogged lane. When it was just one man, he finished at a much higher rate.

I do agree with most everyone's assessment that the shooting needs to improve. That much is clear. The difference between me and most everyone on this board is that I think his NBA floor is much higher than you all do. If his outside shooting remains as it is now, his likely NBA fate to me is a good second unit floor general who can create instant offense off the bench. If the shot ever comes along though, he will be a star.

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Where do you think he's going to improve massively in another year at Auburn?

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His shot. His mechanics are horrible. He falls away when he shoots.........even on FT's at times.

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He's shown he's elite at some things

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He has shown he is an outstanding passer. What are these other things he is elite at? That being said, there were several teams that shut him down completely this year. These were the more athletic teams. The NBA is the most athletic league in the world, IMO.

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Yes, I’m familiar with how the NBA draft works.

He’s an average to below average outside shooter. He’s shown potential everywhere else. It’s very likely that a team may take a chance on him late lottery. They can help him develop a shot when he gets there. I just personally think he’s going to struggle at the next level. I 100% could be wrong.

That website has the most outliers of any mock I’ve seen. Cooper has been projected late lottery to mid first round in most.

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I feel that the NBA, in no way will spend any type of lottery money on Cooper, bc he can be developed.
With his height, and with avg elevation on his shots, I don't think they will spend that kind of money.

I can see him going late first, or 2nd, or even not be drafted. He just doesn't have ENOUGH high level skills for that kind of money.

Now he, and his family make think any money he makes is worth going pro regardless where or if he is picked. That is the most unknown for him and his thoughts on when he wants to try pros.

Greg Brown may enter the transfer portal?

Agree somewhat, but in most cases where he just had to finish over or around one big.. he did well. Those teams collapsed on him and he struggled. They can't collapse with NBA shooting/spacing.

Is the rookie contract difference in going #20-#25 and #10-#15 that much different? I’m looking at the scale now.

Admittedly, I’m a casual NBA fan. I don’t know any of the nuances here but it seems to me that the big payday is the second contract. If one year only advances me 10 spots then I’m not sure I stay in college. Someone explain this to me