Hunter appears stiff, not very quick and probably won’t have great conditioning next year. he will likely need time to get ready to play starter minutes. He seems like more of a spot player next year 10-15 minutes or so, I don’t think you want him as a starter especially at the pace the team has been playing. I’d be a bit concerned if the only 5s on the roster next year are AD, HD. Defensively it would be a struggle to defend good bigs.
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I’m still thinking Colin Castleton might end up being a good option as a starter next season, with AD as his backup. This is Colin’s second season, right? I remember John Teske’s second season. He wasn’t ready against Wisconsin versus Ethan Happ. But then he had a great game against Purdue in the Big Ten tournament. Might we see a similar development cycle with Colin Castleton, with AD backing him up?
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Yeah, some of the comments are odd.
Best bet for me is Livers goes pro, Franz does not, and we get JC. Starting lineup is Brooks, JC, Franz, Johns, and Todd.
How is Livers going pro the best bet? He is rated #81 on Vecenie’s big board, which is still nowhere near close to being drafted and I haven’t seen him in any mock drafts. Also, Livers isn’t remotely healthy enough at this point to put together an NBA-impressive end to the season. I’ll be pretty shocked if he isn’t back next year.
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I wouldn’t.
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The NBA drafts on potential more than season stats. He’s 6-7 and has proven when he’s healthy he can shoot from deep and defend. He will definitely put his name in the draft and go through the workout process. All it will take is for one team to like him. I’m betting the injuries he’s had this year make him see the risk of returning if he has a shot to get drafted.
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And his new coach is a “pro nba” promoter.
Also, this year’s draft is weak on talent. Would not surprise me at all if he cracked the late first round with a strong post-season showing. It’s just too bad he’s still not 100% out there.
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Livers is much different than Poole or Iggy last year though. 1. They were healthy, 2. They were actually on numerous draft boards at this point, 3. They were in the 30-50 range on Vecenie’s board, not 81. There are only 60 draft picks. Livers is more like Nick Ward was than those guys. I feel for Livers because if he was healthy this year I think he may have played his way up the board into the top 50ish. Injuries really set him back. If he is actually healthy for draft workouts and the combine, then I could see it, but if he’s 81 will he even be invited to the combine? There are lots of good players who don’t get invites each year
He’s an NBA player if Duncan Robinson is. Would love to have him back but not surprised if he goes.
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I agree he’s an NBA player, but I think he may need to have a healthy senior season in order to reach that goal.
Yeah. Very well could be.
I think 6’7 is actually not a good thing for him. It means he is a 3 in the NBA and I don’t think he is laterally quick enough to defend NBA 3s. If he was 6’9 he would be a perfect NBA 4.
How so? Duncan Robinson is an NBA player because he is a top 10 shooter in the league. I don’t think his existence in the NBA has anything to do with Livers future.
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Is this an Austin Davis thread?
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A thread about Austin Davis coming back necessitates a discussion about next year’s roster which breeds a discussion on Livers’ NBA future. I don’t see the big deal.
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Livers is gone. NBA GMs/scouts sometimes view players much differently than the draft industrial complex. How many mock drafts had JP going in the first round?
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Plenty of mocks had Poole being drafted though and he was middle of the pack (top 40-50ish) on top 100 lists. I’m just saying on March 5th there isn’t a mock draft in the world that has Livers on it and because he isn’t healthy right now, it’s going to be tough to impress enough to work his way up the board at the end of the season. He will need to really impress in workouts and we will see if he gets an invite to the combine or not.
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Man, I’m rooting for Isaiah and think he could get there but I just don’t see his pro potential the way some of you do.
Poole, despite his inefficiencies projected as a potential secondary playmaker and a shot creator at the next level.
Duncan defied the odds and found the absolute perfect situation to utilize his skill set, and on top of all that, I just think he has always been a different level of shooter than Livers, even if their percentages are similar in college.
Isaiah is an awesome college player, but he struggles to do anything offensively other than catch and shoot threes or finish at the rim, and I think he will struggle with the longer line and bigger better athletes against him. The only times he looks comfortable exploiting a mismatch are against immobile power forwards, which there are exactly zero of at the NBA level. He projects as a 3 in the league due to size alone, and he struggles immensely to keep up with smaller college wings both offensively and defensively. I guess if you think he can be the elite level shooter Duncan is, then that would work. But I don’t think he has that in him.
He may ultimately leave after this season, for a multitude of reasons, but 1) I’d be shocked and 2) it won’t be because he is a lock to get drafted, barring a final four run where he averages significantly better than he did all season followed by a good turnout at the combine
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