Mo Bamba has drawn comparisons to Rudy Gobert. Chris Covatta/Getty Images
The NBA Draft is upon us, and while it doesn’t carry the appeal of the NFL Draft, there is still plenty to talk about here. It seems like DeAndre Ayton to the Suns at No. 1 is a lock, and it makes sense. He played his college ball at Arizona, and the Suns think pairing a dominant post player with Devin Booker will give them a solid foundation to build on. There are still plenty of questions beyond that pick though. Here are a few thoughts about the draft.
1) Marvin Bagley III is the best player in this draft
Bagley has spent years leading up to today obsessing about being the No. 1 overall pick. While it’s becoming more apparent that he won’t hit that goal, it doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t. He has always reminded me of Kevin Garnett. He has the skills of an athletic center in the (slimmish) body of a forward. He hit on 40% of his 3-pointers at Duke, and has a nice touch at the rim. The lone knock on him is that he still needs some development on the defensive end, but he has the body and the work ethic to improve there. One thing going for him is that he seems to be the only top-end prospect willing to play in Sacramento (the Kings hold the 2nd pick), as Doncic and Bamba didn’t even submit medicals there. Bagley is a cornerstone player and I think the Suns (and any other team that passes on him) will end up regretting going a different direction.
2) Jaren Jackson, Jr. and Mohamed Bamba are the perfect bigs in today’s NBA
The days of guys like Shaquille O’Neal and Patrick Ewing dominating the paint are long gone, at least for now. Today’s NBA wants a more versatile big man, who can score at the rim but also stretch the floor, all while providing rim protection on the defensive end. Jackson and Bamba both fit those molds to a T. Jackson is an odd prospect because he isn’t coming off a fantastic college season. He only played 22 minutes per game at Michigan State, so the stats aren’t mind-blowing, but his game checks a lot of boxes on both ends. On the offensive end, he is an efficient scorer around the rim who can play with his back to the basket or face-up. He can stretch the floor, hitting 39% from 3-point range (although his awkward shot is cause for concern at the next level) and he moves without the ball, which is not always easy to find in a big man. Defensively, he is a monster. He blocked 3 shots per game and is versatile enough to deal with forwards and bigger guards when he is switched on the perimeter. The glaring flaw in his game is that he tends to find himself in foul trouble, which partially contributed to his lack of playing time with the Spartans.
Bamba has been drawing comparisons to Rudy Gobert for a couple of years already, and defensively, he could be just that. Bamba has a 7’10” wingspan (Gobert’s is 7’8” 1/2) and a nose for shot blocking that should make him an instant impact player on that end. The questions with him come on the offensive end. He has been working tirelessly on that aspect of his game since Texas’ season ended, and reports say he has drastically improved in that area. He was a decent outside shooter for the Longhorns, and if he can continue to develop on the offensive end, he could end up being a steal if he falls outside the top 3.
3) No, Trae Young IS NOT the next Steph Curry
Early last season we saw a lot of incredible things out of Young. Late last season we saw that those highs came with some extremely low lows. People see a playmaker. They see a solid shooter, and they instantly start to make unrealistic comparisons. To be fair, when Steph Curry came into the league, very few people imagined him becoming a two-time NBA MVP and winning three titles in his first eight seasons. Like Young, there were questions about Curry’s frame and defensive abilities. Lucky for Steph, he is the best shooter who has ever played basketball. Trae Young isn’t that. While there is a lot to like about his game, and he is the type of player who can explode for a big game every now and then, his defensive flaws and proclivity to turn the ball over and go into shooting droughts make him a guy that I would steer clear of on draft day.
4) You want Mikal Bridges on your team
Bridges isn’t the sexiest player in the draft. He is the oldest projected lottery pick, and he was overshadowed by Jaylen Brunson on Villanova’s national championship team last year. That said, he is one of the most complete players in the draft. He perfectly fits the “3 and D” mold that basically every NBA team covets today.
Bridges is an excellent defender, particularly away from the ball. He is 6’7”, but has the wingspan of a player who is 6’11”. He has the versatility to defend multiple positions in the NBA. He is an efficient scorer, never finishing a season below 50% shooting from the field. He also took his 3-point % from 30% and a freshman to 43.5% this year, and has NBA range. The only knock I can see on him is physicality. He isn’t the biggest guy, and sometimes seems hesitant to go to the basket and create contact. If the 76ers aren’t going to land LeBron James, landing Bridges at number 10 would be a welcome consolation.
5) Who will be the diamond in the rough?
Only 60 guys will get their name called on Thursday night, but there are a ton of players out there for whatever reason (off-court issues, small school, etc.) won’t be taken despite having the skillset to play in the NBA. Some of the guys I will be looking for to get a summer league invite are Texas A&M’s D.J. Hogg, San Diego State’s Malik Pope, Virginia’s Devon Hall, New Mexico State’s Jemerrio Jones, Davidson’s Peyton Aldridge, Rhode Island’s E.C. Matthews, Murray State’s Johnathan Stark and Xavier’s Trevon Bluiett.
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After finishing up with the Guardians the Astros have a rather important series for early May with the Seattle Mariners heading to town for the weekend. While it’s still too early to be an absolute must-win series for the Astros, losing the series to drop seven or eight games off the division lead would make successfully defending their American League West title that much more unlikely.
Since their own stumble out of the gate to a 6-10 record the Mariners have been racking up series wins, including one this week over the Atlanta Braves. The M’s offense is largely Mmm Mmm Bad, but their pitching is sensational. In 18 games after the 6-10 start, the Mariners gave up five runs in a game once. In the other 17 games they only gave up four runs once. Over the 18 games their starting pitchers gave up 18 earned runs total with a 1.44 earned run average. That’s absurd. Coming into the season Seattle’s starting rotation was clearly better on paper than those of the Astros and Texas Rangers, and it has crystal clearly played out as such into the second month of the schedule.
While it’s natural to focus on and fret over one’s own team's woes when they are plentiful as they have been for the Astros, a reminder that not all grass is greener elsewhere. Alex Bregman has been awful so far. So has young Mariners’ superstar Julio Rodriguez. A meager four extra base hits over his first 30 games were all Julio produced down at the ballyard. That the Mariners are well ahead of the Astros with J-Rod significantly underperforming is good news for Seattle.
Caratini comes through!
So it turns out the Astros are allowed to have a Puerto Rican-born catcher who can hit a little bit. Victor Caratini’s pedigree is not that of a quality offensive player, but he has swung the bat well thus far in his limited playing time and provided the most exciting moment of the Astros’ season with his two-out two-run 10th inning game winning home run Tuesday night. I grant that one could certainly say “Hey! Ronel Blanco finishing off his no-hitter has been the most exciting moment.” I opt for the suddenness of Caratini’s blow turning near defeat into instant victory for a team that has been lousy overall to this point. Frittering away a game the Astros had led 8-3 would have been another blow. Instead, to the Victor belong the spoils.
Pudge Rodriguez is the greatest native Puerto Rican catcher, but he was no longer a good hitter when with the Astros for the majority of the 2009 season. Then there’s Martin Maldonado.
Maldonado’s hitting stats with the Astros look Mike Piazza-ian compared to what Jose Abreu was doing this season. Finally, mercifully for all, Abreu is off the roster as he accepts a stint at rookie-level ball in Florida to see if he can perform baseball-CPR on his swing and career. Until or unless he proves otherwise, Abreu is washed up and at some point the Astros will have to accept it and swallow whatever is left on his contract that runs through next season. For now Abreu makes over $120,000 per game to not be on the roster. At his level of performance, that’s a better deal than paying him that money to be on the roster.
Abreu’s seven hits in 71 at bats for an .099 batting average with a .269 OPS is a humiliating stat line. In 2018 George Springer went to sleep the night of June 13 batting .293 after going hitless in his last four at bats in a 13-5 Astros’ win over Oakland. At the time no one could have ever envisioned that Springer had started a deep, deep funk which would have him endure a nightmarish six for 78 stretch at the plate (.077 batting average). Springer then hit .293 the rest of the season.
Abreu’s exile opened the door for Joey Loperfido to begin his Major League career. Very cool for Loperfido to smack a two-run single in his first game. He also struck out twice. Loperfido will amass whiffs by the bushel, he had 37 strikeouts in 101 at bats at AAA Sugar Land. Still, if he can hit .225 with some walks mixed in (he drew 16 with the Space Cowboys) and deliver some of his obvious power (13 homers in 25 games for the ex-Skeeters) that’s an upgrade over Abreu/Jon Singleton, as well as over Jake Meyers and the awful showing Chas McCormick has posted so far. Frankly, it seems unwise that the Astros only had Loperfido play seven games at first base in the minors this year. If McCormick doesn’t pick it up soon and with Meyers displaying limited offensive upside, the next guy worth a call-up is outfielder Pedro Leon. In January 2021 the Astros gave Leon four million dollars to sign out of Cuba and called him a “rapid mover to the Major Leagues.” Well…
Over his first three minor league seasons Leon flashed tools but definitely underwhelmed. He has been substantially better so far this year. He turns 26 May 28. Just maybe the Astros offense could be the cause of fewer Ls with Loperfido at first and Leon in center field.
Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via YouTube: stone cold stros - YouTube with the complete audio available via Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.