2022 NBA Draft

[johnb]

There has only been one NBA unicorn: Robert Archibald, a 2nd round pick for Memphis in the 2002 draft. A 6'11" center out of U of Illinois, he scored 52 points in his 2 NBA seasons.

Why is he the only unicorn?

The official national animal of Scotland is the unicorn.

Exactly one Scot has ever played in the NBA.

Robert Archibald, born in Paisley, March 29, 1980.

[Steven43]

There has only been one NBA unicorn: Robert Archibald, a 2nd round pick for Memphis in the 2002 draft. A 6'11" center out of U of Illinois, he scored 52 points in his 2 NBA seasons.

Why is he the only unicorn?

The official national animal of Scotland is the unicorn.

Exactly one Scot has ever played in the NBA.

Robert Archibald, born in Paisley, March 29, 1980.

Any relation to hall of famer Nate “Tiny” Archibald, 6× NBA All-Star (1973, 1975, 1976, 1980–1982); 3× All-NBA First Team (1973, 1975, 1976); 2× All-NBA Second Team (1972, 1981)??

[CDu]

Any relation to hall of famer Nate “Tiny” Archibald, 6× NBA All-Star (1973, 1975, 1976, 1980–1982); 3× All-NBA First Team (1973, 1975, 1976); 2× All-NBA Second Team (1972, 1981)??

uh, no.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Any relation to hall of famer Nate “Tiny” Archibald, 6× NBA All-Star (1973, 1975, 1976, 1980–1982); 3× All-NBA First Team (1973, 1975, 1976); 2× All-NBA Second Team (1972, 1981)??

Google an image of each of them and let me know what you think.

Sadly it looks like Robert Archibald died in 2020 at the age of 39.

[Steven43]

Google an image of each of them and let me know what you think.

Sadly it looks like Robert Archibald died in 2020 at the age of 39.

Hey, I learned a long time ago not to make assumptions about people based on appearance. 😉

But yeah, I was actually just joking.

[UrinalCake]

Unicorns come around every year or two. But "once in a generation" players only come around every 2-3 years.

[cato]

Do y’all think the following is an accurate assessment of Mark Williams?

In the Final Four game vs UNC Mark Williams was unable to settle in and have his usual two-way impact as he picked up his second foul that forced him to sit the final 15 minutes of the first half. Williams was again forced to the bench in the second half as he collected his fourth foul with just over 10 minutes remaining. On top of that, Williams missed two huge free throws with 47 seconds remaining that would have put Duke up one. Williams never got in a true rhythm during his 16 minutes, finishing with eight points, four rebounds and zero blocks -- it was only the second time all season that Williams didn't record at least one block. Although not an elite defensive rebounder, Williams' 9-8 reach was sorely missed on the glass, as UNC chased down 17 offensive rebounds.

The 20-year-old sophomore did still have a couple highlights, hammering home four dunks off of putbacks and drop offs, bringing his NCAA total to 17 over five games. He was a mixed bag defending pick-and-roll, taking away passing angles for the ball handler several times, racking up a couple deflections in the process. It's hard to complain about his contest against Caleb Love in what proved to be a back-breaking pull-up 3 for the Blue Devils. But he was a bit too deep in drops on occasion and still gets too high in his stance from time to time.

Given the tough whistle along with his strong body of work as a lob-catching, shot-blocking, offensive rebounding center, Williams' up and down Final Four performance isn't likely to affect his draft stock as he's all but solidified his status as a top-20 prospect, with the potential to earn looks in the late lottery with a strong pre-draft process. With a reach bigger than Rudy Gobert and some stylistic similarities to centers ranging from Robert Williams to Mitchell Robinson to Clint Capela, there are no shortage of successful bigs in Williams' mold, which gives him one of the highest floors among big men prospects not named Chet Holmgren.

I don’t know if Williams’ game against UNC in the Final Four will reduce his draft position, but I don’t know how highly people were rating him before the game. If I were evaluating him, my biggest concern with the FF performance would be that he and the coaching staff knew what was coming and couldn’t counteract it. Bacot and Caronlina won the battle down low decisively on the third tilt.

I am a huge fan of Mark and met some of his family at the Sweet Sixteen game. They were gracious and really fun to chat with. I can’t wait to follow his NBA career, which I bet will be a long and successful one. But with NBA teams’ ability to identify and exploit weaknesses, I have trouble seeing Mark as a late lottery pick.

[House P]

Any relation to hall of famer Nate “Tiny” Archibald, 6× NBA All-Star (1973, 1975, 1976, 1980–1982); 3× All-NBA First Team (1973, 1975, 1976); 2× All-NBA Second Team (1972, 1981)??

I couldn't find any record of such, but the fact that Robert was 6'11" and 250 pounds should have resulted in an excellent nickname.

Perhaps something like "Gigantic" Archibald.

Even better, there has to be a fantastic Scottish slang word for "large", right?

[HayYou]

I think Mark would have a really promising career in the NBA of 10
or so years ago, not sure about now. It seems like ever since they changed over to the "three ball era" the league is filled with a few stars, and then a lot of guys that you’ve never heard of.

But the game is reverting to what it was. Yes, there was a 20ish year period where the only really great big was Tim Duncan, and his run of greatness ended in the mid to late teens. The other greats from his time in the NBA were Bron, Kobe, KD, and Curry. AD SHOULD have been on that list, but he's too injury prone.
.
So there was a time when Bigs didn't seem important. Because the best players in the L were either freaks (Bron) or crazy skilled shooters/scorers who weren't bigs (Kobe, KD, and Curry).
.
But look around the NBA now. For the last 4 years (including this one), the leading candidates/winners for MVP have been Embiid, Joker, and Giannis. All unicorns. In the current HS class, both Ware and Lively show signs of beginning to grow their own forehead based horns.
.
And having a unicorn would be great, and that desire is the only reason Chet Holmgren is being mentioned in the top 3, rather than closer to 10.
.
But Unicorn-hood is based on OFFENSE. Which is half the game. But it now seems like the road to the NBA title will go through Embiid, Joker, Giannis, or Ayton. With possible road bumps like Utah's C thrown in. Teams that hope to contend for an NBA title either need a Unicorn, or they need SOMEBODY WHO CAN DEFEND UNICORNS.
.
Mark will be capable enough on O. But he'll eventually be able to defend Unicorns. I'm not saying he'll shut them down. But just like how Kobe hated being defended by Battier, or Bron hated being defended by Green, Mark will get to the point where those unicorns really have to work for it.
.
Because it isn't their unicorn-ness that makes them special. Just like it wasn't Kobe or Bron's scoring that made them special. It was that they could do all that stuff so efficiently. If they get even a little less efficient, their teams get beatable.
.
So, yeah. Some team with serious playoff plans will need a guy like Mark to defend those bruisers. At the height of Shaq's domination of the NBA (which wasn't all that long ago), there was a cottage industry wherein serious playoff teams overpaid for some tall stiffs who did little more than foul Shaq in playoff games. The game is just easier for tall folks. And teams are starting to adjust to 3pt heavy offenses. Bigs are coming back in vogue.

[phaedrus]

There has only been one NBA unicorn: Robert Archibald, a 2nd round pick for Memphis in the 2002 draft. A 6'11" center out of U of Illinois, he scored 52 points in his 2 NBA seasons.

Why is he the only unicorn?

The official national animal of Scotland is the unicorn.

Exactly one Scot has ever played in the NBA.

Robert Archibald, born in Paisley, March 29, 1980.

True, but don't forget about Milwaukee's Lindell Wigginton, the first and only NBA player to hail from Nova Scotia (New Scotland) - making him a New Unicorn.

[Furniture]

The fact that there is not much hard data on Williams’ 3-pt shooting does not relieve NBA GMs from the responsibility of having to make an educated guess based on any and all possible tangibles and intangibles. They have to somehow make a determination in their draft evaluation of how they think that aspect of his game is going to play out in the NBA.

I read this article a couple of days ago...

Duke had an open practice on Friday, so I headed down to the gym floor to watch Williams specifically. He spent most of the practice practicing his righty hook shot and layups. But at the practice's conclusion, he stepped out to the 3-point line and took 36 shots from 3. He airballed two of them, wasn’t close on most, and went on a hot streak at the end to make 10-of-36.
There are a couple of different rules of thumb to estimate a player’s 3-point percentage in games based on his practice percentage. One is to divide that practice percentage in half. Another is to subtract 20 percent from what he shoots in practice. Either way, Williams was looking like somewhere between an eight and 14 percent college 3-point shooter. It's no wonder why he doesn’t take them.

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa...ykgxure8cl4teg

[Steven43]

I read this article a couple of days ago...

Duke had an open practice on Friday, so I headed down to the gym floor to watch Williams specifically. He spent most of the practice practicing his righty hook shot and layups. But at the practice's conclusion, he stepped out to the 3-point line and took 36 shots from 3. He airballed two of them, wasn’t close on most, and went on a hot streak at the end to make 10-of-36.
There are a couple of different rules of thumb to estimate a player’s 3-point percentage in games based on his practice percentage. One is to divide that practice percentage in half. Another is to subtract 20 percent from what he shoots in practice. Either way, Williams was looking like somewhere between an eight and 14 percent college 3-point shooter. It's no wonder why he doesn’t take them.

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa...ykgxure8cl4teg

Well, at least Williams is practicing his outside shooting. That’s more than Ben Simmons can say. 😉

[jjc92]

But the game is reverting to what it was. Yes, there was a 20ish year period where the only really great big was Tim Duncan, and his run of greatness ended in the mid to late teens. The other greats from his time in the NBA were Bron, Kobe, KD, and Curry. AD SHOULD have been on that list, but he's too injury prone.
.
So there was a time when Bigs didn't seem important. Because the best players in the L were either freaks (Bron) or crazy skilled shooters/scorers who weren't bigs (Kobe, KD, and Curry).
.
But look around the NBA now. For the last 4 years (including this one), the leading candidates/winners for MVP have been Embiid, Joker, and Giannis. All unicorns. In the current HS class, both Ware and Lively show signs of beginning to grow their own forehead based horns
.
And having a unicorn would be great, and that desire is the only reason Chet Holmgren is being mentioned in the top 3, rather than closer to 10.
.
But Unicorn-hood is based on OFFENSE. Which is half the game. But it now seems like the road to the NBA title will go through Embiid, Joker, Giannis, or Ayton. With possible road bumps like Utah's C thrown in. Teams that hope to contend for an NBA title either need a Unicorn, or they need SOMEBODY WHO CAN DEFEND UNICORNS.
.
Mark will be capable enough on O. But he'll eventually be able to defend Unicorns. I'm not saying he'll shut them down. But just like how Kobe hated being defended by Battier, or Bron hated being defended by Green, Mark will get to the point where those unicorns really have to work for it.
.
Because it isn't their unicorn-ness that makes them special. Just like it wasn't Kobe or Bron's scoring that made them special. It was that they could do all that stuff so efficiently. If they get even a little less efficient, their teams get beatable.
.
So, yeah. Some team with serious playoff plans will need a guy like Mark to defend those bruisers. At the height of Shaq's domination of the NBA (which wasn't all that long ago), there was a cottage industry wherein serious playoff teams overpaid for some tall stiffs who did little more than foul Shaq in playoff games. The game is just easier for tall folks. And teams are starting to adjust to 3pt heavy offenses. Bigs are coming back in vogue.

Maybe I’m wrong, I admit that I don’t watch that much NBA to know if he’ll pan out or not. I just know from watching college games that he was pretty much a non factor against little teams in the non-conference, and he had trouble on D and O against teams with versatile forwards like Aluma from Va Tech. I was really hoping for a 15 and 10 season from him this year but he just couldn’t consistently stay on the court against certain teams.

[dukelifer]

I read this article a couple of days ago...

Duke had an open practice on Friday, so I headed down to the gym floor to watch Williams specifically. He spent most of the practice practicing his righty hook shot and layups. But at the practice's conclusion, he stepped out to the 3-point line and took 36 shots from 3. He airballed two of them, wasn’t close on most, and went on a hot streak at the end to make 10-of-36.
There are a couple of different rules of thumb to estimate a player’s 3-point percentage in games based on his practice percentage. One is to divide that practice percentage in half. Another is to subtract 20 percent from what he shoots in practice. Either way, Williams was looking like somewhere between an eight and 14 percent college 3-point shooter. It's no wonder why he doesn’t take them.

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa...ykgxure8cl4teg

I am sure this is the same guy that said Kawhi Leonard would be a rotation player in the NBA because he couldn’t shoot. We all saw a huge improvement in Williams. I suspect he is not yet a finished player at 20yo.

[JasonEvans]

Even better, there has to be a fantastic Scottish slang word for "large", right?

Muckle.

Yes, it is a great word.

[Matches]

Maybe I’m wrong, I admit that I don’t watch that much NBA to know if he’ll pan out or not. I just know from watching college games that he was pretty much a non factor against little teams in the non-conference, and he had trouble on D and O against teams with versatile forwards like Aluma from Va Tech. I was really hoping for a 15 and 10 season from him this year but he just couldn’t consistently stay on the court against certain teams.

I suspect Mark will see fewer “no bigs” lineups in the NBA than he did in college. He struggled with no bigs on the floor because he had no clear guarding assignment. Doubt that will be as big a problem in the NBA. He needs to add some strength, though, to be able to handle an NBA big man.

[JasonEvans]

UCLA's Peyton Watson has declared for the draft.

If you are saying, "who?" then you are not alone. Sure, he was a 5-star recruit but the 6-8 wing played just 12 minutes per game and averaged 3.3ppg, 2.9rpg, while hitting just 7 out of the 31 3s he attempted. He is a goodshot blocker for a wing, but still...

https://www.si.com/college/ucla/mens...-to-hire-agent

[CDu]

I suspect Mark will see fewer “no bigs” lineups in the NBA than he did in college. He struggled with no bigs on the floor because he had no clear guarding assignment. Doubt that will be as big a problem in the NBA. He needs to add some strength, though, to be able to handle an NBA big man.

Yes and no. In the NBA, he'll have to show that he can defend guards. Because if he can't, then teams will run ball screen action to isolate him on a guard. They are much more likely to punish his lack of lateral quickness in the NBA than in college.

[scottdude8]

UCLA's Peyton Watson has declared for the draft.

If you are saying, "who?" then you are not alone. Sure, he was a 5-star recruit but the 6-8 wing played just 12 minutes per game and averaged 3.3ppg, 2.9rpg, while hitting just 7 out of the 31 3s he attempted. He is a goodshot blocker for a wing, but still...

https://www.si.com/college/ucla/mens...-to-hire-agent

There's always a few of these... as long as they're coming from other power programs and not us, all's good in my view

All kidding aside, any dent in UCLA's returning roster is a plus, as they have the potential to be a Top 5 team next year if draft decisions don't hit them particularly hard.

[tommy]

UCLA's Peyton Watson has declared for the draft.

If you are saying, "who?" then you are not alone. Sure, he was a 5-star recruit but the 6-8 wing played just 12 minutes per game and averaged 3.3ppg, 2.9rpg, while hitting just 7 out of the 31 3s he attempted. He is a goodshot blocker for a wing, but still...

https://www.si.com/college/ucla/mens...-to-hire-agent

This is an interesting one. Watson is a long, very athletic kid who just hasn't developed his basketball skills sufficiently -- or at least not sufficiently enough to suit Mick Cronin and get playing time over any of the Final Four veterans he brought back this year. In my mind he should've found more playing time for Watson this year to let him develop and contribute more. But he clearly has the frame and the athletic ability that the NBA covets.

What makes this interesting to me is what it might say about UCLA's roster for next year. Just about everybody off that Final Four team STILL has another year of eligibility if they want it. Including Johnny Juzang and Tyger Campbell and Jaime Jacquez. It's possible that Watson is just being typically impatient and wanting to get to the league as fast as he can, even if it means the G-League, or maybe it means the Bruins are gonna have a lot of really very experienced and skilled guys back yet again, blocking Watson's path to PT. Plus UCLA has a very good recruiting class coming in.