ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
The way that fans, coaches, players themselves, etc all need to pretend every player is going to be taken in the first round of the next year's NBA draft isn't really good for anybody and just makes these discussions fake and dull.If you watched this year’s draft, at least 11 of the picks came from overseas. Many of the U.S. players drafted were on NBA scouts’ radars coming out of high school. Guys like Cody Williams, Ja’Kobe Walter, Reed Sheppard are just gifted differently (I’d lump KJ and WR with that group) and the league wants them young. They were all taken ahead of TSJ, who had to grind for 5 years to make the 1st round. Fears seems like he’ll have to follow the TSJ path.
Reminder of the most recent Illinois draftees. Do you see Fears developing into someone of that quality? I have my doubts, but I hope he does…Podz shocked us all.
I hope NIL starts to change that.
Also just for the record:
Reed Sheppard: 43rd in the 247 composite for 2023
Jeremiah Fears: 33rd in the 247 composite for 2025