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Josh Giddey. I remember the first game I saw in like December of his predraft year he had like a 12 10 and 11 game and I was like “yeah this kid is legit”. As soon as he got drafted I went from a part time thunder fan to a full time thunder fan because Presti had the balls to draft him like 6 spots ahead of where he was projected

I wanted my Bulls to pick Hali at 4 in his draft, I was flabbergasted when he fell down to 12 cause I thought he could potentially be the best player in his draft class after watching him at Iowa State

In 5 years I hope I’m right about Josh giddy. Think dudes bout to pop off

Durant. The first minute i saw him, i knew he was gonna be a deadly scorer.

Lamelo ball. I am still not convinced he is gonna be a great player. Bad shooting, can't drive left. Bad finish at the rim. I will die on that hill.

Not necessarily just as a player but I was a big believer in the CP3 Harden duo back when everyone said it was a odd fit. I’m hoping a similar thing happens again this year with CP3

Rookie Dejaunte Murray playing defense on Westbrook back in the OKC days. I knew he’d be a good player. I’m hoping he keeps doing well in Atlanta. That dude plays so hard.

For a long time all I ever told my friends about was how good SGA was and how he was gonna be an all star from the moment he was drafted. I also predicted Bam Adebayo all-star. Made money on these predictions by buying their rookie cards.

Jokic

He was doing really high level shit from day 1 but it’s like nobody noticed until they finally made the playoffs. Shit people still didn’t notice until the 2 MVPs.

Dude is a basketball savant

I'll probably get downvoted for it right now, but Zion Williamson. He was always gonna be a bust.

I mean he was a top pick but I was kinda blown away watching Tatum in summer league. His length and athleticism, plus some post ups had me thinking a few min later he could be a top 10 player

Nene while playing for team Brazil. He was everywhere on the court, getting every board with so much energy. I think a year or two later he was in the NBA

Within the Bulls fandom - Coby White

MIKAL BRIDGES!!!!! Couldn’t believe the 6ers did him like that

yeah JTA is ass and should not be in the league

Andrew Wiggins before he went to Goldenstate. It was said that his talent would depend on the effort he would put.

Kobe man. He was coming into the league and I knew, I called that shit, ask my boy D. I told em, 81 in one game. Even the day it happened, I was chilling and told D this dude is going off on Jalen tonight. Book it, and what do you know? 81.

Giannis. Was obsessed the minute I saw him, and when he was drafted I told everyone I knew that he’d be a superstar. Shit, I watched every Bucks game his first three seasons just to see him do shit I’d never seen before.

Lillard. Really wanted us to draft him to play with Cousins but we drafted Thomas Robinson instead.

I said Spo was a great coach and that coaching in the nba matters more than people think. This was 2012 before they won the chip

DeAaron Fox. Was extremely high on him at the draft.

To a lesser extent, Marcus Smart. Was incredibly high on him as well.

Jahlil Okafor. Fellow laker fans were adamant we had to draft him because “we always have a dominant big”. Despite him having NO modern nba skill (even at the time) and was as flat footed defensively as I’ve ever seen. At a time that “going small” was the craze, he projected to not be a poor center defender with no jumper, but there was no versatility upside to him on offense of defense.

I had him as a high level backup though (Al Jefferson). Had no idea his career would only last less than 250 games across only 6 years

Jahlil Okafor

Steph Curry, I didn't think he would be anywhere near this good (I.e multi time mvp and 4 time champ). But I drafted him well above his ADP in my keeper league after his terrible summer league and pre season cause I believed in the talent. Ended up winning 3/4 years directly after $$$.

Jayson Tatum, he was like 8th on some mock draft and being compare as Tobias Harris as his best case

Luka. I was telling my friends this guy is easily the number one pick and I don't see how anyone else can't see it. Being that young with pro experience and a Euro League MVP is super impressive.

Everyone crapped on Jazz fans when Don and Simmons were playing their “rookie” seasons. Saying Simmons was WAY better and deserved ROTY over him and their reasoning was he was an all around way better player. Now Don is pretty much a scorer but who do you want on your team more? I watched Simmons in college and never thought he was going to translate well to the NBA and he didn’t have “that dog” in him. FF to today and Don has dropped a 72 clip and Simmons IMO one of the worst players in the league only ahead of bench warmers.

I watched so many ACC games in 2021 where Julian Champagnie and Jose Alvarado absolutely carried their teams in all aspects of games. Both went undrafted and have since carved out nice roles for themselves in the NBA

Jimmer Fredette- there was just no way he was quick enough to make it as an NBA guard.

I knew that Austin Rivers would not be a great NBA player 10 minutes into an early season game at Duke. Recall that he came into college with ENORMOUS hype. People ranked him number one in his high school class over Anthony Davis (who was a demigod at Kentucky).

His shooting mechanics were poor, he had horrible shot selection, his handles were weak, poor touch around the basket, and very underwhelming athleticism. I knew all these things would bite him in the ass at the next level. i think he only looked like a monster while abusing helpless Orlando area high school kids.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. I got to attend one of his team workouts pre-draft and his jump shot looked like Charles Barkley’s golf swing.

I viewed Ben Simmons as overrated from the start....a player who can't shoot and isn't willing to even try. Don't need to say much more than that.