@chuckingdartsnba
The NBA Draft is just darts and a dartboard, don’t you know? Informed/Rigorous/Harmless etc Find your dartboard, start chucking. Writing: https://substack.com/profile/35273152-chuck?utm_source=%2Fsettings&utm_medium=reader2-nav
Darius Acuff counter + middie from baseline cam
Lovely behind-back dribble, footwork, and release.
If you’re an Acuff T7 believer, the utter comfort he has with these sorts of counters is the meal ticket.
NBA tends to be layup or bust, but golden exceptions exist.
Billy Richmond trails 6’9 Thomas Haugh (35+ dunks) and blocks him at rim.
Haugh gave Richmond a sliver by jumping off 2 feet instead of 1. All it took.
Billy turns 20 in April.
I could watch Billy Richmond play all day.
No one with his bounce has any business being this clever. He will be heard from in the NBA one day. You can’t hold this down.
Brayden Burries’ early flurry on Kansas
Burries in a nutshell.
-contested rebounds after +defensive efforts
-relentless in transition, finishing with off hand
-healthy 3p trigger
Burries will, quite literally, run you off the floor if you aren’t laced up tight.
Coach’s dream.
Brayden Burries little things
He shadows Peterson and doesn’t foul, conceding a floater to Darryn and living with result.
Grab and go, and instantly pushes pace, which he excels at. Draws foul.
BB will adjust to NBA speed quickly. “Connector feel” is there already.
Brayden Burries excellent hands + attempted cram
Alex Condon 2H offense v Texas
Straightaway 3, drive on closeout, DHO keeper, 2 hooks in lane
Condons middie and FT%s have quietly risen. 3 straight 20 point games. Confidence is huge for him.
This half on both ends was as good as I’ve seen from a “role player” this year.
Alex Condon contains drive from corner, blocks layup, grab and go, alley oop to Thomas Haugh.
Caleb Wilson is listed at 6’10. He can do this.
Anyone else that tall in the draft that can make this play?
Alex Condon on Dailyn Swain
Blocks one of the best rim scorers in the draft, then closes out and contests Swain’s corner 3.
Condon -> high motor, ground coverage big entering high motor, ground coverage league.
Alex Condon on Dailyn Swain
Blocks one of the best rim scorers in the draft, then closes out and contests Swain’s corner 3.
Condon -> high motor, ground coverage big entering high motor, ground coverage league.
Morez Johnson, as small ball 5, with dunk in traffic
Morez is still more Okongwu or Aaron Gordon-sized, but he is going to pass 40 dunks soon as a supplementary player. Nearly 70 TS.
Same thing, except Yaxel Lendeborg blocks and Morez passes.
Need a name for a block -> transition dunk sequence where the ball does not touch the ground.
Symphony break? Idk
Morez Johnson blocks 3 around screen, Aday Mara hits him with baseball pass for finish.
Morez remains underrated imo.
One of my favorite AJ Dybantsa drives of the season.
Not just for the lefty touch, but the confidence and patience to forgo middies/fades and trust his handle.
AJ’s in-season development is as impressive as any top prospect’s this decade.
AJ Dybantsa cashing in v ISU
These aren’t all “easy money,” but AJ was great pushing transition, cleaning O glass, avoiding iso fades, and hitting passes to strong side + lobs over undersized bigs.
His “star shots” were cherries on top. These plays speak to a valuable, rising floor.
Two 👍 AJ Dybantsa passes v Iowa St
Neither resulted in made buckets, but they speak to AJ’s commitment to playing with his head up.
One a jump skip out of a double (that he can always leverage with his size), one a fumbled laser on a back cut.
Improvement from early season.
Great find by Billy Richmond in 2OT.
Presently, Richmond is not an NBA level perimeter scoring threat. But with defensive versatility, 1.7 A:TO, and 60+TS, there are worse bets to make in middle of draft if teams can outbid NIL.
Turns 20 in April.
Darius Acuff iso process v Alabama
Relocates to corner, but passes up 3. Declines an open Trevon Brazile (who fed him off of an OREB prior poss), gets stood up in iso, and hits Richmond with grenade timing.
Acuff is normally quite sound in process. Needs to be (and usually is) better here.
Same 6, different order 👍
Mikel certainly surging though. At his best he’s in that mix imo.
Who is number 6 for you
Cam Boozer Euro
Luka has made “slow-bys” a trademark. I wonder sometimes if Boozer can do the same against closeouts.
Certainly cannot create from a standstill the way Luka can, but he’s so precise with outthinking a rotating defense. Made this look quite easy.
🎯🎯Weekend bump🎯🎯
The Spurs, the Harden trade, the title picture, and the 6 cases for number 1 in 2026 with Bennett Herbert.
Enjoy!
🎯🎯New Ep available on audio platforms🎯🎯
I sprint through “The New Year’s Freeze,” my favorite version of a current proposal to solve tanking.
Credit to @draftpow.bsky.social for introducing me to the concept a few years back.
open.spotify.com/episode/4fBs...
🎯🎯New Ep available on audio platforms🎯🎯
I sprint through “The New Year’s Freeze,” my favorite version of a current proposal to solve tanking.
Credit to @draftpow.bsky.social for introducing me to the concept a few years back.
open.spotify.com/episode/4fBs...
🎯🎯Bonus Episode (sprint)🎯🎯
“The New Year’s Freeze” as a Solution to Tanking.
Available on video and audio platforms.
Enjoy!
youtu.be/tjA-HXzLSs4?...
Great hands by Cam Boozer on the steal.
Cam excels at poking lazy pocket passes and post entries.
A significant part of his ceiling eval: how frequently will he play interior D in NBA?
Or will offenses stretch him and somewhat neutralize that skill (a la Kyle Filipowski)?
Talked about Pascal Siakam in my most recent episode.
Another sling right into the shooting pocket out of a double team.
Wilson takes a dribble to get the pass out of his right hand, which might get punished a bit more in NBA. But if he has this gravity he has won already.
Pt 2, like 30 minutes later.
Caleb Wilson calls for clear out, navigates to baseline, rifles a 1A live-dribble skip through a set defense.
In the NBA, that corner 3 is going up.
Mentioned with Bennett Herbert in latest ep, but, ya know, might be nice to set Caleb a ball screen at any point ever.
