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Talkin' Bout the Hoosiers: BREAKING NEWS Kel'el Ware has been drafted by the Miami Heat
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Jun 27, 2024
BREAKING NEWS: Former IU Basketball player Kel'el Ware has been selected by the Miami Heat with the 15th pick in the NBA Draft. Kyler and Drew react to Ware's fit with the Heat and what it means for his future NBA career and much more on this episode of the Talkin' Bout the Hoosiers podcast.
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This is the Talk About the Hoosiers podcast, presented by Hoosier Illustrated.com
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Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Talk About the Hoosiers podcast presented
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by Hoosier Illustrated.com. We have a, I guess, breaking news episode. Not really breaking at this point, but Kahlil Ware has been selected by the Miami Heat with
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a 15th pick in the 2024 NBA draft. Kind of funny, like was not something I guess I expected
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Kyler, I guess if you want to jump in, what are your kind of initial thoughts on the fit
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in this election? Yeah, so obviously he goes up number 15 spot just outside of the lottery
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So I mean, he's a fringe lottery pick, but obviously that's not important at the end
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of the day. It comes down to the fit with that. I think I think I really liked the Miami Heat pick with him
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When you look at the Miami Heat, for all the people that fall the NBA, you know, they really
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needed to reshape their front court just a little bit. They re-signed Bam on a bio to a big deal
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So put him in extension. So that's obviously their cornerstone piece when it comes to the front court
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But then when you look at it, you've got guys like Kevin Love, who's obviously extremely old
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He's not going to be there for very much longer. I'm trying to think of who else you got. I mean, you even got, depending on if he's going to come back or not, you even got former
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Hoosier Thomas Bryan on there as well. So you could see, you know, Thomas Bryan and Kahlil Ware, two different generations
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of basketball on the same team. So that's kind of a neat thing when you look at it
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But I mean, overall, I think it's great for Miami Heat. I think it's great for Kahlil Ware
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I think that obviously when you get drafted somewhere, depending on what spot you get
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drafted on, you want to you want to go to a place where you're going to get playing time
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You're going to be able to develop and everything in the Miami Heat organization. They are probably in the top five when it comes to NBA basketball organizations
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I mean, they are well over the machine every single year. Pat Riley does a great job
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Eric Sproulstra is one of the best coaches in the league in the entire country when it
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comes to basketball. So he's going to get developed there and he's going to find a role, I think
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You know, I think you go to someplace where, you know, maybe not get a ton of playing time
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right now, but the fact that you get a study under Kevin Love, who's one of the greatest
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stretch floors of all time, and you got Bam out of Bayou, that's been the league for a
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minute now. It's just a lot of experience on that team right now
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But at the same time, you feel a need as the front court starts to get retooled a little bit
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But great, great spot for Khloe Ware. Great for Mike Woodson, honestly, because, you know, that's his third guy that he's had
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drafted from the Indiana program with Jalen Huchapino and Trace Jackson Davis coming before him
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He's the highest pick in the Mike Woodson era, even though there's only three, he's the highest pick
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So obviously, Mike Woodson is turning upward to get a guy that's going to be in the lottery
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He could be in McKenzie and Baco next year. You never know, somewhere around there
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But good spot for Khloe Ware, good pick for the Miami Heat. I think it's just good for all parties involved
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Yeah, as a Celtics fan, it hurts my soul a little bit to see Khloe Ware go, that he's
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going to be in a Miami Heat jersey. But for him, I mean, you mentioned Bam out of Bayou signed a massive deal earlier today
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But behind him, you mentioned it, the front court depth is non-existent
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Kevin Love is 36. I think he is entering the last year of his contract, if I'm not mistaken
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Thomas Bryant, player option, I expect him to take that. I expect him to, I guess, sign the player option just because I don't think there's
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going to be too much interest for him outside in the open market
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But for Khloe Ware, it's an opportunity for him. He's going to get a chance to play pretty early on
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I mean, the questions with his game, it's pretty clear. It's his frame, it's his work ethic motor, which he quieted quite a bit this year with Indiana
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But it's also the jump shot. I mean, he showed he shot 40% from three. I think it was 17 for 40 on the season
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So it's a limited sample size. So it'll be interesting to see with the deeper three-point line if it's able to extend to
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the next level. And if it can, he could be someone that can play alongside of Bam out of Bayou
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I mean, with Ware, the length, the size, the rim protection, those are the obvious pluses
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I mean, you look at it in the NBA, you look at a guy like Rudy LeBare who got five first
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round picks in a trade for him. It just shows you how much they value weak sides and protection
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And Cleo Ware gives you that right away. So I truly think he's going to get a chance to play right away
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I mean, he won't start obviously just behind Bam. But he will get a chance, I think, early on in his career to get real minutes
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And you mentioned Miami Heat being a top organization. When it comes to developing talent, they're one of the best
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I mean, they consistently do it. They've proven they can develop big. So look at Bam out of Bayou, who came in from Kentucky, was a physical specimen, but super raw
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He's maybe not the best shooter, but he's turned into one of the most more skilled big
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men in the league. So I think it's a really good fit. I'm really excited to see how he develops there long term
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Yeah, and obviously, it's kind of funny to talk about, and we always hamper on it just
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a little bit, but it was always the question marks with Colell's motor coming out of Oregon
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going to Indiana. Obviously, that motor was changing everything. But I still felt like there was a little bit of trickleness when it comes to NBA scouts
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talking about Colell's motor and things like that. NBA media talking about it still
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You're going to the Miami Heat, you're expected to play hard as the opening tip to the final buzzer
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So I think, obviously, Miami Heat looked at that, looked at the improved motor and everything
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and they're like, all right, this guy can fit in our culture. Because it is a culture. You play for the Miami Heat, you've got to accept that to play there, or else you're
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not going to be there much longer. LeBron James did it. Jimmy Butler did it
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Those guys, and obviously, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, those guys, you look at it
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Bam out of Bayou, you mentioned it was super raw coming out of Kentucky, and there was
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a lot of question marks with him. And now he's one of the best bigs in the league. So he's going to go someplace, he's going to get developed and everything like that
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It's just a good spot for Colell. I wouldn't be shocked to see him to be one of the top rookies when it comes to production
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towards the end of next season, just because of the role he's going to be a part of and stuff
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And we'll be curious to see if he can play alongside Bam. Right now, I think he's just going to play directly behind Bam, and I think he's going
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to be one of the top front court pieces to come off of the bench, depending on what they
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do in free agency. Obviously with Jimmy Butler, you don't know what he's going to do
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There's a lot of rumors going around with that. So right now, it's a great spot for Colell, where I think he's found his fit already for
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this team. I think he's going to be on the Miami for a long, long time. I think they're going to really value what he brings to the table
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But you just look at it overall from the Indiana basketball program perspective, I got another
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guy drafted. A lot of people are going to look at that when it comes to recruiting, transfer portal
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stuff, looking at Mike Woods and see what he can do to develop, especially the big guys
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like that. It's just huge from an overall standpoint. So a good day to be an Indiana Hoosier
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Obviously, you look at that, one of your guys just got drafted, he's going to go represent IU in the NBA
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Good for the Miami Heat. They got a really good, a lot of potential in Colell Ware, a lot of upside in him
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So I think overall, you got to give this one probably an A if you're really grading it
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A overall for what the draft was tonight. Yeah. And I think it's funny you talked about the Heat culture
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I guess it's kind of come in under Skolstra and Pat Riley that they're going to work you
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like dogs, they're going to work you harder than you've ever been worked before. It's not easy to play for, practice is going to be harder than games
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And it's funny to see Colell Ware there just because all the concerns about his work ethic
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And if there's any place, Indiana, Mike Woodson really proved they got a lot out of him and
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really proved that he had the motor. If there's someone that's going to be an extension of that, it's the Heat
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So for him, it's a perfect place to be. I think it was Josh Richardson
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I'm not sure if you saw this on the podcast. I can't remember which podcast, but talked about his rookie playing for the Heat and
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he was working out by himself, only one in the gym. And then Skolstra comes in and Skolstra pretty much in like Richardson, just doing his own
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workouts, Skolstra just took over and pretty much killed him on the court, made him pretty
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much running full court sprints, three point shots. And if he didn't make 60 out of 100, he had to keep going
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He kept missing the target. And Richardson was a rookie who just came in trying to just work out and like work on
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his game on his own. For me, it was like the perfect example of what the Miami Heat is
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They expect them more out of every single one on and off the court
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And for Colell Ware, I think that's the perfect place to start his NBA career. Oh yeah, he's going to get worked
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As soon as he steps, you know, the Miami Heat organization, the training center and everything
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he's going to be worked at to a T right there. You know, they're a team that, you know, they're a winning culture, obviously
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They won multiple championships. Eric Skolstra is an NBA champion coach, multi-time NBA championship coach, just taking his teams
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to the NBA finals, Eastern Conference finals. They want to get back to that and everything
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And it started with retooling that front court. Now you got to look at it as you got to, you know, make sure Jimmy Butler's happy
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You got to build all that. So like I said, I mentioned it a lot
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Great spot. I really like it for Colell Ware. I think he's going to be in the NBA for a long, long time just from his skill and everything
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And I think he's going to get better and better. And he's got the potential to be one of the better bigs in the league, you know, for years
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to come. So good spot for him. I'm happy for him and everything
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So we'll just see how it plays out next year for the rookie season. For sure
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And you mentioned NBA champion last time we were on the podcast. I wish Ant was here too, because, you know, Ant made sure to ask me if I had a better
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hand than, a better left hand than Jalen Brown. And I think Jalen Brown is, I don't know if you've seen what's been in his left hand
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for the past couple, week and a half. It's been a finals MVP trophy
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So in case, yeah, in case you missed that Kyle, I just thought I should let you know
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you know, the Celtics surpassed your Lakers for their 18th NBA championship
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So it's why they haven't made their draft selection yet. But back to Colell Ware, it's for him
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It's a good fit. It's a good place for him to be and start his career
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Again, with the heat, it's tough because you mentioned Jimmy Butler's situation
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It was reported earlier today, he's going to go into this year without an extension
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which means he'll be an unrestricted free agent in 2025 summer. And I think he will be at that age, I think he's going to be 36
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He'll have a player option though, so we could accept that. But in this era, we never see like max level guys accept the player option
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It's usually they either sign a max or they opt out for the open market
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So it will be interesting to watch, especially now that they've locked up BAM as I guess
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that pivotal piece in the future. Yeah. And obviously, before we end this up, I will say congrats to your Celtics
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You know, that makes me a little sick to my stomach being a Lakers fan
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But hey, it's hard to be a Lakers fan right now with everything going on. But I will take the Dalton Connect pick
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I will say. How about this before we before we wrap this up, thoughts on Zach Eady being drafted at
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number nine? I'm, I guess I'm shocked by the pick being pick nine, but not by the fit
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I think it's a really good fit with Memphis. I mean, they lost Steven, they traded Steven Adams
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It was a weird trade because it really went under the radar. I mean, Hoosier fans probably recognize that just because Oladipo was sent back to Memphis
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with like three second round picks. But now without Steven Adams, they don't really have a true center
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And Jared Jackson is like proven he can play the big, but he's like a skinnier 6'11"
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So he's more naturally at the four spot for them. So Eady can play alongside Jackson
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I mean, they also have Brandon Clark in the frontcourt. So it's gonna be really interesting
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But for how they want to play, it could fit a lot just with that take and roll with John Morant
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Let John Morant get downhill off those big Eady screens that Hoosier fans are very familiar with
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So it will be an interesting fit for sure. Yeah, I think Zach Eady is probably going to be, you know, just from a standpoint of
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seeing how he develops and how he transitions to the NBA, I think he's gonna be one of the
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more watched rookies this year, just because of that. It'll be curious
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Me personally, I was really high for Zach Eady. I was expecting him and Khalil to be drafted around the same
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But obviously you mentioned it just depending on the style, depending on what the fit is
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what how they want to play, it could be a really good fit for the Memphis Grizzlies. So it'll be curious to see, you know, I feel like there's gonna be a little bit of debate
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you know, and I'll even throw Tracee Jackson Davis in this one, you know, when it comes five years down the road, who's the best big in the NBA out of Tracee Jackson Davis, Khalil
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Ware and Zach Eady, those guys that have kind of battled with each other, you know, from the opposite sides of a rivalry
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So it'll be curious to see, you know, what he does. Moving forward in the NBA, I know it was on Twitter, people were pretty shocked by it
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But we'll just see where he ends up at. Overall, even though this NBA draft has kind of been a little lackluster when it comes
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to the talent and whatnot, I think there's a lot of intriguing storylines with this. Definitely
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And I saw something today, which I didn't realize, I think it was Jay Billis said it
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Zach Eady's only been playing basketball for six years, which just incredible that when
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I heard that, I mean, his improvement, I mean, Hoosier fans, you know, you want to hate him
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It's one of those things he's on Purdue or not what a Purdue guy, but his improvement
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is something that's been really fascinating. Just watching improvement is his post game is footwork
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He's improved a ton in his four years with Purdue and clearly has the work ethic
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So I would not be surprised if he ends up turning himself into a good NBA player. But it's one of those things you never know
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I mean, guys, you see a guy come into the draft, you think he's going to be the best
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player ever. And he's not. It's one of those things. No one thought Giannis was going to be as good as he is now when he was selected to
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pick 15th. And with this draft, it's a little weird because it's been billed as, you know, the worst draft
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of the last decade or last 20 years or all these things
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And it's I'm not not I'm not saying it's not it's definitely not one of the stronger drafts
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but it's funny because when I look at this draft, I compare it to last year's draft
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If you took away Wembin Yama, Scoot Henderson and Brandon Miller, like there's a ton of
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guys that have potential to be high value role players, but there's no one guy in this
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draft you point to and say he for sure has all star potential like you do with like a
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Scoot Henderson, Victor Wembin Yama, Brandon Miller. So that's kind of where I think there's been the whole big disconnect
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And I still think there's going to be a lot of good players who come out of this draft. It's just not going to be, you know, maybe a top five, top 10 player in the league
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Yeah, and I agree with that. It's definitely a very unique draft
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Considering the fact, I mean, you've got a guy as talented as Dalton Kinect going, you
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know, for the number 17 spot and whatnot. But yeah, it'll be really, really interesting to see what players kind of stand out from
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this draft. Who knows? By this time in two years from now, we could be looking at this draft being like, oh, we were really, really wrong on that
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There's a bunch of superstars. But right now it's just it's really, really hard to see with this one. But, you know, next year's draft, I mean, look out because there's a
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lot of talent when it comes to college basketball next season. So that'll be the one that we see a lot of, you know, superstars right off the bat
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Yeah. And if you want more info about Peculia Ware's draft selection, the rest of the
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draft, pretty much anything IU Athletics. I mean, IU football has had, I think, I think five commits in the last seven days
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So we have all of that and much more on Hoosier Illustrated dot com
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