The Stepien NBA Draft Podcast

Mitch Libanoff joins Cole Zwicker of The Stepien to deep dive into the core prospects on the Miami Heat. We start out with some draft philosophy talk regarding how team destination is crucial to both the evaluation and progression of prospects. Then continuing in Stepien/Ode to Oden fashion, we intricately explore the offensive and defensive strengths and weaknesses of Miami's three core prospects: Josh Richardson, Justise Winslow and Bam Adebayo. We wrap it up by briefly touching on Miami's ancillary prospects, and then Mitch gives his thoughts on NBA prospects Lonnie Walker and Bruce Brown. Make sure to follow Mitch on twitter @Mitch_Libanoff. Enjoy!

This is part 2 of a 2 hour and 20 minute episode breaking down DeAndre Ayton and Mohamed Bamba. If you haven't listened to part one, go back and do so now. Enjoy.

This is part 1 of a long discussion, which is meaningful coming from us. We talk about Jarrey Foster's injury, Zion Williamson's commitment to Duke, then touch on a few prospect updates. The NBA segment is a wandering discussion that starts with RPM and leads to musings about the value of NBA wing initiators. The prospect breakdowns are DeAndre Ayton and Mohamed Bamba, but this episode cuts off at DeAndre Ayton's defensive weaknesses. Enjoy.

Cole and I start with news about the G-League denying entry to a crop of young college drop outs, Jarred Vanderbilt is back!, De'Anthony Melton, and updates on Troy Brown, Chandler Hutchison, and Grayson Allen. Our NBA segment covers how the draft community may be overreacting to the current state of the Warriors dominated NBA. Then we get to the prospect breakdowns with Jaren Jackson and Miles Bridges. Enjoy.

Kellan Olson of ArizonaSports.Com and the Empire Of The Suns Blog joins Cole Zwicker to check in on the status of The Timeline. We start out assessing the progress of the Suns' young prospects in a macro sense, how they are adjusting to Jay Triano and suss out who exactly is part of the "core" moving forward. Then in true The Stepien and Ode to Oden fashion, we deep dive into the offensive and defensive strengths and weaknesses of Devin Booker, Dragan Bender, Marquese Chriss, and Josh Jackson, including how our evaluations have changed since each was drafted, what we see their respective ceilings as, what skills they need to improve on and where we would take each player in a re-draft. Lastly, we discuss the Suns' 2018 draft options with their own pick and the Miami pick, and close by touching on where the Suns should go from here in terms of roster building. Enjoy! 

Mike Gribanov joins Cole and I to talk about prospect rankings at the NCAA's mid-season mark. We start with some news about De Sousa's eligibility at Kansas, Jarred Vanderbilt's injury updates, and Andrew Jone's awful leukemia diagnosis. Then we focus on The Stepien's updated rankings and our own roles in making them. Is Luka Doncic completely cemented as the #1 pick? Who's in the mix for #2? Jaren Jackson Jr. is best. Why are opinions about Bamba so varied? Why Bagley sucks, and much, much more. Enjoy.

Cole and I start with some news and updates, including the Colson, Jackson injuries, and Okogie's great return from suspension. We discuss Donovan Mitchell and the improvements he's made, then move into our prospect breakdowns of Jontay Porter of Missouri and Daniel Gafford of Arkansas. Enjoy.

Cole and I start with a few items of news including the latest depressing update on De'Anthony Melton. We move to pick trades that could convey this year, then get to Collin Sexton and Trae Young deep dives. Happy Holidays!

Cole and I get review some brief news, then give a few updates on Trae Young, Jevon Carter, Daniel Gafford, and Jalen Brunson. We discuss the merits of pricing in contract value and development curves into a player's draft prospects, then get to the meat: deep dives on Kevin Knox and Mikal Bridges. Enjoy.

Sean and Cole are joined by Peter Nygaard to re-rank the 2016 draft class. They start with news items about the Doncic rumors, Anfernee Simons's potential draft entry, and the Trevor Booker trade. They spend the rest of the time re-ranking the 2016 draft class as prospects going forward. Enjoy.

Marc Whittington joins Cole and Sean to talk about his impressions from this early season of basketball. They start with NBA rookies, particularly Jayson Tatum and Lauri Markkanen, and touch on a few trends. The main course is a discussion about Marvin Bagley, Jaren Jackson Jr. and the other top center prospects in college basketball. They finish with a few words about Collin Sexton and Trae Young. Enjoy. 

Cole and Sean start to figure out this podcasting thing by introducing a consistent structure with a couple new segments. They start with news and updates, of course hitting on Michael Porter's devastating surgery news, followed by some brief updates about Trae Young, De'Anthony Melton, Mikal Bridges, and Collin Sexton. In the first of many NBA segments to come, we explore our ignorance about the potential one-and-done rule change, then get to the regular meat of Ode to Oden with extensive breakdowns of Luka Doncic and Michael Porter. Enjoy.Remember, if you retweet my initial episode announcement tweet, you'll be entered to an Ode to Oden or The Stepien t-shirt.

Sean and Cole talk about Tuesday's Champion's Classic, where many of the top young prospects for the upcoming 2018 NBA Draft were on display. They start with a short introduction to The Stepien, a new draft site, then spend an absurd amount of time on Marvin Bagley's 10 minutes, Trevon Duval, Wendell Carter, Jaren Jackson, and Miles Bridges. They end with a few comments about the abysmal Kentucky-Kansas.

Cole Zwicker and Marc Whittington recap the picks and trades of the 2017 NBA draft.

Cole Zwicker and Javier Pesquera break down the Celtics/Sixers agreed upon trade, assess the fallout on the rest of the top 6 and provide analysis on the #7-11 picks in the lottery.