The Official 2015 NBA Draft Thread

[kurtis48239]

Mm, and Hezonja declares...might be the only guy that has potential to win both the dunk contest and 3 point challenge. Per twitter.

I dont see him wining the dunk contest.

Look him up on youtube, he's a pretty good dunker. Given that the best dunkers don't always show up he could easily win it, and he seems like the kind of guy who'd want to show off and win one of those.

I have seen him play and seen the youtube vids.He can dunk,but he isnt other wordly.He hardly gets his head above the rim and his go to dunk is the windmill.I am not trying to hate,but I doubt he would even be entered into the dunk contest,let alone win.


This part isnt directed toward you.

Another thing that scares me about the reports about him not getting along with teammates/coaches/refs and the pouting,is if he comes to the NBA and isnt setting it on fire,I could see him shutting down and causing a scene,and when you have a locker room with players who are bonded,and then you have a kid come over acting like his chit dont stink and getting mad if he isnt getting the touches he had over seas,I could really see him causing some chaos.Now,this is my OPINION but with his attitude and charchter,its not out of the question.

[kurtis48239]

Dude dont even kid !

He was in an accident but hes fine,it was alittle fender bender.,you had me worried for a min lol.

Good, I couldn't find the details of it. Was just starting to see some tweets and such.

Heres a link to the news site if anyone is interested,shows a pic of him by the car and police officer and alittle more info..


http://www.wildcat.arizona.edu/article/2015/04/stanley-johnson-involved-in-car-crash

[jakebernat]

Now that everyone projected to go in the lotto has pretty much declared, it's looking more and more like Stanley Johnson is going to be our guy. Obviously, a lot can change leading up to the draft, especially post-combine, but I'm really starting to feel like he's our guy.

Awesome, I can live with that.

[Blkbrd671]

I have seen him play and seen the youtube vids.He can dunk,but he isnt other wordly.He hardly gets his head above the rim and his go to dunk is the windmill.I am not trying to hate,but I doubt he would even be entered into the dunk contest,let alone win.

you are right, but at the same time, he's probably the most athletic prospect i've seen come out of Europe since Ginobli. Guys like vesely, montejunas, and J. Val as being toughted Elite athletes has always been hilarious to me. Hez is the first player i've seen that may be able to meet the hype.

Another thing that scares me about the reports about him not getting along with teammates/coaches/refs and the pouting,is if he comes to the NBA and isnt setting it on fire,I could see him shutting down and causing a scene,and when you have a locker room with players who are bonded,and then you have a kid come over acting like his chit dont stink and getting mad if he isnt getting the touches he had over seas,I could really see him causing some chaos.Now,this is my OPINION but with his attitude and charchter,its not out of the question.

i believe its a case of he's young and needs to mature. At 8-9 if he's there, he's probably BPA, and i wouldn't mind picking him. however, i think SVG trades him as he's clearly stated "high character" individuals and he seems to truly value lockerroom chemistry. Hez sounds like a ticking time bomb

[kurtis48239]

I have seen him play and seen the youtube vids.He can dunk,but he isnt other wordly.He hardly gets his head above the rim and his go to dunk is the windmill.I am not trying to hate,but I doubt he would even be entered into the dunk contest,let alone win.

you are right, but at the same time, he's probably the most athletic prospect i've seen come out of Europe since Ginobli. Guys like vesely, montejunas, and J. Val as being toughted Elite athletes has always been hilarious to me. Hez is the first player i've seen that may be able to meet the hype.

Another thing that scares me about the reports about him not getting along with teammates/coaches/refs and the pouting,is if he comes to the NBA and isnt setting it on fire,I could see him shutting down and causing a scene,and when you have a locker room with players who are bonded,and then you have a kid come over acting like his chit dont stink and getting mad if he isnt getting the touches he had over seas,I could really see him causing some chaos.Now,this is my OPINION but with his attitude and charchter,its not out of the question.

i believe its a case of he's young and needs to mature. At 8-9 if he's there, he's probably BPA, and i wouldn't mind picking him. however, i think SVG trades him as he's clearly stated "high character" individuals and he seems to truly value lockerroom chemistry. Hez sounds like a ticking time bomb

If we dont pick stan,I dont mind taking him,dont think he will last and will go befor us.If we end up picking between them,then this will be a hell of a draft.

[kurtis48239]

Hezonja does remind me of Drazen Petrovic alittle,ball handling,shooting,even his form.

[theBigLip]

I do like to pick for fit, but BPA is always the way to go. We've discussed this before - you group players in tiers, and you always go for the player in the highest tier that is still available. If you have two players in the same tier that are available, then you can pick for position.

I'm sure SVG isn't think the draft is going to save our team next year. A few key free agents/trades will have a much bigger effect. But long term, a good draft pick will eventually have an impact.

I agree with you - to a certain extent.

there has to be some way the player will fit on your roster. for example, if okafor was the clear BPA at our pick would we take him even though we are committed Drummond? we'd just have the same situation we've had for the past few years with drumroe. going BPA in this case would likely set us back.

other than rare situations like that I agree with you. especially since the draft is before free agency you can draft BPA and then fill in the cracks with mid-level free agents.

Okafor is a great example. What if we got the second pick? I think Okafor and Towns are in their own tier for the top two spots. If we get the second pick, we DO have to pick Okafor. Of course we'd be better off trading him, but he is the best asset out there at that pick. We'd be leaving money on the table if we went for a "good fit" like Winslow.

Of course, everything I said could be proven wrong in a couple years after we see how people develop.

[Blkbrd671]

I have seen him play and seen the youtube vids.He can dunk,but he isnt other wordly.He hardly gets his head above the rim and his go to dunk is the windmill.I am not trying to hate,but I doubt he would even be entered into the dunk contest,let alone win.

you are right, but at the same time, he's probably the most athletic prospect i've seen come out of Europe since Ginobli. Guys like vesely, montejunas, and J. Val as being toughted Elite athletes has always been hilarious to me. Hez is the first player i've seen that may be able to meet the hype.

Another thing that scares me about the reports about him not getting along with teammates/coaches/refs and the pouting,is if he comes to the NBA and isnt setting it on fire,I could see him shutting down and causing a scene,and when you have a locker room with players who are bonded,and then you have a kid come over acting like his chit dont stink and getting mad if he isnt getting the touches he had over seas,I could really see him causing some chaos.Now,this is my OPINION but with his attitude and charchter,its not out of the question.

i believe its a case of he's young and needs to mature. At 8-9 if he's there, he's probably BPA, and i wouldn't mind picking him. however, i think SVG trades him as he's clearly stated "high character" individuals and he seems to truly value lockerroom chemistry. Hez sounds like a ticking time bomb

If we dont pick stan,I dont mind taking him,dont think he will last and will go befor us.If we end up picking between them,then this will be a hell of a draft.

Bigs come at a premium in this league, and bigs that can shoot even more so. I think teams will reach for WCS, Turner, Prez, Looney, KAT, Okafor. Russel will be drafted just because he's the best prospect. I think Tyus Jones may move up. Hez probably be in the top 4. Unfortunately Winslow is too good to sneak that far, but i do believe one of oubre of johnson will be there. Meaning either way, we'll have a pick where we can address a position of need with talent that maybe part of our future core or used to acquire a piece(s) that are.

[DBC10]

Hezonja does remind me of Drazen Petrovic alittle,ball handling,shooting,even his form.

I see him as a more athletic version of Stojakovic IMO. His 3 ball is on point.

But I agree with you, he won't have enough coverage to be in the dunk contest. I think he might make noise if he continues to dunk with reckless abandon like in some of his dunk clips, but he's not going to win one. Euros don't get that kind of coverage.

[DetroitSho]

I think he stays as well. I mean waiting this long to make a decision tells me he's really on the fence and if you're not 100% sure you're ready for the NBA after your freshman season, you're much better going back than making the jump when you're not completely confident in your abilities at the next level. I think him waiting this long probably is hurting him in the eyes of teams as well - you need to have a huge ego and be 100% confident in your ability to play in the NBA, and he's showing he has doubts in himself, so if you doubt yourself why should others believe in you?

So does that apply to D'Angelo Russell too? Because he just declared yesterday.

Has he been hemming and hawing about being worried about falling out of the top ten? If so, than yes.

Well Johnson declared so so much for your theory.

[Kilo]

He sure showed me.

I hope Detroit doesn't draft him. You need to believe you are a world beater, you need to believe "I'm going to enter and make whomever doesn't pick me regret it" not "If I'm not going to be picked in the top ten, I'm going to go back to school". Give me Hezonja attitude issues and declaration he should go first overall 10x out of 10 over Stanley Johnson.

[kurtis48239]

Can someone post a link to johnson saying he dosent want to declare if hes not a top 10 pick ?

[dVs33]

Can someone post a link to johnson saying he dosent want to declare if hes not a top 10 pick ?

I'm not sure if there was anything official about that. It was mainly a rumor IIRC.

I don't blame the guy for waiting and looking at his options. It's the biggest decision of his life so far.

[coordinator0]

All that talk stemmed from this:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/DraftExpress/status/587650411185713152[/tweet]

[DBC10]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNoc1RMl4Yo

Such a sweet, sweet stroke. Come on guys, there's plenty room on the Hezonja hypetrain, hop on.

[ImHeisenberg]

Okafor is a great example. What if we got the second pick? I think Okafor and Towns are in their own tier for the top two spots. If we get the second pick, we DO have to pick Okafor. Of course we'd be better off trading him, but he is the best asset out there at that pick. We'd be leaving money on the table if we went for a "good fit" like Winslow.

There's always this premium on size. It makes sense. Even average or slightly mediocre bigs get paid pretty well in the NBA. If you can get a talented big on a rookie scale deal for 4 seasons, that's a big win. But, would picking Okafor over Winslow really be the best play long term?

Who's more valuable to the Rockets? Dwight Howard (former #1 overall pick) or James Harden? The Warriors- Steph Curry or Bogut (former #1 overall pick). Chris Paul or Griffin (former #1 overall pick)?

The league has changed, and that draconian drafting approach needs to flushed. If Winslow flourishes into a superstar 2-way player, if taking Okafor, already projected to be a weak defender, the better play just because of his size? In todays NBA, the wings wear the rings.

[ImHeisenberg]

He sure showed me.

I hope Detroit doesn't draft him. You need to believe you are a world beater, you need to believe "I'm going to enter and make whomever doesn't pick me regret it" not "If I'm not going to be picked in the top ten, I'm going to go back to school". Give me Hezonja attitude issues and declaration he should go first overall 10x out of 10 over Stanley Johnson.

You're making a lot of assumptions.

Maybe he loved his time at Arizona- they did finish in the Elite 8, and was pondering whether he could boost his stock next season and enjoy another year of college life (which is awesome for athletes). That isn't necessarily a detrimental flaw of his character, but could rather symbolize his belief in himself that he could boost his stock significantly next season.

Lots of players have done that. Blake Griffin comes to mind. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird both came back for their sophomore seasons. We live in this social media crazed world, where basically any action that could be perceived as negative is painted all over the net and becomes public knowledge- or misinformation.

[princeofpalace]

Okafor is a great example. What if we got the second pick? I think Okafor and Towns are in their own tier for the top two spots. If we get the second pick, we DO have to pick Okafor. Of course we'd be better off trading him, but he is the best asset out there at that pick. We'd be leaving money on the table if we went for a "good fit" like Winslow.

There's always this premium on size. It makes sense. Even average or slightly mediocre bigs get paid pretty well in the NBA. If you can get a talented big on a rookie scale deal for 4 seasons, that's a big win. But, would picking Okafor over Winslow really be the best play long term?

Who's more valuable to the Rockets? Dwight Howard (former #1 overall pick) or James Harden? The Warriors- Steph Curry or Bogut (former #1 overall pick). Chris Paul or Griffin (former #1 overall pick)?

The league has changed, and that draconian drafting approach needs to flushed. If Winslow flourishes into a superstar 2-way player, if taking Okafor, already projected to be a weak defender, the better play just because of his size? In todays NBA, the wings wear the rings.

I would hope SVG take the best talent available not the biggest name and at #2 that is Russell IMO. I really like Okafor as well, I see him as a lesser rebounding Demarcus Cousins but at the end of the day, I think Russell will be the best player from the class.

[whitehops]

He sure showed me.

I hope Detroit doesn't draft him. You need to believe you are a world beater, you need to believe "I'm going to enter and make whomever doesn't pick me regret it" not "If I'm not going to be picked in the top ten, I'm going to go back to school". Give me Hezonja attitude issues and declaration he should go first overall 10x out of 10 over Stanley Johnson.

so I take you don't want the pistons to draft any sophomore, junior or senior players then...

I'm just assuming they aren't world beaters either because they didn't have the "I'm going to enter and make whomever doesn't pick me regret it" mentality.

[kurtis48239]

Can someone post a link to johnson saying he dosent want to declare if hes not a top 10 pick ?

I'm not sure if there was anything official about that. It was mainly a rumor IIRC.

I don't blame the guy for waiting and looking at his options. It's the biggest decision of his life so far.

Exactly,hes looking at money and he was only a freshman,iam sure he was contamplating going back to see what if.