Best Young Core

[emunney]

Really tough.

I'd go:

1 - Minnesota
2 - Philly (if Embiid is healthy and the player I think he becomes)
3 - Milwaukee
4 - Utah

But honestly you could convince me to completely flip that order around.

I think this is where I'm at. Philly probably has at least two more lotto picks coming in 2016.

[xTitan]

I think Minnesota takes it based on the Towns pick.

[emunney]

We have a nice combination of good top end talent and quantity of solid young players.

[paulpressey25]

Great that we now get to have one of these threads where the Bucks are legit part of the conversation.

I'm going off the board and taking Utah. If Gobert isn't a flash in the pan, I think they've got a tremendous core they are building right now. The Gobert/Favors front line is tremendous and the backcourt of Exum, Burke, Burks, Hayward has the potential to be excellent. Then you've got Hood as a wild card.

The Lakers aren't in the conversation yet.

The T-Wolves look really, really good with Towns but still not sure.

Bucks must have Jabari come back from injury without complications and turn into an all-star. Not sure if that happens or not given the injury.

Philly is the same way. If Embiid is 100% healthy, they'll be a monster, monster team. Not sure though that will happen. If he's not healthy, I like the Bucks core better.

Rank
1. Utah
2. Minny
3. Bucks
4. Philly

[worthlessBucks]

Back to back to back #1 picks on a roster. Pretty incredible Minny. I would rank them Minny, Utah, Bucks, and Philly. Lakers really don't fit with the other teams.

[Bucks_MacGyver]

I think the bucks are ahead of the curve because they know what failure an success feels like, that will go a long way.

[Bernman]

Hayward is 25 so over the age limit of 24 that I set which is why he was not included. I forgot about Bennett but I dont think anyone is too high on him right now.

You're being very stingy with the Jazz. Hayward just turned 25. You also didn't list Burks. He's not 25, he's 23.

Many love completely untapped potential because people can dream, then. I like partially tapped potential because we can already see it's becoming a reality. And reality was, the Jazz were 21-11 in the West their last 32 games, with a super young lineup. Then they can add in Burks. Maybe more importantly - Exum, Hood, and even Gobert have a lot of room to improve. Plus, they'll probably add a shooting big in the draft like Turner, Portis, or Kaminsky. There's some completely untapped potential for you I guess. Treadmill team with all that? Please.

The Bucks have proven something themselves, winning a decent amount of games in part with young talent, but we fell off after the trade, and vets carried us a lot too. We can now boast maybe the biggest x-factor (Embiid has a case too) in a hopefully healthy Jabari, in addition to a mid 1st. But to really vie for the top spot in my book we need to figure out how to be big players in this draft and execute well to boot. For me it's Jabari, Giannis, and then a big gap. And with Jabari plus Giannis there is significant volatility with them as prospects now.

[Prez]

It really comes down to who do you think will have a better chance at being a superstar Jabari, Giannis, Towns, Wiggins, Favors, Gobert, Embid, Russell.

I would rank them

1. Gobert
2. Giannis
3. Jabari
4. Wiggins
5. Embid
6. Towns
7. Russell
8. Favors

I think you're way overrating Gobert here. I get taking him over guys like Favors, Noel, and maybe even Russell or Towns (who haven't played a single NBA minute). But he'll be 23 years old next season, and currently has little to no offensive game. Until he develops a post game or reliable jumper, his "star" potential is pretty non-existent. I wouldn't even dream of taking him over those first 4 guys.

I guess I just really like Gobert and think he has Diekembe Mutumbo type Defensive ability.

I get this but I wonder how much better he'll be from what he is now. He's already a DPOY caliber defender, a terrific rebounder, and an overall huge presence in the paint. But he hasn't shown much of anything offensively outside of some good passing and energy buckets/athletic plays at the rim. It'd be different if he was 19-20 like Wiggins, Giannis, etc. but he'll be 23 in a month and the development from ages 20-23 is huge for players. We see it with players all the time, if players aren't showing legit signs of what you're looking for (in Gobert's case offensive ability) by 23, it's hard to force feed them that development. Not to mention developing a versatile post game, a jumper at his position, etc are some of the hardest things to develop at any age. A lot of it depends on your natural affinity for that style of play and it doesn't seem like Gobert has that.

But who knows though, maybe he'll prove me wrong and show up next season putting up 20+ a night, raining midrange jumpers and spamming dream shakes.

[nmeurett]

Hayward is 25 so over the age limit of 24 that I set which is why he was not included. I forgot about Bennett but I dont think anyone is too high on him right now.

You're being very stingy with the Jazz. Hayward just turned 25. You also didn't list Burks. He's not 25, he's 23.

Many love completely untapped potential because people can dream, then. I like partially tapped potential because we can already see it's becoming a reality. And reality was, the Jazz were 21-11 in the West their last 32 games, with a super young lineup. Then they can add in Burks. Maybe more importantly - Exum, Hood, and even Gobert have a lot of room to improve. Plus, they'll probably add a shooting big in the draft like Turner, Portis, or Kaminsky. There's some completely untapped potential for you I guess. Treadmill team with all that? Please.

The Bucks have proven something themselves, winning a decent amount of games in part with young talent, but we fell off after the trade, and vets carried us a lot too. We can now boast maybe the biggest x-factor (Embiid has a case too) in a hopefully healthy Jabari, in addition to a mid 1st. But to really vie for the top spot in my book we need to figure out how to be big players in this draft and execute well to boot. For me it's Jabari, Giannis, and then a big gap. And with Jabari plus Giannis there is significant volatility with them as prospects now.

I missed Burks sorry about that. I like the Jazz I think Gobert is a stud and I like Exum but am not as high on the rest of their prospects.

[Nebula1]

Wiggins/Towns is probably the best 1-2 combo of the group when considering the injuries to Embiid and Parker.

1. Minnesota
2. Philadelphia
3. Milwaukee
4. Utah

[mlloyd10]

Should have added the Magic on there

Payton/Oladipo/Gordon/Porzingis/Vucevic

[LUKE23]

Should have added the Magic on there

Payton/Oladipo/Gordon/Porzingis/Vucevic

Some solid pieces but they don't have any super high end ceiling guys and that's what their fans have been bitching about for a while. They are clearly behind the other four.

In terms of ceiling, I'd go:

1. Philly
2. Minny
3. Utah
4. Milwaukee

Factoring in likelihood of everything coming together, in terms of players reaching ceiling and being able to add correct complements:

1. Utah
2. Minny
3. Milwaukee
4. Philly

I'd have those four as my clear top 4 though.

[MickeyDavis]

Hopefully the Bucks have someone working with Giannis on his shot every single day. He absolutely has to develop a reliable jumper to be a star.

[Licensed to Il]

If Skiles becomes the magic coach you can add kurt thomas and adrian griffin to the list of core talent.

Utah is underrated, if Exum is legit they are built for the long haul.

I picked Milwaukee because I think Jabari and Giannis are both uncommonly wired to work and improve. I think they will be adding things to theor games long after most young players plateau.

And while I don't consider myself a fan of MCW's game, I think Kidd is going to develop him in to something special.

[MickeyDavis]

We have so many wildcards. Jabari and his knee. Giannis and his shooting. MCW and lots of things (Kidd is the actual wildcard, if he can work some magic on MCW.....)

[Newz]

Why aren't the Pelicans on this list? I vote for them.

[machu46]

Utah has a nice core, but I think people tend to overrate Gobert. Exum was abysmal as a rookie, but I'm not ready to give up on him yet. But I think there's a very good chance that Hayward is their best player even after these guys all develop. I've never believed in Burke and he's done nothing to prove me wrong to this point. Burks is just an okay player to me. So while they have a strong front court, I think their weak backcourt and my opinion that Gobert will never be a star knocks them down to last on this list.

They're still in a nice position, but I don't think they've found their franchise centerpiece yet, and they're unfortunately good enough now that they likely won't be in a position to get another top 5 pick to add to the bunch.

[zmanishere11]

I'm obviously biased, but since all these teams have a bunch of great young players, I go with the one who is more likely to already have a superstar on their roster. To me, that's Giannis and the Bucks.

I love Wiggins - but I don't think he ever develops the attitude of a superstar.

Ditto for Embiid - and then add in the injury issues.

Lavine / Towns are big wildcards - I think either one of them could develop into a legit star.

On roster alone for me - I go:

1. Milwaukee
2. Minnesota (close)
3. Utah
4. Philly (no one knows what they actually have on their roster right now)


I'd also argue that you have to consider the coach of all these teams, as ultimately they're HUGE drivers as to how these young players develop. That tilts bar so far in Milwaukee's favor it isn't even funny, and I think this is probably what ultimately kills Minnesota as an actual team to fear in the future (you guys realize Flip Saunders is the coach and GM right????)

[MickeyDavis]

Giannis is far from a superstar. He isn't even a star yet. You still have to have the potential prefix in front of those for him. He's shown impressive flashes but that's all its been. Flashes. He's only 20 and hopefully the great games increase and the pube games decrease. I'm optimistic.

ETA, I know the "potential" label applies to all these guys, not just ours. A couple of years from now we'll laugh at some of these names being listed as "core" players.

[SupremeHustle]

My order:

Cheesesteaks
10,000 Lakes
Sundance
Dahmer
Westside Connection