Giannis in the 2014 draft

[TeaM DimE]

I was having an argument with friends about where Giannis would be drafted in this years draft. I was saying i would take him #1. Am i crazy? I watched him side by side with Parker last night and he clearly looked like better prospect. Only 19 and just as young as the youngest prospects in this years draft. Thought?

[Marcus]

clearly looked better than a slumping Bari? sure. Giannis is still a major project though. Made some ball handling mistakes. still plays to fast out there from time to time. Typically 2nd year guys that played solid, meaningful minutes during the regular season look; if not dominate at least better paced and play the game with a higher understanding in the SL. Case in point Nate Wolters ran the offense fairly smoothly and picked his spots very well when Bari, Giannis, or Chris Wright weren't dawning their respective capes out there. I've yet to see that from Giannis. He's shown flashes just like he did in the regular season but against this kind of comp the package should be more complete. Its still early and perhaps he pulls it together a little better but at times he appears to be doing far too much out there.

I wouldn't pick Giannis number 1 in this class, he looks to have just as much to learn as the rookies playing in the SL this year.

[reanimator]

I'd take him #1.

[theFireBlanket]

I wouldn't pick Giannis number 1 in this class, he looks to have just as much to learn as the rookies playing in the SL this year.

I disagree that he has the same amount of things to learn moving forward as Jabari and Wiggins. Maybe a similar amount but he has better awareness and he didn't come up in AAU programs or start at an early age like either of them.

His handle was actually terrific last night. Two of his 3 turnovers were from barely stepping out of bounds, which is probably a result of still getting used to playing in his growing body (the court gets smaller - relative to acquired length).

[Marcus]

I wouldn't pick Giannis number 1 in this class, he looks to have just as much to learn as the rookies playing in the SL this year.

I disagree that he has the same amount of things to learn moving forward as Jabari and Wiggins. Maybe a similar amount but he has better awareness and he didn't come up in AAU programs or start at an early age like either of them.

His handle was actually terrific last night. Two of his 3 turnovers were from barely stepping out of bounds, which is probably a result of still getting used to playing in his growing body (the court gets smaller - relative to acquired length).

fair enough. i would expect the gap to be considerably wider from a guy with that much actual NBA time logged under his belt though. Spent all season waiting for a breakout game from kiddo, even a garbage time game where he might have shown more than just flashes, but he didn't and that's fine. But here? in the SL? he should look to be miles ahead of the curve.

Its still early though and they have another week, If Bari takes the cape off, lets the game come to him, and Giannis can get more meaningful touches then perhaps i'll see what everybody else seems to.

[HornetJail]

Philly probably takes him at #3 because the fit is incredible and he wouldn't be contributing to wins (ruining the übertank) until 2015 or 2016 anyway.

If not, then he'd certainly be gone at #6 to the Celtics no questions asked.

[theFireBlanket]

fair enough. i would expect the gap to be considerably wider from a guy with that much actual NBA time logged under his belt though. Spent all season waiting for a breakout game from kiddo, even a garbage time game where he might have shown more than just flashes, but he didn't and that's fine. But here? in the SL? he should look to be miles ahead of the curve.

Its still early though and they have another week, If Bari takes the cape off, lets the game come to him, and Giannis can get more meaningful touches then perhaps i'll see what everybody else seems to.

There's a major difference between how he was being played last season by Larry Drew and how Jason Kidd has orchestrated Sean Sweeney using him in these two SL games. LD always talked up Giannis being a point-forward but didn't feature him as a point the majority of the time.

Instead the ball was more often than not in the hands of Knight, Ridnour, Neal, and Sessions' hands. I'm not mentioning Wolters because unlike those 4, he would willingly share handling duties with Giannis last year. Those others often ignored or put him in an awkward position. And often Giannis was left to stand in a corner because of how overlooked he was in the offensive sets.

[Marcus]

Philly probably takes him at #3 because the fit is incredible and he wouldn't be contributing to wins (ruining the übertank) until 2015 or 2016 anyway.

If not, then he'd certainly be gone at #6 to the Celtics no questions asked.

i can agree with Philly possibly taking him but i think if they didn't Orlando would have taken him 4th.

[HornetJail]

Philly probably takes him at #3 because the fit is incredible and he wouldn't be contributing to wins (ruining the übertank) until 2015 or 2016 anyway.

If not, then he'd certainly be gone at #6 to the Celtics no questions asked.

i can agree with Philly possibly taking him but i think if they didn't Orlando would have taken him 4th.

Orlando was dead-set on drafting Aaron Gordon for some reason though. Plus they've already got Oladipo, Harris, Harkless. I would have done it, but I don't know if Orlando does. That Hennigan dude's been acting weird lately.

[Marcus]

There's a major difference between how he was being played last season by Larry Drew and how Jason Kidd has orchestrated Sean Sweeney using him in these two SL games. LD always talked up Giannis being a point-forward but didn't feature him as a point the majority of the time.

Instead the ball was more often than not in the hands of Knight, Ridnour, Neal, and Sessions' hands. I'm not mentioning Wolters because unlike those 4, he would willingly share handling duties with Giannis last year. Those others often ignored or put him in an awkward position. And often Giannis was left to stand in a corner because of how overlooked he was in the offensive sets.

right, which is why i said him not having a breakout game during even during garbage time was fine because of the folks around him. I get that. watched a lot of Bucks games and still have some saved to see more Giannis so I understand what he was up against last year. Not talking about last year. talking about right now in this SL in Vegas, i don't see it. Like i said still plenty of time and I don't complete blame him for these 2 games either since Bari is playing like the featured event and Giannis isn't really a hero ball kind of guy. but he should appear to be much better than the players around him when you combine his talent and NBA level experience.

Wolters isn't taking over out there but he looked like the best PG on the court when he ran the offense (Ennis looked pretty good too). KCP shared court with chuckers all last season with the Pistons, showed out in the SL, the Plumlees looked like guys that just understand it better than everybody else out there. Jonas and Drummond did it last year in SL, Waiters didn't hit all the time but he had takeover ability out there, Hardaway Jr. looks legit this year. there is a standard set by guys coming back to the SL following rook years where they played meaningful minutes and thats what i wanna see out of Giannis.

[Marcus]

Philly probably takes him at #3 because the fit is incredible and he wouldn't be contributing to wins (ruining the übertank) until 2015 or 2016 anyway.

If not, then he'd certainly be gone at #6 to the Celtics no questions asked.

i can agree with Philly possibly taking him but i think if they didn't Orlando would have taken him 4th.

Orlando was dead-set on drafting Aaron Gordon for some reason though. Plus they've already got Oladipo, Harris, Harkless. I would have done it, but I don't know if Orlando does. That Hennigan dude's been acting weird lately.

Yeah Double Zero looks like a serious project in Orlando. good thing they have passable depth ahead of him though to allow for that development time.

[reanimator]

There's a major difference between how he was being played last season by Larry Drew and how Jason Kidd has orchestrated Sean Sweeney using him in these two SL games. LD always talked up Giannis being a point-forward but didn't feature him as a point the majority of the time.

Instead the ball was more often than not in the hands of Knight, Ridnour, Neal, and Sessions' hands. I'm not mentioning Wolters because unlike those 4, he would willingly share handling duties with Giannis last year. Those others often ignored or put him in an awkward position. And often Giannis was left to stand in a corner because of how overlooked he was in the offensive sets.

Wolters isn't taking over out there but he looked like the best PG on the court when he ran the offense (Ennis looked pretty good too). KCP shared court with chuckers all last season with the Pistons, showed out in the SL, the Plumlees looked like guys that just understand it better than everybody else out there. Jonas and Drummond did it last year in SL, Waiters didn't hit all the time but he had takeover ability out there, Hardaway Jr. looks legit this year. there is a standard set by guys coming back to the SL following rook years where they played meaningful minutes and thats what i wanna see out of Giannis.

There is an age and development gap with Giannis and all of those guys.

Giannis has the physical dimensions, athleticism, ball skills, the feel for the game, defensive potential, shooting potential, great in transition. Looks like he will be good in PnR with reps. I've seen him take guys down to the post, though he doesn't have the strength to be successful down there yet.

[Marcus]

There is an age and development gap with Giannis and all of those guys.

Giannis has the physical dimensions, athleticism, ball skills, the feel for the game, defensive potential, shooting potential, great in transition. Looks like he will be good in PnR with reps. I've seen him take guys down to the post, though he doesn't have the strength to be successful down there yet.

i get that much of it and with all his tools i don't see what happens to make him less of a project or more advanced than the cream of the crop in this class. Case for number one in last years class? sure. this year im not so sure. Hell there's even a thread asking to combine last year and this years class and you yourself had Giannis 4th then moved him to 2nd behind an injured dude and speculated that you might be jumping to conclusions a little early.

At which year in their prospective careers do you guys see Giannis reaching full potential compared to the "elite" in this class?

Are Giannis' full potential and ceiling higher than the "elite" in this draft class?

[reanimator]

There is an age and development gap with Giannis and all of those guys.

Giannis has the physical dimensions, athleticism, ball skills, the feel for the game, defensive potential, shooting potential, great in transition. Looks like he will be good in PnR with reps. I've seen him take guys down to the post, though he doesn't have the strength to be successful down there yet.

i get that much of it and with all his tools i don't see what happens to make him less of a project or more advanced than the cream of the crop in this class. Case for number one in last years class? sure. this year im not so sure. Hell there's even a thread asking to combine last year and this years class and you yourself had Giannis 4th then moved him to 2nd behind an injured dude and speculated that you might be jumping to conclusions a little early.

At which year in their prospective careers do you guys see Giannis reaching full potential compared to the "elite" in this class?

Are Giannis' full potential and ceiling higher than the "elite" in this draft class?

No, I don't think its clear cut but I do think his ceiling is only matched by Emblid, Exum and Wiggins. Emblid is injury-prone. Wiggins needs a handle. And Exum is 6'6'' so Giannis at 6'11''>

I don't see why he wouldn't reach his ceiling and others would? He has good feel for the game and he is aggressive out on the court.

[Marcus]

No, I don't think its clear cut but I do think his ceiling is only matched by Emblid, Exum and Wiggins. Emblid is injury-prone. Wiggins needs a handle. And Exum is 6'6'' so Giannis at 6'11''>

I don't see why he wouldn't reach his ceiling and others would? He has good feel for the game and he is aggressive out on the court.

not saying he wouldn't reach his potential, i think he's got as good a chance as any. Contrary to how it might sound im actually big on Giannis, i like a lot about his game, like A LOT about his game. The fact he's still growing is amazing. he plays hard, no ego to the kid, nice skillset, lockdown potential, needs to slow down a little during transition play and not out run his help, but he can create in the open floor and looks to do a little of everything. He's actually my favorite type of player.

There's a lot to work WITH there but i just don't see any less to work ON than these other kids to get him/them to where his/their ceiling is.

Folks have called him the next Pippen/Durant and whatnot and that seems a bit out there to me. I wanna know what im missing that puts him on that high of a pedestal.

[Marcus]

Still gotta watch the replay after work today but from the highlights Giannis looked more like what I expected from him coming into SL play this year.

[GopherIt!]

Top four for sure, probably like this:

1. Wiggins
2. Exum
3. Embiid
4. Giannis

Still can't believe the Magic passed on Exum. Exum and Oladipo would have been sick.

[OrlMagic05]

Top four for sure, probably like this:

1. Wiggins
2. Exum
3. Embiid
4. Giannis

Still can't believe the Magic passed on Exum. Exum and Oladipo would have been sick.

Maybe because they liked Payton more than Exum?? They both have VERY similar strengths and weakness, so why pick up Exum at 4 when you could take Gordon at 4 and Payton at 12 (really 10).

[OrlMagic05]

i can agree with Philly possibly taking him but i think if they didn't Orlando would have taken him 4th.

Orlando was dead-set on drafting Aaron Gordon for some reason though. Plus they've already got Oladipo, Harris, Harkless. I would have done it, but I don't know if Orlando does. That Hennigan dude's been acting weird lately.

Yeah Double Zero looks like a serious project in Orlando. good thing they have passable depth ahead of him though to allow for that development time.

I do agree that Gordon is going to be a project, but if he reaches his full potential he can be a very scary player. Remember, just like Giannis when he was drafted, he is 18 years old!! Lets give him a year or two.

[Marcus]

Orlando was dead-set on drafting Aaron Gordon for some reason though. Plus they've already got Oladipo, Harris, Harkless. I would have done it, but I don't know if Orlando does. That Hennigan dude's been acting weird lately.

Yeah Double Zero looks like a serious project in Orlando. good thing they have passable depth ahead of him though to allow for that development time.

I do agree that Gordon is going to be a project, but if he reaches his full potential he can be a very scary player. Remember, just like Giannis when he was drafted, he is 18 years old!! Lets give him a year or two.

what do you see Gordon being IF he reaches his full potential? how far do you see him progressing in "a year or two"?