Official 2013 Draft Thread - Part V

[closg00]

Who are the best SG/SF prospects we have a shot at getting at pick 37? Someone is going to drop.

I fully expect that we will take Porter if he is there, but who-knows.

[nuposse04]

If Porter and Noel are gone ahead of us, I'm open to the concept of moving down 2-3 spots and taking a chance on Zeller if he is legit option from beyond the arc (Legit being 37%+)

I'm still of the mind that Porter can gain 20-30 lbs and give you spot minutes at small ball as a stretch 4 though.

20-30 lbs might be a lot, but I think he can put on some weight as he gets older and agree he could give us an interesting small ball look. Does anyone know how many reps Tayshaun was able to do when he came out? Porter put up 8 or 9 reps which isn't all that bad for a guy with his frame.

I don't think 20 lbs would be asking too much. He was playing at 205 I think at Georgetown. I think 10 lbs in his first year so he can get up to 215 is perfectly reasonable, and quite honestly a bit expected. Isn't he only 19 still? (Technically, just looked it up, June 3rd is his B-day )

I think most guys fill out as much as they're going to by 23. Unless you're Wade or LBJ....Cough** PEDs**Cough..

[hands11]

Len is a gymnast. His body only recent began banging against humans who were stronger than himself. His bone structure is set. IF Len was ten years old and still had alot of growing to do and we forced him to push the strongest kid in school out of the paint for an hour each day, his bone density and muscle structure would much much different than what we see now. It's way to late for len's bones to reset and for his muscle distribution to redesign. His joints are set for high impact from jumps but he is like a fish out of water when attempting to use lower body strength and move mass using his lower body. When he attempts to do this, his body gets injured because his joints during his growth spurt repaired themselves from high impact from jumps off a balance beam, not from applying 1000 pounds of pressure on one ankle joint moving his body mass and plus another 260lb body mass pushing back on that one joint.

Had Len's joint experienced these shock forces at a young age, his body would have molded into a killing machine for this particular task 10 years later as it fully matured.

It's only the unwise who see Len's height and completely ignore his inability to use lower body strength to move bodies, and his inability to lower his center of gravity in his knees.
the reason he can't is because if he does, he will get injured because his body was molded for that from his daily activities.

Now a guy like Bennett who has been playing basketball all of his life, and substantial time in the post, you see how thick his legs and how he moves players in the post for rebounds. He's been doing these activities since a very very young age and his body, after 10 to 15 years of training is honed for that specialized activity.

Had you taken Len and Bennett out of the balance beem, even at 7'1, Len would probably destroy him. Len's raw athleticism from gymnastic allows him to make finesse moves becomes gymanistics is purely finesse. Unfortunately, finesse with no explosiveness and no power means he isn't wizard material. Maybe running with Nash in a fun and gun but not DC.

We are grind out elbow in the mouth blow by you and power through contact and still score team.
Len and Porter don't fit that mold. They are soft finesse players in jamison mold. We left that era a long long time ago. Seraphin is showing alot of soft european style which is why he needs to traded for a real wizard style player. Singleton and Booker don't have at least two of the three traits needed to be a wizard either.

Explosiveness, Elite body control with the basketball, and demonstrated ability to finish through contact consistently.

You need to have at least two of these three traits in order to be a Washington Wizard.

I just wanted to say, I appreciate the paragraph returns near the top. I was actually able to read the first two paragraphs. Just for fun, I separate the rest of your post so perhaps I could read that as well.

Good luck. I tried for a while before. He doesn't seem to understand why its important or his keyboard doesn't have a return button.

[hands11]

Blair is not really a preference...more like an alternative. Blair would come without using a high lottery pick. Blair also has 3 years experience in a high-level environment. He isn't nearly as physically talented as Bennett, but he would give us that same ability to score inside and rebound at a high rate, for a cheap price.

And I definitely think Bennett is as bad as jamison defensively. He just didn't look good defensively in the tape I saw this year. Slow rotations, ball-gazing, being in the wrong spot--it was as consistent as his ability to score. To me, that really hurts his stock.

Blair is nothing like Bennett on offense. All Blair has is a garbage game where he can crash the offensive glass. He has none of the ball skills Bennett has, and he lacks' Bennett's perimeter shot. Yes, Blair on a vet minimum contract might well be better than sacrificing the #3 pick for Bennett, but let's not act like their production would be similar.

Blair would be a bad idea. Don't draft yesterday value pick, find your own if you want that. What does Blair do for you that 24 year old Jackie Carmichael couldn't.

As for Bennett, I'm kind of surprised his name has even made the rounds again. Iso player with red flags that doesn't play D. There are better options.

Keep in mind, some players it isn't a matter of coach them up on D. Some just don't understand or see the court like that. What he does on offense doesn't take nearly the focus and smarts that is does to be a good defender.

I expect him to be a challenge for whoever selects him. The Wizards don't need that. If they keep the pick, they need to follow in the Beal mold. Drafting young doesn't have to equal drafting immature low IQ players.

Investing in the promise of Bennett is how you get burned. The Wizards can not afford to get burned. That would be a huge set back.

Wall draft is working out well. Even Kevin still has some hope.
Ves draft was a bust.
Beal draft was awesome. He produce well in year one with lots of upside still.

You can't win every other draft and get where you want to get.

[hands11]

Ultimately I think both Porter and Bennet are going to turn out to be "just a guy" type players. Jared Dudley. Brandon Bass. Journeymen. The difference between these guys are the definition of marginal. So all things being equal talent-wise (different talents but probably the same net results), it just boils down to preference - or essentially a popularity contest. Even if either do manage to eke out an all-star appearance the best they'll equal would be Butler and Jamison at their highest of highs. Is Paul Pierce in the cards for Porter? Is Barkely in the cards for Bennett? Doubtful.

Nailed it. I see Bennett as the type that a team picks and tries to wait out hoping he gets it. Then he gets shipped around. Can score, but not a winner.

[hands11]

It's not like height doesn't matter. You're shooting from around your forehead most of the time so a 6'7 guy is still going to have problems creating his own shot against bigger players unless his release is ridculously high arced.

Then there's actually being able to see the floor, especially as a guy who would be on the elbow as much as Bennett, being able to see most defenders while being crowded helps with decision making and passing.

So in short, defensively and in terms of rebounding having good standing reach negates a lot of his issues there but the standing reach does little to negate his lack of height in terms of offense.

He passes about as good as Shabbazz, so his height for passing reasons isn't going to matter. He doesn't pass anyway. Bennett appears to be a bigger driving version of Nick Young. lol

[rockymac52]

WizD's obsession with Steven Adams has caused me to take a second, much more in depth look, at him. I'm still in the process of sifting through all the numbers and game tape, so I'm not ready to make a final judgment on the kid, but I'm intrigued to say the least.

On the surface, his production as a freshman was actually on par with Noel and Len, except that Adams played less minutes because of how raw he was. He's clearly a bit of a project, but the good news is he already has the size, and he probably knows what he's up against and is looking to develop long-term.

The bad news, at least IMO, is that so far all I can think about when I'm looking at tape and reading scouting reports on Adams is Meyers Leonard. Very similar players in many ways. They both have their own unique strengths and weaknesses, but the big picture for them both is eerily similar. To be fair, Leonard was seen as a bit of a project as well, so it's probably too soon to write him off after only his rookie season, where he did alright. But I've never been a Meyers Leonard fan, and I don't anticipate him ever being an above average starting center.

[hands11]

Cody Zeller shooting the ball VERY well. 72% from NBA 3 point line in drills.

https://twitter.com/chadfordinsider/sta ... 5937816576

An impressive workout indeed. If Zeller is a true stretch 4/5 candidate, that might change my assessment of him.

That was a key for him. Watch his draft stock rise.

I posted that updated DraftX video shooting he had good form. I'm surprised its that high but not surprised he can shoot.

In a weak draft, this could shoot him into top 3-4

[sfam]

See, this list doesn't scare me at all. It's pretty much exactly like you'd expect a random collection of 19 NBA players to be, if not much better. If we drafted Bennett at 3, I'd be more than pleased if he ended up being the equivalent skills-wise of Faried, LeBron, Millsap, Melo, or perhaps MKG. Then there's a handful of respectable role players, as well as a number of nobody's, including true busts and also guys who were never expected to do anything in the NBA. So why is this list supposed to make me think that Bennett isn't likely to succeed at the NBA level based on his size, or lack thereof?

I don't think Bennett has the type of lateral quickness to legitimately cover SF's in this league so he has to be compared to PF's. So let's throw out Lebron and Kidd-Gilchrist. That leaves 16 comparisons (Damion James is listed twice).

Superstars:
Carmelo Anthony

Starters:
Paul Millsap
Kenneth Faried

Role Players:
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
Dejuan Blair
Al Thornton

Journeyman/Out-of-League
Lonny Baxter
Mike Sweetney
Joey Dorsey
Damion James
James Johnson
Draymond Green
Ryan Humphrey
Royce White
Kevin Jones
Ryan Gomes

I'd say the comparisons for Bennett's particular body type aren't that encouraging. 10 of the 16 guys are no better than vet-minimum type of role players. That said, I think it's important to acknowledge that Bennett is clearly more skilled than all those guys on the "Journeyman" list. Looking at his skill level, it would appear that he compares more to the "Starters" group which includes Millsap and Faried. I think he has a pretty good shot at rivaling them. The next question to ask is do we think the next Millsap/Faried is worth the #3? Those guys feel like players that should be drafted in the 6-12 range, not the top 3.

How many of those journeymen were valued enough coming out of college that they were chosen in the top 5 picks of the draft? I ask this because if they were marginal prospects, I'm not seeing a valid correlation'

[rockymac52]

^ exactly. That's why I said I thought that list was irrelevant and didn't convince me that Bennett's size will be an issue at all. I think you could take any combination of height, wingspan, weight, standing reach, etc. and you're bound to have some good players, some average players, and some terrible players.

[sfam]

It's not like height doesn't matter. You're shooting from around your forehead most of the time so a 6'7 guy is still going to have problems creating his own shot against bigger players unless his release is ridculously high arced.

Then there's actually being able to see the floor, especially as a guy who would be on the elbow as much as Bennett, being able to see most defenders while being crowded helps with decision making and passing.

So in short, defensively and in terms of rebounding having good standing reach negates a lot of his issues there but the standing reach does little to negate his lack of height in terms of offense.

This sounds suspiciously like the "Curry has aligator arms and won't be able to get his shot off in the pros" type post that flooded the board a few years back. How'd that prediction work out?

[rockymac52]

Okay everybody, it's that time again, it's time to NAME THAT PROSPECT!

Here's an excerpt from a Draft Express scouting report on a big man in this draft:

Weaknesses:

Fundamentals On Defense
- technique & fundamentals have a long way to go
- closes out wildly contesting shots on the perimeter
- gives up deep position, prone to getting lost off of the ball
- very average defensive rebounder, misses box outs

Without cheating, who is this prospect?

Spoiler:

It's Steven Adams, although it just as easily could have been Anthony Bennett. Funny how lots of guys on this board freak out about Bennett's effort on D, but then those same guys are hyping up Adams as the steal of the draft... Hypocrites.

[Error Afflalo]

Who are the best SG/SF prospects we have a shot at getting at pick 37? Someone is going to drop.

I fully expect that we will take Porter if he is there, but who-knows.

Bullock, Ledo, and Glen Rice Jr are projected to be late 1st/early 2nd picks.

[sfam]

I like Adams but can't see us going after him with the #3.

I'd take him over Bennett though.

Just wondering, how many players in the first round would you put behind Bennett? Do you even consider him a lottery pick, or first round pick for that matter?

[montestewart]

Okay everybody, it's that time again, it's time to NAME THAT PROSPECT!

Here's an excerpt from a Draft Express scouting report on a big man in this draft:

Weaknesses:

Fundamentals On Defense
- technique & fundamentals have a long way to go
- closes out wildly contesting shots on the perimeter
- gives up deep position, prone to getting lost off of the ball
- very average defensive rebounder, misses box outs

Without cheating, who is this prospect?

Spoiler:

It's Steven Adams, although it just as easily could have been Anthony Bennett. Funny how lots of guys on this board freak out about Bennett's effort on D, but then those same guys are hyping up Adams as the steal of the draft... Hypocrites.

I'll go with Adams, since you were just talking about him, and his DRBs are pretty low vs. his ORBs. OK, now I'll cheat.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Who are the best SG/SF prospects we have a shot at getting at pick 37? Someone is going to drop.

I fully expect that we will take Porter if he is there, but who-knows.

Reggie Bullock, Dario Saric, Tony Snell, Vander Blue, Michael Snaer, Brandon Paul, Carrick Felix, D. J. Stephens

[closg00]

DA's Center Big Board.
http://www.nba.com/2013/news/features/d ... index.html

...and PF Big Board
http://www.nba.com/2013/news/features/d ... index.html

[closg00]

Who are the best SG/SF prospects we have a shot at getting at pick 37? Someone is going to drop.

I fully expect that we will take Porter if he is there, but who-knows.

Reggie Bullock, Dario Saric, Tony Snell, Vander Blue, Michael Snaer, Brandon Paul, Carrick Felix, D. J. Stephens

CCJ - You have a feel for these prospects. If you were Ernie, would you take Zeller at 3 and take one of these^ other guys as a SF prospect? Are any of these guys sleepers who could be nearly as-good as Porter?

[sfam]

If Porter and Noel are gone ahead of us, I'm open to the concept of moving down 2-3 spots and taking a chance on Zeller if he is legit option from beyond the arc (Legit being 37%+)

I'm still of the mind that Porter can gain 20-30 lbs and give you spot minutes at small ball as a stretch 4 though.

The more I think about it, the more I like Zeller. If he really can hit three's that changes everything. He would be a perfect fit on our roster as a PF who can defend well and hit from the perimeter, while also having good touch around the basket and a high bball IQ. The only hole on the roster would be our lack of depth at the PG position. If we could somehow trade Seraphin for a decent young combo guard, it would all come together nicely. What about Seraphin for a guy like Jerryd Bayless? The salaries line up:

PG Wall/Bayless
SG Beal/Bayless
SF Webster/Ariza
PF Nene/Zeller/Booker
C Okafor/Nene

If Zeller is accurate out to the 3, I would put him over Porter. As of now, my top 3 assuming Noel is gone goes like this:
1) Bennett
2) Zeller
3) Porter

Again, I still think Bennett has a chance of being elite, hence my placement of him first.

Edit: I also doubt Zeller lasts long, so we should draft him at #3 if we want him.