The Wizards passed on Noel!

[Dark Faze]

The reasons teams passed on him were dumb. He didn't have a bad injury history. An ACL tear is just an ACL tear, passing on a high level prospect because of that is just idiotic. He's going to get stronger. Until then, just double in the post more. He'll more than make up for it with elite defense in the passing lanes , PNR defense, etc.

just a terrible terrible move

Fwiw, it wasn't just an ACL tear. Noel had an injury in HS as well that is widely believed to have contributed to his ACL tear.

So basically Noel suffered TWO injuries to the same knee within a four year period.

its not widely believed at all actually, the growth plate injury is extremely minor and even the cavs doctors said it didnt likely contribute at all to the injury

[Wizardspride]

The reasons teams passed on him were dumb. He didn't have a bad injury history. An ACL tear is just an ACL tear, passing on a high level prospect because of that is just idiotic. He's going to get stronger. Until then, just double in the post more. He'll more than make up for it with elite defense in the passing lanes , PNR defense, etc.

just a terrible terrible move

Fwiw, it wasn't just an ACL tear. Noel had an injury in HS as well that is widely believed to have contributed to his ACL tear.

So basically Noel suffered TWO injuries to the same knee within a four year period.

its not widely believed at all actually, the growth plate injury is extremely minor and even the cavs doctors said it didnt likely contribute at all to the injury

OK. SOME people believe it contributed to his injury.

[Dark Faze]

We literally passed on possibly the quickest C in history playing with possibly the quickest PG in history

lol

I love Porter, think he's going to be a gamer and think he can be Kawhi good, but man I wouldn't pass on Noel unless he had two ACL tears, even then it'd be tough, might have to throw a stress fracture in the ankle on top of it

And then throw in the fact that I have Ariza and Web having pretty decent years as relatively young men when I'm making this decision?

You'd have to put a gun to my head at that point to pick Otto

[J-Ves]

Noel is too skinny and his frame is very slender so its unlikely he adds enough weight to defend centers. As a PF he is strictly a energy big who has limited offensive capabilities. He will be a fine player in the NBA, but his limitations will prevent him from being a starter and limit him to super sub status.

Porter at least has the tools to be a starting SF and doesn't seem to have many glaring weaknesses other than his lateral quickness. I'd say as far as NBA prospects go both guys were worth picking at three and I'm not upset we passed on Noel.


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[nate33]

Noel is too skinny and his frame is very slender so its unlikely he adds enough weight to defend centers. As a PF he is strictly a energy big who has limited offensive capabilities. He will be a fine player in the NBA, but his limitations will prevent him from being a starter and limit him to super sub status.

Porter at least has the tools to be a starting SF and doesn't seem to have many glaring weaknesses other than his lateral quickness. I'd say as far as NBA prospects go both guys were worth picking at three and I'm not upset we passed on Noel.


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I think there is something to this argument.

While I don't think Noel will be permanently limited to playing exclusively PF, I do think it's going to take him a long long time to truly fill out enough so that he can hold his own in the paint. It took a while for Tyson Chandler and Marcus Camby too.

The best argument for not drafting Noel is that he won't really be effective throughout the duration of his rookie contract. If we want Noel, maybe the best option is to sign him as a RFA in 2017 after Philly has spent all that time and money developing him. Would Philly ultimately match a huge contract offer for Noel when they also have Embid on the roster?

[Dark Faze]

Have none of yall seen Larry Sanders play basketball or something

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

quickness , anticipation, and defensive IQ can make up for a lack of strength, and that's without even talking about defensive schemes that can help him

offensively he looks better than I thought he would...he's so quick and wirey that its hard to get a hold of him or slow him down on his first step

[Dark Faze]

The best argument for not drafting Noel is that he won't really be effective throughout the duration of his rookie contract. If we want Noel, maybe the best option is to sign him as a RFA in 2017 after Philly has spent all that time and money developing him. Would Philly ultimately match a huge contract offer for Noel when they also have Embid on the roster?

This is a pretty absurd asumption. Larry Sanders was a 10, 10, and 3 player his third year in the league and he doesn't have Noels talent. All while facing similar strength and weight issues.

[DANNYLANDOVER]

Noel is too skinny and his frame is very slender so its unlikely he adds enough weight to defend centers. As a PF he is strictly a energy big who has limited offensive capabilities. He will be a fine player in the NBA, but his limitations will prevent him from being a starter and limit him to super sub status.

Porter at least has the tools to be a starting SF and doesn't seem to have many glaring weaknesses other than his lateral quickness. I'd say as far as NBA prospects go both guys were worth picking at three and I'm not upset we passed on Noel.


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How do you know that he won't become a better shooter? I'm pretty sure most 19yr old big men that have been drafted weren't good shooters either.

Porter doesn't have any glaring weaknesses except lateral quickness? I guess he was knocking down open shots and handling the ball well in his few minutes last season.

[dckingsfan]

Noel is too skinny and his frame is very slender so its unlikely he adds enough weight to defend centers. As a PF he is strictly a energy big who has limited offensive capabilities. He will be a fine player in the NBA, but his limitations will prevent him from being a starter and limit him to super sub status.

Not sure I agree with this assessment - I think really good defensive PFs have an important starting role on many teams. I think next to Embiid he will look very good - especially since his shooting has improved.

[stevemcqueen1]

Have none of yall seen Larry Sanders play basketball or something

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

quickness , anticipation, and defensive IQ can make up for a lack of strength, and that's without even talking about defensive schemes that can help him

offensively he looks better than I thought he would...he's so quick and wirey that its hard to get a hold of him or slow him down on his first step

Sanders is skinny but he isn't as skinny as Noel. He's got a wider body with some muscle on him. Noel looks like a kid. His shoulders and legs and wrists are so small. He'll never be but so big.

And Sanders has problems guarding the large bigs too.

I think there are legit questions about Noel's size at the 5. You can only do so much if you don't have the body. But I don't think he has the offensive skill set to play PF yet.

If he could shoot a jumper, it'd change his position to PF completely. But I don't see him being there yet. I think the only way he'll contribute on offense for the next few years is by having some sort of face up game and by being a garbage man. It took Noah a long time to become a good offensive player with a workable jumper too.

[stevemcqueen1]

The best argument for not drafting Noel is that he won't really be effective throughout the duration of his rookie contract. If we want Noel, maybe the best option is to sign him as a RFA in 2017 after Philly has spent all that time and money developing him. Would Philly ultimately match a huge contract offer for Noel when they also have Embid on the roster?

This is a pretty absurd asumption. Larry Sanders was a 10, 10, and 3 player his third year in the league and he doesn't have Noels talent. All while facing similar strength and weight issues.

They weren't similar strength and weight issues. Sanders is clearly bigger and stronger than Noel.

Sanders also played at VCU for three years and came into the league at 22. His body was much closer to being able to handle the NBA than Noel's.

[nate33]

For the record, I was very much in favor of drafting Noel and I blasted EG when they picked Porter. I'm just playing devil's advocate. I do think that Noel will not be a very effective NBA player for a few years. The real question is whether or not he will be obtainable as a RFA when his rookie contract expires.

[closg00]

This was one of the threads at the time, Noel wasn't even part of this poll.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=1252608

[Dat2U]

Noel can be a plus defensive player right away. I don't have any doubts about that. He's smart, is a hard worker and has lateral quickness unseen for his height. Noel will never be a muscle bound freak that uses his strength to outwill opponents... but he doesn't have to be.

Defensively, strength is overrated anyways... you need your bigs to rotate quickly and challenge shooters. Noel will excel at this. He might get scored on a bit by bigger and stronger Cs like Pekovic & Gortat but his team defense will be a positive very early on.

[GhostsOfGil]

This was one of the threads at the time, Noel wasn't even part of this poll.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=1252608

I was absolutely furious when the Wizards passed on Noel. From that thread:

"Based off Dr Andrew's public statements and Chad Ford's inside scoop, the story is Noel's knee was fine. Dr Andrew's said that he emailed Noel's health report and said "There was no feedback from any team doctors" (outside Clev, who also reported his knee was fine). Teams passed on him simply because there were concerns about his ability to contribute this year. (according to Ford)

I posted this on the draft thread but Ford also said Washington wanted to make the playoffs this year and their draft pick was heavily influenced by this.

These comments came from the Bill Simmons podcast that was release this past Tuesday."

If this is true, its infuriating especially since the "underweight, injury concerns, nba readiness" issues actually apply to Porter

[Higga]

Summer League is the most meaningless exhibition in sports. It's worse than pre-season football and spring training baseball.

[TGW]

Summer League is the most meaningless exhibition in sports. It's worse than pre-season football and spring training baseball.

Your sig is absolutely hilarious.

[keynote]

I agree that we should wait to see Porter 2.0 before lamenting too much. That being said: If we had drafted Noel, we might've had a chance to trade for Love. Granted, I think a CLE package including Wiggins > Nene/Noel, but Noel certainly has more trade value than Porter *at this particular moment*.

[Dat2U]

This was one of the threads at the time, Noel wasn't even part of this poll.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=1252608

I was absolutely furious when the Wizards passed on Noel. From that thread:

"Based off Dr Andrew's public statements and Chad Ford's inside scoop, the story is Noel's knee was fine. Dr Andrew's said that he emailed Noel's health report and said "There was no feedback from any team doctors" (outside Clev, who also reported his knee was fine). Teams passed on him simply because there were concerns about his ability to contribute this year. (according to Ford)

I posted this on the draft thread but Ford also said Washington wanted to make the playoffs this year and their draft pick was heavily influenced by this.

These comments came from the Bill Simmons podcast that was release this past Tuesday."

If this is true, its infuriating especially since the "underweight, injury concerns, nba readiness" issues actually apply to Porter

Good ol' Ernie...

[mhd]

It was a stupifying decision to pass on Noel for Porter. Noel was the undisputed #1 prospect last year. He'd be perfect this year as a defensive big for our team. I wish we had never moved up in the lottery. Perhaps we could have drafted Adams instead.