Official Draft Thread Part 2

[tcorbin]

It might just be because of the March Maddness hype but, it seems like their are more quality centers in this years draft then in the past.

Alex Len - not consistent, but has flashes of brilliance from time to time.

Cody Zeller - was not able to take the next step in his sophomore year, but still solid NBA prospect

Kelly Olynyk - soft, but has skills

Mason Plumlee - nothing spectacular except for his hustle and height

Rudy Gobert - French centers probably have the worst success rate of any demographic but he is still 7'1

Mitch McGary - A rich man's Ivan Johnson, undersize at center, but could maybe play center in a pinch

Lucas Nogueira - He is the definition of the word "project"

Steven Adams - A bigger project than Fab Melo last year

Gorgui Dieng - Solid defense, limited offense, slight possibility he could be another Dalembert

Jeff Withey - Just a "good" senior season, might not have NBA speed, but his ability to block on the college level is interesting.

[tcorbin]

I would still love to get Shabazz or Glen Robinson, if they fall, but getting a center is always useful.

Len or Cody would be great additions, but i think Plumlee, and McGary are more in the Hawks' range of draft position if Ferry's can't trade up. Dieng, Gobert, Nogueira, and Adams could also be taken, but would be huge gambles and i'm kind of tired of gambles.

[gurpilo]

I would still love to get Shabazz or Glen Robinson, if they fall, but getting a center is always useful.

Len or Cody would be great additions, but i think Plumlee, and McGary are more in the Hawks' range of draft position if Ferry's can't trade up. Dieng, Gobert, Nogueira, and Adams could also be taken, but would be huge gambles and i'm kind of tired of gambles.

I don't think Muhammad will fall some much, we could have some chances to get Robinson and after yesterday I think MCW could fall to us. With the other first we should DEFINATELY draft a a Center, Zeller and Len will be gone for sure and even before taking McGary and Plumlee I would take Adams, he is a true 7 footer with great ahtletic ability, sure he is a gamble but the reward could be great and we haven't had such a prospect since years

[tcorbin]

I would still love to get Shabazz or Glen Robinson, if they fall, but getting a center is always useful.

Len or Cody would be great additions, but i think Plumlee, and McGary are more in the Hawks' range of draft position if Ferry's can't trade up. Dieng, Gobert, Nogueira, and Adams could also be taken, but would be huge gambles and i'm kind of tired of gambles.

I don't think Muhammad will fall some much, we could have some chances to get Robinson and after yesterday I think MCW could fall to us. With the other first we should DEFINATELY draft a a Center, Zeller and Len will be gone for sure and even before taking McGary and Plumlee I would take Adams, he is a true 7 footer with great ahtletic ability, sure he is a gamble but the reward could be great and we haven't had such a prospect since years

the Hawks already have Teague, Jenkins, and Louis. I really don't see the appeal of MCW. he is a tall, unathletic PG who can't shoot, he reminds me more of Mardy Collins or Shaun Livingston, rather than Penny Hardaway. he could pan out, but i just don't have a good feeling about him.

i hope somebody falls, or Ferry can trade up, but if neither happen, i would rather go with McDermott, or McAdoo as possible long term (project) replacements for Korver or Josh, if things don't go well this summer in resigning free agents.

i think the Hawks should only look at guards in the second round. i like Jahii Carson and Erick Green as possible second round considerations (as possible insurance policies to Teague).

[gurpilo]

MCW is a big PG with great size and good defensive fundamentals, very good passer, still has to find consistency on his shooting. He is the kind of high risk-high reward player. He could be the backup for Teague and even with his size he could be on the court at the same time defending the opposing SG. If Porter or Robinson are gone I think he could be a very good addition, better than McDermott or McDoo, both are PF with not good abilities to play SF, we don't need another PF.

[parson]

Am I the only one who thinks Cody Zeller's 6'8" wingspan drops him way down on our list?

[tcorbin]

^ good if that causes him to drop to the Hawks. im more worried about hand size and ability to catch the ball, but if some GMs want to pass on him because of that, then good for us. He is no Larry Sanders, but his 8'10 reach is the same as Noah.

[dms269]

Sometimes I wonder who makes the nbadraft.net mocks. It has us taking Giannis Adetokoubo and then Dario Saric with our two firsts, both who are 6'9"/6'10" and who are combo forwards (sf/pf).

It has McGary, Nogueira, Adams, Dieng, Withey all going after us.

Both them and drafftexpress have us taking Snaer in the 2nd.

[theatlfan]

Sometimes I wonder who makes the nbadraft.net mocks. It has us taking Giannis Adetokoubo and then Dario Saric with our two firsts, both who are 6'9"/6'10" and who are combo forwards (sf/pf).

It has McGary, Nogueira, Adams, Dieng, Withey all going after us.

Both them and drafftexpress have us taking Snaer in the 2nd.

FYI, draftexpress doesn't have us taking anyone. At this point, the site just puts their Big Board out in order and has where the teams would draft next to it - there is no attempt to actually link the player with the team. I think the site will start doing mock drafts after the lottery.

I've never understood the thinking on nbadraft.net. While I appreciate the effort, there's a lot of head scratchers throughout their mocks. I think I saw one of theirs a few weeks ago that had us taking 4 G's with our picks with 3 of them being PGs. It's almost like whenever they have a guy that they think should be off the board in a particular area, then we're the team that takes him.

[parson]

They're selling their product. Fans read the reports that have their team drafting the interesting players. If they had us taking a good player, then NY or LA or CHI couldn't.

[gurpilo]

Well, at the moment Draftexpress has Goodwin and Steven Adams been drafted by Hawks at 18 and 20 wich I think would be a wonderful draft for us, on the 2nd they have us taking Snaer and Murphy, I think we should trade up to draft McDermott, Payne or CJ Leslie or some other player will fall to early 2nd round.

Goodwin has the tools to become a reliable starter at SG, I don't think Jenkins has it, he is a good shooter but I doubt he can be a reliable starter and Adams is the best prospect at Center we can get at that draft spot.

[theatlfan]

They're selling their product. Fans read the reports that have their team drafting the interesting players. If they had us taking a good player, then NY or LA or CHI couldn't.

Eh, it looks more like laziness. Maybe BRK getting McGary can be seen as playing to the fanbase, but CHI (McDermott), NYK (Nogueira), and LAC (Hardaway, Jr) aren't getting steals.

Case in point, the current mock looks like this:
8. OKC: Shabazz Muhammed, SF
9. MIN: Cody Zeller, PF/C
10. WSH: Victor Olapido, SG/SF
11. PHI: Kelly Olynyk, PF/C
12. PRT: Michael Carter-Williams, PG
13. DAL: Glenn Robinson, SF

Focusing specifically on picks 9-12, none of them make any sense in the current format, but if you shift them all one spot up, they all make sense (or, at least, more sense). It seems like they had the draft shifted one spot up, but at some point they realized that they forgot about Muhammed and just put him in going to #8 to OKC which pushed all the players down a spot (if you use their mock draft app, then you've seen this) - instead of redoing these slots, they just left them.

I can't say that this particular issue happens with every one of their mocks, but I've seen enough issue to think that there is simply an attitude of "put it out now, it'll change next week anyway".

[Geaux_Hawks]

Goodwin has kind of grown onto me after watching some of his games and finding out he has a 6'10 wingspan. That's a damn good looking prospect when you combine his athletic ability, slashing, unselfish play, youth, and upside together.

Steven Adams is the perfect prospect I have wanted the Hawks to get their hands on. A young, massive big with great athleticism and is very fluid unlike most bigs his size. Most importantly, he has a great foundation of skills. He showed he is still kind of raw on offense, but his work ethic will make that issue irrelevant.

Isaiah Austin could be a really good sleeper pick for us. He has the size and length to be a quality 5 once he gains some muscle. He has great range and skills that guys his size normally don't possess. Kind of reminds you of a young Pau. I been watching him since his high school days and think he will be a great fit for us.

Kelly Olynyk is another big with a great skill set. Probably won't even reach us since he is more NBA ready as a prospect than most of the bigs in the draft, and has nice offensive game. Can handle the ball and has a good awareness in the low post. One of the better passing bigs in the draft also. Defense may be his only downfall, but I think he is an adequate team defender.

Giannis seems like a really good international prospect. A point forward, with great defensive potential is what everybody wants on their team as a glue guy. Definitely someone we could use on the wing. I'm hoping he would slip into the 2nd round, so Ferry can work his magic and trade up for him.

All 4 of these guys are essentially my big board if they are there. I could mention others, but I don't see them dropping to us at our current positions in the draft.

[azuresou1]

No one else loving James McAdoo?

[Geaux_Hawks]

No one else loving James McAdoo?

He's interesting, but he isn't nothing like Josh Smith, who he is being compared to as a player. Not even the same realm as an athlete..

[tcorbin]

McAdoo, Adetokoubo, Kentavious, McDermott, Tony Mitchell, Leslie, Isaiah Austin, or even DeShaun Thomas are all fine mid to late first round picks.

they are all good prospects, nobody in college really stands out from one another. All have their own special skills, but also have their own risk as well.

anyway, it really has nothing to do with us. its all about Ferry, and after how he drafted last year, it looks like he tends to draft the best shooter. he had Jenkins, Perry, Wroten, Moultrie, Teague, Ezeli, Jeffery Taylor, Draymond Green, and Doron Lamb, but he picked the best shooter of the bunch in Jenkins (Unlike BK who loved rebounders and that is why he picked Childress, Sheldon, Josh, and Horford).

So if that is the case, it might be either McDermott, Tim Hardaway, or Isaiah Austin.

[tcorbin]

Here is an interesting question.

Mitch McGary vs Gorgui Dieng?

Zeller, Len, Adams, Plumlee, and Olynyk could all be gone by the time the Hawks make their selection.

so that leaves McGary and Dieng, or Gobert and Nogueira

both McGary and Dieng got a lot of national attention by making it to the championship game. both are not true 7 footers and both should be available to the Hawks in the middle of the first round. McGary is heavier than Dieng, but i have a suspicion that Dieng will have a higher standing reach when the combine numbers come out.

[Jamaaliver]

Here is an interesting question.

Mitch McGary vs Gorgui Dieng?

Zeller, Len, Adams, Plumlee, and Olynyk could all be gone by the time the Hawks make their selection.

both McGary and Dieng got a lot of national attention by making it to the championship game. both are not true 7 footers and both should be available to the Hawks in the middle of the first round. McGary is heavier than Dieng, but i have a suspicion that Dieng will have a higher standing reach when the combine numbers come out.

Man...Dieng and McGary both remind me of Fool's Gold.

Hope we can turn our two picks n the teens into one good lottery pick.

Either way, I fear both those guys are limited players who benefitted from being the last big men playing.

If I had to choose, Dieng. But I don't see starter in either player.

Now Gobert, that kid can be something special. I see a little Tyson Chandler in him.

[theatlfan]

anyway, it really has nothing to do with us. its all about Ferry, and after how he drafted last year, it looks like he tends to draft the best shooter. he had Jenkins, Perry, Wroten, Moultrie, Teague, Ezeli, Jeffery Taylor, Draymond Green, and Doron Lamb, but he picked the best shooter of the bunch in Jenkins (Unlike BK who loved rebounders and that is why he picked Childress, Sheldon, Josh, and Horford).

So if that is the case, it might be either McDermott, Tim Hardaway, or Isaiah Austin.

I don't know if Ferry's decision last year had more to do with the fact that he was trying to fill a hole that he saw (not enough shooting and he already had some preliminary talks about dealing JJ) or if this is really what we should be expecting going forward. I do think that Ferry will hold the ability to shoot in high regard, but I just don't know if that will be the focus going forward.

Here is an interesting question.

Mitch McGary vs Gorgui Dieng?

It will be interesting to see what are options are for a big come D-Day. I agree that we should target a big with one of the 1sts, but there will be some movement between now and D-Day as well. I could see McGary, Dieng, and the off-scene names of Stephen Adams (who I'd actually vote for in the question posed here) and Jeff Withey climbing up the boards squeezing someone else out. McGary has an interesting skill set and is a big-bodied, high energy big and that is coveted; Dieng and Withey could be viewed as high floor / an immediate contributor at the C position albeit in a backup role in both the short and long term; Adams has the highest upside of the 4 but is the furthest away from that ceiling today. Who would get squeezed out? parson mentioned Zeller's T-Rex arms but falling all the way to us would be a precipitous drop. We've had discussions earlier in this thread about Olynyk and Plumlee and those are 2 candidates as well. I have no idea what to think of Austin, but his bloodlines and skills are intriguing. I'm thinking this conversation could (and, all things considered, probably should) continue all the way up to the announcement of our selections.

[gurpilo]

Here is an interesting question.

Mitch McGary vs Gorgui Dieng?

Zeller, Len, Adams, Plumlee, and Olynyk could all be gone by the time the Hawks make their selection.

so that leaves McGary and Dieng, or Gobert and Nogueira

both McGary and Dieng got a lot of national attention by making it to the championship game. both are not true 7 footers and both should be available to the Hawks in the middle of the first round. McGary is heavier than Dieng, but i have a suspicion that Dieng will have a higher standing reach when the combine numbers come out.

Adams ahead of both, by far.