Wendell Carter Jr - The Block Panther Edition

[League Circles]

I would take the motor of Carter instead of Knox right now. Times are still easy.

Anyway, guess what, my redraft is still the same

Ayton
Luka
Bagley
Bamba
Porter (if healthy)
Carter
Mikal

I can't redraft differently. Not yet. Not for awhile.

Well, you know that Porter isn't healthy, so I'd think you could bump him.

[AKfanatic]

I would take the motor of Carter instead of Knox right now. Times are still easy.

Anyway, guess what, my redraft is still the same

Ayton
Luka
Bagley
Bamba
Porter (if healthy)
Carter
Mikal

I can't redraft differently. Not yet. Not for awhile.

Well, you know that Porter isn't healthy, so I'd think you could bump him.

Just don’t bump him too hard, he may never recover

[fleet]

I would take the motor of Carter instead of Knox right now. Times are still easy.

Anyway, guess what, my redraft is still the same

Ayton
Luka
Bagley
Bamba
Porter (if healthy)
Carter
Mikal

I can't redraft differently. Not yet. Not for awhile.

Well, you know that Porter isn't healthy, so I'd think you could bump him.

I bumped him right b4 the draft when that last med report came out. But if healthy, all day long. He still may get himself together, and we will regret not trading up from 22. That was a reasonable long term risk to me

But right you are, my bad. In a re-draft he should be bumped. That was my draft list. I flip flopped on Mikal v Carter actually quite often in the last moments. Thinking at that point fit and talent was converging onto a choice of Mikal

[23-7]

He looks incredible, but Knox might have even more upside

Knox has more athleticism, but I'm not sure he was more upside. Carter is more skilled and I think slightly younger.

Knox is younger

[WindyCityBorn]

He looks incredible, but Knox might have even more upside

Knox has more athleticism, but I'm not sure he was more upside. Carter is more skilled and I think slightly younger.

Knox is younger

OK still super close in age and Carter way more skilled at this point.

[dougthonus]

I bumped him right b4 the draft when that last med report came out. But if healthy, all day long. He still may get himself together, and we will regret not trading up from 22. That was a reasonable long term risk to me

1: Every player has the potential to make you wish you traded for them if they work out. Porter is nothing different here, he could also fail and make a trade up for him look ridiculously stupid.

2: What do you think we have done to trade up? We didn't really have good assets to do a trade up.

[DanTown8587]

So this is weird but in a vacuum, I think Carter is a higher prospect than either Mikal Bridges or Kevin Knox but at 7, I'm probably going with one of those two guys over Carter due to the roster makeup and how I think you're going to win with the team you have and the players you're hopeful to get.

[kulaz3000]

So this is weird but in a vacuum, I think Carter is a higher prospect than either Mikal Bridges or Kevin Knox but at 7, I'm probably going with one of those two guys over Carter due to the roster makeup and how I think you're going to win with the team you have and the players you're hopeful to get.

Over the roster make up? Please explain.

I say this because I think Carter is almost a perfect fit besides Lauri. Carter does almost everything that Lauri doesn't do at a high level yet, which is blocking shots, rim protection and rebounding. I think they are going to compliment each other extremely well for years to come.

That said, the glaring missing piece along those two front court pieces is a very good play-making point guard. This isn't a knock on Dunn, because he is valuable and has skills, but play-making and feel for the game isn't exactly one of his greatest strengths. To be clear, I'm not saying he isn't a willing passer, but he isn't a natural play-maker, you wouldn't call him a point guard who has a great feel for the game, and even now, one of the ways he gets himself going on the offensive end is to get his own shot and his passing game follows.

Why it's super critical for the Bulls to keep an eye out on the market for a point guard is because it looks like our greatest assets currently are our two big men, and as history shows all really good big men need a really good point guard to compliment them, to pass them the ball where they are most comfortable, to create opportunities for them etc. Someone like Nash, Rondo, etc. would be perfect for this youth movement to continue to flourish and grow, not only as individuals but as a team.

[Flopper]

I know the Al Horford comparison gets thrown around alot, but Horford has always been viewed as a mediocre (at best) defensive rebounder and shot blocker. If what we see now translates to the regular season, then Carter is a completely different player in that regard.

[fleet]

I bumped him right b4 the draft when that last med report came out. But if healthy, all day long. He still may get himself together, and we will regret not trading up from 22. That was a reasonable long term risk to me

1: Every player has the potential to make you wish you traded for them if they work out. Porter is nothing different here, he could also fail and make a trade up for him look ridiculously stupid.

His talent makes him a special case imo. Worth the risk. And his talent also makes the potential to make you wish you traded for him much more likely than any other player avail at that point. If healthy.

2: What do you think we have done to trade up? We didn't really have good assets to do a trade up.

I don't know Doug. I support the promise to Hutchison. At the same time, the reason a trade up was impossible was the promise more than inability.

[kulaz3000]

I know the Al Horford comparison gets thrown around alot, but Horford has always been viewed as a mediocre (at best) defensive rebounder and shot blocker. If what we see now translates to the regular season, then Carter is a completely different player in that regard.

I never liked the Al Horford comparisons, because I always felt he was more of a natural power forward coming into the league than a player who could man the middle. Don't get me wrong, he did well out of necessity playing for the Hawks, but I feel Carter is a more natural big man with better defensive instincts than what Horford had when he was younger.

It's not a terrible comparison though, and I don't hate it. I'm going to go into the way back machine, but he reminds me a lot of Elvin Hayes, slightly undersized, but had good athletic ability, lots of lengths. Very good scorer, tenacious rebounder and very good shot blocker. Now I'm comparing him to one of the greatest big men of all time, but in terms of size, and the abilities that he has on both ends of the floor, I like that comparison. Maybe even Rasheed Wallace, but Sheed was never the rebounder that Carter can be.

[dougthonus]

His talent makes him a special case imo. Worth the risk. And his talent also makes the potential to make you wish you traded for him much more likely than any other player avail at that point. If healthy.

Just as an FYI, a lot of guys who are ranked highly in HS go on to college and then fall tremendously in draft status, in this sense, his talent really hasn't been confirmed on as high a level as everyone drafted. When you add caveats like "if healthy" then it also just throws away the rest too, because we know he's not healthy.

Maybe he'll get healthy, and maybe he'll be a stud. Only time will tell. If he's a complete nobody in the NBA and Hutchison ends up great will you ever give a second thought to the idea that you wish we had traded Hutchison for Porter?

I don't know Doug. I support the promise to Hutchison. At the same time, the reason a trade up was impossible was the promise more than inability.

Assume there is no promise. What do the Bulls trade to move from 22 to 14? Maybe that's not even possible because Denver loved him, and you'd have to move up to 12 or 13 which also may have been hard, who knows.

We do know no one else traded up either, and the Clippers passed on him twice. Teams like Charlotte and Cleveland that really need star talent for rebuilding also passed. If the Bulls are wrong, they'll have plenty of company.

[RedBulls23]

Talent over fit is always the right move. People think selecting WCJ was the safe pick/move, but with MPJ's back issues, he was the best prospect left imo.

[Taikuri]

I don't mind getting 7th pick again next year.

[dougthonus]

Maybe even Rasheed Wallace, but Sheed was never the rebounder that Carter can be.

At this point in his career, I don't think Carter is anywhere near as skilled as Rasheed Wallace. Wallace seemed more athletic and lengthier as well though that may have just been because he played PF and the era he was in.

[dougthonus]

Talent over fit is always the right move. People think selecting WCJ was the safe pick/move, but with MPJ's back issues, he was the best prospect left imo.

I'd also always go with talent too. I think WCJ has a much better chance of making an all-star team than MPJ does. I think MPJ probably has a better chance of being a top 10 player in the NBA but I also think the odds of that are extremely small.

So which has more talent?

[logical_art]

It's good to see him a little slimmer and more mobile. Still don't think he's quick twitch enough to be among the elite perimeter defenders as a big, and don't like the twin towers model in today's NBA unless you have one of those elite mobile modern bigs, which neither he nor Lauri have the athleticism to become.

[RedBulls23]

Talent over fit is always the right move. People think selecting WCJ was the safe pick/move, but with MPJ's back issues, he was the best prospect left imo.

I'd also always go with talent too. I think WCJ has a much better chance of making an all-star team than MPJ does. I think MPJ probably has a better chance of being a top 10 player in the NBA but I also think the odds of that are extremely small.

So which has more talent?

I'm not that high on mpj in general, but I get why some people see it in him.

I'd say Carter has the highest upside.

[Kurt Heimlich]

Talent over fit is always the right move. People think selecting WCJ was the safe pick/move, but with MPJ's back issues, he was the best prospect left imo.

I'd also always go with talent too. I think WCJ has a much better chance of making an all-star team than MPJ does. I think MPJ probably has a better chance of being a top 10 player in the NBA but I also think the odds of that are extremely small.

So which has more talent?

You're making that "better chance of being a top 10 player" potential based off of high school production and hype. We havent seen MPJ play on the same level we've seen WCJ. And MPJ has had some things happen to him that are fair to say have sent him backwards since high school.

So the comparison is hypothetical talent vs observable talent. At this point theres a greater than 50% chance WCJ has better talent remaining, IMO. In addition to the obviously better right now talent.

[logical_art]

On the other hand, someone brought up the TD comparison. Obviously that's super ambiTious, but just maybe he's got the BBall IQ, work ethic, skill, coordination, solid athleticism and size to be dominant big even if he doesn't have dominant physical traits. In that case, modern big/Lauri pairing be damned.