NBA Draft 2018 6.0: Lucky #7 and 22.

[NecessaryEvil]

Kinda figured I'd been right all along, if no Bamba

MPJ then Mikal as the 2nd choice. Paxson didn't hide his yearning for a forward at all

Mikal Bridges is likely our pick at #7

This was my first thought when I first started to dig into the draft process. Boring pick, but he fits a huge need and adds shooting that, at least statistically, is better than Klay Thompson's final year in college. What I love is how he can be impactful on offense without needing to dominate the basketball, and really just what an outstanding defender he will be for us. Dunn and Bridges should be more than enough to offset the defensive liabilities that LaVine and Markkanen present.

He's SCARY good on defense with his length. He's super passionate and a great dunker

Best defnder in the top 10 outside of Bamba so I'm happy about Mikal for sure...

[Dresden]

As for Bridges, he may not be the sexiest pick, and doesn't have superstar potential, but he could develop into a 10 year nba starter, and that's pretty good for a #7 pick. He's got the two skills most coveted in the nba right now- 3 pt shooting, and ability to defend multiple positions at a high level. He could easily be a Clay Thompson like player- not a #1 option, maybe not even a #2, but a very good #3 who also gives you great D. And he doesn't have as much bust potential as a lot of other guys.

With guys like Young or Bamba or Sexton, you may have a higher chance at hitting a home run, but you have a much higher chance at striking out, too. Mikal is like a solid double off the wall. Maybe Paxson is thinking he'd rather take that, and slowly build the team up, than risk the strikeout, and get nothing out of the pick.

[BahamaBull]

Kinda figured I'd been right all along, if no Bamba

MPJ then Mikal as the 2nd choice. Paxson didn't hide his yearning for a forward at all

Mikal Bridges is likely our pick at #7

This was my first thought when I first started to dig into the draft process. Boring pick, but he fits a huge need and adds shooting that, at least statistically, is better than Klay Thompson's final year in college. What I love is how he can be impactful on offense without needing to dominate the basketball, and really just what an outstanding defender he will be for us. Dunn and Bridges should be more than enough to offset the defensive liabilities that LaVine and Markkanen present.

He's SCARY good on defense with his length. He's super passionate and a great dunker

Best defnder in the top 10 outside of Bamba so I'm happy about Mikal for sure...

I like Mikal...

The problem with Mikal is timing. Hes not the pick I want on year #1 of rebuilding. His ceiling is not that high and hes already 22. You should take risks on the first year of a rebuilding imo.

[holv03]

Woj and Shams are the only people I trust breaking any kind of insider news. The rest we should all read and enjoy, but don't look too far into them.

Bridges would be fine at 7.

Marc Stein is also a very good source.

[TheSuzerain]

Mikal doesn't have the size/weight to guard 4's or even star 3's. His closest physical doppelganger in the league honestly might be Justin Holiday.

You want guys like Mikal Bridges on your team. You don't want to use a top 10 pick to draft them.

[Truebiscuit]

Bridges checks off all the boxes, he isn't Bamba(bigger name) but he has the tools to be an All NBA defender with the abilty to knock down 3 pointers at a 40% clip.

He has been by guy since the college season. Would be extremely happy with him at #7.

People want to bag on his age, too, but again if you compare him to Klay Thompson you'll see that Bridges is 5 months older than Thompson was when he was drafted. Big-freaking-whoop.

[Poohdini1]

Kinda figured I'd been right all along, if no Bamba

MPJ then Mikal as the 2nd choice. Paxson didn't hide his yearning for a forward at all

Mikal Bridges is likely our pick at #7

This was my first thought when I first started to dig into the draft process. Boring pick, but he fits a huge need and adds shooting that, at least statistically, is better than Klay Thompson's final year in college. What I love is how he can be impactful on offense without needing to dominate the basketball, and really just what an outstanding defender he will be for us. Dunn and Bridges should be more than enough to offset the defensive liabilities that LaVine and Markkanen present.

He's SCARY good on defense with his length. He's super passionate and a great dunker

Best defnder in the top 10 outside of Bamba so I'm happy about Mikal for sure...

At 7 though? If we had a team with stars like Philly I'd be more than fine with it, but he'd essentially be our 2nd or 3rd core piece. His ceiling isn't close to what we need to be a great team down the line.

[Simpleton]

I'd be very happy with Mikal at 7, not thrilled exactly, but happy in the same way that I would be with Carter. I'd rather take him over Porter, I can tell you that much, and perhaps Young as well.

At any rate, if we do indeed take Bridges we'd be set up well for a ball-dominant facilitator to come in and flourish with a prototype 3+D and stretch 4 already on the roster, and perhaps a secondary ball-handler/top level defender in Dunn.

Find that alpha creator in the next 2 years, preferably a wing, and the team would really be set up nicely. Of course I'd be fine if that type of player was a PG as I'm not beholden to Dunn either unless he improves by leaps and bounds.

I don't think Lavine is really a long-term cornerstone piece unless he takes a drastic jump.

[TheSuzerain]

Other than historically good shooting, Klay is a very mediocre player. And I don't think anyone projects Mikal to be that good of a shooter.

[Dresden]

Mikal doesn't have the size/weight to guard 4's or even star 3's. His closest physical doppelganger in the league honestly might be Justin Holiday.

You want guys like Mikal Bridges on your team. You don't want to use a top 10 pick to draft them.

Then I guess Bamba is out, too, because he doesn't have the size or strength to guard centers or even most pf's.

There's no reason Bridges cannot get stronger. He may never be able to guard Lebron as well as say, Andre Igoudala does, but he'll be fine for most 3's, and a lot of 4's. His reach will help make up for whatever he lacks in strength in the beginning and he should get stronger as time goes on. He's not nearly the project physically that Bamba is going to be.

[NewEra21]

Watch on YouTube

[bpguimaraes23]

The problem with Bridges is not his age, is his ceiling. You don't tank to draft role players. You tank for the chance to draft a potential star. What good is a role player without a star to build around?

[Truebiscuit]

This was my first thought when I first started to dig into the draft process. Boring pick, but he fits a huge need and adds shooting that, at least statistically, is better than Klay Thompson's final year in college. What I love is how he can be impactful on offense without needing to dominate the basketball, and really just what an outstanding defender he will be for us. Dunn and Bridges should be more than enough to offset the defensive liabilities that LaVine and Markkanen present.

He's SCARY good on defense with his length. He's super passionate and a great dunker

Best defnder in the top 10 outside of Bamba so I'm happy about Mikal for sure...

I like Mikal...

The problem with Mikal is timing. Hes not the pick I want on year #1 of rebuilding. His ceiling is not that high and hes already 22. You should take risks on the first year of a rebuilding imo.

I understand your point, but I do want to point out that we have a 24 year old Kris Dunn, 23 year old Zach Lavine, and 21 year old Lauri Markkanen. If you find a 21 year old 3-and-D wing that is the perfect fit to your current core... why bypass that?

[Dresden]

Other than historically good shooting, Klay is a very mediocre player. And I don't think anyone projects Mikal to be that good of a shooter.

I think Steve Kerr would vehemently disagree with you, as would most GM's around the league. Klay is one of the best 2 way Sg's in the league.

[Poohdini1]

He's SCARY good on defense with his length. He's super passionate and a great dunker

Best defnder in the top 10 outside of Bamba so I'm happy about Mikal for sure...

I like Mikal...

The problem with Mikal is timing. Hes not the pick I want on year #1 of rebuilding. His ceiling is not that high and hes already 22. You should take risks on the first year of a rebuilding imo.

I understand your point, but I do want to point out that we have a 24 year old Kris Dunn, 23 year old Zach Lavine, and 21 year old Lauri Markkanen. If you find a 21 year old 3-and-D wing that is the perfect fit to your current core... why bypass that?

Because Dunn & Lavine aren't stars and would probably start on only 2-3 teams in the league.

[Ralphb07]

Woj, Shams and Stein are the best IMO. Draft wise Jonathan Giovany is good as well

[TheSuzerain]

Mikal doesn't have the size/weight to guard 4's or even star 3's. His closest physical doppelganger in the league honestly might be Justin Holiday.

You want guys like Mikal Bridges on your team. You don't want to use a top 10 pick to draft them.

Then I guess Bamba is out, too, because he doesn't have the size or strength to guard centers or even most pf's.

There's no reason Bridges cannot get stronger. He may never be able to guard Lebron as well as say, Andre Igoudala does, but he'll be fine for most 3's, and a lot of 4's. His reach will help make up for whatever he lacks in strength in the beginning and he should get stronger as time goes on. He's not nearly the project physically that Bamba is going to be.

There is a reason Bridges cannot get stronger, it's called frame. He's got a slight one.

Also, Bamba has an outlier frame in terms of dimensions. Bridges has a pretty standard height/wingspan for a wing these days. Nice wingspan but not a freak among the NBA.

I like Bridges as a supporting piece. But he'd basically have nothing to support in Chicago.

[Poohdini1]

If we're set on going SF at 7, Knox or Miles are much better, higher upside options than Mikal.

[blicka]

Giovany lost credibility after this terrible take on ben simmons 2 years

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/why-ben-simmons-isn-t-the-top-prospect-in-the-2016-nba-draft-190023711.html

Looks even worse now. Another reason why I don't buy doncic hype, giovany been pushin him hard

[TheSuzerain]

If we're set on going SF at 7, Knox or Miles are much better, higher upside options than Mikal.

At that point, just draft Zhaire Smith. He'll be a physical outlier even at the NBA level. And unlike Knox he actually knows what to do with it.