2018 Draft Thread #6

[d boy gentleman]

Drafting eighth doesn't seem that bad. It wouldn't be surprising at all if someone like Wendell Carter, Collin Sexton, or Mikal Bridges turned out to be one of the best players in this draft.

That would be incredibly surprising.

But it's not surprising that fans are trying to rationalize the tank failures.

What, you want guys to throw games? It may be the M.O. of the front office, but no players are going to be pro-tank. Even the teams with worse records players are at least trying. I don't mind if the team is simply getting their teeth kicked in because the other team is simply better despite playing hard. Yeah, you want to have the best draft pick position possible, but you don't want to create a losing culture and habits.

[Red Larrivee]

Drafting eighth doesn't seem that bad. It wouldn't be surprising at all if someone like Wendell Carter, Collin Sexton, or Mikal Bridges turned out to be one of the best players in this draft.

I don't care for Sexton that much, but I like Bridges and Carter. Both are solid two-way players. If you are picking at 8, at the very least you just want to hit on a pick. So players like Carter and Bridges are good options. Knox may be as well.

I still feel like there is no clear-cut star in this draft. It's really anyone's guess to who becomes that player.

[NDave79]

Watch on YouTube

I think Mikal has more upside than the general consensus around the web seems to think.

Yeah, I don't see a ball dominant, number 1 scorer on a playoff team upside, but their are plenty of non-ball dominant "stars".

- His defense really is as good as advertised. At one point (maybe he still does) he was the no. 1 defender in the country when it came to "field goal percentage against" this year (can't find the tweet). His coach said he is the best defender he has ever coached. His combination of effort, IQ and tools on the defensive end is fairly special imo.

https://www.vuhoops.com/2017/10/24/16528670/villanova-news-links-mikal-bridges-profile-potential-nba

- The development of his shooting the last few years has been incredible.

Per 40 minute development of his 3

Fr. 3.8 attempts .299%
So. 4.2 attempts .393%
Jr. 7.2 attempts .420%

- He is showing signs of developing into a big time threat when shooting on the move.

https://www.thestepien.com/2018/02/21/mikal-bridges-wing-shot-diversity/

- He's excellent at finishing at the rim.

https://www.thestepien.com/2017/11/06/2018-nba-draft-primer-mikal-bridges-low-usage-wunderkind/

- His advanced numbers are ridiculous.

- He has very nice tools for a NBA wing.

- He has shown to have an excellent work ethic.

- He has shown to have a high BBIQ.

He's one of the best, most impactful players in the country, but this isn't a Mcdermott, Morrison, or Jimmer situation. He has the tools to keep improving for long time imo.

[sco]

I think that drafting a SF other than Porter (maybe) is a fail. I think the position is changing to be the anti-stretch PF. "Good" SF's are the bane of winning a championship. Unless you can find a 6-10+ freak athlete with elite defensive and 1-1 scoring skills, your gonna lose the match-up game against LBJ, KD, Kawhi and PG (and Simmons)...it's a fail.

My goal is to find a great defensive PF or C to play alongside Lauri and home we can entice a disgruntled stud SF to come be our final piece in a year.

[Red Larrivee]

I think that drafting a SF other than Porter (maybe) is a fail. I think the position is changing to be the anti-stretch PF. "Good" SF's are the bane of winning a championship. Unless you can find a 6-10+ freak athlete with elite defensive and 1-1 scoring skills, your gonna lose the match-up game against LBJ, KD, Kawhi and PG (and Simmons)...it's a fail.

My goal is to find a great defensive PF or C to play alongside Lauri and home we can entice a disgruntled stud SF to come be our final piece in a year.

But Porter isn't a freak athlete, nor does he have elite defensive skills.

[realEAST]

Drafting Miles Bridges would be the worst case scenario if it happens with the Bulls pick. Unless his measurments grew substantially this year he is the worst kind of tweener. His ball handling is really really bad and he won’t stretch the floor at all. He is going to struggle mightily at the NBA level if he plays the 3. He’s really too small to impact the game at the 4 defensively as well. He’ll look good in transition and have some cool dunks but he’s going to need a Steve Nash-esque pg to really make an impact offensively. If he is best player available at our pick, that is the easiest trade back decision I’ve seen in a while. The NCAA game is so different that you need to look at his NBA skills and right now he’s as raw an NBA prospect as anyone.

I don't know, he isn't bad shooter, he is hitting 37% for 3pt on 5.5 atts per game, and shoots FTs 88%. His handle is rudimentary but developing, he is capable of creating his own pull up shot efficiently at NCAA level, and is great finishing at rim. If his handles keep developing, and he seems to work on them, he could be pretty interesting player. And imo he can handle 3 slot defensively pretty good, so he at least has makings of high level 3&D player.

[kodo]

Mikal isn't a good pick for gambling on your #1 option on a championship team like Lebron, Kobe, Curry, etc.. But picking at #9 or #10 maybe we throw that out the window and "settle" for getting our defensive stud.

Being drafted older hasn't been a problem for drafting great defensive players. Draymond was a Senior. Kawhi a sophomore. Rudy Gobert was 21. Jimmy Butler was a Junior.

I'd be OK w/ Mikal from that perspective, it does bring up if we're going to have to tank even harder next season. Seems impossible without holding the youngsters back.

[IcemanGervin]

The failed tank of this season will haunt this franchise for the next 10 years unless Anthony Davis magically decides to come home or that 8-10 pick is much better than predicted. The current ceiling of this group with a player in the 8-10 range looks like a perennial 5-6 seed at best.

[IcemanGervin]

Mikal isn't a good pick for gambling on your #1 option on a championship team like Lebron, Kobe, Curry, etc.. But picking at #9 or #10 maybe we throw that out the window and "settle" for getting our defensive stud.

Being drafted older hasn't been a problem for drafting great defensive players. Draymond was a Senior. Kawhi a sophomore. Rudy Gobert was 21. Jimmy Butler was a Junior.

I'd be OK w/ Mikal from that perspective, it does bring up if we're going to have to tank even harder next season. Seems impossible without holding the youngsters back.

lottery reform kicks in for the 2019 draft so tanking in theory shouldn't matter

[NDave79]

The failed tank of this season will haunt this franchise for the next 10 years unless Anthony Davis magically decides to come home or that 8-10 pick is much better than predicted. The current ceiling of this group with a player in the 8-10 range looks like a perennial 5-6 seed at best.

Maybe, but that's assuming our top 4-ish pick is better than Tyrus, Tyson, Gordon, Jay Williams (who knows what would have happened without the accident, but I didn't see top 10 player type upside), Fizer and Curry (players we picked between 2 and 4 since the dynasty).

[kodo]

Drafting Miles Bridges would be the worst case scenario if it happens with the Bulls pick. Unless his measurments grew substantially this year he is the worst kind of tweener. His ball handling is really really bad and he won’t stretch the floor at all. He is going to struggle mightily at the NBA level if he plays the 3.

A tweener is a PF in college who shifts to SF in the NBA but can't produce because he's been a low post players all his life and has trouble shooting nor can he keep up athletically. The prototype tweener is Doug McDermott. Miles Bridges has very little in common with Doug.

Bridges vs Klay Thompson vs Harden shooting stats as soph's:
37% on 5.5 attempts per game, 88% FT shooter
36% on 6.7 attempts per game, 80% FT shooter
35% on 4.7 attempts per game, 75% FT shooter

And Bridges' shots aren't easy wide open assisted shots either, he's often taking them contested and often unassisted. When he was more assisted & left open his freshman year, he shot 39%. Bridges is also a lot better than most 3P specialists at backdoor cuts and punishing defenders for overplaying his 3. He's not just a Ryan Anderson. He has a complete off-ball wing game, he's probably more dangerous cutting than being left open.

Bridges probably has everything the prototypical SF in the NBA needs. Let's keep in mind guys like Lebron & Giannis are generational and positionless.

A normal top 3 drafted NBA Small Forward success story is Otto Porter.... and Bridges will be drafted 12-15.

[kodo]

lottery reform kicks in for the 2019 draft so tanking in theory shouldn't matter

It's no reform, and it's makes it easier to tank not harder.

It just means better odds for all tanking teams 2-14, and slightly worse but still best odds for team #1.

As far as most are concerned, it opens the door wider for tanking because now you're odds of getting a top 3 pick are better unless you are the absolute worst team in the league. Bulls were never going to be that.

[Dresden]

The failed tank of this season will haunt this franchise for the next 10 years unless Anthony Davis magically decides to come home or that 8-10 pick is much better than predicted. The current ceiling of this group with a player in the 8-10 range looks like a perennial 5-6 seed at best.

Well, the decision to go into the tank after the 1998 season pretty much doomed them to a decade of futility as well. People tend to think tanking is some magic pill that automatically turns you into the Spurs.

[Dresden]

lottery reform kicks in for the 2019 draft so tanking in theory shouldn't matter

It's no reform, and it's makes it easier to tank not harder.

It just means better odds for all tanking teams 2-14, and slightly worse but still best odds for team #1.

As far as most are concerned, it opens the door wider for tanking because now you're odds of getting a top 3 pick are better unless you are the absolute worst team in the league. Bulls were never going to be that.

It can't work for everybody though. While the odds are better for teams after the worst 5, teams that are worst 5 will have a much poorer chance at a top pick. So it's not going to make tanking more common, I don't think.

[CoreyVillains]

Drafting Miles Bridges would be the worst case scenario if it happens with the Bulls pick. Unless his measurments grew substantially this year he is the worst kind of tweener. His ball handling is really really bad and he won’t stretch the floor at all. He is going to struggle mightily at the NBA level if he plays the 3.

A tweener is a PF in college who shifts to SF in the NBA but can't produce because he's been a low post players all his life and has trouble shooting nor can he keep up athletically. The prototype tweener is Doug McDermott. Miles Bridges has very little in common with Doug.

Bridges vs Klay Thompson vs Harden shooting stats as soph's:
37% on 5.5 attempts per game, 88% FT shooter
36% on 6.7 attempts per game, 80% FT shooter
35% on 4.7 attempts per game, 75% FT shooter

And Bridges' shots aren't easy wide open assisted shots either, he's often taking them contested and often unassisted. When he was more assisted & left open his freshman year, he shot 39%. Bridges is also a lot better than most 3P specialists at backdoor cuts and punishing defenders for overplaying his 3. He's not just a Ryan Anderson. He has a complete off-ball wing game, he's probably more dangerous cutting than being left open.

Bridges probably has everything the prototypical SF in the NBA needs. Let's keep in mind guys like Lebron & Giannis are generational and positionless.

A normal top 3 drafted NBA Small Forward success story is Otto Porter.... and Bridges will be drafted 12-15.

If you think that Bridges has anywhere near Klay and Harden’s shooting potential then I have a bridge to sell you.

I never compared him to Doug, though their offensive roles at the NBA level will probably be similar in that he’ll be sticking to cuts and open shots. His shooting percentages from 3 in college are not going to be similar in the NBA. He can probably be average at some point but the rest of his NBA game is so underdeveloped. Even good college shooters struggle with the NBA 3pt line when they make the jump. His defensive upside is limited by his measurables. He is going to have to slim down dramatically to be a full time 3 or beef up to be a 4. Again, he’s the bad tweener bc he doesn’t have an NBA skill set, you’re blinded by his college success.

[xpmar9x]

I think that drafting a SF other than Porter (maybe) is a fail. I think the position is changing to be the anti-stretch PF. "Good" SF's are the bane of winning a championship. Unless you can find a 6-10+ freak athlete with elite defensive and 1-1 scoring skills, your gonna lose the match-up game against LBJ, KD, Kawhi and PG (and Simmons)...it's a fail.

My goal is to find a great defensive PF or C to play alongside Lauri and home we can entice a disgruntled stud SF to come be our final piece in a year.

Def my plan A... but if Ayton, Bagley, Bamba, & JJJ are all off the board by our pick (likely?), Mikal is my plan B. Have to take a hard look at Wendall Carter though. Mikal Bridges may not be the "6'10+ athletic freak with elite defensive and 1-1 scoring skills", but there's maybe a handful of those players in the entire league. Bridges is 6'7+ w a 7+ wingspan, elite D, & a good 3 ball. Honestly, when I watch him play I see a Kwahi-lite.

[Red Larrivee]

The failed tank of this season will haunt this franchise for the next 10 years unless Anthony Davis magically decides to come home or that 8-10 pick is much better than predicted. The current ceiling of this group with a player in the 8-10 range looks like a perennial 5-6 seed at best.

Some of you need to go back to past drafts and educate yourself. You're acting like every player in the Top 6 or whatever is going to become some franchise-altering talent.

Whoever wins the lottery is going to have to correctly guess the franchise player out of a group of 6-7 popular names. Good luck.

[xpmar9x]

Drafting eighth doesn't seem that bad. It wouldn't be surprising at all if someone like Wendell Carter, Collin Sexton, or Mikal Bridges turned out to be one of the best players in this draft.

If we do end up 8th, say we want to move to 5th for saaaay Michael Porter, what does that cost us?

[RememberLu]

The failed tank of this season will haunt this franchise for the next 10 years unless Anthony Davis magically decides to come home or that 8-10 pick is much better than predicted. The current ceiling of this group with a player in the 8-10 range looks like a perennial 5-6 seed at best.

Some of you need to go back to past drafts and educate yourself. You're acting like every player in the Top 6 or whatever is going to become some franchise-altering talent.

Whoever wins the lottery is going to have to correctly guess the franchise player out of a group of 6-7 popular names. Good luck.

Some guys seem like a surer thing than others. I find it hard to believe Ayton is gonna bust in the league

[IcemanGervin]

The failed tank of this season will haunt this franchise for the next 10 years unless Anthony Davis magically decides to come home or that 8-10 pick is much better than predicted. The current ceiling of this group with a player in the 8-10 range looks like a perennial 5-6 seed at best.

Some of you need to go back to past drafts and educate yourself. You're acting like every player in the Top 6 or whatever is going to become some franchise-altering talent.

Whoever wins the lottery is going to have to correctly guess the franchise player out of a group of 6-7 popular names. Good luck.

I'm well aware