2019 Draft Thread Vol #3

[Jcool0]

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[Chi town]

I think both Zion and Lauri are PFs but in saying that I’d actually have more confidence in Zion guarding Cs than Lauri.

The idea of Lauri at C is nice but that defense would constantly get rocked.

Zion would be the rim protector at the 5 w Lauri.

[bullsnewdynasty]

I think Murray St will go down once they play a team with some legit size but Morant is proving that he is more than deserving of the hype. His court vision and athleticism is unreal.

[nomorezorro]

it would be kind of funny if morant struggled against florida state's length and really took the air out of all the hype from today's game

[Dan Z]

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"To the New York fans, I really appreciate the love and support," Williamson said, per Steve Serby of the New York Post. "If the Knicks did draft me, I would love to be there."

"I know that they're a very historic-like team. They have a lot of history based off of," he added when asked about the franchise. "I mean, if they draft me, it'd be an honor to play for them."

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2827091-zion-williamson-says-hed-love-to-play-for-knicks-if-they-take-him-in-nba-draft

[Hold That]

I think hypotheticals are fun, so here's one:

Bulls get the 1st pick and the Hawks get the 2nd pick.

Bulls draft Zion Williamson, Hawks draft Morant.

Hawks then offer Morant for Lauri Markannen.

Do you say yes?

Absolutely..

Morant and Zion running fast breaks could resemble prime Lebron/Wade Heat day’s

[Benedict Miller]

We're such a different team with Porter though. I believe our record is 9-10 since the trade. It looks like the 8th seed will win about 40 games this year. Our bench is completely abysmal. A full season with Porter + a competent bench seems like it would make us significantly better.

We're 9-10 during the dead parts of the season while having the 29th ranked defense since Feb. 1.

This team still is a ways off from being good. Maybe some quality vet signings in the offseason can change that, but I don't think it's a home run that the young nucleus leads the team to a postseason next season.

You still take wcj over Lauri?

[Benedict Miller]

...R.J. Barrett played some decent defense in the acc tournament in my opinion. I don't have any numbers to back that up, but he did fine in my eyes.

[Axolotl]

Odds to the Bulls being in a place to draft Morant are somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3. It is way more likely that Williamson and Morant are gone when the Bulls make their pick.

Williamson and Morant, for me, are clear now: if available, draft. So I'm more interested in whom to pick 3-7, and that's not clear to me at all.

[kingkirk]

You still take wcj over Lauri?

I'm probably one of the rare few who thinks WCJ has a higher ceiling than Markkanen, or at least will be the better and more complete player.

Further to that, I don't think Lauri can be a center. He's a PF in my eyes.

I think Zion's most logical position is PF, with spot minutes at C.

Factoring that in, if I had to pick my combination of Markkanen, Carter, and Zion, I choose Zion and Wendell and use them to build an elite defense.

[BullsInBuffalo]

I also think you guys are completely underselling the fact that Morant is built like a worm and would need time in the league before we can expect him to show out. Couple that with the fact that it will take time to work how all this will balance out in the offensive hierarchy, I can't buy into the logic that says the team will be playoff bound. They'd have to double their win count in order to do so.

That's significant.

Ja Morant is built like a house compared to Trea Young, and Young is balling. Yes, Young is doing a lot of damage from 3 but he’s also finishing in the trees. This isn’t 10 years ago. The game isn’t as physical. Would Morant need time to reach his potential in the nba? Yes, no doubt. Would he be completely overmatched by NBA eastern conference point guards physically? I don’t think so.

[WindyCityBorn]

it would be kind of funny if morant struggled against florida state's length and really took the air out of all the hype from today's game

He was already a top 3 pick before this game. You talk like he came out of nowhere. If any one one will struggle with length it will be his Felicio looking big men.

[WindyCityBorn]

You still take wcj over Lauri?

I'm probably one of the rare few who thinks WCJ has a higher ceiling than Markkanen, or at least will be the better and more complete player.

Further to that, I don't think Lauri can be a center. He's a PF in my eyes.

I think Zion's most logical position is PF, with spot minutes at C.

Factoring that in, if I had to pick my combination of Markkanen, Carter, and Zion, I choose Zion and Wendell and use them to build an elite defense.

I choose Morant and keep our excellent young frontcourt duo together. Markkanen will have a better career than Zion.

[Shill]

I think hypotheticals are fun, so here's one:

Bulls get the 1st pick and the Hawks get the 2nd pick.

Bulls draft Zion Williamson, Hawks draft Morant.

Hawks then offer Morant for Lauri Markannen.

Do you say yes?

[GimmeDat]

I also think you guys are completely underselling the fact that Morant is built like a worm and would need time in the league before we can expect him to show out. Couple that with the fact that it will take time to work how all this will balance out in the offensive hierarchy, I can't buy into the logic that says the team will be playoff bound. They'd have to double their win count in order to do so.

That's significant.

Ja Morant is built like a house compared to Trea Young, and Young is balling. Yes, Young is doing a lot of damage from 3 but he’s also finishing in the trees. This isn’t 10 years ago. The game isn’t as physical. Would Morant need time to reach his potential in the nba? Yes, no doubt. Would he be completely overmatched by NBA eastern conference point guards physically? I don’t think so.

Young also plays a much more finesse/shooting based game. He finishes, but he uses the gravity of his elite shooting, and is extremely high skill level in finishing/getting to the line. He's also a terrible defender. I would actually say Trae, despite being smaller, has a slightly bigger build also.

Morant's 170 pounds.. that's the same weight the lightest 6'3 player to ever play in the NBA and would make him the 2nd lightest player to appear on an NBA roster all of this season (Tyler Ulis being the lightest at 160lb but obviously he's like 5'8 as well as thin).

I don't think it's a red flag issue.. I mean Fox is having success this season and he's listed at 175lb, but I do think it will impair him at the next level and in particularly defensively he's not going to be able to handle anyone at that weight. He needs to bulk up, simple as that.

He has good finishing stats and he has good extension on both hands with his finishes, but his finishing efficiency is skewed by his proclivity to kill in transition at the college level, and he's had issues finishing in traffic in the half-court as his actual burst/elevation in traffic combined with the lack of strength has really hurt him. I feel like Ja's athleticism is a little bit overestimated because he's an insane highlight player, but some of the nuances of his athletic profile leave some to be desired. He also lacks an in-between game, no floater or pullup, he just drives relentlessly straight at defenders, so he's going to have trouble initially overcoming the fact that he's physically outmatched early in his career.

I don't see why he can't put on weight, I could see his end physique being similar to Dennis Schroder, which is an inevitably slight but much more filled out.

[GimmeDat]

The depth of bigs in this class is legit.

My man Kabengele with a big game (21 and 10), Bruno Fernando (14,13, 4, 2 and 2, he's going to be legit), Tillie (17 points and some good passing, has had a very interrupted season but a quality prospect). Even Jalen Smith played well (19/12 and a big poster dunk on Windler). Naz Reid's also put up 26/14 and 14/10 his last 2 games, he's super skilled offensively. Looked pretty slim/athletic for him in todays highlights as well.

[SfBull]

Say we get the 5th pick.

Are you giving up #5 and a Top-1 protected 2020 pick to move up for Morant?

Of course.

[SfBull]

I'd trade Lauri and 3 to get Zion and you should too.

I'd make that trade for Morant too.

[SfBull]

Say we get the 5th pick.

Are you giving up #5 and a Top-1 protected 2020 pick to move up for Morant?

Yes. Top 1 seems pretty extreme, but I’m a firm believer that if “the guy” is there then price tags go out the window. Especially with how close I think we are to being good. So you are probably talking about 5 and next year’s 10-16. So hell yes.

Close enough that we can be good adding Zion or Morant? I doubt it,we need improvement for the bench and in case of drafting Zion we need to add a real pg by free agency.

[GimmeDat]

I wouldn't necessarily say that Morant's a better prospect than Lauri, so I would not touch Lauri and 3 for Morant with a 10 foot pole. Would I do it for Zion, yes, because Zion's insane.

I don't think I'd do #5 and next years pick for Morant either, though it's tempting given how that pick may not be too valuable next year. Definitely a reasonable proposition.