heir_jordan22 wrote:GimmeDat wrote:This is a PG heavy lottery this year, and with Sato contributing so little so far (I am expecting him to pick it up, maybe it's a role/usage thing as well, but it's still appears clear that he's not a high level starter), I think it would make the most sense for us to go PG.
I would say that our other need is the wing, given Otto's health issues and upcoming contract uncertainty, plus the complete lack of depth there at the moment, though the choices for wings seems more scarce at this stage.
Obviously you take BPA, but just some things to keep in mind.
Draft twitter has Cole Anthony as #1. He's an absolute stud, and likely the best PG in the draft.
Anthony Edwards is my personal #1 - he's a wing but just has super upside tools. He's a guy that, if he has a good college season, might be someone you would consider as a 'can't miss' if you have the opportunity to draft him, needs thrown out the window.
Wiseman has been highly touted by the big outlets as the #1 big, but all of draft twitter is super low on him. With our bigs position as it is as well, he's not exactly high on my radar at his point.
LaMelo is an interesting one. I've watched all his games so far this season. He is an absolutely gifted passer, just beautiful to watch, and he's been doing it with minimal turnovers so far as well. Great PG size, an incredibly tight handle, speed, excellent rebounder - he's going really elevate his teams transition play in particular. However, he's shooting around 18% from 3 so far, and his defense kinda sucks at the moment (though he's got a good knack for steals). Those are 2 major flaws right now. But what skills he does have right now, you can't teach. High upside.
Beyond those guys, you have Avdija, really like his game, probably going to be more of a role player forward, but great feel/passing, Stewart is another good big and Makur Maker has applied to be in this draft as well which would add another strong big man.
RJ Hampton, Theo Maledon, Tyrese Maxey, Nicco Mannion, Killian Hayes, Tre Mann some of the other PG lottery names.
Wings - Scottie Lewis, Jaden McDaniels, Isaac Okoro, Jaden McDaniels some notable ones.
Did you mean to say Wiseman isn't on your radar because the Bulls have Markkanen and Carter Jr? I really hope that's a consensus hot take on this board. Especially considering you went on to say (I think) that you would take Ball even though the Bulls have 4 or 5 PGs on the roster.
Well I think it goes without saying that team needs is not the primary reason you don't draft someone - I just tacked that on at the end as an added incentive not to log jam the position when we have our C of the future already on the roster. Markkanen's obviously not a lock for anything going forward given his play this season, but it's a non-factor, because Wiseman is not a PF.
But if we do want to discuss the needs line of thinking, I'm not sure how you can watch this season and see that PG (along with SF, assuming you take Otto out of the equation) as our biggest need.
Who are our PG's on the roster right now, let's break it down -
Sato - He's a multi-positional guard, and a solid 3rd guard, but not a starter. His lack of volume play or ability to attack the defense and create opportunities for himself or others has been a major reason our offense has struggled as much as it has.
Arci - Definitely not someone you factor into any needs equations, he's a fringe roster type guy. Gives his all, and you want guys like that on the roster, but a 3rd stringer at best and has only had any meaningful role on our team over the last few years due to the sheer lack of competency at the position.
That's it. White's not a PG, and I'm as pessimistic as ever that he'll ever be one. While we suck it might be a sound strategy to try and play him some minutes at PG to help develop those capabilities, like Lavine was used in his rookie season in Minnesota, but it's ultimately not his game, and even that would be to the detriment of everyone else on the courts development, so I'm not really for it. He's undersized for the position, but for intents and purposes, he's a shooting guard.
And Dunn has had the most successful season of his career not playing PG. I figure we'd shifted perspective on that by now. He's closer to being a PG than White, but the turnover issues and lack of scoring gravity hurt his ability in that position.
There's no more meaningful change we could make to this roster than adding high level PG play to this roster. That's why I consider it our #1 need.
Would I take Ball? I didn't say anything either way in my initial post. The answer would be, it depends whose on the board. My board, right now, would be as follows, give or take some to-ing and fro-ing
1. Edwards (just)
2. Hayes
3. Haliburton
4. Anthony
5. Ball
With a group of Wiseman, Okongwu, Okoro, Hampton, Maxey, Avdija to follow, in no particular order.
That's without any team needs brought in to the discussion, just a big board.
Wiseman's just been overrated in high school because he was a dominant athlete. That whole tier of bigs in the 2018 draft - Ayton, Bagley, Carter, JJJ (we'll exclude Bamba, haha), were all considerably better prospects than Wiseman, imo.
He has his merit, absolutely, and I would take him in the top 10, no doubt, but I simply don't think he's as good as many think he is. Not a high level of feel, not a high skill level, mixed bag as a defender, etc.
But hey, people value different players differently. Similarly, I'm gobsmacked that people are clamoring for Michael Porter Jr., after a red-shirt year and less than 500 healthy minutes of play this season. I think people overrate run/jump athleticism and off the dribble scoring, and underrate passing/feel/IQ/defense etc. as it pertains to winning basketball. Same reason so many people slept on Doncic.
