Stillwater's monster draft thread (consolidated)

[JonFromVA]

Its just a shame we didn't trade for that pick when we took Clarkson off the Lakers hands rather than giving up our own

Anyway, the key to a rebuild is talent evaluation and development, not draft position. We've taken some steps in the right direction, but Koby and gang still have much to prove

[Dupp]

That went as bad as possible

[Revenged25]

That went as bad as possible

Nope, we could've been 1 pick further down.

[jbk1234]

This is why hard core tanking isn't worth it with the new lottery odds.

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[Revenged25]

This is why hard core tanking isn't worth it with the new lottery odds.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using RealGM mobile app

Yup. I'd rather just miss the playoffs than tank. The only exception is if you know there is an exceptionally deep draft that goes 7 or 8 deep, like last years draft. That was the perfect draft to be a tanking team because although there wasn't as strong of a feeling on Ayton as there is Zion, people thought you could get a perennial All-Star up until about pick 8.

Really interested to see where our two picks end up this year, and what else we might be able to get while using JR Smith's contract.

[Stillwater]

tanking for what is worth still got them 5 instead of 8... it is bad luck but pho, and chi got it worse by not being as bad.
There was 1 elite prospect and most of us talked ourselves into 2 more...but the disparity between prospects outside of Williamson is really not that big.

[Stillwater]

yep its set up perfectly for my worst nightmare Reddish. I think thats the pick and it scares me to death given he is way to passive of a player for my taste even if beilein turns him into a good player

[JonFromVA]

yep its set up perfectly for my worst nightmare Reddish. I think thats the pick and it scares me to death given he is way to passive of a player for my taste even if beilein turns him into a good player

fwiw, I think Reddish's stats should be taken with a grain of salt because Duke's level of competition was very high and he's a freshman put in a new role as 3rd option. There weren't a bunch of chump teams he could stat pad against like say Morant who faced very few top teams by comparison over his 2 seasons.

If all his games respective of opponent were terrible that would be one thing, but he probably had as many good games against top opponents as other prospects.

IMO, Reddish should be a player staying another year to prove himself, but unlike Morant a year ago who was completely off the radar after his freshman season, everyone says Reddish will go in the lottery regardless; so he has no reason to stick around.

Which isn't to say we should take Reddish, just that we will hopefully evaluate these guys irrespective of the overall stats which are polluted by the variation in level of competition. Look at their skills, look at what they did in tough situations, look at their character/work-ethic, try to get them to work-out against other prospects, etc, etc.

[Stillwater]

my dislike of reddish is not based on his stats
he has no ability to rebound no ability to attack the basket and no apparent desire to improve...

[Trailbreaker]

Unfortunately, I now believe we have at least two more years of tanking before we can even start to be competitive.

[JonFromVA]

Unfortunately, I now believe we have at least two more years of tanking before we can even start to be competitive.

Tanking is no guarantee of competitiveness let alone contention. Actually executing an offense and a defense would go a long way even with the talent we've got. It could be a very long road, but fans will get on board if they see players developing and the team improving; rather than throwing ill-prepared kids on the floor to collect ping pong balls.

[Trailbreaker]

Unfortunately, I now believe we have at least two more years of tanking before we can even start to be competitive.

Tanking is no guarantee of competitiveness let alone contention. Actually executing an offense and a defense would go a long way even with the talent we've got. It could be a very long road, but fans will get on board if they see players developing and the team improving; rather than throwing ill-prepared kids on the floor to collect ping pong balls.

Keeping cap space open and taking on lousy contracts in exchange for draft picks would be helpful, too.

[JonFromVA]

my dislike of reddish is not based on his stats
he has no ability to rebound no ability to attack the basket and no apparent desire to improve...

Well, if the Cavs conclude he has little desire to improve as well, I think you can stop worrying about them drafting him; but at least he could potentially improve in those other areas if he did.

[Stillwater]

my dislike of reddish is not based on his stats
he has no ability to rebound no ability to attack the basket and no apparent desire to improve...

Well, if the Cavs conclude he has little desire to improve as well, I think you can stop worrying about them drafting him; but at least he could potentially improve in those other areas if he did.

I don't think he fits their profile of chip on the shoulder high motor high work ethic prospects, but might shift gears if they are not impressed with some of the other options in workouts etc.
SHould be interesting.
I also don't think it's out of the question they try to trade up by eating a bad deal.

[bmurph128]

So first let me admit that I don't really watch college basketball.

But I've seen a lot of mocks with the Lakers taking Hunter - then I've seen some having the Cavs taking Culver. From what I've seen from Culver, he seems....slow I guess? Not very athletic.

I just saw a mock that the Cavs taking Reddish, who had a bad season at Duke - who should we be rooting for the Cavs to take?

[Stillwater]

So first let me admit that I don't really watch college basketball.

But I've seen a lot of mocks with the Lakers taking Hunter - then I've seen some having the Cavs taking Culver. From what I've seen from Culver, he seems....slow I guess? Not very athletic.

I just saw a mock that the Cavs taking Reddish, who had a bad season at Duke - who should we be rooting for the Cavs to take?

I'd be trying to trade up w/ Memphis, but barring that unlikely scenario I'm only sold on Lakers taking Hunter if they trade Kuzma or Lebron & don't get AD all unlikely to happen at the same time.
People suggesting the Cavs "should" take Reddish have not been paying attention for sure... they might though if they are convinced his struggles are easily repairable or for fit in Beileins offense,I don't, because I think he is a Wiggins type low incentive prospect that got by on natural advantages until he faced stronger faster competitions and yet still did nothing to counter it placing a huge red flag on his stock to get better for me.
I like the high floor options of Culver or Hunter, but don't see either 1 being a dominant NBA player either.
I would start looking to gamble on high ceiling but also high character high work ethic prospects no matter how far away they are from their ceilings.
Case in point Sekou Doumbouya,Goga Bitdatze, Coby White, or if they are not concerned with his immaturity issues in college, Kevin Porter whos ceiling is elite.

[JonFromVA]

my dislike of reddish is not based on his stats
he has no ability to rebound no ability to attack the basket and no apparent desire to improve...

Well, if the Cavs conclude he has little desire to improve as well, I think you can stop worrying about them drafting him; but at least he could potentially improve in those other areas if he did.

I don't think he fits their profile of chip on the shoulder high motor high work ethic prospects, but might shift gears if they are not impressed with some of the other options in workouts etc.
SHould be interesting.
I also don't think it's out of the question they try to trade up by eating a bad deal.

I just have no clue how Reddish is wired, so I won't even bother to speculate what may or may not motivate him as an NBA player. If he couldn't get psyched to play with other great players and work on his game under Coach K at Duke, it's at the very least a very bright red flag.

A trade up is going to be tough ... you need to find a very special owner willing to piss off his fan-base by giving up a top-3 player in this draft where that's all the hype. It's possible if they somehow convinced themselves that Morant and Barrett are just a lot of hype, I suppose.

If anything, I could see us deciding to lean on Beilein and trade down from 5 to get him extra picks/players to work with.

Atlanta has 2 mediocre picks they may like to turn in to 1 better pick, and Phoenix just might want to trade up to secure their PG (albeit we may have to draft Garland to force them to), Boston has 3 meh picks and it's doubtful they'd want to add that many rookies to their team.

Either way, New Orleans is a big player in how a lot of this will play out. All depends what AD and Griff want...

[jbk1234]

As half the threads were collapsing into draft discussions, like a singularity, I consolidated them.

[jbk1234]

I'm leaning towards taking Hunter if he's on the board at No. 5. I normally wouldn't pick a defensive player that high, but I feel like the true offensive difference makers will be off the board anyway. I'm taking a swing on Bol Bol before I'd draft Reddish. I'm open to trading back with the Hawks if Hunter is off the board but I don't see the Lakers taking him given how set they are at that position.

[Stillwater]

To me Hunter is the Mikal type prospect of this draft meaning he is one of the highest floor players that could be available and I really think they will want to gamble and walk away with a potential future all star caliber prospect instead even if it's risky given less proven skillsets in high ceiling options available outside the top 2 really.
I'm sold on Sekou as the highest ceiling option at 5 outside somebody falling but think they will opt for one a little more proven with a little less upside but a little less risk. Maybe the likes of Culver fits that, but I would think Garland ranks better given his elite shooting ability or maybe Porter or Little who are both explosive athletes with solid upsides esp Porter who has tier 1 isolation skills