2017 Draft

[The Rebel]

Don't take mock drafts as gospel. After pick 15 to 20, it's just guessing. Especially this early in the draft process. Cam has the ideal skill set for a modern 4 and as his measurables come out and teams start to deep dive on the non lotto prospects, some team in the late 1st will fall in love with him. I'm fairly confident in that.

I remember when all the mocks had Fournier as a pick in the 40s and we took him at 19

Cam's a good player, but I saw a few Nevada games where he took plays off, and the big knock on him is his level of competition which you can't argue. If I'm going to try for that 2nd draft pick, I'm going for Harry Giles, think he'd fit perfectly with Jokic.

I like the idea of Giles/Jokic but he has MUCH more risk and not a whole lot more upside. I think it's more likely that he washes out of the league Greg Oden style than ever becomes a starting caliber player. I loved HS Harry Giles, but 2017 Harry Giles only has a fraction of the athleticism.

It always takes guys. 2 years too fully recover from a full acl tear. Giles has a way more upside than Cam.

[The Rebel]

I do see SoCal's concern as I see him going in the late 30's early 40's range, Oliver would be a steal at 49. He doesn't have as high-energy motor as Faried but is a more balanced version IMO.

Faried without the high energy is not a productive NBA player. Even with a midrange jump shot undersized PFs need to out work everybody else or they do not last.

[NuggetsWY]

I do see SoCal's concern as I see him going in the late 30's early 40's range, Oliver would be a steal at 49. He doesn't have as high-energy motor as Faried but is a more balanced version IMO.

Faried without the high energy is not a productive NBA player. Even with a midrange jump shot undersized PFs need to out work everybody else or they do not last.

Agreed - but I'd still venture a 2nd round pick - I think it's worth a shot. 1st round? Nope, top-10 second round? Maybe, but probably not.

[SoCalNuggsFan]

Cam's a good player, but I saw a few Nevada games where he took plays off, and the big knock on him is his level of competition which you can't argue. If I'm going to try for that 2nd draft pick, I'm going for Harry Giles, think he'd fit perfectly with Jokic.

I like the idea of Giles/Jokic but he has MUCH more risk and I think it's more likely that he washes out of the league Greg Oden style than ever becomes a starting caliber player. I loved HS Harry Giles, but 2017 Harry Giles only has a fraction of the athleticism.

I'd agree with most of what you wrote, but IF (and that is a risk) he comes back from the ACL surgeries, he has a TON more upside than you suggest. He was considered the #1 overall talent in this class. At worst he's a good backup PF/C

I think at worst he's out of the league in a couple years. He's lost a lot of explosion. He's like nuggets Kenyon Martin instead of nets Kenyon Martin. His potential was highly predicated on that athleticism. The comp for him I saw most often pre-injury was amare stoudemire. So I guess amare would've been the better example of that type of player dropping off big time when they lose that athleticism.

Now, from what I saw in limited mins at duke later in the season, I think he could still develop into a good player, just one that relies on skill and hustle instead of raw athletic ability. The reason I say his upside isn't much higher than cams is that I think cam has draymond green type upside. Skill sets aren't exactly the same, but their games are very similar to me. The big question is "does cam have that same fire and desire to be great that draymond has?"

[SoCalNuggsFan]

Now I'll accept that you guys don't see it with cam and bow out of the discussion.

[NuggetsWY]

Now I'll accept that you guys don't see it with cam and bow out of the discussion.

Feel free to disagree - you're reasonable about it - The Rebel and I do not always agree
Sometimes I comment on our disagreement, sometimes I let it go.
Of course we all know, I'm the one that's always right. (Not meaning me, just whoever's speaking.)

[skywalker33]

Now I'll accept that you guys don't see it with cam and bow out of the discussion.

I don't see anyone nixing the idea of Cam, just not to overpay for him. It'll be interesting to see if goes as high as you think or if the mocks are closer. I do agree that the mocks are usually 80% wrong, but it fun anyway.

Never back down, never surrender !!!

[SoCalNuggsFan]

Now I'll accept that you guys don't see it with cam and bow out of the discussion.

I don't see anyone nixing the idea of Cam, just not to overpay for him. It'll be interesting to see if goes as high as you think or if the mocks are closer. I do agree that the mocks are usually 80% wrong, but it fun anyway.

Never back down, never surrender !!!

Haha not an issue of backing down, just even if I successfully convince all of you that cam is a top 15 player in this class, there's still only a 1 in 30 chance we end up with him. Fruitless argument to have.

[skywalker33]

Now I'll accept that you guys don't see it with cam and bow out of the discussion.

I don't see anyone nixing the idea of Cam, just not to overpay for him. It'll be interesting to see if goes as high as you think or if the mocks are closer. I do agree that the mocks are usually 80% wrong, but it fun anyway.

Never back down, never surrender !!!

Haha not an issue of backing down, just even if I successfully convince all of you that cam is a top 15 player in this class, there's still only a 1 in 30 chance we end up with him. Fruitless argument to have.

I appreciate your input here, it's thoughtful and opens conversation. I wish some more posters stepped up like you !!

[NuggetsWY]

I don't see anyone nixing the idea of Cam, just not to overpay for him. It'll be interesting to see if goes as high as you think or if the mocks are closer. I do agree that the mocks are usually 80% wrong, but it fun anyway.

Never back down, never surrender !!!

Haha not an issue of backing down, just even if I successfully convince all of you that cam is a top 15 player in this class, there's still only a 1 in 30 chance we end up with him. Fruitless argument to have.

I appreciate your input here, it's thoughtful and opens conversation. I wish some more posters stepped up like you !!

Totally agree with Skywalker!!! I love your posting (mostly ).

[NuggetsWY]

Daniel Lewis just posted a mock draft on DenverStiffs. He had Justin Jackson going 12th with Anunoby going 13th. They are both SFs. How would you rate Jackson compared to Anunoby? Perhaps more important; how do other teams rank the two of them?

I had Jackson going late-1st or early-2nd.

[SoCalNuggsFan]

Had the day off so I watched most of the NBA combine today. A few thoughts:

First, let me get the Cam Oliver stuff out of the way:

Had a couple monster dunks and blocks in the scrimmage, but was otherwise pretty quiet.

Had a sequence where he trapped a guard on the sideline, came away with a steal, threw the ball to a player from the opposing team on the opposite wing because he was falling out of bounds, then recovered to block that opposing players dunk at the rim and got the rebound and headed up court. It made me say, aloud, alone on the house, "man, we need this guy in defense next to Jokic."

Cam knows how to get open for finishes in a blake griffin-ish way in the half court. The center on his team was some stiff from BYU that insisted on chucking every time he got the ball instead of passing to an open Cam Oliver under the basket. Said player had multiple air balls in the scrimmage. I came away thinking "if that BYU stiff was Jokic, cam would've had 20."

Now, away from cam:

OG measured almost 6'8 in shoes with a 7'2 wingspan. Crazy.

Jonathan Jeanne is a little Rudy Gobert-ish. Super raw, but could be a good eventual Jokic backup with a 2nd round pick.

I like frank mason III as a backup/emergency PG after Murray & Mudiay. He's patty mills-ish.

My ideal draft is to end up with
OG (even if he needs a redshirt year)
Cam Oliver (obviously)
Johnathan Jeanne (euro stash)
Frank Mason III (D-League stash)

Might take trading Barton and/or chandler. Maybe giving cash to improve one of our 2nds.

But to me,

Murray/Mudiay/Mason
Harris/Beasley/Murray
OG/Juancho
Cam/Juancho
Jokic/Jeanne

Could be a legit title contender for years to come.

But also, maybe I'm thinking way too far ahead and we get none of those guys, and are still a title contender for years to come.

Just as long as we're title contenders for years to come, I'll be happy.

Edit: also listened to Mares' last podcast while watching, and he had a draft guy from The Ringer on to talk about how OG and Issac would fit on this team. Was interesting.

[skywalker33]

WT suggesting that Giles could go between 5-10 should he pass medical draft evaluations. Don't see many teams taking that type of risk in this draft, perhaps MIN is the only one in position in the top ten who could

[SoCalNuggsFan]

WT suggesting that Giles could go between 5-10 should he pass medical draft evaluations. Don't see many teams taking that type of risk in this draft, perhaps MIN is the only one in position in the top ten who could

I don't think thibs wants more young players, let alone one that raw and that might need time to keep recovering. I think they ultimately trade the pick.

[The Rebel]

WT suggesting that Giles could go between 5-10 should he pass medical draft evaluations. Don't see many teams taking that type of risk in this draft, perhaps MIN is the only one in position in the top ten who could

I think that is his people putting that out there in hopes that someone will take him in the late lottery.

[Riko]

This year I couldn't follow the NCAA, but a friend of mine say that Isaac is pretty similar to Ibaka (rim protector + decent 3 points shooter). Is he right? Can denver reach him or he is too high in the draft?

[NuggetsWY]

This year I couldn't follow the NCAA, but a friend of mine say that Isaac is pretty similar to Ibaka (rim protector + decent 3 points shooter). Is he right? Can denver reach him or he is too high in the draft?

He might go in the top-5. No doubt he'll go in the top-10 IMO.

[skywalker33]

This year I couldn't follow the NCAA, but a friend of mine say that Isaac is pretty similar to Ibaka (rim protector + decent 3 points shooter). Is he right? Can denver reach him or he is too high in the draft?

Haven't heard the Ibaka comparison, but I have heard it said he's a better version of Brandon Ingram.

[NuggetsWY]

This year I couldn't follow the NCAA, but a friend of mine say that Isaac is pretty similar to Ibaka (rim protector + decent 3 points shooter). Is he right? Can denver reach him or he is too high in the draft?

Haven't heard the Ibaka comparison, but I have heard it said he's a better version of Brandon Ingram.

Build-wise, he's halfway between Ingram and Ibaka. Plays more like Ibaka with more mobility and less weight/strength but that'll come with age.

[NuggetsWY]

Tuesday is the draft lottery - anyone going to watch?
Odds are good I will be watching.
I will be gone either Tuesday for much of the day or Wednesday. So for our superstitious fans, cross your fingers for me. For the rest of you, don't worry because I'm actually not superstitious.