2018 NBA Draft Talk

[Quake Griffin]

I can't believe I missed out on my boy, Anfernee Simons, dropping 37 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists in the final game of the regular season. Granted it was basically a scrimmage against the Kings, but he did go up against De'Aaron Fox. Regardless, it was an impressive performance and quite the confidence-builder for his continued development as I figured he'd need at least a couple of years before seeing significant NBA action.

Jerome Robinson could have used such an opportunity with the Clippers as well, but Doc wasn't inclined to do so. Yeah, we were chasing postseason positioning, but there were opportunities for Rome to get more play and be exposed to a higher level of competition since he was basically killing it in the G-League with regularity.

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Like I said before...,

I wonder what Rome would have been like if instead of Shamet, Rome was drafted to Philly - a place that didn’t use redundancy as an excuse to not play/develop a player.

[esqtvd]

I can't believe I missed out on my boy, Anfernee Simons, dropping 37 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists in the final game of the regular season. Granted it was basically a scrimmage against the Kings, but he did go up against De'Aaron Fox. Regardless, it was an impressive performance and quite the confidence-builder for his continued development as I figured he'd need at least a couple of years before seeing significant NBA action.

Jerome Robinson could have used such an opportunity with the Clippers as well, but Doc wasn't inclined to do so. Yeah, we were chasing postseason positioning, but there were opportunities for Rome to get more play and be exposed to a higher level of competition since he was basically killing it in the G-League with regularity.

Like I said before...,

I wonder what Rome would have been like if instead of Shamet, Rome was drafted to Philly - a place that didn’t use redundancy as an excuse to not play/develop a player.

Well, let's look at the record.

Actually, Doc played Jerome in 8 of the last 10 games, at an average of about 11 mpg, and in the last 7, an average of 14 mpg. Since Jerome only averaged about 5 ppg, I'd say Doc was quite generous with the developmental PT.

http://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3943606/jerome-robinson

As for Shamet's minutes in Philly, the Sixers had a huge hole at G until Butler got there, so Shamet got some burn and was productive [far beyond Jerome's output] almost immediately, shooting 48%/41% in November. Jerome was handed minutes here; Shamet earned every minute he got, on both teams. He elbowed his way onto the court and onto the All-Rookie 2nd team. He's really an amazing story and an amazing person.

If Jerome had come in shooting anything like that, he never would have gone back to the G-League. Just as he did with the Clippers, with the 76ers every time the team was floundering and needed a key 3, there was Shamet dropping one in. There's just no comparing the two at this point.

http://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/3914044/landry-shamet

[Quake Griffin]

"Almost Immediately"

Oh after 18 MPG, 6 PPG, 34%/35% in 8 October games?
Looks like he just had a coach who empowered him from the jump and didn't waste his time beating up on G-Leaguers.
1st game 13 minutes. Second game 29 minutes.

Thank God for that.
Because if Brett Brown didn't do that, Doc would be "trying to find minutes" for Shamet.
Just lol.

[Clemenza]

Porter still can't get right. I guess Jerry West really knew what he was doing

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[Ranma]

Like I said before...,

I wonder what Rome would have been like if instead of Shamet, Rome was drafted to Philly - a place that didn’t use redundancy as an excuse to not play/develop a player.

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[Ranma]

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[Ranma]

I've gone on record before about how much I trust Jerry West and our front office's draft strategy from a general standpoint, however, I've also said that I haven't and likely won't agree with a significant number of the organization's picks, especially the relatively higher selections, due to the fact that they seem to favor a more play-it-safe approach instead of taking the developmental gambles. This is primarily based on the Logo's track record with the Lakers with the likes of George Lynch, Devean George, and maybe Anthony Peeler.

Obviously, the Lakers have uncovered gems under West's watch such as Kobe Bryant, Vlade Divac and Nick Van Exel. Eddie Jones was another good selection but he was drafted right about where he was projected to be at the time. Also, to be fair, Peeler was probably one of those worthwhile gambles that just didn't pay off in 1992. George may not fit into the category since he was technically a fairly late first-round pick in 1999, but Andrei Kirilenko had notable draft buzz at the time but was taken immediately after George. Even the Lynch selection I guess can be excused since there was only Terry Dehere who had notable buzz after the 12th selection in the 1993 draft and Dehere didn't do anything with the Clippers, though, he might have had more of an impact away from Sterling and under the Lakers' developmental staff. Sam Cassell was taken 12 picks later but it was unrealistic to select him with the 12th overall pick at the time.

Again, I don't have a problem with what our front office is doing overall with our draft strategy, but I have a bone to pick when it comes to it not taking swings on higher upside selections at times, especially when we can afford to. The front office prioritizes high character, work ethic and basketball intelligence, which are all things I agree with, but there are times where I feel that those categories might be given too much weight at the expense of higher potential.

I'm not bemoaning that we missed out on Mitchell Robinson in 2018 or Bol Bol in 2019. In fact, I actually applaud the fact that we didn't select Michael Porter, Jr. and hopefully didn't target Kevin Knox precisely because of their respective work ethic and character flaws a la Brice Johnson. In Porter, Jr.'s case, injury likely was the determining factor.

I'm not even down on Jerome Robinson exactly nor am I complaining about the Mfiondu Kabengele or Terance Mann selections. Given where our 2019 picks were, I agreed with the strategy for those respective selections, but that's for the 2019 draft thread.

In any case, I'm taking a look back at our 2018 draft and I can't help but feel a little disappointed. Obviously, I have no problems with the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pick as I conceded shortly after the pick was made that it was a good selection. I was baffled by the Rome pick at the time but I understood what the team was going for with him being a refined shooter with playmaking ability. He was a bit of a reach at that spot, but it was justifiable because intel indicated that other teams right after us were interested in him.

I'm even encouraged that the Clippers were discussing a trade with Atlanta to move back in the draft to pick up the 30th overall pick, but backed off when it was clear that Rome was not going to be available at the 19th overall selection slot. I assume the team was targeting Landry Shamet with the last pick in the first round and I even hope that Anfernee Simons was also under consideration, but neither would have been available there, anyway.

Shams is already a better player than Rome right now, but it's early and JR had to deal with foot problems. Plus, Shamet had the benefit of being integrated into a competitive Sixers team, which likely would not have been the case under Doc. Meanwhile, Simons is further along than even I would have anticipated and I don't even think he's benefited from the growth spurt I was hoping for with him. At the 1:23:30 timestamp in the podcast with Bill Simmons below, Ryen Russillo noted that the Blazers are already really high and confident on Simons becoming a beast of a player similar to what he's heard before about CJ McCollum. Simmons confirms that he's heard similar reports.

In addition to Zhaire Smith, I had Lonnie Walker IV for the 13th overall selection. It remains to be seen how those two will turn out, but like I said, I still believe in Rome. In fact, I have high hopes that he'll become a player similar to Shamet soon. Confidence, experience and maybe health are the only things keeping Robinson from reaching his potential IMO.

In any case, I just want to express my frustration at possibly missing out on a player whom I've been high on for quite a while now. Would I have preferred Simons over Rome? Probably since I think both were reaches for late-lottery selection. Still, Simons was anticipated to be available later into the 20's at least.

This is not just an isolated incident for me, but I want to express my hope that the organization will incorporate taking higher-upside development prospects into its draft strategy. I probably won't have problems with the organization making a top-5 pick or even late first-round or even second-round selections, but it's usually in the mid-to-late lottery and possibly even middle first-round area where I usually have concerns.

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[TheNewEra]

Still don’t see anyone that really would of received strong playing time after Robinson

[Quake Griffin]

I’m comfortable with Rome and Sham.

I wanna see more from Simons, particularly how he develops as he grows into his man body.

I see some skill there but not enough to make me covet him over Rome or Sham.

[Ranma]

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