2018 NBA Draft Talk

[TucsonClip]

Making a promise in the lottery is insane.

[esqtvd]

Williams represents a lot of my fears at our spots in the draft. Given the depth of this draft pool full of athletic prospects with varying degrees of skill, potential and polish, there is a strong likelihood that quite a few prospects taken outside of the lottery will eventually perform better than those selected among the top 14.

IOW this whole thread is a waste of time.

Hopefully, Jerry West will help us navigate sifting through the prospects to find the right ones.

IOW despite all our grand pronouncements and opinions, none of us knows anything about these guys except seeing a few games on TV and reading 2nd- and 3rd-hand scouting reports on the internet. Each has strengths and weaknesses that are obvious to all. How they deal with them over their first 3 years is the hard part.

You would think I'd be more confident given what the front office pulled off last year with picks in the second round as well as signings from the G-League, but I'm having difficulty getting a read and handle on this draft class so far. Maybe Doc and his cronies' continued presence is what is bugging me, but I seem to have more comfort with prospects currently projected ahead and behind our draft slots in the first round.

IOW, if it works, it's The Logo, if it doesn't, it's Doc's fault [as usual]. If someone I didn't mention becomes ROY, I predicted that too!

Sweet.

[esqtvd]

Making a promise in the lottery is insane.

As a rule, certainly. But if I had a pick in the 20s, I might make a promise to somebody who's considering opting out of the draft whom I consider a top 10 talent. You can't just follow the dots in this game anymore.

[Ranma]

I'm not saying he's going to be a star like Mitchell but he's a guy that like DM last year started off in the late 1st round and is moving upwards.

The defensive problem with Griffin is the lack of effort and limited lateral quickness. DV would be more of a size limitation. He actually puts in the energy and effort and that's what scouting reports are saying about him.

If' you've watched a lot of college hoops the guys being mocked at 12/13 like Walker, SGA, Zhaire Smith, Bridges, Robert williams all have weaknesses too. The Clippers are going to need to choose wisely, the better prospects aren't that clear.

I know what you meant, but you responded to Forte IV's comment pointing out that DiVincenzo did not have the same length as Mitchell with a picture of him blocking a jump shot as if to say his own athleticism compensated for his lack of wingspan, which is obviously not the case. I'd go so far as to say that DiVincenzo is the more efficient and reliable shooter than Mitchell even right now, but it goes without saying that Mitchell is the better player as of now.

LIke I said, DiVincenzo would need to show something entirely different for him to rapidly climb the draft boards since talent evaluators and personnel executives are aware of what he's shown during Villanova's run to the championship this season. I'll reference the Woj podcast I posted earlier in this thread with the DX guys--which I recommend to draftniks, by the way---and say that DiVincenzo would need to follow more of Kyle Kuzma's path leading up to the draft. The DX guys mentioned how Kuzma showed off different facets of his game playing in the pre-draft combines with other guys outside of his teammates and Utah's system, which primarily used him as a back-to-the-basket post player. This opened Rob Pelinka's eyes in making the surprising and what turned out to be wise call to draft him in the first round of last year's draft.

While there's a difference between draft boards put out by the media and those by individual teams, which are kept under wraps, some of the public mock drafts and big boards are put together based on input from league executives and college & NBA coaches. There's also smokescreens put out there to throw teams off, which is why I pay attention to the source of where the information comes from. Having said that, there might very well be a team or two that has DiVincenzo really high on its draft board, but the general consensus based on what he has shown so far has him in the latter end of the first round and early portion of the second round. Even if a team rated him that highly, it would most likely trade down to maximize assets in order to select him lower unless a bunch of other teams expressed interest or he made a big splash in workouts or something similar in nature.

I've already expressed my uneasiness with the prospects projected to be available in the Clippers' range on multiple occasions, so you're not telling me anything new and DiVincenzo certainly wouldn't be under consideration for me as the right player with either lottery pick at this point in time.

[MartinToVaught]

Making a promise in the lottery is insane.

Definitely agree. After Dunleavy cost us Danny Granger by promising to draft Korolev, I hope the Clippers never promise to draft anyone again.

[ejftw]

I've heard people on the draft board claiming we've issued a promise to Robert Williams. Is there any news corroborating this?

Hope this isn't true. I'd be real disappointed.

[esqtvd]

I'm not saying he's going to be a star like Mitchell but he's a guy that like DM last year started off in the late 1st round and is moving upwards.

The defensive problem with Griffin is the lack of effort and limited lateral quickness. DV would be more of a size limitation. He actually puts in the energy and effort and that's what scouting reports are saying about him.

If' you've watched a lot of college hoops the guys being mocked at 12/13 like Walker, SGA, Zhaire Smith, Bridges, Robert williams all have weaknesses too. The Clippers are going to need to choose wisely, the better prospects aren't that clear.

I know what you meant, but you responded to Forte IV's comment pointing out that DiVincenzo did not have the same length as Mitchell with a picture of him blocking a jump shot as if to say his own athleticism compensated for his lack of wingspan, which is obviously not the case. I'd go so far as to say that DiVincenzo is the more efficient and reliable shooter than Mitchell even right now, but it goes without saying that Mitchell is the better player as of now.

LIke I said, DiVincenzo would need to show something entirely different for him to rapidly climb the draft boards since talent evaluators and personnel executives are aware of what he's shown during Villanova's run to the championship this season. I'll reference the Woj podcast I posted earlier in this thread with the DX guys--which I recommend to draftniks, by the way---and say that DiVincenzo would need to follow more of Kyle Kuzma's path leading up to the draft. The DX guys mentioned how Kuzma showed off different facets of his game playing in the pre-draft combines

Obviously DiVincenzo is taking the advice offered to him here on our little board.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2776752-nba-combine-2018-day-2-donte-divincenzo-gary-trent-jr-shine-in-scrimmage

The same can be said of Villanova's Donte DiVincenzo—who has been the week's biggest winner by a fair margin.

Following an eye-opening effort Thursday, the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player continued to show first-round chops and closed out his second scrimmage of the showcase with nine points, seven rebounds, including two offensive, four steals and three assists.

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DiVincenzo may not be a lottery pick, but his testing numbers and command of the court in the Windy City should have him firmly in the first-round discussion.

In other words, it would be a stunner at this point if he returns to Villanova.

Especially if maybe somebody with a pick in the 20s makes him a draft promise...?

[TucsonClip]

Making a promise in the lottery is insane.

As a rule, certainly. But if I had a pick in the 20s, I might make a promise to somebody who's considering opting out of the draft whom I consider a top 10 talent. You can't just follow the dots in this game anymore.

Thats an entirely different scenario, and how promises are used 95% of the time. You dont promise a guy in the lottery. It makes no sense.

[esqtvd]

Making a promise in the lottery is insane.

As a rule, certainly. But if I had a pick in the 20s, I might make a promise to somebody who's considering opting out of the draft whom I consider a top 10 talent. You can't just follow the dots in this game anymore.

Thats an entirely different scenario, and how promises are used 95% of the time. You dont promise a guy in the lottery. It makes no sense.

Even 14th? Say a Kobe, who went at #13...

Look, we're not disagreeing here. I'm just saying never say never.

[TucsonClip]

As a rule, certainly. But if I had a pick in the 20s, I might make a promise to somebody who's considering opting out of the draft whom I consider a top 10 talent. You can't just follow the dots in this game anymore.

Thats an entirely different scenario, and how promises are used 95% of the time. You dont promise a guy in the lottery. It makes no sense.

Even 14th? Say a Kobe, who went at #13...

Look, we're not disagreeing here. I'm just saying never say never.

Completely different with a HS guy who has every school in the country gunning for him. So, yes, you can change this rule back in two years when guys can jump from HS to the NBA again. Now? It really makes no sense.

[Forte IV]

Is it too much that I want us to trade for a THIRD 1st round pick lol. I legit like 5-8 guys in this draft at around where we pick.

[esqtvd]

Thats an entirely different scenario, and how promises are used 95% of the time. You dont promise a guy in the lottery. It makes no sense.

Even 14th? Say a Kobe, who went at #13...

Look, we're not disagreeing here. I'm just saying never say never.

Completely different with a HS guy who has every school in the country gunning for him. So, yes, you can change this rule back in two years when guys can jump from HS to the NBA again. Now? It really makes no sense.

Same scenario could arise with a foreign guy. In fact it did. Dunleavy blew it, is all. But he just as easily could have blown it anyway. Busts come in all forms.

https://www.clipsnation.com/2011/8/16/2365803/yaroslav-korolev-los-angeles-clippers

They made a promise. Promises have very little upside, but they have a very specific downside - what happens if a significantly better player drops to your draft position, for whatever reason? Now your stuck drafting the guy you made a promise to and passing up a golden opportunity. When the Clippers draft spot rolled around at 12, there were two players who were universally projected as top 10 picks still on the board - Danny Granger and Gerald Green. Granger is the guy everyone always talks about, since he turned into an All Star. In the interest of intellectual honesty, I like to include Green in the discussion, since he was projected just as high as Granger in 2005. Green of course went on to be just as big a bust as Korolev, so I guess you never know.

Now, I'm not a big EuroFan so I'll agree about Kobe being different. Too many unknowns about these Eurodudes, esp the level of competition. But the problem here was the particular player, Korolev. Just didn't have the right stuff. But suppose it had turned out he did and he was the next Dirk? Or Tony Parker?

And at the moment, we have the Doncic case. Say we're at #3, see a huge dropoff after the top 3, and the Kings and Nets are sitting at #4 and #5. Doncic is antsy and is considering opting out of the draft. What would y̶o̶u̶ Jerry West do?

[Quake Griffin]

**** Doncic.

COME TO THE DRAFT DAMMIT.
If we missed out on a draft prospect because he went 11th, I'm gonna be hot.

I don't think he'll be sliding anywhere near us

If he leaves, he takes a prospect (himself) out of the draft and someone we like at 12 could go 11th.*********

My bad.

I'm not dreaming of Doncic being a Clipper.

Edit: I see Ranma explained already. Good looks.

[esqtvd]

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[Quake Griffin]

Is it too much that I want us to trade for a THIRD 1st round pick lol. I legit like 5-8 guys in this draft at around where we pick.

It's not too much.

We had one. We dealt it to get the Gallo deal done. I objected to including the pick then. I objected during the season. I'm objecting now.
I can't see getting back in the 1st round now.

I CAN see possibly see:

Clips in: Phoenix 16 and Phoenix 31.
Clips Out: Clips 13

But I can't see a real reason to do that at this point.

[Dloading99]

You guys are getting Doncic.

Stop talking about Lonnie Walker in here. You have Jerry West and you guys know you are getting a superstar. He's going to flip both of those picks to Sacramento to get that number two pick. and you are going to have Donicic. he wants to be in a big market L.A. he's forcing his way to the Clippers. he doesn't want to go to Sacramento that's why he put that out there. he's not coming. I can see Sacramento trading back acquiring the two picks knowing he won't play there. I can see the Clippers drafting him Donicic or Ayton or Michael Porter.

or they can trade those two picks get to top 5 and draft Michael Porter or Trae Young. Jerry West is no fool. he see's a Klay Thompson Kobe Bryant in this draft. that's why he traded Blake Griffin. he got his draft capital. and I know that Jerry West. he had that look at the draft. and he showed that smile. He was like I know I have my superstar and yall don't know it. Lol. That's why Jerry West wins championships for organizations. cause he's a genius.

[Forte IV]

I will talk all I want about Lonnie Walker thank you very much

[ejftw]

Is it too much that I want us to trade for a THIRD 1st round pick lol. I legit like 5-8 guys in this draft at around where we pick.

It's not too much.

We had one. We dealt it to get the Gallo deal done. I objected to including the pick then. I objected during the season. I'm objecting now.
I can't see getting back in the 1st round now.

I CAN see possibly see:

Clips in: Phoenix 16 and Phoenix 31.
Clips Out: Clips 13

But I can't see a real reason to do that at this point.

Yes please. There's a few guys that should be there around 31 I would love to give a chance too. Aaron Holiday, Shake Milton, Malik Newman, Chimeze Metu, De'Anthony Melton.

But the reality is, no one knows what the hell the front office is going to do. Tear it down? Rebuild on the fly? Go for a grand slam?

[nickhx2]

sacto would have to be monumentally stupid to trade the #2 for our two picks.

anyway, i don't see the FO doing much other than picking two guys that will help the team and provide a solid core around harris. i'm hoping either carter or mikal bridges will fall to us, but realistically i'm hoping we come away with shai and a wing with good defensive potential.

[Dloading99]

Seeing Jerry West knowing how he does what he does. if there is a player he wants he will draft him and acquire him.

He is always able to get the stars he wants. so if that's Donic Porter Trae Young or Ayton he will get that player. And when you see the Clippers get that player. you'll be running in here like wow we got him.