Chad Ford's Pre-Draft Workout Tour Thread

[Esohny]

It is a good article. I have to say though, for all the talk about how he's not particularly athletic, he sure managed to find himself past the defender on the way to the hoop a heck of a lot this season, and he finishes or draws fouls. Sign me up.

[revprodeji]

I think he is athletic. I just think he uses it at limited times. He has explosion, we see it, but he does not use it most of the time. If we cannot get rubio then I like this guy a lot. Clear #3 to me.

[GopherIt!]

I really like Harden too. No to Thabeetch

[horaceworthy]

I like Harden, but I can't get the image of Taj Gibson locking him up come crunch time in the Pac-10 out of my head.

[Mayoistooslow]

Jordan Hill is the next player Ford covers. Obviously, 99% of us don't want this guy on our Wolves, because of Love/Jefferson. Either way, just in case we screw everything up and end up landing him, here's the link.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2009 ... our-090521

"The results have been significant. Hill upped his per-game scoring average to 18.3, upped his rebounds to 11 and averaged 1.7 blocks per game to boot. He was the best big man in the Pac-10, and by the end of the year he was ranked by virtually every NBA team as the second-best power forward in the draft behind Griffin.
I think his range starts at No. 3. The Oklahoma City Thunder have scouted Hill extensively and have a need for his length and energy. If Hasheem Thabeet is off the board and the team decides that Russell Westbrook, not Ricky Rubio, should be their point guard, it will likely be a decision between Hill and James Harden.
The Wizards also will take a strong look at Hill with the fifth pick. The team has Antawn Jamison and Andray Blatche, but neither guy has the grit nor defensive abilities of Hill.
His floor? It's hard to see his slipping past the Bucks at No. 10. Most likely they lose Charlie Villanueva to free agency this summer and Hill's blue-collar game would be a nice complement to Andrew Bogut in the front line.
Next stop on the tour: Syracuse's Jonny Flynn"

[horaceworthy]

From Ford's Flyn article: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2009 ... our-090525

Over the past few weeks, a number of GMs seem to have been warming to Flynn and he looks like a potential lottery pick at the moment. A number of teams in the lottery including the Kings (No. 4), the Wizards (No. 5), the Timberwolves (No. 6), the Warriors (No. 7), the Knicks (No. 8), the Bucks (No. 10), the Pacers (No. 13) and the Suns (No. 14) all need point guards. And after speaking with at least one source from every team, I learned Flynn is in the mix for all of them.

I don't hate Flynn, but in the mix for #6?

[big3_8_19_21]

I'm sure we would trade up from 18 or down from 6 to get him if that's who we wanted

[ChazzleDazzle]

I think Ford's point (which I'd agree with) is after top 4 (and really after top 2) anything could happen. Some teams are going to like Holiday best out of the PGs, some are going to like Flynn or Evans, etc. In his chat, he just said he's hearing Holiday on the rise, and DeRozan and Evans both being available at #9, so who knows?

That would mean something like:

Clips - Griffin
Memphis - Rubio
OKC - Thabeet
Sac - Hardin
Wash - Hill
MN - Holiday
GSW - Jennings
NYK - Curry

Honestly, given the nature of our team you have to figure we're going to be playing a lot of half-court sets working off of Al and Love more than trying to push the pace. Holiday for his D or Curry for his shooting might make more sense for us even than Rubio (or am I just trying to dodge the depression of missing out on the #2 pick?).

For the record, Ford also said something along the lines of most of these guys aren't going to be ready to contribute for awhile. Another reason dealing 1-2 picks for a (younger) vet might be the way to go.

[jpatrick]

I too am guessing that Ford either has us or Sacramento taking Holiday with his new mock. I am a fan of trading up from 18 to late lottery to get him but he scares me at 6. I just watched the highlight video of his Sacramento workout from last week and I wasn't blown away. I know workouts only show you so much and a five minute highlight of a workout shows you less, but I was hoping for more.