Brooklyn Nets 2017 Draft Thread

[DarkXaero]

He's a complete clown.

Lost my respect for that loser after he half assed it for a season and then acted surprised we didn't want to pay him $12 million a year. People here want to defend him like he wasn't out of shape for the first month of the season.

King has no comprehension of character and culture. An assclown who can't put 100% commitment in the franchise they were traded to should never step on the court for this franchise but this is the same idiot that tried to paint Marcus Teague as a high upside prospect. Not surprising.



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Thats a bit of revisionist history. Pierce played with a broken hand for us earlier in that season, and was super efficient for us when he got healthy (and overall efficient). He also played at PF without complaint and did a fine job defensively.

I dont blame Pierce for that tweet, he spent the majority of his career as a Celtic and is a franchise legend for them.

Pierce averaged 12 points on 35% FG / 23% 3pt / 48.4 TS% over the first 15 games. In 8 out of 15 games Pierce had a negative plus minus. Our record was 5-14. He broke his hand after that.

KG also had 8 games out of 15 with a negative plus minus. Worst was against at Minnesota where we got blown out by 40 and he registered a plus minus of -24.

Him and KG were complete trash and put us in the damn hole in the first place. They didn't start acting engaged until AFTER the return to Boston. Not disregarding the failure of Deron but Pierce and KG act like they were totally above criticism in that season.

Since he was such a Celtic lifer then why did he want to re-sign? He left for Washington cause King wouldn't pay him.


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I don't wanna derail this Draft thread so I'm gonna keep it short. Pierce was probably our second best or best player that season. We should have re-signed him since the ownership approved such a **** trade which threw away our future. However, Prokhorov got cold feet at the salary bill and luxury/repeater tax, so we didn't. Pierce didn't hate us during his time here, he openly talked about wanting to come back. He signed for the Wizards after we passed, and ended up having a very good season for them (his last good season in the NBA). Anyway, no point in arguing this now. There are plenty of people who deserve to be put on blast for tonight's tragedy, and Pierce is not one of them. Not his fault that Billy King is the worst GM of all time. Not his fault that our ownership was incredibly short sighted and naive.

[MrDollarBills]

Joe Johnson was unarguably our best player that season.

I don't think the Nets should have resigned Pierce. I don't blame Prokhorov. The plan failed, the cost was too great. He cut bait. It needed to happen. All of the madness, the bad culture, the stupidity all needed to end and that offseason was the beginning of getting that ball rolling.

[DarkXaero]

Since when does a 18-19 year old have to have a polished shot and be a 90% free throw percentage coming into the draft to be selected? If that's the case. Then we might as well aim for Justin Jackson and Caleb Swannigan. A bunch of polished but low upside guys. Every single prospect under 23 will be raw and unpolished.

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The kid is impressing at the combine. I don't understand how anyone in our position can scoff at a high risk high reward talent that by all accounts might end up going Top 10 in a class when we don't have a pick. Especially, when we have a developmental coach who has proven his staff can develop people. The reality is we are not getting a Top 5, Top 10 prospect. Everyone below 15 will come with flaws but some have much higher upside. What makes us so privileged to be picky? We have two picks for a reason. One will go to a long term prospect. I don't see what's wrong with taking him. We took an inefficient Whitehead out of Seton Hall and Diallo obviously has more potential than him.



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No one's asking for a polished shot and a "90% FT percentage". Forgive me for being concerned about 17.6% 3pt% at AAU level and 63% FT%.

We already have a very similar guard in Archie Goodwin. We took Isaiah Whitehead with a second round pick (#42), not a 1st round pick. I would be more than happy to use a second round pick on Diallo but he'll be long gone by then. No one's denying his impressive athleticism. But athleticism without a basic skillset is useless. I would rather settle for reliable, solid role player prospects than high bust potential & high reward prospects. I understand that we don't have lotto pick anytime soon and it would be amazing to draft a prospect with all star ceiling, but realistically, that is very rare in late 1st round. I think we should be looking for a Malcolm Brogdon type prospect.

When I think about prospects, two of the first questions that I ask myself are:

1) What skills does this prospect have that aren't teachable?
2) What weaknesses does this player have and can it/they be improved?

Regarding 1), you can't teach or greatly improve things like speed, athleticism, or have a body frame that can support more weight without a decline in other abilities.

Obviously, just because you have one or multiple of these skills doesn't mean you're going to be great.

However, I'm of the belief that many players who possess such qualities are expected to just go out and improve without any coaches helping them to develop. I think there are plenty of ex-NBA players who would still be in the league if others invested in their development.

The best players in the league have some unteachable skills as well as the ability to improve upon their weaknesses.

Unless a player has terrible form/a broken shot, I think one can improve their shooting tremendously. Like Popovich said about Kawhi, many people thought Kawhi would be a terrible shooter because his percentages in college weren't great. But the Spurs didn't have any concern because Kawhi's form was fine.

Kawhi had off-the-chart measurements but had weaknesses that could all be improved upon.

In his first year at San Dieo State, Kawhi's shooting numbers were 45.5 FG%, 20.9 3PT%, 72.6 FT%.
In his second year, they were 44.4 FG%, 29.1 3PT%, 75.9 FT%.

Last year, he had 21.2PPG on 50 FG%, 44 3FG%, 87 FT% and was the DPOY.
This year, he had 25.5PPG on 48.5 FG%, 38.1 3FG%, 88 FT% and is/was an MVP candidate.

I'm not saying Diallo will be Kawhi but I do think that a player with great intangibles/uncoachable traits, a great work ethic, and a coaching staff who is very committed to development can be very good.

2 of those 3 areas appear to be checked for me.

Like with Levert last year, the Nets will just need to interview Diallo to see if they believe he has the work ethic and desire to be great. If so, I have zero problems with the Nets taking him at any point during the draft. I do believe a team like the Bucks will reach for him as others have suggested. I think it may very well take the 11th or 12th overall pick in order to get him.

Well, every draft there are super athletic guys projected for late 1st round/2nd round or even undrafted. Obviously great athleticism is a terrific starting base but talent is hugely important. Now I'm not saying Diallo is just a super athletic kid with no talent, I'm sure that's not true, otherwise there wouldn't be buzz. But as far as I can tell, he's extremely raw and a massive project at this time. So far (from the Ringer)

-Can't shoot at all. Rough mechanics, inconsistent form. Is that fixable? Sure but doesn't necessarily mean it'll happen.
-Poor bball IQ: bad decision making, forces plays
-Sloppy ball handling


Now he's still a terrific athlete and if he could even become an average shooter, he could have a bright future in the NBA. But there's way too much uncertainty around the kid and as of now, he's a big project. I trust Marks' judgement on this but I'm not that enamored with him as some of you.

Kawhi is a great story but he's also perhaps the most unique case in the NBA. His work ethic/character is machine like, and his progression in the NBA is kinda unprecedented.

[NyCeEvO]

We might not have a shot at Giles anymore.

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Yes, but the "IF he can recover" part is the biggest drawback. No one has the confidence that he can recover. If they did, he'd be high up in the mocks.

[NyCeEvO]

Give me Diallo and the Latvian. Both could project to be future pieces.

Drafting players with high upside takes priority. We need guys that can develop into starting nba players in time, not guys that may just be more polished but limited ceilings.

We have time on our side. 3-4 years. Marks doesn't need to draft guys that would be better suited for contenders that need depth. He nailed a starter last draft in LeVert. We need to frankly hit pay dirt with one of these picks.

But you also don't want to pass on the next Jimmy Butler, or Danny Granger, or Paul Millsap necause you're obssessed with age and upside.

The Nets drafted Levert who would turn 22 before the start of his rookie season. I don't think they're hyper-concerned about age. They're concerned about ability and potential.

[DarkXaero]

Joe Johnson was unarguably our best player that season.

I don't think the Nets should have resigned Pierce. I don't blame Prokhorov. The plan failed, the cost was too great. He cut bait. It needed to happen. All of the madness, the bad culture, the stupidity all needed to end and that offseason was the beginning of getting that ball rolling.

I would say Pierce was better in regular season (~60 TS%) and Joe Johnson was unquestionably better in playoffs.

"The plan failed, the cost was too great, he cut bait". Well, the great cost was paid the moment we made the trade. The realization that the plan failed came way too late. The whole situation was so poorly thought out by Prokhorov (in addition to Billy King obviously). We didn't do **** after letting Pierce walk. We kept the main problems (Deron and Billy King) around for another season, and stumbled our way to a 1st round exit.

[jbeachboy]

how come theres no medical testing on giles leg injuries and situation, hope to see him workout for nets

[NyCeEvO]

Wow, Paul Pierce is a real piece of ****. Jesus christ

He's a complete clown.

Lost my respect for that loser after he half assed it for a season and then acted surprised we didn't want to pay him $12 million a year. People here want to defend him like he wasn't out of shape for the first month of the season.

King has no comprehension of character and culture. An assclown who can't put 100% commitment in the franchise they were traded to should never step on the court for this franchise but this is the same idiot that tried to paint Marcus Teague as a high upside prospect. Not surprising.



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Thats a bit of revisionist history. Pierce played with a broken hand for us earlier in that season, and was super efficient for us when he got healthy (and overall efficient). He also played at PF without complaint and did a fine job defensively.

I dont blame Pierce for that tweet, he spent the majority of his career as a Celtic and is a franchise legend for them.

Exactly.

For that entire season, I said Pierce and KG will get better as the season goes on because as you get older, it takes a while to get into rhythm. People were trashing Pierce but I and that Pierce fan believed he would eventually turn it around.


Pierce and KG had nothing against Brooklyn as a town/city. It was the team makeup and incompetence of the front office that made things terrible. The fact that King traded part of the Nets future for him and didn't think Pierce would want decent compensation as a free agent was maddening. It was just another case of King changing gameplans year after year with yet another trite expression/slogan about what the Nets are trying to do going forward.

Remember, Pierce was the one who convinced KG to waive his no trade clause. How disappointing would it be if you convinced your best friend to uproot themselves from your beloved franchise, only to find out that the franchise you're going to is in terrible shape.

I'd be bitter too.

[MrDollarBills]

I have to give you all credit. The board has handled this situation obscenely well.

I expected at least someone to melt down over this, but nope. Everyone is calm about it. Good

I think having Marks in charge, what he's done, and the way this team competed in games this season despite the record pretty much has me relaxed about the whole thing. The franchise is no longer in a toxic state management wise, cap wise, and we have some decent young players with upside, two picks to add to that as well. It's a long road ahead but at least there's a plan in place.

[NyCeEvO]

I have to give you all credit. The board has handled this situation obscenely well.

I expected at least someone to melt down over this, but nope. Everyone is calm about it. Good

I think having Marks in charge, what he's done, and the way this team competed in games this season despite the record pretty much has me relaxed about the whole thing. The franchise is no longer in a toxic state management wise, cap wise, and we have some decent young players with upside, two picks to add to that as well. It's a long road ahead but at least there's a plan in place.

Agreed.

If King had finagled his way into still being the GM of this team this year, I'm pretty sure the few fans of the Nets that remain would have switched teams tonight.

[Wonderllama]

When is the Nets' purgatory finally over? 2019 right?

NBA should cut them some slack and give them an extra 1st round pick.

[jbeachboy]

look at it this way ,we can get the leftover garbage that teams dont want anymore since we have little to no draft picks. look at all the d league and overseas players we can bring in!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[DarkXaero]

I have to give you all credit. The board has handled this situation obscenely well.

I expected at least someone to melt down over this, but nope. Everyone is calm about it. Good

I think having Marks in charge, what he's done, and the way this team competed in games this season despite the record pretty much has me relaxed about the whole thing. The franchise is no longer in a toxic state management wise, cap wise, and we have some decent young players with upside, two picks to add to that as well. It's a long road ahead but at least there's a plan in place.

Well, I'm not gonna rage online but I'm still furious irl about the whole thing. We've had a long time to accept this day and here it is, but I'm still angry as hell. What makes it worse is that everything has gone as well as possible for the Celtics. They were the #1 seed in the year where we actually had their pick, and are in the ECF. Jaylen Brown will probably be a stud, and whoever they draft with #1 will probably be a stud. All while we look forward to another year where we don't have a draft pick at all!

Marks has given us some optimism but there's a long way to go back to respectability. If the #1 pick turns out to be a franchise caliber player, we won't be able to live it down for years. With all the mistakes in the past, Marks has little room for error (through no fault of his own), and even though he's very well paid, I feel sorry for him that he has to fix this horrific mess.

[DarkXaero]

When is the Nets' purgatory finally over? 2019 right?

NBA should cut them some slack and give them an extra 1st round pick.

The Nba should introduce a "Billy King rule" where you can't circumvent the Stepien rule by doing pick swaps.

[Jersey Generals]

It's not the pick swaps that are the problem, it's Billy King not understanding that you can protect picks. That's literally the issue. Look at the Lakers, they literally traded two first round picks five years ago and yet, they have yet to give up either pick. And guess what? They won't have to give up the second since the protections defaulted and time has passed.

Literally, top 3 protected pick swap, the Nets aren't in this position and the Celtics still will take the trade. If anything, I think you'll see a rule where a team can't trade a pick unprotected passed three years down the line.

[Ror1997]

I have to give you all credit. The board has handled this situation obscenely well.

I expected at least someone to melt down over this, but nope. Everyone is calm about it. Good

I think having Marks in charge, what he's done, and the way this team competed in games this season despite the record pretty much has me relaxed about the whole thing. The franchise is no longer in a toxic state management wise, cap wise, and we have some decent young players with upside, two picks to add to that as well. It's a long road ahead but at least there's a plan in place.

We've all just been having one continuous meltdown for the past 2 years. Camels back broke a while ago.

But yeah as I would say to NS last off season, Boston's getting a top 5 pick. No reason to stress over it. But the organization moving in the right direction is way more important.

Even after boston got the #1 pick, I still wouldn't change anything about our off season approach last year. Would rather give boston a #1 pick and worry about ourselves than give boston a mid first and base our future around worrying about another teams roster.

[Antti22]

Looking at the draft pick situations around the league, it seems as if Billy King is the only idiot to trade UNPROTECTED picks. All picks got some kind of protection schemes on them, but not ours . Kind of sad. Could have protected some of the picks atleast for TOP 1 or TOP 3, for some hope, but no.

edit: But its just one bad day and no point in dwelling on it further, we all knew it was coming. Im quite confident that next year wont be as bad and Celtics will get much later pick and we have some fun watching our young guys.

[SpeedyG]

For those asking about Billy, pretty sure he was with family. And I know I haven't posted a lot lately, but the old timers probably remember.

I'm 5'3 130 lbs asian dude.

Even if I wanted to, there's no way I try to take on King physically as I'm sure he'd kill me lol.

But yes, the thought crossed my mind as I saw him exiting the ride..."this **** ruined my team"

[Paradise]

Zion Williamson will be our next chance at a superstar talent in the draft. We get him and nobody cares to revisit this stuff in a few years.

I entrust Sean will make sure we land another high upside prospect similar to LeVert each season season until we get gain control of our first. I think getting Giles or Diallo would certainly shut up a lot of the noise we will hear between now and July.


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[SpeedyG]

as for Diallo, Kobe at 18 was far advanced skills wise. Mind you I have not seen a game of his, but even DeShawn Stevenson at HS seems more refined (and had an nba body) at that age.

That athleticism is there, but that's only half the reason to take someone.

As I mentioned earlier, any other draft? Maybe.

But this draft is filled with 19-20 yr old with potential. In fact, this draft is all about semi unproductive pure potential picks.

i'm not sure the ceiling of most of the other guys in this draft isn't as high as Diallo...if we give them the same benefits of the doubt for improvement and development.