Official Speculation Thread (Pt.LIV "Lottery/Draft"Edition)

[Catledge]

I don't understand how people are so willing to dismiss symptoms of a guy being injury prone. We see it happen all the time where a player gets repeated injuries that seem unrelated other than that they keep happening to the same guy. Jameer is an example that we're all familiar with. Tyrus Thomas is an example that more closely fits Noel's body and game.

I understand if you want to say that yes, there is a risk, but his up-side makes the risk worth it; I would disagree (I think people are overrating his upside), but at least you would display an awareness of the realities at play. To simply deny that any kind of significant risk exists, on the other hand, seems like head-in-the-sand behavior IMO.

So Noel is injury prone because he has had two unrelated injuries? No one is saying there isn't a risk. We are simply saying the risk is not as bad as all the people throwing out hyperbole claim.

Yes, he shows symptoms of being injury prone. I'm not saying that it's conclusive, but it's not like he was healthy for 3.5 years of college and just missed the last half of his senior year. He missed half of his one year of college ball and almost a whole season of HS ball. At the very least, one could accurately state that Noel has not demonstrated the ability to stay healthy across a long season. That ain't nothing for a very thin guy at a very physical position.

[MagicFan32]

would be fine with taking Noel, and stashing him away half the year. he's still the best player in this draft. would only trade out of no.1 if we get it, if we get an unprotected 14' first in return

[InFlames]

I don't understand how people are so willing to dismiss symptoms of a guy being injury prone. We see it happen all the time where a player gets repeated injuries that seem unrelated other than that they keep happening to the same guy. Jameer is an example that we're all familiar with. Tyrus Thomas is an example that more closely fits Noel's body and game.

I understand if you want to say that yes, there is a risk, but his up-side makes the risk worth it; I would disagree (I think people are overrating his upside), but at least you would display an awareness of the realities at play. To simply deny that any kind of significant risk exists, on the other hand, seems like head-in-the-sand behavior IMO.

So Noel is injury prone because he has had two unrelated injuries? No one is saying there isn't a risk. We are simply saying the risk is not as bad as all the people throwing out hyperbole claim.

Yes, he shows symptoms of being injury prone. I'm not saying that it's conclusive, but it's not like he was healthy for 3.5 years of college and just missed the last half of his senior year. He missed half of his one year of college ball and almost a whole season of HS ball. At the very least, one could accurately state that Noel has not demonstrated the ability to stay healthy across a long season. That ain't nothing for a very thin guy at a very physical position.

Fair enough, we just have different ideas of what being injury prone means.

[MagicFan32]

A player that could be the next Greg Oden rarely playing basketball but for brief stretches for years at a time is the lowest floor a player can get unless he never comes back from injury. Of which, I bet he is probably glad he has that $10 mil insurance policy in case he never plays again.

bro noel is nothing like oden, one of oden's legs was an inch and a half longer than the other. noel's injury stemmed from rushing back, magic wont allow that to happen again.

also watch how oden moved, compared to noel, NO CONTEST. noel moves fluidly, oden always moved like he would be injury prone

[tiderulz]

would be fine with taking Noel, and stashing him away half the year. he's still the best player in this draft. would only trade out of no.1 if we get it, if we get an unprotected 14' first in return

depends on definition of "best player". Other players that are more ready, other players that have big upside. I think people see that he plays as a defensive PF which Orlando needs, and assume he is the best player. Everyone thought that about Davis last year, but Lilliard performed better and may have a better eventual career. Davis played decent at 13 and 8, but that isnt all-star. Yes, he was a rookie, but he was supposed to be this sure fire pick and he didnt wow me as much better than a #1 pick in any other year (except for the Kwame Brown year)

[tiderulz]

A player that could be the next Greg Oden rarely playing basketball but for brief stretches for years at a time is the lowest floor a player can get unless he never comes back from injury. Of which, I bet he is probably glad he has that $10 mil insurance policy in case he never plays again.

bro noel is nothing like oden, one of oden's legs was an inch and a half longer than the other. noel's injury stemmed from rushing back, magic wont allow that to happen again.

also watch how oden moved, compared to noel, NO CONTEST. noel moves fluidly, oden always moved like he would be injury prone

what did Noel rush back from? his other injury happened in high school.

[BadMofoPimp]

P.S Don't even reply "the only mistake is Noel, I can see it coming lol"

I think they are on to me!

[BadMofoPimp]

A player that could be the next Greg Oden rarely playing basketball but for brief stretches for years at a time is the lowest floor a player can get unless he never comes back from injury. Of which, I bet he is probably glad he has that $10 mil insurance policy in case he never plays again.

bro noel is nothing like oden, one of oden's legs was an inch and a half longer than the other. noel's injury stemmed from rushing back, magic wont allow that to happen again.

also watch how oden moved, compared to noel, NO CONTEST. noel moves fluidly, oden always moved like he would be injury prone

You have a point. Noel does know how to run down the court, but he is nothing but fluid on offense. I don't know if the "Experts" watch the way this guy jumps, but when he does, he flails his legs and arms all sorts of awkward. There is no way he is going to survive in the NBA as skinny as he is flailing his body all over when making plays. He does this on offense and defense. And, for a man that can get easily injured, he isn't going to last with those types of mechanics. Plus, he did get thrown around against college players more often than normal. Imagine that against NBA bigs. People need to watch entire games instead of just highlights.

[MagicFan32]

A player that could be the next Greg Oden rarely playing basketball but for brief stretches for years at a time is the lowest floor a player can get unless he never comes back from injury. Of which, I bet he is probably glad he has that $10 mil insurance policy in case he never plays again.

bro noel is nothing like oden, one of oden's legs was an inch and a half longer than the other. noel's injury stemmed from rushing back, magic wont allow that to happen again.

also watch how oden moved, compared to noel, NO CONTEST. noel moves fluidly, oden always moved like he would be injury prone

what did Noel rush back from? his other injury happened in high school.

reportedly that's the case, and possibly led to it happening again. if this was a microfracture situation i'd say do not touch him...

[InFlames]

A player that could be the next Greg Oden rarely playing basketball but for brief stretches for years at a time is the lowest floor a player can get unless he never comes back from injury. Of which, I bet he is probably glad he has that $10 mil insurance policy in case he never plays again.

bro noel is nothing like oden, one of oden's legs was an inch and a half longer than the other. noel's injury stemmed from rushing back, magic wont allow that to happen again.

also watch how oden moved, compared to noel, NO CONTEST. noel moves fluidly, oden always moved like he would be injury prone

You have a point. Noel does know how to run down the court, but he is nothing but fluid on offense. I don't know if the "Experts" watch the way this guy jumps, but when he does, he flails his legs and arms all sorts of awkward. There is no way he is going to survive in the NBA as skinny as he is flailing his body all over when making plays. He does this on offense and defense. And, for a man that can get easily injured, he isn't going to last with those types of mechanics. Plus, he did get thrown around against college players more often than normal. Imagine that against NBA bigs.

So how did Camby survive in the NBA? Hes almost the exact size as Noel.

It is just speculation that him coming back from his growth plate injury too early might have had something to do with his acl injury. There is no evidence of that actually being the case though.

[BadMofoPimp]

You have a point. Noel does know how to run down the court, but he is nothing but fluid on offense. I don't know if the "Experts" watch the way this guy jumps, but when he does, he flails his legs and arms all sorts of awkward. There is no way he is going to survive in the NBA as skinny as he is flailing his body all over when making plays. He does this on offense and defense. And, for a man that can get easily injured, he isn't going to last with those types of mechanics. Plus, he did get thrown around against college players more often than normal. Imagine that against NBA bigs.

So how did Camby survive in the NBA? Hes almost the exact size as Noel.

Camby plays within his limitations. He doesn't flail his arms and legs when jumping and has much better mechanics. Noel looks more reckless out there. Noel is more Thabeet than Camby.

[MagicFan32]

A player that could be the next Greg Oden rarely playing basketball but for brief stretches for years at a time is the lowest floor a player can get unless he never comes back from injury. Of which, I bet he is probably glad he has that $10 mil insurance policy in case he never plays again.

bro noel is nothing like oden, one of oden's legs was an inch and a half longer than the other. noel's injury stemmed from rushing back, magic wont allow that to happen again.

also watch how oden moved, compared to noel, NO CONTEST. noel moves fluidly, oden always moved like he would be injury prone

You have a point. Noel does know how to run down the court, but he is nothing but fluid on offense. I don't know if the "Experts" watch the way this guy jumps, but when he does, he flails his legs and arms all sorts of awkward. There is no way he is going to survive in the NBA as skinny as he is flailing his body all over when making plays. He does this on offense and defense. And, for a man that can get easily injured, he isn't going to last with those types of mechanics. Plus, he did get thrown around against college players more often than normal. Imagine that against NBA bigs. People need to watch entire games instead of just highlights.

im not talking about his offensive ability. just the way he moves in general. noel may end up being a limited offensive player, i don't anticipate much post game from him, he's more of a passer and finisher. Noel stuffed the stat sheets with multiple assist/steal/blocks all the time

[BadMofoPimp]

im not talking about his offensive ability. just the way he moves in general. noel may end up being a limited offensive player, i don't anticipate much post game from him, he's more of a passer and finisher. Noel stuffed the stat sheets with multiple assist/steal/blocks all the time

Hopefully, Noel can prove me wrong!!!

[InFlames]

You have a point. Noel does know how to run down the court, but he is nothing but fluid on offense. I don't know if the "Experts" watch the way this guy jumps, but when he does, he flails his legs and arms all sorts of awkward. There is no way he is going to survive in the NBA as skinny as he is flailing his body all over when making plays. He does this on offense and defense. And, for a man that can get easily injured, he isn't going to last with those types of mechanics. Plus, he did get thrown around against college players more often than normal. Imagine that against NBA bigs.

So how did Camby survive in the NBA? Hes almost the exact size as Noel.

Camby plays within his limitations. He doesn't flail his arms and legs when jumping and has much better mechanics. Noel looks more reckless out there. Noel is more Thabeet than Camby.

This is too ridiculous to even respond to.

[BadMofoPimp]

So how did Camby survive in the NBA? Hes almost the exact size as Noel.

Camby plays within his limitations. He doesn't flail his arms and legs when jumping and has much better mechanics. Noel looks more reckless out there. Noel is more Thabeet than Camby.

This is too ridiculous to even respond to.

Yep. You got me. I was stretchin. But, I think Noel will be more Thabeet than Camby.

[UCF]

Camby imo would be a best case scenario for Noel. Check out his NBA career stats and compare to his college: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/308 ... oEsKAVPKB4

I wouldn't want to compare Neol to Thabeet. That's a worst case scenario and he's not that bad. However, for those curious:

CAMBY
Season School Conf G MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
1993-94 Massachusetts A-10 29 21.9 4.0 8.2 .494 0.0 0.1 .000 2.1 3.6 .596 6.4 1.2 0.6 3.6 1.7 3.5 10.2
1994-95 Massachusetts A-10 30 22.6 5.5 10.1 .550 0.0 0.0 1.000 2.8 4.3 .643 6.2 1.2 0.8 3.4 1.8 2.5 13.9
1995-96 Massachusetts A-10 33 30.6 7.8 16.3 .477 0.0 0.2 .000 4.9 7.1 .700 8.2 1.8 1.0 3.9 2.5 2.6 20.5

NOEL
SEASON TEAM MIN FGM-FGA FG% 3PM-3PA 3P% FTM-FTA FT% REB AST BLK STL PF TO PTS
2012-13 UK 31.9 4.1-6.9 .590 0.0-0.0 .000 2.3-4.3 .529 9.5 1.6 4.4 2.1 2.6 1.9 10.5

THABEET
Season GP MPG PPG FG% 3FG% FT% APG RPG BPG SPG
2008-09 36 31.8 13.6 64.0 0.0 62.7 0.5 10.8 4.2 0.6
2007-08 33 31.0 10.5 60.3 0.0 69.8 0.4 7.9 4.5 0.3
2006-07 31 24.6 6.2 55.4 0.0 51.3 0.4 6.4 3.8 0.2

[BadMofoPimp]

Camby imo would be a best case scenario for Noel. Check out his NBA career stats and compare to his college: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/308 ... oEsKAVPKB4

I wouldn't want to compare Neol to Thabeet. That's a worst case scenario and he's not that bad. However, for those curious:

At least Camby had offensive game. Thabeet and Noel don't have any offensive game. If Thabeet was good enough to be the 2nd overall pick in a stronger draft than this, what does that say about Noel.

If Thabeet was in this years draft, he would be drafted before Noel mainly because Noel is brittle.

[Noonskadoodle]

General manager Rob Hennigan and assistant general managers Scott Perry and Matt Lloyd will conduct the Magic's player interviews, which were expected to begin Wednesday night and likely will include Noel, McLemore and Burke. Each team may interview a maximum of 18 players, and each session may last a maximum of 30 minutes.

Hennigan would not comment about his team's goals for the combine, but the interviews will play a critical role for the Magic, especially since many players won't participate in the on-court drills scheduled for Thursday and Friday at a Chicago gym.

The Magic won't know where, exactly, they'll pick in the first round until the NBA draft lottery takes place Tuesday in Manhattan.

It's unclear whether McLemore and Burke will participate in the combine's drills. Instead, they may elect to hold individual workouts in the weeks to come.

But all prospects' heights, weights, wingspans, standing reach and body fat will be measured.

And interviews also could be critical in the process.

As the team with the best chance to pick first, the Magic will want to sit down with Noel, McLemore and Burke, making the next few days critical for the players and the team.

per Josh Robbins

[94_MagicFan]

Harrington is expected to work out for other teams in early June with the permission of Orlando, who will either try to trade Harrington around the draft or likely buyout his non-guaranteed contract

[NickAnderson]

Seriously can anyone name a big with injury problems like noels who actually had a legit nba career?