Official Speculation Thread (Pt. LVI - NBA Draft Edition)

[Def Swami]

Let's see if Cleveland spoils the party. Hopefully they take Len and stay away from any of our targets.

[Orlwillbeback]

My God

Vuc
Noel
Harris
Harkless
Bledsoe

We'd dominate the league with fastbreaks fueled by Vuc defensive rebounding.

[MagicFan32]

smokescreen
magic want cleveland to take noel

[rcklsscognition]

smokescreen
magic want cleveland to take noel

why?

[Skin]

Get ready to belive in "the doctors".

[NEM]

wonder what bmp has to say...

[MAGICian619]

I'm thinking Cleveland will pass on Noel. They are apparently determined to have a good season this year and Noel would not fit that plan. I'm hoping they take Len, giving Henny his choice between Noel or one of the guards.

[rcklsscognition]

DA has his mock draft up. #1 is McLemore to Cavs:

Needs: Small forward, size
Yes, the Cavs desperately need a small forward. Yes, the Cavs took Dion Waiters fourth overall in last year's Draft, and paired him in the backcourt with Kyrie Irving. Yes, the Cavs really need a three after passing on Harrison Barnes, or, at the least, a legit center to replace the aging Anderson Varejao, who almost certainly should be moved for additional, younger assets. But no, sorry, I never believe last-minute reports that a prospect is suddenly "slipping" because of this or that issue. Too many people have motivation to start McLemore (or any good player) on a supposed slide down the Draft board with false info. And any GM or team that passes on a player based on one or two workouts isn't worth a damn, anyway. Cavs' GM Chris Grant has always taken a chance on explosive talent rather than conventional wisdom (he took Waiters over Barnes and Tristan Thompson over Jonas Valanciunas), and McLemore, the Kansas freshman, has superstar potential.

http://www.nba.com/2013/news/features/d ... index.html

[Neon1]

smokescreen
magic want cleveland to take noel

That makes zero sense. Cleveland is taking Noel, Len or Porter.

If WE don't want Noel (we don't need C Len or SF Porter), so why would we be sending smokescreens?

[MagicStarwipe]

Looking at all the names in this draft, I'd be down with taking a chance on Noel.

[KillMonger]

My God

Vuc
Noel
Harris
Harkless
Bledsoe

We'd dominate the league with fastbreaks fueled by Vuc defensive rebounding.

jameer is not a fast break point guard he is the starter by the way let's not just put bledsoe in the Starting lineup just yet. We don't even know if he's good enough to run a team, we don't even know how much money we will have to pay just to see if he can actually run the point full time since he will be a restricted free agent real soon. He has no loyalty towards us what's stopping him from signing a big offer? Do we pay a dude who is coming off a lackluster playoff showing and hasn't made any real significant improvement 3 seasons in? Bring him in to learn from Jameer? Honestly if he can't learn something playing behind CP3 then dude is a lost cause. Bottom line Bring him in to flip him at the deadline for a pick, best case scenario in my mind and it's fine if other people don't see it that way

[rcklsscognition]

If we didn't get Bledsoe, Noel would be the fastest guy on the break I think.

[jgosche]

Here we go folks:

Chad Ford ‏@chadfordinsider 3m
And if Noel slides to No. 2? Sources say the Magic are ready to pounce on him. The latest

from someone in the Magic organization:

Sources cautioned that things could change in the next five days as the Magic continue to gather information. "If the draft was held today, Noel would be our first choice," one source told ESPN.com.

The Magic, according to sources, scouted Noel heavily during the season and have been doing exhaustive background work on Noel the past few months. The team believes that, with patience, Noel should end up being the best player in the draft.

Noel made a visit to the Magic on June 2 and sources said he wowed everyone despite the fact that he's still months away from playing basketball because of a torn ACL.

Would explain why he seemed to look so happy when they announce the Magic had a top 3 pick.

[MellowRose]

3. Red flags on Oladipo, McLemore and Muhammad.

It's no surprise that Oladipo would fare poorly in the advanced stats prism because he had two mediocre years before blowing up big time in his junior year. Collectively, it means he's the 17th-best prospect by Pelton's system. But Pelton acknowledges that even if his offense regresses he'll be an impact defender. But people might be overlooking some evidence at their own risks.

McLemore, meanwhile, was the biggest surprise for me of any player rating. He ranks 18th with a poor usage rate and an inability to get to the free-throw line. He also turns the ball over too much for a catch-and-shoot player. It could be youth or it could be a warning sign that a player with a lot of hype from a big program is getting overrated.

I've ceased being afraid that the Pistons will actually draft Shabazz Muhammad (did I just jinx it?), but it's still nice to see advanced metrics viewing Shabazz as poorly as I do in person. He is one of two likely top-30 picks that registered a negative WARP from Pelton. That means he's basically as good as a 10-day contract type.

Very interesting read: http://www.detroitbadboys.com/2013/6/24 ... it-pistons

This doesn't change my opinion on Oladipo but it makes me less inclined to pick Mclemore. However, from the above posts, it seems like we gonna pick Noel.

[TDJacksonville]

that doesnt mean they get rid of their young big. They are looking to go forward with Kanter and Favors. Hence Jefferson and Millsap moving on.

and approximately or not, unless it is a slam dunk, you dont trade big for small. And it isnt a slam dunk with Bledsoe. He has not shown to be anything more than an average PG as a starter.

if the jazz were smarter they would do this deal to become a Playoff team instead of being an almost all White team that is a Doormat

An all white team? Really? When healthy, all five of Utah's starters were African American, so there goes your credibility. Besides, what does it matter?

Sent from my SCH-I605 using RealGM Forums mobile app

u do realize a Team is More than 5 players right bro. and i didnt say All white. i said almost all white but i hadnt been keeping up with their roster so im a lil off there cuz i see theres only 2 guys on that team that are white in Kanter and Hayward.

thats probably the whitest Team ever assembled in the NBA

[jgosche]

wonder what bmp has to say...

Noel is going to be bad.

[Truth24]

I just pray for a Noel-Ledo draft day combo.

[KillMonger]

And the game begins, highly doubt we're talking to ESPN about anything on our front but hey this is a game at this point, the smokescreens, the misinformation, the suspense, the intrigue. These next few days are going to be real interesting either way though i don't think Cavs pass on Noel

[sportsrock37]

I'd rather just buy a pick in the 20's and get Dieng then draft Noel. Dieng is a twig and is a very good defensive player(not as good as Noel), but he's way better offensively. Plus he's not coming off of a major injury. Noel would b ethe only guy that I wouldn't be happy with, although if we draft him I'll trust Hennigan.

[pogiro]

My God

Vuc
Noel
Harris
Harkless
Bledsoe

We'd dominate the league with fastbreaks fueled by Vuc defensive rebounding.

jameer is not a fast break point guard he is the starter by the way let's not just put bledsoe in the Starting lineup just yet. We don't even know if he's good enough to run a team, we don't even know how much money we will have to pay just to see if he can actually run the point full time since he will be a restricted free agent real soon. He has no loyalty towards us what's stopping him from signing a big offer? Do we pay a dude who is coming off a lackluster playoff showing and hasn't made any real significant improvement 3 seasons in? Bring him in to learn from Jameer? Honestly if he can't learn something playing behind CP3 then dude is a lost cause. Bottom line Bring him in to flip him at the deadline for a pick, best case scenario in my mind and it's fine if other people don't see it that way

Who took the jam out of your donut? He may not start right away, but the intention of bringing him in is to mold him into a starter, just like all the other youths on the team. We don't know if he can run point full time. But we didn't know that with Vooch, Harkless, or Tobias either. Now's the time to bring in prospects and give them a shot. Jameer, as big of a fan of his as I am, will spend plenty of time off the court, anyways. And eventually, maybe we can ship him out to a contender. I'd hate for him to spend much more of his career on losing teams, and he really has no place with the future of this franchise.

Why would he resign with the Magic? Because if brought in, the Magic would have invested the most in him and would be the most willing to give him the opportunity to be a starting PG in the league. Now, would he bolt for a higher paying team? Probably. But hopefully at that point he'll prove himself worth retaining and paying what it'll take.

And what do you base your opinion on, where you're saying he hasn't made much progress in 3 seasons? Honest question. Have you paid that much attention to his career? Because if so, then I'll defer to you. But numbers alone show that he's made decent strides. I'm not watching him, but he made a little buzz around the league. I don't think that would happen if he didn't make progress. The guy is still 23 with 3 years under his belt.