Zmill wrote:thelead wrote:Zmill wrote:So what do you think about Harkless, Nicholson, and Vucevic being drafted late in the first? They were drafted on mediocore/playoff teams.
So those guys are going to lead us to a championship? Adding another one of those guys isn't going to get us there either. Now, drafting the next Durant or LeBron might. Unless, of course, you think we can sign Durant or LeBron. Then I'm all for your plan.
So you found a plan that ensures a team to get the #1 pic? You should have sent your resume to MJ last year, he probably would have paid you millions.
Have there not been plenty of all-stars drafted after the top 10?
And I am curious - in the past 10-15 years outside of the Thunder what teams have successfully became championship contenders after tanking for a few years? I don't know the answer to this question, I am just wondering if you can answer it for me. I'm curious.
i think it's important that we bring in the best talent we can, no matter where we're drafting, but i think it's also pretty undeniable that there are very few real difference makers who can lead a team to the finals, and those guys generally aren't drafted with picks outside the top 10.
Shaq, Duncan, LeBron, Wade, Dirk, Durant, KG, Paul Pierce, Dwight, etc.
There are certainly exceptions, but that's exactly what they are - exceptions. Kobe was late lottery, but he also needed a former #1 and then a former #2 + #4 pick to get it done.
And that doesn't even begin to account for the Bosh's and Ray Allen's who are top 5 picks, but still played secondary roles to on championship teams.
I'm not saying that this means we should tank, just saying that by looking to build a championship team through late lottery picks will most certainly be taking a more challenging road. We would certainly need a plan to find a player of the above calibre either through free agency or trade, if that's what we're doing.
Zmill wrote:Bobby Ray wrote:I think the key is flexibility, i believe with the moves Henny made he gave us some flexibility to do some damage in both the Draft and Free Agency. When it comes to the Draft though it's all about scouting, if your scouting department is good enough you can find talent anywhere:
Tony Parker
Manu Ginobli
Rashard Lewis
Monta Ellis
Micheal Redd
Gilbert Arenas
Mehmet Okur
Carlos Boozer
Luis Scola
Marcin Gortat
Paul Milsap
Marc Gasol
All those players are/were late first to second round picks and those guys have talent whether they are balling currently or years ago when in their prime. The talent is there for the taking but scouting is key, hopefully Henny takes it more seriously than Otis did.
Great list. The list of good players drafted in the 10-20 range is probably even longer. I trust Hennigan to draft well no matter our position (until he loses that trust).
They're all great players, and i'm pretty confident Hennigan will be the type of GM to add names to that list as well. But we really need to find a franchise player to build around before we stock up on too many of those pieces, or else we'll be a middle tier team, stocked with allstar/borderline allstar talent, with a very small window of opportunity to land a legit difference maker - like Denver.
Can't say I've got a plan to land one of those guys, short of trading for as many lottery picks in next year's draft as possible, via whatever means possible, and hoping we can land Wiggins and a couple more studs.
**EDIT: oh, and after all that, i'd probably be happier if we made the playoffs this year than make an effort to tank for players that aren't convincing star quality yet. but i'd still like to know that we've got a plan to find and land a difference maker within the next 3 years.
