2013 Draft Thread

[Suns_RoadRunner]

And oladipo has a high motor but is undersized and has no offensive skills beside a set shot.

You can't make a team out of only Oladipo's and Tuckers.

I take it you've never seen Oladipo play. He's the best transition scorer and slasher in the draft. He can do a lot more than hit a "set shot."

[jcsunsfan]

And oladipo has a high motor but is undersized and has no offensive skills beside a set shot.

You can't make a team out of only Oladipo's and Tuckers.

I take it you've never seen Oladipo play. He's the best transition scorer and slasher in the draft. He can do a lot more than hit a "set shot."

This is true. He is also very smart, and a fantastic teammates on and off the court.

[TruthTelling]

he is most certainly not the best transition player or slasher in the daft.

McLemore is worlds better than Oladipo in transition for example.

[jcsunsfan]

And oladipo has a high motor but is undersized and has no offensive skills beside a set shot.

You can't make a team out of only Oladipo's and Tuckers.

I take it you've never seen Oladipo play. He's the best transition scorer and slasher in the draft. He can do a lot more than hit a "set shot."

This is true. He is also very smart, and a fantastic teammates on and off the court.

False. They might be close but worlds better is just false

[No-Man]

Bazz scored 18ppg in a Howland offense.

With Drew and Anderson having the ball all the time, he did what the coaches want from him, be aggresive without the ball, rebounds, and be efficient in the looks you get.

Im only concern about his FT%, other than that, hes by far the best scorer in this Draft.

Check Kevin Love, check Holiday, check Westbrook,... Howland makes everybody look bad.

Also Bazz started the season out of shape, he will be fine from an athletic standpoint.

[Frank Lee]

I think Shabazz will have to excel in the work outs to move back up in this draft. Certainly, he and Olapido will square off somewhere prior to the draft, and both bring their own tangibles and upside. Just as the hype for Shabazz was strong, his lackluster finish in college, while others excelled, tarnished his rating.

Both would find minutes on this squad, as I see Tucker and JDud as being the only wings we have worth their salt.... and to me, they would/could/should anchor our bench effectively.

I would not be surprised if we take Porter over each of them, and McLemore over all of them.

I also think we could trade our two late picks for one in the teens, if the right player is floating around. (Adams ?... or that greek freak) Somehow we need to move up some without giving up too much (win a trade as Rvaj said)

To me, we need length, athleticism, and scoring from a wing, and we'll get that with a rookie, FA or trade. We need to acquire two starters as we have holes at SG/SF/and PF. Geez we are needy.

Things will become more clear once our position is determined.


PS... I'm adding Muscala as a late pick pick up. That kid may be the big sleeper C available with a pick in the twenties.

[navysully]

If we win the 1st pick. Would we take Noel or McLemore? I am guessing we'd land McLemore at #2 if we won that spot?

I like McLemore the most in this draft. We need a SG as well, so I think its a really good fit.

[Saberestar]

Oladipo's athleticism, defensive instincts, and quickness are out of this world. He's a FAR better slasher than Shabazz and a slightly better ball handler as well. He plays the passing lanes better than any prospect in the draft and his on-ball defense is so good it literally frightens opponents. If you watched the Suns at all this season, it's clear that Dragic needs a strong defender alongside him to cover his deficiencies, and there is nobody better than Oladipo.

The belief that Oladipo has limited upside and is "role-player" material is completely false. His work-ethic and desire to improve is second to none. He was the most efficient player in the nation this year, and improved every facet of his game. What leads you to believe that he in a "finished product" and he won't continue to improve in the NBA? I hope the Suns draft Oladipo and stay far away from Shabazz Muhammed.

I agree completely.
Oladipo is a great example of work ethic and I really miss that in our team since the departure of Nash and Hill.

[TruthTelling]

Oladipo has been a complimentary player on Indiana. You have to put his efficiency numbers in context, he was not the focus of the offense. His FG% numbers are absolutely infalted by the types of shots he was taking. He had the luxury of playing for a finely tuned team without much pressure to do anything offensively.

Oladipo is listed at 6'5 right now, but there is no way in my mind that he is more than 6'4 in shoes.

He is athletic and works hard on defense, that is great but he is still undersized, his offensive game is the opposite of smooth and players like that rarely if ever reach a high level offensively. He was a complimentary player in college, he will be a complimentary player in the NBA. If this draft was not as weak as it is he wouldn't even be in the discussion for the lottery.

Not to mention he is a junior. Even if he is just 1 year older than Muhammad he had the luxury of practicing with his team for TWO MORE YEARS. Not to mention a team that is run well and has a system in place.

He is clearly not as good a slasher as Muhammad, Muhammad is way better going inside and drawing fouls as proven by free throw attempts quite clearly. They both suck at handling the ball right now and Oladipo is a better passer but nothing to rave about either.

In the end Shabazz is a year younger, a better offensive player clearly, and has prototype size. He hasn't played good defense in college but his work ethic and motor had never been questioned before either.. on the opposite.

You just don't draft players like Oladipo that high unless you want a complimetary role player.

If we draft Oladipo over Noel, McLemore, Porter, Burke then our front office has completely lost it.

And personally I would not draft Oladipo over Muhammad and Bennett either.

Draft a junior that has a good work ethic and plays hard despite being undersized at his position and put up very good effiency numbers in college is exactly how we ended up with Markieff Morris too.

Oladipo has NONE of the qualities that usually make very good shooting guards which is why he will be a role player.

[JohnVancouver]

I htink Roadrunner nails it - Oladipo is just what te Suns need and will grow into a leadership role. Imagine someone who plays tough defense all the time, continues to grow offensively - and he's already better than many think he is - and just shames teammates into competing?

[Scubetrolis]

while the scouting reports may say that Shabazz has a high motor and high IQ, i didnt see it. admittedly, im sure those people are much better at deciding that than i am.

i wouldnt be super upset if we took him, i just wouldnt be surprised if he was a bust either.

[Sun Scorched]

Oladipo, as has been discussed, has a tremendous motor and fantastic intangibles.

Ultimately, Offense is expensive and Defense is cheap, relatively speaking. A guy like Tony Allen will get $4-$6m while a guy like Eric Gordon will get $15+.

That's why if you can draft offensive production, you do. You could potentially get solid offsensive production on a rookie scale for 4 years. Oladipo, if drafted high, would be paid what you can get a solid defensive vet for in free agency.

EDIT: This isn't a Bazz over Oladipo argument by any stretch, just an observation on O v D.

[TruthTelling]

Indeed, you can find roleplayers with similiar qualities as Oladipo even from undrafted FAs like PJ Tucker.

In the end the SG position is based on offensive skills more than any other position other than PG.

Kenneth Farried can get away with having little offensive skills and being undersized by being athletic and having a great motor he can be very effective for an up and down team like Denver by rebounding, hustling and dunking.

But as a shooting guard you are not going to be more than a role player if those are your calling cards.

Thank god the type of SG they have been looking at the last year is nothing like Oladipo. They looked at Jamal Crawford, Eric Gordon, Dion Waiters.. They have stated several times that they were looking for someone who could close out games and create scoring opportunities. Oladipo is nothing like that.

McLemore isn't at this point, but he is probably the purest shooter in the draft, very good athletically, very smooth, very good in transition and has all the potential in the world to develop into one of the best scoring guards in the league, extremely high ceiling offensively and while he is a bad defender at this point he has the tools to be every bit as good as Oladipo defensively because he is on the same level athletically and bigger.

McLemore's ball handling / passing / isolation play is suspect right now too though.

if Oladipo is going to be your starting shooting guard you better have tremendous playmakers at the 1 and 3 spot.

[MathiasPW]

I find it hard to believe that a rookie with a great motor can change a whole team's losing culture. It's more probable that he is brought down rather than bringing everyone up.

[TruthTelling]

I find it hard to believe that a rookie with a great motor can change a whole team's losing culture. It's more probable that he is brought down rather than bringing everyone up.

Good point, veterans lead, not rookies.

Which is why the Suns need to clean house.

[GreenRiddler]

Phoenix gets
Blazers 10 pick + filler (Barton 2nrnd pick)

Portland gets
Gortat

[TruthTelling]

I don't think we'd do that especially if we have to take back crap contracts too.

Don't really think picks outside of the top 7 have so much value in this draft specifically.
At #10 you probably get a shot at players who have almost no chance of developing into an allstar or even borderline allstar and high chance to never be better than Gortat now.
Since we are rebuilding or rather should rebuild it would make sense to trade Gortat in his prime to get younger but if we do that we have to at least get youth back where you think it's at worse a 50/50 thing that we can win the trade a few years down the road because else there is no point. With Gortat you know you have a good center. A #10 pick could be out of the league in 3 years easily especially in this draft. Heck even Meyers Leonard could be out of the league before he is Gortat's age. There is no guarantees with either.

I like the idea of absorbing Freeland and adding Leonard to the deal, else I am not sure a #10 pick in this draft is so valueable and would rather trade Gortat for a 2014 pick somewhere.

[GreenRiddler]

I don't think we'd do that especially if we have to take back crap contracts too.

Don't really think picks outside of the top 7 have so much value in this draft specifically.
At #10 you probably get a shot at players who have almost no chance of developing into an allstar or even borderline allstar and high chance to never be better than Gortat now.
Since we are rebuilding or rather should rebuild it would make sense to trade Gortat in his prime to get younger but if we do that we have to at least get youth back where you think it's at worse a 50/50 thing that we can win the trade a few years down the road because else there is no point. With Gortat you know you have a good center. A #10 pick could be out of the league in 3 years easily especially in this draft. Heck even Meyers Leonard could be out of the league before he is Gortat's age. There is no guarantees with either.

I like the idea of absorbing Freeland and adding Leonard to the deal, else I am not sure a #10 pick in this draft is so valueable and would rather trade Gortat for a 2014 pick somewhere.

But we absorb 7mill off your books with non guaranteed contracts going to Phx

[RunSunRun]

May 21st can't come soon enough.

I can feel that top 3 pick...or maybe its the chili I ate for lunch...either or

[ShawnBronald]

Will Stern be running this draft or will Adam Silver (not that there will be any difference, but I'm curious)?