2014 Draft Thread

[grumpysaddle]

Still taking Randle over all. He is Karl Malone minus the scumbaggery.

The scumbaggery was the best part. I love that he was a total redneck.

[Revived]

I have seen one college basketball game before this one....and that was at least 6 years ago and I don't think Dick Vitale was the one commentating that.

[RunDogGun]

I have seen one college basketball game before this one....and that was at least 6 years ago and I don't think Dick Vitale was the one commentating that.

But he has done a ton of commercials, and is on ESPN all the time when they talk about college hoops. He is pretty famous, and his voice and sayings are ubber famous.

[DirtyDez]

Still taking Randle over all. He is Karl Malone minus the scumbaggery.

The scumbaggery was the best part. I love that he was a total redneck.

I meant the borderline pedophilia part but to each his own.

[Revived]

I have seen one college basketball game before this one....and that was at least 6 years ago and I don't think Dick Vitale was the one commentating that.

But he has done a ton of commercials, and is on ESPN all the time when they talk about college hoops. He is pretty famous, and his voice and sayings are ubber famous.

That's off because I do watch a lot of ESPN. And I never pay attention when they talk about college hoops either, I usually change the channel. Only time I care about college basketball players are in May and June.

I'm probably gonna watch a lot of college ball this year though because of all the hype for the star studded 2014 NBA draft candidates

[Revived]

Even though it's just one game I can see why so many people want their teams to tank this year. Even the legendary franchises like Lakers and Celtics fans want their team to tank.

[Ryu]

Jabari Parker is the best player from this draft class, imho. Unbelievable skills, very good shooter, underrated athleticism, very fluid, team oriented, great teammate...

Just imagine him and Bledsoe in a crunch time... With Keef, Plumlee, Goodwin, Len... further developing we would be a contender in 2-3 years time.

[grumpysaddle]

Still taking Randle over all. He is Karl Malone minus the scumbaggery.

The scumbaggery was the best part. I love that he was a total redneck.

I meant the borderline pedophilia part but to each his own.

I don't remember any of that business... but, sounds pretty redneck to me.

[bwgood77]

I don't know how, after last night, Wiggins should be thought of as any higher than three at this point. Obviously there is a lot of basketball to be played but this is the very first time EVER these guys had to face REAL competition. You could say they played good competition at the McDonalds games or high school all star games, bu the fact is, those are showcase offensive games and they still are playing against other high schoolers.

This is the first time they had to play against college seniors who have competed against college guys for years.

And I haven't even mentioned Smart and Exum yet. Smart beasted last night too.

Of course there is still a ton of college basketball to be played, and other guys will rise out of nowhere too.

I think there will be REALLY good players at least ten deep, likely better than ANYONE in last year's draft.

Of course Parker and Randle look really special though, so it would be very nice to get lucky in the lottery with the ping pong balls.

[rsavaj]

The importance of a top 5 pick: http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2013/ ... eekly-rant

[bigfoot]

The importance of a top 5 pick: http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2013/ ... eekly-rant

I call Bullshat!! Just look at this chart in that same brightside article



Jabbar, Shaq, Bosh, LeBron, Garrnett, Allen, Chandler were not drafted top five by the teams they won a championship with. They were brought in as free agents. Just another article by a wannabe journalist (Jim Coughenour) who hopes to see the Suns lose in order get a high draft pick.

[thamadkant]

Far from BS actually.
You missed a big point…
Championship teams have players who were picked top 5…. That was his point.

Losing a top 5 pick to another team is a BAD GM and BAD team management scenario…. Different STUDY is needed to show WHY those teams lost their top 5 picks.

Magic Johnson, James Worthy were CRITICAL for those championship teams.
Shaq was indeed a FA acquisition by Lakers, but he was a Number 1 pick.
Dwayne Wade was as instrumental to Heat’s first championship as much as Shaq.

[thamadkant]

It will be so painful to see a scenario where Lakers rest Kobe throughout the season…. Gets a top 10 pick because of it.
Signs FA stars…next off-season.

And then bypass the Suns rebuilding just like that…. And be back to contendership in 1-2 seasons.


I’m not saying it will happen, I’m just saying it’s a scenario I would hate… again.

Oh well.

[bigfoot]

Far from BS actually.
You missed a big point…
Championship teams have players who were picked top 5…. That was his point.

Losing a top 5 pick to another team is a BAD GM and BAD team management scenario…. Different STUDY is needed to show WHY those teams lost their top 5 picks.

Magic Johnson, James Worthy were CRITICAL for those championship teams.
Shaq was indeed a FA acquisition by Lakers, but he was a Number 1 pick.
Dwayne Wade was as instrumental to Heat’s first championship as much as Shaq.

No I don't miss his point. I've read too many of the author's articles that promote tanking. This is just another more subtle way to put it out there. He hasn't changed his tune just lowered the volume.

P.S. The title of his article says it all.

[RunDogGun]

Far from BS actually.
You missed a big point…
Championship teams have players who were picked top 5…. That was his point.

Losing a top 5 pick to another team is a BAD GM and BAD team management scenario…. Different STUDY is needed to show WHY those teams lost their top 5 picks.

Magic Johnson, James Worthy were CRITICAL for those championship teams.
Shaq was indeed a FA acquisition by Lakers, but he was a Number 1 pick.
Dwayne Wade was as instrumental to Heat’s first championship as much as Shaq.

And Magic and Worthy were both traded picks to LAL. So what's the point there? Trade with team's you hope are bad enough to get you the number one pick?

I agree with Bigfoot, just more bull where they try and equate A with C without establishing A=B and B=C first. The point should be that more than often teams acquire high draft picks through trade and/or FA, so try and be as good as you can at all times, hope that your good players can get you future good picks, hope those picks aren't busts, and hope they don't leave your team to bring another team a chip.

[bwgood77]

Yeah, Charlotte, Sacramento, Washington, etc have all had a bunch of top five picks too, and they haven't done much. Even teams that have had a couple of #1s and got the biggest stud by far in those drafts (Orlando, Cleveland) couldn't win a championship.

There are so many factors that go into it and I hate when it gets simplified too much. While true that stars typically win championships, there are different ways to get them, and having a top five pick in no way comes close to guaranteeing that. Dirk was the 9th or 10th pick, and obviously he was the main cog for Dallas, even though they got Chandler ten years after the fact.

We had two top five picks on the team last year and they didn't do so well. Some of our best teams didn't have anyone in the top five on them.

[jcsunsfan]

The Lakers have 5 championships without drafting any of their top players in the top 5.
The Dallas Mavericks have 1.
The Detroit Pistons have 1.
The Boston Celtics have 1.

You can get a top 5 type of player through free agency or trade. 8 of the last 20 champions say so.

Consider this. In the last 15 years (seems like a long nba career number) only two teams that had a top 5 pick in that time have won an NBA championship--Miami and Boston. Of those two teams, only 1 player has had an significant role in winning that championship--Dwayne Wade. Miami did draft Michael Beasley #2 but sold him off for nothing so they could sign free agents. Boston drafted Jeff Green, whose role in Boston's championship was being traded for Ray Allen.

The overwhelming, VAST majority of teams with top 5 picks during that period are still mired in futility. The point is not that you have to have a top 5 pick. You have to find a way to get a top 5 talent type of player. Teams that have won championships in the last 15 years have traded for them or signed them as free agents much, much more often than draft them.

[BurningHeart]

I like it when people post intelligently.

[JDLAW]

I read the article that this was taken from and can only say that the only thing that can be drawn from it is that to win a championship is that you need good players and more often than not good players are found at the top of the draft. How you get these great players is multifaceted, drafting is not the only way. The Spurs are unique exception as their championship teams were built on a two players drafted at the top of the first round, one at the bottom of the 1st round and one at the bottom of the 2nd round all of whom were drafted. They got luck in the lottery twice to get Duncan and Robinson. This is a team that seldom makes trades for players - at least significant core players for their team.

Miami built their championship with one player selected 5th and the rest free agents and trades (Shaq, Bosh, and LeBron).

He got the Bulls wrong - Michael Jordan was drafted by the Bulls, but Pippen was traded for - he was originally drafted by Seattle and traded for Polynice. He got the Byron Scott wrong also - he was drafted by the Clippers and traded to the Lakers. Larry Bird was drafted in the year before he graduated as a junior eligible player under an old NBA rule that permitted certain players to be drafted and return to school if the player still had eligibility and the player's graduation class had walked. The Suns drafted Kyle Macy under the same rule. The Celts would never had gotten Bird except for this rule. He ignores the fact that the Celts 1980s championships were in large part because of Parrish and DJ - neither of whom were drafted highly nor were drafted by the Celts. There was a whole lot more to the Bad- Boy Pistons than Thomas and Aguirre - two of the mainstays were Laimbeer and Mahorn both of whom were low picks by other teams (Laimbeer - Cleveland and Mahorn - Washington). The Rockets would have never won their two championships without Cassell and Horry, both of whom were low draft choices.

Couple of other areas where he is wrong or misleading - Magic and Worthy were draft choices obtained from downtrodden franchises (Detroit and Cleveland) for marginal veteran players. They did not earn these picks on merit. Very few teams are making such terrible trades any more as evidenced by the addition of protections/restrictions on most 1st round draft choices that are traded.

The point is you play it straight when you are rebuilding. You gather assets, scout well and look for players with high character who fit what you are trying to do. Tanking - losing on purpose for higher draft choices - seldom works. Boston fielded less than competitive teams at the end of the 1996-97 season to get the most chances at Duncan, but ended up with Billips.

The only true example of a team that tanked that I can recall was the 1983-84 Rockets and the NBA was so embarrassed that they instituted the lottery. I was living in Houston during the 1983-84 and 84-85 seasons. The Rockets were so bad after Malone left by free agency they earned a spot in the coin flip and are able to draft Sampson. The next year Olajuwan had a great NCAA tournament for University of Houston and announced he was going to turn pro. This was in late March - early April. The Rockets immediately started playing old grizzled veterans such as Elvin Hayes (on his retirement tour) and Rick Berry (on one leg) while sitting the prize rookies Sampson, McCray and Peterson. They went into a massive skid to get themselves into the coin flip. The excuses for this were preposterous.

Players sense when the team being held back by front office or coaching decisions. Most players do not want anything to do with this or any organization that engages in such practices. It is easy to recognize and it is not well accepted by players. The whole tanking thread that is in the media at this time is repugnant and is promoted by losers in the media who think they are clever.

The author of the article seems to have forgotten this in his promotion of "losing to win".

[bwgood77]

Golden St blatantly tanked a couple of years ago to keep their pick (it was top 7 protected) and they ended up getting Harrison Barnes out of it. They fielded some of the worst lineups I've ever seen. They sat tons of guys with suspect injuries.