2019 Draft Discussion - Suns with 6th pick!

[WeekapaugGroove]

After Zion to me Ja the clear cut big swing potential star pick. Not saying he's a sure thing but he has the highest ceiling of the rest of the class. One could argue it's Barrett but man I get some real Rudy gay Harrison Barnes type vibes from him.

And as I was saying before Reddish feels like the safest lotto pick. Can shoot and play D so it's easy to see how he fits in todays NBA. Now he might not be more than a good role player though. He's kind of the Otto Porter of this draft.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM mobile app

[HiddenLeaf 44]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sportingnews.com/ca/amp/ncaa-basketball/news/rui-hachimura-gonzaga-bulldogs-japanese-basketball-nba/toqk9r3ipdwq16azu0s3xegp7

Interesting read. If our pick lands outside of the top 3 Hachimura could be our future pf.

[Blonde]

Zion is the clear #1, but I really think #2 for us has to be Morant at this point. His only real weakness is 3 point shooting (turnovers are also high, but that's because he has the ball so much). His projected NBA 3 point shooting isn't terrible though (35.6%) due to his FT shooting's 80% mark. His vision is the best in the class, he's an athletic freak, and I realize he is playing against weak competition, but a ton of current NBA guards played worse against similar competition (Lillard, for instance). He has a 7' wingspan and ought to be able to guard 3 spots as a result.

I get some think he's a bad fit next to Booker, but that's if we have Booker as the primary initiator. I think Booker should be in that role some of the time, but not all of the time, and I don't buy that Morant NEEDS the ball to be impactful. He's athletic enough to be a threat cutting to the hoop and if his 3 point shooting hits at least 33% he would have to be guarded even if you just stuck him in the corner when Book ran the offense. Booker is certainly impactful off the ball in a traditional 2 spot coming off screens.

If we fall later than that, I like the 2 way wings (Culver, Hunter), and of course there's Barrett and Reddish, but I have a bad feeling Barrett is going to end up an inefficient chucker. I just would have some issue fitting even more wings onto this team barring a trade or barring going full point Book for the next 5 years.

All of that to say, if we can get Zion that's the best bet. Morant should be 2nd, and we can still have the cap space to sign a 4 or a 1. If we did a 1 though it probably would mean moving one of our current PGs between Melton and Okobo.

If we got Ja I’d still hope we sign a PG like Brogdon during the summer. I’m not looking to throw him into the fire right away. I do like him quite a bit though. I wasn’t aware of that wingspan.

[HiddenLeaf 44]

Zion is the clear #1, but I really think #2 for us has to be Morant at this point. His only real weakness is 3 point shooting (turnovers are also high, but that's because he has the ball so much). His projected NBA 3 point shooting isn't terrible though (35.6%) due to his FT shooting's 80% mark. His vision is the best in the class, he's an athletic freak, and I realize he is playing against weak competition, but a ton of current NBA guards played worse against similar competition (Lillard, for instance). He has a 7' wingspan and ought to be able to guard 3 spots as a result.

I get some think he's a bad fit next to Booker, but that's if we have Booker as the primary initiator. I think Booker should be in that role some of the time, but not all of the time, and I don't buy that Morant NEEDS the ball to be impactful. He's athletic enough to be a threat cutting to the hoop and if his 3 point shooting hits at least 33% he would have to be guarded even if you just stuck him in the corner when Book ran the offense. Booker is certainly impactful off the ball in a traditional 2 spot coming off screens.

If we fall later than that, I like the 2 way wings (Culver, Hunter), and of course there's Barrett and Reddish, but I have a bad feeling Barrett is going to end up an inefficient chucker. I just would have some issue fitting even more wings onto this team barring a trade or barring going full point Book for the next 5 years.

All of that to say, if we can get Zion that's the best bet. Morant should be 2nd, and we can still have the cap space to sign a 4 or a 1. If we did a 1 though it probably would mean moving one of our current PGs between Melton and Okobo.

If we got Ja I’d still hope we sign a PG like Brogdon during the summer. I’m not looking to throw him into the fire right away. I do like him quite a bit though. I wasn’t aware of that wingspan.

If we get Morant I would hope Johnson plays well enough this year to give Morant a year to develop before taking the starting spot.

That way we can use our assets/cap to get a power forward

[Bogyo]

I've also said that if we land in the top 4 we have a good chance of getting Ja, then we'd just need to sign a stop-gap vet PG for say 3 years (or 2 with a bit of overpaying). Collison/McConnell type.
Zion will be first, Barrett likely second, and then Ja - or another wing depending on team needs, interviews, march performance... New York, Atlanta, Cleveland probably wouldn't even pick him at 3... So there is a good (50%?) chance Ja can be picked even at 4, which would be very good value as I see now. So if we re not winning the lottery, we basically need someone winning it who might need a PG too - but won't turn down a chance at Zion. Basically Chicago. The rest of the bottom dwellers are pretty much set at PG, unless Memphis jumps, decides to pick Morant and trade Conley.

[AtheJ415]

I've also said that if we land in the top 4 we have a good chance of getting Ja, then we'd just need to sign a stop-gap vet PG for say 3 years (or 2 with a bit of overpaying). Collison/McConnell type.
Zion will be first, Barrett likely second, and then Ja - or another wing depending on team needs, interviews, march performance... New York, Atlanta, Cleveland probably wouldn't even pick him at 3... So there is a good (50%?) chance Ja can be picked even at 4, which would be very good value as I see now. So if we re not winning the lottery, we basically need someone winning it who might need a PG too - but won't turn down a chance at Zion. Basically Chicago. The rest of the bottom dwellers are pretty much set at PG, unless Memphis jumps, decides to pick Morant and trade Conley.

I still would try to sign a really good PG. Figure out the rest later. If we drafted Ja, we'd needaPF still so I could still see the stopgap occurring, but him being here shouldn't prevent us from signing a Rubio or something. He's not such a good player that Ja wouldn't have a future here, and not that young either.

[HiddenLeaf 44]

I've also said that if we land in the top 4 we have a good chance of getting Ja, then we'd just need to sign a stop-gap vet PG for say 3 years (or 2 with a bit of overpaying). Collison/McConnell type.
Zion will be first, Barrett likely second, and then Ja - or another wing depending on team needs, interviews, march performance... New York, Atlanta, Cleveland probably wouldn't even pick him at 3... So there is a good (50%?) chance Ja can be picked even at 4, which would be very good value as I see now. So if we re not winning the lottery, we basically need someone winning it who might need a PG too - but won't turn down a chance at Zion. Basically Chicago. The rest of the bottom dwellers are pretty much set at PG, unless Memphis jumps, decides to pick Morant and trade Conley.

Good point about Cleveland. If they finish ahead of us they may be willing to swap picks for very cheap if they don’t want Morant

[Djedefre]

Trading down (supposing we end-up in the top4 again) for Garland could be a smart decision. I still believe he's overall better and more NBA ready than Morant. Got some serious MCW vibes from Ja...

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Trading down (supposing we end-up in the top4 again) for Garland could be a smart decision. I still believe he's overall better and more NBA ready than Morant. Got some serious MCW vibes from Ja...

I'm a fan of Garland's as well, but Morant is on another level. Like most here, I'd take him #2.

[Bogyo]

Trading down (supposing we end-up in the top4 again) for Garland could be a smart decision. I still believe he's overall better and more NBA ready than Morant. Got some serious MCW vibes from Ja...

Also a fan of Garland, but he might not be top 8 worthy, even in this weak draft, so I'm not totally sold on him as a legitimate, long time starter in the league. It would also depend on what (who) else we get back if we trade from 4th to 8th or something similar...

[Bogyo]

I'll be watching Lawson tonight in the early game... Good chance of getting to us with our 2nd... tankathon has him going to us

[Djedefre]

Trading down (supposing we end-up in the top4 again) for Garland could be a smart decision. I still believe he's overall better and more NBA ready than Morant. Got some serious MCW vibes from Ja...

I'm a fan of Garland's as well, but Morant is on another level. Like most here, I'd take him #2.

I strongly disagree. Ja is certainly intriguing, but his game shows some major red flags - streaky outside shooter at best, plays out of control too often, looks ridiculously wild at times, huge ups and downs in effort... Garland is a gamble because of that meniscus injury (no one knows if he's going to end up with no knees in a few years or this was just one-time thing) not because of his basketball qualities - he's far superior shooter/scorer, plays under control and doesn't seem to lose focus on the court. He may not be a pure PG but a Lillard/Kemba type of a dynamic scorer and p'n'r initiator while still solid off-ball due to good movement between/off screens and pretty quick release. Morant really looks like even bigger work in progress than Josh Jackson, and i'm not sure if we need that again after all this recent misery.

[darmani]

Why the hell is Brandon Clarke not a consensus top-10 prospect in this draft? If a GM drafts Rui Hachimura over him, he should be fired on the spot.

[DirtyDez]

Trading down (supposing we end-up in the top4 again) for Garland could be a smart decision. I still believe he's overall better and more NBA ready than Morant. Got some serious MCW vibes from Ja...

I'm a fan of Garland's as well, but Morant is on another level. Like most here, I'd take him #2.

I strongly disagree. Ja is certainly intriguing, but his game shows some major red flags - streaky outside shooter at best, plays out of control too often, looks ridiculously wild at times, huge ups and downs in effort... Garland is a gamble because of that meniscus injury (no one knows if he's going to end up with no knees in a few years or this was just one-time thing) not because of his basketball qualities - he's far superior shooter/scorer, plays under control and doesn't seem to lose focus on the court. He may not be a pure PG but a Lillard/Kemba type of a dynamic scorer and p'n'r initiator while still solid off-ball due to good movement between/off screens and pretty quick release. Morant really looks like even bigger work in progress than Josh Jackson, and i'm not sure if we need that again after all this recent misery.

Did he gets his meniscus repaired or removed?

[bwgood77]

Why the hell is Brandon Clarke not a consensus top-10 prospect in this draft? If a GM drafts Rui Hachimura over him, he should be fired on the spot.

He's 7 here. http://www.tankathon.com/big_board

Ben Rubin, who is probably the best writer or at a minimum, the most interesting to me, at the stepien, had him 2

https://www.thestepien.com/2019/01/03/ben-rubins-mid-season-big-board/

https://www.thestepien.com/2019/01/18/draft-notes-easy-case-brandon-clarke/

[darmani]

Read on Twitter

[Kerrsed]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Almost halftime and its been a hell of a game!

[Kerrsed]

Just found out GM Lebron Chartered a private Jet to take him to the game in Virginia from Philly, where the Lakers are waiting for their game tomorrow night.

[Kerrsed]

Read on Twitter

[Kerrsed]

Read on Twitter