2014 Draft Thread

[wheezy]

No, the thread was draft day trades one player picked for another on draft day. You were right about Hardaway and Weber.

I certainly thought this line of discussion was about moving up in the draft and was prompted by this statement:

Teams just don't generally trade out of the top 5, and in this draft, I would guess that would even be less likely. And if we were going to move up, it would probably cost us the Wiz pick (assuming it is mid teens) and our own pick...we wouldn't be able to do it with a pick in the 20s. We could possibly trade like the 11th and 16th pick to move up to 8 or 9 if we wanted. - See more at: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1264339&start=435#sthash.3r87wCPY.dpuf

I mentioned several posts ago about packaging picks to get 1 or 2 good players, this certainly might include trading players and/or trading picks for young players. That particular deal was monumental in that the Lakers not only got Kobe, they free up salary owed Divac and were able to sign Shaq.

I think it'll be pretty unlikely (keyword here) that any team with a top 6 pick trades it next summer unless it's for an all-star plus a later pick. Everyone is comparing next year's draft with the 2003 draft, and none of those picks were traded close to the draft because the top was so stacked.

[bwgood77]

I certainly thought this line of discussion was about moving up in the draft and was prompted by this statement:

Teams just don't generally trade out of the top 5, and in this draft, I would guess that would even be less likely. And if we were going to move up, it would probably cost us the Wiz pick (assuming it is mid teens) and our own pick...we wouldn't be able to do it with a pick in the 20s. We could possibly trade like the 11th and 16th pick to move up to 8 or 9 if we wanted. - See more at: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1264339&start=435#sthash.3r87wCPY.dpuf

I mentioned several posts ago about packaging picks to get 1 or 2 good players, this certainly might include trading players and/or trading picks for young players. That particular deal was monumental in that the Lakers not only got Kobe, they free up salary owed Divac and were able to sign Shaq.

It only happened because Kobe refused to play for Charlotte. IIRC, he would ONLY play for the Lakers, so any team drafting him had to only do so if they felt they could pry a good vet in a trade with the Lakers. That's the primary reason he slipped so far...no one wanted to deal with it.

You need to read this.

http://m.journalnow.com/archives/articl ... l?mode=jqm

He may have played for Charlotte, or elsewhere, but prior to the draft, he said he would only play in LA. He probably would have played elsewhere, but he was really trying to scare teams off by saying he would only play in LA.

Bryant foreshadowed his gall. In 1996, Bryant, a teenager exiting high school for the N.B.A., was not the first pick, but he exuded self-importance when he refused to play anywhere but Hollywood.

With the 13th selection, with a deal to trade Bryant to Los Angeles in pocket, Charlotte chose him. But there was a point where it looked as if the Lakers’ Vlade Divac would retire rather than take part in a trade that would send him to Charlotte for Bryant.

Couldn’t Bryant be a Hornet? Could he grow to love Southern sweet tea?

“That is an impossibility,” Bryant’s agent, Arn Tellem, said at the time. “There are no ifs. It would not happen. He is going to be a Laker, and that’s the only team he’s playing for.”

http://select.nytimes.com/2007/06/29/sp ... .html?_r=0

[tinkleberries]

Bledsoe and Wiggins will be the most dynamic duo in the league. Stay strong fellow suns fans

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[RunDogGun]

Awesome another ballboy, anti fan!

[thamadkant]

Whats everyone stance on Dante Exum.

If he was BPA when Suns pick (assuming Suns get to top 5)... I'm interested....

I can see a scenario where a team like Bucks or Magic looking for a PG, missed out on a PG draftee offers their pick for Bledsoe (pick 6~9).... Would the Suns do that?
Assuming Bledsoe ends up being a 17ppg 7apg PG, and one of those teams offered him MAX, I can see the Suns negotiating a sign and trade.

Would Suns fans here do that?

That way Suns get to keep Dragic, eventually a a Exum and Goodwin backcourt assuming they live up to potential would be GLORIOUS.

[Maystack]

With a choice between Bledsoe and Exum, I think teams would choose Bledsoe most of the time, especially if he has proven to be a star.

[Cutter]

Bledsoe and Wiggins will be the most dynamic duo in the league. Stay strong fellow suns fans

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Joined yesterday, and already has 50 posts.

[thamadkant]

With a choice between Bledsoe and Exum, I think teams would choose Bledsoe most of the time, especially if he has proven to be a star.

1. IF, and a big IF, Bledsoe can maintain his 20/8 average and improve his TOs, then a MAX contract is NO PROBLEM for McD to stomach... i think.
2. However, IF Bledsoe doesn’t prove that he is worth MAX to Suns, but Bucks and Magic offers him MAX anyways, there IS a chance Suns will do a sign and trade…. That’s all I’m insinuating. Especially if the Suns don’t manage to snag another star FA to put next to Bledsoe to catapult the Suns to contention. McD and Sarver may continue to pile stock assets.

[DirtyDez]

Say the lottery Gods reward us, Wiggins is #3 on my BB. If Marcus Smart keeps playing defense like this I'd take him at #5-#6 with no hesitation. Imagine that physical defensive backcourt. :0

[bwgood77]

A bunch of the top prospects playing tonight...

Jabari Parker -21 pts, 9 rebounds, 6 blocks
Rodney Hood - 30 points (80% from the field, 100% on threes and free throws - 12/12 from the line)

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400517874

Julius Randle - 22 pts, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks
James Young - 26 pts, 5 3's, 3 assists, 2 rebounds 2 steals
Harrison bros and Alex Poythress not doing much, Willey Cauley Stein pretty solid

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400502345

Andrew Wiggins - 13 pts, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
Joel Embiid - 16 pts, 13 rebounds, 2 blocks
Wayne Selden - pretty quiet game

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400498260

Marcus Smart - 39 pts, 5 steals, 5 3's, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and this was against Memphis, a much more solid team than the other guys played, and they blew out Memphis
LeBryan Nash - quiet game

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400496865

Sam Dekker - 19 pts, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks
Frank Kaminsky - I'm not sure who this guy is, but he scored 43 points tonight, and hit 6/6 from 3, so I figured he was a guard, and clicked on him, and he is a 7 footer! WTF?

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400498041

Aaron Gordon - 12 pts, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
Nick Johnson - 20 pts, 10 rebounds, 6 assist, and a steal...he is not really even on draft boards, but this guy is gonna play in the NBA...he is super athletic..ex Sun Dennis Johnson's nephew

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400517877

[tinkleberries]

An exum bledsoe back court would be pretty legit

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[JMac1]

I don't get some of you guys. You have Goodwin here at 19, getting better and better. He is showing an unbelievable penchant for getting to the hoop, yet people are saying imagine a Bledsoe and Shumpert/Exum backcourt.....?? Imagine a 21 year Goodwin and a 25 yr old Bledsoe backcourt with Randle.

[JDLAW]

BWG

Aaron Gordon - 12 pts, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
Nick Johnson - 20 pts, 10 rebounds, 6 assist, and a steal...he is not really even on draft boards, but this guy is gonna play in the NBA...he is super athletic..ex Sun Dennis Johnson's nephew

Couldn't agree more about Nick Johnson begin an NBA player - he is going to be a steal and I've had the notion that he would look good in a Suns uni replacing Smith.

I did not know he was DJ's nephew. DJ had a brother Joey at ASU who was a tremendous track athlete (high jumper? and poor basketball player. Is this his son?

[bwgood77]

I don't get some of you guys. You have Goodwin here at 19, getting better and better. He is showing an unbelievable penchant for getting to the hoop, yet people are saying imagine a Bledsoe and Shumpert/Exum backcourt.....?? Imagine a 21 year Goodwin and a 25 yr old Bledsoe backcourt with Randle.

I think everyone would have Randle. I don't want Shumpert. I hope Goodwin is good. However, if we get, say the 4th or 5th pick and Randle/Parker/Wiggins are gone and Exum and Smart are clearly the next best players, if you can't arrange a good trade, it's probably smart to take one of them and decide what to do later. I'd consider seeing what we could get for Bledsoe, and going with a Smart/Goodwin backcourt even. You'd have to weigh your options though, and see if Bledsoe is worth the max, is he tradeable for a premier pf, etc. Also it depends on how much Goodwin develops throughout the year.

It's just all hypothetical situations we are throwing around. There is probably no way we end up with the 4th or 5th pick anyway. We will probably get like the 7th-12th pick unless we luck out and win a top 3 pick.

If we land where I think we will land, I'm hoping maybe a James Young is there to play the three. Or possibly Aaron Gordon. But a lot remains to be seen.

[bwgood77]

BWG

Aaron Gordon - 12 pts, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
Nick Johnson - 20 pts, 10 rebounds, 6 assist, and a steal...he is not really even on draft boards, but this guy is gonna play in the NBA...he is super athletic..ex Sun Dennis Johnson's nephew

Couldn't agree more about Nick Johnson begin an NBA player - he is going to be a steal and I've had the notion that he would look good in a Suns uni replacing Smith.

I did not know he was DJ's nephew. DJ had a brother Joey at ASU who was a tremendous track athlete (high jumper? and poor basketball player. Is this his son?

Yes, it is. I didn't know that, but I just researched it and came across this..

A 1985 graduate of Banning High School in Los Angeles, Joey Johnson led CSI to the national junior college title in 1987 and also won the national JC title in the high jump twice. He transferred to Arizona State, where his vertical leap grew to 52 inches (1.32 m) and he was known as "Jumpin' Joey." He played for the Sun Devils during the 1987-88 season, and won an elevated slam dunk contest at 11 ft 7 in (3.53 m) in 1990, earning $50,000.[26] His son Nick currently plays for the University of Arizona.[27][28]

on Gus Johnson's wiki page...where it talks about "The Nail" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gus_Johnson_(basketball)

and here...

http://azstarnet.com/sports/basketball/ ... 0f3a6.html

Ballhandling. Shooting. Running. Passing.

But no jumping. And no dunking.

Their father, who ran the drills, figured they didn't need to worry about that. That's because he is "Jumping" Joey Johnson, the former 6-foot-4 ASU human pogo stick who once made the Guinness Book of World Records for dunking on an 11-foot-7 hoop.

It was a nice bit of recognition for a player who spent most of his professional career in far-flung countries around the world, but it was also, Joey Johnson found, a bit limiting.

He did not want his sons to fall into the same category.

"He used to get mad when I would just dunk," said Nick Johnson, a UA freshman guard who will play against his father's old school today at Wells Fargo Arena. "He heard for so many years that that's all he could do, so he tried to refine my skills from Day 1.

"It was about just being a complete player. Over summer we'd have to shoot 1,000 jump shots a day, do ballhandling drills, stuff like that. He just didn't want to see what happened to him happen to us."

What happened to Joey Johnson was that after a college career that included stops at the College of Southern Idaho and ASU (where he started and averaged 7.9 points in 1987-88), he played professionally in places such as Sweden, the Philippines and Hong Kong.
Having grown particularly fond of Sweden, Joey Johnson couldn't complain.

"It was always fun traveling and get to do what I wanted to do - which was play basketball," he said.

But Joey Johnson also wondered if it could have been better, if he wasn't pigeonholed from a young age as a kid who played opposite post players because he could match them in the air, a kid who never fully developed his perimeter skills.

"I'm 6-4 but I played out of position a lot because I can jump," Joey Johnson said. "I could play against 6-8, 6-9 guys, battle with them and still come out playing pretty well. But I tell Nick and his brother, 'You have to have a well-rounded game.' So we worked on a lot of other things besides jumping. We really didn't work on that. It was just there."

[DirtyDez]

I don't get some of you guys. You have Goodwin here at 19, getting better and better. He is showing an unbelievable penchant for getting to the hoop, yet people are saying imagine a Bledsoe and Shumpert/Exum backcourt.....?? Imagine a 21 year Goodwin and a 25 yr old Bledsoe backcourt with Randle.

I love Goodwin but he's not a reason to, not, draft Exum or Smart if available. Besides Archie off the bench will be a major weapon down the road.

[JMac1]

I don't get some of you guys. You have Goodwin here at 19, getting better and better. He is showing an unbelievable penchant for getting to the hoop, yet people are saying imagine a Bledsoe and Shumpert/Exum backcourt.....?? Imagine a 21 year Goodwin and a 25 yr old Bledsoe backcourt with Randle.

I love Goodwin but he's not a reason to, not, draft Exum or Smart if available. Besides Archie off the bench will be a major weapon down the road.

Where did I say not draft Exum???? Guys are replacing him with Shumpert. I stated it would be better to have Randle, nothing about skipping Exum or Smart. You always take best available unless you are Portland.

[DirtyDez]

I don't get some of you guys. You have Goodwin here at 19, getting better and better. He is showing an unbelievable penchant for getting to the hoop, yet people are saying imagine a Bledsoe and Shumpert/Exum backcourt.....?? Imagine a 21 year Goodwin and a 25 yr old Bledsoe backcourt with Randle.

I love Goodwin but he's not a reason to, not, draft Exum or Smart if available. Besides Archie off the bench will be a major weapon down the road.

Where did I say not draft Exum???? Guys are replacing him with Shumpert. I stated it would be better to have Randle, nothing about skipping Exum or Smart. You always take best available unless you are Portland.

Agree re: Randle, or Parker & Wiggins...

Btw who got the keys? Start that b•tch up again!!

[DRK]

Im Australian, and I've seen Exum play. I also have a mate who's played against Dante in the National Championships. Dante played for Victoria.

I honestly do not see the hype behind him. There is no way I would take him over Parker or Smart. He honestly reminds me of Archie Goodwin, without the ability to draw fouls like Archie. Colour me not impressed just yet.

One guy to watch out from Aus is Ben Simmons. That guy looks the real deal.

[bwgood77]

Im Australian, and I've seen Exum play. I also have a mate who's played against Dante in the National Championships. Dante player for Vic.

I honestly do not see the hype behind him. There is no way I would take him over Parker or Smart. He honestly reminds me of Archie Goodwin, without the ability to draw fouls like Archie. Colour me not impressed just yet.

One guy to watch out from Aus is Ben Simmons. That guy looks the real deal.

It's good to hear an opinion from someone who has been able to watch him and have first hand knowledge. Personally, I love Smart. He proved himself as a freshman and has been a monster so far this season. I think he is being overshadowed by the (unproven) hype of all these other guys. Of course the least of our needs is a pg, but if he slips to us, say, with the 6th pick or something, you've got to take him and figure stuff out later. I think he could be like Dwyane Wade. I think Orlando is salivating over him and it will be interesting to see if they take him if they get a top 3 pick.

I wonder if it might be better to get the 3rd or 4th pick in a draft like this (than the first), where there may be less chance of a mistake and second guessing. If four guys are all ranked so high, and there are differing opinions on who should go #1, having the first or second pick could lead to the wrong choice....if you get the guy, who, by default lands to you, it's more of a no brainer. Obviously we would rather get a position of need, but you don't want to choose a subpar player (in relation to others) because of it.