The Official Draft Thread 2: Judgement Day

[Revived]

Are the Suns that much in love with Waiters that they are gonna GIVE UP ASSETS AND TRADE UP TO GET HIM?

It may just be me, but I have a strong gut feeling that Waiters is gonna be a bust. I hope I'm proved wrong though if he becomes a Sun.

[Revived]

The thing I don't like about Rivers is his delusions of granduer. He talks about James, Jordan, and Kobe being cocky and he is like them Just because you are cocky and compare your cockiness to alltime NBA greats, doesn't mean your game deserves the same praise as the above mentioned.

His problem is he believes he is as good as those guys and he isn't close, so that hurts his game. He believes he should be shooting, when he should be passing

When did Rivers say he is like them?

They asked him what he has to say for critics saying that his cockiness will be a negative factor for him in the NBA and he replied saying something like "Well I don't think being cocky is something that ruins anyone's game, I mean guys like Kobe, Jordan etc were cocky and they are great players"

He never said "Kobe, Jordan were all cocky and are great players so why can't a great player like me be cocky as well?"

[ma_falaa_50]

his a six man in college how could can he be?

[Gorilla Warfare]

I would do Tyreke and #5 for Gortat and #13, draft Drummond, amnesty Chilly and pursue Gordon/Crawford/Mayo (Crawford the most likely to sign) and Gerald Wallace.

PG- Evans/Brooks/Telfair
SG- Brown/Crawford
SF- Wallace/Dudley
PF- Morris/Frye/Warrick
C- Drummond/Lopez

I don't hate it.

[carey]

I don't like the idea of having Drummond on a team with guys like Brooks, Evans, and Brown.

We need guys like Grant Hill and Josh Childress to show him the way. It's going to take a very specific environment for Drummond to succeed.

[jredsaz]

I would do Tyreke and #5 for Gortat and #13, draft Drummond, amnesty Chilly and pursue Gordon/Crawford/Mayo (Crawford the most likely to sign) and Gerald Wallace.

PG- Evans/Brooks/Telfair
SG- Brown/Crawford
SF- Wallace/Dudley
PF- Morris/Frye/Warrick
C- Drummond/Lopez

I don't hate it.

Honestly, I would probably draft Lillard or draft MKG and swap him to GS for the 7 and 30. Pick up Waiters/Lillard/Rivers there (whoever Portland doesn't draft/we want) and get the late first that everyone has been clamoring for. Draft the PBA that slips. Beat the Spurs to the punch. The more I learn I want no part of Drummond.

The key to getting Tyreke Evans is surrounding him with shooters. Already have Frye and Dudley. Picking up Rivers/Lillard/Waiters would give him a lot of shooters to drive and kick to. Plus, Evans is only 22. Another couple years of working on his shot outside of the mess that is SacTown will improve his shot.

[Gorilla Warfare]

He might not be the best fit, but he could also be the next D'Andre Jordan/Amare. In that scenario if we lost Gortat we would have to take Drummond, he's the best C in the draft.

[jredsaz]

He might not be the best fit, but he could also be the next D'Andre Jordan/Amare. In that scenario if we lost Gortat we would have to take Drummond, he's the best C in the draft.

i disagree with that thinking. You don't have to replace Gortat for next year. We will not be in a position to compete for anything meaningful next year. We should pick the best players regardless. If Drummond IS that guy then take him. If not, improve other areas of the team.

[ATTL]

Drummond's physical tools are staggering. Such great length and quickness. I think he sounds really dumb in his interviews though. I'd still probably take him and then give Hakeem a blank check to work with him all summer every summer.

[jredsaz]

Drummond's physical tools are staggering. Such great length and quickness. I think he sounds really dumb in his interviews though. I'd still probably take him and then give Hakeem a blank check to work with him all summer every summer.

He shoots 30% from the line. Bad motor. IDK. Scares me. So many bigs bust. I would rather build the back court of the future.

[Kerrsed]

Drummond's physical tools are staggering. Such great length and quickness. I think he sounds really dumb in his interviews though. I'd still probably take him and then give Hakeem a blank check to work with him all summer every summer.

He shoots 30% from the line. Bad motor. IDK. Scares me. So many bigs bust. I would rather build the back court of the future.

He scares me as well. I wouldnt risk it. If somehow we did get the #5, id go for MKG/Lillard in that order. One of them would be there. Give me the "high end no real risk player" instead of the "might be super high end with alot of risk guy".

[Kerrsed]

The thing I don't like about Rivers is his delusions of granduer. He talks about James, Jordan, and Kobe being cocky and he is like them Just because you are cocky and compare your cockiness to alltime NBA greats, doesn't mean your game deserves the same praise as the above mentioned.

His problem is he believes he is as good as those guys and he isn't close, so that hurts his game. He believes he should be shooting, when he should be passing

When did Rivers say he is like them?

They asked him what he has to say for critics saying that his cockiness will be a negative factor for him in the NBA and he replied saying something like "Well I don't think being cocky is something that ruins anyone's game, I mean guys like Kobe, Jordan etc were cocky and they are great players"

He never said "Kobe, Jordan were all cocky and are great players so why can't a great player like me be cocky as well?"

[Kerrsed]

2012 NBA draft: Austin Rivers has NBA-level talent, and confidence to match
Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 12:24 AM
Joe Freeman, The Oregonian

Critics have called him cocky, labeled him selfish and knocked his athleticism. But no one can belittle Austin Rivers' competitiveness and passion.
Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers was watching film in his office one day last year when his son, Austin, burst into the room fuming.

Austin Rivers had just lost a game of one-on-one to All-Star forward Paul Pierce at the Celtics' practice court. Never mind that Pierce outweighed Rivers by more than 40 pounds, stood about three inches taller and had roughly 1,000 more NBA games on his resume -- Rivers had built a 3-0 lead and was infuriated that he blew a chance to gain bragging rights on the future Hall of Famer.

"He walked in (ticked) and I asked him what was wrong," Doc Rivers said. "He said, 'Paul beat me. I had him, but I let him off the hook.' I just started laughing. He was serious. He was mad."

Critics have called him cocky, labeled him selfish and knocked his athleticism. But no one can belittle Austin Rivers' competitiveness and passion. He grew up in a household full of athletes and big personalities -- most notably his father -- and was raised to strive for greatness.

No one pushed him toward basketball or sports, but when your older sister is a volleyball star, your older brother is a Division I basketball player and your father is, well, Doc Rivers, you just kind of naturally walk that path. Austin Rivers has been studying NBA film since the days of VHS tapes and he's hovered around NBA locker rooms and mingled with the league's players since he was a boy.

So as he moves on to the NBA following a legendary high school career and one all-Atlantic Coast Conference season at Duke, it's more like he's merely taking the next step rather than fulfilling some lofty dream.

"He's been preparing himself to be an NBA player pretty much his whole life," Duke associate coach Chris Collins said. "He's a very driven, self-motivated kid. He loves the game and he really wants to be a great player. He believes that's what he's supposed to be. And that's really one of his best qualities -- he believes he's supposed to be great."

But greatness doesn't come simply because of desire. Even with good genes and the benefits that come with being Doc Rivers' son, Austin Rivers is on the cusp of being an NBA lottery pick thanks to good, old-fashioned hard work.

Growing up in Orlando, where his father used to coach the Magic, Rivers naturally gravitated to the minutiae of basketball at an early age. Like most of his friends, his playing career started on an outdoor hoop in the backyard. But unlike his friends, Rivers took things beyond a game of h-o-r-s-e or 21. And when he was done shooting in the backyard, he'd retreat to his room to watch hours of NBA games.

He didn't just watch for pleasure. He studied players and their styles, starting with hometown favorites Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill before moving on to Dwyane Wade and, in recent years, Deron Williams, Derrick Rose and Tony Parker. And this started before the days of YouTube.

"I still have like 100 VCR tapes in my room," Rivers said. "I really love watching film. I don't know where that came from, but I can't tell you how many tapes of Dwyane Wade I have in my room. Just stealing moves, the way he plays the passing lanes, getting steals, his Euro step, the way he finishes, the way he draws contact. I know everything he does. Everything. (Last week in the NBA finals), when he was on a fast break, I knew what move he was about to do."

Rivers placed a keen eye on the player's offensive moves and when he found something he liked, he'd head to the backyard or gym and practice it over and over. As a freshman in high school, after being awed by Wade's "Euro step" -- a tricky, dipsy-do side step around a defender on a fast break -- Rivers perfected the move and used it in a game. The first attempt didn't go so well.

"Nobody knew what that move was," Rivers said. "They called traveling. I had to start explaining it to refs before I played. I'd let them know I was doing the move, that it wasn't a travel and, eventually, they were like, 'Yeah, yeah, that's fine, Austin.'"

That was one of the few blunders in Rivers' prep career. He averaged 29.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.0 steals as a senior at Winter Park High School, leading the Wildcats to back-to-back state championships. The season earned Rivers multiple national player of the year awards and the status as the nation's No. 1 recruit -- ahead of Anthony Davis, the presumed No. 1 pick in this year's draft.

Rivers had a successful, but not sensational single season at Duke, becoming just the third freshman in school history to lead the team in scoring (15.5 points per game) and the seventh freshman in ACC history to earn first-team all-conference honors. But for his detractors, it wasn't enough.

He had some highlight-reel moments, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer that defeated rival North Carolina in February. But Rivers was not the one-man wrecking crew he was expected to be, and the Blue Devils flamed out in the NCAA Tournament, losing to Lehigh in the first round. Along the way, Rivers drew criticism for his on-court bravado and off-the-court confidence.

Many have called him cocky. Some have suggested he's uncoachable. Collins scoffs at it all, calling Rivers a "good kid" and a "great teammate."

A mere mention of the "cocky" label makes the hairs on Doc Rivers' neck rise. If cockiness is a negative, he says, then all-time greats such as Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and LeBron James "couldn't play." Rivers said three different NBA general managers approached him last week and asked: "Who would make that a negative?"

"His last name is Rivers, so he's going to get every criticism," Doc Rivers said. "That's the downside of being Austin Rivers. But I've always told Austin there's a positive side too. The stuff you hear may hurt you at the time, but at the end of the day it makes you tougher and it makes you a better player."

And what kind of player is Rivers? Collins said he's "wired as a scorer" and will be an offensive force in the NBA from Day One. Doc Rivers said former NBA head coach Flip Saunders worked out his son recently and was blown away by his speed, ballhandling and shooting.

"His strengths are clear," Doc Rivers said. "He's not a good scorer, I think he'll be a very good scorer in our league. When Flip worked him out, he said, 'Man, he can really put the ball in the basket. And he's competitive.' That competitive side will help him as well."

Ah, yes, the competitive side. That's something Paul Pierce learned a thing or two about last year.

"I'm still not happy about that," Rivers said last week of the 5-4 loss to Pierce. "He came in and he's Paul Pierce, so I used that as an opportunity. I said, 'I'm going at him.' I was going by him, getting layups, dunking, all that kind of stuff. I got up 3-0. And then he got mad. Paul started backing me down, doing his thing. Paul's 6-8, 200-something. Finally, he got me 5-4. I was so mad."

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index ... alent.html

[jredsaz]

We're stuck at 13. There won't be any shooting guards left and we are going to end up with Marshal... And thats it.



http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2012/06/22 ... t-the-top/

[DirtyDez]

Gortat, Dudley, #13

for

#2, Henderson

Haha, that's all of our assets. I love Thomas Robinson's game. I think he's a legit player. We can't give everything we have for him though. I know you're just kidding, but find another way to get Robinson for me because I want him on the Suns.

Last year a lot of mocks had him coming here as a project SF before he decided to return to KU. Imagine T-Rob instead of Morris right now.

[SunsRback4Good]

Seems like the past 3-4 years we've took one of the brothers that entered NBA. Lopez, Griffin and Morris. So, something tells me we're on our way to pick another this draft. But who?

[Kerrsed]

Draft: Seven Players Who’d Be Perfect Fits for Seven Teams

Austin Rivers (Duke)/ Phoenix Suns: With Steve Nash’s future in question, Rivers would be the perfect fit for two reasons. First, his game was built with space in mind, and Alvin Gentry’s modified Mike D’Antoni spread system is ideal for the Duke prospect. Second, he can be mentored by fellow Dukie Grant Hill about life in the NBA both on and off the court. This one seems like the ultimate no-brainer.

http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2012/06/25 ... tinations/

[Kerrsed]

Seems like the past 3-4 years we've took one of the brothers that entered NBA. Lopez, Griffin and Morris. So, something tells me we're on our way to pick another this draft. But who?

Zeller?

His younger Brother is better than him, and pulled out of the draft so he wouldnt knock Tyler out of the Lotto.

[SunsRback4Good]

Seems like the past 3-4 years we've took one of the brothers that entered NBA. Lopez, Griffin and Morris. So, something tells me we're on our way to pick another this draft. But who?

Zeller?

His younger Brother is better than him, and pulled out of the draft so he wouldnt knock Tyler out of the Lotto.

[sunskerr]

Any way to get golden state's pick? I read somewhere it's available. Could snag Waiters there.