2013 Draft Night Thread.

[Khazim]

If McLemore falls to 7 or 8 I'd hope we would try and trade up to snag him. He may have some questions about him but if he turns out we might be getting a superstar SG.

Nope it would cost too much and I honestly don't see him being that much better than KC-P.

I still doubt he falls Suns could be throwing smokescreens.

What possible reason could the Suns have for throwing that smokescreen out there? Teams only use smokescreens when they have something to gain by doing so. I'm failing to see what they have to gain by saying McLemore bombed in his workouts.

They pick 5th. McLemore is commonly projected top 3. If Phoenix starts rumors that he bombed it in their workout, then perhaps it could add doubt to the teams picking in front of them, increasing the chances that he falls to 5th, where they could draft him.

[cucad8]

Why would ateam trust someone else's rumors over what they saw in their own workouts, though?

[DusterBuster]

Why would ateam trust someone else's rumors over what they saw in their own workouts, though?

Agreed. That's a pretty stupid way to do business, but then again, there are some pretty stupid GM's and management teams in the NBA, so who knows I guess.

[Wizenheimer]

They pick 5th. McLemore is commonly projected top 3. If Phoenix starts rumors that he bombed it in their workout, then perhaps it could add doubt to the teams picking in front of them, increasing the chances that he falls to 5th, where they could draft him.

how happy would a player be to get drafted by a team that deliberately worked to torpedo his value?

for instance, over the 4 year life of the rookie deal, the #2 pick will make 5 million more then the #5 pick. If you were Mclemore, would you appreciate Phoenix costing you 5 million?

[Blazinaway]

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA 4m
The more teams I talk to in the late 20's, the less enthusiasm I hear from any of them about keeping their draft picks.

if true we could likely get a pick in late 20's if we want

[Blazinaway]

arc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine 3m
First decent trade rumble of draft week: Deng to Wiz in deal for No. 3 pick? It's been explored. @TrueHoop link: http://es.pn/18bkn3l

[hookena]

maybe the new cba is causing a shift away from drafting a potential role player on a guaranteed contract to a more value based bring in an established vet on a short term/one year minimum who brings the same skill set and is a known commodity. probably more of a condemnation of the overall talent available in this years draft.

[JD45]

maybe the new cba is causing a shift away from drafting a potential role player on a guaranteed contract to a more value based bring in an established vet on a short term/one year minimum who brings the same skill set and is a known commodity. probably more of a condemnation of the overall talent available in this years draft.

A trade takes someone on both sides. So while Washington may trade the pick for an established player, Chicago would be doing the exact opposite. I think it just shows that Chicago thinks they have other option at the SF position and Washington might be interested in improving faster.

[hookena]

sorry I should have notated my comment as I was more interested in the woj quotes about teams in the 20's above the trade quote. woj is just more solid on rumors.

[Khazim]

They pick 5th. McLemore is commonly projected top 3. If Phoenix starts rumors that he bombed it in their workout, then perhaps it could add doubt to the teams picking in front of them, increasing the chances that he falls to 5th, where they could draft him.

how happy would a player be to get drafted by a team that deliberately worked to torpedo his value?

for instance, over the 4 year life of the rookie deal, the #2 pick will make 5 million more then the #5 pick. If you were Mclemore, would you appreciate Phoenix costing you 5 million?

I agree, not the smartest approach. But then again, you have to consider what the source could be. A lot of these supposed rumors and rumblings don't actually come from GMs or other team brass. They usually come from agents, or straight from the media. Maybe it's local Phoenix media putting it out there with that line of thinking, without consideration for the consequences. Maybe it's some competing agent hoping to pole-vault his client ahead of McLemore.

Personally I think teams should just shut-up, pick the best player available to them, and if they talk about a guy, just be honest. I doubt any game-playing really gets them anywhere... My guess though is that most teams actually do follow this philosophy. It's the media that trys to make things interesting.

[Billy]

They pick 5th. McLemore is commonly projected top 3. If Phoenix starts rumors that he bombed it in their workout, then perhaps it could add doubt to the teams picking in front of them, increasing the chances that he falls to 5th, where they could draft him.

how happy would a player be to get drafted by a team that deliberately worked to torpedo his value?

for instance, over the 4 year life of the rookie deal, the #2 pick will make 5 million more then the #5 pick. If you were Mclemore, would you appreciate Phoenix costing you 5 million?

Wasn't Portland accused of pushing out a rumor that Batum's heart had an issue? Maybe I am not remembering right. If that was true, I wonder how much (if any) that contributed to clearly not wanting to return to Portland last summer?

[JD45]

Kevin Pelton just put out his draft rater on ESPN.
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft201 ... pects-warp

His stats show that the main predictor of NBA success is the performance of players at early ages. So Freshmen who perform well get the highest rating. There are some shockers:

#1: Noel (he doesnt account for injury)
#3: Caldwell-Pope. Age size, rebound and steals as well as being top option on his team
#4: Zeller. Benefits from huge freshman year. Some concern about rebounding, but projects as good scorer
#5: McCollum: Benefits from carrying his team offensively
#6: Nogueira: Blocked shots more often than Ibake in the ACB. Highest rated center after Noel
#11: Steven Adams. Best of the Big Man projects from college
#17: Oladipo: Weak freshman and sophmore seasons hold him back
#18: McLemore: Doesn't get to the foul line and lots of turnovers for someone who doesn't create his own shot
#23: Len: His Maryland stats were really not very good
#24: Dieng
#27: Shabazz; Stats hate him worldwide

If this is accurate, the Blazers are in great shape as they will likely have Caldwell-Pope or Zeller available at #10 and have met with both of them. McCollum and Adams would also be good alternatives. 1 of those 4 players will certainly be there. Nogueira will also be available, but it is unlikely they make that jump.

[cucad8]

They pick 5th. McLemore is commonly projected top 3. If Phoenix starts rumors that he bombed it in their workout, then perhaps it could add doubt to the teams picking in front of them, increasing the chances that he falls to 5th, where they could draft him.

how happy would a player be to get drafted by a team that deliberately worked to torpedo his value?

for instance, over the 4 year life of the rookie deal, the #2 pick will make 5 million more then the #5 pick. If you were Mclemore, would you appreciate Phoenix costing you 5 million?

Wasn't Portland accused of pushing out a rumor that Batum's heart had an issue? Maybe I am not remembering right. If that was true, I wonder how much (if any) that contributed to clearly not wanting to return to Portland last summer?

I believe I read, maybe from Toronto fans on RealGM, that it came from, or was rumored to have come from them.

[DusterBuster]

Yeah, it was Toronto that spread the Batum heart issue rumor, not Portland.

In fact, here's the story....

French swingman Nicolas Batum, projected to be a late first-round NBA draft pick, stopped participating in a workout with the Toronto Raptors earlier this week after a stress echo test -- a treadmill test that measures the health of the heart -- came back in the "borderline" area.

Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo, reached by phone, refused to comment on the situation.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2008 ... id=3454367

So yeah, the issue first appeared during his workout with Toronto.

[TBpup]

ESPN.com's Chad Ford and Jay Bilas (Insider) debate some of the big men in the draft. Ford thinks Steven Adams will become a better NBA prospect than Mason Plumlee, Gorgui Dieng and Jeff Withey:
But when you factor in that Adams is just 19 years old and has very limited playing experience (the competition wasn't great in New Zealand), I'm very bullish on his future. As freshmen, Plumlee averaged 3.7 PPG and 3.1 RPG, Dieng averaged 5.7 PPG and 4.4 RPG and Withey posted 1.3 PPG and 1.4 RPG. In contrast, Adams averaged 7.2 PPG, 6.3 RPG and 2.0 BPG in his first year. He also has the best combination of NBA strength and athleticism of the group. Plumlee is a better leaper and Dieng might be more fluid, but no one has the combination of strengths that Adams possesses. He's going to take time to develop, but I think he has the best shot of eventually becoming a starter on a good NBA team.

Great big man numbers as a Freshman aren't overly common so to see Adams production outpace other draftees frosh numbers is encouraging.

[cucad8]

Withey played 3 MPG his freshman season. Adams played more MPG than any of the other 3 by far. Terrible way for them to present an argument.

[TBpup]

Withey played 3 MPG his freshman season. Adams played more MPG than any of the other 3 by far. Terrible way for them to present an argument.

They should have pointed out he played very little. At the same time, there was likely a reason he didn't play very much....he had better people in front of him and wasn't ready yet. Same can be said for most Freshman.

[GreenRiddler]

If McLemore falls to 7 or 8 I'd hope we would try and trade up to snag him. He may have some questions about him but if he turns out we might be getting a superstar SG.

Nope it would cost too much and I honestly don't see him being that much better than KC-P.

I still doubt he falls Suns could be throwing smokescreens.

What possible reason could the Suns have for throwing that smokescreen out there? Teams only use smokescreens when they have something to gain by doing so. I'm failing to see what they have to gain by saying McLemore bombed in his workouts.

There are a number of permutations that can happen and one of them could involve getting another pick like they said they wanted so perhaps hoping he falls to the second pick they acquire. I would not trust a team to divulge any information truthfully about a workout whether they do good or bad just has no merit with nothing to be gained.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Kevin Pelton just put out his draft rater on ESPN.
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft201 ... pects-warp

His stats show that the main predictor of NBA success is the performance of players at early ages. So Freshmen who perform well get the highest rating. There are some shockers:

#1: Noel (he doesnt account for injury)
#3: Caldwell-Pope. Age size, rebound and steals as well as being top option on his team
#4: Zeller. Benefits from huge freshman year. Some concern about rebounding, but projects as good scorer
#5: McCollum: Benefits from carrying his team offensively
#6: Nogueira: Blocked shots more often than Ibake in the ACB. Highest rated center after Noel
#11: Steven Adams. Best of the Big Man projects from college
#17: Oladipo: Weak freshman and sophmore seasons hold him back
#18: McLemore: Doesn't get to the foul line and lots of turnovers for someone who doesn't create his own shot
#23: Len: His Maryland stats were really not very good
#24: Dieng
#27: Shabazz; Stats hate him worldwide

If this is accurate, the Blazers are in great shape as they will likely have Caldwell-Pope or Zeller available at #10 and have met with both of them. McCollum and Adams would also be good alternatives. 1 of those 4 players will certainly be there. Nogueira will also be available, but it is unlikely they make that jump.

Looks like buying a 20's pick for Nogueira might be worth it.

Also, I don't think either Pope or Zeller will be available at our pick. I have the Kings going with Zeller and Pistons going with Pope.

[Shem]

ESPN.com's Chad Ford and Jay Bilas (Insider) debate some of the big men in the draft. Ford thinks Steven Adams will become a better NBA prospect than Mason Plumlee, Gorgui Dieng and Jeff Withey:
But when you factor in that Adams is just 19 years old and has very limited playing experience (the competition wasn't great in New Zealand), I'm very bullish on his future. As freshmen, Plumlee averaged 3.7 PPG and 3.1 RPG, Dieng averaged 5.7 PPG and 4.4 RPG and Withey posted 1.3 PPG and 1.4 RPG. In contrast, Adams averaged 7.2 PPG, 6.3 RPG and 2.0 BPG in his first year. He also has the best combination of NBA strength and athleticism of the group. Plumlee is a better leaper and Dieng might be more fluid, but no one has the combination of strengths that Adams possesses. He's going to take time to develop, but I think he has the best shot of eventually becoming a starter on a good NBA team.

Great big man numbers as a Freshman aren't overly common so to see Adams production outpace other draftees frosh numbers is encouraging.

But again the Blazers would be taking a gamble as some people peak at around 20 for some reason. I guess my issue is the lack of knowledge of Adams' mentality because he gives crappy interviews and that isn't encouraging.