Draft Thread Continued. 2011 part two...

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Kanter, Singleton, N.Smith would be a very good draft.

[kirubel94]

If somehow Jeremy Lamb comes out , we need to draft him, reminds me of Rip Hamilton(more athletic), he has a picture perfect jumpshot.

[Halcyon]

Kanter, Singleton, N.Smith would be a very good draft.

Agreed with Kanter and Singleton. That would be my dream draft.

[theboomking]

Kanter, Singleton, N.Smith would be a very good draft.

Agreed with Kanter and Singleton. That would be my dream draft.

Ditto. I'll take Kanter, Singleton and Diebler. I wouldn't mind buying my way into Burks either. I guess he may be superfluous if we resign NY.

[spaceman_E]

If somehow Jeremy Lamb comes out , we need to draft him, reminds me of Rip Hamilton(more athletic), he has a picture perfect jumpshot.

Nick Young says hi.

[Ruzious]

If somehow Jeremy Lamb comes out , we need to draft him, reminds me of Rip Hamilton(more athletic), he has a picture perfect jumpshot.

I think the other Lamb - Doron on Kentucky - has a little better 3 point shot now, but I concur - Jeremy Lamb has sick potential. Seems to me UConn has babied him more than necessary. His demeanor on-court seems unique in that it looks like he's too nice - almost like he doesn't want to take advantage of his opponent. He might be the longest armed guard I've ever seen. If you ask me, Walker should get him the ball more often, and Lamb is too willing to defer to him.

[spaceman_E]

We need more hype for the Morris twins also. Bigs with size, length, strength, efficiency, defense, range, rebounding, passing. I think both will be good starters in this league and are being underrated just because they don't have huge scoring ability upside of premium athleticism. Even if we take Kanter early, I'd still package ATL and our 2nd to nab one. Then trade Blatche for the best wing you can find and our bigs would be set.

Jordan Williams: he doesn't just have a jumper in progress, he has NO jumper. He might have made like 8% on the year. He's strong and a beast on the boards but if he measures > 6'9" in shoes he is going to struggle a lot in this league.

[Benjammin]

Not a good night draftwise with the scores. Cleveland played tough but lost. Orlando lost to Atlanta. Toronto lost. Minnesota is going to lose.

[no D in Hibachi]

Not a good night draftwise with the scores. Cleveland played tough but lost. Orlando lost to Atlanta. Toronto lost. Minnesota is going to lose.

Minnesota is doing nothing to get in the good graces of the lotto Gods. Their tank is shameful and blatant. Seems like whenver a team outright rolls over the last quarter of the season for ping pong balls they are cursed.

[Wizardspride]

Not a good night draftwise with the scores. Cleveland played tough but lost. Orlando lost to Atlanta. Toronto lost. Minnesota is going to lose.

Minnesota is doing nothing to get in the good graces of the lotto Gods. Their tank is shameful and blatant. Seems like whenver a team outright rolls over the last quarter of the season for ping pong balls they are cursed.

The Clippers rolling over got them Blake Griffith.

[dobrojim]

For the folks who want to waste a pick on Jordan Williams, I think Rick Jackson is basically the same player (Jordan's a slightly better scorer, and Jackson is a better defender), and he's generally projected as a mid 2nd rounder.

well... basically the same except he's shorter, older, and not as good a scorer.

comparably, J-Will stacks up rather well with D-Will as a PF (2 inches taller, longer, better d). so JWill can't shoot the J as well and isn't the athlete that derrick is, but as a back-up PF does it matter?

heck yeah it matters - that's the difference btw a bench/role player and
a productive starter/maybe allstar.

[miller31time]

My board right now is Williams, then Barnes. I don't know enough about Kanter, plus, I believe this team sees McGee as our center of the future. I highly doubt we'd take a center in the draft.

Williams seems to have too much potential to pass up on if he is there when we're picking. And he obviously has take-over mentality and a certain toughness about him. Whether he's a three or a four, he seemingly an play either position (good length paired with a solid perimeter shot).

If we can't get Williams, then I want Harrison Barnes. He might not have the flashiest numbers but he is a winner, a good kid and someone who wants to play the game of basketball. He showed incredible improvement over a short span of time (most of it was due to him just realizing what his team needed from him and the difference in competition between HS and college ball). I want competitors on this team more than anything and Barnes is a good one. Also, keep in mind that we don't need to draft a 1st-option player. We have that in Wall. We want a great complimentary player and I see Barnes as the personification of that. He also fills a gaping hole at small forward (and he's a true small forward, not a tweener).

Wall
Crawford
Williams/Barnes
Lewis
McGee

Get rid of Blatche and I like the makeup of this team.

[doclinkin]

Watching all footage from the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit (highlights of Kyrie Irving, Harrison Barnes, Nikola Mirotic, etc) I come away less and less impressed with Enes Kanter. Damn.

Suspect hands, short arms, not quite the banger I'd seen in other clips, plods up and down the court, not intense on defense, groundbound, not all that big, kinda slow. Yes you expect his squad to lose when the other team has intense competitors like Kyrie Irving, Jared Sullinger, Tristan Thompson, Brandon Knight, Terrance Jones. The USA squad could beat a few bottom dwelling NBA teams. But you don't expect to see a highly touted Draft prospect to look lazy and disinterested in the highlight game of his ascension. Most of those 30-some points were weak putbacks below the rim that would be snuffed by pro bigs, many of the rebounds were default bounces.

Dunno. One game, and I'm mostly looking at highlights of other players picking him out of the crowd so the other guys are bound to look good since, y'know, it's their highlights. But still, he keeps his arms flinched in tight to the body, didn't seem to relish contact or initiate it, and played a step slow for the PF position. Makes me want more footage of the big Turk to see if it's just a mirage or what. I just don't see him changing any shots, intimidating anybody or winning contested rebounds off effort and moxie. Makes me lean more towards the John Henson Keith Benson's of the draft to look for big man intensity at a cheaper price than top-pick. Jonas V even for legit length and intensity.

[closg00]

Watching all footage from the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit (highlights of Kyrie Irving, Harrison Barnes, Nikola Mirotic, etc) I come away less and less impressed with Enes Kanter. Damn.

Short arms suspect hands, not quite the banger I'd seen in other clips, plods up and down the court, not intense on defense, groundbound, not all that big, kinda slow. Yes you expect his squad to lose when the other team has intense competitors like Kyrie Irving, Jared Sullinger, Tristan Thompson, Brandon Knight, Terrance Jones. The USA squad could beat a few bottom dwelling NBA teams. But you don't expect to see a highly touted Draft prospect to look lazy and disinterested in the highlight game of his ascension. Most of those 30-some points were weak putbacks below the rim that would be snuffed by pro bigs, many of the rebounds were default bounces.

Dunno. One game, and I'm mostly looking at highlights of other players picking him out of the crowd so the other guys are bound to look good since, y'know, it's their highlights. But still, he keeps his arms flinched in tight to the body, didn't seem to relish contact or initiate it, and played a step slow for the PF position. Makes me want more footage of the big Turk to see if it's just a mirage or what. I just don't see him changing any shots, intimidating anybody or winning contested rebounds off effort and moxie. Makes me lean more towards the John Henson Keith Benson's of the draft to look for big man intensity at a cheaper price than top-pick. Jonas V even.

Well this is certainly discouraging to read Like many here, I've never seen Kanter play, lets see how he does on the workouts.....if he'll work-out.

[doclinkin]

Yeah. I've seen him look more intense in Euro clips. Skilled, playing bigger. So it could be I'm focusing my lens too tightly. Dunno. I'm willing to doubt either way. I thought I liked the kid, seemed a decent fit. But small hands and short arms, no question about that. Regardless makes me like DWillz all the more since I have no doubt about his intensity and desire.

[nate33]

Can we stop with the Jordan Williams talk? The guy is a fringe role player in the NBA. At best, he's the next Reggie Evans. Reggie Evans is a bench player on a bad team or a nobody on a good team. Being just a 6-8 rebounder isn't enough. You've got to have another skill. Either be a freak athlete shot blocking presence at center (like Ben Wallace or possibly Faried), or have an offensive game at PF (like Kevin Love). Williams has neither.

All the toughness in the world doesn't help when you're not good enough to get on the floor. Besides, I don't think toughness is going to be a major issue for this team going forward now that we have Booker, and Seraphin; plus DWill or Kanter; plus some fiesty guards like Wall and Crawford and some tough-nosed end-of-benchers like Jeffers and Mo Evans.

[Hoopalotta]

Watching all footage from the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit (highlights of Kyrie Irving, Harrison Barnes, Nikola Mirotic, etc) I come away less and less impressed with Enes Kanter. Damn.

Suspect hands, short arms, not quite the banger I'd seen in other clips, plods up and down the court, not intense on defense, groundbound, not all that big, kinda slow. Yes you expect his squad to lose when the other team has intense competitors like Kyrie Irving, Jared Sullinger, Tristan Thompson, Brandon Knight, Terrance Jones. The USA squad could beat a few bottom dwelling NBA teams. But you don't expect to see a highly touted Draft prospect to look lazy and disinterested in the highlight game of his ascension. Most of those 30-some points were weak putbacks below the rim that would be snuffed by pro bigs, many of the rebounds were default bounces.

Dunno. One game, and I'm mostly looking at highlights of other players picking him out of the crowd so the other guys are bound to look good since, y'know, it's their highlights. But still, he keeps his arms flinched in tight to the body, didn't seem to relish contact or initiate it, and played a step slow for the PF position. Makes me want more footage of the big Turk to see if it's just a mirage or what. I just don't see him changing any shots, intimidating anybody or winning contested rebounds off effort and moxie. Makes me lean more towards the John Henson Keith Benson's of the draft to look for big man intensity at a cheaper price than top-pick. Jonas V even for legit length and intensity.

Yeah, I haven't seen much, but the measurables in the way of groundbound/short arms/foot speed jumped out and leaves me with more enthusiasm for Valentine's longterm potential. I'm not sure about Kanter at power forward and, as a center, I really don't know how that's going to work with the help defense. Not definite negatives, but persnickety unknowns.

Some concern over a lack of upside with an early peak based on the forging of his full physique in the teen years as well. That's a huge advantage to stand out early against players his age, but it's not necessarily sustainable. Worst case is still respectable, but not hyper tantalizing.

Edit ---> If he really does have small hands, I'm officially spooked.

[nate33]

You gotta love the ebbs and flows of the consensus opinion on these boards. Doc just threw a grenade in the room.

[Benjammin]

Well, I haven't been in on the love fest very strongly for Enes, so there. (I think I had him 5th on some mock list a few days ago behind Irving, Williams, Barnes, and Jones).

It is funny to see how we extrapolate from very thin slices of "information" to form and adjust our opinions.

[Rafael122]

I'm just wary of guys people have barely seen. I'm sure Ernie and his scouting staff have files on guys like Enes and Jonas, but Enes hasn't played competitive ball in almost a year, and he's projected to be a lottery pick. Based on what exactly?