Chicken Littles: Sky done fell! Draft Thread 2011

[theboomking]

Following the boxscore, Derrick Williams just fouled out with 12 points (5-8) and 18 rebounds.

Too bad - it ended up being a triple OT game - he could have put up Love type numbers. But Perry Jones did make it through a single OT game with his best numbers of the season 27 and 7. He's looking like he still has the inside track at being the #1 pick. Watch for Terrence Jones' teammate and Brevin Knight's bro Brandon to climb up the charts if he gets more assists. He's another one of those scoring PGs.

Those 12 points and 18 boards came in 33 minutes, so I don't think the double overtime came into play. Williams also continued his tear and was 1/1 from 3 point range.

[Ruzious]

Following the boxscore, Derrick Williams just fouled out with 12 points (5-8) and 18 rebounds.

Too bad - it ended up being a triple OT game - he could have put up Love type numbers. But Perry Jones did make it through a single OT game with his best numbers of the season 27 and 7. He's looking like he still has the inside track at being the #1 pick. Watch for Terrence Jones' teammate and Brevin Knight's bro Brandon to climb up the charts if he gets more assists. He's another one of those scoring PGs.

Those 12 points and 18 boards came in 33 minutes, so I don't think the double overtime came into play. Williams also continued his tear and was 1/1 from 3 point range.

.
Lol, that's what I meant. I guess I need to be clearer.

[Ruzious]

What a difference Kendall Marshall makes. Now that he's entrenched as UNC's PG, they might be the best team in the country - even though they're ranked 23rd. And HarBar is looking much more comfortable - and more likely to go into the draft - and be a possibility for the Wiz. Personally, I'd rather take one of the bigger players.

[hotshotschamp]

Valanciunas today, in 19 minutes, had 19 pts, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks. He was perfect shooting 8-8 from floor and 3-3 from line.

Last week he had a 19 pt, 18 rebound game in 21 minutes.

Dudes a beast. 6"11 freakish long arms, crazy motor and only going to get way better.

[nate33]

Valanciunas today, in 19 minutes, had 19 pts, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks. He was perfect shooting 8-8 from floor and 3-3 from line.

Last week he had a 19 pt, 18 rebound game in 21 minutes.

Dudes a beast. 6"11 freakish long arms, crazy motor and only going to get way better.

Very impressive. Why only 19 and 21 minutes if he's that effective?

[hotshotschamp]

In Europe the young guys especially and everyone in general don't play the big mins like in the nba.

Rubio still routinely plays 19-24 mins a game.

Games are only 40 mins too I do believe.

[pcbothwel]

What a difference Kendall Marshall makes. Now that he's entrenched as UNC's PG, they might be the best team in the country - even though they're ranked 23rd. And HarBar is looking much more comfortable - and more likely to go into the draft - and be a possibility for the Wiz. Personally, I'd rather take one of the bigger players.

If he continues his current hot streak and leads UNC deep into the tournement, I could see Barnes as a top 1 or 2 pick. This draft does not seem to have its Lebron, Rose, or Wall; however, there seem to be 6 or 7 extremelly talented players that could be big pieces to a future contender.

[Dat2U]

I'm still leaning Perry Jones as the #1 pick at this point. Sullinger & D. Williams will almost certain to be productive NBA players in the league but they don't strike me as top pick material. While those may be the safest picks in the draft that doesn't mean they're going to be stars on the next level. Both also look like potential defensive sieves at the PF position.

Marvin Williams, er excuse me, Harrison Barnes looks like a potential solid NBA player. Maybe he'd be a nice fit as at SF for us but he lacks the explosiveness I'd want to see in an elite wing player.

I have a wait and see attitude with Valanciunas & Kanter. Grainy youtube footage just doesn't do it for me.

P. Jones III just has that it factor. He's oozing physical talent. And really I like the fact he's improving and producing more even though he's now in conference play. I'm just not certain what position he is going to play but it looks like he's quick enough to be a big SF and big enough to be a face up PF. If he's really a legit 6-11 220 he's truly going to be a match up nightmare. If he continues to develop that jumper, the sky is the limit for him.

[nate33]

I'm leaning more and more towards blowing up our roster. I hate Blatche and Mcgee.

If Valanciunas is the real deal, I'd be happy drafting him with our top 4ish pick, and then trading McGee for a good wing (Batum, or maybe trade him for a draft pick to use on Barnes). That'll leave us with:

PG Wall/Hinrich
SG Young
SF Batum
PF Lewis/Booker
C Valanciunas/Seraphin

It's a young and raw team, but at least it's full of potential and lacking in knuckleheads. We might also have to add a one-year-rental veteran center like Pryzbilla, depending on how NBA-ready Valanciunas' body is. I'd then trade Blatche for whatever I could. It's hard to gauge his value right now. We might have to hold our nose and keep him for another year just to get some low post offense.

[Hoopalotta]

My read of Draft Express and the general lockout situation is that Valanciunas (aka. Johny Valentine) probably isn't coming over next year.

I could easily deal with that and from what I've seen he's towards the very top of my draft radar, but I don't think we could pencil him into the 2012 rotation. Assuming there's a season and all, that above roster would be stripped down to a stunningly bare-bones affair and be in line for another top pick thereafter. I don't know how popular that would be, but there it is.

I am liking the look of this draft in terms of the convergence of our probable draft seeding aligning with a real hodgepodge of ambiguously equivalent talent. I guess if we luck into a top pick it would be unfortunate, but I like the safety net angle of the ROY potentially being drafted 6th. I won't even be that nervous on ping-pong day.

[tontoz]

I'm leaning more and more towards blowing up our roster. I hate Blatche and Mcgee.

If Valanciunas is the real deal, I'd be happy drafting him with our top 4ish pick, and then trading McGee for a good wing (Batum, or maybe trade him for a draft pick to use on Barnes).

+1

The frontcourt is definitely a mess. I don't see how the team can ever be good with a starting tandem of Blatche/McGee.

[Zonkerbl]

Meh. I'm willing to wait to until our superstar PG learns how to play defense.

But getting an all-star big in the draft wouldn't hurt.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I'm leaning more and more towards blowing up our roster. I hate Blatche and Mcgee.

If Valanciunas is the real deal, I'd be happy drafting him with our top 4ish pick, and then trading McGee for a good wing (Batum, or maybe trade him for a draft pick to use on Barnes).

+1

The frontcourt is definitely a mess. I don't see how the team can ever be good with a starting tandem of Blatche/McGee.

I respecfully disagree, tontoz and nate.

Big picture: Blatche is 24, very highly-skilled, big, very cheaply-signed. He is an asset because you don't get players with his talent, size, youth and potential at that price. McGee is 22, freakishly athletic--a rare combination of length, end-to-end foot speed, leaping ability, good hands, great timing on shot blocks, with a high motor.

The two issues impeding both players IMO are Flip Saunders and position overlap. This coach had KG but IMO is terrible with respect to utilizing bigs. As position goes, Blatche and McGee are both PF/C tweeners and both are finesse bigs. Blatche cannot defend C well but he's way more skilled than the average C. McGee is simply not a banger, but he has so much untapped potential and his coach IMO is myopic and close-minded to possibilities of expanding Javale's game.

I WOULD RUN FLIP (39-93) SAUNDERS before I would give up either young big.

Neither Blatche or McGee is Chris Webber, but either could be a Rasheed Wallace/Ben Wallace/Juwan Howard very solid 10-yr pro. All three of those guys went to higher heights with YEARS and different teams. I say keep them and give Cassell, a new coach, one or two more drafts, and time a chance to change things for the better.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Meh. I'm willing to wait to until our superstar PG learns how to play defense.

But getting an all-star big in the draft wouldn't hurt.

+1

Even if Flip stays, this is all I advocate doing.

[fishercob]

I'm leaning more and more towards blowing up our roster. I hate Blatche and Mcgee.

If Valanciunas is the real deal, I'd be happy drafting him with our top 4ish pick, and then trading McGee for a good wing (Batum, or maybe trade him for a draft pick to use on Barnes).

+1

The frontcourt is definitely a mess. I don't see how the team can ever be good with a starting tandem of Blatche/McGee.

I respecfully disagree, tontoz and nate.

Big picture: Blatche is 24, very highly-skilled, big, very cheaply-signed. He is an asset because you don't get players with his talent, size, youth and potential at that price. McGee is 22, freakishly athletic--a rare combination of length, end-to-end foot speed, leaping ability, good hands, great timing on shot blocks, with a high motor.

This surprises me coming from you. As a long-champion of the "undersized" yet productive big, you've always banged the drum of production over potential. The college stats you look at have helped you get ahead of the curve on some guys like Millsap, Love, etc.

So why get taken in by Dray's "talent, size, youth and potential at that price"? At the end of the day he's unproductive, and productivity is the P that matters a hell of a lot more than potential. It would be one thing if the guy had all the great intangibles, but mitigating circumstances meant he was just having a bad year. But the fact is that if he had those intangibles, he never would have slipped to where he did in the draft, and never would have been the position to sign the two "bargain" contract extensions that he has.

I haaaaaate to say it, but Dray's a dog. Let's cut the cord and move on.

[Benjammin]

I'm feeling encouraged (not that I'm a major draftnik) with our pick. While I don't see a transcendent player, there are six or seven guys that might be significant contributors in a few years.

[Ruzious]

I'm feeling encouraged (not that I'm a major draftnik) with our pick. While I don't see a transcendent player, there are six or seven guys that might be significant contributors in a few years.

Agreed. As long as we pick top 6, I'll feel comfortable. But assuming one or 2 of the top 8 don't come out for the draft, picking past 6 could be a disaster.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Faried won't go top-6. Jordan Williams won't either. Charles Jenkins, Dmetri McCamey, LaceDarius Dunn, Gilbert Brown, and JaJuan Johnson will not go in the top six.

Faried belongs in the top ten for sure IMO. Possibly in the top five. Where would you draft a player that is Millsap mixed with Ariza but quite possibly better than either of them?

I think there are always good players who slip like Landry Fields did.

[Dat2U]

I'm feeling encouraged (not that I'm a major draftnik) with our pick. While I don't see a transcendent player, there are six or seven guys that might be significant contributors in a few years.

I don't think its a horrible draft either. I think this draft is a little deeper at the top than last year's draft, there's just no John Wall or Blake Griffin in this draft.

[theboomking]

Faried won't go top-6. Jordan Williams won't either. Charles Jenkins, Dmetri McCamey, LaceDarius Dunn, Gilbert Brown, and JaJuan Johnson will not go in the top six.

Faried belongs in the top ten for sure IMO. Possibly in the top five. Where would you draft a player that is Millsap mixed with Ariza but quite possibly better than either of them?

I think there are always good players who slip like Landry Fields did.

Faried is a beast to be sure, but where do you play him. He is the size of a 3, but with the game of a 4. I worry that he won't be able to handle bulkier NBA PF's, as according to the draft reports I've read, he already struggles with defending bulkier players in college. At the same time, he doesnt really have the face up game or handle to be a 3.

Do you think he will be okay defensiely at PF? We know he can rebound and score in transition. How do you see gim fitting our roster?