Official 2013 Draft Thread - Part II

[stevemcqueen1]

I see his floor being like a bigger Afflalo, with a ceiling of being a better shooting Paul George crossed with Batum(batum's passing is underrated around the league IMO) sans the hyper leaping ability.

Another name that comes to mind is Tayshaun Prince, only he'll probably fill out a bit more so he'll be a better rebounder. And he may already be a better 3-point shooter.

Yeah Prince is a good comparison, though I think you're right Porter will end up being stronger and more filled out. I think he'll probably be a substantially better rebounder and play in more of a tweener 3/4 role whereas Prince has always been a weak play at PF IMO. Ultimately, I think he'll probably be a bit better than Prince.

But it's also worth noting that Prince used to be pretty athletic and a real leaper early in his career.

[Ruzious]

Some of us have mentioned Seth Curry as someone the Wiz should target in the 2nd round, but there might be a better Duke senior to target other than Curry and Plumlee. Ryan Kelly would be a 1st rounder if he didn't miss a lot of his career with injury problems and didn't play a backseat to other Dukees along the way. Granted, his rebounding has not been good, but he is a classic 6'11 face 4. Physically and skill-wise, he's much like Kyle Wiltjer - who I think won't make it in the NBA. Kelly is different because he plays the game much more aggressively, and Kelly can actually play through contact and actually does try to play defense. Ryan Kelly is a poor man's Ryan Anderson - and if he can work hard at improving as a rebounder and continue to add more muscle, he could significantly narrow the gap between them. Right now, NBAdraft.net has him as the last player of the 2013 draft (draftexpress seems to have some kind of virus problem now). I guarantee he's going earlier than that. I'd strongly consider him with the Wiz' early 2nd rounder - if he's still there.

[nuposse04]

He'd be ok in spot up shooting situation...but I'm not sure I believe "does try to play defense"=he plays defense. He's slow and injury prone, albeit an absurdly good shooter. I'd be ok spending a mid 2nd rounder on him. I don't know if I think he has as much upside as a poor man's Anderson. He's had a helluva half so far against Miami. If Kadji wasn't **** 25 years old he'd make a good 2nd round prospect as well.

[Wizardspride]

Porter looks extremely long for 6-8. His wingspan must be at least 7-0 and his arms sit up high on his torso which should give him a favorable standing reach.

A 7-1 wingspan to be exact.

[nate33]

Porter looks extremely long for 6-8. His wingspan must be at least 7-0 and his arms sit up high on his torso which should give him a favorable standing reach.

A 7-1 wingspan to be exact.

Wow. 7-1 wingspan despite relatively narrow shoulders. He is going to play very long long indeed.

[AFM]

I admit I've cooled off a bit on Shabazz since the begininng of the year when I thought he would be the consensus #2 pick at worst. I still think he's probably the best scorer in the draft. Otto Porter has surprised me, his jumper is a lot purer than I thought it was. I saw his 33 point game and was impressed.
He also went to the John Wall Jumpshot Form School


Seth Curry definitely has an NBA ready game. My first time watching a full Duke game this year was Duke vs Maryland and he was making it rain. Anybody remember that stepback 3 he hit at the end? That's definitely an NBA level shot. I have no idea how far he'll fall.

[AFM]

For those concerned about Shabazz's measurements, he's 6'6" with a 6'11.25" wingspan.

[nuposse04]

he probably has a standing reach comparable of of Caron Butler, I'm not worried about Shabazz's physical dimension, mostly concerned with him being rather useless in every offensive phase of the game outside of shooting.

[Ruzious]

He'd be ok in spot up shooting situation...but I'm not sure I believe "does try to play defense"=he plays defense. He's slow and injury prone, albeit an absurdly good shooter. I'd be ok spending a mid 2nd rounder on him. I don't know if I think he has as much upside as a poor man's Anderson. He's had a helluva half so far against Miami. If Kadji wasn't **** 25 years old he'd make a good 2nd round prospect as well.

Well, I think today's game de phenom made believers of a lot of people who sign checks. Imo, there's no way he gets past both Miami and San Antonio - if they have their 1st round picks on draft day. 14 shots taken; 36 points scored - against the 5th ranked team in the nation - in a close game. Your boy Kadji couldn't cover him to save his life. His release is so quick that you have to try to have someone stay on him out to the 3 point line at all times. And that quick release is going to make him not just a high percentage 3 shooter - but a high volume 3 point shooter - like Anderson. And you can talk about him being slow, but he gets a decent amount of steals/blocks, because he plays smart positional defense - which is fine if he plays on a good defensive team.

Larkin forced a bunch of shots but still played a heckuva game and competed very well.

[AFM]

Yes nuposse you are correct. Caron Butler's standing reach is 8'7.5" and Shabazz's is 8'8". Actually their measurements in general are very similar.
Shabazz gets a decent amount of boards for a wing. But a pitiful number of assists.

[nuposse04]

He'd be ok in spot up shooting situation...but I'm not sure I believe "does try to play defense"=he plays defense. He's slow and injury prone, albeit an absurdly good shooter. I'd be ok spending a mid 2nd rounder on him. I don't know if I think he has as much upside as a poor man's Anderson. He's had a helluva half so far against Miami. If Kadji wasn't **** 25 years old he'd make a good 2nd round prospect as well.

Well, I think today's game de phenom made believers of a lot of people who sign checks. Imo, there's no way he gets past both Miami and San Antonio - if they have their 1st round picks on draft day. 14 shots taken; 36 points scored - against the 5th ranked team in the nation - in a close game. Your boy Kadji couldn't cover him to save his life. His release is so quick that you have to try to have someone stay on him out to the 3 point line at all times. And that quick release is going to make him not just a high percentage 3 shooter - but a high volume 3 point shooter - like Anderson. And you can talk about him being slow, but he gets a decent amount of steals/blocks, because he plays smart positional defense - which is fine if he plays on a good defensive team.

Larkin forced a bunch of shots but still played a heckuva game and competed very well.

First of all, Kadji isn't "my boy" and nor was he covering him all game. Although he should have stayed glued to him but they allowed the dribble drive penetration to kill em. When someone is THAT hot you have to stay glued to em. That and that fat bucket of lard in Reggie Johnson (I think that is his name) was about as useful as a bucket of lard. Their coach sabotaged their chances of winning by giving him any burn in the 2nd half.

He exaggerates contact on his "charges" he's a flopper. It'll eventually catch up to him if the NBA really cares about protecting their image (i imagine we'll see it regulated better with silver running the show). Anderson is a starting quality forward in this league, I don't Kelly will ever reach that point. He's matt bonner, without the red hair. Dead eye shooter, pretty mediocre to below average in every other aspect.

He's also going to be 23 by the time next season starts...I personally by the time a player is between 25-27, they aren't going to get much better...so I'm not sure what the upside is. If we could trade Vesely for a early 2nd, I'd absolutely do it, I don't mind having him on the team, but, and this is a big but, I'd like to focus on taking players with some room to grow and that have more utility then simply launching 3s (as direly as it may be needed in certain situations).

[SUPERBALLMAN]

So semi relevant thought here. The biggest knock against Porter is what appears to be a clear lack of explosive leaping ability. He doesn't seem slow laterally and has excellent length and a frame that seems could add weight.

In the game last night, Melo went up for a dunk, but it looked like to me...he got like a foot of air on that dunk. While Melo has an elite first step I think things like that should point to the fact you don't necessarily need absurd leaping ability to be an elite 3 in the NBA (or 4 depending on how they use melo).

While I don't think Porter will be the scorer Melo is, I do think he can be all around better player. He hits the boards well (something this team really needs with the amount of offensive rebounds we give up in critical situations) passes very well, and has pretty damn good offensive instincts.

I think I might be hyping myself up for this guy more than I ought to.

I think you are too. I'd be stunned if Porter ends up being as good as Melo, much less better. Melo is a superstar, one of the three best scorers in the NBA, a key Olympian, a perennial All Star starter, and a meal ticket player that can carry any team he's on to the playoffs every year of his career. Melo as a freshman was a much better collegiate player than Porter is as a sophomore. He led his team to a national championship and was one of the sensational freshman NBA prospects like Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant. He was NBA ready too, much stronger and more athletic than Porter, and a much better all around scorer. He was obviously the best CBB prospect that season and should have gone #2 overall in one of the top heaviest classes in history.

Porter is more like Shane Battier than Melo and this class is more like 2001 than 2003. Battier is an unspectacular player, but he's a winner who basically takes nothing off the table and every team in the league would like to have him. He rebounds, can spot up shoot, is unselfish, and defends multiple positions at a high level.

It's hard to say how good a defender Porter is going to be. He's got excellent length for the three but you can't tell how good he really is in Georgetown's zone D. He's not a great athlete and he's not strong but he's smart and can play passing lanes well. Ultimately, I'd be a little surprised if he gets as good defensively as Battier but I think he's a more natural scorer than Battier and has better upside on that side of the ball.

Well I don't think he'll ever be offensively better, although I think Melo is a bit overrated as a player. He's an OK defender, above average rebounder, average playmaker, fairly average athleticism outside of his first step. He has good strength though. I won't deny that melo was the more dominant collegiate athlete, but G-town's system doesn't exactly maximize Porter's offensive abilities IMO.

Shane Battier is an interesting comparison...he's arguably one of the best "glue" guys in modern NBA history, but I see that as kind of a slight to Porter. Although I hate Shane since he's a dookie and a flopper so I'd rather he not be associated with him.

Porter weighs 205 right now, I think he was 200 as a freshman, and he's still a teenager if I think right, I don't see why he can't fill out to be about 225 in a couple years. I haven't seen the clear lack of strength this year either, he goes and gets rebounds in traffic and plays damn good D when asked to guard 4s. I actually am not sure who would be a good modern day comparison, I wish I was a bit older than 25, or that I started watching basketball before 2000-01 cause I can't exactly put my thumb on who he resembles the most.

I see his floor being like a bigger Afflalo, with a ceiling of being a better shooting Paul George crossed with Batum(batum's passing is underrated around the league IMO) sans the hyper leaping ability.

Yeah I'm having a hard time coming up with players that he reminds me of. Battier is a pretty good one I guess. As Nate said Tayshaun Prince is comparable I think. Another one I've heard before is Scottie Pippen.

[stevemcqueen1]

Yes nuposse you are correct. Caron Butler's standing reach is 8'7.5" and Shabazz's is 8'8". Actually their measurements in general are very similar.
Shabazz gets a decent amount of boards for a wing. But a pitiful number of assists.

Hmm. Caron is actually a pretty good comparison for Shabazz.

I didn't realize his wing span was so long. That's about the same wing span as James Harden right? And he's probably a bit taller. I think he'll definitely be able to handle playing a good amount of minutes at the 3. He's a strong player.

He finishes hard and he's got an outstanding back to basket game. He's got a great motor and a good BBall IQ and he has a very versatile offensive skill set. He's potent for UCLA even as a decoy.

He could be lethal as a featured weapon in an NBA offense with a good distributing PG.

Seems like we want Beal to be our #1 offensive option though. Would we be wasting Shabazz a bit?

It'd be nice to have a scorer like him in crunch time situations though. There is nothing so frustrating as when we go minutes upon minutes without scoring in crucial stretches in the fourth quarter like against the Knicks.

[AFM]

Yeah, Harden's measurements are all about 0.5 to 1" less (height, wingspan, standing reach). Beal and Shabazz don't seem like a bad fit actually. Beal doesn't dominate the ball to score. He's got the type of game where you seem him hitting open shots and then you check the boxscore and you're like "damn, he's got 24??" He has a very subtle game. A Wall/Beal/Shabazz lineup would work well IMO. I might prefer Porter at this point. I'm not sure. I definitely wouldn't be surprised if Shabazz was in the top 5 in scoring in 3-5 years. He has that type of scoring potential. I don't think Porter does, but he's better at most other facets of the game. It's just hard to pass up someone who is so elite at scoring as Shabazz is. I've seen some Nick Young comparisons on this board but I think that's wrong. Shabazz's game is way more mature and he can score in a multitude of ways, where NY is primarily just a jump shooter. I see Shabazz as a more efficient Rudy Gay to be honest.

[stevemcqueen1]

Shabazz also has some MKG in him in the way he runs the floor so hard and the way he likes to take all those hook shots and short jumpers inside the lane. He's not nearly the ball handler and facilitator and defensive player MKG was, but he's a much better shooter from mid to long range than MKG was.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2013 ... /302270353

Should McCallum Jr., a 6-foot-3 junior, choose to forego his senior season he's almost lock to be selected in the NBA draft.

Many mock drafts have McCallum going in the second round but there's a least one NBA scout who said McCallum is a sure-fire first-round pick.

"This is his last game (at home)," said an NBA scout who asked to remain anonymous. "It's written he's going to play with men. I have him 13-19 in the draft. Some (scouts) have him 12-18. I have a six north and a six south, meaning he could go as high as seven or as low as 25.

"And I never miss."

Yahoo.com has McCallum at No. 42 in the draft and collegeInsider.com has McCallum at No. 53. Another mock draft has him taken at No. 57 and yet another doesn't have McCallum selected in either round.

Opinions differ across the board. For example yahoo.com has Michigan guard Trey Burke at No. 26; Burke is No. 13 in another publication's mock draft.

Former Titans player and 12-year NBA veteran Earl Cureton said McCallum has a legitimate shot at becoming an NBA player. Cureton said Detroit has a number of players who can score and McCallum has sacrificed that part of his game to help his team win, but is uncertain if McCallum would be taken in the first round.

"There's no question he's an NBA prospect," Cureton said. "If they make another (tournament) run he'll have a shot."

The NBA scout agrees.

"He needs to make the NCAA Tournament," he said. "(The NBA) is all about winning. The workout camps are critical."

[AFM]

If CCJ says that McCallum is THAT guy I believe him. I've never watched him play but CCJ, nate, and Dat are rarely wrong. Would you take him before Burke?

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

If CCJ says that McCallum is THAT guy I believe him. I've never watched him play but CCJ, nate, and Dat are rarely wrong. Would you take him before Burke?

No, but I think if they were on opposite teams McCallum might be selected before Burke.

[AFM]

Yeah school has a lot to do with it. Look at Austin Rivers. Yuck.

[stevemcqueen1]

Larry Drew is a bad PG. He's got all kinds of skills and a pedigree and he puts up so so numbers but he is just not a natural floor general. He makes his teammates worse.