2012 Draft, Part VI (Draft Week is Here!)

[Halcyon]

This is what I'm preparing myself for...

Wizards select Barnes #3.

Wizards sell #32 for cash considerations.

Would not be surprised but would be very disappointed with that scenario...

[payitforward]

If Dray had work ethic, he'd be an All-Star. You don't know how good Drummond work ethic is.

How can you possibly write these sentences one after the other, and think that they argue for picking Drummond? Amazing.

I won't even bother asking how you know what Dray would do if he "had work ethic." Well... answer is simple: you don't.

I'm not going to get into this too much since this is the draft thread, but after the Jamison trade, Dray was playing like an All-Star until he turned his ankle. He turned KG into a human turnstile twice. I would post all the numbers of his dominant performances that yr, but I'm too lazy.

Actually, I have all those numbers in a complete, detailed spreadsheet, and I'll send it to you if you like. He had 8 good games -- in a situation where no one in the league had scouted him because there'd been no reason to scout him. Then he got *awful* and it had nothing to do w/ the ankle which happened later. I have those games in the spreadsheet too. Then he was out for a bit, and then he came back and played ok in the last 4 games of the season. Again, I have all those numbers as well.

I'm a numbers guy. It's likely I know them better than you do. Dray is not a good player. And 8 good games doesn't argue that he is. I don't know what it is about him that has created this legion of people dreaming about giving him the umpteenth "one more chance." He's awful; in 7 years he's proven nothing. It ain't starting now.

[sfam]

Miami proved that you don't need a dominant big man. Dallas' dominant big was a jump shooting 7-footer. Dwight Howard needs a good team around him to win a ring and in fact, he had a pretty good one a few years back. He needs a great player. That's what it's all about. Duncan is the quintissential big. Smart, agile, now old. But still very good.

I'd rather have guys that know the game and know how to play it instead of just an athletic freak. Or a guy with an incredible wing span. Been there, done that.

Where do you expect us to get our superstar then (unless you think Beal will be a superstar, which I definitely don't).

Drummond is fools gold. He is not our superstar, or anyone else's. The dude shoots 29% from the free throw line, and has spotty dedication. Yeah, he might improve, but its a FAR FAR stretch to call him our superstar.

But yeah, Beal or MKG both have dramatically better chances to be a superstar than Drummond does, without nearly the high bust risk factor. No way Drummond makes sense. Even if you don't think Beal or MKG will become superstars, this doesn't mean we potentially throw away our pick on Drummond. Bottom line, you are taking a very big chance on a guy that could easily turn out to be Kwame 2.0 just as easily as he becomes the next Howard.

[Terpman]

Does anyone have ESPN's latest mock draft?

[DCZards]

Top 20 players aren't easy to draft or develop. He's 23 years old and MKG might become as good as Harden. Beal I doubt he can get to that level and that's not a knock of Beal who's the most NBA ready player in this draft. The Wizards have had a top 20 player once maybe twice in the last 20 years.

With Saraphin can we stop overrating players. It's just dumb to me like Paxson holding on to Deng and Hinrich instead of grabbing HOF'r Kevin Garnett in a trade.

You keep saying Harden is a top 20 player. I'm not convinced that he is.

[Knighthonor]

well looks like Cats may take MKG or HB

[sfam]

Actually, I have all those numbers in a complete, detailed spreadsheet, and I'll send it to you if you like. He had 8 good games -- in a situation where no one in the league had scouted him because there'd been no reason to scout him. Then he got *awful* and it had nothing to do w/ the ankle which happened later. I have those games in the spreadsheet too. Then he was out for a bit, and then he came back and played ok in the last 4 games of the season. Again, I have all those numbers as well.

I'm a numbers guy. It's likely I know them better than you do. Dray is not a good player. And 8 good games doesn't argue that he is. I don't know what it is about him that has created this legion of people dreaming about giving him the umpteenth "one more chance." He's awful; in 7 years he's proven nothing. It ain't starting now.

The whole "Dray coulda been a contenda!" ridiculousness sounds so much like the "Arenas, Caron and 'Twan Coulda been a contenta" if they didn't get injured. Clearly there were fundamental problems in both situations that rendered any long term success impossible.

[dangermouse]

SUPERBALLMAN, if your scenario happens i'm going to get drunk and violent the rest of the week

[Jay81]

can you imagine if Sacramento traded their 5th pick today for Thadeous young and Lou Williams. Thats essentially what we did a few years ago with our 5th pick

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

SUPER, that is the same myopic, dumb ish they did when they left Blair on the board at #32.

If you are with the Wizards organization and you read this, here are the players that you will be called incompetent by me for not selecting at #32 if they are there: Will Barton, John Jenkins, Scott Machado, Jae Crowder, and any players who drop from round one.

I would rather see the Wizards take a chance on some like Quincy Miller before they drop out of round two.

For Washington to eliminate the possiblity of drafting a PG to challenge Shelvin Mack makes no sense to me.

[sfam]

SUPER, that is the same myopic, dumb ish they did when they left Blair on the board at #32.

If you are with the Wizards organization and you read this, here are the players that you will be called incompetent by me for not selecting at #32 if they are there: Will Barton, John Jenkins, Scott Machado, Jae Crowder, and any players who drop from round one.

I would rather see the Wizards take a chance on some like Quincy Miller before they drop out of round two.

For Washington to eliminate the possiblity of drafting a PG to challenge Shelvin Mack makes no sense to me.

At this point my ideal draft is starting to look like MKG and John Jenkins. I'd be pretty thrilled if we came out with that, especially since I already see Beal as a Cavalier.

[Hoopalotta]

You know, it was mentioned before here, but there really was an article that John Wall really dislikes Barnes' game.

It was by Mike Lee on the Wizards Insider during the 2011 season, but I am unable to find it as searching the Washington Post is just horribly laborious and time consuming. But it was a Mike Lee throw in from the locker room chatter after some random regular season game with the phrasing being something like "not a fan of Barnes to put it mildly" or words to that effect. I have plugged all kinds of crap into search engines but I just can't dig it up without spending hours digging through Lee's posts (I can't believe my time sensitive Boolean searches are coming up with nothing - probably aquarter of my work schedule is built on researching! Doesn't help that the Washington post page is pig slow either).

Anyway, there's no question that Wall prefers Beal and MKG, that much is clear....

AlexKennedyNBA John Wall is friends with Brad Beal and Mike Kidd-Gilchrist. "It would be exciting to play with either of those guys. They’re my homeboys."

AlexKennedyNBA John Wall: "Mike won a championship and Bradley had a great season at Florida. I think they’ll both have great NBA careers.”

not sure how that fits into our actual draft board, but there is that....

[Floater]

Either scenario will make me happy

Beal/Jeff Taylor or Quincey Miller

or

MKG/Jenkins or D Lamb

[7-Day Dray]

SUPER, that is the same myopic, dumb ish they did when they left Blair on the board at #32.

If you are with the Wizards organization and you read this, here are the players that you will be called incompetent by me for not selecting at #32 if they are there: Will Barton, John Jenkins, Scott Machado, Jae Crowder, and any players who drop from round one.

I would rather see the Wizards take a chance on some like Quincy Miller before they drop out of round two.

For Washington to eliminate the possiblity of drafting a PG to challenge Shelvin Mack makes no sense to me.

It's like Ernie thinks we're on the cusp of contending for a championship already. Just because we have a lot of young players doesn't we should totally remove ourselves from going after more. Yes, we have some good young players, but I wouldn't exactly call guys like Chris Singleton, Shelvin Mack, and Jordan Crawford studs. We could always use a guy that falls in the draft for a cheap price, now matter how young they are.

Ernie is taking this "We need veterans" shtick to far. That 6-game winning must've definitely fooled him. Dude has no idea how to run a team.

[dangermouse]

I'd take both those guys over Mike Miller and that other guy....

[sfam]

SUPER, that is the same myopic, dumb ish they did when they left Blair on the board at #32.

If you are with the Wizards organization and you read this, here are the players that you will be called incompetent by me for not selecting at #32 if they are there: Will Barton, John Jenkins, Scott Machado, Jae Crowder, and any players who drop from round one.

I would rather see the Wizards take a chance on some like Quincy Miller before they drop out of round two.

For Washington to eliminate the possiblity of drafting a PG to challenge Shelvin Mack makes no sense to me.

It's like Ernie thinks we're on the cusp of contending for a championship already. Just because we have a lot of young players doesn't we should totally remove ourselves from going after more. Yes, we have some good young players, but I wouldn't exactly call guys like Chris Singleton, Shelvin Mack, and Jordan Crawford studs.

Ernie is taking this "We need veterans" shtick to far. That 6-game winning must've definitely fooled him. Dude has no idea how to run a team.

I just don't buy this. Not at all. The NO trade to me seems much more like a sober recognition that the Wizards were probably not likely to bring in high character veteran contributors via FA, which the front office clearly believes is necessary to help mentor our prospects. Neither of the NO players are long term - they very well may be gone in less than two years. The whole "win now" thing seems way overblown to me. If we move away from the caricature of EG, I think a much more reasoned view, whether or not we agree with the trade, is that Ted has directed EG to get us out of the basement and on to the road toward a team that doesn't embarrass its fan base. This is different from a "Win now, stay mediocre for the next 10 years" mentality. If we end up in the back side of the lottery next year (the most likely circumstance), with continued development from our under 25 crew, along with the development of a professional atmosphere fully instilled, most of us will look at the team as moving in the right direction.

Sure, another year of tanking has its attraction, as does the idea that we could have done more with the cap space. But that the Wizards chose this course hardly indicates the worst possible outcome. That said, if we make the Gasol trade, everything I said becomes null and void.

[dangermouse]

Nice dig Hoopalotta

I knew Wall and MKG were tight, but that is good news about Beal too.

I'd be happy with either of those guys. Ernie is (Please Use More Appropriate Word) if he is actually considering Barnes and it isnt just smoke.

[Hoopalotta]

ESPN Stats & Info‏@ESPNStatsInfo

Of the 125 players who defended at least 75 post-up plays this season, Andre Drummond allowed the fewest points per play. #NBADraft

I don't think the same could have been said about Javale in college.

Yeah, the thing with Drummond is his ceilings so high that he doesn't even need to reach his potential to be a game changer. If you're quick, long, strong, defensively minded and can make reads at NBA speed, your floor isn't really that low unless your a total disaster as a human being. His red flags don't sound all that red to me. Maybe more like orange flags.

I don't think I'd have it in me to take him at three, but in the right trade down I'd be for it as he could be a guy who sets the table for your whole defense even if he never turns into much offensively.

[MikeTheKid]

After watching more and more highlights and interviews of MKG I am really starting to lean more towards him even though my love for Beal is still strong.

MKG/Jenkins would be beautiful

[sfam]

Nice dig Hoopalotta

I knew Wall and MKG were tight, but that is good news about Beal too.

I'd be happy with either of those guys. Ernie is (Please Use More Appropriate Word) if he is actually considering Barnes and it isnt just smoke.

I think Wall does influence this pick. If Wall says he loves MKG and Beal but not Barnes, my guess is EG listens, as Wall has probably played against all three.