General (Non-Wiz) Draft Discussion

[BigA]

Well, looks like John Wall won't enter the draft this year. To bad, he definitley has some game. I would include his talent with others I think are the best in this draft.

I'd rate Hall over Wall anyway.

[nate33]

Well, looks like John Wall won't enter the draft this year. To bad, he definitley has some game. I would include his talent with others I think are the best in this draft.

I'd rate Hall over Wall anyway.

Yeah, Hall is awesome.

[closg00]

I hope Rubio and Curry declare, if they don't, this lottery will turn into the great Blake Griffin Powerball drawing, winner take all.

[ZonkertheBrainless]

Hm, we won the tiebreaker. Does that mean we will pick no worse than fifth?

[nate33]

Hm, we won the tiebreaker. Does that mean we will pick no worse than fifth?

Yes.

[Ji]

so we are guaranteed Brandon Jennings!

[nate33]

Okay folks, we've spent a lot of time in fantasyland dreaming up trades involving the #1 or #2 pick. Unfortunately, the odds favor us picking lower. What do we do with the #3, #4 or #5 pick? My guess is that EG would look to package the pick with a contract and trade for a good veteran, preferably while trimming a little long-term salary in the process. What makes the most sense for the Wizards?

Bear in mind that we really can't afford to add on more salary, particularly in 2010. (I think Abe has accepted that he'll pay a luxtax in 2009, but I'm scared to death that he'll reconsider in the future and demand to get under the tax in 2010 - which would likely mean the loss of Haywood.)

[Ji]

jeez..i hope we didnt use up all our luck winning this drawing

[Ji]

If Michael Jordan didnt come back, we would of had a top 5 pick in the Lebron Draft. We would of had a superstar..maybe Lebron. Thanks to Jordan, we got Jarvis hayes that year

[fishercob]

If Michael Jordan didnt come back, we would of had a top 5 pick in the Lebron Draft. We would of had a superstar..maybe Lebron. Thanks to Jordan, we got Jarvis hayes that year

Good to see you're still living in the moment.

[no D in Hibachi]

If Michael Jordan didnt come back, we would of had a top 5 pick in the Lebron Draft. We would of had a superstar..maybe Lebron. Thanks to Jordan, we got Jarvis hayes that year

Not to mention the year before when we got ered effries instead of potentially Yao, Amare, Nene, Wilcox, or Butler.

[Ji]

anyone feeling Jodie Meeks in the 2nd round for some good outside shooting off the bench. Dude can light it up

[daSwami]

anyone feeling Jodie Meeks in the 2nd round for some good outside shooting off the bench. Dude can light it up

Poor Jodie, dude's career has just been jinxed.

[pancakes3]

meeks and patterson would do well to return to kentucky and let calipari unleash his run-and-gun offense and hype them into lotto picks.

[Wiz99]

Everyone's assuming Blake = best player in the draft. Fine, I can go along with that.

But it seems like some of y'all also assume he's a championship caliber PF. To me, he looks more like Michael Beasley -- somewhat undersized for the PF spot, a star on a weak roster.

Someone care to argue against me?

I'm also interested in what an Arenas Rubio backcourt could be like.

[nate33]

Everyone's assuming Blake = best player in the draft. Fine, I can go along with that.

But it seems like some of y'all also assume he's a championship caliber PF. To me, he looks more like Michael Beasley -- somewhat undersized for the PF spot, a star on a weak roster.

Someone care to argue against me?

I'm also interested in what an Arenas Rubio backcourt could be like.

I'm most definitely not interested in watching an Arenas/Rubio backcourt play defense.

[no D in Hibachi]

I think it's easy to compare Beasley to Griffin. They have a lot of similarities at the collegiate level in terms of numbers (pt's and rb's), appearance, conference, collegiate position, and the fact that they were both ESPN's NCAA darlings all season. However, I think their styles of games are completely different and I'll be surprised if Griffin doesn't measure out to be 6'9''. I just think he looks bigger than Beasley did while at school and Beasley measured out to 6'7.25'' IIRC.

Beasley is quicker and has a better jump shot, but doesn't play down on the low block. He is good at dribble driving from the perimeter and pulling up from the mid-range and stroking the j. He's not necessarily the rebounder in the pro's that he was at college, but he might improve. Frankly I see him having a career in between Al Harrington and Antawn Jamison. He might go to an all-star game or two, but never as one of the headlining players. He'll have a difficult time guarding either the 3 or 4. The most telling sign to me is Miami's willingness to dangle him in trade rumors. He was rumored to be dealt at the draft last year and during the trading dead-line. When you're team is actively shopping you I think it's the clearest indication that you're not as valuable as you appear.

Griffin is the exact type of player the Wizards need because he is a ferocious competitor down in the paint. I doubt he scores as much in the pro's as he did at college, but I will not be surprised if he is among the league leaders in rebounds per minute pretty early in his career. He has the strength of an ox. His strength will translate to the NBA and he'll be able to muscle up against opponents PF's from the minute he takes the floor as a rookie. He's athletic, but not the dribble drive threat that Beasley was. I think he will need to refine his post-moves, but he's more advanced in the post than McGee is right now. When he fully develops I see him as a cross between Carlos Boozer and Amare Stoudamire. To get to that point he needs to develop a knock down 15-18 foot jumper. That's part of what makes Amare so good offensively. He can nail jumpers with his eyes close. Even if he measures short I see him be just as effective as Paul Millsap.

In short I think Griffin will become a top PF in the NBA where I feel that Beasley will become a good tweener forward. I don't see either of them become defensive ace's, but Griffin has more hope because of strength.

[dnk]

To me, he looks more like Michael Beasley -- somewhat undersized for the PF spot, a star on a weak roster.

He's not necessarily the rebounder in the pro's that he was at college, but he might improve.

I'm not Beasley's biggest fan, but if you've been looking at his stats the past month or so, he's been tearing it up. Basic stats obviously don't tell us how he's doing on defense, which is Beasley's biggest deficiency right now, but as far as rebounding, he's been doing really well for himself. The last five games, he's averaging 11.2 rpg and 24.2 ppg on 60.1% eFG%. And the Heat might have a few holes, but they definitely do not have a weak roster.

[no D in Hibachi]

Small sample size. He averaged 5.4 RPG over the 81 game season. At college he averaged 12.4 RPG. I have a hard time seeing him average 10+ per game in a season during his career. On the other hand I'd be surprised if Griffin doesn't have multiple seasons where he averages 10+ rebounds per game.

[dnk]

Small sample size. He averaged 5.4 RPG over the 81 game season. At college he averaged 12.4 RPG. I have a hard time seeing him average 10+ per game in a season during his career. On the other hand I'd be surprised if Griffin doesn't have multiple seasons where he averages 10+ rebounds per game.

But he also played a lot less minutes earlier. He's finally getting consistent minutes now and looks like he earned them. I'll take stats from the last month of the season as being more indicative of where he's at now than his stats diluted by his first few months, what with there being an adjustment period and his playing less minutes and in a less consistent manner.