Official 2013 Draft Thread - Part III

[Dat2U]

Trade the pick, trade the pick, trade the pick.

Ideally, trade the pick for a 2014 selection.

This draft reminds me so much of the 2000 draft with Kenyon Martin. Noel is the default number #1 pick who's injured and probably wouldn't be a #1 pick in most drafts. Nothing else is clear cut. I think the draft is filled with role players or guys that may develop into decent role players in 2/3 years. No stars. A lot of potential busts. Not a ton of starting quality talent either.

Best bet is to just trade the pick!

You need a trade partner, though. If this draft is indeed as bad as the 2000 draft, why would anyone give up anything of value for a mid lotto pick?

I don't know how you look at this draft as a whole and just dismiss it so summarily. And again, if you do, I don't see how you can expect much of value in return for our pick.

All you need is one trade partner. One team that really covets one player in this draft. Ideally I'd love a 2014 pick, secondarily a solid veteran is another target.

I can dismiss this draft summarily because I'm certain there isn't a game breaking talent that were going to miss out on. Are there solid rotation players to be found? Sure, but I'd much rather shoot for the stars in 2014 or pair some assets and trade for a front court player, ex... DeMarcus Cousins, Al Horford, Ersan Ilyasova.

I like guys like Noel, Porter, Oladipo, Burke & McCollum but I'm not under any illusion that any of these guys are future all-pros. The draft filled with guys who will fill out your bench. We do need to address depth but doing so with a mid lottery pick is not the best allocation of resources.

I'm a firm believer in building through the draft but this draft is just does not possess the talent you'd typically see in any given year. I see a lot of people in this thread falling in love with future NBA role players.

[theboomking]

Edit: Added Zeller.

I just played the ESPN lotto, and they seem to have our preferences ranked as Porter, Bennett, Len, Shabazz, Oladipo, Zeller.

I'm starting to grow a little on the idea of us picking up Len. He may have as high an upside as anyone in the draft, and we have no youth in the frontcourt. If we want to add Cousins at some point, we may be able to trade Len and expirings for Cousins, if Len shows well.

[fishercob]

Per BulletsForever, Wiz have lost coin flip to Pistons and will be in 8th position for the lotto. With Smart and others going back to school, this increases the chance that the guy we'll want will be off the board one pick before we're up

No matter, we're going to move up to #2 anyway.

And Detroit has 2 young bigs.

So, nevermind. Happy day!

[pineappleheadindc]

I just played the ESPN lotto 10 tries. I seem to be stuck with Len.

1. Wizards at 8 (Len)
2. Wizards at 1 (Noel)
3. Wizards at 8 (Len)
4. Wizards at 3 (Bennett)
5. Wizards at 8 (Muhammad)
6. Wizards at 8 (Len)
7. Wizards at 9 (Len)
8. Wizards at 9 (Len)
9. Wizards at 8 (Len)
10. Wizards at 8 (Len)

[DCsOwn]

Per BulletsForever, Wiz have lost coin flip to Pistons and will be in 8th position for the lotto. With Smart and others going back to school, this increases the chance that the guy we'll want will be off the board one pick before we're up

No matter, we're going to move up to #2 anyway.

And Detroit has 2 young bigs.

So, nevermind. Happy day!

Of course we lost. Was there ever any doubt that we would? Even in the year we won the coin toss we lost the war so to speak.

[The Consiglieri]

I hate to say it, but I feel the same way. Would be rather amusing to see the #7 slot win the lottery/jump up to the top 3. Would be so typical.

[hands11]

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2013/

Someone get the napkins out for CCJ.

Look who they have us taking in the 2nd with the first 2nd pick.


As for adding more vets. I'm not surprised at all. But I think that will in part come from dumping

Martin, Barron, and one or more of Singleton, Ves or Booker.

[hands11]

Without studying the metrics, I'm not convinced that Nerlens Noel is a better prospect than Len -- particularly when it comes to short term impact. I get that Noel is a great athlete, but he's 215 pounds and is coming off an ACL injury. Who exactly is he going to guard? And defense is his strong suit; he's got a very unrefined offensive game so far.

Len is by no means a perfect prospect, but I do notice that he had his best games against the likes of Kentucky (and Noel), Duke (Plumlee), etc. I look at guys like Marc Gasol, Hibbert, Smits, Ilgauskas, etc., and I can see Len's upside pretty easily. I don't think he'll ever be an offensively dominant player and I'm fine with that. But he could be defensively dominant and highly credible offensively. Keep in mind this kid couldn't speak English two years ago and is now fluent (a friend and avid Terp fan tells me he speaks better than a few of the non-foreign players). That tells me he works hard.

I worry when I see Noel's body. It could mature to the likes of Garnett, but his offensive game isn't in the same universe as KG's. His upside is Tyson Chandler, I suppose, but I worry he could just as easily be an Amir Johnson, Ekpe Udoh.

I get what you're saying fishercob, and I do tend to agree. I wasn't extremely impressed with Noel pre-injury, but he seemed to vault to the consensus top pick, in part due to him playing for Kentucky, and Anthony Davis still fresh in people's minds. He is very thin, and especially after his injury you have to wonder about his durability at the much more physically challenging next level, and he's not at all fluid on the offensive end.

Len could turn out to be the best center to come out of this draft. He could turn out to be the best player period in this draft. One of the best measures is how they fared head to head, and Len clearly outplayed him when given that opportunity. And that's with Noel having a far superior supporting cast. Len also vastly outplayed Plumlee, another highly rated big man. You have to consider that, and it's not a fluke IMO.

I mean Noel is clearly a superior center on the college level, but there are concerns about how he translates to the next level. I still expect Noel to go #1. Tony Massenburg on 980 today strongly feels Len could be a steal of the draft and would be a good pick for the Wizards.

I agree. I posted something very similar a few pages back.

Len has a legit NBA body. 7'1"; 255 and only 19 and he is pretty athletic for his size. He is going to be 270 in no time. And he actually has some offensive to this game. I could see him easily going top 5 once the dust settles. Maybe even top 3

In 2-3 years, I think Len is locked into the top 10 centers of the league list and he will stay there for years.

I doubt you find Zeller on that list. I agree with those that say Kelly Olynyk will be more of a stretch PF.

Anyone picking Muhammad over Len will regret it.

[hands11]

A while back, someone (maybe doc) mentioned Nik Vucevic -- another big Euro who played in a major conference, and never got a ton of hype. Vucevic seems to be turning into a really good playe, and from what I can tell did not put up numbers as good as Len's as a sophomore. Plus, Len's bigger, and perhaps somewhat relatedly blocks a ton more shots.

Then again, both guys seemed to have far worse sophomore years than Cole Adrich. So I don't know.

I'd like to know what YODA has to say on Noel, Len, Aldrich, and Vucevic.

That would be me that was posting endlessly about Vucevic

CJM moving the the board. Went from 14th to 9th in the mock draft machine.

Wait until he gets to workout for people and they see him healthy.

I would draft CJM before I would draft Shabazz

[mhd]

Mock draft after the coin toss result:

1) Magic-Noel
2) Bobcats-Mclemore
3) Cavs-Porter
4) Suns-Len (Suns decide to "tank" another year. They have no centers on the roster and will allow Len to develop slowly. Shabaaz is too much a character concern. Bennett doesn't fill a position. Oladipo is merely a role player.
5) NO-Burke
6) Sac-Shabaaz (Have the worst SF rotation in the NBA, Tyreke is a FA)
7) Det-Oladipo-Fills a HUGE need.
8) Wiz-Bennett (BPA)

[Benjammin]

^^ ^^^^

I would be very happy with that if the Wiz stay at 8. I have a hard time believing Bennett drops to 8, but given different team needs it's certainly possible. I'd rather give Bennett a try on the first year of his rookie deal than trade for Derrick Williams on the third year of his deal. As painful to think about, it's all possible for the Wiz to drop below 8 if one of the bottom feeder lottery teams gets into the top 3.

[mhd]

Well, honestly, I think the top 3 picks are set in stone assuming the order stands put. Noel is going #1 to Magic, Mclemore is #2 to Bobcats, and Porter (who is a PERFECT fit) goes to the Cavs. Say the Suns go with either Shabaaz or Oladipo, then:

4) Suns-Shabaaz/Oladipo
5) NO-Burke
6) Sac-Oladipo/Shaabaz
7) Det-Bennett (BPA and they could move Monroe possibly)
8) Wiz-Len

[No-Man]

why would NOLA pick Burke over Zeller/Len? they have a bigger hole at Center, while they have Vasquez with a great season and Gordon/Rivers at Guards, even if they trade Gordon, they still have Vasquez and Rivers.

I think Pelicans board would look like...

Noel
Porter
McLemore (trade pick or trade Gordon)
Muhammad (play him at 3)
Zeller or Len
Burke
Oladipo
trade the pick

I have them picking Zeller right now, he can fit really well with their current frontcourt.

[Benjammin]

My biggest concern at 8 would be having to select either Muhammad or Zeller. I don't think Oladipo is a great fit either, but I respect his game. Len at 8 isn't spectacular, but I can live with it. Bennett would be best case at 8.

[TGW]

Are we picking 7th or 8th? Sheesh it's getting annoying.

Anyway, I like Muscala. A great call by CCJ—I only saw him briefly in the tourny, where he stunk, but his career has been pretty darn impressive. He has good size as well. I'd rather take him in the 2nd over using a high pick on Zeller. Muscala has a more deveoped game than Zeller has for sure.

[Benjammin]

^^^
We lost the coin flip, big shock, so we pick at 8 unless we get into the top 3 or someone behind us gets into the top 3 and drops the Wizards down.

[No-Man]

LOL everybody is looking to trade the pick, Minnesota, Washington, Philadelphia, Dallas and Portland are trying to get stablished talent for their picks according to the reports...

It's going to be crazy, a lot of trades probably.

[rockymac52]

why would NOLA pick Burke over Zeller/Len? they have a bigger hole at Center, while they have Vasquez with a great season and Gordon/Rivers at Guards, even if they trade Gordon, they still have Vasquez and Rivers.

I think Pelicans board would look like...

Noel
Porter
McLemore (trade pick or trade Gordon)
Muhammad (play him at 3)
Zeller or Len
Burke
Oladipo
trade the pick

I have them picking Zeller right now, he can fit really well with their current frontcourt.

Umm... I couldn't disagree more.

The Pelicans have a GREAT rotation of 3 big men in Davis, Lopez, and Anderson. I highly doubt they would draft a PF or C unless it was a situation where they were stuck with no choice because all of the top PG/SG/SFs were already taken, and there was a huge drop off OR if they got a top 2 pick and they REALLY loved Noel.

Meanwhile they have big issues going forward at PG, SG, and SF. They just gave Gordon the max contract, so even if his production didn't warrant it, and there's possibly some concerns and animosity between them, they probably aren't going to be drafting a SG with their top pick, unless they have a trade lined up to move Gordon.

And yes, Greivis Vasquez had a phenomenal season, and the Pelicans are very happy with him. Brian Roberts was also one of the most underrated rookies this year, and he's a great backup PG for them. So theoretically PG isn't an issue for them either, although it's clear that they might be interested in finding a "PG of the future" with some real star potential.

Then there's SF, which they have a huge hole at. Even if they re-sign Aminu, he's been iffy, and is probably much better suited for a role player's minutes off the bench. I think they'd definitely draft Porter, Oladipo, and Muhammad ahead of guys like Len and Zeller.

Again, I really have no idea where you are coming from with this. You have the Pelicans needs pretty much backwards.

[No-Man]

Oladipo is 6'4 no way he plays SF in NBA

Porter would be gone at 4, and Muhammad in my mock too.

So... who do you pick between Len, Zeller, Burke and Bennett?

I think they go safe and grab Zeller.

[truwizfan4evr]

Even though wizards lost the coin toss we still have a chance to move on in draft.