Official 2013 Draft Thread - Part VI

[SUPERBALLMAN]

The DWill trade possibility was quickly brushed aside here, but given the fact that Ernie Grunfeld is the GM, I wouldn't be so dismissive.

What if the deal was the #3, #54, Vesely and Singleton for Williams, #9, #26 ?

We could come out of the draft with Derrick Williams, CJ McCollum, Reggie Bullock, Colton Iverson.

[WizarDynasty]

I would do the #9 and D.Williams to grab Adams, otherwise i would just grab adams at 3. Win Win.

If Shabazz or Adams are guaranteed to be there, then I would do the trade. I would be very afraid that Wit has influence and convinces people that Alex Len is Wizard Material. IF Alex Len, Cody Zeller, Olynk, CJ, or any of those bums who are really late 1st early second round picks are targets over Adams followed by Shabazz and Newman doesn't have enough support to pull for adams at 3, or at 9, then Bennett is the choice for sure. It's all about Politics. Newman knows who we should get but he has only been here for 2 years. In time he will have clout but its still a gamble going against grunfeld and his non talented scouts including Wit. To endorse Alex Len---soft and toilet paper LEN who has bad knees and ankles. At least if you go for Bennett, you got John Wall backing you. If you go for Adams, then you have Wit arguing that Len is better than Adams. All politics.

[rockymac52]

I would do the #9 and D.Williams to grab Adams, otherwise i would just grab adams at 3. Win Win.

Listen, I get that you LOVE Adams. We can agree to disagree for the most part. But would you seriously take Adams at 3??? Thank God you're not our GM in real life. That's some of the worst asset management I've ever seen.

[Zonkerbl]

Strange Zeller and Green declined to workout for the Wizards???

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2013/6/6/ ... s-from-csn

Man, that stinks. I wanted the Wizards to get an up-close look at Zeller's urban legend of an outside jumper.

Just like Zellers "legendary" athleticism that never really was apparent in actual games.

Ugh, dude, don't burst my bubble like that. I hope the combine numbers aren't spurious.

[montestewart]

I would do the #9 and D.Williams to grab Adams, otherwise i would just grab adams at 3. Win Win.

Listen, I get that you LOVE Adams. We can agree to disagree for the most part. But would you seriously take Adams at 3??? Thank God you're not our GM in real life. That's some of the worst asset management I've ever seen.

Si, and I kind of like Adams. Depending on who else is there, taking Adams at 9 seems defensible.

[tontoz]

Zeller is a strange case. Like someone posted awhile back, even his youtube highlights are boring.

Strange that he won't work out here.

[doclinkin]

On Faried, he locked himself in the gym the summer he was drafted. Doc posted a bunch of pictures showing how big his arms were getting - telling us he was the next Ben Wallace. He didn't get that big, but turns out old Doc wasn't completely crazy... that time... anyway. And whatever he weighs, I don't think Faried lacks strength.

Actually it was his freshman to senior transformation. My doubt early was that his prodigious rebounding as a small-conference skinny hyperathlete would translate in a larger forum. But his few games against big time teams showed no drop-off, and his physical transformation showed he'd likely be able to hold his own, unlike many tall skinny stringbean small conference tall rebounders. The Ben Wallace comparison was that he seemed to me the PF version of C Ben Wallace. Able to play bigger than apparent size on both offense and defense due to rare high octane motor and athleticism.

'Unflagging motor at both ends' is not Bennett's scouting report.

Agree to disagree again.

You think I was wrong because he was 225.

I think I was right because I ignored the weight, ignored the height, gave larger consideration to his standing reach & how he looked on the court. And outside of Mr. CCJ, I'd be hard pressed to remember anyone that considered him worthy of a lottery pick at that time.

Yeah spending a lotto pick on him seemed dumb to me because I knew we could get him later. I also knew there was no chance we could. As usual when it comes to Wiz draft picks I was right, my guy is there late, they never take him.

(Ok, except Dom McGuire. Exhibit D in why I never trust Mountain West numbers any more).

[AFM]

Strange Zeller and Green declined to workout for the Wizards???

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2013/6/6/ ... s-from-csn

Man, that stinks. I wanted the Wizards to get an up-close look at Zeller's urban legend of an outside jumper.

Just like Zellers "legendary" athleticism that never really was apparent in actual games.

[WizarDynasty]

I would do the #9 and D.Williams to grab Adams, otherwise i would just grab adams at 3. Win Win.

Listen, I get that you LOVE Adams. We can agree to disagree for the most part. But would you seriously take Adams at 3??? Thank God you're not our GM in real life. That's some of the worst asset management I've ever seen.

Time is already showing that the Wizard's made a huge mistake not drafting Drummond and choosing to go with a average to slightly above average role player in Beal. All all of the mocks had a bum like thomas robinson, and michael kidd Gilchrist over a franchise bigman like Drummond. Adams is a franchise bigman. Bennett is close to franchise caliber.
Shabazz has potential. that's it. Everyone else in this draft is a late 1st round early 2nd round talent masquerading as difference makers. That's what the story will be 3 years down the line when you look at the draft history and realize how horrible a pick Beal was. But you will rationalize it and say we picked for need instead of BPA.

[AFM]

WizD I usually agree with you on everything but Beal was a great pick. He's much more than a role player and I have no doubt that he will be an all star for many years.
But I'm with you on Bennett.

[stevemcqueen1]

The only real justified hate in Len is his ankles. That's just really scary in the top 10.

His weak motor also has to be a major concern. At times he looked like he was just going through the motions on both ends.

Could have been playing hurt. Maybe the foot was bad by then.

[doclinkin]

More and more I'm really beginning to like Alex Len. To be clear, I'd be a bit uneasy about us picking him at 3, and I'm not advocating that. I think we should take Porter, and I think we will take Porter, no questions asked. But if we somehow acquired another pick in the top ten, I'd be looking at Len, and I'd like to find a way to make that happen

....

I know a lot of people hate on Len around here, but I don't think it's justified.

The only real justified hate in Len is his ankles. That's just really scary in the top 10.

The San Antonio Spurs do really well by picking complete players, guys who work hard at both ends. If you ask yourself which player they would take at #3 there is no question they would take Porter and have no regrets. There is no other player in the lotto who is as well-rounded at their probable position at the next level. The best team player in a team game. Pop will sit anyone else who fails to grasp the concept or play smart, not just give max effort. Or he'll send 'em on a bus to play against North Dakota in February until they figure out they'd prefer to listen to his suggestions. As Ian Mahinmi who was sent down to the D League dozens of times...

That said, I agree that Len looks like the one talent who has the tools to be a positive mismatch at both ends if he lives up to his promise. And possibly our last best chance to draft a dominant two way big, unless Wizards luck shows it's usual ugly face.

As for his ankles, the Terps' strength and conditioning team has been getting some press for being so gung ho on their methods, adding 35 pounds on Len but also transforming many of their players. Which raises my eyebrows when I read that Len's roommate and frontcourt mate also has the same unusual stress injury as Len.

[Zonkerbl]

I would do the #9 and D.Williams to grab Adams, otherwise i would just grab adams at 3. Win Win.

Listen, I get that you LOVE Adams. We can agree to disagree for the most part. But would you seriously take Adams at 3??? Thank God you're not our GM in real life. That's some of the worst asset management I've ever seen.

Time is already showing that the Wizard's made a huge mistake not drafting Drummond and choosing to go with a average to slightly above average role player in Beal. All all of the mocks had a bum like thomas robinson, and michael kidd Gilchrist over a franchise bigman like Drummond. Adams is a franchise bigman. Bennett is close to franchise caliber.
Shabazz has potential. that's it. Everyone else in this draft is a late 1st round early 2nd round talent masquerading as difference makers. That's what the story will be 3 years down the line when you look at the draft history and realize how horrible a pick Beal was. But you will rationalize it and say we picked for need instead of BPA.

[rockymac52]

I would do the #9 and D.Williams to grab Adams, otherwise i would just grab adams at 3. Win Win.

Listen, I get that you LOVE Adams. We can agree to disagree for the most part. But would you seriously take Adams at 3??? Thank God you're not our GM in real life. That's some of the worst asset management I've ever seen.

Time is already showing that the Wizard's made a huge mistake not drafting Drummond and choosing to go with a average to slightly above average role player in Beal. All all of the mocks had a bum like thomas robinson, and michael kidd Gilchrist over a franchise bigman like Drummond. Adams is a franchise bigman. Bennett is close to franchise caliber.
Shabazz has potential. that's it. Everyone else in this draft is a late 1st round early 2nd round talent masquerading as difference makers. That's what the story will be 3 years down the line when you look at the draft history and realize how horrible a pick Beal was. But you will rationalize it and say we picked for need instead of BPA.

I'm trying not to be too rude here, but man, you actually have NO idea what you're talking about. Beal a horrible pick?! What?! Even if there end up being better players that were taken later, that doesn't make Beal a bad pick. Beal is on the fast track to being one of the best, and perhaps one day THE best, shooting guard in the NBA.

Even though Drummond was slept on and overlooked by many, and he has already proven to be much better than we thought, he's still not necessarily this franchise big man you're making him out to be. He had a very productive rookie season, and he still has a ton of room to grow, so it's conceivable that he becomes a star, but still no sure thing.

Does Adams have a ton of potential? Yes. Does Bennett? Yes. Does Shabazz? Yes. But just because they have this perceived star potential doesn't mean that they will reach that level, otherwise they'd be top 5 picks. And likewise, it doesn't mean that plenty of other players in this draft don't have star potential as well. Clearly you juts really like high risk/high rewards players. That's what i've learned from this. You shoot for the stars hoping to land a stud, but you place no value on a merely "good" player. That's dumb.

Plus, again, let's say you're right about Adams. Let's say he is destined to be a star in this league one day. In that case, he may very well be the 3rd best player in this draft, but taking him at 3 would be idiotic. We could trade down and get Adams past the 9th pick easily. No need to take him at 3.

Then, on top of everything else, I just wanted to add that you're greatly exaggerating Adams' talent and potential. I think he has some potential and might be a good pick in the late lottery, but you have taken this too far. He is not a sure-fire star, and I don't know why you are so hellbent on labeling him as one.

[sfam]

I would do the #9 and D.Williams to grab Adams, otherwise i would just grab adams at 3. Win Win.

Listen, I get that you LOVE Adams. We can agree to disagree for the most part. But would you seriously take Adams at 3??? Thank God you're not our GM in real life. That's some of the worst asset management I've ever seen.

Time is already showing that the Wizard's made a huge mistake not drafting Drummond and choosing to go with a average to slightly above average role player in Beal. All all of the mocks had a bum like thomas robinson, and michael kidd Gilchrist over a franchise bigman like Drummond. Adams is a franchise bigman. Bennett is close to franchise caliber.
Shabazz has potential. that's it. Everyone else in this draft is a late 1st round early 2nd round talent masquerading as difference makers. That's what the story will be 3 years down the line when you look at the draft history and realize how horrible a pick Beal was. But you will rationalize it and say we picked for need instead of BPA.

Average role player in Beal? Dude, step away from the keyboard. Drummond didn't make all star last year. Heck, he even make the all rookie team when Mr. Average role player did. We picked both the BPA who fit our greatest need. Beal was the right pick. This will still be the case 3 years from now.

[rockymac52]

More and more I'm really beginning to like Alex Len. To be clear, I'd be a bit uneasy about us picking him at 3, and I'm not advocating that. I think we should take Porter, and I think we will take Porter, no questions asked. But if we somehow acquired another pick in the top ten, I'd be looking at Len, and I'd like to find a way to make that happen

....

I know a lot of people hate on Len around here, but I don't think it's justified.

The only real justified hate in Len is his ankles. That's just really scary in the top 10.

That said, I agree that Len looks like the one talent who has the tools to be a positive mismatch at both ends if he lives up to his promise. And possibly our last best chance to draft a dominant two way big, unless Wizards luck shows it's usual ugly face.

This is a really good point. I still think Porter is definitely the right pick, but it's worth considering. Let's say we make the jump to the playoffs this year. Next year we probably have a pick at about 15th overall.

Can you get a dominant big man in the 15-25 range? It's definitely possible, although clearly difficult. Any big man taken in that range either has limited upside or some serious questions concerning his skills. On the other hand, I'm inclined to say it's a lot easier to acquire a very good SG/SF in the 15-25 range, so if we went with Len or a big this year instead of Porter, we could theoretically fill that need more easily in the future.

Again, I still think we take Porter and don't think twice. And we can find a very good big man somehow in the future. But it's just interesting.

[sfam]

The San Antonio Spurs do really well by picking complete players, guys who work hard at both ends. If you ask yourself which player they would take at #3 there is no question they would take Porter and have no regrets. There is no other player in the lotto who is as well-rounded at their probable position at the next level. The best team player in a team game. Pop will sit anyone else who fails to grasp the concept or play smart, not just give max effort. Or he'll send 'em on a bus to play against North Dakota in February until they figure out they'd prefer to listen to his suggestions. As Ian Mahinmi who was sent down to the D League dozens of times...

That said, I agree that Len looks like the one talent who has the tools to be a positive mismatch at both ends if he lives up to his promise. And possibly our last best chance to draft a dominant two way big, unless Wizards luck shows it's usual ugly face.

As for his ankles, the Terps' strength and conditioning team has been getting some press for being so gung ho on their methods, adding 35 pounds on Len but also transforming many of their players. Which raises my eyebrows when I read that Len's roommate and frontcourt mate also has the same unusual stress injury as Len.

Great point on SA. I agree with you that they probably draft Porter. Then again it makes sense for them to play the long game. They are proven at picking wonderfully mid to last in the 1st round. We have no such history, and clearly have an inferior scouting and player dev staff when compared to SA. That's why I think we're better off going to a try at a home run in Bennett instead of the surefire 2 base hit with Porter. A 2 base hit gets you in scoring position, but I have little confidence we follow it up with a single.

[WizarDynasty]

a dominant two way player ...a slow finesse player that hates body contact? Rookies lol.

[stevemcqueen1]

At last.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbn5U7aI2Ng[/youtube]

A lot of good and then some troubling bad.

Bottom line bad: Len has a ton of room to improve.

Bottom line good: Len has a ton of room to improve.

To be as raw as he is and as impactful as he can be, it's clear his upside is legitimately immense. Easily up there with Noel's. He is the swing for the fences pick at 3. If he works, then you're getting a rich man's Hibbert or Marc Gasol. If he doesn't, you're getting an end of the line Yao I suppose.

He's got a funny build. Shoulders aren't that broad and he's oddly pear shaped and he's got a very long torso. He talks about wanting to get into the 260's but he could probably get even heavier and still look thin if he gains all the weight in his base.

So he's extremely raw on offense and has a ton of room to grow as an offensive player. He has some post moves he can go to but there is a ton of areas to develop. He's got to improve his feel for the game but he passes the ball well so there is a floor with him that's not too bad. Clearly he is still figuring it out as a scorer and doesn't have the natural scoring instincts of a Zeller. He can shoot fairly well, that's a plus. He is a pretty ferocious finisher at times.

He's got quick hands. that's a plus. He really flashes some disruptive lane protecting ability and that's where I think that Gasol/Hibbert like impact can show up.

The thing that's special is the coordination, size, and the feet.

And so many of his weaknesses are things that can be developed in time.

If he can,
1.) stay healthy
2.) get stronger
3.) hone his defensive rebounding (where he has the potential to be dominant)
4.) develop his post arsenal
5.) and hone his scoring instincts

then he'll be a really damn good player.

I feel like teams are going to be selling off lotto picks for peanuts this year. I would love for us to figure out a way to get two of Porter, Bennett, Zeller, and/or Len. I think that could set us up for the long term and leave it so we don't ever have to go to FA to establish a contender.

[rockymac52]

The San Antonio Spurs do really well by picking complete players, guys who work hard at both ends. If you ask yourself which player they would take at #3 there is no question they would take Porter and have no regrets. There is no other player in the lotto who is as well-rounded at their probable position at the next level. The best team player in a team game. Pop will sit anyone else who fails to grasp the concept or play smart, not just give max effort. Or he'll send 'em on a bus to play against North Dakota in February until they figure out they'd prefer to listen to his suggestions. As Ian Mahinmi who was sent down to the D League dozens of times...

That said, I agree that Len looks like the one talent who has the tools to be a positive mismatch at both ends if he lives up to his promise. And possibly our last best chance to draft a dominant two way big, unless Wizards luck shows it's usual ugly face.

As for his ankles, the Terps' strength and conditioning team has been getting some press for being so gung ho on their methods, adding 35 pounds on Len but also transforming many of their players. Which raises my eyebrows when I read that Len's roommate and frontcourt mate also has the same unusual stress injury as Len.

Great point on SA. I agree with you that they probably draft Porter. Then again it makes sense for them to play the long game. They are proven at picking wonderfully mid to last in the 1st round. We have no such history, and clearly have an inferior scouting and player dev staff when compared to SA. That's why I think we're better off going to a try at a home run in Bennett instead of the surefire 2 base hit with Porter. A 2 base hit gets you in scoring position, but I have little confidence we follow it up with a single.

I don't think it's fair to judge our front office's ability to get quality late 1st round picks right, because we haven't really been given the opportunity. Even when we acquire another pick in the late 1st or early 2nd, we're not drafting with the same luxury that the Spurs have in already having an established core and bench. Rather, we have so many holes to fill and don't have the flexibility to be patient.

We can't afford to strike out on this pick. We just can't. If we get another Vesely, we're in serious trouble and at risk of never becoming a title contender with this bunch. Our current team as-is is probably good enough to be a playoff contender this season, even if its' just as an 8 seed. It should only get better from then on, even if we never make it all the way to title contender. That means this is most likely our last top 10 pick for the foreseeable future. I understand why that may make some people think it's also our last chance to hit a home run and get a superstar, but I don't think we necessarily need another superstar (you can never have enough though lol). We need a very solid addition. It's okay if the guy we draft never becomes an all-star, as long as he's a very good 2 way starter/6th man type. I'll gladly take the 2 base hit as you alluded to than risk striking out.