2011 DRAFT blather goes here. Part 3...

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I can certainly understand pushing for Faried and Brooks. Aside from the numbers, Faried has a unique presence on the court - full of energy to go along with athleticism. He makes things happen defensively and on the boards. If there's a loose ball, I'd bet on him to grab it. And dude looks like he lives in the gym. He definitely doesn't fit any mold for a 3 or a 4, but he will help you win games. People will say - he's Booker. If he is, he's a super-charged version of Booker.

Brooks kinda looks like a stretched out plastic-man version of Crawford. Their faces and expressions even look alike. It's obvious they both love to shoot. His length is rediculous. It'll make up for a lot of things.

I like Brooks and Faried in this draft. However I think think given the Wizards current draft positions, won't be in a good position to draft either player. I think 6 is too early for Faried, but he will be gone at 18(I think there is truth to the Knicks interest if no one else grabs him). I think Brooks would be a little bit of a reach at 18, but probably gone by the 2nd round. Harper is another guy who I like who is a reach at 18, but likely a late 1st rounder.

If the Wizards maneuvered around and got Faried, Harper and Brooks with a future pick out of this draft that would be a good haul.

Exactly!

I will even go farther and say if the Wizards came away with those three and also traded away Blatche and/or Lewis' for somebody like Nene as part of their incentive in trading down I would be happy. Use the trade downs to get picks or a worthy veteran player. I think Varajeo, Brand on his last year, Iguodala, Patrick Patterson (credit doc), Ryan Anderson--there are a bunch of players that can help the Wizards.

[Ruzious]

Faried, Harper, and Brooks. Definitely not conventional - but interesting. All 3 of them present interesting matchup possibilities - Faried with his relentless defense and rebounding, Harper with his unusual skillset for a big forward, and Brooks with his relentless offense and ridiculous length. Didn't Faried and Harper square off against each other in the tournament? Not an ounce of fat between them.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

For such a weak draft there sure are a lot of advocates on this board, including me, that have their favorite player. When I look at the Wizards I see the following as our most urgent need.

1. Bad interior defense. Terrible weakside help. Subpar defensive rebounding. High usage. low efficiency PF.

Kantor - improvement in defensive rebounding and more efficient scoring - Probably not a significant improvement in overall interior defense or weakside help. Probably a 20 and 9 PF/C.

BB - Significant improvement in interior defense, weakside help and defensive rebounding.
Low usage player able to start the fast break with blocks and score on putbacks and offensive rebounds. With McGee and BB, we will easily lead the league in blocked shots culminating in more fast break baskets. I saw clips of BB using a smooth stroke in drills and knocking down 15-18 footers. It is not a given that he won't develop a nice mid-range game. He's also a better one-on-one defender than either Blatch or Kantor. I agree he is turnover prone and will need to improve his handles significantly. Probably a 15 and 11 PF that averages 2-3 blocks a game.

Advantage: BB with the 6 pick


With BB, Rashard and Booker manning the PF position we could then safely trade Blatch and move up to pick Leonard, Singleton, Faried, etc.

I doubt Ernie will even consider any of the white Euro big men as he has already been burned twice with the Wizards by drafting Pesh and the other Euro he took in the second round a few years back.

For the record, I think this could be a much, much stronger draft than the consensus seem to think. From what he's saying, I infer Calipari believes Kanter is better than DeMarcus Cousins. There are a bunch of good PFs in this draft.

This draft is extremely strong at PG IMO. Irving could be better than Wall when all is said and done. Any time NOBODY is even talking about Nolan Smith (a guy who averaged over 20 and played big in some Final Fours) this PG slot isn't week. Shumpert and Reggie Jackson are potentially good NBA starters. Nobody is talking about Jackson but that guy can play. Norris Cole is smallish but very highly skilled. Demetri McCamey reminds me of Mark Jackson. I could see him being a decent third guard for the Wiz. I didn't see much of Malcolm Lee but he's athletic at PG. At the top tier you hear a lot about Brandon Knight and Kemba Walker--they're at least solid players at the next level. IMHO, Wall was the rave last season in a very weak PG draft. This year is loaded with good PGs. Wall is a better prospect than these guys because of his athleticism, but I like a lot of these guys as floor managers and shooters. Add Charles Jenkins to this list.

I believe the SFs in this draft are solid as well. I know he can't shoot well, but Kyle Singler doesn't strike me as a guy who won't find a roster spot at the next level. Nobody considers him but I think he rebounds too well not to stick. Kawhi Leonard is going to be a good pro. DeAndre Liggins defends like a good pro, already. So does David Lighty. He's been on so many great teams for so many years, I believe he's ready for the NBA. Honestly, I like a lot of SFs more than Vesely. Jordan Hamilton's rebounding seems solid. Marcus Morris seems likely to be a very good NBA SF. Very efficient offensively, he is ready. Klay Thompson will be a solid shooter at the next level. Depending on where he goes, Chandler Parsons of Florida can be a good all-purpose SF.

Honestly, I think this draft is on a par with any other draft. Many players from this draft will be solid. Derrick Williams, Kenneth Faried, Marshon Brooks, Tristan Thompson, and the Morris twins can ball with the best of them. Kanter will be great if he stays healthy. Irving is going to be an absolute stud of a pro. This year there are many great role players in the 2011 draft.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Givony on today's Hoopsworld chat:

Wiz guy in :
If the Wizards end up with Kanter, does he fit better with McGee or Blatche?

Jonathan Givony:
Probably with Blatche, because I don't see either Kanter or McGee being able to guard power forwards in the NBA. I don't necessarily think Blatche guards anyone anyway, but he can probably move his feet better on the perimeter (theoretically) more than Kanter or McGee.

max in ohio:
I've recently read that the Cavs have Valanciunas (or like we in cleveland call him Big V) higher on their board than Kanter. Have you gotten the same vibe?

Jonathan Givony:
Yes. Directly from Kanter's camp in fact to me Valanciunas would be a terrific fit in cleveland next to Irving. he could play in a similar role like Tyson Chandler did in New Orleans. your thoughts?

Tony in akron:
to me Valanciunas would be a terrific fit in cleveland next to Irving. he could play in a similar role like Tyson Chandler did in New Orleans. your thoughts?

Jonathan Givony:
I agree 100%. Irving is the best pick and roll facilitator in this draft, and Valanciunas is the best pick and roll finisher. They could be a phenomenal duo

Intrigue, are the Cavs really this-high on JV?
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Chat.asp?CHAT ... z1NNxojY7x

Score one for Hoopalotta!

I think Jon G is right about them defensively having trouble covering PFs, but I think Jon is totally ignoring those same players would have even more trouble covering them.

Jon totally discounts McGee's speed and athleticism. He doesn't consider how much a big body with great rebounding and great shooting ability would free up McGee for dunks. Jon also doesn't consider what happens when Kanter forces teams to defend him on the block and he doesn't fadeaway like Blatche.

For the record, I think Jon G is just wrong. McGee is a better prospect than Blatche. If Kanter came to the Wizards Andray, if not for ego and desire to start based on his years wit the team, would be THE IDEAL SIXTH MAN. Kanter would be better with McGee by a lot than with Blatche IMO.

[pancakes3]

i trust calipari about as far as i can throw him in terms of draft appraisals. his coaching strength is that he can recruit the hell out of players, and if he pumps enough guys into the #1-3 spots he's just guaranteed that much more to lock up more blue chip recruits. He didn't have to hype up wall or cousins last year so he didn't. This year? He has a shot to have a guy WHO DIDN'T PLAY A SINGLE MINUTE be the #1 draft pick? think how big a feather that'd be in his hat? ostrich-peacock hybrid, pimp-hat big.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Rico, there are 96 big man minutes available per night; I'd have no problem drafting Kanter if he turns out to be more of a C/PF than a PF/C.

If we draft Enes, there will be nights where he and McGee coexist just fine and nights when we'd want to have one of the court with Blatche or Booker.

If by some chance both McGee and Kanter develop and we end up with two productive promising pure centers, we'll be in great position to improve the team and deal from a position of strength. Everyone always needs a center.

Last season, Cousins and Monroe were the only rookie bigs that played over 2000 minutes for the season(there were no bigs in 2009). If Kanter is that good as a rookie Center, he probably is doing things well enough to play some out of position. Heck I think you could get away with 5 minutes a game of McGee at PF. The opposing PF may get open jumpers, but he is likely to have issues stopping McGee on defense.

I think McGee and Kanter playing well would mean that Blatche or Seraphin would need to be dealt.

Personally, I think McGee would eventually be better at PF than C. He can hit a face up jumper when he settles down and gets his feet square. I can see McGee getting dunked on and quick-stepped by PFs, but at the same time if the Wizards had a real big guy at C that wouldn't happen.

The reason I KNOW MCGEE CAN PLAY PF is that Flip once had (IMO the obvious best frontcourt) McGee and Seraphin in together. The sky didn't fall. They played well together. Don't care which was the PF, they played well together.

I could see McGee playing either PF of C equal time.

If you think about it, how different are Seraphin with McGee than Ibaka with Perkins? Dirk is killing them, but that's because IMO Brooks should run double teams at Dirk and should probably just stick with Thefolosho independently just doing his best on Dirk.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Sorry about that; I made a typo. I meant Jenkins won't be a PG in the NBA. Of course, I could be wrong.

Wow. What a difference one word can make. In that case, I disagree, 100%, Ruz.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Faried, Harper, and Brooks. Definitely not conventional - but interesting. All 3 of them present interesting matchup possibilities - Faried with his relentless defense and rebounding, Harper with his unusual skillset for a big forward, and Brooks with his relentless offense and ridiculous length. Didn't Faried and Harper square off against each other in the tournament? Not an ounce of fat between them.

When you add young men like them to a team that team loses any reputation of immaturity or laziness. Those dudes bring it and are all business on the court.

[Illuminaire]

I think McGee and Kanter work well together in a yin~yang way. Kanter will draw double teams, and that will free McGee up for a TON of put-back dunks or easy baskets off the cut.

Defensively, I think Kanter is smart enough to be Marc Gasol average-good. If McGee keeps developing on that end, we'd be solid.

CCJ- Do you have any questions about Harper's rebounding and toughness? I can't help but look at him and shudder at the thought how how bad our defensive rebound % would be.

[WizarDynasty]

I think the board should be quite over joyed at the very real possibility of having the next dennis rodman in your starting lineup for the next ten years a dennis rodman with higher offensive upside.

Our worst case scenario is having a much more offensively talented dennis rodman for the next ten years in your starting lineup to balance your low motor two way bigs at the 4 and 5.
you already have a once in a decade point guard, and excellent depth and shooting guard.

Finish it off with a great owner who is building our bench with young, crawford, booker, seraphin, and some dleague allstars. After Leonard--we need high defensive iq big with beef---seraphin would do if he had a high capacity for quickly diagnosing nba style offenses on he fly and making in game adjustments quickly but he is completely lost and it will take years from him to get to that point, booker seems to have the capacity but he only does well against undersized p/f. You match booker up against any center of p/f with size and he is completely exposed defensively and he gives you absolutely zero offense. (a guy like carl laundry is the optimum solution) undersized but swings the game in our favor when going up against the average bench p/f offensively and defensively. Booker, Seraphin, Yi, Armstrong--Songalia--we haven't had a high iq decent bench big for almost forever.


We are certain to get dennis rodman with offense, for the first time in years. We are in position to get a back up s/f p/f or center with a high defensive basketball iq with our 18 pick. We almost never have two picks in the first round during the pollin era.

Dennis Rodman at the small forward position is one the hidden reason the Pistons became a dynasty. Giving your team a rebounding edge from the small forward spot without hurting your team offensively is a tremendous hidden asset that pays off in a hidden way. If we had two dominant defensive rebounding bigs with high motors, then a dennis rodman type player isn't needed but we have two seven footers that are both offensively and defensively talented but lack big motors. Leonard is basically this team dennis rodman. Other teams he won't have that same value but with this team and based on the our two seven footer bigmen assets that have taken close to a decade to collect Leonard boost their productivity tremendously.

BB i would consider with a late 1st round pick but he has absolutely zero coordination offensively. He is basically ndiaye offensively. Defensively he is more agile than ndiaye but he fouls alot defensively. I don't see him being able to give quality minutes for a long time.
I am would not a draft an undersized big with a first round pick unless they remind me of carl laundry. 6'7 guy but just watch his game. here is no point getting an undersized defensive big with no offensive ability with a first round pick. I highly doubt i would grab faried unless he showed me a game similar to carl laundry...highly unlikely.

I would definitely have Jeremy Tyler in heavy consideration for my 18th pick. I would bring him in and have a reputable defensive specialist drill tyler and assess how quickly he can create defensive concept solution to nba offenses to assess his defensive iq capability.
if shows an average or better ability to diagnose offensive strategies and quick reaction speed conceptually, he is my definite pick at 18. He is already better than any back up p/f or center we have on our roster. He is better than booker guarding and rebounding in the post, he is better than yi guarding on the blocks and rebounding, if he shows a higher aptitude to quickly understanding complex defensive schemes he is already better than Seraphin.
We do not have a combination of size and defensive basketball iq coming off our bench and if we don't have a realistic chance at getting D. Jordan to come off our bench---he probably wants a starting role, we are better off grooming our own beefy high defensive bbiq big coming off the bench.

so my draft board is Leonard--rodman---and if Tyler has any defensive aptitude at quickly reacting to defensively to complex offensive strategies then he is my pick. Very hard to get a bigman with no major injury histories, who has defensive bbiq, and would be complacent as bench player.

Leonard and Tyler are my picks if we can't get Kanter. I would look for a 3 and defense with our low second round pick. There will definitely be quality here because this draft has a ton of 3 and d high bench quality s/f...--but no dennis rodmans.

Unless we can find a beefy agile 7 footer with a high defensive bbiq in free agency who is content coming off the bench Tyler and his attitude problems should be our pick because he is a significant upgrade defending and rebounding in the post over anyone on our current bench.

[closg00]

I hope we work-out all of the bigs worth taking a look at. Someone like Tyler would be perfect to send to the NBDL for the year combined with work with a big-man coach. Gotta work him out first though.

[theboomking]

Measurements are in. Draft Express will be plugging them into the database tonight. Below is the link to the top 10's and the worst 5 though. Spoiler:Jordan Williams is in big trouble.

I know you guys are like crack addicts with this stuff, so I figured I'd give you the heads up that we have them. Still parsing them into our database so you can compare with year's past, but here are the top-10s and 5-worst in each category:

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/201 ... sults-3725

Singleton was top 10 in bench press and 3/4 court sprint.

Derrick Williams posted the most reps on bench press

Marshon Brooks was top 10 in almost every category

Juajuan Johnson was a beast in the testing

Kanter wasn't in the best or worst of any category

This year's crop of point guards tested out very well, including Knight, Isaiah Thomas, Walker, and Norris Cole

Overall, the athletic numbers seem better than those from last year, especially the 3/4 court sprint and lane agility numbers

[closg00]

Measurements are in. Draft Express will be plugging them into the database tonight. Below is the link to the top 10's and the worst 5 though. Spoiler:Jordan Williams is in big trouble.

I know you guys are like crack addicts with this stuff, so I figured I'd give you the heads up that we have them. Still parsing them into our database so you can compare with year's past, but here are the top-10s and 5-worst in each category:

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/201 ... sults-3725

Singleton was top 10 in bench press and 3/4 court sprint.

Derrick Williams posted the most reps on bench press

Marshon Brooks was top 10 in almost every category

Juajuan Johnson was a beast in the testing

Kanter wasn't in the best or worst of any category

This year's crop of point guards tested out very well, including Knight, Isaiah Thomas, Walker, and Norris Cole

Overall, the athletic numbers seem better than those from last year, especially the 3/4 court sprint and lane agility numbers

I am not going to make too-much of these measurements either way, recall how poorly Kevin Durant did and how off-the-charts DJ Strawberry was.

[pancakes3]

it is impressive to see someone with Singleton's as well as Derrick William's length to put up so many reps on the bench though.

[WizarDynasty]

yeah but durant had a 9'2 standing reach for a small forward, combine that with 33 inch vertical...and those two dimensions are durant's bread and butter for getting his shot off over anyone because no defenders can match up at the small forward and shooting guard spots.

Strawberry at 6'3 with a 6'6 wingspan..nothing impressive at all. 10.87 just meant that he could keep up laterally with anyone but undersized one dimensional players don't last long in this league.

Oversized offensive players at their positions with above average standing reach even if they have poor lateral defensive ability usually do. They make up for their slow feet by having above average standing reach.

[The Consiglieri]

For the record, for anyone who thinks I'm nuts for liking Jordan Williams. I am, I actually meant Jordan Hamilton, and I have repeatedly mixed his last name up with Maryland's 4/5 prospect Jordan Williams. Every time I've referenced a Jordan for the 18th pick (or a trade up), i was referring to Jordan Hamilton of Texas, not Williams who I wouldn't touch till round 2 or in a trade up to late round 1 with our second rounder, and I probably wouldn't period. Apologies for the last name botch.

[theboomking]

I am not going to make too-much of these measurements either way, recall how poorly Kevin Durant did and how off-the-charts DJ Strawberry was.

I think the results are valuable when a player's athleticism is matched by his production. Singleton for instance tests true to his play. He has the length and strength to match with 4's, and the speed to match up with 2's.

When asked what position he can defend in the NBA, Singleton replied, “One through four.”

Singleton gained great confidence in his defensive ability last summer, when he participated on the USA Basketball select team of college players — such as BYU’s Jimmer Fredette, Duke’s Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith and Connecticut’s Kemba Walker — who scrimmaged the eventual gold-medal winner at the World Championships in Turkey. Singelton said that he found himself guarding Kevin Love, Kevin Durant, Rudy Gay, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Rajon Rondo and Chauncey Billups. “I guarded every single one of them. And I feel they didn’t do as much damage against me as other people,” Singleton said. “We had a good couple of scrimmages and we were going back and forth. We never felt like we were going to blow us out. I was on everybody. And they are considered some of the top 50 guys in the league.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wiz ... _blog.html

[tontoz]

Measurements are in. Draft Express will be plugging them into the database tonight. Below is the link to the top 10's and the worst 5 though. Spoiler:Jordan Williams is in big trouble.

I know you guys are like crack addicts with this stuff, so I figured I'd give you the heads up that we have them. Still parsing them into our database so you can compare with year's past, but here are the top-10s and 5-worst in each category:

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/201 ... sults-3725

Singleton was top 10 in bench press and 3/4 court sprint.

Derrick Williams posted the most reps on bench press

Marshon Brooks was top 10 in almost every category

Juajuan Johnson was a beast in the testing

Kanter wasn't in the best or worst of any category

This year's crop of point guards tested out very well, including Knight, Isaiah Thomas, Walker, and Norris Cole

Overall, the athletic numbers seem better than those from last year, especially the 3/4 court sprint and lane agility numbers

I am not going to make too-much of these measurements either way, recall how poorly Kevin Durant did and how off-the-charts DJ Strawberry was.

Athletic testing shouldn't be confused with skills. Dirk is slow, weak and can't jump but he is dominating the playoffs due to his length and skills. Just because he has been the best player in the playoffs that doesn't mean athleticism isn't important.

[Rafael122]

Holy hell, Leonard's athletic tests was horrible. 37 inch vertical, could only press 185 pounds 3 times? WTF?

[nate33]

Holy hell, Leonard's athletic tests was horrible. 37 inch vertical, could only press 185 pounds 3 times? WTF?

Dude has a 7-3 wingspan. It's hard to bench press with arms that long. And a 37" vertical isn't that bad.

The biggest news so far is that Jimmer Fredette is quick as hell in the lane agility test. Quicker than Brandon Knight, Kemba Walker, and, well, everybody except Norris Cole. Maybe he won't have that much trouble defensively.

Tristan Thompson is extremely quick for a big.