We still should have drafted Noel

[Sluggerface]

Bored, figured I'd bring out this dead carcass, and to limit any kind of hope I have of ever seeing Porter hit four threes in a row again.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtY5MgOB9nQ[/youtube]

He's doing things I didn't think were possible after watching him at Kentucky. He's still only 21, a year younger than Porter. His metrics aren't wow worthy, just like Porter's, but he's doing well on an 8 win team whose second best player looks like a tie between Jerami Grant and T.J. Mcconnell.

[Kanyewest]

Your point that Philly's lack of talent stands but Okafor is either the 76ers' best or second best player.

I don't feel bad that the Wizards took Porter over Noel. Gobert and Giannis were the superior prospects. It may be easier to say that in retrospect.

I am just grateful though that the Wizards ended up with Porter instead of Anthony Bennett.

[Ruzious]

I wanted Noel, but why are people whining about Porter? Some were panicking about his 3 point shot going away - and now he's just barely behind last season's percentage - and will likely pass it, imo. Kid is a good all-around player at age 22.

[tontoz]

Noel is still a disaster on offense. His ORPM is -3.48 which ranks 93rd among 4s.

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/page/3/sort/ORPM/position/6

[diaboliQ_Mo]

Is this a Sixers game thread?

Go Wiz!

[Dark Faze]

Noel is still a disaster on offense. His ORPM is -3.48 which ranks 93rd among 4s.

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/page/3/sort/ORPM/position/6

he's not a 4

im concerned about his lack of rebounding though

[Sluggerface]

Noel is still a disaster on offense. His ORPM is -3.48 which ranks 93rd among 4s.

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/page/3/sort/ORPM/position/6

That's actually a pretty sizable improvement from where he was last year (-4.85). His TOV% has increased considerably but he's shooting well above league average in TS% now.

[queridiculo]

I would have preferred Noel, but looking at their career trajectories so far I am glad Leonsis alumni push prevailed.

[pcbothwel]

Nah, I like our guy just fine.

[closg00]

I find it hard to justify drafting a player like Porter at pick-3 unless they have gazelle-like athleticism. However, Porter with another 20 pounds of muscle and 2-3 more years of experience under his belt is going to be a very solid asset.

[dobrojim]

Love never knew what hit him.

[stevemcqueen1]

Noel looks like he can end up being a good player but I'm happy with Porter. I'll take him over Noel today.

What's with the Porter angst I've seen creeping onto the board lately? I understood it last year, but it looks like Porter's career is out of the woods and that he's going to end up being good.

[tontoz]

Noel looks like he can end up being a good player but I'm happy with Porter. I'll take him over Noel today.

What's with the Porter angst I've seen creeping onto the board lately? I understood it last year, but it looks like Porter's career is out of the woods and that he's going to end up being good.

I think Porter went from being way underrated this time last year to being overrated after the playoffs. I think people were forgetting that this would be his first season getting big minutes.

[TheSecretWeapon]

Noel looks like he can end up being a good player but I'm happy with Porter. I'll take him over Noel today.

What's with the Porter angst I've seen creeping onto the board lately? I understood it last year, but it looks like Porter's career is out of the woods and that he's going to end up being good.

Puzzles me too. Porter is having a good season. No reason to think he'll be anything less than a good player for the next 8+ years.

[Illmatic12]

It was a serious error that will set this team back quite a bit.

Imaging trying to lure Durant (or other FAs) with a young, well-rounded core of Wall, Beal, Noel.. as opposed to basically just Wall and Beal.

Noel looks like he can end up being a good player but I'm happy with Porter. I'll take him over Noel today.

What's with the Porter angst I've seen creeping onto the board lately? I understood it last year, but it looks like Porter's career is out of the woods and that he's going to end up being good.

Good at what?

We hoped Porter would be a high level 3&D wing who would round out our core. He doesn't bring the 3 (thus far 32.5% for his career - on mostly wide open looks created by Wall), and he doesn't bring the D (he's too limited physically to really defend his position at a high level). Porter is an okay player but it wasn't a good draft pick for the Wizards. If he went to some random Pac-12 school instead of Ted's alma mater Georgetown, he wouldn't have been the pick.


Edit: see below, Porter is allowing players to shoot 5.4% above their average FG%. Defensively, he is our worst starter by a good margin:

http://stats.nba.com/league/player/defense/#!/?Season=2015-16&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&TeamID=1610612764&sort=PCT_PLUSMINUS&dir=1

[TheSecretWeapon]

Okay, the complaints about Porter's 3pt shooting are just plain silly. The difference between Porter's current career 3pt% (.325) and a league average 35% is 8 made threes FOR HIS ENTIRE CAREER. In other words, the difference between Porter being a "bad" 3pt shooter and a decent one is an additional made three every 20th game.

Even the difference between Porter's current 3pt shooting and excellent 3pt shooting (40%) is only 24 made threes for his career -- an additional made three every 7th game.

Research into 3pt shooting indicates a LOT of attempts to know for sure how good a 3pt shooter a player will be -- about 750 career attempts, according to the guys at NylonCalculus. Porter isn't even halfway there.

His defense isn't bad, although it definitely has room to improve. It's weirdly as if Porter is a 22-year old who's playing pretty well, but could get better -- and probably will, assuming he works on his game and his body.

This isn't a knock on Noel, who I like as well. I'd love to have him on the Wizards as a backup (and eventual replacement) for Gortat. But I don't have any regrets about the Wizards taking Porter.

[deneem4]

Were not a good off ball moving team...we have dumb pick plays we run every possession tht does nothing, but waste time on the clock....
with that being said porter was taught in a always moving offense, not set a screen get to the corner and hope wall sees u...
Porter has been good for us....especially when it mattered last year in the playoffs...
Noel next to gortat would've been horrible offensively...Noel off the bench would've been useless because we didn't't have a go to scoring big to compliment him
He would essentially been left to fend for himself like McGee.

[pcbothwel]

To kind echo what Deneem said... Even if Porter and Noel had equal TS/ORTG/DRTG/WS/48/etc., you still have the issue that Porter fits in with most any team and plays a winning brand of basketball (I.e. Ball and player movement, cutting to the basket, team defense, positional versatility, etc.)
Noel requires a very specific player next him. Which is, a bigman that can defend the post with strong man D and stretch the floor offensively. With a little weight Porzingis would work, Cousins could work, maybe sullinger or Draymond? I cant really think of who else.

[montestewart]

Wizards traded the 5th pick in a draft where Curry was chosen 7th. They used the 6th pick on Vesely with Kawhi still on the board, used the 17th on Singleton with Faried and Jimmy Butler still on the board, used the 34th on Shelvin Mack with Chandler Parsons and Isaiah Thomas still on the board. They signed Maynor!

I guess passing on Noel qualifies evidence of the team's overall failure to acquire young, durable, quality bigs to grow with the team, but viewed in isolation, it is a pretty low level quibble to me. It's too early to tell which of the two, Porter or Noel, will have the better career, but Porter seems to be progressing, and there were apparently concerns (legitimate or not) regarding Noel's health, which explains why he fell from a sure #1 pick to 6th, chosen by a Sixers team that seems drawn to home run/strikeout picks.

Now, regarding the big situation in general…oh wait, we have a thread for that.

Little Big Men

[CobraCommander]

We still should have drafted Noel....said no one.