RealGM

using knowledge of recent reports from the team you follow most closely, please form an educated guess as to whom your team will select and why.

this is not about who you want your team to draft, but who you think they want to draft given the situation below.

after posting this thread in every board leading up to yours, i've got this Draft Board:

1. Chicago - Rose
2. Miami - Beasely
3. Minnesota - Mayo
4. Seattle - Bayless
5. Memphis - Love
6. New York - Westbrook
7. LA Clippers - Gordon
8. Milwaukee - B.Lopez
9. Charlotte - Randolph
10. New Jersey - Gallinari
11. Indiana - Augustin
12. Sacramento - Arthur
13. Portland - Alexander
14. Golden State - Rush
15. Phoenix - R.Lopez
16. Philadelphia - Jordan
17. Toronto - Hibbert
18. Washington - ??

i'm very interested to read your responses! you're on the clock!

don't forget to provide a reason why you think your teams management will draft player x given the situation above. please don't just post a name of a player, those are usually ignored for a more intelligent / in depth reply.

I think that the Wizards, if he was on the board, might have taken Hibbert (even though I strongly disagree with wanting to do so). However, since he is off the board, as Toronto selected him, I'd have to go with Donte Greene (6-9 SF out of Syracuse). Greene has star potential written all over him and there really isn't one thing he can't do now or won't be able to do in his prime. Plus, he is a small forward, our biggest position of need (in terms of backups).

Speights, McGee and Chalmers are also possibilities.

I have no idea.

^^ I see PG as our biggest need, considering we have like a 40 year old backup to Gil. No disrespect AD...couldn't bother looking up your real age I think RMJ is as good as gone, so our backcourt consists of Gil coming off a knee injury and the close to annuity benefits Daniels. We draft Chalmers.

I also like Donte Greene at that spot. His numbers are impressive, he has a great build, and he can shoot, which gives him a big edge over DMac.

So I'm with MT on this one.

Hmmm...LaReu Martin or Kwame Brown.

At #18 I wouldn't go with a safe pick or a need pick, I'd go with the guy with the best combination of production and raw talent, which would be Donte Green. Even though he's pretty raw right now, he's incredibly talented. At the very least, those kinds of guys are more movable if necessary.

yungal07 wrote:I also like Donte Greene at that spot. His numbers are impressive, he has a great build, and he can shoot, which gives him a big edge over DMac.

So I'm with MT on this one.

you like him, but what do you think management thinks about him?

is there any quotes from when he worked out for you guys? any draft strategies that your gm has said he'd like to follow?

smoothie wrote:you like him, but what do you think management thinks about him?

is there any quotes from when he worked out for you guys? any draft strategies that your gm has said he'd like to follow?

Our GM (Ernie Grunfeld) has stated that if we indeed make the selection (as opposed to trading the pick), he is going to go with the BPA and probably not a Euro.

That's all we know, so everything else is up in the air.

miller31time wrote:I think that the Wizards, if he was on the board, might have taken Hibbert (even though I strongly disagree with wanting to do so). However, since he is off the board, as Toronto selected him, I'd have to go with Donte Greene (6-9 SF out of Syracuse). Greene has star potential written all over him and there really isn't one thing he can't do now or won't be able to do in his prime. Plus, he is a small forward, our biggest position of need (in terms of backups).

Speights, McGee and Chalmers are also possibilities.

any word on which of those 4 had the best workout for your team?

what position is of greater need, or is more likely to be targeted by your team?

With Batum getting a clean bill of health (the reports out there were probably just to drive his stock down so somebody could steal him later in the draft) I think he's the pick here. The clips I've seen of him remind me of Tayshaun Prince. He has a small buy-out and Grunfeld has proven he's not afraid to take Euros.

smoothie wrote:what position is of greater need, or is more likely to be targeted by your team?

Backup SF is the only thing we have to have when this season begins. We'd like to get younger at PG but that's not as immediate of a need.

LyricalRico wrote:

smoothie wrote:what position is of greater need, or is more likely to be targeted by your team?

Backup SF is the only thing we have to have when this season begins. We'd like to get younger at PG but that's not as immediate of a need.

this is really interesting to me (as an outsider) because most of the mock drafts i've seen have you guys taking a big guy like koufos, mcgee, or ajinca.

In this situation I see us taking Mcgee by a hair over Chalmers and then Greene.

While I agree that PG and SF are more pressing needs, Greene isn't ready to contribute and what good does a back SF do us if he can't play next year, when we need him to. Thus, we can rule him out here. Chalmers would be a very nice selection as he is exactly the type of backup PG we need and would be great insurance behind the injured Gil and the aging AD. In the end though I think EG will have confidence that Gil will be be healthy again, not leaving very many minutes for a 3rd PG.
This is a great situation to draft Mcgee, a C with tons of upside and potential given the new trend of other teams not wanting to wait and develop these players. We are in a rare situation of being 2 deep at just about every position and can afford to take on a project. This is especially true at the C position for several reasons. First and foremost, we have Etan returning next year to be our backup C so Mcgee wouldn't be counted on to play important minutes just yet. We do have a hole at the 3rd center spot so he could be a spot player while also bouncing down to the NBDL regularly. Also, while Etan is back next year there isn't much of a guarantee he would be back the year after when he is an expiring contract. With a year under his belt to add weight and learn the system, Mcgee should be better prepared to take on the backup C spot and allow us to deal Thomas without thinking twice. Mcgee also has the potential to be a starter in this league and could be showing that right about the time Haywood's contract is up, leaving us in another very flexible situation where we could afford to either deal 'Wood or just let him walk if he gets too expensive.

Basically, it comes down to Mcgee and Chalmers in my mind but I foresee us going with the bigger upside and bigger player in general. With Gil in the fold, our backup PG will never have to play heavy minutes(barring injury obviously) and I think it will be much easier to find a 3rd PG in free agency over a quality C.

miller31time wrote:

smoothie wrote:you like him, but what do you think management thinks about him?

is there any quotes from when he worked out for you guys? any draft strategies that your gm has said he'd like to follow?

Our GM (Ernie Grunfeld) has stated that if we indeed make the selection (as opposed to trading the pick), he is going to go with the BPA and probably not a Euro.

I don't think Grunfeld said anything about not taking a European player. He was asked if the current amount of youth on the roster would lend itself to taking a foreign player and keeping them overseas. Ernie never really answered the question and instead talked about how buyouts make it difficult for European players to come over to the NBA.

I didn't hear anything that made me think that he considered it improbable that he would take a Euro.

smoothie wrote:

LyricalRico wrote:

smoothie wrote:what position is of greater need, or is more likely to be targeted by your team?

Backup SF is the only thing we have to have when this season begins. We'd like to get younger at PG but that's not as immediate of a need.

this is really interesting to me (as an outsider) because most of the mock drafts i've seen have you guys taking a big guy like koufos, mcgee, or ajinca.

Well, you don't have to be a Wiz fan long to realize that most "analysts" have never even seen a Wizards game and probably didn't even know there was a team in Washington before MJ came along. Brendan Haywood gets my vote for the most underrated big man in the league, Andray Blatche is 6'11 with real potential, and Etan Thomas is at least serviceable in the middle.

That's not to say that the Wiz aren't looking to improve up front (and if a guy like Hibbert was there I'd love to take him) but it's not our most pressing need. We need bench production and defense on the perimeter, two things I think Batum would give us.

LyricalRico wrote:I don't think Grunfeld said anything about not taking a European player. He was asked if the current amount of youth on the roster would lend itself to taking a foreign player and keeping them overseas. Ernie never really answered the question and instead talked about how buyouts make it difficult for European players to come over to the NBA.

I didn't hear anything that made me think that he considered it improbable that he would take a Euro.

You don't think that this part of your post....

Ernie never really answered the question and instead talked about how buyouts make it difficult for European players to come over to the NBA.

...doesn't make it improbable?

I'm not saying you're wrong, but it was my impression that he was down on the issue of taking a Euro, thus leading me to say it most likely won't be our pick.

my vote goes to Batum

He's the BPA (imo) and also fills a need at backup SF. Best option I've seen in a LONG time other than Hibbert- who is gone.

Miller, he only sounded like he was down on the idea of drafting and stashing a Euro, not simply drafting a Euro. Batum just seems to be the only Euro somewhat worth the #18 and maybe that's why Ernie kind of brushed off the question.

Batum, thanks to his clean bill of health. I don't care about EG's downplay of the Euros because A) I see no reason to take him at his words, as there's no advantage to him so obviously tipping his hat at this point, and B) even if he is being totally honest, I think it's more about the idea of drafting a Euro who isn't going to come over this year, which as far as I'm aware, Batum is planning on doing.

seems like early on in this thread there were more votes for greene, while there have been a lot of posts thinking batum will be the pick...

lets here some closing arguments from both sides before i have to move on. REMEMBER -- don't tell me why you want a guy... tell me why you think EG will sway one way or another. using information given to you through interviews, after workouts, etc...