2011 Draft Prospect Thread

[hotrod]

DraftExpress Jonathan Givony
That's definitely out there. Makes sense depending on lottery results. RT @Rafy122: Any truth to the rumors Wizards are high on Jan Vesely?

DraftExpress Jonathan Givony
Utah fans, start learning how to pronounce the name Donatas Motiejunas. Hearing the Jazz really really like him at #6.

[ohara]

Great news if Monti goes #6. Someone will fall to us at #9. I am getting a strong feeling that we may have Biyomo on the board at #9. Question is: Do we pull the trigger? Would be very interesting to see if MJ would jump at the youngster.

[Bassman]

Great news if Monti goes #6. Someone will fall to us at #9. I am getting a strong feeling that we may have Biyomo on the board at #9. Question is: Do we pull the trigger? Would be very interesting to see if MJ would jump at the youngster.

I believe Biyomo is a bust...another "potential" guy with little skill and lots of low IQ. Please, not another "wishbook" project with such an important pick.

[Jaruff]

Great news if Monti goes #6. Someone will fall to us at #9. I am getting a strong feeling that we may have Biyomo on the board at #9. Question is: Do we pull the trigger? Would be very interesting to see if MJ would jump at the youngster.

I believe Biyomo is a bust...another "potential" guy with little skill and lots of low IQ. Please, not another "wishbook" project with such an important pick.

IMO:

Worst-case: Diop+
Best-case: Ibaka+

It's a hard call.

[BigSlam]

Here is my pre-lotto 1st round draft. It's not based on things that DX says or nbadraft.net says or Ford says, just my own feelings and picks that I can justify. Not saying this is the way it WILL play out, just the way I think it should play out.

1 - Timberwolves Kyrie Irving PG
BPA - and their PG situation is a mess.
Irving - Johnson - SCB - Love - Randolph

2 - Cavaliers Derrick Williams PF
BPA and hope he can play the SF (ala SCB) at the next level.
Davis - Parker - Williams - Hickson - Varejao

3 - Raptors Bismack Biyombo PF/C
Softest team in the NBA get's a "killer" to team with Bargs and hide his weaknesses while not taking shots away from DeRozan.
Jose - DeRozan - Johnson - Biyombo - Bargs

4 - Wizards Jan Vesely SF
Him and Lewis can switch between the 3/4 spots. With Wall, Crawford, Vesely and McGee the Wiz go super up tempo.
Wall - Crawford - Lewis - Vesely - McGee

5 - Kings Brandon Knight PG
Kings get their shooter at the PG position to play next to Tyreke.
Knight - Evans - Casspi - Thompson - Cousins

6 - Jazz Alec Burks SG
Harris isn't a great creator as a PG so the Jazz bring in someone who can help with ball movement.
Harris - Burks - Miles - Milsap - Jefferson

7 - Pistons Kemba Walker PG
You know that a warrior like Joe D is going to love a kid like Walker. Plus Stuckey is on the outs in the big D. Walker, along with Monroe, gives them some nice building pieces.
Walker - Gordon - Jerebko - Villanueva - Monroe

8 - Cavaliers Klay Thompson SG/SF
The Cavs start surrounding their new franchise player (Williams) straight away with high end role players. Thompson might be the best shooter in the class this year and gives the Cavs something they haven't had in ages - a player with legit, "Ray Allen" like range.
Davis - Thompson - Williams - Hickson - Varejao

9 - Bobcats Enes Kanter C
Bobcats hope they finally land a center.
Augustin - Henderson - Jackson - Thomas - Kanter

10 - Bucks Kawhi Leonard SF
Bucks lost all their mojo from last season and a lot of that had to do with bringing in the wrong sort of players over the summer (Maggette, Gooden etc) and getting away from the thing that made them good the season before - killer D. The Leonard pick speaks to that,
Jennings - Salmons - Leonard - Sanders - Bogut

11 - Warriors Jonas Valanciunas C
The Warriors need size. They also need size that can get up and down the court in a hurry to hang with their fast tempo offense. Jonas does that and has considerable upside.
Curry - Ellis - Wright - Lee - Valanciunas

12 - Jazz Donatas Motiejunas PF/C
After landing Burks to help with the ball movement and scoring, the Jazz go with their 2nd pick and look to move Big Al to the 4 spot.
Harris - Burks - Miles - Jefferson - Motiejunas

13 - Suns Tristan Thompson PF
The Suns are still all O and not enough D. Thompson provides a nice contrast to the more offensive games of Frye and Warrick. Plus Steve Nash will make him look like Dwight Howard.
Nash - Dudley - Hill - Thompson - Gortat

14 - Rockets Chris Singleton SF
The Rockets add some real grit to their team in one last attempt with Ming to make some noise.
Lowry - Martin - Singleton - Scola - Ming

15 - Pacers Nolan Smith PG/SG
Ford on the outs, Price more a SG, Smith backs up Collison

16 - 76ers Cory Joseph PG/SG
Williams is more a SG and Joseph has loads of upside so just like with Holiday, the Sixers luck out mid 1st round again with a quality PG.

17 - Knicks Trey Thompkins PF
Knicks need depth.................well, every where. Thompkins is a stretch 4 with a level head who will help with his mature approach.

18 - Wizards Shelvin Mack PG
They don't have a back up PG and with Mack they get a guy who has done it on the big stage in college who will bring with him a great work ethic to a questionable locker room.

19 - Bobcats Jordan Hamilton SF
Bobcats get the shooter at the 3 spot they crave to play behind Jackson.

20 - Timberwolves Travis Leslie SF
A dynamic wing player who will provide a much needed spark off the bench and compliment their other wings (Ellington and Webster) who are shooters.

21 - Trailblazers Marcus Morris PF
The Blazers were just too small last season and need to add size.

22 - Nuggets JaJuan Johnson PF/C
Nene might not be around much any more. Johnson would be a great pick and pop option there.

23 - Rockets Tobias Harris PF
High upside pick while adding even more grit to the Rockets.

24 - Thunder Justin Harper PF
The Thunder have a lot of defensive bigs (Perkins, Ibaka, Aldrich, Collison) but Harper gives them a nice change up being a strech 4.

25 - Celtics Tyler Honeycutt SF
Even Ainge said he wished he could have signed Allen. They hope that Honeycutt can add the same sort of defense.

26 - Mavericks Kenneth Faried PF
They miss Bass. Faried replaces what they lost.

27 - Nets Jordan Williams C
The Nets are very thin at the 4/5 spots. Williams and Williams look to do in Jersey what Williams and Boozer were doing in Utah.

28 - Bulls Marshon Brooks SG
They FINALLY get their Ben Gordon replacement.

29 - Spurs Kyle Singler SF/PF
Spurs love picks like this.

30 - Bulls Josh Selby SG
CJ Watson is crap and they need a legit back up to Rose. The advantage might be that Selby can even play next to him at times.

I guess I will do another one after tomorrow night when the balls drop.

Flame away!!

[BigSlam]

Great news if Monti goes #6. Someone will fall to us at #9. I am getting a strong feeling that we may have Biyomo on the board at #9. Question is: Do we pull the trigger? Would be very interesting to see if MJ would jump at the youngster.

I believe Biyomo is a bust...another "potential" guy with little skill and lots of low IQ. Please, not another "wishbook" project with such an important pick.

I don't see this being such an important pick at all. A pick in the top 3 or especially the 1st overall pick? Now THAT'S an important pick (in any draft), but the 9th or 10th pick overall? It is what it is.

[ohara]

Slam, if we land Kanter AND Hamilton in the 1st round, that will be the best Bobcat draft in the history of the organization. Might not be saying too much, but it would be the best by FAR!

[BigSlam]

More DX stuff on Kawhi.

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Wes ... tball-3703

Kid sure is getting a lot of pub this past week.

[hotrod]

Slam,

No Jimmer? I think the Jazz have to take him with one of their picks if he is there. This would be an excellent draft for us though.

[doc.end]

Slam said

the way I think it should play out.

So no Jimmer

[ohara]

nbadraft.net has Charlotte taking Marshon Brooks with our 2nd round pick. But with all the talk about him now starting up at ESPN and other sites, I am wondering if he is going to work his way into our #19 area. Nice sized SG and played in the Big East. He is likely one to watch at the Draft Camp because if he lights it up there, he will probably come into range to be considered around #19. And we are looking for a SG who can back up Jax.

[bobcats3wallace]

Slam I hope you are right! haha. That would be a HELL of a draft for the Bobcats to get Kanter AND Hamilton. Like others said, that could very well be the best draft the Bobcats ever had. I do actually agree with most your picks too, so it does seem possible Kanter could slide. Biggest question is if Cleveland takes him at 8, i'm not sold he will go before then. I'm also still not 100 percent sold on Kanter but after having read more on him he seems like a viable option. Certainly with a lot of talent and I could live with it if he fell to us. Especially if we got Hamilton at 19.

[Jaruff]

I'm not getting my hopes up. I can see it now.

We'll trade the 9th for an overpaid big man (J-Rich trade 2.0).
We'll use the 19th on a guy that will either bust or become good once we trade him (Dudley).
We'll use the second round pick on Ryan Hollins 2.0.

Also possible the FO takes Jimmer at 19 to troll the fans or use him as trade bait for the Jazz.

[Diop]

Is it just because Jimmer is a mormon that people are saying that Utah will be after him?

There was always the same rumours with Shawn Bradley, but it never eventuated because the Jazz front office aren't stupid enough to pick someone just because of religion.

The 12 pick isn't totally out of the question though.

You have given me hope Slam that we might have a good draft.

[Fred Williamson]

I've read some scouting reports and watched some videos about all top10 predicted players in this draft and I've come to the conclusion that it's either Kyrie Irving or bust for me. everyone else in this draft does not impress me in the least and most of these guys are tweeners or overrated college players. even Kyrie himself doesn't impress me. I don't get these CP3 comparisons. To me he looks like he's going to end up as an above average NBA point guard, probably a 16/7 guy at max like our good old friend Raymond Felton.

[ohara]

I've read some scouting reports and watched some videos about all top10 predicted players in this draft and I've come to the conclusion that it's either Kyrie Irving or bust for me. everyone else in this draft does not impress me in the least and most of these guys are tweeners or overrated college players. even Kyrie himself doesn't impress me. I don't get these CP3 comparisons. To me he looks like he's going to end up as an above average NBA point guard, probably a 16/7 guy at max like our good old friend Raymond Felton.

Fred, it seems your glass is 1/2 empty. Try looking at it as 1/2 full. Makes things much better.

[Snidely FC]

I'm sure there is a decent player to be had at 9 - Leonard for instance seems guaranteed to succeed if not star - but because there is so much uncertainty at 9 maybe we ought to be looking to package and trade the 9. Rather than give a 4 yr guaranteed deal to some kid we're unsure of. A deal involving 9 and any players from our roster GS wants for Curry would be my pipe dream.

[Bassman]

I've read some scouting reports and watched some videos about all top10 predicted players in this draft and I've come to the conclusion that it's either Kyrie Irving or bust for me. everyone else in this draft does not impress me in the least and most of these guys are tweeners or overrated college players. even Kyrie himself doesn't impress me. I don't get these CP3 comparisons. To me he looks like he's going to end up as an above average NBA point guard, probably a 16/7 guy at max like our good old friend Raymond Felton.

Fred, it seems your glass is 1/2 empty. Try looking at it as 1/2 full. Makes things much better.

Fred's concerns are reflective of those from team scouts and analysts. This draft is weak because too few players project well into the NBA game. Doesn't mean they can't contribute at some level; but nearly all these players (including lottery picks) have some significant minuses. Find a player who can score and you see they are slow with no defense. Find a guy who can rebound but he can't shoot to save his life. Find a guy who has length and height and he's soft and too skinny.

If we draft 9th, I would like to see Slam's projection come true and we have an option to take Kanter. I also think Burks will be gone before we pick. In a weak draft teams will seek to take the BPA versus need. That's what the Cat's must do, whoever they deem that BPA is.

[ohara]

Every draft, there are always players whose games are analyzed to the point that their NBA impact is downgraded. But come the season, they prove their worth. Just like there are players who are taken high and who flop. It is always the same. Your scouts just have to have an eye for the talent and the FO has to pick the right player. There may be fewer in this draft, I agree. But with 2 picks in the top 19, the team should be able to get 2 players who can contribute very nicely to our success. It just depends on the FO making the right selections.

[BigSlam]

Slam I hope you are right! haha. That would be a HELL of a draft for the Bobcats to get Kanter AND Hamilton. Like others said, that could very well be the best draft the Bobcats ever had.

Unless the two years away frmo basketball has had a really bad effect on Kanter's game and his knee's turn out to be Brandon Roy V.2 while Hamilton becomes no better than someone like Rasual Butler!!!

Damn draft is SUCH a crap shot.

I will say this though - IF Kanter is there at #9 (or where ever we pick) and we pass over him I will be much more upset than when we passed over Lopez. I like Kanter a WHOLE lot more than I liked Lopez as a prospect.