1st rd pick general discussion #2 overall (Poll Added)

[Stun704]

Can someone explain to me how Drummond is any different then DeAndre Jordan?

[August Us Seazr]

what the ****, did that **** seriously happen- did the NBA owned Hornets just win the goddamn lottery? Holy Mother ****, Usually Im less livid but it is so **** hard to seriously follow a sports team when everything in the mother **** universe works against your team.... I might actually just stop watching NBA basketball because of this, **** this league.

Penquin... look at the draft lottery list again. New Orleans is the ONLY team that moved up. Everyone else stayed the same except for Washington and the Bobcats, who are now digesting THE SHAFT! I'd like 5w30 with my shaft, thanks.

[James Gatz]

For reference for those who didn't see it, Harrison Barnes is listed at 6'8 look how much taller T-Rob is compared to him

Pictures are a terrible way to figure out height. That being said I'd love Robinson to check in at 6'10 and have us pick him 2nd. More likely than not I'd guess he'll be 6'8 and a half without shoes on. I'm also unsure if Barnes is a legit 6'8 but he always towered over me when I saw him around campus.

[Bassman]

I've read everyone's posts and got over my anger at Stern in the process. Nothing anyone can do about "the fix" element of the NBA so just let it go.

Before the lottery I said that losing #1 would hurt, but I'd be OK as long as we still got #2. I still feel that way. To me, this is a commanding position in this draft. Nobody is going to pry #1 and Davis out of the big cheating easy (Stern wouldn't allow it, as this sets up too well for his little bayou drama). Somebody is gonna fall hard for Drummond and want to trade up. Now, we can evaluate the best players and see if someone is clearly the 2nd pick, or try to have our cake and eat it too.

Understanding that the workouts will help determine everything, I believe the choices are three: Robinson, Drummond or trade down. I take T-Rob unless he flunks the workouts, or Drummond turns into Superman, or I'm not blown away by either. MKG is good but not near great, and ranks 5th at best in this group.

Apart from Davis, Robinson is the next best player in this draft, and I believe he will be a star. Not a superstar, but he has the foundation and work ethic to possibly get there. I saw this man play a lot. He is the real deal. Today's game requires speed and quickness from your 4's along with size and strength. T-Rob may not be 6-10, but he's not small. He will play a relentless brand of basketball on both sides. I think his jump shot form is good, so it will not be difficult to refine that into a quality aspect of his game. Unlike some I think T-Rob will play very well with Biz. Bismack needs to put on muscle and become an undersized 5; he will never develop an offensive game suitable to play the 4. T-Rob is a classic PF and will give us a true go-to player on the block.

Drummond is all potential, and that scares me. He has gifts and physical attributes, but shows no desire or drive (the opposite of Robinson). Some teams will lust for him and could offer us the option of trading down. As there is not enough quality to do a Portland scenario, the best trade option becomes....

trade #2 to Cleveland for #4 and #24.Cleveland would probably go for either Drummond or MKG. That leaves us able to draft T-Rob or Beal at 4, then taking a quality role player at 24. We need quality and quantity, which is something a deal with Cleveland could deliver.

[Eoghan]

I look at it this way:

There's a project wing.
A project big.
A safe but likely undersized big.
A safe but likely undersized guard.

I'd rather take a project big over a project wing b/c wings abound.
I'd rather take a safe big over the guard for the same reason.
So it becomes project big vs safe big. We need assets, players that other teams would want. Kemba was our safe pick last year, an "NBA ready" winner with an impressive college resume. How many teams are beating down our door for his services? Robinson is similar in that he's supposedly very NBA ready. He rebounds well, that almost always translates. He's a good athlete and has good intangibles. But he's older and will he still have value in a year or two if we start morphing our roster into win-now mode? Biz was our risk pick last year. He was better than advertised despite showing much less offensive skill and fluidity as Drummond. He has value and will continue to hold value b/c he is young and physically gifted. He's an asset. Drummond is the 2nd youngest player in the draft and he's more physically gifted than Biz. He's an unmolded lump of clay and we're a rebuilding team stockpiling assets, soon to hire a coach whose main focus is developing talent.

Let's finally grow some hair on our Bobcat bollocks and take Drummond. We could have a Robinson/Duncan pairing with both in their primes. That's how a small market team succeeds, hitting homeruns in the draft, not taking safe picks and gradually moving up the ladder of mediocrity.

[SmooveCam]

Trade the pick..

Rudy for #2..

[Stun704]

I look at it this way:

There's a project wing.
A project big.
A safe but likely undersized big.
A safe but likely undersized guard.

I'd rather take a project big over a project wing b/c wings abound.
I'd rather take a safe big over the guard for the same reason.
So it becomes project big vs safe big. We need assets, players that other teams would want. Kemba was our safe pick last year, an "NBA ready" winner with an impressive college resume. How many teams are beating down our door for his services? Robinson is similar in that he's supposedly very NBA ready. He rebounds well, that almost always translates. He's a good athlete and has good intangibles. But he's older and will he still have value in a year or two if we start morphing our roster into win-now mode? Biz was our risk pick last year. He was better than advertised despite showing much less offensive skill and fluidity as Drummond. He has value and will continue to hold value b/c he is young and physically gifted. He's an asset. Drummond is the 2nd youngest player in the draft and he's more physically gifted than Biz. He's an unmolded lump of clay and we're a rebuilding team stockpiling assets, soon to hire a coach whose main focus is developing talent.

Let's finally grow some hair on our Bobcat bollocks and take Drummond. We could have a Robinson/Duncan pairing with both in their primes. That's how a small market team succeeds, hitting homeruns in the draft, not taking safe picks and gradually moving up the ladder of mediocrity.

Whos to say Thomas Robinson can't become a homerun? just because hes already good doesn't mean he has limited upside, if he adds a 3pt shot, he could easily become a more athletic Kevin Love with great defense

[Eoghan]

Can someone explain to me how Drummond is any different then DeAndre Jordan?

Jordan and Drummond can both jump and have great size. Only Drummond can run like a guard, literally, and is coordinated enough to be the total package. He's like a less coached Blake Griffin, except maybe even bigger.

Whos to say Thomas Robinson can't become a homerun? just because hes already good doesn't mean he has limited upside, if he adds a 3pt shot, he could easily become a more athletic Kevin Love with great defense

I really like Robinson too, he's my clear #2 and if this was 2013 or 2014 I'd be all for him. Your comparison is a little flawed though. Love came out after one year in college, more like Drummond, as opposed to T-Rob who has already been in college for three years. I don't think he gets that much better than he is now and even if he does, the chances he becomes a gamechanger are really slim. I think Robinson is more like a Derrick Williams except he more easily has an NBA position, PF. The only thing that really scares me about Robinson is I haven't seen much inclination to work on being a PF, he loves to handle the ball and shoot.

[Stun704]

Can someone explain to me how Drummond is any different then DeAndre Jordan?

Jordan and Drummond can both jump and have great size. Only Drummond can run like a guard, literally, and is coordinated enough to be the total package. He's like a less coached Blake Griffin, except maybe even bigger.

Whos to say Thomas Robinson can't become a homerun? just because hes already good doesn't mean he has limited upside, if he adds a 3pt shot, he could easily become a more athletic Kevin Love with great defense

I really like Robinson too, he's my clear #2 and if this was 2013 or 2014 I'd be all for him. Your comparison is a little flawed though. Love came out after one year in college, more like Drummond, as opposed to T-Rob who has already been in college for three years. I don't think he gets that much better than he is now and even if he does, the chances he becomes a gamechanger are really slim. I think Robinson is more like a Derrick Williams except he more easily has an NBA position, PF. The only thing that really scares me about Robinson is I haven't seen much inclination to work on being a PF, he loves to handle the ball and shoot.

I don't think you can knock on him for being a junior,he was buried on the bench until his junior year, (and not because of his skill level) and the one year he did play he became a potential #2 pick, Drummond however went from being a consensus #1 pick to falling as low as 5th, i'm not sure if thats a good omen

[Badd_Intentions]

I like T-Rob a lot, but I just don't see him as having the potential to dominate a game like Drummond could. Pretty much boils down to if you want potential vs nba ready. I think it is also important to point out T-Rob is currently 2 years ahead of Drummond. You have to think how good Drummond will be with 2 years of pro coaching under his belt. If he interviews well and they believe he is dedicated I say pull the trigger on him and don't look back.

[HasheemThabeet]

People are only saying Robinson has limited upside because he's an upperclassmen who completely dominated college. Robinson is very good right now, I think he might be able to post something better than Kenneth Faried numbers from day one. But as a prospect, Robinson is not even close to being completely polished. What if he develops a better face up jumper? Or what if he continues to improve that off the dribble game he flashed last year? Or he adds more post moves to his bull rush game which is completely possible since he has excellent footwork. Yes Robinson has a very high floor, like a Kris Humphries. But he also has an equally high ceiling. Robinson is a couple of tweaks away from being a 17-20 point scorer

[NataFresh]

Not to sound too sardonic, but if we're talking about assets.....who sounds better as a better asset if either busts: the possibly maxed out forward or the athletic near 7 footer....

[Stun704]

I like T-Rob a lot, but I just don't see him as having the potential to dominate a game like Drummond could. Pretty much boils down to if you want potential vs nba ready. I think it is also important to point out T-Rob is currently 2 years ahead of Drummond. You have to think how good Drummond will be with 2 years of pro coaching under his belt. If he interviews well and they believe he is dedicated I say pull the trigger on him and don't look back.

you can't coach a lack of motor, theres no reason why Drummond should have been slowed down by college level centers last year.. name some players that were able to develop a motor after being drafted?

[bobcats3wallace]

I think people look at Drummond and see his body and are suddenly blinded. I think the kid is much more a potential for bust than a potential for anything related to star. Quite honestly, even if Drummond turns out to be at his maximum skill I still don't think he is anymore a superstar than Thomas Robinson is in the NBA. It's not a matter of safe vs project, it's a matter of smart vs dumb. When you have a guy who has everything that is necessary to succeed in the NBA and he fits perfectly with the pieces already in place, you take him. Bizmack BIyombo and Andre Drummond together down low would be a disaster. On the other hand, Robinson and Biyombo I think really compliment each other well. Trob has shown some range, and I think he will continue to develop that. He has also shown a back to the basket game. I really like our frontcourt with Trob and Biyombo in there starting and I would agree that there is no reason that Robinson couldn't be that homerun pick.

As far as a trade with Cleveland, it will be interesting to see how it plays out. You figure that 2-4 will be compiled of MKG, Drummond, Beal, and Robinson in some order. Cleveland is not going to take Robinson after they took Thompson down low. Washington, however, could. They have Blatche at the 4 and then Booker. It's probably a position they would look to fill. For Washington I would guess they either look at Robinson or Beal. On the other hand, Cleveland is probably looking more towards Beal or MKG. So if you trade with Cleveland then you would have to assume they come up to get Beal (unless they fall in love with Drummond) then that leaves the Wiz most likely taking Robinson (they took Singleton and Vessley at SF last year) and leaving us with MKG. Of course there is also the possibility that Washington likes Drummond, which could then leave us with Robinson still at 4. Bottom line, if we grade out Robinson, Beal, and MKG to be about the same then you make the trade and feel good about it because you will get one of those three.

[Stun704]

Not to sound too sardonic, but if we're talking about assets.....who sounds better as a better asset if either busts: the possibly maxed out forward or the athletic near 7 footer....

How is Thomas Robinson maxed out when he got 'drastically' better in the span of one year? Robinson is really athletic, if he becomes more skilled he could easily be a 24/12/1.5 type player in his prime. I think thats a better chance of happening then Drummond ever living up to his potential. if Andre couldn't dominate college or high school, what makes you think he can dominate grown ass men?

[HasheemThabeet]

Dumb players with lack of heart like Drummond usually max out faster than smart ones with high motors like T Rob

[HasheemThabeet]

Can someone explain to me how Drummond is any different then DeAndre Jordan?

yeah, Drummond isn't as aggressive on either end like Jordan is

[Stun704]

Dumb players with lack of heart like Drummond usually max out faster than smart ones with high motors like T Rob

T-Rob is also loyal, instead of transfering, he waited for his chance and dominated, and the only reason he didn't win the national championship(he dominated Anthony Davis) was because Calipari had a haxed team

[NataFresh]

Not to sound too sardonic, but if we're talking about assets.....who sounds better as a better asset if either busts: the possibly maxed out forward or the athletic near 7 footer....

How is Thomas Robinson maxed out when he got 'drastically' better in the span of one year? Robinson is really athletic, if he becomes more skilled he could easily be a 24/12/1.5 type player in his prime. I think thats a better chance of happening then Drummond ever living up to his potential. if Andre couldn't dominate college or high school, what makes you think he can dominate grown ass men?

The fact that Robinson couldn't get run over the Morris twins doesn't scare you? We've seen guys like this before turn out to be maxed out....

As for your question about Drummond, you're ignoring that neither Dwight howard not Tyson Chandler dominated in High School, how'd it work out for them

[Kembastockton]

Dumb players with lack of heart like Drummond usually max out faster than smart ones with high motors like T Rob

Motor, Motor, Motor, Motor Maybe if I say it enough times you guys will start to understand motor is everything. Let's use another word heart! T-Rob has plenty of it, so he will play better than he is. If Drummond doesn't develop it despite all of the potential he will just be one of those guys who seems to just be content to be on a team, and draw a paycheck. The more I think about it I want T-Rob on this team. We need the fire.