Official Draft Thread 2015-16

[Gomes3PC]

I have Uthoff earmarked for that Sixers pick. If the C's used Olynyk in a trade for Horford, I think Uthoff could step in almost day one and replace Kelly.

[No-Man]

I think there are better upside options than Uthoff early in the 2nd, especially international guys, I'd go with Uthoff more in the 40s.

[Gomes3PC]

I think there are better upside options than Uthoff early in the 2nd, especially international guys, I'd go with Uthoff more in the 40s.

Really? I know he's older but Uthoff is lengthy, has great defensive instincts and shoots the lights out. I don't know the Euros well enough to truly judge but know you do. Maybe with our pick from Minny (currently #35)? There's actually a ton of guys I like in that range - Onuaku, Layman, GPII, Brice Johnson. A bunch of older college guys who might not ever be starters, but will fill in bench roles.

Onuaku could be a lot more than that if he puts it together. Legit center body at 6-10, 250 and a 7-3 wingspan, easy leaper, finishes hard at the rim, and averaging 3.5 blocks/40 so he protects well enough (he is a foul machine). Also only 19 years old. Frankly he might be better off sticking one more year and then dominating the ACC next year to get some more love.

[No-Man]

I have Uthoff ahead of all of those, other than Onuaku who I think could be a 4y guy in Ville.
Guys that I like better than Uthoff from college in the 2nd, or I have slotted as 2nd round picks as of now, McCaw, Beasley, Bacon, Finney-Smith, Hayes, Sulaimon, Barber/Briscoe.

But especially I like the frenchies, Cornelie, Cordinier and Yabusele, Zizic, and a really underrated guy, MGuduric better.

[jmr07019]

Let's say we're sitting at 3 and Philly offers either Okafor or Noel for our pick. What do you do?

I'd take Okafor.

If he would get in better shape and commit to playing defense he can be a great player. The only thing that scares me is I see a little bit of quit in him. When a physical big, (Sully type), bodies up on him he tends to pull away from the basket. I know he is young, but some dogs don't hunt.

If Stevens can get KO and Sully to play D I think he can get Okafor to at least their current level. He'll never have super low body fat % but as long as he doesn't get fatter as the years go on (ala Sully) he will be fine.

The quitting you speak of, was this something you noticed at Duke or Philly? I will say that Okafor has feasted on us at least 1 game I remember.

[mbsnmisc]

Let's say we're sitting at 3 and Philly offers either Okafor or Noel for our pick. What do you do?

I'd take Okafor.

If he would get in better shape and commit to playing defense he can be a great player. The only thing that scares me is I see a little bit of quit in him. When a physical big, (Sully type), bodies up on him he tends to pull away from the basket. I know he is young, but some dogs don't hunt.

If Stevens can get KO and Sully to play D I think he can get Okafor to at least their current level. He'll never have super low body fat % but as long as he doesn't get fatter as the years go on (ala Sully) he will be fine.

The quitting you speak of, was this something you noticed at Duke or Philly? I will say that Okafor has feasted on us at least 1 game I remember.

Philly. If you have League Pass you can go back to the first home game v. Philly. He was putting on an offensive clinic. I cannot remember if it was Zeller, Lee, Amir or Kelly but he was punishing them. Sully comes in, bump,bump bump and instead of being on the box he was 15' from the basket. It caught my eye, and as the season has progressed I have watched probably 13 or 14 quarters of 76er games. I have noticed that he bullies smaller guys, but stays away from big physical players. I am not saying it is a bad thing, mismatches rule in the NBA, it was just an observation.
He is gifted offensively, that is a fact. If he can develop a knock down 18' jumper, which I think he will, he will score a lot of points in his career.

[greenroom31]

Agree with this take on Ingram by Givony:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/DraftExpress/status/700355021897101313[/tweet]

[truth18]

Lastly, a lot of why Beasley failed in the NBA was simply because he did not put the work in. He had all the tools to become an elite modern stretch PF, but decided he wanted to become a small forward, where he failed spectacularly.

And weed.

Nah, some people are just lazy ****. Some of the most productive people I know smoke daily.

[Fidel Sarcasmo]

Lastly, a lot of why Beasley failed in the NBA was simply because he did not put the work in. He had all the tools to become an elite modern stretch PF, but decided he wanted to become a small forward, where he failed spectacularly.

And weed.

Nah, some people are just lazy ****. Some of the most productive people I know smoke daily.

I can only speak for myself when I smoked. It killed my ambition. I just wanted to roll the next one and eat and laugh. But yeah, some people, it gets their minds going. I simply forgot to breath and would pass out. This was half my life ago that I quit

[SirTankalot]

I have Uthoff earmarked for that Sixers pick. If the C's used Olynyk in a trade for Horford, I think Uthoff could step in almost day one and replace Kelly.

Uthoff will be the Sam Dekker of the draft as in a guy who moves up 10-15 picks by being a top player on a team that makes a run in the tourney, thus going from being underrated to overrated. But like Dekker, he can play, given time to adjust to the NBA game. I would happily take him with a late first/early second.

[165bows]

Finney-Smith I could see coming here. Has that defensive versatile they were talking about.

[ddb]

IMO Ingram is closer to Durant than Simmons is to LeBron, considering those are the comparables I'm seeing.

I agree. Simmons is more Magic then LeBron too. But Ingram is like the 2nd coming of Durant. Its weird...like Durant is such a freak....i wasnt sure we would ever see a kid come along with Durant like size, skill and talent. Only took 8 years

[FlatearthZorro]

If we get like the 4th-5th pick, Jaylen Brown is the guy.

[FlatearthZorro]

With the Dallas pick wouldn't mind Sabonis or Zhou Qi..

[Murta]

I'm warming up to the draft more and more as the time goes by. Not sure where Dunn fits this team though, but he'd be a valuable player.

[DK-All Day]

I'm warming up to the draft more and more as the time goes by. Not sure where Dunn fits this team though, but he'd be a valuable player.

Do you think Smart and Dunn can play together?

[Murta]

I'm warming up to the draft more and more as the time goes by. Not sure where Dunn fits this team though, but he'd be a valuable player.

Do you think Smart and Dunn can play together?

I'd say yes with the right people around them. Dunn's passing and defensive intensity are great, but they'd need to have at least one stretch big and a sharpshooting SF.

Although, Payton and Oladipo were extremely unsuccessful this season with each other and pretty good in every other combo, so there's a tangible cautionary tale as Dunn is eerily similar to Payton and Smart to Dipo. But Rondo and Tony Allen co-existed in a title team.

The point from these two examples Smart would have to somewhat sacrifice the number of offensive possessions because I think that the reason Payton - Oladipo combo didn't work is both are assertive perimeter ball hogs with neither being a shooter. Smart would have to either develop 3PT range or become a cutter like Bradley played with Rondo is 2011-12.

The combo I don't see working at all is Dunn-Thomas.

If we end up with the 4th pick (Simmons, Ingram and Bender 1, 2, 3), I could see us trading Dunn similarly like PHI did with Orlando. The market would be Milwaukee, Utah and Philly if they get the Lakers pick. I like Dunn a lot in a vacuum, but no with this Celtic team. That's why I'm happy Dunn's value is improving, there's a need for better landing if BRK pick is indeed 4th or 5th.
Anything lower than Simmons, Ingram, Bender, Dunn, Brown range would be devastating.

[Who-rod]

I'm really coming around on Ellenson. If the Draft Lottery God's shine on us in the same manner they have historically, then I think he might be a nice consolation prize. He really reminds me of Kevin Love with a bit more athleticism, and small guy skills (ball handling, running the floor, etc.). His college stats are very similar as well, except Kevin shot the ball a lot more efficiently, which would be my one concern.

[FlatearthZorro]

Let's say we're sitting at 3 and Philly offers either Okafor or Noel for our pick. What do you do?

I'd take Okafor.

I wouldn't take either... Noel, cause he's about to get paid, otherwise he'd fit very, very well here. Okafor, cause he's 1 of those guys, who play in the post and isn't really great for our system, not to mention he's a chair on defense and has some off the field issues.

[Murta]

I'm really coming around on Ellenson. If the Draft Lottery God's shine on us in the same manner they have historically, then I think he might be a nice consolation prize. He really reminds me of Kevin Love with a bit more athleticism, and small guy skills (ball handling, running the floor, etc.). His college stats are very similar as well, except Kevin shot the ball a lot more efficiently, which would be my one concern.

Offensively, I loved Ellenson from the get go. He is polished and talented, there are sparse guys in the league who ever reach that level. We have yet to see if he will be able to do that against better athletes, but in terms of pure skill, there is nobody in this draft even close to Ellenson at this point of time.
But his defense is an abomination. His offensive proficiency is kinda what worries me about his defense. Ellenson was so well coached, why doesn't he play better defense? How much can he improve? Bentil dropped 42 on Marquette, Martin 27.