Post#195 » by Netaman » Fri Jun 27, 2008 2:32 pm
Ok well here is my draft review FWIW.
Brooke Lopez - Don't love the guy, but I think it is a very solid pick. IMO he will add something important to this team that we haven't had since 01, some inside offense. Many here might not remember, even though it seems like just yesterday, but Todd Maccollough was a really important cog in that 50 win Nets team. He was always the guy we went to at the beginning of the game in the half court, and even though he had absolutely no athleticism and nothing to do with our fast break offense, he was a really nice complementary player. It is important to have a big man that knows how to play with his back to the basket, make passes out of the post, and use his size inside to help balance the court. In short, my expectations for Brooke Lopez is going to be a more athletic Todd Maccullough. Maybe a rich man's Nick Collison? Plus lets not forget 2 important things. He is only 20 years old and he has great character/toughness. He definitely has the potential to be even better then that. I can understand people wanting more potential out of a first round pick but at #10 the players simply didn't fall to us. Eric Gordon was the guy I really wanted.
Ryan Anderson - Don't know much about him but from what I can gather his is a slightly taller Kyle Korver. If that is the case then I love the pick. This team simply needs lights out shooters in any form. He's got good size and can play either the 3 or the 4 so I think this could end up being a very nice bench pickup. I have always hated Boki because he is so inconsistent so hopefully Anderson can be an upgrade there.
CDR - The guy I wanted at 21 - very good pick here. I love his toughness and size, he should at minimum become a solid reserve. Love that he has no fear of taking big shots. Every pick in the NBA draft is a crap shoot (just ask Antoine Wright) but I am personally hoping this one works out. At minimum I think CDR is better then Wright, albeit similar in style.
RJ Trade - Overall I think its a solid trade. Not good or bad per say, that will simply depend on Yi, but very solid. Jefferson had really shifted from one of my favorite players to one of my least favorite over the last few years because quite simply he overrated himself. He is nothing more then a good 3rd player on a team but because we gave him a really big contract and counted on him as a go to guy sometimes he thought he was an all star - which he is not. His shot has improved but it is still not good. His defense has completely regressed and his athleticism is getting worse each day. His attitude at this point was probably more of a negative in the lockeroom then a positive, and lets not forget that little story about getting in a fight a night club. Weren't there rumors about the Nets clubbing too much any ways?
As for what we received in the trade Simmons to me is a solid replacement for RJ. He is basically RJ light. Offensively he won't do as much but he can replace everything defensively. The injury thing to me is a wash because RJ hasn't exactly been durable the last 3 years. I would prefer to get an exciting young player with athleticism to compliment him either as the 6th man or starter (Mickael Pietrus, Josh Childress, maybe CDR) but all in all a solid fill in type. As for Yi, he is basically the wild card of the trade. If it had been the 6th pick of last year's draft instead of Yi I think most of us would have said this trade was a definite win. From what I have seen of Yi his shot looks much better then Krisitic's ever was however he is a total outside player. Again he is only 20 and he is already 7' tall so the potential is there, but in the meantime I think he will easily absorb Krisitic's role. Again, I will never argue against this team adding a shooter because quite simply it is something we have lack for a decade now. IMO Yi is probably a better pure jump shooter then RJ.
Overall with 4 assets we got ourselves the best inside presence we have had since Maccullough, 2 shooters, a slasher with some potential, a solid SF/6th man, and some cap room. Not too bad.
As I said before I think there are still some moves to be made. In a perfect world we could swing a S & T for a 2/3 like Childress or Gordon and then use our MLE and LLE to fill in the roster. Anyways here is a generous prognostication of how I would like to see our lineup in October.
Harris --------- Pargo (MLE)
VC ------------- CDR
Childress ----- Simmons
Yi -------------- Swat ------------ Anderson
Lopez --------- Boone ---------- Vet with the LLE (Kurt Thomas maybe?)