General (Non-Wiz) Draft Discussion

[miller31time]

Continuation of the original thread which has reached the 100-page limit.

1st Draft Thread for the 2008/2009 Season

For nostalgia purposes....

Last Year's Draft Thread

[Halcyon]

First!

Anyway, here's to hoping that Blake Griffin will be in a Wizards uni by the time this thread reaches 100 pages!

[BigA]

First!
Anyway, here's to hoping that Blake Griffin will be in a Wizards uni by the time this thread reaches 100 pages!

I don't know about that, even if the Wizards luck into the 1st pick. It will be one of only a couple things to talk about. I expect that we'll be well into draft thread part 3 by the draft itself.

[Soup's Uncle]

Flip Saunders + Blake Griffin + Healthy Gilbert = Hope for me.

[Da HomeTeam]

We're not getting Blake. Give up hope!

[queridiculo]

We're not getting Blake. Give up hope!

Where are the mods when you need them?

[CaPtaiN eYeSaNo]

We're not getting Blake. Give up hope!

Never give up hope!

[Ji]

IF we dont get Blake or Rubio, you want to draft someone who is able to start right away especially if you are picking that high.

I still think James Harden is your man. He is a good player and needs to be on team with some talent around him. He was getting quadrupled team in the NCAA. If we draft him, he will be our starting shooting guard for the next 10 plus years and probably make an all star appearance or something.

[pancakes3]

8 posts into the new draft talk and the James Harden bus pulls itself out of the burning wreckage and starts up again.

But seriously, best player available at the 3 spot is the effortless lefty from AZ state.

[Dat2U]

Tyreke Evans is helluva lot more impressive to me than James Harden.

Steph Curry & Ty Lawson would also be ahead of Harden IMO.

Heck, if Evan Turner from OSU would come out, I'd put him ahead of Harden too.

Harden is not the next Brandon Roy, its not even close. It's going to be really hard for him to excel as a below average athlete on the NBA level.

Solid role player? Yes, there's a good chance he becomes one. Above average starter? I have serious doubts. I still say there's no chance of him being a top five pick in the draft. Especially once teams get him into workouts and see up close that he's a subpar athlete and that he's also an undersized 2.

The mock drafts always badly overrate a few prospects each year, Harden is one of them this time around.

[no D in Hibachi]

I simply cannot see Harden as a starter in this league. Especially from the get go. Just compare Nick Young to Harden ask yourself. Is he really worth the #3 pick in the draft? Seriously.

Height-Young
Athletism-Young
Quickness-Young
Ability to create own shot-Young, both mid-range and driving
Defender at the NBA level-Young
Handles-Young, some might say Harden, but he goes left more than Nancy Pelosi, I've watched a handful of his games and he never uses his right hand.
Shot-Young
Passing-Harden

Also, with the new offensive system which favors SG's who roll off screens and take mid-range jumpers who would you rather have taking those? I'd say Nick because he is taller, quicker to the spot, and has a pretty darned good mid-range j right now.

Harden is nothing more than Anthony Peeler to me except Peeler was more athletic and in better physical condition coming out of Mizzu. I'd do a salary dump at three before taking Harden.

[nate33]

Dat2U > Most Mock Drafts.

I'm going to stick with Dat's analysis and my own lyin eyes. Harden is not a top 5 pick.

[miller31time]

Obviously, it's an extreme comparison and not the most apt, but athleticism isn't always the best determinant of success in the NBA. Stromile Swift is the prime example of that one.

Larry Bird, on the other hand, was about as unathletic as they come but he had a ridiculously high IQ, a nice shooting touch and the will to win.

Harden seems to have the same qualities (though obviously nowhere near Bird).

[no D in Hibachi]

If you take into consideration that Nick Young does almost everything as good, or better than Harden except pass, while being a far superior athlete it makes the comparison not even worth talking about in my opinion. And I know you're trying to do the extreme comparison thing by making an analogy with Harden, but trying to prove something about Harden while using Bird is just wrong, man.

[miller31time]

If you take into consideration that Nick Young does almost everything as good, or better than Harden except pass,

And rebound and defend and play within the offense better and have a generally higher basketball IQ.

[Dat2U]

Obviously, it's an extreme comparison and not the most apt, but athleticism isn't always the best determinant of success in the NBA. Stromile Swift is the prime example of that one.

Larry Bird, on the other hand, was about as unathletic as they come but he had a ridiculously high IQ, a nice shooting touch and the will to win.

Harden seems to have the same qualities (though obviously nowhere near Bird).

If Harden was 6-9 and had a killer instinct, then yes, he's a top 3 pick and the Bird comparisons might be fair. I do like his on-court IQ but his lack of aggressiveness, athleticism and 6-4 stature precludes him from being anything more than role player.

If he was a mid-first rounder, I think I'd look at him far more optimistically than I do now as a potential high lottery selection.

[nate33]

If you take into consideration that Nick Young does almost everything as good, or better than Harden except pass,

And rebound and defend and play within the offense better and have a generally higher basketball IQ.

I maintain that Young plays pretty good defense - better than most of the guards on this team.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Obviously, it's an extreme comparison and not the most apt, but athleticism isn't always the best determinant of success in the NBA. Stromile Swift is the prime example of that one.

Larry Bird, on the other hand, was about as unathletic as they come but he had a ridiculously high IQ, a nice shooting touch and the will to win.

Harden seems to have the same qualities (though obviously nowhere near Bird).

miller, I'll side with you on this one.

I pick basketball ability over athleticism 8 times out of 10. Harden is smart and will be a darned good role player. I believe Dat is correct, that he's nowhere near as talented as Evans. Harden won't be a star at the next level, as I suspect Evans will be. OTOH when you look at what makes an effective role player Harden has all the intangibles.

Harden is highly skilled, a great passer, gets to the line a lot, an efficient scorer at 56% on 2pt shots, and he is a very willing passer. I could see him being a good catch and shoot type player. I also think with him being only 19 it's quite possible he does have upside as he gets stronger on an already strong frame.

I don't think Harden's a bad player at all.

[miller31time]

If you take into consideration that Nick Young does almost everything as good, or better than Harden except pass,

And rebound and defend and play within the offense better and have a generally higher basketball IQ.

I maintain that Young plays pretty good defense - better than most of the guards on this team.

You should also maintain that that's awfully faint praise.

[Dat2U]

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wireta ... 10_season/

Ed Davis is going back to school for his sophmore season.

Word is Greg Monroe is strongly leaning towards returning as well. Steph Curry is surprisingly giving alot of thought to staying as well. Apparently getting a degree is real important to him and his family.

Those three not entering could make this one of the weakest drafts of all-time. Those are three of my Tier 3 prospects. I've now got Lawson rated as the 4th best prospect in the draft. In most years he'd get drafted in the 8-12 range. There's an incredible lack of available prospects in the early-to-mid lottery range. Picks 3-8 will all be reaches! . I like Tyreke Evans but hesitate to think that prospect that's eerily similar to Larry Hughes (minus the injury bug) is worth the 3rd pick. I think Lawson will be a solid NBA starter but shudder to consider him the 4th pick. Is DeMar DeRozan worth a #5? Yikes...

The worst part of it all, Rubio still isn't a sure bet to stay in. If he's out of the draft, the #2 pick becomes a disaster as well.

TIER 1

PF Blake Griffin

TIER 2

PG Ricky Rubio

TIER 3

PG/SG Tyreke Evans
PF Ed Davis
PG/SG Stephen Curry
PG Ty Lawson
PF/C Greg Monroe

TIER 4

SG Demar DeRozan
SF Earl Clark
PG Eric Maynor
SG James Harden
SG Gerald Henderson
PF/C DeJuan Blair
SG/SF Chase Budinger
PG Jonny Flynn

TIER 5

C Hasheem Thabeet
PG/SG Jrue Holiday
PG/SG Jeff Teague
PG/SG Willie Warren
PG Brandon Jennings
PF James Johnson
PF Jordan Hill

TIER 6

SF Sam Young
PF Tyler Hansbrough
PF/C Craig Brackins
PF Patrick Patterson
PG Darren Collison
PG Patrick Mills
SG/SF Terrence Williams - moved up
PF Josh Heytvelt - moved up
SF/PF Austin Daye - added
SG Wayne Ellington
SG Jodie Meeks
SG/SF Danny Green
PG/SG Nick Calathes
SF Omri Casspi
SF Tyler Smith

THE PLEASE GO BACK TO SCHOOL TIER

SF/PF Al-Farouq Aminu
C B.J. Mullens
SF/PF DaJuan Summers
PG Greivis Vasquez
PF Taj Gibson - added