09-10 WizFans Official Draft Thread

[ErikChowbay023]

I say we draft Wes Johnson, and find a way to get Okafor...

We need highly talented guys, who also have high character and work rate... We do not need any more immature, lazy players. I dont care how good they are or could be.

[gesa2]

Weren't there whispers in NO early this season about how hard Okafor was working to come back from an injury, and what his level of commitment was? I'd take COusins on the rookie scale over Okafor any day. If you want to say we should go for Favors instead, or go with Johnson and a BOYD veteran center, I would still disagree but I could see your point better.

[NbdyBeatsTheWiz]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=mc-okaforhornets102209

yeah, Gesa, you're right, i'm pretty sure Chris Paul even called him out on it at one point.

as for Wes Johnson I'd be all about him... at picks 5 or later. I'd rank him right after Favors at 5. And I plan on nothing lower than a top 3 pick

[pancakes3]

Ed davis is in a freefall.

[REDardWIZskin]

I was against picking Cousins at first becuase of his lack of explosiveness and quickness but when i thought about our current roster, i saw that we have enough quickness and athleticism in the front court we need strength, an enforcer sort of like Perkins for Boston. I think cousins can be that guy. we may even be able to still get him if we fall to 5 again because i believe his stock will drop a little once it comes out that he is not 6'11. Favors may surpass him due to his motor and overall better shape hinting to his dedication to the game, which will show in workouts.

[Dat2U]

I was against picking Cousins at first becuase of his lack of explosiveness and quickness but when i thought about our current roster, i saw that we have enough quickness and athleticism in the front court we need strength, an enforcer sort of like Perkins for Boston. I think cousins can be that guy. we may even be able to still get him if we fall to 5 again because i believe his stock will drop a little once it comes out that he is not 6'11. Favors may surpass him due to his motor and overall better shape hinting to his dedication to the game, which will show in workouts.

Cousins is 6-11 270! How athletic & explosive you expect him to be? A 270 lb guy isn't going to move like a 240 lb one. He's a center for goodness sakes! Cousins athletically can hold his own against any NBA starting center with the possible exception of Dwight Howard. And Cousins could physically manhandle quicker & smaller PFs in the paint.

[Ruzious]

I was against picking Cousins at first becuase of his lack of explosiveness and quickness but when i thought about our current roster, i saw that we have enough quickness and athleticism in the front court we need strength, an enforcer sort of like Perkins for Boston. I think cousins can be that guy. we may even be able to still get him if we fall to 5 again because i believe his stock will drop a little once it comes out that he is not 6'11. Favors may surpass him due to his motor and overall better shape hinting to his dedication to the game, which will show in workouts.

Right now, Favors is listed at 6'10 and Cousins is listed at 6'11. I feel pretty confident that Cousins is at least an inch taller than Favors - maybe 2 inches. But I think the verticle leap is where Favors has the significant advantage.

[WizarDynasty]

yeah it looks like we are getting the sixth pick. Come on aldrich. we need his toughness. We say no to bosh and maybe we might be able to get a starting two way small forward. 6'8 guy that can post up, stop penetrating point guards, drive to basket with acrobatic ability, and hit the three ball. Miller is definitely a bench player. Howard can't last more than a half a season with his body breaking down. Thornton is extremely unskilled and has low basketball IQ..basically a more athletic version of caron butler. So maybe get a shane battier type player in free agency. Aldrich and his 7'4 wingspan and toughness work nicely with Blatche while mcgee takes another three years to fully develop.

[closg00]

yeah it looks like we are getting the sixth pick. Come on aldrich. we need his toughness. We say no to bosh and maybe we might be able to get a starting two way small forward. 6'8 guy that can post up, stop penetrating point guards, drive to basket with acrobatic ability, and hit the three ball. Miller is definitely a bench player. Howard can't last more than a half a season with his body breaking down. Thornton is extremely unskilled and has low basketball IQ..basically a more athletic version of caron butler. So maybe get a shane battier type player in free agency. Aldrich and his 7'4 wingspan and toughness work nicely with Blatche while mcgee takes another three years to fully develop.

For the minutes played next year, why draft Aldrich at 6 when we might be able to get Art Parakhouski at 30?
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Art ... uski-5690/

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

has anyone heard Turpin comparisons with regards to Cousins

Ole "Dinner Bel Mel", who ate himself out of the NBA?

More seriously, I really wonder if Cousins would be so well known if he wasn't playing on a team with John Wall, who attracts media attention to the squad, and makes it so other teams can't key in on stopping Cousins.

He is also 2nd in the NCAA's in PER... and he's doing it as a freshman.

nate, I'm convinced Cousins is the best prospect in this draft.

An anonymous NBA GM apparently might be leaning towards believing that as well:

While most people believe John Wall is the top overall prospect in the 2010 NBA Draft, there has also been people clamoring for Evan Turner to be included in the discussion. According to at least one GM, DeMarcus Cousins is also talented enough to be considered for the first slot

.

Read more: http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archi ... z0jyzYfDYG

What makes me absolutely certain that Cousins is the best pick is that as efficient as he is offensively, while on defense he goes for blocks, goes for steals, will rotate and defend guards all the way out at the circle, and he'll even take charges--as a freshman. Cousins thinks the game through at both ends. He's a good passer. The only thing he can't do well is shoot free throws.

At his size and and mobile and strong as he is, I'd easily take him over Wall or Turner with the first pick. His mental makeup would seriously clash with Saunders, however. Regardless, I'd take the good big man. Wall's really talented and so is Turner. However, Cousins is more uniquely talented.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I was against picking Cousins at first becuase of his lack of explosiveness and quickness but when i thought about our current roster, i saw that we have enough quickness and athleticism in the front court we need strength, an enforcer sort of like Perkins for Boston. I think cousins can be that guy. we may even be able to still get him if we fall to 5 again because i believe his stock will drop a little once it comes out that he is not 6'11. Favors may surpass him due to his motor and overall better shape hinting to his dedication to the game, which will show in workouts.

Cousins is 6-11 270! How athletic & explosive you expect him to be? A 270 lb guy isn't going to move like a 240 lb one. He's a center for goodness sakes! Cousins athletically can hold his own against any NBA starting center with the possible exception of Dwight Howard. And Cousins could physically manhandle quicker & smaller PFs in the paint.

I think Big Baby did a terrific job on Howard because of his base strength. Howards game is predicated on muscle and explosive movements. He owns Haywood mainly because Haywood's so weak offensively and can't get Howard to foul him. Cousins has enough game to hit a mid range shot and even can put the ball on the ground and drive. He's also massive around the basket. Howard would have to defend him harder than Big Baby--who can score against Dwight.

While I agree Cousins doesn't have the explosive quickness of Howard I think Howard would have a hard time with Cousins strength and Demarcus' willingness to run the court looking to score.

Another thing is Cousins has post moves. I think he'll be terrific at C in the NBA.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I dunno. Haslem has a pretty nice mid-range game. Patterson's ok...I guess the Haslem comparison is a fair one.

There are far worse comparisons than Haslem. DX has him as going around 10th. Haslem is definitely better than Jarvis Hayes(who Washington picked at number 10 the year Haslem was undrafted). However I think mid-first round is pretty reasonable.

Patterson seems to me to have more range and to be taller and faster than Haslem, but not the defender or rebounder that Udonis is.

[nate33]

At his size and and mobile and strong as he is, I'd easily take him over Wall or Turner with the first pick. His mental makeup would seriously clash with Saunders, however. Regardless, I'd take the good big man. Wall's really talented and so is Turner. However, Cousins is more uniquely talented.

I'm high on Cousins and would take him with the 2nd pick. I would not draft him ahead of Wall though. My one reservation about Cousins is that I don't think he'll be a defensive anchor for a team. He'll play good post defense and passable help defense, but I just don't think he'll own the paint like Howard or Duncan or any other elite center. Basically, what I'm saying is that Cousins doesn't have the potential to dominate at both ends and therefore has no chance of being an MVP type of player. He's good, but not that good.

Wall can be an MVP caliber player. He could be a bigger Chris Paul, a faster Gary Payton, a much better shooting Rajon Rondo. In this league, if you have a PG who can get into the lane at will and finish, you have a huge advantage over everybody else. And if that PG can also play lock-down D, then you've got it made.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Can't argue with any of that, nate.

I just think the team has Gilbert already. They have a coach that will not let Wall play his game. For all the ability Wall has, Flip's not a coach that will respect him early.

I think Cousin's being a true big would come in and provide what's missing and immediately start at C.

[NbdyBeatsTheWiz]

If this season has shown me anything, though, its that Flip doesn't exactly have an affinity for young bigs either. I'm just of the opinion Wall is a talent that qualifies as a BPA pick at #1 for whoever wins the lottery. But you guys are definitely selling me slowly on Cousins. Hopefully we will still be having the Wall vs. Cousins debate even after we find out where we are going to pick

[AceDegenerate]

Can't argue with any of that, nate.

I just think the team has Gilbert already. They have a coach that will not let Wall play his game. For all the ability Wall has, Flip's not a coach that will respect him early.

I think Cousin's being a true big would come in and provide what's missing and immediately start at C.

To all these wannabe GM's here, Gilbert is simply a pawn that will be dealt for junk next season. It's the reason they are pining for Wall, nobody truly wants to see Arenas/Wall in the backcourt together.

It's funny cause CCJ does the least BS pretend GMing here. He doesn't throw out 100000 scenarios and hope 1 sticks. Most the time he calls it how he see it and it's right.

The rest of you just keep throwing crap @ the wall and hope it sticks.

[NbdyBeatsTheWiz]

this is real GM, nothing we throw ever hits a wall to begin with. and i'm pretty sure everyone is OK with that. forums by definition are a meeting place for discussion. i never have the time to work up scenarios, but i've spent the last decade logging on here to keep up on new info as well as see what Lyrical, Dat, Nate, etc. have been tossing around.

i pine for wall because i think he's the best talent in the draft. the gap between him and the next guy could be less than i consider it, but i'm not trying to draft a michael beasley over derrick rose. drafting for team needs over talent leads to bowie over jordan, and "always draft the big man" leads to oden over durant. the argument could be made the other direction against BPA, but in my mind wall is a sure thing, can't miss, #1 pick this year.

in all likelihood, this is simply us throwing crap because i doubt we get the top pick. but again, it's a forum, so discussing it regardless doesn't get me worked into a tizzy.

[sfam]

So if we are interested in a defensive center, I'm still thinking Favors is a better choice than Cousins. He's gonna be a beast inside. Regardless, I'm still not sold on McGee as a starter. Maybe he grows up in a few years, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it. So getting a real top-flight center appeals to me a lot.

In other news, I think Golden State will probably get 3rd place in the draft. They have Washington and Minnesota as possible wins, along with a possible shot at the Clippers, whereas we have a sure win at New Jersey, plus games at Golden State and possible wins at NY and Indiana. If we win the game on Tuesday with Golden State, we most certainly get the 4th place in the draft. That means 7th becomes a possibility.

[sfam]

this is real GM, nothing we throw ever hits a wall to begin with. and i'm pretty sure everyone is OK with that. forums by definition are a meeting place for discussion. i never have the time to work up scenarios, but i've spent the last decade logging on here to keep up on new info as well as see what Lyrical, Dat, Nate, etc. have been tossing around.

i pine for wall because i think he's the best talent in the draft. the gap between him and the next guy could be less than i consider it, but i'm not trying to draft a michael beasley over derrick rose. drafting for team needs over talent leads to bowie over jordan, and "always draft the big man" leads to oden over durant. the argument could be made the other direction against BPA, but in my mind wall is a sure thing, can't miss, #1 pick this year.

in all likelihood, this is simply us throwing crap because i doubt we get the top pick. but again, it's a forum, so discussing it regardless doesn't get me worked into a tizzy.

I think most people here and everywhere else would probably pick Wall with the top pick, regardless if they had an Arenas or not. Regarding Arenas and Wall, I think they'd work find in the backcourt (I think Turner and Arenas probably work better, but that's just me). Whether or not we trade Arenas later in the season after his value rises again is really only an issue if we get Wall. Even if we trade him though, I don't see us giving him away just to dump the contract.

[AceDegenerate]

this is real GM, nothing we throw ever hits a wall to begin with. and i'm pretty sure everyone is OK with that. forums by definition are a meeting place for discussion. i never have the time to work up scenarios, but i've spent the last decade logging on here to keep up on new info as well as see what Lyrical, Dat, Nate, etc. have been tossing around.

in all likelihood, this is simply us throwing crap because i doubt we get the top pick. but again, it's a forum, so discussing it regardless doesn't get me worked into a tizzy.

Why is it that any time I bring an opposing view point, I need to be reminded that this is a discussion forum? Been here longing than you tough guy. I don't need to be read the rules.

Do you also need to be reminded it's a discussion forum and I can voice my opinion?

Did I not specifically point out that this is REAL GM? Where everybody thinks they are a GM?

I am commenting on the drivel I am reading. I've been reading here for years and if I was in agreement with everything I was reading I wouldn't bother to post, as has been mostly the case for the past couple years right up until the Gilbert incident.