Draft Thread Continued. 2011 part two...

[Rafael122]

A sleeper of mine, Tyler Honeycutt. I think he can be our Thabo. He can play the 2 or 3, he's a very good perimeter defender. His outside shot is questionable but we're not gonna ask this guy to score much. His bread and butter would be defense.

[Ruzious]

Jordan Hamilton's best regarded asset is his shooting, and in his last 20 or so games, he shot over 50% once (7 of 13). And he's an average athlete at the 3 with below average quickness at the 2. Pass with the Atl pick - unless there's some reasonable excuse for his poor shooting.

[nate33]

Agree with both the above posts. Give my Honeycutt at #18 over Hamilton. Honeycutt seems to be pretty good at everything, except his jumper is inconsistent (but not awful). Basically, he's pretty good at the things that are difficult to learn (defense, athleticism, length, feel for the game, court vision, rebounding) and he's mediocre at the things that can be improved upon in time (shooting, girth, ball handling). He seems like the kind of guy who could be a real good pro after a year or two of filling out and honing his jumper.

[fugop]

It pains me a bit to say this, but I really like how Indiana has assembled role players for their team, basically by drafting or acquiring players who performed well in the final four. Collison, Hansborough, and Hibbert are all in their starting lineup, and while none of the three is going to be a star, all three can compete with the top talents.

The problem is that unless George becomes a star, Granger isn't good enough to carry them far into the playoffs. The best they can hope for is a Detroit team.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I'm coming around a bit on Biyombo. Two reasons is his supposed upside & potential confirmation about his age. The age thing is huge for me. It means little to nothing if a 21, 22 or 24 yr old is dominating 18 yr old kids in an all-star game. It means a lot more if an 18 yr old kid is dominating other 18 yr old kids and seems mature physically and mentally beyond his years.

If we're taking Biyombo, I'd say its gotta be about 80% or more based on what he showed in Spain with the Hoops summit just being an exclamation point. Therefore, if he's 20 or 19 or whatever and matching up well with Spaniards and Turks in their prime, that's solid.

On the flip side, even if he is 18 and thrashed other 18 year old's one fine day in Portland but with the scouts not liking the Spanish game film, I'd be very skeptical about him.

Looks like his per-minute production in the ACB is pretty solid, posting high numbers in blocks/boards per minute. That said, to put it in perspective, his per minute average was equivalent to other ACB stand-outs Nik Caner-Medley, Paul Davis, James Augustine...

Marc Gasol is the only Spanish League stalwart whose defensive numbers translated over the past 10 years. Okay, and Mike Ruffin.

Where he stands out is in that blocks per 40 tally, posting numbers rarely seen, indicating significant athleticism and enthusiasm. Though his foul rate attests to how raw he is, whatever his age.

Gut feeling on Biyombo based on the first footage I saw and him being a johnny-come-lately: The Wizards just drafted Seraphin. Biyombo isn't any better. Biyombo will NOT be better than Faried. They better not waste a pick on this guy.

Jon G liked Seraphin a lot at the last minute, too.

[LyricalRico]

Count me in on the "Honeycutt at 18" bandwagon. Didn't see him play until the Tourney but he strikes me as a guy that can contribute right away and eventually be the glue guy that good teams need. Basically everything Effries never was.

[Rafael122]

Count me in on the "Honeycutt at 18" bandwagon. Didn't see him play until the Tourney but he strikes me as a guy that can contribute right away and eventually be the glue guy that good teams need. Basically everything Effries never was.

Yup, smart basketball player as well. If we get say...Kanter or Williams with a top pick, Honeycutt with our 18th pick, I'd call that a successful draft. I think we should consider trading our 2nd round pick this year for a 2nd round pick next year. 2012 draft is going to be deep.

[Ed Wood]

It feels really weird to do this because I've been on Honeycutt on the regular since before it was cool; hell I know the bartender in Tyler Honeycutt, but it's worth keeping in mind that he wasn't that impressive a college player despite his strengths, and those few wayward souls who root for UCLA I've talked to are a little confused that Tyler is much of a prospect at this point at all.

He's in a weird grey area because he has everything you want (can handle it and pass, can shoot, has size, defends, can reobund) but whether he will do all of those things in a particular game is a bit of a toss up. Some of my optimism about him is based on the assumption that he'll be a better NBA player than a college player, just like everyone else drafted out of UCLA in the past five years, but I wouldn't bank on immediate and consistent contribution.

[theboomking]

Ed Wood, yours is my favorite avatar of all time.

I like Honeycutt, but I'm not sure if I prefer Honeycutt or Singleton. I may lean toward Singleton as a guy who can possibly defend 3 positions in the pro's.

For those who said they would trade our pick this year and next to move up, I absolutely wouldn't. Next year, the topp of the draft will feature GIlchrest, Quincy Miller, Harrison Barnes, Jared Sullinger, Perry Jones, Anthony Davis, Bradley Beal, and more. Any top 7 or 8 pick might get you a future all star.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

I like Honeycutt also, and it's funny he also reminded me of Effries also... I remember thinking "he's like Effries if he was smooth and had some offensive game".

But I've been thinking he might be there for our 2nd rounder. The 18 I'm hoping for Markieff Morris or Singleton. Faried or Harper are others I like. Nolan Smith would be a nice addition also.

I wouldn't be mad with Honeycutt at 18. But I'd like him a whole lot more in the 2nd round.

[spaceman_E]

Gut feeling on Biyombo based on the first footage I saw and him being a johnny-come-lately: The Wizards just drafted Seraphin. Biyombo isn't any better. Biyombo will NOT be better than Faried. They better not waste a pick on this guy.

Jon G liked Seraphin a lot at the last minute, too.

BB is a C, Faried a PF. I'm not sure why they should be mutually exclusive. I'd also say Biyombo is better than Seraphin and has far more potential as well.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Gut feeling on Biyombo based on the first footage I saw and him being a johnny-come-lately: The Wizards just drafted Seraphin. Biyombo isn't any better. Biyombo will NOT be better than Faried. They better not waste a pick on this guy.

Jon G liked Seraphin a lot at the last minute, too.

BB is a C, Faried a PF. I'm not sure why they should be mutually exclusive. I'd also say Biyombo is better than Seraphin and has far more potential as well.

Then if they draft BB I hope the trade Kevin.

[Hoopalotta]

Biyombo would almost surely spend another year in Spain with the CBA thing, so we could try and develop Seraphin next year (assuming there's a season) and then deal him later.

[Hoopalotta]

I don't know if it was mentioned, but it looks like popular mid-round sleeper Mirotic is out of this draft:

DraftExpress: More bad news for the 2011 Draft: Nikola Mirotic on verge of signing a 3-year extension w/Real Madrid. Likely knocks him out of this draft.

DraftExpress: Nikola Mirotic has a contract with Real Madrid for another two years after this season. This new deal would tack on three more on to that.

DraftExpress: Nikola Mirotic's buyout right now is 2.84 million dollars. Would increase a little under the new deal. Not a managable number unfortunately.

[closg00]

I don't know if it was mentioned, but it looks like popular mid-round sleeper Mirotic is out of this draft:

DraftExpress: More bad news for the 2011 Draft: Nikola Mirotic on verge of signing a 3-year extension w/Real Madrid. Likely knocks him out of this draft.

DraftExpress: Nikola Mirotic has a contract with Real Madrid for another two years after this season. This new deal would tack on three more on to that.

DraftExpress: Nikola Mirotic's buyout right now is 2.84 million dollars. Would increase a little under the new deal. Not a managable number unfortunately.

Damn!! Another option off-the table, Justin Harpers stock just went up.

[gesa2]

Is he out of the draft, or just a bad option for a mid first?

If we drafted him in the second round, we could potentially get around the buyout more easily.

[Hoopalotta]

^ I don't really know, but Givony took off the 2011 mock.

[fishercob]

Seems like a good option for a draft and stash second rounder... If he's a first round talent and we're going to have a glut of young'ns for the next year or two...

[jivelikenice]

Whats the consensus here on Terence Jones? At the beginning of the season I was extremely high on him but he seemed to battle inconsistency as the season wore on. I still like the talent level though and think he can be an asset in the half court running a lot of pick up pop with Wall and I think he projects to be able to post up other small forwards he goes against. The obvious #1 choice is Derrick Williams, but we can do worse than Jones with our lotto pick.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

jivelikenice, agree about TJones. I was real high on him early too, but he wasnt dominant... but as a freshman put good numbers & showed solid all around game. Physically he's NBA ready, and I'd be fine if he's our pick if Williams is gone.