1st rd pick general discussion #2 overall (Poll Added)

[fatlever]

ive just spent 2 hours reading about beal, mgk, drummond and trob. its stressing me out and we are still a month away from the draft.

[must... turn... off... internet]

[Rich4114]

ive just spent 2 hours reading about beal, mgk, drummond and trob. its stressing me out and we are still a month away from the draft.

[must... turn... off... internet]

I've been trying to learn as much as possible on these guys too. It's hard to not fall into the trap of the mix tape causing me to fall in love with one of these guys so I'm trying to add everything up everyone else is saying.

Drummond looks so tempting but when you see he has zero offensive game except for dunking and blocking it makes me extremely nervous. He looks like DeAndre Jordan to me but he's also like 19 and could just as easily end up being coached to have better offense.

Robinson looks like the most explosive but he might have to play SF. With a better jump shot I guess he can. He has an NBA body for sure.

MKG - looks interesting but if his ceiling is Gerald Wallace than wtf is the point.

Beal - not sure I get why some people rank him so high. He seems like a non-special SG who is really a few inches too short. I may have heard "the next Ray Allen" somewhere but does anyone else agree? I'd draft him if he's the next Ray Allen but we can do without the next Randy Foye.

Barnes - needs to get better in some areas but he just looks like an NBA player. I saw Glen Rice as the upside somewhere on him... that would be pretty nice to have.

Ugh, I dunno. Just hope Cho knows better than me is all I can say.

[HornetJail]

MKG - looks interesting but if his ceiling is Gerald Wallace than wtf is the point.

Gerald Wallace was a really good player. Our problem was that he was "the man" for all those years. He would have been great as a second or third option, playing a Shawn Marion role on a championship caliber team. If we ever build a championship team, MKG could be our Shawn Marion. Every championship team needs one (see: MWP, Tayshaun Prince, etc.).

Drummond is a once-in-a-few-years kind of player though. Bigs with his athleticism are RARE. He's got a sky high ceiling. I'd take him before MKG.

[Eoghan]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpzna9UZazQ&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Watch this video, and if you still don't want T-Rob I just don't know what to say.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1xHtOMCJPg&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Truly disgusting, I don't see how you can watch this and still want this man.

BLAHHHHH @ averaging 10 pts and 7 rebounds

I've seen both of those already. I do want T-Rob, just not as much as Drummond.

All those flaws of Drummond are directly related to not being properly coached. He's been coasting on his athleticism and found out this year at UConn he can't do that anymore. He'd have to be a complete idiot to not know he needs to work on his game now. The broken FT (that more than anything tells you how incompetent UConn's coaching staff was this year), the poor ability to box out, the lack of aggression inside (related to fear of going to the line); all easily fixable. What he excels at are things you can't teach. The only way I see Cho picking Robinson over Drummond is if Drummond just literally has (Please Use More Appropriate Word), unteachable bbIQ

[BlackOutBuzz]

I kinda touched on this in an earlier post...and it may have been a different draft thread, but why does it seem like prospects are evaluated solely on "what have you done for my lately?" I mean, I find it very telling that the top 5 "consensus" picks are all either one and done or, in T-Rob's case, a guy who just really broke out this year.

Last year guys like Barnes, PJ3, Sully, etc. were likely top 5 picks, and now they're pushed back for the latest freshmen. To me, it's the law of averages. With so many incoming freshman, it just makes sense that a few of them would break out. By that same logic, it's irrational to think they'll be able to put together two consecutive seasons with that success (at least not very often). My point is that, what would we think about the top 5 if they went back for another season? It's entirely possible that they would still be top prospects, but it seems like we would look to the shiny new players (Shabazz, Noel, etc.) regardless.

I mean, what would MKG look like after a sophomore season where he would be "the guy"? Would he emerge as a viable option at number one overall? Or put together a solid-to-underwhelming season and lose stock like Barnes? I guess I'd rather take the guys who have already had their "sophomore slump" over someone who may experience that in the NBA. Especially if the "slump" season was still pretty good. Think back to Barnes after his freshman year, would you rather have Barnes after that season or MKG after his freshman season? I'm not sold on MKG (or Beal, or Andre, but especially not MKG), and still think Barnes is one of the better prospects and the best option at the 3.

That's not to say I don't like any of these guys, I just don't see why a player with one good season under his belt is more highly rated than someone who had multiple good seasons, even if the last one was a bit underwhelming. And it's not just freshman, Robinson was virtualy unknown until this season. That's why I hate when the pundits talk about player ceilings, and how unlikely they are to develop to the pro game. Just look at Robinson, he wasn't even on the radar a year ago. So why do some people think that Beal or Drummond can't develop into someone who can take over a game (a la Robinson), when they've shown so much more at this point in their careers?

I know that's a bunch of scattered thoughts but I just wanted to get some opinions.

[JMAC3]

Anthony Davis
Ceiling- Kevin Garnett
Average- Marcus Camby
Floor- Brandon Wright

Andre Drummond
Ceiling- Dwight Howard
Average- Deandre Jordan
Floor- Kwame Brown

Bradley Beal
Ceiling- Ray Allen
Average- Rodney Stuckey
Floor- Randy Foye

Thomas Robinson
Ceiling- Karl Malone
Average- Paul Milsap
Floor- Darrell Arthur

Michael Kidd Gilchrist
Ceiling- Paul Pierce
Average- Gerald Wallace
Floor- Josh Childress

Harrison Barnes
Ceiling- Danny Granger
Average- Dorrell Wright
Floor- James Jones

Here are my comparisons to these guys... My biggest thing here is that MKG has the skills and drive to be more then Gerald Wallace/Andre Iguodala which is what I think his average would be.... I think his ceiling is that off a Paul Pierce or Scottie Pippen...

[TheKingofSting]

After watching the MKG workout it appears to be between MKG and Beal with picking Drummond maybe a 0.1 % possibility.

[YamiRain]

MKG could be D wade at his Ceiling like some people were saying, If he improves his jump shot, ala Erik Spoelstra

[mg]

^Without quoting your entire post I believe the new 'shiny' players are in higher demand because the NBA draft is all about potential. NBA execs want to hit a homerun in the lottery where one player can turn around the luck of an entire franchise. Most lottery teams are awful and need a franchise type player so they get desperate and go for the high risk high reward types which are typically the younger players whose weaknesses haven't been exposed yet. Of course these players are typically raw and have a higher chance to bust. I can't blame a kid for declaring for the draft after his freshman season when they are a consensus top 5 pick. Just look at what happened to someone like Sullinger who might not get picked in the top 10 this year. The longer they stay in school the more they will be scrutinized.

Teams picking later might have a franchise player and tend to pick safer players that have proven themselves a bit more in college and can contribute right away. ( Or like San Antonio can afford to gamble and stash players in Europe.)

IMO Jeff Taylor might turn out to be the best SF in this draft but he won't get picked until the end of the first round because he is a senior and supposedly won't get much better(even though he has gotten better each year in college). If I was a betting man I would wager Taylor will have a better NBA career than a good number of kids picked in the lottery.

[mg]

MKG is nothing like Paul Pierce. MKG is much more athletic. Pierce was a tank coming out of college. I will stop short of saying MKG's shot is broken. He will score a ton of easy points off dunks and in transition but will never be an offensive weapon in the half court like Pierce. Rich man's Crash is the better comparison.

Call me crazy but I see a little bit of Blake Griffin in TRob. Robinson has the more advanced post game and jumpshot and not quite Griffin's athleticism but I can see some similarities there.

[YamiRain]

Marshon Brooks plays like a old Kobe
Brad Beal plays like a old Ray Allen, he has no explosion

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vC81QmG91o[/youtube]

ok i like this guy now

[HornetJail]

Ray Allen basically did that last night.

[Wonderllama]

ESPN took this same poll. The people are calling for MKG:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/fp/flash ... lId=140332

[Nanogeek]

All those flaws of Drummond are directly related to not being properly coached. He's been coasting on his athleticism and found out this year at UConn he can't do that anymore. He'd have to be a complete idiot to not know he needs to work on his game now.

I agree but there have been idiots before.

[TheKingofSting]

T-Rob reminds me of DeJuan Blair with better knees.

[Dorko]

T-Rob reminds me of DeJuan Blair with better knees.

You dont take Dejuan Blair with the #2 overall.

[JMAC3]

Via ESPN

"By most accounts, including the one today by our own Chad Ford, the Bobcats will take one of two players with the No. 2 pick in the draft -- Kansas PF Thomas Robinson or Kentucky SF Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

Currently, there seems to be more buzz for Robinson going to Charlotte.

Writes Fran Fraschilla of ESPN: "Bobcats' No. 2 pick will come down to T-Rob and MKG. Ultimately, I'd take T-Rob's scoring, toughness and NCAA best defensive rebounding %."

By no means does this mean the Bobcats will surely take Robinson over MKG, though. And Charlotte certainly could use an upgrade at both forward positions, so this could end up being a real interesting pick on draft day."

[Marino]

T-Rob reminds me of DeJuan Blair with better knees.

Its a good thing you are not a scout then.

[TheKingofSting]

You dont take Dejuan Blair with the #2 overall.

Exactly

Via ESPN

"By most accounts, including the one today by our own Chad Ford, the Bobcats will take one of two players with the No. 2 pick in the draft -- Kansas PF Thomas Robinson or Kentucky SF Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

Currently, there seems to be more buzz for Robinson going to Charlotte.

Writes Fran Fraschilla of ESPN: "Bobcats' No. 2 pick will come down to T-Rob and MKG. Ultimately, I'd take T-Rob's scoring, toughness and NCAA best defensive rebounding %."

By no means does this mean the Bobcats will surely take Robinson over MKG, though. And Charlotte certainly could use an upgrade at both forward positions, so this could end up being a real interesting pick on draft day."

All speculation, Bonnell says the FO has no idea right now who we'll take.

[KingCat]

Why take MKG over someone like Drummond. Both are risky players, but Drummond has the potential to be Dwight Howard . While MKG has the potential to be Gerald Wallace Why go for Gilchrist, when we can hit the home-run with Drummond