2012 NBA Draft - Part V

[Nivek]

Can't pick White -- he's not bow-legged.

[7-Day Dray]

WizNasty's draft mancrushes year-by-year:

2009: Byron Mullen(s)
2010: Al-Farouq Aminu and Earl Clark
2011: Jeremy Tyler
2012: Royce White

I don't think that's a good sign for Royce.

[nate33]

I don't think this is true anymore. This isn't Andray Blatche's Wizards. With Nene, Seraphin, Booker, Vesely, Wall and Crawford, this team is full of guys who work hard and love to play. MKG would certainly fit into the new mindset, but I don't think we are a team that needs his leadership.

Agreed. I think people are living in the past when they say the Zards need MKG to be a leader and show them how to play hard.

Wow. We don't need leadership? We don't need guys that can't stand losing. That push teammates to work harder. That lead by example?

I don't know how to even respond to that.

I would think every single team in competitive sports would need players like that. The more the better.

But I guess we've got our full allotment. We don't need anymore.

We were undefeated in the Morris Almond era.

Way to take things out of context, Dat2U. Of course any team can use guys who work hard and can't stand losing. I'm just saying that leadership is no longer a crying weakness on this team. This team has a pretty good collective mindset ever since dumping McGee and Young. I'm not worried about them being lazy and not playing hard. The intangibles that MKG brings aren't as needed on our team as, say, Charlotte or Sacramento.

[Floater]

My man crushes probably started in 04.

04: Iguodala (My first SN was IGGYTOWIZAT5
05: Only had a 2nd so I didn't really have one
06: Craig Smith
07: Affalo and Nick Young were my top 2 where we were at but I preferred Stuckey and Young who were already gone.
08: Hickson and Batum, missed out on Batum.
09: Loved, loved, loved Harden but after the lottery, I knew we had no chance.
10: I really liked Pondexter with our 17th pick but Seraphin is panning out well.
11: Kawhi but 6th was too high to draft him
12: Beal in the 1st, D. Green in the 2nd or Crowder.

[VictorPage44]

I think MKG has more upside than Wallace. The only game Wallace flat out changed (and franchise for that matter) is when he karate kicked Gilbert's knee. I think MKG may have the capability to flat out take over games. If he gets his shot working well, he really could be an elite player. Whether he achieves that or not is certainly open to question.

I think MKG has slightly more offensive upside as well. I think he's a smoother, craftier player who doesnt rely on going full speed all the time, but dont downplay Gerald Wallace's skills or impact. If he could stay healthy, he'd have been a 4-5 time all star. He has an injury every year that always slows him down, but he plays like an allstar the majority of the time. He has personally sunk favored Wizards teams a handful of times, so I'm not where you're getting the "doesnt impact the game" theory from.

Gerald Wallace was 1st team all defense and an all star one year, another year he averaged 18,10, and 2 steals per game, another year he led the league in steals, and another year he averaged 2 blocks and 2 steals per game. Thats all while efficiently averaging 15-20 points per game, and like I said the numbers would look even better if he wasnt playing injured a lot of the time. That's the kind of impact I think MKG will have. He plays faster and harder then everyone like wallace. He's gonna get steals, blocks, rebounds, and easy buckets all day. Plus he has already shown the ability to hit quick and balanced pull up jumpers, and I think he's the kind of player that will refine all of his skills including shooting.

[The Consiglieri]

I am. Robinson's 7-3 wingspan clinched it for me. I'm not buying his standing reach measurement. I think he has legit PF size and won't really have a size mismatch against anyone.

Skillwise, I think he talents are ideal for today's pick-and-roll based game. Robinson may never be a big post threat, but you don't need much post scoring out of your PF. Your PF needs to be able to shoot 18-footers, and know how to pump-fake-and drive. Robinson can do all that. Robinson will also be able to receive the ball when rolling to the basket and finish in traffic. He might need a couple of years to refine his offensive game, but he has the skills.

I agree with your bolded assessment. I do think however that his standing reach measurements are accurate. Robinson had difficulty finishing in the post against shorter less athletic college defenders. The official measurements just reaffirm his relative lack of elite length.

I've never been sold on MKG, and still don't get why he's so highly rated.

Yeah, he's very athletic and has some on-court intangibles, but where are the basketball skills and production to merit a top-5 pick? I see a lot more Gerald Wallace in him than Scottie Pippen.

Great glue guy, but potential Alpha scorer? I don't think so.

MGK is a great slasher that can get to the rim off the dribble. He is a very good rebounder. He is an excellent defender. These are all important basketball skills.

MKG is one of four or five players in this draft with the potential to become a star. That's why he's so highly thought of.

[Dat2U]

You misunderstand--or misinterpret--me. I'm not saying that a team doesn't need leadership or that leadership is not an extremely valuable commodity. What I'm saying is that it would be a mistake to draft MKG, or anyone else for that matter, simply because of their leadership skills or because they play hard. With guys like Nene, Booker, and J. Singleton,if we resign him, I don't see there being a leadership void on Zards...as there was once was. Or a lack of guys who set an example by playing hard.

The biggest need the Zards have, IMO, is a wing player who can score. That's why I like Beal, who, like MKG, also plays hard and is very competitive.

And, for the record, as I've said before I wouldn't mind seeing MKG in a Zards uni...although I'm leaning toward TRob as my second choice after Beal.

No one is suggesting the that MKG be solely judged on his work ethic, but I don't think you can overrate it's importance in the scouting process. And vice versa, you can't solely judge a prospect based on how well he shoots the basketball.

Secondly, when you start talking about Wizards needs, you automatically lose me. The only need I see is talent. It's like I'm blind towards everything else right now. I look at the roster, there's John Wall, a near 30 yr old injury prone but solid 2nd tier big in Nene. A developing big in Seraphin and a hodgepodge of role players or potential role players. The only thing we don't need is another non-shooting PG. And I wouldn't hesitate against drafting a PG if he had the shot making ability & range to complement Wall (i.e. Lillard).

[Dat2U]

Way to take things out of context, Dat2U. Of course any team can use guys who work hard and can't stand losing. I'm just saying that leadership is no longer a crying weakness on this team. This team has a pretty good collective mindset ever since dumping McGee and Young. I'm not worried about them being lazy and not playing hard. The intangibles that MKG brings aren't as needed on our team as, say, Charlotte or Sacramento.

So if leadership is no longer a crying weakness, does that automatically make a strength?

The intangibles MKG has, I would want my team to have in spades. We can't have enough guys that absolutely hate to lose. That push other players to work out together. That go all out on the floor every time they step on the court. That absolutely love playing defense.

[Wizardspride]

So if leadership is no longer a crying weakness, does that automatically make a strength?

The intangibles MKG has, I would want my team to have in spades. We can't have enough guys that absolutely hate to lose. That push other players to work out together. That go all out on the floor every time they step on the court. That absolutely love playing defense.

I like MKG but what makes his intangibles any stronger than Wall/Nene etc?


Intangibles are great but you also need skill (a jumpshot).


Personally, I'm reluctant to gamble that BOTH Wall and MKG will become competent shooters.

[Dat2U]

I feel confident that Wall at 21 and MKG at 18 will work to no end to become competent shooters. To write both off as being doomed to be nothing more than bad shooters seems a little presumptive.

And offensive skill is much more than just knocking down a jump shot.

[sfam]

I feel confident that Wall at 21 and MKG at 18 will work to no end to become competent shooters. To write both off as being doomed to be nothing more than bad shooters seems a little presumptive.

And offensive skill is much more than just knocking down a jump shot.

Like most things in selecting draft picks it comes down to risk. There is a risk that Mkg won't develop a good shot, but I think the reward with MKG is higher than Beal and perhaps Robinson. I now think our lowest risk option is Beal, because he excels at a huge area of need for the Wizards. He's as close to NBA ready as he can be with one year of playing, and clearly can contribute big time next year. But three years down the road, we might be looking at MKG being an all-star level player (or perhaps, just a role player), while Beal is just a solid starter.

That said, EG seems to like to shoot for the fences as far as athletic types are, so it wouldn't at all surprise me if we went MKG if Robinson is taken second - in fact I would be surprised if he didn't.

[WizarDynasty]

vesely,cousins, westbrook, aaron grey, not of fan of almond all you were, wasn't a fan of blake griffin, or beasley, i complained of their lack of blocked shots, i complained of mcgee slow footspeed, getting drummond and royce will fast forward this franchise a decade.

[Wizardspride]

I feel confident that Wall at 21 and MKG at 18 will work to no end to become competent shooters. To write both off as being doomed to be nothing more than bad shooters seems a little presumptive.

And offensive skill is much more than just knocking down a jump shot.

I'm also confident that Wall and MKG will work to no end to become competent shooters.


But I'm not at all confident that they will EVER become competent shooters.

[jivelikenice]

I feel confident that Wall at 21 and MKG at 18 will work to no end to become competent shooters. To write both off as being doomed to be nothing more than bad shooters seems a little presumptive.

And offensive skill is much more than just knocking down a jump shot.

I'm also confident that Wall and MKG will work to no end to become competent shooters.


But I'm not at all confident that they will EVER become competent shooters.

I'm more confident in MKG than I am in Wall. He has a pretty consistent release out of his hands....He just has to clean up the motion a bit. With his work ethic I'm very confident he will develop into a reliable shooter.

Also was just watching some combine coverage and they mentioned that MKG takes losses very hard and cried whenever Kentucky lost. That's the type of presence we need. Someone who just won't accept losing and will work to no end to improve his own game and the team.

[closg00]

Post-measurements and work-outs, Leonard has shot-up the mocks past Zeller, no-one knew ahout the T-Rex arms.

[popper]

Regarding MKG and the observation that his biggest strength is defense I would submit the following; there isn't an NBA player to my knowledge that could stop, LBJ, Wade, Durant, etc. one-on-one. The NBA is all about team defense, therefore the value of C. Singleton and MKG need to be discounted as they, like all other NBA players, can't lock down the better players in the league. Until they become competent offensive players their value is greatly diminished.

I do hold out hope that Singleton and MKG will eventually become better offensively but let's not pretend that it is a foregone conclusion. In other words, it is unrealized potential (i.e. a big gamble)

[Rafael122]

Workout schedule: Robinson on Wednesday, Beal on Thursday, MKG on Friday.

[BruceO]

From a physical perspective i have to say wow to drummonds numbers. Someone whos 18 and 7 ft tall who weights 278 with little body fat who can jump 40 inches is monstrous. I would be curious about him from a defensive standpoint. I know we are debating between TROB, MKG and beal so the perrys seem out of the question so no surprises. We are working out rivers which makes me wonder..How much better is beal than rivers if at all? Rivers has a draft promise makes me think we will get him around 10 or 11

[BruceO]

From a physical perspective i have to say wow to drummonds numbers. Someone whos 18 and 7 ft tall who weights 278 with little body fat who can jump 40 inches is monstrous. I would be curious about him from a defensive standpoint. I know we are debating between TROB, MKG and beal so the perrys seem out of the question so no surprises. We are working out rivers which makes me wonder..How much better is beal than rivers if at all? Rivers has a draft promise makes me think we will get him around 10 or 11

[BruceO]

From a physical perspective i have to say wow to drummonds numbers. Someone whos 18 and 7 ft tall who weights 278 with little body fat who can jump 40 inches is monstrous. I would be curious about him from a defensive standpoint. I know we are debating between TROB, MKG and beal so the perrys seem out of the question so no surprises. We are working out rivers which makes me wonder..How much better is beal than rivers if at all? Rivers has a draft promise makes me think we will get him around 10 or 11