Raptors NBA Draft Thread: Damian Lillard (POR)

[cdel00]

When compared to the point guards considered to be the best draft prospects who played as point guards in college, Lillard compares thusly in “commits a turnover once every __ possessions”:
Damian Lillard: 8.3
Tu Holloway: 5.3
Tony Wroten: 4.5
Tyshawn Taylor: 4.5
Marquis Teague: 4.1
Scott Machado: 4.0
Kendall Marshall: 3.1
In Lillard, you have one of the nation’s best scorers while simultaneously being the most efficient/responsible with the ball. So there’s good reason at one point during the season, Ken Pomeroy (CBB stat god) tweeted something to the effect of, “Lillard might be having the best basketball season of any person at any level, ever.”

[cdel00]

Apparently he had the best workout in Portland since Durant....

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/201 ... iews-4005/

on another note Waiters is a dick. But funny none the less.

Two separate sources have confirmed that point guard Damian Lillard won the hearts of Trail Blazer officials with a solo workout for the team earlier this month that was sensational.

Lillard was said to be near flawless in the session, during which he was put through shooting drills and drills that tested his skills as a pick-and-roll point guard.

One person at the workout said, "I swear, he missed two shots the whole time -- that's all. He was amazing."

Another source was even stronger.

"It's the best workout we've had here since Kevin Durant," he said, echoing what others have said about that workout.

[Basketball_Jones]

Crap. He makes a ton of sense for Portland though. Congrats to them he's going to be a heck of a player.

[draft]

Bayless with less turnovers is a good player. We're not getting anything better at 8.

[cdel00]

.

Lillard did get some late interest from St. Mary's and Washington State, but Weber State offered a scholarship first. And when Lillard averaged 11.5 points his freshman year, a lot more schools came calling, but Lillard was loyal again and continued to work to become better.

"Work" might not even be the right word, because Lillard got up at 6 a.m. and trained six hours a day during his summers in Ogden, Utah.

"He is obsessive," Weber State head coach Randy Rahe said. "Every year, he erased a weakness. His catch-and-shoot game. His middle game. The pick-and-roll. He'll never be good enough in his mind, and that's going to make some NBA team very, very happy."

Lillard says he plays with a chip on his shoulder, but Young thinks he also plays with his heart on his sleeve.

"He just loves hoops," Young said. "He could have nice clothes and dress shoes on, not even be walking by a court but just see one in the distance ... and before you know it, he will be on that court running around and shooting."

Lillard gives a lot of credit to his dad - "for telling me to stop dunking and work on shooting, because a lot of people can't shoot" - and Young for the position he is in today.

"I always pushed myself really hard, but on the days that maybe I didn't feel like it, he pushed me harder," Lillard said.

"But I knew his dad, (Houston), played against him and knew what a competitor he was," Payton said. "Damian has the same mentality. He can score, he can pass and he can stop people. He is very talented and he works like crazy."

[cdel00]

Lillard has found the the practice court in NJ right now he's working.

[Weems]

Lilliard's my favourite remaining player by a long shot now.

[Double Helix]

The most optmistic projection I could offer up in order to get you psyched is a poor man's version of Kyrie Irving with less floor general skills. I realize how silly that sentence sounds but hear me out for a moment here while I attempt to explain.

Like Irving, we're talking about a guy who shoots it at a high percentage from deep, from mid-range, and from the free throw line while getting there a lot. Irving is defined by this attribute as much as anything. He had a .70 TS% at Duke and has a 0.56% now in the NBA. Nobody yet knows how good Lillard will look passing the ball if playing with better teammates. He claims he's a much better passer than he was able to showcase (and he seems pretty humble otherwise) and I have seen him throw some interesting bounce passes and kick outs that lead me to believe that he might be better here than advertised.

If you want to get pysched about him though try to look at him as a poor man's Irving. But keep in mind that he's a year older than Irving right now and he still isn't as good as him. Still, the similarities include: Good size for the PG spot. Good shooter from everywhere. Good at getting to the net and to the line. Good at finishing at the rim. Not a freakish athlete but solid. Good head on his shoulders. Irving is all of these things in better ways with better passing and that's why he went #1.

And now, a quick comparison of TS% and PER across the same players in college and the NBA:

Mo Williams final year at Alabama:
TS% 0.53
PER: 18.7

Mo Williams best year in the NBA (Since he's older):
TS% 0.59
PER: 17.2

------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeff Teague's final year at Wake:
TS% 0.62
PER: 24.0

Jeff Teague's most recent year in the NBA:
TS% 0.55
PER: 15.8

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Rodney Stuckey's final year at Eastern Washington:
TS% 0.57
PER: 31.0

Rodney Stuckey's most recent year at NBA:
TS% 0.54
PER: 17.6

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isiah Thomas' final year at Washington:
TS% 0.56
PER: 22.6

Isiah Thomas' rookie year:
TS% 0.57
PER: 17.6

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeremy Lin's final year at Stanford:
TS% 0.64
PER: 19.2

Jeremy Lin's most recent in the NBA:
TS% 0.55
PER: 19.9

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jameer Nelson's final year at St. Josephs:
TS% 0.59
PER: 31.5

Jameer Nelson's best year in the NBA (since he's older):
TS% 0.61
PER: 20.6

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kyrie Irving's only year at Duke:
TS% 0.70
PER: 32.5

Kyrie Irving's rookie year with the Cavs:
TS% 0.56
PER: 21.4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Damian Lillard's final year at Weber:
TS% 0.64
PER: 33.8

ROUGH CONCLUSION/INTERPRETATION: Lillard's accomplishments are no joke and this kind of shooting ability has translated into succesful shooting ability and above average PERs at the next level. You combine that with a special ability to draw contact and finish and there's no reason to think he can't be better than a Jeff Teague, Rodney Stuckey, Jameer Nelson, Jeremy Lin type of PG when he enters his prime years.

I think PERs of 16.5.0-19.0 could be acheievable if all works out for him and he finds himself in a great situation. The peak end of that would likely be his best in the league. I think PERs of 15.5-17.0 might be realistic projections. I will be surprised if he struggles beyond that with his skillset and %s.

Pretty crazy that some team is going to have this guy on a rookie scale contract as he's entering his prime years of 25-26. Talk about awesome value for cap management. Some of the other teams may be drafting guys who'll only be starting to showcase potential just as their rookie scale contracts up for extension (like the situation we find ourselves in with Derozan this coming season).

Definitely pulling for this guy no matter what happens.

I don't often bump posts but so far my predictions based on watching him and looking through his numbers before the draft, and my comparison of him to a lesser Kyrie Irving aren't looking too bad... right down to the ROY win.

[Fairview4Life]

I don't often bump posts but so far my predictions based on watching him and looking through his numbers before the draft, and my comparison of him to a lesser Kyrie Irving aren't looking too bad... right down to the ROY win. ;)

I also only bump posts where I look like a genius.

[Alfred]

Oh look, Appel was wrong again.

[BLKMASS]

Bayless clone. DO NOT WANT

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

[gerrit4]

I'd like to find a way to bump the post where I said we should draft Danny Granger, but not include the part about also wanting Gerald Green or Joey Graham.

[Tommy Gun]

LOL@ Appel.

[fredericklove]

We'd be sitting pretty well with this kid and getting another top 5 this year to develop a young talented core. Oh well there goes the luck of the Raptors.

[Alfred]

Anyway, I'm going to close this thread, but it's pretty obvious that Appel never knows what he's talking about, no matter how many times he returns under a new account.