Official 2013 Draft Thread - Part I

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I don't think we can pick a undersized SG. The "best player available" mantra can be taken too far. As we have discussed in the past, you apply BPA to separate players into tiers, but then you consider need when picking within that tier. Once we consider need, McLemore is going to get ruled out.

I believe Marcus Smart is a much better pick than McLemore or Shabazz Muhammed.

A player who is a no-brainer good fit is Otto Porter.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Yeah, that was the first game where you could see the freshman McLemore essentially saying "I'm taking over" and he did right from the start of the game - when he DROVE TO THE BASKET for a layup. It was a GREAT performance in a huge game. Compare him to Goodwin of Kentucky - the other extremely physically gifted shooting guard. Goodwin is a great penetrator - someone who is gifted at creating his own shot, but his individualistic play takes his team out of rhythm so much of the time, and he has no outside shot. Granted, he's younger, and he'll improve, but I don't think there's any doubt that McLemore is the better prospect - even though he's the guy with the rep as a shooter, while Goodwin is the guy who creates his own shots.

Let me clean that up for you:

Yeah, that was the first game where you could see the 20 year old McLemore essentially saying "I'm taking over" and he did right from the start of the game - when he got the tip and took two basic dribbles to get a layup at the rim without defensive interference

McLemore may be better than Goodwin (I agree with you on Goodwin) but that doesn't make him worthy of a top 5 pick.

I'm not on the McLemore bandwagon, but he turned 20 yesterday. 2/11

[Dat2U]

I don't think we can pick a undersized SG. The "best player available" mantra can be taken too far. As we have discussed in the past, you apply BPA to separate players into tiers, but then you consider need when picking within that tier. Once we consider need, McLemore is going to get ruled out.

I believe Marcus Smart is a much better pick than McLemore or Shabazz Muhammed.

I agree and Smart is the youngest of the 3 and has a huge advantage in terms of ball-handling and creating for others. I view McLemore & Muhammad as one dimensional players albeit they may excel at their respective strengths.

[REDardWIZskin]

find out who San Antonio and OKC like... and draft him... Keep Ernie out of this process!

[REDardWIZskin]

Otto Porter will be the best SF from this draft class. Looking at his steals, rebounds and assist #'s coupled with the low TO's I think he and Beal next to Wall would be a good tandem going forward. He can develop his shot more. If he tests well athletically I think he will could move into the top 5

[Upper Decker]

At this point I'd be fine with any of the following:

Noel
Zeller
Muhammad
Smart
Len
Porter (I'd prefer not, but willing to accept)
MacLemore (I'd prefer a trade, but could live with him) How about Maclamore + Ariza for Ersan Ilyasova?

Beyond that the draft gets pretty scary. The one player I’m not feeling good about is Anthony Bennett. Jamison really got my stomach in knots about undersized PF’s who struggle defensively. The book on Bennett is that he’s an undersized PF who is very poor defensively. Hopefully we don’t have to worry about picking 9th or 10th.

[nuposse04]

A few thoughts on Porter, since it was the first time I got to see him play live...

His game is very quiet. He has his moments where he made a nice drive to the basket, but a lot of the production seemed to in the flow of the game (which is a good thing to me). Think he had 21 points last night, some of it off FTs, (apparently he shoots the FTs if someone on the opposing squad gets a T). His 3 point shot looked solid. He had some misses, but they weren't horrendous.

He's a little like Beal in that if "the right play" isn't immediately presenting itself to him he'll swing the ball out. He also got the ball a lot when the clock was running down on him.

His defense is surprisingly good, he's able to mix it up with some of the bigger guys as well. I didn't see many blocked shots from him, but his length definitely altered some shots. Rebounding was alright, he was able to draw a foul on a defender by getting superior position. His length allows him still be effective against smaller 3s even though he seems like an average athlete. He could be a viable option as a stretch 4 in small ball lineups.

Wall
Beal
Webster
Porter
Nene

that's pretty damn good floor spacing. I'd like to see him add 10-15 lbs if at all possible though. Oh and his passing is excellent, he had some hockey assists last night as well. If the Hoyas make a run in the tourney his stock is only gonna go up further.

[fishercob]

these Porter descriptions remind me of Kawhi Leonard.

[nuposse04]

He's got better passing ability than Leonard...he'll be able to post up smaller SFs and make some excellent passes so long as our other players have the competency to cut towards the basket. In seasons past I'd say that's predicated on a large hypothetical but I think we're beginning to have players who could take advantage of that facet of Porter's game.

He's like Paul George sans to stupid good hops, plus better passing.

[REDardWIZskin]

thats who he reminds me og Fish, except his doesnt have the size Kawhi had or wasnt as dominant on the boards. But in terms in length, defense, intangibles, and improvement from frosh to soph yr (3 pt) there are some similarities.

[Dark Faze]

If Shabazz is there we're going to take him. He scores primarily off the ball and doesn't hold the ball long before passing it back out. He's like an SF version of Beal really. Can't pass up on that, as it suits Walls game perfectly.

[Rafael122]

The system JT 3 runs, while it's good for college basketball often doesn't bode well for first round picks unless you're a big man like Hibbert. It restricts certain players and their abilities to shine. Porter is a great example of this, if he were playing at Duke or even UNC, he'd be in he running for player of the year. He'd have more freedom to do what he wants. Heck, Nate Lubick looks like he could be a 2nd round pick, underrated passer within his system. In fact, I would think Noel would have been great in the Princeton. But anyway, yeah, Porter has lottery talent. In any other system he'd be the top pick and player of the year, but the Princeton hurts his stock somewhat.

I'd put him as my #2 or #3 prospect. He's that good.

[Ruzious]

Yeah, that was the first game where you could see the freshman McLemore essentially saying "I'm taking over" and he did right from the start of the game - when he DROVE TO THE BASKET for a layup. It was a GREAT performance in a huge game. Compare him to Goodwin of Kentucky - the other extremely physically gifted shooting guard. Goodwin is a great penetrator - someone who is gifted at creating his own shot, but his individualistic play takes his team out of rhythm so much of the time, and he has no outside shot. Granted, he's younger, and he'll improve, but I don't think there's any doubt that McLemore is the better prospect - even though he's the guy with the rep as a shooter, while Goodwin is the guy who creates his own shots.

Let me clean that up for you:

Yeah, that was the first game where you could see the 20 year old McLemore essentially saying "I'm taking over" and he did right from the start of the game - when he got the tip and took two basic dribbles to get a layup at the rim without defensive interference

McLemore may be better than Goodwin (I agree with you on Goodwin) but that doesn't make him worthy of a top 5 pick.

Dat, in your attempt at a correction, you described Travis Releford; not McLemore. Releford - not McLemore - got the a layup off of the opening tip. In their first set play, McLemore drove to the hoop for a layup. Maybe you've been getting them confused the whole time - as they are about the same size - and Releford's a pretty good athlete himself. Releford is strictly a jump shooter on offense - and a very good defender. McLemore scores in a very wide variety of ways - as most people who watched - saw yesterday. We've already discussed the age thing - he's 1 year older than other freshmen because he had to sit out last year. Everyone knows that. He's still a freshman playing on a team with upperclassmen, so there was the period of time when he deferred to the upper classmen. That changed yesterday - which is what I was trying to point out.

[Ruzious]

I don't think we can pick a undersized SG. The "best player available" mantra can be taken too far. As we have discussed in the past, you apply BPA to separate players into tiers, but then you consider need when picking within that tier. Once we consider need, McLemore is going to get ruled out.

I believe Marcus Smart is a much better pick than McLemore or Shabazz Muhammed.

I agree and Smart is the youngest of the 3 and has a huge advantage in terms of ball-handling and creating for others. I view McLemore & Muhammad as one dimensional players albeit they may excel at their respective strengths.

The only one I strongly disagree with you there is McLemore. But with Smart, you've got issues you need to figure out before drafting him - that are still unknowns, imo. First and foremost is - what position is he? Second, can he shoot? He's got a pretty good looking stroke, but the ball doesn't go in the basket at a great rate. Why is that? He's not the most explosive athlete in the world. If he plays the 2, is he at a physical disadvantage - considering he's probably a little under 6'4 and doesn't get off the ground very well. He can over-power any college guard, but how is that going to work in the NBA - going against strong guards who are quicker than he is? Right now, if I was to project him, I'c compare him to a young Dwayne Wade - but without the athletic explosiveness. Would Wade be a great player without that explosiveness?

[Ruzious]

Doesn't really matter if Zeller is 7" or not. He has a 6'9 wingspan, which probably means a short standing reach. Basically he's a center with the wingspan of some guards.

I think the measurements are going to be important for him. If he truly does have a short standing reach, that will negatively affect his draft position.

If his standing reach is similar to his brother's (8'8") then we maybe looking at late lottery pick/mid 1st rounder.

There's a better chance of the Wizards making the playoffs than there is of Zeller lasting till mid 1st round. You talked about age before - Look what he's done vs his brother at the same ages. Where was his brother picked? You know he's going to get picked earlier, because he's proven he's a better player.

[TGW]

I don't think we can pick a undersized SG. The "best player available" mantra can be taken too far. As we have discussed in the past, you apply BPA to separate players into tiers, but then you consider need when picking within that tier. Once we consider need, McLemore is going to get ruled out.

I believe Marcus Smart is a much better pick than McLemore or Shabazz Muhammed.

A player who is a no-brainer good fit is Otto Porter.

Agreed with Porter. Smart probably wouldn't be a good fit unless we moved Wall.

I think the Wizards will probably draft a big, because outside of the two 30-year olds, we are very weak.

[Dark Faze]

If McLemore is there and we miss on Shabazz/Nerlens I take him merely as trade bait.

Between two expirings, McLemore, some of our young guys, etc we should definitely be able to get something of good value in a package.

[pancakes3]

I think that if we whiff on Shabazz/Noel, we would do well to trade down or out. The mid-lotto picks of Zeller/Len/Austin/Bennett/McLemore don't really wow me and the value picks at the bottom of the lotto: Porter, Smart, Oladipo, and McCollum (overrated as a top 5 pick but at 16 practically a bargain) are all decent values.

Is there any package we can put together for Monroe? ANY?

[stevemcqueen1]

The only one I strongly disagree with you there is McLemore. But with Smart, you've got issues you need to figure out before drafting him - that are still unknowns, imo. First and foremost is - what position is he? Second, can he shoot? He's got a pretty good looking stroke, but the ball doesn't go in the basket at a great rate. Why is that? He's not the most explosive athlete in the world. If he plays the 2, is he at a physical disadvantage - considering he's probably a little under 6'4 and doesn't get off the ground very well. He can over-power any college guard, but how is that going to work in the NBA - going against strong guards who are quicker than he is? Right now, if I was to project him, I'c compare him to a young Dwayne Wade - but without the athletic explosiveness. Would Wade be a great player without that explosiveness?

I agree with you completely.

Smart is definitely good but I also think he lacks a clear NBA position. At PG, he's going to be a bit slow and he doesn't really shoot that well and isn't as athletic as the top SGs around the league. Plus he does need the ball in his hands a lot.

His shooting %s aren't good because his shot selection is pretty poor.

He's basically winning on strength. Though he can get up off of two feet surprisingly well.

To answer your question, I don't think Wade is nearly the player he is with Smart's level of athleticism. I think a team is going to have to think outside of the box to use Smart well. I think he's probably going to have to become a really pure shooter and passer and stick at the PG spot where he can overpower opponents. There is some uncertainty with him.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Smart is probably closer to prime Artest (in a guard's body) than prime Wade. He has a good bit of athleticism IMO.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSk6HWjckkM[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7xLPZk4e6g[/youtube]

He throws one off the backboard and dunks at 1:24. He puts down a two-hand dunk in traffic at 1:47. Puts down a windmill at 1:57. By far, his sickest dunk is a two-hand smash at 2:58.

The fear with Smart is that at his weight he might not have elite athletic quicks at the next level. It is just unusual to see that build of a player succeed in the NBA, but I believe he will do just that.