Official Speculation Thread (Pt.LII "Lottery/Draft" Edition)

[tiderulz]

To me when point guard is the most oversaturated position in all of basketball I'm not sure a project player is what we need at the point guard position. To me, Noel is the clear best fit. A big man duo of Brian Cook and Robin Lopez would probably average 50 points combined in a seven game series against Nicholson-Vucevic.

Defensive bigs are at a premium right now. Defensive bigs with huge upside? Even more of a premium. Hennigan knows how this league works. The Thunder chose Ibaka over Harden. So I see him selecting Noel this year and grabbing a wing/pg in next year's loaded draft.

Noel seems like a Hennigan guy to me. If Noel is on the board, he's going to the Magic.

There are more bigs that bust to me than people realize. And while there may be plenty of average PG's out there, if you think you can get a good one, you get him. The league has moved right now more of a perimeter players game. And especially with JJ gone, and Nelson forever injured, we could use players on the court with leadership and smarts. If you are just worried about defense, you can find a big man later in the draft or next year that plays defense first.

[OrlChamps2030]

To me when point guard is the most oversaturated position in all of basketball I'm not sure a project player is what we need at the point guard position. To me, Noel is the clear best fit. A big man duo of Brian Cook and Robin Lopez would probably average 50 points combined in a seven game series against Nicholson-Vucevic.

Defensive bigs are at a premium right now. Defensive bigs with huge upside? Even more of a premium. Hennigan knows how this league works. The Thunder chose Ibaka over Harden. So I see him selecting Noel this year and grabbing a wing/pg in next year's loaded draft.

Noel seems like a Hennigan guy to me. If Noel is on the board, he's going to the Magic.

Would you trade the #1 pick in the draft for Larry Sanders? Same height as Noel, 15 lbs heavier, with no ACL wear and with proven elite defense at the NBA level. Just trying to gauge how you value the pick.

C'mon man Larry Sanders is a nice player but I think that's setting the bar low for Noel. He's a top 3 pick (probably #1).

Would you trade the #1 pick for Rodney Stuckey? Strong combo guard with good but not great athleticism and an inconsistent shot?

[Cigamodnalro]

C'mon man Larry Sanders is a nice player but I think that's setting the bar low for Noel.

Would you trade the #1 pick for Rodney Stuckey? Strong combo guard with good but not great athleticism and an inconsistent shot?

Is it, though? Sanders is a DPOY candidate this season and is averaging 9 points 9 boards and 3 blocks at 24 years old. What exactly do you expect out of Noel?

Also, I don't see the Stuckey/Smart comparison, beyond the fact that both are 6'4 and are best off the drive. Smart weighs 20 lbs more than Stuckey, has much better passing instincts, and has faced much better competition than Stuckey did in the Big Sky Conference. Where Stuckey's leadership was a legitimate concern heading into the draft, Smart has been lauded as the best intangibles guy in his entire class.

[glennathan]

To me when point guard is the most oversaturated position in all of basketball I'm not sure a project player is what we need at the point guard position. To me, Noel is the clear best fit. A big man duo of Brian Cook and Robin Lopez would probably average 50 points combined in a seven game series against Nicholson-Vucevic.

Defensive bigs are at a premium right now. Defensive bigs with huge upside? Even more of a premium. Hennigan knows how this league works. The Thunder chose Ibaka over Harden. So I see him selecting Noel this year and grabbing a wing/pg in next year's loaded draft.

Noel seems like a Hennigan guy to me. If Noel is on the board, he's going to the Magic.

Would you trade the #1 pick in the draft for Larry Sanders? Same height as Noel, 15 lbs heavier, with no ACL wear and with proven elite defense at the NBA level. Just trying to gauge how you value the pick.

C'mon man Larry Sanders is a nice player but I think that's setting the bar low for Noel. He's a top 3 pick (probably #1).

Would you trade the #1 pick for Rodney Stuckey? Strong combo guard with good but not great athleticism and an inconsistent shot?

In response to Zmill - I think you might be right in that Noel is a Hennigan guy but instead of drafting Noel with the injury I think he goes and trades for one. I will not say who I think he trades for because I would have no idea but I think he gets a defensive big for sure.

In response to Cig - I like the Larry Sanders idea but there is no way Milwaukee trades with us again. Not after seeing what they lost in Tobias Harris. I mean Doug Collins saw first hand what Philly lost in Vucevic and Harkless and he is still mad about it. If we got the chance to get Nikola Pekovic from Minnesota or Paul Milsap I would do it for the first pick because of the proven defense

[OrlChamps2030]

C'mon man Larry Sanders is a nice player but I think that's setting the bar low for Noel.

Would you trade the #1 pick for Rodney Stuckey? Strong combo guard with good but not great athleticism and an inconsistent shot?

Is it, though? Sanders is a DPOY candidate this season and is averaging 9 points 9 boards and 3 blocks at 24 years old. What exactly do you expect out of Noel?

Also, I don't see the Stuckey/Smart comparison, beyond the fact that both are 6'4 and are best off the drive. Smart weighs 20 lbs more than Stuckey, has much better passing instincts, and has faced much better competition than Stuckey did in the Big Sky Conference. Where Stuckey's leadership was a legitimate concern heading into the draft, Smart has been lauded as the best intangibles guy in his entire class.

I would expect Noel to average like 15/10/2/2/2 on high efficiency with elite defense. Scoring is a wildcard it could be higher or lower. Noel's freshman year is better than Sander's junior year and he plays in a tougher conference.

Marcus Smart and Rodney Stuckey both have displayed mediocre passing skills in college (high turnover:assist ratio). Stuckey was far and away a better scorer and shooter while Smart has displayed better defense and leadership.

[trebone]

Pek would ge great but he will be a restricted FA this offseason and Portland is said to be ready to ofrfer him a 12 per deal or even max which IMO he is better than Hibbert on a consistency basis.

I would rather have Larry Sanders than Noel, Sanders has proven he belongs in this league and is an elite Defensive player so I would swap the pick for him. Unlike most I think the ACL injury is a good thing for us if we do decide to draft Noel, he has a year to get stronger and work on his game while not being able to help win games therefor giving us a better shot at Parker/Wiggins or the best pg available next draft which I am sure one will be better than Smart.

[trebone]

C'mon man Larry Sanders is a nice player but I think that's setting the bar low for Noel.

Would you trade the #1 pick for Rodney Stuckey? Strong combo guard with good but not great athleticism and an inconsistent shot?

Is it, though? Sanders is a DPOY candidate this season and is averaging 9 points 9 boards and 3 blocks at 24 years old. What exactly do you expect out of Noel?

Also, I don't see the Stuckey/Smart comparison, beyond the fact that both are 6'4 and are best off the drive. Smart weighs 20 lbs more than Stuckey, has much better passing instincts, and has faced much better competition than Stuckey did in the Big Sky Conference. Where Stuckey's leadership was a legitimate concern heading into the draft, Smart has been lauded as the best intangibles guy in his entire class.

I would expect Noel to average like 15/10/2/2/2 on high efficiency with elite defense. Scoring is a wildcard it could be higher or lower. Noel's freshman year is better than Sander's junior year and he plays in a tougher conference.

Marcus Smart and Rodney Stuckey both have displayed mediocre passing skills in college (high turnover:assist ratio). Stuckey was far and away a better scorer and shooter while Smart has displayed better defense and leadership.

This, Smart is a nice player but not a game changer, the Stuckey comparison is pretty accurate. Noel has the potential to change games, while still allowing us to tank another season. The ACL injury is not that big a deal with todays medicine, he would be ready probably after the allstar break next season.

[fendilim]

Pek would ge great but he will be a restricted FA this offseason and Portland is said to be ready to ofrfer him a 12 per deal or even max which IMO he is better than Hibbert on a consistency basis.

I would rather have Larry Sanders than Noel, Sanders has proven he belongs in this league and is an elite Defensive player so I would swap the pick for him. Unlike most I think the ACL injury is a good thing for us [b]if we do decide to draft Noel, he has a year to get stronger and work on his game while not being able to help win games therefor giving us a better shot at Parker/Wiggins or the best pg available next draft which I am sure one will be better than Smart.[/b

Exactly what i want to happen.

I dont like the idea of getting Sanders tho. We'd be tied up to him by 2014 thus limiting our cap room to make a big splash on free agency. If we can sign 2 allstars and 2014 plus keep our young core, and still be able to have noel and wiggins...

[Def Swami]

C'mon man Larry Sanders is a nice player but I think that's setting the bar low for Noel.

Would you trade the #1 pick for Rodney Stuckey? Strong combo guard with good but not great athleticism and an inconsistent shot?

Is it, though? Sanders is a DPOY candidate this season and is averaging 9 points 9 boards and 3 blocks at 24 years old. What exactly do you expect out of Noel?

Also, I don't see the Stuckey/Smart comparison, beyond the fact that both are 6'4 and are best off the drive. Smart weighs 20 lbs more than Stuckey, has much better passing instincts, and has faced much better competition than Stuckey did in the Big Sky Conference. Where Stuckey's leadership was a legitimate concern heading into the draft, Smart has been lauded as the best intangibles guy in his entire class.

I would expect Noel to average like 15/10/2/2/2 on high efficiency with elite defense. Scoring is a wildcard it could be higher or lower. Noel's freshman year is better than Sander's junior year and he plays in a tougher conference.

Marcus Smart and Rodney Stuckey both have displayed mediocre passing skills in college (high turnover:assist ratio). Stuckey was far and away a better scorer and shooter while Smart has displayed better defense and leadership.

Zmill, how was Deron Williams' passing skills his frosh year at Illinois? I ask honestly because Smart is averaging about the same assists per game as Williams did then.

Lots of freshmen point guards struggle their freshmen years and then breakout the following. Trey Burke is an example.

[tiderulz]

This, Smart is a nice player but not a game changer, the Stuckey comparison is pretty accurate. Noel has the potential to change games, while still allowing us to tank another season. The ACL injury is not that big a deal with todays medicine, he would be ready probably after the allstar break next season.

does he though? I liken Noel similar to Ibaka and Ibaka does not change games.

[OrlChamps2030]

D-Will freshman year: 145 assists:59 TO's

Smart freshman year: 118 assists:87 TO's.

Burke freshman year: 156 assists:94 TO's

I don't think Smart will be a bust. I just don't think he has the point guard skills a lot of guys on here think he has. To me he resembles a combo guard.

[tiderulz]

D-Will freshman year: 145 assists:59 TO's

Smart freshman year: 118 assists:87 TO's.

Burke freshman year: 156 assists:94 TO's

I don't think Smart will be a bust. I just don't think he has the point guard skills a lot of guys on here think he has. To me he resembles a combo guard.

would you say more Billups than say Nash? Billups wasnt the best passer out there, but defense, leadership, confidence, he made his team better as a collection

[magicman123]

I like how we can nit pick certain stats to make our own arguments sound better, the power of the Internet

[KillMonger]

For me it's smart, very concerned with our PG situation way more than our PF situation. Rumor has it that Henny has a scout on Smart Full time, didn't say that about Noel so that might say something about our priorities. Smart is a Combo Guard for sure but he brings so much to the table you can't just dismiss him.

For me his Leadership/intangibles is at the top of my list, our young guys is going to need a strong leader at the head of the snake at Smart is it. To me honestly i would be far more concerned with how Noel would translate to the Nba level than Smart. Smart has almost elite size at his position, Noel? sure he has the length but he's extremely frail and while he is a beast defensively he's not quite as good as Anthony Davis was at Kentucky imo.

Cold hard reality for me, Noel looks like he might need another year and i felt that way before the injury. Smart looks more ready to make that jump and for me it's honestly that simple. They're both projects though and while it may seem like i'm down on Nerlens i would actually be content if we selected him but i would prefer Smart.

[Neon1]

Rumor has it that Henny has a scout on Smart Full time,didn't say that about Noel so that might say something about our priorities.

Im sure that is why he doesn't have a full time scout on Noel, nothing to do with the fact that he doesnt have any games he will be playing in anytime soon with that injury and all.

[KillMonger]

Rumor has it that Henny has a scout on Smart Full time,didn't say that about Noel so that might say something about our priorities.

Im sure that is why he doesn't have a full time scout on Noel, nothing to do with the fact that he doesnt have any games he will be playing in anytime soon with that injury and all.

oh yeah, i forgot that our scouts just recently started to scout top prospects. My bad

[Neon1]

Rumor has it that Henny has a scout on Smart Full time,didn't say that about Noel so that might say something about our priorities.

Im sure that is why he doesn't have a full time scout on Noel, nothing to do with the fact that he doesnt have any games he will be playing in anytime soon with that injury and all.

oh yeah, i forgot that our scouts just recently started to scout top prospects. My bad

It's a RECENT story about the Magic NOW have a full time scout on Smart. Noel has been injured for weeks now. Did it say they always had a full time scout on him? No. This is a recent development.

[KillMonger]

well i did say it was a rumor and whether or not it's just recently or otherwise my point was in that according to that rumor we have enough interest to put a full time scout on him especially since there are some that wouldn't even consider him as our first pick

[BaunceyChillups]

D-Will freshman year: 145 assists:59 TO's

Smart freshman year: 118 assists:87 TO's.

Burke freshman year: 156 assists:94 TO's

I don't think Smart will be a bust. I just don't think he has the point guard skills a lot of guys on here think he has. To me he resembles a combo guard.

a large amount of turnovers for young point guards are simply a case of them trying to make plays and passes that aren't there, those decrease with experience

if an idiot like Westbrook can significantly raise his AST/TO ratio then there's no reason why Smart cannot

[gp123]

Someone with knowledge of Smart's game, please educate me.

How does he differ from a guy like E'tuan? I suspect Moore's game is based more on being a 3 point shooter but has size, is a defensive presence, and is capable of running an offense. I keep reading conflicting things about Smart -- he's a fantastic distributing pure pg in one opinion, the next he's a score-minded combo guard.

What's the real deal here?