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

[TheMagicOne]

I am sure if we had it our way as fans you would see a PG or SG drafted in this draft. Noel is just such a high risk player now given that nasty injury.

In a perfect world, I would love to see if Harkless could become a lock-down defender at the SG position because I would like to see Harris on the floor as a SF. If we drafted a SG, then I guess that says Harris is the PF for our forseable future and I think that would be fine.

HOWEVER, the biggest problem with this is Harris will get limited burn once BBD is back. It would seem a top priority to trade all the players blocking the development of our young guys.

We would need to find a way to cut or trade Hedo, Harrington, BBD & Afflalo. Of the 4 of them I would keep Harrington over them all because he is serviceable now late in his career as a back up big and his contract is only partially guaranteed.

I can see the team not picking up Nelson's team option for the 2014 free agent class, but bringing him back on the cheap if or when we finish our shopping.

IF Wiggins or Parker is who we want in Next years draft I think you have to develop Harris at the SF & PF and develop Harkless at the SF & SG position. Have to make them very versatile so that Wiggins or Parker can slide in to their NBA natural position. Also for further argument on this, just look at the top 7 players in next years draft. They are mostly SF & SG with one PF. All in High School right now and 1 international player. Developing Harris and Harkless this way will make it not matter at all who we draft in 2014 as the first 7 players would fit nicely in to our core regardless.

BTW I think that long term Andrew Nicholson is going to be a Chris Gatling type player. Mr. Instant Offense with no defense. Not a bad guy to have in your second unit, but definitely not a long term solution as a NBA starter.

[TheMagicOne]

On the flip side if you draft Noel, you only have to pay him for 2 years if he does not pan out.

[MagicMan89]

On the flip side if you draft Noel, you only have to pay him for 2 years if he does not pan out.

Cant afford to miss on a #1 pick. Look back and see where this has been ok in history. Most recent one being Oden. If you have doubt then turn it into more assets, just like we did with Bynum.

[TheMagicOne]

On the flip side if you draft Noel, you only have to pay him for 2 years if he does not pan out.

Cant afford to miss on a #1 pick. Look back and see where this has been ok in history. Most recent one being Oden. If you have doubt then turn it into more assets, just like we did with Bynum.

Speaks to my point of trading down in the draft to get Smart or trading out of the draft all together and parlay that in to a 2014 pick.

[BadMofoPimp]

On the flip side if you draft Noel, you only have to pay him for 2 years if he does not pan out.

Cant afford to miss on a #1 pick. Look back and see where this has been ok in history. Most recent one being Oden. If you have doubt then turn it into more assets, just like we did with Bynum.

More Bigs throughout draft history end up being busts. It might be close to 50% of all top 10 bigs drafted end up being busts. Why risk #1 overall on an injured player?

[OrlDave]

I like the idea but I'd personally rather see

Burke
McLemore
Harkless
BBD
Vucci

I feel like if we go the scoring PG route like a Burke/Lillard PG, then we would need Hark more for the future than tobias.


I like the thoughts though, I just see Harkless fitting in better around a bunch of guys looking to score(Burke, McLemore,BBD, Vucci. Harris's offense IMO would be better used as the spark plug off the bench.


This whole situation with Harkless and Tobias is going to get crazy. I love both of these guys for our team I just don't see how they will coexist if they both turn into the players we hope they will

I'm not opposed in principal to starting Harkless, but I have two issues. First, it can be like playing 4 on 5 on offense sometimes with Hark out there. Granted he can make the odd 3 or cut to the basket, but generally he's the guy the other team will leave. If he could shot 3s at 34-37%, he'll stop being a liability in that the other team will at least be forced to cover him. Currently he's at 28% which means it's still statistically better to leave him open than cover him.

The other issue is that I think Harris deserves to be a start. I think he's very competent defender 1 on 1 and will get better as a team defender. There is really no reason for Harris to be on the bench. That then goes back to Harris at the 4. Harris at the 4 wouldn't be the end of the world if Vuc got better at defending. Maybe next year with a full summer of core work ect he'll improve, hard to say.

If you say McLemore and Harris each get 35 mpg, that would leave 26 for Harkless. You could even find 5 more if you moved Harris to the 4 at stretches that would be 31 for Harkless. So he's still playing nearly starters minutes. Anyway all of this is contingent on winning the lottery. I'm guessing McLemore won't last past 2 and probably will be 1.

[OrlDave]

On the flip side if you draft Noel, you only have to pay him for 2 years if he does not pan out.

Cant afford to miss on a #1 pick. Look back and see where this has been ok in history. Most recent one being Oden. If you have doubt then turn it into more assets, just like we did with Bynum.

More Bigs throughout draft history end up being busts. It might be close to 50% of all top 10 bigs drafted end up being busts. Why risk #1 overall on an injured player?

Yeah, my issue is the injury. If he was coming in after a solid freshman year it would be one thing. It's not just the ACL, which is certainly NOT a career ending injury. It's the timing of the injury. This a crucial time in his development both mentally and physically. It's possible the injury does nothing negative, but it's also possible it makes him play tentative, or stunts his growth in other ways. So many question marks.

[tiderulz]

After thinking about this, if we get the #1 I'd say let's get McLemore and then trade Afflalo. Use Afflalo to get a pick that will net us Burke or Michael Carter-Williams. They'd play behind Nelson next year, then the transition would happen.

Nelson -> Burke/MCW
McLemore -> Harkless
Harris -> Harkless
BBD -> Nicholson, Harrington
Vucevic -> cheap vet min fa

I think with a good pass first pg, guys like McLemore and Harris can thrive. I kinda like Burke more because he has the ability to break down defenses which would work nicely with McLemore's spot up shooting, but MCW is big and can guard even 2s if need be. Hark can be our go to enforcer off the bench scooping up 10 or 12 minutes from each of the 2 and 3 spots. That team is a borderline playoff team and I understand that is the devil, but the players will get better and develop chemistry. Grab a star free agent to put BBD on the bench and then you're talking potential contender.

we have been missing a wing player that can get his own shots, not another stand around jump shooter. McLemore's weakness is that he cannot create for himself. There are plenty of players around in the league that are jump shooters that we can get, no need to draft one.

[Tayswagzzz]

I'd like to draft McLemore and go hard after Bledsoe. Clippers gotta be willing to move him for the right piece. Again, draft McLemore, go hard after Tyreke Evans. Kings could be looking to unload him for the right piece as well.

[tiderulz]

I am sure if we had it our way as fans you would see a PG or SG drafted in this draft. Noel is just such a high risk player now given that nasty injury.

In a perfect world, I would love to see if Harkless could become a lock-down defender at the SG position because I would like to see Harris on the floor as a SF. If we drafted a SG, then I guess that says Harris is the PF for our forseable future and I think that would be fine.

why does Harris have to play PF? Why cant he play SF, with some small shifts at PF, while Harkless plays SG/SF? plenty of minutes to go around there.

[dsg2021]

There's some great ideas in slashing 2014 space and getting Bledsoe, but Bledsoe could hurt 2014 space a lot. Not saying he might not be worth it, but his LAC showing as a starter was just solid instead of good or amazing. I'd take my chances at a younger rookie scale. I also don't think slashing all that 2013 space for whoever it is, going to be worth it to us without getting more, like a 2014 pick incase nothing comes from the 2014 cap space, but it sounds like a good move to me MagicOne.

[MagicMan89]

All the people wanting us to get Bledsoe should consider Smart for our rebuild.

Lets take a look at them side by side, the comparison is thier NCAA freshman stats.
Eric Bledsoe --Marcus Smart
DOB: Dec 9, 1989 -- March 6, 1994
Height: 6'1" -- 6'4"
Weight: 195 -- 200
GP: 37 --30
Min: 30.3 --33.3
PTS: 11.3 -- 15.2
REB: 3.1 -- 5.7
AST: 2.9 -- 4.3
STL: 1.4 -- 3.0
BLK: 0.3 -- 0.7
FG% 46.2 -- 41.1
3PT% 38.3 -- 29.1
FT% 66.7 -- 78.3
TOs: 3.0 -- 3.3

Also here are the draft profile notes from ESPN
Eric Bledsoe
•Super quick point guard
•Pass first point guard
•High basketball IQ
•Big 6-foot-7 1/2 wingspan
•Explosive leaper
•Terrific motor
•Excellent toughness
•Tough defender
•A leader
Marcus Smart•Strong, physical guard
•Explosive athlete
•Excellent penetrator
•Good finisher at the basket
•Excellent motor
•Good rebounder for a guard
•Can play both the point and the two
•Super quick hands, racks up steals
•Natural leader
•Super competitive

Based on our team makup and the stage of our rebuild I would take Smart entering a rookie scale contract over Bledsoe who is due a payday.

[OrlDave]

All the people wanting us to get Bledsoe should consider Smart for our rebuild.

/snip

I don't think the point is that Smart doesn't have more potential than Bledsoe, it's that you get Bledsoe (potentialy) AND still pick someone with a top 3 pick.

[tiderulz]

All the people wanting us to get Bledsoe should consider Smart for our rebuild.

Lets take a look at them side by side, the comparison is thier NCAA freshman stats.
Eric Bledsoe --Marcus Smart
DOB: Dec 9, 1989 -- March 6, 1994
Height: 6'1" -- 6'4"
Weight: 195 -- 200
GP: 37 --30
Min: 30.3 --33.3
PTS: 11.3 -- 15.2
REB: 3.1 -- 5.7
AST: 2.9 -- 4.3
STL: 1.4 -- 3.0
BLK: 0.3 -- 0.7
FG% 46.2 -- 41.1
3PT% 38.3 -- 29.1
FT% 66.7 -- 78.3
TOs: 3.0 -- 3.3

Also here are the draft profile notes from ESPN
Eric Bledsoe
•Super quick point guard
•Pass first point guard
•High basketball IQ
•Big 6-foot-7 1/2 wingspan
•Explosive leaper
•Terrific motor
•Excellent toughness
•Tough defender
•A leader
Marcus Smart•Strong, physical guard
•Explosive athlete
•Excellent penetrator
•Good finisher at the basket
•Excellent motor
•Good rebounder for a guard
•Can play both the point and the two
•Super quick hands, racks up steals
•Natural leader
•Super competitive

Based on our team makup and the stage of our rebuild I would take Smart entering a rookie scale contract over Bledsoe who is due a payday.

stats arent best to use though as Bledsoe played out of position at SG while at Kentucky and Wall played PG. and those draft notes arent quite correct as Bledsoe isnt a pass 1st pg.

[OrlDave]

we have been missing a wing player that can get his own shots, not another stand around jump shooter. McLemore's weakness is that he cannot create for himself. There are plenty of players around in the league that are jump shooters that we can get, no need to draft one.

I think the issue here is that NONE of these guys is perfect. Ideally you'd like the #1 to be perfect. McLemore is a great shooter and athlete with good wingspan. If he works on his game he *could* became a great player. Or he could just be a spot up shooter. Either way, barring injury, he'll likely be in the league for 10 years. We currently have no pure shooters on this team. Lewis, Anderson and JJ are all in the past.

Smart, is not perfect either. He's had 14 games where he had as many or more TOs than Assists. And I'm not including the game where he had 0 of each because at least he didn't turn it over. And yes, 0 assists in 21 minutes. He's shooting a ripe 40% from the field and 29% from the shorter college 3 with 78% FT (compare with the 50% and 43% with 86% that Ben is shooting).

And of course Noel is injured and who knows if he'll live up to the potential that was abruptly stopped. At least the other two guys are healthy and proven commodities.

Of the 3, I feel that Ben is the "most likely to succeed".

[Orlando_Pride]

I don't think the point is that Smart doesn't have more potential than Bledsoe, it's that you get Bledsoe (potentialy) AND still pick someone with a top 3 pick.[/quote]

This! I think the goal is to stockpile young players. Adding Bledsoe through trade would allow us to keep all our picks and key into a different position. I said this earlier but adding him at the trade deadline or in the summer of 2014 would allow us to continue to tank and continue to stock pile young assets. I dont know if this would work with his contract looks like but I would love for this to work out.

Bledsoe
Mclemore
2014 Pick (Wiggins, Parker, Randle) Harkless
Harris, Nicolson
Vooch, ?

[KillMonger]

A guy that can create his own shot has McCollum written all over it. The guy is the complete package offensively

[Def Swami]

Maurice Harkless ‏@moe_harkless
Bro we're in Oklahoma RT @DLamb20: Wats popping in Orlando 2morrow?

[Noonskadoodle]

Maurice Harkless ‏@moe_harkless
Bro we're in Oklahoma RT @DLamb20: Wats popping in Orlando 2morrow?

oh Lamb......

[Def Swami]

OT: I know a lot of us expressed distaste with the out-pour of Laker fans at Amway Center on Tuesday night. But, it's not an unusual occurrence. Faker fans run throughout the league. As a matter of fact, it's much worse in other cities.

If you watched the Lakers/Hawks game on Wednesday night, you would've thought they were playing at the Staples Center by the sounds of it. When Kobe went on a 3rd quarter scoring binge, the crowd was going gorillas.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1LXxHYWbDU[/youtube]

Tonight, George Hill had some choice words for the Pacers fanbase:

“It sucks. It was 70 (Lakers fans) – 30 (Pacers fans) out there. These are the same people that wants autographs after the game. We’re out there in the community. We’re doing our job, doing what we’re supposed to do on and off the court. Something has to change. I tip my hat to this team. We’ve been trouble free. Been out in the community shaking hands, we’re winning. It shouldn’t feel like an away game, especially with an important like this. Tonight, that’s what it felt like.”

“They always say your fans are your sixth man and you feed off that energy. Energy is down and we turn the ball over and we’re hearing cheers. We’re missing shots and we’re hearing cheers. That kind of brings your head down cause you know you’re at home. It shouldn’t be like that. Now we see how it is. We have to move forward, don’t worry about. Stay focus on what’s in this locker room and don’t worry about the rest.”

“(We’re) not a team that’s in the bottom in the East. We’re one of the top three teams in the East. We’re winning the Central Division and it should show. Right now it’s not and it’s been all season long where it’s not showing and I don’t think there’s nothing else we can do as an organization and as players. Now it’s up to the community.”

So again, it's not just us. And other cities have it much worse than we do.