Official 2013 Draft Thread - Part II

[stevemcqueen1]

I didn't see the Indy/Temple game, but from reading the posts here, I would have expected a McAdoo like boxscore for Zeller. Instead, I see 4 of 10 from the floor and 7 of 8 from the line. And listening to the highlights, he made the pass to Oladipo for the game-clinching 3. So, Indy with - from the accounts here that both Zeller and Oladipo stunk beyond words - still beat Temple - in spite of one of Temple's players having a ridiculously good game. I think Indy's got 4 games left, so you can take a better look.

I watched the game, it wasn't a great performance from Dipo or Zeller early, but they turned it on late. They were fine. Zeller powered the team's offense when the rest of the team was struggling and I've noticed that many times when Zeller gets aggressive, it wakes Dipo up and they feed on each other. Zeller was very aggressive, they put the playmaking on him. His one big problem was the turnovers, he was forcing passes and got careless. The burden of playmaking was on him though because Yogi Ferrell and Jordan Hulls were awful. He was active and made things happen when it mattered though. And he didn't have trouble establishing position like someone mentioned, he was very successful establishing position and got both the opposing bigs in foul trouble as a result.

There's a lot of Zeller hate in here, a lot of it comical. Saying things like he gets bailed out by the refs = "I'm a hater."

Zeller is a big name and has a target on his back being the best player on what's probably the best team. I have a feeling this thread will be fun to revisit in a few years.

[mhd]

Zeller looks like a stick figure out there. Has he been working out at all? Honestly, Vesely looks more well built than Zeller does.

[stevemcqueen1]

McLemore is laying an egg tonight. 0-9 from the floor.

Seems like all the top prospects have done nothing but hurt their draft position in the Tournament. Maybe Noel did the smart thing by getting hurt and sitting it out.

McLemore has one of the best skill sets in the class and is one of the best athletes but, to me, there is a palpable difference between the way he plays and the way Bennett/Zeller/Porter/Shabazz/Smart. They are the focal points for their teams. Their teams go as they go pretty much. They are so much more confident and aggressive than McLemore is. They play like stars. I've seen McLemore drop 30 without breaking a sweat but those games only happened a handful of times. So much of his season was just blending into the crowd on a great team and making his open shots.

He kind of reminds me of OJ Mayo. All the tools and skills to be a superstar but doesn't have the mentality or heart to be one. He would scare me more than any of the other top guys (Bennett/Zeller/Noel/Bazz/Porter/Smart) if I was an awful team picking in the top five, looking for an alpha player to build my team around. He basically looks like a super talented role player. I wouldn't draft him if I were Orlando or Phoenix. Maybe Charlotte makes some sense since they've got strong alpha type personalities in Kemba Walker and MKG. Detroit could be a potential fit.

[Dat2U]

McLemore can't create his own shot. He's not passive, he just knows his game and plays within his limits. If he doesn't have an open look, he's not going to necessarily be able to create one. So instead of forcing a TO or contested look, he generally makes the right decision. This is why he is a future role player. This is why I have always viewed him as a future role player.

You draft McLemore, your basically getting a more athletic Brandon Rush. So that makes him a pretty decent NBA player. Maybe even worth a late lottery pick. However if he goes top 5, the team that drafts him will be disappointed if they think their getting a potential star.

[Induveca]

College unathletic big man "star" seems to rarely translate into NBA success.

He's the anti-Drummond.

[davidgrant]

If we end up picking 10-12, what about Glenn Robinson III? Excellent athlete and has 11.1 points, 5.5 boards, 1.1 assists and 1.0 steal per game as a freshman on a team with lots of scoring options. Shot 57% from the field, 35% from 3 and 68% from the line. He wouldn't help us much for next year, but has high upside (NBADraft.net compares him to Andre Iguodala.

NBA Comparson: Andre Iguodala
Strengths: Not to be confused with NFL's RG3, "GR3" is an above the rim athlete with star potential ... Smooth. Makes everything look easy. Wing player who attacks the basket and makes highlight finishes ... Quick, explosive leaping ability. Gets to the rim in a hurry ... Has a good feel for the game and solid perimeter skills ...Versatile wing with the ISO ability to create shots off the dribble as well as the vision to find teammates ... Runs the floor well and has the fluidity and body control to make acrobatic plays at the rim in transition ... Surprising all around skills for a freshman ... NBA ready body. Focused. Shows strong maturity, both mentally and physically, for a first year college player ... Good decision maker ... Very efficient scorer. 59% from the floor ... Competitive ... Unselfish. Team player. Excellent form on his shot, and shows range to knock down the college three ball consistently. Father was known for being a deadly pull up shooter, and GR3 shows potential to develop the same skill ... Understands spacing. Adept scorer with the ability to find cracks in the defense and moves well to get open ... Solid defender. Gets low, good fundamentals and effort ... Slashes to the basket well for rebounds. Understands positioning and boxing out ... Physical strength and explosiveness allow him to out-rebound bigger opponents. Good anticipation. Very good second leaper allows him to grab a board and make a follow up dunk ... Good length. Wingspan likely in the 6'10 range ...

Weaknesses: Despite being the team's most talented prospect, at times can be too unselfish. He is the third option on the Michigan team after Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr., and has accepted his underclassman role being more of a glue guy who looks for baskets within the flow of a game ... Some may question his ability to be the star of a team because of this ... At 6'6, he's on the smaller side for the 3 position, but could conceivably develop into a SG over time ... Offensive game shows nice potential but still has a lot of room for improvement. Creating and pulling up off the dribble ... Shoots a hair below 70% from the FT line. Nothing too concerning but should be better considering his excellent form ... Should concentrate on becoming a vocal team leader. Can also improve on his on ball defense ...

[Dat2U]

This draft is awful by the way. I'm more than fine with trading the pick. As long as it's not one of those 2 for 1 specials (Miller & Foye).

[stevemcqueen1]

McLemore can't create his own shot. He's not passive, he just knows his game and plays within his limits. If he doesn't have an open look, he's not going to necessarily be able to create one. So instead of forcing a TO or contested look, he generally makes the right decision. This is why he is a future role player. This is why I have always viewed him as a future role player.

You draft McLemore, your basically getting a more athletic Brandon Rush. So that makes him a pretty decent NBA player. Maybe even worth a late lottery pick. However if he goes top 5, the team that drafts him will be disappointed if they think their getting a potential star.

How can you tell he can't create his own shot? He never gets the ball for ISOs and he's never the primary ball handler in the half court. It's the function of the offense he plays in.

Bill Self said McLemore is the most talented player he's ever coached. Chuck said tonight he thinks he's one of the three best players in the class. That's not simply a "more athletic Brandon Rush." He's got the ability to be special and he's shown it off in a few games this year where he blew up and looked like the best player in the country. Perhaps it's boring to hear but I think his problems are passivity, experience, consistency, & confidence based. He's raw, a later bloomer with an underdeveloped feel for the game. He hasn't figured out when and how to take over yet. Will he? Who knows? A team taking him in the top five is obviously betting he will. I'm skeptical that kind of mentality is easy to develop in the NBA. It never did for OJ Mayo.

[hands11]

McLemore can't create his own shot. He's not passive, he just knows his game and plays within his limits. If he doesn't have an open look, he's not going to necessarily be able to create one. So instead of forcing a TO or contested look, he generally makes the right decision. This is why he is a future role player. This is why I have always viewed him as a future role player.

You draft McLemore, your basically getting a more athletic Brandon Rush. So that makes him a pretty decent NBA player. Maybe even worth a late lottery pick. However if he goes top 5, the team that drafts him will be disappointed if they think their getting a potential star.

How can you tell he can't create his own shot? He never gets the ball for ISOs and he's never the primary ball handler in the half court. It's the function of the offense he plays in.

Bill Self said McLemore is the most talented player he's ever coached. Chuck said tonight he thinks he's one of the three best players in the class. That's not simply a "more athletic Brandon Rush." He's got the ability to be special and he's shown it off in a few games this year where he blew up and looked like the best player in the country. Perhaps it's boring to hear but I think his problems are passivity, experience, consistency, & confidence based. He's raw, a later bloomer with an underdeveloped feel for the game. He hasn't figured out when and how to take over yet. Will he? Who knows? A team taking him in the top five is obviously betting he will. I'm skeptical that kind of mentality is easy to develop in the NBA. It never did for OJ Mayo.

You don't magically develop into an Alpha type later in life. He has the talent. He doesn't have the fire. He will make a decent 6th man on a good team. Points off the bench. He can start on a bad team.

[nate33]

Wow, this is the first I've watched McDermott. He is really good. CCJ is right. He's going to be a steal if he is drafted anywhere near his projections. I really love how hard he works to get open. He is constantly moving, constantly throwing his body around to establish position. Never seems to get tired. And he has great touch around the basket. He will score at the NBA level, I guarantee it. I don't know if he'll be able to guard anyone, but he'll definitely get buckets. He should be a top 15 pick.

[hands11]

Wow, this is the first I've watched McDermott. He is really good. CCJ is right. He's going to be a steal if he is drafted anywhere near his projections. I really love how hard he works to get open. He is constantly moving, constantly throwing his body around to establish position. Never seems to get tired. And he has great touch around the basket. He will score at the NBA level, I guarantee it. I don't know if he'll be able to guard anyone, but he'll definitely get buckets. He should be a top 15 pick.

Where will he play ?

He isn't going to get those kind of touches in the NBA. 6-8

I am watching and keeping an open mind. He is active and he fights. Thats always a good thing.

Whoever gets him will get a young man that will leave it on the floor. That much you can see. He won't fail for lack of trying.

Plumlee hasn't been overly impressive so far. He needs to get stronger.

[Dat2U]

McLemore can't create his own shot. He's not passive, he just knows his game and plays within his limits. If he doesn't have an open look, he's not going to necessarily be able to create one. So instead of forcing a TO or contested look, he generally makes the right decision. This is why he is a future role player. This is why I have always viewed him as a future role player.

You draft McLemore, your basically getting a more athletic Brandon Rush. So that makes him a pretty decent NBA player. Maybe even worth a late lottery pick. However if he goes top 5, the team that drafts him will be disappointed if they think their getting a potential star.

How can you tell he can't create his own shot? He never gets the ball for ISOs and he's never the primary ball handler in the half court. It's the function of the offense he plays in.

Bill Self said McLemore is the most talented player he's ever coached. Chuck said tonight he thinks he's one of the three best players in the class. That's not simply a "more athletic Brandon Rush." He's got the ability to be special and he's shown it off in a few games this year where he blew up and looked like the best player in the country. Perhaps it's boring to hear but I think his problems are passivity, experience, consistency, & confidence based. He's raw, a later bloomer with an underdeveloped feel for the game. He hasn't figured out when and how to take over yet. Will he? Who knows? A team taking him in the top five is obviously betting he will. I'm skeptical that kind of mentality is easy to develop in the NBA. It never did for OJ Mayo.

How can I tell he can't create his own shot? Because he hasn't done so effectively when he's tried. His handle is very rudimentary. No creativity whatsoever off the bounce. The handle is his downfall and that's the biggest weakness a guard could have. Please show me an all-star or near all-star quality guard currently in the NBA with extremely limited handle?

As for the complements he gets... don't believe the hype. Who cares what Charles thinks? Charles though Eddie Jordan was a great NBA coach, lol. Who cares what Bill Self says? Of course he's going to speak glowingly about the player he's coaching right now!

His so-called passivity comes from what he's not able to do. He's the rare kid that knows his flaws and plays within himself. IMO, that's what makes him somewhat unusual or unique. Not the athleticism, not the shooting ability not some great skillset which he really doesn't have. It's his b-ball IQ. The intelligence and maturity not to do the things he can't do. That could make him a pretty damn good role player. He could be a knock down spot up shooter at the next level.

But he'll never be a star. And he's not worthy of a top 5 pick.

[nate33]

Wow, this is the first I've watched McDermott. He is really good. CCJ is right. He's going to be a steal if he is drafted anywhere near his projections. I really love how hard he works to get open. He is constantly moving, constantly throwing his body around to establish position. Never seems to get tired. And he has great touch around the basket. He will score at the NBA level, I guarantee it. I don't know if he'll be able to guard anyone, but he'll definitely get buckets. He should be a top 15 pick.

Where will he play ?

He isn't going to get those kind of touches in the NBA. 6-8

I am watching and keeping an open mind. He is active and he fights. Thats always a good thing.

Whoever gets him will get a young man that will leave it on the floor. That much you can see. He won't fail for lack of trying.

Plumlee hasn't been overly impressive so far. He needs to get stronger.

He's probably going to have to play stretch 4. Also, there are a lot of 3&D wings in this league who don't do much on offense except stand in the corner. He should be able to guard those guys too. He's definitely a guy who can come in handy late in games when teams go small.

[gambitx777]

I really like the potential of this draft. If it comes down to it and we are at 9 or 10 and we do not trade wall, i think there is no question that we take Olynyk. This is a 2011 moment, what if we had just said ok lets take Vucevic, We would be way better off. It a similar situation think, Olynyk is polished. I think he is our pick if we land in the late loto.

[popper]

Wow, this is the first I've watched McDermott. He is really good. CCJ is right. He's going to be a steal if he is drafted anywhere near his projections. I really love how hard he works to get open. He is constantly moving, constantly throwing his body around to establish position. Never seems to get tired. And he has great touch around the basket. He will score at the NBA level, I guarantee it. I don't know if he'll be able to guard anyone, but he'll definitely get buckets. He should be a top 15 pick.

I don't think he will be able to guard anyone in man coverage but in a zone he might be ok. It's too bad because he's probably the most polished scorer in college basketball.

[mhd]

Wow, this is the first I've watched McDermott. He is really good. CCJ is right. He's going to be a steal if he is drafted anywhere near his projections. I really love how hard he works to get open. He is constantly moving, constantly throwing his body around to establish position. Never seems to get tired. And he has great touch around the basket. He will score at the NBA level, I guarantee it. I don't know if he'll be able to guard anyone, but he'll definitely get buckets. He should be a top 15 pick.

I don't think he will be able to guard anyone in man coverage but in a zone he might be ok. It's too bad because he's probably the most polished scorer in college basketball.

Well, Korver gets huge PT and he's a complete defensive liability out there. You will need to mask him for sure, but say you are playing the Grizz, you could easily stash him on Prince or Tony Allen; Phoenix (Dudley), Miami (Battier), Thunder (Thabo), etc.

I know McDermott will be a good role player. He'll be a great fit as a kick-out shooter for Wall.

[hands11]

Man this draft is just full of role players.

Only two I think should go tops are

Noel
Porter

Then maybe
Bennett - he has starter potential but someone has a lot of work to do with him. Questionable motor.
McCollum

After that, what role player do you want on your team?

I would put these players next

Gorgui Dieng
Jeff Withey
Victor Oladipo

Then I would start looking at players like
Ben McLemore
Shabbazz
Len


If I can't get one of those first 7, I would definitely consider trading the pick or moving up to get one of them depending on the value someone would give me for my pick. Though Ben McLemore at 10th wouldn't be bad value. Nice back up to Beal.

[mhd]

Wow, Doug McDermott is the nephew of actor Dylan McDermott.

[nuposse04]

Wow, this is the first I've watched McDermott. He is really good. CCJ is right. He's going to be a steal if he is drafted anywhere near his projections. I really love how hard he works to get open. He is constantly moving, constantly throwing his body around to establish position. Never seems to get tired. And he has great touch around the basket. He will score at the NBA level, I guarantee it. I don't know if he'll be able to guard anyone, but he'll definitely get buckets. He should be a top 15 pick.

His game against CIN was the first extensive minutes I've seen him play and CCJ might be onto something. He's got shifty athleticism to him. He's also got some crafty moves heading towards the basket. He kind of looks like a more efficient version of Jamison out there...not sure how I feel about his defense yet. He isn't particularly weak for a stretch 4 but I'm sure he'd be out of his league if he was asked to guard the likes of Z-bo, Griffin, etc.

I think it would be wise to try to trade into the 17-25 range in order to acquire him.

[TGW]

McDermott won't be able to guard his own shadow (like Jamison) but he'll score and rebound (like Jamison). That's a good comparison nuposse...he does remind me a bit of AJ except with better ability to put the ball on the floor.