Official 2013 Draft Thread - Part II

[Wizardspride]

Cody Zeller=Harvey Grant?

I don't understand the comparison.

Grant was primarly a perimeter player while Zeller is primarily a post player imo.


And fwiw, Grant had multiple seasons of being an 18+ ppg scorer.

Zeller wishes he has a career as good as Grant.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Wow. It's like this draft is cursed. The 2 can't miss prospects, one tears his acl, the other just looked pathetic in the tourney.

At 10, I am now looking PORTER and if he's gone I take Burke and smile. Gives us 3-headed G rotation that can do damage.

Although my dark horse for us is still GRIII.


I would like to get Mcdermott, but later in the draft. Hopeful we can pick up a late 1st like we did with Seraphin between assets including our trade exemption, our 2nd round picks, Vesely, Singleton, Satoransky, etc.

Really like Mcdermott as well as Withey, Dieng, Muscala, Green later in the draft. If they fall to our 2nd rounder so be it, but we probably need to move up. Muscala is an under the radar guy IMO. I've heard coaches rave about him & compared heavily to Kevin Mchale.

[nate33]

Zeller's only hope is that he demonstrates very good perimeter ability in workouts. He is nimble on his feet and is pretty good at putting the ball on the floor, he just doesn't finish well against the crowded lane in college basketball. If he has a secret midrange game, maybe he could play similar to Chris Bosh.

Of course, if he had that midrange game, last night against the Syracuse zone would have been the perfect time to show it off. He had looks from 15 feet but turned them down every time and instead lowered his head and plowed into a congested lane.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Also, Carter-Williams hasn't been high on my list, but he sure looked good last night against a good defender Oladipo. Really smooth, and hard to tell on tv but looked taller than Oladipo when next to him.

[jivelikenice]

Zeller's only hope is that he demonstrates very good perimeter ability in workouts. He is nimble on his feet and is pretty good at putting the ball on the floor, he just doesn't finish well against the crowded lane in college basketball. If he has a secret midrange game, maybe he could play similar to Chris Bosh.

Of course, if he had that midrange game, last night against the Syracuse zone would have been the perfect time to show it off. He had looks from 15 feet but turned them down every time and instead lowered his head and plowed into a congested lane.

I agree Nate. He needs to show that he can shoot consistently from 15-18 feet and then use than face up and drive off of that shot. He's not going to overpower or shoot over anybody in the NBA. That being said, I think he could fit here with a guy like Wall getting him a steady diet of 15 footers and I like him a lot better as a pick in the 8-10 range than I did early in the draft.

[mhd]

LOL, I'm board and have been doing mock drafts every other day it seems, so might as well:

Mock draft if the draft were held today according to current standings:

1) Bobcats-Noel (let him heal and tank for Wiggins next year)
2) Orlando-Mclemore (there is no wing depth in this draft, they need a SG)
3) Cleveland-Porter (safe pick, something their FO has been drafting)
4) Suns-Shaabaz (they are clearly tanking. He's a safe pick in the sense that you know he'll be a 20 ppg scorer)
5) Detroit-Smart (Could be oladipo, but Smart allows them to get a young PG with strong leadership qualities)
6) Hornets-Olapido (Nice fit as a needed athletic wing. Gordon could be traded)
7) Minnesota-Len (Need a tall backup center to mold)
8) OKC (from Tor)-Bennett-BPA
9) Wiz-???

I'd try and trade the pick b/c Zeller's play has been disgusting to watch. If I were to choose, I'd honestly take McDermott.


What about Vesley+#9 for Tobias Harris? The Magic have Harkless, and they could take Zeller here if they wanted to in order to grab a mobile big to pair with Vucavic.

[go'stags]

That was the first I've seen of Solomon Hill. Man is he a good athlete and he can create his own shot. I don't know how good of an outside shooter he is, and he might be a little small, but if he can develop a reliable 3-ball he would be great to have as a stretch four off the bench.

I saw Solomon Hill live when Arizona played Miami in a holiday tournament. I think he'll strictly be a SF at the NBA level. He's about 6'5" or 6'6". Hill is really strong, much stronger than most college players. Nothing stood out other than he looks like an NBA player. He's a good defender and a very solid role player.

I would prefer a player with a little more pop offensively, but Hill is a solid player.

Fair enough. That was the first time I've seen him play and I was somewhat distracted, but that dude looked strong. After seeing that, and how athletic he was swooping to the rim, I have to wonder if some good ol CCJ outside-the-box thinking might be in order and try him as a small stretch 4.

[tontoz]

LOL, I'm board

Wood or cardboard? Inquiring minds want to know.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Hill is someone I've liked in the 2nd round, but strictly as a sf.

[jivelikenice]

Predicting what Ernie would do in a draft seems pretty easy. The FO and coaching staff has 1 yr left on their deals. They did not take on Fab Melo and chose nothing over him. They seem to have lost faith in Jan Vesely. Thety know they have to make the playoffs next year. A project seems out of the question. They were rumored to have serious interest in Rudy Gay, Josh Smith, and JJ Reddick, but by all accounts they were unwilling to offer the pick. Ted seems like the type that would be hesitant to give up a pick given the value you get from rookie deals. Now its possible that changes now they they're looking to pick in the bottom half of the top 10, but Ted will value the pick and the salary slot and I can't see him letting it go unless they get a vet who's more in their prime versus an Okafor/Nene type.

If they do stand pat, I see them going for the best available player who can bring a definitive skill right away. They won't go for a project, but will want someone who can contribute, w/o enormous pressure on them. Shabazz could fit as a scorer off the bench. Oladipo could fit as a defender off the bench. Zeller could fit as a 4 with some range who can develop behind Okafor/Nene but isn't a "project".

[SUPERBALLMAN]

I'm bored too, so I'll do an updated list for Wizards picks...

1st pick (in the 9-11 range): Porter, Burke, GRIII, Len, Olynyck, Carter-Williams


2nd pick (hoping we move up): Withey, Dieng, Mcdermott, Muscala, Green, Hill

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Today's vocabulary word is plummeting.

http://www.google.com/search?client=saf ... 8&oe=UTF-8

plummeting present participle of plum·met (Verb)
Verb
1. Fall or drop straight down at high speed.
2. Decrease rapidly in value or amount.

Used in a sentence:

After yesterday's Indiana Hoosiers loss to Syracuse, the draft stock of Cody Zeller might be plummeting.

(Nivek, this really was one of the vocab words this week )

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

In fairness, I remember Carlos Boozer getting dominated in his final NCAA game by Jared Jeffries.

(Boozer has had a long, good pro career, better than Jeffries' equally long career.)

One game or even two or three should not detract from a body of work. Zeller is going to be a solid NBA player, better than his older brothers. I just couldn't resist being a little cruel in that last post.

[stevemcqueen1]

I hope Zeller falls but I doubt he will. I would love to get him where we pick, which might be as late as 13 or so.

7 foot + actual skills + outstanding feel for the game + 20 years old + NBA athleticism + squeaky clean = extremely rare prospect. He's probably the safest bet in the class to come away with a good player at the top. I think he'll be long gone before we pick. Oladipo probably will too.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

I hope Zeller doesn't fall to us. I have zero doubt Ernie takes him if he is there.

I prefer he goes higher & knocks someone else down to us. His length doesn't look bad to me, but no way he's 7 foot. I'd say he's 6-10 tops. I think I'd actually prefer Olynyck, who looks stronger and is a better shooter.

Man he just looked terrible last night.

[Nivek]

I'd caution against significantly changing the overall assessment of a player based on one game -- no matter how good or bad he looked in that game.

[nuposse04]

I actually hope CLE picks Zeller. He'll sabotage a young team's ability to contend in the future opening a path for us. Once the Heat become too old.

[TGW]

I saw Zeller as a taller Tyler Hansborough before last night, and that hasn't changed. The only differences between the two: Zeller is a couple inches taller, and Hansborough is alot stronger. They both will have similar impacts in the NBA.

[Dat2U]

Predicting what Ernie would do in a draft seems pretty easy. The FO and coaching staff has 1 yr left on their deals. They did not take on Fab Melo and chose nothing over him. They seem to have lost faith in Jan Vesely. Thety know they have to make the playoffs next year. A project seems out of the question. They were rumored to have serious interest in Rudy Gay, Josh Smith, and JJ Reddick, but by all accounts they were unwilling to offer the pick. Ted seems like the type that would be hesitant to give up a pick given the value you get from rookie deals. Now its possible that changes now they they're looking to pick in the bottom half of the top 10, but Ted will value the pick and the salary slot and I can't see him letting it go unless they get a vet who's more in their prime versus an Okafor/Nene type.

If they do stand pat, I see them going for the best available player who can bring a definitive skill right away. They won't go for a project, but will want someone who can contribute, w/o enormous pressure on them. Shabazz could fit as a scorer off the bench. Oladipo could fit as a defender off the bench. Zeller could fit as a 4 with some range who can develop behind Okafor/Nene but isn't a "project".

That's a good point about Ernie not even willing to waste resources or a rookie salary wage on a project C like Fab Melo.

It might be a stretch to think another project is about to be drafted. They've got to be reeling from the Vesely experiment. Trading the pick for a useful rotation player is probably what Ernie will try to sell to Ted. Considering Ernie's draft record, this might be the best way to go.

[gambitx777]

Yeah and it annoys me, because picking up melo could have been a great move, A 7 foot 22 year old on a 1 mill deal. thats just ridiculous to pass up.

I think there are some ready made contributors in this draft. lets hope that ted does not let him trade it.