Official 2013 Draft Thread - Part III

[nate33]

Length doesn't bother me as much depending on how we plan to use him. If Zeller shows he has the shooting touch and quickness to be a face up 4, I'd have no problem with the pick. I'm not looking at him as a back to the basket player (where his length would hurt him), nor should the Wizards.

Length is going to hurt on defense, not offense.

[Dark Faze]

In what ways is Zeller better than Olynyk?

[nuposse04]

Length doesn't bother me as much depending on how we plan to use him. If Zeller shows he has the shooting touch and quickness to be a face up 4, I'd have no problem with the pick. I'm not looking at him as a back to the basket player (where his length would hurt him), nor should the Wizards.

He's not laterally quick enough to guard 4s. He's still probably got a chance to be a better jump shooter than any of our 4s...but that really isn't saying much. We're 8th right now. I think it'll be between Len/Bennett more and more that i think about it. Which is still an upgrade over what we have. I'm basically trying to convince that whoever we pick, will in likelihood be an upgrade over anyone on the team not named Wall, Beal, Nene and Webster.

[nuposse04]

In what ways is Zeller better than Olynyk?

Transition, moves without the ball...general hustle plays. Olynyk is better in every offensive way. I don't see either being good on D....but I think Olynyck's standing reach plus the fact he isn't inbetween positions will make him the less liable one on the defensive end.

[Ruzious]

And Zeller's a very good positional defender who moves his feet well and has excellent awareness. Bring him along as the 3rd big behind Nene and Okafor - much like the Bullets brought along Kupchack behind Wes and Elvin.... except that Nene and Okafor are probably not going to end up in the HOF. Actually Kupchack may have a shot some day. Can I do tangents, or what?

[nuposse04]

^You would use a top 8 pick on a big whose ceiling is a good backup off the bench? Not sure about that. While nobody wants a bust, the team actually needs some bigs with a much higher ceiling.

[pancakes3]

He's not laterally quick enough to guard 4s.

I think he'll do a better job than you're giving credit for. When defending the perimeter, he gets down pretty damn low and crabs around on defense much better than Nene/Seraphin can. He'll have trouble against the sf/pf guys but the average pf, I think he'll be fine. Plus defense is more about hustle, positioning, and IQ than physical talent.

[The Consiglieri]

The only guys im interested in that may be there between 7-10 are Len and Bennett. If neither of them are there, a trade down or a trade out makes about 10,000,000x more sense to me than taking one of the low upside, relatively low floor types that seems to consistently be rated in that 8-12 area. I just don't really see Zeller and Olynyk being valuable pieces long term or short term. Hope I'm completely wrong if we happen to draft one of them, but not feeling good about them all the same.

[nuposse04]

He's not laterally quick enough to guard 4s.

I think he'll do a better job than you're giving credit for. When defending the perimeter, he gets down pretty damn low and crabs around on defense much better than Nene/Seraphin can. He'll have trouble against the sf/pf guys but the average pf, I think he'll be fine. Plus defense is more about hustle, positioning, and IQ than physical talent.

He can get as low as he wants to that won't change the fact that a stretch 4 would just raise up over him and an above average athlete at the 4 position would just use jab step to get around him. Any 4 with above average strength would just back him down and would go to work from there. Zeller has offensive potential, I see absolutely no defensive potential. The only thing that he has going in his favor is that the game is becoming a little smaller with all these stretch 4s. If someone was cold he'd just get exposed less I suppose.

[stevemcqueen1]

^You would use a top 8 pick on a big whose ceiling is a good backup off the bench? Not sure about that. While nobody wants a bust, the team actually needs some bigs with a much higher ceiling.

Zeller's ceiling is as one of the better starting true bigs in the league.

[stevemcqueen1]

He's not laterally quick enough to guard 4s.

I think he'll do a better job than you're giving credit for. When defending the perimeter, he gets down pretty damn low and crabs around on defense much better than Nene/Seraphin can. He'll have trouble against the sf/pf guys but the average pf, I think he'll be fine. Plus defense is more about hustle, positioning, and IQ than physical talent.

He stayed in front of Trey Burke on the final play to beat Michigan. He's much more athletic than he's generally given credit for.

[sfam]

The only guys im interested in that may be there between 7-10 are Len and Bennett. If neither of them are there, a trade down or a trade out makes about 10,000,000x more sense to me than taking one of the low upside, relatively low floor types that seems to consistently be rated in that 8-12 area. I just don't really see Zeller and Olynyk being valuable pieces long term or short term. Hope I'm completely wrong if we happen to draft one of them, but not feeling good about them all the same.

At this point I'd be happy with Len, Bennet, Zeller or Burke. I'm pretty sure we'll have a choice of at least two of those. I don't think we trade down.

Bennet would be ideal. He's a big body that can shoot from anywhere. His defensive woes seem more about lack of effort than anything. Hopefully coaching can fix that. More importantly, he has the best chance of anyone at that pick to become an elite player. This gives us the possibility of potentially 3 elite players, which makes dreams of a championship more realistic.

[stevemcqueen1]

Bennett is my second favorite player in the class. He'd give us a physical rebounder, Booker and Okafor are the only two we've currently got. He's also got the ability to be a monstrous pick and roll weapon. He's got a big body that can level devastating screens, he's athletic and can finish and he can also fade out and hit jumpers. The pick and roll would be so deadly having a forward like that to pair with Wall.

[nuposse04]

^You would use a top 8 pick on a big whose ceiling is a good backup off the bench? Not sure about that. While nobody wants a bust, the team actually needs some bigs with a much higher ceiling.

Zeller's ceiling is as one of the better starting true bigs in the league.

Won't be better than:

D-12
Blake
LMA
M. Gasol
Z-Bo
Tim Duncan (Hey until he retires)
Vucevic
Drummond
Monroe
Ibaka
Davis
Noel
Bosh
LBJ
Hibbert
Dirk (for at least 2 more years I suppose)
Faried
Horford
J. Smith (although he's inefficient as ****, I'd rather have Smith then Zeller)
L. Sanders
Henson
Ed Davis
Noah
T. Thompson
Bogut (assuming some level of health)
D. Lee (They're basically the same, except Lee has a large array of offensive moves)
Love
Pekovic
Millsap
Kanter
Favors
Cousins
Illyosova
Chandler
Melo (If you consider him a 4)
B. Lopez
Jonas Val


Now please tell me, how he is definitively better than at least 2/3rds of those bigs, or has more potential. He's got decent offensive potential, but not enough to surpass what any of the aforementioned bigs have lived up to or have shown in their young careers.

[Dark Faze]

Bennett is...he's got the best frame I've seen out of a player since forever, but tweeners have such a limited ceiling.

[sfam]

Bennett is...he's got the best frame I've seen out of a player since forever, but tweeners have such a limited ceiling.

He's got the same body as Larry Johnson, adding perhaps 5 pounds and one inch. Johnson also had a terrific outside shot, and was a regular 20/10 guy until his back got hurt. I'm kinda likin big, burly, uber-athletic grandmama guys coming out of UNLV.

[nuposse04]

Bennett has good to great offensive potential. I just don't understand why he doesn't exude the same effort on D. That is my only concern with him. He seems "lost" out there a lot. It might be good for him to be coached by a defensive minded guy like Randy for one season before we explore other coaching avenues down the line.

[Dat2U]

Bennett is...he's got the best frame I've seen out of a player since forever, but tweeners have such a limited ceiling.

He's got the same body as Larry Johnson, adding perhaps 5 pounds and one inch. Johnson also had a terrific outside shot, and was a regular 20/10 guy until his back got hurt. I'm kinda likin big, burly, uber-athletic grandmama guys coming out of UNLV.

I don't quite by the Larry Johnson comparison. Larry Johnson was a bull in a china shop. Grandmama wrecked shop in the paint but had the skill to step outside and do damage. Bennett looks a lot like Rodney Rogers. A guy who was built like a bull but preferred to do his damage on the perimeter. It also should be noted that Bennett doesn't have a legit post game to speak of.

I like Bennett's physical tools but b/w him floating on the perimeter offensively & the clear lack of effort on the perimeter makes me think that it's a long shot that he is the next Larry Johnson.

[Dark Faze]

He's perimeter oriented? Nah, I'm good. Derrick Williams was the same way and he's been a huge disappointment. And that guy was a lights out shooter during his sophmore season at Zona.

[DCZards]

Bennett would be my top pick for the Zards at 8-10, followed closely by Len. I get that Bennett seems to be lazy (a similar criticism was leveled against Drummond last year) but with his shooting range for a PF/SF and that imposing NBA-ready body, I'd have take a chance on him. With the right coaching and mentoring--and a push from his NBA teammates--Bennett's attitude and willingness to work hard on defense could improve dramatically.

However, I suspect that a GM picking ahead of the Zards will see Bennett as the second coming of Larry Johnson and that he'll get drafted in the top 5-6 picks.