Draft prospects @ 10

[Wizenheimer]

^ There definitely aren't 10 guys I like and I would like us to trade up. Last year we all wanted to move up from 11 to 7 or 8 to grab Drummond or Barnes or Lillard whichever one was going to fall. I think we'll see something similar this year. I really hope that we move a few ancillary pieces to move up and grab a more impact player. I'd much rather have an Oladipo, Porter, Shabazz or even Zeller over guys like Olynk and Plumlee etc.

Isn't the Suns owner really concerned about saving money? Kind of Donald Sterling-ish? I wonder if the Blazers could take on some productive players with bloated contracts to move up to #4?

Cap space + #10

bloated contracts + #4

Winning!

Phoenix has about 43-45 million in committed salary next season which is about 9-12 million below the required minimum team salary so just dumping Beasely may not save the owner a penny, just redirects it from Beasely to the league office

[Downtown]

I always wondered about that. So are you saying that a team can stay as far under the cap as it wants but must pay the difference up to the minimum to the league, who I presume then pays it out to the players association since it is a CBA article?

[Shem]

Here's a Rudy Gobert highlight video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpHiRGDJjcg[/youtube]

Still waiting for a scouting video.

[Wizenheimer]

I always wondered about that. So are you saying that a team can stay as far under the cap as it wants but must pay the difference up to the minimum to the league, who I presume then pays it out to the players association since it is a CBA article?

actually, I misspoke about that

all teams must meet the minimum team payroll, which next season will be 90% of the salary cap. If a team's actual payroll is below the minimum, the league assesses a surcharge for the shortfall. The money collected is then distributed among the members of that specific team. I don't know how the distributed money is proportioned. Probably equal amounts to each player. I'm guessing that's for players who were on the team at the end of the season. But maybe some goes to players who were traded mid-season too. That I don't know

[Shem]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_PjgRLIhPc[/youtube]

[Wizenheimer]

if Gobert truly has a 7'9 wingspan that would be the 2nd longest ever recorded by Draft express. Add that to good mobility and at least some of his attributes are impressive. Of course, Manute Bol and Shawn Bradley were long too and it didn't do them a lot of good

Watching video of Gobert kind of reminds me of Sam Bowie. Not the injuries of course, but physical stature and the way he moves
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sorry if it's already posted but here the scouting report on Steven Adams:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmdpZD61dUw[/youtube]
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Cody Zeller:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvb2SNJ9T4w[/youtube]

[Shem]

I watched the Zeller video the other day. This guy is overrated.

[Downtown]

Considering Dieng's forte is his defence he has some damn fine post moves on offence, at least on the video.

[Shem]

Considering Dieng's forte is his defence he has some damn fine post moves on offence, at least on the video.

And it's that part of his offensive game that seems to be underrated based what is being said out there in general from what I've seen so far. A scouting video would be great to see what you don't usually see on video highlights. I will say that he looked pretty good when I saw him play against Oregon.

[Shem]

if Gobert truly has a 7'9 wingspan that would be the 2nd longest ever recorded by Draft express. Add that to good mobility and at least some of his attributes are impressive. Of course, Manute Bol and Shawn Bradley were long too and it didn't do them a lot of good

Watching video of Gobert kind of reminds me of Sam Bowie. Not the injuries of course, but physical stature and the way he moves

He also seems to have a decent basketball IQ, great athleticism, and a good motor from what I've seen in his videos so far. Just want more info before I can be sold on him.

[Jsun947]

Things I like about Gobert at 7'2 with a 7'9 wingspan

Keeps his feet on the floor on defense and has great timing.
Quick for his size, good mobility, coordination, and foot work.
He seems to have amazing hands. I know it's a highlight reel but you can see him catching a lot of difficult passes and getting tip shots Thabeet only dreams about.
He looked a lot bigger in that video that others I've seen. I think he could add a little weight and muscle without much of a problem.

He really knows hiw to use his length properly.

I'm very excited to see his draft measurements and see some workout videos. I think he would be a fantastic fit on our roster and I'm fairly certain he would be a enormous help defending the pick and roll.

I'm firmly on the Olapido & Gobert bandwagon.

[Shem]

Here's another Gobert video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdTECazexFo[/youtube]

[Butter]

Simple question, who is your favorite target at #10 and why?

I'm sure the invevitable, "why didn't you add _____?" will pop up, so I enabled re-voting. If a name gets added, feel free to shift your vote.

[Butter]

I voted for MCW. I really like the idea of this guy next to Lillard. He can dribble penetrate, great at setting up teammates, and he's rated as a good on ball defender. He could come off the bench for now, and possible challenge Matthews as the starter in the future. I'm kind of imaging a Eric Snow type next to Allen Iverson situation.

This would allow Lillard to focus on scoring, but still set up his teammates. With Lillard, MCW, and Batum passing the ball, the Blazers could lead the league in assists.

This puts a lot of pressure on the Blazers to find a center in FA, but provides some solid talent.

[TBpup]

From the videos I've seen of Gobert so far:

Strengths:

This kid instinctively 'rim-runs' as well as any young center I've seen in a while. He attacks the basket without the ball, with hands up ready to receive the pass and many times seemingly demanding the ball.
He actually roles to the basket. He knows where his game is and is always going towards the hoop.
Seems to want to dunk everything. He's not near Shaq's size but people often criticized O'Neal because all he could do was dunk. That's not a bad problem to have when you want to and can dunk at will.
Agility. He is often running the court ahead of players much smaller than him. The athleticism of those players isn't great but his mindset is in the right place.
Extremely long and with good instincts. You see a lot of blocks but what they don't show that you know is there is affected shots or discouraged shots. That really helps out the rest of your team's defense.

Weaknesses:

He obviously needs to get stronger. Even against lesser competition, you could tell it didn't take a lot to bump him off stride or out of position. I've read he is on a massive program this summer to bulk up and increase his strength which is encouraging from both a size/strength standpoint and from a work ethic point of view.
Not much of an offensive game but does have a decent little lefty hook with decent touch.
Reaches over on some blocks. Not sure why so many big men do this. Be tall and go straight up. He will pick up some cheap fouls early in his career that he might not be used to having called on him. This seems to happen more on the floor and not so much when he is going up to block a shot. In that case, his timing and technique seem quite good.

[DaVoiceMaster]

I thought I heard his shooting kinda sucked?

[Butter]

I thought I heard his shooting kinda sucked?

His shooting and shot selection are definitely his weakness. But he's a good at dribble penetration, which I think the Blazers clearly need. I don't know if he's Brandon Roy good, but I could see him developing into that kind of a role (minus the shooting).

[Butter]

Mods, maybe we could merge this with the main draft thread and update the poll?

[Shem]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1EouzHgMaY[/youtube]

[Shem]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt6q9BgAGwo[/youtube]