Official 2013 Draft Thread - Part V

[Dark Faze]

Lol, Porter is a better prospect than George was, and there's nothing pointing to him being more athletic. George refused to do the vert tests at the combine when he came out.

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2010/6/17 ... ct-profile

Bulletsforever at the time predicted he had a vertical slightly under 37, but that's not in stone. If that's the case though, Porters is better.

Porter is a better prospect than George. He's better at every aspect of basketball other than ball handling. He has a significantly better foul rate.

People need to stop comparing Otto to Tayshaun. People say that because they both play D and have awkward form because of their length. Otto has a chance at being considerably better than Tayshaun offensively. He has more tools than Tayshaun ever had on that end.

[Nivek]

It's funny, Deng has switched from being underrated to now being a bit overrated. Or, maybe it's Ariza who's getting underrated. Anyway, in my analysis Deng rated slightly better than Ariza last season, but not by much. Ariza's PPA was 108; Deng's was 116. Ariza rated as the better defender between the two in the defense part of PPA -- he was 7th among SFs. Deng rated as a good defender himself -- 13th among SFs.

The overall difference between the two is not worth the third pick and an additional $7 million.

[No-Man]

Prince was a really good passer too, he pplay some PG in every team he has played.

They're similar, Turkoglu is a similar player too, heavier and worse on D, but you understand the point, Parsons could be a nice comp. but he's more explosive too.

Porter hanst that much room to grow, his shooting form is bad, he has to work on that even if it was efficient enough at NCAA, his handles needs work, he's not strong enough to drive inside, he's slow and unexplosive, that isnt going to change at all.

I just don't see it, he would be good, solid, but nothing spectacular, a good starter, role player.

He compares himself to Prince.

Tayshaun senior Junior stats at UK look really similar to Porter's.

[tontoz]

I have seen rumors for the past year that Lebron is thinking of going back to Cleveland when he is done with Miami. With that in mind it is even more unlikely that they will take Porter at 1.

[Upper Decker]

Bulls fans have been forcing Deng on the Wizards for Ariza + tons of extra valuable pieces for nearly a year. I haven't seen one solid argument for the Wiz to even consider that trade. I've seen little to no argument that Deng at $13M is substantially better than Ariza at $7M.

NOTE TO BULLS FANS. STOP. WITH. THE. DENG. FOR. ARIZA. TRADES!

[payitforward]

If Noel's number one and Orlando steps in number two with Burke, you've got McLemore and Dipo sitting right there at three - probably the premier wings from a trade value perspective.

I think that's going to happen - although the more I think about the Thompson/Noel combination - the less sure I am. Trading down with PHX for #5 and an asset would be fine, but CHA and NO could swap picks knowing we don't need a SG. I'm perfectly happy just drafting Porter.

The interesting team is NO @6. Would they be happy with a big, or do they go after Porter or Burke?

This is silly. If this is a brilliant move, why doesn't Orlando do it?

They have even more leverage than we do, and Deeptu is projecting them to reach instead and take Burke.

[stevemcqueen1]

I want Porter over Noel. I think the Nene/Okafor front court is good for a few more seasons and the money that opens up can get us a decent free agent big. Guys have gotten good rebounding/defensive c's in free agency the last few off-seasons.

I think Porter is being underrated in his scoring potential. With his length, shooting and defense we'll have a core of potential top 5 players of their position for the next 10 years.

I don't see Porter being as good a defender as Paul George. George getting torched by Melo in that last game aside, he is a brilliant defender. Arguably the best perimeter defender in the league this year and he should have been a legit DPOY candidate IMO. I agree that George is the better ball handler and Porter will likely be the better shooter. I think Porter will be a better scorer in the end. He's just such a natural offensive player whereas George is still learning how to score, still a little mechanical. George is probably the better facilitator though, given how good his handle is and how much of a guard he is naturally.

The thing that separates them is the athleticism. George is a freak and he's strong. Given that, he'll probably always be better than Porter unless Porter shocks the world and becomes a brilliant scorer like a Larry Bird or something. But George is one of the best young wings in the game and there is a lot of room for being a great player and still not being as good as George.

That said, I would still probably take Noel over Porter if I were picking first. As good as Porter's offensive instincts are, that's how good Noel's defensive instincts are. He is an amazing defensive player, a better shot blocker than even Anthony Davis and a better athlete. His offense isn't great yet, but he did show signs of coming around before he got hurt. Calipari let him go to work and made the guards work the ball to him inside and he got his confidence and started scoring off of shots he created for himself. He's got a good comfort level on a baby hook from about 5-7 feet with both hands and a running hook that he can hit from both sides of the court. He's got great ball handling skills for a big though he didn't get to show them in games. And he's an excellent passer that can facilitate the offense from the top of the key. He just can't shoot face up jumpers or FTs yet. Hopefully that would be something he could develop in time.

He's like the second coming of Joakim Noah, only more athletic and more of a blue chipper. I would LOVE to have a player like that on our team. Probably more than anything else except a super blue chip do it all SF like LeBron or Durant. If we had our own Noah or Marc Gasol to anchor the defense, we could make a deep run in the playoffs.

But Noel is a project that will take years to develop of course. He's one of the youngest and least physically developed players in the class.

[Upper Decker]

Porter hanst that much room to grow, his shooting form is bad, he has to work on that even if it was efficient enough at NCAA, his handles needs work, he's not strong enough to drive inside, he's slow and unexplosive, that isnt going to change at all.

I just don't see it, he would be good, solid, but nothing spectacular, a good starter, role player.

My thoughts exactly on Porter. The trouble is, I don't see any viable alternative. I expect Porter to be a 12/4/3 player with above average defense. Sure, that's crummy for the #3 pick, but who else is substantially better? I just wish Dipo was 3 inches taller...

[nate33]

If they really want Porter, I wonder if it would only take minor incentive to trade up from #3 to #1 to draft Noel. Something like Seraphin + #3 for #1. I'm not crazy about paying Noel 1st overall pick money to spend his first two seasons getting healthy and gaining weight, but in the long run, it could really pay off.

Make that Singleton or Booker and I'm in like Flynn.

Singleton isn't incentive at all. He might be negative. I went with Seraphin instead of Booker because I figure Noel will be groomed to play center anyhow.

But now that you mention it, a Seraphin/Noel pairing could work out very nicely in the long run. Noel does the rebounding and help defense. Seraphin does the post defense and scoring (whether it's in the post or on the pick-and-pop). Seraphin obviously needs to continue to improve with his decision-making, but the tools are there for him to be a good scorer in this league. He may never be a good rebounder, but that's where Noel picks up the slack.

[stevemcqueen1]

I have seen rumors for the past year that Lebron is thinking of going back to Cleveland when he is done with Miami. With that in mind it is even more unlikely that they will take Porter at 1.

I don't think LeBron effects their decision on Porter. You can't bank on something that has a small likelihood of happening years down the road.

I think they'll just take Noel because he's the BPA and fills a long term need and they can afford to develop him slowly with Varejao in place.

[Zonkerbl]

wait, we're in win now mode? Really? Did we make the playoffs last season or something? Are we one piece away from the championship?

We're in "make the playoffs with the roster we have now" mode. We are also in "boy, would be nice if we could get a HOF big to replace one of Nene/Okafor in two or three years, when we really expect to have a chance at the championship if ever" mode. I'd take Noel in a heartbeat.

The problem we have at the three right now is you can have great defense and mediocre offense, or pretty good offense and mediocre defense. Porter would give you pretty good defense and pretty good offense and with Wall, Beal, Porter, and Nene you have four players who can move the ball around, so they should be able to manufacture good shots for each other in the half court. Still not championship caliber, but a pretty good team. The addition of Porter would mean our defense would probably improve, which is kind of scary. We'd have Indiana quality defense. Offense would be a little better. Main problem is we wouldn't address the need to replace Okafor and Nene. You can replace Oak by resigning him, I suppose, if he can maintain last year's production.

I'm really leery of Bennett's alleged disinterest in defense. That's weird. Do not want to take a step back from the high quality defense culture we established last year.

[Rafael122]

Porter hanst that much room to grow, his shooting form is bad, he has to work on that even if it was efficient enough at NCAA, his handles needs work, he's not strong enough to drive inside, he's slow and unexplosive, that isnt going to change at all.

I just don't see it, he would be good, solid, but nothing spectacular, a good starter, role player.

My thoughts exactly on Porter. The trouble is, I don't see any viable alternative. I expect Porter to be a 12/4/3 player with above average defense. Sure, that's crummy for the #3 pick, but who else is substantially better? I just wish Dipo was 3 inches taller...

Porter doesn't have much room to grow? HE'S 19! This dude basically had to carry the Hoyas once Whittington went down with the academic suspension. I'm not sure about the Paul George comparisons, but I think Porter will end up being a hybrid of Prince and Marion. Wall likes to set his people up, I wouldn't be surprised if Otto turned into a 16 point per game type of player, 5-6 boards, 2-3 assists. He'd basically be the small forward version of Bradley Beal sans the wet jumper.

Otto is still growing by the way, wouldn't be surprised if he ended up growing another half inch to an inch. He needs to bulk up though, quite surprised he weighed in at 197 at the combine.

[nate33]

I'm really leery of Bennett's alleged disinterest in defense. That's weird. Do not want to take a step back from the high quality defense culture we established last year.

Or maybe we have the culture that could change Bennett's habits.

If Bennett has a defensive juggernaut, he wouldn't be available at #3.

[fishercob]

DX hasn't done a scouting video on POrter for this year, but here's the video they did of him after last season.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLKl98IkCWg[/youtube]

His perimeter shooting was a weakness at the time, and then Otto proceeded to shoot 42% from 3. They tout his upside due to his immature body, how well he thinks the game (coupled with him never having played AAU ball).

His weaknesses today don't hurt us all that much. He's not great in isolation or at breaking down a defense; he's not needed for that here. He'll be brilliant playing off of Wall, Beal, and Nene -- getting to the right spots, hitting open 3s, layups, making the extra and correct pass.

He's shown great improvement in a short college career. No reason to think he can't improve on his body with NBA trainers and nutritionists overseeing things.

He'll never make the And1 Mixtape tour bus, and that's a good thing. I think he'll be an excellent player.

[stevemcqueen1]

If Porter is #1 one on the Cavs bored than they can't trade down to get him because they know the Wiz will grab him at 3.

Cavs could take porter 1. Trey or Oladipo could both go as high as 4 so I doubt Orlando would trade down either.

Wiz take Noel at 3.

If they really want Porter, I wonder if it would only take minor incentive to trade up from #3 to #1 to draft Noel. Something like Seraphin + #3 for #1. I'm not crazy about paying Noel 1st overall pick money to spend his first two seasons getting healthy and gaining weight, but in the long run, it could really pay off.

Make that Singleton or Booker and I'm in like Flynn.

Yeah I'd be fine with that deal. The best players will probably go 1 & 2, and right now that looks like Noel and McLemore. But to which teams? I think you could see both #1 and #2 get traded.

But Cleveland can't move down past three if they want Porter. Not unless they're sure we won't take him, and I see no way they can be sure of that.

A Washington-Cleveland swap makes sense for both teams because it ensures Cleveland can trade down and get the guy they want plus pick up a little something extra in the process. We get a potential franchise center for a relative bargain.

Right now I'm thinking Orlando takes McLemore or trades down for Burke. It makes sense for Charlotte to move up for McLemore. Same for Phoenix. And Burke can probably still be had at those spots:

1 - Washington - Noel
2 - Charlotte - McLemore
3 - Cleveland - Porter
4 - Orlando - Burke
5 - Phoenix - Oladipo

or

1 - Was - Noel
2 - Pho - McLemore
3 - Cle - Porter
4 - Cha - Dipo/Zeller
5 - Orl - Burke

Makes sense for everyone if the teams moving down don't get too greedy in what they ask for in return.

[No-Man]

I'm really leery of Bennett's alleged disinterest in defense. That's weird. Do not want to take a step back from the high quality defense culture we established last year.

Yep, this is the argument that gives me trouble with Bennett.

I'd try to trade the pick and Ariza for a reliable Center long term.

If the Rockets grab Howard... what about Asik? maybe Asik+future 1st+Jones for 3#+Ariza

[Rafael122]

I'm really leery of Bennett's alleged disinterest in defense. That's weird. Do not want to take a step back from the high quality defense culture we established last year.

Or maybe we have the culture that could change Bennett's habits.

If Bennett has a defensive juggernaut, he wouldn't be available at #3.

So basically we have to babysit him too? Along with Seraphin? Pass. It seems like "Bennett not playing D"argument is getting overlooked. Wittman has shown with Vesely that he'll bench you no matter how high you were picked. Bennett isn't going to get up off the bench much if he doesn't play defense. Then we're gonna sit here and argue in December and January about how Wittman is horrible for doing so. Whatever Bennett brings to the table offensively is kinda moot if he gives up just as many points on the other end of the court, no?

[sfam]

I'm really leery of Bennett's alleged disinterest in defense. That's weird. Do not want to take a step back from the high quality defense culture we established last year.

Or maybe we have the culture that could change Bennett's habits.

If Bennett has a defensive juggernaut, he wouldn't be available at #3.

So basically we have to babysit him too? Along with Seraphin? Pass. It seems like "Bennett not playing D"argument is getting overlooked. Wittman has shown with Vesely that he'll bench you no matter how high you were picked. Bennett isn't going to get up off the bench much if he doesn't play defense. Then we're gonna sit here and argue in December and January about how Wittman is horrible for doing so. Whatever Bennett brings to the table offensively is kinda moot if he gives up just as many points on the other end of the court, no?

Bennett will quickly make us lots better at rebounding so this will help. More to the point, while Washington is top 10 in DEF EFF, we are the absolute worst at OFF EFF. Porter may help us a little, but newsflash, folks, we need a lot of help there. The Wizards absolutely must improve on offense - Bennett is the best ticket to get there.

Ariza and Webster make for a fine 3 and D double-headed Hydra at SF. Our big problem today is a third big and a third guard. Bennett's skills and athletics are attractive enough that his lack of defensive prowess may be worth his offensive upside. The big question is whether he has the interest and work ethic to improve there. Clearly there's more risk, but this comes with a potentially higher reward.

[Zonkerbl]

What was our offensive efficiency when Wall and Beal and Nene were all healthy? I don't care what it was during the 4 -infinity streak.

[nate33]

What was our offensive efficiency when Wall and Beal and Nene were all healthy? I don't care what it was during the 4 -infinity streak.

21st.