Official 2013 Draft Thread - Part V

[Kanyewest]

How bout Khalif Wyatt, his "old man game" would probably be welcome on our 2nd unit. I remember him putting in some work in the Tourney. If we keep our later 2nd he seems like a guy that come in immediately and give us points. Probably a liability on defense but our entire bench is a liability in both regards at times so I'm not too worried.

Wyatt did an Andray Blatche i.e. soliciting an undercover prostitute.

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketba ... for-temple

[GhostsOfGil]

Porter a bust he a bust
The american Jan Vesely

Ha can't believe it took 30 pages before that song came up.

[rockymac52]

DX Just posted an updated scouting video on Porter too:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdMAPF0rvvU[/youtube]

Ha. So I've been watching a lot of DX's scouting reports today, and I wanted to check out Porter, because he's probably the most likely pick for us at this point, and I was really upset when I found out they only had one from last year. Then they must have uploaded this new one while I was watching the other haha.

It was actually really interesting to watch one from his freshman season and then immediately watch his sophomore season. Before watching either I was a pretty big Porter fan, and was very satisfied with us picking him at 3. Then I watched the freshman scouting report, and I was very disappointed and underwhelmed. He looked okay, but just nothing special at all, and clearly had a lot of work to do. Then I watched his sophomore scouting report, and it was amazing to see how much he developed in one year. He had several big issues with his game as a freshman, and he managed to address nearly all of them, and substantially, in one year. For instance, his 3 point percentage jumped from about 20% his freshman year to about 40% his sophomore year. And by watching the two scouting reports, you could see that it wasn't a fluke, and he made an incredible improvement on his mechanics that led to the change. That is a VERY good sign, IMO, not only for his future potential as a shooter, but on his future potential as a whole, because it shows that he is willing to work hard to improve all facets of his game, and he's actually capable of making big strides in short amounts of time. Very, very impressive and telling, IMO.

Anyways, after watching both videos, I'm very much on board with Porter. There's still plenty of scouting to do for other prospects, and it's possible I may like a few more by the time the draft rolls around, but if we end up with Porter when it's all said and done, then I'm going to be very happy.

What really stood out to me were Porter's weaknesses. Or rather, how his weaknesses fit perfectly into our existing team. The biggest knock on Porter right now is probably that he's better suited to be more of a role player, perhaps eventually becoming a 3rd scoring option for a good team, but unlikely to be an effective 2nd or 1st option. Well good news guys, we've got Wall and Beal to be our 1st and 2nd options, and Porter can slide right into the perfect role for him as a 3rd (or lower) option.

I think teams that need/want a dynamic wing scorer who can create baskets for himself would be very disappointed if they drafted Porter hoping he'd be that guy, because that's just not who he is. Maybe one day he could posssssibly become that, but it's a stretch. However, he seems to be very likely to become an effective role player who is a capable offensive threat, but doesn't need the ball in his hands, and doesn't need to be relied on for lots of points. I'm thinking a Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Tayshaun Prince, Shane Battier type role. A very well rounded player with an incredible work ethic who never takes a play off and can be very good on both sides of the ball. I'm not convinced he is going to be an elite defensive player, a "LeBron stopper" if you will, but there's certainly the potential for him to develop into that role. But at the same time, I think he is an incredible team defender, and is a playmaker on the defensive side of the ball.

Wall/Beal/Porter is an incredible 1/2/3 combo, and has the potential to be dominant in a few years. We might have some issues finding a dynamic big man going forward, especially as Nene and Okafor decline in about 2-3 years, but we can't solve all our problems immediately. I really like Porter, and I think he's a VERY safe pick, while still having a very high ceiling.

[No-Man]

Im kind of surprised we're not hearing more about McLemore going 1st to Cleveland. Matches perfectly with Kyrie as an off ball guy. Waiters is ball dominant and moving him to a 6th man role off the bench would work well.

they need defense, and Waiters wouldnt allow that, he already dismissed the thought when somebody ask about it.

[GhostsOfGil]

Where are you guys seeing star potential in Bennett? He's an explosive leaper that runs the floor like a bull. His biggest strength is his dribble drive. How effective is that going to be against NBA 4s? How many undersized PFs reach star status? These arnt rhetorical questions, I'm seriously wondering.

He doesn't need to be a star to be a good pick. It isn't like this draft is loaded with star talent.

But i doubt Bennett is smaller than Zach who is still playing. Marion says hi. Amare and Horford aren't undersized at the 4 but they are at C where both have made All-Star appearances.

Josh Smith is actually a half inch shorter than Porter, and his shot/ball handling skills are rudimentary. He doesn't have much of a first step but can still beat 4s off the dribble easily.

Going back in time Barkley/Dantley/Aquire/Buck were all undersized 4s that were stars.

I was responding to the claim that we should draft bennette because he's the only person outside noel who has star potential.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Im kind of surprised we're not hearing more about McLemore going 1st to Cleveland. Matches perfectly with Kyrie as an off ball guy. Waiters is ball dominant and moving him to a 6th man role off the bench would work well.

This is a good point.


After watching that Porter video, I'm further solidified that he's the best fit for this team. I just love his D. His ability to find the open spot and work on the offensive end will be such a good mesh with Wall. His ability to pass will give Wall opportunities to finish at the rim. He has point forward skills. The overall team defense and passing will be top notch.

In addition for all the talk about his ugly shot, I came away thinking his turn around 2 handed jumper is a thing of beauty, and his hook shot is nearly undefensible. He is excellent at using his body to separate the defender from the ball, and uses his length to fully extend on his shots. Even his layups. He is just crafty. Kinda like Jamison could always get his shot off even when going against bigger and more athletic players with his flip shots, and get rebounds against them.

Some of these guys come in on their athleticism, and then can't adjust when they get to the league and everyone is a great athlete. Porter is a VERY good athlete. If you watch him he is always going at a high speed, up and down, on offense and defense. Makes me think of Rip Hamilton the way he keeps moving making the defense work. You have to have serious stamina the way Porter plays, and that can be overlooked in these athletic measurements. An 82 game season, you gotta have stamina and drive, and Porter has those. Does Bennett? Bennett has had injury issues, weight issues, effort issues, and he has asthma.

Porter is an excellent athlete. But regardless, he has guile, he has length, he has a motor, and he has the craftiness to excel in the league.

More than Prince, Scottie Pippen is the player that comes to mind when I watch him.

[payitforward]

...what exactly did Deng accomplish to rank higher than him (i.e. Ariza) in your analysis?

...Nate has it correct. The two posted comparable stats in many ways...

As Nate pointed out, ... I have a "level of competition" adjustment. If I zero out that adjustment, Ariza edges ahead.

Aahhh, ok. I'd be interested in how you quantify that adjustment. If it's just starters vs. subs, then you'd have to be using some kind of rule of thumb. In that case, there's no edging ahead or one guy being slightly better in a comparison. The rule of thumb is your accuracy limit, and it can't be depended on for distinctions as fine as you seem to be drawing.

As I'm sure is obvious, this is a *methodological* point. Am I wrong?

[SUPERBALLMAN]

The comment from Ernie that it's a 3 player draft.

First off, it implies they won't trade the pick because at #3 in a "3 player draft", you are guaranteed to get someone you deem worthy.

I would think he means Porter, as big as he was this year at Verizon Center of all places, and on most mocks I've seen lately he is listed 3rd.

But I do also know that Grunfeld has been very high on Len for quite a while. And his other comment inferring the guy they like may of still been there for them at 8 would be more likely to reference Len, again seeing how Porter's been higher on most mocks than Len.

I am mentally preparing myself now for "The Washington Wizards, with the 3rd pick in the 2013 NBA Draft select, Alex Len."

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Hey, here's a good one...

Let's look at how the NEW BIG 3 compares to the original.

Wall, Beal, Porter

vs

Arenas, Hughes, Jamison



Which would you take??

[rockymac52]

Hey, here's a good one...

Let's look at how the NEW BIG 3 compares to the original.

Wall, Beal, Porter

vs

Arenas, Hughes, Jamison



Which would you take??

Everyone here, literally everyone, will take Wall/Beal/Porter just because the other one already failed, and it's a lot less depressing to assume that the future will be better, and this new trio hasn't really failed yet, so there's still plenty of hope.

I love the new trio, and think it can become an incredible team in the next few years.

It's also really easy to look at the old trio in hindsight, knowing what we know now, and say Hughes was garbage, Jamison was very average, and Arenas was a disaster waiting to happen. But obviously we didn't think that at the time (not just the front office, all of us, be honest).

[Knighthonor]

This just in from the twitter....

Jonathan Givony ‏@DraftExpress 3m
I also made some changes at the top of our 2013 mock draft reflecting some of the intel we're getting http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2013/ …

For the first time, Givony is showing Porter to the Wiz at 3.

Cannot say I know much about L. Brown, but if you told me our draft haul would be Porter+E. Murphy, that would not be too bad at all. I'd take Pierre over Lorenzo simply cause I've seen Pierre play some.

I don't see Burke falling past the Pelicans. If you rely on Austin rivers to be a starting guard for you in the future, your franchise most likely will be mired in futility.

for some mild hilarity:

http://nbadraft.net/2013mock_draft

Shabazz goes to the Celtics in their draft...I know he has his detractors and some would say he should go lower but I find it hard to believe someone in the late lottery doesn't take him. Oh and Mclemore number 1 overall is hysterical. I like him as the best SG prospect in the class but the fit just seems awful.

http://walterfootball.com/nbadraft2013mock.php

another interesting take...seems to think CLE WILL take porter number 1 overall and Orl would take Noel as oppose to burke/mclemore. June 27th seems so far....

No way Shabazz going that late. It's like Barnes all over again.
One not bad, but not explosive year of college ball, and people jump the gun on him. Lol. Check out his highlights for college. Clearly overblowing the situation...

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Another thing about the new DX draft, they have Withey all the way at 22.

You gotta think we can move up to there somehow from 38. Which by the way is new, they previously have been showing the Wizards at 37.

At least get up to 34 for Muscala!


CCJ, kinda funny they have Wolters going the pick after at 39.

[rockymac52]

The comment from Ernie that it's a 3 player draft.

First off, it implies they won't trade the pick because at #3 in a "3 player draft", you are guaranteed to get someone you deem worthy.

I would think he means Porter, as big as he was this year at Verizon Center of all places, and on most mocks I've seen lately he is listed 3rd.

But I do also know that Grunfeld has been very high on Len for quite a while. And his other comment inferring the guy they like may of still been there for them at 8 would be more likely to reference Len, again seeing how Porter's been higher on most mocks than Len.

I am mentally preparing myself now for "The Washington Wizards, with the 3rd pick in the 2013 NBA Draft select, Alex Len."

Exactly.

I think it was very possible, as several sources have indicated, that we would have seriously explored trading the pick for a current player if we stayed at 8th or 9th. However, this video alone makes it clear to me that we are no longer seriously interested in trading the pick. As always, we're open to anything if it helps improve the team, and we'll hear any offers for the pick, but it appears that we're very content with the pick, knowing we'll get one of our top 3 players, and we are no longer actively looking for a trade. We're keeping the pick.

I also agree with you about Porter and Len, and maybe throw in Bennett as a possibility too. It's clear Ernie wasn't talking about Noel or McLemore, because they were mentioned as the first two. I think it's also clear that we weren't going to take Burke, McCollum, Zeller, or Muhammad at 8, and even if we were considering it, we definitely wouldn't take any of them at 3. So that leaves Porter, Bennett, Len, and Oladipo.

I want to hope it's Porter or Bennett (or perhaps Oladipo, I just haven't personally scouted him enough yet to formulate a solid opinion on him), and not Len, but like you said, Ernie's earlier (immediately before) comment about how that 3rd player might have fallen to the 8th pick makes me think it's Len.

It's definitely possible that Bennett could have fallen to 8th. It's probably considerably more likely that Len would have fallen to 8th, though. I haven't seen anyone with Oladipo falling to 8th or even 7th, so I'm doubtful that it's him. And the same goes for Porter, mostly because no one saw him getting past the Cavs for position-based needs alone.

To be fair, while I'm putting a lot of weight into these brief and candid comments, I am more confident in Ernie's statement about this being a 3 player draft than I am in his statement about how the guy we wanted at 8 also being the guy we take at 3. That comment seemed more in jest, or saying that in a draft like this, there's a very legitimate possibility that any of the top 8 or so could have fallen to 8, outside of Noel and McLemore. So while many of us and the "experts" may have been predicting Porter and Oladipo gone by the 6th pick at the latest, maybe Ernie was entertaining the possibility that either could theoretically drop to 8th, where we'd obviously be happy to pick them.

But then again, I'm already back-tracking here, because Ernie's comment about how picking at 8th would have been taking whoever was leftover, as opposed to how picking 3rd gives us lots of options and the choice to pick whoever we want, even if it's that same player, makes me think that he genuinely fell in love with a prospect he thought we'd be likely to get at 8th that he still wants at 3. I'm just praying he didn't "fall in love" with a guy too early and now he's attached. Getting attached is never a good thing in these scenarios. I'm worried. Len at 3 would be a disaster. Even if Len is legit, we might as well trade down at that point. Right? Right!?!

[rockymac52]

Another thing about the new DX draft, they have Withey all the way at 22.

You gotta think we can move up to there somehow from 38. Which by the way is new, they previously have been showing the Wizards at 37.

At least get up to 34 for Muscala!


CCJ, kinda funny they have Wolters going the pick after at 39.

Good catch. I always thought that when teams have the exact same record, they flip a coin to see who gets the extra 1 ping pong ball in the lottery and the higher slotted pick, and the team that loses that coin flip gets the higher second round pick as a consolation prize. That would fall in line with the Wizards having the 37th pick, as it was before.

Only reason it would change now is if the better 2nd round pick between the tied teams goes to who ends up with the worse 1st round pick, and not who lost the coin toss. Does anybody know the right answer?

[Knighthonor]

Hey, here's a good one...

Let's look at how the NEW BIG 3 compares to the original.

Wall, Beal, Porter

vs

Arenas, Hughes, Jamison



Which would you take??

Everyone here, literally everyone, will take Wall/Beal/Porter just because the other one already failed, and it's a lot less depressing to assume that the future will be better, and this new trio hasn't really failed yet, so there's still plenty of hope.

I love the new trio, and think it can become an incredible team in the next few years.

It's also really easy to look at the old trio in hindsight, knowing what we know now, and say Hughes was garbage, Jamison was very average, and Arenas was a disaster waiting to happen. But obviously we didn't think that at the time (not just the front office, all of us, be honest).

Huh? What? That's BS.
Caron or Huges were well above avg, especially Caron.
And Jamison was a beast since he first got here. Only in the last seasons of the Gil injury did he decline.
And Gil was a bleeping beast!!! Unlike DRose, the Wiz pushed him back before he was ready, and destroyed his career. That's what many Rose defenders are even using as an excuse for Rosé to sit out the season, because its written in stone now.
Can't believe you all are tossing Gil and Jamison under the bus like this. What is that suppose to make you feel better now that the Wiz is a lotto team?

[Knighthonor]

The comment from Ernie that it's a 3 player draft.

First off, it implies they won't trade the pick because at #3 in a "3 player draft", you are guaranteed to get someone you deem worthy.

I would think he means Porter, as big as he was this year at Verizon Center of all places, and on most mocks I've seen lately he is listed 3rd.

But I do also know that Grunfeld has been very high on Len for quite a while. And his other comment inferring the guy they like may of still been there for them at 8 would be more likely to reference Len, again seeing how Porter's been higher on most mocks than Len.

I am mentally preparing myself now for "The Washington Wizards, with the 3rd pick in the 2013 NBA Draft select, Alex Len."

Don't give that man crazy ideas!!!! Because he will run with it..

#TeamDraftEuroBigsToDC

[closg00]

Nice piece by Mike Lee discussing the possibility that Porter might be picked before the Wizards.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wiz ... porter-jr/

[rockymac52]

Hey, here's a good one...

Let's look at how the NEW BIG 3 compares to the original.

Wall, Beal, Porter

vs

Arenas, Hughes, Jamison



Which would you take??

Everyone here, literally everyone, will take Wall/Beal/Porter just because the other one already failed, and it's a lot less depressing to assume that the future will be better, and this new trio hasn't really failed yet, so there's still plenty of hope.

I love the new trio, and think it can become an incredible team in the next few years.

It's also really easy to look at the old trio in hindsight, knowing what we know now, and say Hughes was garbage, Jamison was very average, and Arenas was a disaster waiting to happen. But obviously we didn't think that at the time (not just the front office, all of us, be honest).

Huh? What? That's BS.
Caron or Huges were well above avg, especially Caron.
And Jamison was a beast since he first got here. Only in the last seasons of the Gil injury did he decline.
And Gil was a bleeping beast!!! Unlike DRose, the Wiz pushed him back before he was ready, and destroyed his career. That's what many Rose defenders are even using as an excuse for Rosé to sit out the season, because its written in stone now.
Can't believe you all are tossing Gil and Jamison under the bus like this. What is that suppose to make you feel better now that the Wiz is a lotto team?

I actually don't feel that way at all. But I think a lot of people here suffer from some serious revisionist history, and they really underrate those 3. But make all the excuses you want, the fact is, that team didn't pan out.

[mhd]

draftexpress just posted an updated mock based on what they are hearing: http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2013/

They have:
1) Cavs-Noel
2) Magic-Mclemore
3) Wiz-Porter
4) Char-Bennett
5) Suns-Oladipo
6) NO-Len
7) Kings-Burke
8) Det-Mccollum
9) Min-Shabaaz
10) Por-Gobert
11) Philly-Zeller

[LyricalRico]

^Eh, I'm not sure they're "hearing" anything at this point. They are probably still just slotting players according to their own internal ranking system.