Official 2013 Draft Thread - Part V

[sfam]

BTW, the Kevin Pelton chats over on ESPN are always excellent and extended. It's a mix of draft, playoffs and player comparison talk. I skimmed the last one and there were maybe fifteen or more Wizards' related questions along with a good bit of general early lottery prospect talk.

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/48060

Interesting chat. Pelton sees Len as the biggest bust potential in the top 10 (I might agree with that). He's also a big Porter supporter to the point he'd prefer the Wiz to trade down if Porter and Noel are gone.

[sfam]

More importantly as to what Wittman said is they want someone to provide scoring off the bench as a rookie. And I don't think anyone thinks Len is going to be much of scorer as a rookie - he obviously is a work in progress who had trouble scoring with any consistency at Maryland. That also pretty much eliminates Noel - though I spect he assumes Noel won't be there as an option, anyway.

Actually, I think Len would be a viable scoring option off the bench as a rookie.

And much of his inconsistency can be placed on the Terps PG play....and lack of consistent outside shooting.

Don't get me wrong....I'm not saying he'll be a world beater next season but I think his game is more advanced than people are giving him credit for.

Both myself and Gary Williams think his game is more suited for the pros.

Lack of zone defense etc etc.

Edit: disregard. Misread poster's name.

[hands11]

Hands are you saying Wittman wants to draft Len?

http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos ... ec17ed0000

I'm saying he is one of the players he likes....

Listen to his comments.

Called him Intriguing. Knew no English. Another local. Interviewed him. Impressed with how quickly he leaned English. Shows he is smart and learns fast - great strides at MD. Future is ahead of him. Can't teach height. Hard thing to find.

I don't know if it will be Len or Adam or some trades but it was clear from the interview that Randy is interested in Len.

On his own, not asked a question, he starts going on about VO.

Its not rocket science to get they are interested.

Len Interview. He gets how he can help right away. Defend the paint and rebound. Over time add scoring.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I627pJP- ... r_embedded

[nate33]

This stat geek likes Porter much more than Bennett. He ranks Porter as a very likely to be an all-star caliber player, with Bennett being a hit or miss prospect. Application of his system to the last 3 draft classes have been pretty accurate.

[hands11]

It would be nice if we could start to compile a list of players they interview and who they haven't interviewed. Seems unlikely they would draft a player they didn't interview. Also need to track who works out for them individually.

http://www.csnwashington.com/basketball ... erall-pick

The results mean the Wizards must re-focus their draft prospects after spending last week at the combine in Chicago interviewing the likes of Steven Adams, Cody Zeller and Alex Len.

The Wizards didn't have 30-minute sitdown interviews with Nerlens Noel or Ben McLemore, who are projected to go within the top three picks on June 27, in Chicago. The Wizards did interview Georgetown's Otto Porter, who has seen his draft stock rise quickly.

http://www.csnwashington.com/basketball ... interviews

As CSN reported earlier in the week, the Wizards requested to talk with Otto Porter of Georgetown and Maryland’s Alex Len and have been granted access by the NBA.

They scheduled to talk to

PG Isaiah Canaan (Murray State) 6-1 shoot first PG - small school
PG/SG C.J. McCollum (Lehigh) 6-3 scorer, shooter with handles - take the big shot small school
SG Allen Crabbe (California) 6-6 rebounder, move with out the ball, shooter Reggie miller/Allen houston
SG/SF Victor Oladipo (Indiana) 6-4 - hybrid athletic strong body improving defense scorer
SF Otto Porter (GT) - Fundamental
SF Shabazz Muhammad (UCLA) - Scorer
PF Mason Plumlee (Duke) - Strong
C/PF Cody Zeller (Indiana) - Fundamental
C/PF Kelly Olynyk (Gonzaga) - Small School S4 scorer
C Alex Len (MD) - 7-1 all around center
C Steven Adams (Pittsburgh) - 7-0 strong project big rebounder, runner, strong body

Blue-chip prospects SG Ben McLemore (Kansas) and PG Trey Burke (Michigan) are not scheduled with the Wizards. Nerlens Noel, a 6-11 center from Kentucky, is expected to only interview with a couple teams and isn't likely to do more than that, a person with knowledge of the situation told CSN.

Haven't talked to these names, but that was before they had the #3. Let see if they do.
PG Trey Burke
SG Ben McLemore
C Noel

Notable names to keep an eye on for reported interviews and workouts
Erik Murphy - Beal X Teammate from Florida
Muscala -
Wolters
Vander Blue, Marquette (55)-- The dynamic 6-foot-4 wing guard
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia
Glen Rice Jr., NBDL

Others: Mike Muscala (Bucknell, center), Kenny Kadji (Miami, stretch-four), Tony Snell (New Mexico, wing guard)

http://www.csnwashington.com/basketball ... hose-watch

[sfam]

Hands are you saying Wittman wants to draft Len?

http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos ... ec17ed0000

I'm saying he is one of the players he likes....

Listen to his comments.

Called him Intriguing. Knew no English. Another local. Interviewed him. Impressed with how quickly he leaned English. Shows he is smart and learns fast - great strides at MD. Future is ahead of him. Can't teach height. Hard thing to find.

I don't know if it will be Len or Adam or some trades but it was clear from the interview that Randy is interested in Len.

On his own, not asked a question, he starts going on about VO.

Its not rocket science to get they are interested.

Len Interview. He gets how he can help right away. Defend the paint and rebound. Over time add scoring.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I627pJP- ... r_embedded

He starts going about VO in the context of discussing local DC talent. This made total sense in the context of the convo, and doesn't require a ouiga board to make sense of.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Here's a breakdown of Bennett from the perspective of the Pistons who have the 8th pick...

http://www.detroitbadboys.com/2013/5/10 ... eport-mock


Some notable comments:

Sean Corp: it would definitely be a high risk, high reward proposition as I'm not sure he has the talent right now to be an effective NBA player.

Bennett probably wouldn't be able to play through his defensive mistakes and would be buried on the bench. Then all of a sudden the Pistons have yet another raw NBA talent who they refuse to develop.

Bennett could be the steal of the draft or he could be like 90 percent of the big men who declare, tantalize with their measurables and scoring acumen but don't do anything in the league because they don't care about defense.

Mike Payne: A shorter, chunkier Charlie Villanueva.

first, his height. He's 6'7", which is barely below average for a small forward let alone a power forward, which is likely his NBA position. Second, he averages a lot more fouls and turnovers than he does assists/steals/blocks (4.3 : 2.8), which might seem a bit arbitrary but I see it as a suggestion that he's pretty one-dimensional. Points and rebounds are great, but they might not scale to the NBA given his height and lack of a clear positional fit.

Kevin Sawyer: A little bit of everything, and a lot of nothing. Bennett was a reasonably efficient shooter and a fairly prolific scorer. His rebounding rate was reasonable for his position, and his defensive stats project solidly, and he has decent range. The latter attribute gives him the potential to create matchup problems. He fits the mold of a stretch four, which is still en vogue in the NBA, I guess.

He seems like a nice pickup in the middle of the first round, not the potential #1 pick he is projected to be.

he is clearly a second tier talent. He isn't top five among potential draft picks in any one category. I think he'll be a pretty competent player, but I can't get excited over him.


On a scale of 1/10, how would you feel about Bennett joining the roster?

Shinons*: 1/10. I don't like him. He feels like Charlie Villanueva, Michael Beasley, or Derrick Williams. Guys like him just never wind up being all that valuable. They tend to be defensive liabilities, not having the fluidity or ball-handling ability to use their athleticism to their advantage offensively, and just turn into shooters - yet not as good of shooters as a prospect who is a "pure shooter." In short, I'd take Erik Murphy ahead of him.

[spaceman_E]

Though I do agree with you somewhat about Len. I think Len has a lot of warts to his game and I think he's soft whereas Adams definitely doesn't seem soft. I also do not like Len's injury.

Because he's white? Because he's a euro? Because he didn't drop 30 on mid majors?
Soft=AJ= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqpF1COUzoU
Len = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IknKniuYCic / http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLlQpMpgB14

I like Adams but he is scary bad on offense right now and I don't see a great frame to fill out. He's not in Len's class as a prospect.

[hands11]

Hands are you saying Wittman wants to draft Len?

http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos ... ec17ed0000

I'm saying he is one of the players he likes....

Listen to his comments.

Called him Intriguing. Knew no English. Another local. Interviewed him. Impressed with how quickly he leaned English. Shows he is smart and learns fast - great strides at MD. Future is ahead of him. Can't teach height. Hard thing to find.

I don't know if it will be Len or Adam or some trades but it was clear from the interview that Randy is interested in Len.

On his own, not asked a question, he starts going on about VO.

Its not rocket science to get they are interested.

Len Interview. He gets how he can help right away. Defend the paint and rebound. Over time add scoring.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I627pJP- ... r_embedded

He starts going about VO in the context of discussing local DC talent. This made total sense in the context of the convo, and doesn't require a ouiga board to make sense of.

Partly true .. he brings him up after talking about how players take a step and improve from one year to another. They were talking about Porter. Then he says something about local kids and mentions VO. Says he is local also but then get back onto talking about how players improve and how they will take a hard look at him...meaning VO. Then gets asked about Len and quickly goes onto how he was impressed with him coming to the country, learning the language and how he improved. And how you can't teach height.

The theme in all his comments was how impressed he with their improvement. Not who was local.

If you don't want to take anything from the interview, fine. Don't. But don't confuse others with what was actually said. Your coming across like you want to get into some kind of argument with me. I'm really not interested. I'm here to have fun following the team. If your interested in a debate or a conversation or want to ask what why I saw I saw what I saw, then that's different. I welcome that. If you just want to throw arrows, I'm not.

[hands11]

Somehow, I'm of a mind that drafting Len at 3 is a disappointment while taking him after a slight trade down to 5 or 6 could be "great value".

That this position might not be an entirely rational one is a distinct possibility.

Pretty much where I am with many of the draft picks available in the lotto. I'd be happy with m/any of 'em if they came with some sort of throw-in that made it worth it.

Thats just the nature of this draft at the top.

What's funny was on lottery night I was out with a friend and they got into the Wizards range and their name didn't come up and I was like sweet. They then got past 8, sweet. 7 - awesome. 6 - I was freaking. 5 - owwww.

Then I started hoping their name would come up. By the time they got to 3 I was praying they didn't go higher.
This is not the draft to have the #1 unless you want to trade it. The #1 always has value but for me, I would have been happy if they landed at 5.

But having the #3 is good. You are in the drivers seat for more stuff but on the flip side, its not as likely that you get good value from that pick in this draft. You could do really well in this draft with the 8th-10th and another 15th

[spaceman_E]

I don't see Len as being much more impactful than your average big stiff white guy. I want someone athletic like Zeller, not a smaller Hibbert.

Athletic like this?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLlQpMpgB14 I

No, like Zeller or Noel. The dude looks like he's in slow motion.

Have you seen Zeller? Even his highlight videos are boring. ooo a box out, ooo a rebound. ooo a layup. Yes, he moves very well but he also has no bulk, a poor frame to add any, the length of a SF and does not utilize that vertical in games.

[hands11]

Witt would love a low maintenance guy with a non alpha dog personality. Wittman is a poor judge of talent and Witman is alot less objective about the longterm development of this team than us realgms. He looks at the team from the perspective of job security. We look at the team from the perspective of championships. I think Ted weight longterm success alot more importantly than bringing in a player that is tame with a low profile. With Len's poor lower body strength and inability to absorb contact in the post without getting injured, absolutely no way, len with his sweet jumpshot and finesse game can stand up night to night against rigors of nba bigman. Biggest warning sign for a big is that he doesn't have lower body strength and can't absorb contact. We already went through those problems with McGEE.
McGee was traded because he had slow feet and no lower body strength, NOT because he was a bone head.
Len has all the same problems has mcgee. Hates contact, extremely fragile frame that gets injured with lower body contact. Len may be able to do twirling and smooth moves but a bigman ABSOLUTELY most have above average lower body strength and along with quick coordinated feet on defense.
Len has extremely slow feet defensively and doesn't have the quickness to recover on defense and he can't deal with lower body strength, just like McGee.
I think Wittman looks at the team from a job security standpoint. he would love to bring in a player who is low maintenance and has the look of a bigman as well as be a scapegoat. Bringing in an alpha dog player like Bennet or even a Kooky strong willed player like Adams will be alot more challenging from a coaching perspective than to bring in a meek mild Len. Witman was around when Vesely was drafted. How could Witman, as an assistant coach not vehemently objected to VEsely. Because Vesely was passive, and wouldn't ever challenge Management.
I trust Newman but alot of Grunfeld's people are still in the organization so picking up another Len like Player who doesn't excel at the basic stat categories of a bigman is the same mistake grunfeld's team made when they selected VEsely, even though VEsely never dominated his league at the stat categories that a small forward is suppose to dominate at in Vesely's league before the nba. A bigman should be an above average rebounder. Len is not an above average rebounder. Immediately, he doesn't fit the mold of a wizard. He may have some advanced skills like hit a jumper, or even a few nice finesse moves to the basket but red flag is that Len was not above average at defensive rebounding. A prospect should be dominant at the basic stat categories of his position before he came into the nba.
A bigshould always have above average lower body strength. A big should have quick coordinated feet to recover on defense. A bigshould have standing reach above average for his position. Len doesn't meet the two most important---- not above average in college at rebounding. Huge red flag. He doesn't have above average lower body strenghth. Huge red flag. and he doesn't have explosiveness or even quick feet to recover on defense.
I think about Ernie picking up Booker. Booker was explosive but he didn't have body control with the basketball and he didn't have elite length. That automatically made Booker a role player at best and a project.
Len is somewhat coordinated with the ball, has elite length, but isn't explosive and doesn't have quick reactive feet on defense and he doesn't have lower body strength.
the whole point of the lottery is that the top players have the unique combination of explosiveness, body control, length,
the fact that Witman would truly still want Len should be a warning to TEd that Witman should have be given a heavy decision influence building a nearly billion dollar washington wizard franchise. This is our last chip before we have any chance of making a run deep into the playoffs. YOu better pick up a player that you would never have a chance at in free agency or when picking in the early 20's of a draft. You are never going to pick up an explosive athlete that has elite length, highly coordinated with basketball and (and for bigs above average lower body strength) and above average stats at the basics of his position (bigs rebounding and shotblocking are raw stat categories regardless of system) before he came into the league. Plain and simple so let's keep our pretend GM hats on.

Relax. Just because he is in the running and he is intrigued doesn't mean they are picking him. Sounded like he was also very interest in VO. VO matches non of the concerns you listed. He is very strong and has an outgoing alpha personality.

But keep in mind, this team already has two young leaders in Wall and Beal. Beal may be more on the quiet side but don't be fooled into thinking he isn't a budding star who will step it up then the stage gets bigger. He is no Ves.

CJM is kind of blend. More like a Beal. Softer interview. Mature but killer instinct on the court. He would fit fine. Well they interviewed him as well. And they interviewed Shabbazz and Adams.

I think we can all agree we don't think a Crawford type personality works for this team. But I see no problem with a VO or CJM type. I don't have a full read on Adams. He is a different kind of dude then anyone they have. Could be interesting adding him to the mix. I don't think he would back down from anyone in the post. That's for sure.

[hands11]

More importantly as to what Wittman said is they want someone to provide scoring off the bench as a rookie. And I don't think anyone thinks Len is going to be much of scorer as a rookie - he obviously is a work in progress who had trouble scoring with any consistency at Maryland. That also pretty much eliminates Noel - though I spect he assumes Noel won't be there as an option, anyway.

Actually, I think Len would be a viable scoring option off the bench as a rookie.

And much of his inconsistency can be placed on the Terps PG play....and lack of consistent outside shooting.

Don't get me wrong....I'm not saying he'll be a world beater next season but I think his game is more advanced than people are giving him credit for.

Both myself and Gary Williams think his game is more suited for the pros.

Lack of zone defense etc etc.

I wish Len well, but I think anyone who watched Maryland throughout the season saw it wasn't just the PG's faults that caused his lack of offensive production. For a guy that big, he was awful at presenting a target to get the ball into. MD had an absurd turnover problem, and he was part of the cause, because he was so bad at securing passes to him. The PG's were bad, but he made them worse. When you look at his skill set, there's nothing he does that Seraphin can't do. And Seraphin has better hands. Eventually, he'll likely be able to do more, but this season - very un likely. Commentators during MD games would even say - he'll go in the lottery, but it's obviously for what he might be several years in the future - as he's simply not ready.

I wonder why these highlight videos don't show him "running" up court. If you can't run, it's a huge disadvantage. Even Tim Duncan can run the court. I don't know if Len can.

I remember the first time I saw him play it was his running up the court that concerned me the most. I quickly jumped into the "no way" Len view. But was he already playing on a bad wheel?

I also felt I didn't really care for players over 7-1. Seems they always have injury problems. And now he has this ankle thing.

What got me more interested that he would go high was I think the last game he played. He looks really active and aggressive. Then I learned more about his transition to the US and that MD team he was on.

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

He is a good prospect. He wasn't someone I tagged early on like VO, CJM, and Otto. Those players are much more ready and I really think the Wizards need a 3rd guard. But they do also need a center of the future, so Len keeps coming up. But now Adams has added a new spin to the puzzle. That kid can runs the floor so smoothly. Just glides up and down. And he is strong. But lots of questions about his skills. But it looks promising.

[sfam]

http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos ... ec17ed0000

I'm saying he is one of the players he likes....

Listen to his comments.

Called him Intriguing. Knew no English. Another local. Interviewed him. Impressed with how quickly he leaned English. Shows he is smart and learns fast - great strides at MD. Future is ahead of him. Can't teach height. Hard thing to find.

I don't know if it will be Len or Adam or some trades but it was clear from the interview that Randy is interested in Len.

On his own, not asked a question, he starts going on about VO.

Its not rocket science to get they are interested.

Len Interview. He gets how he can help right away. Defend the paint and rebound. Over time add scoring.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I627pJP- ... r_embedded

He starts going about VO in the context of discussing local DC talent. This made total sense in the context of the convo, and doesn't require a ouiga board to make sense of.

Partly true .. he brings him up after talking about how players take a step and improve from one year to another. They were talking about Porter. Then he says something about local kids and mentions VO. Says he is local also but then get back onto talking about how players improve and how they will take a hard look at him...meaning VO. Then gets asked about Len and quickly goes onto how he was impressed with him coming to the country, learning the language and how he improved. And how you can't teach height.

The theme in all his comments was how impressed he with their improvement. Not who was local.

If you don't want to take anything from the interview, fine. Don't. But don't confuse others with what was actually said. Your coming across like you want to get into some kind of argument with me. I'm really not interested. I'm here to have fun following the team. If your interested in a debate or a conversation or want to ask what why I saw I saw what I saw, then that's different. I welcome that. If you just want to throw arrows, I'm not.

Apologies if you picked up some animosity. That's definitely not my intent. I just don't see anything in that interview that indicated a preference for selection. We just disagree on that. Nor do I think Wittman has an equal voice in the process. Have you seen anything that indicates he does?

[hands11]

Here's a breakdown of Bennett from the perspective of the Pistons who have the 8th pick...

http://www.detroitbadboys.com/2013/5/10 ... eport-mock


Some notable comments:

Sean Corp: it would definitely be a high risk, high reward proposition as I'm not sure he has the talent right now to be an effective NBA player.

Bennett probably wouldn't be able to play through his defensive mistakes and would be buried on the bench. Then all of a sudden the Pistons have yet another raw NBA talent who they refuse to develop.

Bennett could be the steal of the draft or he could be like 90 percent of the big men who declare, tantalize with their measurables and scoring acumen but don't do anything in the league because they don't care about defense.

Mike Payne: A shorter, chunkier Charlie Villanueva.

first, his height. He's 6'7", which is barely below average for a small forward let alone a power forward, which is likely his NBA position. Second, he averages a lot more fouls and turnovers than he does assists/steals/blocks (4.3 : 2.8), which might seem a bit arbitrary but I see it as a suggestion that he's pretty one-dimensional. Points and rebounds are great, but they might not scale to the NBA given his height and lack of a clear positional fit.

Kevin Sawyer: A little bit of everything, and a lot of nothing. Bennett was a reasonably efficient shooter and a fairly prolific scorer. His rebounding rate was reasonable for his position, and his defensive stats project solidly, and he has decent range. The latter attribute gives him the potential to create matchup problems. He fits the mold of a stretch four, which is still en vogue in the NBA, I guess.

He seems like a nice pickup in the middle of the first round, not the potential #1 pick he is projected to be.

he is clearly a second tier talent. He isn't top five among potential draft picks in any one category. I think he'll be a pretty competent player, but I can't get excited over him.


On a scale of 1/10, how would you feel about Bennett joining the roster?

Shinons*: 1/10. I don't like him. He feels like Charlie Villanueva, Michael Beasley, or Derrick Williams. Guys like him just never wind up being all that valuable. They tend to be defensive liabilities, not having the fluidity or ball-handling ability to use their athleticism to their advantage offensively, and just turn into shooters - yet not as good of shooters as a prospect who is a "pure shooter." In short, I'd take Erik Murphy ahead of him.

And for all those reasons, that why some of us hate the idea of Bennett.

Nice to see he gave Erik Murphy some props. And keep in mind, he is a Florida kid like Beal was. For what its worth.

[fishercob]

At this point, I'd be happy with what I currently believe to be the most likely scenario:

1) Porter at 3
2) Someone from Muscala, Murphy, etc pool at 37
3) Some high-beta guy that we can keep overseas or on the DLeague at 54
4) Re-signing Webster for Green/Rush money
5) Rolling into the deadline with the expiring contracts/cap space of Ariza and Okafor. Ariza would be gone for sure; okafor could potentially stay on a significantly reduced contract or could be used as a means to acquire more talent

Wall/Beal/Nene/Okafor/Webster/Ariza/Porter as a top 7 and then filling in after that.

[Dat2U]

Unless Grunfeld pulls a shocker, it wouldn't surprise me if Len falls a bit, maybe into the 15-25 range. Big guys his size with foot issues generally scare teams and considering how he's not going to be ready until December at earliest may cause many of the NBA team doctors to red flag him.

I wouldn't consider him at #3, I actually think he's a decent prospect, but he carries a high degree of risk of being bust. He's not only a developmental project but also at high risk for continued injury concerns.

[Dat2U]

At this point, I'd be happy with what I currently believe to be the most likely scenario:

1) Porter at 3
2) Someone from Muscala, Murphy, etc pool at 37
3) Some high-beta guy that we can keep overseas or on the DLeague at 54
4) Re-signing Webster for Green/Rush money
5) Rolling into the deadline with the expiring contracts/cap space of Ariza and Okafor. Ariza would be gone for sure; okafor could potentially stay on a significantly reduced contract or could be used as a means to acquire more talent

Wall/Beal/Nene/Okafor/Webster/Ariza/Porter as a top 7 and then filling in after that.

I don't think resigning Webster is really an option unless Ariza is off the roster or a deal is already in place. All three (Porter included) are ideally SFs. There are bigger needs upfront & at guard that could be addressed with the MLE.

[fishercob]

Unless Grunfeld pulls a shocker, it wouldn't surprise me if Len falls a bit, maybe into the 15-25 range. Big guys his size with foot issues generally scare teams and considering how he's not going to be ready until December at earliest may cause many of the NBA team doctors to red flag him.

I wouldn't consider him at #3, I actually think he's a decent prospect, but he carries a high degree of risk of being bust. He's not only a developmental project but also at high risk for continued injury concerns.

I've Len falls into the mid-20's, I'd hope we'd move up and get him -- using our 2 seconds plus any reasonable combo of Ernie's Kids (TM).

I agree with your assessment on his riskiness, but he has some unteachables attributes.

[fishercob]

At this point, I'd be happy with what I currently believe to be the most likely scenario:

1) Porter at 3
2) Someone from Muscala, Murphy, etc pool at 37
3) Some high-beta guy that we can keep overseas or on the DLeague at 54
4) Re-signing Webster for Green/Rush money
5) Rolling into the deadline with the expiring contracts/cap space of Ariza and Okafor. Ariza would be gone for sure; okafor could potentially stay on a significantly reduced contract or could be used as a means to acquire more talent

Wall/Beal/Nene/Okafor/Webster/Ariza/Porter as a top 7 and then filling in after that.

I don't think resigning Webster is really an option unless Ariza is off the roster or a deal is already in place. All three (Porter included) are ideally SFs. There are bigger needs upfront & at guard that could be addressed with the MLE.

It's one season -- maybe less if Ariza is moved at the deadline. It would be a mistake to not sign Webster for a reasonable price because we have one more year of Ariza and just drafted Otto.

Webster can play both the two and the three. He's a solid player. In time -- and against certain lineups -- Porter may well be able to play some stretch four.

We can deal with a little short term roster imbalance for the right mix long term. I'd happily trade Ariza if Porter is the pick. I'd just as happily keep him here and let him expire. As we know all too well, guys get hurt and depth matters.