Official 2013 Draft Thread - Part VII

[rockymac52]

https://twitter.com/JimmySmith504

Jimmy Smith ‏@JimmySmith504

Hearing that C Alex Len, who visited with #Pelicans on Friday, is now the likely choice for #Cavs at No. 1 spot in next week's draft.

https://twitter.com/insidemdsports

Jeff Ermann ‏@insidemdsports


Former NBA All-Star big man who's watched numerous draft prospect workouts: "If Alex Len is there, you gotta take him. That includes No. 1."

Wow. Just came over to the board immediately after I read that report elsewhere. If true, that's great news for us. That would mean either Noel or Porter is guaranteed to be available at our pick.

However, as plenty have mentioned in the past few weeks, the Cavs seem to have a history of misleading teams/media about their draft preferences leading up to the draft. Also, if they legitimately want Len, then they might look to trade down in the draft a few spots to pick up an additional asset, which might mean that another team jumps to 1 and takes Noel, leaving us in the same situation we were to begin with.

Very very interesting though. I also wonder if the Cavs might be going this route because of their medical staff's prognosis of Noel's injury situation (if the report is true). Could be a red flag if another team already passed on him primarily due to injury concerns.

[payitforward]

Every so often I forget why I have Knighthonor on ignore. Then someone quotes him, and it all makes sense again.

Good idea. I just put someone else on ignore (He who cannot understand the difference between loss and lose) and it has definitely made the board more readable.

I've got everybody on ignore, even you. I only read my own posts.

[sfam]

Both of you are pretending there wasn't a reason why Denver unloaded Nene as-quickly as possible after re-signing him. Denver probably knew about his foot problems.

I do that trade 10 times out of 10. Getting rid of McGee was addition by substration. That Nene is still a stellar player when healthy is just gravy.

We could have gotten rid of McGee at season's end -- we'd have gotten back cap room. Cap room (some people seem to forget) is $$ you use to pay a player. I.e. it's a player.

I like Nene; and I disliked McGee a lot by the time we traded him. But keep in mind that we'll be paying Nene $13m this year, and lets see how many minutes he can play. Then $13m next year, and how many minutes? Then $13m one more year for whatever you think he'll have left in the tank.

So far all the work of more than 3 years has gotten us to a 28-win team w/ no room to maneuver cap-wise. Hard to see what's really good about anything this regime has done. Yes, Wall. Yes, Beal. Is that a lot to have gotten out of what we had to use?

Part of the reason they did these trades is because the team's rep was so bad the FAs didn't want to come here. Hopefully Nene, Okafor and Ariza have helped to change the culture and this becomes less a problem. They have improved the team. I'm not arguing that it was the smartest decision, but it has worked out better than we expected.

[closg00]

https://twitter.com/JimmySmith504

Jimmy Smith ‏@JimmySmith504

Hearing that C Alex Len, who visited with #Pelicans on Friday, is now the likely choice for #Cavs at No. 1 spot in next week's draft.

https://twitter.com/insidemdsports

Jeff Ermann ‏@insidemdsports


Former NBA All-Star big man who's watched numerous draft prospect workouts: "If Alex Len is there, you gotta take him. That includes No. 1."

Well, the Cavs don't need to send any smoke signals unless they are angling for a trade. It's looking more likely that they don't take Noel. Noel could be a slider on draft-night....but not too-much.

[gambitx777]

He won't make it past 4, simply because the bobcasts are distended to make a poor pick, and I do not see Noel making it at the next level. I do not see the Wiz taking him, I would much rather take Len.

[GhostsOfGil]

If Porter and Noel are there at 3, I'd go with Noel. In fact, I'm starting to side with sfam on the Bennett debate. My board is

1. Noel
2. Bennett
3. Porter
4. Zeller
4b. Len

[theboomking]

Every so often I forget why I have Knighthonor on ignore. Then someone quotes him, and it all makes sense again.

Good idea. I just put someone else on ignore (He who cannot understand the difference between loss and lose) and it has definitely made the board more readable.

I've got everybody on ignore, even you. I only read my own posts.

That is funny. Well done sir.

The 2011 draft isn't a terrible example on your part, but I still would take Irving and probably Jonas V before players like Leonard and Faried.

[sfam]

Heres the link to the pod cast that kanye found:
http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=9392635

Noel talk starts around the 59 minute mark. Lots of speculation.

Wow, that's some rough talk. If Noel is indeed this much of a bad egg, you gotta believe this all goes public in the very near future. Certainly before the draft.

[AFM]

It's all about EFTC.

[tontoz]

It's all about EFTC.

I can't argue with that since i have no clue what EFTC is.

[sfam]

If Porter and Noel are there at 3, I'd go with Noel. In fact, I'm starting to side with sfam on the Bennett debate. My board is

1. Noel
2. Bennett
3. Porter
4. Zeller
4b. Len

I dunno, I really have an aversion to knuckleheads. If Noel has that vibe surrounding him, I'm lots more worried about drafting him. I just don't see that with Bennett. Lazy on D, sure. That's correctable, but if Noel has got a shady posse, that's not a great sign if true.

I'm sticking with Bennett #1, and perhaps Porter #2. But if the Noel thing from that podcast is all lies, I might agree with your picks.

EDIT: And Bennett really does have elite athletics - far more than Brand (who he was recently compared to). You don't see Brand taking folks off the dribble from outside like Bennett does, nor do you see him sliding through coverage like butter.

[sfam]

It's all about EFTC.

I can't argue with that since i have no clue what EFTC is.

Sounds like we have another Bennett Supporter!

Spoiler:

Explosiveness and Finishing Thru Contact

[stevemcqueen1]

Good idea. I just put someone else on ignore (He who cannot understand the difference between loss and lose) and it has definitely made the board more readable.

I've got everybody on ignore, even you. I only read my own posts.

That is funny. Well done sir.

The 2011 draft isn't a terrible example on your part, but I still would take Irving and probably Jonas V before players like Leonard and Faried.

Me too. And Kanter too. I still think he can be the second best player from that class. Kyrie is already the best player from that class by a country mile and he was the easy #1 pick at the time too.

[montestewart]

It's all about EFTC.

I can't argue with that since i have no clue what EFTC is.

Isn't it that yogurt place?

[hands11]

MJ is a terrible analogy for Oladipo. I think a much better example, and story of successfully picking a player off of athletic tools, is Russell Westbrook. I don't really look at Westbrook's numbers that really stand above Oladipo's. they are both shock and awe type athletes. If you take Oladipo, I think you are just hoping he can produce as well as he has with higher useage.

I think Iguodala may be a good comp too. Iguodala only averaged 12 points per game his 2nd(and final) year in college. Iguodala has the size of a SF and probably will create more assists. However it looks like Oladipo has the potential to be a much better shooter.

I really am not too concerned about his low usage rate. His team won 29 games and he was the second leading scorer. His relatively low minutes and having Zeller on the same team, seems like a good explanation for his relatively low scoring output. Trey Burke's 18.6 ppg is impressive, but he was on the court 35 mpg.

Burke's pts are secondary to me compared with his ability to run an offense, P&R, while also playing pretty good defense. And his leadership skills.

He is going to be productive in his first year. More so if he has some talent around him. Coming to the Wizards would be perfect for him. He might not think so, but Wall, Beal and the other vets would help him get up an running and accustomed to NBA level of play faster then going to a team that sucks.

VO is up there as well but maybe a little less polished on offense.

Zeller also have a lot of moves and skill. He should also be productive year one.

The Otto

Those are the 4 that I think will have the easiest transition.

[hands11]

Seriously:

Ancillary good happened with the Okariza trade. At the same time, Vesely's and Seraphin's careers with Washington were destroyed. Those are not mutually exclusive.

Yeah, and it's not like Vesely and Seraphin were ever considered important players to develop.

Was Danny Greens career destroyed when SA let him walk.

Twice.

No. Because players that get it, work on what they need to work on, they don't shrink and make excuses.

Temple is that kind of player. For those that want us to be more like SA, they shouldn't undervalue Temple so much. Temple did not shrink from the moment given a chance. He took the shots. He played PG. He play SG. And when they needed, he logged heavy minutes.

You know who else was that kind of player, Mason.

Both are clearly SA types because, SA actually selected them both at one point. What we lack here are more pretend SA front office types, even though so many seem to respect that model so much.

[montestewart]

What we lack here are more pretend SA front office types, even though so many seem to respect that model so much.

There you go picking fights again. Besides, "pretend GM" is WizD's line. You're going to need to clear usage with him.

[hands11]

Gsmbit and Hands, I don't think it's just about drafting special people with SA. They've had their guys struggle at times. Parker is such a different player now than he was early in his career. His decision making and shooting and entire feel for the game got so much better over time. Danny Green washed out of SA the first time because he didn't play hard or with enough awareness. Kawhi Leonard slipped out of the lottery in the draft because of concerns about his shooting and his scoring ability, now you see him confidently draining threes and driving to the basket and changing his shots at the rim to score through contact and pick up the and-1 over some of the best defenders in the game.

Maybe you get lucky and find true diamonds in the rough once or twice. But you don't build your whole team that way. The reason why so many of their players fell so far in the draft is because they were flawed or problematic. SA is finding a way to take flawed players and develop them into guys who can, to a man, play tough, shoot, make great passes, and play good defense.

If SA had gotten their hands on Vesely, he would probably be raining threes and playing D like a young AK-47 right now.

I don't think I said that was all there was to it. I said they groom players which is what you are also pointing out.

Think about Phil Jackson. He molded minds. Its the players that put in the work to improve skills. Phil made sure they had the minds to execute those skills and the drive to improve them.

Everyone of us can do more and better if properly motivated and helped where we are stuck.

And for these players, remember, we are talking about NBA level talent. Except for some bigs who sometimes are just drafted because they are big, the other players are all some of the best talents you can find.

[rockymac52]

Seriously:

Ancillary good happened with the Okariza trade. At the same time, Vesely's and Seraphin's careers with Washington were destroyed. Those are not mutually exclusive.

Yeah, and it's not like Vesely and Seraphin were ever considered important players to develop.

Was Danny Greens career destroyed when SA let him walk.

Twice.

No. Because players that get it, work on what they need to work on, they don't shrink and make excuses.

Temple is that kind of player. For those that want us to be more like SA, they shouldn't undervalue Temple so much. Temple did not shrink from the moment given a chance. He took the shots. He played PG. He play SG. And when they needed, he logged heavy minutes.

You know who else was that kind of player, Mason.

Both are clearly SA types because, SA actually selected them both at one point. What we lack here are more pretend SA front office types, even though so many seem to respect that model so much.

You bring up some interesting points, but I still disagree about Temple. Yes, he did everything that was asked of him, and he's been resilient throughout his career. I like the guy's work ethic and attitude, but that only goes so far. He's really only an average defender, although to be fair, for a backup PG/SG, if you're average on defense, that's acceptable. However, the problem is that he's God awful on offense. He's not much of a threat at all from 3 point range, although his mid-range jumper has actually been pretty good. What concerns me is his age - 27. I can't realistically expect him to get much better than he already is.

If we end up re-signing Temple towards the end of the summer on a 1 year minimum contract, that's fine. I can't really be upset about a signing like that. But I would hope that he is no more than a 3rd string guard that's here for emergency depth. We can do better.

[AFM]

It's all about EFTC.

I can't argue with that since i have no clue what EFTC is.

Isn't it that yogurt place?

Back in 1973 I went to the Good Beans Cafe on 5th and Calvert. It's an EFTC now, due to all the gentrified yuppies that moved in.