Who would you have drafted instead of Porter or Rice, Jr.?

[rockymac52]

Inspired by my last post in the Glen Rice, Jr. thread (see: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=1258788&start=60). I'd like to keep this thread very simple, and not focus on debating with other people about their preferences and whatnot. Instead, I want this thread to serve as a historical reference. It can be an opportunity to prove your knowledge, or to expose your lack thereof.

If you were the GM of the Wizards tonight, and you wouldn't have taken Porter or Rice, Jr. with either of our picks, who would you have picked instead?

Please make an exhaustive list of every player you would have picked instead of those two guys, and please rank your lists by your order of preference.

Please list as many or as few prospects as you need to, but try to list literally everyone you would have picked instead of our new Wizards. This isn't a list of guys that we passed on, but you think might have high ceilings and might pan out one day. This is a list of guys that YOU would have picked instead of Porter or Rice if you were the GM of the Wizards at this point in time.

Also add a quick description of your overall attitude towards the actual picks that were made, like "I was very happy with the Porter pick." This way even if there are a couple players that you would have drafted over Porter, you can establish that you still liked the pick, for what it's worth. This will separate the people who truly did not want the guys we drafted and the people who simply thought there might have been a few better alternatives, but were content with the pick.

Please avoid any lengthy explanations for your selections, you can defend your position in the draft thread. I would prefer that this thread remains a simple list of player names.

It's really easy to criticize our GM when a pick doesn't pan out, and it's really easy to point out players that were taken after them that ended up being better players several years down the line. But it's not as easy to make these picks as you think. This is your opportunity to man up and document your feelings at the time of the draft. Maybe you were torn between taking Porter and Noel, and you would have been happy with both, but this will force you to make a final decision on who to draft, putting you on a level playing field to Grunfeld. It's only fair. If you're going to criticize our GMs moves after the fact, then you better be willing to put your own reputation on the line.

Thank you in advance for your participation. Let me know if you have any questions. I will be adding my choices for this thread soon.

Sample Template:

Otto Porter
Overall satisfaction: [very high, high, medium, low, very low]

Players I would have drafted instead of Porter:
1.
2.
3.


Glen Rice, Jr.
Overall satisfaction: [very high, high, medium, low, very low]

Players I would have drafted instead of Rice, Jr.:
1.
2.
3.

[rockymac52]

I am going to constantly update this post (the 2nd in this thread) to add everyone's selections. This will put them all in one place, in a similar format, and most importantly, it will prevent anyone from going back and editing their choices after the fact.

Otto Porter
Overall satisfaction: very high

Players I would have drafted instead of Porter:
1. Nerlens Noel (unless our medical staff red flagged his knee)


Glen Rice, Jr.
Overall satisfaction: high

Players I would have drafted instead of Rice, Jr.:
1. Tony Mitchell
2. Nate Wolters
3. Pierre Jackson

Otto Porter
Overall satisfaction: ???

Players I would have drafted instead of Porter:
1. Alex Len
2. Cody Zeller


Glen Rice, Jr.
Overall satisfaction: ???

Players I would have drafted instead of Rice, Jr.:
1. ???

Otto Porter
Overall satisfaction: medium

Players I would have drafted instead of Porter:
1. Alex Len
2. Nerlens Noel


Glen Rice, Jr.
Overall satisfaction: unknown

Players I would have drafted instead of Rice, Jr.:
1. Jeff Withey
2. Tony Mitchell
3. Trade 38 + cash for Rudy Gobert

Otto Porter
Overall satisfaction: very high

Players I would have drafted instead of Porter:
1. Nerlens Noel (only if his knee checked out)


Glen Rice, Jr.
Overall satisfaction: high

Players I would have drafted instead of Rice, Jr.:
1. Tony Mitchell
2. Erick Green

Otto Porter
Overall satisfaction: very high

Players I would have drafted instead of Porter:
None


Glen Rice, Jr.
Overall satisfaction: medium/agnostic

Players I would have drafted instead of Rice, Jr.:
None/agnostic

Otto Porter
Overall satisfaction: high

Players I would have drafted instead of Porter:
1. Nerlens Noel (unless our medical staff red flagged his knee)


Glen Rice, Jr.
Overall satisfaction: very high

Players I would have drafted instead of Rice, Jr.:
1. Pierre Jackson (may have not traded up and simply selected Jackson at #38)

Otto Porter
Overall satisfaction: very high
Preferred pick: none


Glen Rice, Jr.
Overall satisfaction: medium
Preferred pick(s): Wolters (#38), Kazemi (#54)

Otto Porter
Overall satisfaction: Very High

Players I would have drafted instead of Porter:
None


Glen Rice, Jr.
Overall satisfaction: High

Players I would have drafted instead of Rice, Jr.:
1. Nate Wolters
2. Mike Muscala
3. Pierre Jackson

Otto Porter, Jr.
Satisfaction: high

Players ahead of Porter:
None


Glen Rice, Jr.
Satisfaction: medium

Players ahead of Rice:
1. Jeff Withey
2. Mike Muscala

Otto Porter
Overall satisfaction: very high

Players I would have drafted instead of Porter:
1. Nerlens Noel


Glen Rice, Jr.
Overall satisfaction: medium

Players I would have drafted instead of Rice, Jr.:
1. Erik Murphy

Otto Porter
Overall satisfaction: high

Players I would have drafted instead of Porter:
1. Nerlens Noel


Glen Rice, Jr.
Overall satisfaction: medium

Players I would have drafted instead of Rice, Jr.:
1. Ryan Kelly
2. Pierre Jackson
3. Nate Wolters

Otto Porter
Overall satisfaction: very high

Players I would have drafted instead of Porter:
None


Glen Rice, Jr.
Overall satisfaction: high

Players I would have drafted instead of Rice:
1. Trade 38 + cash for Rudy Gobert (*rockymac52 added the specifics of this trade, but Deeptu said he wanted to trade for Gobert, so I assume this is what it would have cost)

Otto Porter
Overall satisfaction: high

Players I would have drafted instead of Porter
1. Cody Zeller
2. Trey Burke


Glen Rice, Jr.
Overall satisfaction: medium

Players I would have drafted instead of Rice, Jr.:
1. Pierre Jackson
2. Jeff Withey

Otto Porter
Overall satisfaction: low

Players I would have drafted instead of Porter:
1. Nerlens Noel


Glen Rice, Jr.
Overall satisfaction: high/medium

Players I would have drafted instead of Rice, Jr.:
1. Unsure of who else was available. I like the pick although I would have liked to add some depth upfront.

[rockymac52]

Otto Porter
Overall satisfaction: very high

Players I would have drafted instead of Porter:
1. Nerlens Noel (unless our medical staff red flagged his knee)


Glen Rice, Jr.
Overall satisfaction: high

Players I would have drafted instead of Rice, Jr.:
1. Tony Mitchell
2. Nate Wolters
3. Pierre Jackson

[Knighthonor]

Bennett----->Len------>(Zeller ?)--------->Porter

[rockymac52]

Bennett----->Len------>(Zeller ?)--------->Porter

Would it kill you to follow the format I suggested at all? I even gave you a template, it's not hard. Please add your satisfaction with the picks. Also please add your thoughts on the 2nd round pick. And you need to make a decision on Zeller. For now I'm including him as your 3rd option. The whole point of this exercise was to make that tough decision, and choose between guys you were torn on. I will update the original post once you supply the requested information.

[Earth2Ted]

Great thread- here's what I think:

Otto: medium satisfaction. Loved the game at Syracuse where he was all world, but can't get the bad taste out of my mouth from that FGCU game.

I would have gone Len and Noel in that order- I always want to go big in the draft, wanted Drummond last year, Valanciunas or Kanter year before that.

2nd round? Don't really follow college to say anything intelligent- Glen Rice would've made more sense had we gotten Len or Noel, but given that we took Porter- probably Withey and then Tony Mitchell in that order... or maybe tried to trade up to 27 to get Rudy Gobert (46 and cash got that deal done).

The really disappointing thing is- I see Nene and Okafor as a big problem that needs to be fixed, whereas the front office seems to be really happy with them going forward- they're old, getting nicked up physically, and are only good enough to get you in the playoffs and maybe 2nd round if you're lucky.

And unfortunately, with both the Caps and the Wiz, Ted has shown he's completely cool with mediocrity.

[Error Afflalo]

Otto Porter

Overall satisfaction: very high

Players I would have drafted instead of Porter:

1. Nerlens Noel (only if his knee checked out)


Glen Rice, Jr.

Overall satisfaction: high

Players I would have drafted instead of Rice, Jr.:
1. Tony Mitchell
2. Erick Green

[FreeBalling]

I don't see why people are so high on Len. For a big man did Len dominate in the ACC? I would say no. Who was the last big man that DIDNT dominate in college and was dominate in the NBA for a top 10 pick?


Just win baby!

[Knighthonor]

didnt Len dominate Noel, yet people seem ok with Noel at #1...

[fishercob]

Otto Porter

Overall satisfaction: very high

Players I would have drafted instead of Porter:

None


Glen Rice, Jr.

Overall satisfaction: medium/agnostic

Players I would have drafted instead of Rice, Jr.:
None/agnostic.

[rockymac52]

Great stuff so far guys. Keep 'em coming! It's about time we held people accountable.

[Dat2U]

Otto Porter
Overall satisfaction: high

Players I would have drafted instead of Porter:
1. Nerlens Noel (unless our medical staff red flagged his knee)


Glen Rice, Jr.
Overall satisfaction: very high

Players I would have drafted instead of Rice, Jr.:
1. Pierre Jackson (may have not traded up and simply selected Jackson at #38)

I can't really criticize the Wizards for not drafting Noel because I don't know the reason why they didn't draft him. If it was for basketball reasons and they feel Porter is the better prospect, they may have made a mistake. If they passed on him because doctors red flagged him, then I certainly support the decision to go with Porter.

[payitforward]

But... we couldn't have picked "guys" instead of Porter. Only *one* guy. Ditto instead of Rice, although in that case you should be asking who we'd have picked at #54.

Otherwise, this isn't really a check against our ability to pick. I.e. if I say that instead of Rice I'd have picked Wolters or Franklin or Muscala, and only one of those 3 guys turns out good, I can still come back sticking my chest out to say I was right. Not held "accountable."

On that basis:

Porter:
Overall satisfaction: very high
Preferred pick: none

Rice:
Overall satisfaction: medium
Preferred pick(s): Wolters (#38), Kazemi (#54)

[Soup's Uncle]

Otto Porter
Overall satisfaction: Very High. He's who I wanted.
Players I would have drafted instead of Porter:
1. Len (Only if Porter was gone)
2. Burke (Only if Porter was gone, automatic backup PG)
3. Zeller (again, only if Porter was gone


Glen Rice, Jr.
Overall satisfaction: High. Character issues aside, if he's past them, he could be a solid bench scorer/contributor.
Players I would have drafted instead of Rice, Jr.:
1. Nate Wolters (I really wanted a solid backup PG)
2. Mike Muscala (Big man)
3. Pierre Jackson (Backup PG)

[dorianwrite]

Otto Porter, Jr.
Satisfaction: high

Players ahead of Porter: I'm fine with Porter, but only because there was no obvious better pick.


Glen Rice, Jr.
Satisfaction: medium

Players ahead of Rice: I would have taken Jeff Withey at #38 and been very happy. Would also have gone for Muscala over Rice, but less confidently. At least Rice can, allegedly, shoot the ball. Goodbye Garrett Temple?

[pancakes3]

Otto Porter
Overall satisfaction: very high

Players I would have drafted instead of Porter:
1. I do harbor a tad bit of consternation that we didn't grab Noel since a) I think he more of an impact player and b) I think it's more important to get a C for the future than a sf


Glen Rice, Jr.
Overall satisfaction: [medium] I think upside is at a premium in the 2nd round. I like taking big swings in the 2nd round and from all accounts he has the talent. I'm not too impressed by his D-league numbers or his college statistics - lacks shooting ability. Who knows. A good change of pace guy potentially with prototypical size. At least it wasn't Ledo Brown

Players I would have drafted instead of Rice, Jr.:
1. Erik Murphy
2.
3.[/quote]

[nate33]

Otto Porter
Overall satisfaction: high

Players I would have drafted instead of Porter:
1. Noel

Commentary: I have this nagging feeling that Porter is going to have a lot of Evan Turner in him. Porter is a jack of all trades but a master of none. In the NBA, you need to have a few elite skills and then be put into a system where your elite skills are maximized. I don't really know how to do that with Porter. My satisfaction is still pretty high mainly because, with the exception of Noel, there weren't any other options that really excited me.


Glen Rice, Jr.
Overall satisfaction: medium

Players I would have drafted instead of Rice, Jr.:
1. Ryan Kelly
2. Pierre Jackson
3. Nate Wolters
4. Probably several others

Commentary: I don't know too much about Rice except for that scouting video that fishercob posted. He seems a little slow-footed to be a SG so that makes him a SF, where he could pan out just fine. Unfortunately, we already have 3 other SF's on the roster. I don't think he is such a talent that we should have taken him over guys that can immediately fill a need.

[Dat2U]

Drafting for need in the 2nd round? I don't know. The options are usually so limited in the 2nd round, your best off looking for the most ready made NBA player regardless of position. Searching for fit in the 2nd round is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Good luck finding it. Most 2nd round guys aren't going to work out. I doubt guys like Murphy or Kelly are going to have any real impact in the NBA. I think we got a potential rotation player in Rice, that's a pretty good value for a 2nd round pick IMO.

[rockymac52]

But... we couldn't have picked "guys" instead of Porter. Only *one* guy. Ditto instead of Rice, although in that case you should be asking who we'd have picked at #54.

Otherwise, this isn't really a check against our ability to pick. I.e. if I say that instead of Rice I'd have picked Wolters or Franklin or Muscala, and only one of those 3 guys turns out good, I can still come back sticking my chest out to say I was right. Not held "accountable."

On that basis:

Porter:
Overall satisfaction: very high
Preferred pick: none

Rice:
Overall satisfaction: medium
Preferred pick(s): Wolters (#38), Kazemi (#54)

I completely agree with what you're saying, and I tried to account for that. That's why I'm having everybody rank their lists in order of preference. So everyone that you list is a player that you would prefer over Porter or Rice, with #1 being the 1st player you would have taken, #2 being the next in line, and so on.

I guess you're right that I could have just cut it off at 1 player, because you can only pick players who were available at that pick anyways. Listing out your other options just adds some credibility I guess. We'll have to remember down the line to focus on who people put down as #1, because that's ultimately the only selection that matters.

As such, let me know if you'd like to add in your 2nd, 3rd, or however many other options and I'll edit the original post.

[Deeptu McPullup]

Otto Porter
Overall satisfaction: very high

Players I would have drafted instead of Porter:

It would depend on Noel's medical situation, but I assume there's an issue there with how he dropped, so officially.....

None

Glen Rice, Jr.
Overall satisfaction: high
raneg to
Players I would have drafted instead of Rice:

I honestly don't pay enough attention to college basketball prospects outside of our first round draft slot, so I'm not sure of who was on the board.

However, I would have liked to see us make that trade for Gobert as we could have definitely beat Utah's offer:

The Denver Nuggets will trade the #27 pick, Rudy Gobert, to the Utah Jazz for the 46th pick + cash considerations.

Not sure how much cash was involved.

That said, Rice is a good upside swing that I like in theory. With Wall-Beal-Porter as a triumvirate combined with the steady vets, it allows us the luxury of going with a questionable character further down the roster.