Official 2013 Draft Thread - Part VIII

[tontoz]

None of the actual players you listed have led their teams anywhere.
'
Still waiting on these "high upside" picks you are talking about that lead their teams to titlecontention 9 times out of 10. Looks to me like you are talking about guys who were the best players when they were drafted. the only title contender the Cavs had is with Lebron who was the undisputed best player in his draft.

The best player at the draft is generally the best player in 10 years, assuming there isn't a big age difference. forgoing the best player in favor of the "upside" pick is where GMs screw up so often.

Go back and read again, he mentioned Kobe and Garnett. An easier way to think about it might be Okafor vs D Howard. Or Steph Curry vs Miller/Foye.

Although I disagree with you Consig on the Pistons. Rip was the only "safe" choice from that squad when originally drafted and even his acquisition to Detroit was a bit of a gamble in giving up Stackhouse. Ok, Prince was safe too I guess but he was late-1st.

Kobe and Garnett are bad examples. High school players were rarely drafted back then. They were probably already better players than everyone drafted after them and most drafted in front of them. Kobe was drafted at 13 lol. Boston didn't draft Garnett, they signed him as a free agent.

Plus like i said you have to take into account age. That is why i wasn't as high on Dipo as many here since he had a breakout in his junior year. Back when Kobe/Garnett came out players stayed in college much longer.

And for the record i was open to drafting Bennett even though Porter was my first choice. Bennett already has well developed shooting/ball handling skills. His issues have less to do with skill development and more to do with length and defensive effort.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

In thinking about it I might have preferred Zeller over Porter, assuming they had concerns about Noel's knee. Especially given what we did in the second round (we or course didn't know that at the time), getting another big up front would have really helped in both the short and long term. I'm not convinced they wouldn't have taken Bennett if available for the the same reason. If Zeller can in fact drain the 3 in game situations, he might have been the best pick for us.

I had the same thoughts draft night.

Trading down for Olynyk appealed to me the most because I thought there would be another first coming, as well as the Wizards could move Singleton, Seraphin, and/or Vesely while getting back another promising, young player.

However, I could not help but think about Zeller if he's able to play the four and if he's added a perimeter game. He's definitely going to score a lot of points. I thought he wouldn't be real effective in the paint or on defense. The thing that makes all the difference is if he's got three point range. He's more athletic than Dirk or Pau IMO. That type of player could be a star.

As it is, I'm happy with Porter, who was a very safe pick.

I would have picked Zeller over Bennett for sure.

[doclinkin]

Dumb question: but does anyone know why Rice was suspended by the GT team? I know the third strike came after a Driving Under the Influence (of??) incident, but what were the first two? If they're all drug-related, I'd be worried.

Yeah I haven't found out why. 'Violating team rules' is all you get. That's my chief worry too.

[The Consiglieri]

http://basketball.realgm.com/article/22 ... king-Small

interesting article

[sfam]

In thinking about it I might have preferred Zeller over Porter, assuming they had concerns about Noel's knee. Especially given what we did in the second round (we or course didn't know that at the time), getting another big up front would have really helped in both the short and long term. I'm not convinced they wouldn't have taken Bennett if available for the the same reason. If Zeller can in fact drain the 3 in game situations, he might have been the best pick for us.

I had the same thoughts draft night.

Trading down for Olynyk appealed to me the most because I thought there would be another first coming, as well as the Wizards could move Singleton, Seraphin, and/or Vesely while getting back another promising, young player.

However, I could not help but think about Zeller if he's able to play the four and if he's added a perimeter game. He's definitely going to score a lot of points. I thought he wouldn't be real effective in the paint or on defense. The thing that makes all the difference is if he's got three point range. He's more athletic than Dirk or Pau IMO. That type of player could be a star.

As it is, I'm happy with Porter, who was a very safe pick.

I would have picked Zeller over Bennett for sure.

I think there's a reason Bennett was drafted first. If you were going for the home run, he is the pick you make. I just don't know how he fits on Cleveland's team. They really were better off drafting a center this year.

[dobrojim]

Dumb question: but does anyone know why Rice was suspended by the GT team? I know the third strike came after a Driving Under the Influence (of??) incident, but what were the first two? If they're all drug-related, I'd be worried.

Yeah I haven't found out why. 'Violating team rules' is all you get. That's my chief worry too.

I forget where I read it but what I remember, which could be somewhat inaccurate, was that
he was in a car from which shots were fired somewhere near an ATL club....something like that.
Fortunately, no one was hit by the shots and I think it was reportedly not GRJr who actually
fired the shots.

I'm not thrilled at all with this kind of thing. That said, I did some awfully dumb things at
around that age so I shouldn't conclude that he's irredeemable. From the sounds of things,
getting kicked off his team and threatening his career was a definitely wake up call for him.
As I think Fish pointed out, this is the beauty of the Wiz taking him in the 2nd round. In the
first rnd his contract would be guaranteed, but not in the 2nd round. He appears to be worth
taking a flier on.

[doclinkin]

Dumb question: but does anyone know why Rice was suspended by the GT team? I know the third strike came after a Driving Under the Influence (of??) incident, but what were the first two? If they're all drug-related, I'd be worried.

Yeah I haven't found out why. 'Violating team rules' is all you get. That's my chief worry too.

I forget where I read it but what I remember, which could be somewhat inaccurate, was that
he was in a car from which shots were fired somewhere near an ATL club....something like that.
Fortunately, no one was hit by the shots and I think it was reportedly not GRJr who actually
fired the shots.

I'm not thrilled at all with this kind of thing. That said, I did some awfully dumb things at
around that age so I shouldn't conclude that he's irredeemable. From the sounds of things,
getting kicked off his team and threatening his career was a definitely wake up call for him.
As I think Fish pointed out, this is the beauty of the Wiz taking him in the 2nd round. In the
first rnd his contract would be guaranteed, but not in the 2nd round. He appears to be worth
taking a flier on.

No that's the one I knew about. That's the one that got him kicked off the team: three drunk dudes in a car, two guns (registered and belonging to one of the three) and he let his student manager drink and drive his Escalade.

The question is what were the two earlier incidents that first got him suspended, and then second: sat for the rest of the season. That part I haven't gotten past coachspeak to find out. And can't seem to find a viable GTech team forum to get scuttlebutt or rumors from anyone who claims to have inside info.

[pancakes3]

From what I can gather, the third strike was the DUI in a car that had hand guns, and was pulled over near a club where shots were fired. There were 2 other guys in the car with him, one of which was a graduate assistant on the basketball team. The first two were each 3 game suspensions. I think it was just for being unruly and hard to deal with. Drug sanctions are much more stringent and public.

[Knighthonor]

We may have gotten the steal of the draft. Putting up 25 ppg 9.5 rebs 4.3 asts 2 stls & 2 blks a game would be incredibly impressive in the NCAA tourney, to do that in the NBDL playoffs is eye opening. He'll definitely have a jump on the competition and should shine during summer league.

In fairness, NCAA games are 8 minutes shorter than D-league games, so it would be like a a player putting up tourney averages of 20.8 pts, 7.9 boards, 3.6 asts, 1.7 stl and 1.7 blocks. Strong numbers to be sure, but not other-worldly.

Other-worldly is asking a lot, but his per-40 minute numbers in the D-League last year were, overall, better than any NCAA SF -- that's better than Otto Porter, Reggie Bullock, etc.

He and Oladipo had about the same WS40. Other than that I can't find a single wing player taken this year who had as good a season in the NCAA last year as Rice did in the D-League. Against stiffer competition -- at least that's what people say.

Keep in mind, however, that he is 1-2+ years older than these guy, however. Still...

So thàt mean Rice is better player than Porter? So shouldn't rice be the second man at SF than Porter?

[closg00]

Olynyk looking good against Orlando, Boston fans will happy. Oladipo looking good also.

*Yes, it's only summer league*

[GhostsOfGil]

Just listened to the most recent BS report with Chad Ford. Chad Ford is reporting that James Andrews went on record to say that Noel's knee was ahead of schedule his recovery was going as planned. Cleveland's doctors said the same. Dr Andrews sent emails and letters to team GMs and said "There was no feedback from any team doctors or team GMs". Based off interviews with GMs, Chad Ford says that most of them passed on him because there was fear of him not being able to contribute until his second year. Cleveland's pick was between Bennet and Noel. Obviously they went with Bennet. For GMs to pass on Noel simply because he was going to miss 2 months of the season is extremely short sighted.

Chard Ford also talked about how Washington wanted to make the playoffs and how their draft pick was heavily influenced by this.

Basically sounds like Ernie felt the pressure from ownership and fans which made him risk adverse due to his pervious draft misses. I understand if you legitimately think Porter will be the better player. Thats arguable. But to make this pick based of next year's playoff aspirations is just such a dumb short sighted move.

[Ruzious]

Just listened to the most recent BS report with Chad Ford. Chad Ford is reporting that James Andrews went on record to say that Noel's knee was ahead of schedule his recovery was going as planned. Cleveland's doctors said the same. Dr Andrews sent emails and letters to team GMs and said "There was no feedback from any team doctors or team GMs". Based off interviews with GMs, Chad Ford says that most of them passed on him because there was fear of him not being able to contribute until his second year. Cleveland's pick was between Bennet and Noel. Obviously they went with Bennet. For GMs to pass on Noel simply because he was going to miss 2 months of the season is extremely short sighted.

Chard Ford also talked about how Washington wanted to make the playoffs and how their draft pick was heavily influenced by this.

Basically sounds like Ernie felt the pressure from ownership and fans which made him risk adverse due to his pervious draft misses. I understand if you legitimately think Porter will be the better player. Thats arguable. But to make this pick based of next year's playoff aspirations is just such a dumb short sighted move.

There was a report on I think Fox sports radio the other day that Noel fell because of concerns about the people he hangs out with. I have no idea if it's true, and he seems like a high character kid to me.

[GhostsOfGil]

^ Chad didn't mention that but it could be true, ruz. I remember hearing similar reports.

[Kanyewest]

Just listened to the most recent BS report with Chad Ford. Chad Ford is reporting that James Andrews went on record to say that Noel's knee was ahead of schedule his recovery was going as planned. Cleveland's doctors said the same. Dr Andrews sent emails and letters to team GMs and said "There was no feedback from any team doctors or team GMs". Based off interviews with GMs, Chad Ford says that most of them passed on him because there was fear of him not being able to contribute until his second year. Cleveland's pick was between Bennet and Noel. Obviously they went with Bennet. For GMs to pass on Noel simply because he was going to miss 2 months of the season is extremely short sighted.

Chard Ford also talked about how Washington wanted to make the playoffs and how their draft pick was heavily influenced by this.

Basically sounds like Ernie felt the pressure from ownership and fans which made him risk adverse due to his pervious draft misses. I understand if you legitimately think Porter will be the better player. Thats arguable. But to make this pick based of next year's playoff aspirations is just such a dumb short sighted move.

I got the impression that they just thought Porter was the best player available. I agree though that it would be shortsighted to make a playoff run although I'm not necessarily sold on Noel being a sure thing either especially with the Wizards' medical staff.