2014 Draft Thread

[thamadkant]

I think Exum only becomes an option if a team is picking outside the top 5...

So you don't have to decide between him, Parker and Smart.. Parker is also a SF...


But things can change closer to draft...

[gaspar]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/tomhaberstroh/status/403536801320554496[/tweet]

[bwgood77]

Pretty good podcast with Bill Simmons and Steve Kerr -

It's mostly their thoughts on the NBA season but also Kerr discusses talking to Grant Hill about Jabari Parker (Hill played pickup games with him) and discusses talking to Sean Miller about Aaron Gordon and compares Gordon to Marion.

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/grantland/ ... d=10001397

[jcsunsfan]

Pretty good podcast with Bill Simmons and Steve Kerr -

It's mostly their thoughts on the NBA season but also Kerr discusses talking to Grant Hill about Jabari Parker (Hill played pickup games with him) and discusses talking to Sean Miller about Aaron Gordon and compares Gordon to Marion.

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/grantland/ ... d=10001397

Funny, that's who I think of when I think of Parker, Grant Hill.

[bwgood77]

I'm beginning to wonder if Adreian Payne might be a legit nba power forward that maybe we could end up with. I was thinking that after Randle, there wasn't much for top tier power forwards in this draft. But this is the guy that shut down Julius Randle in that Mich St game before he got into foul trouble and had to sit in the second half which is when Randle flourished with a 6'5 guy guarding him.

But besides the defense, this guy is solid offensively. Last night he scored 29, along with 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks and 1 steal. He also hit 4 3s. But the fact he can hit threes doesn't mean he's a tweener by any means. This guy is strong around the basket and has size, at 6'10, 245.

He also could probably step in immediately and contribute, since he is a 4 year guy that has learned under Izzo, played in a very tough conference and deep into the tourney every year. I know being a 4 year guy sometimes is a negative, but I'm not sure it would be in this case...sure, possible limited upside, but heck, that was the case with Tim Duncan too, another 4 year guy.

He is currently projected to go between 16-18, so we could potentially get him with the Minnesota or Washington picks if we get them. Heck, if he keeps moving up draft boards, and he fits our need, we could potentially end up taking him with our pick, if it is between 10-12.

I think even if we don't get a top 8 pick or so, there are still going to be some solid guys in the teens. I think we could end up with one of the following small forwards: James Young, Rodney Hood, Doug McDermott

A future lineup of

Bledsoe
Goodwin
Young/Hood/McDermott/Dekker (one of these guys...they all look pretty solid for a future sf)
Payne
Len

Obviously this doesn't even consider Dragic, Plumlee, Green/Tucker or whoever we could get with Indiana's pick (Jahii Carson?)

[thamadkant]

Suns are currently sitting at draft pick range 12~14

Which is common place for them for the last 5-6 years, and have not yielded a corner stone player out of it.

The Suns have McD however and he has stated that fans being upset not having a pick in the top 5 is an insult to his staff's capabilities... well considering the Suns have 3 picks outside the lottery already, I think his staff has plenty of chances to use their skills to show how good they are...

I still believe the Suns are NOT ready to compete for a playoff spot...

Some will argue the "winning culture" thing, but Suns have ZERO championship... so technically they dont have a strong "winning culture" heritage anyways. Excellent playoff record though... and unlucky a couple of times.


Anyways... if they keep the 3 first round picks from Wolves, Pacers and Wizards.... McD already has his plate full "finding" diamonds in the rough.

At this time the draftee players the Suns desperately need are all slotted in the top 8... thats the irony here. The players missing from the Suns that could actually make them complete is currently out of range.


I do like the following late lottery / first rounders.
- McDermott
- Poythress

But man, would love to have Parker, Wiggins as that cornerstone SF...

I look at Anthony Davis who is BEASTING.... probably a 20/10/3.5 PF for the next decade.... and always wonder how the Suns can make a move for him...

anyways, I still am high on Goodwin and Bledsoe....
I actually think Bledsoe missing the last 3-4 games could be a little strategic as well as him being "hurt"....
Maybe Dragic is being show cased?

[Safety Pickle]

...anyways, I still am high on Goodwin and Bledsoe....
I actually think Bledsoe missing the last 3-4 games could be a little strategic as well as him being "hurt"....
Maybe Dragic is being show cased?

Eh, I think you're reading into it a bit too much

[bwgood77]

Suns are currently sitting at draft pick range 12~14

Which is common place for them for the last 5-6 years, and have not yielded a corner stone player out of it.

The Suns have McD however and he has stated that fans being upset not having a pick in the top 5 is an insult to his staff's capabilities... well considering the Suns have 3 picks outside the lottery already, I think his staff has plenty of chances to use their skills to show how good they are...

I still believe the Suns are NOT ready to compete for a playoff spot...

Some will argue the "winning culture" thing, but Suns have ZERO championship... so technically they dont have a strong "winning culture" heritage anyways. Excellent playoff record though... and unlucky a couple of times.


Anyways... if they keep the 3 first round picks from Wolves, Pacers and Wizards.... McD already has his plate full "finding" diamonds in the rough.

At this time the draftee players the Suns desperately need are all slotted in the top 8... thats the irony here. The players missing from the Suns that could actually make them complete is currently out of range.


I do like the following late lottery / first rounders.
- McDermott
- Poythress

But man, would love to have Parker, Wiggins as that cornerstone SF...

I look at Anthony Davis who is BEASTING.... probably a 20/10/3.5 PF for the next decade.... and always wonder how the Suns can make a move for him...

anyways, I still am high on Goodwin and Bledsoe....
I actually think Bledsoe missing the last 3-4 games could be a little strategic as well as him being "hurt"....
Maybe Dragic is being show cased?

I'm thinking we finish with the 10th pick, unless we luck out with the ping pong balls. Probably a better record than 2 teams in the west and all 7 non playoff teams in the east. There is a chance we have a little better pick than that and that a couple of east non playoff teams finish with better records and Sacramento passes us up, but I'd be surprised if we picked higher than 7th.

We could also possibly finish with as low as the 13th pick, with better records than the Pelicans, Lakers and Nuggets, but it's likely if we finish better than any of them, it's only one of them, so my guess is 10th or 11th, but almost certainly somewhere between 7th-13th. And hopefully with some luck, 1, 2 or 3. I just hope if we don't get a top 3 pick, all eastern teams get the top 3.

[Ryu]

Let me introduce you to the next european up and coming star, Bogdan Bogdanovic:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUgFiRDe2IQ[/youtube]

He is not as hyped as other premier euro prospects like Hezonja and Saric, but this kid also has big future ahead. He has great length (almost 6`7 tall), excellent athlete with long arms, aggressive defender and versatile scorer with very good feel for the game and can play three positions (sg/sf/pg).

I`d pick him with Indy (or in second round, even better) pick in a heartbeat.

[Saberestar]

^^
Well, I was a little disapointed by his performance in the last Eurpean Tournamente with Serbia. Probably this season he is a more complete player, but I saw only an specialist in the three point shot.
He is a great shooter and he reminds me Ray Allen sometimes. In my opinion he would be a good/decent pick in the second round.

[Ryu]

I was actually quite pleased with his play in EuroBasket given that were his first games for our national selection in a big tournament.

He`s raised his game on a higher level this season and became a very versatile scorer, can go right or left, make mid-range jumper while his consistensy beyond the arc is improving. On top of that he can be a lock-down defender and you can rarely see young player with that kind of confidence.

[NapoleonII]

I've been underwhelmed with Wiggins.

[phrazbit]

I've been underwhelmed with Wiggins.

Not sure why... guy is shooting an incredible 58%, getting a solid amount of boards and is by all accounts a fantastic defender. Kansas still actually plays team ball, they still run a set offense and a system, so one guy is not necessarily going to put up insane stats. They dont do Calipari's "system" of basically not coaching at all and hoping your superior athletes can carry the team to victory.

[bwgood77]

Arizona playing Drexel right now. Winner to play Duke Friday night (if Duke beats Alabama later tonight). Arizona down 27-11. This will kind of suck if they lose...I was looking forward to seeing them go against Jabari Parker Friday.

It should be an interesting game the rest of the way..to see if AZ can be a big comeback team....and if Aaron Gordon can lead the way.

[phrazbit]

Arizona playing Drexel right now. Winner to play Duke Friday night (if Duke beats Alabama later tonight). Arizona down 27-11. This will kind of suck if they lose...I was looking forward to seeing them go against Jabari Parker Friday.

It should be an interesting game the rest of the way..to see if AZ can be a big comeback team....and if Aaron Gordon can lead the way.

Cats roaring back. On a 22-4 run, now up 33-31.

[bwgood77]

Arizona playing Drexel right now. Winner to play Duke Friday night (if Duke beats Alabama later tonight). Arizona down 27-11. This will kind of suck if they lose...I was looking forward to seeing them go against Jabari Parker Friday.

It should be an interesting game the rest of the way..to see if AZ can be a big comeback team....and if Aaron Gordon can lead the way.

Cats roaring back. On a 22-4 run, now up 33-31.

Hopefully they can pull this out. I thought their one weakness this year would be outside shooting and possibly spacing, and they are 1-10 on 3s. Originally with Solomon Hill leaving, I thought it would be nice to have Jerrett to be able to plug in as a big that could stretch the floor and hit the 3, and then of course he left too. Parrom was also a good 3 pt shooter.

I love the athleticism and hustle, but hopefully the shooting gets better and Gabe York can start hitting some shots.

[SunZel]

I like Hezonja and Vonleh for us since we most likely wont be getting one of the big three.

[bwgood77]

Another guy to keep an eye on since we will possibly have three picks between about 9 and 18 is Willey Cauley Stein. It would give us a rim protector and insurance for if Len doesn't pan out. Obviously we probably need to draft a pf and sf with two of our picks, but this guy looks like he can certainly be a disruptive force in the middle.

Check out his lines tonight....15 pts, 8 rebounds, 7 blocks, 2 assists and a steal. I know some are high on Poythress, but look at his line...right next to WCS...they played about the same minutes....Poythress not looking impressive..

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400506322

Sam Dekker an impressive game too for Wisconsin. He seems like a Hornacek type of player. Tonight 21 pts, 12 boards, 3-6 from 3.

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400519599

[thamadkant]

Vonleh was on my top 5 picks late last season... He has dropped down this season...but the way the suns are going .. He is a steal at anywhere pick 10 and over.

6'9~6'10
7'3 wingspan, huge hands.

Could be a PJ Brown type who can put the ball down and score... Or Robert Horry v2.0.
Perfect PF for This new Suns.

I've always liked Hezonja too.

[JMac1]

How long before we change this thread to a simple draft thread, because the tank is running on empty; and that's without Bledsoe!!