2015 Draft Thread - Part 1

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Question: If you have a choice of Jerian Grant, Christian Wood, or Bobby Portis - which do you take?

Who is coaching? Who else is on the roster?

I am not studied up on NCAA players (Channeling my inner Ken Beatrice).
One thing about Grant or any combo guard is they won't sit Wall. Will he have to wait three years behind Sessions under Wittman?

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

This draft has future superstar players in it.

[Ruzious]

Question: If you have a choice of Jerian Grant, Christian Wood, or Bobby Portis - which do you take?

Who is coaching? Who else is on the roster?

I am not studied up on NCAA players (Channeling my inner Ken Beatrice).
One thing about Grant or any combo guard is they won't sit Wall. Will he have to wait three years behind Sessions under Wittman?

Grant's built like Beal, and I think he shoots well enough to play some 2 (and they need a backup 2), so he can be 3rd guard. The good thing about the Wiz thudding to mediocrity is they'll get a higher pick.

I'm assuming we'll have the same roster and same coaches. I still don't know which of those players I'd pick. Right now, Grant - I think he's the best player. Wood has both the highest upside and the lowest downside. Portis can be a real good stretch 4.

[Dat2U]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Truth_About_It/status/568517831874121729[/tweet]

I'm not as excited about this as I should be. Although I think it's a really strong and deep draft, I have zero confidence in Ernie finding a core piece. At best we may get the next Booker or Nick Young... more likely Ernie will find a future draft bust.

That's why I was more than ok with selling the pick for Isaiah Thomas. Get a guaranteed good player on an affordable deal under team control for the next three seasons... I find it hard to believe that Ernie will be able to do better than that.

[Severn Hoos]

Question: If you have a choice of Jerian Grant, Christian Wood, or Bobby Portis - which do you take?

Who is coaching? Who else is on the roster?

I am not studied up on NCAA players (Channeling my inner Ken Beatrice).
One thing about Grant or any combo guard is they won't sit Wall. Will he have to wait three years behind Sessions under Wittman?

Grant's built like Beal, and I think he shoots well enough to play some 2 (and they need a backup 2), so he can be 3rd guard. The good thing about the Wiz thudding to mediocrity is they'll get a higher pick.

I'm assuming we'll have the same roster and same coaches. I still don't know which of those players I'd pick. Right now, Grant - I think he's the best player. Wood has both the highest upside and the lowest downside. Portis can be a real good stretch 4.

Yep, I think it's really easy to see Grant fitting in as the 3rd Guard behind Wall & Beal - and then (if Bradley can stay healthy and continue to develop) - they really could be in the discussion for Best Backcourt, when you look at all 96 minutes instead of just the starters.

That said, and as much as I see the need for that 3rd Guard, could they afford to pass up a potential frontcourt player? I think I'd have to lean Portis (or maybe Kaminsky) in that case. I would shy away from the high risk/reward guy in Wood if a more definite option was available, but Wood would probably be my next pick if Portis, Kaminsky, and Grant are all gone.

And finally, my wildcard is Cliff Alexander. He seems to be playing himself out of the Lottery. Not sure how I feel about him because I have a definite bias against guys who show big in the early part of the schedule and then disappear in Conference play. (I call this the Jarvis Hayes syndrome) His game log for the past 9 games is pretty rough - less than 4 PPG. Still looks to have good efficiency (I haven't looked into the stats), but it concerns me that he is not establishing himself. The tools are there, but I can't help thinking of Thomas Robinson (sorry - I feel guilty every time I see him now. I was so against him being picked, and sure he would not live up to his draft position, but I never thought he'd bounce around this much...)

In the end, I'd really like another bite at the apple, to take Grant AND one of Portis or Kaminsky. I just don't see that happening with the current Management.

[FAH1223]

Does anyone here know anyone in the basketball operations of the Wizards?

Can we get some posters here to get in contact with these guys to make decent picks? For the love of God. There's some legit rotation players available this year.

[Dat2U]

Does anyone here know anyone in the basketball operations of the Wizards?

Can we get some posters here to get in contact with these guys to make decent picks? For the love of God. There's some legit rotation players available this year.

If they only knew how cheap they could retain my services. It's far less than what Ernie typically blows on a scouting trip to Czech Republic.

[Ruzious]

Looking at team offensive efficiency rankings http://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basket ... efficiency, it's interesting to see Notre Dame number 1 and Duke 2. Both have point guards who could be there when the Wiz pick (Grant and Tyus Jones) and could still play with Wall, imo. They've made their teams better. Wisconsin is 4th and often run their offense through Kaminsky. Looking for players who make their teams better - not just put up the best individual stats. It's like the Bucks this season with Knight and Middleton. Knight put up good individual stats but didn't make the team better with a +/- around -10. Middleton also put up good numbers and does help his team with a +15. Those numbers over-simplify the situation, but the point is true.

[fishercob]

Delon Wright's stock has slipped in the mocks a to the point where they think it's very likely he's available when the Wizards pick.

One potentially unusual benefit -- the inside track on signing his brother to mentor him and play good minutes. He strikes me as a pretty big upgrade over Rasual and Webster, and perhaps you could get him below market for the chance to mentor his bro.

That said, if Delon doesn't have a developed -- or quickly developable -- jumper, I don't know how much sense he makes as the pick.

[FAH1223]

Delon Wright's stock has slipped in the mocks a to the point where they think it's very likely he's available when the Wizards pick.

One potentially unusual benefit -- the inside track on signing his brother to mentor him and play good minutes. He strikes me as a pretty big upgrade over Rasual and Webster, and perhaps you could get him below market for the chance to mentor his bro.

That said, if Delon doesn't have a developed -- or quickly developable -- jumper, I don't know how much sense he makes as the pick.

Getting brothers together on a roster is all the rage now a days it seems.

[fishercob]

Delon Wright's stock has slipped in the mocks a to the point where they think it's very likely he's available when the Wizards pick.

One potentially unusual benefit -- the inside track on signing his brother to mentor him and play good minutes. He strikes me as a pretty big upgrade over Rasual and Webster, and perhaps you could get him below market for the chance to mentor his bro.

That said, if Delon doesn't have a developed -- or quickly developable -- jumper, I don't know how much sense he makes as the pick.

Getting brothers together on a roster is all the rage now a days it seems.

The Morris Brothers are an interesting case; they seem to really need one another to be their most effective.

The Zoran Dragic signing appears in retrospect to be Phoenix's attempt to make Goran happy.

The Wright brothers are interesting because of the significant age difference (7 years) and that DOrell has been in the league for a decade. We could do worse than the Wright Brothers touching down in DC (sorry).

[FAH1223]

Delon Wright's stock has slipped in the mocks a to the point where they think it's very likely he's available when the Wizards pick.

One potentially unusual benefit -- the inside track on signing his brother to mentor him and play good minutes. He strikes me as a pretty big upgrade over Rasual and Webster, and perhaps you could get him below market for the chance to mentor his bro.

That said, if Delon doesn't have a developed -- or quickly developable -- jumper, I don't know how much sense he makes as the pick.

Getting brothers together on a roster is all the rage now a days it seems.

The Morris Brothers are an interesting case; they seem to really need one another to be their most effective.

The Zoran Dragic signing appears in retrospect to be Phoenix's attempt to make Goran happy.

The Wright brothers are interesting because of the significant age difference (7 years) and that DOrell has been in the league for a decade. We could do worse than the Wright Brothers touching down in DC (sorry).

Hah.

Also, Zoran is also on Miami's roster now too. He and his big brother are a packaged deal it seems like.

[hands11]

OMG, these draft x videos are so over produced I can't even watch the player play because they pause the video every two seconds and have call outs all over the screen.

I liked the site better in previous years. More is not always better.

I had better luck just going to youtube and searching for the player.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

OMG, these draft x videos are so over produced no I can't even watch the player play because they pause the video every two seconds and have call outs all over the screen.

I liked the site better in previous years. More is not always better.

I had better luck just going to youtube and searching for the player.

DX is useless now.

[Dat2U]

Some random thoughts:

Watching Kaminsky I get the Brook Lopez vibe from him. I think he's going to be pretty good offensively. Maybe even very good but like BL I'm not sure about his defensive ability.

Unless Delon Wright develops a jumper, much like many similar players of his ilk... he's going to have trouble making a positive impact due to spacing concerns.

I was really impressed by what little I saw from Portis. Dude has game. He's certainly is underrated IMO. He's got legit PF size and build and is really skilled. If Anthony Bennett could be talked about as a 1st round pick a few years back then why can't this guy because he looks like a much better prospect to me. Portis won't be around where we pick, he'll go much higher.

Willie Cauley-Stein is in the mold of Marcus Camby, Tyson Chandler and he's already got the added weight necessary to bang in the league. He's gonna be a pretty solid piece defensively in 2-3 years for a lottery team.

Overall, this is a REALLY strong draft. About as strong as it gets really. Outside of the LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Melo draft... this one may be the strongest in recent memory.

[closg00]

I see that we do not have a 2nd round pick in 2015, where did that asset go?

[Ruzious]

It's a good debate with Kaminsky vs Portis. Hopefully one will be there. I'd prefer Kaminsky, because you can't teach 7' (though Portis' length might offset it to an extent), and you can run an efficient offense through him due to his ability to score from anywhere, passing skills and low t/o rate. Also, while I think Portis can be a legit 3 point threat, I know Kaminsky can. Portis hasn't shot enough 3's to tell. Defensively, I think both will have issues - particularly in their rookie years - teams are going to test both of them. Neither will dominate the boards, but I think both will be adequate - particularly on the defensive boards.

[FAH1223]

I see that we do not have a 2nd round pick in 2015, where did that asset go?

We gave that up for Humphries in the sign and trade with Boston.

[hands11]

Well, looking on the bright side.

We will get a higher draft pick by keeping Randy around a little longer. Going to enjoy the loses with that in mind until they actually X Randy. Then maybe its a win win. We get a higher pick and we get to make more noise in the playoffs.

Time for me to start focusing in on the draft. Because watching them play is clearly not all that entertaining anymore. I pretty much toned of that CHI game somewhere between the end of the first and halftime.

[dckingsfan]

Well, looking on the bright side.

We will get a higher draft pick by keeping Randy around a little longer. Going to enjoy the loses with that in mind until they actually X Randy. Then maybe its a win win. We get a higher pick and we get to make more noise in the playoffs.

Time for me to start focusing in on the draft. Because watching them play is clearly not all that entertaining anymore. I pretty much toned of that CHI game somewhere between the end of the first and halftime.

And the new GM will probably make a better pick