2015 Draft Thread - Part 1

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Holmes tests out well and dunks well, but I think I would rate Jordan Mickey higher. He is an even better shot blocker who I believe might play with a higher motor in the long run.

CCJ I thought the same thing about Richaun Holmes and his production. I wondered why he didn't avg more than 8 boards a game in that conference. But the scouting I've read says he plays defense, he plays physical, he boxes out, hustles.. I don't think it's a question of effort, or IQ, or coachability. Not having watched him I'm not sure.

Yeah I was thinking he could be worth consideration at 19, but that's probably too much of a reach... and he'll surely be gone by 49 like PIF says.

[FAH1223]

Who would have thought that the real tank war would be between Okafor and Towns.

http://www.si.com/nba/video/2015/05/20/ ... r-one-pick

Jahlil Okafor on if he should be the #1 pick: "I don't know if I should go #1"

[stevemcqueen1]

Curry has good size and length for the PG position and he's very quick for his height. Jones is three inches shorter. That's significant.

Oh, you bet -- tells the tale!

Tyus Jones' physicals -- size, etc. -- are virtually *identical* to Chris Paul coming out of college. And we all know what a terrible player Chris Paul is. Oh, and identical to Jeff Teague as well -- another bum.

Do I have that right? Or is your point that Jones may never be the league MVP, so he's not good value at the #19 pick?

Maybe the same physical profile but Jones does not appear to have the quickness that both Paul & Teague have. He's not getting in the lane at will like Paul/Teague. His 2 pt % is a bit concerning as his inability to finish around the rim. I have mixed feelings about him honestly. How much better of a prospect is he than Tyler Ennis who had a similar run for Syracuse last year and struggled mightily in Phoenix/Milwaukee?

True that he's not as athletic as Teague or CP3. Or Curry, the original comparison. It's also perhaps worth pointing out he's nowhere near as good as Curry or CP3 were. Nowhere near as good as Trey Burke was for that matter. He's about the same size as Burke and has similar athletic ability. And Burke has been terrible so far. It's clear he's a back up caliber player at most.

I actually don't dislike Jones as a prospect. But that's what I see him as: a career back up. That's what 6' point guards usually end up being unless they are really special, have some jets, or the arms of a 6'6 player.

[Ruzious]

Oh, you bet -- tells the tale!

Tyus Jones' physicals -- size, etc. -- are virtually *identical* to Chris Paul coming out of college. And we all know what a terrible player Chris Paul is. Oh, and identical to Jeff Teague as well -- another bum.

Do I have that right? Or is your point that Jones may never be the league MVP, so he's not good value at the #19 pick?

Maybe the same physical profile but Jones does not appear to have the quickness that both Paul & Teague have. He's not getting in the lane at will like Paul/Teague. His 2 pt % is a bit concerning as his inability to finish around the rim. I have mixed feelings about him honestly. How much better of a prospect is he than Tyler Ennis who had a similar run for Syracuse last year and struggled mightily in Phoenix/Milwaukee?

True that he's not as athletic as Teague or CP3. Or Curry, the original comparison. It's also perhaps worth pointing out he's nowhere near as good as Curry or CP3 were. Nowhere near as good as Trey Burke was for that matter. He's about the same size as Burke and has similar athletic ability. And Burke has been terrible so far. It's clear he's a back up caliber player at most.

I actually don't dislike Jones as a prospect. But that's what I see him as: a career back up. That's what 6' point guards usually end up being unless they are really special, have some jets, or the arms of a 6'6 player.

Your comparison to Burke isn't true - and I actually like Burke's potential - I think there's a good chance he'll end up like Augustin - who also started his career poorly. Jones played better as a freshman. He produced more and did it more efficiently. Jones had a better TS%: 58 to 54, a better PER: 20.7 to 19.9 - which would have been more in Jones' favor had he shot as much as Burke. And Jones had a better assist/to ratio: just about 3.0 vs just about 1.7. He measured 6'2 in shoes - not 6' - and NBA players are listed at their height with shoes. Yes, he's on the small side, but he's not tiny.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Not seeing much in the way of trade down options...

Would anyone consider doing a swap with Boston?

19 & 49 for 28, 33, 45 ?


At those 3 picks could come out with something like...

Harrison, Tokoto, Alan Williams
or
McCullough, Christmas, Hanlan
or
Mickey, Tokoto, Anthony Brown
or
Harrison, Richaun Holmes, Frazier

For example.

[pcbothwel]

Not seeing much in the way of trade down options...

Would anyone consider doing a swap with Boston?

19 & 49 for 28, 33, 45 ?

I kind of disagree:
LAL: Nene(1/13M) and 19 for Jordan Hill (1/9M), 27, and 34

BOS: I like yours, but how about this fun twist:
- Nene, 19, and Martell for Wallace, 28 and Isiah Thomas

Twolves: 19, TPE (or Blair) for Dieng, 34, and 35

[nate33]

BOS: I like yours, but how about this fun twist:
- Nene, 19, and Martell for Wallace, 28 and Isiah Thomas

I'd definitely do that, but I don't see the motivation for Boston.

[Dark Faze]

Whats concensus top 3 pick for our selection?

[pcbothwel]

Nate... The cost is obviously Thomas. But they have Bradley, Smart, and Pressey so they have some depth. For that they:
- Move up 10 spot in the draft
- They also cut 4M in salary in 2016 and 6.8M in 2017
- Trade the unproductive expiring in Wallace to slightly more productive expiring in Nene

It makes great match as our need is a young big and if one of Looney, Miles, or Portis dont drop, then their plenty of guys available from 25-35 (Alexander, Wood, Holmes, Christmas, Mickey, etc.)

On the flip side, Boston needs a wing to pair with James Young. RJ Hunter, Justin Anderson and Hollis-Jefferson are probably not making it to 28 and their is a steep drop off after them.

[payitforward]

Curry has good size and length for the PG position and he's very quick for his height. Jones is three inches shorter. That's significant.

Oh, you bet -- tells the tale!

Tyus Jones' physicals -- size, etc. -- are virtually *identical* to Chris Paul coming out of college. And we all know what a terrible player Chris Paul is. Oh, and identical to Jeff Teague as well -- another bum.

Do I have that right? Or is your point that Jones may never be the league MVP, so he's not good value at the #19 pick?

Maybe the same physical profile but Jones does not appear to have the quickness that both Paul & Teague have. He's not getting in the lane at will like Paul/Teague. His 2 pt % is a bit concerning as his inability to finish around the rim. I have mixed feelings about him honestly. How much better of a prospect is he than Tyler Ennis who had a similar run for Syracuse last year and struggled mightily in Phoenix/Milwaukee?

I didn't mean to be predicting Jones to be the next Chris Paul! Or even the next Teague. I was responding to the idea that you can dismiss him based on those physical characteristics -- obviously you can't. Some guys w/ his physical profile play great; others don't.

That said, Jones had a much better freshman year than Teague did -- and he started that year one year younger than Teague as well. I have no idea how the guy will work out in the league -- if I could tell that, why fool around with basketball? Pick stocks instead! But he's quite a good prospect; I'm pretty sure of that.

You are right that Ennis struggled mightily. But no facts about Ennis good or bad tell us anything about Tyus Jones. Then again, he wasn't as good as Jones in college (and that too means nothing... see previous sentence ).

[payitforward]

Holmes tests out well and dunks well, but I think I would rate Jordan Mickey higher. He is an even better shot blocker who I believe might play with a higher motor in the long run.

If either somehow slip to 47, we better pick him and not sell the pick. It'll be Clarkson part dos. Dieu? Doody?

Who's your doody?

Hard to imagine either of them falling to #49, where we pick. I am not sure I rate either of them any higher than Alan Williams. Everybody seems happy w/ what Mickey did in the competitive part of the Combine, but in fact Williams looks to have outplayed him. And he looks like he *will* be available where we pick (at least based on current projections).

I also like Cliff Alexander better than Holmes or Mickey at this point: need to do some more video research of course...

[The Consiglieri]

If the lottery is rigged, then why would Minnesota win it? Why would Cleveland win it three times in four years? These are tiny, crappy basketball markets.

Maybe because Minnesota has had even worse draft lottery luck than us (when you consider that it finally went our way twice in five years ('10, and '13)?

I'm very suspicious when it comes to teams like the lakers having one bad year in 15, and instantly being rewarded in a way that never seems to happen for the Bucks, or the Bullets/Wizards etc. Granted it doesn't play out exactly here sensibly, but my first reaction was, "this is exactly what I expected to happen to the Lakers". I didnt have any feelings for the Knicks because honestly, their brand is garbage internationally. It's the Lakers, the Celtics, the Bulls etc that have branding abroad. The knicks have been irrelevant for 20 years, and haven't been legit title contenders other than that brief blip, since the early seventies.

But yeah, the Minnesota angle makes it odd.

SI just released their mock, they have us taking Loney. Talked about guys that lasted past us: Jones, Harrell, Wood, Grant, and Anderson. The rest of the guys most of us like: Portis, Payne, Lyles, Turner, are all gone by our slot. Kaminsky is the big surprise in that mock, going super early (I don't see that happening, but maybe thats just me). Intrigued by the Knicks shopping #4, I'd be all over that, but I don't think we have anything they'd want that we could give up.

[payitforward]

Not seeing much in the way of trade down options...

Would anyone consider doing a swap with Boston?

19 & 49 for 28, 33, 45 ?


At those 3 picks could come out with something like...

Harrison, Tokoto, Alan Williams
or
McCullough, Christmas, Hanlan
or
Mickey, Tokoto, Anthony Brown
or
Harrison, Richaun Holmes, Frazier

For example.

Do it in a minute! But Boston seems unlikely to jump on that. Too much to give -- not to mention your icing on the cake requirement of a 4-pick jump in R2.

#19 for 28 & 33 -- give Ernie 2 chances to make the wrong pick!

[payitforward]

Does anyone know why Upshaw was dismissed -- twice!?

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Does anyone know why Upshaw was dismissed -- twice!?

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketb ... team-rules

[Ruzious]

Holmes tests out well and dunks well, but I think I would rate Jordan Mickey higher. He is an even better shot blocker who I believe might play with a higher motor in the long run.

If either somehow slip to 47, we better pick him and not sell the pick. It'll be Clarkson part dos. Dieu? Doody?

Who's your doody?

Hard to imagine either of them falling to #49, where we pick. I am not sure I rate either of them any higher than Alan Williams. Everybody seems happy w/ what Mickey did in the competitive part of the Combine, but in fact Williams looks to have outplayed him. And he looks like he *will* be available where we pick (at least based on current projections).

I also like Cliff Alexander better than Holmes or Mickey at this point: need to do some more video research of course...

I'd be interested to hear CCJ's comparison of Williams to Millsap. CCJ absolutely loved Millsap when he was coming out, and he liked Williams a lot last year as well as this year. I remember last year, there were issues with his weight. Has that changed - I haven't followed him since last year.

With Alexander, I've read various comments about his immaturity. He was benched more than once for not playing defense and wasn't going to classes - would not have been accademically eligible to play next season. Talent-wise, I concur that he has it. It just might take a while for him to adjust to being a professional. I wouldn't take him at 19, but if the Wiz traded down in the first round, he'd be a nice option to have. Williams is a moose, but Alexander's a more physically gifted moose.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Williams is a lot less athletic than Millsap. He's more like Blair and latter career Wes Unseld. Williams is not a guy I see the Wizards drafting.

I think he'll be like Joey Dorsey or Jack Cooley. He may not originally stick in the NBA.

Williams has a wide base and terrific hands. He makes shots off the backboard, shoots hooks, and is a lot more fluid on offense than Blair; but I'd be lying if I said Williams isn't similar.

Millsap was a lottery worthy talent who rebounded, blocked shots, stole the ball, scored well at Louisiana Tech, and he played above the rim.

Williams will rebound well and he'll hit open shots. He is a small ball C who can play a little PF.

[thricethefun]

Who would have thought that the real tank war would be between Okafor and Towns.

http://www.si.com/nba/video/2015/05/20/ ... r-one-pick

Jahlil Okafor on if he should be the #1 pick: "I don't know if I should go #1"

Well would you rather live in Minnesota or sunny LA?

[80sballboy]

http://www.csnwashington.com/basketball ... ers-or-not

[hands11]

Well, there goes Cameron Payne out of range.. up to 14 now.

One thing is for sure.. Randy would pick Rondae Hollis-Jefferson..

Defensive coach would love him.