2015 Draft Thread - Part 1

[thinker07]

Why did Pierce opt out if he's coming back to the Wizards?

If he resigns with the Wiz he could get a little more than his original contract -- I think about $800,000 more.

[LyricalRico]

Why did Pierce opt out if he's coming back to the Wizards?

His option was for about $5.5M, but signing a new contract he could get as much as $6.6M from the reports I've seen. So he gets himself another mil just by essentially doing some paperwork.

He also can wait and see what else the Wizards do, and decide if he's got a better shot with the Clippers (unlike last year when the Clippers had already taken themselves out of the running by signing Hawes).

[The Consiglieri]

Kept sounding like he wanted to go back home as well.

Anyone heard any rumors on what the wiz will do? Always has seemed kind of predictable in the past, but this time I have no idea.

[hands11]

I'm seeing Lyles in the late lottery in most of the places I look. This is disappointing, just a few weeks ago he was projected to be available around 19.

I honestly have no feel for how picks 10-20 are going to go. It's not going to surprise me if almost all of the names I want for us go consecutively between 8 and 16.

I will look at Lyles again but I had him as a NO vote.

Trey Lyles KU NOOOOOO
Long and 6 10
Sets good fundamental picks
Can ally op but not a freak athlete. More smooth
Played mostly the 3 out of position.. yikes
Seems smart and aware on the floor
Quick compact shot.. looks like Gooden
Can actually put it on the floor
Has counter moves
can see the whole court to pass
can skip pass
fit in as a role player already

Neg..
not laterally quick. He will get chewed up on defense guarding 3s n S4s
not a great rebounder

[hands11]

EG is probably going to draft Jerian Grant.

I hope not.

Not saying he isn't a viable player. Just not one I like over other choices.

[fishercob]

Again, I think EG is going to want a guy that can play THIS year AND be a good shooter.

I don't understand why people think this.

I don't see any compelling need for the draftee to be productive THIS year. If Pierce and Gooden return, we have lots of depth at SF and PF, but only for one more year. That seems like a perfect opportunity to draft an unrefined prospect and "redshirt" him for most of the year. He can just play in garbage time for the first 50 games plus steal some meaningful minutes whenever someone gets hurt.

It's not like the team plans on leaning heavily on a rookie to get through the playoffs. Teams never rely on rookies.

Yep. I mean, Ernie could *want* a guy that can play this year, but that wouldn't make it so. Rookies are usually below average players when considering just their production (and not their potential). Here's this past year's rookie class with a very low minutes cut-off of 10 mpg, sorted by WS/48. .100 is average. Now exclude guys not drafted this year (Noel, Mirotic, etc). Plenty of these guys will turn out to be good players, but virtually none were this year.

The Wizards should take the best player -- and part of that "best" designation is someone who works their ass off to get better, because they can bank on that player not being very good this year.

[gambitx777]

YOUSSOU NDOYE Was in for a work out today and man, I like this guy, he needs a lot of work on his offensive game, but with Plenty of teachers I'm ok with taking him in the second round. He's 7'0 245 with a 7'5" wingspan This dude is big, mobile for his size, he's strong and has an NBA body! He averaged a Double Double. 10 rebounds a game, almost 3 blocks and the kid shot 71% from the FT line! That's not bad for a big man. Behind Gortat and NENE, I like the Idea of taking him or bringing him in after the draft.

[hands11]

EG is probably going to draft Jerian Grant.

I understand why everyone braces for the worst when it comes to EG and the draft, but I honestly don't see any way EG takes Grant. We've got a top 5 starting PG and a rock solid backup PG. PG is the strongest position on the roster. Why on Earth would we use our pick to draft another PG - particularly one who can't shoot despite being 23 by the start of the season?

I really think the fact that the Wizards so obviously worked out the PG's early on is a tip that it's a smokescreen. EG never telegraphs his picks. He usually tries to throw people off the scent.

We have needs at backup SG, PF and long term backup C. I expect EG to draft one of those - most likely a PF.

Again, I think EG is going to want a guy that can play THIS year AND be a good shooter. I think that Looney is almost certainly a higher end prospect than most of the other guys. But how much can he play with Nene, Humphries, Gooden (hopefully), and Blair ahead of him? And how much can he develop? And how would anyone know he'd developed? So I'm not sure he helps much this year or makes the team look more appetizing to a free agent next summer.

And I think EG will sacrifice upside to get that because we have to have a good year this year and have added what looks like a solid rotation player or two. I think that's what they want to show KD - continuing progress and solid roster. I don't think you can really show that with only one real shooter at pg, sg, and sf (and I'm not expecting a miraculous recovery by Webster). You just can't go into another year where Beal's backup for when he gets injured is Temple. If Pierce leaves like it seems like he will who's backing up Porter? As I think about it more, I think that makes Justin Anderson the logical pick.

Not the best prospect, not the highest upside, but perhaps the best guy for what the team really needs this year.

Physically and mentally mature. Good character. Good teammate. DC kid. Strong defender. Good shooter. I understand limited offensively. So I think that's what I'm going with.

And thats along the line of thinking I took that had me listing him when I first started looking. It started with use really needing a S4 defender. That when I found Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. He is going to be great defensively. Then I keep looking and found Justin Anderson fixed his shot.

Nice to see folks coming around to that idea. But ....

Don't forget Jordan Mickey PF/C 20.9 years old | 6'8" | 238 lbs

I think we are trading Thomas for another high 2nd...

21 Delon Wright (PG, Utah, 6-5)
27 Justin Anderson SF (Virginia - Junior) or 37 Jordan Mickey PF/C (LSU - Sophomore) 20.9 years old | 6'8" | 238 lbs
55 Tyler Harvey (G, 6-4, Eastern Washington) or 50 Norman Powell SG (UCLA - Senior) or 48 Olivier Hanlan (Boston College) PG/SG

That would be a solid draft. They can then trade D Blair.

If Paul comes back, this works.

[jmrosenth]

I'm 75 pages behind, so can someone just tell me who Dat thinks we should draft so I know who to root for on Thursday?

[daSwami]

YOUSSOU NDOYE Was in for a work out today and man, I like this guy, he needs a lot of work on his offensive game, but with Plenty of teachers I'm ok with taking him in the second round. He's 7'0 245 with a 7'5" wingspan This dude is big, mobile for his size, he's strong and has an NBA body! He averaged a Double Double. 10 rebounds a game, almost 3 blocks and the kid shot 71% from the FT line! That's not bad for a big man. Behind Gortat and NENE, I like the Idea of taking him or bringing him in after the draft.

PJ Ramos, V.2?

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Now I understand why they've been talking about him at second overall. Those are Rudy Gobert-like measurements. Plus he can shoot.

I've never heard of a white guy having that kind of wingspan-to-height ratio. Maybe Kirilenko? Frankly, I don't believe it.

Scouts have mentioned that his body type is very much like Kirilenko... just looking at the raw tools the kid has got... It's hard not to take him 2 behind Towns. For me it's Russell & this kid at #2. I've been leaning Russell but I could easily be talked into Porzingis at this stage.

Porzingis doesn't remind me of anyone I've seen before. He's what? 7-2? Shoots 3s with ease. Shoots off the dribble with ease? You just don't see that. Plus he's an athletic freak and only 18??? Wow.

Dat, you're on top of things with the draft.

I'm going to say you're probably right but I'm NOT seeing it ...

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWOjHoJ-U6A[/youtube]

OKAY ....

This kid would be fine for the Wizards in a Drew Gooden role ... but Wittman would LOATHE his defense.

Porzingis will be 20 in August. I think the NBA players will beat him up. He's very quick. Has fantastic feet for a tall guy. He's got great hands on the catch. He has a magnificent jump shot. But he's going to get his ass handed to him in the NBA.

Maybe bring him along very slowly, like KG was with the Timberwolves. I can foresee this kid filling out and becoming great ... or, getting frustrated and going back to Europe. He's nowhere near as strong as Jan Vesely, but he's very opposite Vesely on offense. I'm not seeing top 5 pick, personally.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM9f6hosMuA[/youtube]

As a Maryland fan, I figured I'd post this. It's from 2014 ...

Diamond Stone posts up and dunks on Looney at 1:42. Stone is going to be a BEAST. Left-handed. Awesome at the rim. Has three-point range. Blocks a TON of shots. Stone would be a lottery pick right now if he were able to declare.

Looney looks great shooting from the perimeter. He will have trouble defending the post. OTOH he's going to score very well in the NBA if he's being defended by PFs.

(FWIW, the best player per scouts in the above was Henry Ellenson)

[dckingsfan]

I'm sorry, I just don't buy the Porzingas hype. He may turn out to be a good player, but I hear European Durant being thrown around, Dirk comparisons. I'm not knocking him b/c he's a European player, I'm knocking him because most people who do mock drafts (not here, but on CBS Sports, etc) have probably never seen the kid play in person and are only going buy structured You tube clips. I actually like Hezonja a bit more than I do Porzingas just because Hezonja's role is a bit more defined.

Well, I have watch several of his games. And he isn't Durant. And he isn't Dirk. Those are both first option guys.

And watching a lot of Satoransky's games, I like Sat better than Hezonja... but that may be a bit of outcome bias. The reasons I like Sat better is his 3pt shot looks better to me, I think he is more athletic, I think he has better handles and passes the ball better. The only reason I would worry is Sat's propensity to turn the ball over - but that is much improved this season.

What I don't have is context to college hoops - I watch some Euro ball but rarely watch college ball. So, I am not sure how he would fair against Portis for example.

[80sballboy]

Why did Pierce opt out if he's coming back to the Wizards?

His option was for about $5.5M, but signing a new contract he could get as much as $6.6M from the reports I've seen. So he gets himself another mil just by essentially doing some paperwork.

He also can wait and see what else the Wizards do, and decide if he's got a better shot with the Clippers (unlike last year when the Clippers had already taken themselves out of the running by signing Hawes).

I get it. I still think he'll sign with the Clippers.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

http://www.nbadraft.net/ranking/positional

nbadraft.net has a nice summary of their top prospects in rank order, by position.

[hands11]

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/238306/Bucks-Shopping-Henson-Carter-Williams-To-Move-Up

Things are heating up.

I think we are going to see lots of action this year.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I would offer the #19 just for one year of John Henson, provided he's a restricted free agent.

[FAH1223]

I would offer the #19 just for one year of John Henson, provided he's a restricted free agent.

He's restricted but we need floor spacing

And a cheap rookie with the cap going up next year will give us roster flexibility

[gambitx777]

YOUSSOU NDOYE Was in for a work out today and man, I like this guy, he needs a lot of work on his offensive game, but with Plenty of teachers I'm ok with taking him in the second round. He's 7'0 245 with a 7'5" wingspan This dude is big, mobile for his size, he's strong and has an NBA body! He averaged a Double Double. 10 rebounds a game, almost 3 blocks and the kid shot 71% from the FT line! That's not bad for a big man. Behind Gortat and NENE, I like the Idea of taking him or bringing him in after the draft.

PJ Ramos, V.2?

I would be ok with that. Peter John Ramos ended up and still is a pretty good over seas player. If we call his name at 49 I can live with that!

[dorianwrite]

Look into your heart. You already know who the Wizards are going to draft.

Who's the most boring pick likely to be available?

Who's the least immediately controversial selection?

Who has virtually no upside?

Who has, in some way, some prior tie to the franchise or the DC metro area?

The pick is Jerian Grant.