2015 Draft Thread - Part 1

[gambitx777]

I have the worst feeling about Tyous Jones..... It's jsut a gut feeling, CCJ I agree, the fans will never forget 2011...... NEVER......... But this is a better draft. I'm hoping we pick up another pick some how. I don't want to totally trade out of this draft. I want Portis, I don't know if we get him. I think this draft will be a fun one to watch. But one thing i'm sure of, I WILL MISS THE HELL OUT OF BILL SIMMONS ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

This years coverage has me saying Ok it will probably be ok, but does not wow me.
http://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/new-look-for-espns-nba-draft-coverage/265580

[hands11]

Good thing about this draft... there aren't a lot of player you would be upset they picked.

Might not be everyone's first chose but ...

Lots of good players. And in the end, you can sometimes see right away, but it doesn't always happen quickly. Specially depending on who they pick. A lot of the guard seem NBA ready though.

While true my friend, hands, I'll NEVER FORGET 2011.

The only two guys I said don't draft were named Vesely and Chris Singleton.

I had those two and Jimmer on my list. But in fairness, its interesting to look at that draft and where players went and see who hasn't done well. Chicken or the egg ? Jimmer and D Williams were on my do not draft for anyone to high picks. Ves was more, do not draft by us. Ves to GS could have worked out. I think Ves and Singleton might have worked out better had they landed on better teams.

Chicken and the Egg
The busts went to franchises that were is bad shape.. Wizards, SAC, MIN. Even Kanter didn't show that well while in Utah, but looked better once moved to OKC. Tristan wasn't much for the Cavs until LeBron showed up. Biyombo hasn't done that well but he has been on CHA. Wonder what he will look like if moved or is it to late and his development has been to delayed ?

Meanwhile we all talk about Klay Thompson now, but Klay Thompson was developed from a jump shooter into a more complete player that could eventually defend (taught by Marc Jackson), because he landed in a better situation. I wonder if people would be talking about Klay Thompson if he landed in MIN or SAC or even WAS back then or if he was maybe traded to a team like DET.

Where players land is very often very important. I don't think K Lenard would be the same player if he landed in SAC instead of SAS. Hell, Wall would not be the same player if we didn't start to build vets around him and stayed the dysfunctional franchise we had been for 25 years. Kyrie is going to look at lot better now that he is with LeBron.. well if he can stay healthy. Kyrie did still become an AS but he wasn't near the winning player he will become now. Hell, I will even give Bennett, who I said don't pick.. bust.. some benefit of the doubt. Land to CLE in a mess then trade to MIN in a mess. I bet you send Bennett to a solid franchise and they turn him into something. SAS should pick him up. or GS.

Where players land is a big part of it. Mentoring by the right players and coaches is huge. Winning is huge. Playoff basket early in their careers is huge.

Just glance down that list quick.. the two names that stand out most are Klay and Leonard and now even Barnes. GS and SAS. Now you could say right, good franchise land good players. Or...sure they had potential, but good franchises, winning, mentoring and playoff basketball is the right environment to develop players. Lets remember. All these young men are the most talented prospect out there and have made it to the NBA draft. The are the best prospects out there to a large degree.

Chicken or the egg.

Now one player that breaks that mold somewhat ( there will always be some of these ) was a player that was on my list for us... Vucevic. Picked by Philly, who was an ok team back then before the blow up, he was then traded to ORL who wasn't.. and he still developed. One of the things I really liked about him was, even at a young age, he was already really serious about eating right, sleep, training. Just seemed like a very focused mature young man with talent, size, and some skills already. Seemed pretty sure he would continue to develop. Seemed like a pretty safe pick to me. Even to a bad franchise like we were at the time.

So who will be the wrong players or the wrong team this year ?

LA has the 2nd pick. They may be a bit of a mess right now but they are the Lakers. They could rebuilt that team this offseason. Who they pick could do well depending on what they build. That if they keep the pick.

MIN is no longer to total mess they were. Who they pick should work out if they can turn the corner. They could be the next MIL/UTAH type team.

PHI is a total mess still. But a D'Angelo Russell could develop here anyway. He is that talented. And a PG which can make things easier since the ball is in his hands. PG can survived bad franchise easier then other players. But if they get Mario Hezonja. Things might not work out well for him.

NY is at 4... see my LAL explanation. I think NY can bounce back this year and I think who they pick should develop well there. That said, they could trade the pick and land Monroe in FA... Melo, Monroe, Cousins.

Chicken and the Egg. Two of the top 4 picks go to LAL and NY. Messes right now but franchise that are ready to return to viable after tanking and cleaning up their messes. What both these team this offseason.

With that in mind, I think whoever ATL, HOU, WAS, CHI, CLE, SAS, GS pick, well look like good picks because those are some of the more stable playoff level franchise right now. I also think that might be true for NY and LAL depending on other moves. And even not as stable team with good vet mentors should do well. DAL still has Dirk. MIA Wade and Bosh. IND has Paul George.

Something to consider if you haven't. Just another angle of looking at things.

[hands11]

I have the worst feeling about Tyus Jones..... It's jsut a gut feeling, CCJ I agree, the fans will never forget 2011...... NEVER......... But this is a better draft. I'm hoping we pick up another pick some how. I don't want to totally trade out of this draft. I want Portis, I don't know if we get him. I think this draft will be a fun one to watch. But one thing i'm sure of, I WILL MISS THE HELL OUT OF BILL SIMMONS ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

This years coverage has me saying Ok it will probably be ok, but does not wow me.
http://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/new-look-for-espns-nba-draft-coverage/265580

Tyus worries you ?

Kid is getting drafted to be someones back up PG. He was one of two PG that stood out to me early.. Him and Cameron Payne.

I watched Tyus and said... shades of Curry. Kid is a winner. Clutch. Where he lands will be important. If its to HOU, I suspect you will continue to hear his name. That would be a great place for him to develop. If he landed here, I think the same.

We should do well with this draft.. We are a much more stable franchise now. But man, keep Paul one more year would make me feel a whole lot better about things. The Truth mentoring would be huge for a rookie.

[hands11]

My main point is we will get a god player in Grant, its not like its a blatantly bad pick like EG has made before. I'll take the boring 23 year old safe pick over taking some huge upside euro kid that will never be **** or some highly athletic super up side guy like Kelly obure or some one like that who will probably never amount to anything. My big point is, he a good player, be happy if we get a good player. Every one knows I want to take a big, we need to take a big and we should take a big. but im going to look on the bright side if we take grant! Because it can always be worse.

Are you thinking of Tyus ?

[Dat2U]

If you forced me to keep the #19 and Kaminsky, Turner or Portis weren't there I'd pick either Kevon Looney or Justin Anderson.

But my first preference is trade up and my 2nd is trade out.

And I'd definitely want an additional 2nd rd pick because of the depth of potential role players in the draft.

In reality there's not much difference between the 19th & 34th pick (for example) in this draft.

[tontoz]

Knicks fan mocking the Knicks draft plans with this craigslist ad.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/tag/5088655405.html

[fishercob]

You are forgetting Montrezl Harrell !!

My depressing projections are Grant or Harrell -- though in fairness, Grant is likely to be a much better player than Harrell!

My optimistic projections are Looney or (dream dream dream) he's gone but Oubre falls to us -- that kid is a phenomenal talent.

My ultra optimistic projection is that somehow we trade down and Dekker drops to us, we pick up a high R2 guy like Cliff Alexander, then at 49 we get say Joseph Young (? anyone like him at all?). Michael Qualls has somehow fallen off of DR's mock along w/ my guy Alan Williams. So we pick up those two guys as FAs.

W/ Blair, Seraphin, Bynum & Butler off the team, we stock the back of the bench w/ guys who are cheap and have the potential to build the team's core down the road.

Now... I know I've grabbed 5 and only dropped 4 in the above scenario -- it's a motivation thing: we tell them as follows -- "we're going to keep the 4 best of you, and the other one we're going to (fill in the blank)!"

[tweet]https://twitter.com/jorgeccastillo/status/613801826354204672[/tweet]

oh no oh no no no.

[Dat2U]

Jerian Grant reminds me of Shelvin Mack but he does have a better feel for the PG position than Mack did. I think Grant is an okay role player and should stick in the league. He's about as unexciting a pick as one could imagine but Ernie could certainly do worse.

Montrezl Harrell is an example of Ernie doing worse.

Jarrell Martin would be another.

Delon Wright is a worse case scenario but he doesn't appear to be on our radar.

Guys like Jonathan Holmes, Chris McCullough, J.P. Tokoto, Robert Upshaw, Christian Wood, The Harrison Twins & Michael Frazier are all guys on my do not draft list.

[hands11]

Knicks fan mocking the Knicks draft plans with this craigslist ad.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/tag/5088655405.html

NY fans really are a cool group.

[Ruzious]

Jerian Grant reminds me of Shelvin Mack but he does have a better feel for the PG position than Mack did. I think Grant is an okay role player and should stick in the league. He's about as unexciting a pick as one could imagine but Ernie could certainly do worse.

Montrezl Harrell is an example of Ernie doing worse.

Jarrell Martin would be another.

Delon Wright is a worse case scenario but he doesn't appear to be on our radar.

Guys like Jonathan Holmes, Chris McCullough, J.P. Tokoto, Robert Upshaw, Christian Wood, The Harrison Twins & Michael Frazier are all guys on my do not draft list.

I like Delon Wright a lot - just not for the Wiz - because of his poor jump shot.

J Holmes and McCullough agreed - they shouldn't even be drafted in the 2nd round, imo.

Tokoto is a player who some team might schock everyone by picking him late 1st. But as a mid 2nd rounder, I think he'd be a good pick.

I think Andrew Harrison has a shot to be a good NBA player - but not Aaron.

Upshaw got a 3rd strike when it was determined he has a heart issue. Otherwise, I think he'd be a 1st rounder. Now, he might last till 49.

I know nothing about Frazier, but if he falls, I will say "Down goes Frazier!"

[queridiculo]

I like Richaun Holmes, I hope we can maybe pick him up somehow.

It's probably going to take a late first rounder to pick him up.

Wouldn't be surprised to see a team like the Grizzlies taking a flyer on him.

[Rafael122]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/chadfordinsider/status/614070577758883840[/tweet]

I'm ordering a pizza and watching this all unfold. If WCS drops like that, I don't see why the Wiz wouldn't take him at 19, regardless of the ankle issue.

[Rafael122]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/614073356971864064[/tweet]

[payitforward]

Sessions is worlds better than Temple. Sessions is a competent NBA backup point guard.

While I do agree, Temple was darned effective at the start of the season when Beal was out.

That was about a 6-8 game stretch, my friend.

Actually -- hard as it may be to believe -- Temple had a very good season overall. He played 765 minutes. Took a lot of 3's -- 4.8 per 40 minutes -- at a 36.5%. Overall he had .52 TS% (average or a little better for all NBA guards).

He's a good rebounding guard, 4.9/40 minutes -- and one of the best guards in the league on offensive rebounding. Temple doesn't turn it over much -- and he is one of the best guards in the league for steals too.

In all, Garrett Temple has turned himself into a reasonably good NBA player -- at the journeyman level of course, but still he deserves congratulations for his work. All the same, of course, I'd rather have a rookie, i.e. someone with a future, than Temple in his spot at the back of the bench.

[fishercob]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/614073356971864064[/tweet]

I'd give them a TPE and next year's pick for both.

Due the the cap sure, picks this year are more valuable than picks next year.

Jones is a good player and an asset.

[fishercob]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/chadfordinsider/status/614070577758883840[/tweet]

I'm ordering a pizza and watching this all unfold. If WCS drops like that, I don't see why the Wiz wouldn't take him at 19, regardless of the ankle issue.

I see why -- for the same reason they passed on Noel. If a guy free-falls due to medical red flags, I can see the Wiz deciding that they aren't the ones who'd like to take the risk.

If WCS falls and turns out to be a good player, some team will look smart. If he falls and never develops much due to injuries, whomever picks him will regret it.

The teams have just about infinitely more info on this than we do.

Something to keep in mind with Looney too. There's info out there that he may drop because of a hip injury showing up on his medicals. Maybe that's complete smoke and a smart team that picks late is just trying to scare others off. Given Porter's hip injury experience and Looney's age, I'd be inclined to take Looney and use this year as a "redshirt" season, as long as doctors didnt expect this injury to be chronic.

[payitforward]

Jerian Grant reminds me of Shelvin Mack but he does have a better feel for the PG position than Mack did. I think Grant is an okay role player and should stick in the league. He's about as unexciting a pick as one could imagine but Ernie could certainly do worse.

Montrezl Harrell is an example of Ernie doing worse.

Jarrell Martin would be another.

Delon Wright is a worse case scenario but he doesn't appear to be on our radar.

Guys like Jonathan Holmes, Chris McCullough, J.P. Tokoto, Robert Upshaw, Christian Wood, The Harrison Twins & Michael Frazier are all guys on my do not draft list.

I like Delon Wright a lot - just not for the Wiz - because of his poor jump shot.

J Holmes and McCullough agreed - they shouldn't even be drafted in the 2nd round, imo.

Tokoto is a player who some team might schock everyone by picking him late 1st. But as a mid 2nd rounder, I think he'd be a good pick.

I think Andrew Harrison has a shot to be a good NBA player - but not Aaron.

Upshaw got a 3rd strike when it was determined he has a heart issue. Otherwise, I think he'd be a 1st rounder. Now, he might last till 49.

I know nothing about Frazier, but if he falls, I will say "Down goes Frazier!"

Pfffff, egg yolk all over my screen!!

I met Muhammed once... memorable.

[Ruzious]

While I do agree, Temple was darned effective at the start of the season when Beal was out.

That was about a 6-8 game stretch, my friend.

Actually -- hard as it may be to believe -- Temple had a very good season overall. He played 765 minutes. Took a lot of 3's -- 4.8 per 40 minutes -- at a 36.5%. Overall he had .52 TS% (average or a little better for all NBA guards).

He's a good rebounding guard, 4.9/40 minutes -- and one of the best guards in the league on offensive rebounding. Temple doesn't turn it over much -- and he is one of the best guards in the league for steals too.

In all, Garrett Temple has turned himself into a reasonably good NBA player -- at the journeyman level of course, but still he deserves congratulations for his work. All the same, of course, I'd rather have a rookie, i.e. someone with a future, than Temple in his spot at the back of the bench.

He proved he belongs in the NBA - but as an end of the bench player. Take into consideration that teams often chose not to guard him - and that contributed to his -5.something offensive +/-. He was a fairly efficient scorer, but he wasn't a good scorer - otherwise, he would have take more shots. Any player that just takes wide open shots, should score efficiently.

[payitforward]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/614073356971864064[/tweet]

I'd give them a TPE and next year's pick for both.

Due the the cap sure, picks this year are more valuable than picks next year.

Jones is a good player and an asset.

Well that would be a steal, obviously (especially if we had a GM who would use #18 well). Terrence Jones had an off year this year.... Somehow I am not convinced by him. I think Looney will be better than him, for example.

[AFM]

So can we get cliffs of this thread for tonight? I haven't been too interested in the draft this year and can't read 82 pages.
Who does everyone want at 19:

Dat
closg00
CCJ
fishcob
PIF
Nivek
Ruz
Hands
Cons