Official Draft Thread 2015-16

[Who-rod]

I'm really coming around on Ellenson. If the Draft Lottery God's shine on us in the same manner they have historically, then I think he might be a nice consolation prize. He really reminds me of Kevin Love with a bit more athleticism, and small guy skills (ball handling, running the floor, etc.). His college stats are very similar as well, except Kevin shot the ball a lot more efficiently, which would be my one concern.

Offensively, I loved Ellenson from the get go. He is polished and talented, there are sparse guys in the league who ever reach that level. We have yet to see if he will be able to do that against better athletes, but in terms of pure skill, there is nobody in this draft even close to Ellenson at this point of time.
But his defense is an abomination. His offensive proficiency is kinda what worries me about his defense. Ellenson was so well coached, why doesn't he play better defense? How much can he improve? Bentil dropped 42 on Marquette, Martin 27.

Yeah, I watched his weaknesses video on Draftexpress and it even looks like he gets low and has good technique, but he just gets beat by pure quickness. That does not bode well. It's another reason I liken him to Love.

[Who-rod]

I'm warming up to the draft more and more as the time goes by. Not sure where Dunn fits this team though, but he'd be a valuable player.

I think if we're picking 4 or 5 and Dunn is on the board, we become a very interesting trading partner for the Bucks. They must have their eye on Dunn.

[Murta]

I think if we're picking 4 or 5 and Dunn is on the board, we become a very interesting trading partner for the Bucks. They must have their eye on Dunn.

Yep, but Bucks are weird in terms that they either have super-valuable assets (Middleton, Parker, Giannis) or nothing of our interest. We could trade 4 for 9 and something, but what's that something? Parker? Then we'd have to add both DAL and BOS picks and Olynyk. Get their next year's pick? Do we need more picks?

[Gomes3PC]

Is Middleton really "super valuable" on his new contract? $14M/yr isn't free. Parker/Giannis are probably not touchable. Middleton would be tough to pry simply because he's the only piece of their core that can hit a shot from further than 12 feet with any consistency.

[bucknersrevenge]

I think if we're picking 4 or 5 and Dunn is on the board, we become a very interesting trading partner for the Bucks. They must have their eye on Dunn.

Yep, but Bucks are weird in terms that they either have super-valuable assets (Middleton, Parker, Giannis) or nothing of our interest. We could trade 4 for 9 and something, but what's that something? Parker? Then we'd have to add both DAL and BOS picks and Olynyk. Get their next year's pick? Do we need more picks?

I might be convinced under that scenario to trade the pick that would be Dunn, and our pick for Parker. Actually think that's kind of a fair deal.

[Gomes3PC]

As for Dunn/Smart. It would work. Dunn is a true PG and the two would be the best defensive guard pair in the NBA. Line them next to Crowder and it'd be fastbreak/turnover city. You definitely need a SF/PF who can shoot, but thanks to Dunn's length and Smart's strength, you could put Bradley on the floor with them, go small and still have good spacing, especially if a guy like Olynyk or Jerebko is at the 5.

Dunn is also the best rebounding guard in this draft, which is another reason you can get away with playing him in an undersized lineup. When the draft measurements come out he's going to look even better - he has a condor-like wingspan that lets him play bigger than his already solid 6-4 frame suggests. I hate to keep making the Wade comparisons that others have, but I suspect he winds up with about the same 6-4+ height / 6-10+ wingspan, 210 lb measurements that Wade had. He's not the finisher Wade is at the rim, but he's still quite valuable as I think he's better defensively and has more of a PG mentality.

[Murta]

I think if we're picking 4 or 5 and Dunn is on the board, we become a very interesting trading partner for the Bucks. They must have their eye on Dunn.

Yep, but Bucks are weird in terms that they either have super-valuable assets (Middleton, Parker, Giannis) or nothing of our interest. We could trade 4 for 9 and something, but what's that something? Parker? Then we'd have to add both DAL and BOS picks and Olynyk. Get their next year's pick? Do we need more picks?

I might be convinced under that scenario to trade the pick that would be Dunn, and our pick for Parker. Actually think that's kind of a fair deal.

Seconds after I pressed send, I though that Parker for Dunn is as a fair a deal as they come.

Is Middleton really "super valuable" on his new contract? $14M/yr isn't free. Parker/Giannis are probably not touchable. Middleton would be tough to pry simply because he's the only piece of their core that can hit a shot from further than 12 feet with any consistency.

I'd imagine he is. There just aren't many guys who do their job every night, wings who can defend, shoot and create locked into contracts until 2019. In this day and age, 3andD borderline All-stars are hard to find and those guys are valuable from the standpoint they don't need to be the focus of the offense, yet they are very proficient.

[redbeamer]

I don't watch much college ball but what's the word on Sabonis out of Gonzaga. I liked his play in the tournament last year but haven't heard anything on him since.

[jmr07019]

Let's say we're sitting at 3 and Philly offers either Okafor or Noel for our pick. What do you do?

I'd take Okafor.

I wouldn't take either... Noel, cause he's about to get paid, otherwise he'd fit very, very well here. Okafor, cause he's 1 of those guys, who play in the post and isn't really great for our system, not to mention he's a chair on defense and has some off the field issues.

Who would you draft then?

[Gomes3PC]

I don't watch much college ball but what's the word on Sabonis out of Gonzaga. I liked his play in the tournament last year but haven't heard anything on him since.

He's a talented player, but hard to get a read on him since he hasn't played much top competition. That said, he has put up big #s against the few legit teams the Zags have played:

vs. SMU - 20 points, 16 boards, 3 assists on 9/14 shooting
vs. Tennessee - 36 points, 16 boards, 12/16 shooting
vs. UCLA - 18 points, 8 boards, 7/12 shooting
vs. Arizona - 18 points, 16 boards, 9/16 shooting
vs. Washington - 17 points, 9 boards, 5/8 shooting

He did had clunkers vs. UConn and Texas A&M (combined only 13 points - was in foul trouble in both).

I like him a fair bit. He's smooth, he's a lefty, he rebounds a lot better than you'd think based on his frame. As an 80% FT shooter, and with good form I also think he's going to develop a 3 in the NBA. Not a great defender but I think he's going to stick in the NBA.

[redbeamer]

I don't watch much college ball but what's the word on Sabonis out of Gonzaga. I liked his play in the tournament last year but haven't heard anything on him since.

He's a talented player, but hard to get a read on him since he hasn't played much top competition. That said, he has put up big #s against the few legit teams the Zags have played:

vs. SMU - 20 points, 16 boards, 3 assists on 9/14 shooting
vs. Tennessee - 36 points, 16 boards, 12/16 shooting
vs. UCLA - 18 points, 8 boards, 7/12 shooting
vs. Arizona - 18 points, 16 boards, 9/16 shooting
vs. Washington - 17 points, 9 boards, 5/8 shooting

He did had clunkers vs. UConn and Texas A&M (combined only 13 points - was in foul trouble in both).

I like him a fair bit. He's smooth, he's a lefty, he rebounds a lot better than you'd think based on his frame. As an 80% FT shooter, and with good form I also think he's going to develop a 3 in the NBA. Not a great defender but I think he's going to stick in the NBA.

I like your analysis. He's a sophomore right? Is he expected to enter the draft this year? Where would you project him going in the draft?

I wonder if he'd be on the board with our second puck? Seems like he would fit Stevens offensive scheme pretty well. Hopefully he could improve defensively.

[Murta]

I'm sure he is a pretty good player, but I can't get excited for Sabonis since I've watched Bender utterly destroy him at U18 Euros in 2014.

[Gomes3PC]

Sabonis has matured physically since then by a ton. That plus you're looking at Sabonis in the 20-35 range and not the lotto. He's talented but he doesn't shoot threes and isn't a great defender. As folks saw with Portis, PFs who don't knock down threes or play great D wind up slipping in the draft.

[Duke4life831]

Let's say we're sitting at 3 and Philly offers either Okafor or Noel for our pick. What do you do?

I'd take Okafor.

I wouldn't take either... Noel, cause he's about to get paid, otherwise he'd fit very, very well here. Okafor, cause he's 1 of those guys, who play in the post and isn't really great for our system, not to mention he's a chair on defense and has some off the field issues.

Who would you draft then?

First of all Philly would never do that trade. If they did Ainge would be laughing his ass off while he accepted it. The talent drop off from 2 to 3 in this draft is massive. We're at the point where fans and people in the media are trying to convince themselves that this draft is not as bad as people say. It is, Dunn is a solid prospect, wouldn't go top 5 in any good draft but he's solid, not an all star caliber player though. If you guys end up with the 3rd I won't be surprised if you guys go with Bender

[Duke4life831]

Also Dunn and Smart should not be a back court combo. You need some type of spacing out of your guards. You guys are in desperate need of a game changing 3 or 4. You guys don't need another guard that can't shoot

[Homerclease]

Also Dunn and Smart should not be a back court combo. You need some type of spacing out of your guards. You guys are in desperate need of a game changing 3 or 4. You guys don't need another guard that can't shoot

Passing on talent for positional need is how you wind up with JR Giddens over Deandre Jordan. If the celtics feel Dunn is the BPA when they pick then take him and don't think twice about it

[redbeamer]

Also Dunn and Smart should not be a back court combo. You need some type of spacing out of your guards. You guys are in desperate need of a game changing 3 or 4. You guys don't need another guard that can't shoot

Passing on talent for positional need is how you wind up with JR Giddens over Deandre Jordan. If the celtics feel Dunn is the BPA when they pick then take him and don't think twice about it

I couldn't agree more! The last thing you want to do is draft Fab Melo when Drayton Green is still on the board. Wait...

[Murta]

Also Dunn and Smart should not be a back court combo. You need some type of spacing out of your guards. You guys are in desperate need of a game changing 3 or 4. You guys don't need another guard that can't shoot

Passing on talent for positional need is how you wind up with JR Giddens over Deandre Jordan. If the celtics feel Dunn is the BPA when they pick then take him and don't think twice about it

I couldn't agree more! The last thing you want to do is draft Fab Melo when Drayton Green is still on the board. Wait...

The draft is when you have the chance to draft Draymond Green, choose Festus Ezeli, then 5 picks later you choose Green and everybody hails your talent evaluation when in reality somebody had to draft the guy.

[redbeamer]

I know everyone is high on Simmons and Ingram but I can't help but feel like this draft is like the 2010 draft. One of those two (probably Ingram) will be a bust and then you might have a couple gems scattered around later in the lottery.

I'm a Duke homer and usually over value their players but I just don't see it with Ingram. If Okafor shakes loose I'd jump all over that. I still think he has a better career than KAT and I think the skies the limit when it comes to Towns.

[redbeamer]

Passing on talent for positional need is how you wind up with JR Giddens over Deandre Jordan. If the celtics feel Dunn is the BPA when they pick then take him and don't think twice about it

I couldn't agree more! The last thing you want to do is draft Fab Melo when Drayton Green is still on the board. Wait...

The draft is when you have the chance to draft Draymond Green, choose Festus Ezeli, then 5 picks later you choose Green and everybody hails your talent evaluation when in reality somebody had to draft the guy.

Sure there is the luck of the draw factor but you certainly help your chances if you take the best player available. Then again you could end up with a three headed center like the Sixers...