2016 Draft

[jcsunsfan]

http://www.nbadraft.net/2016mock_draft

This is an interesting mock here. I wouldnt be opposed to Hield if we can move Knight. Five seems way too high for Sabonis though

He is certainly flying up the mock drafts. Draftexpress still has him at 19. That seems low. I would guess it will be somewhere in the middle. There is a decent chance he will be available at 12. It really depends on his shooting in workouts. Many believe he has a decent outside shot, he just did not take that many because of his role at Gonzaga. If his workouts confirm it, he will go high.

[bwgood77]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Mike_Schmitz/status/715189327991451648[/tweet]

Anthony Davis 2.0

Rebounding, rebounding, rebounding. I am so tired of having Suns pf's who don't rebound the ball!

He's a raw work in process because he has only played competitively for a couple of years. He must have had a growth spurt and never played basketball until like his senior year. Right now he just relies on sheer athleticism...once he gets professional level coaching on boxing out and all that stuff he will likely improve. I think he can be like a Shawn Marion type of player.

[jcsunsfan]

Sabonis doesn't have a very high ceiling but he looks like a guy who will have a 12-year career playing 25 mpg and helping his team win games every minute he's on the court, doing stuff that doesn't always show up in the boxscore like Nick Collison does for the OKC.

Yeah, I agree. Scola is a good comp too.

Do we really want a guy with that kind of ceiling in the lottery tho? There's a place for guys like that in the league obviously, but at ~12? I mean Jon Leuer had similar limitations coming out of college, a few less pounds, but was even more productive. Would he be a lotto pick in his re-draft?

John Leuer was not more productive. Just looking at final year stats (overall the advantage for Sabonis is even greater) Leuer had 7 rebounds a game, Sabonis is at 12. Leuer shot 51% from the 2, Sabonis shot 62%. Leuer had a little less than 1 point per game more, but with significantly less efficiency. Leuer is no where near the defensive player that Sabonis is.

I could see drafting Chriss over Sabonis based upon athleticism and potential, but comparing Sabonis and Leuer does not make sense.

[bwgood77]

I think Sabonis ends up going top 10. It all depends on needs, and I'll have to look at needs of teams. If we did happen to take him at 5 I wonder what we would do at 13? A super raw prospect like Labissiere? Might make sense...opposite skill set, big upside. Can shoot, block, etc, but likely is a few years away at really contributing.

[jcsunsfan]

I think Sabonis ends up going top 10. It all depends on needs, and I'll have to look at needs of teams. If we did happen to take him at 5 I wonder what we would do at 13? A super raw prospect like Labissiere? Might make sense...opposite skill set, big upside. Can shoot, block, etc, but likely is a few years away at really contributing.

Gambles on big guys are where failed picks most often occur. Is going to be a Willam Bedford or a Hassan Whiteside? If in doubt, draft a player you know will contribute.

Most gambles in the draft fail.

[bwgood77]

I think Sabonis ends up going top 10. It all depends on needs, and I'll have to look at needs of teams. If we did happen to take him at 5 I wonder what we would do at 13? A super raw prospect like Labissiere? Might make sense...opposite skill set, big upside. Can shoot, block, etc, but likely is a few years away at really contributing.

Gambles on big guys are where failed picks most often occur. Is going to be a Willam Bedford or a Hassan Whiteside? If in doubt, draft a player you know will contribute.

Most gambles in the draft fail.

So you're saying go with another position? Who is a sure thing? Who do you take at 13 in my above scenario (you are responding to) if we take Sabonis at 5?

[jcsunsfan]

I think Sabonis ends up going top 10. It all depends on needs, and I'll have to look at needs of teams. If we did happen to take him at 5 I wonder what we would do at 13? A super raw prospect like Labissiere? Might make sense...opposite skill set, big upside. Can shoot, block, etc, but likely is a few years away at really contributing.

Gambles on big guys are where failed picks most often occur. Is going to be a Willam Bedford or a Hassan Whiteside? If in doubt, draft a player you know will contribute.

Most gambles in the draft fail.

So you're saying go with another position? Who is a sure thing? Who do you take at 13 in my above scenario (you are responding to) if we take Sabonis at 5?

If we take Sabonis at 5 (and while I love Sabonis I think that is too high for him), then at the 12 or 13 I would look for a player that can contribute. Chriss (if Sabonis is at 5 Chriss might fall), Brice Johnson, Ellensen, Brown. I am just looking at the NBAdraft.net mock that has Sabonis going so high and seeing who they have falling.

I think it would be the worst thing in the world for Skal to get drafted this year. He has huge developments to make. He will not be able to do it on an NBA roster. That guy will end up spending a year or more on a NBADL team or going overseas. He would be much better served staying in school. I usually don't say that about lottery picks. Getting picked now might ruin his potential career.

[LukasBMW]

I'd love for us to take a PF/C @ #12. Let's roll the dice and try to find a pre-microfracture Amare 2.0. Athletic, aggressive, and can jump out of the gym. Hopefully someone with a smaller ego and larger brain then Amare.

I want an athletic 5 to run the pick and roll with an emphasis on roll and finish with a high percentage shot. If they are athletic enough and have a work ethic, rebounding, defense, and and outside shot will come.

Then if we get lucky and get Simmons or Ingram, our team really starts to look good for the future:

Bledsoe/Knight
Booker
TJ/PJ
Simmons
Amare 2.0/Len

Simmons can be groomed into our point forward like DGreen or vintage Diaw. He can attack from the high post.

Our Amare 2.0 can hand out on the low block and run pick and rolls with our guards.

As long as TJ keeps improving his 3, Bledsoe keeps up the pace from last year, and Booker doesn't die, that's 1 knockdown shooter and 2 solid shooters.

Knight and PJ are great role players. Len had drastically improved his pick and roll game.

[LukasBMW]

Looking back, we really found gold in an awful 2002 NBA draft:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_NBA_draft

This draft could be very similar.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Looking back, we really found gold in an awful 2002 NBA draft:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_NBA_draft

This draft could be very similar.

Especially if hypothetical players are available!

[jcsunsfan]

Looking back, we really found gold in an awful 2002 NBA draft:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_NBA_draft

This draft could be very similar.

Wow. It was a horrible draft. Amare and Scola are the only real gems.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Listened to the weekly Ryan McDonough interview on Arizona Sports and it was all draft questions. He said:

- Players have previously been drafted too high due to tournament play
- High end has some elite potential
- Questionable depth in the draft
- He'll pick best available player (but was part of a satirical conversation)
- Coach appointed before draft combine in May.

My takeaway:
- Basically gave a thanks to Charlotte for choosing Kaminsky over Booker.
- Will keep elite pick if in the top 3-4 range.
- Washington pick very tradable.
- Hopefully will draft best available player and not short term position.
- Unlikely Watson to be head coach next year.

[nerazzurri10]

- Unlikely Watson to be head coach next year.

Basically he is in a "win now" mode?

Since I do not believe we'll win anything until GS and SA declines, I don't see a reason not to keep developing our young guys. Watson has done that fairly well.

[Amareca]

Listened to the weekly Ryan McDonough interview on Arizona Sports and it was all draft questions. He said:

- Players have previously been drafted too high due to tournament play
- High end has some elite potential
- Questionable depth in the draft
- He'll pick best available player (but was part of a satirical conversation)
- Coach appointed before draft combine in May.

My takeaway:
- Basically gave a thanks to Charlotte for choosing Kaminsky over Booker.
- Will keep elite pick if in the top 3-4 range.
- Washington pick very tradable.
- Hopefully will draft best available player and not short term position.
- Unlikely Watson to be head coach next year.

None of your takeaways are remotely what McD said.

He said they want to decide on HC in May and he said that he thinks there is high end talent available at our pick.
On Washingtons pick he said that it is always a question to draft an older more ready player there or one with upside that needs time to develop.

Never in this interview did he refer to potentially trading away picks. In fact he said he could not evaluate the depth of the draft at this point.

[Mulhollanddrive]

I've been watching more footage of my top 4 guys with my critical thinking on - Simmons, Hield, Ingram, Bender and came up with a few more observations:

- Watched a Simmons interview (Sports Center I think from a while back) and he did get a bit bratty when asked about his shooting, I had heard about character issues before, but is different when you actually see a personality reveal itself. I'm sure Lebron acted similar when people question his parts of his game 12 years ago, so being a bit houlier than thou about yourself, isn't a positive but isn't a deal breaker.

- Buddy Hield looked very, very Brandon Knight in a scouting video I saw on his previous season. The only thing that's changed is he's now hitting those shots, I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not!

- Saw an Ingram excerpt where he's asked about himself and his game, his answer was that he's a relaxed, easy going person and really funny once you get to know him. There have been question marks whether he is tuned in and likes to work hard, the same as Simmons, so again it is interesting to actually see personality revealed, not just told second hand.

- Bender, has no 2 point moves, in fact it looked like Alex Len but possibly worse. If you gave him the ball 10 foot out and told him to score, I would anticipate he'd just try to dribble close and throw a shot up. Combine this with his poor rebounding stats, the risk is he might be closer to a Bargani or Frye type than a Porzingis.

[Mulhollanddrive]

None of your takeaways are remotely what McD said.

That's because I wrote what McD said, and gave my own thoughts.

[NavLDO]

I see a lot of the same names brought up--Simmons, Bender, Hield, Ingram, Sabonis, Dunn, Labissierre, Chriss, Rabb, and Ellenson...

But what's everyone's take on these guys, in a vacuum based upon talent alone, not what position would fit for us:

Early Pick...

Jaylen Brown
Jamal Murray

Late lotto pick...

Jakob Poeltl
Demetrius Jackson
Timothe Luwawu
Deyonta Davis
Wade Baldwin
Denzel Valentine
Furkan Korkmaz (What a name--we need to take him just based on that!!)

And for our late pick...

Damian Jones
Taurean Prince
Thomas Bryant
Diamond Stone (Another awesome name!)
Jonathan Jeanne
Ivica Subac
Ante Zizic
Zhou Qi

A lot of names, but curious if there is a Diamond in there, (not named Diamond, of course--LOL) to be found. Any of these guys are a "hell naw"??? Or a "yeah, that dudes a sleeper..." types...??

[rsavaj]

Diamond Stone doesn't impress me too much. Dude looks kinda stiff.

I'm coming around on Bender, partly because the mystique of the unknown is always so damn alluring. I wanted Porzingis, Giannis and Gobert. I also wanted Petteri Koponen, Sergio Rodriguez, Rudy Fernandez and Victor Claver....so my judgment is hilariously hit or miss.

If Bender hits his ceiling, dude looks like a major contributor. I just don't know enough about him to assess how far he is from that ceiling.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Jaylen Brown would be high risk-reward. If we had a 7-10 type pick, he would be interesting because of his elite athleticism / high ceiling. But right now he can't shoot (65% FT / 29% 3PT / 98 O-Rating ) and has poor ball skills. The upside is that if he learns to develop those things over time, he could be anything.

Jamal Murray is a bit the opposite, he has all the skills, plays like a mature player, but has question marks about his athleticism and ability to impact at NBA level, his prototype is usually a guy off the bench shooting for 15 minutes. What's really interesting is that he's tracking very much like Booker, similar role @ Kentucky, a SG who is pushed off ball handling, but shooting elite levels at a very young age.

[TheFire]

I see a lot of the same names brought up--Simmons, Bender, Hield, Ingram, Sabonis, Dunn, Labissierre, Chriss, Rabb, and Ellenson...

But what's everyone's take on these guys, in a vacuum based upon talent alone, not what position would fit for us:

Early Pick...

Jaylen Brown
Jamal Murray

Late lotto pick...

Jakob Poeltl
Demetrius Jackson
Timothe Luwawu
Deyonta Davis
Wade Baldwin
Denzel Valentine
Furkan Korkmaz (What a name--we need to take him just based on that!!)

And for our late pick...

Damian Jones
Taurean Prince
Thomas Bryant
Diamond Stone (Another awesome name!)
Jonathan Jeanne
Ivica Subac
Ante Zizic
Zhou Qi

A lot of names, but curious if there is a Diamond in there, (not named Diamond, of course--LOL) to be found. Any of these guys are a "hell naw"??? Or a "yeah, that dudes a sleeper..." types...??

I think we will get a better indicator of where these guys fall in terms of potential after their combine results are in. I see a lot of guys moving up/down the list depending on their measurable and athleticism tests.