2016 Draft

[MrTwister]

No to Len at the 4, judging by what we've seen thus far. Bender can't even manage to crack the rotation of possibly the worst Tel-Aviv team ever, one that got relegated down to Eurocup. he has multiple opt outs in his contract but still may require an expensive buy out to arrive stateside before the 2019-2020 season, no way he's ready to come over. Had a decent stretch of games recently, but he's living off his performances in the juniors where he was excellent but not as dominant as the likes of Saric/Valanciunas.

Yes. I am just not buying into the Bender story. Horrible team, horrible resume, some clips of good games that are the equivalent of AAU games in the US. Why in the world would we draft a player to do something that he has never really done at any level? I firmly believe that the GM that drafts him will lose his job over it. You have to get true production out of that top five pick. There are better options.

Simmons, Ingram, Hield, Dunn, Rabb, Brown, Sabonis. All are more reasonable choices IMO.

Spoiler:

Let me clear few things about Maccabi,european basketball and Bender.For the record, i am not trying to sell you guys Bender or anything like that.Just want to have your facts straight before you jump to conclussions.I also think that Bender is risky pick but in mediocre draft like this, i believe its better to gamble on potential and upside, at least thats what Givony and other draft experts are saying.I'd disagree with Sabonis and even Brown being reasonable top 5 picks, and for most currently projected top 5 picks can be said the same, they really haven't done anything so far except showing flashes of potential.

There are some restrictions that prevents him from playing.Pretty much in every domestic league.There are foreign player limit(usually its 3), as if you can play only number of non-israeli players in a game.Those are usually filled with vets who can help the team right away, w/o having to play Bender through his growing pains.A lot of US players go to Maccabi each year because they pay well, they are respectable team in Europe and they bring a lot of them each season, making it "home"-ish atmosphere.

Maccabi is not a horrible team.They won Euroleague 2 years ago, played in playoffs season after that.They are having horrible season though.Despite bad season its hard to say that players playing for them are scrubs.Their chemistry is off, players have left and acquired in the middle of the season,some players got old and injured, coaches have been fired, management is taking it out on players ,there are a lot of pressure to win but nobody is thinking about giving 18 year old kid (who will probably leave soon) keys of the team to salvage their season.There are too much pressure on coaches to win instead of experimenting with guy like Bender.Euro coaches are rigid when it comes to playing young talent, not just in Maccabi.

Regarding buyout, i am sure you saw already that Sportando report stating that Bender have multiple NBA opt-outs including end of this season too.NBA team can only help player pay part of the buyout.Most NBA teams can spare on player buyout is something around 600k $.Rest of it is on the player to pay(Last time it happened, Orlando paid Hezonja 600k $ but buyout was around 2 million euros).I think we can agree that 600k is not a hefty price for any NBA franchise.

Not really sure what you mean by horrible resume, but certainly its not a case for Bender.He had nice campaigns on those youth tournaments, never showed anything but good work ethic, no attitude red flags or something like that.Bender was pretty hyped up on those U16,U18 tournament where he played against older competition as 14 and 16 year old respectively.And whe he played his impact was felt, he was a factor in those games despite being 2 years younger than competition.Same as above-mentioned Saric and Valanciunas(although not as dominant).There was an shoe incident which prevented him from playing on one youth tournament so hype died down a little but nobody forgot about him nor thought that he cant compete on that level.In case you didn't picked it up, those youth tournaments where under 16 and under 18 year old prospects are playing are some kind of euro version of college basketball, except they are playing for their respective countries and not colleges.

I hope i was clear, its not really fair to judge on players and teams based on false informations and half-truths.If i left something unclear, feel free to PM me or write here, I'll be happy to help if i can.

[Skillmatic]

For me, if Marqueese Chriss is available with the WAS pick, we have to take him. Like him way more than all the other PF's in this class

[Mulhollanddrive]

There's only 2 NCAA players slated for the first round that are still 18 - Ingram and Chriss.

We know McDonough loves bottom agers and athletic upside, I think there's a good chance he'll take both if available.

Bender and Korkmaz are also 18 as internationals.

[jcsunsfan]

No to Len at the 4, judging by what we've seen thus far. Bender can't even manage to crack the rotation of possibly the worst Tel-Aviv team ever, one that got relegated down to Eurocup. he has multiple opt outs in his contract but still may require an expensive buy out to arrive stateside before the 2019-2020 season, no way he's ready to come over. Had a decent stretch of games recently, but he's living off his performances in the juniors where he was excellent but not as dominant as the likes of Saric/Valanciunas.

Yes. I am just not buying into the Bender story. Horrible team, horrible resume, some clips of good games that are the equivalent of AAU games in the US. Why in the world would we draft a player to do something that he has never really done at any level? I firmly believe that the GM that drafts him will lose his job over it. You have to get true production out of that top five pick. There are better options.

Simmons, Ingram, Hield, Dunn, Rabb, Brown, Sabonis. All are more reasonable choices IMO.

Spoiler:

Let me clear few things about Maccabi,european basketball and Bender.For the record, i am not trying to sell you guys Bender or anything like that.Just want to have your facts straight before you jump to conclussions.I also think that Bender is risky pick but in mediocre draft like this, i believe its better to gamble on potential and upside, at least thats what Givony and other draft experts are saying.I'd disagree with Sabonis and even Brown being reasonable top 5 picks, and for most currently projected top 5 picks can be said the same, they really haven't done anything so far except showing flashes of potential.

There are some restrictions that prevents him from playing.Pretty much in every domestic league.There are foreign player limit(usually its 3), as if you can play only number of non-israeli players in a game.Those are usually filled with vets who can help the team right away, w/o having to play Bender through his growing pains.A lot of US players go to Maccabi each year because they pay well, they are respectable team in Europe and they bring a lot of them each season, making it "home"-ish atmosphere.

Maccabi is not a horrible team.They won Euroleague 2 years ago, played in playoffs season after that.They are having horrible season though.Despite bad season its hard to say that players playing for them are scrubs.Their chemistry is off, players have left and acquired in the middle of the season,some players got old and injured, coaches have been fired, management is taking it out on players ,there are a lot of pressure to win but nobody is thinking about giving 18 year old kid (who will probably leave soon) keys of the team to salvage their season.There are too much pressure on coaches to win instead of experimenting with guy like Bender.Euro coaches are rigid when it comes to playing young talent, not just in Maccabi.

Regarding buyout, i am sure you saw already that Sportando report stating that Bender have multiple NBA opt-outs including end of this season too.NBA team can only help player pay part of the buyout.Most NBA teams can spare on player buyout is something around 600k $.Rest of it is on the player to pay(Last time it happened, Orlando paid Hezonja 600k $ but buyout was around 2 million euros).I think we can agree that 600k is not a hefty price for any NBA franchise.

Not really sure what you mean by horrible resume, but certainly its not a case for Bender.He had nice campaigns on those youth tournaments, never showed anything but good work ethic, no attitude red flags or something like that.Bender was pretty hyped up on those U16,U18 tournament where he played against older competition as 14 and 16 year old respectively.And whe he played his impact was felt, he was a factor in those games despite being 2 years younger than competition.Same as above-mentioned Saric and Valanciunas(although not as dominant).There was an shoe incident which prevented him from playing on one youth tournament so hype died down a little but nobody forgot about him nor thought that he cant compete on that level.In case you didn't picked it up, those youth tournaments where under 16 and under 18 year old prospects are playing are some kind of euro version of college basketball, except they are playing for their respective countries and not colleges.

I hope i was clear, its not really fair to judge on players and teams based on false informations and half-truths.If i left something unclear, feel free to PM me or write here, I'll be happy to help if i can.

All due respect, one U16 and one U18 tournament is not a resume. They are not anything more than an AAU tournament in the US and there are plenty of kids that do well in those tournaments that are not NBA prospects. A McDonalds all-american tournament is a little better, but that really is a college tryout, not an NBA tryout. Bender may have potential, but he is a huge, huge gamble. There have been plenty of eurobigs who have come over with way more scoutable backgrounds than him. Darko and Tskitishvili had significantly better resume's. Bender does not have the transcendent size that Porzingis has. He really needs to get a little older and do a little more before any NBA team should draft him. In my mind, I would give him about a 75% chance of being a complete bust--not able to play in the league bust.

[bwgood77]

Yes. I am just not buying into the Bender story. Horrible team, horrible resume, some clips of good games that are the equivalent of AAU games in the US. Why in the world would we draft a player to do something that he has never really done at any level? I firmly believe that the GM that drafts him will lose his job over it. You have to get true production out of that top five pick. There are better options.

Simmons, Ingram, Hield, Dunn, Rabb, Brown, Sabonis. All are more reasonable choices IMO.

Spoiler:

Let me clear few things about Maccabi,european basketball and Bender.For the record, i am not trying to sell you guys Bender or anything like that.Just want to have your facts straight before you jump to conclussions.I also think that Bender is risky pick but in mediocre draft like this, i believe its better to gamble on potential and upside, at least thats what Givony and other draft experts are saying.I'd disagree with Sabonis and even Brown being reasonable top 5 picks, and for most currently projected top 5 picks can be said the same, they really haven't done anything so far except showing flashes of potential.

There are some restrictions that prevents him from playing.Pretty much in every domestic league.There are foreign player limit(usually its 3), as if you can play only number of non-israeli players in a game.Those are usually filled with vets who can help the team right away, w/o having to play Bender through his growing pains.A lot of US players go to Maccabi each year because they pay well, they are respectable team in Europe and they bring a lot of them each season, making it "home"-ish atmosphere.

Maccabi is not a horrible team.They won Euroleague 2 years ago, played in playoffs season after that.They are having horrible season though.Despite bad season its hard to say that players playing for them are scrubs.Their chemistry is off, players have left and acquired in the middle of the season,some players got old and injured, coaches have been fired, management is taking it out on players ,there are a lot of pressure to win but nobody is thinking about giving 18 year old kid (who will probably leave soon) keys of the team to salvage their season.There are too much pressure on coaches to win instead of experimenting with guy like Bender.Euro coaches are rigid when it comes to playing young talent, not just in Maccabi.

Regarding buyout, i am sure you saw already that Sportando report stating that Bender have multiple NBA opt-outs including end of this season too.NBA team can only help player pay part of the buyout.Most NBA teams can spare on player buyout is something around 600k $.Rest of it is on the player to pay(Last time it happened, Orlando paid Hezonja 600k $ but buyout was around 2 million euros).I think we can agree that 600k is not a hefty price for any NBA franchise.

Not really sure what you mean by horrible resume, but certainly its not a case for Bender.He had nice campaigns on those youth tournaments, never showed anything but good work ethic, no attitude red flags or something like that.Bender was pretty hyped up on those U16,U18 tournament where he played against older competition as 14 and 16 year old respectively.And whe he played his impact was felt, he was a factor in those games despite being 2 years younger than competition.Same as above-mentioned Saric and Valanciunas(although not as dominant).There was an shoe incident which prevented him from playing on one youth tournament so hype died down a little but nobody forgot about him nor thought that he cant compete on that level.In case you didn't picked it up, those youth tournaments where under 16 and under 18 year old prospects are playing are some kind of euro version of college basketball, except they are playing for their respective countries and not colleges.

I hope i was clear, its not really fair to judge on players and teams based on false informations and half-truths.If i left something unclear, feel free to PM me or write here, I'll be happy to help if i can.

All due respect, one U16 and one U18 tournament is not a resume. They are not anything more than an AAU tournament in the US and there are plenty of kids that do well in those tournaments that are not NBA prospects. A McDonalds all-american tournament is a little better, but that really is a college tryout, not an NBA tryout. Bender may have potential, but he is a huge, huge gamble. There have been plenty of eurobigs who have come over with way more scoutable backgrounds than him. Darko and Tskitishvili had significantly better resume's. Bender does not have the transcendent size that Porzingis has. He really needs to get a little older and do a little more before any NBA team should draft him. In my mind, I would give him about a 75% chance of being a complete bust--not able to play in the league bust.

Probably 60-70% of the top 10 will be complete busts in this draft.

[jcsunsfan]

Spoiler:

Let me clear few things about Maccabi,european basketball and Bender.For the record, i am not trying to sell you guys Bender or anything like that.Just want to have your facts straight before you jump to conclussions.I also think that Bender is risky pick but in mediocre draft like this, i believe its better to gamble on potential and upside, at least thats what Givony and other draft experts are saying.I'd disagree with Sabonis and even Brown being reasonable top 5 picks, and for most currently projected top 5 picks can be said the same, they really haven't done anything so far except showing flashes of potential.

There are some restrictions that prevents him from playing.Pretty much in every domestic league.There are foreign player limit(usually its 3), as if you can play only number of non-israeli players in a game.Those are usually filled with vets who can help the team right away, w/o having to play Bender through his growing pains.A lot of US players go to Maccabi each year because they pay well, they are respectable team in Europe and they bring a lot of them each season, making it "home"-ish atmosphere.

Maccabi is not a horrible team.They won Euroleague 2 years ago, played in playoffs season after that.They are having horrible season though.Despite bad season its hard to say that players playing for them are scrubs.Their chemistry is off, players have left and acquired in the middle of the season,some players got old and injured, coaches have been fired, management is taking it out on players ,there are a lot of pressure to win but nobody is thinking about giving 18 year old kid (who will probably leave soon) keys of the team to salvage their season.There are too much pressure on coaches to win instead of experimenting with guy like Bender.Euro coaches are rigid when it comes to playing young talent, not just in Maccabi.

Regarding buyout, i am sure you saw already that Sportando report stating that Bender have multiple NBA opt-outs including end of this season too.NBA team can only help player pay part of the buyout.Most NBA teams can spare on player buyout is something around 600k $.Rest of it is on the player to pay(Last time it happened, Orlando paid Hezonja 600k $ but buyout was around 2 million euros).I think we can agree that 600k is not a hefty price for any NBA franchise.

Not really sure what you mean by horrible resume, but certainly its not a case for Bender.He had nice campaigns on those youth tournaments, never showed anything but good work ethic, no attitude red flags or something like that.Bender was pretty hyped up on those U16,U18 tournament where he played against older competition as 14 and 16 year old respectively.And whe he played his impact was felt, he was a factor in those games despite being 2 years younger than competition.Same as above-mentioned Saric and Valanciunas(although not as dominant).There was an shoe incident which prevented him from playing on one youth tournament so hype died down a little but nobody forgot about him nor thought that he cant compete on that level.In case you didn't picked it up, those youth tournaments where under 16 and under 18 year old prospects are playing are some kind of euro version of college basketball, except they are playing for their respective countries and not colleges.

I hope i was clear, its not really fair to judge on players and teams based on false informations and half-truths.If i left something unclear, feel free to PM me or write here, I'll be happy to help if i can.

All due respect, one U16 and one U18 tournament is not a resume. They are not anything more than an AAU tournament in the US and there are plenty of kids that do well in those tournaments that are not NBA prospects. A McDonalds all-american tournament is a little better, but that really is a college tryout, not an NBA tryout. Bender may have potential, but he is a huge, huge gamble. There have been plenty of eurobigs who have come over with way more scoutable backgrounds than him. Darko and Tskitishvili had significantly better resume's. Bender does not have the transcendent size that Porzingis has. He really needs to get a little older and do a little more before any NBA team should draft him. In my mind, I would give him about a 75% chance of being a complete bust--not able to play in the league bust.

Probably 60-70% of the top 10 will be complete busts in this draft.

I did just read that he is still growing and is now 7-1 barefoot. If that is the case, I would assume his wingspan is increasing as well. Wingspan often continues to increase even after a player if finished growing in height. If his wingspan ends up at 7-3 or 7-4 and standing reach above 9-4 he becomes much more interesting. Those few inches make a huge difference.

Still, his playing resume is really, really weak.

[Walt_Uoob]

If we don't get #1 or #2, let's trade our pick for all four of Denver's first-round picks. We'd have 6 total firsts (currently 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, and 28). This draft seems like a total crap shoot anyway, one in which the best couple of players could totally come from that range of picks, and we'd be able to take all the risks we want. Depending on who climbs and falls, we could have six of Skal, Rabb, Johnson, Maker, Korkmaz, Sabonis, Chriss, etc. I think we have 8 guys under contract for next year so it's do-able, especially assuming a couple of those picks would be draft-and-stash types. And if we're below the salary floor, just divvy out the difference to the players per league rules; it would build good will to compensate for the fact that some of them will have a hard time getting playing time (and will be playing on a pretty bad team for at least another year).

[rsavaj]

Thon Maker has looked pretty terrible in actual games. His mixtape was awesome but there's a reason why DraftExpress has him at 44 on their top 100 prospects rankings.

Maybe take a flier on him with the 33rd pick, but I imagine there's better prospects available at that spot.

[LV-Suns]

There's only 2 NCAA players slated for the first round that are still 18 - Ingram and Chriss.

We know McDonough loves bottom agers and athletic upside, I think there's a good chance he'll take both if available.

Bender and Korkmaz are also 18 as internationals.

If we are able to come out with Ingram and Chriss in this draft..

[bwgood77]

Still, his playing resume is really, really weak.

He's a very risky pick, and where he will be in a couple of years could go in any number of directions. Two years ago in euroleague, around the same age as Bender is now, Domantas Sabonis barely played and had 2.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg in only 10 mpg. So people would have been saying the same things, with far more concerns about reach, wingspan, etc.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/euro/players/domantas-sabonis-1.html

[lilfishi22]

Thon Maker has looked pretty terrible in actual games. His mixtape was awesome but there's a reason why DraftExpress has him at 44 on their top 100 prospects rankings.

Maybe take a flier on him with the 33rd pick, but I imagine there's better prospects available at that spot.

Is this before or after he "declared" ?

[lilfishi22]

There's only 2 NCAA players slated for the first round that are still 18 - Ingram and Chriss.

We know McDonough loves bottom agers and athletic upside, I think there's a good chance he'll take both if available.

Bender and Korkmaz are also 18 as internationals.

If we are able to come out with Ingram and Chriss in this draft..

I feel we've lagged behind when it comes to drafting players with elite athleticism for some time now. THe last guy we drafted with elite athletiscm is probably DJ Strawberry?

So yes to Chriss aka Amare 2.0

[jredsaz]

Thon Maker has looked pretty terrible in actual games. His mixtape was awesome but there's a reason why DraftExpress has him at 44 on their top 100 prospects rankings.

Maybe take a flier on him with the 33rd pick, but I imagine there's better prospects available at that spot.

Is this before or after he "declared" ?

They also have Brice Johnson and Melo Trimble in the late 30s. I think they will be hard pressed to find 30 guys in this draft who have better careers than Johnson.

Maker is 44 right now. We will see where they rank him in June. I'm guessing all those guys will climb significantly by then.

[lilfishi22]

I'd take him with the Cavs pick but I think you would be crazy to draft the big man with the Wiz or our pick (which I think some have wanted). He's got a ton of potential but I see him having more of a bust career than a productive starter. I just think he has to have a lot going his way and for all those things to come together for him to be productive. Most NBA execs see him being in the D-League for a while and even though we're far from a competitive, we do need to get some more hits in the draft if we want to compete in the near future.

[saintEscaton]

Helluva ending to the championship, glad Nova came out on top on a crazy buzzer beater 3.

[DirtyDez]

I couldn't handle the clutchness of that one.

Damn if the Cats make the F4 in Glendale next year it's gonna be epic.

[LV-Suns]

I feel we've lagged behind when it comes to drafting players with elite athleticism for some time now. THe last guy we drafted with elite athletiscm is probably DJ Strawberry?

So yes to Chriss aka Amare 2.0

Maybe Earl Clark? He had some impressive measurements, too bad he couldn't make it in the league. Chriss reminds me quite a lot of Markieff actually, with some elite athleticism.

[lilfishi22]

I feel we've lagged behind when it comes to drafting players with elite athleticism for some time now. THe last guy we drafted with elite athletiscm is probably DJ Strawberry?

So yes to Chriss aka Amare 2.0

Maybe Earl Clark? He had some impressive measurements, too bad he couldn't make it in the league. Chriss reminds me quite a lot of Markieff actually, with some elite athleticism.

I don't think EC had elite athleticism. Elite measurements for sure but not athleticism.

[thamadkant]

Thon Maker has looked pretty terrible in actual games. His mixtape was awesome but there's a reason why DraftExpress has him at 44 on their top 100 prospects rankings.

Maybe take a flier on him with the 33rd pick, but I imagine there's better prospects available at that spot.

Zac Lavine went 14... But he was slated as a top 5 pick the next year had he stayed....

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

How are you guys comparing Chriss to Amare and Keef? He resembles neither. Can you guys only make comparisons to Suns players? You're aware there are 29 other teams out there, right?

That said, he is moving up my board. I still take Sabonis over him, easy.