Thank Nation! Pre-Lottery: Denver 9th, NY pick 7th (PART 4)

[Omzz]

Bucks are trash

[RonaldArtest]

Before the season started I thought the Bucks would be around 5-7 seed. You folks should take what I say with a grain of salt.

[DreamTeam09]

Before the season started I thought the Bucks would be around 5-7 seed. You folks should take what I say with a grain of salt.

Don't worry man, you weren't the only one. My friends literally thought the raps would have a hard time making the playoffs.

Teams like Orlando, Milwaukee Det, indy Boston, bobcats were all suppose to be on our levels or better.

Atl Miami were legit better than us.

Man was everyone wrong about the raps or what.

I called 50 wins tho

[kidr1211]

I never understood the milwaukee hype tbh people had them as high as the 3rd seed before the season started

[Ell Curry]

I was wondering what people thought of Chris Boucher. He has a good size at 6-10, blocked 3.1 shots last year and can shoot threes at 36%. He is also from Montreal, and looked solid during the NCAA tournament. I didn't watch a ton of Oregon's games, but curious what other people see.

He was a former JUCO player of the year. At 23 and fairly underweight, I think he could go undrafted (similar to Mike Kyser last year), but he has the magic combination of threes and blocks that could make him draftworthy. This guy is my personal sleeper pick up if we get a second.

I think he's going back to school (he won the right to play another year), but I like him a lot as a sleeper. Needs to put on 20 pounds but his 3pt shot looks decent in terms of the release being fast and he hit 69% of his FTs which implies the 3pt thing wasn't completely a mirage, though it doesn't suggest more than an average 3pt shooter. Still, he blocks a ton of shots and he's even a pretty good rebounder despite the lack of weight. 28 PER, which is pretty damn good considering he was normally the 3rd or 4th option on the court. Showed up against Oklahoma unlike some of his more heralded teammates, too. Played hard and didn't look averse to contact.

[Omzz]

Kings getting the job done so far

[PapeSowish]

Rudy Gay still killing us.

McLemore is trash.

[Omzz]

At least the kings have some dignity with their win. Bucks smh

[Micrew18]

worst case 10th, best case 8th? For Bargnani.. this is too good to be true

[zilby]

Sacto with the big W for the Thank tonight. Just need Dame to finish off the Nuggets and the Bucks to beat Indy, and we should be smooth sailing. I also hope Houston misses the playoffs because **** the trash Rockets, so let's go Sacramento on Wednesday as well.

[MEDIC]

We need the best two way player available. Those are the guys that Casey will actually want to play and like it or not, this is his team.

That's why I think a guy like Luwawu is definitely in play. I just have a feeling he would be ranked higher than any of the bigs in this draft by Masai and his staff. Euro guy, 2 way player, has great skill. Then again, what do I know?

I would say he and Rabb would be hoped for by the Raps at say 9. He is not the superlative athlete like a McGrady because he is so lanky. Once he beefs up look out. The guy is 20 so could also still be growing or, put another way, he is .5 of an inch off each hand from having a full 7 foot wingspan at 6'7. He has length, some hops, plays good defence and shoots the long ball. Who besides Rabb is Ujiri going to pick at 9?

Davis

[Skeezo]

As it sits right now with Houston making the playoffs (pick goes to Denver)...

*12 of the 30 picks in the first round will be owned by four teams... Boston, Philadelphia, Denver, and Phoenix... Make it 13 if the Lakers slide out of the Top 3 and their pick goes to Philly... If you add the Raptors multi-picks in to the equation that's half of the 1st round being dominated by only five teams... Pretty ridiculous when you think of it. There's 11 (possibly 12) teams with a 2nd Rd pick or less in this years draft.

[LJKO]

We the 8th pick please!!!!

[TheGoodDoctor]

I never understood the milwaukee hype tbh people had them as high as the 3rd seed before the season started

Seriously.

It's like ppl just read the names without factoring in their age...in a couple of years they should become a very good team but a line up of kids don't understand the man's game yet. Not to mention they're completely void of post defense. Right now they're individual talents that have semblance of having good team chemistry and like most young teams they gotta learn how to play on both sides of the court. So many of these kids are used to being the man n scoring all day long but not sharing it with teammates and being reliant on their team to guard while they rack up the points.

Right now they have no clear pecking order n guys still reliant on the next guy to defend while not doing it themselves but they'll slowly start figuring it out... but for now they suck n will mess up our pick.

Still riding with Luwawu but won't be surprised if either of Rabb or Chriss are picked and Thon Maker as the complete shocker pick that could happen if buzz builds around the draft.

[lolwut]

Please...no Thon Maker. He'll snap his legs trying to guard Bebe in practice.

[MikeM]

I think Rabb is probably top 5 for me. Ahead of Dunn and Murray. Easily ahead of Ellenson and Poeltl. Hield/Rabb are on the edge of my top 5.

Rabb is just a modern player. Yes, he has great post fundamentals but he makes his moves quick! The post game is useless if you have to take 5 dribbles to set it up. NBA defenses will take it away.

And look at his lateral quickness and second jump. You can project him as a big that can switch comfortably like Patterson for example. He can guard the PnR.

In the future I see Rabb with potential as a roller, as a popper. Because he's only 19, you can dream that he hits the corner 3. And it's a certainty that he will be able to score on the block on mismatches.

I love players that can switch defensively but can't be switched on offensively. So rare. That's a modern NBA player for me.

[DreamTeam09]

can someone please update our ny/denver pick and surrounding teams with remaining games and probability. Thx a ton lol

[metafisical]

On Wednesday:
Indiana @ Milwaukee
Sacramento @ Houston
Denver @ Portland

I doubt Milwaukee, Sacramento or Denver will win their final games, but I'm hoping for Milwaukee and Sacramento to pull off upset wins and Denver to lose. Come on, don't disappoint.

[Clutch0z24]

we in a 3 way tie right now for 8,9,10...Portland needs to come clutch against the Nuggets big time ....even being a tie for 8th with either the bucks or the kings would be great. getting 8 or 9 is good for me.

[Volcano]

So far..I'm still considering/evaluating:
Luwawu
Rabb

Leaning towards no:
Prince
Chriss

Against:
Thon Maker
Valentine

I think the reason a pick like Porzingis worked out so well is because he had the full package.
1) The mental make-up: drive/motor/attitude/IQ

2) Body: mobility, length, athleticism (his biggest weakness was strength and filling out his body..which is almost the easiest thing to improve upon)

3) Existing skillset: could play defense, rebound and had a versatile offensive game (2 way player)

4) Proof and ability to apply his game on the court. Although this was a question mark to a lot of people because he was in the ACB, not NCAA and didn't get starter minutes.

The first two points gives you an idea of the ceiling on his potential. The latter two tells you if he has any potential and what areas he has potential in. Powell and Wright fill out these criteria decently as well, although their age hurt their stock. If I'm drafting, I'd look for players who pass all four points. If their skillset doesn't label them as a two way player, they better be elite on one end of the floor.

I never understood the milwaukee hype tbh people had them as high as the 3rd seed before the season started

Seriously.

It's like ppl just read the names without factoring in their age...in a couple of years they should become a very good team but a line up of kids don't understand the man's game yet. Not to mention they're completely void of post defense. Right now they're individual talents that have semblance of having good team chemistry and like most young teams they gotta learn how to play on both sides of the court. So many of these kids are used to being the man n scoring all day long but not sharing it with teammates and being reliant on their team to guard while they rack up the points.

Right now they have no clear pecking order n guys still reliant on the next guy to defend while not doing it themselves but they'll slowly start figuring it out... but for now they suck n will mess up our pick.

Still riding with Luwawu but won't be surprised if either of Rabb or Chriss are picked and Thon Maker as the complete shocker pick that could happen if buzz builds around the draft.

I don't think it has to do with age. Their problem was that they went away from what worked for them. Knight, Middleton and Giannis was a pretty solid core for them to build around. Then they went from a weak offensive team + strong defensive team to a weak offensive team + a weak defensive team.

Replacing Knight with MCW automatically made them worse. Then their defense couldn't handle the addition of Jabari and Monroe (not a fan of either players). They lost Zaza who was also a strong role player for them at C. And we all know GV is a negative player. Then you add injuries to that, forcing them to start playing less experienced or weaker players..which would have been fine if they didn't mess up and add bad players to the main rotation in the first place.

The problem with volume chuckers is that there's only one ball. If your volume chucking isn't making your team's offense that much better (or possibly even makes it worse), then your value lies in how much you impact the game without the ball...whether it's how you follow the game plan, set screens, spread the floor, move without the ball, play defense, hustle. If they continue with these players, I don't see them being a threat a couple years down the road. If I'm Milwaukee, I'm building around Giannis and Middleton and everyone else is up for grabs at the right price.