"WCIHAoTDP?" - 2016 Draft Thread P.2

[Envelope]

Maker has some good things, but he also has small hands and drops passes. He has a place, but not in the top 10.

Sounds like Kwame Brown in that way- who actually, after Michael Jordan broke him psychologically, developed into a pretty good defensive player the way you're describing Maker.

Remember we could also trade out to get someone like Noel or Okafor from Philly..

Noel only has one year on his rookie contract, and he might not even be as good as rookie Maker, much less 3-4 years down the road. Maker is a lot longer than Noel, and about two inches taller, weighs about the same but he's only 19 and just starting to fill out. And obviously Maker is much more talented offensively. Noel's range is 4-5 feet.

[truth18]

All purpose Thon Maker thread?

[Andrew McCeltic]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/why-ben-simmons-isn-t-the-top-prospect-in-the-2016-nba-draft-190023711.html

[Andrew McCeltic]

Maker has some good things, but he also has small hands and drops passes. He has a place, but not in the top 10.

Sounds like Kwame Brown in that way- who actually, after Michael Jordan broke him psychologically, developed into a pretty good defensive player the way you're describing Maker.

Remember we could also trade out to get someone like Noel or Okafor from Philly..

Noel only has one year on his rookie contract, and he might not even be as good as rookie Maker, much less 3-4 years down the road. Maker is a lot longer than Noel, and about two inches taller, weighs about the same but he's only 19 and just starting to fill out. And obviously Maker is much more talented offensively. Noel's range is 4-5 feet.

I'll take some convincing on that.. Noel is a year or two away from being Amir Johnson on steroids, and younger.. That bit about how Maker's development has stagnated is a big concern for a player his age.

[Andrew McCeltic]

Unless Thon absolutely blows people away in workouts, I have a hard time seeing how he's a better prospect than Okafor or Noel, who both have NBA minutes under their belts. Okafor has flaws, but he'd be a perfect acquisition with our pick to play the 4/5..

[Shamrock]

Your reading comprehension is dubious. "Maker could step in and be an instant upgrade over Amir Johnson"

Maker would be a work in progress offensively but still get double digit points as a rookie.

Keep sleeping on him. Porzingis might be longer, but not by much. Maker is longer than Shaq, and he's the same as DeAndre Jordan. Standing reach 9'5.5", or 5.5" higher than Anthony Davis. And he doesn't even appear to be finished growing yet.

Maker is the best defensive big in this draft. He's just not a full-fledged center yet, he's a PF.

I hope you were able to comprehend some of the above.

I would certainly hope our top 5 draft selection we've been drooling over all year would be a upgrade over Amir Johnson. The funny thing is he wouldn't and would likely never sniff the floor with us. Yeah.... A guy who couldn't score more than 2 points against a bunch of high schoolers is gonna average double digits in Amir Johnson's "Limited role" his rookie year playing against actual NBA talent. You probably loved Austin Rivers when he was coming out of Duke. Where do your get meth?

[Envelope]

Your reading comprehension is dubious. "Maker could step in and be an instant upgrade over Amir Johnson"

Maker would be a work in progress offensively but still get double digit points as a rookie.

Keep sleeping on him. Porzingis might be longer, but not by much. Maker is longer than Shaq, and he's the same as DeAndre Jordan. Standing reach 9'5.5", or 5.5" higher than Anthony Davis. And he doesn't even appear to be finished growing yet.

Maker is the best defensive big in this draft. He's just not a full-fledged center yet, he's a PF.

I hope you were able to comprehend some of the above.

I would certainly hope our top 5 draft selection we've been drooling over all year would be a upgrade over Amir Johnson. The funny thing is he wouldn't and would likely never sniff the floor with us. Yeah.... A guy who couldn't score more than 2 points against a bunch of high schoolers is gonna average double digits in Amir Johnson's "Limited role" his rookie year playing against actual NBA talent. You probably loved Austin Rivers when he was coming out of Duke. Where do your get meth?

Thon Maker shot 0-5 in an exhibition game a year ago, while being dominant defensively and on the boards, against the very best prospects in the world. At his very worst, he dominated one end of the court against the best possible competition imaginable. At his worst, he proved more than Bender Ever has against a bunch of Israelis.

[Envelope]

Sounds like Kwame Brown in that way- who actually, after Michael Jordan broke him psychologically, developed into a pretty good defensive player the way you're describing Maker.

Remember we could also trade out to get someone like Noel or Okafor from Philly..

Noel only has one year on his rookie contract, and he might not even be as good as rookie Maker, much less 3-4 years down the road. Maker is a lot longer than Noel, and about two inches taller, weighs about the same but he's only 19 and just starting to fill out. And obviously Maker is much more talented offensively. Noel's range is 4-5 feet.

I'll take some convincing on that.. Noel is a year or two away from being Amir Johnson on steroids, and younger.. That bit about how Maker's development has stagnated is a big concern for a player his age.

Noel is what he is. Almost zero offensive talent, thin boned, can't gain any more weight. Thon's biggest drawback is he only dominated one end of the court against the best prospects in the world last year in his 4th year of touching a basketball.

[Shamrock]

Thon Maker shot 0-5 in an exhibition game a year ago, while being dominant defensively and on the boards, against the very best prospects in the world. At his very worst, he dominated one end of the court against the best possible competition imaginable. At his worst, he proved more than Bender Ever has against a bunch of Israelis.

Best talent imaginable? Half of those guys won't even sniff playing time in the NBA and if their lucky maybe two guys out of the rest will be good/decent NBA players. Maker will get drafted on measurements and that's about it.

[Envelope]

Thon Maker shot 0-5 in an exhibition game a year ago, while being dominant defensively and on the boards, against the very best prospects in the world. At his very worst, he dominated one end of the court against the best possible competition imaginable. At his worst, he proved more than Bender Ever has against a bunch of Israelis.

Best talent imaginable? Half of those guys won't even sniff playing time in the NBA and if their lucky maybe two guys out of the rest will be good/decent NBA players. Maker will get drafted on measurements and that's about it.

Not everybody can be Israeli semi-pros, the kind getting minutes over Bender.

[FakeScreenName123]

This is a lazy analysis.

No sh*t. I'm by far the least qualified draft expert on this board.

[Andrew McCeltic]

This is a lazy analysis.

No sh*t. I'm by far the least qualified draft expert on this board.

No worries, I was talking about my own analysis Meaning just off memory, Bender looks slow off the ground but I didn't go back and look at any clips..

[Andrew McCeltic]

Thon Maker shot 0-5 in an exhibition game a year ago, while being dominant defensively and on the boards, against the very best prospects in the world. At his very worst, he dominated one end of the court against the best possible competition imaginable. At his worst, he proved more than Bender Ever has against a bunch of Israelis.

Best talent imaginable? Half of those guys won't even sniff playing time in the NBA and if their lucky maybe two guys out of the rest will be good/decent NBA players. Maker will get drafted on measurements and that's about it.

That's one game, and it's all-star/summer-league level systems.. Plus, guys change so much at this age from year to year in physical attributes and skill level.. You can't isolate one game as an example of how great he is. I'd take him at 16 or 23 in a heartbeat, but not with the lotto pick. And he could be a guy like Gerald Green who gets hyped as a top 5 pick and slides on draft night.

[Andrew McCeltic]

Some interesting highlights here

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgiZvhnPWss[/youtube]

Super-athletic, fluid, mobile at times, a little like Perry Jones.. But hard to get a read from these 'mixtapes'

[Envelope]

Some interesting highlights here

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgiZvhnPWss[/youtube]

Super-athletic, fluid, mobile at times, a little like Perry Jones.. But hard to get a read from these 'mixtapes'

Those are a year old too. This is the new one. You can tell he's stronger.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM3Hx5LNImI[/youtube]

[Envelope]

Here's a full game from this season. Footage is rare because his team didn't allow recording for the most part.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxebHl8nFlc[/youtube]

Here's the highlights from that game:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUg9KWY6YV0[/youtube]


Think of Maker as a defensive superstar with great offensive potential. And unlike Ben Simmons, Maker is a fearless shooter.
His style of play would need to be dialed back in Boston, but he would play the Amir Johnson role at a near All-Defense level as a rookie, like Porzingis did.

[Envelope]

Recall that Rudy Gobert was drafted 28th. People didn't see anything special about him, lol. And Gobert's standing reach of 9'7 is just 1.5" higher than Thon Maker's, and Maker might still be growing. But of course Maker is a much much better athlete.
Gobert benefits greatly from playing next to a beefcake in Derrick Favors. Maker would need to be next to a beefcake too to play at his best. Just as Porzingis needed Lopez to play at his best, and Towns needed KG, and Anthony Davis needed Asik.

[Andrew McCeltic]

DraftExpress's take on his weaknesses, tells you a lot more about a guy's limits than just highlight vids..

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60BdrbtEBPg[/youtube]

[LacosteM]

I watched Bender on couple of occasions so I'm checking in to try to evaluate his strenghts and weakness.

Strenghts :

- excellent court vision and passing ability; has no problem throwing outlet passes, can drop dimes in transition, find open shooters and cutters out of the post.

- versatile defender; he can switch onto much smaller wings and stay in front of them because of his great lateral quickness. Showed he can guard 3-5 on numerous occasions. This defensive versatility is a great asset in today's swich everything defense imo. Scouts will eat off of his perimiter defense.

-floor spacer ; very much improved shooter, he's posting a 44.2 3P% on 2.4 3PA per game. To put it in some context Porzingis as an 18 year old posted 33 3P% on 1.5 3PA per game. His shooting mechanics can be inconsistent at times, but he's rapidly improving in that area every year, so I believe that could be another valuable asset he could translate in nba.

- rim protection potential; eventough he looks pretty lanky, he has a good blocking instincts and he is tough and pesky defender in the post. Sure at this stage he can be bullied in the post at times, but I don't think that will be the case when he adds strength.

- rebounding; he's similar to KP at this stage, eventough Bender is posting a slightly better REB%. Very aggresive on the offensive boards and he keeps plays alive. He should be a solid rebounder, when he adds strength.

- good ball handler and a threat in transition( both as a finisher and a distributer); I could easily see him picking up that Draymond Green role, where he brings up the ball off of rebound and find open shooters in transition

- work ethic; he keeps on improving every year, always developing different skillset (most noticable improvement being his shooting)

Weaknesses:

- not a go to scorer. I think he'll be suited as the 2nd or 3rd option on offense.

- at this stage he's struggling on the defensive boards and on defending post-ups, but as I mentioned these are the problems that should be solved when he adds strength

- high foul rate, makes unneccesary fouls at times

- shies away from contact at times; because of his amazing quickness he has the ability to blow by past slower defenders, but instead of attacking the rim or trying to initiate contact, he settles for running floaters

- outside of his right hook which he makes at pretty decent rate, he doesn't really have a lot of post moves effective post moves yet

My pro comparison : Andrei Kirilenko/Toni Kukoc

[Mustinjo]

When someone compares Bender to Bargnani you know that person who said that has never ever seen him play. They have only two things in common - they are both tall and white.