2016 Draft Thread Part 3 - Poll Update

[rsavaj]

......his moves to the basket doesn't seem strong. he doesn't have the girth to be able to defend stronger power forwards. his shot form seems awkward and cumbersome. these defenders don't seem to have a clue.

I don't' want to be that guy, but... he is 18! He won't even be 19 until after the season starts. It's basically like taking a high school player. He's the youngest player in the draft. Set your expectations accordingly.

i can do that, but Ellenson and Chriss have more offensively. both, i'm pretty sure, are 18 or 19. Ellenson already has a repertoire within 15 feet, and Chriss can take it over the top like nobody's business. Bender has......close to nothing on the offensive end that i've seen. Porzingis, by comparison, could put the ball in the basket. it was evident to me in videos, and now it's evident to everyone.

just because Bender seems like the next Porzingis because they're both from one of the other 6 continents, does not mean he is the next Porzingis.

Porzingis is a pretty terrible comp for him.

Draymond-lite/Kukoc seems like a much better comparison.

[carey]

i really liked Anthony Randolph. i thought he was going to be special.

Likewise. It was a bit of a sad situation with him. Just as he was about to come out of his shell, he was traded and never found sure footing and consistent minutes anywhere else. The guy was so talented, could do almost everything but nobody seemed to want to give him the developmental minutes he needed. There's questions about his work ethic but I never read that deeply into the reason why he couldn't find a role in the NBA.

I believe he was a starting PF for one of the Euroleague final 4 teams and had a pretty decent season over there.

[carey]

just because Bender seems like the next Porzingis because they're both from one of the other 6 continents, does not mean he is the next Porzingis.

No one is calling him that. Seriously, did you watch the SI video? He models his game after Toni Kukoc. He wants to be a part of a pass heavy free-flowing offense. He's not trying to be Porzingis and no one that knows anything about basketball has compared them to each other aside from being white, tall, and European.

[8on]

I don't' want to be that guy, but... he is 18! He won't even be 19 until after the season starts. It's basically like taking a high school player. He's the youngest player in the draft. Set your expectations accordingly.

i can do that, but Ellenson and Chriss have more offensively. both, i'm pretty sure, are 18 or 19. Ellenson already has a repertoire within 15 feet, and Chriss can take it over the top like nobody's business. Bender has......close to nothing on the offensive end that i've seen. Porzingis, by comparison, could put the ball in the basket. it was evident to me in videos, and now it's evident to everyone.

just because Bender seems like the next Porzingis because they're both from one of the other 6 continents, does not mean he is the next Porzingis.

Porzingis is a pretty terrible comp for him.

Draymond-lite/Kukoc seems like a much better comparison.

i agree. i thought it was in the back of people's minds. i was thinking Lamar Odom myself, but Kukoc makes sense. (or Vlade. lol)

[JMac1]

I'd only be ok trading the pick if we landed a legit, quality NBA starter/hopefully star who was the 'right' age for our core and didn't stunt the growth of Booker.

Although I love Millsap I don't think he's enough to put us firmly in the legitimate top 4 teams in the West so there's no point in including him. Ditto for Melo - though I don't overly like him as a player or as a leader.

Jimmy Butler - ideal starting SF for us and I love the Bledsoe/Butler/Tucker defensive potential to close out games.

Derrick Favors - love his post defence and his offensive game is improving too. Ideally you'd have a PF with more range next to Len but I could see a Mirza/Favors combo doing well.

Jahlil Okafor - only if Bender wasn't there. I was initially an Okafor naysayer but he would actually be an ideal fit next to Len and be the perfect floor-spreader on the block for Booker. Not to mention he's a decent rebounder and shot-blocker and he's got 20-10-1.5 upside. I'd try and expand it and include Knight and PHI include Covington - love his contract, 3pt shooting and ability to play 2-3-4.

Paul George - pipe dream, he's not going anywhere, but I'd include Knight and Warren to get him along with #4.

Aaron Gordon - this is an interesting one but I can't see ORL giving him up so soon. But he's only 20 and I would give #4 up for him without hesitation.

Nikola Jokic - he might be able to play PF next to Len and if you haven't seen him play watch him, he's a handful in the post and is such a smart player. Doubt DEN move him as he's only 20.

Serge Ibaka - I'm on the fence with him. I don't like his declining stats but he'd be a perfect fit at the PF spot.

Why? he hasn't done anything in two years. Don't trade for someone else's failure, give a fresh 18-19 year old a chance. Gordon can't shoot. I'd rather have Brown.

[NikolaPekovic]

Sooooooo...


Are you guys taking Bender?

[JMac1]

Sooooooo...


Are you guys taking Bender?

Damn straight!

Unless Boston drafts him, then we will trade for Okafor

[JMac1]

^^^^
Okafor is better than Chriss IMO. Make him fit, he is a PF.

[bwgood77]

Sooooooo...


Are you guys taking Bender?

We never know what our FO is going to do. Who knows? If he is available and we pass him up I think a lot of people won't be happy, but some will.

But he could bust just like anyone else, so hopefully whoever we take pans out.

[JMac1]

Sooooooo...


Are you guys taking Bender?

We never know what our FO is going to do. Who knows? If he is available and we pass him up I think a lot of people won't be happy, but some will.

But he could bust just like anyone else, so hopefully whoever we take pans out.

Don't be a jack BW. He knows we can't pick him, he wants to know as a board would he be our pick

[carey]

Don't be a jack BW. He knows we can't pick him, he wants to know as a board would he be our pick

If that's what he wanted to know he could have read the damn poll.

[Frank Lee]

I'd take the Big Bender on the hopes he could play some SF. Shades of Larry Nance come to mind. If Len could declumsy-fy and run some at PF... we could have the Tri-towers.

Of all the dudes available, he is the logical selection. Unless McMully has a few deals up his sleeve, we just don't need anymore GD guards. That said, I'm betting there is something up his sleeve

[letsgosuns]

My best guess is Suns will pick either Bender or Chriss. Having said that, I was sure the Suns would pick between Noel and McLemore in 2013 and they picked Len. I do not remember who the Suns were rumored to to take in 2014 but I do not believe it was Warren and they took him. In 2015, I had no idea who they would pick and they took Booker. That is how McDonough works. Every move he makes comes out of nowhere and I expect no less come draft night.

[bwgood77]

Sooooooo...


Are you guys taking Bender?

We never know what our FO is going to do. Who knows? If he is available and we pass him up I think a lot of people won't be happy, but some will.

But he could bust just like anyone else, so hopefully whoever we take pans out.

Don't be a jack BW. He knows we can't pick him, he wants to know as a board would he be our pick

I would guess he more wants to know what we think our FO office will do, though I could be wrong. I wasn't trying to be a "jack".

[bwgood77]

My best guess is Suns will pick either Bender or Chriss. Having said that, I was sure the Suns would pick between Noel and McLemore in 2013 and they picked Len. I do not remember who the Suns were rumored to to take in 2014 but I do not believe it was Warren and they took him. In 2015, I had no idea who they would pick and they took Booker. That is how McDonough works. Every move he makes comes out of nowhere and I expect no less come draft night.

To be fair, it's much tougher to project the further down you pick in the draft, and no one thought Len would slide that far (at least pre draft). Most of us were already set on either McLemore or Noel that we were vested in wanting them.

You'd think it's easier to predict. I'd be pretty surprised if he took a guard in front of Bender...not entirely surprised if it was Murray, but really surprised if it was Hield or Dunn. If Bender is gone, I think it's likely a toss up between Chriss and Murray, though it wouldn't surprise me if he took someone like Ellenson either, and at that point I wouldn't be too disappointed. I think it's high to take him, but you could argue it's high to take Chriss there and he has much more bust potential, and as for Murray, another combo guard that can't play defense may not be his preference despite him seemingly being enamored with Kentucky guards.

[JMac1]

We never know what our FO is going to do. Who knows? If he is available and we pass him up I think a lot of people won't be happy, but some will.

But he could bust just like anyone else, so hopefully whoever we take pans out.

Don't be a jack BW. He knows we can't pick him, he wants to know as a board would he be our pick

I would guess he more wants to know what we think our FO office will do, though I could be wrong. I wasn't trying to be a "jack".

Yea, that makes more sense. My bad.

[carey]

I do not remember who the Suns were rumored to to take in 2014 but I do not believe it was Warren and they took him. In 2015, I had no idea who they would pick and they took Booker. That is how McDonough works. Every move he makes comes out of nowhere and I expect no less come draft night.

Both Warren and Booker were mocked to us by nearly every publication leading up to the '14 and '15 drafts. It's part of the reason people say that McDonough isn't really that good of a drafter because he just selected the player mock drafts suggested.

[ATTL]

I'd take Dragan bender so we can make dragon and futurama references every game.

[carey]

To be fair, it's much tougher to project the further down you pick in the draft, and no one thought Len would slide that far (at least pre draft). Most of us were already set on either McLemore or Noel that we were vested in wanting them.

This is true too. Len was briefly talked about as a possible #1 pick and most thought he would for sure be gone by the 3rd pick. Remember this is the Anthony Bennet draft. No one thought he was going #1 or that Porter would go #3. McLemore fell to #7 and everyone thought he was a sure fire top 5 pick.

[bwgood77]

I'd take Dragan bender so we can make dragon and futurama references every game.

It is a little funny we either take a guy who could take a guy nick named Dragon or a guy with the first name of Marquese (as opposed to Markieff).