2016 NBA DRAFT NIGHT THREAD

[8on]

Until two weeks ago, I was convinced Ulis was going to Utah. As far as I'm concerned, we got three top 15 prospects in this draft.

I think Ulis compares as a less athletic Isaiah Thomas. 192 FTA's on 442 FGA's is actually higher than any FTA/FGA rate Thomas has ever posted, and he made 85% of those. Not sure what contributed to this, but he posted an offensive rating of 135, which is the highest I've ever seen. He's trigger happy. Conley knows he's not a scorer; Ulis might be, or he doesn't know he's not an NBA scorer, which is still fine. I like aggressive shooters. Every team needs at least one.

[Years90Suns]

[quote="dantley4prez"]I have to tell you guys a story.

Has anyone seen "Once Brothers," the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary?

Vlade Divac is the narrator. He recalls that in 1990, the Yugoslavian national team was really, really good. They had Drazen Petrovic and Toni Kukoc, and at the FIBA cup they beat the United States and won gold.

A couple years later, right before Divac and Petrovic get drafted by LA and Portland respectively, Croatia declares its independence. Divac is Serbian and Petrovic is Croatian, so there’s tension. At one of the medal ceremonies, Divac makes a unity gesture of some kind. Petrovic is really, really pissed off at Divac for this. Divac wants the nation states to stay together as Yugoslavia, but this is really offensive to Petrovic.

They both go to the NBA within a year or two of each other, or maybe the same year. Divac is starting in LA while Petrovic is sitting behind Clyde Drexler and Terry Porter in Portland. Divac tries to bond with Petrovic whenever they are playing each other, but Petrovic wants nothing to do with Divac.

As we all know, Petrovic dies a couple years later in a car accident. He was a really special player, and he could’ve been one of the all-time greats.

So what does this have to do with the Suns?

Well, Dragan Bender is Croatian. Drazen Petrovic is Croatian. Toni Kukoc is Croatian, but Vlade Divac and Bogdan Bogdanovic are Serbian. I know, right?

Dragan Bender says his hero is Toni Kukoc, who is Croatian. Last night Vlade Divac really wanted Bogdan Bogdanovic. There has been no mention of Divac being interested in Bender. Now I’m starting to wonder whether it had anything to do with Bender’s heritage. I am pretty sure this is one reason why Divac wanted Bogdanovic, though. Maybe Bogdan reminds Vlade of Drazen stylistically? I also wonder why Bender doesn’t compare himself to Divac, who is closer in size, and even style of play, than Kukoc. (edit: thought Kukoc was smaller. oops.)

Wow……that is deep, for real.

IN ADDITION….Mirza Teletovic is Bosnian. According to someone on Yahoo! Answers, Bosnians and Croatians are cool with each other. I have no idea if that’s accurate, but what if it plays into Mirza’s free agency? Probably not, I would think….maybe. Maybe it gets him signed. Maybe Mirza and Bender will be good friends.

Crazy.[/quote

The story is true and historically it makes sense, based on all the differences they had. We have to remember that Yugoslavia was not a true nation, but a unified state politicaly and artificialy asembled after WWII.
Petrovic used to make fun about Divac and other serbjan players.

Of course GMs tend to prefer players they believe they know because they have a same origin. But whay I see is that Divac did not have a chance to get Bender, he being from no matter what country...

[TeamTragic]

Until two weeks ago, I was convinced Ulis was going to Utah. As far as I'm concerned, we got three top 15 prospects in this draft.

I think Ulis compares as a less athletic Isaiah Thomas. 192 FTA's on 442 FGA's is actually higher than any FTA/FGA rate Thomas has ever posted, and he made 85% of those. Not sure what contributed to this, but he posted an offensive rating of 135, which is the highest I've ever seen. He's trigger happy. Conley knows he's not a scorer; Ulis might be, or he doesn't know he's not an NBA scorer, which is still fine. I like aggressive shooters. Every team needs at least one.

I still think he will be a good backup on a great contract. I guess I will have to watch the Summer League closely

[Years90Suns]

I really believe we ended up selecting two great potential players and a player that can be a good bench PG who increases our game rythm and provides some scoring.

The only concern with Chriss and Bender, but that being an enormous one, is that theoretically they are both PFs and is obvious at this moment that both separately would play PF in any team. Then finding playing time for both will already be a task for Watson, especially if we resign Teletovic.
After that, we will need to find a different position for one of them.
So, if Bender is trained to play C and some PF and some SF (which I doubt is possible), and Chriss is trained to play PF, obviously Bender will be discriminated, as he will be forced to play and give an orientation to his career into a position where he could not give his maximum level.
I very much doubt that they can coexist unless Watson and the training staff and obviously McD have a clear idea of giving Bender the final orientation of playing C all his career with us, which could be fine with us, but which I doubt the player like.

So, I believe we as fans and the Suns as an organization can be happy with the acquisitions, but I guess the players are not that happy.
This reminds me of when Washington selected Webber and Howard. Firstly the played together as PF and SF, later as a PF and a C. A complete mess. None of them excelled until they were traded.

Probably Bender can be a great C in today's game, and probably Chriss can be a great PF who can make up for Bender's lack of intimidation. Or as a great help defender. And let's hope they can form a great trio of PF-C together with Len all playing interchangeable positions.

As per Uliss, it seems difficult for such a short player to maximize strenghts and diminish weaknesses in today's game. It will be difficult to cover his defficiencies on defense, but with the direction the league is taking, may be rare players will have a chance, as nobody will have an antidote for them.

I really believe we have a great roster now. A roster that needs to develope. Of course I would try to get another SF, and I would offer Parsons the maximum to come here. But I would not add any other player to this roster and I would offer a lot of playing time to Chriss, Booker, Goodwin, Len, Bender, Warren and Ulis. We have a gem in Chandler being a veteran that offers leadership and tips. We need to keep him although he plays not much.

[TeamTragic]

I really believe we end up selecting two great potential players and a player that can be a good bench PG who increases our game rythm and provides some scoring.

The only concern with Chriss and Bender, but that being an enormous one, is that theoretically they are both PFs and is obvious at this moment that both separately would play PF in any team. Then finding playing time for both will already be a task for Watson, especially if we resign Teletovic.
After that, we will need to find a different position for one of them.
So, if Bender is trained to play C and some PF and some SF (which I doubt is possible), and Chriss is trained to play PF, obviously Bender will be descriminated, as he will be forced to play and give an orientation to his career into a position where he could not give his maximum level.
I very much doubt that they can coexist unless Watson and the training staff and obviously McD have a clear idea of giving Bender the final orientation of playing C all his career with us, which could be fine with us, but which I doubt the player like.

So, I believe we as fans and the Suns as an organization can be happy with the acquisitions, but I guess the players are not that happy.
This reminds me of when Washington selected Webber and Howard. Firstly the played together as PF and SF, later as a PF and a C. A complete mess. None of them excelled until they were traded.

Probably Bender can be a great C in today's game, and probably Chriss can be a great PF who can make up for Bender's lack of intimidation. Or as a great help defender. And let's hope they can form a great trio of PF-C together with Len all playing interchangeable positions.

As per Uliss, it seems difficult for such a short player to maximize strenghts and diminish weaknesses in today's game. It will be difficult to cover his defficiencies on defense, but with the direction the league is taking, may be rare players will have a chance, as nobody will have an antidote for them.

I really believe we have a great roster now. A roster that needs to develope. Of course I would try to get another SF, and I would offer Parsons the maximum to come here. But I would not add any other player to this roster and I would offer a lot of playing time to Chriss, Booker, Goodwin, Len, Bender, Warren and Ulis. We have a gem in Chandler being a veteran that offers leadership and tips. We need to keep him although he plays not much.

We didn't offer Amare max therefore Parsons will not get one either. Too much risk that he ends up injured and our cap space disappears. Pass.