Snapbacks and Handshakes: The 2017 Draft (Raps pick #23)

[Morse Code]

Damyean Dotson looks like a fantastic fit for the new NBA. Thanks for the heads up, Dalek.

[ill-Will03]

Josh Hart is gonna be a steal book it. Proven winner and hard nose defender. Whoever is lucky enough to grab him will be happy for years to come

[OAKLEY_2]

Might have to be Joseph + 23 for 12, and we only do it if we're in love with someone at 12 anyway. Cory's still a highly useful player for us so it's not like we're giving up nothing. He's also one of the only players on the team who could possibly fetch a 1st. Hate to lose him for nothing the following year

Except how the hel does Joseph move their dial? Try Tobias, Leuer and 12 for Demar, Bebe and the Weltman pick.

I'd pick OG and Ferguson. I'd sign Ibaka and cut KL loose. Absorb a Boston point guard. Move JV.

CULTURE CHANGE.

Centre: Ibaka/Poetl
PF: Siakim/Leuer/Bruno
SF: Tobias/OG
SG: Norm/Delon/Ferguson
PG: Rozier/Joseph/Freddy

Yikes!!!

For starters, that team doesn't make sense. Also, good luck re-signing Ibaka after dumping your two stars - they're the main reason he'd consider signing with us in the first place.

I'm not sure Joseph moves their team ceiling much, but Pistons are under the gun to make the playoffs and SVG is notoriously a little impatient. I think Joseph is perhaps viewed in a better light around the league than this forum. And again, Detroit just finished a season where they got very little out of their PG rotation. At worst, hes a considerable upgrade over Ish Smith, and if they viewed Joseph as a long-term answer they'd have his bird rights.

Well you are always going to over or under sell a Joseph or even a Derozan on a fan board but retaining Ibaka is not an absolute must and neither is a full blow-up of the roster. Ibaka is not the player he was in OKC and if you keep him it is because you want to solidify the positions he plays and protect that asset. If he doesn't want a superior bird rights deal so be it. If he is only here because of KL and /or Demar then good fn riddance. Obviously the whole bird rights situation with our free agents means they are the far easier option to re-sign but in what way is KL at max a sane course of action for more than one maybe two years? I would say one or the other of KL and Ibaka should get paid by us and could be ticketed to a contender later. KL's deal though may become a treasure chest of coin headed for the bottom of the ocean if we find we cannot move his contract later. It almost feels like we are at that juncture right now anyway. Blowing everything up on the other hand is akin to folding the lone foreign franchise.

The only we change the "culture" is to change up "our guys" and force the staff to use the whole roster.

[OAKLEY_2]

Josh Hart is gonna be a steal book it. Proven winner and hard nose defender. Whoever is lucky enough to grab him will be happy for years to come

There must be 20 various favs people have on this board well outside the first round for our pick at 23. Realistic? We need to trade up or out. The only player out of the first round in mocks that I could see being that guy is Bell. Otherwise it feels like a trip to the track.

[CPT]

Finally caught up on this thread (at least I was when I started writing this post).

I'm still at the point where I want to know more about pretty much everyone, and haven't even watched all the DX vids on everyone yet, but the guys I'm most interested in who might/should be around at 23:

Swanigan
Semi
Adebayo
Hartenstein

A few more who I think are interesting:
Kurucs
Jeanne
Ferguson (is it bad that I was more interested when I thought he was Australian? It's bad, right?)
Giles
Leaf (I think he's getting the unathletic white guy treatment, and I'm not sure if it's accurate)
Bolden
Bell

Not so high on:
Lydon
Wilson

On a side note:
Anyone else find something strange about Peter Jok's shot? I don't know if it's a slow gather or low release or what, but I thought it looked weird in the video I saw. It actually looked more fluid in the game clips I saw though, so maybe it doesn't mean anything.

Look forward to the continued discussion here.

[slothrop8]

Might have to be Joseph + 23 for 12, and we only do it if we're in love with someone at 12 anyway. Cory's still a highly useful player for us so it's not like we're giving up nothing. He's also one of the only players on the team who could possibly fetch a 1st. Hate to lose him for nothing the following year

Except how the hel does Joseph move their dial? Try Tobias, Leuer and 12 for Demar, Bebe and the Weltman pick.

I'd pick OG and Ferguson. I'd sign Ibaka and cut KL loose. Absorb a Boston point guard. Move JV.

CULTURE CHANGE.

Centre: Ibaka/Poetl
PF: Siakim/Leuer/Bruno
SF: Tobias/OG
SG: Norm/Delon/Ferguson
PG: Rozier/Joseph/Freddy

Yikes!!!

For starters, that team doesn't make sense. Also, good luck re-signing Ibaka after dumping your two stars - they're the main reason he'd consider signing with us in the first place.

I'm not sure Joseph moves their team ceiling much, but Pistons are under the gun to make the playoffs and SVG is notoriously a little impatient. I think Joseph is perhaps viewed in a better light around the league than this forum. And again, Detroit just finished a season where they got very little out of their PG rotation. At worst, hes a considerable upgrade over Ish Smith, and if they viewed Joseph as a long-term answer they'd have his bird rights.

Again, respectfully - nobody views Cory Joseph as their long term answer at starting Point Guard. He's a very nice back up - but a Point Guard that can neither shoot nor create for others isn't that interesting to teams. 51.8% TS and 4.8 assists/36 is disastrous production from your starting point - nobody wants that. He's a stopgap starter when your main guy gets hurt or starter for a bottom feeder - but anyone with aspirations of being good needs much better. His bird rights are inconsequential as you can get 95% of what CoJo gives you for the MLE or the vet min if you choose wisely anytime you want. I love Joseph - Team Canada basketball and all that, and he was huge in the win over Indy last year and I'll always remember that - but he's pretty limited. I never say never with Masai because if he can get firsts for Vasquez and Bargnani there may be no theoretical limit to his powers - but I would be astonished if CoJo and 23 can move Detroit off 12.

[HeadtopChunes]

I still think we can get OKCs pick with Cojo. Whether or not it's worth it is one thing

[tecumseh18]

but I would be astonished if CoJo and 23 can move Detroit off 12.

Is Corey even better than Ish Smith? Defensively, yes. Corey's a few inches taller and can be a stopper when he feels like it. Smith (PER of 14.8) is better offensively than Corey (13.2). Why would the Pistons give up 12 for that?

[CoachJReturns]

but I would be astonished if CoJo and 23 can move Detroit off 12.

Is Corey even better than Ish Smith? Defensively, yes. Corey's a few inches taller and can be a stopper when he feels like it. Smith (PER of 14.8) is better offensively than Corey (13.2). Why would the Pistons give up 12 for that?

But if the rumors of the Pistons being interested in a veteran from the Raptors or Rockets is true, then who else could they want from us? Lowry and DeMar aren't going anywhere. They have no use for JV that I can see.
So while it seems like an overpay for Cojo, he's the only guy under contract that I can see them trading the pick for, unless they want Norm. But I wouldn't necessarily call him a veteran.
Perhaps it's just a baseless rumor then?

[slothrop8]

but I would be astonished if CoJo and 23 can move Detroit off 12.

Is Corey even better than Ish Smith? Defensively, yes. Corey's a few inches taller and can be a stopper when he feels like it. Smith (PER of 14.8) is better offensively than Corey (13.2). Why would the Pistons give up 12 for that?

But if the rumors of the Pistons being interested in a veteran from the Raptors or Rockets is true, then who else could they want from us? Lowry and DeMar aren't going anywhere. They have no use for JV that I can see.
So while it seems like an overpay for Cojo, he's the only guy under contract that I can see them trading the pick for, unless they want Norm. But I wouldn't necessarily call him a veteran.
Perhaps it's just a baseless rumor then?

I should choose my language more carefully probably - because the crazy things NBA teams do is a bottomless well of absurdity. If I was Detroit - I definitely wouldn't give up 12 for CoJo - but what an NBA team will actually do is another matter I suppose. I wouldn't have given lucrative long term deals to such non-entities as Mozgov, Deng, and Noah last offseason - yet billion dollar franchises gleefully did just that. I said never say never with what Masai can pull off, but also never underestimate the occasional temporary insanity of NBA teams are words to live by as well.

[CoachJReturns]

Is Corey even better than Ish Smith? Defensively, yes. Corey's a few inches taller and can be a stopper when he feels like it. Smith (PER of 14.8) is better offensively than Corey (13.2). Why would the Pistons give up 12 for that?

But if the rumors of the Pistons being interested in a veteran from the Raptors or Rockets is true, then who else could they want from us? Lowry and DeMar aren't going anywhere. They have no use for JV that I can see.
So while it seems like an overpay for Cojo, he's the only guy under contract that I can see them trading the pick for, unless they want Norm. But I wouldn't necessarily call him a veteran.
Perhaps it's just a baseless rumor then?

I should choose my language more carefully probably - because the crazy things NBA teams do is a bottomless well of absurdity. If I was Detroit - I definitely wouldn't give up 12 for CoJo - but what an NBA team will actually do is another matter I suppose. I wouldn't have given lucrative long term deals to such non-entities as Mozgov, Deng, and Noah last offseason - yet billion dollar franchises gleefully did just that. I said never say never with what Masai can pull off, but also never underestimate the occasional temporary insanity of NBA teams are words to live by as well.

Your words were fine. I'm just saying if the rumors of them being interested in one of our players are true, then Cojo might be a part of a deal because we don't have many veterans under contract. Cojo + 23 for 12 isn't terribly one sided if they don't want anyone that's available with that pick. Actually, if the best player still available is OG, Jackson or Collins then they really have no use for that pick at all since they already have Stanley Johnson who they haven't developed at all as well as Drummond and Harris in the frontcourt who are both still fairly young. I think this is just a case of a team not needing another pick unless it's a star, which they're unlikely to find in that range.

[slothrop8]

But if the rumors of the Pistons being interested in a veteran from the Raptors or Rockets is true, then who else could they want from us? Lowry and DeMar aren't going anywhere. They have no use for JV that I can see.
So while it seems like an overpay for Cojo, he's the only guy under contract that I can see them trading the pick for, unless they want Norm. But I wouldn't necessarily call him a veteran.
Perhaps it's just a baseless rumor then?

I should choose my language more carefully probably - because the crazy things NBA teams do is a bottomless well of absurdity. If I was Detroit - I definitely wouldn't give up 12 for CoJo - but what an NBA team will actually do is another matter I suppose. I wouldn't have given lucrative long term deals to such non-entities as Mozgov, Deng, and Noah last offseason - yet billion dollar franchises gleefully did just that. I said never say never with what Masai can pull off, but also never underestimate the occasional temporary insanity of NBA teams are words to live by as well.

Your words were fine. I'm just saying if the rumors of them being interested in one of our players are true, then Cojo might be a part of a deal because we don't have many veterans under contract. Cojo + 23 for 12 isn't terribly one sided if they don't want anyone that's available with that pick. Actually, if the best player still available is OG, Jackson or Collins then they really have no use for that pick at all since they already have Stanley Johnson who they haven't developed at all as well as Drummond and Harris in the frontcourt who are both still fairly young. I think this is just a case of a team not needing another pick unless it's a star, which they're unlikely to find in that range.

That may well be the case - but it would be highly shortsighted of Detroit. They have no superstar and nobody that looks like they could be a superstar. A Cojo equivalent is likely available to them for essentially nothing if they have a burning desire to have a somewhat competent stopgap PG for whatever reason. Taking BPA at 12 and figuring it out would make way more sense then dropping from 12 to 23 for the right to have a marginal starting PG on a team going nowhere. But who knows? And I guess this isn't Detroit's draft thread and I'm probably derailing now - so I'll move along...

[Potential]

Who are the players in our range?
Who should we draft?

[Lord_Zedd]

Who are the players in our range?
Who should we draft?

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[Jermaine OBosh]

I want Raptors to draft Bolden as my birthday present.

[GRidge]

Watch on YouTube

The point guard at 00:52 looks like every YMCA pick up ball Hof I hated playing against haha

Jonah Bolden look at like he could be a great fit

[PhilBlackson]

Damnit Bolden is creating too much of a buzz!!

[HeadtopChunes]

Damnit Bolden is creating too much of a buzz!!

The ringer has him​ going 24th now.

[PhilBlackson]

This kid just keeps looking leaner and leaner...the Sully comparison is as lazy as he is.

Watch on YouTube

Jared has NEVER looked that lean and really at this point Caleb looks no different than the vast majority of NBA bigs.

[Psubs]

This kid just keeps looking leaner and leaner...the Sully comparison is as lazy as he is.

Watch on YouTube

Jared has NEVER looked that lean and really at this point Caleb looks no different than the vast majority of NBA bigs.

Elton Brand is a good comp.