2018 Pick Watch (Philly, LAL 1 or 6-30, etc)

phiphan · Post #161 » by **phiphan** » Tue Jul 4, 2017 5:34 pm

phiphan · Post #162 » by **phiphan** » Tue Jul 4, 2017 5:36 pm

Lakers are gonna be very bad this year. Ball will not move the needle.

nitocobola · Post #163 » by **nitocobola** » Tue Jul 4, 2017 5:48 pm

the lakers will be bottom eight 100%
In no particular order:

Suns, nets, bulls , lakers, orlando, Knicks( they are really bad with carmelo, but they could be worse if they move him), Atlanta, Indiana?, Kings.

HotelVitale · Post #164 » by **HotelVitale** » Wed Jul 5, 2017 2:56 pm

Sixerscan wrote:After they traded Lou the only time they won games was when they were tanking. id be more concerned if they were the east and actually playing these other tanking teams. They don't have a very good shot against most of the west team regardless of whether they want to win games. If they end up 14th or 15th in the west they will have lost lots of games by default.

nitocobola wrote:the lakers will be bottom eight 100% In no particular order: Suns, nets, bulls , lakers, orlando, Knicks( they are really bad with carmelo, but they could be worse if they move him), Atlanta, Indiana?, Kings.

I think they have as good a chance as anyone to be the worst team in the league. Sixscan is right that they were something like 2-20 after trading Lou Will and before tank season (the last couple weeks of the season), and the only thing they did was add Lopez while subtracting Russell. Lopez is talented but he'll only maybe win you more than a couple extra games--and even though Russell wasn't very good last year he was their best shot creator. Ball will be fun to watch but even setting aside bust potential, rookies very rarely improve their teams and I don't recall a rookie PG significant helping a team since CP3.

They also only have about $20m left and they need to preserve space for the year after, so it's hard to see who they could add that's make a difference. Rudy Gay on a one-year cash-in? Tyreke Evans as a rental? There's just no one that useful left.

EBrandEra · Post #165 » by **EBrandEra** » Wed Jul 5, 2017 4:19 pm

I think the Lakers will not be as bad as last year, even with the improved West. First off, Lonzo Ball over Russell is a BIG upgrade at PG. Russell was just brutal defensively and not really a great PG.

Brook Lopez upgrades their center position significantly and a front court of Ingram, Randle and Lopez could be decent, especially with Lonzo Ball running the show getting them much improved looks.

And Clarkson is a guy who could really thrive with having Ball as his running mate. He really gets up the court quickly and could be the recipient of many easy buckets in transition.

I'm not saying the Lakers will make the playoffs, but they should have an improved record from last year, where they basically went full out tank the last part of the year.

smittybanton · Post #166 » by **smittybanton** » Wed Jul 5, 2017 4:21 pm

Now that the Kings have made sensible positive moves forward, we need a little more from LA. Trading D'Angelo for Brook Lopez was nice. Drafting Thomas Bryant and Josh Hart was very good. Hope they get Rajon Rondo and Jamal Crawford to shore up the guard spots.

51X3RF4N · Post #167 » by **51X3RF4N** » Wed Jul 5, 2017 6:40 pm

Lakers are potentially signing Dion Waiters and Rajon Rondo....

Rondo/Ball
Waiters/Clarkson
Deng/Ingram
Randle/Nance
Lopez

Not half bad as a starting group. Really. I mean, that squad could push for a 5 seed in the East. Won't make noise in the West, but quite possibly a #8-#10 overall finish. Barring a random lottery win, Sixers could end up with a top 10 pick in 2018, and then the Kings who actually look decent end up making the playoffs in 2019. And boom goes the dynamite.

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XtremeDunkz · Post #168 » by **XtremeDunkz** » Wed Jul 5, 2017 6:42 pm

51X3RF4N wrote:Lakers are potentially signing Dion Waiters and Rajon Rondo....

Rondo/Ball
Waiters/Clarkson
Deng/Ingram
Randle/Nance
Lopez

Not half bad as a starting group. Really. I mean, that squad could push for a 5 seed in the East. Won't make noise in the West, but quite possibly a #8-#10 overall finish. Barring a random lottery win, Sixers could end up with a top 10 pick in 2018, and then the Kings who actually look decent end up making the playoffs in 2019. And boom goes the dynamite.

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At this point with what Sac is doing I think we have to look at a 6-8 pick from the Lakers being our best case scenario. That is what I am hoping for now.

the_process · Post #169 » by **the_process** » Thu Jul 6, 2017 4:10 am

I really want to give BOS a 20's pick next year. Makes up for me not being able to gloat about BOS missing out on yet another FA.

Still kinda mad Hayward actually went there, even though it makes total sense.

PhilasFinest · Post #170 » by **PhilasFinest** » Thu Jul 6, 2017 4:31 am

the_process wrote:I really want to give BOS a 20's pick next year. Makes up for me not being able to gloat about BOS missing out on yet another FA.

Still kinda mad Hayward actually went there, even though it makes total sense.

How is that even possible?

If the pick is in the 20's next year, its ours not Boston's.

PLO · Post #171 » by **PLO** » Thu Jul 6, 2017 4:55 am

PhilasFinest wrote:
the_process wrote:I really want to give BOS a 20's pick next year. Makes up for me not being able to gloat about BOS missing out on yet another FA.

Still kinda mad Hayward actually went there, even though it makes total sense.

How is that even possible?

If the pick is in the 20's next year, its ours not Boston's.

Perhaps he's thinking about the year after when that scenario is possible.

Re: the Lakers - they will be a very bad defensive unit, like bottom 3 in the league bad, but don't oversell the fact there are a slew of teams who will be tanking next season. That will count for a lot in the last months of the season in terms of W/L.

PhilasFinest · Post #172 » by **PhilasFinest** » Thu Jul 6, 2017 4:59 am

PLO wrote:
PhilasFinest wrote:
the_process wrote:I really want to give BOS a 20's pick next year. Makes up for me not being able to gloat about BOS missing out on yet another FA.

Still kinda mad Hayward actually went there, even though it makes total sense.

How is that even possible?

If the pick is in the 20's next year, its ours not Boston's.

Perhaps he's thinking about the year after when that scenario is possible.

Re: the Lakers - they will be a very bad defensive unit, like bottom 3 in the league bad, but don't oversell the fact there are a slew of teams who will be tanking next season. That will count for a lot in the last months of the season in terms of W/L.

That would make sense, was just thrown off with him saying next year.

Yea, LA may be bad next year....but I think people are overreacting to it a bit. Ball is going to be a decent player, if Ingram improves a bit and Lopez stays there....they will be better then this year imo. plus like you mentioned, I think there is gonna be some teams that are starting a rebuild that could be pretty awful.

PLO · Post #173 » by **PLO** » Thu Jul 6, 2017 5:19 am

PhilasFinest wrote:
PLO wrote:
PhilasFinest wrote:
How is that even possible?

If the pick is in the 20's next year, its ours not Boston's.

Perhaps he's thinking about the year after when that scenario is possible.

Re: the Lakers - they will be a very bad defensive unit, like bottom 3 in the league bad, but don't oversell the fact there are a slew of teams who will be tanking next season. That will count for a lot in the last months of the season in terms of W/L.

That would make sense, was just thrown off with him saying next year.

Yea, LA may be bad next year....but I think people are overreacting to it a bit. Ball is going to be a decent player, if Ingram improves a bit and Lopez stays there....they will be better then this year imo. plus like you mentioned, I think there is gonna be some teams that are starting a rebuild that could be pretty awful.

Ball's going to be really good for any offensive unit with even just a little bit of talent in it, but he's a really bad point of attack defender, he just can't laterally stay in front of his man. He's likely not even startable against most of the PGs in the league, for most of his debut season he's going to look like a turnstile at Wells Fargo during a home game. I can't even conceive of how bad the Lakers will be defensively with him and Lopez on the floor together. Having said that he's got good ability to read passing lanes and Luke Walton will know how to hide him as much as possible having come from that Warriors set up where a lot of the defending was funneling opponents into Bogut and Green in the paint. It was a clever setup hiding Steph Curry's flaws and I expect something equally as clever (if less effective) from Walton with Ball and Lopez.

the_process · Post #174 » by **the_process** » Thu Jul 6, 2017 2:13 pm

PhilasFinest wrote:
PLO wrote:
PhilasFinest wrote:
How is that even possible?

If the pick is in the 20's next year, its ours not Boston's.

Perhaps he's thinking about the year after when that scenario is possible.

Re: the Lakers - they will be a very bad defensive unit, like bottom 3 in the league bad, but don't oversell the fact there are a slew of teams who will be tanking next season. That will count for a lot in the last months of the season in terms of W/L.

That would make sense, was just thrown off with him saying next year.

Yea, LA may be bad next year....but I think people are overreacting to it a bit. Ball is going to be a decent player, if Ingram improves a bit and Lopez stays there....they will be better then this year imo. plus like you mentioned, I think there is gonna be some teams that are starting a rebuild that could be pretty awful.

Sorry, meant 2019. My bad. :lol:

smittybanton · Post #175 » by **smittybanton** » Fri Jul 7, 2017 2:55 pm

Vlade-dadi on point once again with the Vince Carter signing. I'm not a big fan of Justin Jackson. But if you're going to draft him, then you get his fellow UNC alum to come in and teach him the ropes. And Vince can still play. George Hill, Vince Carter, Zach Randolph. DeAaron Fox, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Harry Giles, Jackson. You don't even have to like Buddy Hield to appreciate it.

I think Rondo to LA is a no-brainer.

Kolkmania · Post #176 » by **Kolkmania** » Mon Jul 10, 2017 12:31 pm

smittybanton wrote:Vlade-dadi on point once again with the Vince Carter signing. I'm not a big fan of Justin Jackson. But if you're going to draft him, then you get his fellow UNC alum to come in and teach him the ropes. And Vince can still play. George Hill, Vince Carter, Zach Randolph. DeAaron Fox, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Harry Giles, Jackson. You don't even have to like Buddy Hield to appreciate it.

I think Rondo to LA is a no-brainer.

Vince Carter and Zach Randolph can barely move, they'll have an even more reduced role than Amir Johnson, purely vets for the young guys. The George Hill signing hurts, no idea why he would agree on a three-year meh contract with the Kangz, he's too good for that. Bogdanovic might be a pleasant surprise, but I don't see any needle moving talent on the roster.

I think it's really important to track the Kings, since I have absolutely no faith in the Lakers next year. I have no idea what they're doing at the moment, signing Rondo would be the cherry on the cake. Lonzo Ball needs at least one capable shot creator besides him (D'Lo for example :lol:

) and absolutely not a ball dominant, non shooting guard like Rajon Rondo.

If the Lakers play next season with the current roster + Rondo, I think it's almost inevitable that they'll end up with a top 5 pick.

hookshot199 · Post #177 » by **hookshot199** » Mon Jul 10, 2017 1:23 pm

Sixerscan wrote:After they traded Lou the only time they won games was when they were tanking.

id be more concerned if they were the east and actually playing these other tanking teams. They don't have a very good shot against most of the west team regardless of whether they want to win games. If they end up 14th or 15th in the west they will have lost lots of games by default.

Seemed that way. Apart from whether Ball makes them a better team this year, I think the key will be whether Lopez stays healthy and possibly makes Randall a better player.

I feel less confident about their chances of being a 6-10 team than two weeks ago.

Brooklyn has obviously improved and, if Lin is healthy, could move into the 6-10 range. Sacramento has upgraded and no longer in the bottom five. Indiana is trying to assemble some players. Clearly bottom 10, but not clearly bottom five.

So bottom two: Chicago and Atlanta.

Next four in no particular order: Indiana, Phoenix, Orlando and/or the Lakers.

The wild card will be the Knicks. If they unload Carmelo, they'll probably join Chicago and Atlanta in the bottom three, raising our chance to keep the pick.

I don't believe it was by accident that Toronto did its salary dump by trading DeMarre Carrol with Brooklyn - to help push up the 2018 Brooklyn pick.

76ciology · Post #178 » by **76ciology** » Mon Jul 10, 2017 4:33 pm

I think Lakers will be better but not good enough to not be a bottom dweller. If anything.. I think Nets will be much better. Dlo, lavert, lin, carroll, RHJ? Booker? Who cares they've got promising perimeter firepower. Just plays processball and take lots of 3s then let a defensive C anchor the D. Maybe sign Hollis?

shawn_hemp · Post #179 » by **shawn_hemp** » Mon Jul 10, 2017 5:49 pm

76ciology wrote:I think Lakers will be better but not good enough to not be a bottom dweller. If anything.. I think Nets will be much better. Dlo, lavert, lin, carroll, RHJ? Booker? Who cares they've got promising perimeter firepower. Just plays processball and take lots of 3s then let a defensive C anchor the D. Maybe sign Hollis?

*insert comment about Eastern vs Western Conference disparity here*

is it too cliche to be a Nets fan now? I think everyone just wants to see them overcome this whole era of their franchise at this point. It's sort of how I feel about the Kings too.

snoopdogg88 · Post #180 » by **snoopdogg88** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 11:24 pm

you guys are on another level.
i'm on realgm everyday and literally haven't opened this thread until right now.

i'm so burned out after 4 years of obsessing over draft picks and lottery picks, i'm officially over it. can't pay any attention to the 2018 Draft. Embiid/Simmons/Saric/Fultz is the core. this is what we have and this is what we're rolling with.