NBA Draft 2018 6.0: Lucky #7 and 22.

[RememberLu]

Closer we get to the draft the less I want Porter. Do not want. Stay away.

[mschmidt64]

No way Beasley was consensus number 1.

He wasn't at draft time, but he was the entire season beforehand. Selecting Rose wasn't a slam dunk, is the point. The Bulls had to make a legit choice based on some projection and they made the right choice.

[JimmyJammer]

Hmm I remember when Lauri Markkanen was tearing it up at Eurobasket.
19.5 ppg on 54% overall FG, 47.8% from 3, 89.7% FT.

Everyone said "it's just Euro, it doesn't mean he'll be a star in the League."

Doncic performed well, but overall less impressively than Lauri,
14.3 ppg on 40.6% FG, 31.1% 3P, 84.8% FT.

I think there's plenty to poke holes at for Doncic as a top 2 pick. Including a less than average points per possession in isolation for an on-ball creator.

But can't see him dropping past 4...I think Memphis is crazy if they pass on him there.

I am as excited as you about what Lauri can become, but let's just agree that he is not a star, at least not yet. If comes back next year and build on what he did this season, we can then start forecasting his stardom potential.

[BigUps]

Givony's latest mock has us taking Wendell Carter despite MPJ being available. WCJ is who I expect us to take, but not who I want us to take. You can't deny that he's pretty much cut from a GarPax mold.

[Benedict Miller]

Carter disappearing in some of the big games was a head scratcher for me. Shot 3-9 When he played against a front court with length against Kansas, but he only had 2 rebounds. Duke was outrebounded that night by 21. 3-9 shooting, fine....but 2 rebounds? Bamba had 15 rebounds, 8 blocks and 22 points against that same Kansas team.

Carter was in foul trouble all game and never got into any sort of rhythm. Not really a head scratcher. That's why they got killed on the boards and couldn't get key stops.

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I believe he could have a confidence issue, and puts too much pressure on himself.

[NecessaryEvil]

Givony's latest mock has us taking Wendell Carter despite MPJ being available. WCJ is who I expect us to take, but not who I want us to take. You can't deny that he's pretty much cut from a GarPax mold.

if WCJ and MPJ are both on the boards, and MPJ has a clean bill of health via Bulls doc's...he's a Bull, simple as that.

[BahamaBull]

I am terrified at the idea of drafting Michael Porter Jr. He has more red flags than a Chinese embassy.

me too. Its not just the red flags (injuries/drama queen reports) but I dont think a bunch of highlights with him being guarded by 16 years old midgets relevant at all.

The small sample I saw of MPJ playing against high level talent he looked at least awkward and definitely not lottery talent. But thats just me...I think Im the silly one here as many knowledgeable Bulls fan want him at 7th.

I would prefer a guy like Carter Jr who has a high floor and high ceiling. Him and Lauri are going to complement each other perfectly moving forward. And he is still very young at 19.

Heres a list of players in our draft range I would pick before MPJ at #7:

Wendell Carter Jr
Miles Bridges
Mikal Bridges
Kevin Knox
Trae Young
Mohammed Bamba
Maybe Lonnie Walker (need to watch more of him)

[Red Larrivee]

I believe he could have a confidence issue, and puts too much pressure on himself.

Maybe? But that would seem like a stretch based off an isolated game of foul trouble where he still had the highest defensive rating on his team. If he lacks confidence, then it's pretty interesting that he had as much impact as he did while being the most consistent player on the team.


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[fleet]

I couldn't agree more. Too bad it's all we have of Porter other than two games of college from a couple of months ago where he looked undraftable and blamed it on back pain. That was 5 months after his surgery. Wow. just another reason to love the kid.

It was a given he was going to tank his draft stock. He shouldn't have been playing. Totally out of shape, and too soon. He knew that and played anyway. It's a credit to his character to put team ahead of his NBA career. There are other things to critique him with that are fair game.

Not so sure he put his team ahead of his career.
https://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/jeff-gordon/tipsheet-nba-scouts-saw-good-and-bad-in-michael-porter/article_d975c297-ef6b-527c-b0fa-31bf359058fc.html

There was criticism of him disrupting the Mizzou offense and with a 36% usage rate and 1 assist total in all his college minutes I can see where that comes from. Not flattering at all.
LaVine comes to mind with that kind of stats and not in a good way.

If we take him I hope he succeeds, I don't see it with him though.

Again, no one has claimed he played well. He literally couldn't play to his potential at that moment. He came back because he thought he could give them something. Which he knew in doing so would make his draft stock tank. That's character. That's my point.

[Truebiscuit]

But Porter just canceled workouts with back spasms that kept him in bed. Isn’t that bad?

“It sounds normal,“ Fischer says. “It seems like he had some leg muscle weakness from the disc herniation and has had to work on building strength back.“

Whichever team drafts Porter will have to stay patient.

What are his chances for re-injury?

This is the dangerous part in drafting Porter. He will heal from back surgery, and history says he should bounce back to full strength in two years, but he’s at risk for the same injury.

"The area where the jelly has come through the doughnut ... that heals over, but not with the same material you were born with,” Fischer explains. ”It fills in with fibrous tissue and scar tissue and it’s similar but not exactly the same. So that area is an area of weakness.

“There’s re-herniation rates of 10-to-12 percent over the next 5-to-10 years. I tell patients that all the time because I want them to know that if the symptoms come back we can start from square one ... Elite athletes need to get back to playing sports. If he had that again, he’d elect to do another surgery.”

Would a second surgery spell doom for Porter’s career?

Nope. It would not.

“It doesn’t affect his return to play,” Fischer says. ”It doesn’t affect his physical therapy, it doesn’t affect his chance of neurologic problems like weakness or numbness or tingling. Some patients say it hurts a little more because we’re going through scar tissue and that’s about it.“

https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2018/6/15/17362958/michael-porter-jr-nba-draft-stock-pick-back-injury-surgery

[RememberLu]

Givony's latest mock has us taking Wendell Carter despite MPJ being available. WCJ is who I expect us to take, but not who I want us to take. You can't deny that he's pretty much cut from a GarPax mold.

if WCJ and MPJ are both on the boards, and MPJ has a clean bill of health via Bulls doc's...he's a Bull, simple as that.

Unfortunately, I dont believe there is such a thing as a clean bill of health with this guy. Hes damaged goods for the rest of his career imo.

[TheSuzerain]

I feel like just as a general rule, we should avoid drafting prospects with medical issues analogous to a jelly donut.

[NecessaryEvil]

I have no problem avoiding draft prospects with medical issues. But if JP is willing to draft him, things probably aren't as bad as the fans are making them out to be. Again, the Bulls know better than anybody else yet they are still 'hoping he falls to them.

Tells me all I really need to know

[The Force.]

I'll be so disappointed if they take Carter. Plenty of good wings will be available at 7 and we desperately need one. You don't draft a 5 in the high lottery unless he's a potential game changer (Bamba, Bagley). Carter, at best, puts up 16-9 and defends the paint well but he's too slow footed to guard the perimeter and switch on quicker wings. The last thing we need are two bigs who have trouble switching in Lauri and WCJ. The better teams will abuse that lineup and I could see Carter being benched late in games.

I would take either of the Bridges over WCJ and not think twice about it. And I'd definitely take Trae Young or MPJ over him. I really hope he's not our pick.

[NewEra21]

Why do people think MPJ is wing? Genuinely curious. Other than him being athletic and being able to hoist up 3 pointers, what part of his game tells you he is a wing in the NBA?

[bad knees]

I saw that Woj and others have observed that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has not done any workouts after the combine, leading to speculation that he has a promise. He apparently said something at the combine about liking to wind up in LA, so people are thinking that the promise is from the Clips, who have 12 and 13 in the draft. This is around where SGA is projected to go.

WT now has a story saying that the Clips are putting together an offer for Kawhi based on Tobias Harris and 12 or 13, but not both. The fact that the Clips seem to have set aside one of their picks for some other purpose provides further support for the SGA promise theory.

This is relevant to us because some of us have considered trading 7 for 12 and 13 as one of our options. Also, Sam Smith speculated that the Clips may be willing to package 12 and 13 with Gallinari's salary in order to clear cap space to take a run at LBJ. The SGA promise hypothesis would make both of those potential plans impossible.

[Betta Bulleavit]

Why do people think MPJ is wing? Genuinely curious. Other than him being athletic and being able to hoist up 3 pointers, what part of his game tells you he is a wing in the NBA?

I think his style of play lends itself to the 3. Although I just happen to think that the way in which the game has evolved sort of diminishes the distinction between the 3 and the 4 positions. You pretty much just have Guards and Forwards in this day and age. However, I do think that there is going to eventually be a market for big men that can effectively play center but be able to rebound, defend, shoot and pass. And they don't necessarily have to be "elite" in any one of those particular areas. They just need to be solid to good in each one. Hence the reason that I don't mind drafting WCJ as I think he could be that type of player.

[NecessaryEvil]

Why do people think MPJ is wing? Genuinely curious. Other than him being athletic and being able to hoist up 3 pointers, what part of his game tells you he is a wing in the NBA?

I haven't heard one analyst, scout or basketball personality refer to him as a power forward. So, I'll go with that.

Besides the fact that I don't SEE a power forward there.

[taj2133]

if this was posted already sorry in advanced guys.
interesting that hawks aren't interested in jaren jackson junior or smoke screen?

Read on Twitter

[imagge]

My Biggest Problem with drafting WCJ is the Bulls already have an abundance of PF with no Modern wings on the roster, 6'8 and above that can switch easily on Defense between the 2 3 and 4 positions. Drafting 7 the talent pools starts to even out and with all things the same the Bulls should draft the next bets wing if MPJ is gone or has not checked out health wise and in my opinion Knox has a higher ceiling, is longer and the type of player you take a swing at....would not want Mikal Bridges....good player but ceiling is lower than Knox and the Bulls need to take a swing at a guy who has a chance at becoming a star.....Knox has the tools to do so