Official 2020 NBA Draft Thread

[MartinsIzAfraud]

I feel like with injury to Isaac, Pokusevski and Williams will rise on our board. I would not be suprised if we trade up for Pokusevski. He is the only player who can try to fill the void left by JI on defense. (not half the defender Isaac is sadly ;((((((

That’s the exact move not to make. We have Aminu and Okeke on the bench to cover backup minutes. You take BPA or a combo guard. You cannot continue to grab PFs or C’s in a league dominated by guards and sf’s who can get buckets.

[drsd]

You take BPA or a combo guard.

I am thrilled that the Magic will see a BPA that is a guard at ~17.

Some names: Theo Maledon, Cole Anthony, Jahmius Ramsey, Tyrell Terry, Tyrese Maxey, Josh Green, Nico Mannion, and RJ Hampton.

There are loads of options for Orlando. In the end my prediction is, drum roll ....
The Magic trade the pick.

Look Magic fans: Orlando has Okeke. The only benefit to two rookies is payroll benefits. As Ennis and Fournier are to opt-in, then the cap is already maxed out. This is the only sane reason Orlando would roll with two rookies next year.

[The Effect]

I feel like with injury to Isaac, Pokusevski and Williams will rise on our board. I would not be suprised if we trade up for Pokusevski. He is the only player who can try to fill the void left by JI on defense. (not half the defender Isaac is sadly ;((((((

Trade up for a guy who played 11 games in a minor league euro team?

DOnt get me wrong, i like the guy and would be happy to have him on the team, but i dont even see anywhere listing him as a 1st rounder, let alone a lotto pick, so i dont get why you think they need to trade up for him. If anything trade down for him or even trade up in the 2nd.

I think think injury opens up the potential to take a guy like Saddiq Bey or Jaden McDaniels, who can man the 3 but also play other positions and are very good defenders.

Im still hoping they either go with a SG who can put the ball in the basket (crazy idea i know), or blow the whole thing up, trade everyone and build around Fultz and Chuma (i dont know how good chuma could be, but ive seen what the current constructed roster can do, and its not encouraging). Trade AG, trade Vuc, let Fournier\DJ walk, pay someone to take aminu, play bamba and see if he has ANY NBA skills and basically tank for a top 5 pick next year and hope for a superstar

[Skybox]

Just to keep things accurate (and our draft priorities current), we have one of the most prolific offenses in the league over the last few games before and in the bubble...I assume we're all trying to dissect why this is and what would make it sustainable or even better. It's not Isaac-he's been out. Gordon's been great. What's the key and how do we solidify it? I want to replace DJ's reliable but selfish points with a guy like Maxey or maybe Kira Lewis. I think our second unit could be really strong and, at the same time, developmental for the future with a good floor general initiator...this is all assuming our proposed bench are not all forced into starting jobs by injury/trade.

[zaymon]

I feel like with injury to Isaac, Pokusevski and Williams will rise on our board. I would not be suprised if we trade up for Pokusevski. He is the only player who can try to fill the void left by JI on defense. (not half the defender Isaac is sadly ;((((((

Trade up for a guy who played 11 games in a minor league euro team?

DOnt get me wrong, i like the guy and would be happy to have him on the team, but i dont even see anywhere listing him as a 1st rounder, let alone a lotto pick, so i dont get why you think they need to trade up for him. If anything trade down for him or even trade up in the 2nd.

I think think injury opens up the potential to take a guy like Saddiq Bey or Jaden McDaniels, who can man the 3 but also play other positions and are very good defenders.

Im still hoping they either go with a SG who can put the ball in the basket (crazy idea i know), or blow the whole thing up, trade everyone and build around Fultz and Chuma (i dont know how good chuma could be, but ive seen what the current constructed roster can do, and its not encouraging). Trade AG, trade Vuc, let Fournier\DJ walk, pay someone to take aminu, play bamba and see if he has ANY NBA skills and basically tank for a top 5 pick next year and hope for a superstar

Did you saw how he moves at 7 feet tall ? He is not on Isaac level but impressive non the less. He can pass, he can dribble, he can protect the rim. I think he is lottery bound. For me he is bpa at our range, and most likely outside our range. I dont think we will blow it up.

[RookieStar]

I kinda am confused... don't get me wrong I love JI as much as everyone here but what made our offense tick even without him?

1.) we played the nets and kings?
2.) HCA?
3.) If we find that out, I think we can get a better understanding on who we should pick.

[zaymon]

I kinda am confused... don't get me wrong I love JI as much as everyone here but what made our offense tick even without him?

1.) we played the nets and kings?
2.) HCA?
3.) If we find that out, I think we can get a better understanding on who we should pick.

Nets and Kings are just bad right now. Real test comes against Pacers. We wont shoot as good as we did every time. We have some very good veterans on the team right now. Maybe they cant win a championship but they can crush a weaker opponent.

[Bensational]

Just to keep things accurate (and our draft priorities current), we have one of the most prolific offenses in the league over the last few games before and in the bubble...I assume we're all trying to dissect why this is and what would make it sustainable or even better. It's not Isaac-he's been out. Gordon's been great. What's the key and how do we solidify it? I want to replace DJ's reliable but selfish points with a guy like Maxey or maybe Kira Lewis. I think our second unit could be really strong and, at the same time, developmental for the future with a good floor general initiator...this is all assuming our proposed bench are not all forced into starting jobs by injury/trade.

Clifford's teams have generally been teams that come out of the gates decently, slump a bit around the 2nd quarter of the season, and then rally hard in the 2nd half of the season. Both in Charlotte and here.

Our team is good enough to beat up bad teams, but they don't respond well to a good defensive teams who can cover our very limited offensive repertoire. Especially with the 2nd unit which is almost exclusively plays for Ross. (on that note, Ross is amazing that he can get separation and get his shots off even when defense's know he's moving to get open for the shot).

The passing from Vuc and Gordon is our secret weapon. They're the guys who find the open man that isn't always the designated target of the play. That's what we need to keep fostering and building around at this point.

[Bensational]

The secret to our team looking good is pretty clear to me. We've got a bunch of volatile and streaky shooters in Ross, DJ, Gordon, Vuc and Fournier. When they're all on we can look great. When they're not, we look terrible.

[The Effect]

I feel like with injury to Isaac, Pokusevski and Williams will rise on our board. I would not be suprised if we trade up for Pokusevski. He is the only player who can try to fill the void left by JI on defense. (not half the defender Isaac is sadly ;((((((

Trade up for a guy who played 11 games in a minor league euro team?

DOnt get me wrong, i like the guy and would be happy to have him on the team, but i dont even see anywhere listing him as a 1st rounder, let alone a lotto pick, so i dont get why you think they need to trade up for him. If anything trade down for him or even trade up in the 2nd.

I think think injury opens up the potential to take a guy like Saddiq Bey or Jaden McDaniels, who can man the 3 but also play other positions and are very good defenders.

Im still hoping they either go with a SG who can put the ball in the basket (crazy idea i know), or blow the whole thing up, trade everyone and build around Fultz and Chuma (i dont know how good chuma could be, but ive seen what the current constructed roster can do, and its not encouraging). Trade AG, trade Vuc, let Fournier\DJ walk, pay someone to take aminu, play bamba and see if he has ANY NBA skills and basically tank for a top 5 pick next year and hope for a superstar

Did you saw how he moves at 7 feet tall ? He is not on Isaac level but impressive non the less. He can pass, he can dribble, he can protect the rim. I think he is lottery bound. For me he is bpa at our range, and most likely outside our range. I dont think we will blow it up.

Obviously ive never seen him play a game, but ill admit he does look impressive in highlights, but again so does everyon (hence the name )
Youre right, he moves very well for his size and he has great court vision, and looks like jokic as far as passing goes, but again, its hard to see a guy with such a small a small body of work, in a weaker league at that, to go so high. Its not impossible, but not likely.

This in a way kinda reminds me Darius Bazley last year. Had the size and movement skills that guys that big shouldnt have, and was an elite HS talent, but his decision to go straight from HS to G-league, and then not playing in the GLeague really limited his exposure to the scouts, and so a guy with Lotto-level talent went in the mid 20s. And theres a ton more tape on Bazley than Pok

Again, i could be wrong, but i just dont see him being gone before our pick

[jonbob17]

I have seen Poku pretty high (lottery) on some draft nerds big boards, but most of the mock drafts between the late teens to late first. It's fun watching him bring the ball down the court, but I don't know, his shot isn't that good, a huge question mark over all. He reminds me of Bol Bol playing SF in the scrimmages last week. Bol Bol might have better skills, I think he was a top 5 prep when he was in high school, injury made him fall in the draft.

I do think the cupboard is going to be pretty bare at 17. I was hoping they would get a shot at RJ Hampton, who I think has plenty of talent and athleticism, just a horrible results out of Australia. It sounded more plausible at 15. After him, who knows, I like some of the senior PGs, maybe even Mannion, maybe some of the project wings, feel like you could get any of them toward end of the first, and 17 is a reach,

[Bensational]

I'm late to the Pokusevski party, but the guy looks pretty exciting. His skill base covers everything on both sides of the court. His handles for a player that size, combined with his passing, look special. Looks like he could fit at the 3, 4 or 5 depending on matchup and surrounding players.

I'm still feeling good about our chances to get a steal in the draft.

[RookieStar]

C'mon guys.. we looking at bigs again in our draft spot? LOL

I thought we were all in for a scoring machine in the sg/sf spot.

[zaymon]

C'mon guys.. we looking at bigs again in our draft spot? LOL

I thought we were all in for a scoring machine in the sg/sf spot.

There is no one of such profile available with the number one pick let alone 17 I like Lewis, Bane, Maxey but if Pokusevski is available i just see too much potential. Youngest player in the draft

[The Effect]

C'mon guys.. we looking at bigs again in our draft spot? LOL

I thought we were all in for a scoring machine in the sg/sf spot.

There is no one of such profile available with the number one pick let alone 17 I like Lewis, Bane, Maxey but if Pokusevski is available i just see too much potential. Youngest player in the draft

I dont even know if i would say hes a C, his weight, agility and play style seems more like a SF than C

With that, im still not seeing a lotto pick with him

Im still all in on a SG or SF at 16, even though im hoping Chuma is the guy from day 1

I will say now im leaning towards using cap space on a PF as our top priority in FA
Would be really happy if we let Evan walk, draft a SG at 16 and then use our FA money (i know we dont have much right?) to sign Harry Giles (PF) and Damyean Dotson (SG). id hope we should be able to be signed using the MLE (if we even have that this year? i dont know the rules regarding it), and if not, maybe clear up capspace somehow (evan, dj, mcw, somehow trade aminu)

[Bakomagic]

C'mon guys.. we looking at bigs again in our draft spot? LOL

I thought we were all in for a scoring machine in the sg/sf spot.

There is no one of such profile available with the number one pick let alone 17 I like Lewis, Bane, Maxey but if Pokusevski is available i just see too much potential. Youngest player in the draft

What do you think about Deni Avdija ? I feel like we could get him if he slips into the 5-10 range if we trade our pick and attached AG or Fournier ?

He looks like a offensively versatile SF with upside (Hedo Turkoglu ?) would slot in nicely next to chuma, Isaac, or playing next to Bamba in the future ?

[Bensational]

The way Avdija plays reminds me a lot of Hezonja. Breakneck speed and flashy passes, and then a nice shot from outside.

If he is Mario with stronger IQ, he could be dangerous. At the very least he'd be exciting to watch.

[Knightro]

The more I read about Pokuševski the more fascinated I am. He has one of the absolute weirdest stat profiles of any 7 footer I've ever seen and seemingly the widest range of outcomes of any prospect in the top 20.

If you just looked at his per/40 minute stats and nothing else, you could talk yourself into the idea that he's a point guard, but he was playing center!

Seems like he could be a complete and utter washout who never plays a significant minute in the league, or he could be a unicorn.

He looks like a high end 6'8" wing prospect who happened to put on a torture rack and stretched out to 7 feet at the same weight.

[VFX]

The more I read about Pokuševski the more fascinated I am. He has one of the absolute weirdest stat profiles of any 7 footer I've ever seen and seemingly the widest range of outcomes of any prospect in the top 20.

If you just looked at his per/40 minute stats and nothing else, you could talk yourself into the idea that he's a point guard, but he was playing center!

Seems like he could be a complete and utter washout who never plays a significant minute in the league, or he could be a unicorn.

He looks like a high end 6'8" wing prospect who happened to put on a torture rack and stretched out to 7 feet at the same weight.

I like where you are going with this. Realistic about what this FO will take.

Here’s a list of who we should realistically be looking at.

Onyeka Okongwu
Precious Achiuwa
Jalen Smith
Isaiah Stewart
Vernon Carey
Pokuševski

So basically any players that will struggle to earn minutes and can’t help directly because they are buried behind savvy vets that have no value in other markets. There’s our strategy.

[Skin]

I'm late to the Pokusevski party, but the guy looks pretty exciting. His skill base covers everything on both sides of the court. His handles for a player that size, combined with his passing, look special. Looks like he could fit at the 3, 4 or 5 depending on matchup and surrounding players.

I'm still feeling good about our chances to get a steal in the draft.

If WeHam is stubborn about their desire for length, I don't think they'll be able to pass on Poku. Options are much more open now with Isaac going down.

If Poku, Isaac and Bamba held hands on the 3 pt line they might cover the whole thing corner to corner lmao