2020 Draft - Part II

[mhd]

SAS just passed on Halliburton. There has to be something there. Maybe the shot form is just a recipe for disaster?

[Jimmy Recard]

So much for getting a guy that’s gonna help us on defense

[prime1time]

I really like Haliburton. I'm not against packaging Brown Jr. to trade up for Haliburton...
6'5, 7'0 wingspan. Great shooter. This is an easy pick for the Kings.

[pcbothwel]

Lol here come the Deni takes. At 9 he's by far the BPA.

Jalen Smith went ahead of Haliburton. Haliburton has significant concern about his durability.

His inability to shoot off the dribble as well and having no left hand is very concerning as well.

Deni actually reminds me of Troy Brown in some ways, and I like he adds immediate hustle, off ball movement, and IQ while while he grows his skill set. I love his shooting motion in a lot of ways, but the ball just didnt go in and his FT% gives me pause.

[The Consiglieri]

Horrible pick, Deni has no chance of being good statistically. Just no chance. All this eye test stuff doesn't matter. Crunch the numbers and the percentages just don't work out.

Haliburton had all the stats, all the advanced stats. A rim protector would have been awesome. Deni won't be better than Casspi. It doesn't matter if he can "playmake" if everybody is sinking off of you. This kind of shows Sheppard is sipping his own kool-aid and thinks he's smarter than he is.

Haliburton's also a year older than him. Give him some time. Kid would've been 19 and 6 months if the draft were held in June. Let's see how he develops. Definitely not a finished product here. I also think it's damn hard to figure out and project #'s when it comes to guys w/the weird minutes they have in Europe/Israel. As an example, Halliburton was playing 36 minutes a game last year, Avdija was playing 14 minutes a game (after only 8 the year before).

It's all projection with him, sample size isn't enough to get a clear picture there.

[Frichuela]

With Okongwu gone, Tommy chose the best BPA in Deni.

For the record, I like the pick. Yes, the shooting is shaky but very competitive, skilled and an underrated defender.

[TGW]

Yes, San Anotnio passing on Haliburton is sort of a red flag. Not that they get it right every time, but most people thought that was a match made in heaven

[truwizfan4evr]

With Okongwu gone, Tommy chose the best BPA in Deni.

For the record, I like the pick. Yes, the shooting is shaky but very competitive, skilled and an underrated defender.

i agree! we complain every draft.

[trast66]

Don’t like the pick, would prefer someone who could play defense and/or shoot. Granted I’ve not watched a lot of him, just highlights.

[Shoe]

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[The Consiglieri]

I get the Haliburton love, if he can stay healthy there's definitely a lot of evidence that he'll end up being one of the best 3 or 4 guys from the draft 3 years from now and a lot of these guys will be SMH types. Avdija is not a guy you should really be doing that with. He said before the draft if he had a chance to take a big swing, he'd take it. This was a big swing pick. Low floor, high ceiling, projected by seemingly everyone to go top 3-5. We got him at 9. I would've loved Haliburton too (and would love to trade for him still, no reason we can't do that), but in a bad draft, swinging for the fences tends to help more than just trying to fill a role. We'll see.

I also don't care about next year. We aren't contending/winning next year, so I don't really care about trying to get us to say 40 wins, I'm fine w/stinking again for a distinctively better class in '21, and Avdija should help with that since he won't provide a ton of immediate help.

[miller31time]

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So you’re saying......everybody with me now......

“He’s had his eye on him for a while.”

[truwizfan4evr]

Tommy Sheppard said the last time he saw Deni Avdija in person was in Belgrade during the Euroleague season. “Our international scouts have been on this kid since he was 16.” Sheppard says he’s watched him play since he was 16, as well.

[Shoe]

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[The Consiglieri]

Look at O'Connor dismissing my take completely . That's fine, never said I was as insightful about basketball as I am about soccer and football.

[JAR69]

My guy Isaiah Stewart to Detroit (via Portland) at 16. I remain a big fan.

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

Just noticed that Deni shot 58% from the line. Oof. That’s just awful. And predictive, I think.

[doclinkin]

My current apologia for Deni is: He's young, but has advanced game in the intangibles that are harder to learn than shooting, etc. If we are talking upside, this is the difference between a raw athlete like Achiuwa who is older but unfinished (likely the reason he is falling) vs young cats who are still developing. Following studies at the Sloan MIT conference, analytics gurus fetishize youth as far as projecting eventual upside. Shooting can be taught. (Though I think his eyes are too close together, LOL, to use my own 'kneebend' metric). But he is savvy and understands the game, his dad being from the Serbian basketball madmen, playing for Yugoslavia. I just always have concerns about drafting the 'athletic' euro players. But hey. He does fit that 'everybody eats' and high character model.

[80sballboy]

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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Mark me down as really disliking this pick.

Me, too.