2021 Draft thread. Woo! 15th pick here we come! Hoo. Ray.

[NatP4]

Both were born June 29, 2001. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Champagnie

Have you been time travelling again?

My bad—I saw that after I posted. Some website had a 1997 bd

No apologies permitted on your birthday. It'll be interesting to see which of the twins goes first. I have them tentatatively as late 1sts. Crazy how the smaller one is averaging something like 12 rebounds a game. I gotta see them.

Apparently he’s out for 6-8 weeks with a knee injury

[NatP4]

Watching the TCU-Oklahoma state game. Cunningham just made one of the dumbest plays that I have ever seen in college basketball history and cost his team the game.

[pcbothwel]

Watching the TCU-Oklahoma state game. Cunningham just made one of the dumbest plays that I have ever seen in college basketball history and cost his team the game.

Yeah... his decision making at times is really worrisome. I understand why he is number 1 on many people's board, but he is fighting with Suggs for #2 right now. For us with Beal, Mobley immediately steps in as our Chris Bosh/Bam player.

Maybe Im just holding out hope for this group with Beal, but I really think you bring an exec like Masai and add Mobley to the front court...our whole team changes

Russ / Brown / Winston
Beal / Mathews
Deni / Bonga
Rui / Bertans
Mobley / Bryant / Len

I really have faith in Deni & Rui as our 3/4 wings. They compliment each other perfectly and would thrive next to a Big like Mobley.

[nate33]

Watching the TCU-Oklahoma state game. Cunningham just made one of the dumbest plays that I have ever seen in college basketball history and cost his team the game.

Yeah... his decision making at times is really worrisome. I understand why he is number 1 on many people's board, but he is fighting with Suggs for #2 right now. For us with Beal, Mobley immediately steps in as our Chris Bosh/Bam player.

Maybe Im just holding out hope for this group with Beal, but I really think you bring an exec like Masai and add Mobley to the front court...our whole team changes

Russ / Brown / Winston
Beal / Mathews
Deni / Bonga
Rui / Bertans
Mobley / Bryant / Len

I really have faith in Deni & Rui as our 3/4 wings. They compliment each other perfectly and would thrive next to a Big like Mobley.

I also think Mobley might be used to light a fire under Hachimura and get him to rebound more. If Hachimura isn't pulling his weight, we'd have the option to start Bryant at center, Mobley at PF and Avdija at SF.

[Ruzious]

Watching the TCU-Oklahoma state game. Cunningham just made one of the dumbest plays that I have ever seen in college basketball history and cost his team the game.

Yeah... his decision making at times is really worrisome. I understand why he is number 1 on many people's board, but he is fighting with Suggs for #2 right now. For us with Beal, Mobley immediately steps in as our Chris Bosh/Bam player.

Maybe Im just holding out hope for this group with Beal, but I really think you bring an exec like Masai and add Mobley to the front court...our whole team changes

Russ / Brown / Winston
Beal / Mathews
Deni / Bonga
Rui / Bertans
Mobley / Bryant / Len

I really have faith in Deni & Rui as our 3/4 wings. They compliment each other perfectly and would thrive next to a Big like Mobley.

Can you guys tell us what he did? All I can tell from reading an article is that he didn't run out the clock before trying a shot with the score tied with 16 seconds to go - which is probably a mistake but hardly earth-shattering. It also said he scored 19 points in the 2nd half.

[Dat2U]

Its always good to make ridiculous HOF comparisons and I've got two. Mobley reminds me alot of Tim Duncan lol. Just evenkeeled, smooth and you can't rush or frustrate him. Jalen Suggs gives me Gary Payton vibes in that his defense will be as good or better than his offense.

[Dat2U]

Watching the TCU-Oklahoma state game. Cunningham just made one of the dumbest plays that I have ever seen in college basketball history and cost his team the game.

Yeah... his decision making at times is really worrisome. I understand why he is number 1 on many people's board, but he is fighting with Suggs for #2 right now. For us with Beal, Mobley immediately steps in as our Chris Bosh/Bam player.

Maybe Im just holding out hope for this group with Beal, but I really think you bring an exec like Masai and add Mobley to the front court...our whole team changes

Russ / Brown / Winston
Beal / Mathews
Deni / Bonga
Rui / Bertans
Mobley / Bryant / Len

I really have faith in Deni & Rui as our 3/4 wings. They compliment each other perfectly and would thrive next to a Big like Mobley.

I also think Mobley might be used to light a fire under Hachimura and get him to rebound more. If Hachimura isn't pulling his weight, we'd have the option to start Bryant at center, Mobley at PF and Avdija at SF.

I'm not high on Bryant going forward. At least not as a starting C. Foot speed was already an issue defensively. Its definitely not getting any better now.

[nate33]

Yeah... his decision making at times is really worrisome. I understand why he is number 1 on many people's board, but he is fighting with Suggs for #2 right now. For us with Beal, Mobley immediately steps in as our Chris Bosh/Bam player.

Maybe Im just holding out hope for this group with Beal, but I really think you bring an exec like Masai and add Mobley to the front court...our whole team changes

Russ / Brown / Winston
Beal / Mathews
Deni / Bonga
Rui / Bertans
Mobley / Bryant / Len

I really have faith in Deni & Rui as our 3/4 wings. They compliment each other perfectly and would thrive next to a Big like Mobley.

I also think Mobley might be used to light a fire under Hachimura and get him to rebound more. If Hachimura isn't pulling his weight, we'd have the option to start Bryant at center, Mobley at PF and Avdija at SF.

I'm not high on Bryant going forward. At least not as a starting C. Foot speed was already an issue defensively. Its definitely not getting any better now.

I don't disagree. Certainly, the long term plan would be for Mobley to be our center. But next year, when Mobley is still a skinny rookie, it might make sense to continue to start Bryant with Mobley at PF - particularly if Mobley proves capable of compensating for Bryant's lack of rim protection, sort of like how Turner covers for Sabonis.

[Ruzious]

Its always good to make ridiculous HOF comparisons and I've got two. Mobley reminds me alot of Tim Duncan lol. Just evenkeeled, smooth and you can't rush or frustrate him. Jalen Suggs gives me Gary Payton vibes in that his defense will be as good or better than his offense.

I love both of those comps and was actually considering the Duncan/Mobley comp the other day. I remember Duncan at WF - when he wasn't filled out and enormous. You could tell he was special from day 1 - even then he had great fundamentals and was outstanding at both ends of the court.

[Dat2U]

I also think Mobley might be used to light a fire under Hachimura and get him to rebound more. If Hachimura isn't pulling his weight, we'd have the option to start Bryant at center, Mobley at PF and Avdija at SF.

I'm not high on Bryant going forward. At least not as a starting C. Foot speed was already an issue defensively. Its definitely not getting any better now.

I don't disagree. Certainly, the long term plan would be for Mobley to be our center. But next year, when Mobley is still a skinny rookie, it might make sense to continue to start Bryant with Mobley at PF - particularly if Mobley proves capable of compensating for Bryant's lack of rim protection, sort of like how Turner covers for Sabonis.

I agree with initially playing Mobley at PF but I'd still want another capable C on the roster. I'd go into next season with Bryant as a backup C in mind and if he surprises then great.

[NatP4]

On a bad USC team with awful guard play, Mobley is now up to 17.8 points 9.6 rebounds 2.1 assists 3.1 blocks 0.9 steals on 63.7 TS% per36

124.6 offensive rating
89.1 defensive rating

[NatP4]

Jared Butler

20.9 points 6.4 assists 4.0 rebounds 3.0 steals 0.6 blocks on 61.7 TS% per36

123.3 offensive rating
86.5 defensive rating

[pcbothwel]

I'm not high on Bryant going forward. At least not as a starting C. Foot speed was already an issue defensively. Its definitely not getting any better now.

I don't disagree. Certainly, the long term plan would be for Mobley to be our center. But next year, when Mobley is still a skinny rookie, it might make sense to continue to start Bryant with Mobley at PF - particularly if Mobley proves capable of compensating for Bryant's lack of rim protection, sort of like how Turner covers for Sabonis.

I agree with initially playing Mobley at PF but I'd still want another capable C on the roster. I'd go into next season with Bryant as a backup C in mind and if he surprises then great.

Alex Len. Simple. I love what I've seen so far from him and we can get him cheap on a Vet min type deal.

BTW... please dont ignore that last point. Once you add in 8-9M in salary from a top 3 pick to this roster, we will have 127M committed to 8 players (Russ, Beal, Bertans, Bryant, Brown, Rui, Deni, MOBLEY).

With a Lux tax at ~137M, That leaves us less than 10M to resign Mathews, Bonga, Winston, and Free agents.

We can keep Mathews and Winston for about 5-6M total, which gives us 10 players and only 3-4M in cap space to fill out the roster.

My guess, we go over Lux tax by 3-5M with the flexibility to move salary by the deadline.
Easiest option would be to dump Brown (5.1M).
This is a real problem, and I sure as hell dont blame Ted for not wanting to pay tax for this team yet.

Lets hope Bertans gets scorching hot in the next 30-40 days and we move him for an expiring + small asset.
I.E. Bertans to GSW, Oubre to NOP, Redick and two 2nds to Wash.... Or to Boston for Hayward TPE.

[nate33]

I'm not high on Bryant going forward. At least not as a starting C. Foot speed was already an issue defensively. Its definitely not getting any better now.

I don't disagree. Certainly, the long term plan would be for Mobley to be our center. But next year, when Mobley is still a skinny rookie, it might make sense to continue to start Bryant with Mobley at PF - particularly if Mobley proves capable of compensating for Bryant's lack of rim protection, sort of like how Turner covers for Sabonis.

I agree with initially playing Mobley at PF but I'd still want another capable C on the roster. I'd go into next season with Bryant as a backup C in mind and if he surprises then great.

Well, we are already paying Bryant $8.7M next year. And presumably Mobley will get some minutes at C. How much are you willing to spend to find a starting center better than those two guys? And who will you find that won't mind playing limited minutes and has the expectation of being displaced from his starting role as soon as Mobley is ready?

I think Bryant is an acceptable solution as the stopgap starter next year. He is already under contract. He expires in 2022. And he could be ripe to resign (at a lower cost) to be a 20 mpg backup center for the future. If he could be traded for something else and instead we installed a veteran guy with a more defensive mindset, I'd be okay with that too. Holmes, Noel and Theis are free agents. But can Bryant be traded for value coming off an ACL injury?

My only regret is losing Wagner. I'd really like to see him as the long term backup center behind Mobley. But we foolishly declined his option.

[Ruzious]

Probably going to research this Alperen Sengun guy in the Turkish League. Seems like a massive upside pick.

Watch on YouTube

He looks better than I expected, because I heard he didn't pass the eye test. He definitely passes my eye test as a PF prospect. He even made some athletic defensive plays on the video - though he isn't going against talented players in the video. So far, no 3 point shot - probably because he's been so effective without it. If he does develop it, my initial impression is this kid could develop into a #1 scoring option in the NBA. His skills are so advanced for an 18 year old - all kinds of spin moves. And his stats are tremendous. Obviously, I need to see more of him.

[nate33]

BTW... please dont ignore that last point. Once you add in 8-9M in salary from a top 3 pick to this roster, we will have 127M committed to 8 players (Russ, Beal, Bertans, Bryant, Brown, Rui, Deni, MOBLEY).

With a Lux tax at ~137M, That leaves us less than 10M to resign Mathews, Bonga, Winston, and Free agents.

We can keep Mathews and Winston for about 5-6M total, which gives us 10 players and only 3-4M in cap space to fill out the roster.

My guess, we go over Lux tax by 3-5M with the flexibility to move salary by the deadline.
Easiest option would be to dump Brown (5.1M).
This is a real problem, and I sure as hell dont blame Ted for not wanting to pay tax for this team yet.

Lets hope Bertans gets scorching hot in the next 30-40 days and we move him for an expiring + small asset.
I.E. Bertans to GSW, Oubre to NOP, Redick and two 2nds to Wash.... Or to Boston for Hayward TPE.

I have $118.3M for Westbrook, Beal, Bertans, Bryant, Brown, Hachimura and Avdija.
Let's say we get Mobley at #2. That's $8.8M
A vet minimum PG (either Winston or Neto, or someone else). That's $1.4M
Mathews will probably cost the vet minimum, but let's assume $3M. (I'd love him on the Sato contract: 3 years, $9M)

We're at $131.5M for 10 players.

That leaves $5M for 4 more guys, plus two 2-way guys who don't count against the cap. It looks like vet minimum guys only, but we probably don't have to dump Brown.

I guess now I see why they opted out on Wagner. Looks like Bonga is a goner too.

They might be willing to pay the luxtax. It had to be part of the calculation when they signed Wall in the first place. Those last two years were going to be impossible to stay under the tax while fielding a good team.

[pcbothwel]

BTW... please dont ignore that last point. Once you add in 8-9M in salary from a top 3 pick to this roster, we will have 127M committed to 8 players (Russ, Beal, Bertans, Bryant, Brown, Rui, Deni, MOBLEY).

With a Lux tax at ~137M, That leaves us less than 10M to resign Mathews, Bonga, Winston, and Free agents.

We can keep Mathews and Winston for about 5-6M total, which gives us 10 players and only 3-4M in cap space to fill out the roster.

My guess, we go over Lux tax by 3-5M with the flexibility to move salary by the deadline.
Easiest option would be to dump Brown (5.1M).
This is a real problem, and I sure as hell dont blame Ted for not wanting to pay tax for this team yet.

Lets hope Bertans gets scorching hot in the next 30-40 days and we move him for an expiring + small asset.
I.E. Bertans to GSW, Oubre to NOP, Redick and two 2nds to Wash.... Or to Boston for Hayward TPE.

I have $118.3M for Westbrook, Beal, Bertans, Bryant, Brown, Hachimura and Avdija.
Let's say we get Mobley at #2. That's $8.8M
A vet minimum PG (either Winston or Neto, or someone else). That's $1.4M
Mathews will probably cost the vet minimum, but let's assume $3M. (I'd love him on the Sato contract: 3 years, $9M)

We're at $131.5M for 10 players.

That leaves $5M for 4 more guys, plus two 2-way guys who don't count against the cap. It looks like vet minimum guys only, but we probably don't have to dump Brown.

I guess now I see why they opted out on Wagner. Looks like Bonga is a goner too.

They might be willing to pay the luxtax. It had to be part of the calculation when they signed Wall in the first place. Those last two years were going to be impossible to stay under the tax while fielding a good team.

Nate, but this is NOT a good team.
Again, I think we go above the tax by 4-6M if need be because there a plenty of ways to get under it during the season:
1) Trade Brown (5.1M)
2) Trade Bertans (16M)
3) Trade Russ or Full rebuild and trade Beal

[nate33]

BTW... please dont ignore that last point. Once you add in 8-9M in salary from a top 3 pick to this roster, we will have 127M committed to 8 players (Russ, Beal, Bertans, Bryant, Brown, Rui, Deni, MOBLEY).

With a Lux tax at ~137M, That leaves us less than 10M to resign Mathews, Bonga, Winston, and Free agents.

We can keep Mathews and Winston for about 5-6M total, which gives us 10 players and only 3-4M in cap space to fill out the roster.

My guess, we go over Lux tax by 3-5M with the flexibility to move salary by the deadline.
Easiest option would be to dump Brown (5.1M).
This is a real problem, and I sure as hell dont blame Ted for not wanting to pay tax for this team yet.

Lets hope Bertans gets scorching hot in the next 30-40 days and we move him for an expiring + small asset.
I.E. Bertans to GSW, Oubre to NOP, Redick and two 2nds to Wash.... Or to Boston for Hayward TPE.

I have $118.3M for Westbrook, Beal, Bertans, Bryant, Brown, Hachimura and Avdija.
Let's say we get Mobley at #2. That's $8.8M
A vet minimum PG (either Winston or Neto, or someone else). That's $1.4M
Mathews will probably cost the vet minimum, but let's assume $3M. (I'd love him on the Sato contract: 3 years, $9M)

We're at $131.5M for 10 players.

That leaves $5M for 4 more guys, plus two 2-way guys who don't count against the cap. It looks like vet minimum guys only, but we probably don't have to dump Brown.

I guess now I see why they opted out on Wagner. Looks like Bonga is a goner too.

They might be willing to pay the luxtax. It had to be part of the calculation when they signed Wall in the first place. Those last two years were going to be impossible to stay under the tax while fielding a good team.

Nate, but this is NOT a good team.
Again, I think we go above the tax by 4-6M if need be because there a plenty of ways to get under it during the season:
1) Trade Brown (5.1M)
2) Trade Bertans (16M)
3) Trade Russ or Full rebuild and trade Beal

They can squeak by next year without making any of those moves. In 2022-23, assuming Beal is resigned and we have Mobley in his 2nd season, I think the team will be good enough to pay the luxtax for one year before expunging Westbrook from the books.

Don't get me wrong. I'm open to trading Bertans or Westbrook now. I'm just saying it's not absolutely necessary. Nor is it necessary to dump Troy Brown.

Also, we aren't as horrible as our record suggests. We were essentially penalized 4 losses because of Covid. Ignore those and we are 5-9 with a point differential of just -1 per game. That should be a record of 6-8 or 7-7. Going forward, I don't think it's unreasonable that we can play like that.

[NatP4]

We aren’t getting Mobley, especially if we keep Beal. This is a .500ish level team with a competent coach. Brooks seems to be stumbling into some good rotations after trying literally everything else. Mobley is going 1st or 2nd overall.

I bet we finish in the 7-12 range.

[nate33]

We aren’t getting Mobley, especially if we keep Beal. This is a .500ish level team with a competent coach. Brooks seems to be stumbling into some good rotations after trying literally everything else. Mobley is going 1st or 2nd overall.

I bet we finish in the 7-12 range.

I dunno. I agree that we can play better going forward, but a lot of the really bad teams are way better than expected (Cleveland, New York, OKC) and have built a pretty big lead over us. Meanwhile the other teams near the bottom alongside us are teams with a lot of talent and an ever greater chance than us of righting the ship and playing well in the second half: Miami, Dallas, New Orleans, Toronto.

Finally, don't underestimate the impact of our condensed schedule going forward. It's a condensed season already, but we have to squeeze in an extra 6 games. We are going to play a ton of B-2-B's and 3-in-4's. And if Beal ever goes down, it's over.

(We seem to be oddly dependent on Hachimura too. We're 5-6 when he plays, 0-7 without. If he gets hurt, we have no other natural PF on the roster.)

All that said, I'd certainly be in favor of moves to make us worse. They won't trade Beal, but trading Bertans for cap relief and a future 2nd might be wise.