Lather me with blather -- DRAFT thread 4

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Extending qualifying offers hardly means that we are going to keep all of Jeffers, Owens and Hamady - It just gives us the option of bringing any of them back if we want. We have flexibility to mix and match depending on what happens in the draft. If we end up drafting - let's say Vesely or Leonard and Jordan Hamilton I imagine we wouldn't keep Owens.

Thanks for clarifying that for me (and others).

Jeffers is coming back. I would bet on that.

[Mr. Grundle]

What does Marshon Brooks bring to the table that Nick Young doesn't? He seems a bit redundant to Nick and Jordan as just pure scorers who don't contribute much else.

I'm more intrigued by Malcolm Lee and hope he could still be there at #34. This would be a great backup in that he can play both the 1 and 2 and is a GREAT defender. DIdn't shoot it great but he shows good form and confidence in his shot and should improve. Love his versatility and the fact that UCLA guards seem to turn out as better pro's.

[Ruzious]

It's not the same situation. Marcus Williams was ridiculously overrated by some. He got a lot of assists just because he played on a great team. He couldn't shoot, he couldn't defend, he wasn't a good athlete... And Rondo had a lot to prove offensively. He was far from a finished product. Nobody thought he'd have the impact he did in the NBA. Jimmer and Kemba will be top 10 picks.

Im not saying the players are similar, I just wouldnt be surprised if it turned out the same way, draft positon wise

Yes... and I told you why you're wrong. They won't slide anywhere near as far.

[doc.end]

LOL at that post that Veselý is half Serbian. Translate fail I guess. They just love him is Serbia, he learned the language, has adapted well and produces frequeant highlights stuff. They currently have no domestic emerging young talent in Partizan, so they kind of adopt his as their own (both nations are slavic, his name menas the same in Serbian, maybe even some historic ties played a role) - that's probably what was misunderstood/mistranslated.

Interview with Veselý in major czech newspaper today. Not much useful stuff but when asked about prefered teams he answered that from teams that showed interest Washington would perhaps be the best option and that it seems realistic he could end there. In next answer (about Toronto) he stated he doesn't really care abotu weather or any particular city much, getting minutes on court it's what matters to him.

So prepare to expect he could be a Wizard. I think he would be a good fit, Wall throwing alleyoops on him and I think he and Lewis could complement each other on both side of the floor.

[Wizardspride]

.

The Wizards need to trade Blatche. Faried is better by FAR just on rebounding and defense.

I'm not so sure about that CCJ.

I know what Faried did in college but I think its a mistake to assume that a 6-6/6-7 PF's game will automatically translate to the next level.


And if I did draft Faried, I sure wouldn't assume he's a starter and trade Blatche.

[Rafael122]

Just glad there's 3 days left of this talk. We're getting redundant but it's all good.

[tontoz]

Jan Vesley rarely, if ever, was asked to go out and create his own shot on his own, seeing just 2.8% of his offense in isolation situations, which ranks 15th of the 18 players in this study.....but nevertheless ranked as the 5th most turnover prone, coughing the ball up on 15% of his possessions.

He was not terribly effective as a jump-shooter, though, garnering .78 points per shot he attempted, 5th worst in this group—almost all of which in catch and shoot situations.

Ugh

[nate33]

My dream draft would be for Kanter to slip to #6, and for us to trade our #18 and #34 for a pick high enough to land Klay Thompson. (Thompson would probably have to slip a bit out of his expected range as well.) Our lineup next year:

PG Wall/Crawford
SG Young/Thompson
SF Lewis/M.Evans
PF Kanter/Booker
C McGee/Blatche
End of Bench: Jeffers, veteran big (Kurt Thomas?)
Practice squad: Seraphin, N'Diaye, 3rd string PG

[NbdyBeatsTheWiz]

PF Kanter/Booker
C McGee/Blatche

That won't strike fear in the rest of the league, but its leaps and bounds from where we've been in previous years with our bigs. I'd be ecstatic.

I'd be nervous how Blatche takes to coming off the bench again (remember he still sucked when he came off the bench behind AJ), but his scoring would fit well next to Booker's hustle on our 2nd team.

[Kanyewest]

What would be the chances of us taking Kemba or Jimeer at 18 if either fell to pick 18?

I remember in 06, marcus williams and Rajon Rondo both fell to picks 21 and 22 when they were expected to go much higher.

I guess much like Jameer Nelson slipped in that Sebastian Telfair draft.

[jivelikenice]

didnt we observe vesley today?

Think the workout was supposed to be today, but I haven't heard anything about it.

No leaks from the workout? Hard to imagine considering multiple teams were there....

[thinker07]

My dream draft would be for Kanter to slip to #6, and for us to trade our #18 and #34 for a pick high enough to land Klay Thompson. (Thompson would probably have to slip a bit out of his expected range as well.) Our lineup next year:

PG Wall/Crawford
SG Young/Thompson
SF Lewis/M.Evans
PF Kanter/Booker
C McGee/Blatche
End of Bench: Jeffers, veteran big (Kurt Thomas?)
Practice squad: Seraphin, N'Diaye, 3rd string PG

I'm with you on this. I like Thompson much more than Brooks for this Wiz team. My 1(b) plan would be to substitute Jordan Hamilton for Thompson.

[Rafael122]

Hollinger's player rater thing is out but its for ESPN Insider subscribers.

A couple of things, on Leonard:

If I had to peg two other perimeter players that I would guarantee to at least become solid rotation players, it would be Kemba Walker and Kawhi Leonard. While this year's draft doesn't project to have a lot of star talent at the perimeter positions, Walker and Leonard are the two who rate above 12 -- which, historically, has been a guarantee of at least being decent.

On JV:

My Euroleague translations say two players in this year's draft, Jonas Valanciunas and Nikola Mirotic, would be rotation players immediately if they came to the States. Valanciunas rated higher, with a translated PER of 14.70 (albeit in limited minutes) compare to 13.66 for Mirotic. Of perhaps more importance is that Mirotic is contractually bound to stay in Europe for a few more years. He'd be a top-10 pick on my board if it weren't for that; as it is, I've dropped him behind all the players I consider relatively safe bets.

Vesely:

The other top European prospect, Czech forward Jan Vesely, doesn't grade out nearly as well. His first-year PER translates to 10.72; while one supposes he would improve further from that point given his youth and athleticism, it still makes him somewhere south of a sure thing. I've listed him as a top-20 pick based on potential and the general weakness of this draft, but taking him in the top five or 10 would be a mistake.

Kanter:

Kanter is sort of the anti-Biyombo; He's not much of an athlete and will be suspect at the defensive end, but has such a high skill level offensively that he's going to score relatively easily. A good comparable might be fellow Turk Mehmet Okur, except Kanter is probably more skilled with the ball.

There's a lot more, I just posted stuff about guys we're looking at. I didn't include Bismack because I'm not sure if he's even on our radar.

So just to recap: Kanter seems like a safe bet, so would JV, stay away from Vesely, and Donte M (the euro guy) are worthwhile choices later in the first round, but have questionable strength and athleticism.

[Dat2U]

When did Klay Thompson become such a hot commodity on this board? When his name started getting bandied about as a late lottery pick?

Klay Thompson is the exact same player he was 2 weeks ago when no one here was paying him any attention. I think Burks & Brooks are better players at SG. Thompson might be a "better fit" in the scope of Flip's offense. But why does the fit matter if the guy isn't all that good to begin with?

If were going to be looking for a backup to Nick Young, I'd much rather just go with Chris Lighty at #34 as a 3 & D guy instead of finding away to trade up for Klay Thompson.

[FAH1223]

I think we're getting a better player at #18 than we are at #6.

[sashae]

I'm on the anybody-but-Vesely boat, but would honestly prefer either Tristan Thompson or Kawhi Leonard the most, with Tyler Honeycutt at 18. I really think he's got a shot to be a great perimeter player for the team, both offensively and defensively.

[nate33]

David Lighty can't shoot. His 3P% at Ohio State is misleading. He had the luxury of only shooting when totally wide open with plenty of time to get off his shot. And even then, he threw up airballs at an alarming rate for a guy who would be designated a "3 and D" player.

I love Lighty's D and I cede that it's possible for him to improve his jumper over time. But I wouldn't take him with anything higher than our 2nd round pick, and I'd probably try to trade down and draft him later in the round. My guess is that he's going to bounce around the league for a while in his early years anyhow. If we want him we'll be able to get him in the offseason some time.

[Severn Hoos]

So....Draft goes like this:

1. Irving
2. Williams
3. Knight
4. Valanciunas

Bryan Colangelo calls. "Ya know, we really like this Kanter kid. Tough, inside player who would be a nice fit next to Bargnani (he's lying through his teeth, of course). On the other hand, that Walker kid is a winner and would have the star power we need up here. Just can't decide which way to go. Any way you might help us decide?"

What do you give to swap picks? Does it change the dynamic that it's only moving up 1 spot for Kanter instead of 3 (with the Jazz, for example)?

I'd offer Seraphin, maybe take on a small contract, add in the #34, that kind of stuff.

Or would you play chicken and tell the Raptors to just take the player they like, we're happy with several guys and couldn't care less what the Raptors do?

I really hope we end up with Kanter one way or another....

[FAH1223]

i'd give em Seraphin and the 2nd or something like that as well...

and then we can sign a vet C on his last bones in FA for the minimum

[Wizardspride]

So....Draft goes like this:

1. Irving
2. Williams
3. Knight
4. Valanciunas

Bryan Colangelo calls. "Ya know, we really like this Kanter kid. Tough, inside player who would be a nice fit next to Bargnani (he's lying through his teeth, of course). On the other hand, that Walker kid is a winner and would have the star power we need up here. Just can't decide which way to go. Any way you might help us decide?"

What do you give to swap picks? Does it change the dynamic that it's only moving up 1 spot for Kanter instead of 3 (with the Jazz, for example)?

I'd offer Seraphin, maybe take on a small contract, add in the #34, that kind of stuff.

Or would you play chicken and tell the Raptors to just take the player they like, we're happy with several guys and couldn't care less what the Raptors do?

Thats exactly what I'd do.