2013 Draft Thread Part 2

[rsavaj]

McLemore's interview: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Ez9VD4It0[/youtube]

If Oladipo is the one who gets taken in the top 3 and McLemore is the one who slides(like Ford projects), I'll be happy with that too. Either way, I'm on the VO or McLemore train. I like both of them a lot and I think they would fill a huge need for this squad.

[PHX Maniak]

Appreciated how McLemore and Shabazz both mentioned how they like the PG situation in Phoenix. A guy who can really put the ball in the basket at the 2 might help Kendall's development.

[mirv]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i81-C2QWfOk[/youtube]

These guys look tired. Looks like it was a solid workout.

Good interviews, I'm pretty impressed with both of them with how they come across.

Would be stoked if somehow we end up with both of them.

[rsavaj]

McDonough and Horny on the workouts:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1EAmUJrDn8[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaORjmX1O5w[/youtube]

[rsavaj]

Appreciated how McLemore and Shabazz both mentioned how they like the PG situation in Phoenix. A guy who can really put the ball in the basket at the 2 might help Kendall's development.

Seriously. Kendall has nobody to pass to on the bench. Brown, Wes, Beas are chuckers. Morris twins are mediocre as well. If Kendall had a guy who could get buckets next to him, he'd look so much better.

[Cutter]

Perfect scenario would be to trade Gortat for the #10 pick and draft both of these guys.

Yeah, I really like the idea of bringing on Oladipo/Zeller as teammates. Gortat/Tucker for Freeland/10 would be ideal, but a lot of PDX fans don't want to give up a lotto pick for a 30 year old who could be a 1 year rental.

Bazz's interview:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgXmPJlCBac[/youtube]

Good Chad Ford piece on Bazz: http://detroitpistonsforum.com/forums/1 ... t3666.html

Looks like he's put the character concerns to rest:

Those issues go to character and virtually every NBA scout and GM I spoke with doesn't seem overly concerned. Muhammad did what he had to do in his interviews and teams came away with the impression that Muhammad wasn't going to be a problem in the locker room or off the court.

That showed in his review of Muhammad's vertical jump (motion analysis). While Muhammad is a slightly above-average leaper for his position (he measured with a 37-inch max vertical jump at the predraft camp), what stands out in the P3 data is how quickly Muhammad gets off the floor. He's a fast leaper; in fact he's the fastest wing they've tested at P3 in a sub max jump to 10-feet-6. His quick explosion off the floor, combined with an extraordinary wingspan, explains while he was one of the top wing offensive rebounders in the country last year.

"The NBA only measured how high a player gets," Elliott said. "But if you watch basketball you know that only tells a small part of the story. Vertical quickness is a bigger part of the game than pure vertical jump height. We would take fast to 11-6 over slow to 12-6 any day. For a player like Muhammad, you'd rather have him be a fast jumper than have him jump an extra few inches."

Muhammad also generates significant force in his various vertical movements and fairly large forces in horizontal planes. Again, he showed up as significantly more powerful than the average wing player at his position -- something Muhammad uses to his advantage when scoring the basketball.

Where Muhammad needs work is on his lateral quickness. While he still shows a lot of power, his relative lack of hip and ankle mobility mean that the force he generates tends to project vertically instead of horizontally. Elliott showed me computer graphs of both his horizontal and vertical force and walked me through how P3 was getting Muhammad to change his technique so that he could explode the same way laterally that he does vertically.
...
Overall P3's data-driven approach was one of the most thorough I've seen and went a long way in alleviating fears I had about Muhammad's athleticism. Is he an elite athlete? No. But there's more than enough there to make him an above-average athlete at his position and his reactivity and explosion should be among the best at his position.
...
Hanlen has been tweaking Muhammad's shot, pushing him to work on his right-hand dribbling and teaching him a number of moves that players like Harden use to get their shot off in the NBA.

What I saw was a work in progress. Muhammad still is getting used to the new motion. When he opened up his hips and got the right follow-through, he was almost perfect shooting the ball. However, at times he's still reverting back to his old form at UCLA, which led to inconsistent results. He's only been in the program a month. These things take time and GMs generally believe that a jump shot is one thing you can fix.

What was more impressive was Hanlen's use of a number of Harden hesitation dribbles and step-backs to help Muhammad create separation in order to get his jump shot off. While Muhammad still doesn't totally look comfortable using his right hand, Hanlen is bringing him along slowly using two to three dribble jabs with his right to get him open.

The biggest thing that stood out during the workout was Muhammad's energy. He was relentless for the full 45 minutes. He brings a great work ethic to the table, and Hanlen was pushing him at a pretty insane pace. At the end, Muhammad was huffing and puffing, but he was still able to dunk and hit his jumpers.

If teams believe that with a little effort, Muhammad will be able to transform his game, he might have gone from being the most overrated player in the draft to the most underrated.

With his motor, toughness and natural aggression scoring the ball, Muhammad has the potential to be one of the best, if not the best scorer in a draft devoid of talented scorers. The question is, when will a team take a chance on him?

He really seems like he'd be best suited as the main microwave off the bench, similar to Mayo's role in Memphis, or even like the way we used our old friend Barbosa. He would definitely give the bench a scoring punch that this team desperately needs, especially since Kendall doesn't look like he's going to be getting time with the starters any time soon. Kendall would look better with a scorer next to him.

I wouldn't mind taking him late in the lottery if you could get that Mavericks pick(13) by taking on Marion's salary or something(this assumes you stretch Beas, waive Brown/Haddadi/Garrett). If you did that + the Tat trade, you'd be armed with 5/10/13. Take the BPA at each spot. At 5, it would be Oladipo(assuming Noel/Porter/McLemore are gone). 10 and 13 are much harder to project. Maybe you end up with Oladipo, Zeller, Shabazz.

Dragic/Marshall
Oladipo/Shabazz
Dudley/Marcus
Scola/Markieff
Frye/Zeller

Fill in holes with #30(Ledo, Goodwin, Rice Jr, Snell, or maybe you stash a guy like Giannis if available), #57(Solomon Hill?). Marion would most likely ask for a buyout or a trade to a contender; maybe you can trade him for a future pick.

We'll see what McDonough can pull off.

. I'd be giddy with an Oladipo / Zeller / Shabazz draft!

[DirtyDez]

The way Oladipo speaks and breathes reminds me of Artest. Not what he's saying but his mannerisms when being interviewed.

[Jarlaxle0204]

I do have to say that while I would definitely choose someone like McLemore over Shabazz, I really like how Shabazz comes off in his interviews. He's clearly not afraid to play against anyone. He seems to have alot of self confidence and really sees himself as a two. I was a little impressed. Obviously impressed with Oladipo and Zeller as well.

McLemore seems a little timid and everything he says seems a little rote. I do like that he came down for a workout with us though considering he's projected to be off the board by #5.

[Jarlaxle0204]

The way Oladipo speaks and breathes reminds me of Artest. Not what he's saying but his mannerisms when being interviewed.

I've heard that from other people too and I also agree with you. Although it was a little more evident in the draft combine video than this one.

[Sunsss]

Oladipo said he'll be going to Minnesota for workout. McD should tell him to take it easy there.

[ray ray]

Something tells me that the Suns are going to do everything in their power to draft McLemore... They love McLemore

[Kerrsed]

Oladipo said he'll be going to Minnesota for workout. McD should tell him to take it easy there.

He said maybe Minnesota.

Interesting to hear that Washington and Charlotte havent worked out either McLemore or Oladipo and arnt scheduled to. Thats a very good sign for us.

[RunDogGun]

Oladipo said he'll be going to Minnesota for workout. McD should tell him to take it easy there.

He said maybe Minnesota.

Interesting to hear that Washington and Charlotte havent worked out either McLemore or Oladipo and arnt scheduled to. Thats a very good sign for us.

Unless either one of those teams are going to trade their pick to Minny. If both teams work out players that seem to be going in that ninth pick, I'll be more worried about not getting Oladipo. I'm hoping for some players to have some great workouts.

[nickforthreee]

phoenix suns could have an awesome opportunity to completely revamp their team.

what if they drafted Anthony Bennett at number 5, and with the 30th pick took a chance on...... archie Goodwin. this would immediately make them an explosive, athletic, exciting team. worst case scenario: Goodwin is a complete bust and hes out of the league in 4 years. best case scenario: hes the next Russell westbrook. its a risk but man, if I were phoenix I would have to look hard at him at #30.

[ATTL]

Oladipo said he'll be going to Minnesota for workout. McD should tell him to take it easy there.

He said maybe Minnesota.

Interesting to hear that Washington and Charlotte havent worked out either McLemore or Oladipo and arnt scheduled to. Thats a very good sign for us.

I don't fear Washington taking a 2 with beal on their roster. Charlotte is a possibility but they have pressing needs up front.

I really wish we could see some of the workout to judge for ourselves

[grumpysaddle]

phoenix suns could have an awesome opportunity to completely revamp their team.

what if they drafted Anthony Bennett at number 5, and with the 30th pick took a chance on...... archie Goodwin. this would immediately make them an explosive, athletic, exciting team. worst case scenario: Goodwin is a complete bust and hes out of the league in 4 years. best case scenario: hes the next Russell westbrook. its a risk but man, if I were phoenix I would have to look hard at him at #30.

You can't be a 'bust' at the 30th pick... That's not how it works.

[gaspar]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/rickbozich/status/342462699210432512[/tweet]

[DRK]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/rickbozich/status/342462699210432512[/tweet]

What will Cleveland do with VO?

Start Oladipo at the 2 and play Waiters as a Barbosa role off the bench?

[TruthTelling]

Love how Oladipo comes across.

He should be the guy.

WTF man, oladipo is so full of BS in every interview I heard he obviously talks out of his behind and gives some fake answers that apparently he thinks is what people want to hear.

I like him as a player but his interviews are a joke.

BTW per insiders "the Suns absolutely love McLemore" and "really like what they saw in Shabazz". Notice they listed Shabazz as a SF at 6'6 and 6'11 wingspan.

[TruthTelling]

Something tells me that the Suns are going to do everything in their power to draft McLemore... They love McLemore

heard the same