2019 NBA Draft Thread (Thu 7PM ET, ESPN) presented by Duke4life831

[Vae Victus]

Clippers draft seem interesting.

They picked up 2 Florida State Seminoles, who was a team known to run a 10-11man rotation. Kabengele was coming off the bench even though he was prolly their most impactful player, Mann is an upperclassman scrapper wing.

Basically it seems like the Clippers are committed to go with a deep team with players who are willing to sacrifice glory and fit roles. LAC needed a versatile big and Kabengele can do a little bit of everything. Mann is prolly gonna get slotted into the 3D low usage swing role. Drafted for fit and so far seems good.

[clyde21]

Not gonna lie I was a little down on RJ going into the draft, but the way he's carried himself since is making me a believer. Love the confidence and alpha vibes that I'm getting from him. I hope he can get the Knicks out of purgatory.

RJ has all of the intangibles...hard worker, good kid, a winner, and has that dog mentality...he'll be an all-star sooner than later, even though his mamba tunnel vision can get annoying af at times.

[New_Hawks_Era]

Is Hunter a 3 or 4?

A hybrid, this guy can guard 1- 5 in today's NBA. More of a 3 traditionally.

[New_Hawks_Era]

Jae Crowder a comparison for DeAndre Hunter? What? You clearly never watched him play.

Horrible comparison, Crowder is the absolute floor for Hunter.

[New_Hawks_Era]

They shoulda picked Garland imo. "They already got Trae" I really don't think that matters. BPA, trade one of them if there's a conflict down the road.

Hunter lead Virginia to a College Title, Garland played 5 games and has a couple of highlights. I think the best player available was picked number 4.

[New_Hawks_Era]

Maria Taylor lookin fine!

Only fact in this whole chat. Everything else is a bunch of people saying stuff and predicting things that will be 90% wrong by the All - Star break next season.

[New_Hawks_Era]

Wtf is with Billups and these player comparisons? Lmao is that his sole purpose for being there tonight? surely he has something else to add

Jalen did it last year - he honestly may have nothing else to add but vague comparisons

These guys just don't go on to make good analysts. The role players and scrubs seem to make the best ones. Billups is an idiot IMO and I loved him on the Clips. I will never understand why teams want to make guys like this a President or GM.

How the fukc is Billups and idiot, wtf are you talking about?

[azcatz11]

Jalen did it last year - he honestly may have nothing else to add but vague comparisons

These guys just don't go on to make good analysts. The role players and scrubs seem to make the best ones. Billups is an idiot IMO and I loved him on the Clips. I will never understand why teams want to make guys like this a President or GM.

How the fukc is Billups and idiot, wtf are you talking about?

He's talking about how horrible is comparisons were

[Dupp]

Yeah this must be the goat draft by a mile if we’re going by Chauncey’s comparisons

[New_Hawks_Era]

Don't Cam and Hunter play the some position? That could be an issue internally for them no?

Cam is more sg than can spell you at sf while Hunter is a natural sg than can play some sf so no your incorrect.

[New_Hawks_Era]

"Cam Reddish has NBA range as a shooter"

*shot 33% from the shorter 3 line in college*

The line was too close,that's all.

[New_Hawks_Era]

The Atlanta draft picks looked questionable. They drafted De'andre Hunter and Cam Reddish,both play the same position. One has high floor,but low ceiling(De'Andre Hunter),and one player has low floor and possibly mid ceiling(Cam Reddish).The Hawks didn't get any better in this draft and maybe even sightly worse.The Hawks going have to hope that John Collins and Trae Young develop All star players next year if the Hawks have any chance of making the playoffs.

Hunter alone and what he brings on the defensive side makes the Hawks better and what if Reddish kills it and catches fire in the league being a 4th/5th option. I couldn't disagree with you anymore if my life depended on it. Hunter is naturally a small forward that can play power forward, Cam is a shooting guard that can occasionally play small forward. See how that works? Diversity in this league is gold.

[MetalFingaz]

The Atlanta draft picks looked questionable. They drafted De'andre Hunter and Cam Reddish,both play the same position. One has high floor,but low ceiling(De'Andre Hunter),and one player has low floor and possibly mid ceiling(Cam Reddish).The Hawks didn't get any better in this draft and maybe even sightly worse.The Hawks going have to hope that John Collins and Trae Young develop All star players next year if the Hawks have any chance of making the playoffs.

Hunter alone and what he brings on the defensive side makes the Hawks better and what if Reddish kills it and catches fire in the league being a 4th/5th option. I couldn't disagree with you anymore if my life depended on it. Hunter is naturally a small forward that can play power forward, Cam is a shooting guard that can occasionally play small forward. See how that works? Diversity in this league is gold.

facothomas22 is looking around the league thinking, "All these teams with athletic wings having success? I'm gonna zag when others zig and focus on small guards and immobile bigs."

[BNM]

Just two points.

Nassir Little was red flagged for being dumb like a rock.

Bol Bol was red flagged for bad handlers.

Interesting! I don't doubt you, but I've not heard that for either. Where'd you get that from?

There have been a lot of public reports on Bol Bol and his bad handlers having uncomfortable discussions.

I read a lot of Duke/NC State social media and basketball forums (Duke alum, UNC hater here). The hearsay from last year pre-draft heavily hinted at a pure dumbass, kinda opposite of the type of players Roy recruits. Roy and K usually only recruit kids from stable kids from solid families but this Little dude as rumored is beyond dumb.

That's weird. He graduated from high school with a 4.2 GPA, was in National Honor Society and salutatorian of his graduating class. So, I find it difficult to believe his is inherently "beyond dumb".

I realize BBIQ and native intelligence are two different things, but with that kind of academic record, he has a proven ability to learn. It's up to Portland's staff to work with him and teach him the offensive sets and defensive rotations. It's not like POR will expect him to run the offense. Just make his cuts, move off the ball and make the proper rotations on defense. Thankfully, POR has a good recent track record of developing guards and wings.

At UNC he was buried behind seniors who had three previous years playing in Roy's system. So, maybe he looked dumb in comparison.

He also has a great work ethic, a chip on his shoulder and a team leader, in Damian Lillard, who can show him how it's done. Both his parent's are ex-military. So, I'm not sure where the lack of a "solid family" comment comes from. I would think he was raised in a disciplined environment.

The good news for POR is they got a player that was expected to go a lot higher. He fell for a reason, but there were also reasons he was projected to go higher and those reasons still exists. He has great athleticism, length and an NBA ready frame at 19 years old. Given POR's wing situation, it's a perfect opportunity for him. They have Harkless and Evan Turner locked up for another year, so there is no pressure on Little to make an immediate impact. On the other hand, with Moe Harklesss and Evan Turner the only ones ahead of him on their depth chart, Little has an opportunity to earn minutes and will get PT when he shows he's ready - whether that's this year, or next.

The best news for him is he's going to a healthy, stable environment where they will be patient with him and teach him what he needs to know to be successful. They turned 2nd round picks Allen Crabbe and Pat Connaughton into rotation wings and Little has WAY more potential upside than either of those guys. It will be interesting to watch his development.

[New_Hawks_Era]

These guys just don't go on to make good analysts. The role players and scrubs seem to make the best ones. Billups is an idiot IMO and I loved him on the Clips. I will never understand why teams want to make guys like this a President or GM.

How the fukc is Billups and idiot, wtf are you talking about?

He's talking about how horrible is comparisons were

okay, makes sense now

[JoseRizal]

Is Hunter a 3 or 4?

A hybrid, this guy can guard 1- 5 in today's NBA. More of a 3 traditionally.

Then he will fit in nicely beside Collins.

[karkinos]

i don't get why everyone wanted nassir to be drafted earlier
am i the only one who thinks he has a low ceiling

[Buzzard]

People are laughing at Chauncey yet thought he should get consideration as Minny's GM lol

Chauncey thinks everyone is similar to a HOF or near HOF player and Bilas thinks over 1/2 of the 60 players taken have top 5 talent.

I think most draft pundits are scared to be critical these days. The internet and public in general does not forget dumb criticisms...

[Duke4life831]

Don't Cam and Hunter play the some position? That could be an issue internally for them no?

Cam is more sg than can spell you at sf while Hunter is a natural sg than can play some sf so no your incorrect.

Hunter or Huerter? Hunter is in no way a SG.

[Duke4life831]

i don't get why everyone wanted nassir to be drafted earlier
am i the only one who thinks he has a low ceiling

High high school rating and a fantastic athlete in a jacked up wing body. When you try to imagine the perfect wing player in today's game, Little is kind of what you think of. But the thing is, he fell for a legit reason. I was high on him to start the year but it became obvious Roy wasn't playing him for a reason. Even though he is a fantastic athlete, he had no clue what he was doing when he was out on the court, he constantly looked lost.

Now with that said, I think he is a great gamble for where Portland got him. He is one of those raw athletes that you take late in the 1st round hoping that one day they put it together. Most don't, but when they do, you get a fantastic steal.