Official 2017 Draft Thread - Something Positive To Look Forward To

Mos_Heat · Post #761 » by **Mos_Heat** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 3:45 pm

36 wins was mine prediction http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1464738

I see our record between 33-37 wins in the end of the season

Mos_Heat · Post #762 » by **Mos_Heat** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 3:48 pm

Bishop45 wrote:
Feel_the_Heat15 wrote:If anyone thinks we have a chance at a top 3 pick, let alone the #1 pick without lottery luck, is setting themselves up for disappointment. With all of our rotational players healthy we're better than the 76ers, Nets, Mavericks and Phoenix. Just be happy that we're in great position to draft unique players such as Isaac and Markkanen without trading away Dragic.

Lettuce dream breh. Fwiw, 36 wins got us 10th pick two years ago and got Sac 8th with something similar last year. So barring trade or destructo disk of injuries, I see us around there

feels like it's gonna be around 9-12 pick this time

MartyConlonJr · Post #763 » by **MartyConlonJr** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 7:02 pm

2016 - Phi - worst (Simmons)
2015 - Min - worst (Towns)
2014 - Cle - 9th worst (Wiggins)
2013 - Cle - 3rd worst (Bennett)
2012 - Nor - tied 3rd worst (Davis)
2011 - Lac - 8th worst (Irving)
2010 - Was - 5th worst (Wall)
2009 - Lac - 2nd worst (Griffin)
2008 - Chi - 9th worst (Rose)
2007 - Por - 6th worst (Oden)
2006 - Tor - 5th worst (Bargnani)
2005 - Mil - 6th worst (Bogut)

7 of the last 12 drafts have been won by a team that was 5th worst or better. We are hovering around that group now. As much as it shows that at our current rate of winning there is still a decent chance at a top pick, it also lends some reason to not going for the outright tank as there is no guarantee. We had the worst record in 2008 and ended up with Beasley - Chicago was the 9th worst and got Rose who we wanted.

MartyConlonJr · Post #764 » by **MartyConlonJr** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 7:19 pm

I'm not an avid college watcher, so I may be way off here, and maybe I am just taken in by the highlights of Ball, but I have him #1. There is something about his passing that just screams elite NBA skill. It is like watching Rubio but without crippling scoring issues. He has that elite passing ability that only a few guys have in history, and he has that sense of the moment.

Then I watch highlights of Fultz and I am less convinced that the skills will translate as well. Not to say he isn't great, but maybe like the 94 draft where Glenn Robinson was an absolute beast in college, and Kidd went after, I feel like I'm watching a similar thing. He may have that efficient scorer thing like Big Dog or Carmelo, as a guard

#1 - Ball
#2 - Jackson
#3 - Fultz

Isaac, Giles and Smith are hard to guage. A lot of injury or rawness risk. I feel like I know what I'm getting with Fox, he seems like the next tier PG. Kind of like when there was the Paul-Williams-Felton draft where they were all comparable, but everyone knew he was third. Probably better than Felton, but maybe a teague/schroder type level.

After that I don't know. But then I'm only watching clips, not games. The razzle dazzle of Ball may just make a very efficient Fultz or Jackson look pedestrian.

Post #765 » by **heat4life** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 7:55 pm

I love Ball's play-making and passing ability. Looks like Rajon Rondo but with a better offensive game. Now, I am not sure how his awkward shooting motion is going to translate and while he can get to the basket and hit the "Curry-like" 3's, there are still questions about his mid-range game. Nothing we can't develop here at Heat Headquarters. I would LOVE to have him on the team creating for Hassan and others. My top pick for sure but I still think this team can use a dependable "go-to" scorer like Fultz. Maybe we can get with a 2nd 1st rounder? Free Agency? Scoring seems to be hard for this team. Ball's creativity should help fix some of that but we need a reliable "give-him-ball" scorer.

Post #766 » by **QUIZ** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 8:11 pm

Yeah Ball seems really interesting but he doesn't seem like the 1st option center piece that we need. If he's the BPA obviously take him but if we have the option Fultz and Jackson look like the potential goto scorers that we need. Plus both of those guys can also playmake.

gom · Post #767 » by **gom** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 8:17 pm

QUIZ wrote:Yeah Ball seems really interesting but he doesn't seem like the 1st option center piece that we need. If he's the BPA obviously take him but if we have the option Fultz and Jackson look like the potential goto scorers that we need. Plus both of those guys can also playmake.

Let's see those Washington-UCLA games first. This should be fun.

leoshes · Post #768 » by **leoshes** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 10:22 pm

I would trade everyone not named Whiteside for any of Ball, Jackson, Fultz, Smith jr, & maybe even Giles.

J-House · Post #769 » by **J-House** » Wed Dec 14, 2016 6:45 am

With a blockbuster trade seeming unlikely and a FA class that isn't anything to write home about I think that we have to focus on the draft. Forget about spending tons of money on a subpar player. We have to draft well and really lock in on the core we want to have moving foward.

Bishop45 · Post #770 » by **Bishop45** » Wed Dec 14, 2016 6:47 am

leoshes wrote:I would trade everyone not named Whiteside for any of Ball, Jackson, Fultz, Smith jr, & maybe even Giles.

Would you trade Whiteside for 2 of those guys?

Bishop45 · Post #771 » by **Bishop45** » Wed Dec 14, 2016 6:53 am

Since he hasn't played yet, although tourney hasn't happened yet, does Ben Simmons still land top 5 in this draft? Never really was in love with him, I think he'd be a 4+

Post #772 » by **QUIZ** » Wed Dec 14, 2016 8:51 am

Bishop45 wrote:Since he hasn't played yet, although tourney hasn't happened yet, does Ben Simmons still land top 5 in this draft? Never really was in love with him, I think he'd be a 4+

IDK but this past draft class is looking really bad right now.

gom · Post #773 » by **gom** » Wed Dec 14, 2016 10:00 am

QUIZ wrote:
Bishop45 wrote:Since he hasn't played yet, although tourney hasn't happened yet, does Ben Simmons still land top 5 in this draft? Never really was in love with him, I think he'd be a 4+

IDK but this past draft class is looking really bad right now.

I think it's way too early to judge how Simmons will turn out. In college, he was quite good. In this draft, he would be seen as the same kind of player as Josh Jackson, but better, so yeah, definitely top 5. Probably 2 or 3, depending on how you rank the others.

I think in general people overvalue picks and put too much pressure on the young players to succeed. They are all question marks until they show they can survive in the league. Every season we see duds.

Post #774 » by **DayofMourning** » Wed Dec 14, 2016 12:08 pm

The whole Ball family getting it:

http://www.nbadraft.net/ballers

LiAngelo with 72 points!

Post #775 » by **DayofMourning** » Wed Dec 14, 2016 12:15 pm

gom wrote:
QUIZ wrote:
Bishop45 wrote:Since he hasn't played yet, although tourney hasn't happened yet, does Ben Simmons still land top 5 in this draft? Never really was in love with him, I think he'd be a 4+

IDK but this past draft class is looking really bad right now.

I think it's way too early to judge how Simmons will turn out. In college, he was quite good. In this draft, he would be seen as the same kind of player as Josh Jackson, but better, so yeah, definitely top 5. Probably 2 or 3, depending on how you rank the others.

I think in general people overvalue picks and put too much pressure on the young players to succeed. They are all question marks until they show they can survive in the league. Every season we see duds.

I've actually got JJ and Fultz ahead of Simmons. Simmons was an elite rebounder and very good ballhandler, but an average defender and worse shooter than JJ.

Off the top of my head, over the past few drafts, I'd rank the prospects at the time of the draft something like this:

Embiid
Towns
JJ
Fultz
Simmons
Wiggins
Ball
Ingram
Russell
DSJ

Might tinker with that to some degree on the mid to lower end, but that top three feels pretty solid to me.

Bishop45 · Post #776 » by **Bishop45** » Wed Dec 14, 2016 12:30 pm

DayofMourning wrote:
gom wrote:
QUIZ wrote:IDK but this past draft class is looking really bad right now.

I think it's way too early to judge how Simmons will turn out. In college, he was quite good. In this draft, he would be seen as the same kind of player as Josh Jackson, but better, so yeah, definitely top 5. Probably 2 or 3, depending on how you rank the others.

I think in general people overvalue picks and put too much pressure on the young players to succeed. They are all question marks until they show they can survive in the league. Every season we see duds.

I've actually got JJ and Fultz ahead of Simmons. Simmons was an elite rebounder and very good ballhandler, but an average defender and worse shooter than JJ.

Off the top of my head, over the past few drafts, I'd rank the prospects at the time of the draft something like this:

Embiid
Towns
JJ
Fultz
Simmons
Wiggins
Ball
Ingram
Russell
DSJ

Might tinker with that to some degree on the mid to lower end, but that top three feels pretty solid to me.

No love for Porkfingaz and Myles Turner?

Post #777 » by **DayofMourning** » Wed Dec 14, 2016 12:37 pm

Bishop45 wrote:No love for Porkfingaz and Myles Turner?

I'm not using hindsight on this one. At the time of the draft, based on my personal preferences, I'd have them pretty close to that ranking. I loved Embiid about as much as you could a prospect. The same with Towns. If JJ had a better looking jumper with some smoothed out mechanics, then he could challenge their positioning. That'd be tough though. The top two are the best two prospects.

I didn't have a strong opinion of Kristaps when he was drafted. There was ONE poster on this board that I can remember actually vouching for him, and vouching for him hard. As for Turner, I'm not as high on him as the rest of you, though I would have been content with drafting him at ten if Justise hadn't fallen. Both have some flaws though, but have shown some nice potential thus far.

Bishop45 · Post #778 » by **Bishop45** » Wed Dec 14, 2016 12:40 pm

DayofMourning wrote:
Bishop45 wrote:No love for Porkfingaz and Myles Turner?

I'm not using hindsight on this one. At the time of the draft, based on my personal preferences, I'd have them pretty close to that ranking. I loved Embiid about as much as you could a prospect. The same with Towns. If JJ had a better looking jumper with some smoothed out mechanics, then he could challenge their positioning. That'd be tough though. The top two are the best two prospects.

I didn't have a strong opinion of Kristaps when he was drafted. There was ONE poster on this board that I can remember actually vouching for him, and vouching for him hard. As for Turner, I'm not as high on him as the rest of you, though I would have been content with drafting him at ten if Justise hadn't fallen. Both have some flaws though, but have shown some nice potential thus far.

My bad, didn't thoroughly read the part about it being a' time of the draft' based list

Up early and my head's already spinning

Post #779 » by **DayofMourning** » Wed Dec 14, 2016 12:59 pm

Don't know the draft status of this kid, but this slam deserves a look.

Watch on YouTube

Post #780 » by **DayofMourning** » Wed Dec 14, 2016 1:07 pm

Schmitz breaks down the UCLA/UK matchup for Ball and Fox from a week and a half ago.

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Matchup-Video-Lonzo-Ball-vs-Kentucky-5730/
http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Matchup-Video-DeAaron-Fox-vs-UCLA-5729/