Let's talk draft prospect big men

[revprodeji]

I think this deserves its own thread, and since I am in charge, it gets its own thread.


Many of our trades involve bringing in an established center. (Bogut/Bynum/Favors)

This makes me wonder if we should have a thread discussing the four top-10 Center prospects.

1.) Jonas Valanciunas (DX-4, JG-5,)

2.) Bismack Biyombo (DX- 7, JG-13,)

3.) Enes Kanter (DX-8, JG-4, )

4.) Donatas-Motiejunas (DX-9, JG 16)

1.) What can these prospects give us? What are their weaknesses?

2.) Are any of them starters at the 5?

3.) If it is a trade down, what do we get?

[revprodeji]

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Jon ... unas-5622/

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Bis ... ombo-5902/

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Enes-Kanter-5168/

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Don ... unas-1300/

[dunkonu21]

I love Jonas. He is a great center to have back-up darko and we can afford to bring him along very slowly. Plus, I wanna see what darko has in the tank anyways. He is my pick at #2, obv it'd be best to trade down, but he won't last long.

[Kumar]

I'm tired of Euro center prospects for some odd reason.

Give me the black guy that can jump high.

But seriously, Kanter should really be considered in trade down scenarios. Don't think he'd fall past the Jazz, so there goes that idea.

Kanter @ #2 or die.

[Krapinsky]

The bust potential of all of them scares me. Too many question marks.

Biyombo seems to be the best fit.
Kanter seems to have the least bust potential.
Donatas doesn't seem to project as a 5.
Jonas! might have the most upside but seems to be a few years from being an impact player -- which isn't good for a team where it's players and fans are running out of patience.

[AQuintus]

Jonas, Kanter, and Biyombo are the only bigs that are worth our draft slot.

Biyombo is the only one that really fits the team.

Jonas is a rail thin, unathletic young big who doesn't have much of an offensive game outside of finishing P&Rs. He doesn't have the frame to add substantial weight, so I'm guessing he'll be a PF in the NBA.

Kanter is a decent fit, but he's also fairly unathletic and also might be better suited at PF. He does have the best offensive game (by far) of the 3.

Biyombo is the best fit. He's got an extremely raw offensive game, but he sets good screens, hits the offensive glass hard, dunks, and draws fouls. That's pretty much all you need next to Kevin Love. On top of that, he's supposedly only 18 with only 2 years of basketball experience, so he can definitely get better.

[Esohny]

I don't think that Jonas really projects as a center either. I just don't see him adding as much weight/strength as he would need. And they all scare me for various reasons; I'd much rather trade the pick.

[Grits n Gravy]

I don't think that Jonas really projects as a center either. I just don't see him adding as much weight/strength as he would need. And they all scare me for various reasons; I'd much rather trade the pick.

i completely disagree, i think he'll easily put on a good amount of weight and will be pretty much 7' in shoes by the time he is done growing...add in the fact that he has long arms(i'll be absolutely shocked if he doesn't have at least a 9'5 or 9'6 standing reach and a 7'5/7'6 wingspan)...i think he will be a lot like noah defensively with better offense.

noah is still not very bulky but he manages just fine because he has good strength on his frame


that picture is when he was 22 or close to it,



thats jonas at 18

he's gonna be beyond fine frame wise, length wise and height wise to play center. i hope we take him number and i hope more that he is able to come over straight away.

[AQuintus]

Jonas is no where close to the athlete that Noah is though, and look at how thin Jonas' shoulders (edit: just to clarify, I'm not talking about the size of each individual shoulder, but rather the how wide the distance between his shoulders is) are in that pic. I'll be shocked if he's able to add any substantial amount of weight without destroying his already limited athletic ability.

[eyeteeth]

I'm not sure how you call Valenciunas unathletic. He has incredible leaping ability, seems to drive the ball pretty well for a big man, runs the break without difficulty... Athleticism is not the same thing as strength.

I do worry somewhat about size as well, but I think he will bulk up enough. From what I have read, the biggest concern with Valenciunas is his undeveloped basketball knowledge. He's mostly an ally-oop and putback scorer right now. He doesn't have a real post game.

[Grits n Gravy]

Jonas is no where close to the athlete that Noah is though, and look at how thin Jonas' shoulders (edit: just to clarify, I'm not talking about the size of each individual shoulder, but rather the how wide the distance between his shoulders is) are in that pic. I'll be shocked if he's able to add any substantial amount of weight without destroying his already limited athletic ability.

noah was only 223 pounds when he was 21 or 22 years old from draftexpress.com and i disagree that noah is athletic, imo he isn't much more than average athletically...imo he gets by by just playing ridiculously hard and smart....and i don't think you can even really see his other shoulder in that pic.



i think jonas is just as athletic, just as tall, longer and has a comparable, although a smaller motor than noah(though who does) and he only just turned 19 less than a month ago.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Dp7QN2K7g4[/youtube]

[Grits n Gravy]

I'm not sure how you call Valenciunas unathletic. He has incredible leaping ability, seems to drive the ball pretty well for a big man, runs the break without difficulty... Athleticism is not the same thing as strength.

I do worry somewhat about size as well, but I think he will bulk up enough. From what I have read, the biggest concern with Valenciunas is his undeveloped basketball knowledge. He's mostly an ally-oop and putback scorer right now. He doesn't have a real post game.

he does have a bit of a post game but yes it is undeveloped, 3 things that are REALLY special about him right now is obviously his rebounding, his free throw shooting and his finishing around the rim. not just the efficiency in which he finishes around the rim, but the way he does it. tim duncan comes instantly to mind when i see him finish of a catch or a offensive rebound, he never brings the ball down and keeps it high to stop it getting stripped, and he is obviously extremely efficient finishing and when he gets fouled. he has amazing tools to be developed.

i wouldn't call his leaping ability amazing personally, he runs the floor very well though.

[Krapinsky]

i completely disagree, i think he'll easily put on a good amount of weight and will be pretty much 7' in shoes by the time he is done growing...add in the fact that he has long arms(i'll be absolutely shocked if he doesn't have at least a 9'5 or 9'6 standing reach and a 7'5/7'6 wingspan)...i think he will be a lot like noah defensively with better offense.

I would be shocked if he measured that big so either way one of us is going to be shocked.

[Klomp]

I think this deserves its own thread, and since I am in charge, it gets its own thread.

Who put you in charge?

[Grits n Gravy]

i completely disagree, i think he'll easily put on a good amount of weight and will be pretty much 7' in shoes by the time he is done growing...add in the fact that he has long arms(i'll be absolutely shocked if he doesn't have at least a 9'5 or 9'6 standing reach and a 7'5/7'6 wingspan)...i think he will be a lot like noah defensively with better offense.

I would be shocked if he measured that big so either way one of us is going to be shocked.

i think we'll never know krap as i'm not sure that he will be at the combine, but imo if biyombo can go 7'7 and a 9'3 standing reach i personally would expect jonas to have something like a 7'5 or 7'6 wingspan and a 9'5ish standing reach(cousins last year was 7'6 and 9'5 at 6'9.5 not in shoes, jonas will be taller and longer imo)

[eyeteeth]

OK, amazing is a bit much. After a season of watching Love, Darko and Pek it's just amazing to see a big man jump at all.

Valenciunas really does have a good above-the-rim game. If he was coming over this year, he would be very interesting.

I feel kind of foolish for this, but I think I would rather see Biyombo in a Wolves uniform than any of the other prospects. Something about his intensity and a feeling of intelligence and leadership that I get. It's a crazy gut thing where I almost think we could draft him at number two and to hell with the conventional thinkers and their draft boards.

[Krapinsky]

If Jonas has Deandre Jordan size measurements like Kiwi says, he'd probably shoot up to the top of my draft board. You just don't find guys that size with his motor and effort.

[Grits n Gravy]

If Jonas has Deandre Jordan size measurements like Kiwi says, he'd probably shoot up to the top of my draft board. You just don't find guys that size with his motor and effort.

check out this article/interview with him krap:
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Jon ... unas-5622/

he says that he is almost 6'11 without shoes and has a 7'6 wingspan and this is when he was 18 and he is probably still growing

[Devilzsidewalk]

I'd prefer Biyombos 7'7" wingspan and clear advantage in strength and explosion. And smile.

[Krapinsky]

If Jonas has Deandre Jordan size measurements like Kiwi says, he'd probably shoot up to the top of my draft board. You just don't find guys that size with his motor and effort.

check out this article/interview with him krap:
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Jon ... unas-5622/

he says that he is almost 6'11 without shoes and has a 7'6 wingspan and this is when he was 18 and he is probably still growing

I think he got his metric conversion messed up. I'm just going by the eye test on film and he doesn't look that big to me.