The unofficial official draft talk thread
by jonthefon on Feb 6, 2009 7:51 PM CST
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PrintSeriously, you all knew this was probably going to pop up soon. Might be a little early since it's been tough to project our draft position the way we've played this season, but I'd like to get some discussion going.
Right now, there are a number of guys I'm looking at:
-Point guards: Jeff Teague obviously, is one guy I'd really like to get. I've also stated before that Darren Collison is also a nice target but he may be a stretch to get from where we would be drafting. I'm intrigured by Eric Maynor but I haven't seen much of him at all. Patrick Mills as well but I'm generally not as high on the shorter PGs. Is Jonny Flynn planning to enter the draft?
-Swingmen: Chase Budinger and DeMar DeRozan are obviously top of the list, if they fall far enough. Both should be slashing, explosive players at the next level. I'd sit DaJuan Summers just behind them but the way's he's played so far I think he's worth a lottery pick. Maybe Tyler Smith but I don't really have him on my radar.
There are a number of other things I probably forgot to talk about (big guys?) but may as well get this thing started.
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Tyreke Evans...
He’d be at the front of my SG/SF list where we’d be drafting… Right there with Willie Warren…
The only guy I’d really be mad about us drafting that’s projected in the range we’d be picking is Damion James… Kid is the most frustrating player in the country to watch play… It’s absolutely mind-boggling how he doesn’t dominate college basketball games… Underachieving type guys are the exact type we need to steer away from…
Dione Christmas at SG for me
Paul Harris is a guy I’d love to grab in the 2nd round.
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
Paul Harris? Really?
Ugh…
Another guy I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole… He got in a fight during a practice at Syracuse a couple weeks back, quit the team, and went home to Buffalo… One of the coaches drove up there unannounced and brought him back to school… They announced he skipped two practices without explanation so he didn’t start for a few games as punishment, but the true story came out not long after…
Devendorf got in another fight with a kid on campus… That team is imploding and falling apart… It might cost Boeheim his job… That and being a terrible coach to begin with…
I wouldn’t mess with ANY of those Syracuse kids right now, as much as I like Flynn and I think Harris/Devendorf are talented…But terrible attitudes all around it seems…
We need some attitude
I don’t really like Flynn.. Just something about Harris that I’ve always liked.
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
I highly highly doubt that Willie comes out this year.
The Ralphie Report - University of Colorado Athletics
Who is Willie Warren?
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
Ah, for OU
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
Potential Lottery pick...
For me, if you’re a Lottery pick and your college team has nowhere to go but down, get out now…
I don’t know that he’ll leave either, but if he does, he’s definitely someone of interest…
I do like him.
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
So how long before Portland admits they made a mistake?
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
Never Never
Durant will put up some numbers (T-mac)
ODEN will put up some RINGS. :)
"Awesome! Totally awesome! All right, Hamilton!"
The thing is
right now with the way he’s played, the only rings he’s going to get are as a “starter with no game-turning influence”.
JEFF TEAGUE TIME.
You know who sucked pretty bad in his first season: Kobe
Airballs without end. You might remember he won ROY. Uh uh, that was AI. But then at least you might remember he made the first team. Wrong again, he made the All-Rookie second team, because guys like friggin Antoine Walker looked better to the voting coaches.
Amare wasn’t very good after returning from micro-fracture initially. Kidd needed time. Greg was cleared to play in August, and is in his first season after serious surgery, and all rookies – even completely healthy ones – hit the wall at some time. He is at about 60% of his former athleticism according to his trainers, and needs to get used to playing in the NBA. Wait after he has one full off-season under his belt. Then we can start to make fair assessments next season. Right now he still projects as a Patrick Ewing type player.
Everybody knew KD would be good and nobody should talk him down. He might turn out to be the better player and is very likely the better scorer forever. But small forward is a position that is fairly easy to fill (and not the greatest need in Portland). The great small forwards of all time are countable on one hand or max two. I think both will have a significant impact in the league. At the moment thanks to Bill Simmons & Co. Durant is labeled as so underhyped that he is really overhyped as a coming superstar. I think both will be impact players.
Plus the intangibles are in Oden’s favor. That huge figure has way more charisma and fan appeal, which was important for that franchise.
The cake is a lie. Trade the cake!
P.S.: Shouldn't this be a thread about who the Mavs draft with their pick in 2009 ;-)
The only one we will have for some time because the second round picks live in Indiana and the first rounder for 08 and 10 in NJ?
The cake is a lie. Trade the cake!
Yeah it should, sense the title is draft talk thread.
But some people like to post something that doesn’t have much to do with the post title, then someone responds to that post, then someone responds to that post and so on.
I have witnessed time and time again.
If I see him show that athleticism
yes, my outlook on him will go up. I want to see that sometime over the next year though.
JEFF TEAGUE TIME.
ahem.
ROY will put up some rings if anybody. Oden will simply be the “reliable man in the middle.” I don’t EVER see him being a dominant force inside, but I could very well be proven wrong.
"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"
by Walter Sobchak on Feb 8, 2009 3:09 PM CST up reply actions
Budinger
I’ve always liked him.
To me, he’s Howard with worse on-ball defense and a much better jumper. I’ll take that.
Yeah well
if Josh remembered to slash we wouldn’t really be having discussions this serious about drafting a slasher.
JEFF TEAGUE TIME.
I know
I didn’t mean that disparagingly to you. Howard’s not getting the job done. Bring in someone who will, I say.
A running, jumping team has to have a reliable slasher. I don’t feel great about that guy being Antoine Wright.
Antoine Wright
My advice to him, if he wants to play in this league for a long time.. try to become Bruce Bowen.
This Holliday character from UCLA is pretty interesting and seems like the 1 and done type.
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
Seth Davis said in an article last week...
That he couldn’t believe people still on Jrue Holliday and Demar DeRozan in the Lottery in mock drafts… Talkin about they were barely good college players at this point…
They’re both still interesting, but certainly not as much as they were 8 months ago…
Yeah, my knowledge of Holliday is basically what Dickie V or someone says about him
I like the way UCLA players play the game, though.
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
Yep...
One thing you gotta give Howland credit for is how committed he gets his kids on the defensive end… Ben Howland teams will flat out get after you…
Now, if he could only set up a decent half-court set offensively, he’d be in real good shape… Sit down and watch UCLA play for a couple of game worth of action… Watching Howland’s teams run offensive sets is painful…
Even last year when he had Love, Westbrook, and Afflalo, that team was terrible offensively in the half-court…
NO WAY.
My advice to Wright is slash, slash and slash again. Spend a lot of time practicing that 3 and at the free throw line. But find a way to use that athleticism to FINISH at the hoop. He does such a great job getting there, and getting in position to either finish or be fouled, but I think he tries to do both. He needs to work on finishing.
"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"
by Walter Sobchak on Feb 8, 2009 3:11 PM CST up reply actions
Defense and 3 point shooting
He has Rashard Lewis athleticism, it’s not the same as Kobe Bryant or Lamar Odom athleticism.. it’s more robotic, not enough agiltiy.
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
I'm fine with Rashard Lewis athleticism.
my point is, he’s willing and able to get to the hoop. he doesn’t need to be Kobe. He doesn’t have the length to be Odom. he is what we thought he was. just work on finishing. learn how to use the board like Barea does, or freakin’ dunk every now and then. I’ve seen him throw down some vicious dunks. he has the ability.
"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"
by Walter Sobchak on Feb 8, 2009 3:33 PM CST up reply actions
I think he's pretty much reached his ceiling offensively
other than improving beyond the arc.
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
so he's in his 4th year, which seems he very well should have by now...
but two and a half of those years stuck behind Vince and Jefferson with no chance to really grow, the 2nd half of 2008 with the Mavs virtually no chance with Avery, and 2008-2009 he opens with an injury plagued 2008…but he’s hit his ceiling? he can’t improve? you’re willing to say that this current version of Antoine Wright is the best we will ever see from him?
"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"
by Walter Sobchak on Feb 8, 2009 9:02 PM CST up reply actions
3 years in college, 4 years in the league
Aside from improvement beyond the arc, we have pretty much seen the best of Antoine Wright.
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
I agree we played the Queens tonight...
but did you see Antoine step up? He was awesome. First off, he played shut down defense on Kevin Martin – held him to 4 of 15 shooting. On offense, he finished most of his shots, and the ones he didn’t usually sent him to the line, where he hit his free throws. Great game. Sure we need consistency, but at a time this team needed him, he stepped up. I’d say he improved just in one game tonight, and has more to show
"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"
by Walter Sobchak on Feb 11, 2009 12:14 AM CST up reply actions
One game
2 rebounds? 1 assist?
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
well he didn't take 31 shots like Kobe did...
but Kobe’s line for that awesome 61 point game using your reference was 0 rebounds, 3 assists. are you saying that wasn’t a good performance? are you ignoring the 4 for 15 line Kevin Martin put up? if you’re running around the court chasing the other team’s best player, you’re not going to have many rebound opportunities. all I ask is that you agree that he looked great out there, and that it was certainly improvement from his previous several games, and that he has a chance of improving and hasn’t reached his ceiling. It’s obvious.
"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"
by Walter Sobchak on Feb 11, 2009 7:58 PM CST up reply actions
Truthfully
I didn’t turn the game on until the 4th quarter.
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
gross
stay away.
"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"
by Walter Sobchak on Feb 8, 2009 3:10 PM CST up reply actions
Wow, I saw some Giffin highlights on Sportscenter.
2 ally oops and a windmill.
I have witnessed time and time again.
it would be nice to find a way to get him.
but that’s the biggest pipe dream around. we need to trade for an early 2nd rounder and find a way to get a projectable DeAndre Jordan-type that has a lot of promise (Bynum as well) but won’t help immediately. Somebody that can take over big-time when Damp is done in 2 years but can be slowly integrated between now and then.
"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"
by Walter Sobchak on Feb 8, 2009 3:12 PM CST up reply actions
My draft hopes:
if Al-Farouq Aminu is on the board, via some trade or other fortune, I jump all over this kid. he’s got the tools and the youth to blossom, and if he is ready next year, we can plug him in at the 3 and move Josh to the 2. he can be our slasher/post presence, while Dirk, Josh and Jet play their games. Wake Forest puts out great NBA talent. I’m on board.
Brandon Jennings as our PG of the future would be fantastic in the same scenario as above, Willie Warren if he comes out.
If things stay the same (our draft slot, no trades) I think I’d take a flier on Darren Collison to be our speedy PG for tomorrow. Westbrook looks like the real deal. I wonder if Collison has the stuff to be an above average PG, and I wouldn’t count against it.
Later rounds/undrafted signees: Josh Carter has a great outside shot and can slash and hit free throws.
Basically anybody that can take over at PG after learning from Kidd for a year, or anybody to play the 3 and allow Josh to move to the 2, or even a great shooter at the 2 that has athleticism to get to the hoop as well.
"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"
Hooray, I have a fellow Darren Collison supporter
Josh Carter might be worth getting onto if he goes undrafted. Give him an invite to summer league, he can knock that three down easily.
JEFF TEAGUE TIME.
Collison
I’ve seen two sites compare him to Darrell Armstrong, and from what I’ve seen, I’d have to say that that’s a realistic ceiling.
And that’s not horrible by any means, especially considering the productivity DA had earlier in his career. You could do a lot worse getting a young DA with a late 1st.
I would think that Collison is a little more athletic then Armstrong
but maybe i am thinking of the 30+ Armstrong?
by mrichardson70 on Feb 9, 2009 1:12 AM CST up reply actions
So, Al Jefferson
If he is lost for an extended period of time, you have to figure that the Wolves will be a lock for the #1 pick.. They have Love and Jefferson at 4,5.. what do they do?
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
Griffin
Try to trade his rights.
Or maybe Harden.
by brettgardner on Feb 9, 2009 11:04 AM CST up reply actions
If Memphis stays out of the Stoudemire sweepstakes
They’re gonna want Griffin bad, I suspect.
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
Conley and Harden for Griffin
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
if I were a fan and my GM made that move
I’d find him and kill him. no doubt. You take Griffin, no matter what. unless you’re blown away. and Conley and Harden is not even CLOSE.
"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"
by Walter Sobchak on Feb 9, 2009 6:07 PM CST up reply actions
Yeah, I think it would take more right now
Conley is starting to play better, though.. I’m expecting a strong finish from him..
I think Gay and Memphis’ 1st round pick may be too much. They could probably come up with something good, though, if they wanted.
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
Throwing another name out there...
What do yall think about Cole Aldrich?
I’ve liked the kid a lot for a while, and sitting here watching him dominate a game defensively against NBA forwards like DeMarre Carroll and Leo Lyons just reinforces that…
It’s obvious this kid is very skilled, albeit raw offensively… But if he’s this kinda presence defensively night in and night out, he’s gonna have HUGE upside…
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