2016 NBA Draft Discussion
- Thread starter Dime Dropper
- Start date
I'm not telling you what I think, I'm telling what local newspapers have written. What fans on their website have written, and what I've seen with my own eyes when watching the Suns play. Len may well turn out to be a serviceable center, but so far, after three years in the league, he's been a disappointment to the Suns. He shot a pitiful 42% overall last season, which stinks for a center with no game away from the basket. He's not a bad rebounder, which is his only redeemable trait. You want him as your starting center, he's yours. Enjoy!
Yeah, the Kings are being tight lipped right now, but I would assume that they would have someone there if its open to other teams. I find Brown scary, and exciting at the same time. He has some red flags, but he comes with a loaded tool box. If he can figure out how to use them, watch out. Dude should be able to guard three positions.
I get the notion that if you can acquire Jimmy, sure do it. But with that package, you would need to include Trill and I'm not willing to do that. That's strictly hypothetically speaking of course. The Kings aren't in a position where they can throw away youth anymore, the franchise has done a awful job of drafting, that's a given. With a new front office in place now for longevity, acquiring and keeping your youth should be a necessity, when I saw youth I don't necessarily mean rookies and sophomores, 3rd, 4th and 5th year players can contribute.
What I can see Phoenix doing is getting rid of Blesdoe or Knight. I'm leaning more towards Bledsoe because of his inability to stay healthy through out the season, therefore, if the Suns like someone like Kris Dunn, Buddy Hield, Murray or Brown, I don't see the need to move back. Start young, start over...don't half way it. The inevitable will eventually be upon them. They gave Booker the green light last season to do as he pleases once Hornacek got canned, to get a good indication of where he is, and for a 20 year old, he impressed.
The Suns have the 13th pick as well, what other assets could they use? 4th and 13th will net you two quality players, if they do their homework and develop them properly. When I look at their roster, I'm not looking to fill a specific position. They won 23 games last season, they need everything but a SG but if one is there and it so happens to be the best player on the board, you take it and don't look back. Make the rest work down the road. They are in no position to pass up on talent. They can be like the Kings otherwise, drafting strictly on need and trying to address the need for shooting. Unfortunately, they drafted two players who can't shoot.
I used Jimmy as just an example but the principal is the same really. It might be a team wanting to create cap space for a shot at a big time free agent, or it might be a case that the players wants out, or it might be a case that the team just wants to blow it up and start over so they might value the pick and/or young players more than the player they are trading.
NBA history is littered with very good players getting traded for package that includes draft picks, young players and fillers. Bottom line is we don't really know what is out there and who is available for us to trade the pick for. Hell you mentioned Phoenix as possibly moving on Bledsoe, I would explore the option of what it would take and whether it's worth the risk.
Teams trade very good players all the time because they want to head in a different direction for something that is a lot less in value at the time. I am sure that if there is a team out there that is looking to get rid off their good young veteran for whatever reason, that pick 8 might be attractive to them.
You are absolutely right in saying that between Cousins and WCS, we have blown every single pick and those good value players we had on the roster we lost for pretty much nothing (Evans, Thomas). If we truly are invested into moving forward with Cousins (and we certainly seem to be from all the comments from both Vlade and Joerger), the last thing this team needs is rookies. It needs veterans and young talented veterans because our time in not in 4-5 years time. Our time is now! We can't afford to wait another 3-4 years for the rookies to develop. We need ready made players that are able to play at a high level NOW and for years to come.
NBA history is littered with very good players getting traded for package that includes draft picks, young players and fillers. Bottom line is we don't really know what is out there and who is available for us to trade the pick for. Hell you mentioned Phoenix as possibly moving on Bledsoe, I would explore the option of what it would take and whether it's worth the risk.
Teams trade very good players all the time because they want to head in a different direction for something that is a lot less in value at the time. I am sure that if there is a team out there that is looking to get rid off their good young veteran for whatever reason, that pick 8 might be attractive to them.
You are absolutely right in saying that between Cousins and WCS, we have blown every single pick and those good value players we had on the roster we lost for pretty much nothing (Evans, Thomas). If we truly are invested into moving forward with Cousins (and we certainly seem to be from all the comments from both Vlade and Joerger), the last thing this team needs is rookies. It needs veterans and young talented veterans because our time in not in 4-5 years time. Our time is now! We can't afford to wait another 3-4 years for the rookies to develop. We need ready made players that are able to play at a high level NOW and for years to come.
While your premise is sound, this is a special year: not many quality FAs and a lot of free money. Basically only 5-6 teams really need help in creating space, and those have marginal players on now reasonable contracts, that a few team will take into their cap space. And, for example, if Spurs decide to send out Green, there will be serious bidding war for his skillset, considering the contract, he's on. Playoffs are seemingly wide open at the lower level on both coasts, meaning there will be a lot of teams looking to get in, so expect really robust market for any serious contributor. Belinelli is really the only one, you probably can do well to replace: he was absolutely awful without Boogie on the floor, and it is not like there's a possibility, Kings want him to start. Get a legitimate starting SG, and you can probably get by with Mclemore/Curry taking all the back-up minutes.
That is a valid point but there are other examples of why teams might look to trade (e.g. Blow it up and rebuild). It is not out of the question and sometimes one teams's trash is another team's treasure with Rudy Gay being the classic example for Toronto and Sacramento. I know there were no picks involved and with the gigantic jump in slary cap, there are very little bad contracts in the league.
I like Ulis, I don't know if he can translate into the next level. I could be wrong, but he currently weighs 149lbs... People compare him to IT, but IT weighed 186lbs... that's nearly 40lbs more than Ulis. IT is extremely athletic, but Ulis not so much.
His size will always be a hinder him. He's the perfect PG if you ignore his size. I'd like to get his weight up to at least 175. He's going to get killed with that tiny frame
His size will always be a hinder him. He's the perfect PG if you ignore his size. I'd like to get his weight up to at least 175. He's going to get killed with that tiny frame
If you want IT impersonator, Kahlil 'Kay' Felder is your guy: put up a show whenever he faced a very good team, ran Washington off the court, pushed Michigan State to OT all by himself, and only top defense of Virginia put the clamps on him somewhat to the tune of 30 points on 25 possessions with no one else on his team getting above 10. And when you hear "but who would he pass to on that team?" excuse the next time, Felder is your rebuttal: almost 10 assists per 40 minutes this season. Only 3rd of his 3s came on C&S, so his 35.5% from 3 is massively under-representing his shooting ability, which is further supported by his .848 on FT%.
I'm not against trading a pick, or any player depending on what the return is, but where you, or anyone loses me, is when it's presented as an either/or situation. When you stated that the last thing the Kings need right now is another young player, your wrong. They need a constant influx of new talent year after year. However, they also need to full out all the major positions with veteran talent as well. You need both! I realize that the Kings organization hasn't been at the forefront of player development, but this is a new beginning, and I think they deserve some leeway in that area.
What we as fans need to do, is stop looking at every player we draft as some sort of savior, or future star. Instead, they should be looked at as one small building block of the future. I think that will happen when the core of our team reaches the potential were looking for. That said, I'm not against trading the pick if it's the difference maker in a larger deal that could help the team. But too many people think of it as just a plain chip to be gambled with, or thrown in for the hell of it. In fact, that chip could represent the next Klay Thompson. You never know. Remember, almost every player playing in the NBA was drafted by someone, including the veteran you might be trading the pick for.
What we as fans need to do, is stop looking at every player we draft as some sort of savior, or future star. Instead, they should be looked at as one small building block of the future. I think that will happen when the core of our team reaches the potential were looking for. That said, I'm not against trading the pick if it's the difference maker in a larger deal that could help the team. But too many people think of it as just a plain chip to be gambled with, or thrown in for the hell of it. In fact, that chip could represent the next Klay Thompson. You never know. Remember, almost every player playing in the NBA was drafted by someone, including the veteran you might be trading the pick for.
That's the toughest challenge right there. Those players don't exactly grow on trees and most teams are not looking to trade young players that play at a high level, so the package needs to be very enticing.
Regarding Bledsoe, I don't doubt his talents. When healthy, he is a heck of a guard. However, I don't think I want to rid myself of the lottery pick at the expense of hoping for his health, not just now but in the long term. Knee injuries are scary.
Regarding Bledsoe, I don't doubt his talents. When healthy, he is a heck of a guard. However, I don't think I want to rid myself of the lottery pick at the expense of hoping for his health, not just now but in the long term. Knee injuries are scary.
NBA players put on weight fairly easily once they get in the weight room with the right personnel. I don't have any doubts he will put in the work. However, you don't want him to add on too much weight, which in return, would take away his quickness and speed. If Earl Boykins managed to have a place in this league, I don't see why Tyler couldn't either.
I wouldn't mind getting an earlier 2nd round pick to get this kid because he is not lasting until pick 59.
We need cheap players that can play straight away and I think much like IT Felder can come in and play some solid NBA minutes in his rookie season. It would be nice to have a change of pace guard off the bench.
We need cheap players that can play straight away and I think much like IT Felder can come in and play some solid NBA minutes in his rookie season. It would be nice to have a change of pace guard off the bench.
Love the work DX does on their prospects, for anyone who aren't familiar with them, here's a link to their website: http://www.draftexpress.com/index.php
They're also connected with Yahoo's Verticle.
They provide free and great draft coverage on a lot of prospects.
Here is their current big board which changes from time to time: http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2016/list/
1. SF Ben Simmons
2. SF Brandon Ingram
3. SF Jaylen Brown
4. PF Dragen Bender
5. PG Kris Dunn
6. SG Jamaal Murray
7. SG Buddy Hield
8. PF Marquese Chriss
9. C Jakob Poeltl
10. PF Deyonta Davis
..
12. PG Wade Baldwin
15. SF Timothe Luwawu
20. Denzel Valentine
Observations from keeping a constant eye on their draftboard, a few notes:
They're also connected with Yahoo's Verticle.
They provide free and great draft coverage on a lot of prospects.
Here is their current big board which changes from time to time: http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2016/list/
1. SF Ben Simmons
2. SF Brandon Ingram
3. SF Jaylen Brown
4. PF Dragen Bender
5. PG Kris Dunn
6. SG Jamaal Murray
7. SG Buddy Hield
8. PF Marquese Chriss
9. C Jakob Poeltl
10. PF Deyonta Davis
..
12. PG Wade Baldwin
15. SF Timothe Luwawu
20. Denzel Valentine
Observations from keeping a constant eye on their draftboard, a few notes:
- Chriss has moved up from 2nd round, to late 1st, outside lotto, late lotto, and now mid lotto. He may continue to move up due to his tremendously high upside, but don't over-look his rawness. He's only 18.
- Deyonta Davis has moved up a bit. Not much has said about him, so I'll give a little snippet. He has potential to be an elite rim protector and he can switch onto guards. Has a mid range jumper and a semi-versatile offensive skillset. However, he's still a bit on the raw side on both ends. Only 19.
- Baldwin has risen up their draftboard. The main reason is probably because of the high success of 3pt shooting and backcourts with 2 ball handlers. Baldwin can play either position, and he has great size and length for a PG.
- Luwawu has slid a bit, I think it's probably due to his inconsistencies. He's an improved shooter, but it's not great. His ball handling is improved, but it's still a tad below average. He's not benefiting from the "rawness" because he's already 21.
- Valentine has slid a lot. Highly probable that it's due to more teams being alarmed about how much he was hidden on defense at MSU...and even hiding him didn't always work. Lack of athleticism and quickness are real concerns for Valentine moving onto the next level.