Kings Select in the 2008 NBA DRAFT??
- Thread starter =LarryLegend=
- Start date
I've already made up my mind that the Kings aren't going to get a top five pick. The truth is, their better than most people thought. I don't think that precludes the Kings from getting a very good player in the draft, and who knows whatever other picks they might pick up with trades. So, I don't expect to have a chance at Rose or Beasley etc. The emergence of Beno takes some of the pressure off the pt position. Remember Nash wasn't great shakes when he first came into the league and who wouldn't want him now.
It appears to me that the Kings have Miller in their future, and thats fine with me. How old was Valde when he came here? 33 or something like that. If the team can develop in two or three years, then Miller can certainly contribute. Thats assuming that he stays in shape.
Sorry to be so long winded. Anyway, that, in my mind makes the power forward position the largest need. Drafting in the middle of the draft, I think we can fill that need.
It appears to me that the Kings have Miller in their future, and thats fine with me. How old was Valde when he came here? 33 or something like that. If the team can develop in two or three years, then Miller can certainly contribute. Thats assuming that he stays in shape.
Sorry to be so long winded. Anyway, that, in my mind makes the power forward position the largest need. Drafting in the middle of the draft, I think we can fill that need.
Exactly !!!
We should stop dreaming
about Rose or The Beast. Our guy is seating somewhere between #8-11.
I would really like to talk about OUR guys like Griffin, Batum, Budinger, Collison, Love etc. I like Budinger a lot but we do not need another SG/SF. We definitely need PF or PG and I think that PF is our #1 need. And the truth is that Blake Griffin is the only complete PF in our range. Love and Hardin are good prospects but I do not see them as Top-10/12 students.
We should stop dreaming
about Rose or The Beast. Our guy is seating somewhere between #8-11. I would really like to talk about OUR guys like Griffin, Batum, Budinger, Collison, Love etc. I like Budinger a lot but we do not need another SG/SF. We definitely need PF or PG and I think that PF is our #1 need. And the truth is that Blake Griffin is the only complete PF in our range. Love and Hardin are good prospects but I do not see them as Top-10/12 students.
Exactly !!!
We should stop dreaming about Rose or The Beast. Our guy is seating somewhere between #8-11.
I would really like to talk about OUR guys like Griffin, Batum, Budinger, Collison, Love etc. I like Budinger a lot but we do not need another SG/SF. We definitely need PF or PG and I think that PF is our #1 need. And the truth is that Blake Griffin is the only complete PF in our range. Love and Hardin are good prospects but I do not see them as Top-10/12 students.
We should stop dreaming
about Rose or The Beast. Our guy is seating somewhere between #8-11. I would really like to talk about OUR guys like Griffin, Batum, Budinger, Collison, Love etc. I like Budinger a lot but we do not need another SG/SF. We definitely need PF or PG and I think that PF is our #1 need. And the truth is that Blake Griffin is the only complete PF in our range. Love and Hardin are good prospects but I do not see them as Top-10/12 students.
I'd much rather have Arthur, Greene, Bayless, Lawson, Collison, or Hardin than Griffin or Batum or Budinger or Love.
From draftnet express
December 21, 2007
There’s been a steady buzz coming out of the land down over the past few months. A 6-10, 285 pound Aboriginal big man by the name of Nathan Jawai has come out of nowhere seemingly to establish himself as the best rookie in the league, as well as a prospect that NBA teams are slowly realizing they must take seriously as well. “Baby Shaq” our friend and head coach of the New Zealand Breakers Andrej Lemanis called him when we first asked for info back in September, “except he can shoot free throws.”
Cairns Taipans
Jawai, by the way, has still gone largely unnoticed by every other draft or scouting service in America from what we can tell, until now that is.
The Background
The Cape York Peninsula native (the northernmost point in Australia, in the state of Queensland) is draft eligible this year, both having been born in 1986 (making him automatically eligible as an international player), as well as having left the college ranks last season for a professional contract. Jawai played for Midland Community College (one of the top JUCOs in the country) briefly last year before suffering a knee injury and deciding to return home when he was rushed back onto the court prematurely, at least according to comments he made in published interviews.
“I tore my cartilage and they put me back on the court a week after the operation with no physio,” Jawai told Tim Morissey of the Daily Telegraph. “I could have ruined my career if I got injured again over there.”
He averaged 11 points and 6 rebounds on 49% shooting from the field in 14 games. He also spent a year at the renowned Australian Institute of Sports, and reportedly only started playing basketball at the age of 15, after people at St Augustine College in Cairns first tried to make him into a Rugby player. Jawai just turned 21 two months ago.
Jawai is doing more than just having an outstanding rookie season with the Cairns Taipans of the Australian NBL, he’s establishing himself as one of the best big men in the league.
This past weekend he won MVP honors of the NBL All-Star game, scoring 24 points with 12 rebounds, and drew a huge amount of media coverage in the process.
On the season, Jawai is averaging 18 points, 9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game in 30 minutes, shooting 58% from the field and 66% from the free throw line.
The Taipans are in 5th place in the NBL with a 10-8 record, and also have on their roster one of the top point guards in the league in Stephen Black (the coach’s son who also played in the Italian league) and Larry Abney, a super athletic American big man.
The Australian league is an up-tempo, high scoring league where games are 48 minutes long, and the big men unfortunately are typically lacking in great athleticism. Still, the competition is pretty solid.
What They’re Saying:
Jawai has garnered some huge praise from some of the top minds in Australian basketball, particularly the head coach of the national team, Brian Goorjian, who seemingly cannot wait to get him into a Boomers uniform. Stephen Howell of the Australian newspaper “the Age” had the following quotes from Goorjian this past weekend: "He's unique … his power around the basket, his court savvy. He's definitely somebody to have a real strong look at, and he's somebody with a bright, bright future.”
On his NBA potential: “Players go through the process of developing as NBA players while they're in the NBA. That's not my (area of) expertise, but I think he's the best talent that has come into our league in a long, long time and I don't think we've had anybody like him in that position…The guys in the NBA from Australia that make it are usually bigs … whether he's ready or not ready I think the sky's the limit for him and I think he could play in the NBA at some point in time."
Asked to compare him to Andrew Bogut, Goorjian said: "They're different players, but I think if Nathan was a senior in university playing somewhere (in the US) he would be a first-round draft pick."
Scouting Report:
When discussing Jawai’s prospects as a potential NBA player, you have to start with his physical attributes. He is listed at 7-0 by his NBL club Cairns Taipans, but obviously looks much closer to 6-9 or 6-10. That’s indeed what most people are beginning to list him at, either at 206 (6-9) or 208 (6-10) centimeters these days.
Regardless of what his true height is, though, Jawai surely has a massive wingspan, 7 foot 5 in fact, at least according to one published report. That will give him the ability to play the center position in the NBA, which is almost certainly where he fits best, particularly when you consider his massive frame. Jawai is built like a house, with a body that is impressive even by NBA standards, even though he currently sports at least a little bit of baby fat. His terrific strength will give him the chance to compete with big men at the NBA level, even though his skill-set will have to improve substantially first.
Cairns Taipans
More than just a brute force underneath the basket, Jawai also moves surprisingly well for a player his size. He has extremely nimble feet for a center, reminding to a certain extent in that regard of oversized tap-dancers like Glen Davis or Sofoklis Schortsanitis. Jawai is a mobile player moving up and down the court, and can even be described as explosive with the way he can get off the floor. It’s particularly impressive to see the way he finishes around the basket, power-dunking anything around the rim, where his terrific wingspan really comes in handy. The word that most often comes to mind when watching him play is simply “beast.” The thing is, he’s a coordinated beast at that, looking pretty fluid and natural moving around on the floor, even if he doesn’t always quite know what he’s doing.
As you’d probably expect, Jawai’s main source of production at the moment comes from his work inside the paint. His huge frame allows him to establish deep position relatively easy at the Australian NBL level (not noted as mentioned for the athleticism of its big men), and the big fells has excellent hands to catch the ball in a position to score, which he is usually able to do once he’s in the post.
He can put the ball on the floor for a quick single dribble to beat his man and get even closer to the rim, possibly to spin off his defender, and has a decent looking jump-hook he can execute with some consistency using his right hand. His best option, though, as you can imagine is to just dunk the ball. His touch around the hoop is not bad at all, so he does have quite a few tools to work with as he continues to add moves to his repertoire. He can do some damage on the offensive glass as well, showing a very quick second bounce to beat his opponent to the ball and a fair amount of tenacity once he gets worked up. At times you’ll even see him step outside and hit a 15-foot jumper, although this doesn’t seem to be a very consistent weapon for him at the moment. He does shoot a pretty impressive percentage from the free throw line at 70%, particularly for a big man who hasn’t been playing the game for all that long.
The best explanation for that seems to be that Jawai just has a pretty nice feel for the game. He’ll surprise you from time to time with the passes he makes, both on the interior to his fellow big man in traffic, or whipping a one handed bullet pass out of the post to an open shooter spotting up from the weak side. Sometimes he’ll get a little too cute doing some crazy Arvydas Sabonis impersonations, but even though his knowledge of the game is clearly limited, he does not look like a dumb player.
Cairns Taipans
December 21, 2007
There’s been a steady buzz coming out of the land down over the past few months. A 6-10, 285 pound Aboriginal big man by the name of Nathan Jawai has come out of nowhere seemingly to establish himself as the best rookie in the league, as well as a prospect that NBA teams are slowly realizing they must take seriously as well. “Baby Shaq” our friend and head coach of the New Zealand Breakers Andrej Lemanis called him when we first asked for info back in September, “except he can shoot free throws.”
Jawai, by the way, has still gone largely unnoticed by every other draft or scouting service in America from what we can tell, until now that is.
The Background
The Cape York Peninsula native (the northernmost point in Australia, in the state of Queensland) is draft eligible this year, both having been born in 1986 (making him automatically eligible as an international player), as well as having left the college ranks last season for a professional contract. Jawai played for Midland Community College (one of the top JUCOs in the country) briefly last year before suffering a knee injury and deciding to return home when he was rushed back onto the court prematurely, at least according to comments he made in published interviews.
“I tore my cartilage and they put me back on the court a week after the operation with no physio,” Jawai told Tim Morissey of the Daily Telegraph. “I could have ruined my career if I got injured again over there.”
He averaged 11 points and 6 rebounds on 49% shooting from the field in 14 games. He also spent a year at the renowned Australian Institute of Sports, and reportedly only started playing basketball at the age of 15, after people at St Augustine College in Cairns first tried to make him into a Rugby player. Jawai just turned 21 two months ago.
Jawai is doing more than just having an outstanding rookie season with the Cairns Taipans of the Australian NBL, he’s establishing himself as one of the best big men in the league.
This past weekend he won MVP honors of the NBL All-Star game, scoring 24 points with 12 rebounds, and drew a huge amount of media coverage in the process.
On the season, Jawai is averaging 18 points, 9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game in 30 minutes, shooting 58% from the field and 66% from the free throw line.
The Taipans are in 5th place in the NBL with a 10-8 record, and also have on their roster one of the top point guards in the league in Stephen Black (the coach’s son who also played in the Italian league) and Larry Abney, a super athletic American big man.
The Australian league is an up-tempo, high scoring league where games are 48 minutes long, and the big men unfortunately are typically lacking in great athleticism. Still, the competition is pretty solid.
What They’re Saying:
Jawai has garnered some huge praise from some of the top minds in Australian basketball, particularly the head coach of the national team, Brian Goorjian, who seemingly cannot wait to get him into a Boomers uniform. Stephen Howell of the Australian newspaper “the Age” had the following quotes from Goorjian this past weekend: "He's unique … his power around the basket, his court savvy. He's definitely somebody to have a real strong look at, and he's somebody with a bright, bright future.”
On his NBA potential: “Players go through the process of developing as NBA players while they're in the NBA. That's not my (area of) expertise, but I think he's the best talent that has come into our league in a long, long time and I don't think we've had anybody like him in that position…The guys in the NBA from Australia that make it are usually bigs … whether he's ready or not ready I think the sky's the limit for him and I think he could play in the NBA at some point in time."
Asked to compare him to Andrew Bogut, Goorjian said: "They're different players, but I think if Nathan was a senior in university playing somewhere (in the US) he would be a first-round draft pick."
Scouting Report:
When discussing Jawai’s prospects as a potential NBA player, you have to start with his physical attributes. He is listed at 7-0 by his NBL club Cairns Taipans, but obviously looks much closer to 6-9 or 6-10. That’s indeed what most people are beginning to list him at, either at 206 (6-9) or 208 (6-10) centimeters these days.
Regardless of what his true height is, though, Jawai surely has a massive wingspan, 7 foot 5 in fact, at least according to one published report. That will give him the ability to play the center position in the NBA, which is almost certainly where he fits best, particularly when you consider his massive frame. Jawai is built like a house, with a body that is impressive even by NBA standards, even though he currently sports at least a little bit of baby fat. His terrific strength will give him the chance to compete with big men at the NBA level, even though his skill-set will have to improve substantially first.
More than just a brute force underneath the basket, Jawai also moves surprisingly well for a player his size. He has extremely nimble feet for a center, reminding to a certain extent in that regard of oversized tap-dancers like Glen Davis or Sofoklis Schortsanitis. Jawai is a mobile player moving up and down the court, and can even be described as explosive with the way he can get off the floor. It’s particularly impressive to see the way he finishes around the basket, power-dunking anything around the rim, where his terrific wingspan really comes in handy. The word that most often comes to mind when watching him play is simply “beast.” The thing is, he’s a coordinated beast at that, looking pretty fluid and natural moving around on the floor, even if he doesn’t always quite know what he’s doing.
As you’d probably expect, Jawai’s main source of production at the moment comes from his work inside the paint. His huge frame allows him to establish deep position relatively easy at the Australian NBL level (not noted as mentioned for the athleticism of its big men), and the big fells has excellent hands to catch the ball in a position to score, which he is usually able to do once he’s in the post.
He can put the ball on the floor for a quick single dribble to beat his man and get even closer to the rim, possibly to spin off his defender, and has a decent looking jump-hook he can execute with some consistency using his right hand. His best option, though, as you can imagine is to just dunk the ball. His touch around the hoop is not bad at all, so he does have quite a few tools to work with as he continues to add moves to his repertoire. He can do some damage on the offensive glass as well, showing a very quick second bounce to beat his opponent to the ball and a fair amount of tenacity once he gets worked up. At times you’ll even see him step outside and hit a 15-foot jumper, although this doesn’t seem to be a very consistent weapon for him at the moment. He does shoot a pretty impressive percentage from the free throw line at 70%, particularly for a big man who hasn’t been playing the game for all that long.
The best explanation for that seems to be that Jawai just has a pretty nice feel for the game. He’ll surprise you from time to time with the passes he makes, both on the interior to his fellow big man in traffic, or whipping a one handed bullet pass out of the post to an open shooter spotting up from the weak side. Sometimes he’ll get a little too cute doing some crazy Arvydas Sabonis impersonations, but even though his knowledge of the game is clearly limited, he does not look like a dumb player.
Cal plays today on comcast at 3 o'clock. Good chance for those who haven't seen Hardin play to get a look. Pay attention to Ryan Anderson. I know he's perceived as another slow white guy, but I think you will be surprised by him if you haven't seen him play before. Texas plays at 3:30. Why do they always have the games I want to watch at the same time. TIVO time...
I don't think Ron would get us a pick that high. Also though I would much rather have a PG or PF with our pick.
PG's I'm interested in:
Bayless
Augustin
Lawson/Collison
in that order
PF's:
Arthur
Ibaka/Hardin
Greene
in no order
Bayless reminds me some of Chauncey Billups and Baron Davis. He's pretty explosive, kinda like Baron and he's got a lot of size and quickness. Also has the nice 3 pointer that both of them have and he's kinda big at 6'3'', so I could see him developing a bit of a post game like both have and he's also a nice defender already.
Augustin is a playmaker, not sure who I'd compare him to but he's going to be a really good player. He's got a lot of range on his shot, he's really quick and gets to the basket pretty fast also. He's probably the best passer out of the guys I mentioned, I think he's the APG leader of that group also. I'm a little woried about him defensively because he's only 6'0'' or even 5'11'' but the guy can make things happen offensively for sure.
The UCLA game was pretty interesting.
Kevin Love played well rebounding wise. If we were to get a #10-#13 pick I might be interested in this guy.. But he might be a bit lower than that so.........
My ideal scenario would be to get another 2008 pick somewhere in the 15-20 range, figure out a way to get OJ Mayo w/ the 1st pick, than w/ the 15-20 pick take Love. That would shore up our PG (if Mayo could learn play that position) and PF positions for years to come. Hawes, Love, Mayo, Martin are all youngsters. I would be content with that situation IF Mayo turned out to be a decent PG and not a small SG.
You also have the option of (if we had the $10 or so pick) trade down and pick up two picks around the #20 range, and take Augustin, and Hardin. Bottom line though is that we need a PG/PF this year in the draft. If Bibby is traded than I would like to see Beno signed for another few years. That way we have someone to start in front of a drafted PG for a while.
Kevin Love played well rebounding wise. If we were to get a #10-#13 pick I might be interested in this guy.. But he might be a bit lower than that so.........
My ideal scenario would be to get another 2008 pick somewhere in the 15-20 range, figure out a way to get OJ Mayo w/ the 1st pick, than w/ the 15-20 pick take Love. That would shore up our PG (if Mayo could learn play that position) and PF positions for years to come. Hawes, Love, Mayo, Martin are all youngsters. I would be content with that situation IF Mayo turned out to be a decent PG and not a small SG.
You also have the option of (if we had the $10 or so pick) trade down and pick up two picks around the #20 range, and take Augustin, and Hardin. Bottom line though is that we need a PG/PF this year in the draft. If Bibby is traded than I would like to see Beno signed for another few years. That way we have someone to start in front of a drafted PG for a while.
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Getting another pick is huge. Geoff has done pretty well for himself over the years with the picks he has but never seems to show any aggressiveness in obtaining more. I'd like to see that change this year.
Say we have our own pick, somewhere between 7-10 range. Then, through a Bibby trade, for example, we get another one in the 15-20 range. We get a ton of options there. Keep both, and draft the best PG and PF available at both spots. Or, keep in mind, that Minnesota will likely get a top 3 pick and likely has no use for a Beasley or Mayo (they already have Jefferson and Foye, respectively, and really need a center). We could then be in a position to trade up with our two picks for a top 3 pick.
I like the idea of keeping Beno around for a few more years, as long as he comes cheap. But let's see who we get before we make any strong commitment (luckily the draft is before free agency).
Say we have our own pick, somewhere between 7-10 range. Then, through a Bibby trade, for example, we get another one in the 15-20 range. We get a ton of options there. Keep both, and draft the best PG and PF available at both spots. Or, keep in mind, that Minnesota will likely get a top 3 pick and likely has no use for a Beasley or Mayo (they already have Jefferson and Foye, respectively, and really need a center). We could then be in a position to trade up with our two picks for a top 3 pick.
I like the idea of keeping Beno around for a few more years, as long as he comes cheap. But let's see who we get before we make any strong commitment (luckily the draft is before free agency).
Augustin's actually moved up into the lottery, atleast on draftexpress.com I think. If we have a pick between 10-14 I would love to take him, then get a 20th or so and take Hardin. I think they would compliment our team pretty well. Augustin's a good passer and a good scorer, next to Martin it would help to have a player like DJ. He'd definitely do a good job of feeding our PF/Cs also. Then Hardin's size, shotblocking, rebounding, and overall combination of defense and athleticism would really compliment Spencer. Then we would just need to bring a defensive combo guard off the bench IMO that has some strength at times when 1 of Martin/Augustin has a stronger match up. Maybe get a scorer off the bench at PF. But I like the core of Augustin/Martin/Hardin/Hawes because they all compliment eachother.
I'm sort of curious why you think of Beno, only as a short term answer. Couldn't it be possible for him to be our pt guard of the future. He's only 25 yr's old, and his future is still before him. Regardless, we would still need a back-up pt, which could be obtained thru the draft, free angency, or a trade.
I think our greatest need is at the PF position. There are several that I like in the upcoming draft, but its possible that we could solve that problem before the draft with a trade. In my opinion, that would be the best case senario. We could then pick the best player available, regardless of position. I know that its not the most glamorus way of looking at it, but it could be the most effecient.
I think our greatest need is at the PF position. There are several that I like in the upcoming draft, but its possible that we could solve that problem before the draft with a trade. In my opinion, that would be the best case senario. We could then pick the best player available, regardless of position. I know that its not the most glamorus way of looking at it, but it could be the most effecient.
I like Beno as a backup/spot starter, but I am still undecided on whether or not if I like him as a starting PG on a good team. Plus I am not sure how much he will command after this season. If I were Petrie I would offer him an extension right now. Sign him for 5 years 28mil.
Augustin on nbadraft.net is high teens I believe, or early 20s. His size probably will keep him out of the top 15. I can't see a team using a #10 on a 5'9 PG unless he's a superstar in the making. (Listed at 5'11, but I hear he's more like 5'9)
If it were up to me and we had one pick at about #10 I would be looking at Hardin, Love, Mayo, and Griffin.
Augustin on nbadraft.net is high teens I believe, or early 20s. His size probably will keep him out of the top 15. I can't see a team using a #10 on a 5'9 PG unless he's a superstar in the making. (Listed at 5'11, but I hear he's more like 5'9)
If it were up to me and we had one pick at about #10 I would be looking at Hardin, Love, Mayo, and Griffin.
Nah DX has him at 14 right now(just checked) and he's 5'11'' for sure, when I watch him play he definitely looks that tall atleast. ESPN has him at 6'0''. He's about as tall as TJ Ford or Chris Paul IMO. But he's averaging like 19/7 on good FG% and 3%, he's a baller for sure. He handles the ball better than any PG in this draft and shoots better also. He might be the quickest also. He has great range on his J and he's just a good player, he knows how to do stuff the other PGs don't know how to do. He's a better shooter, ball handler, and passer than Collison. He's a better shooter, ball handler, and maybe a little quicker than Lawson. He's a much better shooter than Rose, a better passer, quicker, only thing Rose actually has on DJ is size and leaping ability so I don't see why it's a stretch for DJ to be in the lotto. The guy isn't Nate Robinson, he actually knows how to play basketball and he's actually his listed height, somewhere inbetween 5'11''-6'0''. He's TJ Ford with Steve Nash skills. I'm telling you guys right now he's going to be a REALLY good player.
We'll find out how tall he really is at the combine. I don't really care. I've already stated that the only pt I would take over him is Rose, and were not going to be in a position to pick him. I have no problem using our pick on a pt guard. I just think that if there's a big available at our pick that we need to take him. Of couse I'm refering to someone we really like.
Did anyone see the stanford game. I'm more and more impressed with the Lopez twins. Brook plays great defense and rebounds well . He's more athletic than I thought. He's starting to rise on my wish list...
Did anyone see the stanford game. I'm more and more impressed with the Lopez twins. Brook plays great defense and rebounds well . He's more athletic than I thought. He's starting to rise on my wish list...
Ehh you need good players in the 1st place. I'm more confident DJ will become a really good player. Hardin I dunno. We really need a good PG also though. So that's where Augustin comes in because he can pass, shoot, drive, he can do pretty much anything on offense. He's going to be a tremendous player, or atleast a pretty good one with the skills and quickness he has. Hardin could be a bust. I'm pretty sure Augustin will be picked higher anyway. But I want to deal Bibby to a team for a 1st, maybe Cleveland, and we get our 2 picks that way so we can have them both.
