Prospect watch 2011

bajaden

Hall of Famer
So what you are saying is that we are picking 8th this year? Got it.

Are you sure on #60 by the way. I've seen this reported differently on different sites. I thought we had traded the Bucks for their 2nd round pick, so I am not sure they can force us to take Chicago's because it is the worse selection.
The way the second round pick was set up through the trade, was that the Bucks could choose which of the two second round picks they wanted to give us. Obviously they must have chosen to give us #60. I'm assuming that you were joking when you said we were picking 8th. Lets hope the joke doesn't come true.
 
The way the second round pick was set up through the trade, was that the Bucks could choose which of the two second round picks they wanted to give us. Obviously they must have chosen to give us #60. I'm assuming that you were joking when you said we were picking 8th. Lets hope the joke doesn't come true.
Makes sense, but too bad, I thought we should have two picks in the 30s, which could have potentially been packaged to move into the late first round.

Was joking. Kind of. Then again, if our luck holds, we'll get the 8th pick and Irving will slip to us because he gets a J-Walking ticket 2 days before the draft or Petrie will draft someone unexpected who will win ROY.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Makes sense, but too bad, I thought we should have two picks in the 30s, which could have potentially been packaged to move into the late first round.

Was joking. Kind of. Then again, if our luck holds, we'll get the 8th pick and Irving will slip to us because he gets a J-Walking ticket 2 days before the draft or Petrie will draft someone unexpected who will win ROY.
We can only hope. My hope is for Williams though. But hey, I won't be picky...
 
How is alec Burks Court vision and playmaking? read some scouting reports well mostly nbadraft and draftexpress says he can play both PG and SG... yes another combo guard but, can you imagine him paired with tyreke... theres got to be some cons there but certainly the pros can outweigh them right?
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
How is alec Burks Court vision and playmaking? read some scouting reports well mostly nbadraft and draftexpress says he can play both PG and SG... yes another combo guard but, can you imagine him paired with tyreke... theres got to be some cons there but certainly the pros can outweigh them right?
I can see him eventually as a combo guard in the Doug Christie mold. But he has to improve his passing. His ballhandling is fine. He's a very good athlete, and has a Christie type body. His biggest weakness is his outside shooting. His outside shooting percentage was worse his sophmore year than it was his freshman year when he shot somewhere around 35%.

Of course a lot of it had to increased shots from beyond the arc, and poorer shot selection. Like Christie, he's a better shooter when set in more of a catch and shoot position, than when coming off a screen etc.

As I said he's a very good athlete, and should be able to impact the game defensively, if nothing else. He's not my first choice, but if we end up picking, god forbid, 7th or 8th, then he would certainly be someone to take a look at. One thing is for sure. The team needs to become more athletic, and he would certainly add to that.
 
I can see him eventually as a combo guard in the Doug Christie mold. But he has to improve his passing. His ballhandling is fine. He's a very good athlete, and has a Christie type body. His biggest weakness is his outside shooting. His outside shooting percentage was worse his sophmore year than it was his freshman year when he shot somewhere around 35%.

Of course a lot of it had to increased shots from beyond the arc, and poorer shot selection. Like Christie, he's a better shooter when set in more of a catch and shoot position, than when coming off a screen etc.

As I said he's a very good athlete, and should be able to impact the game defensively, if nothing else. He's not my first choice, but if we end up picking, god forbid, 7th or 8th, then he would certainly be someone to take a look at. One thing is for sure. The team needs to become more athletic, and he would certainly add to that.
Sounds a little bit like St. Jean/Abdul-Wahad. Sorry, not too familiar with him, just going by your description and what I've read on other sites.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Sounds a little bit like St. Jean/Abdul-Wahad. Sorry, not too familiar with him, just going by your description and what I've read on other sites.
I think he has a little better touch on the ball than Wahad had. I always thought Wahad's jumpshot looked pretty good. It just didn't go in and almost always looked like a brick. I would also say that appearence wise, Wahad was more muscular than Burks. Thats why I said he resembled Christie. Anyway, I'd say his upside is better than Wahad's. For what thats worth.
 
I think he has a little better touch on the ball than Wahad had. I always thought Wahad's jumpshot looked pretty good. It just didn't go in and almost always looked like a brick. I would also say that appearence wise, Wahad was more muscular than Burks. Thats why I said he resembled Christie. Anyway, I'd say his upside is better than Wahad's. For what thats worth.
Yeah, that's one thing that I was thinking when reading your description of Burks in relation to Christie, in terms of body type. Wahad had an NBA body right out of college. That combined with his athleticism is what allowed him to be a pretty dominant defender. Funny you bring up his shot. I always thought the same thing. His shot looked pretty good/orthodox, yet for some reason his outside shooting was dismal. Burks sounds like an intriguing prospect, I just dont' know if he fills a pressing need right now. I can't remember if you touched on this, but do you feel he has the ability to play the 3 in the NBA?
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Yeah, that's one thing that I was thinking when reading your description of Burks in relation to Christie, in terms of body type. Wahad had an NBA body right out of college. That combined with his athleticism is what allowed him to be a pretty dominant defender. Funny you bring up his shot. I always thought the same thing. His shot looked pretty good/orthodox, yet for some reason his outside shooting was dismal. Burks sounds like an intriguing prospect, I just dont' know if he fills a pressing need right now. I can't remember if you touched on this, but do you feel he has the ability to play the 3 in the NBA?
He can play some 3, but he would be a little undersized. I don't know his wingspan, but it appears to be fairly long. If so, then I see no reason he couldn't play some three. Bottom line is, if you put him out there against some of the taller 3's in the league, they could post him up or possibly shoot over him. Of course the bright side would be, that if he got caught in a switch, he's certainly fair better at 6'6", than Thornton would at 6'3".
 
For a late draft pick YES... I can imagine Portland biting for JT. They need another big with LA. or even The spurs but I think JT and a second rounder can net us an early to mid 20s pick?
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
I would think that JT alone is worth a first round pick in the 15-20 range all by himself. Am I wrong?
Jason Thompson was drafted #12 three years ago. So it would be sad if you couldn't get a pick higher than #12 in this year's weak draft. I'd guess you might be able to get a #1 in the 7-12 range for Thompson.

Thompson started to display some skill at the very end of this past year so I'm not sure whether management would give up on him, especially for an unproven rookie. The question with Thompson remains his decision-making on the floor.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Would you trade JT if somehow Kanter falls to our lap?
Nope. At least not in the immediate. Kanter may well turn out to be a very good player, but number one, he's more of a center than a PF, and number two, he has no experience. Actually the best case scenario for him would to be able to sit on the bench and learn. While JT may not be the best PF in the league, he has more value than our fans give him. Especially if he can continue to play next season the way he ended the season.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
For a late draft pick YES... I can imagine Portland biting for JT. They need another big with LA. or even The spurs but I think JT and a second rounder can net us an early to mid 20s pick?
Your severely underrating JT. He has for more value around the league than you think. And this is not the draft you want to trade anyone of value for a low or mid round 1st. I can't name you one player in the draft after the top 7 to 10 players that is better than JT. In the immediate, I can't name you one player after the top two that can come in an do what JT does right now. Some may be able to after a year or two in the league, and there's no guarantee on that. I honestly don't get why everyone always wants to trade JT. I'm more on board with trading Casspi or Greene, or evern Beno for that that matter. JT right now is the perfect blue collar type of guy you want on your team.

He doesn't care if he starts or not. He's a good rebounder. Of late he seems to have finally figured out how and when to score. He's one of our best man defenders away from the basket, and his man defense near the basket has improved. He's a good team defender and always seems to make good rotations and switches. You give him 25 to 30 minutes a game and he'll give you 6 to 8 boards, 8 to 12 points and play good defense. In other words, he's the perfect bench guy to have on your team. There are guys in the league that play the same position that are making a lot more money, and are producing a lot less. So at the current price, he's a bargain. And he's durable.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Here's some footage of Enes Kanter. As I've stated before, his game reminds me somewhat of Cousins. I've been thinking about the upcoming draft, and with no guarantee of resigning Dalembert (hopefully he will resign). The Kings may give Kanter a long look, as insurance in case Dalembert does sign with someone else. Biyombo could fall into that catagory as well..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5kAZL0Q3ic
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
I think Kanter will be talked about in the top 4 or 5 by the time of the draft.
I tend to agree with you. He's a smooth athlete and seems very skilled. He has a rep as a very good rebounder. He appears to be another below the rim player, but when you look around the league, there aren't many centers that are high flyers. In the all star game that I saw, he played mostly in the post, and used that little pull up jumper from 5 or 6 feet. It appeared to be almost automatic. Anyway, as I said, with no guarantees or resigning Dalembert, the Kings might be looking for insurance. Hell, he just might be the best player available when its our turn.
 

Glenn

Hall of Famer
You can't have too many skilled big guys especially when several are in training so to speak. This has me far more interested than another PG what with Reke, Thornton, and Beno on the team. With the high foul rate of bigs, this sounds fine. A PG can always stay away from the foul but the big is the last line of defense and having 4 sounds like a wonderful and useful luxury.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
Here's my revised list of players, US only, in the order that I like them, and not necessarily in the order they would be drafted. My top 20.

1. Derrick Williams
2. Kyrie Irving
3. Brandon Knight
4. Kemba Walker
5. Terrence Jones
6. Alec Burks
7. Kawhi Leonard
8. Jordan Hamilton
9. Jimmer Fredette
10. Kenneth Faried
11. Marcus Morris
12. Tristan Thompson
13. Chris Singleton
14. Justin Harper
15. Markieff Morris
16. Nolan Smith
17. Marshon Brooks
18. Tyler Honeycutt
19. JaJuan Johnson
20. Josh Selby

Now of course you add in the international players and some of these guys get pushed down. Josh Selby probably doesn't deserve to be as high as I have him, but I watched him play in highschool and in two all star games before playing for Kansas. He got off to a rough start being suspended for around 12 games to start the season, and then had an ankle injury which took him out for a couple of games. I think he's a very talented kid, and I believe that if he could have started the season normally, he would have put up much better numbers. Thus the higher rating.
I have identical evaluations for the first five, though Kemba and Knight could easily trade places for me. I'd take Jimmer over Burks, though. Burks has the possibility of becoming a two-way player and Jimmer probably doesn't, but at least with Jimmer I can bank on him being a great outside shooter. With Burks, I can't look at his game and bank on anything.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
I have identical evaluations for the first five, though Kemba and Knight could easily trade places for me. I'd take Jimmer over Burks, though. Burks has the possibility of becoming a two-way player and Jimmer probably doesn't, but at least with Jimmer I can bank on him being a great outside shooter. With Burks, I can't look at his game and bank on anything.
You could probably take all the guys from 3 thru 10 and move them around according to your individual taste. All of them have very good qualities to their games. But all of them also have flaws. So it comes down to whether you think the player you like can overcome those flaws and become a complete player.

For instance, I look at both T. Jones and Burks as defensive players first. So of the two, which do I think has the best chance of become the better offensive player? I have my opinion, and I'm sure you have yours. But thats what it comes down to. If I throw a Faried or a Biyombo into the mix, then it becomes even more muddled. Especially with Biyombo, since he's such an unknown.

With me, it comes down to WOW moments. If I have two or three players somewhat equal in my mind, then I tend to go with what I call Wow moments. How many times during the year did that player make me stand up and take notice. How many times did he make me say wow, not many guys could have done that. Thats one of the reasons I had Fredette higher on my list than a lot of mocks did for most of the year. I can honestly say that I had a wow moment in just about every game I watched Fredette play. And some had multipule wow moments. By the same token, I think I had maybe 2 or 3 wow moments from Perry Jones all year.

Now on paper, P. Jones looks like, and should be the better player. And perhaps down the road he will be. But this past season, Fredette carried BYU on his back, and Jones contributed basicly nothing, except for one game, to his team. To my mind, that has to count for something. Thats not to say that I don't appreciate just good solid consistent play. I do! And thats what Barnes gave me in his last 15 or so games. When you find a guy that gives you solid consistent play, and also gives you a lot of Wow moments, well, thats the guy you try and grab. In the end, its always something of a crapshoot.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
You could probably take all the guys from 3 thru 10 and move them around according to your individual taste. All of them have very good qualities to their games. But all of them also have flaws. So it comes down to whether you think the player you like can overcome those flaws and become a complete player.

For instance, I look at both T. Jones and Burks as defensive players first. So of the two, which do I think has the best chance of become the better offensive player? I have my opinion, and I'm sure you have yours. But thats what it comes down to. If I throw a Faried or a Biyombo into the mix, then it becomes even more muddled. Especially with Biyombo, since he's such an unknown.

With me, it comes down to WOW moments. If I have two or three players somewhat equal in my mind, then I tend to go with what I call Wow moments. How many times during the year did that player make me stand up and take notice. How many times did he make me say wow, not many guys could have done that. Thats one of the reasons I had Fredette higher on my list than a lot of mocks did for most of the year. I can honestly say that I had a wow moment in just about every game I watched Fredette play. And some had multipule wow moments. By the same token, I think I had maybe 2 or 3 wow moments from Perry Jones all year.

Now on paper, P. Jones looks like, and should be the better player. And perhaps down the road he will be. But this past season, Fredette carried BYU on his back, and Jones contributed basicly nothing, except for one game, to his team. To my mind, that has to count for something. Thats not to say that I don't appreciate just good solid consistent play. I do! And thats what Barnes gave me in his last 15 or so games. When you find a guy that gives you solid consistent play, and also gives you a lot of Wow moments, well, thats the guy you try and grab. In the end, its always something of a crapshoot.
Did you have many WOW moments with Burks?
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Did you have many WOW moments with Burks?
To be honest, no! But to be fair, I didn't get to see him play as much as some of the others, since Colorado wasn't on as much. I got to see him enough to know that he's a terrible outside shooter. I was impressed with his ballhandling and passing, which I didn't expect going in. I was also impressed with his athleticism. There is a lot to like about him, and because of his athleticism, I can see where he could be a surprise down the road. But he does have holes in his game. But wow moments, no, not many. Thats why I have T. Jones higher than him. I had a lot of wow moments from Jones. As a matter of fact, after the first 10 games of the season, I had Jones ranked up in the top 3. Of course he did taper off, and from what I heard, Calapari asked him to offensively take a back seat to Knight and Lamb, and provide defense and rebounding. Then when Harrelson started giving them more than they expected, Jones moved further down the offensive ranking. So sometimes what you see is being manipulated to some extent.
 
my picks
1. derrick williams
2. kyrie irving
3. brandon knight
4. bismack biyombo
5. maaaaaaaaybe risk it with kemba but if we get this pick or lower, id seriously think about tradin it