Monroe, Aldrich, or Johnson?
- Thread starter KingGiant49erFan
- Start date
rainmaker
Hall of Famer
Says who? I've said it numerous times in the past few hours. There are others who feel that way to. Thats why I think this thread assumes too much, that none of the top 4 will fall to 5. I think Cousins falling to 5 is likely.
TTown Kings
Bench
I just don't see the Wes Johnson pick as an option. It means were giving up on two talented players that play the same position and are just as young. He's 22, is he better than Donte and Omri right now? Does he legitimately have a higher ceiling?
Vlade4GM
All-Star
Yes and yes. By how much is up for debate though.
Peter_Gibbons
Starter
How about wait until after the combine and workouts..
AussieKing
G-League
Couldn't agree more. At the moment we see the "top 4". Hopefully someone else through the workouts & combine results joins these guys in the conversation and you never know who might be available at 5.
For example, if my memory serves me correctly. At this time last year wasn't Tyreke looking like the 7 or 8th pick?
Chupacabra
Starter
I would pick Udoh all day long.
Vlade4GM
All-Star
Exactly, which is why we need to just go crazy with our pick and just randomly draft someone.
Peter_Gibbons
Starter
Yup, Tyreke was at the #7 spot for most mock drafts. From last yr's draft, the best rookies were #4, #7 and #10 respectively. So I would at least watch the workouts and check out the combine #s befor jumping to conclusions.
Yeah but last year was a wide open draft where after Blake there was little agreement on the rest of the top 10. This year, it's a pretty well defined top 4 and then open starting with us. I'd be surprised at what could change with the top 4 based on the combine/workouts but I'll admit it's possible.
kingofthejungle
G-League
Aminu
At 5 Petrie needs to consider who has the highest ceiling and the work ethic to reach it. I'd want to see if there remains a Robin to Reke's Batman. For me this spells A-M-I-N-U. He's 19, approx 6-9, has elite athleticism and a freakish wingspan, and could very well develop into an elite defender. Draftexpress reports he's working like a mad-man on his shooting, which I love to hear, but this part of his game (along w/ ability to create off the dribble) would require patience. My bottom line: draft the BPA and sort the rest out later.
Johnson is nice but at 22 I question his upside. Monroe doesn't fit this teams direction IMHO. Aldrich fits areas of need but lacks the upside you want at the 5th pick. There are others, but upside/attitude concerns seem to prevail in most cases.
Now I completely understand that many fans don't believe that SF is an area of need, relative to say SG and/or C, but when your team has the third worst record in the league--well you're not exactly in "cherry-on-top" mode. And this team has the versatile young pieces to accomodate a player like Aminu. For example, Donte Greene started at the 2 early this season and can certainly log time at that position, as can Reke, Garcia, and Udrih. So I'm not conserned w/ filling up minutes at the 2.
Down low is a different story. Drafting Aminu wont solve the Kings low post defensive woes, which may have to wait until next draft or 2011 free agency. That said, Hawes and Thompson continue to develop and I'm banking (although probably foolishly) on Hawes addressing his weaknesses this offseason, as this is a contract year and I think the kid's a greedy bastard. He'll never be a defensive presence, but perhaps the possibility of earning a decent paycheck will motivate him to exert effort more consistently (both in preseason and the season itself). Perhaps the Kings select a defensive-minded role player like Varnando at 33 who can contribute in the meantime and possibly stick around if he can significantly improve.
Sample depth chart:
Evans/Udrih
Greene/Garcia
Aminu/Casspi/(Nocioni)
Landry/Brockman
Hawes/Thompson/Varnando
Maybe not the most complimentary unit, but a well-thought-out trade could immediately resolve that. My main point is philosophical: I hope Petrie acquires who he considers the BPA regardless of position and work the rest out later. No matter how much we all hoped for it, the likelihood of the Kings being world-killers NEXT season was slim-to-none. True rebuilds take time and a true rebuild is what Petrie appears to be orchestrating.
At 5 Petrie needs to consider who has the highest ceiling and the work ethic to reach it. I'd want to see if there remains a Robin to Reke's Batman. For me this spells A-M-I-N-U. He's 19, approx 6-9, has elite athleticism and a freakish wingspan, and could very well develop into an elite defender. Draftexpress reports he's working like a mad-man on his shooting, which I love to hear, but this part of his game (along w/ ability to create off the dribble) would require patience. My bottom line: draft the BPA and sort the rest out later.
Johnson is nice but at 22 I question his upside. Monroe doesn't fit this teams direction IMHO. Aldrich fits areas of need but lacks the upside you want at the 5th pick. There are others, but upside/attitude concerns seem to prevail in most cases.
Now I completely understand that many fans don't believe that SF is an area of need, relative to say SG and/or C, but when your team has the third worst record in the league--well you're not exactly in "cherry-on-top" mode. And this team has the versatile young pieces to accomodate a player like Aminu. For example, Donte Greene started at the 2 early this season and can certainly log time at that position, as can Reke, Garcia, and Udrih. So I'm not conserned w/ filling up minutes at the 2.
Down low is a different story. Drafting Aminu wont solve the Kings low post defensive woes, which may have to wait until next draft or 2011 free agency. That said, Hawes and Thompson continue to develop and I'm banking (although probably foolishly) on Hawes addressing his weaknesses this offseason, as this is a contract year and I think the kid's a greedy bastard. He'll never be a defensive presence, but perhaps the possibility of earning a decent paycheck will motivate him to exert effort more consistently (both in preseason and the season itself). Perhaps the Kings select a defensive-minded role player like Varnando at 33 who can contribute in the meantime and possibly stick around if he can significantly improve.
Sample depth chart:
Evans/Udrih
Greene/Garcia
Aminu/Casspi/(Nocioni)
Landry/Brockman
Hawes/Thompson/Varnando
Maybe not the most complimentary unit, but a well-thought-out trade could immediately resolve that. My main point is philosophical: I hope Petrie acquires who he considers the BPA regardless of position and work the rest out later. No matter how much we all hoped for it, the likelihood of the Kings being world-killers NEXT season was slim-to-none. True rebuilds take time and a true rebuild is what Petrie appears to be orchestrating.
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William Blake
Bench
In the last ten years (at least) there always has been someone in the top four who didn't live up to expectations, drafting isn't an exact science, this one could end up being a three players draft as well as a five players draft.
That said, fifth pick still sucks.
That said, fifth pick still sucks.
No hate for anybody, that type of big just doesn't appeal to me very much, and I'm unsure that it fits our direction.
Draftexpress:
Best Case: Brad Miller
Worst Case: Josh McRoberts
Sptsjunkie
Starter
Orton intrigues me. My guess is with good measurements he definitely gets into the top 10. Whether or not we would take him at 5 over someone like Davis will be interesting.
Jaylee209
G-League
Draftexpress is the last place i'll go for player evaluation. Last year they had Tyreke's best case as Larry Hughes.
I think Monroe's best case is Either a more consistant Lamar Odom or less athletic Chris Webber. This KID seriously has ELITE passing skills. He averges near 9 or more rebounds a game and about 3 assists.
Circa_1985_Fan
All-Star
Yes Monroe has decent size, but just because of that doesnt mean he is right for THIS team...we already have a PF prospect of his type. Monroe isnt the strongest of players, and doesnt have a 'take charge' attitude and is often passive, from what I saw at G-Town. Is that someone you really want for this team? I'd take Aldrich over Monroe ANYDAY...but I dont think Aldrich goes before the #7 pick at the highest, and I think we will get Cousins, because the T-Wolves already have a great PF in Jefferson, and dont need to waste a pick on a clone of what they already have...I say they take Wes Johnson and Cousins drops in our lap. But in NO way do I want Greg Monroe on our team, and he shouldn't have ANY comparisons to Amare...not even close, IMO.
For you that is very easy to say just draft another small forward who's height you got it all wrong ( he is only 6' 8" unless he grew an inch ) Maybe you have a very short memory and I don't. The problem of the past two seasons are still vivid in my mind.
TWO PROBLEMS:
1.) I would rather not be frustrated again from having to watch this team struggle again the whole season because Hawes, Thompson, ( and you can include the undersized Landry ) not able to put up decent defense against the other teams' legit BIGS.
We have to address this problem through draft now before Petrie fills the need again and again with the likes of Sean May, Armstrong, or Mikki Moore.
2.) I would rather not get frustrated again from watching our good young small forwards sitting on the bench because there is just not enough playing time to accomodate them.
These two problems have been mentioned again and again in so many threads we have had all-season long. And now you still don't want to address that problem and worse you would like to compound them because there is this BPA-Aminu guy?
Who is AMINU?
Is Aminu in the mold of the small forwards Lebron James, Tmac, or Paul Pierce, or does he have the name "superstar" written on his forehead for us to ignore those 2 glaring problems that have very well caused the Kings to finished 3rd from the bottom?
If your answer is NO, then I would rather not gamble on Aminu and draft for NEED especially at pick #5.
Jaylee209
G-League
Petrie has said again and again, they are going to draft the best player available. Knowing Petrie, he's going to consider Monroe the bpa. He'll be one of the youngest, but also one of the best skill bigmen in the draft and the most likley out of the 5th pick and beyong to become an allstar.
Do you seriously think Aldrich will have a better career than Monroe? Also we can pick up a player like aldrich in the second round or maybe free agency Okafor or Chandler, perhaps). Petrie is not going to pick a role player ( no matter how good he plays his role) with the 5th pick.
Circa_1985_Fan
All-Star
And I'll say this again: If DeMarcus Cousins is available at #5, and it's a damn good possibility, Petrie takes him before Monroe.
Vlade4GM
All-Star
No, it's not.
Nbadraft.net thinks Monroe's best case is Lamar Odom, but what did they think about Tyreke last year?
NBA Comparison: Jamal Crawford/Larry Hughes
If you go back and look, there are no sites which ought to be taken very seriously when it comes to predictions about player careers. Of course, NBA FOs screw up on that all the time, too, as do sports commentators. Nobody's consistently decent at it. We're all just guessing, so we may as well throw out "authorities" and just say what we think.
If Evans/Casspi/Brockman are any indication, we're headed in the direction of playing a physically tough game, with defense as a high priority. It's an almost complete reversal from the shooting+finesse thing Petrie kept going for so long. A few brief leanings towards a Princeton style game seem to have been abandoned by mid-season.
For his age, Monroe is known to be a skilled offensive player, at least with his left hand, but is also known to sometimes play passively, to not thrive on contact, and defense is not his strong suit. He passes a lot, and although his TO rate is high, that can be expected to improve to some degree or another. But, if we're not playing a Princeton anymore, do we care?
It's okay with me if you like that, and like him. I'm just not interested, and I'm doubtful that it fits the team direction very well at this point.
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Vlade4GM
All-Star
College stats? Really?
Vlade4GM
All-Star
Dude, it's college stats. I mean, they can be helpful in the right context, but it's really much more telling to actually watch their games and compare them that way. I'm sure I can find plenty of players that had better college numbers than Michael Jordan, it doesn't mean much.
Vlade4GM
All-Star
http://www.draftexpress.com/article/2008-Nike-Hoop-Summit-Official-Measurements,-plus-2007-Analysis/
Aminu was measured at 6'8.25 in shoes with a 7'4.25 wingspan, at the age of 17 and 5 months, at the Nike Hoops Summit in 2008. For comparison, Josh Smith was measured at 6'8.25 in shoes with a 7'0 wingspan and a 8'10.5 standing reach, at the age of 18 and 6 months, at the pre-draft combine in 2004.
That makes me a little more hopeful for Aminu, but I don't know if he's got much of a shot at being a SF, his future is probably at PF. It's good if he's working on his ball handling and jump shot, but I'd prefer he worked on his post game. Hopefully he has grown taller since then and a lot of that wingspan will show in his standing reach.
So if it's not obvious so far, I'm becoming a little more open-minded about Aminu, but if I can't see him as a PF, then I don't know if I can prefer him over Johnson.
Aminu was measured at 6'8.25 in shoes with a 7'4.25 wingspan, at the age of 17 and 5 months, at the Nike Hoops Summit in 2008. For comparison, Josh Smith was measured at 6'8.25 in shoes with a 7'0 wingspan and a 8'10.5 standing reach, at the age of 18 and 6 months, at the pre-draft combine in 2004.
That makes me a little more hopeful for Aminu, but I don't know if he's got much of a shot at being a SF, his future is probably at PF. It's good if he's working on his ball handling and jump shot, but I'd prefer he worked on his post game. Hopefully he has grown taller since then and a lot of that wingspan will show in his standing reach.
So if it's not obvious so far, I'm becoming a little more open-minded about Aminu, but if I can't see him as a PF, then I don't know if I can prefer him over Johnson.
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M_Barragan
Bench
I think if he pulls a Tyreke this is the guy we are picking. Has as much upside as Cousins or Favors. We'll know with the combine what he measures out to be. He looks tall I would not be shocked if he measures at 6'9 with shoes.
Vlade4GM
All-Star
We can only hope, but I worry that he's trying too hard to prove he can be a SF, which to me seems like a pipe dream considering how much he lacks in perimeter skills.
Positives he has going for him body wise: Good frame (wide shoulders and wide hips), he can definitely support more weight if he committed himself to it. Really long arms, which hopefully translate to at least a 9'0 standing reach.
Negatives: Seemingly lacks height (as far as we know at the moment he's only around 6'8 in shoes), which could greatly limit the number of 4's he could match up with in the post. Lacks lower body strength, which he'll need to improve on quite a bit if he's going to defend the post. Overall body strength, lacks for a post player.
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