but, the damn lakers have him unfortunately as some scout
Vlade is definitely a good comparison. Has got all the post moves, good fundamentals, a mid range j, and very good passing ability. Pretty good shot blocking ability despite not being that athletic. Needs to improve his rebounding and add some strength. I wouldn't be upset one bit if the kings ended up with him, I really hope teams overrate Hibbert and leave us with Hawes.
BTW if CWebb wins a championship and retires does anyone else like the idea of asking HIM to be our assistant big man coach?
Hawes is probably a top 5 pick, but I don't see how you can say Hibbert isn't that good. He's taking his team to the sweet 16. He's great in the post, a great passer, a great shotblocker, and a great man to man defender. I like Hibbert a lot.
I take Brandan Wright or Al Horford over all of them.
BTW if CWebb wins a championship and retires does anyone else like the idea of asking HIM to be our assistant big man coach?
I don't see Chris Webber wanting to become an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings. In fact, I'd be willing to bet big money he never goes into coaching.
Hawes is one of a couple of guys who scare me a bit in this draft. Not that I htink he will be a bust -- actually suspect he will be what people project him as, a multiskilled Vlade type player. But that he doesn't have that true upside potential to be a star. A starter, but maybe more like a Bogut in terms of impact. If you get that out of your #13 pick you have to be pretty happy. Out of #8, not bad although you should be looking around to see if there are any Amares or Dirks instead (one taken #9, the other #8). Taken at #5, in this draft, might almost be a disappointment. Vlade was a nice guy, but his talent wasn't going to swing a franchise. Scares me because Geoff has become fascinated with unathletic bigs with "basketball skills". Guys like Green and McRoberrts fall into the same rubric at lower levels.
Of course I've only seen him play for about 40 minutes total, so I could be way off.![]()
So what are you saying? you'd rather have Yi Jianlian or Julian Wright?
While I think Hawes is properly compared to Divac, I don't think that's his ceiling.
Jianlian maybe. He's scary in a different way (i.e. bust potential) but the ceiling there is up there as a Tom Chambers type player just too fast/athletic for other 7-footers to stay with.
Julain Wright..no. Although I have to say he reminds me a lot of Gerald Wallace.
The key here is not to get stodgy with the pick. Not to play it safe and take the good player who will never be more. Because merely adding one good player isn't going to turn things for our team at this point, and its not too often you get a chance to draft a great one. But I haven't seen enough of Hawes to be sure he's not. The next step up on the Vlade scale is a guy like Brad Daugherty, and if he can be that, than you would have to be pretty happy even if that's still sub superstar level. But drafting a guy intentionally hoping for the sure 12pts 8rebs is not the way to spend a #5 pick (if that's where you are). Certainly not a #3 or whatever. You get that high you just have to take a shot at landing a great one. And maybe that's Hawes, and if we get him I will have hope. But I'm far from sure.
Hawes is one of a couple of guys who scare me a bit in this draft. Not that I htink he will be a bust -- actually suspect he will be what people project him as, a multiskilled Vlade type player. But that he doesn't have that true upside potential to be a star... Scares me because Geoff has become fascinated with unathletic bigs with "basketball skills". Guys like Green and McRoberrts fall into the same rubric at lower levels.
The thing that people always forget when they compare people to Divac is that he was a legit 7'1" and BIG, with really long arms. Those extra inches make a world of difference. Even when he couldn't jump over a piece of paper he still could make a difference with that size and he didn't need to jump. The difference between Divac's 7'1" and Brad Miller's 6'11" is becoming rapidly apparent. They probably have about the same athletic ability at this point, but Divac could still be reasonably strong in the post whereas Miller is pretty much useless at this point.
All of this is to say that Divac's success as a relatively-unathletic-but-skilled big man, like Ric Smits, Arvydas Sabonis, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, etc., is predicated on size. You knock those guys down to 6'11" and suddenly they're not so special.
I mean, what is the track record for unathletic 6'11" guys who are skilled in the post?? Look at Nazr Muhammad, Bogut, Kaman, etc., not to mention guys like Michael Doleac. When has the not-particularly-athletic 6'11" thing ever worked since the Kevin McHale days? Brad Miller is about the peak of potential there, which, admittedly, is a pretty good cieling but not something you build a franchise around.
So I really don't care too much about Hawes' skills. There just isn't an upside for guys like him. Unathletic jack of all trades end up one place - the bench.
Why don't you wait until the predraft measurements come out before you label him the next nazr muhammad. I guess Yi Jianlian is the guy we're going to build our franchise around. Now, I'm not against YJL or anything, but people conveniently forget the dude is light as a feather and gets pushed around by chinese players.
I'm not saying he's going to be the next Nazr Muhammad.
And Jianlian can jump and is athletic. I'm not saying he's necessarily the guy we can build our franchise around either, but I'd much rather tie my fortunes to an athletic big with potential over an unathletic big with lots of "skills."
Horford has the ceiling of a poor-man's Elton Brand. Good low-post scorer and rebounder, but mediocre defense, moderate athleticism and no leadership. A grade him out like Hawes. A solid pick after the middle of the lottery, but not someone I want to spend a top 5 pick on.