NBA Draft/Rumors Thread
- Thread starter wcburrs87
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You said the Warriors won the title b/c they benched their center, when really it was just a circumstantial matchup situation. Without Irving, the Cavs were at a major deficit in the backcourt and couldnt keep up. In reality, Bogut was a MAJOR factor for them the entire season in the paint and a bit part of their regular season success against bigger teams. He actually played a bunch of games for once. Were the Warriors playing the Spurs or the Clippers, there wouldve been no "small ball". Against the Grizz, Bogut was a crucial presence in the paint. It's all matchups. Your notion that the Sixers have too many centers and the Warriors won because they played without one is just weird.
Here are facts..
Noel was the sure-fire #1 pick in the 2013 draft if he doesnt shred his ACL in the 2nd half of the season.
Embiid was the sure-fire #1 pick in the 2014 draft if he doesnt hurt his foot in lead-up workouts.
Towns and Okafor were widely considered #1-2 all season.
My point is....the big man is still very much en vogue and thats never going to change in this sport.
From the sounds of Hinkie's press conference it doesnt sound like they're playing Embiid any time soon, or if they do, it will be sparingly. Making the need for a true franchise center like Okafor more paramount.
I actually dont think the Euros are question marks. We have the last 12 years or so of Euro lottery picks not making an all star team even once, so pretty sure the Euros are actually less of a question these days. We kind of know. They tend to be not that great. Not in the last 10-12 years anyway.
Sure, one of these guys will hit again at some point. Law of averages and all. Next Dirk, next Gasol, next blah blah blah....he's so athletic for his size..he's 7'2 and hits from 27 feet..on and on and on.
Oh, and like we heard with Saric last year and Porzingis this year - "in three or four years he may be the best player in the this class...."
Sure, one of these guys will hit again at some point. Law of averages and all. Next Dirk, next Gasol, next blah blah blah....he's so athletic for his size..he's 7'2 and hits from 27 feet..on and on and on.
Oh, and like we heard with Saric last year and Porzingis this year - "in three or four years he may be the best player in the this class...."
I'm sure there are enough morons out there who might actually believe this. Kaminksy over Winslow was a major mistake. Kaminsky will impact an NBA game in 1 area and 1 area only. Jump shooting. He will get tossed around in the paint and abused defensively. Winslow is a versatile kid who can do a bunch of things well. Okafor also sucks defensively but he will impact an offense in numerous ways that Kaminsky can not. Okafor is a walking double team. Walking double teams make average perimeter players look like good perimeter players and good perimeter players great perimeter players. Kaminsky will never corral a double team at this level. Ever. He will float around on the perimeter, set pick and roll screens, roll off and shoot jumpers exclusively.
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A really good post with a lot of points I've always thought to myself but were never able to verbalize. There are plenty of good, if not great, euros in the league right now. A lot of them were 1st round picks, but it seems like the best of the bunch come from the middle or late part of the draft. I don't know if that means its a bad idea to draft a euro in the lottery, but it would seem like a risky bet.
There are some solid euros in the league, yes, but the fact is, as I posted previously - the last 19 euros taken in the lottery have never made an all-star game. They, by and large, lack the overall ability to be featured pieces and are better suited as complimentary parts - with very, very, very rare exceptions.
NickleDimer
Post 'Til Your Fingers Bleed
Off topic because its not the 76'ers.
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Apologist? Ya serious, bruh?
Okafor is THE GUY teams blew up their rosters in order to tank for a year ago. The. Guy.
The lack of perspective here is hilarious and shortsighted. And the other center the Sixers have might not even step foot on the court this yr. Noel is a PF in this league.
If Embiid IS able to play you can easily flip one of these studs for a proven guard better than friggin Mudiay. If Embiid cant play, well you at least covered yourself with the best insurance policy possible.
Okafor is THE GUY teams blew up their rosters in order to tank for a year ago. The. Guy.
The lack of perspective here is hilarious and shortsighted. And the other center the Sixers have might not even step foot on the court this yr. Noel is a PF in this league.
If Embiid IS able to play you can easily flip one of these studs for a proven guard better than friggin Mudiay. If Embiid cant play, well you at least covered yourself with the best insurance policy possible.
Why didn't Okafor go 1st or 2nd then. Tim Duncan (your example) was the surest 1st round pick with Lebron in the last 20 years.
Because Towns is a primo defender who can defend the rim. The T'Wolves are a horrific defensive team. None of their guys defend. They needed a defensive staple in the post. And Towns is a helluva prospect in his own right.
The Lakers have a heinous defensive PF in Randle who couldnt defend my dead grandmother. Pairing him with a C who cant play D would've been a disaster. They are also the Lakers and can easily get a free agent big like Aldridge or Monroe to come play center for them.
The Knicks possibly would've taken Okafor 1st. Same with Boston. It's all relative. Towns with the Sixers probably doesnt fit as well as Okafor with the Sixers. Towns is very similar to Noel. At least right now. Okafor does the things well that Noel doesnt, and vice versa.
Again, I'm not saying Okafor IS Duncan. He isnt because he cant defend like TD. I was speaking only to see his offensive arsenal in the post, which is absolutely unheard of for a 19 yr old baby.
NickleDimer
Post 'Til Your Fingers Bleed
Kaminskys above average inside game worked fine at college level. He's entirely too light in the ass to maintain position at the next level. They're gonna toss his ass around and he's not exactly Nerlens Noel athletically to recover when pushed off his spot.
He has pro footwork inside. Much better than a guy like Noels.
Strength is going to be an issue, but I see fight in the kid & am optimistic about his game a few years down the road.
Tallest measured big @ 6'11+ barefoot
Got to admit big bad Jahill didn't get the best of him in Championship matchup
Strength is going to be an issue, but I see fight in the kid & am optimistic about his game a few years down the road.
Tallest measured big @ 6'11+ barefoot
Got to admit big bad Jahill didn't get the best of him in Championship matchup
I want to make a point about saying Okafor is the best offensive big to enter the draft in years: he's got the best low post game. However, we're talking about a guy who cannot shoot past 10 feet and can't hit FT's. He's limited to the low blocks. Bigs needs to hit the jump shot to help space the floor, Okafor cannot do this yet.
Why is that? He's got offensive posts skills of a guy in his prime. He's the most ready to play of any guy in the draft physically and skills advancement-wise.
He is a 19 yr old center. He is not ready to be a legit force against 27 yr old grown men. He will be, but not likely before he is 24 and is able to hit the free agent market.
That's where samhinkie's plan is not so brilliant. He is tanking seasons to stockpile guys who may turn out to be good when they are 25-32 yrs old, but there is a good chance they will be on different tems by then.
Okafor will be a good player off the bat - the question is how much he will improve. I hear he doesn't like working on his negatives - but we'll see if that changes when he's not the best player for the firsf time in his life.
Kaminsky is kind of the same - how much will he improve? He has his go to moves and he can shoot. Winslow going after him was asinine - Jordan could have at least traded back and got Kaminsky + future picks. I do like Kaminsky to an extent, but any time you're agreeing with Jordan's draft picks you have to question yourself.
Kaminsky is kind of the same - how much will he improve? He has his go to moves and he can shoot. Winslow going after him was asinine - Jordan could have at least traded back and got Kaminsky + future picks. I do like Kaminsky to an extent, but any time you're agreeing with Jordan's draft picks you have to question yourself.
Okay or might end up being a top 5-10 player in them eagle, around 2022. Maybe he's still on tags 76ers. Maybe he is somewhere else aftEr all the tanking gets too him, and too heavy a load is put on him before he reaches the legal drinking age and there is frustration with him not producing soon enough.
Kid is all skin and bones, but getting intrigued by Porzingis. Lot of people seem to think he's going to be a helluva player. Again, not much in the last decade or so as far as outstanding Euros, but would be nice to see the Knicks draft something for a change.
T Wolves are building a nice group of players here. Wiggins/Towns are going to be excellent together. Wonder if they will try to tank one more year and grab one more high end player.
The guy doesn't imply "only guy". The guy meaning he was the one everyone was talking about and tanking toward last offseason. Cmon chief.
There are other players in this draft certainly. Towns will be very good in time. Russell will also be good. I like Winslow a lot. Mudiay will be decent if he can even form a respectable jumper. I like Jerian Grant tho I think he may have reached his ceiling. Cam Payne has big upside. Harrell could fill a Faried type of role.
There are other players in this draft certainly. Towns will be very good in time. Russell will also be good. I like Winslow a lot. Mudiay will be decent if he can even form a respectable jumper. I like Jerian Grant tho I think he may have reached his ceiling. Cam Payne has big upside. Harrell could fill a Faried type of role.
The guy I like least among the touted players is Tyus Jones. He's just small and not a good enough athlete at this level. Reminds me a ton of Tyler Ennis really. Okafor was swallowing up so many double teams Jones was routinely taking wide open jump shots. It was interesting to see Danny Ainge take another undersized guard in Rozier over him. Because he's more of a shot creator and a better athlete Im sure, but Rozier went earlier than I suspected. Also, with young PGs like Rubio and LaVine not sure how/where they are even planning to use Jones. Strange pick for them.
Considering they'll likely roll the tanks out one more year and sign nobody in free agency (and likely shelf or baby Embiid)...not many wins. Hard to say though without knowing exactly what they plan to do with the perimeter. I would basically rule out a trade of Embiid, Okafor, Noel, Saric in the interim. I dont think they will move Okafor period. If they were to make a move down the line it would be with Noel or Embiid but I doubt we see that for a year with the circumstances. As I said before they could easily go out and acquire a guy like Lawson, or perhaps Eric Bledsoe or Brandon Knight (sounds like Phx will move one), and sign a solid shooter FA like Khris Middleton. These are things they "could" do and if they did they probably win roughly 35-40 games in the East. But I suspect they will sign a guy like Jameer Nelson at best. Hell, maybe Foye. And win 25-27 games or thereabouts. Reading between the lines of Hinkie's commentary regarding free agents, the term "discerning" was really all I needed to hear. He's not signing anyone worthwhile. He doesnt want to commit $ to decent players when he thinks he can get higher level free agents to look in his direction a year from now when the team actually is starting to show something on the court. He also made comments to that effect as well. That free agents want to see a semblance of product first, not potential. Basically a "no sh*t" sort of comment but that was his way of saying, coupled with "discerning" that "yeah bitches, we're rolling those tanks back out another year, folks".
I said 35 wins before the Embiid news. Assumed they would have gotten a nice wing player in the draft but obviously things changed. That said, Okafor is NBA ready on offense. His endurance is a concern though - don't see him getting more than 25 minutes much in the first half of the season. Jordan McRae should be a nice player who will contribute immediately. 29 wins I'd say - their defense should be top 10 in the league when okafor is on the bench, Noel is that good and they have athletes everywhere else who can funnel penetration to him.
I'm not saying Embiid is worth 6 wins - that's asinine. But Embiid plus a high level wing, even a rookie one, might have been 6 with the defenders surrounding them. Plus, the atlantic converence still sucks.
I'm not saying Embiid is worth 6 wins - that's asinine. But Embiid plus a high level wing, even a rookie one, might have been 6 with the defenders surrounding them. Plus, the atlantic converence still sucks.