Who would you take? I like Adreian Payne, Aaron Gordon, Mitch McGary and Nick Johnson looks nice too. But, we need size.
The guy I wanted in the mid/late (if Neil was able to trade into this draft) would be Kyle Anderson or Doug McDermott. Both guys are playing themselves into lotto picks though. Le'Sigh.
Seems like just yesterday guys were drooling over trading up for Thomas Robinson. Didn't need to buy the pick in the end. We've got better players on the bench now than people think and they've played actual NBA games. Most of them are going to get better every year and most of them are on rookie salaries or 3 mil contracts. I think the roster we have will be much better than folks think next season and rookie hype is more often than not...overrated
Aaron Gordon still has work to do to get better, but none-the-less he won't not get past # 8. If he was projected to to miss the lottery, he would stay another year. I kind of agree with Fez on Kyle Anderson. Not sure where he would go, but he intrigues me. If UCLA continues their hot streak he may be long gone too by the time the late 1st rounders are chosen. But a 6'8" PG would be nice. He had an excellent pac 12 tournament. Yet he has enough question marks to keep him from going too high. Watching the AZ-UCLA game today I was wondering how he will fit in the NBA. Not sure of the answer.
You know that the Cavs would just love to get Aldridge. Rumor is they tried pretty hard last year. Say they do land a top 3 pick and say we traded Aldridge for that top 3, Drafted Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker and got Thompson+ in the process, that might not seem logical now, Just like it didn't seem logical to package Clyde and the #2 pick and take Jordan back in 84. Once again, Might we be looking back on this draft in 5-10 years IF that happens and saying what if?:MARIS61::MARIS61::MARIS61: [video=youtube;RerJWv5vwxc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RerJWv5vwxc[/video]
But do they land a top 2 pick? I bet Embid stays another year. I know he has said in the past he was leaning that way. So if Parker and Wiggins are both gone I am not so sure it would be worth it. Right now Cleveland is on pace for the 8th pick, so moving up will not be easy.
I really like Aaron Craft from Ohio State, NBADraft.net have him going undrafted. Also, Shabazz Napier made some noise early in the year, they have him going to the Spurs at #30.
Had Portland won a coin flip the debate would be over Olajuwon would have brought us a title or two. Portland could have also taken Barkley and Portland would have been that much closer to a title as well. Yet we got Sam Fucking Bowie
I love Craft he is a monster on the defensive side of the ball but he needs to spend some time in Europe or the D League rounding out the rest of his game.
Another player maybe worth scouting is Warren Gillis from Coastal Carolina. Just watched the big south championship game and he was very impressive: A big point-guard, very smart at running the offense, shot a good percentage, also from the FT line, didn't shoot much from 3 (0-1), finished with 22 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds. I think he could be a nice option, shouldn't be a high pick coming from a small school but I think he's a player.
From what I have read Gordon probably will be a top 5-6 pick. I also think for this draft it might be hard to buy a 1st round pick.
I actually think we go in the opposite direction this offseason. I think we take some of the youth on our bench and trade for a role playing vet.
The thread title says late pick. On draft day, if a team finds that the guy it wants is gone, it just might be willing to trade the pick for the maximum bucks plus a minor player. If Olshey knows who each team wants, and has drunk his coffee, he might be quick enough to get the pick.
Maybe we could buy Miami's pick, they don't seem to ever really keep their picks anymore. Around their pick would be a lot of viable options like Cleanthony Early, Adrien Payne, Alex Poythress, Mitch McGary, Nik Stauskas, TJ Warren, or James McAdoo.
