Merged: The Draft Thread For Stuff About The Draft Including Thoughts About The Draft

[Mediocre Man]

Like beating a dead horse is prevelant...

And some still disagree with you. Your statement is completely vague and doesn't take into account who is going to get drafted at the top and if they are a position of need.

You seem to have quite the narrow viewpoint on this...and insist on repeating it over and over and over, but you don't need to. We all know how you feel.

I repeat it because more people bring it up

 

[Destroyer of Worlds]

Of course that changed things....but he covered up so many holes that are still there. Those didn't suddenly go away just because of his arrival. Also, he has tended to be a bit injury prone already at a young age so it seems unlikely that he doesn't get hurt again.

Nurkic combined with a home heavy/softer schedule led to many more wins but it didn't fix the back-courts defense, or help Aminu suddenly have handles. It didn't suddenly make anyone in the front court a solid scorer other than dunks and it didn't make the bench better. It did finally give us a center which we hadn't had for several years.

Sure seems like we were an improved defensive team with him on the floor, as the guards funneled to him and he averaged quite a few blocks. Appears it did help our backcourt and helped take the load off them offensively.

Seems like he provided spacing for not only Lillard & McCollum, but the rest of the guys as well. He was a great passer out of the post. Consistently found shooters, cutters which led to those dunks and increased bench efficiency. Harkless specifically was much better and Aminu as well.

Having NURK start at center undoubtedly helped our bench. Changes rotations, lineups, added versatility and much better defensively. It also allowed us to play 5 scrubs less on the court together as with 3 scorers (dame, cj, NURK) you can always have one in the game and you can run an offense through NURK for short periods.

And NURK is the scorer in the front court.

 

[Minstrel]

Of course that changed things....but he covered up so many holes that are still there. Those didn't suddenly go away just because of his arrival. Also, he has tended to be a bit injury prone already at a young age so it seems unlikely that he doesn't get hurt again.

Nurkic combined with a home heavy/softer schedule led to many more wins but it didn't fix the back-courts defense, or help Aminu suddenly have handles. It didn't suddenly make anyone in the front court a solid scorer other than dunks and it didn't make the bench better. It did finally give us a center which we hadn't had for several years.

A top-ten pick wouldn't have fixed all those things, either, and that complaint (not tanking for a top-ten pick) is what I was addressing. Nurkic quite possibly will have more impact than most of the top-ten picks.

 

[THE HCP]

Like beating a dead horse is prevelant...

And some still disagree with you. Your statement is completely vague and doesn't take into account who is going to get drafted at the top and if they are a position of need.

You seem to have quite the narrow viewpoint on this...and insist on repeating it over and over and over, but you don't need to. We all know how you feel.

What good came from being swept by the Dubs?

 

[rotary111]

Imagine adding a PF with a half way decent 17ft ish shot to this team. (several in this draft look to be better than the improving Vonleh) This would open up the paint even more for Nurk and the guards. Add to that a backup defensive Center/PF etc and we have a much better team than last year. No more wide open lanes to a lay in every time down the court. (Bell's defensive instincts and chase down blocks are a perfect fit with our small guards)

The future is bright for this team!

 

[Reep]

Any Crabbe clone is a very poor man in comparison.

Exactly. I don't see the draw. I guy who is supposed to be able to shoot, is athletic, but has bad handles so can't really use it.

 

[Reep]

I know some want to move up to draft ZachCollins; here is interview and workout video of him: http://www.draftexpress.com/article/zach-collins-nba-pre-draft-workout-and-interview-5931/

I gotta admit, he is a pretty good shooter!

Kind of scary as he looks a lot like Biebs in that video. Would rather see some post moves and see him banging for rebounds. Would love to see some Nurk or Kaman honey badger in him.

 

[Boob-No-More]

What good came from being swept by the Dubs?

We got to see that we can hang with the best team in the league when we have Nurk, even when he's far from 100%.

It was also his first playoff experience. He only played briefly, but he's less likely to be overwhelmed by the experience next year.

Would you have rather we kept Plums, missed the playoffs and had the 10th and 26th picks, instead of Nurk, the 15th, 20th and 26th picks?

Nurk is younger than some of the players in this draft and better than any of the bigs in this draft. We got him, and the 20th pick as compensation for moving down a few picks and out of the lottery.

Making the playoffs was the direct result of adding a 22-year old difference maker. I'm surprised some people see that as a negative.

BNM

 

[THE HCP]

Nurk, no playoffs and move up one spot. Some don't think one spot in the draft makes a difference, I disagree. Rather go shopping with $100 than $75.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Nurk, no playoffs and move up one spot. Some don't think one spot in the draft makes a difference, I disagree. Rather go shopping with $100 than $75.

Nurk (and the 20th pick) was the prize. Making the playoffs was a side effect.

You keep overlooking the fact that we also got the 20th pick in the draft in the Nurk trade. Would you rather go shopping with $100 or $75 + $50?

BNM

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Nurk, no playoffs and move up one spot. Some don't think one spot in the draft makes a difference, I disagree. Rather go shopping with $100 than $75.

Poor analogy. It's more like, would you rather go shopping with $95 and a freezer full of steaks and ribs, or $100 and an empty freezer?

 

[Orion Bailey]

I repeat it because more people bring it up

If More =Mediocre, then I guess you are right....

What good came from being swept by the Dubs?

Nurk, no playoffs and move up one spot. Some don't think one spot in the draft makes a difference, I disagree. Rather go shopping with $100 than $75.

Nurk (and the 20th pick) was the prize. Making the playoffs was a side effect.

You keep overlooking the fact that we also got the 20th pick in the draft in the Nurk trade. Would you rather go shopping with $100 or $75 + $50?

BNM

I was gonna rebuttal, but you guys said it just fine.

 

[PDXFonz]

For those that love Terrance Ferguson, help me understand the love. He looks like he has short arms for his height, and I can't see anything really outstanding about his Ausie stint.

Draftexpress:


Sounds like a very poor man's Crabbe.

I like his ability to make contested shots as well as his 3 point shooting ability. Ball handling is something he can work on at the next level, Crabbe has improved in that regard but at this point what you see may be what you get, it's all about room for growth and development which I feel like Ferguson has a lot of. He seems like a hard worker and a team player who would pick up on lessons taught by the coaching staff and our veteran players.

Ferguson is also much more athletic than Crabbe, he's an explosive dunker who in time could improve his handling allowing him to drive lanes.

The combination of his size, shooting ability, and work ethic make me feel like he can develop to a star.

 

[Orion Bailey]

Poor analogy. It's more like, would you rather go shopping with $95 and a freezer full of steaks and ribs, or $100 and an empty freezer?

This was supposed to be included in the above post referencing, "you guys".

 

[Boob-No-More]

Poor analogy. It's more like, would you rather go shopping with $95 and a freezer full of steaks and ribs, or $100 and an empty freezer?

Nurk == BosnianBeef?

BNM

 

[THE HCP]

Never been a fan of making the playoffs makes you better. Maybe if you are a HS team, but these guys know how to ball. The current roster always wants to make the playoffs. Never want to be told that somebody NOT on the roster could make them better or win more. None of it matters in my opinion, the addition of Nurk is so big, I've said on here we will be so much better next season even if we stick with the current roster because of him. Very excited to see him healthy and out there.

 

[Minstrel]

Nurk, no playoffs and move up one spot. Some don't think one spot in the draft makes a difference, I disagree. Rather go shopping with $100 than $75.

One pick difference at that point in the draft isn't particularly large--certainly not one-third extra value as you suggest with your grocery money values. $100 is a little better than $98, but the benefit gained from losing the extra $2 is seeing your favorite team in the playoffs. That's not worth taking a massive hit to the team's future for, but the team didn't take a massive hit to the future--it took an imperceptible one.

 

[chzbrgr]

We got to see that we can hang with the best team in the league when we have Nurk, even when he's far from 100%.

It was also his first playoff experience. He only played briefly, but he's less likely to be overwhelmed by the experience next year.

Would you have rather we kept Plums, missed the playoffs and had the 10th and 26th picks, instead of Nurk, the 15th, 20th and 26th picks?

Nurk is younger than some of the players in this draft and better than any of the bigs in this draft. We got him, and the 20th pick as compensation for moving down a few picks and out of the lottery.

Making the playoffs was the direct result of adding a 22-year old difference maker. I'm surprised some people see that as a negative.

BNM

hang as in hang out off the court? or...? cause on the court that was far from the case.

Playoff experience is a bogus reward that doesnt mean shit

False equivalency cause we had to move plums didnt have a choice in the matter. Glad we got nurk but... "playoffs?! we talkin' playoffs?!"

Too soon to tell and moving out of the lottery is a big deal dont act like it's not. A lotto pick is worth 2 of our three at least, so this is a poor argument.

We made the playoffs because all the teams around us sucked and we just sucked less at the worst possible time and played some shitty teams at home. Nurkic or no Nurkic we probably win the same amount of games maybe a difference of a game.

Overall not a great reward for one of the worst records in basketball for 80% of the year. We were a bottom 5 defense and a top 10 offense most of the year. Which coincidentally happens to be the exact recipe for grandma's favorite home style basketball purgatory. The reason people see the whole situation as a negative is because we are capped out with just bad players and the only shot we have is to draft a difference maker because nobody is buying neil's snake oil and coming here in free agency. So at the end of a just miserable season we are rewarded with a pick of 50% of the value and the hope that maybe we can sustain our hot finish to the year. Does that sound in any way familiar or am I just having a crazy bout of deja vu?

 

[Sarni]

So between Nurkic, #15 and #20, and #14 alone, are there actually people who prefer the latter? Why?

 

[PtldPlatypus]

One pick difference at that point in the draft isn't particularly large--certainly not one-third extra value as you suggest with your grocery money values. $100 is a little better than $98, but the benefit gained from losing the extra $2 is seeing your favorite team in the playoffs. That's not worth taking a massive hit to the team's future for, but the team didn't take a massive hit to the future--it took an imperceptible one.

That's also a really good point. So to apply that to HCP's analogy, would I rather go shopping with $100 and my kids in tow, or shop with $98 by myself?

Not a tough call.

 

[BBert]

What good came from being swept by the Dubs?

Fueled a burning competitive desire among the players to never lose another playoff series? Acclimated the players to the intensity of playoff competition? Exposed individual and team weaknesses, which could lead to improvements in individual performance and team composition? Improved the bank account of some of the team support personnel?

 

[BigGameDamian]

 

[tester551]

Old news. Happened in February

 

[trailblazer18]

Jonathan Jeanne anyone? Second coming of Rudy Gobert they say...

 

[handiman]

Kind of scary as he looks a lot like Biebs in that video. Would rather see some post moves and see him banging for rebounds. Would love to see some Nurk or Kaman honey badger in him.

Collins was the only guy in the championship game who looked like a NBA player to me.

 

[BonesJones]

Kind of scary as he looks a lot like Biebs in that video. Would rather see some post moves and see him banging for rebounds. Would love to see some Nurk or Kaman honey badger in him.

He's already 5x better than MyLe at low post scoring.

 

[BBert]

We got to see that we can hang with the best team in the league when we have Nurk, even when he's far from 100%.

It was also his first playoff experience. He only played briefly, but he's less likely to be overwhelmed by the experience next year.

Would you have rather we kept Plums, missed the playoffs and had the 10th and 26th picks, instead of Nurk, the 15th, 20th and 26th picks?

Nurk is younger than some of the players in this draft and better than any of the bigs in this draft. We got him, and the 20th pick as compensation for moving down a few picks and out of the lottery.

Making the playoffs was the direct result of adding a 22-year old difference maker. I'm surprised some people see that as a negative.

BNM

What did we trade away to get Nurk and the 20th pick? Potentially 5 spots in the draft? That's cheap. (I consider Plumlee and the $$ a minimal loss, or even no loss at all. We shouldn't have re-signed Plums for what he'd likely have cost us and for what he does anyway.)

 

[BigGameDamian]

 

[BBert]

No. 15 Zach Collins:

He’s a mobile rim protector who would help cover for Jusuf Nurkic’s defensive struggles.

Umm......what?

No. 20 Rodions Kurucs:

Hahahahaha...no.

No. 26 Ivan Rabb:

Ok....I guess? This is where I might go for a higher ceiling/boom or bust kind of guy?

 

[Schilly]

I haven't read the whole thread, but I do find it interesting that so many people want to trade out of the 1st round to nab 2nd round "gems". Do we need to get into a history lesson on 2nd rounders and their typical impact at the NBA level? I know I'm not fully in tune to all the prospects from around the world so I do lean heavily on DrafExpress for my education, and realistically their mocks are year in and year out pretty accurate. So when I see people in here talking about taking guys in the 1st round who aren't even on DE's 2nd round I kinda just scratch my head.