Exclusive Official 2020 Draft Thread

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Rastapopoulos said:
Counterexamples (albeit, not for us): Marc Gasol and Nikola Jokic.
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If Biggie was as big as those guys, had a work ethic, and actually liked basketball, he might’ve stuck around too. What I’m tryna say is being fat isn’t a death sentence. If you got skill and size, you can stick, even in today’s game.
 
JDC said:


Very interesting backstory on him. Didn't play basketball until his senior year and weighed in as a high as 270 lbs.

Played a year of Juco so already 22, but his shot creation, growth curve and finishing craft make him an intriguing upside bet.
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he’s interesting. Offensively seems to have a lot in his arsenal and is good at the rim despite not being a high flyer. That usually translates well. I would take him in the second, but honestly I’d be surprised if Olshey didn’t end up selecting Scrubb if he was available. The last time I heard about a guy getting multiple interviews with the team was Simons.
 
Some smart team is going to draft this guy and get a steal.

Miami, Utah or Boston would all be great fits. I like Phoenix too in a trade down.



 
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That’s the list of players 20 or younger who had 10 or more assists in a game in ACB. Bolmaro did it in 19 minutes.

 
It's starting to seem silly to use the sleeper label for Aleksej Pokusevski. He has teams' attention ahead of the draft even though he played only 11 games in Greece's second division. According to league sources, Pokusevski could be gone before the 20s depending on who's on the board by the time the Portland Trail Blazers, Minnesota Timberwolves (via Nets) and Dallas Mavericks are picking.

Pokusevski averaged 1.6 threes, 3.1 assists and 1.8 blocks in HEBA A2, a league Giannis Antetokounmpo once played in. While there are skeptics around the NBA who deem the highlights fluky and question Pokusevski's flashy play/mentality, some are willing to gamble on a 7-footer with such unique shooting fluidity, advanced passing skills and shot-blocking ability.

He's considered one of the highest-risk, highest-reward options in this draft. Some teams seem to feel more comfortable with high-floor prospects. But outside of the lottery, it sounds as though there are also teams interested in rolling the dice on upside.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles...-buzz-emerging-point-guards-and-latest-rumors

this was a good point, from the same article:

In normal times, teams could work out as many prospects as they wanted. In 2020, they're limited to watching only 10 players up close, and executives must fly to designated cities for most of these workouts. Agents are suggesting that who teams choose to see before this draft may be more telling than in previous years, given how selective they have to be and the inconvenience that comes with traveling out of state and quarantining afterward.

Teams aren't going to waste one of their 10 workouts and spend time traveling for a player they aren't realistically considering. If a team takes a trip to visit a player, it likely indicates legitimate interest as opposed to nothing-to-lose due diligence.
 
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damianlillard said:
Man too bad this class is deep on wings otherwise I would love to have him
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I think this is a good class for point guards, wings and bigs. It’s an underrated class because it’s not that great at the top. But there will be solid players taken in the second. Shit, a guy like Oturu may even fall to the second. If not, maybe someone else, like Nnaji will. I like him a lot as well.
 
Scalma said:
I think this is a good class for point guards, wings and bigs. It’s an underrated class because it’s not that great at the top. But there will be solid players taken in the second. Shit, a guy like Oturu may even fall to the second. If not, maybe someone else, like Nnaji will. I like him a lot as well.
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I am not high on Nnaji as some people may be. But Oturu would be a great steal in the second round
 
I’ve pretty much got Scrubb written in ink for the second round, unless he gets taken by someone else before the selection, or Neil just says fuck it and drafts him in the first. I do wonder if a trade down may be in the cards. Portland doesn’t really need a point guard, at least not a starter, and this class is loaded with them. What if one of the top guys is there at 16 and a team wants to jump up and get him? I would take a lower first if it meant an extra second.
 
Scalma said:
I’ve pretty much got Scrubb written in ink for the second round, unless he gets taken by someone else before the selection, or Neil just says fuck it and drafts him in the first. I do wonder if a trade down may be in the cards. Portland doesn’t really need a point guard, at least not a starter, and this class is loaded with them. What if one of the top guys is there at 16 and a team wants to jump up and get him? I would take a lower first if it meant an extra second.
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I've started to like enough of the wings that should be there when we draft that I'd be worried about trading down to pick up a 2nd 2nd round prospect. I can easily see Minnesota, Dallas, Brooklyn, Miami all right behind us grabbing those same wings.
 
How I stack em

G
1. Haliburton
2. Ball
3. Edwards
4. Lewis
5. Maledon

Wing
1. Avdija
2. Okoro
3. S. Bey
4. Nesmith
5. Green

PF
1. Pokusevski
2. Toppin
3. J. Smith
4. McDaniels
5. Achiuwa

C
1. Wiseman
2. Stewart
3. Okongwu
4. Oturu
5. Nnaji
 
Scalma said:
How I stack em

G
1. Haliburton
2. Ball
3. Edwards
4. Lewis
5. Maledon

Wing
1. Avdija
2. Okoro
3. S. Bey
4. Nesmith
5. Green

PF
1. Pokusevski
2. Toppin
3. J. Smith
4. McDaniels
5. Achiuwa

C
1. Wiseman
2. Stewart
3. Okongwu
4. Oturu
5. Nnaji
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Not a Vassell fan?
 
Scalma said:
How I stack em

G
1. Haliburton
2. Ball
3. Edwards
4. Lewis
5. Maledon

Wing
1. Avdija
2. Okoro
3. S. Bey
4. Nesmith
5. Green

PF
1. Pokusevski
2. Toppin
3. J. Smith
4. McDaniels
5. Achiuwa

C
1. Wiseman
2. Stewart
3. Okongwu
4. Oturu
5. Nnaji
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Good list! I am gonna do one right now lol
G
1. Anthony Edwards
2. Haliburton
3. Ball
4. Hayes
5. Lewis

Wing
1. Avdija
2. Bey
3. Nesmith
4. Bolmaro
5. Okoro

PF
1. Toppin
2. J. Smith
3. Achiuwa
4. McDaniel
5. Pokuseski

C
1. Wiseman
2. Okongwu
3. Oturu
4. Carey
5. Yurtseven
 
My 2nd round pick will depends on who we selected in the 1st round. But the one I really like is Tillie from Gonzaga. I also intrigued in Paul Reed too.
 
CBSNBA review of each team needs going into draft. I found this to be pretty accurate in my opinion.

Portland Trail Blazers
Draft picks owned: 16, 46

Needs: Small forward, backup center, overall defense

The Blazers entered last season without a small forward-sized player on their roster. Their solution to that was acquiring 35-year-old Trevor Ariza, who skipped the bubble, leaving Carmelo Anthony and Gary Trent Jr. the unenviable task of defending LeBron in the playoffs. It didn't go well, and if Portland wants to have any chance at changing that next season, it needs an actual small forward athletic enough to hang with the best of the West. Hassan Whiteside is a free agent, and if he leaves, Portland will need someone to spell Jusuf Nurkic. Their defensive struggles in the bubble speak for themselves. They won't make the playoffs giving up 120 points per 100 possessions, and Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum aren't helping much on that end of the floor. Every other spot in the lineup needs to be stout to make up for them.

Potential fits: Devin Vassell, Saddiq Bey, Patrick Williams

Recent videos of Vassell's revamped (not in a good way) shooting form might allow him to drop to Portland at No. 16, where they'll happily snatch him up due to his defensive potential. If he's gone, one of Bey or Williams might still be around, and they're excellent consolation prizes. Bey is more of a finished product while Williams has more upside, but both should immediately help a team desperate for wing defenders.
 
I would put our needs as

1. Power forward. I think Collins is best used around the rim, as a rim protector and as a pick and roll defender.

2. Backup point guard- This somewhat depends on Simons. This should probably be a veteran though.

3. Wings- I’m high on Nas, think Wenyen is best fit as a small forward, and we have Ariza, Trent, and Hood. Hoard also had his flashes.

Agree about defense. That should be a focus.
 
Scalma said:
I would put our needs as

1. Power forward. I think Collins is best used around the rim, as a rim protector and as a pick and roll defender.

2. Backup point guard- This somewhat depends on Simons. This should probably be a veteran though.

3. Wings- I’m high on Nas, think Wenyen is best fit as a small forward, and we have Ariza, Trent, and Hood. Hoard also had his flashes.

Agree about defense. That should be a focus.
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The problem with your last statement about defense is that our perimeter D is going to get lit up as long as we're playing Dame and CJ together for the majority of minutes. I would also say you are right that we need a vet at backup PG but we probably also want someone with experience at PF... ideally someone who could start so Zach could backup both post positions. I know all of these changes I'm wanting to happen this off season are a collective pipe dream but they need to happen if we want to contend.
 
blazerkor said:
The problem with your last statement about defense is that our perimeter D is going to get lit up as long as we're playing Dame and CJ together for the majority of minutes. I would also say you are right that we need a vet at backup PG but we probably also want someone with experience at PF... ideally someone who could start so Zach could backup both post positions. I know all of these changes I'm wanting to happen this off season are a collective pipe dream but they need to happen if we want to contend.
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Id be surprised if Olshey didn’t go after Millsap.
 
Scalma said:
Id be surprised if Olshey didn’t go after Millsap.
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If Olshey is standing pat with everything else, landing Millsap to start at PF with the MLE and bringing Melo back as a sixth man for the BAE would be about as good as we could expect him to do with this roster. I mean the idea that Olshey will put any significant money into a backup PG might not be very logical even if it is needed. He sees CJ as being able to take all of the meaningful minutes running the offense while Dame sits. As far as Millsap goes, I just worry that he's slowed down too much to get out on the perimeter defensively the way a 4 has to these days but that won't stop Olshey and I think Millsap is better defensively overall than what we had in Melo last season.

A rotation of Dame, CJ, Ariza, Millsap, Nurk, Melo, Gary, Zach and Hoodie isn't very exciting and would likely just be in contention for HCA and max out in the second round of the playoffs but it's also a very Olshey thing to do. Obviously a lot of young guys will need development and having old players like Millsap and Melo taking the minutes Nas, Wenyen and probably one of our picks could get won't be great for our future. So pretty much Olshey will play it too conservative to contend during Dame's prime but will acquire vets like we are contending... really frustrating.
 
Scalma said:
Id be surprised if Olshey didn’t go after Millsap.
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showed his age or the layoff hurt him in playoffs. i have advocated for him too but looked slow at the PF and might be better suited to small ball 5 going forward. jamychal green looked to be a very usful piece if he opts out of the clips chaos. he could be had for $7-8 million and might jump at an initial offer in a hyper shortened free agency signing window. perfect stretch 4 candidate to start or back up. played small ball five against us in the bubble effectively. saric would have been a nice
 
lawai'a said:
showed his age or the layoff hurt him in playoffs. i have advocated for him too but looked slow at the PF and might be better suited to small ball 5 going forward. jamychal green looked to be a very usful piece if he opts out of the clips chaos. he could be had for $7-8 million and might jump at an initial offer in a hyper shortened free agency signing window. perfect stretch 4 candidate to start or back up. played small ball five against us in the bubble effectively. saric would have been a nice
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idk, I’d say his playoff performances were inconsistent. He was a big reason they came back against the clippers, on both ends. I wouldn’t draw any conclusions about the end of his career based on those games. I’d be comfortable giving him a short term (1-2 years) deal.
 
Scalma said:
idk, I’d say his playoff performances were inconsistent. He was a big reason they came back against the clippers, on both ends. I wouldn’t draw any conclusions about the end of his career based on those games. I’d be comfortable giving him a short term (1-2 years) deal.
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Yeah, if we can get him for the MLE it's the perfect move if what we are competing for is the fourth seed and an appearance in the second round but not if we're competing for the championship. Don't get me wrong, if Olshey is committed to this roster then Millsap would be a very solid addition and I can't think of a better one that we could get for the MLE. I'm just very frustrated with Olshey's blind commitment to the Dame/CJ back court and this roster overall. We need to make big changes to maximize what Dame does best and remedy our terrible defense.
 
blazerkor said:
Yeah, if we can get him for the MLE it's the perfect move if what we are competing for is the fourth seed and an appearance in the second round but not if we're competing for the championship. Don't get me wrong, if Olshey is committed to this roster then Millsap would be a very solid addition and I can't think of a better one that we could get for the MLE. I'm just very frustrated with Olshey's blind commitment to the Dame/CJ back court and this roster overall. We need to make big changes to maximize what Dame does best and remedy our terrible defense.
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this roster has literally yet to play one game together. Collins and Nurk haven’t played with Ariza. Hood hasn’t either. That alone will impact the defense.
 
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