So: how will you feel if it's Caldwell-Pope?

[KeepOnRollin]

I am sure everyone knows this but just a reminder. We can't technically trade our 1st round pick. So we would have to pick a player for another team and then trade that player after (if we want to go that route).

So as a fun guess, who do you think we could pick in that area that would make you say, that must be a trade! (Not one that you hope is a trade mind you!) Fine line I guess. But for example: If we pick Pope I think it is for us (not saying it is the right pick) but if we picked one of the Euro's who isn't a PG or C (like Giannis Adetokunbo or Sergey Krasev) then I would say that has to be for another team.

 

[jlprk]

Kansas City-Omaha would have loved Caldwell-Pope.

 

[blue9]

"meh"

That about sums up my feelings.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Check it out.

 

[BBert]

Kansas City-Omaha would have loved Caldwell-Pope.

Isn't Caldwell-Pope a town in Idaho?

 

[BBert]

Check it out.

I'm cool with Caldwell, offensively, but why does it seem no one ever talks about his defense? I want defense, dammit.

 

[JDC]

They have Tony Mitchell listed as a shooting guard...lol.

But man, Oladipo is the guy I want at SG. He would be perfect. Pipe dream though. He can sing too! haha

At this point I want to either trade up for Oladipo or trade back for Dieng. Both are defense first guys that are ready to play and still have room to grow.

I like McCollum too and would be OK with him if he slipped even though he's not a great fit.

 

[BBert]

Yep, Oladipo is a dream, McCollum is likely.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Is McCollum Hersey Hawkins II?

 

[Pinwheel1]

It sounds as if the Timberwolves have narrowed things down to Caldwell-Pope and Shabazz Muhammad. Although Muhammad is more of a natural scorer, it's hard to believe the Wolves will pass on Caldwell-Pope's shooting abilities ESPN.com

MINNESOTA TIMBERWO
Read more at http://hoopshype.com/rumors.htm#7KLdLVyzqdyAkSqS.99
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I still like Shabazz. The guy is constantly moving on Offense. Never stops moving.
Not sure about his lateral quickness on D. But he seems to think he will be a good defender.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

I'm cool with Caldwell, offensively, but why does it seem no one ever talks about his defense? I want defense, dammit.

For what it is worth, Draft Express says he is one of the better defensive two guards.



[video=youtube;5uWJ-1QS4To]

 

[blue9]

I still like Shabazz. The guy is constantly moving on Offense. Never stops moving.
Not sure about his lateral quickness on D. But he seems to think he will be a good defender.

He's got long arms. The better defenders all seem to have long arms. Not that all long-armed players are good defenders, but it's a physical attribute that all good defenders seem to have.
Also, I recall someone posting an article about movement analysis and it seemed to support the idea that due to the way Shabazz moves he has the potential to develop better lateral quickness, or something along those lines.
I typically will pass on players if they don't seem to be able/willing to play defense. But with Shabazz I'm not concerned if he doesn't develop into an adequate defender. The other traits he possesses are enough, as long as he continues to refine and develop them. We've got defense at the SG from Wes. If Shabazz happens to develop a defensive game that's just the cherry on top.

 

[Boise Blazer]

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Situational-Statistics-the-2013-Shooting-Guard-Crop-4273

Every year there's a player who makes considerable headway in endearing themselves to NBA decision-makers late in the draft process, and this season that player seems to beKentavious Caldwell-Pope, who backs up his late rise by joining Oladipo and McLemore among the more efficient scoring guards in this class, with a fourth ranked 1.035 PPP overall.

Unlike the two players ranked above him, Caldwell-Pope posted fairly high usage numbers, as his 17.6 possessions per-game ranks fifth in this group (third among high-major conference SGs), and is a reflection of just how heavily Georgia relied on his ability to put the ball in the basket last season.

His play-type usage doesn't really stand out from the crowd, as he did a little bit of everything last season, but his 5.1 combined pick and roll and isolation possessions per-game does set him apart from McLemore and Oladipo, as he used more than twice as many possessions creating his own shot in the half court than any guard projected to be selected in the first round.

Caldwell-Pope's biggest weapon when he looked to score was his pull-up jump shot. With nearly three-quarters of his shot attempts coming from the perimeter in the half court, roughly half of which were off the bounce, he scored a second ranked 1.118 points per-shot as a pull-up jump shooter, an impressive mark relative to his average 1.066 points per-shot in catch and shoot situations.

If Caldwell-Pope has a weakness on paper, it is his average finishing ability relative to his peer group. A 55.6% shooter in transition and 53.7% shooter at the rim in half court situations, he hovers right around the mean in both categories. Turning the ball over on a sample second ranked 10.6% of his possessions, Caldwell-Pope's low turnover rate certainly helped compensate for his issues around the rim last season.

From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com#ixzz2WgKFYcBR
http://www.draftexpress.com

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Wow, that DraftExpress study makes KCP look pretty good (scoring-wise, if not distribution-wise - I'd rather a less black holey SG myself). But it also makes Khalif Wyatt look great, and he's not likely to be drafted. I wonder if he'll be a Wesley type. He's got the "old man at the gym" game - kind of the Andre Miller of combo guards:
[video=youtube;ihKLpMH_K1c]

However, if I was Ben McLemore I would hope that GMs ignore this study...

BJ Young, who has worked out with the Blazers, looks intriguing with our last pick maybe.

For comparison, here's last year's study.