NBA Draft Prospects Discussion

[Ring_Wanted]

They will ride him until the wheels fall off.

As they should.

Nailed it.

[TOO]

I hate watching workout videos, watching Labisierre showoff his range and athleticism sure makes me want to draft him. Even though he was complete garbage for Kentucky. Blah.

[In2ition]

He was outstanding before UK. Many thought he was going to be the #1 pick in the draft ahead of Simmons prior to the college season. Seems like he wasn't totally on board with the plan Calipari had for him and didn't embrace how he was used. I think he'll be a better pro, but I'm sceptical now.

[Sunsfan4life]

Murray hit a celtics workout record in 3pointers. something like 79 for 100. He sure can shoot the ball. Think the C's take him at 3 IF they keep the pick.

Skal could be an interesting lottery ticket at 13.

[O_Gardino]

He was outstanding before UK. Many thought he was going to be the #1 pick in the draft ahead of Simmons prior to the college season. Seems like he wasn't totally on board with the plan Calipari had for him and didn't embrace how he was used. I think he'll be a better pro, but I'm sceptical now.

He didn't play his junior or senior years of high school, so it was a long time ago against very weak competition when he looked like a #1 pick. Still, like TheOriginal says, his skill set and athleticism look awesome. Is he a Rasheed W type player or a JaVale McGee type player?

He's on my list at #13, but I don't think he lasts that long.

[carey]

The latest from Gambo... apparently Booker has grown since we drafted him.

[quote name="letsgosuns" ]Gambo said some really interesting things today about the Suns. The first thing he said was that the Suns are absolutely open to trading the pick and would be willing to trade down to the 7, 8, 9, or 10 slot if they can get back a good young veteran player plus the pick in return for their own pick. Now assuming the Suns keep the pick, he said the Suns are narrowing down their choices and he believes they will choose between Bender and Jamal Murray. The really shocking thing he said was that the Suns are also now considering Buddy Hield because Booker has actually grown since they drafted him and he is now 6'7" in shoes. So the Suns think they could have Booker play some small forward alongside Hield and Bledsoe in the backcourt. He mentioned the Suns are looking at picking their power forward with the 13th pick and want to pick a guard/wing player with the 4th pick unless it is Bender who they take.

Also, Bender and Murray are supposed to work out for the Suns next week.[/quote]

[Ring_Wanted]

He was outstanding before UK. Many thought he was going to be the #1 pick in the draft ahead of Simmons prior to the college season. Seems like he wasn't totally on board with the plan Calipari had for him and didn't embrace how he was used. I think he'll be a better pro, but I'm sceptical now.

He didn't play his junior or senior years of high school, so it was a long time ago against very weak competition when he looked like a #1 pick. Still, like TheOriginal says, his skill set and athleticism look awesome. Is he a Rasheed W type player or a JaVale McGee type player?

He's on my list at #13, but I don't think he lasts that long.

Skal makes a hell of a pick for the Raps at #9.

And I thought Ainge could envision Murray #3 as his next great Celtic. That workout probably upped his status as the clear best thing after the big two.

[Ring_Wanted]

The latest from Gambo... apparently Booker has grown since we drafted him.

Gambo said some really interesting things today about the Suns. The first thing he said was that the Suns are absolutely open to trading the pick and would be willing to trade down to the 7, 8, 9, or 10 slot if they can get back a good young veteran player plus the pick in return for their own pick. Now assuming the Suns keep the pick, he said the Suns are narrowing down their choices and he believes they will choose between Bender and Jamal Murray. The really shocking thing he said was that the Suns are also now considering Buddy Hield because Booker has actually grown since they drafted him and he is now 6'7" in shoes. So the Suns think they could have Booker play some small forward alongside Hield and Bledsoe in the backcourt. He mentioned the Suns are looking at picking their power forward with the 13th pick and want to pick a guard/wing player with the 4th pick unless it is Bender who they take.

Also, Bender and Murray are supposed to work out for the Suns next week.

Murray-Hield do make a lot of sense with Booker if everybody can make a little of sacrifice. Could develop a Splash Bros lite, on par with Lillard-CJ. You still need to dump at the very least one of Bledsoe-Knight over the next season.

[Split T]

The latest from Gambo... apparently Booker has grown since we drafted him.

Gambo said some really interesting things today about the Suns. The first thing he said was that the Suns are absolutely open to trading the pick and would be willing to trade down to the 7, 8, 9, or 10 slot if they can get back a good young veteran player plus the pick in return for their own pick. Now assuming the Suns keep the pick, he said the Suns are narrowing down their choices and he believes they will choose between Bender and Jamal Murray. The really shocking thing he said was that the Suns are also now considering Buddy Hield because Booker has actually grown since they drafted him and he is now 6'7" in shoes. So the Suns think they could have Booker play some small forward alongside Hield and Bledsoe in the backcourt. He mentioned the Suns are looking at picking their power forward with the 13th pick and want to pick a guard/wing player with the 4th pick unless it is Bender who they take.

Also, Bender and Murray are supposed to work out for the Suns next week.

I'd love it if we took Hield. IMO he's the 3rd best player in this draft, but a Hield-Booker wing duo is gonna have trouble on defense.

[Split T]

The latest from Gambo... apparently Booker has grown since we drafted him.

Gambo said some really interesting things today about the Suns. The first thing he said was that the Suns are absolutely open to trading the pick and would be willing to trade down to the 7, 8, 9, or 10 slot if they can get back a good young veteran player plus the pick in return for their own pick. Now assuming the Suns keep the pick, he said the Suns are narrowing down their choices and he believes they will choose between Bender and Jamal Murray. The really shocking thing he said was that the Suns are also now considering Buddy Hield because Booker has actually grown since they drafted him and he is now 6'7" in shoes. So the Suns think they could have Booker play some small forward alongside Hield and Bledsoe in the backcourt. He mentioned the Suns are looking at picking their power forward with the 13th pick and want to pick a guard/wing player with the 4th pick unless it is Bender who they take.

Also, Bender and Murray are supposed to work out for the Suns next week.

Murray-Hield do make a lot of sense with Booker if everybody can make a little of sacrifice. Could develop a Splash Bros lite, on par with Lillard-CJ. You still need to dump at the very least one of Bledsoe-Knight over the next season.

Add Valentine at 13 and run a Valentine-Hield-Booker lineup. No defense, but they'd light it up from 3

[Ring_Wanted]

Add Valentine at 13 and run a Valentine-Hield-Booker lineup. No defense, but they'd light it up from 3

I'd be ok with it as long as we found two solid defenders and rebounders. Valentine at least grabs rebounds, though. Really like him.

[JCSunsfan]

He was outstanding before UK. Many thought he was going to be the #1 pick in the draft ahead of Simmons prior to the college season. Seems like he wasn't totally on board with the plan Calipari had for him and didn't embrace how he was used. I think he'll be a better pro, but I'm sceptical now.

I think he tried, but Calipari tried to make him a low post center. Calipari has gone so far as to say that he (Calipari) screwed him up. I would not surprised to see Skal end up as the best player out of this draft. I am not predicting it, but the potential is there.

[Ring_Wanted]

So what if we trade down to #7 with Denver for their #15 and get Skal-Sabas-Valentine #7-13-15. Juancho #28. Murray/Hield should be of interest to Denver. They can have the second round pick.

Walk away with IQ, productivity and a high end prospect, plus one draft and stash. If it makes you feel better about missing on Murray/Hield, throw a bunch of cash at Fournier.

Dump Knight regardless. Again, why isn't he a 76r already?

[O_Gardino]

So what if we trade down to #7 with Denver for their #15 and get Skal-Sabas-Valentine #7-13-15. Juancho #28. Murray/Hield should be of interest to Denver. They can have the second round pick.

Walk away with IQ, productivity and a high end prospect, plus one draft and stash. If it makes you feel better about missing on Murray/Hield, throw a bunch of cash at Fournier.

Dump Knight regardless. Again, why isn't he a 76r already?

Those are all interesting prospects, but I don't like the idea of building the team around so many young players. Teams that do that don't work out. Think about Denver, Portland before Aldridge, etc. Having tons of young depth only gets you 45 wins and it ensures that your players can't develop because they don't get minutes and don't have clear roles.

I prefer to commit to the players we draft and surround them with veteran talent to teach them. If it doesn't work out, we'll have more high picks in the future to try to get a star, and our guys will have had enough minutes to hold some trade value.

[Ring_Wanted]

I prefer to commit to the players we draft and surround them with veteran talent to teach them. If it doesn't work out, we'll have more high picks in the future to try to get a star, and our guys will have had enough minutes to hold some trade value.

I could agree with that philosophy, but I think we just don't have enough young talent. Three prospects, these three kids, is not enough to call it a day and start to add vets. Usually come this time of the year we turn into hoarders and want all the picks and all the rookies, which is not feasible, but I think we are far from being in danger of hitting the diminishing returns point in terms of prospects.

[O_Gardino]

I prefer to commit to the players we draft and surround them with veteran talent to teach them. If it doesn't work out, we'll have more high picks in the future to try to get a star, and our guys will have had enough minutes to hold some trade value.

I could agree with that philosophy, but I think we just don't have enough young talent. Three prospects, these three kids, is not enough to call it a day and start to add vets. Usually come this time of the year we turn into hoarders and want all the picks and all the rookies, which is not feasible, but I think we are far from being in danger of hitting the diminishing returns point in terms of prospects.

Well, I don't want to stop with what we have, but I would go for one rookie this season, or possibly two depending on what we do with Bogdan and what we do with the roster overall.

At the end of the season we had very young players in Booker, Len, Warren, Goodwin, and Williams. + Draft rights to Bogdan and Alec Brown. + "vets" who still haven't hit their peak in Knight and Jenkins. If, at the very least, you expect Booker, Warren, and Len to play good minutes, that just doesn't leave room for 4 more rookies.

That's why I keep coming back to this being a very interesting draft for us. We can't use our picks with the roster we have. Do we dump some dead weight and roll the dice on our picks? Or do we trade the picks for players we think can help us win now.

[ShelC]

If Love is available come draft night, I think we go all in with picks and Chandler.

Or we could take players the Ws want and try and work a sign and trade giving them young players.

[Superbone]

I prefer to commit to the players we draft and surround them with veteran talent to teach them. If it doesn't work out, we'll have more high picks in the future to try to get a star, and our guys will have had enough minutes to hold some trade value.

I could agree with that philosophy, but I think we just don't have enough young talent. Three prospects, these three kids, is not enough to call it a day and start to add vets. Usually come this time of the year we turn into hoarders and want all the picks and all the rookies, which is not feasible, but I think we are far from being in danger of hitting the diminishing returns point in terms of prospects.

Well, I don't want to stop with what we have, but I would go for one rookie this season, or possibly two depending on what we do with Bogdan and what we do with the roster overall.

At the end of the season we had very young players in Booker, Len, Warren, Goodwin, and Williams. + Draft rights to Bogdan and Alec Brown. + "vets" who still haven't hit their peak in Knight and Jenkins. If, at the very least, you expect Booker, Warren, and Len to play good minutes, that just doesn't leave room for 4 more rookies.

That's why I keep coming back to this being a very interesting draft for us. We can't use our picks with the roster we have. Do we dump some dead weight and roll the dice on our picks? Or do we trade the picks for players we think can help us win now.

Of all the young guys you mention, I am only interested in keeping and playing Booker, Len, and Warren and possibly Bogdan. I'm not too worried about Goodwin, Williams, Brown, Knight, and Jenkins. They can all be replaced. Hopefully Knight for something useful.

[Ring_Wanted]

Yeah. Booker, Warren (Bogdan) and Len are our youth. The rest is barely worthy of mention. We'll see what the 2016 draft delivers, but there is plenty of room.

[Gladiator]

About a week out from the draft, here's a couple of mocks for what they're worth
Draftexpress has us taking Dragan Bender, Deyonta Davis and Zhou Qi in the first round

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2016/

Nbadraft.net has us taking Bender, Skal Labissiere and Ante Zizic

http://www.nbadraft.net/2016mock_draft

At Cbssports it's Bender, Furkan Korkmaz and Thon Maker

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-m ... l-players/


It seems the buzz on Bender is fading just a little (he was being touted top 3 a lot earlier on) and the buzz on Marquese Chriss is gaining momentum by the day.