Whom to pick at 6

[Mori Chu]

I would want Dinwiddie WAY more than I want Russell. I don't hate Russell but I don't want him on a max and I don't want him paired with Booker. I think that backcourt has size problems and defense problems. Our perimeter D would be atrocious for years to come. I also don't think Russell is good enough of a passer to really run our offense and feed guys like Ayton and Booker the way we need. Not my first choice at PG at all.

I would prefer to go after somebody else like Lonzo Ball, Malcolm Brogdon, Tyus Jones, Ricky Rubio, Darren Collison over Russell.

[Mori Chu]

Also, dear this thread:

WHOM to pick at 6

[Superbone]

Also, dear this thread:

WHOM to pick at 6

I don’t know. You tell us.

[JeremyG]

Trade the pick for a solid veteran PG...

Do you have someone in mind?

It’s easy to say this, but much more difficult to pull off.

Everyone is either not available or not worth the #6 pick.

Dinwiddie? He’s the only one who seems somewhat available that would still be worth #6

I would trade the pick for Lonzo Ball yesterday.

[JeremyG]

How does it work financially? We’d have to return salary and Brooklyn can’t take any back to maintain their 2 max salary space.

I believe he was talking about moving DAR if Kyrie signs there since it’s an awful pairing (not that he works much better with Booker but alas.) I don’t think he was talking about how to open up two max slots. It was more about how to get the #6 to include in a potential AD package.

Just listened to the pod...There is kinda some interesting things that make this seem possible. Brooklyn is obviously clearing space for something. Lots of Kyrie talk, and like you said, Kyrie and Russell aren’t great fits. Dinwiddie is better.

I don’t think Booker and Russell are ideal fits either, but we badly need people who can create offense and Russell can do that. We’d still need to send out a contract or clear cap space in some way. Simmons mentioned Josh Jackson, sign me up for that. Sending #6 and JJ for D-Lo would allow us to sign him to a deal starting at about 23 million. Would D-Lo take that? Or is he after the max? I think we could offer the max if we swap Jackson for Warren.

Would I do it? It’s tempting, D-Lo/Booker/Ayton makes for quite an offensive trio, but could be pretty awful defensively.

I don’t see how this could possibly work, since DAR cannot sign until after the draft, and we are not allowed to negotiate with him until then either.

[Split T]

Trade the pick for a solid veteran PG...

Do you have someone in mind?

It’s easy to say this, but much more difficult to pull off.

Everyone is either not available or not worth the #6 pick.

Dinwiddie? He’s the only one who seems somewhat available that would still be worth #6

I would trade the pick for Lonzo Ball yesterday.

I know this is a popular thought, but I wouldn’t do it. I can’t imagine ball is ever going to be a consistent shooter. Without a shot, he feels like Ricky Rubio 2.0

[Split T]

How does it work financially? We’d have to return salary and Brooklyn can’t take any back to maintain their 2 max salary space.

I believe he was talking about moving DAR if Kyrie signs there since it’s an awful pairing (not that he works much better with Booker but alas.) I don’t think he was talking about how to open up two max slots. It was more about how to get the #6 to include in a potential AD package.

Just listened to the pod...There is kinda some interesting things that make this seem possible. Brooklyn is obviously clearing space for something. Lots of Kyrie talk, and like you said, Kyrie and Russell aren’t great fits. Dinwiddie is better.

I don’t think Booker and Russell are ideal fits either, but we badly need people who can create offense and Russell can do that. We’d still need to send out a contract or clear cap space in some way. Simmons mentioned Josh Jackson, sign me up for that. Sending #6 and JJ for D-Lo would allow us to sign him to a deal starting at about 23 million. Would D-Lo take that? Or is he after the max? I think we could offer the max if we swap Jackson for Warren.

Would I do it? It’s tempting, D-Lo/Booker/Ayton makes for quite an offensive trio, but could be pretty awful defensively.

I don’t see how this could possibly work, since DAR cannot sign until after the draft, and we are not allowed to negotiate with him until then either.

Timing is weird...we’d have to draft someone for Brooklyn and trade him later. But D-Lo would also have to be in agreement and like you said, we can’t negotiate with him. Can Brooklyn negotiate with him on our behalf? Otherwise Brooklyn would have to be interested in whoever we draft after the fact.

[AmareIsGod]

Clarke!

[Flagrant Fowl]

Trade the pick for a solid veteran PG...

Do you have someone in mind?

It’s easy to say this, but much more difficult to pull off.

Everyone is either not available or not worth the #6 pick.

Dinwiddie? He’s the only one who seems somewhat available that would still be worth #6

I would trade the pick for Lonzo Ball yesterday.

I know this is a popular thought, but I wouldn’t do it. I can’t imagine ball is ever going to be a consistent shooter. Without a shot, he feels like Ricky Rubio 2.0

I'm not sure that's the right comparison because I'd trade the 6th pick for Ricky Rubio in his early 20's right now.

[Split T]

Trade the pick for a solid veteran PG...

Do you have someone in mind?

It’s easy to say this, but much more difficult to pull off.

Everyone is either not available or not worth the #6 pick.

Dinwiddie? He’s the only one who seems somewhat available that would still be worth #6

I would trade the pick for Lonzo Ball yesterday.

I know this is a popular thought, but I wouldn’t do it. I can’t imagine ball is ever going to be a consistent shooter. Without a shot, he feels like Ricky Rubio 2.0

I'm not sure that's the right comparison because I'd trade the 6th pick for Ricky Rubio in his early 20's right now.

I wouldn’t...at least not knowing what he becomes. He is a total liability on offense. I live in Utah and jazz fans can’t wait to get rid of him. He’s their Josh Jackson.

Ball is historically bad as a shooter...like the only comparisons are Rubio and Josh Jackson. I’ve never seen someone with a worse looking jumper outside of maybe MKG as a rookie. Plus with being the number 2 pick, he’s not cheap. I’d swap JJ for him, maybe add the Mil pick, but no chance I’m including #6

[Split T]

[Split T]

I really really like Brandon Clarke. He feels matrix like to me. I have him as the 3rd best player in this draft. I ranked a few guys ahead of him for the suns, because I think shooting and shot creation is a bigger need for us, but I wouldn’t be upset if we took him. Even better if we move down, still draft him and pick up another asset. If he develops a shot, he’s a really nice fit for us.

[AmareIsGod]

Everyone says we need a PF we can pair up next to Ayton that doesn't duplicate what he does and doesn't need the ball and space to create. Someone that can actually rebound and most importantly, play defense. That's Clarke. Ayton shores up his shortcomings by being the C that had a good offensive game and smooth jumper.

[ShelC]

But don't we want someone to stretch the floor with their shot too?

[Split T]

Everyone says we need a PF we can pair up next to Ayton that doesn't duplicate what he does and doesn't need the ball and space to create. Someone that can actually rebound and most importantly, play defense. That's Clarke. Ayton shores up his shortcomings by being the C that had a good offensive game and smooth jumper.

The paint clogging problem isn’t as big of an issue if Ayton starts hitting 3’s, but if Clarke never shoots, it will be easier for teams to double down on Ayton and leave Clarke. Clarke doesn’t need to be a great shooter, but if he can be average, teams have to close out on him and that opens up more possibilities.

Clarke does seem to be a pretty ideal fit defensively. His size worries me a bit, but it hasn’t stopped him yet, although he will be smaller than both Oubre and Bridges. He’s a better athlete than either of them though.

[JeremyG]

How does it work financially? We’d have to return salary and Brooklyn can’t take any back to maintain their 2 max salary space.

I believe he was talking about moving DAR if Kyrie signs there since it’s an awful pairing (not that he works much better with Booker but alas.) I don’t think he was talking about how to open up two max slots. It was more about how to get the #6 to include in a potential AD package.

Just listened to the pod...There is kinda some interesting things that make this seem possible. Brooklyn is obviously clearing space for something. Lots of Kyrie talk, and like you said, Kyrie and Russell aren’t great fits. Dinwiddie is better.

I don’t think Booker and Russell are ideal fits either, but we badly need people who can create offense and Russell can do that. We’d still need to send out a contract or clear cap space in some way. Simmons mentioned Josh Jackson, sign me up for that. Sending #6 and JJ for D-Lo would allow us to sign him to a deal starting at about 23 million. Would D-Lo take that? Or is he after the max? I think we could offer the max if we swap Jackson for Warren.

Would I do it? It’s tempting, D-Lo/Booker/Ayton makes for quite an offensive trio, but could be pretty awful defensively.

I don’t see how this could possibly work, since DAR cannot sign until after the draft, and we are not allowed to negotiate with him until then either.

Timing is weird...we’d have to draft someone for Brooklyn and trade him later. But D-Lo would also have to be in agreement and like you said, we can’t negotiate with him. Can Brooklyn negotiate with him on our behalf? Otherwise Brooklyn would have to be interested in whoever we draft after the fact.

I don’t think that’s allowed. Otherwise we would have sign-and-trade deals agreed to on draft day all the time!

And if Brooklyn wants #6 to send to New Orleans then it makes it even worse. New Orleans would want the trade done before the draft, so they can choose all of the picks they receive.

[Split T]

Ya, doesn’t seem very feasible.

[specialsauce]

Everyone says we need a PF we can pair up next to Ayton that doesn't duplicate what he does and doesn't need the ball and space to create. Someone that can actually rebound and most importantly, play defense. That's Clarke. Ayton shores up his shortcomings by being the C that had a good offensive game and smooth jumper.

The paint clogging problem isn’t as big of an issue if Ayton starts hitting 3’s, but if Clarke never shoots, it will be easier for teams to double down on Ayton and leave Clarke. Clarke doesn’t need to be a great shooter, but if he can be average, teams have to close out on him and that opens up more possibilities.

Clarke does seem to be a pretty ideal fit defensively. His size worries me a bit, but it hasn’t stopped him yet, although he will be smaller than both Oubre and Bridges. He’s a better athlete than either of them though.

Ayton needs to be elite inside. Not depending on him hitting 3s. His path to dominance is in the paint. Therefore the other big must stay out of the paint and be a capable 3 pt shooter, not the other way around.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Everyone says we need a PF we can pair up next to Ayton that doesn't duplicate what he does and doesn't need the ball and space to create. Someone that can actually rebound and most importantly, play defense. That's Clarke. Ayton shores up his shortcomings by being the C that had a good offensive game and smooth jumper.

The paint clogging problem isn’t as big of an issue if Ayton starts hitting 3’s, but if Clarke never shoots, it will be easier for teams to double down on Ayton and leave Clarke. Clarke doesn’t need to be a great shooter, but if he can be average, teams have to close out on him and that opens up more possibilities.

Clarke does seem to be a pretty ideal fit defensively. His size worries me a bit, but it hasn’t stopped him yet, although he will be smaller than both Oubre and Bridges. He’s a better athlete than either of them though.

Ayton needs to be elite inside. Not depending on him hitting 3s. His path to dominance is in the paint. Therefore the other big must stay out of the paint and be a capable 3 pt shooter, not the other way around.

It doesn't make sense to pigeonhole a player like that. Ayton has great shooting mechanics for a big man and he could very likely be a stretch-5 in the mold of Brook Lopez. Just because he's tall doesn't mean he must play in the post, and if there's an equally good inside player on the court then it's best to stretch the better shooter.

[specialsauce]

Everyone says we need a PF we can pair up next to Ayton that doesn't duplicate what he does and doesn't need the ball and space to create. Someone that can actually rebound and most importantly, play defense. That's Clarke. Ayton shores up his shortcomings by being the C that had a good offensive game and smooth jumper.

The paint clogging problem isn’t as big of an issue if Ayton starts hitting 3’s, but if Clarke never shoots, it will be easier for teams to double down on Ayton and leave Clarke. Clarke doesn’t need to be a great shooter, but if he can be average, teams have to close out on him and that opens up more possibilities.

Clarke does seem to be a pretty ideal fit defensively. His size worries me a bit, but it hasn’t stopped him yet, although he will be smaller than both Oubre and Bridges. He’s a better athlete than either of them though.

Ayton needs to be elite inside. Not depending on him hitting 3s. His path to dominance is in the paint. Therefore the other big must stay out of the paint and be a capable 3 pt shooter, not the other way around.

It doesn't make sense to pigeonhole a player like that. Ayton has great shooting mechanics for a big man and he could very likely be a stretch-5 in the mold of Brook Lopez. Just because he's tall doesn't mean he must play in the post, and if there's an equally good inside player on the court then it's best to stretch the better shooter.

Reducing Ayton to a Brook Lopez role would be a massive disappointment.

If we have an equally good inside player on the court, that's a massive disappointment.

I'm depending on Ayton becoming our next franchise player. You should be too. You should be focused on surrounding him with players that maximize his chances at being elite. He will not become elite by becoming an outside shooter. Like you said, Brook Lopez can do that and he's not elite. I want him to do everything Brook Lopez can't because he's a much better player. He should be a generational big man.