2018 NBA Draft Thread

[specialsauce]

I’m going to need somebody with the flu to sneeze on Booker as he’s boarding the team plane. A nice round of team flu would do the record real good.

[TOO]

Hot Take alert***
I think if the Suns take Bagley, he may just help rehabilitate Chriss. His aggressiveness and offensive skill will bring out the competitiveness in Chriss. So in essence they could get 2 players with the pick.
Although, I think Ayton should be the pick if it's #1.

Chriss has more problems than just competitive spirit. He’s frankly just not very good at anything but blocks.

Low BBIQ. Players can really only get so good when that is the problem.

i vaguely remember Watson raving about his BBIQ and thought to myself WTF are you on man?

[Cap]

Time for some very experimental crunch time line-ups.

Ulis-Reed-Jackson-Chriss-Bender. We'll call it the "developmental lineup." Don't even have to admit we're losing on purpose. Those are just the guys who need the development minutes the most.

[INFORMER]

Zero interest in Trae Young.

Please explain.

I don't see a lot of value in adding a high volume shooting, defensive liability point guard. I don't think that moves the needle for the roster. In general, I don't think Trae Young is a transcendent talent.

[INFORMER]

What do you guys think of Daniel Gafford?

I really like his offense and athleticism, but his rebounding bothers me a little.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Hot Take alert***
I think if the Suns take Bagley, he may just help rehabilitate Chriss. His aggressiveness and offensive skill will bring out the competitiveness in Chriss. So in essence they could get 2 players with the pick.
Although, I think Ayton should be the pick if it's #1.

That's not a hot take, it's disillusion.

Drafting another young player at his position will only quicken his downward trajectory. He needs to be dealt during the draft if the Suns take a another big man.

Ok, I'm going to try to not take your swipe personally.

Never take anything I say here personally. It's just basketball, and really bad basketball at the moment.

I thought Chriss was a terrible pick when he was selected. I had hopes that I was wrong at the end of last year, but it's been mostly clear that ever since the end of the season he's shown next to zero desire to improve his game. I'd rather ditch him and let him become someone else problem.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Zero interest in Trae Young.

Please explain.

I don't see a lot of value in adding a high volume shooting, defensive liability point guard. I don't think that moves the needle for the roster. In general, I don't think Trae Young is a transcendent talent.

I completely agree. He has more of a chance of becoming the next Jimmer than the next Curry.

That's not saying I wouldn't take a flyer on him in the late lottery or middle of the first round, but he's likely to be gone by that point.

[specialsauce]

I think he should be the first PG off the board but I wouldn’t pick him in the top 5-6 players and honestly if we fall enough to take him I’d rather trade the pick into a young established star

[O_Gardino]

I think it says a lot about Trae Young's shooting that folks forget about his passing. He leads the nation in assists on a team that doesn't have much scoring talent. I wouldn't pick him expecting 28ppg, but I would expect 10 assists.

My only 2 concerns about Trae are:
can he defend in a more physical game? (I think he can't)
can he stay involved while taking fewer shots? (I think he can)

[Cap]

I think he should be the first PG off the board but I wouldn’t pick him in the top 5-6 players and honestly if we fall enough to take him I’d rather trade the pick into a young established star

Are you puttíng him above Doncic, or do you not consider Doncic a PG?

[specialsauce]

I think he should be the first PG off the board but I wouldn’t pick him in the top 5-6 players and honestly if we fall enough to take him I’d rather trade the pick into a young established star

Are you puttíng him above Doncic, or do you not consider Doncic a PG?

Sorry I wasn’t considering him a PG. I know many want to play him there, he just didn’t come to my mind. Yes, I would take Doncic first.

[Split T]

Because I'm bored I tried to envision our team with each of the top guys in the draft. I'm assuming somewhat of a best case scenario for each prospect.

Doncic: I see Doncic falling somewhere between Turkoglu and Bird on the spectrum. He's going to be an elite elite passer who is an above average to great shooter as well. One comparison I'll make is a 6'8 Steve Nash. Neither were great athletes and had defensive shortcomings, but offensively they are so gifted and just make everyone better.

We'd have a Booker/Jackson/Doncic core and I'd want Warren off the bench. You'd probably want an elite rim protecting 5 and then another 3D guy to fill out the starting lineup. You'd have a lot of versatility though with that 3D guy, his natural position could be anywhere 1-4.

Ayton: Ewing is everyone's best case scenario comp for him. I was a little young during Ewings prime, but Ayton looks physically like a lot of modern 5's (Jordan, Dwight, Embiid) He's more skilled than Dwight or Jordan, not as skilled as Embiid.

I think he's the easiest fit. You could run a Payton/Booker/Jackson/Bender/Ayton lineup, although I'd hope to upgrade either the 1 or 4. Ayton takes over the Chandler screener role for our ball handlers and would be a dangerous role man or pop guy. He could also initiate some offense from the high post, he can hit the shot if you leave him, he's a decent passer and can overpower smaller guys in the post.

Booker/Jackson/Ayton core is fun, you'd want another shooter and another playmaker.

JJJ: Anthony Davis defensively and Channing Frye offensively. He's shown a few flashes of an offensive game more advanced than frye, but we'll see if it translates in the NBA. People a lot smarter than me say JJJ is the best defensive prospect in the draft and has DPOY potential.

Our defense sucks and JJJ could be a game changer for us there. He's never going to be a 25/12 guy, but he might be one of those guys that just kills in advanced stats. Booker/Jackson/Jackson is definitely still lacking another offensive star though. Can we find that player in free agency/trades? Can Warren become that guy? Leaves a few question marks from a fit standpoint.

Bagley: I think he's the safest player in the draft. Great motor, great athleticism. Maybe not as quick and powerful as young Amare but I think there's some similarities. He's gonna put up 20/10, the question is if he becomes a superstar. Needs the jump shot to be real and needs the ball handling/passing to develop to be an all-NBA guy.

Booker/Jackson/Bagley is a nice offensive core. Bagley probably needs a good shooter and rim protector next to him at the 4/5. Can Bender be that? (Side note: A JJJ/Bagley 4/5 combo would be fantastic.) You'd probably want your 5th guy to be your 3D pg in the Ntilikina/Brogdon mold. If Bagley becomes a 25/12/4 guy then we're probably elite. If he's 20/10/2, we're probably good not great.

Porter: Biggest question mark to me. He was the #1 guy in this class last year, but we haven't seen him in college. He's got good size, 6'10, good athleticism, good shooting. Can probably defend 3/4. He can initiate offense, handle the ball a bit, hit shots off the dribble. He's not Durant, but could he be Paul George? Maybe he's Rudy Gay though. I've got him behind Bagley right now because we haven't seen him play in college, but if he's actually as good as some people say, he's a cleaner NBA fit than Bagley.

Booker/Jackson/Porter has the makings off a great offense again, but would really need an elite defensive 5 if we want to be a serious contender. Again it puts Warren on the bench and maybe on the trading block. Could be good but depends on what we put around him.

Young: I don't think he's curry. Curry is bigger and an elite finisher at the rim. Curry is also a competent defender. I see Kemba as the better comp. Elite shooter, efficiency will go up once he gets some help. He's a better passer than kemba but I'm also worried he's too small for the NBA. Long defenders will give him trouble and I don't think he'll be a primary scoring option.

Young/Booker/Jackson is nice offensively. Jackson and booker both can take pressure of Trae and allow him to get a lot of good looks. Trae is a great passer but I don't think he'll be good enough as a primary option to draw enough focus away from booker/Jackson to make them better. I think booker makes Trae better, but not sure it goes the other way if that makes sense. Defensively we'd be a mess and be counting on Jackson to defend the whole perimeter. Would still need an elite defensive 5.

Carter: I think he's the most underrated guy in the draft. He'll rebound, he is a good defender/rim protector, although not elite. He can shoot, he can pass, he's got a good NBA body, decent athlete. His per 40 numbers are 21/14/3/3/1 and he shoots .59/.49/.73
He just does everything well. Al horford is an easy comp, but I think there is a lot of similarities. Horford doesn't wow you with his numbers but his teams love him.

Like adding JJJ, a booker/Jackson/Carter combo still probably needs another offensive star. How easy can they find that guy/develop that guy? If we land a guy like Doncic or Porter with our first pick, trading up to land Carter makes a lot of sense.

Bamba: Could potentially be a DPOY kinda guy. I don't see the offense yet, but if he's grabbing 14/15 boards and blocking 3-4 shots a game you might not need the offense. He's also very mobile and you can't take advantage of him in the pick and roll.

Like JJJ, he could transform our defense all by himself. I buy JJJ as an offensive player more, but their is potential offensively. He'd be another guy that would combine fantastically with doncic or Porter.


Going through this, I think Ayton is the most likely to solve the most problems for us. He gives us a potential offensive star to play alongside booker and has the ability to transform our defense. Guys like doncic, Porter, and Bagley may be bigger offensive stars but none provide the defensive upside of ayton. Similarly, JJJ and Bamba have higher defensive upside, but are a lot further away offensively.

One scary thought. If we don't grab a defensive big it feels like we'll try and address that this offseason and DeAndre Jordan is sitting there as an unrestricted FA. One more reason to grab Ayton

[In2ition]

I agree with moving up in the draft. Even with Ayton as the pick, what I love is the versatility he affords you with picking another player. You could play him as a 4 or 5, and Bagley, Carter, Mikal, Young, Porter, Bamba, and JJJ are all viable options if you move back up. Or you could use the pick(s) and other assets for an available star.

[Cap]

Doncic: I see Doncic falling somewhere between T******u and Bird on the spectrum.

Wow. Really going out on a limb with that narrow range.

[Split T]

Doncic: I see Doncic falling somewhere between T******u and Bird on the spectrum.

Wow. Really going out on a limb with that narrow range.

haha, admittedly it's hard to find a comparison for him as he's pretty unique, but I also think our view of turkoglu is skewed by how bad he was for us. At his best, he was a 19/6/5 guy that shot 40% from 3. He was pretty good.

[Mori Chu]

Doncic: I see Doncic falling somewhere between T******u and Bird on the spectrum.

I see his height falling somewhere between Tyrion Lannister and The Mountain.

[INFORMER]

Even with Ayton as the pick, what I love is the versatility he affords you with picking another player. You could play him as a 4 or 5

Ayton is strictly a 5 at the NBA level.

[In2ition]

Even with Ayton as the pick, what I love is the versatility he affords you with picking another player. You could play him as a 4 or 5

Ayton is strictly a 5 at the NBA level.

[INFORMER]

The list of centers that would actually give a team an advantage if paired with Ayton is very, very short. Otherwise, you're fielding a team that is too slow and doesn't have enough perimeter shooting. Playing Ayton at the 4 is just marginalizing the advantages he brings to the court.

[carey]

I agree with INFO on this one. If you draft Ayton you need to be prepared to invest in him as your starting C.