NBA Draft 2020

[Superbone]

shocking

but I agree. I think Kelly is our most valuable asset that we can part with realistically.

I do like Kennard, though. Good player and makes sense as a 3rd guard.

I would probably offer Kelly in a sign and trade deal for Christian Wood plus Luke Kennard.

I probably would too. How much wood do you think Wood gets?

Ah, a question for the ages, if he could.

Haha, I was embarrassed, but not surprised by the mistake in the question, until I looked back at what I wrote. Good one.

You've got to finish it now. "How much wood could a Wood get if a Wood could get wood?"

[carey]

Haliburton, Vassell, Hayes

Thank you, Split. For being the one person to interact with my post.

[Superbone]

Haliburton, Vassell, Hayes

Thank you, Split. For being the one person to interact with my post.

If I knew anything, I would have interacted too.

[In2ition]

Who does everyone like at #10 so far? Give me your top 3.

Hayes, Vassell, Haliburton wildcard Poku.

[Shabazz]

I'm in the same boat as Split and In2.

Haliburton's my top choice.
Then Hayes and Vassell (leaning Hayes for fit)
If Toppin falls, I'd be happy to draft him
Avdija is an NBA player, but not the cleanest fit. I'd still be comfortable drafting him.

If none of those guys are available, I'd look to trade down a few spots for Kira Lewis or Patrick Williams.

[carey]

Seems like that's a bit of a consensus for the top 3 at 10?

[Mori Chu]

I hope we don't trade our draft pick. I like a lot of the guys we're looking at for the #10 pick. I think we can find an important rotation contributor there if not a star.

[INFORMER]

I’d be more inclined to package it with Oubre for a better player than Kennard.

shocking

but I agree. I think Kelly is our most valuable asset that we can part with realistically.

I do like Kennard, though. Good player and makes sense as a 3rd guard.

I would probably offer Kelly in a sign and trade deal for Christian Wood plus Luke Kennard.

I probably would too. How much do you think Wood gets?

I see him getting offers between $12-20 million a year. But I don't think he'll necessarily go to the highest bidder. I think he is going to pick a good combination between good basketball situation and a generous salary.

[INFORMER]

Who does everyone like at #10 so far? Give me your top 3.

My top choice is to trade down for multiple picks. If that doesn't happen, my preference right now would be:

Aaron Nesmith
Jalen Smith
Saddiq Bey

Although part of me would be sick over leaving the 2020 NBA Draft without Desmond Bane. I don't think there is any chance Haliburton makes to #10, and I would be profoundly disappointed if we drafted Devin Vassell.

[In2ition]

Who does everyone like at #10 so far? Give me your top 3.

My top choice is to trade down for multiple picks. If that doesn't happen, my preference right now would be:

Aaron Nesmith
Jalen Smith
Saddiq Bey

Although part of me would be sick over leaving the 2020 NBA Draft without Desmond Bane. I don't think there is any chance Haliburton makes to #10, and I would be profoundly disappointed if we drafted Devin Vassell.

What's your problem with Vassell?

[Shabazz]

Has Haliburton falling to the Suns at 10. That would be nice.

[Ring_Wanted]

Doesn't surprise me Jalen Smith is on the rise. Toppin, Hali and Smith have been my top targets so far, although I admit I have not dipped too much into the draft this year.

[In2ition]

Wiseman keeps looking good.

[Superbone]

Wiseman keeps looking good.

Sure... Against mini me and no defense.

[Split T]

Maybe, I don’t trust workout videos though. There was a big feature on Mo Bamba right before the draft and had videos of him hitting shots that had me thinking for a second we could trade down and snag him. He’s done nothing in the nba.

Wiseman is a talent, but I’d counter that unless he’s a truly special big man, he’ll never be a top 15 guy in the nba. And I’m talking AD level. My feeling is if you did a fantasy draft for nba teams, only 2 bigs would go in the top 15(3 if you count Giannis). AD and Jokic. Everyone else would be guards and wings.

Centers are like QB’s in fantasy football. They may be very good players, but you only need 1 and there’s more than enough to go around. Ball handlers and versatile wing defenders who can hit shots are what you need to spend money/resources on.

[In2ition]

Maybe, I don’t trust workout videos though. There was a big feature on Mo Bamba right before the draft and had videos of him hitting shots that had me thinking for a second we could trade down and snag him. He’s done nothing in the nba.

Wiseman is a talent, but I’d counter that unless he’s a truly special big man, he’ll never be a top 15 guy in the nba. And I’m talking AD level. My feeling is if you did a fantasy draft for nba teams, only 2 bigs would go in the top 15(3 if you count Giannis). AD and Jokic. Everyone else would be guards and wings.

Centers are like QB’s in fantasy football. They may be very good players, but you only need 1 and there’s more than enough to go around. Ball handlers and versatile wing defenders who can hit shots are what you need to spend money/resources on.

I would counter with this is a very simplistic look at what is valuable and what is not. There has been such a move away from centers, that it's gone too far in that direction. Giannis is essentially a center, but plays PF. AD is also a center that plays best at center, but is playing PF. You need to be able to shoot in today's league, but to say that they aren't valuable is foolish. Houston got exposed as they leaned hard into a no center type team.

Look at Utah when Gobert was on the court and when Gobert was off the court in the playoffs. Do you think they wish they had someone nearly capable as Gobert to sub for him? Same with Jokic, as he was the best player in the series. How valuable is Bam for the Heat? They wouldn't be nearly the same team without his ability to guard on the perimeter, protect the rim, and control the glass. Heck, it's pretty easily argued that the Suns would have been in the playoffs if Ayton didn't get suspended, and even though they weathered his suspension for the first 10 games of it, they would have been a better team and as soon as Baynes was injured by the flying knee of Jaylen Brown, the Suns suffered greatly even though they have 3 good wings & Booker.

You guys are poo pooing Wiseman, because he hit a few 3 pointers on some shorter players, but he also hit on some decently tall players too in this video. The guy is '7"1 with a '7"6 wingspan and his jumper looks pretty smooth(better than Ayton's flat shot rn), and his athleticism is crazy. Will he be an all-star as a rookie? Heck no, and it may take him a couple yrs to fully grasp and have NBA defense ingrained in him. His natural athleticism, size and length can't be taught, but his skills are coming around. It's not a case where the center plays 48 minutes a night and never gets hurt. You need another center, and sure you can get some for a fraction of what the starting center makes, but what if Giannis picks the Suns in FA next yr? Are you going to tell Ayton to piss off, or low ball him when his contract is up? Are you going to decide to not play him with Giannis? And if they become the dominate defensive team in the league, are you going to have to make that hard decision to let Ayton go, because you already pay Giannis so much? All these seem like silly hypotheticals.

[Wormwood]

Has Haliburton falling to the Suns at 10. That would be nice.

Of all the people who might be there at 10, Halliburton is my favorite. He probably won't fall that far, but if he does, we have to take him.

[Split T]

Maybe, I don’t trust workout videos though. There was a big feature on Mo Bamba right before the draft and had videos of him hitting shots that had me thinking for a second we could trade down and snag him. He’s done nothing in the nba.

Wiseman is a talent, but I’d counter that unless he’s a truly special big man, he’ll never be a top 15 guy in the nba. And I’m talking AD level. My feeling is if you did a fantasy draft for nba teams, only 2 bigs would go in the top 15(3 if you count Giannis). AD and Jokic. Everyone else would be guards and wings.

Centers are like QB’s in fantasy football. They may be very good players, but you only need 1 and there’s more than enough to go around. Ball handlers and versatile wing defenders who can hit shots are what you need to spend money/resources on.

I would counter with this is a very simplistic look at what is valuable and what is not. There has been such a move away from centers, that it's gone too far in that direction. Giannis is essentially a center, but plays PF. AD is also a center that plays best at center, but is playing PF. You need to be able to shoot in today's league, but to say that they aren't valuable is foolish. Houston got exposed as they leaned hard into a no center type team.

Look at Utah when Gobert was on the court and when Gobert was off the court in the playoffs. Do you think they wish they had someone nearly capable as Gobert to sub for him? Same with Jokic, as he was the best player in the series. How valuable is Bam for the Heat? They wouldn't be nearly the same team without his ability to guard on the perimeter, protect the rim, and control the glass. Heck, it's pretty easily argued that the Suns would have been in the playoffs if Ayton didn't get suspended, and even though they weathered his suspension for the first 10 games of it, they would have been a better team and as soon as Baynes was injured by the flying knee of Jaylen Brown, the Suns suffered greatly even though they have 3 good wings & Booker.

You guys are poo pooing Wiseman, because he hit a few 3 pointers on some shorter players, but he also hit on some decently tall players too in this video. The guy is '7"1 with a '7"6 wingspan and his jumper looks pretty smooth(better than Ayton's flat shot rn), and his athleticism is crazy. Will he be an all-star as a rookie? Heck no, and it may take him a couple yrs to fully grasp and have NBA defense ingrained in him. His natural athleticism, size and length can't be taught, but his skills are coming around. It's not a case where the center plays 48 minutes a night and never gets hurt. You need another center, and sure you can get some for a fraction of what the starting center makes, but what if Giannis picks the Suns in FA next yr? Are you going to tell Ayton to piss off, or low ball him when his contract is up? Are you going to decide to not play him with Giannis? And if they become the dominate defensive team in the league, are you going to have to make that hard decision to let Ayton go, because you already pay Giannis so much? All these seem like silly hypotheticals.

I didn’t mean to imply that centers aren’t valuable. They are. Of the 4 teams remaining, 3 of them have top 5 centers in the league. Though 2 of them spent the whole year playing the 4. It also backs up my assertion that it’s the truly skilled bigs that matter. Bam, AD, and Jokic are not by any means traditional. Jokic might be the best passing big man of all time. Bam is also a highly gifted passer. AD is shooting 39% from 3 in the playoffs.

Boston is still alive and they don’t really play a C. Toronto closed with Anunoby at C. Houston didn’t play a C. Philly and Utah have 2 of the other top 5 C’s and lost in the 1st round.

And for the record, I wasn’t poo pooing Wiseman. I honestly don’t know what he’s going to be. I was just saying a workout video isn’t going to sway me. I haven’t really considered him. He won’t fall to 10 and we already have Ayton. I know you’ve been in favor of drafting him anyways to back up Ayton, but that just seems like a waste to me. If he’s any good, he’s going to be worth playing more. Again, it’s like having Pat Mahomes and drafting Russell Wilson as your fantasy backup QB. Only one can play, use the pick to draft someone who fits better.

Now if you want to draft him as a trade asset or you think he’s better than Ayton, sure I guess that can make some sense. I haven’t spent enough time, nor do I think there is enough to go on, to know if he’s better than Ayton.

And yes, if we somehow got Giannis, I would 100% move Ayton. They don’t make sense together.

[In2ition]

Again, it’s like having Pat Mahomes and drafting Russell Wilson as your fantasy backup QB. Only one can play, use the pick to draft someone who fits better.

Now if you want to draft him as a trade asset or you think he’s better than Ayton, sure I guess that can make some sense. I haven’t spent enough time, nor do I think there is enough to go on, to know if he’s better than Ayton.

And yes, if we somehow got Giannis, I would 100% move Ayton. They don’t make sense together.

First off, it's a bad analogy. QBs tend to play every snap. Not so with centers or any position. And, if both can hit 3s, they could play together from time to time, if the other skills mesh. If not, Ayton will play a maximum of 36 minutes per game and still probably miss 10 games.

He could very well be better than Ayton, and you could move Ayton at that time. Or not. Either way, you have rim running, sometimes stretch, shot blocking and rebounding big on the floor at all times to go with your wings and shooters. Seems ideal.

I think Ayton could play with Giannis much like the Lopez bros play center next to him. I doubt Giannis is going to embrace playing center full-time, so just getting rid of Ayton for the sake of getting rid of him is super short-sighted.

[jonh]

I am frustrated that the draft is now in November. I thought that one of the benefits of having the shortened offseason would be not having to wait 2 months after the season ended for the draft.