NBA Draft Prospects Discussion

[Split T]

Ulis in the lottery? At 5'9" on a good day, no way IMO.

I think it depends on the situation. For instance, I think he makes some sense for utah. Burke sucks, Exum is an unknown and can easily slide to the 2. Utah has a great defense and can cover for ulis lack of size. What Utah needs is a pg that can run an offense and ulis is probably the best pure pg in the draft. I'd love him here as a backup, but I'd hesitate to take him at 13. I think there are some better prospects that will be available.

[carey]

Some mock draft stuff from brightsideofthesun

Those guys sure do love Luwawu

http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2016/ ... re-lottery

I'm willing to bet none of those guys have seen anything other than highlight videos.

[Danimal]

I think there was one guy on there who had watched a bunch of European ball. But other than that its likely youtube analysis

[INFORMER]

Anyone interested in trying to trade for Blake Griffin? Seems like the Clippers would like to move him and a change of scenery might work in his favor at this point.

Suns trade: Brandon Knight, Archie Goodwin
Clippers trade: Blake Griffin

Some exchange of picks (not the Suns own first rounder) could be added. Maybe the Suns #13 & #28 for the Clips #25.

That definitely wouldn't be enough.

[Cap]

My rule: Don't trade for assholes unless it's going to make you a contender. Blake won't, and I don't want him.

[INFORMER]

If we take a big with our own pick, I'd be interested in Luwawu at 13, though I suspect the Jazz may take him. They could also opt for Beasley, Valentine or Korkmaz, given their offensive deficiencies. But if Luwawu's off the board, is Valentine the next guy on our list?

If we for some reason don't go back with our pick, I suspect each of Ellenson, Sabonis and Chriss will be gone by 13. That leaves Davis, Johnson and Labissiere. I prefer Johnson, myself.

Am I missing someone?

Luwawu is a very nice prospect.

[INFORMER]

Maybe Rabb? I'm not a big fan of the bigs outside of Chriss and Sabonis.

He's returning to Cal.

Thank goodness.

[Danimal]

Just noticed something crazy. Boston has 5 2nd round picks this year. They could draft and stash an entire lineup.

What to do in that situation. Obviously they will likely try and package a bunch. But say you kept them all l, how about doing something crazy like draft and stashing 5 centers in the hope a few pan out and appreciate in future value

[carey]

Had not seen Rabb was going back to Cal. I liked him at #13.

[JustWinBaby]

I have not seen much on Denzel Valentine. I really do not know all that much about him but he did play 4 years in a very good program for Tom Izzo and Tom loved him. While we need just about everything I really think legit ball movement is by far the biggest issue. Booker appears to be a more than willing passer and Valentine averaged close to a triple double in his last year (19.2 pts, 7.5 assists. 7.8 rbds with a 30.0 PER). I have really not seen him play but his stats have me interested.

I would draft a power forward with the biggest upside at #4 and take Valentine at 13.

[OE32]

I have not seen much on Denzel Valentine. I really do not know all that much about him but he did play 4 years in a very good program for Tom Izzo and Tom loved him. While we need just about everything I really think legit ball movement is by far the biggest issue. Booker appears to be a more than willing passer and Valentine averaged close to a triple double in his last year (19.2 pts, 7.5 assists. 7.8 rbds with a 30.0 PER). I have really not seen him play but his stats have me interested.

I would draft a power forward with the biggest upside at #4 and take Valentine at 13.

My worry with Valentine is D - running a rotation of Warren, Booker and Valentine at the wings will leave us pretty defenseless. That's why I have Luwawu ahead of Valentine.

As far as our top pick is concerned, if we don't get Simmons/Ingram, the 4 with the biggest upside is clearly Bender, but we don't know if he's more unicorn or donkey at this point. After that, I'm not sure any of Chriss/Sabonis/Ellenson have tremendous "upside" - Sabonis I think will be a workhorse in the league that gets more wins than personal glory. Chriss looks like fool's gold to me. Ellenson could be very good offensively, but he doesn't appear to have a place as a defender - hunched over on defense, no lateral quickness whatsoever, no leaping ability. This is not an exciting draft for bigs.

[Superbone]

This is not an exciting draft for bigs.

Just our luck.

[OE32]

This is not an exciting draft for bigs.

Just our luck.

Hence my desire to either trade up for Simmons or using our end-of-the-lotto pick to get a big, leaving the top pick dangling for whatever team is willing to make the best offer. I could see Murray, Hield or Dunn motivating plenty of teams to make a solid offer.

[carey]

Just curious, but how many of you would do Knight + #3 (or 4 or 5) + Len for Boogie Cousins? I think it's an overpay but I'm pausing to think about it so that means it is probably fairly close to a decent price.

[TOO]

Meh, dont want the attitude. Plus he thinks he's a 3pt shooter now.

[Split T]

I'd probably do it. It could blow up in our face, but I'd take that chance. Cousins has the most talent we've seen in a 5 since Shaq. He's big, strong, quick, skilled in the paint, can hit a jumper, passes well, and can even put the ball on the floor pretty well. When he wants to, he can be a good rim protector and defensive player and rebounder. He does turn the ball over way too much and spends too much time on the perimeter.

[Split T]

I have not seen much on Denzel Valentine. I really do not know all that much about him but he did play 4 years in a very good program for Tom Izzo and Tom loved him. While we need just about everything I really think legit ball movement is by far the biggest issue. Booker appears to be a more than willing passer and Valentine averaged close to a triple double in his last year (19.2 pts, 7.5 assists. 7.8 rbds with a 30.0 PER). I have really not seen him play but his stats have me interested.

I would draft a power forward with the biggest upside at #4 and take Valentine at 13.

My worry with Valentine is D - running a rotation of Warren, Booker and Valentine at the wings will leave us pretty defenseless. That's why I have Luwawu ahead of Valentine.

As far as our top pick is concerned, if we don't get Simmons/Ingram, the 4 with the biggest upside is clearly Bender, but we don't know if he's more unicorn or donkey at this point. After that, I'm not sure any of Chriss/Sabonis/Ellenson have tremendous "upside" - Sabonis I think will be a workhorse in the league that gets more wins than personal glory. Chriss looks like fool's gold to me. Ellenson could be very good offensively, but he doesn't appear to have a place as a defender - hunched over on defense, no lateral quickness whatsoever, no leaping ability. This is not an exciting draft for bigs.

Have started looking in to luwawe and I'm liking what I see. I still have Valentine over him, but I'd be happy with luwawe. We do need a 3 and D guy to take Tucker's spot in the rotation. Luwawe looks like a guy who could guard 1-3 very well and be a threat offensively. Not a featured scorer, but not someone you can ignore.

I like Valentine because I think he'll be a great (above 40%) shooter from 3 and he's skilled enough to run the offense. I like bledsoe and think he does a lot for this team, but he struggles at being the facilitator for everyone. I think Valentine would take some pressure off as he's much more of a pg than knight.

I do worry about Valentine defensively, especially teamed with Booker and Warren as none of them forecast to be anything but average defensively. Honestly, I'm not sold on Warren in general and wouldn't be upset if we moved him for someone more defensively inclined.

[JCSunsfan]

Anyone interested in trying to trade for Blake Griffin? Seems like the Clippers would like to move him and a change of scenery might work in his favor at this point.

Suns trade: Brandon Knight, Archie Goodwin
Clippers trade: Blake Griffin

Some exchange of picks (not the Suns own first rounder) could be added. Maybe the Suns #13 & #28 for the Clips #25.

That definitely wouldn't be enough.

Don't want Blake. He is a free agent in a year. I would not want him for this deal even.

[Indy]

My rule: Don't trade for assholes unless it's going to make you a contender. Blake won't, and I don't want him.

I fully support this rule.

[Mori Chu]

Just curious, but how many of you would do Knight + #3 (or 4 or 5) + Len for Boogie Cousins? I think it's an overpay but I'm pausing to think about it so that means it is probably fairly close to a decent price.

I would absolutely do it. Boogie is probably a top 5 player in the league on a functional team. Those assets you listed are absolutely worth giving up for a player like that.

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