2018 NBA Draft Thread

[Indy]

Bleacher Report has a rundown of the betting lines:

We are predicted to go 21-61, second worst in the league, ahead of only Chicago (20-62).

I think we'll almost definitely win more than 21, but maybe that's just the Suns fan in me.

The thought of getting another top 5 pick and adding to our core is nice, but what does it say about our young guys if we can't improve from last year? I guess the ideal scenario has our young guys improving and playing better, but that not translating into wins. An unlucky season where our point differential is only slightly negative, but losing a lot of close games. Or just winning games and getting lucky in the lottery.

I guess my point is improvement and development of current players > adding another top 5 pick. But I'm all for getting both.

Let's do the Philly thing. Ship out Bledsoe, Dudley, and Chandler for bad contracts and picks, and we can easily finish with a worse record than last year, even with improvement from the younglings.

Exactly. But Dudley is the last of those 3 I would want to deal. I think he is a great mentor/elder statesmen for the team. If those 3 guys go, and we don't bring back Len, our guy with the most NBA experience is TJ Warren.

[Split T]

Bleacher Report has a rundown of the betting lines:

We are predicted to go 21-61, second worst in the league, ahead of only Chicago (20-62).

I think we'll almost definitely win more than 21, but maybe that's just the Suns fan in me.

The thought of getting another top 5 pick and adding to our core is nice, but what does it say about our young guys if we can't improve from last year? I guess the ideal scenario has our young guys improving and playing better, but that not translating into wins. An unlucky season where our point differential is only slightly negative, but losing a lot of close games. Or just winning games and getting lucky in the lottery.

I guess my point is improvement and development of current players > adding another top 5 pick. But I'm all for getting both.

Let's do the Philly thing. Ship out Bledsoe, Dudley, and Chandler for bad contracts and picks, and we can easily finish with a worse record than last year, even with improvement from the younglings.

Exactly. But Dudley is the last of those 3 I would want to deal. I think he is a great mentor/elder statesmen for the team. If those 3 guys go, and we don't bring back Len, our guy with the most NBA experience is TJ Warren.

You forgot Knight

In all seriousness, I don't want to move Dudley either. I'd be ok trading Bledsoe in the right deal, but I wouldn't just dump him and think he provides value for us. As for Chandler, I'm in favor of keeping him if he's a 18-20 minute a night guy. We need vets, but our young guys also need minutes.

[Split T]

I'm curious how everyone sees the future development of our players. Management has stated that getting 3 stars is the plan and then building around them. With that in mind, here's how I see our players:

Players were counting on being part of 3 stars:
Devin Booker and Josh Jackson

Players we hope might be stars someday:
Marquese Chriss

Players who project as starters, but not stars:
Eric Bledsoe(if he hangs around)

Players we hope can be non-star starters:
Dragan Bender

Solid Bench Players
TJ Warren, Alan Williams and Tyler Ulis

Possible solid bench players:
Davon Reed and Derrick Jones Jr


I think we need that 3rd star as I don't really see Chriss reaching that level. Preferably he'd be a big man as we already have a guard and a wing. That should be our prime focus next draft/free agency.

If we add that 3rd star next offseason, we'd just need one of Chriss or Bender to turn into a starter and then most likely just hold onto Bledsoe. I feel pretty good about Ulis/Warren/Williams being solid players for a long time.

[Superbone]

I'd love a top 5 pick, but I think we might surprise a little this year. Still, the West is so loaded that it's gonna be hard to not be at the bottom. There are no Western teams that are obviously bad.

LAL - No reason to be bad as they don't have their pick. Brook Lopez is a good player and while Ball may have struggles scoring, he'll help everyone else score.

Dallas - The one team I could see bottoming out. They'll try to win for Dirk, but I think they're counting on a lot from a rookie PG and just an ok wing on a max contact (Dennis Smith and Harrison Barnes)

Sacramento - Lots of youth (Fox, hield, Jackson, skal, Giles) but they did add some solid vets (Hill) and Jackson and hield really aren't very young and both should provide solid play.

Memphis - if Conley and Gasol stay healthy, this team will win games

PHX - Do we keep bled? Do we ride chandler and Dudley? Or do we lean on Booker/Jackson/Chriss/Bender? If Chandler and Dudley spend a lot of time sitting and Booker and Jackson are the ones with the ball in key moments, we'll probably lose a lot of games still.

The East on the other hand is terrible. They've got 5 solid playoff teams (Cavs, Celtics, wizards, raptors, and bucks), 2 likely playoff team (Miami and Charlotte), 1 up and coming team that will probably make the playoffs (Philly) because everyone else is terrible (Knicks, Hawks, bulls, pistons, nets, magic, pacers)

This is the year to be bad. That means we'll surprise. I want to go all in on the youth movement. Bledsoe doesn't fit. Get him to a contender. Without Bledsoe and any upgrades, I think we should be well poised for the draft. I think I would really enjoy watching the young guys develop and learn to play together.

[Superbone]

Bleacher Report has a rundown of the betting lines:

We are predicted to go 21-61, second worst in the league, ahead of only Chicago (20-62).

I think we'll almost definitely win more than 21, but maybe that's just the Suns fan in me.

The thought of getting another top 5 pick and adding to our core is nice, but what does it say about our young guys if we can't improve from last year? I guess the ideal scenario has our young guys improving and playing better, but that not translating into wins. An unlucky season where our point differential is only slightly negative, but losing a lot of close games. Or just winning games and getting lucky in the lottery.

I guess my point is improvement and development of current players > adding another top 5 pick. But I'm all for getting both.

Let's do the Philly thing. Ship out Bledsoe, Dudley, and Chandler for bad contracts and picks, and we can easily finish with a worse record than last year, even with improvement from the younglings.

Sign me up!

[Split T]

Ya, we'd definitely be a top 5 lotto team without Bled. My guess is we go into the season with our current roster and try to win. With the expectation that we'll move the vets(Chandler and Bled) at the deadline if we are out of the playoff picture. Unfortunately, the latter half of our schedule is the tough part. Our easy first half schedule might make us think we're better than we are and to keep fighting past the deadline.

[O_Gardino]

I would love to move bledsoe this offseason. I think the young guys will learn to play better with Uis running the show.

[Superbone]

I think it would be better for all involved including Bledsoe. He's been such a great teammate and player that we should help him go to a team that he'd like to play for.

[Cap]

I think it would be better for all involved including Bledsoe. He's been such a great teammate and player that we should help him go to a team that he'd like to play for.

Bledsoe and the Cavs would be perfect for each other, but we should only make the deal if it makes sense for us. We're not going to give up a prospect and a pick to help Bledsoe win a title with his buddy.

After everything that has been written about Irving's supposed value and Bledsoe's supposed lack thereof, after all the speculation of Irving fetching Bledsoe, Jackson and a pick, it would be hard for the Cavs to sell a straight up Irving-Bledsoe swap to their fans, but I remain convinced it would be a very good deal for the Cavs, and we shouldn't sweeten it much, if at all.

Irving is totally overrated. Last season he ranked 440th in DRPM. He's a fount of points and highlights, but far from a complete player.

[Split T]

I think it would be better for all involved including Bledsoe. He's been such a great teammate and player that we should help him go to a team that he'd like to play for.

Bledsoe and the Cavs would be perfect for each other, but we should only make the deal if it makes sense for us. We're not going to give up a prospect and a pick to help Bledsoe win a title with his buddy.

After everything that has been written about Irving's supposed value and Bledsoe's supposed lack thereof, after all the speculation of Irving fetching Bledsoe, Jackson and a pick, it would be hard for the Cavs to sell a straight up Irving-Bledsoe swap to their fans, but I remain convinced it would be a very good deal for the Cavs, and we shouldn't sweeten it much, if at all.

Irving is totally overrated. Last season he ranked 440th in DRPM. He's a fount of points and highlights, but far from a complete player.

To be fair, he also ranked 14th in ORPM and his overall RPM was higher than Bledsoe. Although, Bledsoe might prove to be more valuable as a secondary piece than as a primary. Likewise, Kyrie might prove to be more valuable as a focal point, similar to IT and Harden.

Point is, in a vacuum, Irving has more value than Bled and while I agree that the difference doesn't add up to Josh Jackson, it probably adds up to Warren or Bender or Chriss and the Miami 1st. That would be my final offer and I'd give Cleveland till September 1st and then I'd pull the offer.

[Cap]

I think it would be better for all involved including Bledsoe. He's been such a great teammate and player that we should help him go to a team that he'd like to play for.

Bledsoe and the Cavs would be perfect for each other, but we should only make the deal if it makes sense for us. We're not going to give up a prospect and a pick to help Bledsoe win a title with his buddy.

After everything that has been written about Irving's supposed value and Bledsoe's supposed lack thereof, after all the speculation of Irving fetching Bledsoe, Jackson and a pick, it would be hard for the Cavs to sell a straight up Irving-Bledsoe swap to their fans, but I remain convinced it would be a very good deal for the Cavs, and we shouldn't sweeten it much, if at all.

Irving is totally overrated. Last season he ranked 440th in DRPM. He's a fount of points and highlights, but far from a complete player.

To be fair, he also ranked 14th in ORPM and his overall RPM was higher than Bledsoe. Although, Bledsoe might prove to be more valuable as a secondary piece than as a primary. Likewise, Kyrie might prove to be more valuable as a focal point, similar to IT and Harden.

Point is, in a vacuum, Irving has more value than Bled and while I agree that the difference doesn't add up to Josh Jackson, it probably adds up to Warren or Bender or Chriss and the Miami 1st. That would be my final offer and I'd give Cleveland till September 1st and then I'd pull the offer.

Yes, Irving's overall RPM was higher than Bledsoe's. Slightly.

The Cavs would be such a great fit for Bleds. With the offense often running through LeBron, he would be able to play more off the ball on O and expend more energy on D. He's a good defender who would be an elite defender in the right situation; we aren't the right situation because we have no front court defense behind him and require too much of him on offense. If Irving were here and Bledsoe In Cleveland, I'm almost certain Bledsoe would have the higher overall RPM.

[Split T]

Possible, but most likely we'll never know.

[Shabazz]

ESPN's first mock draft has us getting Doncic at #4 and Troy Brown at #17.

[O_Gardino]

This is going to be a weird draft year with nothing form DraftExpress.

[Shabazz]

This is going to be a weird draft year with nothing form DraftExpress.

It was the Draftexpress guys' mock draft. Just published on ESPN.

[Split T]

Ya, draft express guys are ESPN now. I wonder if Chad Ford pops up anywhere.

In the ESPN mock, top 5 went
Chicago - Porter
Boston - Bagley
Atlanta - Ayton
Phoenix - Doncic
Sacramento - Williams

[Mori Chu]

It's sad that we are such a consistently bad team that we are already thinking about the 2018 NBA Draft.

[Shabazz]

It's sad that we are such a consistently bad team that we are already thinking about the 2018 NBA Draft.

Last one. I promise.

[Indy]

Bleacher Report has a rundown of the betting lines:

We are predicted to go 21-61, second worst in the league, ahead of only Chicago (20-62).

I think we'll almost definitely win more than 21, but maybe that's just the Suns fan in me.

The thought of getting another top 5 pick and adding to our core is nice, but what does it say about our young guys if we can't improve from last year? I guess the ideal scenario has our young guys improving and playing better, but that not translating into wins. An unlucky season where our point differential is only slightly negative, but losing a lot of close games. Or just winning games and getting lucky in the lottery.

I guess my point is improvement and development of current players > adding another top 5 pick. But I'm all for getting both.

Let's do the Philly thing. Ship out Bledsoe, Dudley, and Chandler for bad contracts and picks, and we can easily finish with a worse record than last year, even with improvement from the younglings.

Exactly. But Dudley is the last of those 3 I would want to deal. I think he is a great mentor/elder statesmen for the team. If those 3 guys go, and we don't bring back Len, our guy with the most NBA experience is TJ Warren.

You forgot Knight

In all seriousness, I don't want to move Dudley either. I'd be ok trading Bledsoe in the right deal, but I wouldn't just dump him and think he provides value for us. As for Chandler, I'm in favor of keeping him if he's a 18-20 minute a night guy. We need vets, but our young guys also need minutes.

Well even if we patched things up with him, I figured his injury would keep him away for the season. So TJ it is.

[Mori Chu]

Indy didn't "forget" Knight. It's called suppression.