The NBA Draft Thread

[jpzx]

Not a huge fan of LeVert. Though Uthoff, Gbinije, Bentil, Layman -I think they're all talented enough to carve out roles; I don't know what Melo Trimble is yet.

 

[B Sox]

Not a huge fan of LeVert. Though Uthoff, Gbinije, Bentil, Layman -I think they're all talented enough to carve out roles; I don't know what Melo Trimble is yet.

As far as the MD guys go, Layman is basically another version of Sam Dekker. My biggest gripe with him was that he sometimes isn't aggressive enough....Trimble is really a wild card to me. If he shoots like he did his freshman year, I liken him to a taller Ty Lawson sans the personal issues and he can certainly play a role in the league. May never be a starter, but could be a very solid backup for many years. If he shoots 31% from 3 like he did this year, he will be in Europe...

 

[frshstunna]

Trimble is a back up PG in the league, can be a solid one if he keeps working

 

[osh kosh bosh]

If Caris was healthy I would have taken him in the first round, I think he's everything you want in a modern complementary guard.

Can shoot 40% from 3, defend all 3 positions, 2 of them well. and make plays off the dribble as a passer or as a scorer if he gets ran of the line. I'd love to see him with GSW, or the Spurs.

 

[frshstunna]

Caris is nice ...crazy how he had no problems the 1st couple years now he can't stay healthy

 

[jpzx]

If Caris was healthy I would have taken him in the first round, I think he's everything you want in a modern complementary guard.

Can shoot 40% from 3, defend all 3 positions, 2 of them well. and make plays off the dribble as a passer or as a scorer if he gets ran of the line. I'd love to see him with GSW, or the Spurs.

Interesting, the way you've framed it here. And maybe you're right. I never really saw the drive to take over, and beyond that- consistently, he seemed to fade into the background in a lot of Michigan games I've watched in the last two years (he was hurt for a lot of this season granted). I guess my concern is when you've framed it like that you've sort of tied in my concerns - why can he be the package of all of that and fail to make an impact or become a relatively known name outside of us? There's something not right there, I don't know.

I'm a little concerned that he broke his left foot as a sophomore, broke his left foot again as a junior, and sat out the entire conference season as a senior (played 11 min in 1 game) and last Tuesday he had surgery. Why so long? Three huge injuries to the same foot in three years?

 

[worldbeefreeg]

I just worry about his shooting translating, it seems all Beilein guys appear to be better shooters than they actually are but in this weak draft, I'd take him in the 1st.

I hope Phoenix gets Ben, think that's the best fit for him long term. Booker is exactly the type of player that needs to surround him. Booker has flashed some chops as a combo-guard running point but he's a two to me. Ben can have the ball in his hands and they can run a Draymond-Steph like pick n roll.

D'angelo and Ben would fit well together I think too but just don't think Ben and Randle really can fit.

I never comment on Euro prospect really just because I find it silly to comment on something that you don't really know. It's like Porzingis last year, dude was clearly a different caliber of Euro prospect because he was playing real minutes in the best league in Europe at 18/19. But translating that can be scary just because we don't get to digest their games in the same way we do with American prospects.

With that said, it seems Bender is the third best prospect but it's going to suck for whoever gets the third pick in the draft just because Ingram/Ben seem so far ahead of the other prospects.

And as Osh says, this is just a pretty uninspiring group after those two. I would honestly take Dunn/Buddy just because blowing a tope 5 pick and not even getting a rotation guy is devastating. I at least feel confident those two guys will be contributors for a while.

 

[wavycrocket]

I need the Nuggets to not f up these 3 picks in the top 20

We getting a top 2 pick. Just watch

 

[osh kosh bosh]

Interesting, the way you've framed it here. And maybe you're right. I never really saw the drive to take over, and beyond that- consistently, he seemed to fade into the background in a lot of Michigan games I've watched in the last two years (he was hurt for a lot of this season granted). I guess my concern is when you've framed it like that you've sort of tied in my concerns - why can he be the package of all of that and fail to make an impact or become a relatively known name outside of us? There's something not right there, I don't know.

I'm a little concerned that he broke his left foot as a sophomore, broke his left foot again as a junior, and sat out the entire conference season as a senior (played 11 min in 1 game) and last Tuesday he had surgery. Why so long? Three huge injuries to the same foot in three years?

fail to make an impact? He was the second best player on an elite 8 squad and he got hurt the other two years.


The injuries are what make him a 2nd round pick, but if you draft him and you find a way to keep him healthy no doubt he's a 1st round calibler talent, especially in this draft.

 

[B Sox]

I mean, Caris has been projected as a first rounder in this draft for like a year and a half...If he can get healthy, he'll be a solid 2nd rounder for somebody....

 

[ValarMorghulis]

this really how trash this draft is... we talking about Caris LeVert.

Yikes.

 

[jpzx]

The injuries are what make him a 2nd round pick, but if you draft him and you find a way to keep him healthy no doubt he's a 1st round calibler talent, especially in this draft.

fail to make an impact? He was the second best player on an elite 8 squad and he got hurt the other two years.

The Trey Burke 12-13 Michigan team doesn't go to the F4 without his length at the front of their zone, and he had great games at Kohl, Breslin and Cameron Indoor the following season, but he wasn't the second-best player on that team.

Two of his teammates Jordan Morgan and GRIII have top-10 career field goal percentages of all time in the Big Ten and that was the last season for both. GRIII finished third in 2pt FGs and only 9th in attempts so there's the efficiency, and he didn't shoot threes well but they also had Stauskas and Z.Irvin (btw Zak made more threes than LeVert that season).

Morgan's defense and rebounding were far more important than Levert's length on the perimeter in that season even as critical as that length was to the F4 team the yea prior, and his 3-point acumen. He also went 2-7 from deep over UM's 4gms in that 2013-14 tournament (averaging 33 minutes per game). So hardly leaned on that (arguably his best strength) in favor of others. You can say it was because he was a sophomore but he definitely wasn't the second-best player on that team, probably fourth.


...


All that said... he's not terrible, not saying that, there are sample sizes though in those two seasons he's gone down with injuries since that you mentioned where there's not a healthy dearth of games but not like 4-5 either.

We have somewhat of a handful of games in the double-digits that you can be active in trying to draw conclusions from & feel like you can glean a dose of what he is... Per-40 him in terms of totals but averages aren't dependable, at least observable... and when looking at those, his numbers extrapolated seem to remain the same when he's the man and when he's not. Again, just drawing off of those meager sample sizes so I'm not being overly aggressive in saying he can't work out, just don't have much to go off of for me to say he will or that he's first-round caliber.

Daniel Orton, Jeryl Sasser and Christian Eyenga are just some of the irrelevant names that have gone in round one so obviously I won't be surprised if he goes because he's obviously not worse than those & most GMs have no idea what they're doing after pick 5.

 

[B Sox]

Interested to see where AJ Hammons goes. He's old AF so he probably doesn't get drafted in the first, but he should be able to contribute for someone immediately...

 

[jpzx]

His lower body is an amazing thing as in it ought to have been immovable earlier than this year/half of last year in the Big Ten...

But it took him a while to build himself up physically, and from a confidence-in-himself standpoint. Honestly, he's like a giant oak tree, roots bypassing the upper mantle and probably measure the radius of the Earth. No one should've been able to move him at this level/at this age, and he could be useful in the league in a few years if he widens his skillset because right now he might get eaten alive.

 

[osh kosh bosh]

The Trey Burke 12-13 Michigan team doesn't go to the F4 without his length at the front of their zone, and he had great games at Kohl, Breslin and Cameron Indoor the following season, but he wasn't the second-best player on that team.

Two of his teammates Jordan Morgan and GRIII have top-10 career field goal percentages of all time in the Big Ten and that was the last season for both. GRIII finished third in 2pt FGs and only 9th in attempts so there's the efficiency, and he didn't shoot threes well but they also had Stauskas and Z.Irvin (btw Zak made more threes than LeVert that season).

Morgan's defense and rebounding were far more important than Levert's length on the perimeter in that season even as critical as that length was to the F4 team the yea prior, and his 3-point acumen. He also went 2-7 from deep over UM's 4gms in that 2013-14 tournament (averaging 33 minutes per game). So hardly leaned on that (arguably his best strength) in favor of others. You can say it was because he was a sophomore but he definitely wasn't the second-best player on that team, probably fourth.


...


All that said... he's not terrible, not saying that, there are sample sizes though in those two seasons he's gone down with injuries since that you mentioned where there's not a healthy dearth of games but not like 4-5 either.

We have somewhat of a handful of games in the double-digits that you can be active in trying to draw conclusions from & feel like you can glean a dose of what he is... Per-40 him in terms of totals but averages aren't dependable, at least observable... and when looking at those, his numbers extrapolated seem to remain the same when he's the man and when he's not. Again, just drawing off of those meager sample sizes so I'm not being overly aggressive in saying he can't work out, just don't have much to go off of for me to say he will or that he's first-round caliber.

Daniel Orton, Jeryl Sasser and Christian Eyenga are just some of the irrelevant names that have gone in round one so obviously I won't be surprised if he goes because he's obviously not worse than those & most GMs have no idea what they're doing after pick 5.

He was absoluteney the second best player on the team. I watched every game because of Stauskas.


There are +100 players, in the NCAA who could do what Jordan Morgan did which was, was be 6'9, rebound decentley, play solid d, and catch the ball from the coutless numbers of easy looks Stauskas and Levert generated off the pick and roll.

GRIII, and Irvin were in the similar situation, they stood in spots, and caught the ball shot open 3's, and were beneficiary or Stauskas and Levert's creativity.

The task of creating half court offense was almost 90% on Levert and Stauskas's shoulders. Its why Levert was second on the team in WS.


You could maybe, maaaybe make an argument, for GRIII (much more of a finisher than a creator), but Jordan ******* Morgan??!

that's absurd, there are a million Jordan Morgans.


in fact there was a carbon copy on his team Jon Horford.

 

[jpzx]

No still very much in disagreement with that opinion. Morgan as 'Jon Horford' never happened in history and they're not even worth comparing id move on.

 

[pmatic]

2016 NBA Mock Draft 1.0: Pre-tourney

http://www.si.com/nba/2016/03/11/nba-mock-draft-ncaa-tournament-ben-simmons-brandon-ingram

2016 NBA Mock Draft 2.0: Ingram unseats Simmons for No. 1

http://www.si.com/nba/2016/04/01/nba-mock-draft-brandon-ingram-ben-simmons-dragan-bender

 

[B Sox]

2016 NBA Mock Draft 2.0: Ingram unseats Simmons for No. 1

http://www.si.com/nba/2016/04/01/nba-mock-draft-brandon-ingram-ben-simmons-dragan-bender

Some of the commentary is ridiculous in this

 

[jpzx]

I don't watch Euros until May at least because there's not enough out there to last me until the middle of May anyway, but my big board from just what I saw from watching CBB this year without caring at all about draft sites because my GENGHIS KHAN Jaylen Brown is still at No. 4 on DX.

Meaning, don't care about the most-respected-draft-website-available's opinion yet because it's obviously not refined/GM's haven't dug deep enough yet. My guess is they watched the beginning of the conference schedule and tentatively put the brakes on their opinions until they have more time to evaluate the tape. Brown's definitely not ready to come out and needs to figure out how to control his body next season as 'the man' since Rabb's gone, or Brown's just not a top-5 pick in the 2016 draft but will come out - which is a sign he knows he's not even close to being ready to match up w/ current draft projections so he can't risk coming back. Of course, all of what I just typed is 'IMO'.

As is this:

1. Simmons
2. Ingram
3. Rabb
4. Dunn
5. Murray
6. Sabonis
7. Hield
8. Skal

I'll throw Bender in wherever when I do some work on him.

I have Skal in that group. Meaning, they're the eight in the 2016 NBA Draft that I could realistically see being very good at age 25, all with varying confidence levels.

I'm really seeing a drop-off in players that could become consistent contributors -> very good/great once you get past these eight. I actually think there's a lot of value in this draft in the late 20s-pick 45 in the second round. If you're an employed NBA draft scout that knows what he or she is doing then this is a draft where you'll be able to find more than a few valuable contributors in that range when their developments are mostly complete.

By the time all those eight are 25 years old (so three years ago for Buddy) I can envision scenarios where each individual could be good -> great depending on the teammates and teams they encounter in their first five seasons. Whereas, the others like Poeltl, Ellenson and D.Jackson, I can't even throw a could-be great scenario at them. There are just not enough at-hand reliable indicators from their year or years at the college level to have any jumping off point.

My board will differ greatly from others I'm sure but if we all have the same opinions on individuals and the orders that they should be taken then we're all not thinking for ourselves, making our own evaluations anyway.

 

[pmatic]

So Thon Maker is entering the NBA Draft.

 

[wavycrocket]

So Thon Maker is entering the NBA Draft.

What?

This ***** just said last week he's going to college

 

[pmatic]

Produced a video with BR and everything.

 

[osh kosh bosh]

Yet another prospect I'm happy my job security isn't dependent having to decipher.

He's a hard worker and tougher than he looks, but and overrated shooter, with low basketball IQ, good not great athlete.


Remember the hoopmixtape title "Kevin durant mixed with Chris Paul" or some nonsense?


another prospect crowned off hoopmixtapes.

 

[doctor love]

Id easily draft him early second round in this draft and let him play on on my dleague squad if im a gm.

If kevon looney went round 1 in a good draft...i dont see why maker cant be too far off

 

[osh kosh bosh]

I wouldn't draft him unless I had a d-league team. Becuase he's a long long way off.