ML6

Can't win em all. But yeah, I am trying my best to keep an open mind. We all probably have tons of examples of players we liked flaming out and players we disliked being good. This year I'm restricting myself to only one guy that I will negatively freak out about (Sengun). And even in that case I'll probably talk myself into it within 48 hours.

Based solely on his measurements? Guess Bamba MVPs are incoming then!

What is the point being made here? That we should’ve taken Giannis at #2?

Good points. I do like some of the assets he brings that you mentioned — efficiency, getting to the line, creativity he’s shown in the passing game. His PnR scoring is nice but his bread and butter at this juncture is in the post, and I just don’t see that translating well. Not only for the reason you mentioned (better post defenders in the NBA), but that’s just not how the game is played anymore. Outside of Embiid and Jokic, teams don’t really dump it in the post to a guy and ask him to go to work (apologies to Shaq, who would love to see this routinely). Even Vooch, who is extremely skilled at that, started primarily picking/popping and spotting up. So for me the question becomes: what is the ceiling of a player who is good in PnR offense, great at post scoring in a league that doesn’t value post scoring that highly, but possibly can’t be on the court late in games? The answer to me is “not very high” UNLESS he does develop the shot significantly and can become more clever on D. Any maybe he will! To your point, he has a ton of time to do it, and generally guys who play with high motors also have good work ethic.

OK, so I have dedicated some more time to Sengun since my out of the league in 5 years prediction and... I still don’t see it. If there was a poster boy for “gets played off the court in any important game due to the inability to defend PnR”, it’d be him. That’s the modern NBA — any team will go at him relentlessly. So then his offense has to compensate for being a complete net negative defensively — and he’s pretty damn good there! But didn’t we just see this archetype? Isn’t Vooch just a bigger, better shooting, bad defender? Don’t we know where that tops out? Maybe Sengun would work with, I don’t know, Embiid? Am I just missing it entirely?

Not to pile on but this is the worst outcome possible, aside from like Luka Garza + Sengun (who, I should reiterate, will be out of the league in 5 years MARK MY WORDS).

Everyone should accept now that the pick is going to be Barnes... and that’s irrespective of the recent reports. He has the exact physical profile this FO drools over. All of the intel about his coachability, intangibles, and being a good teammate will be glowing. He is rumored to interview extremely well. Mose wants an aggressive, communicative defense and Barnes is the most aggressive, communicative defender in the draft. If we stay at 5 and Suggs doesn’t fall, it is a lock.

If Alperen Sengun is still in the NBA in 5 years I’ll wear his jersey to work for a month straight

I’m not sure I understand why taking Suggs at 5 in this stage of the rebuild means anything at all for the guard group in general. I heard skepticism about taking Suggs at 5 on a podcast this week and I don’t understand it. We don’t know anything about the long-term feasibility of Markelle, Cole, or RJ at this point. Kelle is coming back from a major injury, Cole could peak as a microwave guy, and RJ has an immense spectrum of outcomes. We are not even close to a point of passing on talent simply because we have other guys who play guard. If Suggs falls to 5, you draft him and evaluate the players over the coming years to decide who gets extended and who doesn’t.

Looks like it is based on an IG caption of another person he is working out with? STOP THE PRESSES

I get the support for our guys... but our bar has fallen to subterranean depths if two 3s and a dunk is our new standard for "untouchable".

I think this is a valid concern. With that said, I think the other side of the coin is equally legitimate. Meaning — there are only 30 NBA HC jobs with, generally, 2-5 openings each year (a couple more this year, admittedly). With that sort of scarcity, and no guarantee that the openings in the near future would be great jobs either — what if it’s Kings, Rockets, etc next year? — there is a case to be made that any job should be grabbed immediately in this league, if offered to you. Word on the street was that Clifford was counting on the Indy or Milwaukee job. Now he’s in the unemployment line waiting for his next big break. It is an interesting discussion. I can see validity on both sides. Edit: and you did qualify it with “those who might have other options”. That’s really the crux of the matter here, for sure. Some folks can likely safely wait, others should probably dive in.

Wasn’t Mosley the defensive guy for Dallas who had consistently bad defenses whereas Unseld was the defensive guy for Denver who had pretty good defenses with Jokic as a centerpiece? What are we making our assessments based on here? Edit: for the record, I am not saying Unseld would be better than Mosley. I just don’t get how one could be a horrible hire while being better at the assigned task than the guy ranked #1.

There is 0 way to have any feel for this whatsoever. And no, being on Vaughn’s staff once upon a time does not offer any insight.

I would be fine with Moody ending up on the Magic but 5 feels like a huge overpay.

On one hand Scottie Barnes strikes me (and probably all of us) as the next entry in a long line of Orlando Magic "big forward who can't shoot" picks. On the other hand, his shooting stroke did look MUCH different -- take with a heap of salt, empty gym -- and his energy level really could be infectious. I like both him and Kuminga fine at 5 if we don't move up, and I don't really see a reason to be significantly higher on Kuminga tbh.

You guys are discussing something I was thinking about yesterday... would this FO ever "end" the search early when they know they have found their person? Or are they always going to see every process through to the finish line no matter what? For instance, Hammon is my preferred choice and she's completed two interviews here per reports. My gut tells me that if she was the choice, they would get it over with and announce it. My head, knowing this FO, thinks they might keep the process going until they have interviewed every single candidate they dreamed up at the start, even if they were blown away by any candidate -- that's just how they operate.

Wow. He hasn’t really done anything as a head coach yet, so he wouldn’t be one of my top few choices in a vacuum. With that said, I understand the nostalgia + excitement aspect of it. The fanbase would be hyped up and you’d expect he’d connect strongly with the players. But it is a leap of faith.

A lesson I've learned from all our trials and tribulations during the rebuild is that we collectively -- and certainly myself individually -- don't know **** really. I was happier on draft night with Bamba than I would have been with Trae (big yikes). As you've highlighted, that was not an isolated opinion. Was deflated about not landing Doncic after there were some legit rumors we might move up for him. I was ecstatic when we drafted Hezonja. I thought Isaac, Okeke, and Cole were all good picks (seems like this could be true, but the injuries are a problem). A combination of good & bad opinions. It's why I'm trying not to get too flustered with falling to the 5th pick this year. What if Kuminga (if we pick him) DOES reach his potential, even though I am not super high on him? I'm just some random dude who happens to watch a decent amount of basketball. I've been wrong many times before. I will try to take a wait and see approach, which will almost assuredly expire a few days later.

Yeah I think the Clippers and perhaps the Bucks (Ham?) are holding up the process

If the draft approaches and this Barnes rumor seems true, I wonder if the front office would rather just stay at 5, grab Suggs, and save those other assets. Would be super interesting to know just how differently they view the first tier of guys relative to each other.

Yikes, bad quote from me. I can assure you though that this did not mean "I'd rather have Mo than Doncic", but rather "I need to move past the fact that Doncic almost came here and accept what actually happened". I say that confidently b/c I was, in fact, very much NOT over it. I continued to lament that miss for weeks.

Just ignore me. I still have a grudge b/c i had 2 great brackets that would've won both pools if not for picking Illinois to win it all. Losing before the Sweet 16 has given me an unfair negative perception of Ayo that I frankly will probably never shake.

Atkinson, Hammon, or Cassell and we're cookin