magicblue

To add to this, drafting him at #2 only takes the pressure off him, and to a lesser extent, us as a franchise. The beauty is Nelson can ease him in and almost definitely will be injured enough to give him every opportunity to play significant minutes. When you really break it down, is there a better pure basketball player in this draft than Trey Burke? The answer is no. Yes he has flaws, but the guy has all the intangibles and really does have great PG and leadership skills. I'm not trying to sell this, I'm just telling you what I'm hearing from behind closed doors. Do not be surprised if we trade down and take him at 4 or 5, and count on McLemore buzz...he's our greatest leverage. Henny loves Burke...its part of the reason we didn't interview him at the combine. This guys hobby is being three steps ahead of the competition...its really a beautiful thing, to care and scheme that is. Henny is the ultimate poker player. He's the card counting dork that walks away from the table with the stash before the tapes start rolling

For those in there, I told you we had the second pick as soon as the teams started being announced (which is when the #2 pick was confirmed to me). Not looking for glory, just saying

Great comparison! Seriously

Its happening, although we will likely trade down a slot or two

Doesn't matter, we're drafting him. If Paul was a guarantee in 2005 he would've gone first. He wasn't and he didn't. Burke is our guy...mark my word, like it or not

Trey Burke will be a Magician mark my words. Being told our camp believes he's a franchise PG and honestly think he's a Chris Paul type talent and being vastly underrated...which they love. If you don't like it, start getting used to it now because its happening.

I'm told Burke is our guy. Our management is in love with the guy and he has always been our first option (Smart be damned).

Pretty much...although my guy (who broke the pick that I disclosed in the chat room) says Burke is our guy. Great thing about this is the pressure is now squarely on Cleveland. Hell, they may take Porter...we could still trade down and get our guy (Burke) or take the flier on Noel at #2. It's really a pretty sweet place to be..no one will give a poop after Cleveland who will almost definitely screw up

Lesson here is don't drop acid before the draft lottery. Cleveland will never win an NBA championship

I agree with all of this except I think we win 27 next year.

That's why everyone should want us to get the first pick. You either select exactly who you want or you make someone pay for that priviledge. There's absolutely no advantage in picking 2,3, or 4 unless Henny strategically moves down...in which case we will have gained something

It would be irresponsible of Henny not trade the pick if we can still get the player we want and pay him less, gain an asset, or dump a contract. Adding a draft pick would be ideal, I'm certainly not arguing that, but any move that puts us in a better position capwise must also be executed

Don't ask me why I responded to your post twice...sorry about that

The difference between the starting salary of the 1st pick compared to the 3rd pick is $1M ($4.5M vs. $3.5) and this continues and grows over the course of the rookie contract. If we can get the guy we want and pay him less, while possibly dumping a contract and/or gaining an asset, why wouldn't we want to do that?

Any combination of paying the player we select less money, possibly dumping a contract, gaining an asset (future draft picks), etc.

Hoping we don't get it and predicting we won't get it are two totally different things.

It's the beat place for us to be, whether we actually keep the pick or not, because it gives us maximum leverage (if we opt to move down) and allows us to leave this draft with the exact player we want...whether we stay put or trade the pick.

Foresight was not one of Otis Smith's strengths, to put it mildly.

And why did he consistently get shut down in the tourney and what seemed like every time I saw him play? Not a fan at all

He made one All-Star team in nine years...no one's confusing Jameer for a star player because coaches selected him to one all-star team that he never even played in. Burke could make an all-star team, I'll buy that

I always though DJ Augustine's high end ceiling was Jameer Nelson, just not his All-Star half season.

No one thought Steve Nash would ever become a two-time MVP, but he did. Doesn't mean Burke will or won't become a superstar, but just because people are saying there aren't any superstars in this draft doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot.

Noel's frame is nothing like Dwight's. Howard was thin but he had broad shoulders and you could tell he was going to fill into a monster. Noel on the other hand is built like a #2 pencil

He can play PF, but yeah...that's thin

I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty geeked up for the draft lottery. I know this isn't the greatest draft class ever, and it probably won't absolutely make or break us, but it's a stepping stone to where we're heading and I'm excited to see where we wind up and hoping for some leverage for whatever Hennigan might have up his sleeve.