2018 NBA Draft Thread

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

4 hours ago, Mike1989 said:

Your counterpoint about previous years is correct. Last year we would have been unlikely to have changed our pick from Isaac and the year we got Mario would not have changed either. However, this year is different.

Our next three games are against tanking teams (Atlanta, New York, Dallas). If we win these three games we will go from 22 to 25 wins, which is the same as the Bulls and Nets barring any further victories for them, and that means we could drop from 4 to 6-8. A further victory against the struggling Hornets (or a surprise victory against a play off team) and we improve to 26 wins and potential control over the 8th best odds if the Nets and Bulls don't win again.

I'd rate this as unlikely due to our inconsistency, but if we did have another late flurry of wins like previous seasons we could end up going from selecting one of Ayton, Bamba, Jackson, Doncic, Bagley, Porter and Young to potentially selecting from Sexton, Miles, Mikal, Carter and Knox. I would say making sure we retain the best odds as possible with no late flurry of wins is better for this team's future than winning a flurry of games and landing a lesser talent. Obviously we could get lucky and land our Donovan Mitchell at 8 and our 4th pick could be another Mario, but I think this year we are better off selecting higher in the lottery.

The bulls and the Nets play each other twice so that helps.  

Just don't freak out if we win a couple games.  Finishing the season 5-22 is really crappy. 

[fan for too long 2 530]

18 minutes ago, ?4thewin said:

The bulls and the Nets play each other twice so that helps.  

Just don't freak out if we win a couple games.  Finishing the season 5-22 is really crappy. 

Good thing we got rid of ep. we could have been really bad, oh that’s right we still are. Lol

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

9 minutes ago, fan for too long 2 said:

Good thing we got rid of ep. we could have been really bad, oh that’s right we still are. Lol

But I think it has more to do with Gordon, isaac, Fournier, and Simmons missing games

[magicdoc1 261]

45 minutes ago, ?4thewin said:

The bulls and the Nets play each other twice so that helps.  

Just don't freak out if we win a couple games.  Finishing the season 5-22 is really crappy. 

yes, I am not concern with either of those two teams. 

The most important game in our schedule is the Dallas game. 

three good things has happened recently that will affect our future. 

1. Boston is closing up on Toronto after their recent win. This will make Toronto play hard against us to secure that very needed win at the end of the schedule. 

2 and 3,  Washington and Bucks continue to play for a playoff spot and subsequent seeding. Extremly close. I dont see them resting their players at the end of the regular season. 

One bad thing: 

Charlotte is not longer on contention and might want to lose that game for a better lottery position. 

I honestly dont see us getting a top 3 pick unles our luck changes in the lottery. We will be able to pick around 5-6. 

Players likely available at that spot are Bamba, Bridges, Shai, Young, Smith, Carter, Porter and Sexton. 

Now, 2-3 wins will likely not affect us much as any of those player will be available from 5-7. The question is who do we really want. 

If we really want Young, I dont see any other this ahead of us selection a PG(Dallas, Bulls, Atlanta) I see Phoenix selecting Ayton as their number one pick and going after a PG with their second lottery pick. Memphis likely go with Doncic. I dont see Nets finishing behind us.

So we should be ok with winning  2-3 more games. 

[Mike1989 68]

1 hour ago, ?4thewin said:

The bulls and the Nets play each other twice so that helps.  

Just don't freak out if we win a couple games.  Finishing the season 5-22 is really crappy. 

I am not concerned with the team winning games because that is a vital part of our young player's development. So I would not be angry or freak out if we happen to win a few games as long as the players leading us to those victories are Isaac, Gordon, Hezonja (etc) because those players are potentially a big part of our future. I would argue that those performances would be a good thing for their development. However, I would not be as happy if we end up winning a game because Vucevic has a career night and goes for 40 points like he did against the Nets in November. So as long as our young players are the ones getting the job done, then there are benefits to seeing the team win a few games even if it is at the expense of our lottery odds. 

Now you are correct that the Bulls and Nets have to face each other twice, if they split them games that boosts them to 26 wins apiece. We are unlikely to end up winning 4 games to match their record, or winning 5 games to better their record, but a 25 win count could put us above Dallas and Sacramento [if results don't go our way] and leave us with the sixth best odds in the lottery. Based off the current lottery odds we would most likely pick 6th or 7th in the draft, though we would have a small chance of falling to 8th or 9th, and a small chance of moving into the top three. If we pick 6th or 7th that should still get us a good player (Jaren Jackson and Trae Young are the current selections on NBAdraft.net), but it does leave you more in a position to take what's left of the so-called top seven prospects. Now that might be a good thing if the right players fall to us, but it might not be if the players that fall are the ones we don't want. If we find ourselves not wanting the players left we will be left with a decision to make: do we trade back? trade out? or do we select a player from the next tier down? 

Those scenarios have differing levels of appeal. 

For me, I want to see us finish the season on a positive note, but I am honestly conflicted because as much as I want to see our young players take that next step, I also want to see us maximize our lottery odds to try and give us the best chance to select one of this draft's best prospects. I hate the idea of tanking and losing out, but at this point what are another 7 defeats after the six seasons we've endured since the Dwight Howard era ended? Not a lot really. With that said, I don't think we will go win less and will probably finish with 24 or 25 wins and possibly end up losing the our current position in the lottery odds. 

[A Better DJ & Photographer 455]

On 4/1/2018 at 5:17 AM, Mike1989 said:

(excerpt)
However, this year is different.

Our next three games are against tanking teams (Atlanta, New York, Dallas). If we win these three games we will go from 22 to 25 wins, which is the same as the Bulls and Nets barring any further victories for them, and that means we could drop from 4 to 6-8. A further victory against the struggling Hornets (or a surprise victory against a play off team) and we improve to 26 wins and potential control over the 8th best odds if the Nets and Bulls don't win again.

I'd rate this as unlikely due to our inconsistency, but if we did have another late flurry of wins like previous seasons we could end up going from selecting one of Ayton, Bamba, Jackson, Doncic, Bagley, Porter and Young to potentially selecting from Sexton, Miles, Mikal, Carter and Knox. I would say making sure we retain the best odds as possible with no late flurry of wins is better for this team's future than winning a flurry of games and landing a lesser talent. Obviously we could get lucky and land our Donovan Mitchell at 8 and our 4th pick could be another Mario, but I think this year we are better off selecting higher in the lottery.

Edited 4-3-18 11:18 PM

I agree 100% Whatever we did at the end of the season in past years is irrelevant but this year it could make a very major difference. The bulls and Nets play each other twice so at least 1 of them will win games.

Right now we are alone at 4th worst and nobody can take that away from us except ourselves. Each and every win from here on out could change our ping pong ball odds.

Phoenix at 19 wins is pretty much a lock for worst team.

Atlanta (22 wins) no more lotto teams left to play.

Memphis (21 wins) only has Sacramento to play in the lower lotto hunt left

So the bottom 4 could/should be

Phoenix 19

Memphis 21

Atlanta 22

Magic 23

As you can see the last meaningless win we had already cost us a slot being in 3rd worst all by ourselves.

The next 4 could/should be

Dallas (24 wins) but they still play us & Phoenix so probably 26 wins

Chicago (27 wins) but they still play Brooklyn twice so probably 27-29 wins

Sacramento (25 wins) but they still play Memphis and Phoenix so probably 27 wins

Brooklyn (25 wins) but still play us & Chicago twice so between 26 & 28 wins

 

So as you can see there are a lot of teams that have something to lose by winning.

We could beat 2 more teams and still be at least tied for 4th as long as Dallas doesn't lose all their games.

Our future is in our own hands as far as our pick. We could land anywhere from 3rd worst to 8th. Hopefully everything we do until the end of the season is the right decision!

 

 

 

 

[Magicfan1987 266]

3 hours ago, ROCK LEGENDS PHOTOGRAPHERS said:

Our future is in our own hands as far as our pick. We could land anywhere from 2nd worst to 8th. Hopefully everything we do until the end of the season is the right decision!

now I'm super nervous, MORE MATH FOR THE BLOOD PRESSURE!!!!

[fan for too long 2 530]

7 hours ago, ?4thewin said:

But I think it has more to do with Gordon, isaac, Fournier, and Simmons missing games

So u say I’m salty. Thank you, thank you very much. Hahahaha 

[Magicfan1987 266]

Bulls beat the freaking Wizards :))))))

[Mike1989 68]

4 minutes ago, Magicfan1987 said:

Bulls beat the freaking Wizards :))))))

I didn't see that happening. It helps put some distance between us and them if we end up winning a few more games ourselves.

[Magicfan1987 266]

Just now, Mike1989 said:

I didn't see that happening. It helps put some distance between us and them if we end up winning a few more games ourselves.

yeah it's really nice 

[Murphy13 185]

10 hours ago, ?4thewin said:

 

But I think it has more to do with Gordon, isaac, Fournier, and Simmons missing games

Annnndddd not having someone that can get the ball to the open player.  Now we have a good DJ for 15 minutes a game and IsoGordon for 40.