2018 NBA Draft Thread

[billy5783 14]

10 minutes ago, ROCK LEGENDS PHOTOGRAPHERS said:

He WILL be able to play, the question is how much will he be able to play? Back injuries and basketball don't go well together. Besides, he really hasn't shown anything that great to take that risk when there are so many other players that will be available in the top 5 that did NOT have back surgeries. 

I am not saying we should take him. But I don't think I would throw a fit over it IF we did a lot of research and doctors gave a thumbs up on his health. Obviously if the docs say that his back will continue to get worse then you never take that chance. Plenty of players with health issues get drafted high because their talent level is worth the risk. We haven't seen much of Porter because of the injury, but if the doctors say that he will be ok and we pick at like 5 or 6 then I say take him because he has as much offensive upside as anyone in the draft.

He isn't my first choice, but at some point you have to take a hard look at him when some of these other names come off the board. But what do I know, I don't get paid to do this.

[A Better DJ & Photographer 457]

34 minutes ago, magicdoc1 said:

I think Porter will impress with his workouts and will be selected high in the top 3 position. At least I surely hope so. It will increase our chances to select Doncic. So we should be rooting for him.

I couldn't possibly imagine him outperforming Doncic in workouts LOL. All I've seen of Porter so far is that he was bigger than most players in high school and was able to take advantage of that. What little I saw in the tournament made me think he's not worth the risk.

[billy5783 14]

22 minutes ago, ROCK LEGENDS PHOTOGRAPHERS said:

I couldn't possibly imagine him outperforming Doncic in workouts LOL. All I've seen of Porter so far is that he was bigger than most players in high school and was able to take advantage of that. What little I saw in the tournament made me think he's not worth the risk.

See, I don't believe that Doncic will test particularly well which will help us. Doncic is more athletic than people give him credit for, but his game is 100% IQ and fundamentals Man it would be nice to draft based on those types of things every now and then haha.

[Mauro Pedrosa 1,031]

14 minutes ago, billy5783 said:

See, I don't believe that Doncic will test particularly well which will help us. Doncic is more athletic than people give him credit for, but his game is 100% IQ and fundamentals Man it would be nice to draft based on those types of things every now and then haha.

This is a great point. We need players that can play

[magicdoc1 261]

26 minutes ago, billy5783 said:

See, I don't believe that Doncic will test particularly well which will help us. Doncic is more athletic than people give him credit for, but his game is 100% IQ and fundamentals Man it would be nice to draft based on those types of things every now and then haha.

That is correct. He is not the best shooter of the group, he is not the faster nor atletic either. He will get outperformed for sure. 

Reason why we might have a chance to get him at #4 or #5.  

I still think he is, currently the best all around player and should be our Number one option.

[JJZFL 619]

4 hours ago, magicdoc1 said:

It can happen and has happened over the years. That is why sometimes tanking is not always successful. It will not guarantee the number one spot.

This is true.  The only thing tanking guarantees is that your team will be terrible.  Hoping to draft that one “centerpiece” who can single-handedly turn things around isn’t impossible, but it’s very unlikely. How many more years will be rooting to tank starting mid-January or so?          

Every draft it looks like some of the players will make a huge difference. I remember how people wanted us to tank for Wiggins, who would by himself make us into a contender.  Everyone is hoping history will repeat itself and give us another Shaq, a quick fix, instead of actually going through the hard work of building a winning team.  Building a winning team requires a single minded focus on winning rather than losing. 

[Originalticketholder 133]

4 hours ago, magicdoc1 said:

It can happen and has happened over the years. That is why sometimes tanking is not always successful. It will not guarantee the number one spot.

And here is an article on percentage and odds as to why you tank and why it increases the odds you get a better pick.  Math does not lie.  I do not like tanking either but this year is one exception--a unique opportunity.  No there are no guarantees but i want the odds in my favor.  Do not win another game and try to get to #2 or #3 at the worst if Memphis loses out!

http://nba.nbcsports.com/2017/05/15/2017-nba-draft-lottery-odds-visualized/

Happy Tanking!!

[A Better DJ & Photographer 457]

7 minutes ago, JJZFL said:

Building a winning team requires a single minded focus on winning rather than losing. 

It also requires that your management make smart decisions and not trade away your best players for scraps or give stupidly over paid contracts to bench players, and coaches that don't start people because of their contract instead of their performance. This year's draft is quite a bit better than most and we are reasonably sure to get a good NBA ready player in the top 5 if we don't take Porter.

 

24 minutes ago, magicdoc1 said:

That is correct. He is not the best shooter of the group, he is not the faster nor atletic either. He will get outperformed for sure. 

Reason why we might have a chance to get him at #4 or #5.  

I still think he is, currently the best all around player and should be our Number one option.

A lot of the mocks do have him dropping to us at 4 or 5. One has us passing on him to grab Porter which I seriously hope doesn't happen. I would be madder than when we passed on DSJ last year and had to be subjected to another season of EP.

[magicdoc1 261]

7 minutes ago, ROCK LEGENDS PHOTOGRAPHERS said:

It also requires that your management make smart decisions and not trade away your best players for scraps or give stupidly over paid contracts to bench players, and coaches that don't start people because of their contract instead of their performance. This year's draft is quite a bit better than most and we are reasonably sure to get a good NBA ready player in the top 5 if we don't take Porter.

 

A lot of the mocks do have him dropping to us at 4 or 5. One has us passing on him to grab Porter which I seriously hope doesn't happen. I would be madder than when we passed on DSJ last year and had to be subjected to another season of EP.

We are not taking Porter over Doncic. 

[JJZFL 619]

23 minutes ago, ROCK LEGENDS PHOTOGRAPHERS said:

It also requires that your management make smart decisions and not trade away your best players for scraps or give stupidly over paid contracts to bench players, and coaches that don't start people because of their contract instead of their performance. This year's draft is quite a bit better than most and we are reasonably sure to get a good NBA ready player in the top 5 if we don't take Porter.

We agree on this.  At this point I’m resigned to us mailing it in for the rest of the year, whatever the consequences for the summer and for possibly retarding development of some players we would like to see develop.  I’m really just hoping that we’re not having this same conversation this time next year regarding the savior du jour from that draft. 

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

Vegas set the over/ under for trae Young's draft slot at 8.5

[A Better DJ & Photographer 457]

58 minutes ago, JJZFL said:

We agree on this.  At this point I’m resigned to us mailing it in for the rest of the year, whatever the consequences for the summer and for possibly retarding development of some players we would like to see develop.  I’m really just hoping that we’re not having this same conversation this time next year regarding the savior du jour from that draft. 

What else could we possibly do to develop our players more at this point?