2018 NBA Draft Thread

[A Better DJ & Photographer 457]

8 minutes ago, The Boss said:

We did tank though.

Sorta, but not hard enough when it really counted. The last game win slid us from tied to 3rd to 5th. Probably cut our odds in near 1/2 for a top pick. We shoulda played Biz at point the last quarter LOL

[The Boss 129]

Just now, ROCK LEGENDS PHOTOGRAPHERS said:

Sorta, but not hard enough when it really counted. The last game win slid us from tied to 3rd to 5th. Probably cut our odds in near 1/2 for a top pick. We shoulda played Biz at point the last quarter LOL

Personally I think we did all we could that game. Wizards were just horrible and couldn't score. You can't play Biz at the point, we would probably have had our pick taken off us.

[A Better DJ & Photographer 457]

Just now, The Boss said:

Personally I think we did all we could that game. Wizards were just horrible and couldn't score. You can't play Biz at the point, we would probably have had our pick taken off us.

If Dallas didn't nobody was going to LOL. I know, we did the best we could to lose but maybe if we coulda lost to Dallas a few games earlier or that meaningless win... I think it was the Bucks in the last 2 weeks. We coulda had 3rd to ourselves :D

 

[magicblue 315]

22 minutes ago, The Boss said:

We did tank though.

Jesus Christ, not again

[The Boss 129]

7 minutes ago, magicblue said:

Jesus Christ, not again

We did tank the end of the season, maybe not as hard as others but we still did. We kept guys out for a lot longer than needed and not even bringing some back. We played G League players big minutes and sitting our starters a lot.

[A Better DJ & Photographer 457]

2 hours ago, The Boss said:

We did tank the end of the season, maybe not as hard as others but we still did. We kept guys out for a lot longer than needed and not even bringing some back. We played G League players big minutes and sitting our starters a lot.

Most teams were better at winning than us and 4 teams were better at tanking than us. What ARE we good at?

[Mack1085 57]

13 hours ago, ?4thewin said:

Source?

 

This isn't an Isaac or doncic thing. This is an Isaac plus #5 plus future free agent vs doncic plus Isaac replacement

Listen to the Hammond interview with Dante on Drive Time from March 23 around the 11 minute mark. He’s talking about Isaac being a great kid with a great heart but needing to find out if he wants to become a great player. I highly doubt the Utah Jazz Management are wondering aloud if Mitchell wants to be a great player. If it’s not evident to our FO already that says something. 

 

And this isn’t a pocket full of change where you can have four quarters or a single dollar bill and come out the same. So I’ll say it again. If you think there is a greater likelihood that Doncic is a cornerstone player and you don’t see as much potential in Isaac and whoever is there at 5, you have to consider moving both in order to get the rarest and most important piece on your team. 

[ML6 520]

1 minute ago, Mack1085 said:

Listen to the Hammond interview with Dante on Drive Time from March 23 around the 11 minute mark. He’s talking about Isaac being a great kid with a great heart but needing to find out if he wants to become a great player. I highly doubt the Utah Jazz Management are wondering aloud if Mitchell wants to be a great player. If it’s not evident to our FO already that says something. 

...

 

This type of statement isn't an indictment on the player's drive.  This is normal coach/GM speak.  "It's up to him to decide how great he wants to be" and statements like that are just meant to reiterate how much potential a player has.  It doesn't mean "I don't know if he tries hard enough".

[Mack1085 57]

Not how I heard it at all. It wasn’t a ‘he’s obviously going to be great but how great it up to him’ comment. But I’ll let each person interpret for themselves. I add that comment by Hammond, which I don’t think other GMs are saying about their future cornerstones after the rookie season, to the fact that Gordon said Isaac needs to commit to the game and I’m starting to question the drive to be great for this kid. (Can’t find the Gordon quote but it’s mentioned in Isaac’s exit interview around 5:20).

[ML6 520]

Just listened, here's what Hammond said on that episode of Drive Time:

"We know we've got the right guy.  There's no doubt about that.  He's the right person, the type of person you want to have around...  just has that good charisma about him, a good spirit, a good heart.  We know that about him, next step is to find out how much does he want to be great?  How important is it to him to be a very good player?  We want him to become an all-star, does he want to become an all-star?  Plans are going to be in place, we can guarantee that.  The most important plan though is his plan."

I think it's fairly clear that this is all philosophical speak about his potential.  Again, people say this stuff all the time; it's not new in sports.  You'd be burning a giant bridge and exposing your own incompetence by admitting publicly, less than 1 year into an injury-riddled season, that the guy you spent the 6th pick on has a general lack of motivation.  That's not how this stuff works.

[Mack1085 57]

24 minutes ago, ML6 said:

Just listened, here's what Hammond said on that episode of Drive Time:

"We know we've got the right guy.  There's no doubt about that.  He's the right person, the type of person you want to have around...  just has that good charisma about him, a good spirit, a good heart.  We know that about him, next step is to find out how much does he want to be great?  How important is it to him to be a very good player?  We want him to become an all-star, does he want to become an all-star?  Plans are going to be in place, we can guarantee that.  The most important plan though is his plan."

I think it's fairly clear that this is all philosophical speak about his potential.  Again, people say this stuff all the time; it's not new in sports.  You'd be burning a giant bridge and exposing your own incompetence by admitting publicly, less than 1 year into an injury-riddled season, that the guy you spent the 6th pick on has a general lack of motivation.  That's not how this stuff works.

I think people say this stuff when the drive isn’t clear. When it is super clear the GM says it to assuage the concerns of fans. This is a statement that hedges and gives him some cover. It gives me reason to question his drive when I’m also hearing Gordon say he needs to commit to the game. And I don’t recall hearing questions about Gordon’s drive or Oladipo’s drive after their rookie years. 

 

But please, prove me wrong and show me this is a normal thing by sharing those quotes about franchise players who had their drive and commitment to the game called out after their rookie season. I’m not rooting against Isaac. I want him to be great. But if his GM and teammates aren’t sure he does, neither am I. 

[ML6 520]

I mean after 3 minutes of google searching here's a quote about Jrue Holiday:

“I always tell him, ‘You can be as good as you want to be,’” says McKie. “Any time you have a guy that has the tools and loves to be in the gym, at some point they’re ready to just take off.”  http://www.slamonline.com/nba/coach-jrue-holiday-can-be-as-good-as-he-wants-to-be/

 

It's all the same man.  This is semantics and sports cliché stuff.  You're reading too deeply between the lines and creating something that so far isn't there.