2014 Draft Thread

[Soul Bro 1,421]

I think whoever we end up with is going to be good. Pros and cons for every guy.

I agree. I think Wiggins needs more development than even Exum.

[magicblue 315]

Even if Afflalo isn't packaged with the 12th pick, I'm still not convinced that it's in our best interest to trade him for another pick. I think Catman makes a good point about Afflalo maybe taking time away from VO5, but we've already got a ton of young guys to develop and do we really need 1 more in addition to the two we're already slated to get? Unless people think we can get lucky and build a contender almost exclusively through the draft like San Antonio or OKC (I'm not confident we can), then we've got to start looking sexier to upcoming FAs. I think a year, or two or three from now, having Afflalo on our roster looks better than whoever we can nab at 7-9 with a year or two under their belt. Perhaps that 7-9 pick turns out to be better than Afflalo years from now, but even if that's the case, I think Afflalo on our roster will do more to help us land a FA or FAs in the next couple years that will be better than whoever we can get at 7-9. Therefore, in the grand scheme, I think it's still better to try and keep Afflalo around.

 

Catman, as far as the Gordon comparison to Noah, I'm assuming you're talking about Joakim. Admittedly, I've seen very little of Gordon, but he's not a 7 foot center and I don't believe he stands out among bigs for his defense and/or passing. Unless he celebrates like a moron after winning an NCAA championship, or I wasn't paying attention to his shot, and it too is among the ugliest on the planet, I'm just not seeing the comparison.

 

 

Yeah, I disagree and don't see AA here past the trade deadline. Otherwise he's signing with a contender.

 

 

 

 

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

I agree. I think Wiggins needs more development than even Exum.

 

Yeah. At least he'll be a good defender right away. He'll be on the court for that development.

 

Parker has go to scoring mentality

 

Embiid can protect the rim and moves well

 

Exum can get to the rim.

[TreyMachine 398]

Yeah. At least he'll be a good defender right away. He'll be on the court for that development.

 

Parker has go to scoring mentality

 

Embiid can protect the rim and moves well

 

Exum can get to the rim.

 

Exactly. At worst, each player will be an extremely solid contributer on a good team in 5 years. I'm excited.

[Capo d'Orlando 85]

Its there. First off they have close to the same wingspan, and Gordon is a better athlete. Gordon is the only PF who can come in and defend the 4 and 5 NOW and he is 19.

 

He definitely stands out for his defense. I am not sure how you don't know that, but trust me - he is the best defensive PF in this draft, and its not even close.

 

He can play the 5 in a smaller lineup and can defend 4s. He brings the exact things we are missing inside - toughness and rim protection. He also is a fantastic athlete who will develop his offense over time.

 

If we got Exum then Gordon and then Hood we would address almost every weakness in the Magic roster besides experience. But there would finally be a real 9 man rotation and a team that would not need many large FA contracts bolted on to it. The financial flexibility plus the future to grow a core of 5 guys like that together would be rather amazing. Exum/Dipo/Hood/Gordon/Vuc is the 5 I am talking about.

 

You may want to read this : http://www.rantsports.com/nba/2014/05/16/2014-nba-draft-rumors-aaron-gordons-vertical-is-unreal-helping-stock/

 

http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2014/5/16/5725042/2014-nba-combine-pre-draft-athletic-testing-results-and-news-day-two

 

Like I said, I've seen very little of him, meaning I think I watched a high school mix tape before the college season and saw a few highlights from Arizona, never watched a full on game though and because we aren't likely to take him at 4 and he isn't likely to be available at 12, I haven't looked into him much. If you say he stands out on defense like it's common knowledge, I guess I'll take your word for it. All I've really heard is that he's a "poor man's" (hate that phrase) Blake Griffin, referring to jumping and dunking, not necessarily defending.

 

I wonder though, if Gordon can reasonably be compared to Noah, who is considered one of the best bigs in the game right now, and a big that I'm sure almost any team would be glad to have, then why do mock drafts consistently have him behind bigs like Randle (who most commonly gets compared to Z-bo) and Vonleh? I'm not claiming that Gordon can't help a team like Noah one day, and I imagine many of the mock drafters don't know what they're talking about and are just copying someone else's mock draft, but if you're comparing him to Noah, just wondering if you think Gordon is better than Randle/Vonleh and/or should be drafted above those guys?

[Capo d'Orlando 85]

Yeah, I disagree and don't see AA here past the trade deadline. Otherwise he's signing with a contender.

 

Assuming we hold on to him, I'm not so sure we couldn't get him to re-sign with us. Whether we would want that when the time comes, who knows. My argument for keeping him around was more geared to making our team a little more attractive to the FA class of 2015. I could definitely see him surveying the FA landscape in 2015 and, much like I believe Carlos Boozer did with the Jazz, saying, I'm going to opt in to the last year of my contract because I'm way down on the pecking order this summer and can likely make more next year. I would hope by that time (2016) we've had some big development from our young guys and used our cap space to add a big name or two and that we're in the conversation, at least in the East. But again, even if Afflalo weren't a FA until 2016, who knows what the rest of our guys will be doing, who they'll even be, and whether he'll even be a good fit here.

[Emory889 353]

How well did Wall shoot coming into the league?

 

It doesn't matter because Wall played for the University of Kentucky. It doesn't matter that there are plenty of examples of not just good pgs playing in the league that couldn't shoot, to include several game changing allstar pgs. Exum played in Australia, against inferior competition - you know, because we have seen the competition he was playing against over there personally - and he can't shoot therefore we should pass on him for a point guard that played at OK State and also can't shoot.

 

Seriously, half of the Spurs perimeter players were considered below average to poor outside shooters at one point in their career. Can we please put this idiotic notion that shooting is a skill that can't be improved upon to bed? There are so many examples of players going from poor shooters to good shooters that it is laughable. If you want a great example of a player who has improved his shooting, just look at Oladipo....a guy being dogged out in this thread by some for being an AVERAGE 3 point shooter (yes, 33% from the 3pt line for a rookie is average) He's a WAAAAAY better shooter now than he was when he played for Indiana.

[MagicFanInNevada 51]

 

For all you Marcus Smart fans

[bhnole 153]

Ironically, I think there's a real good chance we'll end up with Parker, who is ready to contribute right now.

 

That is why I am ok at #4. I think any of the Top 4 are potential All Stars and would be happy with any of them.

[ufballer1986 12]

i didnt think about it before, mainly because i wasnt sure whether he'd declared or not, but stokes from tennessee would be a great late 1st early 2nd pick. he reminds me of a maxiel or milsap, slightly undersized pf that is effective because of brute strength. he averaged 15/10.5 this year on 54% with ~70% at the line. ive seen him play well vs my gators for 3 years now. hes young for a jr and had respectable measurements at the combine, 6'7" with a 7'1" wingspan 31" standing vert and 36" max. cant really space the floor and isnt a rim protector but will gobble up some rebounds. still hope we trade up and snag an 'elite' pf though

[Murphy13 185]

The thing that's somewhat turned me around to Exum is his measurements, and that I'm not entirely convinced about the longevity of Parker's impact in comparison to the others.

 

There are going to be more than 4 all stars from this draft; top 4 picks plus Randle, maybe Vonleh one day, and another PG probably. If MCD turns out to be the real deal he may as well.

[CTMagicUK 1,490]

People keep talking about trading up to get a PF (which would be great if we got the right deal for the right player) but I think there's a chance we move down as well. If we want a PF and can't move up then we could trade down from 12 to say 16 or 17, pick up some additional assets and still be in a position to draft Payne or Clint Capela.

 

In all honesty I think we'll stay put at #4 and #12 but the possibilities certainly are exciting.