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Following potential 2013 draftees

Gegenläufigen said:
It's not legal to be that good at defense anymore.


I really think Smart could develop into Deron Williams with less natural PG ability. Like Dwill needed to when entering the NBA, I think Smart needs to drop his weight to help him speed up a bit for the NBA. Make him lighter on his feet.
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Good post. He also needs to tighten his handle and get lower to the ground when he drives.
 
Catchall said:
Sure. Lillard is a better pro prospect than any PG this year appears to be, but he was a senior. Beal is so-so, especially for a #4 pick. This year's class will do pretty well.
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But it's an odd numbered year. Last year's draft was the strong one. Therefore, this year's must be the weak one. Has anyone else noticed this pattern?

2009 - Greg Monroe went back to school. People called it weak. Looking back, it was way underrated.
2010 - They called it strong, the year of the big man. If Favors doesn't pan out soon, it will go down as way overrated.
2011 - Like this year, everyone called it the weakest ever. Kyrie's a star, and somehow we came out with Kanter at 3 and a prototype SG (kinda rare) at 12. It's looking underrated.
2012 - How much did it suck to lose out on two picks in such a deep draft? It's true Drummond would have been there for us had we won the coin flip, but Terrance Ross went eighth, Austin Rivers tenth. I know it's early for some of the skinny big guys, but so far 2012 is looking not as great as advertised.
2013 - Granted, it hasn't looked awesome for picks 1-3. There are no Derrick Williamses, Evan Turners, or MKGs in this draft, no truly worthy, all-star potential, surefire #2 picks, but maybe it's deeper than it's being given credit for. No way would I trade whichever PG we draft at 13/14 for Kendall Marshall. All in all, it might be better that we lost our pick in a deep draft and got to keep one in this weak draft.

I wish we would just admit how bad we are at evaluating the quality of a draft class as a whole. Maybe it's true that one class may be weak and another strong, but I haven't yet seen the data to prove it. I wish instead of just judging a class by the number of superstars (3 = strong, 1 = weak), that someone would measure draft classes by average production or even just career minutes played. So much of it is opportunity anyway. We know this in Utah. We'll have to listen to people calling Kanter and Favors busts, as if they haven't earned more minutes.

For now, however, GMs will allow the media to call entire draft classes weak because it makes their job easier. They have an excuse when they make a bad pick. But I bet good GMs really know that there is talent to be found in this draft, and hopefully this makes trading up a little easier.
 
Catchall said:
I don't think this draft is as terrible as people are saying. There are some good players out there. It's just that the big-name programs are a bit down this year. Also, the college game is so different from the NBA it can hide NBA talent. If those guards from Minnesota were playing at a bigger-name program, I think people would be talking about them. That Sherwood Brown kid from Florida Gulf Coast has some NBA potential, but no one's heard of him.

Withey compares well to Omer Asik. I think Asik has more athleticism and offensive ability, but I guess I can see it.
Olynyk compares favorably to David Lee. Lee has far more athleticism, but Olynk is more polished offensively. Both run the floor well, and both are just ok at defense. I guess I can the comparison, but I definitely don't love it.
Smart will be a solid pro. Agreed.
Porter >> Harrison Barnes I agree. Porter can at least play defense. I think Barnes is a bum whose best quality is making shots, which he isn't that great at.
Burke > Kemba Walker This is actually a pretty decent comparison. I like Burke, but I still have struggles seeing how well he'll perform in the NBA.
McDermott > Matt Harpring No. I know we caught Harpring towards the tail end of his career, but he was more athletic than McDermott and played inside better than McDermott as well. Harpring could move well without the ball, not sure how good McDermott is at that either. Possibly a more athletic Matt Bonner would be a better comparison.
McCollum = Brad Beal I think a better comparison would be McLemore to Beal. McCollum is a better shooter, creator, and defender than Beal. I will admit that I'm a pretty big McCollum fan though.
BJ Young compares reasonably to Mike Conley, but no one is talking about him. Don't like this comparison at all. Conley at least showed some ability to pass the ball and run an offense before he entered the NBA, BJ Young has yet to show that at all. Young will play a role similar to Jason Terry in the league IMO.
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Just added some thoughts to this.
 
I think people are looking ahead to 2014, which looks jaw-dropping at the top of the draft.

There's going to be a good player there for us at #13 this year. That's what matters most. If Burke or McCollum were better prospects, they wouldn't last to #13.
 
Far too early to evaluate this draft. Especially considering how no one has any clue who the foreign players are. There might not be a clear #1 but there are plenty of folks out there who could help the jazz. Plenty of solid players out there.
 
Gegenläufigen said:
Anyone else into Shane Larkin? His measurements are extremely poor from a size perspective, but I think he has more game than Trey Burke. I see y'all talking about a lot of people on this thread, but not love for Larkin.
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I like Larkin a lot, but he needs more time. Realistically he should be a 4-year player, but Miami's talent goes way down after this year, so we'll just have to see what he does. Not a great shooter, but he is improving. Plays pretty dang good defense, has some very quick feet and disrupts people pretty well. Doesn't have the best court vision, but does a pretty decent job and driving and dishing. His best strength is his moxie though. The kid thrives during high-pressure situations and without a doubt is the leader of that Miami squad.

I personally hope he stays in school (I'm a Miami fan) because Miami will need him next year, and he has a lot of development left. Luckily for him, Larrananga (sp?) is a pretty damn good coach IMO. I also don't think Burke is that much better than Larkin fwiw.
 
Hal said:
Just added some thoughts to this.
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Good comments. I do see Olynyk playing a role similar to David Lee, and tbh, I think Olynyk is the better athlete--taller/longer, runs the floor better, finishes well at the rim, better outside shooter, actually plays defense, etc.

Olynyk will play some 5, but would be better at the 4.
 
mct said:
But it's an odd numbered year. Last year's draft was the strong one. Therefore, this year's must be the weak one. Has anyone else noticed this pattern?

2009 - Greg Monroe went back to school. People called it weak. Looking back, it was way underrated.
2010 - They called it strong, the year of the big man. If Favors doesn't pan out soon, it will go down as way overrated.
2011 - Like this year, everyone called it the weakest ever. Kyrie's a star, and somehow we came out with Kanter at 3 and a prototype SG (kinda rare) at 12. It's looking underrated.
2012 - How much did it suck to lose out on two picks in such a deep draft? It's true Drummond would have been there for us had we won the coin flip, but Terrance Ross went eighth, Austin Rivers tenth. I know it's early for some of the skinny big guys, but so far 2012 is looking not as great as advertised.
2013 - Granted, it hasn't looked awesome for picks 1-3. There are no Derrick Williamses, Evan Turners, or MKGs in this draft, no truly worthy, all-star potential, surefire #2 picks, but maybe it's deeper than it's being given credit for. No way would I trade whichever PG we draft at 13/14 for Kendall Marshall. All in all, it might be better that we lost our pick in a deep draft and got to keep one in this weak draft.

I wish we would just admit how bad we are at evaluating the quality of a draft class as a whole. Maybe it's true that one class may be weak and another strong, but I haven't yet seen the data to prove it. I wish instead of just judging a class by the number of superstars (3 = strong, 1 = weak), that someone would measure draft classes by average production or even just career minutes played. So much of it is opportunity anyway. We know this in Utah. We'll have to listen to people calling Kanter and Favors busts, as if they haven't earned more minutes.

For now, however, GMs will allow the media to call entire draft classes weak because it makes their job easier. They have an excuse when they make a bad pick. But I bet good GMs really know that there is talent to be found in this draft, and hopefully this makes trading up a little easier.
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I'm going to rep the **** out of this post later.
 
Hal said:
I like Larkin a lot, but he needs more time. Realistically he should be a 4-year player, but Miami's talent goes way down after this year, so we'll just have to see what he does. Not a great shooter, but he is improving. Plays pretty dang good defense, has some very quick feet and disrupts people pretty well. Doesn't have the best court vision, but does a pretty decent job and driving and dishing. His best strength is his moxie though. The kid thrives during high-pressure situations and without a doubt is the leader of that Miami squad.

I personally hope he stays in school (I'm a Miami fan) because Miami will need him next year, and he has a lot of development left. Luckily for him, Larrananga (sp?) is a pretty damn good coach IMO. I also don't think Burke is that much better than Larkin fwiw.
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Hal back from the dead? Wtf
 
mct said:
But it's an odd numbered year. Last year's draft was the strong one. Therefore, this year's must be the weak one. Has anyone else noticed this pattern?

2009 - Greg Monroe went back to school. People called it weak. Looking back, it was way underrated.
2010 - They called it strong, the year of the big man. If Favors doesn't pan out soon, it will go down as way overrated.
2011 - Like this year, everyone called it the weakest ever. Kyrie's a star, and somehow we came out with Kanter at 3 and a prototype SG (kinda rare) at 12. It's looking underrated.
2012 - How much did it suck to lose out on two picks in such a deep draft? It's true Drummond would have been there for us had we won the coin flip, but Terrance Ross went eighth, Austin Rivers tenth. I know it's early for some of the skinny big guys, but so far 2012 is looking not as great as advertised.
2013 - Granted, it hasn't looked awesome for picks 1-3. There are no Derrick Williamses, Evan Turners, or MKGs in this draft, no truly worthy, all-star potential, surefire #2 picks, but maybe it's deeper than it's being given credit for. No way would I trade whichever PG we draft at 13/14 for Kendall Marshall. All in all, it might be better that we lost our pick in a deep draft and got to keep one in this weak draft.

I wish we would just admit how bad we are at evaluating the quality of a draft class as a whole. Maybe it's true that one class may be weak and another strong, but I haven't yet seen the data to prove it. I wish instead of just judging a class by the number of superstars (3 = strong, 1 = weak), that someone would measure draft classes by average production or even just career minutes played. So much of it is opportunity anyway. We know this in Utah. We'll have to listen to people calling Kanter and Favors busts, as if they haven't earned more minutes.

For now, however, GMs will allow the media to call entire draft classes weak because it makes their job easier. They have an excuse when they make a bad pick. But I bet good GMs really know that there is talent to be found in this draft, and hopefully this makes trading up a little easier.
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Very interesting take. You should post more often. Want to rep but I'm out. LOL..
 
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