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Following potential 2014 draftees

I'd take Embiid with the first pick for sure. He screams dominant player for the next 15 years.

What do you guys think of Adreian Payne? He won't be around for the G.S. pick, but damn, he can shoot the ball:

In fact Payne is my absolute favorite player on the college circuit. I'm a little bit biased here obvi but I'll say this:
This is a player who the Spurs would trade up for. If I'm the Spurs I'd offer Danny Green or Cory Joseph and a future draft pick.
I think he should get picked up between 10 and 15. Not saying he will, but should. If the Jazz can get him with a mid first rounder I'll be thrilled.
He's obviously not a Damian Lillard "How could we all have missed that guy being awesome" type of talent but he'll be really solid and you have him on his rookie contract in his physical prime and on his 2nd reasonable contract due to age reasons in his psychological prime. That's pretty good value if you ask me.
I think he'll be similar to Serge Ibaka. Not as good, but similar if you go by skillset with his production more in the Taj Gibson area. Just to quantify that.

There's a lot of confusion over Randle's athleticism. Not just on this board but nationally.

He is, in fact, a very good athlete for a beast his size. He jumps at tip intead of WCS who's legit 7' and a very good athlete himself.

My knock on his athleticism isn't that he can't jump high, it's that he's got no springs. He's slow off the floor and requires a bit too much wind up.

He dips very low to his knees before going up. THat makes him slow. WIggins barely bends his knees. It's crazy.
 
From that Randle thread --

1) Wiggins
2) Embiid (assuming his back checks out he's a real center and a potentially dominant one at that)
3) Exum (I think he's an All Star and near-franchise player who is going to stuff the stat sheet)
3a) Parker (I think he's going to be better than Paul Pierce due to his length and rebounding. Not a franchise guy, but part of a Big Three.)
5) Randle (measurements matter, but he's the best PF in the draft)

I think the Jazz will be in business if we get a Top 5 pick. I also think the Jazz FO will have put a lot of thought into this draft--as evidenced by their tanking the season from the getgo. I think the Jazz are willing to trade one of their young players if they see a guy they really like within reach. I think the Jazz would trade Favors before Kanter, tbh, and will be reluctant to trade Burks for another player in this draft.

The next players in the draft order get a bit fuzzy for me, but I think:

6) Vonleh -- He's still learning the game, but he's got as much potential (or even more) than Favors does as a PF.

7) Aaron Gordon -- Good athlete and wildcard player, but not a guy you can design plays around, and you can't have him take too many shots away from other guys who can shoot.

8) Marcus Smart -- He's the next guy probably, but I would consider trading this pick or just reaching for a guy like Kyle Anderson or Doug McDermott. I don't think Smart really fits here, and he might be like Dion Waiters in Cleveland. I think you can play McDermott as a stretch-4, plus he does more than just stretch the floor.

On a completely unrelated note, there's something about James Young that reminds me a bit of CJ Miles. It's probably the lefty stroke.
 
I agree on Payne. Ceiling isn't great but I think he's the kind of guy championship-esque teams always seem to have. Smart, multi-talented and mature.
 
btw Embiid sent tweets to Jamari Traylor and Cliff Alexander today saying he hasn't made a decision yet, despite mass reports of his declaration
 
From that Randle thread --

1) Wiggins
2) Embiid (assuming his back checks out he's a real center and a potentially dominant one at that)
3) Exum (I think he's an All Star and near-franchise player who is going to stuff the stat sheet)
3a) Parker (I think he's going to be better than Paul Pierce due to his length and rebounding. Not a franchise guy, but part of a Big Three.)
5) Randle (measurements matter, but he's the best PF in the draft)

I think the Jazz will be in business if we get a Top 5 pick. I also think the Jazz FO will have put a lot of thought into this draft--as evidenced by their tanking the season from the getgo. I think the Jazz are willing to trade one of their young players if they see a guy they really like within reach. I think the Jazz would trade Favors before Kanter, tbh and will be reluctant to trade Burks for another player in this draft.

The next players in the draft order get a bit fuzzy for me, but I think:

6) Vonleh -- He's still learning the game, but he's got as much potential (or even more) than Favors does as a PF.

7) Aaron Gordon -- Good athlete and wildcard player, but not a guy you can design plays around, and you can't have him take too many shots away from other guys who can shoot.

8) Marcus Smart -- He's the next guy probably, but I would consider trading this pick or just reaching for a guy like Kyle Anderson or Doug McDermott. I don't think Smart really fits here, and he might be like Dion Waiters in Cleveland. I think you can play McDermott as a stretch-4, plus he does more than just stretch.

Better than Pierce but not a franchise player, huh? Paul Peirce today, or in his prime?
 
btw Embiid sent tweets to Jamari Traylor and Cliff Alexander today saying he hasn't made a decision yet, despite mass reports of his declaration

no.jpeg
 
If Warriors lose to Memphis and Dallas (April 1), we have a fighting shot at the 14 pick. Negative is that after Warriors pass Spurs on April 2, they have a marshmallow schedule from there on out. Still a long shot, but something to track this weekend.
I could see all of us getting excited as Dallas, Memphis and Phoenix pass up Golden State. Then the Jazz finish strong, picking up a win at home against a struggling Portland team - dropping them to the #9 spot, defeating LA on a last-second three from RJ, and winning the last game at Minnesota as Love plays unispired ball and Marvin goes off for 28 pts.

Ty, Locke and Lindsey emphasize that the momentum carried forward into next season far outweighs the benefit of finsihing 4th in the lottery standings. Jazz finish 8th, drop to #9 after the drawing and reach for McDermott.
 
looks like Dario Saric is out of the draft. Chad Ford reports Saric and Anadolu Efes Istanbul of the Turkish Basketball Association have agreed on a three-year, $8.27 million contract.

Doesn't mean he won't get drafted and stay the contract to sign for MLE or sth afterwards. His agent advising to pull out of the draft last year to earn an earlier selection in this year's draft was fired for that exact same reason. His stock didn't rise high enough and now it's time to get drafted anyways. Because going to TUrkey for 2 or 3 years and then being stuck on a rookie scale makes no sense.
 
the report from ford is that its "highly-unlikely" he enters the draft at all

That would make no sense to me. I mean he likely won't travel for workouts and stuff but someone interested in stash material will pick him up and bring him over in 3 years. If he doesn't do it now he'd be 23 or 24 when he's done in Istanbul, none is investing a 1st rounder into him and he'd take a massive paycut to come over.
You know he just fired his former agent because he didn't advise him to stay in the draft last year in order to include his buyout as a trade signing bonus in an MLE contract in 2 years. I don't think a 20 year old gives up completely on the NBA at this age.
 
Better than Pierce but not a franchise player, huh? Paul Peirce today, or in his prime?

Pierce in his prime couldn't carry a decent playoff team. Neither could Ray Allen. Neither could Danny Granger. I see Parker at that level. He's probably a 20-point scorer, but his efficiency won't be great if he's the only go-to guy.
 
My top 10 as of today btw:

1) Embiid(in case his body is okay, if not he's #4)
2) Wiggins
3) Parker
4) Exum
5) Randle
6) Smart
7) Vonleh
8) Gordon
9) Harris
10) Saric
 
How many posters here would draft Marcus Smart and play him at PG ahead of Trey Burke?

All in favor say 'Aye.'

All opposed say, 'Screw off.'
 
Pierce in his prime couldn't carry a decent playoff team. Neither could Ray Allen. Neither could Danny Granger. I see Parker at that level. He's probably a 20-point scorer, but his efficiency won't be great if he's the only go-to guy.

How many "franchise players" are there then? In modern NBA history? By that definition.
 
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