What's new
By:
Filters

BTPreview - 2014 NBA Draft

B

BTP

Well-Known Member
****UPDATED**** #11 Denver Nuggets, will add something tomorrow about how I view the impact of Embiid's health situation

With the Draft coming up at the end of June, I'll share my thoughts about what will, could or should happen on draft night based on the basketball I've seen from these prospects, the franchise's needs and the little bit of background we know about the individuals.

I won't be speculating a lot about draft night trades, simply because I feel that's as impossible as judging the character of a kid based on the usually excessively positive background story that's published about them and the few interviews they do.
If I do it in cases it's because I feel the leaked rumors and info can't be overlooked.

If you have suggestions about text formatting, feel free to express them.

I'll keep this section shorter than what I did with my season previews last October in order to finish in time by June 26th :p

In this opening post, I'll link every other post I do about the teams. I'll go team by team, starting at #1. Some teams I might skip at first because I want to wait a little longer hoping they'll figure out their personnel.


#1 #33 Cleveland Cavaliers

#2 #31 Milwaukee Bucks

#3 #10 #32 #39 Philadelphia 76ers

#4 #12 Orlando Magic

#5 #23 #35 Utah Jazz

#6 #17 Boston Celtics

#7 Los Angeles Lakers

#8 Sacramento Kings

#9 #24 Charlotte Hornets

#11 Denver Nuggets

#13 Minnesota Timberwolves

#14 #18 #27 Phoenix Suns

#15 Atlanta Hawks

#16 #19 Chicago Bulls

#20 #37 Toronto Raptors

#21 Oklahoma City Thunder

#22 Memphis Grizzlies

#25 Houston Rockets

#26 Miami Heat

#28 Los Angeles Clippers

#30 San Antonio Spurs
 
Last edited:
#1 Cleveland Cavaliers

From the outside it seems like the only thing the Cavs did on their road trips to San Antonio since LeBron left was collecting horse shoes.
Either that or Dan Gilbert knows dirty secrets about both Stern and Silver.

They've been blessed with surreal lottery luck in the last 4 years but at the same time shown highly irrational decisions and as projected, success hasn't kicked in...

YET!

Armed with the #1 pick and another high value #33 pick they'll aim to finally find Kyrie's long term sidekick and let them grow together. Because despite all the rumours Kyrie isn't going anywhere.

If Kyrie's indeed unhappy in Cleveland he'll try to force the Cavs to trade him until the end of October deadline to sign the 5 yr max franchise player extension under the Derrick Rose provision. And trying to hardball the Cavs' FO to get traded won't work if the reports that their new GM didn't support Chris Grant's mind boggling decisions are true.

These reports that Griffin wasn't reason for mismanagement surfaced first a month before Grant was fired, he installed as his successor after surviving his interim tag a couple of months with the Cavs finishing the season strong.

There's simply no way Kyrie has an early way out as highlighted by hinting at Derrick Rose. Kyrie plays a similarly reckless towards his body, yet aesthetically more refined style of basketball as Rose does. And Irving's agent will point out in front of Kyrie what would've happened if Rose was unhappy in Chicago at the end of his 3rd year and had he decided to play out his 5th year QO and go elsewhere... That would've meant no extension after the 4th year and a smallish $45M 3 year contract before last season's 10 game "THE RETURN" with the 3rd year a team option.

Moving on to their options at #1, it's basically one or the other. Embiid or Wiggins.

Reason why I don't think it's Parker:
-Look up the last 10 NBA champs on wikipedia or bballreference and find me a team that had 2 bad defenders in the S5.

Why not Exum?
A Two PG lineup might very well work, especially since Kyrie's playmaking isn't on par with the rest of his game yet. But doing that would basically destroy any trade value Waiters has. You always say BPA and move guys that you don't fit down the road.

But back in reality I observed that the number of trades has declined since the last CBA and when trades happen there's usually 1 "trade-rape-victim".
And with Grant gone out of the league, there's another guy out of the league's front offices who found himself in the latter category very often.

Other franchises have swapped their FOs in similar fashion and increased their quality which ultimately leads to more free agency activity and more urgency to use draft picks to strengthen your team instead of picking best upside and trading it down the road if needed.

What's in favor of Embiid:

-Basketball youth -> He's already 20 years old, so he's really sophomore in college, but he's picked up the game of basketball very late and is still learning.

-Learning curve -> The speed at which Embiid expands his game isn't a Ferrari, it's Mach 3. He continues his learning curve, his upside and potential impact is scary.

On the flipside it's only his questionable health which leads the Cavs to hesitate.

If he's declared healthy by their doctors, he's #1.

BUT if there's the slightest doubt about his health they'll select Wiggins and call it a day.

Wiggins doesn't have the same franchise player potential Embiid has, but the Cavs have Kyrie and if Wiggins turns out to become Paul George's basketball twin brother they'll take it and call it a day. Around these two players they can form a core with championship potential and they have until Wiggins 5th year to use their capspace to add a defensive minded Center.

It's probably not going to be Joakim Noah, but when DeAndre Jordan enters free agency he might very well be their target.

So there's good reasons to pick both players but for me it's like this:
You look at Embiid and then you look at Embiid again and again and again. And in case you still have doubts after that you pick Wiggins and check the trade market for Waiters, Bennett and Varejao.

With their #33 pick it's probably going to be a pick that's complementary to the guys they view as their core.

They'll probably take a look at Bogdanovic, Dinwiddie, Clarkson and Adams anyways. And in case they select Embiid, they'll also look at GRIII, KJ McDaniels and Jerami Grant to drop.

If Wiggins is their #1, then I wouldn't be surprised to hear Isaiah Austin's name.


TL;DR
#1 is Embiid, and if his health is bad then it's Wiggins.
At #33 they'll take a look at wings primarily. If it's Wiggins high upside Centers will be in the conversation as well.
Also Kyrie Irving stays, unless David Griffin is just as incompetent as Chris Grant was
 
Lot of work.
Basically, all reports say Cleveland is going to step up with a MAX offer for Kyrie. They're also still hoping the prodigal son returns. If he doesn't opt out this season, then as a UFA next year. So the only sensible pick is Embiid.
 
Core4 said:
Lot of work.
Basically, all reports say Cleveland is going to step up with a MAX offer for Kyrie. They're also still hoping the prodigal son returns. If he doesn't opt out this season, then as a UFA next year. So the only sensible pick is Embiid.
Click to expand...

You remember PKM saying Calipari's been in talks with LeBron about teaming up (potentially teaming up in LA). Now we have the info that Cal surrendered $8M to continue coaching at Kentucky, that implies to me that LeBron is NOT coming back.

Wanted to include that in the preview, must have somehow forgotten to do.
 
BTP said:
You remember PKM saying Calipari's been in talks with LeBron about teaming up (potentially teaming up in LA). Now we have the info that Cal surrendered $8M to continue coaching at Kentucky, that implies to me that LeBron is NOT coming back.

Wanted to include that in the preview, must have somehow forgotten to do.
Click to expand...

Doesn't imply anything at all. Calipari is the King of Kentucky. He was a miserable failure when he tried the NBA. I'm sure he's very comfortable where he's at and UK put together a nice package to keep him. So he loses $1M per year (much less after taxes). Not a huge deal with the amount of $ he'll be earning. And there is NO way LBJ said a thing about leaving or staying. I do think it UNLIKELY LeBron returns to Cleveland. My best guess is NY. He'll need to wait one year, though. NY would have to clear Stoudemire off the books. Clippers would be interesting if they could find other teams to take Redick, Crawford, Dudley and Barnes.

I still think Embiid is the best choice for Cleveland. You just DON'T pass on a potential franchise center. We're not talking Bowie/Jordan here. Wiggins and Parker both have concerns. Cleveland already has promising young talent in place at the other positions, unless they want to concede their mistake in drafting Bennett and go with Wiggins.
 
Core4 said:
Doesn't imply anything at all. Calipari is the King of Kentucky. He was a miserable failure when he tried the NBA. I'm sure he's very comfortable where he's at and UK put together a nice package to keep him. So he loses $1M per year (much less after taxes). Not a huge deal with the amount of $ he'll be earning. And there is NO way LBJ said a thing about leaving or staying. I do think it UNLIKELY LeBron returns to Cleveland. My best guess is NY. He'll need to wait one year, though. NY would have to clear Stoudemire off the books. Clippers would be interesting if they could find other teams to take Redick, Crawford, Dudley and Barnes.

I still think Embiid is the best choice for Cleveland. You just DON'T pass on a potential franchise center. We're not talking Bowie/Jordan here. Wiggins and Parker both have concerns. Cleveland already has promising young talent in place at the other positions, unless they want to concede their mistake in drafting Bennett and go with Wiggins.
Click to expand...

I think you either misunderstood what I was trying to say, or I didn't express myself clearly.

I think if Cal and LeBron are best buddies and Cal's like: Hey I wanna return to the NBA and coach you! Let's team up!
And LeBron answers: Let's meet in Cleveland, they have 2 legit #1 picks other than me there.

And then Gilbert offers 7 years, $60M. There's no way Calipari passes on that opportunity.
That's assuming the declined offer rumours are true - It's Wojnarowski, so the chances this is correct are pretty high.

So I'm thinking why would Cal say no? If LeBron says that he's staying in Miami with Pat Riley!

Apparently the $8M difference to Kentucky's offer isn't enough for him to jeopardize his legacy w/o LeBron joining him in Ohio. That's my conclusion out of the whole affair.
I just think coaching LeBron would be too hard to pass up even in a potentially highly dysfunctional organization.
 
#30 San Antonio Spurs

I hoped this would be an easy section.

After last year's draft taught everyone about their end of the first round stashing strats, that you should totally take a look at the roster of Asvel Lyon-Villeurbanne, the team that Tony Parker co-owns and compare it with the draft early entry list.

Nothing unfortunately. Which sucks, because it forces me to actually think who might be a good addition. This is until mid July probably impossible to do when we'll find out about the future of the trio Duncan, Ginobili, Popovich.

One thing is for sure though: Patty Mills will receive a hefty offer that he absolutely should not refuse to take. Cory Joseph will become the new Patty Mills. They have considerable depth on every position but, PF/C and PG going forward.

Assuming their wing rotation of Leonard, Green, Ginobili and Belinelli all are under contract for another year, so there's few minutes up for grabs. But then again the Spurs could be planning for the future...

With their successful history of drafting international players, I can see them drafting Bogdanovic, Micic, Klimenko, Larsen ...

But if I had to make a guess, I'd pick Jokic for the simple reason that he's completely flying under the radar similarly to what they pulled off last year.

McGary is currently slotted #30 by DX, but I have a hard time to believe that's actually insider knowledge, because the Spurs organisation usually avoids personalities like his.

Also amongst the guys slotted in his range in various mock drafts I don't find bigs with a high skill level who also have a great character and working habits. So I have a hard time seeing them draft someone with NCAA experience. Maybe Jordan Clarkson or Isaiah Austin.

Since they have capspace and exceptions to resign their core rotation players and add other quality free agents, I have strong doubts they're looking for an instant impact player, but rather best prospect available...

It's simply too hard to tell. But gambling on the scenario that they'll stash an international won't produce an bankrupt bookie in Vegas.

TL;DR
-Not looking for instant impact
-my guess is Jokic
-a lot of intereting internationals in the draft that fit what the Spurs are doing
 
#28 Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers find themselves in a very confusing situation. They know they need to add quality and depth. They have a unstable ownership situation that could prevent them from working the draft night and free agency in case the Sterling situation isn't resolved until then.

The growing contender status will probably lead to them drafting for need over upside.

Their projected depth chart for next season looks like this:

PG Paul
SG Redick / Crawford
SF Barnes / Dudley
PF Griffin / Bullock
C Jordan

Furthermore do Danny Granger and Glen Davis possess Player Option which I think they'll likely execute.
Darren Collison is expected to become a free agent and look for a payday.

DeAndre has only 1 year left on his contract. If their front office was functional I'd expect them to gauge the interest of other teams for him. He's looking really good next to Paul and he'll command an unreasonable extension next summer at age 27(beginning athletic decline).

A 5 year $75M contract will look real bad in year 3. He'll most likely never become a smart basketball player, thus I expect him to decline in a Perkins'esque way. But I think they'll stay put and extend him.

Dudley is the other problem on their roster. They'll need to figure out if there is interest in him and what the returns can be. He really was a no show this year and with 3 wings performing strong, there isn't really minutes for him unless someone goes down.

So draft need would be backup PG and a big. Preferably skilled one.

For the PG position I think Shabazz Napier could be an option for them. Skilled player, can shoot it. Experienced enough to lead the 2nd unit.
Success history, warrior. A Doc Rivers kind of person.

Their 2nd look at PG would probably be Micic. As a floor general he'd bring similar traits as Paul and you wouldn't need to alter your system to fit his strengths too much.

-strong out of the PnR
-average, yet capable 3 point shooter
-terrific court vision

If they go big their targets will most likely be Isaiah Austin, Mitch McGary, Clint Capela or Walter Tavares.

The last two mentioned have qualities to become similar to DeAndre. The first two are more skilled offensively.
Isaiah Austin has upside to become a "two-way-bench-contributor" due to his length.

The last option that IMO is just as possible as selecting a young guy is trading away the pick together with Jared Dudley's contract in exchange for an early 2nd round pick this year and a future one.

This could be an opportunity for the Jazz for example who could pair the #23 and #28 after that to move up a few slots into the teens.

The Clippers are also very close to the projected luxury tax threshold.

$77M projected, $72.8M on the books for next year in case Collison leaves, Willie Green is declined, Granger and Davis opt in and LA picks up the team option on Jamal Crawford. Add another million for the #28's first year salary and you have little room left to use exceptions.


TL;DR:

Clippers will look for a PG or Center in the draft.
They'll try to get rid of Dudley, and should look into DeAndre.
Clippers might as well trade their pick to unload Dudley.
Unstable ownership/management situation and only have few options to work around the tax line.
 
#26 Miami Heat

The Miami HEAT will need to reload their roster, no matter what situation they have to face in free agency.

Battier will retire. Ray Allen may follow his lead.

Add to that the uncertainty that surrounds Chalmers, Lewis and Birdman and you know they'll probably have to retool a lot of their support cast.

If their big three stay together or even expands it's very likely that Chalmers will get a solid offer from a team. So Point Guard is a need.

LeBron James praised Shabazz Napier via twitter following his NCAA run.

But other than him there's few experienced guys available who could orchestrate their offense while LeBron rests and I guess Miami will start reducing The King's regular season minutes.

Guys in their range include Adreian Payne, Cleanthony Early, PJ Hairston and Jarnell Stokes.

I think they'll prioritize shooting with their pick to provide better spacing for LeBron or size and physicality to have an extra defender.

Patric Young could fit that description in case they'll want to trade down. He could give them some physicality inside against their opponents in next years finals and also some nasty to fend off the Pacers(Hibbert), Bulls(Noah, Gibson) and Wiz(Gortat, Nene) next year.

Usually I'd say they could completely trade the pick away to get rid off Haslam, but he's been a loyal long time contributor for their team who has accepted below market value from the Heat in the past and I don't think Pat Riley would treat him like this.
He'd rather ask him to opt out and negotiate a long term contract with him that makes up for the money he'd lose next season.

They'll also have to consider that they won't get another first rounder next year as they owe Cleveland their top10 protected #1. So unless they aim to get even older and only add more experienced, desperate, ring hungry vets to their roster this is their opportunity to balance their roster with some youth.

TL;DR

Too many uncertain variables for Miami
Will look to add playmaking as they might lose Chalmers via draft or free agency
Quality options include wings with at least 3 years of college experience who can shoot
Also a Big like Young or Stokes might be an option
 
#2 #31 Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks find themselves at a crossroad before this draft and free agency period.

They've got new owners, they have a financial background and I guess it's a safe assumption that they'll have an analytical mindset for how to manage the team.

I don't expect them to be hands on, but they'll be public because you know it's cool to be cheered for a change. At least Milwaukee will be cheering until there's relocation rumours.

But that's another story for another year. Like 2020 ;) And then there's a new story with new people cheering.

Mallory Edens already "won the internet" and found her way into every middle aged American basketball fan's borderline pedophile dream.

So visibility is what I expect from the not being influential.

They kept John Hammonds for a reason. He's had increasing success working the draft since selecting Joe Alexander in 2008 as his first lottery pick. In subsequent years he got better and since 2010 he has gotten very close to BPA, with 2012(John Henson) and 2013(Giannis) being actually BPA in restrospect.

I think the reason why he wasn't good in the 2011 draft was the instruction to construct an immediate playoff team, which resulted in trading away their #10 for Captain Jack and #19.

He'll probably have a free reign now, overhaul the roster and rebuild around this year's #2, Giannis, Henson and next year's lottery pick.

In the past previous owner Herb Kohl has been influential in the roster and strategic decisions with his refusal to tank when they were in no-mans land.

And because of that they'll face difficult questions: What to do with their bad contracts?

If they are a no show like in this year, it's no problem to have them on the books, as the'll have to pay $56.7M anyways for the roster.

But there's an IF. Or multiple BIG IFs:
What if....

-OJ Mayo decides to be in shape and actually play for another contract or to get traded

-Larry Sanders retires from barfights, keeps his mouth shut in the locker room and also doesn't have bad luck with another basketball-related injury

-Brandon Knight, John Henson, Nate Wolters and especially GIANNIS keep improving.

-Delfino comes back healthy, Ilyasova becomes an impact player again

-Zaza Pachulia stops rehearsing for "The Invisible Man"

-Khris Middleton continues to outplay his contract big time

and last but not least

-their #2 carries the team on his back

Then you suddenly might have a Eastern Conference borderline playoff team and you really don't want that if you're following the small market long term success blueprint set by San Antonio, Utah and most recently Oklahoma City.

And if they're looking at their fanbase from a realistic standpoint they know they need on court success to win basketball fans back in the area to fill the new arena they're planning to build.

So I expect them to be very active around the draft and in free agency.

Their #31 does have some value when it comes to unloading money.

The key piece is obviously Larry Sanders and with all his recent shenanigans it's hard to tell if they're serious about keeping him or if they want to unload him asap and get future assets in return from a team that hopes they can control his temper with a healthy locker room.

They currently sit at $45.08M bankroll guaranteed for next season and their #2 pick will at another $4.92M to that. So they have arund $13M in cap space to toy with.

And by cap space I mean long term injured players whose contracts they can absorb in exchange for healthy players.

This might mean pairing questionable contracts like Ilyasova, Mayo, Delfino or Pachulia with a potentially good player like Knight. Even if Knight's going to improve even more.

I personally doubt he'll ever be more than a valuable first guard off the bench. His defense is atrocious and his offense doesn't make up for it for him to be a starter.

And I'd totally unload Knight if I had to send 1 valuable asset away, simply because having no point guard ensures that everyone else plays bad which results in less urgency to move more bad contracts and simply can let everyone else who could have been a contributor for the nightmare worst case 8th seed Bucks ruins his value even more and you send their expirings away next summer or next season's draft deadline.

If I'm John Hammond I wouldn't touch John Henson because I feel like he can be a good 1st big off the bench guy like Taj Gibson.

And I'd try to get rid of Sanders like crazy and either draft Embiid #2 or focus on Okafor/Towns Jr/Alexander in next year's draft.

For this year's draft pick they have to take a look at all of the top4, but I feel they will pass on Exum because the often reported synergy between Parker and Giannis would be better as interchangable forwards in the future. Both have playmaking potential with Parker more focused on 1v1 and Giannis being unselfish and a good creator for others.

From what I hear, the next 2 drafts won't be point guard heavy in quality and depth as well but these two could form a playmaking duo in a way that they could stick with Knight as a spot up shooter or add via free agency/lower draft picks.

The case for Wiggins would be a lot of length on the wing and big time defensive potential. The case against Wiggins is that Giannis long range bomb is showing promise, but Wiggins has been shaky in both creating off the dribble and shooting consistency.

If you select him you have to aim for really good shooting at both point guard and one of the bigs. Or they could end up being a really good regular season team that doesn't have another gear in the playoffs because opposite defenses will be daring them to shoot.

But the defensive potential would be off the charts.

The case for Embiid is of course BPA, two way player. Has a lot of range for a Center. A lot of shake. Provides rim protection with his length, smart kid, fast learner. If you take him and he stays healthy he might have a very good career.

In favor of Exum is mainly that next year seems to only contain Mudiay and Jones as quality point guards, and in 2016 there's Malik Newman who according to my 2 minute google research hasn't shown much interest in creating for others yet. Against him is that he's given scouts very little sample size vs quality competition and that max contract point guards usually don't end up in the NBA finals since the rules have been adapted in a way that allows them to attack the rim efficiently(Main beneficiaries have been SG+SF with great ball handling)

I think their BPA list is going to be
Embiid > Parker = Wiggins > Exum. hard to tell which one they'll select because I expect Embiid to go to Cleveland.

With their early 2nd rounder I see them going BPA because they have so many holes on their roster.

To make it quick my list for them would be: Capela, Adams, Jokic, Austin, Inglis, Klimenko



TL;DR

New ownership will bring change in the FO, but Hammond getts his chance because of strong drafting
Bucks should try to send away veterans to not mess with chemistry and unintentional 8th seed contention
They should stick with Giannis and Henson
Pick is most likely going to be Parker or Wiggins
#31 will be BPA
 
#3 #10 #32 #39 Philadelphia 76ers

The Sixers pursue the small market OKC blueprint rebuilding route by drafting a star or two or three and I'm pretty sure they'd be okay with a fourth as well. They surround him with other young guns which they get by amassing draft picks.

That's their new ownerships route to get back the enthusiasm and fanbase of the city, which ranks as the 4th biggest television market and 5th biggest metropolitan area in the states. It's a miracle how they only had to sell $280M for such a huge potential.

And my guess is if you have your own LeBron in town, your city automatically becomes a enthusiastic about basketball. Cause winning is sexy and stuff.

With other sports in Philadelphia currently either sucking or being above average there's a good chance to rebuild your brand and win back attendance.

New GM Sam Hinkie is high on using sports analytics, helped Daryl Morey in Houston to find some gems for their no mans land teams post Yao/T-Mac and is so far the mastermind behind a league worst 26 game losing streak and the probably most egregious tanking campaign in history of the league.

He hired Brett Brown from San Antonio last year, and early in the season played their underdog position with pride and got to such a respectable start that Hinkie sent players away for pennies in return to maximize ping pong balls in the lottery.

Sitting at #3 with another lottery pick at #10 out of last year's Nelens Noel for Jrue Holiday draft night trade they'll again look to draft the biggest upside guys in the draft until the'll find their franchise star. Last year's picks of Noel and Carter Williams haven't validated their picks yet due to injury and inconsistent play but they look like they may be part of their future core.

So with their #3 in this year their big board is probably looking like this:

1) healthy Embiid
2) Wiggins
3) Exum
4) Parker

I think Parker would be a bad fit next to Nerlens Noel in the frontcourt but if they don't view Noel as a core piece he might be ranked higher. This slightly contradicts my previous statement of BPA no matter what but I feel like both players are very close if you don't look at the current impact potential, but instead value upside, mismatch potential and speed of improvement.
That's why I feel Exum is slightly ahead on their board. If he doesn't pan out it results in more losses and instead of leaving the bottom 3 after the 2015 draft they'll do so after 2016. No biggie for their ownership. They want to slowly rebuild the brand and envision to build a longer lasting dynasty based on successful drafting.

Also Exum is a favorite of coach Brett Brown and has a relationship to him from his year's as the Australian national team's head coach.

So they'll be perfectly fine with whatever happens before them and simply adapt. I don't think they're interested in trading down because it's pure talent acquisition mode for them and why would they want to draft later when they already have 7 draft picks?

As far as the outlook into the future is I think their timeline is another top3 selection in 2015 with a focus on bigs and if they haven't found their franchise player until then it's top3 in 2016 again.
As soon as they feel they've got a player with all NBA potential and another who can make the 2nd team and get multiple all star selections their talent level combined with so far looking like strong coaching will propel them in the 6-10 region for another year and then it's attacking the playoffs, building a winning culture and targeting free agency more than the draft.

2017 or 2018 will be the year when they plan to return to the postseason.

With the #10 selection, potential prospects they'll target might include Dario Saric, Julius Randle, Doug McDermott, Nik Stauskas, Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon.

Randle and Gordon are obviously a stretch but due to several reasons one of them could slip to them. As could Marcus Smart in case teams don't like his moxy.
Marcus Smart would be a terrific addition as he'd provide the defense that MCW lacks but both players have to continue to improve their shooting to be viable together in a backcourt.

McDermott doesn't really fit the best upside criteria but elite shooters are rare, and both Hinkie and Brown should value spacing highly due to their Rockets/Spurs background as this area of the game was a point of emphasis for both teams.

McBuckets also would provide the leadership that may not be natural for guys like MCW, Noel and Wiggins. His versatility/uncertainty of position could leave them a lot of room to experiment as they'd try him as both a SF and PF since it's very clear that Wiggins could play either position. Him next to Parker would be more unlikely as I feel they don't complement each other very good as combo forwards, but spreading the floor with Exum coming in would also be valuable.

Zach LaVine would provide an athletic scoring guard with defensive upside due to his athleticism and could be their choice in case Embiid falls to them. I have my doubts in case they select Parker , because that would leave them with 2 guys next to MCW who want to initiate the offense, but it could prove to be a good thing if one agrees to be 6th man and be the playmaker against the opponents reserve unit.

Him next to Wiggins has both a lot and little appeal. You'd really want Wiggins to make more with the ball in his hands and create, which would be a problem with LaVine, who still feels he can be a great playmaker and eventually even point guard.
But it counts as a plus LaVine has a good long range bomb and is also very athletic and their wing starters could be similar to George and Stephenson of the Pacers.

The intriguing factor of Gordon would be his glue guy, all around role player potential paired with lock down defense. Would be a really solid addition next to Parker or Embiid.
I don't like him next to Exum and Wiggins, as I wouldn't like to gamble on all 3 of my backcourt players to develop their 3 point shooting. If two don't then you have an asset with limited value and would get less in return and be basically forced to trade.

Julius Randle would give them a guy who could become their end of possession iso scorer with the back to the basket where he's good at drawing fouls, finding angles and in the future he might even face up.
His minimum production is pretty high, he's working the boards with ferocity which would serve them well in case they view Nerlens Noel as their Center and want him to be their rim protector. That being said Noel is a pretty good rebounder himself due to his bouncy nature.

I'd say his baseline comparison would be David West, but he has more upside facing up and operating from the perimeter as a stretch guy in an old school body.

The Serbian Dario Saric is another combo forward who excells at playmaking for both himself and others, has some good handles for his size and his 3 pointer is getting more consistent. He leaves some question marks as it is unclear if he can defend either forward position and the Adria League is a bad indicator for that.
Though his point forward potential and willingness to crash the boards, defend leave plenty of hope. If he's up for grabs I think he's as likely as Stauskas.

Stauskas would obviously provide a lot of spacing and would be awesome next to Wiggins as he's shown at Michigan he's okay with both playing off the ball and also has enough ball skills and court vision to create for others when asked to. He could be a guy who's the right fit for a Spurs-like ball movement system which could be implemented under Brett Brown with MCW as your point guard.

I think he's the most likely pick, as Gordon, Randle, Smart will probably be off the table once they pick and Saric has a good chance to go earlier as well. And he'd be a terrific pick. He's got plenty of Lithuanian game in him.

A wild card might be Gary Harris. His measurements revealed that he's probably too small to play Shooting Guard, but he's playing good on ball defense, has very good shooting mechanics and also enough ball handling to attack close outs. He could be their Point Guard defender, to move the lengthy Carter Williams to shooting guard defensively, where his two year experience in a Syracuse zone could serve him better as an off ball defender. Also his limitations in nimbleness and lateral quickness are areas where it's really hard to improve.
He'd be a stretch at 10, but they could trade down a couple slots if there's another team that likes someone who's available.

They have two 2nd rounder in the 30s and 3 more in the 40s and 50s. The latter 3 may be used as trade pieces. I doubt they intend to bring in 7 rookies next year.

The two picks in the 30s though have potential and they might look into stashing them. Inglis, Micic, Jokic and Klimenko are internationals with stash potential, but I didn't research specifically if they have lately stated desire to come over right away.

Other interesting players could be prospects who have glaring holes but huge upside as valuable rotation players in case they manage to fix some.
Jerami Grant, Isaiah Austin might be these guys, who could slowly develop and in case they pan out are huge steals for them.

Their later 2nd rounders will be filled with other young guns, who'll get their chance or are stashed. But looking at this year's crop I really see a drop off after 35 or 40. Kind of disappointing when you consider how talented the first round guys are compared to other years.


TL;DR

#3 will be most likely Wiggins as I project Embiid and Parker #1 and #2 respectively
I think Exum has more appeal to them than Parker if Embiid and Wiggins are off the board
They should be high on Embiid's potential if he drops
At 10 Stauskas, Saric and especially Harris would be good fits for a coach that comes out of the Gregg Popovich institute of championship coaching
They won't stick with all 5 of their 2nd rounders and stashing young internationals seems likely.
Also high risk high reward NCAA guys who slipped out of the first or are projected in the early 2nd
 
#4 #12 Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic are equipped with 2 lottery picks and head towards the end of their rebuilding process that was initiated when Dwight Howard was traded away.

The team got a new young front office head in Rob Hennigan who was fairly successful at drafting in recent years.

Beginning their rebuild in 2012 when they selected Andrew Nicholson with #19 and later that summer they obtained Nikola Vucevic, Maurice Harkless, Arron Afflalo and 5 more first round picks in the Dwight Howard trade.

Nicholson has been disappointing, but Harkless has suggested role player potential so far and Afflalo just had a breakout year, he is one of the best 2 way shooting guards. Vucevic has developed in a double double machine but they don't seem to be sold on anyone of this group, as neither has received unreasonable playing time and opportunities as sign of a commitment.

In 2013's crapshoot draft they selected Oladipo with the #2 pick and it's clear they value his versatility a lot and are tinkering with him in different roles. His defensive potential is also off the charts.

This year they find themselves in a position to add someone with real star potential at #4. They also finally managed to get rid of most of their veterans and remaining veterans only have an expiring or partially guaranteed contract and Afflalo even has significant trade value due to his favorable contract.

In another trade they ripped off the Bucks and found ways to make combo forward Tobias Harris a valuable player on offense. His defensive limitations will probably determine that he's a power forward long term but he's another tradeable or usable asset.

At #4 they find themselves in a position to take one of the four prospects to have a superstar ceiling. However it's the one that the other 3 teams in front of them passed on.

Dante Exum was reported to be most likely available piece at #4 and has expressed interest in joining the Magic franchise due to his connection to Oladipo.

Exum would make a lot of sense in a backcourt with Vic. Victor is already a nasty defender, and he's finding out how much ballskills he's got. Exum is known to be a good creator, slasher and finisher at the rim and went to the foul line fairly often in previous tournaments. His defense and shooting are in progress with his shooting coming along nicely, but defense is a question mark.

That's why he would make sense next to Oladipo who could spend more energy defensively and playing more off the ball on offense with Exum being given more opportunity to rest as an off ball defender.

Orlando would be happy to select Exum, be active on the trade market with their non guaranteed trade chips(Maxiell, Nelson, Price) and assets that might not fit their championship window(Afflalo and eventually Vucevic, who turns 24 late this year and would probably be around 30 when they aim for contention)

So there's at least one more year where they'll compete for the #1 pick.

The other options all make sense as well, as their potential is just as high.

It would just make current assets expandable. If they select Wiggins, Harkless would be traded sooner than later to not jeopardize his value.

If Embiid falls in their lap, he could either start at PF as he's shown how mobile he is and long term Vucevic would be traded away to make him the primary rim protector.

In case Parker is up for grab, he'd be too similar to Tobias Harris to co-exist, thus he'd be expandable.

From a positional standpoint Noah Vonleh might make sense as well. His two way potential could move Tobias Harris to become the 6th man and fill both forward positions as a substitute to both Harkless and Vonleh. But that would mean they view Vonleh's potential as immense as it would mean passing on Exum most likely.

I think Exum is the safe bet, he makes tons of sense for them.

With the #12 pick maximum upside is the way to go once again. I read a rumour that they may look into trading it with the Bulls being mentioned as a potential trade partner.

Potential targets at that slot may be Tyler Ennis in case they don't pick Exum.
He's a floor general in the making paired with questionable defense and provides little scoring.

TJ Warren is a combo forward at this point. He's got huge scoring instincts but it's unclear how that will translate as his strengths are in areas being considered inefficient by most metrics in general. He outperforms the average player in these areas by quite a large margin and leaves you puzzling. If he can build a long range shot during his rookie contract, he could become a reliable scoring option in the high teens at the end of his rookie contract.

Dario Saric's upside and versatility, heart and playmaking potential would be too good to pass up if he slides to them.
He could be really good for them and with Rob Hennigan's experience in the Spurs front office he might see his real potential to become integral part of a winning program with his unselfishness.

Nik Stauskas offensive arsenal seems to be too redundant to Oladipo in my eyes. I don't think they could function as starting guards for a good team.
And Stauskas as a SF would cause the team defensive problems when they play against the most dominating small forwards.

Another tentalizing name would be the project of Zach LaVine. He's a real possibility and the upside would outweigh the risk at this point for them IMO.
If he doesn't develop and outplay his draft position little harm's done. But if he does he would be a real steal.
Given how unfinished the Magic's roster is, that's my best bet for who they might target.

Other high upside picks include James Young, but he would be a reach and nothing but his age works in favor of him at this point.

As a stash pick, Porzingis might be an option, but he could be obtained by trading down as well most likely.


TL;DR

Magic are a team in the early stages filled with assets, who might not be part of the finished product
Exum seems to be a perfect fit
If one of the "top3" is available it would cause immediate trades
Vonleh has an outside chance as his upside could make sense in their eyes
With the 12th Zach LaVine's upside might be the gamble
Saric would be the first choice if he slides
Tyler Ennis is possible in case they get one of the concensus top3
 
#25 Houston Rockets

This is one of the least sure picks.

The Rockets roster has multiple smaller holes that need to be addressed, and at the same time they're glancing at Carmelo Anthony.

Speaking of Melo, I can see them approaching him by going a sign and trade route and no sign and trade route at the same time.

It's unlikely the partner would be New York to preserve his bird rights in the process, because I doubt that New York really wants the #25 and 28 year old Omer Asik's cap friendly contract as assets in return.

Melo's $23M starting salary would count half in such a trade and New York would aim to unload JR Smith, Ray Felton or Bargnani as well.

Something possible would be Melo($11.5M for trade purposes) + Bargnani's $11.5M expiring + Ray Felton $3.8M in exchange for Asik, Lin($8.4M on the cap, $15M in salary each), #25($1M cap hold), Donatas Motiejunas($1.5M), Omri Casspi's teamoption($1M), Robert Covington's non guaranteed($.9M) and Troy Daniels non guaranteed($1.3M) and a future first rounder.

Using JR Smith would make things easier, but the whole scenario is unlikely as it would put immense pressure on Houston to find desperate ringless veterans.

It's more likely that they send their economics guy and lay out in front of Melo how the Texas state tax would affect his net income as they did with Howard.
They'd then look for a sign and trade partner on a 4 yr max w/o bird rights 4.5$ raises.

This could be done in multiple fashions which I'm not gonna elaborate here.

Looking at draft targets in case they stick with their pick, holes in their roster are one or two wing defender and backup point guard, as J-Lin doesn't look like he's in Houston long term after his poison pill expires next summer.

3 and D wings in the mid twenties range are basically non existent. Good long range shooting wings projected between 12 and 25 like PJ Hairston, Rodney Hood and James Young aren't good at defense at this point of their career and may never reach that point.

Defensive minded guys like Jerami Grant and KJ McDaniels may never get there shooting wise. Glenn Robinson III would be another name to watch. He had a very weird college career and has probably the best upside to develop a reliable long range bomb.

Spencer Dinwiddie would probably be the best fit for their wing rotation if it wasn't for his ACL rupture. But there's the option that they like him, trade back or snag him up with #42.

As for PG, the aforementioned Shabazz Napier could provide instant impact and would contribute to their spacing with his long range accuracy.

Jarnell Stokes could be their pick if they feel they need another more phyiscal PF than T Jones and want to part with Motiejunas.

But it's really tough to predict because their pursuit of Melo could drastically change the landscape over there.

Also Asik is most likely to be moved no matter what and this would most likely return multiple players.


TL;DR

Melo is the main guy they want after this draft, obtainable in multiple scenarios
Asik probably is moved over the summer
They need spacing and defense on their wing positions(Robinson III, McDaniels, Dinwiddie)
Another PG with range could be useful as well -> Napier
 
#22 Memphis Grizzlies

The most important decision for the Grizzlies lies in the hand of Zach Randolph and his agent.
Will he execute his player option to postpone free agency or seek a long term extension this year already.

A lot of indicators and experience say it's the early extension.

Their free agency flexibility will depend on the number they negotiate. And then Memphis must decide whether they front or back load the contract which hinges on how they view their chances to land free agents.

Marc Gasol is a free agent next year and Mike Conley Jr. the year after that. So there is pressure to improve their roster immediately to become successful and not motivate their core players to only dream about success and consequently pursuing it in other cities.

If everything stays static - Zach not opting out, Memphis picking up the team option on Koufos and Ed Davis extension starting at $4.4M(which is unlikely) then they're close to the projected luxury tax threshold.

Their first round draft pick can either net them a good rotation player, a stash player, a project or they can use it to get rid of the corpse that goes by the name Tayshaun Prince.

Tayshaun is owed $7.7M next year and I think it's unlikely they can afford to become a tax team.

Now they'll probably let the market determine Ed Davis value and match. They have both MLE variants available as well.

If Randolph stays in his contract, they can't use the MLE without sending away Tayshaun.

If he negotiates a new contract or leaves it's possible they can afford paying Tayshaun AND use their MLE.

So there's trade potential in town...

As to who they could target with their #22 pick, it's pretty easy.

A wing with a pretty shooting stroke or a backup point guard with shooting capability. Nick Calathes had a mixed their as backup and Beno Udrih's vet min contract is expiring.

GRIII, Rodney Hood, PJ Hairston would be traditional wings.

Napier and Ennis would be point guard who either have elite shooting stroke or upside to develop it.

If they feel they want to let go Ed Davis or Koufos and strengthen their inside rotation, they could go with Kyle Anderson's playmaking and improving shooting or the prototype stretch forward Payne.

If they find a young prospect like James Young dropping to them they could take him for the future.
He's a guy who should get playing time in the regular season due to his ability to knock down threes and down the stretch could be a nice start if they're either forced to rebuild after next year.

Capela would qualify as a project big.


TL;DR

Free agency is crucial, especially Randolph's situation must be resolved.
They are at crossroads, need to add players to advance further in the playoffs.
If they can't they may be empty handed next year(M.Gasol gone)
If they stick with the pick, wing shooting is a need, as is playmaking.
Possible picks include Hood, Hairston, Napier or Payne.
 
#21 Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder have the best 2 man combo in the league and the worst supporting cast.

So the Thunder need depth. Every position other than ballhandlers.

They need internal improvement, even though that sounds unlikely with their best "young" prospects are Reggie Jackson and Jeremy Lamb.
Jackson's 24 and the Thunder will negotiate over an extension with him this summer. Lamb is 22 and he's got 2 rookie years left anyways. So they'll try to develop him even if it looks dire right now.

Oklahoma is a team that's low on BBIQ thus they have implemented a very easy system that relies on creators. Right now they have 3.
Durant, Westbrook, Jackson. They're going PnR, iso and try to create for their teammates.

They need veterans with high BBIQ or a miracle that hands them another playmaker somehow.

Because by now it's very clear that these 3 can't do all the running and clashing with the other team's bigs to create bunnies for their teammates for 82 games and 4 more 7 game series. Plus national team duty, plus preseason.

They're on the books for $67.6M, which means about $9M room until they scratch next year's luxury tax.
Constant whine out of their front office that says their revenue is too little to justify going that close to the threshold is ********.
With the new economic situation in the NBA, revenue rising, a rich TV contract on the horizon the team's value is skyrocketing faster than Prokhorov can pay luxury tax.

If they're about winning, they have work to do:

-Amnesty Perkins

-Send Durant to recruit desperate vets

-Use your trade exception until 7/11 ($6.5M as a result from the Kevin Martin trade)

-Use the (M)MLE

-Target a fourth playmaker or significantly better roleplayers

The portion of it that can be done with a #21 pick in this year's draft is limited.

We're talking playmaker?

TJ Warren or Kyle Anderson might be the answer!

We want to replace Sefolosha?

KJ McDaniels, Jordan Adams or PJ Hairston are alternatives.

Add another big?

Capela is a Center who could be useful in 2 years next to Steven Adams when Perkins retires.

Adreian Payne could provide flexibility for the big rotation, which would allow Ibaka to play some Center in stretch rotations.

Also Tyler Ennis would make sense if they want to take the ball out of Westbrook's hands more and let him run more secondary screen plays to put him in a position where he's less likely to run into a wall with his head first. But I doubt that.

James Young would be another project pick, who could provide the spacing. But his lack of defense at this point would hurt OKC's playoff ambitions a lot.


TL;DR

OKC is a cheap organisation
Free Agency will be more important than the draft
They need shooting and playmaking:
Warren, Anderson, McDaniels, Adams, Hairston, Payne are possible targets
 
#5 #23 #35 Utah Jazz

I had a long section prepared before my browser crashed.

Now I'll probably shorten the inner monologue a little bit.

The Jazz are nearing the end of their rebuild.

And they find themselves at a crucial point as they don't have their poster boy yet similarly to the Orlando Magic. The simple difference is that their rebuild is one year further advanced and it's highly unlikely that they're capable of getting another draftpick that's better than 9 next year.

The tough Western Conference will influence these numbers quite a bit.

So it's hit or rebuild from scratch.

Or as a small market front office like's to say. Riding the revenue stream.

This is the most unattractive option for every real basketball and Jazz fan and would make Jazzfanz the most toxic place in the internet.

Being drawn to a television whilst knowing that it's in your best interest to boycott the team for 5 years until everyone leaves to win and proper rebuilding can begin.

Lottery is about luck and the Jazz haven't had any of it during their rebuild.

And by not being lucky I don't talk about erroneous selections.

I'll assume in the following section that Wiggins and Parker are off the board.

Embiid's foot injury could let him slide depending on X-Rays, MRI and other medical records that must be handed to teams now until he receives a promise.

Exum is also highly unlikely as he's a good fit for Orlando. But there's an outside chance that some team at the top goes full Cleveland and picks some random guy based on a random statistical model.

If I look at the tier 2 players, I see players who have a lot of potential and in most drafts they are more likely to get drafted between 2 and 6, and not 5-10.

Julius Randle is the safe pick. He's shown his inside game exclusively last season. He was good at creating angles to ovecome his limited height and explosiveness.
Some people claim he's got an outside game but due to his limited ball skills and absence of a right hand, he can't trump defenders by being a lefty who can face up from the perimeter.

He's simply too predictable right now, which resulted in successful traps. His passing is below average as he embodies AAU fundamentals.

Another trouble is that it's rare for people to expand their handling significantly after leaving college. If he can't develop offensive flexibility and improve his defense from atrocious to "at least he's trying" he won't be a starter for long.

He'd be a stretch from a skillset perspective, his leadership, alpha mentality could serve the Jazz. How highly do you value intangibles?

Marcus Smart has intriguing intangibles as well, and his skillset lacks in essential areas.

Shooting, court vision and ball skills may limit his effectiveness in general as it makes him predictable. But in contrast to Randle it's safe to say that he's going to be a good defender at least.

I hope the Jazz aren't really interested in him, as he doesn't present a great upgrade over Burke and is unlikely to develop into a great franchise player.

His me first playstyle doesn't present to be a plus for me as it would limit a team concept.

Noah Vonleh strikes me as the guy who possesses the biggest upside. He's got a good shooting motion, and already proved he can make shots at a high clip.

He's a guy that has the possibility to become a prototype power forward. You combine his impressive physique with his ball skills and shooting and the result is a player that would be high on the Spurs radar.

The flipside with Vonleh is that he's spent a lot of time in the gym reportedly for a guy his age. This makes you wonder why he hasn't developed a more solid decision making but this might change once he spends more time with video coordinators and prepares for his games on a different level.
I just mention it as a possible concern.

He hasn't displayed leadership qualities in his only year at Indiana. He's been in foul trouble a lot due to lack of understanding when it comes to positioning.

Aaron Gordon's the guy that's very risky. He's got a lot of abilities that make him desirable.

But when it comes to his offensive skillset, you kind of wanna close your eyes.

Loose handle that isn't worth too much in halfcourt setting yet. Athleticism off the charts. Engaged defender.

Humble kid, good BBIQ and court vision.

The big questionmark is his scoring ability. If he can't develop a jump shot he could "Kidd-Gilchrist" to irrelevance.

He can cut to the basket, outjump and overpower guys at the college level. If he's a power forward in the pros, he'll have a tougher time doing that.
If he's a small foward, you need to compensate for his shooting inability in his first years.

His shooting technique isn't broken, his accuracy is alarmingly low. Is it his aim that lacks or is it just a question of practice?

Looking at all the options I think Embiid falling with his foot injury would be the most tantalizing prospect.

Exum dropping to 5 is the next best option to become a superstar with a humble attitude, team oriented mentality and leadership qualities.

And if I look at the guys I described previously, I think taking a risk on Vonleh or selecting Gordon are the risks I'd be most willing to take.

If those guys don't pan out at least we won't have to suffer through mediocrity, but instead see an attempt to convert all the guys into future assets and rebuild.

But in case they do and come close to their ceiling, then the Jazz could become contenders in the future.

With the later first round and early second round pick the Jazz should aim to get a complementary player.

If they roll with Smart or Exum, they could look to add a wing and a big.

Grant, Anderson or Robinson are possible wings to get drafted in that area.

The lack of quality power forwards will most likely prevent them from selecting a wing as Payne is unlikely to be available.

I don't think they consider Early this early in the draft and I doubt he'd become an upgrade over Marvin Williams.

The #35 is where I'd select Jokic in that scenario. You stash him and if he becomes special, you score big and forget about Kanter.

If the Jazz select Gordon, then they should aim to add more floor spacing with their latter picks. Moving up some spots for Payne could prove to be smart, as he could easily replace Williams streakiness at least. Also more development seems possible for him right now.

With Vonleh you look at Grant McDaniels and Robinson again at 23. At 35 Dinwiddie, who is expected to be ready by training camp and Micic are frontrunners.

Micic would provide a different style compared to Burke. If he's able to initiate the sets in a similar fashion as Calderon does it, then he'll probably outplay his projection by far and that could make Burke expendable very soon.


TL;DR

This is the last chance for the Jazz to add a promising franchise player quality talent
My selections with #5 would be Vonleh or Gordon
Embiid or Exum dropping would be even better
With 23 and 35 you look to round out your wing rotation and depending on if you go guard or combo forward with #5 you add the other position. Micic would be my fav 2nd PG(2nd, not backup)
 
Last edited:
#6 #17 Boston Celtics

Looking at Boston's roster, they've got a weird roster of guys when you consider that they basically waived the towel just last summer.

Danny Ainge backs Rondo as his franchise guy all the time but you never know if he's simply trying to boost his market value. Next season is a contract year, so this is basically his last chance to trade him.

If he really wants to build a team around a 28 year old coming off an ACL surgery who looked handicapped ever since.

Most of their young players aren't really that young as their age is between 22 and 24. Utilizing their pick to go with a huge upside super young stud wouldn't really fit their timeline.

Unless it's their strat to slowly deconstruct the roster and pick up as many assets in the process as they can.

If that's their rebuilding strat then we'll see them at least a couple more times in the high lottery again.

If he tries to return to contention ASAP, then he'll need to utilize their $15M in capspace if they decline Bogans team option as expected or pair that non guaranteed contract with their trade exception they obtained last summer from the Nets to return a high value impact player.

I don't see franchise talent on their roster and I'd be really shocked if any of the guys would develop into one.

So exhausting their assets to strengthen their roster seems unrealistic.

So retooling it is probably the better choice long term, even if it means more losing.

Olynyk is 23, Sully is 22 and the restricted free agent Bradley will turn 24 later this year.

Everyone else is basically old and overpaid and in two cases they don't even expire after this season. Jeff Green and Gerald Wallace. So they're basically untradable.

If they want to trade and score a restricted free agent this summer, they might be in a better position. But I don't see anyone not matching their restricted guys unless it's some serious overpay that would limit them going forward.

So with their #6 they should really aim to get really young players, who might be 2nd or 3rd options next to higher draft picks that they use in the upcoming drafts.

Aaron Gordon would fit that. He's not going to add wins for a team anytime soon with his limitations on offense at this point.

If Embiid drops due to his injury, I can see them taking a chance on him as well.

Vonleh is similar to Gordon. He's super young, has two way player potential. But his offense right now is more developed, yet not polished.

He needs to add to his defense to fully utilize his body but they the risk would be justified. With Vonleh's character you have to assume that he'll at least try to become a capable defender and learn.

Smart would be too old if they try to add more high draft picks in the next years. If they play him in a backcourt with Rondo, that would either mean they don't plan to match Avery Bradley's offer or it would really limit their ability to showcase all 3 of them on both guard spots to receive good offers for Bradley and Rondo.

All 3 of them are also undersized to defend the bigger and skilled 2 guards like Harden.

Randle would strengthen their rebounding a lot as Olynyk and Sully like to play away from the basket.
But this trio wouldn't be a real option long term, as none of them has neither the mindset nor the body to defend the rim.

I'd bet they'll take either Gordon or Vonleh, depending on who falls to them. Embiid would be the wildcard with a severe injury.

With their #17, it's BPA. They need talent, preferably young guys.

If LaVine is available, he's gone now. No reason to pass on his athleticism and upside. And if he busts, it's only a #17.

James Young could be an option as well. His shooting could be interesting for them. He's a project just like LaVine would be.

If they prefer more a more developed wing with less upside, Jordan Adams might be an option.

International guys they could give a deeper look are Nurkic's back to the basket game or Clint Capela's defensive upside.


TL;DR

Boston has the option to retool via restricted free agency/trades with young veterans to rebuild around Rondo
They can also do a hard rebuild and slowly trade all their valuable players for future assets.
With #6 whoever is left between Gordon and Vonleh
#19 is BPA and as young as possible. LaVine, Young, Adams, Capela, Nurkic
 
#7 Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers got themselves in a precarious situation when they lost multiple gambles.

And no I'm not talking Dwight Howard.

A tiny, yet magnificent detail I just discovered a few moments ago is that the Lakers took on a draft debt when they traded Steve Nash.

They owe a widely unrestricted first rounder to Phoenix. It's their 2015 one with a top5 protection in 2015, a top3 protected through 2017 and it becomes unprotected in 2018.

When you assume a semi productive coming in, the Lakers missing out on all free agents due to their lack of financial flexbility, it leaves them in a position to set the market price for most the restricted guys.

Monroe, Hayward, Bradley will be high on their list. Bledsoe probably won't be as he'll want to get a 5 yr extension.

So they can offer these guys a lot of money and they won't be unhappy if their former teams won't match. Because they're suddenly in LA, and in 2 years even Kobe is in a wheelchair.

If they recruited the 76ers D-League Allstars to play next to Kobe and the #7 in this year's draft, they might be able to secure the worst record and work around next year's pick protection. But they'd need to win after that, because you simply don't hand Phoenix a #4 pick while having your revenue and fanbase watching games at home or not at all.

I think it's more likely to improve right away, add via restricted free agency, sign min deals like Nick Young did to enamor GMs to overpay them by playing decent in the city of angels.

So to tank or not to tank?

I focus on not tanking, because tanking is too lackluster to write about.

Monroe will be their first target, he'll sign an offer sheet as soon as it's clear that neither LeBron nor Melo are interested to come to LA.

That may be July 1st, or July 4th.

In case the Pistons match, Hayward is the next target.

If the Jazz match they're attacking Avery Bradley, Chandler Parsons and Ed Davis.

Free agency will still play a big role as they have holes to fill.

They might go for a lot of underdogs or pray that guys like Blatche and Humphries could give them solid production for little pay and be on their best behavior at the same time.

Veteran free agents that might be attractive are Deng and Lowry. Both have stated they want to compete, but I'll believe that once they turn down a rich offer.

With their first rounder I think Marcus Smart would be a terrific fit. He's ready to play and shoulder a lot of responsibility. He's tough and they could add via free agency in next years if he exceeds expectations.

Julius Randle is similar. He can bang the boards, will get to the line after grabbing a rebound on the offensive end. He could work from the post a little and try to mix in his face up game.

If they want instant maximum impact in LA, they'll have to decide if they like Smart's defense more or Randle's youth and potential versatility.

Gordon and Vonleh wouldn't be key contributors from day 1. They could contribute, but in a lesser role, more like trying to carry the bench and getting to know all the starters in the league in smaller stints.

Can Bryant really shoulder the load after his injuries?

Nash is only there anyways to cash in on his last check. Don't count on him.

If Embiid falls all the way to LA, they pick him and sign the Philly D-League Allstars.


TL;DR

Lakers owe 2015 first rounder to Phoenix(top5 protected, top3 afterwards) -> Can they really afford to tank?
Attack free agency, especially restricted guys to snag them away or set their value
Most likely with their draft pick are instant impact guys like Smart or Randle
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top