The Official 2013 NBA Draft Talk Thread

[tremonthustler1]

So wassup with Seth Curry? Does he get drafted? Can the Warriors get him with a mid 2nd round pick if we buy 1? I see a lot of Warriors fans saying we can get him.

The way I see it is, if Taylor Griffin can get drafted, so can Seth Curry, limitations and all. I think he gets picked.

 

[tremonthustler1]

I need in on the Mock Draft. What teams are available?

Phoenix, Indiana, Milwaukee, and maybe New Orleans.

 

[Dwight Howard]

ill do New Orleans or garabge Milwaukee

 

[Dwight Howard]

I really don't see it with Trey Burke ...Is the weakness of the draft hyping him up to some people? ..

nikkas talking bout franchise guard...I see a solid pg, that will be a defensive liability ...

you saw the tournament tho. he displayed some great intangibles that will translate well to the league, plus he got a great handle, solid stroke, and good playmaking ability. I think dude will be one of the better prospects in this class. He needs to land on a squad with young and active bigs tho, kinda like a Detroit or even New Orleans

 

[G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman]

I'll only watch this draft for 2 teams. Minny and Charlotte. Since Kahn is no longer running Minny they may draft a decent player. I'm 100% certain Charlotte will find a way to fukk up their draft.

 

[Reggie]

I think someone from this draft will surprise but who that player is, has yet to be discovered. This could be a draft where the 15th pick is better than the 1st pick this year. I think Ben will be a solid player but probably not superstar status. Ima fan of Nerlens but his lack of bulk and offensive game scares me. At best he'll be Dikembe with a little better offense. That's good but not franchise changing good. I could see Oladipo being a star or a bust and I can see Hardaway being a solid first round pick since he measured 6'6 and being a starter for 10 years. But im sure that we will see numerous 7'0 busts this year because of the lack of elite players in this draft. And guys like Steven Adams and Jeff Withey are going to go much higher than they usually would.

 

[tremonthustler1]

When asked to assess the 2013 NBA Draft, one general manager said he liked it just fine. He just wouldn’t want to possess the first or second pick.

That particular GM doesn’t need to worry. His team made the playoffs and has no chance of winning Tuesday night’s draft lottery.

Everyone else … well, they too may be praying to end the evening with the rally cry of, “We’re No. 3!”

Not that finishing first is a nightmare. You can always trade the pick.

Or you can keep it and draft a guy who hasn’t played since February and isn’t expected to take the court again until around Christmas.

Yes, Kentucky center Nerlens Noel appears to be the big prize. He once blocked 12 shots in a game. Of course, he also scored 0 points in the same game, but hey, let’s not be picky.

We’re only talking about a guy who’s supposed to help change the course of your crummy franchise.

Oh, the reason for the delayed start to Noel’s pro career? He underwent surgery for a torn ACL

Is Noel the next Kwame Brown? We don’t know.

Is he the next Kareem Abdul-Jabbar? We don’t know that, either, but probably not.

Like every other prospect in this draft, Noel is pretty much a mystery. We know he can block shots at the collegiate level. But that’s about all we know.

Still, that’s gotta be worth something, right? Right.

Then again, when a scouting report reads like that, usually the guy is considered a top-10 pick -- not necessarily the No. 1 pick. More like Nos. 6, 8 or 10.

Anyway, Noel has enough of some serious gift s (namely, height and jumping) to make GMs and scouts forget about an injury that can drastically offset certain aspects of his game (namely, height and jumping).

So let’s assume whoever wins the lottery holds the keys to the Noel sweepstakes. Which prospect will then emerge from behind door No. 2?

It was once thought to be Kansas shooting guard Ben McLemore. But following the draft combine in Chicago last week, one scout summarized McLemore’s game this way: The less you see of it, the better he looks.

The more you analyze this draft, the more you can understand what the GM meant when he said the top two draft slots will create a conundrum.

After all, if you own a top-two pick, most people expect you to select someone who becomes, if not the face of the franchise, at least the neck, shoulders and chest.

Meanwhile, if you’re selecting third … well, there’s a little more wiggle room there. Yes, if you miss on a guy at No. 3, you’re still scorned. Just not quite as much as if you miss at No. 1.

Or let’s put it this way: When the player drafted ninth turns out to be as good as the guy drafted first, it’s the GM of Team No. 1 who ends up applying for a job as a receptionist at the local dentist’s office.

Most mock drafts have Georgetown forward Otto Porter Jr. going third. He compares himself to former Detroit Pistons and current Memphis Grizzlies forward Tayshaun Prince.

Prince is all arms and legs, a strong defender, a decent perimeter shooter and respectable finisher who was drafted back in 2002 -- with the 23rd overall pick.

Granted, he’d go a lot higher in this draft, and most people would accept a guy with his talents as a lottery selection. Unless, of course, he was selected first or second.

Then there’d like be at least some minor unrest.

So is winning Tuesday’s lottery pointless? Hardly. Again, you can do with the No. 1 pick then actually have to draft someone.

But will winning the lottery or finishing second solve your problems? If so, there’s a lot of fibbing going on. Because the skinny entering the 2013 NBA Draft is there are plenty of capable players who can come in and help your team.

There just isn’t one who will single-handedly lift you to new heights. And in theory, that’s what winning the lottery is all about.

Double Dribbles

• Michigan shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr. was perhaps the biggest winner at the draft combine. Not only did he destroy people in games of 4-on-4, the prevalent opinion was he gave the best individual interviews with team personnel.

• Entering the combine, draft experts had Hardaway being selected anywhere from the early 20s to the early second round. Now, it’s more likely he’s chosen anywhere from 12-17.

• Also, this is expected to be a good year for international players in the first round. Several scouts agreed that, skill-wise, Russian forward Sergey Karasev is every bit as promising as Porter. But unlike Porter, Karasev comes with some baggage. He’s had a few minor off-the-court issues, and is considered a indifferent defender.

• Indiana center Cody Zeller was extremely impressive in drills that tested athleticism and agility, or actually off the charts for a 7-footer. One team executive said, while more stock is placed on individual workouts, Zeller climbed to No. 2 on his team’s draft board. (Flip )

• Zeller’s IU teammate, shooting Victor Oladipo, also gave a strong showing and may have secured his spot in the top five. Oladipo wowed scouts and GMs with his athleticism and smarts, as well as one-on-one conversations. That said, several teams clearly remain concerned with his lack of fundamentals.

 

[StreetDawah]

Dieng looks like the perfect fit for the Bulls Thibs must be salivating at the thought of him being on the Bulls. I doubt he'll be there at 20 though

 

[FreedS[ohh]lave]

The only reason to watch any of the draft lottery is to see the reaction from the gm of the team that wins it

 

[Da_Eggman]

The NBA also charted shooting drills on Thursday. Here was the leaderboard:

Top shooters: Mike Muscala (76 percent), Tony Snell (74 percent), Reggie Bullock and Grant Jerrett (72 percent), Allen Crabbe (70 percent).

Worst shooters : Myck Kabongo (32 percent), Shabazz Muhammad (36 percent), Andre Roberson (42 percent).

Whose stock improved? Dropped?

France's Rudy Gobert also wowed with sheer size. His 7-foot-8.5 wingspan and 9-foot-7 standing reach both were record measurements by the NBA. While Gobert didn't look particularly explosive, nor was he particularly skilled offensively, he was a handful around the basket and could, with another 20 pounds of muscle, be a nightmare around the basket. Scouts weren't ready to declare him a lottery pick, but they did love the effort.

[+] Enlarge
Reggie BullockCal Sport Media via AP ImagesNorth Carolina's Reggie Bullock was praised for his shooting ability Thursday.

Cal's Allen Crabbe put on the best shooting performance of anyone at the camp. His beautiful shot was going in from everywhere on Thursday. That's not a huge surprise if you've watched Crabbe play, but nevertheless, many scouts and GMs mentioned him as one of the two or three most impressive players they saw on Thursday. North Carolina's Reggie Bullock also drew praise for his shooting (see percentage above). Miami's Shane Larkin and Murray State's Isaiah Canaan both impressed out of the point guard group. Ricardo Ledo also stood out for a number of NBA GMs who were getting their first look at him.

Who didn't help themselves?
It's pretty hard to hurt your stock in a camp like this. But there was some negativity around the poor shooting performances by Archie Goodwin, B.J. Young and Vander Blue. All three players really struggled to look the part of "shooting" guards in the drills Thursday. Every year, NBA scouts and GMs scour the measurements portion of the combine. We published the results last night and you can find the measurements for every player in the camp plus analysis here.

Virtually every GM in the league will tell you that the most important part of the process for them is the interviews and medical evaluations. Teams spent up to four hours a day both Wednesday and Thursday doing sit-downs with individual players. A number of players had great interviews including, McLemore, Porter, McCollum and Oladipo.

McCollum especially seemed to be a hit among the NBA people I spoke with. The fact that he was a journalism/communications major certainly didn't hurt him. I spoke to around 30 of the players at the combine on Thursday, and I understand McCollum's appeal. He might have been the most engaging conversation I had at the combine.

That process should bode well for McCollum going forward. He already is one of the most dynamic scorers in the draft. If teams believe they can sell him to fans as well, a high lottery team might be more willing to build around him.

Draft promises?
Finally, the draft combine wouldn't be the draft combine without talk of a player being "promised" to be taken by another team. Last year, Syracuse guard Dion Waiters grabbed the first promise of the draft season. This year it looks like two international players -- Germany's Dennis Schroeder and Greece's Giannis Antetokounmpo -- have been locked up. The "promise" happens when a team guarantees to a player and his agent that they will take him with their pick. The player, in turn, agrees to either stop working out, or in the case of international players, to agree to stay in the draft and not withdraw before the deadline.

While sources did not pinpoint the teams who made the promise, they did say that Schroeder's promise was in the mid-first round, while Antetokounmpo's promise was in the late first round. Both make sense.

Schroeder wowed at the Nike Hoops Summit last month and had generated a lot of buzz coming into the camp. A team fearing he might improve his stock even more at the combine might have decided to shut him down now before he rose out of their draft range. Several teams, including the Boston Celtics and Utah Jazz, are looking for point guards in that draft range. Antetokounmpo hasn't had an opportunity to do real workouts with teams.

However with so much upside, you could see a veteran team with multiple first-round picks deciding to keep him in Europe as a draft-and-stash candidate. A few teams, including the Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves, have a second first-round pick in the 20s.

 

[HiphopRelated]

Phoenix, Indiana, Milwaukee, and maybe New Orleans.

Prof not doing Phoenix?


I'll pick for Pelicans

 

[Flight]

Phoenix, Indiana, Milwaukee, and maybe New Orleans.

I'll take Milwaukee.

 

[FAH1223]

The only reason to watch any of the draft lottery is to see the reaction from the gm of the team that wins it

man, i feel so underwhelmed with the whole process this year... I'm just glad the Wizards have no shot to get #1

Wouldn't mind having the #3 pick again though.

 

[GoddamnyamanProf]

EDIT: I'm pretty certain we don't have fans who root for Phoenix,

 

[PTBG]

The NBA holds this combine to get the top prospects in the country all under one roof at the same time. It's a lot easier to evaluate and compare when everyone's packed together instead of spread across the country in isolated gyms.

A big portion of the event is the athletic testing—five separate drills that test five separate dimensions of athleticism.

And Shane Larkin put on a show.

But before the show, it should be noted that Larkin measured in at 5'11.5" in sneakers. Considering his size, it became even more important that Larkin blow scouts away with his athleticism.

He got up for a max vertical leap of 44", the second-highest in the history of the event. Victor Oladipo and Ben McLemore, two pretty explosive athletes, both finished second at 42".

Let's look at some past leapers:

Isaiah Thomas: 40"

John Wall: 39"

Ty Lawson: 36.5"

Blake Griffin: 35.5"

Larkin's jump crushed some of the NBA's most explosive leapers and undersized starting point guards, and though it says nothing about his game, it just goes to show the caliber of athlete we're talking about.

Not surprisingly, Larkin's 34.5" standing leap was tied for second-highest of anyone at the combine.

Jumping translates to finishing at the rim and snatching up loose balls, but more than anything, it represents athleticism. The highest leapers are usually the best athletes.

Larkin was also the fastest player at the combine. He ran the three-quarter court sprint in a blazing 3.08 seconds. This was big for Larkin, who needed to show he has the speed to help make up for that extra inch of height.

Previous sprinters:

Darren Collison: 3.10

John Wall: 3.14

Avery Bradley: 3.14

Ty Lawson: 3.12

Kemba Walker: 3.16

Isaiah Thomas: 3.14

Speed will be a big part of Larkin's game when he gets to the next level. Clearly, he'll be in that elite class with some of the fastest guards in the league. And with more space and transition opportunities in the NBA, Larkin could thrive as an uptempo point guard.

Lastly, Larkin finished seventh amongst all participants in the lane agility drill, coming in at 10.64 seconds. This drill tests lateral quickness, which translates to on-ball defense and staying in front of your man.

It's just something else to help alleviate that under-six-foot label.

I think Larkin will be pretty good in the NBA. At worst, I think he will be a better version of a Jordan Farmar-type of back-up PG.