Official 2016 Draft Thread

[TRKO [enjin:12664595]]

We have this one, possibly last shot to grab a young star to supplement our core. To me Dunn would be a waste of that opportunity.
- A 4 year college player who didn't distinguish himself until his junior year.
- Would play behind a point guard who is going to get 35 minutes
- Is a better athlete than basketball player
- Can't shoot free throws

If you want a guy who can REALLY help us for the next 10 years, take Hield. If you want to swing a bit higher and take a little more risk take Bender.

It's not like Hield distinguished himself early. Ricky has only played one full season, and most project Dunn to be a better player than Rubio. I agree with his free throw shooting needing improvement, and that he is a great athlete. He is a good basketball player too. I think he is totally worthy of our pick.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

We have this one, possibly last shot to grab a young star to supplement our core. To me Dunn would be a waste of that opportunity.
- A 4 year college player who didn't distinguish himself until his junior year.
- Would play behind a point guard who is going to get 35 minutes
- Is a better athlete than basketball player
- Can't shoot free throws

If you want a guy who can REALLY help us for the next 10 years, take Hield. If you want to swing a bit higher and take a little more risk take Bender.

So what's your plan with Hield? He gets 24 minutes, Zach gets 24 minutes. Are you moving Zach back to the 1 part time to open up time for Buddy? Are you going really small and playing them both together on the wing? Make no mistake, Zach is just as big of a roadblock as Ricky for playing time because Zach can't play the 1 or the 3 and neither can Buddy. My top 6 is Ingram, Simmons, Bender, Dunn, Hield, Murray so I'd take Bender if he's there, but he's not going to be there because he fits exactly what Phoenix and Boston need. So you draft Buddy and then what? What's the actual plan for him because on paper he doesn't have a shot at becoming a star on this team because he has two guys in front of him on the wing in Zach and Wiggins who are going into year 3 in the league which is when guys start to shine.

[bleedspeed]

I think Chriss and Bender are the swing for the fence types in this draft. They have the most boom or bust potential. Even Labissiere could be added to that list.

[bleedspeed]

Some numbers

Jump-shooting numbers for projected first-round big men
FG% 2-pt jumpers
1. Domantas Sabonis, Gonzaga 47.7
2. Brice Johnson, North Carolina 46.2
3. Skal Labissiere, Kentucky 45.9
4. Cheick Diallo, Kansas 45.7
5. Marquese Chriss, Washington 43.9
6. Henry Ellenson, Marquette 42.7
7. Deyonta Davis, Michigan State 41.6
8. Stephen Zimmerman, UNLV 38.0
9. Jakob Poeltl, Utah 37.7
10. Ben Simmons, LSU 32.9

Rebounding/shot-blocking rates
OR% DR% Blk%
Ben Simmons, LSU 9.6 26.5 2.5
Marquese Chriss, Washington 9.8 11.7 5.8
Henry Ellenson, Marquette 7.8 24.1 4.4
Domantas Sabonis, Gonzaga 11.6 28.2 2.7
Jakob Poeltl, Utah 11.8 22.1 4.8
Skal Labissiere, Kentucky 7.3 14.6 10.3
Deyonta Davis, Michigan State 13.6 19.0 10.2
Stephen Zimmerman, UNLV 9.0 26.1 7.2
Cheick Diallo, Kansas 10.4 27.2 11.9
Brice Johnson, North Carolina 11.8 28.5 5.5

[Coolbreeze44]

I think Hield's floor is a lot higher than Dunn's. He has the skillset, great character, and work ethic that would fit in well with Towns, Wig, et al.

[Coolbreeze44]

We have this one, possibly last shot to grab a young star to supplement our core. To me Dunn would be a waste of that opportunity.
- A 4 year college player who didn't distinguish himself until his junior year.
- Would play behind a point guard who is going to get 35 minutes
- Is a better athlete than basketball player
- Can't shoot free throws

If you want a guy who can REALLY help us for the next 10 years, take Hield. If you want to swing a bit higher and take a little more risk take Bender.

It's not like Hield distinguished himself early. Ricky has only played one full season, and most project Dunn to be a better player than Rubio. I agree with his free throw shooting needing improvement, and that he is a great athlete. He is a good basketball player too. I think he is totally worthy of our pick.

I'd like to know who projects that. I haven't heard that rhetoric.

[bleedspeed]

Man this makes Chriss look so good. I can totally see him playing off Rubio, Towns, LaVine, and Wiggins.

http://www.celticsblog.com/2016/6/2/11837026/marquese-chriss-offers-upside-the-boston-celtics-can-afford-to-take-a-chance-2016-nba-draft

[TRKO [enjin:12664595]]

We have this one, possibly last shot to grab a young star to supplement our core. To me Dunn would be a waste of that opportunity.
- A 4 year college player who didn't distinguish himself until his junior year.
- Would play behind a point guard who is going to get 35 minutes
- Is a better athlete than basketball player
- Can't shoot free throws

If you want a guy who can REALLY help us for the next 10 years, take Hield. If you want to swing a bit higher and take a little more risk take Bender.

It's not like Hield distinguished himself early. Ricky has only played one full season, and most project Dunn to be a better player than Rubio. I agree with his free throw shooting needing improvement, and that he is a great athlete. He is a good basketball player too. I think he is totally worthy of our pick.

I'd like to know who projects that. I haven't heard that rhetoric.

Well people are saying he projects to be an all star PG, I don't see Ricky getting to that level. Don't get me wrong, I like Ricky, but he isn't going to stop me from drafting a PG.

[Monster]

Perhaps I'm looking at this wrong, but I start with the question, "Who is the last #5 to help his team in the first two seasons?" To me, the answer is Cousins in 2010, who only dropped that far for personality reasons. Since then, perhaps Alex Len, who started to blossom in his third season.

So, I conclude, if we are targeting playoffs next year (I'm sure Thibo is), it will be with natural improvement by our current young players and with the addition of key free agents. Not likely to be through the draft.

For the draft, I ask myself "Who of the potential draftees is most likely to start helping by year three?", when our older players start falling off and we have trouble keeping the likes of Bazz and Dieng after 5 seasons. So, while Hield, Dunn, and even Poeltl might help an ounce more next season, I want the player who projects best in 3 seasons. If that's one of the aforementioned, fine. But if it's Bender or someone else who's not quite ready for prime time, then it's the first time in a long time that we've had the luxury to look a few years ahead... and we should do it.

Great post I completely agree.

[Monster]

Still 3 weeks out but we may have some new intrigue based on the latest DX mock

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2016/

I really hope Dunn falls to us, not just because I think he's a solid prospect that could fit on our team. I also think he could be a great trade asset since he is the #1 PG prospect out there and he could fetch us something fairly significant in a trade.

I agree he could be a good trade asset. I think he is pretty much far and away the top PG prospect in the draft that's pretty light at that position. Once again if there is a trade down scenario really make a team pay up or pick the best player and move on.