Draft Grades

[Lipoli390]

Ebi isn't Zach's floor. Ebi was a high school player who exhibited no extraordinary athleticism or skills. In fact, his skills were terrible. McHale drafted him because he liked the way he competed against LeBron in one McDonald All American game. LaVine is an off the charts athlete who played 24 minutes a game in a major college conference shooting 37.5% from behind the arc. He has very good ballhandling and shooting skills. He is highly driven to work and improve. time will tell whether he turns into a home run pick. But there shouldn't be any mistaking him for the second coming of Ndudi Ebi.

[Monster]

Before and during the funkadelic the comparison was made between LaVine and Exum. The guys were saying the Exum highlights were basically on some cumps which is going a bit too far but anyway. Flip said something about Exum isn't really a known either and he was picked pretty high. In a Podcast Wolfson claimed Flip had Lavine higher on his draft board than Exum. I don't count Wolfson as reliable but based on Flip's comments I thought it was an interesting take. I really was not aware of the idea that LeVine had the Ball handling skills that are claimed. There isn't a lot really showing them off in the clips I saw from UCLA last year. That makes me like the pick a lot more.

As someone said Derrick Williams was the safe pick and I was one of the guys here I think Q also that was curious about going out on a limb and targeting another guy. I kinda liked Kanter. The whole point of mentioning that is sometimes you gotta find the guy and just pick him like OKC did with Westbrook or GS when they "reached" for Klay. Take a guy a little higher because you trust yourself and maybe get a really good player. I hope that's what the Wolves did Thursday.

[60WinTim]

They say he was a PG in high school where he averaged 25.8 points and 2.5 assists per game. Missed his junior season with a broken hip (is that a concern?!?). And averaged 27.8 points and 2.8 assists per game.

http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/zach-lavine/nBJgSPToEeKZ5AAmVebBJg/gendersport/basketball-stats.htm

He was recruited by Ben Howland, but then Steve Alford replaced Howland. With other players available, including Alford's son, he chose to use LaVine as a backup SG. Plus they used Kyle Anderson as a primary facilitator. So we did not get to see his ball handling skills in college...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zach_LaVine

And here's a little more ball-handling. Man, the kid has range, too! Is it just me, or do I see a bit of Kobe Bryant in him?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWWocF2iItg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQlbRacePrk

[bleedspeed]

Oddly I keep thinking we drafted a taller Monta Ellis.

[Lipoli390]

Before and during the funkadelic the comparison was made between LaVine and Exum. The guys were saying the Exum highlights were basically on some cumps which is going a bit too far but anyway. Flip said something about Exum isn't really a known either and he was picked pretty high. In a Podcast Wolfson claimed Flip had Lavine higher on his draft board than Exum. I don't count Wolfson as reliable but based on Flip's comments I thought it was an interesting take. I really was not aware of the idea that LeVine had the Ball handling skills that are claimed. There isn't a lot really showing them off in the clips I saw from UCLA last year. That makes me like the pick a lot more.

As someone said Derrick Williams was the safe pick and I was one of the guys here I think Q also that was curious about going out on a limb and targeting another guy. I kinda liked Kanter. The whole point of mentioning that is sometimes you gotta find the guy and just pick him like OKC did with Westbrook or GS when they "reached" for Klay. Take a guy a little higher because you trust yourself and maybe get a really good player. I hope that's what the Wolves did Thursday.

Great point Minster. Unless you're in a position to take an obvious can't miss prospect like LeBron, Shaq, Jordan, Hakeem, etc., history shows that the most successful franchises succeed in the draft by reaching a bit for a player they've identified as potentially special. Westbrook and Klay Thompson are good examples. Actually Garnett is another good example. Recall that we drafted him when teams were reluctant to draft high school players. John Stockton was considered a reach when he was picked in the mid first round.

Regarding KG, I recall Flip saying that he and McHale saw him in a private workout and were so blown away they knew right then they wanted to pick him and resolved to make sure they kept their intent secret. I get the sense that a Flip got the same sort of gut feeling with LaVine that he got with KG. At this point we'll have to trust Flip. I happen to trust Flip in this instance and think he hit a home run with the LaVine pick.

[maelstrom11 [enjin:6599701]]

I agree with you Lip that I think Flip hit a home run with Lavine. The only thing that scares me is some of the negative comments from draft express on LaVine not liking contact. If your going to be an explosive slasher that goes to the rim you got to be able to handle the abuse that'll come from the big guys fouling you etc

If he adds some muscle to his frame maybe his physicality will improve and he'll handle contact better. I look forward to the days ahead when LaVine is throwing down over KLove for and ones. That'll be a good poster to hang in the garage.

[Monster]

Yesterday I decided to watch some more of LeVine and I looked for some full games to get a better sense of his game. Highlights aren't the best way to see how player look as we all know.

The first game I found was against Northwestern and after a few minutes I noticed on the side that Arizona vs UCLA Pac-10 championship game was there so I clicked on it. Lots of NBA talent there and it was a great game. Here are some impressions from what I saw yesterday.

1. ULCA was a pretty good team and LeVine has no shame in not starting. The guys in front of him were either very good (drafted last week) or solid. off the bench Alford played the role of the true point off the bench to give Kyle Anderson a break from that role if he was also in the game. Alford played a game controlling PG did what you are supposed to do etc. I was actually a little surprised at how well UCLA defended overall

2. Kyle Anderson was fantastic. Anderson's passing was just amazing. The guy can ball. Jordon Adams is a fun player to watch I really like him. Aaron Gordon I think can be a wing defender and his ball handling is pretty good. His passing in this game was VERY impressive. Also he shot like 2-8 from the FT line, but I think he can improve dramatically from what I saw. his stroke looks good enough and every shot hit the him. I think he can become a high 50 percent guy at least unless he just ends up with the yips or something up there.

3. LeVine...Ok I can see some of the reasons Flip and others like this kid. He had a couple rebounds in traffic where it looked like he just cupped the ball and brought it down with one hand because he got up. He has some burst you won't see from guys that size. On defense he has all the tools. Sometimes he didn't get over screens, but he had the quickness to get to his guy with ease. The knock on him not liking contact didn't seem to apply to him both defensively or rebounding in this game. He was boxing out guys getting up at guys etc. He was putting forth effort and had a couple plays where if that wasn't the case he wouldn't have gotten to a loose ball or kept it alive. I liked what I saw. Now this was just a little over a game of action, but it was good to see and this wasn't probably even one of his good games. He took a couple badish shots and wasn't aware on transition D one time but I liked how he played on that end. He doubled off well and showed some good instincts. I'll probably try and watch one more of his games before SL action starts.

Here is the link I would be interested to see what others think if you have the time to check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83n34Q7bVEI

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

monster, I watched that game live and then once again when I was doing my own scouting on Gordon/Anderson/LaVine/Adams. I can attest to everything you said above.

If you can find it, you should really watch LaVine perform against Oregon. Both Anderson and Adams weren't available for that game and LaVine was responsible for a lot of the ball handling. 18, 5 and 6 with 0 TOs if I remember correctly. Looked good setting up teammates as well.

[The Rage Monster [enjin:8010341]]

I'd have to give us an A for Robinson and a B for LaVine with an overall of a B+. This grade really comes down to one thing, what you think of LaVine. Personally I don't love the pick, I think LaVine lacks the mentality that great players have, but I can see why Flip picked him. Outside of the top 3 there was one player I thought had a chance to be a franchise, 1A option and that was LaVine. He has all the athletic ability and basketball skill so I can't blame Flip for passing on that.

[Monster]

This is a good read Zach telling some of his draft journey.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2114221-inside-the-green-room-and-nba-draft-week-with-lottery-pick-zach-lavine