thedoper wrote:AbeVigodaLive wrote:thedoper wrote:Michael Porter Jr had 37 and 12 tonight. Seems like Denver is just going with talent and ignoring injury concern. If they hit on Porter and Bol Bol their franchise is sitting pretty for many years.
Yep. And they were in a position to do so because they already had such a deep, talented team. If the picks pan out... wow! If they don't... meh.
Unlike the Wolves who NEED their picks to be good because they're the foundation pieces. A lot has changed since that 82nd game a couple of years ago, huh?
Their draft record has been amazing even when they needed it to be. They've been hitting wherever they pick for a while. Their highest picks in this last iteration have been 7 twice. They're really an example that you dont need to tank to build a winner, you just need to draft well wherever you are at.
Absolutely right, Doper. Denver's foundational pieces are Murray and Jokic. One was a #6 pick, the other #41. Porter was #14. The Warriors foundational pieces for their record-setting season were Curry, Thompson and Green - picks 7, 11 and 35.
The Wolves have one foundational piece, Towns, who they drafted at #1. Since then they're whiffed repeatedly - taking Dunn instead of Murray or Buddy H at #6, and taking Patton instead of Collins or Anunoby at #16. They probably wigged last year trading up for Culver instead of taking the guy Miami picked and using Saric to acquire other assets. Of course, there were multiple whiffs before Towns, including Bazz instead of Giannis or McCollum and cash instead of Gobert.
No franchise can be expected to hit on every draft pick or repeatedly hit it out of the park. But the best organizations hit on a significant number of their draft opportunities without lottery luck or tanking.
