Its Lottery Eve

[Duke13]

Lip, if you get a chance watch some tape of Dunn. I wouldn't say he's a ball dominate PG at all. I think he does a great job creating and finding open shots for teammates, but along with that he has the ability to create and make shots himself.

I'm really fearful Rubio's limitations will be exposed and schemed well in 7 game playoff series against elite coaches. I don't think it's a stretch to be concerned about that.

I was the biggest Rubio fan his rookie year and even after but his inability to finish at the rim and make open shots consistently is tough for me to get over, even if he does other things well.

[Lipoli390]

Duke -- I'm actually pretty high on Dunn. I've watched quite a bit of him. I love his quickness and think he'll be an excellent disruptive defender in the NBA. He looks like he has nice potential as a playmaker as well. His shooting is a question mark although he's improved and I suspect he'll end up a better shooter in the NBA than Rubio.

So I'll be all in if we end up drafting Dunn at #5 as a backup to Ricky with the potential to eventually replace him depending on his development and how Ricky gels with the team under Thibs. I'd still rather draft Buddy at #5 because I have no doubt he'll be an excellent NBA 3-point shooter with a decent dribble drive game. I'm zoning in on Thibs' comment that 3-point shooting is one of two areas we need to improve. It's close between Dunn and Murray as my next choice after Buddy. I like Murray's shooting, but he seems a bit slow and I'm concerned about his ability to adapt to the speed and athleticism of the NBA game. I have no doubt about Dunn's speed or athleticism.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

The Spurs circa 2014 would beg to differ. Best basketball I've seen played.

I don't know if I would call Dunn's shooting a question mark, he improved quite a bit and his form is rather good. There seems to be a lot of early buzz surrounding Dunn right now nationally, a lot of people have him as the 3rd best prospect. I understand it's not gospel but he's pretty highly thought of, with some thinking he's a potential all star.

His shooting is absolutely a question mark. He simply didn't make enough 3's to trust the halfway decent percentages. We've seen that movie before (Derrick Williams anyone?). That along with the fact he can't even crack 70% from the line is a major red flag to me.

But his shooting isn't why I'd draft him. I like him for the same reasons I like Rubio. He can be a disruptive presence on the floor without having to be a great scorer. And it appears that he has the size to guard two positions, thus allowing him to play off the ball at times.

[60WinTim]

I just watched me some Dunn highlights. Reminded me more of Westbrook than Smart...

[Duke13]

lol, I'm gonna take that as a compliment for Dunn Tim.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

The thing with Dunn that I like is he has the size to play 1 and 2. He's the combo guard we've been looking for off the bench. Need to lock the other team down, play Ricky, Dunn and Wiggins. Need 3 threats off the dribble, play Dunn, Lavine and Wiggins. He gives us position versatility which is beneficial for matchups and injuries. Murray and Hield are great shooters, but what else do they do? You pretty much have to play them with Ricky and Wiggins if you don't want to get torched defensively like our second unit did this year with the Lavine, Martin, Bazz backcourt. Tyus can't defend at a high level. Bazz can't defend at a high level. We showed the second half of last season we have the offense to hang with anyone. We had no defense to stop anyone and Dunn is the first step to correcting that this off season. Stay on the two way player track. Don't de-rail for 3pt specialists because we need to shoot better from 3. You sign specialists in free agency. You don't spend top 5 picks on them.

[Monster]

Doper - I have no problem with adding a PG who can shoot. I just wouldn't give up any significant assets to get him. Signing a shooting vet PG as a FA could make sense. Drafting Dunn could make sense as well, although his shooting is a question mark. I'm actually encouraged by the play of Tyus Jones after the all-star break. He can distribute and shoot. My only point is that PG shouldn't be our main focus for improvement.

We need more depth and we could use more 3-point shooting regardless of position. We could use more defense and rebgounding up front, especially if Pek remains unable top contribute. If replacing Ricky is high on the to-do list of our front office, we're in trouble. But by all indications, that's not what Thibs is focusing on. He identified our two primary needs: (1) improved 3-point shooting, and (2) improved defense. I would add rebounding to the list. Ricky gives us defense and rebounding from the PG position. And to the extent he has any potential for improvement as a shooter, it's on set 3-point shots.

Personally, I'd like to sign Jeremy Lin as a FA. I also like Kirk Hinrich, but I'm not sure he has any game left.

The depth in the league at PG should be considered. How hard would it be to sign a pretty good backup PG. Lin is just one of a number of talented guys that could be available.

[Duke13]

You hear Dunn camp is supposedly leaking reports he doesn't wanna sign with Phoenix or Boston. I really think Boston ends up dealing their pick, mostly likely with Philly.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Doper - I have no problem with adding a PG who can shoot. I just wouldn't give up any significant assets to get him. Signing a shooting vet PG as a FA could make sense. Drafting Dunn could make sense as well, although his shooting is a question mark. I'm actually encouraged by the play of Tyus Jones after the all-star break. He can distribute and shoot. My only point is that PG shouldn't be our main focus for improvement.

We need more depth and we could use more 3-point shooting regardless of position. We could use more defense and rebgounding up front, especially if Pek remains unable top contribute. If replacing Ricky is high on the to-do list of our front office, we're in trouble. But by all indications, that's not what Thibs is focusing on. He identified our two primary needs: (1) improved 3-point shooting, and (2) improved defense. I would add rebounding to the list. Ricky gives us defense and rebounding from the PG position. And to the extent he has any potential for improvement as a shooter, it's on set 3-point shots.

Personally, I'd like to sign Jeremy Lin as a FA. I also like Kirk Hinrich, but I'm not sure he has any game left.

The depth in the league at PG should be considered. How hard would it be to sign a pretty good backup PG. Lin is just one of a number of talented guys that could be available.

It's obviously not that easy because we haven't had a quality backup PG since Ricky got here. I'd rather be in a situation like Atlanta where they draft a guy to be the backup who eventually started pushing Teague for the starting role. San Antonio had George Hill first and then Corey Joseph as their backups who became a starter and high level backup for their teams now. I'd rather end up with a luxury situation having to pick between Ricky and Dunn than dip into the FA pool again for an acceptable backup. I'd also rather just give Tyus a shot than sign someone if we don't draft a PG.

[Lipoli390]

Kahn - I agree with you about staying on the 2-way player track. That was Flip's mantra. But I'm not convinced that Hield can't be a two-way guy. Nor am I convinced that Dunn can be good enough on the offensive end at the NBA level to be considered a 2-way player. Murray strikes me as strictly a 1-way guy, but I need to see more of him.

Dunn is a long way from being someone I'd feel comfortable projecting as a starting NBA 2-guard. And draft analysts aren't projecting him an instant starter or eventual allstar. Watch Dunn's draft express videos, especially the weaknesses video. That's as a junior at the college level where, today, the top talent leaves after one or at most two years. Even on the defensive end, I'm not sure he held players he guarded to 25% shooting the way Zach LaVine did in college and look at how Zach has struggled in his defensive development in spite of having the best or second best lateral quickness time in the combine. Again, I like what I've seen in Dunn, but he isn't at the Iverson/Marbury level where he just blows you away watching him play college ball to the point where you can have a lot of confidence projecting him as a NBA starter and beyond.