bleedspeed177 wrote:We traded down and missed McCollum. Then we missed Greek Freak and Gobert when moving down.
Lip's instinct to take McCollum straight up that year ended up being dead on. We thought Saunders made the right move after the first year or two, but now it looks like he should have just taken the kid from Lehigh. He's actually turned into a halfway decent defender now too. Ugh.
The true hindsight picks would have been Giannis and Gobert, but there were legitimate question marks at the time. McCollum was more of a known entity and probably the BPA at that pick.
Hey what am I chopped liver? I was with Lip on the McCollum pick. Not the first good shooting guard we've missed on in the last 7-8 years.
I liked McCollum at the tenth spot too. I didn't like trading back for Bazz (he was on my avoid at any cost list), but I was glad we got Dieng. Adams, Greek Freak and Gobert obviously would have available and been nice pick ups for us too.
I was a CJ guy at 9 but was ok with the trade down until we drafted Bazz. Everyone could see the flaws in college and they stayed at this level. He still can't consistently hit 3's. He still has tunnel vision. He still lacks the athleticism to be a good defender. He plays hard, but he's just limited in multiple facets of the game. Flip should have known Adelman wasn't going to play who he drafted much and at least taken 1 long shot. Seeing Giannis and Gobert and how they developed may have significantly impacted the Lavine pick as a home run pick and focusing on who's going to be the best guy in 4-5 years rather than the next 1-3.
Sorry to change the topic, but does anybody know why Bam Adebayo is projected so low? He looks like the kind of guy that lots of teams, including ours, could use. He's really big and strong and pretty athletic, he can defend PNRs (which Thibs should love), and he can finish lobs. Why isn't this guy getting consideration in the lottery?
SameOldDrew wrote:Sorry to change the topic, but does anybody know why Bam Adebayo is projected so low? He looks like the kind of guy that lots of teams, including ours, could use. He's really big and strong and pretty athletic, he can defend PNRs (which Thibs should love), and he can finish lobs. Why isn't this guy getting consideration in the lottery?
That's a good question. The below article speeds it out pretty well and outlines a lot of what I see too. Depending on where you can get him in the draft I would be plenty interested though.
SameOldNudityDrew wrote:Any thoughts on Anigbogu? This guy looks raw but also like he could be a good defensive rim protector at the 5, which is what so many of us want.
It's interesting that you say this (and Thibs mentioned it in his season ending presser as well). KAT and Dieng were both elite shot blockers in college. And they also get their fair share of blocks in the NBA. Length and the ability to block shots is the least of our defensive problems in my opinion and certainly a raw college prospect won't be a quick fix.
The bigger issue - and I'm wondering if this is what Thibs really means - is what I would more broadly call paint protection. It's so instructive watching the playoffs and seeing how guys like Aldridge, Draymond, and Marc Gasol are able to position themselves correctly and wall up without fouling. That sometimes means they get a hand on the ball, but most of the time they are simply squared up and holding their ground with their arms straight up. How often do we see KAT or Dieng just take an awful angle or bite on pump fakes and leave their feet?
I think strength and defensive positioning is a far bigger problem than shot blocking for our interior guys.
SameOldDrew wrote:Sorry to change the topic, but does anybody know why Bam Adebayo is projected so low? He looks like the kind of guy that lots of teams, including ours, could use. He's really big and strong and pretty athletic, he can defend PNRs (which Thibs should love), and he can finish lobs. Why isn't this guy getting consideration in the lottery?
He can't shoot. He's an energy big who rebounds and defends, but he doesn't stretch the floor at all and he's not big enough to be a 5. Those guys don't get a lot of attention anymore because they bring little offensively outside of basic PnR rolling to the basket and cleaning up the offensive glass. Like a Tristan Thompson or Faried depending on his length. He'd be a guy I'd target if we trade down.
