TheFuture wrote:I take Roy as well. He was the best of those players by the time he was 25 or so. Who's knows how good he'd get without the injuries.
Here again though Roy was 2 inches taller and 15 lbs heavier coming out of college. He also sported a 40 inch vertical.
I love Russell, but the lack of elite size/athleticism puts a little doubt in my mind. I think he could still be a great player, but we are talking about the #1 pick here.
Roy actually has less length then Russell. Russell has great wingspan and overhead reach. As for the weight Roy was a senior coming out. We have no idea what Russell has for a vertical. Russell put up similar numbers in his freshman year as Roy did his senior year. I think he will be fine.
TRKO wrote:If I'm Flip I would see what Rubio or LaVine would fetch in a trade. If I could get a good young big in return I would draft Russell. I see Russell being the star of this draft.
If Flip likes Porzingis as much as he does, I think landing both he and Russell may be in his best interest.
This seems to happen every draft and it makes no sense to me - fans way overvalue upcoming draft picks over known quantities. Why is it that players that haven't played a lick of NBA ball are suddenly worth more than one guy who has proven himself to be an upper half NBA starting PG (Rubio) and another guy who clearly isn't done developing yet (LaVine)?
Keep it simple. Let's take Towns at #1, bring in one other rookie with #31, stash the other 2nd rounder or trade it for a future 2nd rounder, and then make some minor moves around the fringes of the roster to clean things up.
Does Towns project as a star at the next level? To me he projects to be Serge Ibaka. He is a big man that can shoot and play great defense. He does many things good, but there isn't a superstar look to his game. Russell to me is the best player in the draft. Rubio is a nice player, but I'm not sure he is a cornerstone player because he gets hurt far too much and he can't shoot. I don't want to pass on who I perceive is the best player in the draft because he doesn't fill a need.
TRKO wrote:If I'm Flip I would see what Rubio or LaVine would fetch in a trade. If I could get a good young big in return I would draft Russell. I see Russell being the star of this draft.
If Flip likes Porzingis as much as he does, I think landing both he and Russell may be in his best interest.
This seems to happen every draft and it makes no sense to me - fans way overvalue upcoming draft picks over known quantities. Why is it that players that haven't played a lick of NBA ball are suddenly worth more than one guy who has proven himself to be an upper half NBA starting PG (Rubio) and another guy who clearly isn't done developing yet (LaVine)?
Keep it simple. Let's take Towns at #1, bring in one other rookie with #31, stash the other 2nd rounder or trade it for a future 2nd rounder, and then make some minor moves around the fringes of the roster to clean things up.
Does Towns project as a star at the next level? To me he projects to be Serge Ibaka. He is a big man that can shoot and play great defense. He does many things good, but there isn't a superstar look to his game. Russell to me is the best player in the draft. Rubio is a nice player, but I'm not sure he is a cornerstone player because he gets hurt far too much and he can't shoot. I don't want to pass on who I perceive is the best player in the draft because he doesn't fill a need.
If you listen to what Don MacLean had to say about Towns after he worked out with him for a week, it's very easy to see KAT as a superstar at the next level. It's rare to find a guy with that kind of size who can put the ball on the court, shoot from beyond the arc, pass, and play elite defense. MacLean trains a lot of NBA players and potential players, so I don't take his words lightly.
LST - Problem is it has not translated to games. That is a concern. If people say that is because of Cap then if I am a player picking a college and plan to go pro I an not going to Kentucky. I will go to a coach that will let me show my potential.
bleedspeed177 wrote:LST - Problem is it has not translated to games. That is a concern. If people say that is because of Cap then if I am a player picking a college and plan to go pro I an not going to Kentucky. I will go to a coach that will let me show my potential.
Yeah caliphate said Towns was his best three point shooter. If that were the case then why wasn't he designing offense to get him those shots? Cal must be a horrible coach for not using his best three point shooter. I don't know why he wouldn't coach to a player's strength.
For someone who has so much talent offensively, why did he score 4 or less points in 8 games? Is he too passive offensively? Is he streaky?
There wasn't enough on court production for me to be able to comfortably project him as a star. He has talent, not saying he doesn't. He is worthy of top pick consideration. To me Russell did the most on the floor to warrant top pick.
TheFuture wrote:I take Roy as well. He was the best of those players by the time he was 25 or so. Who's knows how good he'd get without the injuries.
Here again though Roy was 2 inches taller and 15 lbs heavier coming out of college. He also sported a 40 inch vertical.
I love Russell, but the lack of elite size/athleticism puts a little doubt in my mind. I think he could still be a great player, but we are talking about the #1 pick here.
Totally agree Q. This tendency to look at the best of the best NBA players today and say Russell could be the next Harden is just too big of a leap for me. He definitely has physical limitations and he was very inconsistent in his one year at Ohio State. While I consider him a top 5 or 6 player in this draft, I think we need to slow down on the overly optimistic projections for him. For every one James Harden, there are a ton of Randy Foyes.
If Towns doesn't have this edge and star quality does Okafor?
Do you have to be a bigtime scorer to be a star? If Towns was an easy 15ppg scorer but defended like Tyson Chandler he would probably be a star player.
What does Town have to do to be a star player based on his percieved Strengths and weaknesses. I'd like to hear people lay it out.
Back to Russell I haven't seen a lot of him but the stats as a freshman are better than Mayo as a freshman and Russell is longer and more of a PG. Mayo may have been considered a better athlete but that hasn't really shown in the NBA. My point is comparing those 2 guys makes Russell a terrific prospect even if Mayo sucks now. He was a very highly thought of prospect at the time.
I haven't done my research (watching videos etc) on Russell but I think he is a very nice prospect. I just don't think you can pick him where the Wolves are at unless you think he is for sure a better prospect than anyone else and you aren't sure about another perimeter player on your squad because right now that's a crowded place. We could add another young player at some point in the near future maybe even the 2nd round this year. The Wolves have basically nothing at PF/C that projects to be a starter long term right now with Dieng the best option of the young guys. You don't draft for need but I also think taking a guy where you are already in pretty good shape while ignoring a massive weak spot/s seems kinda like out thinking yourself to a certain extent. I say that while reminding everyone that health of Cs scare me. Having said all that I might be more ok with Picking Russell than Okafor because yeah he could be that alpha offensive dude. Of course Wiggins might be that guy and if Lavine turns out he is a guy that will be taking shots too and could get his when're he wants. Picking #1 is a good place to be. :)
bleedspeed177 wrote:LST - Problem is it has not translated to games. That is a concern. If people say that is because of Cap then if I am a player picking a college and plan to go pro I an not going to Kentucky. I will go to a coach that will let me show my potential.
I think elite players will continue to go to Kentucky because 1) they will likely be in a position to challenge for a national championship most years, and 2) Kentucky players have done very well in the draft. Those are the only 2 things elite high school players want, and Calipari delivers. At the beginning of the year, I predicted that even though I believed Towns had the best talent in the draft, he wouldn't go in the top 3 because his lack of playing time would produce meagre stats. I was right about the meagre stats part, but I underestimated the ability of NBA scouts and GMs because Towns is at the top of most draft boards. I think Calipari saw a team that was so physically dominant compared to its competition that he could win a national championship through defense and pounding the ball inside, and he was almost right. Towns had to defer to three star upperclassmen...on any other team in the country (except possibly Duke) he would have been the focal point of the offense, and would have put up terrific offensive stats. He showed this in his final two games when Calipari had to turn to him for offense, and he responded with 41 points on 17-24 shooting against very good defenses.
There aren't many stars at the C position right now. There are a lot of solid guys, but not a lot I would consider stars. I think Cousins and Gasol are it right now quite frankly. So I would say Towns would have to put up 18/10/3/1/2 on 55% shooting with clear top level defense to be a true star player. Those numbers would put him in the top 5 across the board for C's. Those numbers might look easily attainable but keep in mind most C's in the league only get around 30 MPG's with DJ at the top at just 34.4 MPG's per game.
