Minnesota Sports Forum

My god, Stanley Johnson impacts the game in so many ways that don't necessarily show up in the box score...he's quite a player. I've cooled on him a little as a pro prospect though. I don't know if he will be able to score enough at the next level, and also he won't be able to overpower his opponents as easily as he did in HS and is doing in college.

I woudn't put a lot of stock in a game against Auburn

I'm just not a fan of Okafor, if I get the #1 pick I'd consider trading down to #3 and take Towns or Russell. We've had C that is a nonexistent threat to block shots in Pek for a while & I'm ready for that to change. If we were to take Okafor we would be committing to a minus defender from the C position for the future. I'm not sure if Towns is a C or a PF, but I think he could be a complete player at either one that it doesn't matter

Side note one of the rumors as the trade deadline approached was that the Pacers weren't opposed to trading Roy Hibbert (who has a 16 mil. player option for next season) depending on who we draft (big or guard) I wouldn't mind trying to make a move for him.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

Camden wrote:Sixers traded MCW a couple days ago, now rumors surface about them being very interested in Mudiay. I'd bet that's their target in this draft, which is good if they're picking ahead of us.

That is incredibly ironic, considering the fact they were worried about MCW's outside shooting and turnovers.

A lot of the extreme analytics types (these are people far more nerdy than me) view Hinkie as a genius. We'll see. It's one thing to accumulate tons of picks, but does he know how to use them? He was the one that selected MCW, so that would be one strike against him.

Q, are you saying drafting last year's rookie of the year was a mistake? I hope we can make that same mistake next year.

My point is that he traded the guy he drafted just the year before for yet another future draft pick. If he doesn't like his own lottery picks, when will he ever be done rebuilding?

As far as MCW himself, that's a different discussion. I don't really have a strong opinion on him either way.

A Friendly Flatulence wrote:I'm just not a fan of Okafor, if I get the #1 pick I'd consider trading down to #3 and take Towns or Russell. We've had C that is a nonexistent threat to block shots in Pek for a while & I'm ready for that to change. If we were to take Okafor we would be committing to a minus defender from the C position for the future. I'm not sure if Towns is a C or a PF, but I think he could be a complete player at either one that it doesn't matter

Side note one of the rumors as the trade deadline approached was that the Pacers weren't opposed to trading Roy Hibbert (who has a 16 mil. player option for next season) depending on who we draft (big or guard) I wouldn't mind trying to make a move for him.

Towns has been coming on of late for sure, so kudos to Cam for the early props when many of us were a bit skeptical. He's been really good lately.

Okafor....Oof, really tough to say he'll forever be bad at defense. He's big, strong, long, and young. While it might take him a few years, I wouldn't rule out his ability to eventually be a plus NBA defender.

Okafor will be a Carmelo or a Love type player. He will have great scoring numbers and great rebounding numbers. To me his lack of defense, which looks like a lack of effort and awareness, is a major reason I don't want him. Melo and Love get attention for their skills, and they should, but I don't think they are guys that lead their team to a championship. I want to build a championship team. Right now I have Russell as my clear leader. Towns is probably the only one that can overtake him. Wish he went to a school where he was the man. Stanley Johnson is my third option. I don't think he will be a star, I think he will be a super role player and may be an all star a year or two.

If we totally fall out of the top 5 the guy that really intrigues me most is Stien. Portis is also someone I would trade down for. If we had the Miami pick he would be the guy I would target for sure.

I'm hoping if we don't get the first pick that the 76ers do and pick Okafor. I would trade my pick for Embiid. If they aren't willing to trade him I would try and deal for Noel. Noel will never be a great scorer, but his defense is outstanding and something I want in a big.

TRKO wrote:I'm hoping if we don't get the first pick that the 76ers do and pick Okafor. I would trade my pick for Embiid. If they aren't willing to trade him I would try and deal for Noel. Noel will never be a great scorer, but his defense is outstanding and something I want in a big.

I avoid embiid right now. A top 5 pick is too big of a risk when you consider the injuries, weight issues, and reported bad mentality. I know the 76ers are the ultimate wildcard when it comes to decision making recently, but between noel, embiid, saric and trading mcw and McDaniels I would have to believe they are targeting Russell or mudiay in the top 5. If they pick Okafor with the intentions of keeping him then I think they know something about embiid that the rest of us don't. I do like the idea of noel here, but only if we could get him with assets other than our pick this year.

Towns or Russell in the top 3 for me. Johnson at 5-6 if we fall there. Okafor has an offensive game, but I don't get why everyone says he is a superb rebounder. Someone of his size and "skill" should be pulling down more rebounds than he does. I truly believe he won't be as good as big al in the NBA. I see towns and Okafor having floors that are very close to equal when you look at the whole game, but towns' ceiling is through the roof. Towns @ #1 for me if we get that pick like cool says. Not even taking Okafor to trade him like mayo/love. Get towns and run.

I also agree with your post comparing Okafor s play to melo and love. I had said that before and believe that is the kind of impact he will have in the NBA, just not at the level as memo and love. Fixing a shot, building an array of moves, dribbling etc are worked heavily on in the NBA. So is body positioning, help d, rebounding, etc. The difference for me is that personal accountability is what makes a defender. More players want to score and get noticed that way. The desire to put in the work on the defensive side ,that isn't nearly as noticed, is something a player has or doesn't. You rarely ever see that change once in the NBA.

Rubiooooooo wrote:

TRKO wrote:I'm hoping if we don't get the first pick that the 76ers do and pick Okafor. I would trade my pick for Embiid. If they aren't willing to trade him I would try and deal for Noel. Noel will never be a great scorer, but his defense is outstanding and something I want in a big.

I avoid embiid right now. A top 5 pick is too big of a risk when you consider the injuries, weight issues, and reported bad mentality. I know the 76ers are the ultimate wildcard when it comes to decision making recently, but between noel, embiid, saric and trading mcw and McDaniels I would have to believe they are targeting Russell or mudiay in the top 5. If they pick Okafor with the intentions of keeping him then I think they know something about embiid that the rest of us don't. I do like the idea of noel here, but only if we could get him with assets other than our pick this year. Towns or Russell in the top 3 for me. Johnson at 5-6 if we fall there. Okafor has an offensive game, but I don't get why everyone says he is a superb rebounder. Someone of his size and "skill" should be pulling down more rebounds than he does. I truly believe he won't be as good as big al in the NBA. I see towns and Okafor having floors that are very close to equal when you look at the whole game, but towns' ceiling is through the roof. Towns @ #1 for me if we get that pick like cool says. Not even taking Okafor to trade him like mayo/love. Get towns and run.

I'm like a bug flying towards one of those blue lights with Embiid. I know the guys injury stuff, but the guy is so talented. Probably the most talented big to come out since Shaq. To me he fits in the caliber of the bigs of the 90s like Olajuwon, Robinson, Shaq, and Ewing. I'm convinced if he can get healthy he will be great. Problem is with him and other bigs is health is the issue.

Hahaha. That's the risk I'm not willing to take with embiid. I don't want to be the bug that follows all the way to the blue light only to get zapped. I too love his game. I believe he has the skillset to be outstanding. The draft actually was most telling for me. He had all those HoFer comparisons but yet he slid in the draft. I felt then that there was more to his story. If not, he would've gone #1 for sure, even with the one injury. When oden came out, I thought he would be a superb player. HoF type career. Ever since I've been wary of bits with an injury history. Look at pek, always injured. Look at dieng, always healthy.