Official 2014 NBA draft thread

[bleedspeed]

I like Selden. I think there are a few guys in this draft that will be available in the early 20's that would be great picks.

I would love to trade Martin for Waiters. I am sure we could have made that deal in January. I would trade our pick for Waiters and the rights to Magics 2nd round pick.

I would consider calling the 76ers and offering them the pick if they take on Barea, LRMM, Shved, and Budinger contracts for a future first. It would clear out all of our bad contracts and we could then sign some smart FA. Sign Gordon, Mills, Fredette, Hill

PG: Rubio/Mills/Fredette
SG: Hayward/Martin/Fredette
SF: Shabazz/Brewer
PF: Love/Hill
C: Pek/Turiaf

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Why the love for Waiters? I admittedly have not watched much Cleveland Cavaliers basketball, but his stats are very underwhelming: http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/waitedi01.html

Both his PER and Win Shares stats are well below what's considered an average NBA player (especially Win Shares). At least with Martin we know we'll get an efficient scorer and consistent 3-point threat, something this team needs even more of.

I'm all for trying to find an eventual successor to Martin as our starting SG. I just don't know if Waiters is the guy. I'd rather roll the dice on a 19 or 20-year old college prospect than a 22 year-old pro that hasn't really produced in two seasons.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I'm also not on board with trading our pick for Waiters. He went way too high in a weak 2012 draft, and this year's draft is ridiculously stocked with interesting point guard prospects. I'm glad khans added Seldon to the discussion, because he's another guy with star potential who is likely to be available at 13. Seldon reminds me of a more polished, but less exciting, version of the guy I think will end up as the Big Ten POY: Terran Petteway. They both have great NBA SG size and shooting ability, but also some areas for improvement. Petteway has an unbelievable two-way motor and will be an outstanding NBA defender, but also turns the ball over 2.8 times a game. Seldon appears to be a great shooter, but is only making 62% of his free throws. I like both of them though, along with Stauskas and Harris. There's no comparison between these four guys and the first four SG's in Waiters' 2012 draft class.

[worldK]

I'm also not on board with trading our pick for Waiters. He went way too high in a weak 2012 draft, and this year's draft is ridiculously stocked with interesting point guard prospects. I'm glad khans added Seldon to the discussion, because he's another guy with star potential who is likely to be available at 13. Seldon reminds me of a more polished, but less exciting, version of the guy I think will end up as the Big Ten POY: Terran Petteway. They both have great NBA SG size and shooting ability, but also some areas for improvement. Petteway has an unbelievable two-way motor and will be an outstanding NBA defender, but also turns the ball over 2.8 times a game. Seldon appears to be a great shooter, but is only making 62% of his free throws. I like both of them though, along with Stauskas and Harris. There's no comparison between these four guys and the first four SG's in Waiters' 2012 draft class.

Hmm.. I don't consider the 2012 draft to be weak. It gave us two franchise players in Davis and lillard. Il take Bradley beal over any sg that long mentioned. You also have a potential franchise guy in Drummond in that class along with solid contributors like Barnes, waiters, Ross, lamb and jones. This years draft is deeper no doubt, but I think the guys mentioned will definitely be in the running after the top 6 in this years draft(wiggins, embiid, Parker, exum, smart and randell) and Davis, beal, lillard and Drummond might push down any of those 6.

[bleedspeed]

Why Waiters? I think people see him as a guy that is not getting the most out of his talent in Cleveland. He is pretty good there, but might flourish somewhere else outside of Irving's spot shadow.

Looking at his stats he is a lot like Randy Foye.

Waiters
http://espn.go.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/6628/dion-waiters

Foye
http://espn.go.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/3003/randy-foye

Oddly Randy seemed to regress as he aged in the NBA.

Alec Burks is who I like. Shots better the Waiter, Turns it over less. Rebounds more. Gets to the line more. Taller. Same age.


Burks
http://espn.go.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/6429/alec-burks

Utah is going to sign Hayward so Burks is expendable. Maybe we could give them our first and LRMM and Shved for Burks and Warriors pick they own (23rd at this time) Gives them 2 lottery picks this year.

[bleedspeed]

George Karl quote - For two years, all I've heard is how good this draft is. And yet, I don't see LeBron James out there. I don't see Dwyane Wade out there. I think last year's draft was so poor, we are viewing this year's as an elite draft, and it's not.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

George Karl quote - For two years, all I've heard is how good this draft is. And yet, I don't see LeBron James out there. I don't see Dwyane Wade out there. I think last year's draft was so poor, we are viewing this year's as an elite draft, and it's not.

I agree with Karl that there is no LeBron in this draft, but I also think it is ridiculously deep. Take a look at what Nik Stauskas is doing tonight, and he can't even see the lottery from where he is sitting in the mocks. A couple years ago was a typical draft, and we were willing to give up the 18th pick to get Bud. I can guarantee nobody would give up the 18th pick for Bud this year (or if they will, Flip better be calling them :) )

[Porckchop]

We all complain about overall defense from this team yet we're clamoring for shooters with questionable D in the draft. Im not disagreeing but just curious if we all believe perimeter shooting trumps the defensive problems on this team. Maybe its just a BPA thing? Pursue defense in free agency then?

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

We all complain about overall defense from this team yet we're clamoring for shooters with questionable D in the draft. Im not disagreeing but just curious if we all believe perimeter shooting trumps the defensive problems on this team. Maybe its just a BPA thing? Pursue defense in free agency then?

I don't believe we have enough shooters. I thought we did early in the season, but we don't. Love and Martin are the only reliable, consistent outside shooters. Budinger CAN be, but it's not like he's normally around the 40% mark. Barea's a chucker. Brewer can't shoot. Ricky's about league average this year, but he doesn't take a whole lot so it doesn't really do much.

Adding a player like Stauskas who looks like he'll be an annual 40%+ 3P shooter in the NBA would be huge, in my opinion.

And I agree Pork Chop that we complain about defense, but I feel like we complain about bench scoring a whole lot more. Stauskas has a good case for B1G player of the year and is a really efficient college scorer with legit NBA tools. Drafting him immediately makes the bench scoring better.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

We all complain about overall defense from this team yet we're clamoring for shooters with questionable D in the draft. Im not disagreeing but just curious if we all believe perimeter shooting trumps the defensive problems on this team. Maybe its just a BPA thing? Pursue defense in free agency then?

I don't believe we have enough shooters. I thought we did early in the season, but we don't. Love and Martin are the only reliable, consistent outside shooters. Budinger CAN be, but it's not like he's normally around the 40% mark. Barea's a chucker. Brewer can't shoot. Ricky's about league average this year, but he doesn't take a whole lot so it doesn't really do much.

Adding a player like Stauskas who looks like he'll be an annual 40%+ 3P shooter in the NBA would be huge, in my opinion.

And I agree Pork Chop that we complain about defense, but I feel like we complain about bench scoring a whole lot more. Stauskas has a good case for B1G player of the year and is a really efficient college scorer with legit NBA tools. Drafting him immediately makes the bench scoring better.

I thing we can find shooting and defense in this year's draft at our pick. Stauskas was terrific tonight and is a tremendous shooter, but scouts say he has the ability to be a decent defender too. I also like the other Big Ten SGs who would likely be available at 13...Petteway and Harris. Neither has had the shooting success this year that Stauskas has, but they are both scorers (Petteway leads the league in scoring) and are awesome defenders.