NBADraft.net used to be one of the most accurate Mock's one could find. A group of us tracked final mocks, and how they measured up, and they won several years in a row. However, that has changed of late. The coverage doesn't seem as good and their predictions have had them coming in towards the bottom in terms of accuracy. They also tend to make significant changes late right before the Draft, so watch for that as well. Can't see Duren or Sochan dropping nearly that far, but if they did, trading back would have intrigue.
https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/st...k-draft-best-fit-vs-best-available-every-team Best Fit: Duren Best Available: Shaedon Sharpe
he's a much better prospect than boom-boom. i project him more like a Capela caliber player. Downside more like a Dewayne Dedmon.
I bring him up because I remember people went crazy over his physical build and matureness, thinking he had to be a dominate player. I watched Duren a couple games and thought he was decent, very raw, clumsy w/the ball but yeah dominate physically. I think there is a reason why he has fallen from a top lottery pick to mid first round.
And Larry Brown. Plus, Chauncey went head-to-head with Penny and probably knows him well. That coaching combo, and the resemblance to Ben Wallace, makes me think he's our guy. And if he's not, it's because the Memphis coaches passed along some significant concerns.
What struck me is that his coach only played him 25 minutes a game. And it doesn't seem to be be because of foul trouble (2.7 per game)
I think Duren is the best fit for Lillard and Simons specifically. Portland is a good fit for Duren too. Duren has never played with a guard as good at running the pick and roll as Lillard.
I always agree with those who argue that you should never pay a center too much. Many of them get hurt and you need multiple centers on your roster to make it through the season. I also agree that guards/wings are the most important position. However, that does not mean centers are not important. Even if their skills are limited on offense, you still need a good big out there. If Duren's strengths can easily be found via a FA signing or a 2nd round pick then pass on him. If he turns out to be another Bam Adebayo and we pass on him, I will be pissed...again.
Duren is a work in progress like all of the players his age. It is worth something to say where he is in his development in a particular game, but much more important is watching his improvements over time, and Duren made noticeable improvements during his freshman season. Edit: and will continue to improve. Unless someone thinks he's done.
My feeling we already have a center and there are a number of them available in second round and FA's. We havent had a star wing (forward) player in some time?
I don't know if he would be a bad pick at 7 but I do think he would for sure be available at 9 and he would likely be available at 11. So if we could trade 7 for 9 and 20 or 9 and 25 then that's what we should do. If we can trade 7 and Bledsoe for 11 and Randle then that's another thing we should do. If he is our guy, that's great but unless we have info that the Pelicans, Spurs, Wizards or Knicks have him as their guy then we should trade back and still get him while getting more assets. This offseason has to address the fact that we need multiple upgrades at multiple positions of need, so using the 7th pick on him would probably be unwise given where we're hearing most experts have him going in the draft but we aren't privy to the information that our front office is... so if they do take him at 7 we'll never know if it was a reach or it was based on good information. I like him so I'm hoping we get him and we get something else along with him for the 7th pick.
I am all for taking a star forward. The question is who will be a star where we pick? They all have question marks.
We also haven't had a star center... the fact is if we consider him the best player available who will have the greatest impact of any other available player, then we draft him... we trade back if we can draft him later but we still draft him. We need to upgrade this roster. The one thing we definitely don't need is a ball dominant offensively elite perimeter player who doesn't play high level defense because that position is filled... twice. Every other position needs to be filled or upgraded. If it's your contention that there are more pressing needs at both forward spots, I agree and if we don't have plans in place to fill those spots it would be irresponsible to draft a post player as our only big move. Maybe our team doesn't view Duren as strictly a post player though, since he's shown the athletic ability to cover the perimeter on defense and was shooting the corner three very well yesterday in his workout. There's just so much speculation at this time and we'll just have to wait and see. If drafting Duren at 7 is the only significant move we make this offseason, I'll be incredibly disappointed and be even less impressed with Cronin than I already have been but Cronin is our GM now, so I have to hope that he has more he can do than just drafting Duren and if we do draft him that it will be the best move at the time with even better moves to come during this offseason.
i'm feeling more and more inclined into taking mathurin as of late. at the very least, i see him as a 3&d wing. really curious why his workout with us was so clandestine.
I guess my point if you are going to draft/gamble on a young player why not an area of immediate need. We've been very weak at 2 way forwards for a while now and hope one pops into a star?
