Nine Can Be Fine

At #9 most mocks have us taking Patrick O'Bryant.

I was intrigued by POB at first until I saw his highlights. He's got size and all for the NBA, but does he have the heart?

I dunno. He could be another Erick Dampier who only plays when there is a contract on the line or Michael Olowokandi who dominated in college because of his size and the league he played in. At least POB played in a competitive league. His workouts have been good, but not outstanding.

OTOH he could be a solid center in a few years who is a project now. The guy has size and looks like he can put on some muscle. While he is a project, he isn't as raw as some of the other centers who whould be left at #9. We can only hope he'll develop a game and be fairly tough and aggressive. His upside is Brad Daugherty.

It's a gamble, but worth the risk at #9.

 

Wherever you pick,if you have vision,and are willing to develop and play your guy,you can do well. Sometimes a top 5 can even work against you as there's the "consensus" ranking,so the Warriors saw a "choice" between Mike Dunleavy and Drew Gooden..when watching Amare with an open mind would have made him a better pick then..and obviously FAR better in hindsight.
I like to think the Warriors did not just get lucky finding Monta in rd 2. Nobody was talking about him as a prospect for his Defense.

Last year...Ike was "too short" a fact folks in the Pac ten totally failed to exploit. Marvin Williams had the "NBA BODY-Superstar Automatic" hype although he would not fight your sister for a rebound and was mostly just a perimeter shooter. Well-Ike is certainly better now,as are Frye and Charlie V,who also were not top 5.

A team has to really see what makes a player tick. otherwise,what you see may be all you get.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting REREM:</div><div class="quote_post">Wherever you pick,if you have vision,and are willing to develop and play your guy,you can do well. Sometimes a top 5 can even work against you as there's the "consensus" ranking,so the Warriors saw a "choice" between Mike Dunleavy and Drew Gooden..when watching Amare with an open mind would have made him a better pick then..and obviously FAR better in hindsight.
I like to think the Warriors did not just get lucky finding Monta in rd 2. Nobody was talking about him as a prospect for his Defense.

Last year...Ike was "too short" a fact folks in the Pac ten totally failed to exploit. Marvin Williams had the "NBA BODY-Superstar Automatic" hype although he would not fight your sister for a rebound and was mostly just a perimeter shooter. Well-Ike is certainly better now,as are Frye and Charlie V,who also were not top 5.

A team has to really see what makes a player tick. otherwise,what you see may be all you get.</div>

Marvin is a project.

He didn't start for UNC. He came out after his freshman year. Dunno what you were expecting him to do as a rookie.

Most everybody looked at him as needing development.

 

Well, TMac wouldn't be there if PJ decided to go with skinny high schooler instead of established classy big man named Foyle...

You gotta give current Toronto GM a lot of credit for drafting both Marion and Stoudmire, since they both were projected to go around 15th picks. Same goes with Nelson and Dirk.

If Gay falls down to 9th pick, that would be fantastic. But then, Green also fall to 9th last year, and we didn't pick up, so who knows?

Williams is a project to begin with, and it's way too early to level him as a 'just outside shooter'. Also, Diogu is short for NBA, and that prevented him from bringing inside scorings as we liked. That's why at the later season, he utilized his outside jumper more than his post up moves. Whether Diogu can develop post up moves against taller and stronger NBA players are remained to be seen. And, whether he can be an effective inside player or not will determine whether he can be a star or a back up for his career...

 

I'm not as excited for the prospects at #9 being this is a shallow draft, but Mullin has said he has narrowed down the choices to 5 or 6 players. I think they are in no specific order:

1. Ronnie Brewer - Can play the 1, 2 or 3. Projected as SF for the Warriors. If he can take any minutes away from Dun, then it is a plus. See him as a backup to Dun at the 3. Also, makes MP available to trade. Has come back to workout for the second time. He could go at #6, #7 or #8 (unless ATL and HOU make their rumored trade).

2. Patrick O'Bryant - Fills a definite need, but likely not able to contribute much his first year. We will have to move AB or Taft (likely) to PF in order to get him a few minutes. He's a project and we will have to patient like we have been with AB. Hasn't been invited to workout, but Mullin has seen him at Orlando and has followed his career.

3. Cedric Simmons - He would be another big man who can play PF or C. He would be a project like POB, but may have more upside as he's long as well as athletic. Needs to put on some weight and increase strength as he's fairly skinny right now.

4. Randy Foye - From what I read, he's had the best workouts out of all the #9 potentials listed here. He's slated to play SG or PG in the NBA, likely SG. While he may be the BAP, Foye does not fill a need for the Warriors.

5. Marcus Williams - The best pure point guard. I would think the Warriors take him as insurance in case Baron Davis doesn't work out next season. It will be a make or break year for Davis.

6. Shelden Williams - Ready out of the box for the NBA. He should be able to take some minutes from Troy Murphy and make him available for trade. He and Ike will battle for minutes. What would be interesting is that Shelden is better on defense while Ike is better on offense. Shelden may be able to play some center, too. His weakness is that he isn't very long and doesn't have great reach. His aggressiveness could make up for his deficiciencies. Likely to go to Atlanta at #5 or #8.

Who should the Warriors choose? I'm still not sure at this point.

 

I wonder if we can get Mike Sweetney for cheap if we don't pick Sheldon Williams.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting custodianrules2:</div><div class="quote_post">I wonder if we can get Mike Sweetney for cheap if we don't pick Sheldon Williams.</div>

Probably for a six pack of Paxson's favorite beer.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Vintage:</div><div class="quote_post">Probably for a six pack of Paxson's favorite beer.</div>





Warriors GM: "You're offer is generous, Mr. Paxton, but I'm sure the Bulls organization knows that I ain't giving up my booze for some overweight power player that can't prance around and shoot 3-pointers! All right wurz Cohan's checkbook, I gotta start abusing the mid level exception before my buzz wears off. One-sec --Hello? Richie Frahm's agent? I'll have to call you back."



Bulls GM: "!!!."