Now that the draft has officially concluded the calm after the storm begins. Over the course of the next several weeks you can expect many draft sites/experts to come out with grades for each teams draft. So now I pose the same question to you. What grade would you give John Paxson on this years draft. I will begin by saying I could not be happier. Of course I was one of the biggest Aldridge campaigners on the site, along with SP23. However, I have become completely effectuated with the upside of Tyrus I don?t know where to start the kid has a wing span of seven feet three inches. If you want to compare that to some of the other players in the league is in the top ten in that area. A lot of people, on this forum, and around the NBA where concerned about how Tyrus would fit in with the Bulls due to his lack of size to play power forward. However, his wing span allows him to play bigger than he really is. He has the ability to be another Ben Wallace, Shawn Marion, or Elton Brand defensively simply because his length and athleticism. Another tremendous upside to his game is his tremendous work ethic. Since the conclusion of the NCAA tournament Tyrus Thomas has been consistently spending eight hours a day in the gym/weight room trying to get stronger and to improve his game. Thomas? commitment to the game is unquestionable. Some have questioned how effective weight. Although, I am a bit concerned with that as well, considering his work ethic that is a minor problem that should be fixed within time. I don?t want to see him just trying to put on weight, and sacrificing his speed, and agility. Some players never add real body mass to their frame (i.e. Kevin Garnett) but are able to out work there opponents with their athleticism and speed. Something Thomas has a lot of. I think he can add at least 20-25 pounds of muscle within the course of the next three to four seasons. Trevor Ariza of the Orlando Magic added 15 pounds of muscle between his rookie and sophomore seasons in the league. In my opinion when we look back at this draft in a few years we will see the best players in it where Randy Foye and Tyrus Thomas. Another variable I don?t think many people have even though of yet is the possibility that we could bring in Ben Wallace to play along side Tyrus and mentor him for the next several years. The best defensive center in the league playing next to an athletic monster like Tyrus Thomas whoa. Lastly, I thin his jump shot is better than previously advertised. He has a consistent jumper from 19 feet, and according to scouting reports, and some sources I have heard from he is only improving with time. Thomas might not have a rookie of the year campaign so please guys don?t judge him passed solely on his rookie year. He will take tie might just be the next Shawn Marion. Now for the second pick we had in the draft Thabo Sefolosha. Watching the draft live I had the same reaction many of you probably did when I heard we had traded for the 13th pick to get Thabo. My exact thoughts where ?What? Come on Paxson. How can you pass up Carney and Brewer?? well I would just like to say I am an idiot for ever questioning John Paxson?s genus. According to many draft sources. Sefolosha was coveted by the Utah Jazz with the 14th pick in the draft, and would not have been there for us to select with the 16th pick. So the trade with the 76ers was essential for us to acquire this guy. Thabo is a great prospect he has incredible length and will add great size to our back court. He can complement both Gordon and Hinrich well. As John Paxson said during the draft ?Gordon is our starter, but this guy gives us so much versatility?. Thabo is a constant worker he was labeled soft two years ago, but since then has added 10-15 pounds of muscle, and has become a much more physical player. He has long arms, and quote ?great limbs? he forces plenty of turnovers which result in easy transition points. Getting Thabo also brings a high flyer to the United Center. Thabo has great leaping ability, and excellent ball handling skills which means he can even play the point at times for us, or at least bring the ball up. A knock on his game is his intensity level which sometimes appeared to vanish during games. He is to extremely polished offensively, but he can get the job done. Exactly what we need. A player to play his role, and step up when called upon. We have many scorers Gordon, Hinrich, Deng, Nocioni, and possibly Tyrus depending how developed his jumper really is. Defenders are a great thing to have in this league, and you can never have enough. Overall I rate this draft an A+ and only because there is not a higher grade to give. John Paxson showed why everyone in Chicago shows so much trust in his judgment, and why he has been able to quickly turn this back into a winning organization. Kudos to you Pax!
a few years later, like say 4years i hope we you can say its an A+ hell even with a B i'd be satisfied i cant wait to see these guys in action, i'm not expecting too much, just solid rookie performances maybe for tyrus all rookie 2nd team would be nice
I'll give us an A-. We drafted well with Thomas, getting the player with arguably the most upside (I'd say Gay has more, Thomas fits better however). We didn't exactly address the team need of getting a low post scorer, but if Pax really wasn't sold on Aldridge to be a difference maker, hell, he made the right decision then. I'm happy with our top pick, I'm just a bit confused about the lower one. We should have just kept Carney, kid's going to be a great player in the L. I don't know much about Thabo, so I'll reserve my opinion about him for later. But as of right now Carney was the more sensible pick, IMO.
I'd give it a B. Because both are great players, but still...why not Aldridge? Maybe Pax thought Thomas has better work ethic or something like that... About Sefolosha: i love the guy, i think he will do great. And in my own personal mock draft, i had him for us at 16 too. But that was because i didn't think Brewer would still be available. In retrospect, if it's true that Thabo would have been selected at 14 if we hadn't picked him, why not just let it go and take Brewer? So a B it is. But it can change into an A if we're able to sign Nazr Mohammed. He could give us that decent scoring option in the paint that we sorely miss at this point. Pryzbilla doesn't have the same scoring touch, so i would definitley go for Nazr now.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting I-Miss-MJ:</div><div class="quote_post">What are cash considerations in a trade?</div> 1 team gives the other one money, i guess...
BKS pretty much summed it up for me. I was questioning the pick of Tyrus Thomas, because I wanted Aldridge, because of his size and he had a difined position in which we need (PF/C). But after hearing things about Tyrus about what he does, I've become satisfied with the selection. He will add another good defensive player to our team. And I've heard that he had no offensive game, but that isn't really true. He has a jumpshot and is trying to improve his ballhandling skills. I just don't want him to be a small forward though. I hope he adds muscle and trys to develope a low post game along with everything else. Most of the experts seem to think he'll have to most upside. I would have rather had Carney instead of Thabo, just because I know more about Carney. But, after reading about Thabo Sefolosha, I'm ok with it. Plus Paxson must have seen more than us. Like I said in the draft thread, we finally get a high flyer. I've always wanted a player that would dunk on someone just to get to the rim, because they usually let you go by lol. I don't know if he's it though. Carney possibly could have been though. Sefolosha is said to be one of the top 3 perimeter defenders in the 06' Draft. He did good during the workouts, but on other scouting reports it said he didn't have that great of a jumpshot. I'm not sure on who to believe, so I'll have to see for myself. Overall Grade: A- Hopefully Paxson made the right moves.
I read sefolasha or whatever his name is, is the best perimeter defender, with brewer being the 2nd. That and the fact brewer has an ugly jumper is probably why paxson chose Sef
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting NaKz:</div><div class="quote_post">I read sefolasha or whatever his name is, is the best perimeter defender, with brewer being the 2nd. That and the fact brewer has an ugly jumper is probably why paxson chose Sef</div> Brewer can knock them down though.
A, I think Pax had a very good draft, securing Tyrus by taking Aldridge. Pax played his cards right and I believe that he'll be very happy when the season comes. Thabo was a good pickup but I wasnt sure if I'd rather have Thabo or Rodney, Thabo is more defensive minded but a bit less athletic so It was a throw up there.
I will give the Bulls an A- for the draft. They made the right choice in getting Thomas. I think he's going to end up being better than Aldridge in the long run. He's got all sorts of potential on both ends of the ball. He's staked claim to already have a good 19' jumper, and with his leaping ability, he's got all sorts of ability to be one of the leagues best shot blockers and he's an explosive finisher as well. And, with Thabo, we get an explosive finisher and an athletic swing man. I'm not too sure about what else he brings. But, seeing as how Pax has made the right decisions in the past (Hinrich, Gordon, Deng, brought over Noc), I trust he made another good one with this one.
