Official New Jersey Nets #1 pick Status Thread..........

4th is pretty much out now. possible range is 5-9, with 6-7 looking likely which would be perfect.

we're locked in at 11, so most probable right now is 7/11

 

The more I read about the guys available after the top four (Davis, Robinson, Kidd-Gilchrist and Drummond), there are none available who have the physical tools AND the skills AND the desire that would make them surefire prospects
The more I'm thinking, maybe NJ knew what they were doing by trading away the pick.

We've got Beal, a shooting guard who takes almost half his shots from the 3 pt line and only makes 33% of them. He "still needs to improve on finishing more effectively around the basket, as he lacks a degree of strength and explosiveness in traffic at this stage". And on defense "he doesn't have great size or length for his position". (skills)

Then Jared Sullinger: "question marks linger about his potential on this end of the floor at the NBA level, mainly due to his average physical tools. Slightly undersized for a center and not especially agile for a power forward, Sullinger doesn't cover ground very quickly on the perimeter, and isn't explosive enough to offer much of a presence in the paint rotating from the weakside." (tools)

As for Harrison Barnes; he seems to have the physical tools, but "lack of an explosive first step prevented him from getting to the rim and creating easy baskets, and while he did get to the free throw line at a higher rate this season, he still seemed far too content settling for contested jumpers off the dribble, as he connected on an unimpressive 47% of his field goals inside the arc." And, "From 3-point range, Barnes shot a respectable 36% and shouldn't have much trouble adapting to the NBA line, but he's not yet a prolific deep shooter. He has a tendency to be a bit streaky and miss shots badly on occasion, some of which he should be able to improve on with repetition and better shot selection". (skills)
Also, Barnes "hasn't shown much growth is with his ability as a passer and creator for others. His comfort level as a ball-handler looks to decrease dramatically after a few dribbles, and he doesn't have the creativity or vision to find his teammates for easy baskets, as evidenced by his extremely paltry assist numbers".

Henson certainly has the athleticism and length and motor, but he's already a junior "and still has extremely unreliable shooting ability, as evidenced by the fact that his 50% free-throw percentage this season is actually a three year high (he shot 44% as a freshman, 48% as a sophomore)." Will he ever be a shooter? And he needs to 'add strength and weight to his slight frame"; why hasn't he done this already as a junior? (skills)

As for Perry Jones, tremendous upside and physical tools, "but The weakest part of Jones' game clearly lies on the defensive end. He's shockingly unproductive from a statistical standpoint, averaging an alarmingly low number of blocks and steals every game, and very few rebounds.
Of the 90 NCAA prospects currently classified as power forwards in our database, Jones ranks 78th in defensive rebounding on a per-minute basis, which is extremely disappointing considering his physical tools and the fact that none of his teammates are particularly prolific in this category. He shows fairly poor awareness here, often failing to box out opponents and doesn't look very instinctive or energetic in the way he pursues loose balls.
These attributes definitely translate to the rest of his defensive game, where Jones clearly lacks toughness and activity." (motor, desire)

Tyler Zeller: "he's already 22 years and doesn't have elite length or athleticism likely limits his upside in the eyes of NBA decision makers". (athleticism and also limited skills as a senior)

Terrence Jones; biggest concern is that he may not have the ideal size and skills to play either SF or PF, kind of a tweener, also concerns about his lack of assertivenes. (tweener, motor)

Jeremy Lamb, another shooting guard who only shoots 34% from the three and has very few assists. And on defense: "His energy on this end looked very inconsistent this season, however, not displaying the competitiveness, fundamentals and attention to detail that will likely be demanded from him at the NBA level, particularly off the ball." (skills, motor)

Damien Lillard; a lot of questions about him because his statistics come against lower level opponents and also will he be able to develop playmaking ability since he isn't big enough to play anything but PG. (seems to have the skills, athleticism and motor, will it transfer to NBA?)

As for Kendall Marshall, he is not another Andre Miller; Miller was a bigtime clutch scorer in college. "Marshall's 7.9 points per 40 minutes pace adjusted ranks second worst of all players projected to be drafted this season, and his 55% True Shooting Percentage is towards the bottom as well." Also, his physical tools are really lacking. (athleticsm, shooting skills)

(All quotes from DraftExpress; http://www.draftexpress.com/ )

Having said all that; we have the picks (hopefully) and I would be inclined to take guys that have the athleticism and motor; even though they need to develop skills: for me those seem to be Henson and Lillard and maybe Barnes.

 

obviously the only thing they were doing is trying to get deron to stay. there is zero chance they traded a potential mid-high lottery pick for 1 year of gerald wallace because they thought the draft class is poor.

 

Good work, Ukrainefan.

 

Draft Express has a lot of good info. Thanks for the link. I hope they are right by listing Austin Rivers at #16, Jeremy Lamb at 12, Terrence Jones at #11, Sullinger at #6. I would be happy to have 2 of those. I still think NJ will reget getting rid of the pick.

Rivers IMO is the type of scorer we lack. I worry too about his perceived "Prima Donna" attitiude, but he is still young and if he is anyting like his dad he will be professional. True he is ony 6'4" but with does have a decent 6'7 wingspan. He is very crafty with his shot. I think he is much better than the Jimmer. I would take him or Lamb with one of the picks.

 

I'm a little surprised at how steadily the Nets pick has held its position. As of now we have picks 6, 11, 40, and 41. With no incentive to lose, they have stayed right on track to get as high a pick as possible without crossing into the top 3.

It's gone about as well as it could have. Only 2-3 games left.

 

6, 11, 38, 40, 41

 

I want NJ to slide to 5!

 

I need the Cavs, Warriors and Raptors to win.

 

By sliding to 5th, how much do the odds increase for NJ to land a top 3 pick? Is it worth the chance to lose the pick? What projected player do you want at 5 that won't be there at 6? There seems to be a lot of similar quality players between 4 and 14. i say just make sure we get 2 picks. I would be excited with #6

 

Draft Express and ESPN.com both have Beal going 5th and Barnes going 6th......... in my opinion, that is a big drop in talent.

 

Those 2 sites I respect the most when it comes to draft info, so take it for what it's worth.

 

Draftexpress appears to have Sullinger at #6 http://www.draftexpress.com/
I wouldn't mind him plus either Lamb or Rivers at SG. But i definitely want two of them.

Edit: Wait I take that back. Sullinger is only 6'9" ? I thought he was 6'11"

 

I have a feeling Rivers is gonna be good like Steph Curry!

 

I think he could be better than Curry. I have a Co-worker from Winter Park Florida so I watched him closely all year after hearing about him through High school. He is a bigger than Curry and still only 19. I bet he goes higher than 16

 

Is this an ironic way of saying he's going to be constantly injury-prone?

 

How so 38? Is this compensation for drafting Tanguy Ngombo?

 

I thought we had Denvers pick as well

 

I thought we drafted Tanguy for the Wolves, he turned out to be ineligible due to age, so Minny owed us a #2 this year.

This says Dallas drafted him, and we get a #2 in 2015 from Minnesota, which may be the Nuggets pick, as you thought.

So you were 100% right! Almost.

http://prosportstransactions.com/ba...ndDate=&PlayerMovementChkBx=yes&submit=Search

 

Coming down to the wire for lotto positioning.
Jersey @ Toronto last game of the reg. season. (Thursday)
Both with identical records. (And both 1 game ahead of 2 teams and 1 game behind two teams)