I love McLemore. The Thrift Shop Song is amazing. [video=youtube;QK8mJJJvaes]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK8mJJJvaes[/video]
I'm not familiar with Gobert's game besides his measurements, highlights and numbers, but I'd be really surprised if this wasn't teams trying to talk him down so as not to show their interest. I think a lot of teams learned the lesson that going after size is still a good idea last year. Drummond slipped to nine and I think if there was a draft do-over, 30 teams would pick him first, even with Lillard on the board. What I do know about Gobert is that he's huge, and he's quick enough. He's put up decent numbers for playing in Europe, although he's on a middling team in the weak French league. The French league is still better than most -- maybe all -- college conferences. He scores virtually all of his points on garbage buckets and that's fine, because with his size, he could spend his entire NBA career doing the same.
Gobert still looks like a project with a capital "P" to me, but I acknowledge your point about his offense. It's ironic, but I think Tyson Chandler has turned himself into a role model for how certain types of players can be effective on offense. He's become a very useful player due to his keen sense of what he shouldn't be doing. He sticks extremely close to the few things he does well and it's allowed him to become one of the best big men in the NBA despite next to no offensive skills. It's one of the reasons I'm sanguine about the Bulls picking Withey. I have no expectation of him ever being able to generate offense for himself, but he shot 80% around the rim in college. He's a big lug, but knows how to flash to the right spots and keep his hands up.
We don't need a source to inform us that drafting an international makes the most sense cap wise. Gobert won't be on the board. Sergey Karasev doesn't look particularly committed to playing in the NBA. I'm thinking they're going to go Giannis Antetokounmpo (that is, without knowing anything about him.) Looks like a small forward who's the size of a power forward (6'9" heigh, 7'3" wingspan.) He's a youngin', 18, who recently signed a four year deal with CAI Zargoza of the Spanish league, and his deal includes an affordable NBA buyout. That's about as perfect as you can get for a developmental assignment. He'll get playing time in the rough and tumble Spanish league on a mediocre team, and then will either move on to a better team there or come directly to the US. The marque Spanish league teams usually poach talent from the weaker teams, once they prove they can acclimate to the language and living in Spain. I'll bet the franchise is pretty pleased with how Real Madrid has developed Mirotic -- they should be -- and with a player like Antetokounmpo, they're basically drafting a similar pipeline.
I think it's basically impossible to forecast Gobert, Kerasev, and Giannis. Personally I like Giannis the least. Gobert looks like a huge project but has the physical attributes you can't teach. I'd have my reservations about picking him, but I get the basic idea. Kerasev is extremely offensively savvy. Kind of like what you hoped Rudy Fernandez was going to be. From what little I've seen of Giannis his talent seems like hype. He looked like a men amongst midgets, and I don't mean that in a good way. Ie, his "handles" and ability to get to the hoop didn't look like something that'd automatically translate to the NBA. He really kind of reminds of Nicolas Batum, but more offense and less defense. And speaking of mysterious players with big legends.....I'm getting ready to put Ricky Ledo's offensive game in the same category as Big Foot. Much awe, little first hand validation.
Yeah, I watched the DraftExpress videos -- so now I'm obviously an expert! -- and I have to agree with you. Giannis reminds me a ton of Ndudi Ebi, the McDonalds All American and Twolves 26th pick in 2002. Both are/were 6'9" small forwards of Nigerian descent. Both had an okay handle for their size and could move pretty well, and had very little to show for it. I mean, I didn't realize that Giannis put up 8 ppg for his U20 national team. That ain't gonna cut it. Not to mention that Giannis' jump shot is a crime against humanity. As a flier in the second round? Fine. As a first round pick? That's not ideal. Kerasev, on the other hand, is really quite interesting. I didn't realize that he was the son of Vasily Karasev, who is also his coach on Dynamo Moscow. His release is really gorgeous and you can tell he's a coaches son in his approach to the game. He reminds me a lot of Klay Thompson except I think Karasev may even have a quicker release. 17 PPG and 4.5+ RPG VTB league and Eurocup is no joke. As a 19 year old that's phenomenal. I think Kerasev will have to play shooting guard in the NBA but why the hell not. I would thrilled if the Bulls were to somehow come away with him in the draft.
Speaking of draft and stash internationals, have you guys checked out Lucas Nogueira? He's on the DraftExpress mock at 26 (an option for the Bulls) and nbadraft.net at 11 (not so much an option for the Bulls.) He's a 7'0", 7'6"! center who moves extremely well. He has a 9'6" standing reach which is basically the same as Javale McGee's. Nogueira played for Esefa Estudiantes last season in the Spanish league. Estudiantes is to Real in Madrid like the Clippers are to the Lakers in LA, except this season Estudiantes actually outperformed expectations and made the playoffs. Nogueira's agility times are better than many of the marque prospects of years past (Oden) and he's more than a full second quicker than McGee. Noguiera's stats in the Spanish League weren't bad either, especially for a 20 year old, 5.4 points on 66.1% shooting; 3.4 reb; 0.5 steals; 1.1 blocks in 13.6 minutes of play. Anyway, here's two clips: [video=youtube;TQduIznX1uU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQduIznX1uU[/video] [video=youtube;TexsuZl_zkg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TexsuZl_zkg[/video]
I think I'd rather have Lucas than Gobert, but am concerned by the fact that for someone who's biggest asset is his athleticism....he seems to take a long time to get into his move. As for my own board, I'm officially up on Reggie Bullock, Karasev, Jamaal Franklin and Archie Goodwin. Down on Mason Plumlee and Ricky Ledo. Look at this video: [video]http://youtu.be/T22X6m4fgh4[/video] Mason Plumlee is a 4 year guy from Duke. Against this other guy (I don't know who he is, but is projected to go much lower I presume) he looks severely outmatched. I never thought his post offense would translate to the NBA anyways, but this definitely reaffirms my suspicions. He's a good athlete, but not in a way that's going to translate into something useful. He's very slow getting into his move. He's not particularly strong defensively, and does not possess very good lateral quickness on that end of the floor. So I'm not sure what advantage he gives you in an NBA game. So I'm not sure how he'd be different than a number of NBA journeyman we could plug into the same role. At this point I'd rank potential big guys like this: Dieng Withey Olynyk Gobert/Noguiera/Plumlee I assume Adams will be gone. Withey clearly has his problems, but I see no reason his defensive prowess won't translate, and he's very good at being in the right place with his hands up in the air on offense. Sort of like Tyson Chandler. For a #20 pick that's good enough. DX has a good article comparing the SF prospects in this draft. Bullock just seems like a lock to be a very effective pick n' pop, fit like a glove kind of guy. Stardom probably isn't in his future since he can't create his own shot, but his combination of shooting, off the ball movement and fundamentally sound defense would remove the need to go after Kyle Korver this offseason.
Rosenthall, I think the issue with Noguiera is that he's still so raw after being with Estudiantes for three years. He spent the last two years on their development team, and didn't get a shot at their pro team until this year. I mean, if he still looks like he just learned post play last week what are the changes he'll development a pro repertoire? Probably pretty slim. As far as other draftees, I've limited my following of the draft this year to foreign athletes. It would seem to make sense that all things being equal the Bulls would want to stash an athlete overseas. I look at guys lack Teague and Butler, and think, wouldn't it be nice to have their redshirt years back? It seems to take Europeans almost a full season to acclimate, but when the playoffs roll around, the good ones are usually ready to contribute meaningful minutes. Part of my focus on Europeans is also that it was too late in the game for me to get a feel for the entire board. Of the Europeans, I find Karasev really interesting. There seems to be a truism around the league that it's best to stay away from Russians because they have trouble with the cultural adjustment. Karasev doesn't seem like the typical wide-eyed kid though. His father was a pro baller and I wouldn't be surprised if he's travelled extensively. I'm kinda shocked at how much he goes to the line too. You combine that with his use of creative angles around the hoop and I wouldn't be shocked if you have more than just an outside gunner. I'd be thrilled if they end up with him.
Good pick. If we dont trade the pick, I would be ok with him or the big man from Louisville. Either one.
At least he can dribble with out looking at his feet and fighting the urge to touch the ball with his other hand, too.
