Merged: The Draft Thread For Stuff About The Draft Including Thoughts About The Draft

Saric would be a steal. I doubt they would bite on it but it would be a great trade for us.

Then trade 3 for 5 and 10 and 34.

Pick 5 Isaac (Assuming Tatum and Jackson are gone.)
10 Collins or BPA
34 BPA

 

He might but I think his combination of defensive tools, IQ and mentality (which are all elite) paired with the potential to provide offensive value within the team construct as a spot up shooter / secondary playmaker makes him well worth a shot in the 45-60 range.

 

Here is the "What if the Lakers did pass on Ball?" mock draft. I don't agree with some of the ideas he has for us but it's always for discussion I guess.

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2017/5/...raft-2017-lakers-chaos-lonzo-ball-deaaron-fox

15. Portland Trail Blazers: Ivan Rabb, PF/C, Cal
The Blazers have three picks in the first round: Nos. 15, 20, and 26. They do not have a ton of roster spots, so chances are there will be some sort of trade and/or stash pick. Outside of that, this might be a good spot for Rabb, who went back to Cal and suffered for it. Rabb has tools Portland could use, and the Blazers have shown an affinity for Cal products (Allen Crabbe) and Oakland natives (Damian Lillard). What is a mock draft if not a reading of irrelevant tea leaves?

20. Portland Trail Blazers: Tony Bradley, C, North Carolina
Here’s a big bet: Bradley will go before Justin Jackson, because upside still matters. The leading mocks have Bradley in the second round after his decision to leave Carolina as the school’s first one-and-done since Marvin Williams. But the fact that he left tells me he has first-round promise. It might as well be from a team with three first-round picks, as well as needs up front.

26. Portland Trail Blazers: Zach Collins, C, Gonzaga
There has been a run on Collinses! Some mocks have Collins going in the top 10, and he probably does have a better chance at having a good NBA career than a number of guys above him in this mock. But it’s a struggle to imagine what a successful NBA career looks like for a guy like Collins — not particularly agile or fast, no real record of a great outside stroke, not someone who scores at will against even smaller competitors, clunky handle — in the modern league.

 

They lost me at Zach Collins at 26. No Way In Hell.

 

Yeah that's one baffling mock draft. Ivan Rabb going 11 spots ahead of Zach Collins?

They have Jeanne going at 9 before Smith at 10 and Monk at 11. Also, somehow Ntilikina goes 6th and Markkanen goes 7th despite Ball available.

Pasenciks at 14 is also baffling.

 

Rabb will drop to the second imo

 

That's possible. He doesn't really have an all-round game that would be very appealing to NBA teams these days. He rebounds well but he doesn't score, he doesn't stretch the floor, he is not even good at free throws. Maybe there's some untapped potential there but he hasn't shown much from what I gather.

 

How is that appealing for Philadelphia though? They get a small forward who is worse than the two they have, an overpaid shooting guard and #15 pick, and they give up #3 pick that could be any of Fox, Jackson or Tatum (all project to be very good in the league) and one of top 5 power forward talents in the league. Oh, and they'll also absorb one of the worst deals in the league in Leonard. But don't worry, we can compensate that by giving them undrafted point guard who's played less than 50 minutes in the league, or a #47 pick from 2016.

Why don't we offer #26 and Leonard to Boston for #1 while we are at it?

All ideas that are built around Leonard (or even Crabbe) having any value are bonkers IMO. Harkless is the only one in there who might actually fetch us something nice (maybe) in return. Crabbe could maybe get us into early 2nd round. Leonard we'll not be able to get rid of unless for salary matching purposes. Indiana wouldn't even trade Al Jefferson alone for him and we are talking about us doing them a favor by such trade.

 

7 ways to screw up drafting:

http://www.basketballinsiders.com/nba-am-potential-draft-busts/

 

I guess established can mean anything, we've established that he sucks so at least they'll know what they're getting.

I'm pretty sure they mean established as a solid player worthy of a 12 pick.

 

I like the article but don't agree about Philadelphia going for best player available. They did that - apparently - in 2015 draft when they selected Okafor who was tipped as #1 at some point, and it was a big mistake because he turned out to not even be the best player available. Had they drafted for need back then, they would have gone for a guard who can shoot. Looking at players selected after Okafor, it would have probably been Devin Booker. They'd be so much better off with him now. Same with Porzingis who was selected immediately after him and who 76ers apparently also liked at the time.

 

God please no.

 

I would ONLY be ok with this if it was our worst contract imo (Crabbe) and also ONLY be ok with this if it was our worst pick.

So basically I not ok with this because it probably won't go that way and I would want a 2nd back.

 

I guess if there was any mystery about the value of Crabbe, Turner and Biebs, this clarifies that.

 

This has been talked about on this board all season. We are probably the "source".
Until I see it happen I doubt that it will. This is Paul Allen we are talking about. I think most people just assume we will do it because of the luxury tax.

 

Yup, sadly, Olshey went one free agent too far last off-season.

 

I like what you did here. Post of the offseason.

 

Real GM lol.

 

Oh I agree completely, someone posted earlier that it's a binary equation if you can get him you give up all the assets you can not dame,cj,nurk you do it dont even question it. My whole pessimism around the idea surrounds the fact that we couldnt trade our picks right now for a top 5 pick. So any team with a top-5 pick right off the bat has a better package pick wise. It's tough to argue our young players are worth much of anything and are on some BLOATED contracts. PHX could put together a package as that includes a top-5 pick and a couple young players that would easily be worth more as an example. That and Prichard is unlikely to just hook us up with PG lol although I wish that relationship would pay off at some point for blazer fans. In this case I think he holds onto George if the best package comes from us. I think it's easier for a GM to keep his job if he says "well I tried my best to keep my superstar, but he left" rather than trading him for 70 cents on the dollar. Even if trading him for 70 cents is the prudent move for the franchise moving forward.