I agree with Nets, there is no way you take Gordon over Emeka even though Gordon is an amazing player. Okafor is such a presence in the paint and is obviously (to me anyways) the best player in the draft. All these Grant Hill references are being thrown around but the difference is that Okafor is still playing despite being injured and hes still a force. Even if his scoring is down he's still going to rack up tons of blocks and rebounds. Duhon could be a good pickup in the 2nd round because he has had four years of preparation for the NBA and could immediately contribute smart decision making skills to a team.
Okafor is the best player on his team. There's no doubt about that. Gordon has had a good run and has probably risen his stock for the draft. Okafor has been called the most polished defensive player since Tim Duncan. If we don't trade the pick than Okafor has to be the guy. This should be a no-brainer. I've seen a few mock drafts and heard some NBA scouts say that Okafor might be the only college player taken in the lottery. There's gonna be a ton of foreign and H.School players coming out in this years draft that we don't even know of. BTW-I'm telling you, Gordon will be a mediocre PG in the NBA. This is Mateen Cleaves all over again.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting InNETSweTrust:</div><div class="quote_post"> Just imagine, you have Emeka taking care defending the post and Duhon ballhawking the perimeter.</div> Or just imagine, Coach Johnny Davis handing out the lineup card and Lue and Declerq are still starting over Okafor and Duhon. :thumbsdown:
^ That's what scares me. Even if we do get Okafor and a great point gaurd like Jameer,Chris,or Ben JD still might be foolish enough to start Andrew and Lue. In doing this Okafor my turn out to be another steven hunter, you have the talent but just not the minutes. We Magic fans don't want that to happen now do we? I think not.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting sportsrock37:</div><div class="quote_post">Or just imagine, Coach Johnny Davis handing out the lineup card and Lue and Declerq are still starting over Okafor and Duhon. :thumbsdown:</div> Well then your ideal offseason is to get a new coach.
I still don't think JD will be the coach next year. I don't believe a word what the management says. This is a very important season for us, I don't see them taking a chance on someone who hasn't proven he can be a good NBA coach.
I heard from an interview in TNT during a game..Wesbroid said he IS staying because he couldn't demonstrate anything this season..anyways in his chat on Orlandomagic.com he also mentioned we might aswell keep Lue but he is really better off the bench..which I think is a smart decision. We HAVE to trade DeClerq..Okafor , Hunter , ZaZa is all we need for our center position IMO. Can't we do this..? DeClerq , Juwan Howard for 5th - 7th pick and cash? that way we would be able to get Okafor first and then Gordon or Nelson or someone else. Gordon is going to be like a Gilbert Arena IMO , he can score , he can pass he can do everything.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Can't we do this..? DeClerq , Juwan Howard for 5th - 7th pick and cash? that way we would be able to get Okafor first and then Gordon or Nelson or someone else. Gordon is going to be like a Gilbert Arena IMO , he can score , he can pass he can do everything.</div> Not likely. You gotta give up more than that for those picks. Gooden would have to be in the deal. Maybe outside the lottery to a team who needs some veteran leadership.
No way Declerq and Juwan would net us a 5-7 1st and cash. We would have to do something like Juwan and our future 1st or the Wizards future 1st(that we do have that will be unprotected in 2 or 3 years. I think Gordan will be a great PG. He needs to work on his defense a little, but who doesn't on our team. I want to get rid of Declerq and Juwan, but those likely won't happen. We will likely give up Drew Gooden for a 5-10 pick and then draft a bust. My ideal summer would be get a new coach and it looks like that isn't going to happen. I mean why do we want a new coach when we have a coach who has a career coaching record of about 40-110?(not sure about those #'s, but it's somewhere around there.
