That kind of thinking gets us Dale Davis and losing Jermaine O'Neal. We didn't win now or later. You're in a position where you probably aren't going to attract premium free agents. You need talent. Is the 25th pick in trade going to get you someone who can move the needle? I think that's doubtful. But I think Simons is going to be part of the rotation next year, and I think Bazley is ahead of where Anfernee was going into last year's draft. You try to get the best talent. Win now. Win later. Don't sacrifice both on old-fashioned ideas of what is going to put you over the top. Often, those ideas leave you paying.
Zion and Larry Johnson are very, very similar body types. And maybe history will prove me wrong, but I still have my doubts about this Zion being a transcendent talent. I think Morant is a lot closer to him than the ESPN and Duke hype machines would have us believe.
Well @dviss1 is definitely a really smart guy when it comes to this stuff and I understand that Zion athletically is super unique, so I get what he's saying. I think Morant is going to be incredible. If I had the #1 I'd probably take Zion, how can you pass up that sort of athlete, but Morant's special to IM. After that, I'm not very high on anyone in the draft, though obviously there are some prospects I like, just not sure there's a lot of "star talent" after those guys, but time will tell I'm sure there will be a couple of guys who surprise and a couple who disappoint!
I'm not saying Zion shouldn't be the No. 1 pick. By the same token, Oden should have been the No. 1 pick over Durant. But look how that turned out. I've explained ad nauseum all my reasons for questioning Zion before, so I am not going to rehash that. To me, I think this draft is a very clear cut top two. I really don't like many of the guys being projected from 3-16, though. Maybe Culver and the French kid. Barrett's probably solid for me at No. 3, but I still think Culver and Doumbouya are the guys in the lottery other than Zion and Ja who I would feel best predicting for stardom five years from now. There are a lot of guys I like being projected in the 17-50 range, though. I honestly am not sure what some of these scouts or analysts are seeing, because I think Darius Bazley, Tyler Herro, Luka Samanic, Nicolas Claxton, Brian Bowen, Matisse Thybulle, Brian Clarke, Dylan Windler, Carsen Edwards, Chuma Okeke, Talen Horton-Tucker, Moses Brown, Luguentz Dort and Kevin Porter all have a chance to be terrific NBA players, some even stars. I like several of these guys better than guys I see projected in the lottery. They either are extremely gifted specialists or guys whose skillset really fits the current NBA model. I think they could be starters or at least key rotation players on contending teams. Then there are guys like Daniel Gafford and Tacko Fall who could turn into real assets if they find an organization that can groom their strengths and hide their weaknesses, like the Clippers were able to do with DeAndre Jordan. I think this is kind of a fun draft. This is one of those drafts where the rich might get richer because the better value seems to be in the low first and early second, IMO. You can trade down and get a guy who really can impact your team in a couple of years, maybe even two.
What about Luka Samanic ? He could be the next Mirotic or Saric? Good stretch 4, we all know euros can shoot and we need shooter
Bazley starting to move up in the mock draft he ranging right now from 35-52 in the mocks. He workout for Philly with high 2nd round picks and today Orlando supposed all workouts was good.
I know nbadraft.net isn't the best, but they have Romeo Langford all the way down to one pick before our pick when he was a top ten pick before, what's going on with him? https://www.nbadraft.net/players/romeo-langford Not a fan of his comp tho....
I'm to the point now where it's Bazley or bust. Unless the pick is part of a huge trade I'm going to be really disappointed in any other outcome.
