alright boys, draft time....whats your poison this year?

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting jason voorhees:</div><div class="quote_post">Patrick O'Bryant. Remember that name. He's a raw 7' 19-yr old with a 7-5 wingspan and 9-4 standing reach. Ike measured out at 6-6 1/2' with 7-3 1/2 wingspan and 9-1 standing reach in Chicago for comparison.

We should get him. We had a good shot for him as he was projected around #9, but with good workouts he should be moving up.

http://www.draftexpress.com/viewarticle.php?a=1302</div>

I've never seen him play, but it seems like he could be an oaf dominating a lesser conference

 

well after reading that he sounds pretty good, I didn't realize he was so young.

 

I saw O'Bryant for a couple of minutes on the tube and some clips posted on the net. He really didn't move well and his conditioning sucked. That article only validated that.

As far as drafting him, if he can rebound and dunk then it can't be the end of the world. I'd rather get some other guys ahead of him but beggars can't be choosers when you got Foyle starting.

 

I think the only reason O'bryant's skyrocketing is because there's no centers in this draft. That's pretty obvious though...

Yeah... we could find somebody in the NBDL that's probably better than Foyle. The guy is garbage now. I think he's washed up because he just gets worse every year. Even off the bench, he's not the same.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Run BJM:</div><div class="quote_post">Yeah but Williams has 2 years on Aldridge. I'm sure that if Aldridge stayed until his senior year he could beat Shelden Williams in all those categories except blocked shots.</div>

Trouble is you can't eat the 2 birds in the bush. Aldridge PROBABLY will catch up...but there is a big diff in price between pick # 1 and pick 8-9-10. If Aldridge makes it as a Center,then he can be worth the difference. At PF,Sheldon's rebounds,Defense are class A tools and Aldridge would need to score like Bosh to make the #1-#9 gap work. If I hold that #1,I'd trade down,maybe with the Celt's We get G Green,pick 7 ( Sheldon W)a rd 2,Scalabrine. They get #1,and Fish. We then package Dunleavy,Zarko,both )07 first rounders (zero protect on ours...if we still suck...screw it.) and our 08 #2 for G Wallace.

We do carry baggage,the FoyleScallopine deals,but with Sheldon,Green,G Wallace in-Dun-Fish-Z out we'd be in nice shape overall.

Round 2 candidates... Nick Fazekas,Craig Smith,Eric Hicks,Mike Gansey,Jose Barea,Morris Almond. Any 2 of these would be a real nice boost for the bench,these guys have more consistant skills,production than most of the "potential" types listed as top 20.

 

O' Bryant is taller,heavier,younger than Splitter. Neither was playing vs a whole lot of serious draft prospects and neither had knockout stats...you can say the same for Bargnani or Sene. Any of this group is a leap off a cliff at midnight. You need some motivation. Ours is that we have attempted to upgrade at C since Nate Thurmond. If Sheldon Williams gets past Houston (they like him) He's a guy who is solid at key " big man" skills,and whatever that would lead to,who plays what role,how many mins.,the deal is we gain..for sure..no doubt.

Equally attractive is a trade down. The Hornets,Knicks,Suns,Nets have multiple lower rd 1's. Portland has picks 30 + 31. We have the notorious 3...the contracts we all want to dump. Meanwhile...the real bang for the buck is in the 20-40 zone. Gansey may not be as springy as Carney but has 4X the basketball IQ was a more efficient,reliable player. Put the stats of Craig Smith and Rudy Gay side by side,or the numbers for 6-11 Nick Fazekas and top pick Aldridge. What is harder,taking a real skilled,smart ,motivated player and improving him physically? or taking a guy with less up stairs but good legs and getting him to be smart,productive,hungry,aware.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Run BJM:</div><div class="quote_post">Of course they could end up being major busts. But no one else in the draft is going to ever get us to the next level, its time to risk a pick that could gain the franchise some dignity back.</div>

I like your mentality. To take it a step further, I feel this way about our current group of players.

We know just WTF we're going to get with Adonal Foyle and Derek Fisher, and it's not a playoff birth. So why not just play our rookies full-force for a full season?

I hear people say "Oh Ike is not ready yet, he gets in foul trouble too early, you've gotta bring him along slowly." I totally disagree.

Honestly, I wouldn't give a rat's ass if the Warriors lost 70 games next year, if it meant they played Monta, Ike, and Beans heavy minutes. I mean start Ike and Beans and let Monta get the only minutes behind Baron and J-Rich (with a little Bynum when needed). Let Murphy come off the bench. Or hell start him at the 3 over Dunleavy, what do I care?

I think there's some serious star potential in our core group of young players, and I'm not talking about the "core" of Murphy, Dunleavy, Foyle, or Fisher. Those guys aren't ever going to take us to the promise land. Troy is a good roster player at his position, and Dunleavy still has a chance to improve. But...

Some people say "Oh it's so easy for you to sit back here on an anonymous forum and 'play' GM and talk about starting rookies and making blockbuster trades and whatever..."

But I swear, I would rather see Ike, Beans, and mostly my main man Monta Ellis play than anyone else. Not just to give them a chance, but because they're exciting and fresh. And they're not going to get any better on the bench. And the other guys haven't given me any reason to consider a playoff push.

In fact, the only way these Warriors will ever be able to think about playofs is if they do the unthinkable; the counter-intuitive; start the rookies. The "proven vets" aren't going to get you into the playoffs, but the raw, energetic young guys very well might.

In this respect, I'd also agree with drafting a high-energy, high-flying, high-risk prospect.

Because obviously playing-it-safe hasn't gotten GS anywhere.

 

-As far as O'Bryant goes, we'll see what happens. I haven't seen enough of him but if he can rebound, defend the interior, score a bit around the bucket, catch a basketball and maybe shoot then we should be all over him.

-Hey run BJM, have you seen Shawne Williams a lot? In my mind I don't see any way this kid is going top ten this year. He's pretty big for a young kid but from what I saw he looked sluggish. He should stay in school.

-If we draft Shelden, then that's a guarantee Murphy is gone. This draft really isn't so great. If someone like Gay slips, take him but Shelden at nine sounds about right. I don't think he's gonna be a star but that kid is fierce. Everyone knows I love Taft but his back injury was pretty serious and required surgery. If I'm Mullin I plan as if Taft is done. If Taft comes back healthy, great. If he doesn't, you have a replacement ready to go.

 

Even if Murphy is gone (which is not a sure thing by any mean), I don't wish to see another "Production now with limited upside" talent. Even Diogu's case, he basically didn't get a lot of chances, because he was behind Murphy. If we draft PF, he better has an upside which will be better than Diogu. If not, there really is no point of drafting another marginal PF, when we have Diogu, Taft, and probably Murphy as well...

 

I just want any of those SF's to be honest.

Fact is:

Dunleavy and his ginormous contract are staying with the Warriors, and he will be a starter next year. As long as Mullin is our GM.

Next season is Pietrus' last season here because his contract will end and he will either be traded or dumped because we have no salary cap space due to Dunleavy.

SO...
We need another cheap wingman in his rookie contract to take Pietrus' place when he leaves (due to Dunleavy's ginormous contract, and Foyle's)

 

Well we definitely know that we need more beef/skill in the middle or more skill at the wing.

I'd say no to Sheldon Williams mainly because I think he'll be a tweener type of power forward that has the skills of a center rather than a power forward. If you look at Ike he's a prototype 4, can handle, pass, shoot, use low post footwork, body up, posesses a pretty much all-around game and can use either hand to block shots or score the ball. What sucks is he's short, but he's a real solid player that can score in a lot of ways and has good potential for defense (if he can avoid foul trouble).

If Sheldon Williams can be anything like Kurt Thomas or Ben Wallace as a center in the West... maybe I'd change my opinion. It's hard to guage these guys because big men take so long to develop and guys like Brad Miller and Ben Wallace weren't even drafted and they became all-star centers/forwards. They say the "landlord" is a future role player, nothing much else, but we do need a classic big man in the worst way. I'm getting tired of the Foyle's, the Murphy's, the Biedrins. I want to start seeing some strength, domination and intimidation in the post or some solid passing like Divac/Miller/or Bogut. Our big men is like choosing the weakest, smallest guys to be bouncers at our door. They ain't going to prevent trouble from happening. We need a good candidate in the middle and somebody who bleeds intimidation. Biedrins has the act, but not the body type. Foyle's got none of the above, but he's got heart and we know that's important.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">
Next season is Pietrus' last season here because his contract will end and he will either be traded or dumped because we have no salary cap space due to Dunleavy.

SO...
We need another cheap wingman in his rookie contract to take Pietrus' place when he leaves (due to Dunleavy's ginormous contract, and Foyle's)</div>

When are people going to get it? Pietrus isn't going to be dumped or traded because of Dunleavy. Pietrus is not a 3. He is a 2. He's going to be dumped or traded because he's behind JRich.
"We" need another cheap wingman regardless if Pietrus is on the team or not.

 

Pietrus isn't even a good two guard, but he's a nice type of open floor small forward. If he had the skillset, he'd make a great two guard, but I think we need a Michael Redd or Allan Houston or Ray Allen type badly! None of guards can make free throws or handle the ball. I guess Dunleavy was supposed to be the guard-like answer at small forward while Jrich played small forward at shooting guard.

 

I have a feeling that we're going to keep drafting 4's until one day we go out and get a washed up Sheed or Camby in like 5 years. It's just like what we did with centers and Kevin Willis. I wanted that guy forever... then when the team was in a place where we didn't need him, and he was washed up, we picked him up. I'm beginning to think that I'm a glutton for punishment... How can we still support a team owned by this D.Bag Chris Cohan?

 

Wow, its been way too long since I've been on the board...

I got back from the Giants game last night and saw that the lottery had taken place... man I haven't followed anything Warriors related since the end of March...

But I'm back, and as a Warrior fan, our only exciting time of the year is the draft lottery and the months leading up to the draft.

After reading through these posts it seems that a big man is still on the top of the chart in terms of team needs. My hope is that Mullin can actually pull off a trade and dump this years pick into a package that rids the W's of a hefty contract while also bringing in a proven player. I don't want to make any trade predicitons, we'll save that for another thread, but it doesn't seem that there is a player at 9 that can make an immediate impact. The W's are already young and the losing "tradition" is already permeating the roster.

If anything, on draft day, I'd welcome the loss of a player
(FOYLE) rather than the drafting of a player. Addition by subtraction. Mullin has enough young talent to mold, and there isn't any player at 9 that will have any impact on the team.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Run BJM:</div><div class="quote_post">Yeah I've seen him probably about 7 times (mostly in the tourney though when he wasn't playing great). I'm really high on him because you look at all the things he can do as a 20 year old and no other wing can do that in the draft. Hes a better ballhandler than Rudy Gay and Rodney Carney, better shooter than Brewer, better shot blocker than Carney and Brewer, more athletic than Brewer or Redick. And his production as a freshman wasn't too far off from Gay's and Carney's. His only downside is that he might be a tweener but hes got a handle like a SG or PG so SF is where I'd put him. Also, he was inconsistent but thats pretty normal among freshman.

I just don't understand why hes ranked so much lower than Brewer or Carney or even Gay. Hes still raw and could use a few more years in school but then hes out of our reach when he goes top 5 two years from now. Maybe hes not a top 10 prospect but I tihnk hes as good a prospect as Brewer or Carney.</div>
Evidently we saw differsnt games. When I saw Shawne Williams I didn't see anything to build on,just a semi big kid on cruise control with not enough skill or effort.


I am a bit held back on Sheldon Williams because he has grade a C skills but is 6-9. He could easily play PF but I really do like Ike and Murphy. Then I think,hey we need D,we need boards,we need a post scorer. screw Magliore (temp+gone) Sheldon will contribute,let 'em sort it out by producing..more talent is...more talent.
If you compare the real- WHAT IS- Sheldon is the big guy who gets it done. My guess is Houston grabs him and ships Swift to some suckers. We wind up with O'Bryant cause we can't get very comfortable with the inconsistant sf's on the board. O'Bryant is Biedrens young,seems motivated and mobile and C is where a pretty good player can add a lot.

Too bad the season's done. i wish everyone got a good look at CRAIG SMITH-Boston College and Eric Hicks U Cinn. both are/were undersize PF's who simply were more "impact" than guys like Gay,yet can be had rd 2. Is it hard to trim 10 lbs of Smith or Hicks to have a TOUGH guy at SF? Don't think so. I think its MUCH tougher to get in the head of an underachiever or a 3 pt chucker,or a weak D guy,or a soft player. Give me an overachiever-tough guy with a team attitude...especially at a discount price tag.