There's a lot to like about Valentine as a player, but he is a weird fit with this team. Very weak defender, and it adds to the problem of having a bunch of guys you can't play with one another. It's hard to put him in the same lineup as Doug and/or Niko.
The second half of this draft is looking really screwy. Nobody had anything close to Maker - Sabonis - Prince - Papagiannis(!) - Valentine - Hernangomez - Yubusele. BTW I like the Yubusele pick. He's been one of "my guys" the whole draft. I think he's a player.
A lot of talent left on the board right now. It's crazy to think Deyonta Davis, Wade Baldwin, Dejounte Murray, Ellenson and Beasley are all available this late in the 1st round. Can't believe Papagiannis went in the lottery!
Man, Davis is dropping so low I'm beginning to wonder if he just totally bombed all of his interviews, or has some offcourt problems that are scaring teams away. I actually like Skal in the 20's.....this is a good place for him. He makes more sense for a winning team IMO.
You are not going to get a bonafide stud at 14. Seems like he has some skills the Bulls need and might play well with Butler. Bulls are stockpiling guys that are not strong defenders though. Robin. McDermott. Niko. Now Valentine (supposedly). You have to trust at this point the Bulls did as much homework as possible on the knees.
Good summary and I basically agree. Before the draft I was lukewarm towards him due to his defensive shortcomings, but the truth is he was there's a good case to be made that he's one of the better picks available where he was taken. He had one of the most remarkable college seasons of all time last year and his shooting and ability to be a playmaker out of the pick n' roll should translate pretty well. On offense he can play 1-3, and having Valentine on the court might mean you could go with a big, defensive guard at the 1 who isn't a strict playmaker. So if the Bulls want to play lineups that allow a lot of ballhandlers to be on the court at the same time then Valentine ought to help. Just thinking out loud, if the Bulls like Jerian Grant long term and don't like their options for getting an upgrade at PG this summer, then having Valentine helps a lot because his presence compensates for Grant's offensive shortcomings, and the Bulls would be able to play 3 guys who are very good in the pick n' roll at the same time. The awkward part of having him on the roster is that him and Doug are basically incompatible in the rotation. One of them has to "win" IMO and relegate the other to a bit role. If one of them is featured then it'd be best to offset their weaknesses with a guy that can defend and plays with a lot of athleticism.
So I knew nothing about Paul Zipser before he was taken, but after digging around a little bit he seems like a sneaky good pick. When you look at him you immediately think "slow, plodding, high-skill white guy" but he's not Euro-McDermott at all. He plays with a lot of explosion and makes his living going to the rim. When you watch him you can tell he gets off the ground quickly: It's actually difficult to come up with a white guy comparison for him. His style of play reminds me of Justin Holiday/Luol Deng/Harrison Barnes. Ie, strong 3&D wing players that move up to play small ball 4. To be perfectly honest, I'm inclined to think his game translates better to the NBA than Valentine's.
Yup. I don't really see McDermott as a guy to build around at this point. We'll see if he takes a step up this season.
Happy with the pick. It's a bit of a clash, but he had a great season that indicates to me he will be able to contribute right away. Zipser was an absolute steal judging by the little I've seen of him. As @rosenthall said, he's not a slow cheese sandwich eating white boi.
Yeah, I'm curious to see how his defense is at the NBA level. I'm actually not too worried about his offense right now. He has a good stroke on his jumpshot and seems very adept at attacking open space on offense, so it seems plausible he'll be playable on that side of the ball. But I have no idea how good his lateral quickness will be on the defensive end. It'd be great if he could play with Holiday's motor.
I'm good with the Bulls' draft. Valentine is a wing who gets the game and he has a pretty varied skillset. I've read a lot of negatives about his knees, but I also read that a very recent medical report says that his knees are pretty normal for a 22 year old basketball player. I'll go with that. I expect Valentine to be useful. Agree with rosenthall that Zipser is a sneaky pick (love the characterization). While nothing matters until you see a guy against NBA competition, his measurables look good and it sure looks like he don't scare easy.
Looking into this DV kid, I'm impressed. He played a LeBron-like role on a really good MSU team and was a top 2 or 3 player in the country all season. Valentine is capable of playing off the ball, catch and shoot. Reminds me of Rip Hamilton. Not the best defender and could potentially have knee issues though. Really think he will either be great or terrible.
