Official 2013 Draft thread

In fairness we had twice as many 1st round picks last year

 

By the way, KP reached for Solomon Hill at 23. Pacers had one of the worst drafts.

 

It's kind of hard to know which drafts are the worst before the players step on the court.

 

I agree in principle, but it always bugged me when teams like Cleveland (at #1) reach for a player that they could have gotten lower. Bennett and Hill might be great fits for their programs, but if you could have gotten them later in the draft, while acquiring some other assets, why wouldn't you jump on that opportunity? Hill probably would have been available in the mid-2nd round. They could have shopped their first rounder for a high second rounder and a role player/future pick/cash and still wound up with Solomon Hill at the end of the day.

 

Am I the only one who tends to get excited about San Antonio's draft choices?

They're got such a ridiculous track record of finding obscure talent that the fact DeShaun Thomas dropped to them really made his fall all worth it in my eyes. They picked so late that I was certain they'd go overseas, in typical Spurs fashion.

Thomas, regardless of what position he'll play at the next level, is just a great basketball player.

 

I think part of it is:
1) Now we think: "wow, if San Antonio likes him, he must be good"
2) Players who would struggle elsewhere work in their system, which tends to accentuate what a player can do rather than what he can't.

 

Bump from May.

Mission accomplished. Not only will he make the team but he gives us great depth and will stroke it from deep. Great scorer.

 

So, now we've had about 5 games of meaningless summer league action, I'm ready to pronounce on this draft!

1. Anthony Bennett: career ruined by injuries.
2. Victor Oladipo: a better Dwyane Wade
3. Otto Porter: colossal bust. Or Evan Turner II.
4. Cody Zeller: not the reach he looked like. A solid NBA starter.
5. Alex Len: see Bennett. Only I'm serious this time.
6. Nerlens Noel: Jesus Christ was everybody injured?
7. Ben McLemore: once projected #1. Slipped. Should've slipped about 15 places more.
8. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: reminded me of Jeffery Taylor, who looked great this year.
9. Trey Burke: Johnny Flynn II.
10. CJ McCollum: will have a Jason Terry-like career, which is excellent for the #10 pick in a crappy draft.
11. Michael Carter-Williams: will not make ANYONE forget Jrue Holiday. Will be lucky to be better than Shaun Livingston right now.
12. Steven Adams: Already better than Meyers Leonard. Will be a solid NBA pro, and might be very good. Damn OKC.
13. Kelly Olynyk: A better Dirk Nowitzki. Or at least a taller Ersan Ilyasova.
14. Shabazz Muhammad: he slipped. He should have slipped out of the draft entirely. And I'm not kidding.
15. Giannis Antetokounmpo: I have absolutely no idea. We won't know if he's any good at all for about 5 years.
16. Lucas "Bebe" Nogueira: he was rumored to have a "low motor". He has a very skinny build. But if there's a "new Marcus Camby" - it's him. RIDICULOUSLY long arms. A steal.
17. Dennis Schröder: already the best PG in the draft, and only 19. Utah will be kicking itself for years. So will Philly. Maybe the steal of the first round. Atlanta killed this draft.
18. Shane Larkin: saved up getting disastrously injured till AFTER the draft. Timing.
19. Sergey Karasev: too soon to tell, but I think he'll be very solid. A redemption year for international draftees after people like Vesely. And this is pick 19, ferchrissakes.
20. Tony Snell: looked okay when Chicago was kicking our ass. Definitely could stick.
21. Gorgui Dieng: I would have picked him over Bebe ten times out of ten. But he looked lost. I think he'll be a rotation big, but he looked a lot further away than I expected. And he's about 4 years older than Bebe. Put it this way: he's not as good as either Plumlee right now. Talking of which:
22. Mason Plumlee: was supposed to be a big mistake. But he looked good! And it's not like he's getting minutes for Brooklyn next year, anyway.
23. Solomon Hill: boy, those headstrong Indy drafters. We laughed when they reached for Miles Plumlee last year. Then he kicked ASS in Orlando this year. We were amazed when they reached for Hill. And he looked ready to contribute RIGHT NOW. A very nice pick.
24. Tim Hardaway Jr.: Got raves when he played, but got injured. Looked like he belongs, though.
25. Reggie Bullock: drafted to be a role player and looked like he could do just that. I don't think I can live in a world where the Clippers have a competent front office.
26. Andre Roberson: vacillated between invisible and dominant. Can definitely defend, though. I wanted him in the second round, but I don't think he's a reach here.
27. Rudy Gobert: we all laughed, but he actually looked more useful than Trey Burke. Sliding to 27 might help him, because he looked better than that.
28. Livio Jean-Charles: got injured after the draft as well.
29. Archie Goodwin: looked okay for the Suns. VERY young. Will be brought along slowly and could turn out a steal.
30. Nemanja Nedovic: you guessed it: got injured.
31. Allen Crabbe: looked totally lost. Not sure if he's an NBA player at this point. Turns out he deserved to slip.

 

Hahaha!

 

I can't tell if you're being serious or not

 

Can't I be a bit of both?

 

I'm just glad we didn't draft Ricky Ledo with our 1st like some poster suggested.