Official 2013 Draft thread

Who cares who was more hyped coming out of high school. High school rankings mean absolutely nothing when it comes the NBA and even college for that matter.

Also, I'm willing to bet that Leonard's strength numbers at the combine will be better than Adams numbers.

 

Very true.

I'm really sad about Smart going back to school. That bites.

 

dude reminds me of a combo of Kemba/Flynn.

 

He's always reminded me of DJ Augustine.

 

I'll take that bet easily, even though weight room strength isn't everything. On film its easy to see who's stronger.

Steven was more hyped and more productive his freshman year and Pitt so I don't really see your argument honestly.

Do get me wrong, I like some of the things Meyers does but, we don't need a center who's two biggest strengths are agility and shooting. We already have that in LA.

 

Let's talk about how Seth Curry is projected undrafted by a lot of mocks.

The guy's not his brother, but he is an amazing shooter that played similarly at Duke, who led a top five team in scoring. Watching him go off against my Spartans for 29 pts (6-9 3pt shooting), there was no doubt in my mind the guy can play in the pro's, but yet the best he can get in a mock is late second round. I understand all of the criticisms, but you also have to look at the second round talent he's up against... a lot of those guys have the same flaws, didn't perform as well, and are still pegged as solid "second rounders." They say he can't create off the dribble, is too short, not impressive on defense, etc. ... at the end of the day the guy can flat out shoot and score off of screens better than anyone in this draft. I just think he'll find a place in this league, even if it's as an undrafted FA.

 

May have to extend and pick Dieng of Louisville, simply for his defense, in the lottery. He might already be 25 or so, but who cares.

 

I'm with you on Dieng. Out of all the Louisville players, he's the only one I think will be worth a damn on the next level, and he's got a skillset that will translate to the NBA regardless of the "weaknesses" on the scouting reports.

Like I was saying with Curry, sometimes you just have to overlook the "weakness" part of a scouting report, if you've seen a player enough, know what role he can fill, and know how well he can fill it. If ya'll don't wind up with Dieng or a big guy with the #10-12 pick, Trevor Mbakwe would be a good pick in the second. He ain't exactly Gorgui Dieng defensively, but he rivals him defensively in post-up situations, and he'd be a hell of an improvement off the bench defensively over guys like Claver and Freeland.

 

NOVoodoo or Zagger, either one of you really know anything about Norvel Pelle? I'm not one to stay up with High School rankings, I can barely keep up with College ball now but i'v seen a few Youtube videos of him and read an article about him. Wondering if either of you could shed some light on this guy, he seems fairly intriguing as a late first or second round pick. No college and questionable social/academic habits seem to have this guys draft stock in the "don't draft" category.

 

You know, with the high school guys, you pretty much have to go on other people's "expert" opinions, because it's harder to see them than the college guys. There will be the occasional game on ESPN, where you get to see something like McGary vs. Noel in high school, and then there's the McDonald's, Jordan, and Hoops Summit (coming up this weekend), but outside of that, unless you're a scout that has tape on these guys, you have to defer to the "experts" on those guys.

So I can't really comment on Pelle, because I've never seen him play, and I've probably read the same thing's about his saga that you have.

Probably more interesting is Ricky Ledo, who declared for the draft under similar situations but had more acclaim in high school. He was ineligible this year for Providence but still practiced with the team, and surprisingly, after sitting out a year, the guy just declared for the draft. He could go anywhere from late first to undrafted, and a lot of it will depend on how well he does during the combine.

Unrelated to the this particular draft, but another guy making questionable decisions like that, who I'm interested in keeping an eye on the long run, is Aquille Carr. He turned down college scholarships to go play in China, where he'll start his season coming up here in a few days. He's the size of Nate Robinson, but is still talented enough to make it in the league one day. I've seen the guy in various All-Star games, and despite his size, he's always one of the better players on the court. The one and only thing holding him back is that he's "listed" at 5'7", which is normally a death sentence, but it should be interesting to see how he does in a professional league overseas this year, because from everything I've seen from him, he's got that Nate Robinson talent and edge to where he looks like he'd be effective in any league.

 

I'm starting to wonder if they should trade into the late teens, early twenties to snatch up Dieng.

 

He's got incredible length, so despite being an inch shy of 7', he'll probably have a standing reach 2" or 3" inches taller then Meyers.

 

Meyers Leonard has an official wingspan of 7'3" and a standing reach of 9'

In an article a year ago DraftExpress said Dieng has a reported wingspan of 7'6" and I can't find a reach measurement yet

On a semi related note, Rudy Gobert's wingspan is 7'9" and a standing reach of about 10' ( a foot taller than Leonard)

Oden had a wingspan 7'4.25" and a standing reach of 9'4"

Aldridge is at 7'4.75" and 9'2 standing reach


for some perspective

 

I don't think NO will go after a raw prospect. He seems determined to get an established player instead.

Who is the most NBA ready player from this draft? I think Oladipo is right up there with McCollum.

 

Meyers Leonard? make it happen, Neil

 

Probably not overly. My issue, which has been twisted by many here several times has always been IN THE LOTTERY. I'd rather them not do that though

 

As long as it's not "Whitey", I think MM would be down with it.

Ah, crap, I just looked. He is a whitey. That just ruins it.