Official 2013 Draft thread

Was it already posted that Doug McDermott will return to Creighton for his senior season? That one surprised me a little bit.

 

Latest Draft Express mock has us taking Shabazz Mohammad in the 1st and Myck Kabongo in the 2nd.. I think I'd be able to cope with that.

 

Ray McCallum entered the draft too. I'd love for us to use a 2nd rounder on him.

 

Trying to figure out which second round picks will pan out is one of my favorite things about the draft.

 

I think it was a great move for Payne. There's no way he's ready for the pro's, and so far he's improved his game significantly every season he's been in college. Not to mention, Payne came out of his district's special education program and is now actually going to get his degree... the guy's apparently worked his ass off in the classroom, to the point where he was an All-Academic Big Ten member.

 

I think Eamonn Brennan is a hack of a journalist in every sense of the word, but he's actually right on the money about Payne and why coming back will do him some good, and why we should expect a lot more improvement from him this season -

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebask...84008/paynes-return-could-make-spartans-elite

I haven't seen a MSU player improve as much as he has in his three years at State so far. Granted, he was rated as a top 20 recruit by both Rivals and Scout out of high school, a lot of those rankings were based on his potential. He dominated the high school competition with his size and athleticism, but he was raw as hell. Every year he's turned a new weakness into a strength, and if he can continue that trend going into his senior season, he's got lottery potential rather than late first/early second potential.

 

Apologies for the triple post, but I also wanted to throw a name out there that I don't think I've really heard anyone mention so far -

Andrew Smith, 6'11" C, Butler

His numbers don't look that great, but after watching a lot of him over the years, he looks "servicable" to me as an end-of-the-bench center. I mean, there are bigger stiffs in the league. He looks every bit of 6'11", looks like he has a pretty decent wingspan, and he's actually got a good shooting touch. I'm not saying the guy should be in talks for a first round pick or anything, but in the mid-to-late 2nd round range, I think it's odd that he's being almost completely glossed over. He's skinny, not a great rebounder, etc., but in a draft like this, that sort of size and experience should at least warrant a look from most teams.

 

Now I'm quadruple posting, but fuck it, no one seems to have any opinions about these things regarding the draft...

Has anyone actually seen Tony Mitchell (from North Texas, not the one from Alabama)? I've seem bits and pieces of him, but I could never bring myself to watch more than a minute or two of a North Texas game.

Reading the scouting reports for him, the negatives seem to outweigh the positives. The highlights on YouTube also seem pretty commonplace for a lot of second round prospects that don't have the same baggage.

So I'm thinking there's got to be something more to his game that has him projected as a solid first rounder by most mock drafts. The guys who get paid to evaluate this talent have hopefully watched him and evaluated him as a first rounder for a reason. Could anyone who's actually seen him play consistently speak to his talent, or does someone who's seen him play consistently even exist?

It's bugging me, because he's more of a mystery than a lot of international prospects, and I spent most of my time last year watching college basketball.

 

I watched a game or 2 of his last year and came away impressed by his athleticism. He's a bit of tweener though in the sense that he's a face up 4 that thinks he can become a 3.

Had a great freshman year statistically but he's regressed in a lot of areas as his game has drifted further out to the perimeter.

 

Would love McCollum as he'd be a fun to watch with Lillard, but the fit isn't great. At this point, I'm alright with trading down for either Dieng or Adams and picking up some vet depth. Intrigued by the bucks 15th pick and would be fine with something like the 10th for their pick plus either Udoh or Ayon.

For second round guys I's like to see them package 39 and 40 for an early 2nd / late first and grab Myck Kabongo or Nate Wolters.

Trevor Mbakwe isn't even on DX 's latest mock draft, but I'd love to get him with the 45th.

 

I don't. Wolters looks like a first rounder to me and I think Myck will move up after workouts.

 

The Dude likes guys with upside too, but I also like guys who can play. Players like Leonard who have all the upside in the world don't matter because they aren't very good to begin with. While guys like Lillard, who are older, might not have as much upside, but can already play. If the draft pick remains ours, I hope they take a player who can contribute now, and has a little upside still. Rather than a player who has this potential next to his name that is years away from helping

 

I've cooled on Zeller.

His McHale-esque footwork is neutralized on his level with his 8'9" reach. I didn't know until recently hat his reach is on par with SF's.

For bigs, their reach is the most important measurement.

Centers should at the very least be in the 9'0" range.

 

Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

A pretty good one, actually.

 

Do you really think we would get much trading down? My feeling is the most we would get is another 2nd round pick or maybe switching 2nd round spots. (Which isn't bad mind you if we really moved up to the top of the 2nd?)
I guess if they wanted to get rid of a player, but that would eat cap space.

 

The have a lot of rotational bigs on their roster (sanders, henson, dalembert, udoh, mbah a moute, ayon) and they seem to like some guys at the top. I think they'd definitely do a trade like that if McCollum is there at 10. They are going to need a guard with potentially both Jennings and Ellis not being on the roster next year.

 

I like and agree with your thinking and I believe Wes if from there correct? They could draft MCW with #10 as their PGOTF, unless they really like TreyBurke, all this depends on whether Jennings leaves and Monta opts out.

 

Anthony Bennett to have Surgery:

http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2013/st...-nba-draft-anthony-bennett-surgery-agent-says

This guy is usually projected to go from pick 4 to 6 in mocks. Doubt he drops more then a slot or two due to this news but something to keep an eye on.

 

I think the top 6 or so players could probably lose a leg and still go top 10.