Some ideas on GSW 06 draft

Our position is still pretty uncertain,we could flounder,miss the playoffs and pick late lotto,but probably will be in the 15-20 area.

The 06 draft lacks a likely franchise C,and even the brightest stars expected to enter are a bit uncertain,with some having production,some athletic,few consistantly having it all. HS guys won't be a factor at all. Further,there's been so many blue chippers jumping early that the talent pool is a bit dilluted now. It is,I think,notable that round 2 probably is not much effected. Rd 2 will have seniors,juniors who may not be the super leapers,but do have a more mature game. Some are quite promising as role players. A few can even turn out better than several of the high picks.

We have our rd 1. We got a pick from the Mavs,dealt it in the Najara deal. We did not have to ship out our rd 2 last draft,so we likely owe it this time. However,I'd be trying to add a second round pick or 2 as I see some bargains. Mid-late first,Ariz G Hassan Adams is a guy I like. Adams plays an aggressive and quick game,likes to drive,plays good D. U.Conn's Hilton Armstrong,6-11 has been rising. He's pretty agile and gives a nice effort. Probably not bulky,strong enough yet to be an impact pro,and he's not a star scorer. He's good,and getting better on the boards,on D.

Getting less exposure,but better numbers is Jusin Williams,a 6-10 C/F at Wyoming Justin W. Is leading the NCAA in shotblocks,and has impressive rebound numbers too. He's scoring double figures,but not by a lot. He's tended to get quite a few fouls,but you expect that from an aggressive defender. He has gone from unnoticed to high rd 2,might yet move to late rd 1. At U. Cincinati,Eric Hicks is a tad smaller than Ron Artest-yet plays CENTER and is a feared shotblocker,a tough rebounder,and a power scorer inside. He can dominate a game but is so far from fitting the mold he's not even listed as a rd 2 on some mocks. Jason Maxiel last year was similar,muscle,energy,talent but basically a 6-6 PF. At 245 Hicks may not be defending SF's,but at 235,why not? I'd think someone takes him by the end of rd 2,and even if he's a specialized role player,he could get very good at that role.

W Vir G Mike Gansey reminds me of Jeff Hornacek. Hornacek always got underrated. He was rock solid and smart on D,an efficient,consistant shooter and faster than he looked. Gansey plays very nice D. Is a terror in the passing lanes a good passer,a high % shooter. He'd be a good pick as a late first,a bargain in Rd 2.

The W's seem to be holding 3 rd 2's in 07. Will we do some swap where we'd get a rd 2 as part of the deal? Might we trade our #1 for a future #1 and a #2 now? Rd 2 picks are often seen as mere pocket change,but are a budget friendly way to get talent that can become valued.

 

Now that there's an age limit the rounds should be a little deeper in a couple of years. It's good that we have more second rounders in 07

 

IMO A week or two before the draft some foreign player will suddenly emerge from nowhere on the radar and be a top prospect.

We need the biggest person in the draft. I did my homework in 2004. If he still wants to play basketball, I want this guy:

(Courtesy of ESPN Insider & Chad Ford):

Cleiton Sebastiao

CENTER | TEAM: NONE
AGE: 25 | HT/WT: 7-0, 280 | STATS: N/A

INSIDER RANKING: Centers (13) | International (28)


The Brazilian Bombshell

If Omerhodzic's problem was strength, Cleiton Sebastiao's problem is polish and exposure. The 7-foot, 280-pound Brazilian big man is one of the biggest and strongest human beings I've ever seen. He has a standing reach of 9-foot-4 inches (to put that into perspective, Yao Ming has a 9-foot-7 inch reach) and the body of an NFL lineman.

"I know people are going to freak when I say this, but this guy is stronger than Shaq," Lichter told Insider. "I trained Nene his first year, and I thought Nene was one of the strongest, most athletic big men ever. This kid is already stronger."

Nene, by the way, would agree with that assessment. About 10 minutes into Sebastiao's workout, Nene showed up at the gym in Cleveland and watched the big fella do his thing.

"Wow, he is so strong," Nene told Insider. "We could use him on the Nuggets. I saw him two years ago, and I can't believe how much he's improved."

Later, when the two were talking, Sebastiao made the 6-11, 260-pound Nene look small. That's just hard to believe. Sebastiao has already put two players in the hospital, including big-man trainer Shane Kline-Ruminski.

Where did he come from? That's the question everyone is asking right now. Joe Santos, who works with Nene, found Sebastiao working construction in Brazil about 2½ years ago.

"I asked him, 'Do you play basketball big fella?' " Santos said. "He said no. I said, 'You do now.' "

Santos got him to New York to a small junior college, Genesee. He didn't speak a word of English but quickly picked up the language and the game. Not only did he begin improving on the court immediately, but he also became an honor student.

He bounced around to several more small colleges, then family problems forced him to head back to Brazil. He arrived back in the U.S. five weeks ago and has been working with Lichter ever since.

Strength is Sebastiao's forte. He's naturally strong and just began lifting weights. Lichter claims his pupil already can bench press 185 pounds 24 times (the Chicago pre-draft record, set by J.R. Bremer, is 26). That's amazing for a big man with long arms. He also has unbelievable lower body strength. Lichter put Sebastiao through a power-band drill, where he puts a thick rubber band around Sebastiao's waist and tries to pull the player out of the paint.

The drill is extremely difficult. To explain the drill, Lichter put the band around my waist, told me to get low and then started pulling. I went flying out of the paint almost immediately. Sebastiao put it on next and it was Lichter who went flying.

"I used the thick band we used today on Nene just twice two years ago," Lichter said. "That was a real challenge for Nene. This kid is amazing."

Now here's the scary part. Sebastiao is more than just a bruiser. I watched him in workouts for about an hour, and he has a nice, soft touch around the basket and range on his jumper that extends out about 10 feet. His footwork is great, in part, because he was a soccer player growing up. He can really get up and down the floor and has surprising explosiveness for someone his size. While he's nowhere near the freak athlete that Nene was, he's more athletic than most of the stiffs the NBA throws in the paint. He's not much of a ball-handler, but who wants a guy like this to handle the ball?

Sebatiao's specialty is rebounding and defense. He's very aggressive on both ends of the floor and reminds you of Ben Wallace with his blue-collar work ethic.

"I really love to play defense and work hard," Sebastiao told Insider. "My whole life, I have to work hard to achieve my goals. In construction, in basketball and to learn English in school. I know this is the key to success."

Lichter raves about Sebastiao's work ethic and intelligence. In a draft already filled with freakishly strong, athletic (but extremely raw) big men like Pavel Podkolzine and Peter John Ramos, is Sebastiao really in the mix?

The downside is he's already 25 years old and, like Omerhodzic, doesn't have much game film for NBA scouts to break down. Coyne has been trying to get Sebastiao invited to the Chicago pre-draft camp to show scouts what the kid can do in game situations.

Once NBA scouts get a look at this guy in workouts, every one of them is going to want to see what he looks like in a game situation. The pre-draft camp no doubt will be filled with college players whom scouts have seen 50 times. It would make sense for the NBA to open up a space for a huge kid scouts haven't seen once.

While no one in Sebastiao's camp believes he'll be a lottery pick, the way Nene was two years ago, once teams get into the second round, they're going to have to give this guy a look. Like Big Ben, he may never score 10 points in a game, but he could put Shaq in the hospital. I know a few teams that might just be interested in that.

Here's another Article:

http://nbadraft.net/maurer002.asp

I want this guy!

 

Heck,sign him up and send him to the Devo league. We don't have a rd 2. I don't expect much,but give him a year in the devo league and he may at least be a banger/bruiser. Realistically,he's got so little game experiance he may make Foyle look like a finesse guy,but you could say about the same for a few bigs who did get drafted and are seldom seen.

 

NBA prospects are slightly of out of my realm, but I think we need a big man or a backup swing guy that can act as defensive stopper/high energy scorer (if Pietrus leaves). The problem with Hassan Adams is he a pure two guard or an undersized forward? The guys I do like are bangers or talented bigs like Sheldon Williams, Lamarcus Aldridge, Josh Boone. International prospects I'm intrigued by Tiago Splitter and Kosta Perovic.

Then with guards, there's lots of tweeners, but I do I like watching Hassan Adams, Maurice Ager, Brandon Roy. International prospects that intrigue me are Rudy Fernandez, Marco Belinelli, Marko Thomas who are like Marko Jaric lightweight type guards with versatility. Fernandez is supposed to be the next SuperManu, but I haven't seen him much. If we're looking for role player, I like Mardy Collins. I do think the shooting guard does need to be able to hit the three ball, so I'm not sure about some of these prospects. I like the three ball, I like defense, passing, ability to create offense. With big men, it's mobility, hands, rebounding, presence on both ends.

 

There are two issues that need to be discussed before this summer's draft:

1. With Pietrus, Biedrins, Diogu, Taft, and Ellis, the Warriors have a glut of young guys, especially at the power positions. They'd be asking for trouble to though another rookie into the mix, especially if the rookie isn't a project. They can't develop them all at the same time, which means their rookie contracts are going to run out before the Warriors have played them enough to know what they have.

Mullin is going to have to make a decision on who to keep and who to trade pretty soon. I can't see how Mullin can resign Pietrus with Dunleavy still on the team. As frustrating as Dunleavy is to a lot of Warrior fans, Pietrus still hasn't done anything to take the starting spot away from him. Next year the same will be said about Biedrins and Foyle/Murphy.

2. With the Warriors contract situation (big contracts to Baron, Fisher, Richardson, Dunleavy, Murphy, and Foyle), they'll only be able to resign one or two of the aforementioned young guys. So they need to keep their draft picks to restock their cupboard as players leave every year when their rookie contracts are up.

So...what to do...

The good news is that the Warriors have a lot of options (trading a big contract with either a future pick or rookie contract, letting their rookies leave after 4 years, trading current picks for future picks, etc.), but I think the least of Mullin's concerns right now is scouting players for the '06 draft.

 

That is true, Wtwalker, that we can't give minutes to everyone to find out who is the right fit. So who do you think we should keep? I'm really high on Pietrus just because we have no defensive stoppers on this team and he's the quickest player on the team with an inside/outside game. Who else besides him is a ballhawk when it comes to man-to-man defense.

I also like Zarko because he's very athletic, long and Dirk Nowitzki-like, but he's very inconsistent which is frustrating to fans.

Then you have to keep the big man prospects like Ike, Taft, Biedrins just because of their tremendous upside (Ike is debatable for some, but he is the most polished offensive big).

But I guess since REREM mentioned the projected talent depth for '06 might be weaker than previous drafts, it could be a good time to trade picks + salary dump for some over the hill vet. As much as Murphy or Foyle is a factor in some games, I'd like to open up more floor time for Taft/Biedrins/Ike/Zarko or use those big contracts we have to get some talented vet big guy in our lineup. It's risky, but the way I see it, Murphy's value has never been higher and he's way too versatile to give pure position players a chance in the roster. Those 4 young guys are all players that might add different things to the table and could get better results than anticipated. It could be a case of the grass is greener on the other side in terms of players, but it's like Murphy impedes the growth of several players on this roster because of his ability to play the forward and center spot. I guess if this were to happen, I can't harp about Biedrins/Zarko/Taft/Ike's inconsistency. Murphy has been our most consistent player and it's really been the team game that has killing the Warriors just like it has in previous years. It's all about the team play, identity, consistency, and the talent fitting together.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Run BJM:</div><div class="quote_post">No reason to keep Ike or Taft if they arent going to play AT ALL. We might as well ship them off for Monty's favorite players: inconsistent unproven ones. Zarko makes one shot and he instantly gets 10 more minutes of PT, Ike misses one and hes out of the game ASAP. Biedrins was an absolute beast in the 4th tonight and they switch him with Foyle, because Foyle "has more experience". I'm sick of this ****, play the players that give you results. Monty is so spineless, he plays to keep everyone happy; not to win.
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I'm really frustrated too, but look at the bright side. Mully and Monty work hand in hand. Zarko might be on the block along with other guys who oddly get more minutes than others. I mean look at what happened last year to open up more playing time for Andris Biedrins (we traded Cliffy, promoted Foyle, made Biedrins the backup center). Now Biedrins might actually be one season away from being pretty darn good consistently, but he's been held back because of his lack of fundamentals or the fact he's not matching up well against pure nba centers. Also, if it's one player stopping Ike from getting minutes it has been Murphy, I believe. Zarko would actually be a nice high post passer who can recognize Diogu inside, so I wouldn't say Zarko wouldn't get results, he just doesn't give results in odd minutes or DNP's. Last season he was on fire with 50-60% shooting during several weeks. It's probably just hard for some players to not know when they're going to play and then trying to press for recognition.

I also wouldn't mind trading Foyle too, but a lot can happen before the deadline. The young guys might not be consistent or giving results as anticipated, but it's good to get these guys some burn and see what they're made of. Foyle/Murphy tandem is just not for the future, but they help us win now when they play well and consistently.

 

It really may be redundant for me to even say this again....Monty needs to USE the whole roster,to let the regulars stay fresh and let our VERY talented bench step up,help us win NOW and ALSO get a better foundation for the future. I saw "per 48 min" stats on the W's yesterday,and per 48,only J Rich outscores Pietrus,Ike is over 20ppg also, Biedrens,Taft and Foyle all are over 10 rbd per,and a surprise-Monta scores almost 20 per 48 min. We just blew a fat cushion vs the Clips,why? Well we had been dominating the boards,playing decent D,but Monty went small,and ran the guy's who'd already had heavy minutes into the ground. If tired enough,even J Rich and Baron are much less effective. We have the bench talent to see that nobody is at 75% speed in the 4th,but Monty is getting insecure and so he reverts to sending out his "4th quarter" crew,a small ball,veteran bunch...even if they ARE tied and not matching up well.

Against the Clips Murphy got 20 rbd. If you play perfect team D,but don't get the rebound,they get to try again. If a team gets enough offensive boards you can hold them to 30% and they still win. Murphy does not need to be Bill Russell on D,he needs to contest every shot enough that it is a little more difficult...and he needs to get those 10+ boards EVERY game.