<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">TO DO LIST BRAIN TRUST'S KEYS TO OFFSEASON Pos. Player Offseason priority PG Baron Davis Get in shape and avoid injury G Derek Fisher Stay healthy, start assuming more vocal role SG Jason Richardson Develop ability to create off the dribble, improve free-throw shooting G/F Mickael Pietrus Keep breathing, avoid injury F Mike Dunleavy Get stronger; get contract extension G/F Calbert Cheaney Decide if he indeed wants to exercise $1.76M player option SF Rodney White Convince team he's worth spending $2M on next year PF Troy Murphy Develop back-to-the basket game, ability to finish PF/C Andris Biedrins Gain weight, get stronger, start developing offensive skills F Zarko Cabarkapa Get stronger, develop post game C Adonal Foyle Develop offensive skills, especially low-post game F Nikoloz Tskitishvili Finding a place where he can get on the court -- Marcus Thompson II</div> Source
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting upsidedownside7:</div><div class="quote_post">draft Chris Taft...</div> Green if he is avalable and trade Dunleavy after extension
Taft has good upside, but doesn't seem like he's that aggressive. But then again his attitude/bball IQ was never in question. He's kind of like Dunleavy I bet in that laid back, do things in the flow kind of way. That might not be a bad thing. Plus he looks like he can run the floor and finish strong around the hoop. He doesn't have very many flaws other than his shot range and limited moves around the rim in the post. I think most mocks have the guy I want going way early by about two picks (Tiago Splitter).
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting J-Rich23:</div><div class="quote_post">Green if he is avalable and trade Dunleavy after extension</div> He looks awesome, he's got more vertical than Lebron James at that size and can flat out shoot and break down defenses, but I wonder about his maturity on the court. We don't need any loose cannons. He's a bit hyped up like Qyntel Woods back in 2002 IMO, but that's the risk you take when you try to get a T-mac like player. If we wanted two picks and one that involved him as the 2nd of two first round picks, we'd probably have to give up Pietrus and maybe something else to get him. I like the idea of having a small forward that can play shooting guard and break down defenses since Dunleavy really can't, but is Green a small forward? Sounds like he wants to be a two guard. Do we want to take a risk and destroy our chemistry for a future allstar? I hope the end result would be Baron Davis Jason Richardson Gerald Green (T-mac) Troy Murphy Adonal Foyle or Andris Biedrins That would be the real Run TMC throwback if Gerald Green is NBA ready as they come for a high schooler.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting custodianrules2:</div><div class="quote_post">Taft has good upside, but doesn't seem like he's that aggressive. But then again his attitude/bball IQ was never in question. He's kind of like Dunleavy I bet in that laid back, do things in the flow kind of way. That might not be a bad thing. Plus he looks like he can run the floor and finish strong around the hoop. He doesn't have very many flaws other than his shot range and limited moves around the rim in the post. I think most mocks have the guy I want going way early by about two picks (Tiago Splitter).</div> totally off topic, but holy crap, dude, your signature!!! that is so awesome dude!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Schaddy:</div><div class="quote_post">totally off topic, but holy crap, dude, your signature!!! that is so awesome dude!</div> Thanks I've been getting a lot of good comments about it. Thank you very much.
Green seems like my number 1 choice. Even though we need a low post presence badly, I just cant pass the possiblity of a tall, athletic SF/SG in the mold of a Tmac or Lebron. The thought of a fast break is just incredible. I think we need to draft the best available player and most athletic player available which sounds like it might end up being Green. He can be Dunleavy's replacement if Dun does not work out. I love Pietrus, but if he does not have a problem being the 6th man of the year I would have no problem drafting someone like Green over Splitter. Lets develop Andris at center and Murphy as low post players and hope that Adonal works on his low post game too. That could be 3 able bodies to rotate between the 4/5 postion...
Typically I go for a high profile college guy who has produced quality numbers,has a full toolbox and busts his butt. In Green I see talent and tools that are rare. He handles the ball well,jumps like V Carter,shoots a J from anywhere. He "gets it",he understands the game well for a kid. His D and rebounding have not had much showcase,but he seems to want to be a complete player. Green is closer to being an NBA starter than most guys mentioned as lottery picks. The W's will be an uptempo team and J Rich,Pietrus and Green,sharing the 2-3 spots would be pure showtime. I think Green will go too early for the W's. If he did last,the star quality is too much to pass up.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting custodianrules2:</div><div class="quote_post">Wow, two for Green </div> I wouldn't be upset if we drafted that kid. He's got a lot of upside and dude can get up. If we drafted him, it would be the end for either Pietrus or Dunleavy. Expect one of them to be packaged for a big. I don't think he's going to last till our pick. Blazers, Raptors & New York should get to him. The difference between Dun & Taft is that Taft has an NBA body. Dunleavy certainly doesn't. You will not see Taft outmuscled. I've seen him turn it on and he was a monster. We have nobody with his strength and skill in the post. I know Mully scouted him @ the Nova game. Mullin knows that this will be the highest we'll be sitting on the lottery for at least a season or two so he's going to make this count. He won't draft just for position's sake and he shouldn't. I'd like Bogut but why trade up to get him when we have Beans in the wings? I think Bogut is good but we'd have to give up an arm and a leg to get him. He doesn't play D anywhere near Andris. Might as well make sure to land Taft/Green. Trade up a slot or two give up cash, #9 & 2nd and we probably could land them. They each have question marks so GM's wouldn't insist a huge deal.
So essentially, Taft for Pietrus if we were to get our hands on Gerald Green at 9th? Heck might as well since Pietrus isn't big enough to plays small forward and he's a bit too good to be a bench shooting guard. Green is like close to 6'9 and plays definitely like a guard. Might be a good Tayshaun Prince like defender. I pray to God he's not like T-Mac on the defensive end or that he has an ego so big that he doesn't want to play second fiddle to anyone like T-Mac did to Toronto when Vinsanity was there. If that's the case I'll hold onto Pietrus since he loves being a Warrior it seems. And plus I'm rooting for the guy. He's like an athletic Brian Cardinal.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting custodianrules2:</div><div class="quote_post">So essentially, Taft for Pietrus if we were to get our hands on Gerald Green at 9th? </div> Oh man, I don't know about that. If Taft averaged a double double he would have been a top 5 pick this year but Pietrus is a huge trading chip at this point. We're going to push for a playoff run and unless we get a quality big man or a SF like Ron Artest, you gotta keep Pietrus. I'll admit I'm a Taft homer but too many question marks to give up for Pietrus. He could legitimately start for most teams around the league. I still say Green or Taft is the best choice. Splitter for some reason seems to be dropping. Nbadraft.net has him @ 12 and his agent didn't sound very confident about him. I think he has a huge buyout and could withdraw. http://www.nbadraft.net/draftbuzz036.asp
Splitter is probably dropping due to some of those scouts comparing his game to Andersen Varajao I bet rather than closer to Pau Gasol/Andris Biedrins. Yes, he's athletic and very active like Varajao/Biedrins, but he's got more offense from what I've seen and goes for the finesse move rather than the power move all the time like Biedrins tries to do constantly. The knock on him is he might be too weak and too raw in the post, he's pretty mediocre from the foul line, his range isn't there yet to be a solid power forward right away. But the bunch of scouting reports I've read is he's got close to an all around and is capable of shooting 3's because he played some small forward. He just lacks consistency and he's been forced to play away from the perimeter and more towards the basket based on his team's need of a power forward/center. I mean he may sound like a tweener, but he's had success playing inside. He's been on a lot of scout's radars for a long time, more so than Andersen Varajao ever was. Have you seen the clips of him and some video excerpts from his games? He looks all right. He definitely looks more polished than Biedrins but with that active movement and more finesse. He's like an action player but can play under control. I think he'd be a stud in the open court with some work on his perimeter shot. Very athletic and tall. I mean guessing what his whole game is like watching Pietrus is short minutes last season when he barely got a chance to play. Plus, it's up for debate whether Splitter will be a successful NBA player. You can just see the scary amount of potential just oozing out from him, though. I love this picture btw. Booyah! That guard just goes flying out from under Splitter as he slams it down. Too bad he didn't get out of the way sooner! I wish I had some video footage of him playing small forward. This sucks!
Here's some direct links (not sure if allowed but oh well), but make sure you do a <font size="3">right-click "SAVE AS"</font> rather than left click on it directly to save bandwidth. Splitter showing he can run the floor on the break. http://www.acb.com/video/200405_J29_splitter.avi Splitter showing shotblock timing in transition http://www.acb.com/video/200405_J27_splitter.avi Splitter showing shotblocks from behind http://www.acb.com/video/200405_J25_splitter.avi Splitter alley oop (jump was kind of weak, but he doesn't need to get that high and plus he's 7 feet tall) http://www.acb.com/video/200405_J19_splitter.avi Splitter at the end shows a very good midair short range bank shot off glass. http://www.acb.com/video/200405_J14_splitter.avi And something extra: Pietrus' brother Florent http://www.acb.com/video/200405_J29_pietrus.avi
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting upsidedownside7:</div><div class="quote_post">Oh man, I don't know about that. If Taft averaged a double double he would have been a top 5 pick this year but Pietrus is a huge trading chip at this point. We're going to push for a playoff run and unless we get a quality big man or a SF like Ron Artest, you gotta keep Pietrus. I'll admit I'm a Taft homer but too many question marks to give up for Pietrus. He could legitimately start for most teams around the league. I still say Green or Taft is the best choice. Splitter for some reason seems to be dropping. Nbadraft.net has him @ 12 and his agent didn't sound very confident about him. I think he has a huge buyout and could withdraw. http://www.nbadraft.net/draftbuzz036.asp</div> I got off topic. Taft has the potential to be a force since he kind of plays like a center or (doh!) is a center and seems like a safe pick with complacency/desire as the main risks in his game. It depends on how bad we want the extra rebounding help, defense, and low post presence and whether he'll be play up to these things we need done on the court. He is capable. But it sucks he didn't do it earlier in college. If he lacks the killer instinct to demand the ball and get down the floor, we're better off having one of Rerem or Zhone's favorites or Wtwalker's suggestion: trade the pick and try to dump a bad contract. I mean Taft could very well be like Michael Olowakandi sans the attitude, lack of consistency or aggressiveness. And that would suck. I was totally hating on Dunleavy until he started playing with more fire.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting custodianrules2:</div><div class="quote_post">He looks awesome, he's got more vertical than Lebron James at that size and can flat out shoot and break down defenses, but I wonder about his maturity on the court. We don't need any loose cannons. He's a bit hyped up like Qyntel Woods back in 2002 IMO, but that's the risk you take when you try to get a T-mac like player. If we wanted two picks and one that involved him as the 2nd of two first round picks, we'd probably have to give up Pietrus and maybe something else to get him. I like the idea of having a small forward that can play shooting guard and break down defenses since Dunleavy really can't, but is Green a small forward? Sounds like he wants to be a two guard. Do we want to take a risk and destroy our chemistry for a future allstar? I hope the end result would be Baron Davis Jason Richardson Gerald Green (T-mac) Troy Murphy Adonal Foyle or Andris Biedrins That would be the real Run TMC throwback if Gerald Green is NBA ready as they come for a high schooler.</div> I think if we draft Green we should start Pietrus at SG for a while and J-Rich play SF. Once Green proves he is ready, we have him start in place of Pietrus. If Green is really what they say he is, we should have a kick ass lineup that looks like this: PG: Baron Davis/ Derek Fisher SG: Gerald Green/ Mickael Pietrus/ FA SF: Jason Richardson/ Mickael Pietrus/ MLE/ Anglo Gigli PF: Troy Murphy/ Zarko Cabarkapa/ Anglo Gigli C: Andris Biedrins/ Adonal Foyle
I doubt Jrich can matchup against the small forwards that will be thrown at him on a nightly basis. If he was 6'8, he'd definitely be a forward and not a guard. I mean he's really only 6'4 even though they list him at 6'6 because of his wingspan. Green would probably have to play small forward at 215 lbs or whatever weight he has, but at least he'd have the length to contest shots. I doubt we'd get Gigli in the 2nd round. He'd be gone by then. Green/Taft/Splitter sound like the most interesting players of the draft and some big walking mismatches in our favor. They could be good players or it could be a repeat of the 2002 draft. Taft = Wilcox, Green = Qyntel Woods, and Splitter = Nikolov Tskitishvili. Hopefully not, though.
Stop me if you heard this before- Either Sean May or Sheldon Williams would eat up Taft like he was a just baked cookie. He has only an inch height edge and no idea about how to use it. I'm interested in St Joe Center Dwayne Jones who declared,but,so far is not in any mocks,and I think could be a steal as an early rd 2. Jones is 6-11,grabbed mucho boards,nearly as many as Bogut,and he's a much better shotblocker than Taft. Jones was just over 10pt per,but Taft didn't exactly rack up big points. Taft is a slightly smaller Erick Dapier-and Damp was about 30yr old by the time he got his game togather. I am also curious about Sun Ming Ming,who Custodian brought up recently. Here is a Manute with bulk. At 7-9 finesse is optional,even minimal skill can be "impact" if you blot out the sun. With a couple of #2 picks we can bag-with luck-Jones AND Ming-Ming. With even more luck,we get G Green,and swap Carolina guys Dunleavy + White and a future #2 for the Bobcats second rd 1,which is about #13. With that we grab Diogu. Who is at sf? Who at sg? Pietrus and Diogu would be the main SF guys at first. Green would backup at the 2+3,Diogu would also play a lot of 4. Jones would be our #3 C,with Ming Ming on ice with an "injury" until he got enough skills to play. As I expect Green to shoot up as scouts check out his tools,what could be more real is D Granger-then Diogu...or visa versa,with S Williams,S May,as mid-first options. I'd also love to get S Stoudamire by swapping D Fish,but I don't want to pile up too much fantasy in one master plan. When it comes to Splitter,and other Euro-teens,I figure the W's will be abroad watching. IF there's a guy who is the real deal-they likely will ignore me and grab him. I can't afford travel beyond hitchhike range so all I have are fragments of info on the imports. If a guy is 7-9 and a round 2..that's a different situation.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting REREM:</div><div class="quote_post">I am also curious about Sun Ming Ming,who Custodian brought up recently. Here is a Manute with bulk. At 7-9 finesse is optional,even minimal skill can be "impact" if you blot out the sun. With a couple of #2 picks we can bag-with luck-Jones AND Ming-Ming. With even more luck,we get G Green,and swap Carolina guys Dunleavy + White and a future #2 for the Bobcats second rd 1,which is about #13. With that we grab Diogu. Who is at sf? Who at sg? Pietrus and Diogu would be the main SF guys at first. Green would backup at the 2+3,Diogu would also play a lot of 4. Jones would be our #3 C,with Ming Ming on ice with an "injury" until he got enough skills to play. </div> I was kind of kidding about Sun Ming Ming thing, who I didn't think had a chance playing NBA ball, but then again I can see why it might worth it to spend a 2nd rounder on him. I mean the guy can truly dunk and block flat footed (unlike that 7'5 guy with the 7'8 wing span from Iran). He could be like a poor man's Rick Smits or a Mark Eaton or a Manute Bol with strength or the dude who starred with Billy Crystal in "My Giant" that had the foot problems. I mean didn't the wizards and the blazers use their 2nd round picks on some 7'2++ picks from Puerto Rico/South Korea? Might as well use ours since we got two of them this draft and next year we will probably not change the 8-9 man rotation unless we get injuries. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting REREM:</div><div class="quote_post"> As I expect Green to shoot up as scouts check out his tools,what could be more real is D Granger-then Diogu...or visa versa,with S Williams,S May,as mid-first options. I'd also love to get S Stoudamire by swapping D Fish,but I don't want to pile up too much fantasy in one master plan. When it comes to Splitter,and other Euro-teens,I figure the W's will be abroad watching. IF there's a guy who is the real deal-they likely will ignore me and grab him. I can't afford travel beyond hitchhike range so all I have are fragments of info on the imports. If a guy is 7-9 and a round 2..that's a different situation.</div> I guess if there are no players with much basketball skills to harness all that potential, we probably are just better off with the BAP (best available player). I mean Pietrus was a good risk back in 2003 because at least he was quick enough and could handle the ball with either hand to get to the rim at will and he could defend point guards because of his amazing lateral quickness. With the rotations probably already set next season we might as well take a chance on a young rook that can be a solid weapon on defense/offense or both. Those guys you mentioned may be future role players, but they could very good role players. I'd take Saleem Stoudamire (shooting, quick release, clutch, but he'll be gone by the time we get him in the 2nd round unless we get bumped up to late first round), Diogu (well rounded big man, plays with heart, mid first rounder 10-15 maybe?). Granger can play 3 positions and would probably be best used as a small Eddie Griffin / Josh Howard with shotblocking capability type player (mid to late). The only problem I heard about Granger is he doesn't particularly pass well, he plays more inside than he does outside, and he's injury prone. Diogu would probably be more favored since many scouts have said he's the best big man available that posesses mostly all the skills that Andrew Bogut has, but in a smaller body and we need a polished big man. I wouldn't have a problem drafting these guys, but neither of these guys are projected star players in the NBA. Diogu would probably be the best "safe pick". But is he just declaring or has he actually hired an agent? For all those Zach Randolph lovers, Diogu would probably be the answer and probably more. Keep in mind for every squatty 6'8 player there's the ones that didn't make the transition to power forward in the NBA like Marcus Fizer, Donnell Harvey, Lonny Baxter, etc. But some good power forwards can slip into the second round (Carlos Boozer) and to some lesser extent (Brian Cardinal/Eddie Najera/Luke Walton).
