With where were projected to pick, where hes projected to go, his profile, our needs, and the connections between Billups and Memphis' staff, I'd be surprised if we passed on him tbh. Now if we move up in the lottery that's a different story..
Johnny Davis has been my guy (outside of Paolo) from Day 1. I've seen nothing in my research to deviate from that. Also digging Murray at 6 if he's available. BTW, I think Eason might also need some consideration. His defensive numbers and skills are absolutely mind blowing. I can see him shooting up the charts when the analytics guys start voicing their opinions.
If we end up at 6 and can't find a trade that makes this team a lot better immediately the only guy on the list that makes sense if we're going forward with the stated mission of Cronin to build a contender around Dame as soon as possible, then Murray is the only guy that makes sense with our current roster. If you wanted a guy who could get a ton of minutes as a backup then Duren would be my second pick of the group but I don't know if we want the lack of floor spacing that him and Nurk would provide on offense, that's why I'd see him as a bench player.
Do you remember Drummond when he was younger? The Blazers couldn't stop him from getting rebounds and put-backs.
He might be available at #11. I don't see anyone projecting him to be picked around #6. Of course he could end up being the best choice in the end.
Drummond was very good. It would’ve been nice to see Drummond play on a legit team with a legit PG before it became too late. I think Billups love Duren and love the idea of pairing him up with Simons for the future
It's a shame that the best player is probably a SG. If I was building a team from scratch and had the choice of players given, I'd probably go with Davis. He just seems relentless.
But pretty much all of them got solid size. Ivey is probably the shortest but he’s 6 foot 4 with insane athleticism. Actually a good draft to get Simons his perfect sidekick at SG down the road while still fulfilling a need by draft Duren, murray, Eason, or even Griffin
Ivey is projected by pretty much everyone to go in the top 4. along with Banchero, Chet and Jabari. I have seen a lot of projections of him going to Detroit.
I think when people see the description of a high-level role player it means there is a ceiling on his effectiveness. However I think of Klay Thompson as a high-level role player. He's not a primary ball handler he's not even a very good ball handler he's not the anchor on defense he's just a good defender all around. By himself Klay Thompson isn't a star but combined with the other players on the warriors, he is.
If we're really trying to (re)build around Dame, then probably Keegan Murray makes the most sense as somebody who can step right in.
I think Duren has the most upside among the over 6'8" guys who are all I'm looking at. If we can't get help at positions of need SF/PF or PF/C then we need to trade the pick so we can get immediate help in the frontcourt. I actually think we are fine at SF now with Hart, Nas. We need help at PF so a SF/PF or PF/C who is 6'8"+ is key. I like Keegan as well, but I'd rather go with the upside of Duren and what he could be.
If Billups has any say, he may want Duren as the defensive anchor like Ben Wallace was in Detroit. Wallace was a 4-time defensive player of the year and Duren has the potential to be a very good defender maybe at that level. I think Duren could provide help on defense very quickly.
