Your 2012 Number One Pick (NSFL) + Draft Talk

[benji]

To justify making a thread for this, with half the leagues tank fest coming to an end, figured we should have a thread to talk about the Draft.

It kinda looks like the 1997 Draft. Who will be the Chauncey Billups?

[Bulls#1]

Lol at anthony davis pick

well I guess my 1st pick will be Barnes as I think he is more nba ready

[The X]

I think this guy is being serious

On topic of Barnes, I expect him to be better than Marvin Williams, that much I can be sure of.

Anyways, I'm not sold on depth of draft. I like what's on offer in lottery. If team isn't in lottery, trade your pick & if you want to take a flyer, do it early in 2nd Round as there will be some useful talent that slides.

[benji]

On topic of Barnes, I expect him to be better than Marvin Williams, that much I can be sure of.

It's fine to openly say you're damning with faint praise.

Anyways, I'm not sold on depth of draft. I like what's on offer in lottery. If team isn't in lottery, trade your pick & if you want to take a flyer, do it early in 2nd Round as there will be some useful talent that slides.

Hence the 1997 comparison, we know Davis is going to be a star which we did with Duncan.

But going back after my post, and this surprised me, only three players from the 1997 Draft ever made an All-Star team. And Billups took five years before he rocketed into sudden superstar.

And there's not really an absurd raw talent like McGrady that I'm aware of.

I have to say that I don't get the hype of Kidd-Gilchrist. All I saw was his tournament games, but his stats aren't anything special (unlike Davis who I should note has simply the best stats of any NCAA player this year, and did it for a big program, that won the title, and this traditionally is how you know someone is a legit superstar) and I never saw anything that really made me say "yep, future All-Star." DraftExpress compares him to Gerald Wallace, but he gets no blocks/steals. Maybe they're just talking about offense...

[Nick]

I think a lot of the appeal with MKG is in his intangible type of traits, like high motor/leadership/work ethic/competitive/plays with heart/blablaetcetc. And i guess because he is athletic on top of that then his ceiling is higher? Also i think Gilchrist is given some leeway since he's on a overly-talented college team where the ball is shared.
I gotta admit i'm pretty sold on MKG myself. I can see him being a star in the NBA some day.

For me, i personally believe this draft to be super deep and not very top heavy. After Anthony Davis (who will be a stud. I'm seeing 18ppg-10rpg-3bpg type numbers (in prime) in my crystal ball) there is drop off in talent, and then it slowly levels out well into the 2nd round.
All the lottery guys (bar davis) have big (and valid) question marks.
Harrison Barnes - very hyped coming out of high school but didn't really dominate college like the superstar, his numbers don't really jump out at you... he did score pretty frequently but he didn't do it efficiently, and doesn't seem to produce much other than points. That type of thing doesn't really translate well into NBA.
Andre Drummond - Doesn't seem to have the motor to dominate, despite his ridiculous athleticism.
Austin Rivers - will get eaten alive in NBA.
Jared Sullinger - i don't see why he can't become a starter in the NBA, but mocks have him going in the late lottery for whatever reason.
Thomas Robinson - he looks decent but so did Jordan Hill....
Bradley Beal - one of the few guys in the draft that seems like he could be an All-Star one day.
Perry Jones - similar to Drummond, amazing physical gifts, but not much motor there.

But then some of the lesser hyped players like Dion Waiters, Tony Mitchell, Jae Crowder, Andrew Nicholson, Moe Harkless... all look like they can be steals if grabbed late 1st or early 2nd round area.

Overall i think this draft class has a lot of potential starters in it, but no superstars or sure-things (bar davis). I don't get all the people saying it's not deep, and that the lottery is full of gold. That's like the complete opposite of how i see it. I think it's very deep and the lottery is so-so (bar daivs). If i was a GM i'd rather have two late 1st rounders over one pick in the 6-14 range.

[Mavs4Life]

I compared 97 and this upcoming and you are right, as for how will be Billups, I dunno maybe overtime Rivers could actually develop to a good NBA guard. Nick gave my opinions on all the other possible lotto picks, they all have question marks around them.

[The X]

The lottery is definitely not gold Nick, but there are talented guys with some big question marks as you've noted. If some of the raw talents develop, then it'll be looked back as a pretty decent draft.

Btw, I don't get how people thought Jordan Hill looked good coming out of college. I remember laughing when Knicks took him at 8. He looked turrible when I saw him in college. Far too raw offensively, not great hands, no footwork to speak of.

On topic of lottery, I obviously think Bro Davis is great like everybody else. Moving onto Kidd-Gilchrist, like benji I'm not sold. I just see some buff guy who is a good athlete who often disappears in games. I think he can become a good player once he adds to his skillset and adds a reliable perimeter game, but I don't think this will be during his rookie contract.

I think Barnes will be a solid pro. Like everybody else, I have my concerns on Jared Sullinger being anything more than a backup PF. Thomas Robinson

I haven't really seen much of Bradley Beal yet so I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt since there aren't many good SG's going around these days.

Austin Rivers needs to land in right situation. He can play/score so at the very least he's a sparkplug off the bench in the early part of his career but he's going to have to prove he can defend & run a team to reach close to the level he thinks he can.

I like Kentucky senior Darius Miller as a solid role player as a late 1st/early 2nd round pick.


Back to benji's 1997 draft talk, I was saddened that Keith Van Horn never made it. A white player that wears long white socks, how could he miss? You knew the '97 draft wasn't good when Rodrick Rhodes & Keith Booth went in 1st round. '12 has more depth than '97. Closest thing you might get to Billups could be Jeremy Lamb, not sure. Might take Lamb a little while to find his place.

[shadowgrin]

Surprised with Rivers intent of applying for the draft. I always thought he would be going the full 4 years since his family is well off and he can afford to spend more time in college. Seems like he doesn't like Coach K's system, taking advantage of being a lottery pick before scouts discover that he might be a dud if he stays long in college, or he just wants to play in the league while his dad is still in the league too before the Celtics go with a different coach in their rebuilding phase.

[Nick]

Btw, I don't get how people thought Jordan Hill looked good coming out of college. I remember laughing when Knicks took him at 8. He looked turrible when I saw him in college. Far too raw offensively, not great hands, no footwork to speak of.

Hill come out of college averaging 18 and 11 though, which is nothing to scoff at. Robinson's gets similar numbers.

Closest thing you might get to Billups could be Jeremy Lamb, not sure. Might take Lamb a little while to find his place.

Absolutely no way is Lamb anything like Billups lol. Closest thing to Billups is probably Damian Lillard, but he'll have to significantly improve his PG skills to be in Billups' realm.

Surprised with Rivers intent of applying for the draft. I always thought he would be going the full 4 years since his family is well off and he can afford to spend more time in college. Seems like he doesn't like Coach K's system, taking advantage of being a lottery pick before scouts discover that he might be a dud if he stays long in college, or he just wants to play in the league while his dad is still in the league too before the Celtics go with a different coach in their rebuilding phase.

I was surprised too. Austin didn't exactly live up to his hype as a freshman and probably could've improve his stock hugely next season. I get the feeling Rivers thinks he's better than he actually is.

[The X]

Nick, I wasn't comparing Lamb's skillset to Billups, I was throwing out a player in response to benji who might be an All Star out of class, even if initial transition might take some time like it did with Billups.

I know Hill's numbers were good before getting drafted, I was concerned not about rebounding but his raw offensive game and seemingly low bball IQ. With his size and athleticism, you can do well in college based on that but at next level it's tougher. He's no bust though and given right circumstances he turns into a good rotation player.

[[Q]]

weren't Sullinger and Barnes projected Top 3 picks in the last couple of years?

and Davis could be good, but he could also be the next Tyrus Thomas and torture Bobcats fans like Thomas tortured air gordon. but i think he'll be picked first.

and I secretly hope that Boston trades up to get Austin Rivers to have the first father/son combo?

[JNett]

Does anyone else have a problem with the fact that Drummond shot 29 % from the free throw line?

I like Draymond Green from Michigan State. I think he'll be able to be a solid contributor off the bench for his career, maybe a starter.

[Nick]

Does anyone else have a problem with the fact that Drummond shot 29 % from the free throw line?

Yes, absolutely. Looking at his numbers you have to ask yourself why the hell he's even considered a 1st round prospect. All of his value as a prospect is in his elite athleticism and "potential". He's got bust written all over him.

[rise]

Really hope my Cats get Davis.

weren't Sullinger and Barnes projected Top 3 picks in the last couple of years?

and Davis could be good, but he could also be the next Tyrus Thomas and torture Bobcats fans like Thomas tortured air gordon. but i think he'll be picked first.

and I secretly hope that Boston trades up to get Austin Rivers to have the first father/son combo?

No way in hell Davis becomes Tyrus Thomas. Way too skilled even at age 19 to even be considered in the same league as a guy who should be rotting on the insanely shallow bench of the Bobcats. At the worst, he's a well-above-average combo forward if doesn't gain any weight on his 220 lb body.

I've got Davis, MKG, Beal, Robinson, Drummond as my top 5. Barnes comes in at 8, Rivers barely stays in the lottery, and Sullinger falls out of the lottery altogether. Barnes looks like the next Marvin Williams to me, I'm just not sold on Rivers, and Sullinger is Sean May 2.0.

I'm super high on Davis and MKG. Davis is the next big thing in the NBA, while MKG should be a better version of Gerald Wallace (now you know why I like him lol). Beal is solid, Robinson looks good, but I'm unsure about Drummond. He could be everything Greg Oden was supposed to be, or he could be even worse than Kwame Brown. I really have no idea which one, but I'm sure we will see one of those scenarios happen.