The 2015 NBA Draft Thread: Draft Day Is Here

[awwsome]

Stop playing Russell.

 

[osh kosh bosh]

Dekker is an in game shooter. He can shoot, sure he may be streaky just like those guys were, but to say he CANT shoot is a bit far fetched.
50% fg and 35% from 3pt for his college career is solid, and will be respected if he pulls it off at the next level.

Gallo isnt a shooter. He never was one. Dantoni blew that way outta proportion.

Gallo takes 6 a game and hits a 37% with 85% from the line, he's a shooter.


Sam shot sub 70%, from the line, and only 35% from college 3 and he never takes mid range jumpers.

He's not. a. shooter. at least not right now.


This white guy must be compared to whit guy comparisons are getting out of hand.

 

[8pm at msg]

Someone compared Sam Dekker to Jeff Green. Tall for the position, inconsistent in his performance, does a variety of things well but nothing great....Jeff was probably a better passer though.

 

[pmatic]

@DraftExpress Hearing Providence really pushing Kris Dunn to come back for a 4th year, telling him he's a late 1st round pick, but will go Top-5 in 2016.

@DraftExpress No final decisions yet, but other projected 1st rounders who could return to school include UNLV's Christian Wood and Utah's Jakob Poeltl.

@DraftExpress I'm told Stanley Johnson is looking for assurances he will be picked in the Top-10. If he feels comfortable with that, he'll enter the draft

 

[pmatic]

Chief Justise Presiding?

With Jahlil Okafor’s inconsistent play during this year’s NCAA Tournament leading some to question his meddle, and Tyus Jones leaving his A-game at home until the National Championship win over Wisconsin, much of the attention during Duke’s run to to the title was (rightly) focused on Justise Winslow, their do-everything combo forward. Winslow’s offensive versatility and lockdown-defense at multiple positions makes him an ideal prospect for the “position-less” modern NBA, and some are even speculating that he might be able to run down the two front-runners — Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns — and become the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft.

If you go by the last month of the collegiate season, Winslow surely belongs in the discussion when it comes to best player in the country. In projecting his game at the next level, however, it’s important to consider both how Duke utilized Winslow’s unique skill set, and whether NBA teams might use him in a similar role.

Winslow really found his groove when coach Mike Krzyzewski changed his starting lineup midseason. Early on, Coach K ran out a traditional two-post look: Okafor at the 5, Amile Jefferson joining him down low, and Winslow as an oversized 3. But just after the mid-season mark, the Blue Devils sent Jefferson to the bench and inserted Matt Jones, running a three-guard lineup that resulted in much greater returns from Okafor and Winslow.

@VJL_bball Justise Winslow EWP first 20 games = 4.5 Justise Winslow EWP next 17 games = 15.3 @deanondraft

To see why the lineup change was so important, it’s worth nothing Duke’s Elite Eight victory over Gonzaga, which I covered last week.

Instead of matching up with a wing player like 6'4 Byron Wesley, Winslow faced the 6'10 Kyle Wiltjer. Doing so neutralized Gonzaga’s ability defend Winslow on the perimeter, and was then able to use his quickness and blow past Wiltjer at will. Just as importantly, when he got around Wiltjer, there was only one man between him and the basket — Okafor’s defender. Either the poor guy crashed on Winslow, opening up the pass to Jahlil, or he held position and someone else had to recover, which led to conveniently open looks outside for Duke. This was not the case earlier in the season, when the Blue Devils ran the Twin Towers lineup. Then, Winslow would have had to give up the ball on the drive as part of a labyrinthine effort to find an open shot.

Ultimately, there are two central questions surrounding Winslow in the NBA:

1) Will any team be willing to play him as a PF?

2) Will he be able to survive defensively against bigger and stronger NBA power forwards?

Even just years ago, the answer to both of these questions is a resounding NO. Today’s NBA game, however, continues to evolve at a rapid pace. The best team in the league currently starts a guy who is almost exactly Winslow’s size at the 4: Draymond Green.

On one hand, it seems crazy to say that Winslow can’t do what Green does, given the one inch-height, eight-pound weight, and three-inch wingspan difference. On the other, Green is already dramatically undersized for an NBA power forward, and it’s fair to wonder if there exists a point of diminishing returns at the position; where no amount of speed, athleticism, or defensive grit can make up for a lack of size.

For teams picking at the top of the draft, this is a big deal — they need their lottery picks to have an instant impact — and for Winslow, the quickest path to providing a major NBA bang for the buck may be for him to follow in the mold of Green. After all, the Warriors went from a middle-of-the-pack playoff team with David Lee at the 4, to a wrecking crew with Green taking over in his stead. In fact, the parallels between Duke and Golden State are quite fascinating. Klay Thompson and Steph Curry are way better than Quinn Cook and Tyus Jones, obviously, and Jahlil Okafor and Andrew Bogut couldn’t be more dissimilar, but nevertheless, you have a human boulder at the center, two 3-and-D wings at the forward slots, and two shot-creating guards. One big man and four perimeter players.

The catalyst that makes this system go is that fourth perimeter player — Green and Winslow, each of whom have excelled at guarding the opposition’s second big man. In the NCAA title game, Winslow did exactly that by stonewalling Wisconsin’s Nigel Hayes on the block. He got himself into foul trouble in doing so, of course — he only tuned 19 years old a few weeks ago — and he’s definitely got progress to make, but he successfully bodied up the big fella, and that’s what counts.

Is Winslow capable of handling NBA power forwards, though? If he can, then this offensive prospects will improve in turn, and he would represent a tailor-made solution for several teams that are presently in position to draft him.

ORLANDO MAGIC

Why, Orlando, are Frye, O’Quinn, and Nicholson logging so many damn minutes?! What, exactly, does this accomplish? What benefits do you see from pairing any of these guys with Nik Vucevic — a big, slow center who can’t hit from outside? Have any of these plodding, 6'10" dinosaurs been able to impose their will regularly on the Draymond Greens of the world? Why not commit to spreading the floor full-time with Winslow and Aaron Gordon (plus Tobias Harris in small-ball lineups), and just give Victor Oladipo and Elfrid Payton the green light to turn every contest into a track meet?

SACRAMENTO KINGS

If Kings fans are hoping for a quick turnaround under George Karl, the best case scenario is probably Jason Thompson becoming their version of David Lee. And with Karl pushing the tempo, dinosaurs like Evans and Landry look lost in traffic on the court. Neither of them contributes anything offensively anymore, and you aren’t going anywhere in today’s NBA with 33 minutes of no offense at PF.

DENVER NUGGETS

The Nuggets could be in trouble here. They just committed $50 million to Kenneth Faried, so he’s not exactly benchable. Unfortunately, he’s also a spacing nightmare, and so is center Jusuf Nurkic. Playing two big men who can’t shoot has proven to be a losing strategy in the modern NBA.

If they are going to get out of the rut they are in, the Nuggets are going to need to make a move similar to the ones Coach K made at Duke and Steve Kerr made at Golden State: less reliance on non-shooting bigs, and playing four wings at once.

DETROIT PISTONS

It’s not a coincidence that Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond have been playing some of their best basketball over the last few weeks with Greg Monroe out of the line-up.

In defense of Monroe, he is one of the league few traditional PFs who has the post game to devastate smaller opponents, but it’s not clear if that even matters. His lack of foot speed is a liability on defense, and his poor shooting hurts his team’s offensive spacing. Stan Van Gundy is trying to run a 4-out offense: the big man rolls to the rim, three shooters remain on the three-point line, and a PG makes decisions on the fly with a wide-open floor in front of him. With one of the best rim-rollers in the NBA in Drummond, the last thing he wants is clutter in the lane. As a result, Van Gundy has been giving far more minutes to the three-and-D Anthony Tolliver of late.

From what he’s shown in just one year at Duke, Winslow has the versatility to be either Andre Iguodala or Green at the next level. The issue is, how and where will he be best utilized to take advantage of his skill set from a matchups perspective. Iguodala is a great player, but when Golden State switched him and Harrison Barnes, not much changed. Conversely, when they switched Green and David Lee, everything changed. Simply put, in today’s Association, games are won and lost at the PF position.

Winslow will have an impact in the NBA regardless of how he is used — that’s how talented he is — but given his unique skills, and the rosters of the teams looking at him, playing him anywhere but power forward will limit his contribution.

 

[frshstunna]

@DraftExpress Hearing Providence really pushing Kris Dunn to come back for a 4th year, telling him he's a late 1st round pick, but will go Top-5 in 2016.

@DraftExpress No final decisions yet, but other projected 1st rounders who could return to school include UNLV's Christian Wood and Utah's Jakob Poeltl.

@DraftExpress I'm told Stanley Johnson is looking for assurances he will be picked in the Top-10. If he feels comfortable with that, he'll enter the draft

Stanley wants a top 10 guarantee right now ? ...he bout to fall for the okie doke

 

[ValarMorghulis]

Who they think they're fooling?

At this point, if you're even considered a sure fire 2nd rounder thats enough to go

 

[NickFolarin]

Who they think they're fooling?

At this point, if you're even considered a sure fire 2nd rounder thats enough to go

#HarrisonTwinsJig
#JPTokotoJig

 

[pmatic]

Ford:

Top international NBA draft prospects

The 18th annual Nike Hoop Summit brought out hundreds of NBA general managers and scouts this past weekend to look at a couple of dozen draft prospects from the World Team and Team USA.

The event has become a must-attend event for NBA personnel -- so much so that the large majority of NBA decision-makers skipped the league's own sanctioned pre-draft Portsmouth Invitational in Virginia last week to attend the Hoop Summit practices in Portland instead.

"There are 10 lottery picks and another four or five first-rounders playing in Portland and none playing in Portsmouth," one NBA GM said. "That's why we're here instead of there."

The event has been a proving ground for both the best American high school players in the country (Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Kevin Garnett, Derrick Rose, Kyrie Irving, Jabari Parker and Jahlil Okafor all played for Team USA) along with a number of young, elite international players (Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Serge Ibaka, Nicolas Batum, Nikola Mirotic and Andrew Wiggins).

This year the World Team defeated Team USA 103-101. However, the defeat doesn't signal a sudden influx of international talent, per se. The leading players for the World Team have either played high school ball in the United States (LSU commit Ben Simmons and Kentucky recruit Skal Labissiere) or plan on playing in the NCAA at some point (Canada's Jamal Murray) and are thus ineligible for the 2015 NBA draft.

Only three prospects on the World Team have any real shot of getting drafted this year.

I spent all day Thursday and Friday talking to NBA scouts and GMs about this year's international crop -- both here in Portland and in general. While scouts are very enthused by the top three international prospects, the talent level after that drops off dramatically.

On Tuesday we take a sneak preview at the top 10 incoming college freshmen who have a shot at being a lottery pick in 2016, but here are the top international prospects.

1a. Emmanuel Mudiay, PG, China

Mudiay, like Simmons and Labissiere, is a hybrid international prospect. He was born in Congo but played high school ball here in the United States. Mudiay played at last year's Nike Hoop Summit and was the standout prospect on the international team. He had committed to SMU, and many scouts thought that under coach Larry Brown's tutelage there, he'd be in serious consideration for the No. 1 pick in the draft. Instead, Mudiay decided to sign with a pro team in China, primarily for financial reasons.

The move didn't hurt him as much as you'd expect. While very few scouts actually got to see him live, he played well in the 13 games he appeared in and handled himself even better off the court -- proving to scouts a maturity that few others in this draft class can claim. It's one thing to leave home and go to college. It's another thing entirely to play pro ball with grown men -- a number of them former NBA players -- in China.

Mudiay's appeal is based around a terrific combination of size, athleticism and power at the point guard position. He can get anywhere he wants on the floor, finishes at the rim, and plays with a terrific motor. His jump shot still needs more work and he can still polish his point guard skills, but he's likely to be the first international player to hear his name called on draft night. Look for him to go in the No. 2 to No. 5 range.

1b. Kristaps Porzingis, PF, Latvia

Porzingis isn't far behind Mudiay -- if he's behind him at all. A number of NBA scouts and GMs who have traveled to Spain to see him play this year have come back raving about him.

"He's an athletic, super-skilled 7-footer who can do everything well," one GM said. "I was watching him warm up and had flashbacks to when I saw Pau Gasol take the floor for the first time in Spain, only this kid is much more athletic than Gasol but plays with that same fluidity. I've been asking my team since then: Are you sure he's not the No. 1 guy? Are these guys in college really better than him?"

Another long-time international scout: "He's my favorite player in this draft. I keep telling my staff: This one is not like other international players. He's the real deal. He's special in all the ways a player can be special. He just needs to get stronger. That's it. He's going to be a big-time pro."

Blessed with great size, skill, and athleticism for his position -- all the comparables scouts are using for him are big-time NBA players: Nowitkzi, Gasol, and a more athletic Nikola Mirotic.

Still, not every team is sold on his game.

Porzingis needs to get stronger. He can fall in love with his perimeter game despite the fact that some scouts report that he's grown taller than 7 feet. And one NBA GM had this unique knock on his game.

"I don't think he's an a--h---. I watched him knock down a couple of guys during the course of the game and then stop, reach his hand down and help them up off the floor. I hate that. I want guys that are killers, that want to destroy their opponent. You see that and I wonder if he has the fire necessary to be great."

There are teams that have him ranked as high as No. 2 or No. 3 on their internal boards. But most likely he'll go in the No. 4 to No. 6 range.

1c. Mario Hezonja, G/F, Croatia

Hezonja is also right in the mix with Porzingis and Mudiay, and on one or two boards, higher than both of them.

"I really love him," one NBA scout told ESPN. "I love Winslow, too, but I really think if this kid was in college we'd all be going crazy for him. He's tough, he's athletic, he shoots the s--- out of it. And the kid just knows how to play. He's going to be really, really good in the NBA. He's the first wing on my board."

Hezonja has gotten more playing time this season, and with it, he has been able to show off his great size, athleticism and shooting ability on the wing. While he's coming off the bench at FC Barcelona, the fact that he can get the minutes for one of the best pro teams in Europe is impressive.

Not all of the NBA teams have Duke's Justise Winslow as the No. 1 wing on their boards. Hezonja is a better shooter than Winslow -- and bigger. He's a better athlete than Stanley Johnson and a better shooter. And while he might be most comparable to Kelly Oubre, he's well ahead of him in basketball IQ and NBA readiness.

Look for Hezonja to go in the No. 6 to No. 10 range.

And after Mudiay, Porzinigs and Hezonja are off the board in the first 10 picks, there's a chance that we won't see another international player drafted in the first round.

There is absolutely no consensus from scouts about who the next best international player in the draft will be. I posed the question to 20 NBA scouts and GMs, and no player got more than three votes. And most of them were unkind to most of the prospects.

No one was sure if any of them could end up cracking the first round. So here are the rest of the international prospects -- in no real order -- who could be in that No. 25 to No. 50 range in the 2015 draft.

We'll start with the three represented at the Nike Hoop Summit

Zhou Qi, PF/C, China

Zhou had the most buzz of any player heading into the Nike Hoop Summit. A minor ankle sprain limited his practice time, much to the chagrin of NBA scouts. Everyone saw a talented, skilled big man with crazy long arms and a beautiful shooting stroke. In warm-ups, he shot the lights out. In the actual scrimmages on Friday and in the game on Saturday, Zhou's lack of strength was glaring. He was getting pushed around and often didn't seem to have a feel for what to do with the ball. He ended with 2 points, 3 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in 12 minutes. The shot-blocking and shooting are intriguing. So is his size, but his body makes him -- to borrow from ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla -- two years away from being two years away. He's a major project, but the talent might make him worthy of a draft-and-stash.

Nedim Buza, SF, Bosnia

Buza had an up-and-down performance in practices before hitting some big shots in Friday's scrimmages. He has length and athleticism to play the wing in the NBA, and in Saturday's game, he took two shots, both 3s, and made them. Scouts weren't blown away with anything they saw, but they were intrigued enough that virtually all of them believed he'd be a second-round pick if he declared for the draft.

George de Paula, G, Brazil

It was a tough week for de Paula. After getting some Internet hype, expectations were high. He measured terrific, with a nearly 7-foot wingspan and the biggest hands of anyone on the international team. But his jump shot was all over the place (he may have set a record at the Hoop Summit for air-balled 3s) and his confidence was clearly lacking. Some of that had to do with the language barrier (he doesn't speak English) and the dramatic improvement in talent he was seeing here versus in Brazil, but the majority of scouts I spoke with weren't impressed.

"He's not close to being ready," one GM said. "I love his size and his body, but if he's a first-rounder, this is one of the worst drafts we've ever had. Maybe you take him in the second, get him out of Brazil and into the D-League and hope. That's the best case scenario." De Paula had three points on 1-of-2 shooting from beyond the arc. He had two turnovers and zero assists in 13 minutes.

And here's the look at several other international players who received votes from scouts.

Petr Cornelie, PF, France

Cornelie has been a bit of a hot name among international scouts lately. He has legit size for an NBA power forward, is a good athlete, can stretch the floor, and he possesses the proverbial upside that so many scouts covet. But like so many of these kids, he's pretty far from being an NBA player. If he declares, he'll be a draft-and-stash prospect.

Moussa Diagne, C, Senegal

Diange has the size of an NBA center, standing 6-11 with a 7-4 wingspan. He has an NBA body, is a physical rebounder, and while his numbers aren't wowing anyone, he is playing roughly 14 minutes a game in the ACB and averaging four rebounds a game. He's not a great scorer yet, nor is he an explosive, above-the-rim type of athlete. But he moves well, he plays really hard, and could end up being a serviceable backup in the league.

Egemen Guven, F/C, Turkey

Guven is still riding high from his strong play in the European under-18s, where his skill level in the post drew comps to a young Pau Gasol. Had he been able to come to the Hoop Summit, he could've easily moved himself back into the first round. But with no discernible progress from him during the season, his best bet is to probably wait until next year and hope that he, like Hezonja, starts getting regular minutes. He's in the No. 25 to No. 40 range, and along with Zhou, might be the most likely to hear his name called in the first round.

Guillermo Hernangomez, C, Spain

Hernangomez has gotten lots of eyeballs since he's on the same team with Porzingis. He's big and can rebound and score in the post. He may be suffering from too many expectations from scouts who have wanted to be wowed by his development, but often come away feeling that he's just "pretty good." Like Zhou and Guven, he's a candidate to sneak into the first.

Mouhammadou Jaiteh, C, France

Jaiteh played in the 2013 Nike Hoop Summit and watched his draft stock tumble in the process. While he had a solid seven points and nine rebounds in the contest, his inability to finish above the rim (in fairness, he was playing against the likes of Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns in practice every day) turned scouts off. Now that we know Embiid (if he hadn't broken his foot) and Towns would likely both be No. 1 picks, maybe it's time to go back and re-think the scouting report on Jaiteh. He'll never be an elite player; he lacks the athleticism for that. But he might be a lot better than scouts have given him credit for in the past.

Timothe Luwawu, G/F, France

Luwawu has the size and athleticism NBA teams covet in a wing. His best attribute, according to scouts, is his ability to defend multiple positions. There's offensive talent there, too, but it's raw and still emerging. He's young and probably much better off returning to France for another year or two. But on upside, he's one of the more intriguing international prospects if teams are willing to wait several years to see any reward.

Nikola Milutinov, C, Serbia

He has size, he's mobile, has strong footwork and excellent fundamentals in the post. He doesn't use his jumper the way he should and he lacks a great motor, but we're talking about a serviceable 7-footer who could be worth a look in the second round.

Cedi Osman, PG, Macedonia

The young point guard/forward averaged an impressive 18 minutes a game for Efes Istanbul this year. His 6.4 points and 1.1 assists per game aren't great, but scouts are always intrigued by big point guards who can see the floor and play the game the way he does. He's not a great shooter and needs to get stronger, but as a long-term, draft-and-stash candidate, he's intriguing.

Aleksandar Vezenkov, F, Cyprus

The Bulgarian-born big man is putting up huge numbers in the Greek league -- nearly 19 points and eight rebounds a game this season. The fact that he's shooting 42 percent from 3 and plays with a high basketball IQ is intriguing. However, he lacks great athleticism and strength. Most NBA scouts believe he'll never be able to guard his position in the NBA -- he can barely guard it in Greece. Will his offensive prowess overcome those concerns? Most scouts are wary, but he is a name a couple of scouts mentioned as a potential first-rounder. However, most had him planted firmly in the second round.

Wang Zhelin, C, China

Wang also played in the Nike Hoop Summit in 2012. He doesn't have the upside of Zhou, but he might be a better long-term NBA player because of his much better body. He weighs 250 pounds to Zhou's 209 and has steadily improved every year he's in China. He doesn't do any one thing great, but he looks like a legit backup center in the NBA who can rebound, block a few shots, hit some open jumpers and give you five fouls. He's a likely second-round pick if he declares, and one scout had him in the late first.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draf...op-international-prospects-2015-nba-draft-nba

 

[ValarMorghulis]

Super Mario


Can't wait to see and hear about his workouts.

 

[awwsome]

My eyes are only on Mario and Winslow depending on need if I'm a lottery team looking for a wing.


If Detroit don't draft Hezonja.

 

[Bend_The_Knee]

Roc Nation going to meet with Stanley Johnson.

 

[illoquent aka dsk]

I ******* hate these ****** man.

 

[raw120]

i want mario in philly

 

[buc em]

i want mario in philly

Yes

But we need Russell or Mudiay as well, so Hezonja needs to slide to like 15 or we need to trade up from that other first rounder we have.

Mudiay-Hezonja-Saric-Noel-Embiid could be ridiculous.

 

[dacomeup]

No chance he drops that low.

 

[ballinsam23]

Saric can play the 3?

I think the best pairing for Philly would be Noel and Okafor. Try and move Embiid for another pick maybe?

 

[pmatic]

Spacing would be gross with Okafor and Noel.

 

[dacomeup]

And Embiid's ceiling is too high to move for Okafor. Two completely different level of prospects IMO.

 

[buc em]

I don't wanna move Embiid under any circumstance.

 

[johnnyredstorm]

what if you win the lotto and can move embiid for the 3rd or 4th pick? draft okafor and russell/mudiay. may not be a terrible move.

there's a chance embiid is the next dream and there's a chance he's the next oden. i dont think you can 100% say he's untouchable regardless of how talented he is.

 

[dacomeup]

But you're automatically trading him for someone with less value, IMO. If you're a team like Minnesota, then you probably do an Embiid for Mudiay swap without blinking. Not a smart move for Philly.

 

[pmatic]

Embiid is better than every prospect in this draft, last year's too to be truthful. Gotta keep him.

 

[ballinsam23]

Has more to do with Embiid's injury than whose better him or Okafor. Without a doubt he'd be #1 this year.

I would move Embiid for a chance at Mudiay/Russell if I land the #1 though. The other team would probably throw in another asset in there too.

 

[illoquent aka dsk]

Saric can play the 3?

I think the best pairing for Philly would be Noel and Okafor. Try and move Embiid for another pick maybe?

what if you win the lotto and can move embiid for the 3rd or 4th pick? draft okafor and russell/mudiay. may not be a terrible move.

there's a chance embiid is the next dream and there's a chance he's the next oden. i dont think you can 100% say he's untouchable regardless of how talented he is.

The hell is wrong with y'all man? 

 Hell no.

Watching the Knicks got your thought process all ****** up. 

Trading Embiid (especially after rehabbing him for all this time) for dudes with a lower ceiling would be the dumbest thing ever.