NBA Draft Discussion Thread

[seymore cake]

Originally Posted by dreClark

• It's not easy for a draft prospect's stock to move up much when teams can't watch him play. But I'm hearing significant movement is taking place for USC's OJ Mayo.

As more NBA teams watch his tape and do background checks, the more it looks like Mayo may become the consensus No. 3 pick in the draft.

Mayo's stock suffered at the start of the season based on some pretty unrealistic expectations. He's been on scouts' radars since the eighth grade, and many expected him to be a LeBron James-type dominant player as a freshman.

His per-game numbers were excellent for a freshman: 20.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists on 44 percent shooting from the field and 41 percent shooting from 3-point range. But they didn't blow anyone away.

Scouts complained about his shot selection and the fact that he didn't appear to have the point guard skills they thought he might have. Many dropped him from the top 10 on their draft boards.

But Mayo finished the season strong enough that teams had to go back and re-evaluate the tape. What they're seeing now is generating significant buzz. Multiple GMs are now telling me that Mayo's talent may be as good as advertised.

"When you start to reassess a kid like that and quit looking at just the flaws, you see a very talented basketball player," one prominent GM with a pick in the lottery said. "I think he's going to be great."

But there's another story, too, that's helping Mayo's stock. More and more teams are reporting that their background checks are coming back as positives for Mayo. Teams say that he earned good grades at USC and was a good citizen for coach Tim Floyd, and they report multiple instances of Mayo volunteering to help underprivileged kids.

"Everything that we're hearing is that he's basically a good kid," another GM said. "It's a big deal when you're drafting high. He's got to be good both on and off the court. I had my worries about OJ. But my people are telling me he's OK."

We've moved Mayo up to No. 3 on our big board and will do a more extensive report on him in the coming weeks.

See, I told y'all doubters....

They Don't Listen... I was preaching this before this season even started when Love's brother was trying to ##!! on him

as long as the knicks get the 6th or lower draft pick and Juice doesn't end up the up there I'm GOOD!!!!!! Budinger *****!!!

 

[N41D]

Brook Lopez looks like an All-star center to me... Him and Al Jefferson together would be a good look if he fell to the Timberwolves outside of the top 2...

 

[gangsta207therevolution]

Originally Posted by commodity05

Rose has things you just can't teach.

ya like height? DJ is a much better passer, and facilitator of the game, which is what a pg does. He can get to the hole at will, and can shoot it from the outside. Rose is a good scorer, but hes not a great passer like DJ.....which makes him a better PG
Like I said crazy

 

[allen3xis]

I don't know how you could stop those Two guys on the block...both would demand double teams.

 

[maxelite]

Originally Posted by Nowitness41Dirk

Brook Lopez looks like an All-star center to me... Him and Al Jefferson together would be a good look if he fell to the Timberwolves outside of the top 2...

all star? bit of a reach.

 

[jpzx]

Originally Posted by allen3xis

I don't know how you could stop those Two guys on the block...both would demand double teams.

are you talking about Lopez & Jefferson?

all star? bit of a reach.
You never know, he has a lot of potential. From what allen said, it seems like he's pretty athletic, which is rare for a 7 footer

 

[allen3xis]

Yeah him and AL..

I definitely can see Lopez becoming an All Star maybe two or 3 times in his career. He'll be solid.

 

[ricardo malta]

I definitely can see Lopez becoming an All Star maybe two or 3 times in his career. He'll be solid.
Plus he's aggressive/has a mean streak down on the blocks, something I always look for in these big men prospects.

 

[N41D]

Originally Posted by MaxElite

Originally Posted by Nowitness41Dirk

Brook Lopez looks like an All-star center to me... Him and Al Jefferson together would be a good look if he fell to the Timberwolves outside of the top 2...

all star? bit of a reach.

How is it a reach? The kid can score with his back to the basket, he can face up and score off the bounce, he can step out and knock down jumpers, he canrun the floor, and has good hands/footwork, pretty decent passer... He moves really well, can score in a variety of ways, has great touch around the basket andis a presence defensively...
He settled for too many bad shots and forced the issue on occasion at Stanford, but a lot of that had to do with Stanford's inability to getproduction from any of their guards, so Brook and Robin had to do everything... The kid's potential is pretty apparent, IMO. The only knock you can reallyput on him as a 7 footer is that he isn't a great rebounder...

Al Jefferson in the low post with Brook in the high post area?

Thatreally could end up being a nightmare for opposing defenses...

 

[jpzx]

Originally Posted by Nowitness41Dirk

Originally Posted by MaxElite

Originally Posted by Nowitness41Dirk

Brook Lopez looks like an All-star center to me... Him and Al Jefferson together would be a good look if he fell to the Timberwolves outside of the top 2...

all star? bit of a reach.

How is it a reach? The kid can score with his back to the basket, he can face up and score off the bounce, he can step out and knock down jumpers, he can run the floor, and has good hands/footwork, pretty decent passer... He moves really well, can score in a variety of ways, has great touch around the basket and is a presence defensively...
He settled for too many bad shots and forced the issue on occasion at Stanford, but a lot of that had to do with Stanford's inability to get production from any of their guards, so Brook and Robin had to do everything... The kid's potential is pretty apparent, IMO. The only knock you can really put on him as a 7 footer is that he isn't a great rebounder...

Al Jefferson in the low post with Brook in the high post area?

That really could end up being a nightmare for opposing defenses...

But still, I'm hoping we get one of the first two picks, landing Rose or Beasley would be great for the franchise. But getting Lopez would be greattoo, productive centers are hard to come by in this league.

 

[tuna629]

I sincerely hope that Miami ends up with the 3rd pick or below ... what they did at the end of season was disgraceful.

 

[japanair21]

Man, it sucks being a Mavericks fan right now. Not even a pick until LAAATE in the second-round,

Enjoy, New Jersey.

 

[N41D]

Originally Posted by JapanAir21

Man, it sucks being a Mavericks fan right now. Not even a pick until LAAATE in the second-round,

Enjoy, New Jersey.

[Corso] Not so fast, my friend! [/Corso]
Cuban had a post aboutthis on his blog not long ago, discussing the Devin Harris trade, along with the current situation of the team, and the direction it's headed from both atalent and financial standpoint...

And as far as the draft picks, there is no question there is risk there, but in the NBA, there is always the option to buy low first round draft picks, so we weren't as concerned there.
So if a guy is there that they like, I'm not real worried about Mark being stingy... The draft is going to be about the only way the Mavs canadd real talent or assets, so I'd expect Cuban to buy a pick or two if they come available... $3 million is chump change to that man.

I don't wanna turn this into Maverick talk, so one of us needs to find my offseason thread, and I'll add a little scenario that peaked my interest theother day...

 

[allen3xis]

Two words for the Mavs:

Jason Thompson


(I'ma keep selling that kid to any team, lol)

 

[japanair21]

How high of a pick can you get with just "Cash Considerations," as they say? Not THAT high I'm assuming, and how exactly does it work? Does theteam with the draft pick get money that goes to the organization, and the team in return gets the draft pick? It has no effect on the salary cap?

 

[N41D]

Originally Posted by JapanAir21

How high of a pick can you get with just "Cash Considerations," as they say? Not THAT high I'm assuming, and how exactly does it work? Does the team with the draft pick get money that goes to the organization, and the team in return gets the draft pick? It has no effect on the salary cap?

It's usually picks in the 20's... No salary cap implications... It's basically revenue for the team selling the pick, to avoid taking on theextra cash on their payroll...
Denver at #20 will be the pick to really keep an eye on this year... Guys I'd like for Dallas are like Brandon Rush,Mario Chalmers, Davon Jefferson... Either extreme athletes or premier defender types...

 

[airjordan jb23]

Enjoy, New Jersey.

 

[antoekneeo]

I have been "hyping" up Jason Thompson to be drafted by the Warriors on another board and people have been giving lukewarm responses due to the facthe played at Rider. The kid has legit size and can play. Make it happen Mullin!

 

[lnmymind]

Why would the W's take Thompson with Brandan Wright around?

 

[doublejs07]

Jason Thompson should be around by the time the Wizards are on the board....we just need some defensive help...if we can get it by way of someone who plays inthe post, then that would be HUGE.

 

[allen3xis]

Honestly, I've yet to see one weakness in his game...he needs a little more lower body strength, but that will come

 

[streethoopkilla]

i hope the knicks or heat dont get the first or 2nd pick...i dont wanna see beasley or rose in any of those teams..the sleeper in this draft i believe isbayless hes gonna be a problem

 

[tmay407]

Originally Posted by streethoopkilla

i hope the knicks or heat dont get the first or 2nd pick...i dont wanna see beasley or rose in any of those teams..the sleeper in this draft i believe is bayless hes gonna be a problem

I wouldn't really say that a guy that's predicted to go top 10 (or even top 5 depending on the outcome of the lottery) is much of a sleeper

 

[willinc]

I sincerely hope that Miami ends up with the 3rd pick or below ... what they did at the end of season was disgraceful.

 

[acidicality]

Originally Posted by lnMyMind

Why would the W's take Thompson with Brandan Wright around?

assuming the warriors stay at 14 they have a lot of options...i think we can just draft BPA and go from there...just NO CHASE BUDINGER (or did he stay inschool?). Darrell Arthur would be nice.

and i agree, brook lopez definitely has all-star potential. watching him in games a lot, he is very dominant in the post, you basically feed him the ball inthere with good position it's an automatic 2 points and he commands the ball. he definitely has "it" in him.