Following potential 2015 draftees

[Saint Cy of JFC]

there seems to be something to love and hate about all the players in this draft

okafor - great offense passive defense. might be ok with Gobert if Gobert continues to develope. favors has shown he can't make up for a partners lack of defense. another big issue is with okafor the jazz still have a porous exterior defense. right now I would pass on okafor

towns - seems to do well defensively but offense is still a work in progress. I think he would be great with favors. interior offense would but not as good but an upgrade defensively. I see towns having a brighter future than kanter. I would take towns #1

mudiay - he is interesting but eventually the jazz will have to declare a future pg for the jazz. I think median and exum could coexist but I think mudiay bolts first chance he gets. his decision to play in china boggles my mind. personally I want to put players around exum to make him successful and I don't see mudiay being that.

Winslow - love his defense and his offense has come along. his shot seems ok and should get more consistent. I think he would do well with Hayward at the 2 and Winslow at the 3 forcing burks back to the bench is perfect for me. I could live with Winslow but, sorry hantlers, I don't trust duke players.

hezonja - I have a love hate relation. I hate to love him. he has the cocky attitude a dominate scorer needs. he can do it all over the court. I worry about how he will mess with nba egos. his game reminds me a little of petrovic. I reserve the right to watch him a little more

porzingis - see above. I like him a lot and he is a mismatch every time he steps on the floor but I don't see a killer instinct in him. he has serious upside but I want more of a sure thing. he is so skinny and has seriously narrow shoulders. dang it I like him though

Johnson - I am a huge Johnson fan. more then anyone else mentioned he has the "it" factor. he can be an alpha dog. his shot is flat and he had no middle game but seems to have the drive to get better. players like him makes those around them better just with their attitude.

oubre - I said it earlier and I am saying it again stay away. he could have a nick young type of career or jr smith. explode scoring 1 night but then vanish but never give anything else to the team. a pure volume scorer.

looney - was a fan going in to the season and he hasn't disappointed. he needs to gain strength to be effective. he is another upside pick. is he a 4 or a 3? that is what is hurting him now.

wcs - is the wild pick. reminds me of Tyson chandler more then anyone I have seen. probably will lead the nba in block shots in his career. has some crazy to him but a good kind.

Myles turner - was very hot on but have cooled lately. great defense but no offense. I still think a stretch 4 would be a good spot for him. [suck it cy ] upside pick

Lavert - I am falling in love with. I like how he was not going to let Michigan lose (they did but not because of him). could be a solid defender with a good shooting stroke. if the jazz for some reason see themselves this far down in the draft take a long look here.

kaminsky - is a great stretch big with a beautiful stroke. would not mind the jazz getting another pick and taking him. plays decent d and plays on one of the slowest teams in college basketball.

How does playing in China boggle your mind? He got paid to play over there and confirmed to everyone that he can ball. He also signed some sweet endorsement deals and is just getting paid to workout now.

No one thinks Looney is a 3....

 

[The Midnight]

Is his offensive repertoire limited to just alley oops and put back dunks at this point in his short college career?

It was a serious question.... we don't need another guy who has great body/size/skill but will take 4-5 more years to develop an offensive game (Favors).


If we're taking a big, we need someone who has very good offensive instinct to pair with Gobert.

 

[stitches]

It was a serious question.... we don't need another guy who has great body/size/skill but will take 4-5 more years to develop an offensive game (Favors).


If we're taking a big, we need someone who has very good offensive instinct to pair with Gobert.

He can hit open jumpers, even possibly extending to NBA 3p range(This and his passing are pretty much the perfect skills in a big you want to combine with Rudy). He also has some rudimentary post game, which can be developed. He's trying to hit some hooks, too...

If you expect him to have immediate impact in year 1, though, you'd be disappointed. It will probably take some time(probably not 4-5 years, though).

He's a bit weird for me. I see great potential in offense and good potential in defense, but I don't think he's there either on offense or in defense, yet. What he has right now at a very high level that you can expect to translate right away is his passing and possibly him hitting some open shots.

 

[The Midnight]

He can hit open jumpers, even possibly extending to NBA 3p range(This and his passing are pretty much the perfect skills in a big you want to combine with Rudy). He also has some rudimentary post game, which can be developed. He's trying to hit some hooks, too...

If you expect him to have immediate impact in year 1, though, you'd be disappointed. It will probably take some time(probably not 4-5 years, though).

He's a bit weird for me. I see great potential in offense and good potential in defense, but I don't think he's there either on offense or in defense, yet. What he has right now at a very high level that you can expect to translate right away is his passing and possibly him hitting some open shots.

That's exactly the sense I get as well hence the my concern.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

It was a serious question.... we don't need another guy who has great body/size/skill but will take 4-5 more years to develop an offensive game (Favors).


If we're taking a big, we need someone who has very good offensive instinct to pair with Gobert.

If we get Towns and he shows he is legit, I'm trading Gobert as soon as possible.

I'm not sold on Towns being a PF because he isn't that quick or athletic, but he is huge, even for a center.

If I had to do a draft big board right now it would be:

1. Towns
2. Mudiay
3. Johnson
4. Hezonja
5. Okafor
6. Winslow
7. Porzignis
8. D'Angelo Russell (Absolute monster SG w/ playmaking and shooting that no one has talked about on here)
9. Looney
10. Hollis-Jefferson

 

[The Midnight]

If we get Towns and he shows he is legit, I'm trading Gobert as soon as possible.

I'm not sold on Towns being a PF because he isn't that quick or athletic, but he is huge, even for a center.

If I had to do a draft big board right now it would be:

1. Towns
2. Mudiay
3. Johnson
4. Hezonja
5. Okafor
6. Winslow
7. Porzignis
8. D'Angelo Russell (Absolute monster SG w/ playmaking and shooting that no one has talked about on here)
9. Looney
10. Hollis-Jefferson

If you're gonna trade Gobert why not have Okafor higher on your board? He seems legit and more of a finished product compared to Towns?

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

If you're gonna trade Gobert why not have Okafor higher on your board? He seems legit and more of a finished product compared to Towns?

He is also smaller and a post-up centric big. That style of basketball isn't winning games. He is a slightly improved version of Kanter (we think). Not a fit next to Favors or Gobert. I havne't watched him all year, but not a fan of what his game is (from what I've heard).

 

[The Midnight]

He is also smaller and a post-up centric big. That style of basketball isn't winning games. He is a slightly improved version of Kanter (we think). Not a fit next to Favors or Gobert. I havne't watched him all year, but not a fan of what his game is (from what I've heard).

Well apparently PKM said he is more of a sure thing, and he has a lot of scouts contact so I tend to believe him.


Moreover, he went out of his way to say Okafor > Towns who is on the UK team, now that's saying something.

 

[stitches]

If we get Towns and he shows he is legit, I'm trading Gobert as soon as possible.

I'm not sold on Towns being a PF because he isn't that quick or athletic, but he is huge, even for a center.

You're spot on about the quickness(3.65 in the sprint, which would rank him in the bottom 5 of all centers and bottom 5 of all PFs for the last 6 years), on the other hand though, he tested very well in the agility test at the UK pro day - 10.65, which would rank him top 3 for both PFs and Cs in the last 6 years). I don't know if the agility test was performed well enough and according to draft combine specifications, though, because pretty much every single UK player tested off the charts on that one(for example only 3 players tested worse than Exum and he was second in this years draft out of all prospects).

About his vertical athleticism - he tested 36.5'' max vertical, which would put him top 3 of all centers in the last 6 years and well above average for a PF. His no-step vertical is about average for both Cs and PFs(29''). The main problem with him is his standing reach and wingspan, which don't seem to be as good as people thought - 7'35'' wingspan and 9'1'' standing reach. Those are average to below average for C and above average for PF.
You are right about his frame, he's kind of big. I wonder if he'd gather up some quickness if he actually leaned up a bit(if he was asked to play PF)? To me it seems like he has elite physicals for a PF but his athleticism is about average at the PF and he has average to below-avrage physicals for C, but great athleticism at the C. Whoever drafts him, will have an interesting decision on their hands about what position they are going to play him at.

If I had to do a draft big board right now it would be:

1. Towns
2. Mudiay
3. Johnson
4. Hezonja
5. Okafor
6. Winslow
7. Porzignis
8. D'Angelo Russell (Absolute monster SG w/ playmaking and shooting that no one has talked about on here)
9. Looney
10. Hollis-Jefferson

I actually mentioned Russell several days ago. I've only watched one game and a half of him and was pretty impressed. Him and Looney will be my dark horses in case we miss on any of the front runners.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

I think that Towns will probably net out as a stretch-5. He's like a bigger version of Greg Monroe with range and some rim protection. He looks like an All Start prospect at center.

 

[Hekate]

Hezonja is a very very questionable player. I have No idea how he will do in NBA.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Hezonja is a very very questionable player. I have No idea how he will do in NBA.

But isn't he unquestionably the best scorer in the lottery? To me he seems like a NBA player stuck in the European game, suggesting that he will be better in the NBA than Europe. As long as he continues to show improvement over seas as his season progresses, I would be pretty excited to draft him.