General 2010 NBA Draft Discussion

[mountainballer]

-Do you guys think it's certain that the Spurs will actually look to draft somebody that will help right away?..

With the financial situation, instead of paying the rookie, wouldn't it make some sense for the Spurs' FO to decide to stash somebody away or trade the pick?..I'm not in favor at all, but I wouldn't rule it out..

I would hate it as much as anyone (considering the time I spend with draft scenarios), but we must not igore that possibility. I would even think about the possibility that the #20 pick is used as a teaser to get rid of RJ and get back a good player, who might be a better fit.
fact is, last year the Spurs had that big hole at SF and they invested a lot to close it. turn out, we still have a big hole at SF, no matter if RJ stays one more year, or opts out. we can get a very nice prospect for the position from this draft, but it would be naive to think this player will solve the problem at SF. so, if it takes the pick to get this player, Spurs FO will consider it.
btw. what do you guys think if they try Prince? RJ plus #20 for Price plus filler. might save some tax and get back a player, who should definitely be a better fit than RJ. Pistons are rebuilding, don't know if they want to re sign Prince 2011. might like a pick better. and they won't get that much more out of Prince than a mid 1st rounder.

[biziofromdowntown]

No please, no Prince.

[jesterbobman]

Would Jefferson + 20 for Peja and 11 work for anybody? Probably a bit of a stretch to assume the Hornets would do it, but a running SF next to Paul could work, as could a shooter at SF in our system. Both contracts are relatively equal, and the move could let us leapfrog some teams and pick up Henry or another option who probably won't be there at 20.

[mountainballer]

Would Jefferson + 20 for Peja and 11 work for anybody? Probably a bit of a stretch to assume the Hornets would do it, but a running SF next to Paul could work, as could a shooter at SF in our system. Both contracts are relatively equal, and the move could let us leapfrog some teams and pick up Henry or another option who probably won't be there at 20.

it wouldn't work for the Hornets. they would be crazy to do it. they need two things desperately: either a SF for the future, or a big man, who can defend and score inside. this draft is deep at either position, so they have almost a 100% chance that a useful player will be there at #11. and they still struggle with keeping their pay roll under the threshold. the pick will give them a decent player for small money for the next 4 years.
the quality gap between the #11 and the #20 pick is to significant.
(they might listen to a RJ for Peja straight trade though)

[mountainballer]

withdraw deadline passed on Saturday and none of the 1st round projects goes back to school. that's very good news for us.
this draft might lack star power, but it looks very deep.

[mountainballer]

http://thehoopsmarket.blogspot.com/
According to Tony Ronzone, recently hired as assistant coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Nikola Pekovic has agreed with the NBA franchise to play there next season.

if this is true, it's a bit surprising (experts didn't expect him to come over before 2011), but this might also just be the start of a big exodus of players from Greece. teams will struggle to avoid bankruptcy as much as the whole country struggles.
however, why could this be interesting for this thread.
in the 1st round Wolves have the #2, #16, #23 pick.
they are expected to do a lot of dealing around the draft, b/c they likely won't bring in all those picks. if Pekovic comes over, the Wolves will have even less reasons to draft 3 1st rounders. I wouldn't be surprised if either #16 and #23 are on the market.

[mountainballer]

there is this one guy at the DX forum, who posts like half of the forums overall posts and who is pretty annoying with his know all and "insider" at ude.
however, he posted something that would be pretty interesting, unfortunately he didn't provide it with a link, so take it with a grain of salt. (probably all made-up)

http://www.draftexpress.com/forums/s...0965#post50965
NBA GM's were polled about lottery picks and here are results:
*(Recieved every vote) John Wall, Evan Turner, Demarcus Cousins, Derrick Favors, Wesley Johnson, Greg Monroe, Al Farouq Aminu, Xavier Henry, Ed Davis
*(Didn't recieve every vote in for sure) Cole Aldrich, Patrick Patterson, Epke Udoh
*(Didn't recieve every vote tied for last spots one wouldn't get in lottery) Gordon Hayward, James Anderson, and Hassan Whiteside
*(Recieved votes but not enough to get into lottery) Craig Brackins, Avery Bradley, Paul George, Solomon Alabi.

if this is right and if the sample is not just 2 or 3 GMs overall, it gives good information.
would mean that for example Henry is currently underrated by most mocks and that he's more or less a sure fire lottery pick. Hayward and Anderson likely gone before we pick, George probably as well.
but Motiejunas falling down? to our region?
(that's why I'm so skeptical. not a single lottery vote for him. common.)

[Buddy Holly]

if this is true, it's a bit surprising (experts didn't expect him to come over before 2011), but this might also just be the start of a big exodus of players from Greece. teams will struggle to avoid bankruptcy as much as the whole country struggles.
however, why could this be interesting for this thread.
in the 1st round Wolves have the #2, #16, #23 pick.
they are expected to do a lot of dealing around the draft, b/c they likely won't bring in all those picks. if Pekovic comes over, the Wolves will have even less reasons to draft 3 1st rounders. I wouldn't be surprised if either #16 and #23 are on the market.

Minn doesn't have the second pick do they? I mean the lottery hasn't even happened.

[mountainballer]

Minn doesn't have the second pick do they? I mean the lottery hasn't even happened.

it's kind of usual to rank the team with the 2nd worst record at the #2 spot in the mocks before the lottery. could of course become any pick between #1 and #5.
ok, let's be precise: in the 1st round Wolves have either the #1, or #2, or#3, or#4, or #5 pick and the #16 and the #23 pick.

[Bruno]

29 players have withdrawn from the Early entry list to keep their college eligibility:
http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_ar...ates_withdraw/

I've updated the draft prospect index thread to remove players who have withdrawn.

[Chieflion]

Here are the pre-draft camp particpants list for next week's Chicago camp.

http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archiv..._participants/

Gonna be interesting. Most of the projected first rounders are participating. This will determine most of the mid-first to early-second round players and seperate one tier from the other.

[jesterbobman]

If anyone's looking for some humour in terms of draft boards, look at Doug Gotliebs on ESPN.
http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/insid...oug&id=5188295

My Favourites are Babbitt-Hayward(8 & 9), then Cousins-Aldrich-Ed Davis(10-11-12), Followed by Montejunas at 23.

More Discussion at
http://www.ridiculousupside.com/2010...-nba-draft-big

Chad Ford also had only good things to say about Stanley Robinson Character wise.

[jesterbobman]

Also, Draft Order now set
WAS
PHI
NJN
MIN
SAC
GS
DET
LAC
UTAH
IND
NOH
MEM
TOR
HOU

[yavozerb]

I think philly is better with the 2nd pick anyways as long as wall goes #1. Turner with the sixers starting unit should be pretty fun to watch. Now if only philly could get a younger version of brand and somebody other than dalembert to play center and they would be pretty good.

[yavozerb]

Is iggy a sg or a sf? I dont get to see the sixers much but it seems to me that iggy seems to get better and better each season. Brand unfortunatly is in the same boat as TD in that both seem to be heading downward in there careers. Speaking of okur, is that guy even gonna be able to return by next season after rupturing his achilles? Not an easy injury to return from especially for a big man.

[SenorSpur]

The potential maneuvering and jostling for draft position has already started:

http://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/status/14264225825

Houston and Portland are two teams that will be working No. 3 Nets and No. 4 Wolves hard to move up in the draft, league sources say.

[Brazil]

I just think the 76ers should blow up that team and use that second pick overall to build a completely new team. Let Jrue Holliday start, run Turner at the wing. Move Iggy and Brand for cap relief. The 76ers are already 5 years in the hole. They might as well do what it takes to scrap this team.

Intereting thought... Perhaps there are no takers on the combo of Brand/Iggy because of the long term commitment, but say the 76ers wanted to do pick swaps with championship level teams to move that money.

Utah trades AK47 and Okur for Iggy and Brand then they just switch the 2nd and 9th picks. Only reason Utah woudln't do that is if they think they can't have 5 black players on the court at the same time. Philly doesn't do that because it is quite a ty basketball trade.

I appreciate a lot Jrue, I think he has a of potential. Phily could build around him, turner and Iggy, btw Ian could be an interesting player for them.

The league will be staked with young talented gs it's crazy: tyreke, wall, jrue, collins, curry, jennings.. with the "vets" roy, rose... BTW the hornets and GS will have to find solutions for DC and Curry, it would be a shame to not have both starting somewhere.

[Libri]

Got a tweet from Givony of DraftExpress. They're going to begin measurements/tests of players on Friday.

[mountainballer]

I think he meant that the results will be released on Friday.
the combined test will be less telling than the years before, because so many of the players decided to not participate in the tests.
(likely none of the projected top 10 will do the tests)

[Blackjack]

NBA Pre-Draft combine re-airing from 8-11pm cst. on ESPNU.

George apparently impressed and Ryan Richards put himself on the map; be sure to check it out if you're capable.

[Bruno]

FYI, the first post of this thread is filled with some draft tidbits including a list of players who have worked out with Spurs.

There are also links to interesting threads about the draft like the mock draft database and a discussion about the SF in the draft.

[MaNu4Tres]

NBA Pre-Draft combine re-airing from 8-11pm cst. on ESPNU.

George apparently impressed and Ryan Richards put himself on the map; be sure to check it out if you're capable.

Will do

Thanks lad

[Blackjack]

No problem, mucca.

[Blackjack]

In today’s media session, I was able to speak with John Wall amongst the media, as well as talk with Dominique Jones one-on-one, James Anderson, Xavier Henry, Luke Babbitt, Jarvis Varnado one-on-one, Travis Booker one-on-one, and Solomon Alabi one-on-one.

Part II contains my questions for Varnado, Booker, Alabi, and Wall.

Media Log: 2010 NBA Draft Combine Media Availability Day 1, Part II

[admiralsnackbar]

Media Log: 2010 NBA Draft Combine Media Availability Day 1, Part II

Interesting Jarvis Varnado had only been worked out by the Bucks as of the Combine.