Looks like Dukie Josh McRoberts, the highly celebrated but underacheiving forward, will be in the 2007 draft. Intriguing tools, but aggravating inconsistency. I think he'll illicit Charlie Villaunueva comparisons (not at ude, but lack of consistency) and will still go in the mid-first. It doesn't directly affect the Spurs draft, but another name in the hat is always good...
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2...ory?id=2808295
Fro what Ive heard a lot of GMs think he will do better in the pro style game. I personally think he sucks and have always thought he sucked, but your right, the more guys that declare, the better our chances are of getting a player that can immediately contribute
No way the Spurs could get Tyrus Thomas for Scola. There was an article a couple of days ago about the Bulls starting TT in place of PJ. I dont think they are that down on him if they are(have?) given him the starting job. IMO getting Sefelosha is probably little more likely than getting TT. Khrypa & Duhon would seem like a good package for Scola & say Beno. Not sure if the Spurs would pull the trigger, but that seems like a more reasonable package for Scola. I also dont think that Scola would bring a lottery pick, maybe the late teens early 20's, but I think a lottery pick is a bit much for Scola.
Bulls are keeping all of their guys until they can make a run this summer at a guy like Pau Gasol, Jermaine O'Neal, or Kevin Garnett. They didn't pull the trigger on a deal before the deadline under a "pressure-cooker" situation because they knew they could probably get the best deal in the off-season. The Bulls have enough assets to deal for one of the aformentioned three without giving up Deng....if they do, count on Sefolosha and/or Thomas being a part of that.
But packaging Scola plus our 1st this year could definately move us up into the mid teens
Even though a "Spurs source" (which is better than pure speculation) said they fielded calls about Scola around the deadline and that the chatter would get louder around draft day, I think he's flying under the radar right now and it's really tough to say what his value will be to other teams.
My guess is that some teams who haven't paid much attention wouldn't even offer a second rounder, while others with an eye on Euroleague and a need at the position might be willing to give up close to what you're thinking. Let's just hope for the Spurs FO sake, if they are able to trade up to the lottery or late teens they can grab a real difference-maker (Brewer/Green/Thornton).
I still have my doubts, but as we get closer to the draft I might change my mind.
That would be throwing Scola away, IMO. Better sign Scola than give him for sub-starters like those.
Looking at the projected draft order, picks #15, 16, 17 & 18 all belong to teams with a bunch of young guys already. They would probably be looking for some type of vet or experienced player in return. Right now those picks belong to Atlanta, NJ, Golden State & the Sixers. All of those teams would make good trading partners IMO, 3 teams are in the east & Nelly with the Warriors would deal with Pop. I dont know if Scola plus Beno plus our first rounder could get us that high, but that should be somewhere around his trade value. If Scola cant move us up 8 to 10 spots in the draft, then I say keep him & try to package him for a package like the afformentioned Khrypa & Duhon.
Agreed.
For sure agree, Scola would contribute far more than those guys
Atlanta needs a point guard in the worst way and to get a guy like Law, Lawson, or Augustin they'll have to keep that pick. Plus, the last good thing Billy Knight did for his team was get Zaza for under $5M and even that was a risk.
The Warriors run far too much and far too fast to have use for a guy like Scola. I'm sure they'd be the one to take a shot at McRoberts if he falls that far...he's a better-passing Troy Murphy.
The other two teams you mentioned are intriguing though:
The Sixers left a gaping hole at PF when they let Webber go for nothing. Joe Smith's contract is up and he's more of a shooter than a low-post guy anyway, and Stephen Hunter just flat-out isn't that good....he was made to look better by the Suns' fast pace.
The Nets are disgustingly thin on the frontline and could use some serious help. But I think the Nets will again look to unload Kidd if they can get some serious offers for him this summer (I would say Hawks, but Knight never does anything right).
The main reason I think Scola doesn't get traded though....
There are a TON of PF prospects in this draft. If the Spurs made Scola available in a year that had few prospects to choose from, his value would certainly be higher.
As of right now, I just think he's more valuable to the Spurs on their team and I think it'll flesh itself out that way...
Yea but Olympic experience plus Euro league dominance>most of the college pfs coming out this year
Scola Update:
8pts (4/7 shooting) 5rebs, 1ast in 18 minutes in a 93 -75 blowout of Pau Orthez.
Tiago Splitter has also played well of late and that should improve his draft stock, despite questions about his potential buyout.
His line today:
14pts (6/8 shooting, 2/6 FT), 4rebs in 19mins
and for good measure...
Ian Mahinmi had 4pts and 2rebs in 15 minutes
That's a good theory, here's another one....
"Out of sight, Out of mind"
I know he's tearing up the Euroleague and that there are more international scouts than ever now, but GMs are inundated with the NCAA tournament right now and saturated with American prospects.
Another theory is the "Joe Liebermann Concept"
Basically, while Scola's talent is undeniable and proven, he's the "old dog" and there are newer, younger International prospects stealing the limelight. To some GMs Scola may have lost his "luster" or "upside". Guys like Yi Jianlin, Tiago Splitter, and Nicolas Batum are the "it" international guys right now.
Could a GM be attracted to his "seasoned" play and almost prefer international guys to americans? Yes, but I'd suggest those GMs are few and far between.
Thats very true Tony, I didnt really think about it like that, he hasnt been in the limelight in some time, Im just hoping that teams will see that if the Spurs are high on this guy, and they are a great team, that maybe a lesser team could use him even more
Put simply, it will be much easier than last year...but still much harder than it looks.
The Spurs have to have a team interested in Scola, that is also at a high enough spot for the Spurs to snag who they want, and is willing to drop down to the lower part of the first....this all on draft day when the window for each pick is like 5 minutes...
Don't give too much weight at this game, it was a borderline friendly game.
About Scola :
I don't think Spurs will sign him this summer. Scola and Bonner are both average defenders/rebounders and bring the same thing : hustle and some offense (even if it's not the same kind of offense). I think Spurs will re-sign Bonner and trade Scola, likely in a package with expiring contracts for a vet.
I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK!....just kidding
I do think that the difference in their offensive game does have some relevance though.
Scola is a low-post threat that can create for others while Bonner is a shooter with limited game outside of that...if you're giving me the choice there I go with Scola.
While it's possible that the Spurs re-sign Bonner (God knows they like his gritty play), it is also possible that a player with his similar skill set is available in the second round (Fazekas, Ryan Anderson (Cal), Radenovic). I'm not saying you're wrong, but not re-signing Bonner is a possibility.
Looks like Julian Wright is staying in school for one more year. He's a sophmore with enough hours to graduate in 3 years and has maintained for quite some time that he'd be going back, so it's not that big of a shock...but he's still passing up millions.
No direct effect to the Spurs because he likely would've been a top 5 or 10 pick, but it's one less player in this draft making it less deep.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2810182
Possibly too a team looking for a SF will look at the next guy instead of him, ensuring a Jeff Green or Corey Brewer goes higher, but he was probably going too high for that anyway and those guys will settle in the late lottery.
I'm waiting for two things about this draft :
- The early entry list : there are a lot of underclassmen in this draft (20 are projected to be first round picks). The quality of players available for the Spurs pick will highly depend on who will enter in the draft.
- Pre-draft camp mesurement : among all SFs projected around Spurs first round pick/Bucks second round pick, only one seems to have a good size to play SF in the nba (Dominic Mcguire). It will be interesting to have measurements of players like Tucker, Almond or Bryars to see if they are big enough to play SF in nba.
this was what I was thinking. a bit of a domino effect. it might not effect us much, but at least it also doesn't help the Spurs.
I can see why Wright goes back to school. he says that he never intended to declare this year, but if he would, his last two games possibly would have hurt his stock quite a bit. he might have slipped to no.8 or so.
next year he has a good chance to be a top 3 pick.
(about the money, there is quite some difference in guarranteed money. a no. 3 pick get 3years/9million, a no. 8 pick gets 6 million )
There are currently 4 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 4 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote