2018 NBA Draft Lottery
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Did you hear that next year's draft, not 2018 is going to be one of the deepest since XYZ years ago?
...but could have been Shawn Marion.
Gravity always weighed heavily on Potapenko.
It's funny that while it's true the Suns really haven't whiffed on draft picks, they still suck and have a roster that isn't really compatible. Probably their biggest mistake was trading up to get Chriss - particularly since they just drafted Bender and had Len plus they included Bogdanovic.
But boy their next pick is a big one.
What's different about this one is actual big men, and not just two players. The last couple of drafts have been shockingly light in legit tall guys that can maybe play. Maybe Doncic and Ayton are the only guys, but a lot of people see long careers for Bagley, Bamba, and Jackson. As always, who fucking knows. I think that you'll see more guys in the top ten this year who make all star appearances than the last two years combined, for what that's worth.
I think Porter is a wildcard too depending on how his medicals look. Someone could get a steal if he's healthy and are willing to deal with him being a year behind in development. Before he got hurt, he was in the top 3 conversation from what I remember. There's a lot of value in the lottery this year I think.
Yeah, people have been saying that ever since people started touting this draft class last year. But I haven't seen anything change. This was always supposed to be a deep, strong year, and it still is. And in contrast, there are definitely draft classes that are obviously weak. It's not every year.
I think Ayton is really overrated. Admittedly didn’t see a ton of him, but I was shocked how they just took it to him in his tourney game.
I’d love for the Cs to get Bamba in the middle somehow. The chance to get a guy who could possibly be a Gobert type with all the scorers around him is drool worthy.
I’d love for the Cs to get Bamba in the middle somehow. The chance to get a guy who could possibly be a Gobert type with all the scorers around him is drool worthy.
I think that's the problem. The recent run of drafts have shown that publicly available drafting analysis (be it statistics or even amateur scouting based) is problematic at best. NBA front offices have to be better than that.
Seriously. It's hilarious to me how many "people here are saying!" posts make generalizations about all the posters on this board without ever, ya know, quoting any.
I dunno who those people are, exactly, but I generally come here to try to get away from them.
It is sorta useful to know what they say, though, for those times I run into them and/or am forced into social contact with them.
I thought that the basis of next year's class being deep was that the "one-and-done" rule might be gone?
Let's pretend that he states he wants to stay in Europe for one more year to develop/be close to his family/win/get laid/whatever, and it has nothing to do with not wanting to play for PHO/SAC.
When does he get drafted, knowing that you won't have him for a year?
When does he get drafted, knowing that you won't have him for a year?
#3. Atlanta's going to be bad next year anyway. Might as well get the best asset, delay him getting expensive, and get another high draft pick for next year.
Maybe. Who was taken after Chriss in that draft that is considerably better? He finished the year on a somewhat strong note too, which as you know, doesn't really mean much but it's better than finishing poorly. He's a potential rim protecting stretch big. I think Bender develops into a decent enough basketball player not to be called a whiff but the jury is still out on that one.
I'd really love to see what Devin Booker could do on a real basketball team. He is an incredibly gifted offensive basketball player and it's remarkable that he is still just 21 years old. He's 6 days younger than Jaylen Brown. It's amazing he is able to do what he does when the only other player on the team with acceptable range is Dragan F'n Bender. I also don't see how that is going to change given their personal. Like you said, they aren't compatable... like, at all. At best, Josh Jackson, Elfrid Payton and Chriss will develop into average 3 point shooters and the chances all 3 do is close to nil. TJ Warren is what he is.
I guess that's what always having mid lottery picks will do to a team though. There really isn't even all that much talent on the team.
edit: Until Jayson Tatum came around, Booker was probably the most developed 19-20 year old offensive player since Durant. Maybe I'm missing someone.
I get that with Ayton there's the AZ connection to the Suns, but they just hired, Igor Kokoskov, Doncic's former coach and fellow Slovenian, as their head coach. I took that as a pretty big sign that they wanted Doncic, and wanted Doncic to want them. Maybe his camp is growing concerned they'll go with Ayton and he'll end up stuck in Sactown.
Minor nitpick, Igor is Serbian. He has coached two national teams in Europe (Georgia and Slovenia).
Agree with everything else you said.
Doncic signed a 5-year deal with Real Madrid when he was very young. I'm not sure if that deal expires this year, or if he has one more year with a buyout.
Maybe he stays in the draft and goes to whichever team selects him. But if Real Madrid is willing, maybe he signs a long-term extension in Spain, with an NBA buyout clause. His agent gives the league a list of teams for which his client would be willing to play. If one of those teams acquires his rights, he will come over. Otherwise he'll wait.
There are worse things than being a 19 year-old millionaire living in Spain with the team-supplied car and apartment, and most of the other good things life has to offer. Plus he only has to play 45-50 games, not 82+.
Maybe he stays in the draft and goes to whichever team selects him. But if Real Madrid is willing, maybe he signs a long-term extension in Spain, with an NBA buyout clause. His agent gives the league a list of teams for which his client would be willing to play. If one of those teams acquires his rights, he will come over. Otherwise he'll wait.
There are worse things than being a 19 year-old millionaire living in Spain with the team-supplied car and apartment, and most of the other good things life has to offer. Plus he only has to play 45-50 games, not 82+.
I didn't watch the broadcast, so maybe this story came up, but a fun anecdote from Zach Lowe's column about being in the locked room during the actual lottery ball drawing:
Chris Wallace, the Grizzlies' GM (and drawing room rep) who once worked for the Celtics, said his favorite lottery good-luck charm ever was the partially smoked cigar Red Auerbach sent him ahead of the 1998 lottery. Auerbach was then living in Washington, D.C., Wallace told me. The Celtics mailed him an envelope with a return address, and instructed him to light the cigar, take a couple puffs, put it out, and mail it back.
He did. Wallace stuck it in his suit pocket. "It stunk to high heavens," Wallace said. "The whole stage smelled." The Celtics didn't move up or down that year, but Paul Pierce fell to them at No. 10, so Wallace concluded the cigar worked.
Plenty of other amusing tidbits:
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23515949/zach-lowe-2018-nba-draft-lottery-phoenix-suns-sacramento-kings
Chris Wallace, the Grizzlies' GM (and drawing room rep) who once worked for the Celtics, said his favorite lottery good-luck charm ever was the partially smoked cigar Red Auerbach sent him ahead of the 1998 lottery. Auerbach was then living in Washington, D.C., Wallace told me. The Celtics mailed him an envelope with a return address, and instructed him to light the cigar, take a couple puffs, put it out, and mail it back.
He did. Wallace stuck it in his suit pocket. "It stunk to high heavens," Wallace said. "The whole stage smelled." The Celtics didn't move up or down that year, but Paul Pierce fell to them at No. 10, so Wallace concluded the cigar worked.
Plenty of other amusing tidbits:
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23515949/zach-lowe-2018-nba-draft-lottery-phoenix-suns-sacramento-kings
IIRC, isn't the Kings pick protected next year for the #1? Basically, we want them to be bad, but we don't want them to be the worst? If i'm remembering that right, what happens to the pick if the Kings do end up with the #1? What do the C's end up with in that situation?
Well, that would officially suck. Gotta think the Sixers pick would be somewhere in the mid 20's or so. Going from a high lottery pick to the mid 20's, because the Kings got the lucky ping pong ball would fucking blow.
Funny thing is, I think the current and future C's team is probably one of only a few that could lose a high lottery pick and still be fucking awesomely positioned moving forward. I mean seriously, if GH and Irving come back healthy to a roster that includes Jaylen, Tatum, Horford, etc., adding a top 2-5 pick next year is almost unfair.
But they changed the odds for next year. The teams with the three worst records all get an equal 14% chance at #1. 14% isn't nothing, but I don't think it's something that should kill a deal if a team really wants Rozier.
It also increased the odds for better teams to jump up and the lottery now determines the top 4 picks. Still, the potential downside of it ending up as Philly's pick conveying makes it risky for a lottery team to take as a centerpiece, and the Celtics can't attach additional protections to it the way Philly did (you can only do that if you own the pick unconditionally). Likely the only way it gets traded is with caveats that if the Kings pick doesn't convey it converts to the Grizzlies pick or it's the better of the two if both convey in 2019.
