NBA Draft 2014

Doesn’t seem like much interest in the draft tonight… I think it’s pretty intriguing myself. Pretty deep draft with some interesting story lines and trade possibilities. My local, recently re-branded Charlotte Hornets are sitting at #9 after a lucky ping pong ball in the lottery (thanks Pistons!)

The Hornets have a desperate need for a pure outside shooter and there should be a number of options when they pick. McDermott and Stauskas could be there. I hope Rich Cho doesn’t try to prove he’s smarter than everyone by reaching for someone though. So far he’s been pretty good, but this is his first draft pulling the strings by himself.

Curious to see if the Cavs mess up again; and where Embiid ends up.

This is going to be fascinating for so many different reasons. The consensus #1 pick is injured, an Australian [del]man[/del] teenager of mystery could go as high as #3, and lots of teams are looking to move around so they can clear space to take a shot at LeBron or Carmelo or Kevin Love or others, or just make the playoffs. Things could get crazy even before the draft starts.

As a Sixers fan and loooongtime Andrew Wiggins hagiographer, I’m pretty well beside myself by now. I was entirely on board with the tanking strategy, then a little crestfallen at the outcome of the lottery, but then everything looked to be falling into place with the rise of Embiid, until his injury.

Now, god, who knows. There are so many guys in this year’s draft I really like. It’s probably easier to list the ones I don’t like: Parker, Gary Harris, Payne, Ennis, McDermott. I think that’s it. Nurkic, Payton, Capela, Saric, Hairston, yep yep yep yep.

The absolute best case for me was actually Chad Ford’s mock pre-Embiid injury: Wiggins at three (I will go totally fucking berserk) and then Randle at 10 (any survivors would be entirely destroyed at that point). It doesn’t look at this point like either one of those two is going to make it to those picks, so now, geez, I really don’t know. If they could trade 3 and 10 to get 1 and take Wiggins, I wouldn’t complain, but there are going to be genuinely fantastic players available at 10. I definitely would not approve of 3, 10 and something else.

Maybe they stay where they are and take Embiid – I would approve. Maybe they stay and take Exum – I’d be cautiously optimistic; a bit disappointed by the vanillaness of it, but in Hinkie I trust. Or maybe they trade MCW for 7, take Smart at 7, trade Young, 10 and a future pick for 6, and trade 3 and 6 for 1 to get Wiggins, and then… fuck, even I can’t add Randle to that. OK, MCW for 7 and Nash, take Randle at 7, Wiggins drops to 3, here we go, and then Stauskas at 10!

Yeah, I’m intrigued by this.

And yes, that’s the other thing that makes this really interesting: a couple of teams, especially Philly, have lots of assets they could use to make a move. The 76ers and Magic both have two lottery picks each and Philly also has five second-round picks to take crazy flyers or sweeten trades. The Bulls have two picks in the teens, and the Celtics and Hornets both have mid/late first-round picks on top of their lottery picks.

Just catching up on the trades that are already happening:

Dallas is getting Tyson Chandler back from the Knicks (and taking Raymond Felton as a punishment), while the Knicks are getting Jose Calderon, Samuel Dalembert, Shane Larkin, Wayne Ellington two second-round picks (34 and 51). It saves the Knicks a little money and strengthens Dallas on defense, at least if Chandler can stay healthy.

New Orleans will get Omer Asik from Houston for a protected first-round pick in 2015 or later.

Denver will get Arron Afflalo back from Orlando for Evan Fournier and a second-round pick (56). There were some rumors Afflalo would be part of a big trade between Orlando and Cleveland (with the Cavs getting Orlando’s lottery picks and the Magic getting the #1 pick), but the teams said they were not close to a deal and now that seems to be off.

I think Denver stole Afflalo. I’d heard Orlando was holding out for a lot more than what they got.

Stole is right, that’s a pillaging. It doesn’t help them rebuild in any meaningful way, and it makes this year’s team a lot worse…lose-lose.

Orlando wanted more, I think, but Afflalo can opt out of his contract after this year and the teams that might’ve wanted him the most didn’t have the cap space to get him. Denver had a trade exception, so they had room for him.

Orlando doesn’t care about getting worse this year, and they got a young player and a draft pick they can use in another trade.

Huh. A trade exception they got for Iguodala, who they got by, in part… trading Afflalo.

Fournier’s a really good shooter and only 21, for whatever it’s worth.

If that’s really the best offer they got for Afflalo, the rest of the league should be ashamed. A top-5 shooting guard with a $7.5 million salary next year should command a better haul than a guy with a 1.4 win share and second rounder.

You guys wait, next year everyone is going to be saying “wow i can’t believe Orlando stole Fournier for only Afflalo”. It’s happened with every trade the new Magic GM has done. He stone Vucevic from philly, he stole Tobias Harris from the Bucks, and everyone thought the Magic got royally screwed in both those trades when they happened. Either Fournier is a major stud and nobody knew it yet or they were making room for a bigger deal.

I think it would be a mistake for Philly to trade both those picks to move up, yet I’m not sure I’d want Cleveland to make that move, especially if they do it to grab Embiid.

Whatever they do, I just want Cleveland to stay away from Embiid. I’d be fine with them keeping the pick and taking Wiggins or Parker (though I prefer Wiggins).

Cleveland wants to win this year, so I think it’s very unlikely they’ll pick a guy who is out for at least a few months with injuries.

Other than a potential Philly deal, I think Cleveland should seriously consider taking pick 5, 23, and Derrick Favors from Utah, if that offer is actually on the table.

The question is who Cleveland really wants. They ought to be in the driver’s seat, but that’s only if they have a clear preference for who they come out of today with. I think Orlando, the Sixers and the Bucks all have that, but I don’t know what Cleveland is angling for, which is probably a result of there being competing factions internally in that organization.

It’s probably the case that they don’t really want to use that pick, though.

Cleveland should beware the karma of terrible teams. If they pick Embiid, he WILL be a bust. If they don’t, he’ll probably be alright :smiley:

This is the first draft in forever that I’ve been excited for because the Lakers actually have a pretty good chance to do well. Yeah, they got Bynum for the 10th pick and eventually 2 championships, but I didn’t know anything about him. I feel like the top 7 or 8 guys in this draft all have the potential to be all stars, some of them superstars.

I’ve been listening to local radio the last few months talking about this draft, and other than the sure thing of Wiggins and Parker, I would totally take Exum at #3. The guy is said to have a great work ethic, can shoot, has great athleticism, reminds people of Kobe, is big for a point guard, and wants to come to the Lakers. Still, I’m hoping for some draft night trades that bring us an established star like Klay Thompson or Kevin Love, but I understand that’s probably not happening.

I haven’t seen Embiid play at all since he was hurt during March, but is his ceiling as high as Hakeem as some people are saying? That’s almost blasphemy!

And Dan Patrick is doing a hilarious bet on his radio show about who’s the first white guy that Doug McDermott will be compared to after he gets picked. I’m going to say Larry Bird just because I’m sure the announcers want to pique people’s interest by dropping that name

Anyone the Lakers pay will want to come to the Lakers. Exum might be really good, but he’s also a 19-year-old kid who hardly anyone has seen, and he’s played maybe two games against top competition. Here’s some more about him.

Yeah, people say all kinds of dumb stuff. He might be really good if the two serious injuries he’s suffered don’t affect his career in a major way. Comparing him to someone like Olajuwon is absurd and nobody should set their hopes that high at this stage.

People have been saying that for months - and again, they should stop.

Dear God, thank you for this day finally getting here. Waiting seven months for this day – since the Lakers went into tank mode when Kobe got hurt (again). Then to go and win their last two games and end up with the 7th pick – behind the Celtics no less. I have a feeling the Minny-Golden State-Lakers trade is in play and the Lakers come out of this with Klay Thompson. Beyond that, Julius Randle or Aaron Gordon, both would be acceptable.

FWIW, NBA TV’s mock draft – really, David Aldridge’s mock draft – has Joel Embiid sliding to #7 and the Lakers. I can’t see it, but maybe DA knows something we don’t.

So… if The Lottery was designed to discourage “tanking,” and teams are still tanking anyway, what the hell is the point of The Lottery?

Yes, I know, unusually deep draft this year, blah blah blah… but still.

This draft is crazy deep. I just watched a scouting video of some Bosnian center jumping a pick and roll above the three-point line, picking the point guard’s pocket, and going coast to coast for the slam. Admittedly it was some Bosnian rec league, but still. It seems like someone is going to pull an all-star out of the teens this year.

Whoever drafts Stauskas will happy that they did. Whoever drafts Embiid will not. Injuries or no, I don’t think he’s a franchise player. Centers who turn out to be franchise players (Ewing, Olajuwon, Robinson, Shaq) are obvious number one picks. Guys who have the tools but need to grow into role (Kwame Brown, Olowokandi, Yao Ming) never seem to grow into the role.