Canis Community Draft Board, pt. iii
by Stop-n-Pop on Jun 4, 2009 9:40 PM CDT
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PrintOK, it's time to vote on who should be the #5 player on the Wolves' draft board. Here is what we have so far:
- Blake Griffin
- Ricky Rubio
- James Harden
- Stephen Curry
- ???
What say you? Remember, I only have room for 6 names in the poll and if you would like to add someone else, please write in your vote in the comments.
Until later.
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I'd probably lean away from a PG
Just since one’s probably going to be there at 18. I question the wisdom of using possibly your last high pick for a while to supplement this team with a third big. So it comes down to Evans or Derozan. One can’t shot the other can’t create. Neither tested all that well at Chicago. I’m actually not so sure in a scenario like this Gerald Henderson-could factor in. I realize this is a potential ban. He’s probably safer than these other two. In the end I’d go Derozan- just because he rates out as the most efficient. I’d much rather have Curry or Harden though.
Personally, I really like the idea of Tyreke Evans. His wingspan is crazy for a point guard and they say he could even guard a SF in the league. He and Harden are two guys I wouldn’t mind at #6.
I’m holding hope that one or both of the late picks will help us move up in the first round or net a player that can contribute.
by Twins Territory on Jun 4, 2009 10:31 PM CDT reply actions
I'm sure if you keep complaining, it'll all go away.
by Kevin Loves McHale's Navy on Jun 4, 2009 10:49 PM CDT up reply actions
In that case...
woooohooooo there is a chance!!!!
by College Wolf on Jun 4, 2009 10:55 PM CDT up reply actions
Here's where I get crossed up
Evans or Jennings. I’m not buying the Holiday nonsense (he can’t create his own shot at the next level) and Flynn is a right-handed Jennings…soooooooooo…I’m going with….I have to take Jennings since he said F-you to the NCAA. That’s worth a lot in my book. ;)
I’m all about Curry but I would have zero problem with Harden, Evans, or Jennings being the top pick for the Wolves. Anyone else, at this point, is a wash. They should have a shot at nearly all of these guys. Evans makes sense for anyone who thinks Foye can (or should) pan out. Jennings and Evans both have jumper problems. If pressed to choose between the two, I flip a coin. I think Evans has more potential but Jennings will not be kept out of the lane in the NBA while Evans will have more of an issue creating his own shot. Since I should pick, I’ll go with Jennings…although I really think guys like Lawson and Blair are the best non-Curry players available at this point. This draft is a no man’s land after pick 3 or 4.
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Blair = Rhino without the floater
At a certain point, a player becomes too short to play post in the NBA. Blair has crossed that line, being sub 6’6". Save the Barkley comparison (if anyone planned on making it). CB was a dynamite athlete. Blair can’t get off the ground.
I'm going to completely disagree..
….on this one. Blair is a unique player and will be very effective for a long time because of his strength and length. The guy has a standing reach of almost 9 feet to go along with a 7’2" wingspan. The top of his head may be short, but the rest of him is not. He is extremely strong and can use his wide body and excellent length to make a long, long, long career in the NBA as a premier rebounder and close range scorer at the 4. The Rhino gives up 3 inches in reach to Blair and nearly 6 inches in wingspan. Throwing in their max vert numbers, Blair has a top end of 11’7.5" while the Rhino comes in 6-6.5 inches shorter. In terms of effective play, Blair plays between 3-6 inches larger than Smith. I believe Blair will prove to be miles ahead of the Rhino.
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He might be in the league for a long time
if he has a good attitude and makes a good practice player, like Mad Dog does up here. But he’ll never be a starter on a halfway decent team. He can’t get off the ground and when your game is built all around the low post, that’s a problem. Imagine what Kevin Love would be if he were a couple inches shorter and didn’t have his nice jumpshot. That’s the type of prospect that Blair is and he won’t be able to out-muscle people on a regular basis in the NBA. That’s not how it works, unless your name is Shaquille.
He will definitely..
….be an interesting player to watch. There are a few guys in this draft who are really polarizing: Curry, Thabeet, and Blair being the three biggest I can think of. Holiday can probably be added to that group.
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I don't think Blair is that polarizing...
because nobody considers him to be a Top 5 prospect. Debating between whether he’s the 15th best or 45th best isn’t as polarizing as with Curry and Thabeet, where some think they are Top 3 prospects and others think they should be taken outside the lottery.
I think Blair is going to be a really mediocre pro. Not necessarily NBDL-bound, but just a step above that. He has nothing to hang his hat on, other than his college stats, which pro scouts could care less about once they see him matched up against NBA talent.
For the record, I don’t feel this way about Curry. I think he’s going to be a solid pro, and has the potential to be better than that. I just question the likelihood of him being better than average or any sort of impact player. With Blair, I don’t think he’ll get off the bench on a healthy team.
I agree with SNP
I thought Blair was going to pass up HIll and be the 3rd big taken behind Griffin and Thabeet, but then I read Chad Ford’s piece about how many of the teams have red flagged his knees, I guess he tore both ACL’s in High School, and that some teams have completely removed him from their board with the range of opinion on his knees from “Terrible” to “Undraftable”…yikes, looks like Blair didn’t do so hot on the medical side of the Combine.
Blair...
… could put up some numbers in the NBA but I can’t see him doing it for a contending team. He’s one of those gimmicky players who thrives on bad teams but is just too small to be a solid option on a good playoff team. I think he’s closer to Rhino as a comp than anyone else.
My reservation about Stephen Curry is that he also may be one of these gimmicky players. I know all the counterarguments, stats, etc, etc, but no matter how good Steph Curry will look in the D’Antoni’s 7 Seconds or Less offense, I don’t think he would be a marquee player for a contending team and I would rather go with a natural point like Jennings or Holiday at number six.
Yeah, maybe Blair has enough game to get some numbers on a terrible team.
I think Curry is a clearly better prospect than Blair, though, because there is an obvious, translatable skill in Steph’s game, with his jumpshooting. Blair’s rebounding dominance will not carry over to the pro game in any sort of meaningful way, and he’s certainly not a scoring option in the pro game. Some of the comments I’ve read about this guy (I think David Thorpe once called him a Jefferson-Boozer Hybrid!) are amongst the most laughable things I can remember in pre-draft discussion. I wouldn’t take him at 18, if I were any team, and I don’t think I’d take him at 28, if I were the Wolves, since we already have a Blair-type on our bench.
Blair
Can be a premier NBA rebounder. He is not only a wide body by NCAA standards, he is a wide body by friggin’ NFL standards. I see zero problem with him translating his rebounding to the next level. I actually think he has a very good shot of beating some of Love’s rebounding numbers next season, he’s that good. The question marks surround the other aspects of his game in terms of guarding rangy face-up 4’s and finishing around the hoop. But I have no question he will get it done on the boards.
by Rascal Flatts on Jun 5, 2009 3:12 PM CDT up reply actions
also, he’s got an absolutely ridiculous wingspan and standing reach for someone his height. that makes up for the height quite a bit and really adds to the likelihood that he’ll be able to rebound at the next level.
heart of a champion, will of the warrior.
There are guys at your local YMCA or Lifetime Fitness
with Blair’s body-type and boxing out ability. Being short and wide is not a rare commodity in basketball. Sadly (for those guys) they don’t have the height and athleticism to play professional basketball. He’s going to be a bust. I don’t usually come out this strongly on a prospect, but I think DB is awful for the NBA.
blair’s body type is much less common than you are arguing. 7’2" wingspan and a 8’10.5" standing reach at his height is very rare. i’m not saying that i wouldn’t prefer him to be a bit bigger than that or that he won’t be at a size disadvantage from time to time, but to call him out for being short and wide when the measurements that are more applicable to him being a good rebounder are actually fairly good just doesn’t make sense to me.
do i see him as an nba starter ever? no. do i see him as a 6th or 7th man ever? no. all i’m saying is that he’ll be able to rebound in the nba. rebounding is the stat most translatable from college to the pros and his body type does not indicate that he won’t be able to do it in the nba. with his bad knees, his dwight howard-esque array of post moves (read: just one post move: dunk. and howard does it much better), and his lack of any other marketable skills aside from being hard to push around, i don’t see a big future for him in the nba, but as a 2nd round pick, it’s hard to argue with a kid who crashes the boards like his life depended on it.
heart of a champion, will of the warrior.
I like him as a 2nd Round pick...
but not a lottery pick. He’ll be lucky to be as good as Craig Smith, who was a fine Big East player in his own right.
i’d go so far as to say that if he didn’t have terrible knees, he’d be a late first rounder, but there is no way he should be drafted in the lottery. no way.
heart of a champion, will of the warrior.
Yeah, that's fair....
He’s not a bad player, but his limitations as a pro are clear. It’s crazy to call him a high lotto prospect, even if his knees were healthy.
Who cares about his height
Unless your playing defense using your soccer header skills, what makes the difference if your 6’5" or 6’9" when both players have the same standing reach.
I finally punched a Thabeet ticket.
I feel so… dirty.
by Kevin Loves McHale's Navy on Jun 4, 2009 10:50 PM CDT reply actions
He's got a lot of buzz..
…and I’ve seen him linked to lotto teams more than some other guys.
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www.canishoopus.com
Flynn
I don’t love him. But if I was forced to pick a 1 here- I would probably consider him. I look at him as Bassy who can finish at the rim. He’s probably shown a bit more as a Point than Jennings who seems to be slipping (13-DX) (14-Chad Ford) . I’m really not nuts about Holliday for the reasons SNP mentioned.
After seeing us end up with Evans on both DX as ESPN mock 3. I’ll take anyone; anyone; just don’t give me evans; PLEASE (and not Hill either but if we pick Hill than there’s really something wrong).
Beater of the early Thabeet drum ... but not so much of the late one
hill could very well be the bpa at the 6, but it could mean that the wolves were acquiring a trade chip more than a player. though, if jefferson moves to the 5 full time next year, wouldn’t hill immediately step in and be your best big off the bench (step in if i’m forgetting someone)? there are much more pressing needs, but there are worse fates than acquiring a solid backup big at the 6 pick in a mediocre draft. i might not make that call over curry or flynn, but hill wouldn’t be that bad.
heart of a champion, will of the warrior.
it would be treated...
….as an unmitigated disaster if kahn’s first pick was another power forward not named blake griffin. even if they were guaranteed that hill would be a solid backup for years and years and years and years, i think it would be viewed, by fans, as a terrible decision.
The World's Leading Exporter of Small Area Quickness
www.canishoopus.com
for what it’s worth, those of you who appreciate the tier system might be interested in setting up something based on tiers instead of strict player by player rankings (though that is next to impossible in a poll system like this).
here’s mine:
1. griffin/rubio
2. harden
3. hill/flynn/curry
3a. (unsure whether to go 3 or 4 for these guys) lawson/derozan
4. holiday/williams/thabeet
5. jennings/clark
6. evans/probably other guys i haven’t thought about
you could talk me out of rubio on the same tier as griffin or putting terrance williams so high (i just love that guy), but that’s generally how i see this draft.
heart of a champion, will of the warrior.
OK, if those are the top 4...
then I’m all about entertaining offers for the #6. If another team happens to fall in love with a certain player, let’s make a deal (sorry to rip off Monty Hall). If we can get another pick (this or next year) and maybe do some salary swaps (like the K-Love deal), we should do it! Come on, Wrath, make something happen!!
I finally voted for Thabeet
As therefore we won’t have to debate his game again, but also the remaining perimiter players have much more questions than answers when regarding their games. Harden’s ability to drive, his length and his all around game are attractive. Curry’s shooting, passing, and craftiness is attractive. These remaining players are not as attractive, so why not roll the dice on unattractive 7’2".
DeRozan or Thabeet
I went DeRozan, but I think the Wolves would go Thabeet considering that once you reach this point in the draft, everyone has some huge question marks as a number of the prior posters mention. So when in doubt, go with a 7"3 question mark.
I’m still very encouraged by what could drop to #18. Lawson, Jennings, Daye, Teague, Mullens, Johnson, Maynor. Someone that has something to offer us will drop to #18 and we’ll all be pretty excited about that pick on draft day I think.
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