OK... Do not draft a big

[dnbman]

After scanning drafts back to 1994, I have come to this conclusion:

DO NOT DRAFT A BIG, unless he's a no brainer pick like Duncan, Shaq, etc.

Here's why: in the draft, these guys are grossly overvalued. You will be able to pick them up for cents on the dollar a few years later. After looking at the NBA landscape, this is for the most part true. You have a few elite guys who were pretty obvious selections, a whole bunch of solid guys, and then a half dozen guys who are actually better than advertised (Boozer and David West come to mind). Otherwise, most teams trade for the right average guy who fits their system after he's become a solid veteran.

SO, we should definitely not reach on a big this year unless that player is really the best player available.

Before you counter this argument, go look at the last 15 years of drafts and see how often this is true.

[Slam]

I think this holds water. Depending on what you need, rather than draft a big, why not just sign Diop (who is a FA) then use our draft pick on something else of need?

But then again, if you luck onto the right big in the draft, the sky's the limit.

[spectre]

I wonder if the stigmata of Kwame Brown makes MJ worry about this more than most?

Agreed with the point.

[ohara831]

You're right for the most part. It really depends on who is available. Dwight Howard turned out to be a great pick. There are no Howards in this Draft. They thought DeAndre Jordan might be one in the making, but his stock is sliding. Brook Lopez of Stanford is worth a Lottery pick, in my opinion. He's the only one I'd consider anywhere in the Lottery. Otherwise, this Draft is pretty good with some strong PF, SF, SG and PG for the Lottery.

[Slam]

That's just it though ohara831, maybe there is another Howard in this draft but we just don't know it yet? Howard wasn't Howard until last year.

Maybe Thabeet will end up that good? Or Jordan? Or McGee?

My point is, the draft is always a crap shoot and never, ever a sure thing.

[dnbman]

That's just it though ohara831, maybe there is another Howard in this draft but we just don't know it yet? Howard wasn't Howard until last year.

Maybe Thabeet will end up that good? Or Jordan? Or McGee?

My point is, the draft is always a crap shoot and never, ever a sure thing.


Yeah, but Howard was still good right out of the gates. His only real knock was his ft%. There are a TON of bigs who came in the league with high expectations and never were better than blue collar.

I'm just not convinced enough to draft any of those bigs in the top 10, save maybe Lopez at the end of the run. There is that guy Blake that might be o.k.

[ohara831]

Blake Griffin is a PF, only 6-9. Thabeet's value has not done much for me. I am intrigued by McGee, though. That might be something to think about, but not in the top 7 picks. For a Top 7, I have to go with the BPA, no matter the size. I think the way things are going, Brook Lopez has moved into the #3 pick, behind Beasley and Rose.

[ohara831]

Another possibility is to take the BPA with our Lottery - like a Mayo, and then trade someone and our 2nd rounder for a late 1st rounder and move in and take that Serge Ibaka player from the Congo. He is now projected into the 1st round in most places and has a fairly high ceiling. Can definitely play the PF position at 6-10 and his weight is OK, but could use another 15 lbs. I've seen some of my BobcatPlanet friends write about him before so he is not unknown. ESPN says "great shot blocker, strong rebounder and has a jumper out to 18 ft." That is far more production than Okafor has given us.

[Dead_Real]

Blake Griffin is a PF, only 6-9. Thabeet's value has not done much for me. I am intrigued by McGee, though. That might be something to think about, but not in the top 7 picks. For a Top 7, I have to go with the BPA, no matter the size. I think the way things are going, Brook Lopez has moved into the #3 pick, behind Beasley and Rose.

I like Griffin a lot from what I've seen but I remember reading that he plans to return for sophomore season. With that said if Mayo is on the board and we are up it will be hard passing up on him.

[ohara831]

Yeah, for a brief bit, Mayo dropped out of the Top 10, but he is moving back up rapidly. He is moving up while many others are moving down. We'd be lucky if he was on the Board at #7, where I expect us to be. I am certain the Bucks will make up that .5 game they are behind us, but I dont think the Knicks or Clippers will pass us. That 5 game win streak kinda sealed us in at around #7 unless the ping pong balls do some magic for us.

Go and look up some of the 2008 nba mock drafts and hit on one of the database sites where they give you a couple dozen mocks. Read what people say about Serge Ibaka. He seems to be projected anywhere from #15 - #35. Wide range. Kid is only 18 but seems to have some serious Big Man skills. I would really like the BPA in our Lottery and find a way to snag Ibaka late 1st via trade. I'm afraid he wont make it to the 2nd round for us.

[Slam]

Blake Griffin is "only" 6'9"?

Boozer is "only" 6'9"

Jamison is "only" 6'9"

David West is "only" 6'9"

Zach Randolph is "only" 6'9"

Matrix is "only" 6'7"

K-Mart is "only" 6'9"

Haslem is "only" 6'8"

you get the idea.

[ohara831]

Blake Griffin is "only" 6'9"?

Boozer is "only" 6'9"

Jamison is "only" 6'9"

David West is "only" 6'9"

Zach Randolph is "only" 6'9"

Matrix is "only" 6'7"

K-Mart is "only" 6'9"

Haslem is "only" 6'8"

you get the idea.
_________________________________________________

I know. But Dnbman was speaking about Centers from the people he was mentioning: Thabeet, Jordan, McGee. I read his post as talking about Big Men meaning Centers. I was just noting that Griffin is a PF, not a Center. If we are going to grab a PF, he would not be a bad option, but I think Love would be better. Well, Love is better now, but perhaps Griffin has more upside potential, it's a close call.

[Slam]

Sorry ohara831, I missed your point but fully understand what you were saying now.

If we were to keep EO50 and play him 100% as a C, I think that Griffin would be a good pairing with him.

Love would also be a solid option, so long as he could work on his conditioning.

[ohara831]

Very true Slam. I've seen Love about 7-8 times and know what he's capable of, or at least I think. I have only seen Griffin 1x and he had a not so good game. But most Mocks have him around the top 10, and all have him higher than Love. Have you seen enough of him to know his value? Does he impress you more as a PF than May did when he came out? I really think May is limited in the NBA, especially after the injury. He can be a solid back up playing 20 min per game and be productive, but I dont think he has the ability to play 35-45 on a regular basis. His knee will likely not permit it, and I dont know if his conditioning will get there. Do you like Griffin more than the kid out of LSU who is getting a lot of hype now?

[Slam]

I've seen Griffin about 6 times. One of those times was when he hurt his knee against Kansas - which made me very sad because I wanted to see him and Authur go at it.

The kid is an ox and super strong. Fights hard, great body, awesome 2nd effort (especially on the offensive boards and his own misses), good ball IQ and has some handles.

He played against Beasley and had 8 offensive boards (14 total) to go along with 27pts.

So long as his knee is ok, I think he is the real deal.

He sort of reminds me of Horford with more offense but less shot blocking.

I didn't see any college ball before 2005 so I didn't get to see McMay at UNC so I can't have an informed opinion on that and I have never seen Randolph from LSU play so he's in the same boat.

I agree with you though and seriously doubt McMay is going to have a carrer. It's one thing for a fit, strong, healthy and focused Amare to come back from microfracture surgery, it's another to think that a fat, lazy, sloth will be able to.

[dnbman]

I've seen Griffin about 6 times. One of those times was when he hurt his knee against Kansas - which made me very sad because I wanted to see him and Authur go at it.

The kid is an ox and super strong. Fights hard, great body, awesome 2nd effort (especially on the offensive boards and his own misses), good ball IQ and has some handles.

He played against Beasley and had 8 offensive boards (14 total) to go along with 27pts.

So long as his knee is ok, I think he is the real deal.

He sort of reminds me of Horford with more offense but less shot blocking.

I didn't see any college ball before 2005 so I didn't get to see McMay at UNC so I can't have an informed opinion on that and I have never seen Randolph from LSU play so he's in the same boat.

I agree with you though and seriously doubt McMay is going to have a carrer. It's one thing for a fit, strong, healthy and focused Amare to come back from microfracture surgery, it's another to think that a fat, lazy, sloth will be able to.


Glad to hear that Blake sounds like the real deal, as, if he comes out, he could be a solid option for us.

Ohara, the thread is about bigs-- Cs and PFs-- as a whole. While the archetypal skill sets are different, the modern NBA is blurring the two more and more. Certainly, our team could go either way in terms of who we draft, though I'd like for us to get a quality PF more than a C.

[ohara831]

Thanks for the clarification Dnbman. If we are picking at #3 or later, I'd grap Lopez if available. If not, I'd consider Mayo or one of the strong PF's like Blake or Randolph. Mayo would be quite nice, tho. I know he is sort of a combo guard, similar to Ray. But with his scoring potential and his Defense, I think he'd be excellent to bring in to spell Ray at the PG, then, stay in the game to spell J-Rich at the SG. He'd likely get at least 25 min/game as a Rookie, and I think have a pretty good impact. But if we did take Mayo in the Lottery, I'd have to strongly consider trading our 2nd with someone like Carroll to try and get back into the mid teens to try and grab Love as our PF. We seem to be developing extra depth at the Wings, so we could afford to give up Carroll if we drafted Mayo. You have to admit, Mayo's ceiling is much much higher than Carroll's.

[dvdbumpus]

Thanks for the clarification Dnbman. If we are picking at #3 or later, I'd grap Lopez if available. If not, I'd consider Mayo or one of the strong PF's like Blake or Randolph. Mayo would be quite nice, tho. I know he is sort of a combo guard, similar to Ray. But with his scoring potential and his Defense, I think he'd be excellent to bring in to spell Ray at the PG, then, stay in the game to spell J-Rich at the SG. He'd likely get at least 25 min/game as a Rookie, and I think have a pretty good impact. But if we did take Mayo in the Lottery, I'd have to strongly consider trading our 2nd with someone like Carroll to try and get back into the mid teens to try and grab Love as our PF. We seem to be developing extra depth at the Wings, so we could afford to give up Carroll if we drafted Mayo. You have to admit, Mayo's ceiling is much much higher than Carroll's.


I'd be happy to do that. Even if it was for a late 1st round pick to get Hibbert (now projected in the late 1st round) or to grab Hansborough.... What about Hilton Armstrong from New Orleans? He was a lotto pick that could develop into a Tyson Chandler type.

[ohara831]

If it was a late 1st rounder, I'd try for Serge Ibaka. A whole lotta upside with that kid.