Time to Start Talking Draft Pick

Draft is getting close so we should start zeroing in on the draft. Assuming Dybantsa, Wilson, Boozer and Peterson are off the board, who are we taking?

This isn't an easy decision. If you want to take the best player available at #5, you draft Acuff. However, my issue with him is his height. He's only 6'1" without shoes. Small guards don't do well, and they are poor defenders. I know people are going to cite Brunson, but he's the exception not the norm. When I saw Acuff play, he kind of reminded me of a young Chris Paul. He drives in to the plaint and might take a lot of contact once he gets into the NBA. I think this might make him prone to injury. Keaton Wagler is closer to a prototype wing. He does get his points from outside shots, but everyone blasts his lack of athleticism. Can he turn out to be another Jerome Robinson? Then there's talk of Mikel Brown, but his back injury is a concern. To be honest guys, there's really no good measure of determining which one of these guys will pan out. As everyone is saying, the first four players seem like true winners, but starting at 5 there is no certainty. When you look at prior drafts as well, the 5th pick doesn't always turn out to be good, so even that isn't an indicator of future success. I just hope we can get another player that ends up being as good as SGA and not Jerome Robinson. We need this pick to hit.

Brunson wasn't an exception. He was in that his team won a title, but for the entire season and Playoff run...

....it seemed like he was somehow involved in every basket his opponents scored.

I think you misunderstood. I'm not saying Brunson wasn't a factor in New York winning the title. In fact, I would say he was the biggest factor. What I'm saying is that among smaller guards, there's not as much success. Brunson is one of many smaller guards in the league, and a small height places a player at a disadvantage as guarding taller players is harder.

I picked Acuff because he looks like the best shooter and most explosive. In the end you want someone who is a big threat offensively, making life easier for guys like Kawhi et al. But yeah the others in contention sound like good players too, so it's going to be a tough decision.

It will be very interesting to revisit thread in a year and see how the Clipper pick and the others pan out.

MBJ should be the clear pick. He's the only player among the 4 guards we are considering who offers a combination of HUGE upside, solid athleticism, and an on- and off-ball skill set to play next to Garland. Acuff isn't a player the Clippers have seemed to take seriously, which I suspect is because they are set on keeping Garland and know the pairing would be bad. Wagler to me is the disaster safe pick that will keep us on a treadmill trajectory instead of a breakout trajectory, most likely. It's coming down to these two only, which are now at 50/50 ish odds each.

I'm hearing rumors that he and Wagler cancelled their workouts with Sacramento. Many believe it's because one or both have promises at 5 and/or 6 so you could very well be right

I wouldn't mind that pick at all. If nothing else, he'll get the crowd involved and be a fan favorite. He's probably the most fun to watch on the offensive end of the floor

Absolutely. That's what I've been saying. Make this one count. 5 was the best we could do and we were possibly looking at no pick at all. Got to hit on this one especially considering what type of fallout there may be from aspiration

I like how there is balance in the poll. Everybody has a different pick so it keeps the drama going right up until draft day

A lot to consider here and analyze. I always like looking back at drafts and it's crazy to see how unpredictable the draft can be. Sometimes the number one pick ends up flaming out, Anthony Bennet. Other times, the number one pick turns out to be legendary, Wembanyama. Then there's other times that the second round can produce amazing picks, Nikola Yokic, Jaylen Brunson, etc. I won't pretend to know which one of the guys available at 5 will be the best one. Acuff concerns me, as small guards like him that operate in the paint often get hurt. When that happens that affects their athleticism and desire to score like they used to. We can see this happen already with past players like Ja Morant and Derrick Rose. These guys were explosive and scored in the paint beautifully, yet injury affected that athleticism and they were never the same. Keaton Wagler's lack of athleticism kind of makes him similar to other non-athletic shooters, which isn't a bad thing. However, will that lead him to be more like Luke Kennard or more like Jerome Robinson. In either case, neither of those players would be considered a success at the 5th pick, and Wagler strikes me as possibly being a similar type, catch and shoot wing. MBJ seems to be the organization's favorite thus far. However, I don't like picking him at the 5th. If we are set on picking him at 5, shouldn't we try and trade down to get more in return. The Kings are rumored to really be in love with Acuff. I don't see Wagler or Acuff falling to the seventh. I think it will be in either order Acuff or Wagler at 5 and 6. I think we should hear offers from Sacramento or Brooklyn. Trade down two spots where MBJ might still be available, but get some more assets in return from either of those two teams. Can you imagine, we still get MBJ at 6 or 7 but get an additional pic down the road?

Yes nothing is sure and we might trade down in the draft and get some addl capital.

That would work too. Like I've been saying from the get go. You can get a similar guy at the 8 spot and then the 23rd pick is just icing on the cake

How do I vote?

Also I guess this is the draft thread.

Shoot. The vote may have ended already since the draft is about to start. Just write in who you think it will be with an explanation

Flemings, because I think he's the best halfcourt PG.

We took Wagler. Unsure about this pick. He does have skills.

After pick 4, everything is a mystery. We just have to give him minutes and develop him.

@Trueblood, this has been a good 2nd round broadcast.

They showed every pick being announced.

Had highlights for everyone except for Ishchenko, Ngoy, Pierre Jr., Kaufman-Renn.

And they at least had appropriate analysis on those players.

They did have highlights for the 60th pick, Lewis.

They even made a joke about how Jokic was preempted by a Taco Bell commercial in 2014.

The past 2nd round broadcasts still had someone Taco Bell Quesaritoed. But not this one tonight.

OMG, this article lists the All Taco Bell team.

I love it.

https://ftw.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2023/06/23/nikola-jokic-taco-bell-players-drafted-nba-commercials/81048849007/

Yes, they did a good job of turning the 2nd round into an event of sorts

As for the picks themselves, not a lot of surprises at the top. The players who had a shot at the 1st round all went early in the 2nd

I like what the Clips did with Baba and Martinelli. I didn't pull the trigger on Baba in my 2nd round mock but knew that he has value. Just didn't see the right fit but he should work well here, spreading the floor and what not

Same with Martinelli. Shooting won't be an issue

I have no idea who Narcisse Ngoy is. I heard he's going back to college. I guess the Clips keep his rights though, similar to how the Celtics kept the rights to Larry Bird in 1979 while he was at Indiana State. I don't know. I kind of like the old rules of if you hire an agent, you can't go back to school and if you're in the draft and get drafted, you don't get to go to school either but here we are. I assume this guy can't re-enter the draft in a year, is that correct?

Funny stuff. A lot of those guys never played a minute in the league. I forgot some of them existed

Yeah I have no idea who most of those are.

When I was at the beginning of the article, I thought it was going to be an all-time Taco Bell team, not just a team from that particular draft.

Still, good work on that writer for doing the research and providing links to the commercials. At least I know it bothers that writer as much as it bothers me.

And it was funny that the writer pointed out how one of the commercials was for pubic landscaping.

Jokic has never had Taco Bell, because of the draft incident.

Old El Paso stepped up last year to give Jokic tacos.

https://sports.yahoo.com/article/company-righting-taco-wrongs-nikola-123317883.html

Taco Bell really flubbed a marketing opportunity, by what they did in 2014. They could have had a future MVP eating tacos.

Remember in the 1995 NBA Finals, when there was a battle between soft tacos (Hakeem Olajuwon) and crunchy tacos (Shaquille O'Neal)?

And of course Shaq isn't going to support soft tacos. He probably thinks it makes him look like a wimp, even though it doesn't. And he'd get dominated by Mr. soft tacos anyways.

I remember that.....