NBA Post Bubble - Draft & Offseason
Since the season has ended, and the NBA offseason is a crazy animal independent of games, I thought we should have a new thread focused on all of the rumors, mock drafts, and transactions that will be taking place over the next few months that will shape the upcoming season on the court.
2020 NBA free agency: An updated look at the top 75 players on the market
CBS Sports 2020 NBA Mock Draft
SI NBA Mock Draft 7.0
NBADraft.net 2020 Mock Draft
Tankathon 2020 NBA Mock Draft
Re: NBA Post Bubble - Draft & Offseason
I will deem any team that drafts Saddiq Bey to be extremely smart and any team that drafts LaMelo Ball to be in for a season of misery.
Re: NBA Post Bubble - Draft & Offseason
Quote:
Originally Posted by
M2
I will deem any team that drafts Saddiq Bey to be extremely smart and any team that drafts LaMelo Ball to be in for a season of misery.
Why is there so much love for Ball? I don't get it.
Re: NBA Post Bubble - Draft & Offseason
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Assembly Hall
Why is there so much love for Ball? I don't get it.
it is based on "upside"...."potential"....all the things that drive NBA drafting strategies. The way I view it is in the NBA you can be the "smartest" FO in the league in regards to drafting.....accumulate a roster full of players that are not "busts" and be the 4th or 5th seed every year. On the flip side, your FO can be a joke, but if they are able to accumulate 1 or 2 "special" players they can contend for championships. Of all the players in this draft, I think Ball may have the highest ceiling in the modern NBA. He is a 6'7" PG (that may have another 1" of growth) that has a solid handle, a workable jump shot, can take guys off the dribble, good court vision and all of the tangibles to develop into an elite defensive player. He is not like Doncic where he in NBA ready, but if developed properly and most things go right, his ceiling is an All NBA player. What are the odds he develops properly and most of the things go right? I have no idea, but every NBA team will think they are the organization that can get a player to their ceiling.
Re: NBA Post Bubble - Draft & Offseason
Quote:
Originally Posted by
M2
I will deem any team that drafts Saddiq Bey to be extremely smart and any team that drafts LaMelo Ball to be in for a season of misery.
Friendly wager: Aaron Nesmith becomes a better 3-and-D player than Bey (whom I also like).
(In fact, that's the strength of this draft-- complimentary players who can help teams win. Wiseman might turn into something special. Edwards could decide he's going to play defense. Ball might learn how to shoot (and more importantly, get faster and more athletic). But then again, they might not. The NBA is hard.
Onyeka Okongwu is going to be productive (and might develop into an All-Star). Beyond him, everyone else I like is a combo guard (Kira Lewis, Killian Hayes) or a 3-and-D wing (Haliburton, Bey, Nesmith, Isiah Joe, Nwaba).
Re: NBA Post Bubble - Draft & Offseason
Quote:
Originally Posted by
adkindo
it is based on "upside"...."potential"....all the things that drive NBA drafting strategies. The way I view it is in the NBA you can be the "smartest" FO in the league in regards to drafting.....accumulate a roster full of players that are not "busts" and be the 4th or 5th seed every year. On the flip side, your FO can be a joke, but if they are able to accumulate 1 or 2 "special" players they can contend for championships. Of all the players in this draft, I think Ball may have the highest ceiling in the modern NBA. He is a 6'7" PG (that may have another 1" of growth) that has a solid handle, a workable jump shot, can take guys off the dribble, good court vision and all of the tangibles to develop into an elite defensive player. He is not like Doncic where he in NBA ready, but if developed properly and most things go right, his ceiling is an All NBA player. What are the odds he develops properly and most of the things go right? I have no idea, but every NBA team will think they are the organization that can get a player to their ceiling.
The problem with LaMelo is you have to hand him the ball, let him dribble around aimlessly and lay bricks all night long for 2-3 years before he maybe figures out how to channel his talent. Also, no one's ever seen him attempt to play defense. I'm not even sure Sam Hinkie would be masochistic enough to endure what that kid is going to do to a team. If you could send him to the G League for a year and try to rein in the unplayable parts of his game, then I'd be interested. Unfortunately, you can't do that. I'm not seeing a lot of places where he'd fit.
Minnesota - I figure it would take about a month of playing with LaMelo for KAT to declare he needs to play elsewhere and then fire off an apology text to Jimmy Butler.
Golden State - No way in hell the Splash Brothers are going to want the ball in the hands of a kid that raw as they take what might be their last, best shot at a title.
Charlotte - The Hornets came up with a find last year in Devonte' Graham. He and Terry Rozier both can play off-ball, and ideally you'd like a taller guard in that mix. Yet if that taller guard offers no spacing it's going to be a mess. Then again, being a mess is Charlotte's brand. So this is one of the teams I could see picking Ball.
Chicago - Wants to make the playoffs. Their new GM found a lot of gems in Denver, so maybe he'd be willing to draft LaMelo and keep him buried on the bench, but getting a full-fledged contributor with that pick or in trade for that pick would seem the higher priority.
Cleveland - Drafted Collin Sexton and Darius Garland the past two seasons. Why they'd triple down with Ball escapes me. Yet maybe they want a team full of shaky PGs and lumbering Cs.
Atlanta - Zero chance they're picking a kid who takes the ball out of Trae Young's hands.
Detroit - Worst roster in the NBA. No reason, outside of Dwane Casey's blood pressure, not to roll the dice. This team is going to suck for while. Can't imagine Ball slips past this pick.
New York - However, if he does slip past Detroit, no way the Knicks take a pass. They will not be able to resist the maddening urge to do the wrong thing. I still think they might trade up to get him.
Mind you, if for some reason he starts plunging and that makes teams increasingly skittish about him, the next six picks belong to Washington, Phoenix, San Antonio, Sacramento, New Orleans and Boston. I don't think he's a good fit on any of those teams. So the next landing spot for him (barring somebody making a trade to take him 9-14) would be Orlando at #15.
Re: NBA Post Bubble - Draft & Offseason
Pritchard has been trying to increase the pace. McMillan refused to do it (of course he would refuse...he was never going to change). D'Antoni would be incredible there. He and Pritchard would get a team full of gazelles on the floor. Sabonis would get traded. Oladipo will get the best offer from the Pacers...not a MAX, not during COVID-driven revenue.
Re: NBA Post Bubble - Draft & Offseason
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Kingspoint
Pritchard has been trying to increase the pace. McMillan refused to do it (of course he would refuse...he was never going to change). D'Antoni would be incredible there. He and Pritchard would get a team full of gazelles on the floor. Sabonis would get traded. Oladipo will get the best offer from the Pacers...not a MAX, not during COVID-driven revenue.
No sure how trading Sabonis = good. Mind you, there are rumors Sabonis wants out, so he might get dealt. Yet I suspect that ends up going better for the team that gets Sabonis than the Pacers.
Re: NBA Post Bubble - Draft & Offseason
First off-season question is an expected one:
What team improves themselves the most this off-season?
Popular opinion seems to be Atlanta, but I really like what Minnesota could do. If they re-sign their restricted free agents (and they seem like they will), the TWolves will have four-fifths of an offensive juggernaut and two solid bench pieces in McLaughlin (who showed real promise as a backup PG) and Johnson (still spry at 33 and capable of corner threes and TO's in equal measure). (I like Omari Spellman too.)
That offense could be lethal. Juan Hernangomez, freed from the bench in Denver, delivered 13/7/1.5 and should finish much better at the rim with KAT and Russell around to open lanes. Beasley was a beast. 43.6% from three and 20 per game on solid shooting clips. Both KAT and Russell are going to score. All four of these guys are solid rebounders as well. (We won't talk about defense.)
They also have three picks in a draft that's set up to help them find the wing they need. Were I Rosas, I'd deal the top pick to Charlotte or Chicago (rumor is that both are interested in moving up) in order to pick Onyeka Okongwu at PF with the third or fourth pick. (Four PF seems excessive, but that's workable.) I'd then target a wing with my 17th pick and my 33rd pick.
They've also got the MLE and somewhere around $15M in FA money before they hit the cap.
That's a team that can make some noise.
Re: NBA Post Bubble - Draft & Offseason
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Kingspoint
Pritchard has been trying to increase the pace. McMillan refused to do it (of course he would refuse...he was never going to change). D'Antoni would be incredible there. He and Pritchard would get a team full of gazelles on the floor. Sabonis would get traded. Oladipo will get the best offer from the Pacers...not a MAX, not during COVID-driven revenue.
No thanks on D’Antoni and Vic by all accounts is pushing his way out of Indiana.
Re: NBA Post Bubble - Draft & Offseason
A guy who'd seem like a good fit for the Timberwolves, if he could ever stay healthy and realize his potential, is Justise Winslow. A SF who can distribute to the shooters and play defense would be a sweet addition.
Re: NBA Post Bubble - Draft & Offseason
Quote:
Originally Posted by
M2
The problem with LaMelo is you have to hand him the ball, let him dribble around aimlessly and lay bricks all night long for 2-3 years before he maybe figures out how to channel his talent.
trust me, it brings me no pleasure in speaking out for anyone in the Ball family....I just see no other likely elite talent in this draft...or very little of it. To be clear, are you suggesting that you do not think LaMelo will be drafted in the Top 3ish?
Re: NBA Post Bubble - Draft & Offseason
When I look at this draft, my gut is there is a little value that will be found in the back end of the lottery into the mid-teens.....and late in the 1st Round/early 2nd Round. I see guys like Desmond Bane, Jahmi'us Ramsey, Cassius Stanley and Robert Woodard being mocked late 1st/early 2nd round...and I would be very pleased to pick up one of those guys in that range as they fit the model of a 7th or 8th guy that is versatile enough to help a good team. More importantly, I just do not see a wide margin in those guys compared to a guy like Devin Vassell who is always mocked as a lottery pick.
Re: NBA Post Bubble - Draft & Offseason
Quote:
Originally Posted by
adkindo
trust me, it brings me no pleasure in speaking out for anyone in the Ball family....I just see no other likely elite talent in this draft...or very little of it. To be clear, are you suggesting that you do not think LaMelo will be drafted in the Top 3ish?
I don't think either the T-Wolves or the Warriors can afford his level of sabotage. The Hornets might. If somebody's got a LaMelo compulsion, perhaps they'll trade up for the pick (the Knicks remain my guess). FWIW, I don't think there's an elite talent in this draft.
Re: NBA Post Bubble - Draft & Offseason
Quote:
Originally Posted by
M2
No sure how trading Sabonis = good. Mind you, there are rumors Sabonis wants out, so he might get dealt. Yet I suspect that ends up going better for the team that gets Sabonis than the Pacers.
He wouldn't fit D'Antoni's pace.