2014 NBA Draft Thread

[durantula]

Someone's taking advantage of not having to work tomorrow



Gonna act like Love, Curry, Harden, Griffin, Westbrook, George, Lillard, Wall and Davis weren't drafted after Durant

George has no right being on that list

Even tho I think jabari will be better than, or close to all the players on that list. lol

 

[buc em]

He is though. All around offensive game he's the best basketball player since Durant. KD also wasn't setting the world on fire with his defense in college and couldn't bench 135 and I think he turned out alright.

Everybody you named is also god awful on the defensive end as well besides Wall, George, Westbrook and Davis.

I'm also talking about best basketball player COMING OUT OF COLLEGE....not the player they made themselves into.

 

[wavycrocket]

I'm a Jabari fan. But since KD came out...we've got Blake griffin, Westbrook, love, harden, rose, etc etc.

Those guys are considered too 10 players

 

[wavycrocket]

He is though. All around offensive game he's the best basketball player since Durant. KD also wasn't setting the world on fire with his defense in college and couldn't bench 135 and I think he turned out alright.

Everybody you named is also god awful on the defensive end as well besides Wall, George, Westbrook and Davis.

I'm also talking about best basketball player COMING OUT OF COLLEGE....not the player they made themselves into.

Ahh I got you. I would say rose, love and blake griffin were very dominant in college

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Yall gassing Parker up now

Oh and it's nice of you to change up what you initially said. Everyone knows Parker's game is the most NBA ready but that really doesn't mean much

 

[shoeking2101]

He is though. All around offensive game he's the best basketball player since Durant. KD also wasn't setting the world on fire with his defense in college and couldn't bench 135 and I think he turned out alright.

Everybody you named is also god awful on the defensive end as well besides Wall, George, Westbrook and Davis.

I'm also talking about best basketball player COMING OUT OF COLLEGE....not the player they made themselves into.

Yeah but Rose, Lillard and BG were monsters in college man He wasn't as good as those guys coming out of college.

 

[wavycrocket]

Hell, how are we forgetting what Anthony Davis did in college lol.

 

[ill steelo]

Rose was dominant in college?

Off the top of my head, he had something like 10 single digit scoring games, a few of those happened in consecutive games too. He had it going in the tourney, but he was very up & down overall.

 

[certifiedflyboi23]

No one mentioned Jonathan Wall

 

[sneaker808head]

jahii carson is a underrated draft choice 

 

[mgrand15]

Hopefully Parker and his coaching staff settle on a position early - I think he'll be fine defensively. Never elite. But he's huge - good size for even a PF so he's not undersized. He's long. He's also a pretty intense guy. He was out there playing center, grabbing a ton of boards and banging with bigger/stronger players. That mentality is most of the battle. With less of an offensive burden and a good coaching staff, there's no reason he should be Bargnani like on defense. He should be able to work in the confines of a system.

He's going to be a giant mismatch if his team drafts him and plays him at the 4 consistently. I watched the Nets all year and Pierce made a KILLING attacking slower PFs from the perimeter and shooting open-ish 3s. Parker is not Pierce (yet) but he's going to have the same advantages if he can finish in NBA traffic AND play big man defense (guarding PnRs, protecting the rim without fouling, slowing down post ups, boxing out). I like him a lot - I just hope his coaching staff from the start tells him whether they want him to slim down and play 3 or bulk up a bit and play 4.

 

[wavycrocket]

Hopefully Parker and his coaching staff settle on a position early - I think he'll be fine defensively. Never elite. But he's huge - good size for even a PF so he's not undersized. He's long. He's also a pretty intense guy. He was out there playing center, grabbing a ton of boards and banging with bigger/stronger players. That mentality is most of the battle. With less of an offensive burden and a good coaching staff, there's no reason he should be Bargnani like on defense. He should be able to work in the confines of a system.

He's going to be a giant mismatch if his team drafts him and plays him at the 4 consistently. I watched the Nets all year and Pierce made a KILLING attacking slower PFs from the perimeter and shooting open-ish 3s. Parker is not Pierce (yet) but he's going to have the same advantages if he can finish in NBA traffic AND play big man defense (guarding PnRs, protecting the rim without fouling, slowing down post ups, boxing out). I like him a lot - I just hope his coaching staff from the start tells him whether they want him to slim down and play 3 or bulk up a bit and play 4.

We agree he will be ok defensively. I just don't understand the perception that he can't play the 3. He has EVERYTHING an elite 3 needs offensively.

His natural position will be the 3, and he'll get some spot duties at the 4. I don't think he has to bulk up or slim down to play either.

 

[shoeking2101]

jahii carson is a underrated draft choice 

Nah. He'll be out of the league quicker than he got in.

 

[mgrand15]

We agree he will be ok defensively. I just don't understand the perception that he can't play the 3. He has EVERYTHING an elite 3 needs offensively.

His natural position will be the 3, and he'll get some spot duties at the 4. I don't think he has to bulk up or slim down to play either.

I think he can play both offensively. He obviously has SF skills and if someone decides to stick him there, he can be fine. I don't think he'll do well chasing guys off screens/backdoors or trying to slow down the aggressive scorers at SF. So defensively, I think he'd have to keep slimming down if he was going to chase guys like KD, Korver, etc. off screens all day. But I'm sure he'll figure it out.

I'm just a big fan of getting versatile guys at PF if they're big enough to handle PFs and smart enough to handle back of the line defense. Carmelo Anthony and Paul Pierce have famously done it. I don't know if Parker has ELITE 3 skills but I think he's insanely NBA ready on offense and will be very good in the right system. I really think he can be Melo-like.

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

So many things in that article that were said were discussed in length over the past year in these threads on NT. Funny to see unpopular opinions (at least on here) come out of scout's mouths  

Gerald green

I wouldn't, because I don't think he's as good of an offensive player as Demar in the half court. If he becomes a 21, 22 ppg scorer on 42% or something like that, and becomes an all star, then that's a bit more than I project him to be. I really don't see him as the best player on a playoff team. I just don't see him as being prolific enough offensive player to be that.

Will he get better? One would like to assume that. However, in my opinion (just mine ) people's skill sets are already there when they come into the league, no matter their ages. In most cases, players get better and what they already do now, they don't add significantly to their game and become new players.

You bring up Demar...Demar, more or less was the exact same player offensively in the 10th, and 11th grade. Now obviously variables such as teams, players around you, coaching, etc. come into play, but look at Demar in the 11th grade. He looks just like he does now. Same strengths for the most part, same weaknesses.

I used to fight this but it's true. Players refine their game, rarely do they change their game.

Ahh I got you. I would say rose, love and blake griffin were very dominant in college

I'm not a huge college guy but even I know that Jabari is more polished than all those guys fresh off campus. Meloesque footwork

 

[shoeking2101]

I used to fight this but it's true. Players refine their game, rarely do they change their game.
I

It's true man, from my perspective at least. Just from my time of watching hoops critically, (i'm 22) that's my takeaway. You look at D Rose, Eric Gordon, OJ Mayo, James Harden, Demarcus Cousins, Steph Curry, Demar Derozan, Blake Griffin, Paul George in High School and at Fresno State, Kevin Durant in college and in high school, John Wall in High School and at KU, I'm literally just naming guys off the top my head, I could go on and on.

The point is, watch some film of those guys before they got in the league, and watch some film from them this past year in the NBA. They are the more or less the same players with the same skill sets. Same strengths, same weaknesses. The good ones become really good at what they do well, and at the end of the day it all boils down to how well what you do well, translates to the NBA. They become better at what they already have been doing for all of their prep lives. They don't acquire new skills, they just go through the NBA refining what they already do well. Ask yourself about the weaknesses of the aforementioned, and I guarantee you if you watch them in high school and in college the weaknesses are still there and they are still very much present in the league today. They can improve on their weaknesses, but in all likelihood it'll only be marginal. The only skill that I would say that one can really "acquire" is spot up shooting.

At the end of the day, (and this is just my personal opinion) people spend far too much time projecting players potential by paying attention to what you think they can, or should be able to add to their game, instead of paying serious attention to what they can and can't do right now, because that's more indicative of his success rate in the NBA.

 

[pmatic]

I have a full breakdown on Jabari coming soon.

 

[fourtyeight48]

Jabari and Rose

 

[NickFolarin]

They had people comparing Oladipo to MJ man...

I remember ESPN doing that!! LOL!!!

 

[NickFolarin]

I keep seeing people say Jabari can't play his natural position of 3, because of his lack of defensive skills. Are we really going to act like Carmelo plays D outside of games against LeBron and KD?

 

[champcruthik]

jahii carson is a underrated draft choice 

Late second-rounder at best. Worry about turnovers, finishing at the rim, and consistent deep shooting.

 

[buc em]

I keep seeing people say Jabari can't play his natural position of 3, because of his lack of defensive skills. Are we really going to act like Carmelo plays D outside of games against LeBron and KD?

Exactly.

The dude can do literally ANYTHING he wants on the offensive yet people wanna find something to rip him about. Meanwhile Wiggins got lit the **** up by a few dudes this past year who won't even be playing in the NBA and his best skill is supposed to be his defense. But he's the better prospect because he can put his head over the damn rim.....I do not trust that kid as a top 3 pick at all.

 

[offset pow clow]

I expect 21 & 6 from jabari out the gate, i hope he ends up in milwaukee, since 2000 i cant think of any other players more polished offensively out of college besides melo & kd, and we seen how those two turned out

 

[dacomeup]

Exactly.

The dude can do literally ANYTHING he wants on the offensive yet people wanna find something to rip him about. Meanwhile Wiggins got lit the **** up by a few dudes this past year who won't even be playing in the NBA and his best skill is supposed to be his defense. But he's the better prospect because he can put his head over the damn rim.....I do not trust that kid as a top 3 pick at all.

There's a difference between the full body of work and a few games. Guess you're talking about Texas? Jabari also had a stretch where he sucked on offense. Does that mean his offense is overrated? 

 

[champcruthik]

Any takers buying-in on C.J. Wilcox?

Deonte Burton another late second-round prospect keeping my eyes on, since Carson was mentioned.