Going Commando

I can't believe that trade. It was stunning at the time. It just gets even more so every time Crawford hits the court. When the dust settles in a couple of years we might have gotten the two best guards from the class because of that swindle. The most astonishing part of all is that we got Crawford, a first round pick, and boatloads of cap room for Kirk Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong. Unbelievable. Buying out Bibby was a cherry on top. That might go down as the most lopsided deal from the trade deadline and it was barely even mentioned at the time.

If we're lucky in how the next two draft lotteries play out, we might only need FA for finding the role player types. If you look way down the line at the 2012 class, it's got a lot of good American wings in it at the top of the class. Check out this early mock draft from draftexpress: http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2012/ The first three players on that list really intrigue me. The second player, James McAdoo, is from Norfolk and I've read about him in the papers this year. He's a man child who looks like he's going to be very powerful once he fills out. He's the reason why UNC could remain excellent next year even if Harrison Barnes or John Henson come out early. The first guy is going to Baylor and he's apparently spectacular. I looked him up and apparently his nickname is baby KD LOL! They've been making Durant comparisons with him because of his body type and phenomenal scoring ability. He's sat the entire year on the sidelines with a torn ACL though so people have almost forgotten about him. Draftexpress wrote a fascinating article about how he handled his injury and ended up becoming a better student of the game because of it. I'm excited to see him play next year. Also, read the profile on Michael Gilchrist and tell me that doesn't excite you and conjure images of Dwyane Wade or something. Basically, it seems like he's Captain America in terms of intangibles with a versatile skillset--running point and guarding four positions. Factor him in with Teague and Davis and Kentucky got an even better recruiting class this year than they did last year with Knight/Jones/Kanter. Those three schools plus your Florida Gators will be the ones to watch next year. Florida apparently has two top guys from the under 18 American squad in Bradley Beal and Patric Young. The point is, with the lockout coming, I've got to think they'll use similar lottery standings to the ones this year because that's all they'll have available. That being the case, we stand a good chance of getting a top 5 pick again in 2012. If we get a good player from this class and a great player from the next one, we'll be cooking. We'll have a playoff team without any major FA acquisitions and we can focus on giving our own players extensions. That's good because I doubt we have much of a shot at any of the really premier free agents on your list like Howard, the PGs, or Love. I also think Indiana will extend Hibbert and the Lakers will try and keep Bynum if they can afford to. I've got to think he's part of their long term plans. One guy that we could look at way down the road is DeMarcus Cousins and I think we'd actually have a shot at him because of Wall. Look at the way he was talking during the rookie sophomore game. It sounded like he really missed playing with Wall and would love to do it again. Sacramento has about as little pull as we do right now. That could change if they move to Anaheim, but I still don't think they'll be able to trump us unless they get a really good PG too. I'm intrigued by Cousins. He's certainly a headcase, but Wall also seems to be able to get the absolute most out of him. Although if Javale keeps improving like he has the past two weeks, we won't need a starting center. We'll be looking for a rotational type who can keep Javale's minutes down. We might establish that just by drafting Enes Kanter and developing Seraphin.

Sounds good to me. With Sullinger out, I think I like Kanter the best for us. What happens if you draft Williams in the second round and he decides to go back to school though? Then you're out a pretty high second round pick aren't you? How does it work? I've been holding out hope we'll draft Justin Harper with our second round pick. Terrific shooter and defender, stretchy with very good general awareness. He's the best Richmond player I've seen. Some guards that interest me with that second round pick are Josh Selby, Doron Lamb, Marshon Brooks and Lacedarius Dunn. For wings, I would take a look at Chris Singleton if he's there. I also like watching Chandler Parsons out of Florida but I don't know where he's projected. I'm curious about what we can do with that second first. If we pick Kanter with our pick, I wouldn't mind seeing us double down and get another big. I'm intrigued by this freshman center from Florida. Draftexpress is pretty high on him and said he was one of the top players on the under 18 American team: http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Patric-Young-5746/ They say he profiles like a Kendrick Perkins style big who likes doing the dirty work. He looks like he's got an NBA physique already. I think it'd also be cool if a good guard or wing like Terrence Jones/Brandon Knight/Alec Burks slipped to us at that pick. Brandon Knight might be playing his way out of our range though. Two other names to throw out there which I didn't know about: Nikola Mirotic - http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Nikola-Mirotic-5134/ Bismack Biyombo - http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Bismack-Biyombo-5902/ Biyombo in particular interest me. Never heard of him before now, but draftexpress has him as their third best international birthday in 1992, right behind Valanciunas and Kanter. It looks like he's got pretty good hands, good feet, and good length. From the few youtube videos I could find it looks like his repertoire is mostly just dunks, but there isn't a whole lot to go off of. He at least looks the part. Mirotic is draftexpress' #1 ranked international player birthday 1991. He's projected as a PF but the way they talk about him, he sounds more like one of those long, athletic wingers who can shoot and run pick and rolls. Names to consider no doubt.

2006 was a pretty bad class too. It might get better, but it looks like you've got three studs: Aldridge, Roy, Rondo, another two who are pretty decent (Bargnani & Gay), and a bunch of backups and fringe starters. The lottery was particularly bad. And if Roy goes down early, that class looks pitiful. It was definitely one of the cheapest ROTY awards we've had in a while. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_nba_draft

If it's rigged, why would they win it? Are they moving? If not, Sacramento is a small market so they'd be more likely to get screwed than anything.

He's a man child. A nice thing about him is that he's already so good and tough even though he's only 18 (May birthday). He still has some upside. I hadn't thought about him all year long because it's so hard to find information and video of foreign players, but I really like him as a fit for us. I don't think he's the shooter Sullinger is, but he can score too and he's got legit big man size. Draft express says he was the best player on the world select team and that he dominated Jonas Valanciunas during international competitions. Imagine how good Kentucky would be if he'd been eligible. I think he'd be a nice fit and I see a lot of mock drafts with us picking him. ---------- Post added March-29th-2011 at 10:31 AM ---------- Another nice thing about Kanter is that he's got ability at both the 4 and 5 and even lets you tinker with putting Javale at the 4 if you got a wild hare up your ass. I think Kyrie Irving eventually decides to come out and that gives you a pretty decent top 3 of Derrick Williams, Irving, and Kanter. After that, it gets dicier as you have to start taking flyers on prospects with some risks like Perry Jones or Valanciunas. Kanter is a bit of a risk too because of some question about injuries to his knees. I assume a lockout is likely going to happen. I'm curious about how they'll determine the lottery for the 2012 draft class if no season is played. I hope they'd reuse the standings from this year's lottery so we could have another likely top 3 pick.

Thank God we finally won on the road again. I didn't want to hear us dragged out every time a team threatened to go winless on the road. Hard to believe that we're still only third in the lottery rankings after this kind of year.

Does Ted have any kids? Maybe he could give one of his teams to them and take the Redskins over. Yeah the only way Snyder sells the Redskins is if he goes broke. The man is clearly snakebit though, maybe it will happen.

Every successful rebuild requires a good deal of luck. We could definitely use a lucky man in charge. Hell I hope he buys the Redskins.

If they don't take him then the Pacers will. Also, I'm late to the party and missed several pages worth of posts. Are you all making fun of me? Hard to tell through the internet. If so, watch out--I'm a street walking cheetah with a heart full of napalm. I've missed the game because I'm working. Overtime eh? Is Utah out of the playoffs?

Step into the octagon? Only if I get to wear those cool trunks that JBJ is sporting in your signature

I had no idea what Blatche's stats for the year were because I didn't look at them. You did. I was going off what I'm used to seeing from him. A typical night for him--when he's healthy--he's about a 17-10 type of guy. Do you disagree? Mo is mediocre. Lots of NBA point guards have decent passing skills and can shoot the three. If he was actually a high caliber player then the Cavs wouldn't have been a one man show. LeBron wouldn't have been so eager to leave Cleveland and they wouldn't have fallen off a cliff after he did. He got in because they always try to send more than one player from a top team to the All Star game, not because he was special. Then take them. I bet you'd be alone in preferring that deal to an equivalent one for Blatche and Young. It's crap that you talk about Blatche having a bad contract even though Mo Williams' is at least as bad.Young is a decent all around player in his own right. Yet another overly emotional comment from you. Contrary to what most sports fans think, opinions are tougher to take seriously the more emotional they sound. Heavens to Betsy the jig's up! He's on to me folks! Quick, grab the money and skedaddle!BTW, I watch games several nights a week, sometimes several in a day if I've got nothing to do. Interesting that you think you know me though. A little self projection? So you wouldn't have any interest in Quincy Jones? He's an awfully good player to be writing off. Williams is a good scorer, but it's obvious he's going to struggle to defend the 4 in the NBA. I don't like his ability to defend the 3 either because, fast as he is for a college 4, he's not that fast. It's the same concern people have about Trevor Booker in terms of his size/speed. We could use Williams's scoring, but we've got a lot of smallish or soft forwards already. Do we need another one? That's pretty much my point.Also, who cares about running a fast break offense? We've got a lot of fast players who can run already and it hasn't mattered. We struggle the most in the half court on both ends, specifically in the paint. Hardy-har-har! You are a wit my friend! Why would I take the word of some random Kentucky fans over what I've seen from him, juxtaposed immediately alongside the performances of dozens of other forwards no less. I'd also trust Chad Ford over them. He's a better trade chip than Kirk Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong. Oh my goodness this is exhausting. Alright, I spent a ton of time before that pointing out how Barnes' impact doesn't show up on the stat sheet. The argument that was in reference to the claim that Barnes had been awful and Jones had lived up to his billing. There was no defense for that claim, either by an appeal to their stats or looking directly at their games.Stats do have their uses. But I've never believed that they tell the whole story, even in a sport like basketball where huge sample sizes are produced. Tell you what man, all joking aside, I'll leave you alone now. It seems like you came in here with a bit of a chip on your shoulder but I realize I shouldn't have provoked you. I was merely bull ****ting with you and didn't mean anything by it at all. I didn't realize I was pissing you off and I apologize for being an ass and getting a little mean-spirited. I can be obnoxious and overbearing with my opinions and it often rubs people the wrong way. We're all Wizards fans here. Can we just chalk this up to the frustration of an unbearable season?

Blatche's contract isn't bad. Six million a year for a 24 year old who's a 17-10 guy when healthy isn't bad. I agree that he's not a good fit here. There are still teams that need a scoring 4 that would be interested in him. Mo Williams is a mediocre player who got to an All Star game in a diluted eastern conference riding LeBron James's coattails with a season about as impressive as Nick Young's.We might have to take on a bad contract back as part of a deal to get a lottery pick. Or we might have to package a late first in there. We can easily afford to do both of those things. And regardless, a Nick Young + Andray Blatche package is a hell of a lot more attractive than Mo WIlliams and Jamario Moon. How many successful players like Jared Sullinger have to come along before you accept that his style works in the NBA? Yes a Kevin Love comparison is valid and it has been widely made. Jared Sullinger's basketball IQ is also through the roof. I agree it's not a perfect comparison though. Love was a better passer and slightly better distance shooter. Sullinger is much stronger and longer. But the list doesn't end with Love. There's also Al Jefferson, Carlos Boozer, Luis Scola, and Paul Millsap--with Boozer and Jefferson being on the higher end and Scola and Millsap being Sullinger's floor. None of those guys were as good as Sullinger coming out either. What do you know about his knee problems though? He's 18 years old. Even if he's had a serious knee injury, it's possible he could bounce back completely. Besides, the internet rumblings about his knees could all be bull**** anyway.Would you let Quincy Miller's torn ACL stop you from drafting him next season if you had a chance at him? I sure as hell wouldn't. You could rule out some really good players like that. I agree Derrick Williams is the number 1 pick in this year's class. If you check my posting history, I've actually thought he'd been better and might be taken ahead of Perry Jones way back in January. But he doesn't do everything well. He's an undersized PF who'll struggle just as much on the defensive end as Sullinger will. The difference is, Sullinger is a very good defensive rebounder while Williams is pretty average. I don't think Williams is a great fit for us. We've already got a lot of forwards on the team who are either small or soft. It'd be nice to have Williams for a pick and roll scorer with some ability to catch and shoot from a decent range. But how does Williams help us on defense? Where is our defensive rebounding going to come from if he's on the floor? Also, Williams is a pretty good long range shooter with a sweet shot, but his 3 point % is obviously inflated by taking a fairly small number of them. That wouldn't be a core reason for drafting him. I agree that Kentucky is a much better team than Baylor. I don't agree that they are a much more talented team. They're probably a bit more talented, but the difference isn't that big. Baylor recruits with the best of them.Terrence Jones is a big reason why Kentucky is a much better team. It's not like his surrounding cast was so much more talented that it should make a substantial difference in his level of play compared to Perry Jones'. All things considered, Lacedarius Dunn was a better college player than Brandon Knight. Quincy Acy was a better college player than Darius Miller. Doron Lamb was better than A.J. Walton, but other than that, the rotations are pretty similar. I don't see what recruiting class rankings has to do with the quality of their team this year (especially since Eric Bledsoe, John Wall, and DeMarcus Cousins all went pro). They are even less relevant than preseason rankings. Kentucky was ranked 10th this preseason and Baylor was ranked 14th. There was very little disparity in talent. If anything the talent was pretty even and Baylor was far more experienced than Kentucky across the board. But a notably big difference in their lineups was that Terrence Jones was a lot better than Perry Jones this season. Where are you getting that Jones is a selfish player and ball hog? He wasn't even the go to offensive weapon all year long, Brandon Knight was. Jones plays hard, plays good defense, and rebounds well. It seems like you're just spitballing now. You and RonArtest both argued against me earlier in the year about Barnes. You liked Perry Jones, I liked Barnes. When I went on and on about how I thought Barnes was no worse nor more disappointing than Perry Jones, you wrote, "I couldn't disagree more with anything you've said." It seems that, in the end, Barnes is better than Jones, a better prospect, and that I was right and you were wrong to disagree. Seems pretty simple to me. If my comments are stupid even though I've ended up being right about a lot of different things, then what does that make your saucy little contributions?I'm curious as to when exactly I called Andray Blatche an asset to our team. You seem to think I like him more than I actually do. Was I calling him a trade asset? If so, then I stand by that claim because he definitely is. I'd like to trade him and have said so many many time for the past few months. Other than that, I've never been crazy about Blatche as a Washington Wizard. He has his ups and downs but he's just a slightly above average starter who isn't a great fit here. Actually you've still got it wrong. I just went back and looked too, the conversation was from January 22nd. I was responding to RonArtest who claimed Barnes had been "awful" and that Perry Jones had "lived up to his billing." I pointed out that that was a ridiculous position to take seeing as how Barnes and Jones had almost identical numbers, and that Barnes' per minute numbers were actually a good deal better. You chimed in with the typical straw man appeal to common sense that box scores were no way to tell how good a player was, as if that's what I had actually done. Meanwhile, above that on that very same page I had written about a 500 word post on how good Barnes was and that you had to actually watch him play to get a sense of it because his impact wasn't the type that showed up on a stat sheet.I didn't claim that Barnes was better than Jones. I pointed out that if Barnes was considered a disappointment, then Jones should be as well since he wasn't having the impact he was supposed to either. Interestingly enough, you defended Jones as a first overall lock and I pointed out that Jones wasn't even the best forward in the class, and actually mentioned Derrick Williams, Terrence Jones, and Jared Sullinger specifically as having been better. They were better and if Sullinger came out, he and Williams would be higher draft picks than Perry Jones. Maybe Terrence Jones will get picked ahead of Perry Jones, who knows? It'll be interesting to see if he does. I also said that the top prospect (from a 5 or 6 man group) who had the best tournament would be the one who ended up being considered the consensus first overall choice. I was right because that's exactly where we are with Derrick Williams right now. And there you go again chasing windmills. What does that have to do with anyhing? Is this in response to something I said? Honestly, its like you only read the first few words of my paragraphs before you decide to guess at what my argument might be and ramble against it. Do you suffer from rectal-cranial inversion too? If so, then I guess I'll be more sensitive because your inability to fully read and follow logical threads in an argument wouldn't be your fault.But I'm honestly tired of talking about Barnes and this subject and don't really feel like :beatdeadhorse:. ---------- Post added March-28th-2011 at 12:36 AM ---------- Goddamn Monta Ellis is good. I'm surprised he's not talked about more often as a top SG in the West. We couldn't figure out how to stop him. I didn't watch the whole game, but from what I saw McGee played hard and he was cleaning up. He made his shots and pulled down an ass load of rebounds. He's still trying and it looked like he was consistently around the ball which was a nice change. Luck was on his side tonight too, he even got to the line and actually made his free throws. This game was a clear demonstration of why he is already special--finishing on the offensive end and above the rim defense. If he actually develops the rest of his game he'll be a good center. You have to take the good with the bad though. Golden State has got to be one of the only teams out there that is actually worse defensively than we are. David Lee can score but man if he's not an even worse defender than Javale! At least Javale tries and can actually contest a shot. It was still a good game for him though and you all know Javale is my boy. But I wouldn't get too high on him after this one just like I wouldn't get too low on him after some of his bad games. What do you all think about Maurice Evans? He looked solid to me. We're looking for low key veteran depth at the forward positions to anchor the roster moving forward. It seems like Evans has already done more for us than Rashard Lewis or Josh Howard. If we can get him to extend for cheap, I'd take him back. Also I thought Jeffers looked decent. Where in the hell did he come from? Yi has shown some rare signs of life the past few weeks but does he really need so many minutes each night? I understand that Javale actually plays better beside him than he does with Blatche. But why can't we actually see something from Kevin Seraphin? I hate to write him off already but Yi is just a stiff. Just how rough is Seraphin if he can't get on the floor right now? We're not really playing to win any more. Or at least we shouldn't be. Come on Flip, let's see him.

I assume your mildly insulting tone was directed at me. Blatche and Young for a lottery pick sounds ridiculous? More so than taking on a bad contract plus Mo Williams and Jamario Moon for a lottery pick? Sullinger is a terrific player. If Kanter's knees check out, I'd do it. Where does a 6'8 power forward who doesn't rebound well fit on this team? Why not? Your boy Perry Jones was pretty much a chump this year and his teams have never been worth a damn. At least Terrence Jones was actually good and his team is winning.BTW, it's nice to see you changed your tune on Harrison Barnes. Remember our discussions from earlier? Yeah. I was right and you were wrong. Let's say it aloud together everyone. Stevemcqueen = 1, Gatorbait = 0. :bow:

I think we'd be able to keep him with that much talent at 2-4. Especially if we're fortunate enough to draft Quincy Miller. If he's on the roster Wall will stay. Anyone would. That'd be like Russell Westbrook deciding to leave for greener pastures. Michael Gilchrist is the cherry on top. A true Scottie Pippen or Brandon Roy-like sidekick who everyone would love to play with. We'd probably have to be ****ing lucky to get the both of them though. As in picking about second and fifth overall in 2012, but still having everything break the right way in the draft lucky. The 2012 players would only be two years younger than Wall and they'd be on about the same window as him and they will have a year or two of veterancy by the time Wall's contract is up in 2014. We would already be rapidly improving by then. Regarding the FA situation, I'd just say screw signing FA starters if we had that kind of talent. We'll need the cap room just to keep our own once their rookie deals run out. Even still, it might take some of them accepting less money to stay together because I could see Wall, Gilchrist, and Miller all being the type that could command max deals down the line and Kanter wouldn't be cheap. If we somehow managed to stay far enough under the cap to make a sizable FA move, I guess I'd spend my money on DeMarcus Cousins. He'd almost be superfluous, but that'd be just about the only piece we'd have room on the roster to add.

I think Thompkins is a little small and soft to play center. He's like a poor man's Jared Sullinger with a little more offensive polish and a lot less strength. If Barnes and Sullinger go back, I'd still keep the pick. Trading a high lottery pick for veterans absolutely blew last time we did it. My top choice would be Kanter. Kanter might be my top choice even if Sullinger and Barnes both come out. If he's off the board then I'd go for Jonas Valanciunas. If he's off the board then I go for Derrick Williams or Terrence Jones. If they are both off the board then I go for Perry Jones. Our floor is picking six. One of those six players will be available unless they all decide to stay out of the draft factoring in the top 3 pick Kyrie Irving would draw if he came out. But even if he goes back too, there are still probably six forwards and centers who are good enough to keep our pick for. ---------- Post added March-26th-2011 at 02:36 PM ---------- I also think that Barnes and Sullinger will come out in the end. They'd be foolish not to. Next year's class has about 7 forwards/centers in it's top 7... Quincy Miller, James McAdoo, Anthony Davis, and Michael Gilchrist are all super impressive looking 3s. The iron is hot for Sullinger and Barnes. This is pretty much their best chance at going in the top three picks. Does anyone know how next year's draft would work if there was a year long lockout? How would they determine the lottery? If they just use the same standings as this year there is a good chance we could get another top 3 choice for the 2012 class. I wouldn't mind that. In that case I'd trade some assets (Nick Young? Blatche? second first from this year) to try and get another lottery pick for 2012. That'd be three high lottery picks between 2011 and 2012. You could pull off a Kanter selection this year and then raid the Kentucky players again and get Quincy Miller and Michael Gilchrist in 2012. You could feature this absolutely badass lineup: 1 - Wall / Crawford 2 - Gilchrist / Crawford 3 - Miller / Booker 4 - Kanter / Booker / Seraphin 5 - McGee / Kanter / Seraphin That'd be a flipping sweet 8 man group. We could make the Kentucky lineup complete by signing DeMarcus Cousins when he hits FA LOL! EDIT: Wait, my bad, Quincy Miller is going to Baylor, not Kentucky. I was thinking of Marquise Teague and Anthony Davis for some reason. Well that totally messes up everything. ---------- Post added March-26th-2011 at 02:47 PM ---------- Also, here's yet another question for you all: what do you guys think of Patric Young, the freshman from Florida? He's on the tail end of their rotation and hasn't gotten a lot of time this season, but he looks like the most athletically gifted true big in this entire class. I don't know if he'll come out this year, but if he did, he'd have to be worth a look as a developmental type. ---------- Post added March-26th-2011 at 02:57 PM ---------- Whatever ends up happening in the draft, I just want us to take some really high character guys with great intangibles. McGee's boneheadedness and Blatche's crappy attitude have soured me on that type of player. I think that's a big part of the reason I'm so high on players like Sullinger, Barnes, Gilchrist, and now Patric Young. I want hard-nosed players who might sacrifice a little skill or athleticism but bring grittiness or intelligence to the table. We're a young team that's flush in speed and athleticism but lacking in savvy and toughness. I'm hoping we can use the next two drafts to change that.

I don't think it will be possible for us to pick that late. In all likelihood, we'll finish with the second most lottery balls. I think our floor will be picking 5th. That's exactly what happened to us in 2009... ---------- Post added March-26th-2011 at 11:56 AM ---------- I would take a Carlos Boozer at PF any day of the week. I disagree Sullinger has a lower ceiling than him though.

****. This class would completely blow if Sullinger stays in school and then Kyrie Irving and Harrison Barnes decide to stay too.

Did anyone watch this game? I didn't have any basketball interest left in me tonight to get up for this one. Looking at the box score though, at least Crawford's shooting percentages are up. That's at least one positive to take away.

Well done. I hereby take off my "good call" cap that I made myself after Barnes' 40 pointer and bequeath it to you.

What do you all think about Barnes? He's been good lately but I wonder if he's got the kind of quickness and playmaking ability to become a top scoring wing. What do you all see his ceiling at? Are you all thinking Danny Granger once he adds some weight and further develops his ball handling/slashing ability? That'd be nice to have. Or are you all seeing him more as a more muscular Sean Elliot/Luol Deng? How do you all think he'd fit on our team? His defensive presence would be huge since we're having to scrape by at the 3 with Booker switching back and forth. I like his catch and shoot ability and I think that's where he'll bring the most value early on. Wall would get another nice perimeter outlet and we can really expand a defense by having Barnes and Young on the floor at the same time. I'd like to see him improve his ability to attack the rim, but that's something that will probably come in time. Another reason I like Barnes is because he has a lot of upside left to his game and has winning intangibles. I have no doubt that he'll work to become a better handler and passer and eventually figure the position out. Also, I want us to get an 18 or 19 year old out of this class because of the likelihood for a lockout. They'll have time to spare before they get thrown into the fire. I think if you get Barnes, all that's left is to find a dominant scoring/rebounding big--easier said than done I realize. If you get someone who can score regularly with his back to the basket and who's strong and aggressive enough to pull down 10-15 boards a night, then you've got a well diversified offense/defensive set. This is where getting that second lottery pick would be really nice. If it's a top 6 pick then you can probably get Sullinger/Kanter this year. If we fail at that, then maybe Kenneth Faried or something like that with that late first or early second? Tough to say what we should do in that case. This lottery pick is super important for bringing in a true second banana to Wall. If we're successful at that, then we won't have as many problems keeping Wall once his contract is up. Not only that, we're an attractive FA destination down the line. If Barnes worked out, he and Wall would probably be enough to draw DeMarcus Cousins here once his rookie deal was up.

Check a couple of pages back, there has been a little discussion on Williams but not a whole lot. Last night's game was definitely impressive and Williams is a gifted scorer and definite lottery pick. But I'm not crazy about him as a fit here unless it's too play small forward. I think he projects as a pretty soft NBA power forward. The Wizards are already too finesse as is. He reminds me of Michael Beasley and I've seen comparisons of him to David West and that comparison makes sense to me too. West was a soft little punk in college, I wouldn't go so far as to say that about Williams, but the finesse label is there. If you put him at SF though, that could work. The only problem is, will he still be the same scorer? The dude has an enormous array of offensive weapons, but couldn't a lot of his scoring advantages be attributed to the fact that he's so much quicker than college PFs? It seems like he gets a lot of his production in the paint from just beating defenders to spots and having a teammate create something nice for him and letting him finish. My biggest problem with him is that he's not super big or strong for an NBA 4. I'm guessing he's in the 6'8" range so he's going to get his shot blocked a lot in the NBA and he's going to struggle to defend stretchy/powerful 4s. That's why I think he needs to move to SF and position changes are always a little tough to predict. Does he have the handle, passing skills, and shot to produce at a similar pace at SF? The shot might be there, but who knows until you've seen him do it regularly? These are the same kind of concerns I have with Perry Jones. These are my basic concerns, as articulated by draftexpress.com: http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Derrick-Williams-5811/#ixzz1HcvUuqkN Javale/Andray's mediocre defensive rebounding skills make that a liability. We need at least one big who can pile up rebounds on defense. 6'8 235 is big for a SF though and he's be able to muscle 3s around just fine. But can he run with them? Although I do admit, it would be fun as hell to watch him catch alley-oops from John Wall every night. A scoring forward like Williams plus a DeMarcus Cousins free agent signing down the road gives us an enormous amount of offensive weapons... ---------- Post added March-25th-2011 at 12:00 PM ---------- I always thought this year's #1 would come down to who ended up having the best tournament among the top 7-8 prospects going in. Perry Jones didn't get a chance to shine so I figured he was out of the running unless everyone else absolutely bombed. I thought Sullinger was a stretch to go #1 all along because of his athletic profile, but it wouldn't have shocked me if he did following a string of 20-10 performances. Fredette and Walker didn't have a chance to go #1 (although I think they'll be lottery picks and productive players eventually). Truth be told though, I thought it would be Barnes, not Williams who busted out and had a monstrous tournament. It could still happen, but last night's film is really going to help Williams get some looks to go first overall. He's having a Carmelo like year. That region of my bracket is almost perfect though and I can thank Williams and Walker for it. I've got Arizona losing to Uconn next round and Uconn advancing to the championship game.

Everyone felt the same way about Kevin Love though. They are slightly different players, but they've got a similar mental makeup. I like how Sullinger always wins. He's not the most exciting player on the court, but the dude always comes through and his teams have never been bad before. Kevin Love was a better passer coming out of college. He was also probably a better long range shooter (although I can't remember for sure if Love had quality 3 point range in college). But I think Sullinger is physically stronger and longer-armed than Love and I have a hard time believing Love was as polished in the post as Sullinger is at a similar age. I never expected Love to be special but he's a key cog to build a really good team around. That what Sullinger is for me. Plus he's a good element to add to the locker room--especially when we sign DeMarcus Cousins in four years . What do you all think about Kawhi Leonard? I wish I could get a chance to watch him today but I don't know if it's in the cards. I basically haven't seen anything of him so far. The game starts at 7:15 on CBS if anyone is interested. I'd be glad to hear other people's impressions of him. ---------- Post added March-24th-2011 at 01:17 PM ---------- Yeah some of the Euros are good but all of them have a finesse label attached. If its going to be anyone, it'll be that kid who is only 18, Valanciunas or whatever his name is. I like Kanter the best as far as the foreign players go. I don't know what his situation is like in Turkey or if it's as competitive as the Euroleagues are. But he's got a skillset that definitely works in the NBA. Maybe he won't be a star, but if he stays healthy and can adjust to America, I doubt he'll have many problems being a very productive starter. I think the best player in the class will be Kyrie Irving when all is said and done. He's a good pure PG without serious weaknesses and those guys have really thrived in the NBA the past several years. In three years or so they'll be comparing him to Chris Paul. ---------- Post added March-24th-2011 at 01:21 PM ---------- Sullinger over Kanter for me. Best case scenario for each, who do you prefer: Kevin Love (Sullinger) or Al Horford (Kanter)? I'd be happy with either. So the ceilings aren't that different but if a health label gets attached to Kanter, the floors definitely are. ---------- Post added March-24th-2011 at 01:24 PM ---------- Although... Kanter does give you minutes at center whereas I'd be worried about that kind of a situation for Sullinger. They're both 1992 birthdays so they've each still got an assload of upside left. I wish we could get them both. I really hope we can make a move for another lottery pick like Cleveland did.

I think Kanter and Sullinger give us the most potential value as replacements for Blatche. We don't already have the kind of rebounding and low post offense they'd bring. At his absolute best case scenario, Sullinger is a Kevin Love. Worst case? Al Jefferson? That wouldn't be bad at all. Barnes has been something else the past few weeks and he's started to unleash his full offensive arsenal. I love how smart the kid is, he's a natural winner and limits his mistakes. He could be a true #2 scoring option on a great team (I'm assuming Crawford/Young would be our first) and a superb outlet for Wall's playmaking abilities. I really hope he comes out early. If he doesn't though, how sick will UNC's team be next season. Especially if Tyler Zeller goes back. Kendall Marshall + Zeller + Barnes + James McAdoo would be unstoppable. Unless Kyrie Irving goes back for his sophomore season. Irving and Austin Rivers would be a disgusting backcourt.

That's my thinking. We'll need some luck to have the right players fall to us if we pick outside the top 3 (or top 2 if Irving isn't one of those players taken). I like (in order): - Sullinger - Barnes - Terrence Jones I'd add Kanter to the list too if we get some better information about the status of his knees. I think any one of those players can be extremely valuable for us. I'd also like Perry Jones if I was a little more confident in our ability to develop extremely raw, low IQ bigs but that's not the case. This is a decent draft class if you're picking the top four or five picks. Beyond that, it pretty much sucks. Worst of the decade though? I'd be surprised if any draft class was worse than 2006. LaMarcus Aldridge's slow but eventual development is the only thing keeping that class from looking like utter crap. Who's the second best player from that class, Brandon Roy? Rudy Gay? Bargnani was a pretty weak first overall pick and the rest of your top five was rounded out by such gems as Adam Morrison, Tyrus Thomas, and Shelden Williams. J.J. Redick and Hilton Armstrong were lottery picks. 2007 is also a surprisingly ****ty draft class if you remove Horford and Durant. Basically two or three teams got really good players from that lottery. Noah has also been good, but everyone else ranges from meh to bust. I think more than that will come from this year's bunch... barely. But I also think (and pray) we'll be drafting high enough to get one of those few good players.