The 2013 NBA Draft lookout thread! Who do you want if we land a top ten pick?

[Inner_GI]

This year, I feel like there are more players I'd be happy with. Last year outside of AD, the only legitimate players I would have been happy with drafting was Rivers, Lillard, and Drummond(my heart broke when Detroit took Drummond 9... so close to having a scary front court.) Anyway, my point is, in this draft there are 4-6 people I'd be happy the hornets took if we are in the range as 4-10 as mentioned above.

I'm not a Len fan, but I haven't seen much on him, so my ignorance on that is part of the reason I hardly rank him.

[UNO Gracias]

What ever became of Adams from Pitt and Withey from Kansas? Both of those guys have seen their stock drop during the year. And that's crazy as both are solid 7' big men with both offensive and defensive game.

[UNO Gracias]

This year, I feel like there are more players I'd be happy with. Last year outside of AD, the only legitimate players I would have been happy with drafting was Rivers, Lillard, and Drummond(my heart broke when Detroit took Drummond 9... so close to having a scary front court.) Anyway, my point is, in this draft there are 4-6 people I'd be happy the hornets took if we are in the range as 4-10 as mentioned above.

I'm not a Len fan, but I haven't seen much on him, so my ignorance on that is part of the reason I hardly rank him.

What's crazy is going into this year, this upcoming draft was considered the weakest in years according to the talking heads at ESPN and CNNSI.

[lsutigers33]

Go watch Marcus smart against Kansas, doesn't make mistakes, smart, rebounds, dishes. Makes rivers look like he should be D league. Muhammad's would be solid but I think he will be picked 2.
Smart can play day one bec he is 220 lbs.

[lsutigers33]

My personal Hornets preference board, assuming a pick between 4-10 (Shabazz, Noel, McLemore gone)
1. Smart
2. Porter
3. Burke
4. Zeller
5. Len
6. Carter-Willams

Personally think Smart might be the highest upside player in this draft, and the best long-term fit for this team. His explosiveness and build remind me of Westbrook, Wade, Bledsoe, and Rose, and he'd be pretty great pairing with Gordon. His jumper isn't great, but definitely isn't as broken as Westbrook's was coming out. I think he's also more of a natural passer coming out than Westbrook, although to be fair Westbrook is in a class of his own as an athlete. I love his tertiaries as a point guard, which is important because Gordon doesn't give you much of that. He's still a bit of a gambler in defense, but has all the tools to be an on-ball bully like the guys I mentioned above. For this team, I might like him better than Shabazz and Noel, but that might be recently effect. I wouldn't be surprised if he's getting top 3 discussion by tournament time, and if we end up getting up there I'd think long and hard about him.

I've talked about why I love Porter for this team already. Think he's a perfect glue guy on a championship contender. Does so many things well and a few elite (rebounding, midrange) and just fills up the stat sheet. So smart, takes only good shots, great passer for his position, makes a ton of plays on defense while rarely fouling.

I'm conflicted about Burke. Best floor general in this draft, but I worry about the size of our backcourt defensively and rebounding going forward playing him and Gordon together. Would be happy coming out of this draft with him

I like burke game, but 6ft is a challenge in nba. Smart' s shooting is getting better. Not as quick as Westbrook, but stronger. He would rotate with Vasquez and gordon n we wouldn't miss a beat. He's a 14,7,5,4 guy . Great sz for pg. been watching him for years.
I still think RA is a SF. AD will play more once e gets stronger and use to nba. Need pg and true big center to share with Lopez. Smith should rotate with AD.

[UNO Gracias]

Whats the deal with Tony Mitchell. last year he would have been a mid 1st round pick. Has his stock just not picked up this year?

[UNO Gracias]

Patrick Young would be a nice late 1st round pick. He was lottery worthy this last draft. I can only imagine him being better than Big Baby,

[Biasvasospasm]

One guy I don't entirely get the hype over is Shabazz. Yeah, he's an efficient scorer at the college level, and he has some skills in the midrange and a knack for putting the ball in the basket. But that's literally all he gives you. He isn't remarkably fast or athletic, his handle is pretty pedestrian by NBA wing standards, he has an A/T ratio of 0.5 and often has 0 assists in a game, he's allergic to rebounds and doesn't produce blocked shots or steals at any meaningful rate. His defense is solid but not disruptive or otherworldly good. I can definitely see him being a 17-20 point scorer on decent percentages, but without playmaking ability or any other impact on the game, I wonder how valuable that is. Don't get me wrong, we need scoring, but his looks in the NBA are only going to get harder. There are other players I'm more excited about, and I wonder if we hadn't been hearing about this guy since early high school if he'd be as highly regarded based on his college performance.

[Eman5805]

If you draft Muhammad and want him to be James Harden, he ain't that. But he could be a guy that can still score. But I don't see greatness on his horizon. Could be wrong, but he hasn't wowed me like Trey Burke has.

[bojangles837]

Patrick Young would be a nice late 1st round pick. He was lottery worthy this last draft. I can only imagine him being better than Big Baby,

man i would love bringing in young

[Biasvasospasm]

Victor Oladipo is a guy just entering the national discussion with his performance last night, but he's a guy who may have a meteoric rise up draft boards. He combines crazy athleticism and defensive intensity with a very solid jump shot. His TS% is 72%, which is absolutely unheard of from a guard, and he's another guy who rebounds and posts quality steals, blocks, and assists. While his 3 point percentage (55% on 2 attempts per) is fluky, this guy has a combination of athleticism and production which rivals any player in this draft. By the end of the year, he may leap Zeller as Indiana's top prospect. He's pretty undersized for the SF position, but if he shows teams he can guard either wing, he might be an ideal prospect for the Hornets.

[Eman5805]

He played himself onto my radar indeed. We'll see where he finishes.

[UNO Gracias]

Dion Waiter played his way into the top 10 based off of games like we saw last night with Oladipo.

There is a lot of fun young talent in this upcoming draft.

[Eman5805]

Dion Waiter played his way into the top 10 based off of games like we saw last night with Oladipo.

There is a lot of fun young talent in this upcoming draft.

And yet people were talking about trade out of this draft cuz the talent was so low.

Unless the context was trade into the 1st again next year cuz there's a couple prime talent coming up.