Burke "I"m hearing between #2 and #6"

[GeauxPelicans]

Nobody goes "all" defense. Demps and Williams came from San Antonio. Tony Parker isn't anyone's idea of a great defender. But they've got enough inside and on the wings to stop people while Parker drives the offense.

Not breaking news, but: we need a guard or wing capable of driving the offense to a high level.

This is exactly why I want us to draft Burke so badly. This offense needs a huge shot in the arm and Burke could be that.

[Ogden Park]

Folks just hearing what they want to hear.

Cmon, you have to be parody posting at this point. Literally describes every Burke lover on this board. Unreal.


His D is not good, and likely will never be. He lacks the fluidity and footwork, and won't be able to compensate with his size. You are in love with the guy though, so of course you'll believe anything to justify it. And Ryno's D is serviceable and is much easier to compensate for than your main perimeter ball hawk.

Are you watching the East finals right now? DWest looks like a good defender (lulz) out there due to the perimeter guys hounding the ball. Exactly where Burke will struggle. Same thing with Memphis and Randolph. You can hide a mediocre post defender, not a bad PG though.

Exhibit A: Greivis Vazquez, the single biggest reason our D was so bad this year. Replacing him with Burke is a mostly lateral move IMO.

But then again, CP3 is the most overrated defender of a generation so I suppose it doesn't matter to people especially on this board. Except that the Clips D cost them a chance this year, and CP was the main culprit. Dude is a turnstile that gambles and gets steals.

Jameer Nelson 2.0, sorry folks. I like him, but he'll be good not great. And definitely a poor fit for this team.

[DefensiveMind]

Cmon, you have to be parody posting at this point. Literally describes every Burke lover on this board. Unreal.


His D is not good, and likely will never be. He lacks the fluidity and footwork, and won't be able to compensate with his size. You are in love with the guy though, so of course you'll believe anything to justify it. And Ryno's D is serviceable and is much easier to compensate for than your main perimeter ball hawk.

Are you watching the East finals right now? DWest looks like a good defender (lulz) out there due to the perimeter guys hounding the ball. Exactly where Burke will struggle. Same thing with Memphis and Randolph. You can hide a mediocre post defender, not a bad PG though.

Exhibit A: Greivis Vazquez, the single biggest reason our D was so bad this year. Replacing him with Burke is a mostly lateral move IMO.

But then again, CP3 is the most overrated defender of a generation so I suppose it doesn't matter to people especially on this board. Except that the Clips D cost them a chance this year, and CP was the main culprit. Dude is a turnstile that gambles and gets steals.

Jameer Nelson 2.0, sorry folks. I like him, but he'll be good not great. And definitely a poor fit for this team.

You're wrong. We will be able to find other perimeter defenders on the expensive free agent market. Tony Parker isn't a world beater defensively, but we will be able to find interior defenders like SA has to make up for that...again through trades and free agency. So really dude, it doesn't matter if we address our pressing needs defensively because we have mucho dinero to spend and lots of quality trade assets that we will be able to use to make our team better defensively. We do not need waste our valuable lottery pick on a defensive presence. We need to SCORE MORE.

[luckyman]

Cmon, you have to be parody posting at this point. Literally describes every Burke lover on this board. Unreal.


His D is not good, and likely will never be. He lacks the fluidity and footwork, and won't be able to compensate with his size. You are in love with the guy though, so of course you'll believe anything to justify it. And Ryno's D is serviceable and is much easier to compensate for than your main perimeter ball hawk.

Are you watching the East finals right now? DWest looks like a good defender (lulz) out there due to the perimeter guys hounding the ball. Exactly where Burke will struggle. Same thing with Memphis and Randolph. You can hide a mediocre post defender, not a bad PG though.

Exhibit A: Greivis Vazquez, the single biggest reason our D was so bad this year. Replacing him with Burke is a mostly lateral move IMO.

But then again, CP3 is the most overrated defender of a generation so I suppose it doesn't matter to people especially on this board. Except that the Clips D cost them a chance this year, and CP was the main culprit. Dude is a turnstile that gambles and gets steals.

Jameer Nelson 2.0, sorry folks. I like him, but he'll be good not great. And definitely a poor fit for this team.

There is definitely a parody going on here. You already were dead set on MontyDell only wanting defensive players. Basketball players have to go both ways. It's not football there guy. They signed Ryno, who plays starter minutes, and drafted Rivers mainly for that reason...OFFENSE.

Secondly, there is nothing to indicate that Burke is as awful a defender as you keep trying to point out. Basketball is also a team sport and the Pelicans preach team defense. If anything, what separates Burke and GV is Burke is quick enough and has the basketball savvy to play the passing lanes. He stole the ball repeatedly in the tournament by doing just that. He is simply not this horrid, GV equivalent defender you keep making him out to be.

How long will you hold on to this MontyDell defense only meme no mater how much it can be proven wrong?

[Pelicans78]

I'm hearing Burke will go between picks 1 and 60.

Sorry Tray.

[luckyman]

Also, if you can score more on offense and be efficient, that alone helps your defense. Getting beat in transition becomes less of a problem.

[NOLa.]

I'm hearing Burke will go between picks 1 and 60.

Sorry Tray.

No source, no quotes!

[Mythrol]

If all people are concerned with is offense and want to ignore defense why are we even talking about Burke? CJMc is the best scorer in the draft and Bazz is better than Burke offensively, both should be there when we pick.

[da ThRONe]

There's more to offense than scoring. Burke ability to get himself shots is on par with his ability to get others shots and a feel for the game when to do either or.

And when did Burke become an awful defender? Highly inconsistent absolutely. However when he's dialed in he was a very good defender many times just taking the ball away from opposing ball handlers.

[JJackisangry]

If all people are concerned with is offense and want to ignore defense why are we even talking about Burke? CJMc is the best scorer in the draft and Bazz is better than Burke offensively, both should be there when we pick.

Burke is the better floor general at this point. There are arguments for each player really, but i understand why people would rather Burke.

[ItsPaulyP]

There's more to offense than scoring. Burke ability to get himself shots is on par with his ability to get others shots and a feel for the game when to do either or.

And when did Burke become an awful defender? Highly inconsistent absolutely. However when he's dialed in he was a very good defender many times just taking the ball away from opposing ball handlers.

He was a poor defender, rarely stopped people from getting in the paint, when he's dialed in he plays the passing lanes well, but in no way was he ever a very good defender.

[Mythrol]

There's more to offense than scoring. Burke ability to get himself shots is on par with his ability to get others shots and a feel for the game when to do either or.

I agree. CJMCC and Bazz both add more than just scoring too. Both are above average rebounders for their position and CJMCC "can" be a good distributor but he had to carry his team.

The other thing CJMCC has is he was the entire focus of the opposing teams defense his senior year and he was still able to lead the nation in scoring before his injury.

[JJackisangry]

He was a poor defender, rarely stopped people from getting in the paint, when he's dialed in he plays the passing lanes well, but in no way was he ever a very good defender.

Agreed. He has a lot to prove defensively.

[Eman5805]

So did Rivers. And for that matter, has there ever been a defender that came into the league out of high school or college able to guard seasoned NBA players? Tony Allen didn't come on until he'd been in the league a few years. So did Avery Bradley.

[BallSoHard]

So did Rivers. And for that matter, has there ever been a defender that came into the league out of high school or college able to guard seasoned NBA players? Tony Allen didn't come on until he'd been in the league a few years. So did Avery Bradley.

Duncan, but a 4 year guy.

[da ThRONe]

He was a poor defender, rarely stopped people from getting in the paint, when he's dialed in he plays the passing lanes well, but in no way was he ever a very good defender.

He would ripped ball handlers not just playing the passing lane. Again you are entitled to your opinions, but Trey even commented that GM's noticed his ability to play defense occassionally.

[da ThRONe]

He didn't have a problem guarding Michael Carter-Williams, Payton Siva, or Russ Smith. Too much is being made of his defensive production. There's a problem without a doubt, but saying he can't guard people is overblown.

[Basketball Nate]

If Trey Burke was putting out defensive effort to the same level Anthony Bennett puts effort into guarding on defense I'd be extremely concerned.

[Pelican589]

a lotto pick and 2 second round picks

Who's going to pull the trigger on this? The only thing that'll get a top 5 team to budge is a move that would get Detroit's GM fired probably.

[Purple Haze]

FWIW, I asked Matt Moore (one of the best NBA analysts around) on twitter

Michael Hart ‏@MichaelHart912 25 May
@HPbasketball What are your thoughts on Trey Burke and how he would fit with the #Pelicans?

and this was his response:

Hardwood Paroxysm ‏@HPbasketball 25 May
@MichaelHart912 perfectly. That's who I want them to take.

[smcgull]

Is everyone sure that the Pelicans want to draft Burke, or is that what most of the fans on this site want?

[Eman5805]

Is everyone sure that the Pelicans want to draft Burke, or is that what most of the fans on this site want?

There's been some guys who tout inside connections that believe there's no way we draft him. But in truth, no one really knows what they want. Monty or Dell would never come out and say who they want. We'll hear rumors...but those are not worth the grain of salt you take it with.

[Kibner]

I'm pretty sure that Dell will pick the player that he feels can be an offensive play-maker while also having the tools to be at least an average defender. If that kind of player is even still available at our draft pick.

[Snarly]

I'm pretty sure that Dell will pick the player that he feels can be an offensive play-maker while also having the tools to be at least an average defender. If that kind of player is even still available at our draft pick.

Hard to say right now. No one outside of the team has any clue what position they're looking at. We don't even have an idea of whether the emphasis on the pick will be offensive minded or defensive minded. I still think the emphasis will be on size but that's just me.

[endlessHIMdark]

Sources tell the Times-Picayune that the Pelicans like the idea of pairing Michigan PG Trey Burke with Greivis Vasquez.
The Hornets hold the No. 6 overall pick in June's draft. If they think Vasquez is capable of playing the shooting guard spot, they can try to trade Eric Gordon and target Burke in the draft. They also have Austin Rivers, last year's disappointing No. 10 pick, on the roster. Still, the bigger hole for the Pelicans is at small forward, where starter Al-Farouq Aminu is a free agent.

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nba/2122/trey-burke

Also of note:
NBA teams are testing Lehigh G C.J. McCollum to see if he can play point guard.
If McCollum can shed a tweener label, he could rocket up as high as the top-5. He measured in at 6'3/197 at the Combine, which would be an asset at the point guard spot. The problem is that he never played the position in college, failing to ever top 3.5 assists per game. Of course, Damien Lillard was a similarly high-scoring guard from a small school that never averaged more than 4.5 assists in college. He won Rookie of the Year honors this season while dishing out 6.5 assists.

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nba/2135/cj-mccollum


I'm really starting to be ok with Burke. I'm still partial to Porter and Oladipo but I can get on the Burke train too.