continue to keep an eye on the Gordon situation and who knows?
It's early but the guys that intrigue me the most are
Shabazz, Goodwin, and Smart.
They play with star level assertiveness and are good with the ball in their hands, I don't like drafting players who can't create shots for themselves or others when you are selecting top 5.
I'll definitely have to see more of these guys, but I like what I see from them so far.
From Chad Ford's twitter - Moved Ben McLemore into the Top 5 on our Big Board. Best NBA prospect KU's had since Paul Pierce.
Interesting. I'm not sure if I buy he's that good of a prospect, but he's clearly shooting up the boards in a hurry.
A package of vasques and lopez as two very good young cheap players could land us a very nice player and then sign al Jefferson and think team would be legit
As games progress, I will try my best to upload highlights from the top prospects and I hope some of you will help.
Chad Ford @chadfordinsider
Draft Blog: Best draft fits for the New Orleans Hornets. Muhammad, McLemore or a PG? http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/blog/...rleans-hornets … (insider)
Sentence said Bazz was a SF.
Chad Ford, but he's like the Kiper/McShay for basketball. Most of what he hears is from scouts, gm's, etc.
Mclemore can't play the three. Zero percent chance,but he could play next to Gordon long term with both of them splitting the PG duties.
My Missing Piece for tomorrow is all about this class, and more specifically, breaking down the draft tiers
He's not having the crispest game, but I'm finally starting to "get" Muhammad. What he can bring. He's got a knack for scoring even tough contested shots. Can run the floor and can finish.
My draft board:
1) shabazz
2)Mclemore
3)Carter Williams
4)Smart
5)Burke
6)Noel
McLemore
Burke
Muhammad
Top 3 I suppose. Not thinking of some people...
Personal Draft board on what I think would improve the Pelicans. This isn't a representation of who I think should be drafted #1.
1) Shabazz
2) Burke
3) Carter-Williams
4) Noel
5) McLemore
6) Smart
7) Zeller
8) Porter
9) Len
10) Poythress
Watching Burke run Michigan's offense, I see so many similarities with what the Pelicans do. High pick and roll with a "lurker" on the base line if the PG penetrates. They set up a shooter in the corner, and the big man on the PnR can roll or fade out.
Burke runs it great. He would be great in setting up Anderson, Smith, and Davis in the places they want to be. Also, the guy shoots the ball very well, and he has improved his game in every phase since last year. If we don't get SUPER lucky and have a chance to take Shabazz, I'd be disappointed if we pass up Burke.
The answer is Burke, btw. Whatever the question was, the answer is now Trey Burke.
Who is the best center? Trey Burke.
Who is the best dunker? Trey Burke.
Who shot JR? Trey Burke.
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