2011 NBA Draft Thread

[phatman]

I like Orlando picking up the draft rights to Justin Harper for two future second round picks....

[SeanDMan]

This isn't draft related, but it's fucking funny.

[maninblack]

This isn't draft related, but it's fucking funny.

I needed the laugh. Thanks.

[theburninator77]

So on my mock draft that I did with some friends I only got 3 dead on right... #3 Enes Kanter, #6 Jan Vesely and #23 Nikola Mirotic... but for 35 picks I was one off so I think I did pretty good.

[bill_da_bill]

Washington kicked serious butt last night in my opinion. Vesely is a nice upside pick and Singleton is exactly the player they needed. A lock down defender, that team is on the upswing, especially if they can dump Rashard Lewis.

I was a bit shocked to see Brandon Knight drop to my Pistons, but I was ecstatis that Dumars was smart enough to actually pull the trigger and make that happen, even if they needed a big man. Knight is the starting point guard from day one next to Stuckey. Ship Rip Hamilton out of town and make Ben Gordon the 6th man which is what he should be. Gordon is a Jason Terry, Jamal Crawford type player and should be used the exact same way.

Sacramento's trade was awful, but I don't think taking Jimmer was. I would have rather had Knight, but in the Kings defense they had no idea he'd be there at 7, no one thought he would get past Toronto. I actually believe Jimmer can turn himself into a point guard. I think he'd have been better off somewhere like Phoenix where he could learn the ropes a bit, but he's the shooter that Tyreke isn't and he can make plays. I don't think we'll ever see him on an All-Star team, but I don't think we'll see but a couple guys from last night's draft on an all-star team. Jimmer sells tickets and he can play, I believe in the Jimmer.

[Colossus]

Jimmer would be perfect in Phoenix (learning from Nash) or in Utah (where he is a legend)

But I really like him, he could be a great 6th man. Starting though, not really. His defense is pretty bad

[naiwf]

http://eye-on-basketball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22748484/30227221

More T'Wolves failure. They purchased a pick and then took someone who was ineligble for the draft :lmao: :lmao:

[maninblack]

http://eye-on-basketball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22748484/30227221

More T'Wolves failure. They purchased a pick and then took someone who was ineligble for the draft :lmao: :lmao:

Where amazing happens.

[gunnar hendershow]

Washington kicked serious butt last night in my opinion. Vesely is a nice upside pick and Singleton is exactly the player they needed. A lock down defender, that team is on the upswing, especially if they can dump Rashard Lewis.

The Rashard Lewis contract is a huge problem, but it goes off the books in a couple of years. It could work in our benefit by giving us one more season of a high lottery pick and us landing that one extra star player we need to go along Wall. It's the ultimate scenario where the next decade of a franchise will be judged by how bad it is in 11-12 and maybe even 12-13. Worst case scenario is a string of 6 seeds in the East, best case scenario is an NBA title.

[naiwf]

http://eye-on-basketball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22748484/30330211

Portland is going to offer Greg Oden aka Mr. Glass $8.8 million just to get hurt as a member of the Blazers yet again.

That move is about as bad as Ron Ron's new name. IMO, he should have chosen a middle name that started with a V so that the fans could chant MVP at him every time he touched the ball. If you're going to put 3 years into coming up with a name, go all out.

[gunnar hendershow]

Remember a few years back when we were preparing for the inevitable Blazers dynasty? Granted it's not really a knock on the organization that injuries stopped it from happening, it's still weird to see them insisting on keeping Oden around and hoping he gets better. Sampson didn't get better and Oden won't. It sucks, you never want to see it happen to anyone.

[Meacon Keaton]

$8.8 million tender? Safe to say Oden will be a Blazer next year.

[naiwf]

Remember a few years back when we were preparing for the inevitable Blazers dynasty? Granted it's not really a knock on the organization that injuries stopped it from happening, it's still weird to see them insisting on keeping Oden around and hoping he gets better. Sampson didn't get better and Oden won't. It sucks, you never want to see it happen to anyone.

I think the fact they already have Brandon Roy's contract weighing them down makes the decision to keep Oden even worse.

[Trey]

They would've been stupid to not make Oden that qualifying offer. Even if they get to wipe away Roy's contract they would still have almost $50 million committed to players next year. Without the qualifying offer they give up any rights they would have to match any offer Oden would get, this way if Oden signs a 4 year 20 million dollar deal with anyone else the Blazers can match it and keep him at that salary (at least under this CBA, who knows about the next one). Why give up your rights to a player who if ever gets healthy (highly unlikely, but still) can be a dominant player just because he's a little expensive for one year?

[naiwf]

They would've been stupid to not make Oden that qualifying offer. Even if they get to wipe away Roy's contract they would still have almost $50 million committed to players next year. Without the qualifying offer they give up any rights they would have to match any offer Oden would get, this way if Oden signs a 4 year 20 million dollar deal with anyone else the Blazers can match it and keep him at that salary (at least under this CBA, who knows about the next one). Why give up your rights to a player who if ever gets healthy (highly unlikely, but still) can be a dominant player just because he's a little expensive for one year?

Why would ANY team offer Oden a 4 year guaranteed deal when he's played in exactly 1/4 of the games he's had a chance to in his career thus far? The owners are going to rape the players in this new CBA and committing any of your longterm cap to a guy who is never healthy is just foolish. He's had microfracture on both knees and a broken kneecap in the pros after being injured during his one year of college, so the odds that his knees hold up are not that good. Even if he could stay healthy, he's never played in more than 61 games in a season and only gets about 22 minutes a night, so it's not like you'd be getting more than a role player at this point since he has proven he can't go out there and play 35-40 minutes a night for a full season. Greg Oden and Yao Ming are the poster children for what happens to GM's when they risk it all on an injury prone big man and keep doubling down instead of walking away. The flashes of brilliance do not outweigh the months of time spent rehabbing the latest injury. The Rockets could have rebuilt by now, but they're still chasing that dream of a healthy Yao leading them to a title. Portland is trying to do this when their best player's knees are already falling apart. You can't carry that much deadweight on a roster and succeed in the NBA.

[Trey]

But next year they will be over the cap keeping him or not. Why not retain his rights and tell him to go find the best deal he can and sign it? Even at 20 minutes a game Oden could potentially be a huge defensive presence.

[naiwf]

But next year they will be over the cap keeping him or not. Why not retain his rights and tell him to go find the best deal he can and sign it? Even at 20 minutes a game Oden could potentially be a huge defensive presence.

Why not get rid of dead cap space and try to sign a player who can actually give you minutes for your money? Why should a fringe playoff team pay almost $9 million for a foul and injury prone role player when the cap is about to drastically diminish? That's exactly why the league is on the verge of a lengthy lockout.

[Trey]

They sign him to that because whether they are on the books for that or not they will still be over the cap. The players they can sign are the same no matter if he's on your roster this next year or not, why not make your 15th man potentially one of the 5 best centers in the entire league? Chances are slim Oden ever gets healthy and gets there, but other then burning the money, what's the downside of retaining your rights to him?

[naiwf]

They sign him to that because whether they are on the books for that or not they will still be over the cap. The players they can sign are the same no matter if he's on your roster this next year or not, why not make your 15th man potentially one of the 5 best centers in the entire league? Chances are slim Oden ever gets healthy and gets there, but other then burning the money, what's the downside of retaining your rights to him?

The league is looking to institute a hard cap as a result of the lockout that is going to start now. Signing a ~$9 million tender on a guy who isn't likely to play meaningful minutes is not getting you closer to a championship or another #1 draft pick. Even if Oden does get magically healed by touching the hem of Tim Tebow's jersey, then he's going to want a longterm deal at more than $9 million per and he's not worth that kind of money in the new cap environment. There really is no upside to giving Oden that much money when he's at best going to play 20 minutes a night for 60 games and at worst going to miss an entire season. It's not like he's got a Blake Griffin full year to his credit following a singular injury. The guy has been hurt every year since he finished HS and Portland is already stuck with Brandon Roy because they can't trade the contract and can't afford to simply eat it either.

[Trey]

We just disagree on Oden. I think it's worth retaining his rights, you don't. Even if they do get a hard cap (which I highly, highly doubt the NBPA will ever agree too) there's no way it'll be in effect next year. The Lakers have 92 million committed in salaries next year, the Magic 74, the Mavericks 64, etc. Even with an amnesty cut, there's no way they are going to force teams to cut that much space out of contracts.