Poeltl & Pascal - The 2016 Draft

[myklk]

In this draft, moving up from 27 to 20 or 18 makes little sense to me. They all seem like they are at the same tier in that range. To pay for that upgrade with a current roster player or an extra couple of second round picks is not worth the price. Yeah you can target someone you like, but at this stage you really don't know. I don't even think the scouts know. It is going to be an amazingly interesting draft night.

[Mapko]

Sabonis is can't miss. He'll still be in the league in 2026. A lot of the guys going around him, while they're interesting players, will not be in the league in 2026. Because that's the NBA draft.

What's his ceiling you wonder? I don't know but he can certainly be good enough to start. Now that he has the range it opens up a lot of his game. Its great he's been working on this even though he never had the green light to do it for his team.

Scola?

[Jclaw]

It's funny, I think I'm narrowing my group of 5 down to 3, and they are all PF's, and they are all radically different. This assumes none of the top 8 slip.

I had Poeltl and Luwawu on the list, but I'm falling more in love with the other three guys. I'd still be fine with either guy if they are picked. But they don't really excite me like these three.

Davis, Skal, Sabonis. All with varying floors and ceilings, but all with enough upside to make them worth the pick. And very, very different. Want a glue guy, smart player who will give you a little of everything? Sabonis is your man. Want a defensive stud who may or may not develop any real offensive game? Davis, easy. Want a high upside scorer who has defensive potential as well but has a long way to go on the boards? Skal, obviously. Funny thing is all three styles seem like they would fit OK at PF (for this team in particular).

That's what I find fascinating about this draft. If you look at that list, can you say that the fact that we lack depth at the 4 didn't at least influence some of your thought process? Maybe it didn't and it's just a coincidence. I find myself paying more attention to potential 4's rather than any other position. But, very likely, the new starting 4 for the 2016/7 defending second seed Raptors is not coming from the draft. More likely from free agency or a trade. And if that happens, it makes drafting a 4 as relevant as drafting any other position. Unless the plan is to draft a backup in case you fail at trades or FA. Otherwise, we have no more a need to focus on Pf's in this draft than any other player. It will be interesting. I find it tough to separate the two.

[lewro]

Does anyone know anything about benders workout in Minny? Can't find anything. Wolves fans aren't even talking about.
Found out at chriss hosted a workout but no private workouts.

[Apollo]

Scola?

Scola as he was in his prime years would be good value.

[Bandit]

I haven't seen his name popped up much, but what's everyone think of Korkmaz? I don't know why but I've found him intriguing all year.

Pretty much every issue I see with the kid comes down to strength. I don't think he has the frame to really bulk up but a good focus on lower body and core strength and i think most of the concerns could be addressed. Would love to know what the results of a top end month long strength regime would look like.

[The Great One]

This Jakob Poeltl guy is pretty good at basketball.

Our starting C is pretty young(I believe Jonas is only 24?). It wouldn't make sense to draft another C who'll likely be Jonas' backup.

[golden]

Was Bosh tough when he came out of college?! Nope he was a scrawny guy who was pushed around a lot but he developed his body and mindset where he was an integral piece with Miami winning 2 championships, so yeah its possible.

If we are judging based on only college toughness and confidence then Anthony Bennett should have succeeded at the next level as well.

Bosh gets a lot of flack around here, but he was pretty good right out of college. People might forget that in his rookie season (he was only 19, btw), the Raps traded Antonio Davis, and Kevin O'Neil made skinny Bosh the starting center. Back in those days a center had to bang with big lumbering guys like Shaq, even though he was even too scrawny for PF. Bosh held his own that rookie season and is/was a lot tougher than he gets credit for. Point being, he had that toughness coming in.

[MixxAOR]

I haven't seen his name popped up much, but what's everyone think of Korkmaz? I don't know why but I've found him intriguing all year.

Pretty much every issue I see with the kid comes down to strength. I don't think he has the frame to really bulk up but a good focus on lower body and core strength and i think most of the concerns could be addressed. Would love to know what the results of a top end month long strength regime would look like.

He looks good offensively but his comments about his defense are kinda bad. He said his weakness is defense because guys in euroleague are quick and its tough for him

[DanH]

That's what I find fascinating about this draft. If you look at that list, can you say that the fact that we lack depth at the 4 didn't at least influence some of your thought process? Maybe it didn't and it's just a coincidence. I find myself paying more attention to potential 4's rather than any other position. But, very likely, the new starting 4 for the 2016/7 defending second seed Raptors is not coming from the draft. More likely from free agency or a trade. And if that happens, it makes drafting a 4 as relevant as drafting any other position. Unless the plan is to draft a backup in case you fail at trades or FA. Otherwise, we have no more a need to focus on Pf's in this draft than any other player. It will be interesting. I find it tough to separate the two.

I think for me it is not so much the starting PF spot that is influencing my decision, as the lack of PF long term depth. Honestly, I do think I'm filtering that out and just do believe those are the best prospects available there (I mean, there are 5 PF's in DX's current 9-18 range, that's half of those players). There's every possibility though that I'm letting some PF bias enter my thinking. But even with that set aside, I do think all these guys are in the same tier, so I'd have no issue picking one over the other for need.

[Bandit]

He looks good offensively but his comments about his defense are kinda bad. He said his weakness is defense because guys in euroleague are quick and its tough for him

Having watched some gameplay his defense looks bad cause of his stance and his strength more than anything else. I haven't watched many interviews though, so i don't know what his attitude is outside of a few clips.

If you could get him in a better stance I could see him having a Delon Wright style of defense. Seems to have a high enough IQ to "get it" and play smart vs a Powell style of high intensity defense. Not saying he'll ever be a good defender but I definitely think he could improve to not be a huge liability

[3inthekeon]

Our starting C is pretty young(I believe Jonas is only 24?). It wouldn't make sense to draft another C who'll likely be Jonas' backup.

Yup. No matter how good he becomes, he's a backup or trade bait. Unfortunately, the trade market would be limited, since there's not a lot of teams needing a traditional C nowadays.

[The Great One]

Yup. No matter how good he becomes, he's a backup or trade bait. Unfortunately, the trade market would be limited, since there's not a lot of teams needing a traditional C nowadays.

The only way the Raps draft Poetl is if they think he can be better than Jonas. That's it. You don't draft a guy 9th overall to be a backup.

[Mess]

Yup. No matter how good he becomes, he's a backup or trade bait. Unfortunately, the trade market would be limited, since there's not a lot of teams needing a traditional C nowadays.

It's funny. DX has us drafting centres at 9 and 27 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It's going to be a very interesting to watch the draft...er, I mean...to watch Woj's Twitter feed. Though I might mute him and let Silver surprise me. I just don't want to miss out on any trade news.

[BobLoblaw]

It's funny. DX has us drafting centres at 9 and 27 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It's going to be a very interesting to watch the draft...er, I mean...to watch Woj's Twitter feed. Though I might mute him and let Silver surprise me. I just don't want to miss out on any trade news.

I allowed him to affect my draft experience once, but I ignored him since.

Last year I ignored forums as well, because there's often someone who has to let everyone know what Woj said about the draft pick that's happening in 30 seconds.