2015 Nba Draft Discussion: Russell, Nance Jr., Brown

I hope so. Stanley Johnson is an awesome fit here and a very good NBA player. Not the highest ceiling, but maybe the most solid player in the draft besides Okafor. I see Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard in him and he's a homegrown player.

 

If we get a Butler or Leonard quality player out of the draft I'll be thrilled.

 

To be fair on his critique here is his Draftexpress video:


Most scouts are comparing him to Ron Artest with a lot less of the crazy and a greater feel for the game. It's not one of those "he could grow into this role" either. Most scouts just look at him and see Ron Artest type of defender/athlete with a solid head on his shoulders.

 

I know they are just videos, but I'm telling everyone right now this guy is going to be something special. From all these videos I have watched there is a pattern: He's a self-made man (strong work ethic), tremendous confidence in himself (Kobe light attitude), Excellent defensively (exactly what we need in a wing defender), strong motor (never gives up on a play), Great head on his shoulders (positive mindset, great locker room guy).

I'm sure even more will come out when we have our personal workouts with these guys but he's in my top 3 of who we should go and get. I think its a very very good comparison to say he could be a Kawhi leonard/jimmy butler type player. I know there ceilings might not be as high as some but they are guarantees when it comes to competing, improving, and great all around players.

Love this guy!

 

That's why it is so important to tank like never before.

 

And we have the talent to make a real push at this! I see no reason why we can't go all the way and get to the mountain top!

 

Seriously. When you look at the team we have left after all the injuries, we really have next to no possible way to beat any other NBA team out there other than maybe Philly, Utah, Orlando, Beantown . . . that's pretty much it. Maybe not even any of them. We're going to lose just about every game from here on out. And that's exactly what we need to do. I see no reason why we can't end up in the bottom three with what we have for the rest of the season. Not trying . . . just, we're going to lose pretty much all of our games because we don't have enough to compete with the rest of the league right now.

 

Reverse Standings:

1. Wolves 7-37
2. Sixers 8-37
3. Knicks 8-37
4. Lakers 12-33
5. Magic 15-33
6. Pacers 16-30
7. Jazz 16-29
8. Cetlics 16-27
9. Kings 16-27
10. Pistons 17-28

Still got that vice grip on the 4th spot...

 

With the return of Rubio and Melo, Philly is the only team that is definitely worse than us. I think we are the second worst team at this point. Unfortunately, New York and Minny were soooooo bad in the first half with all the games their "stars" missed, I don't know that we are bad enough to make up those 4 wins they have on us. Like I said earlier in this thread, Minny would have to finish the season playing like 44% ball for them to pass us if we continue at our current pace. NY could pass us though. Melo in the East is enough to single handedly beat half the teams over there.

Orlando is a weird team. They seemingly should be better than 15 wins, especially in the East. They have some nice players on that team. If I had to predict our finishing spot, I think we will finish at #4, but with the Knicks passing us and either Indy, Boston or Utah dropping below us.

 

Here's the thing with NY... Their team is maybe the worst team I've ever seen when Carmelo and/or Stoudemire isn't playing... I just don't know if we'll be able to catch either them or the Sixers.

With our new tanking strategy it's definitely possible, but those teams are going to have to start winning a few games.

 

Pretty much agree with you all the way here Savory. The only thing though - we are NOT going to continue to have wins like we did in that first half of the season. I really think we'd be lucky to win more than a handful more games. We just aren't good enough to do so. I think NY will start to win some games and so will Minny. Like you said, I think the only team that out tanks us going forward is Philly to hold that number one spot. I don't see them falling from that. I think we end up at the three or maybe, hopefully, even the two. But as real said, Minny does have to actually start winning some games for that to happen.