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

Lost 16.

 

They could easily be the worst team of all time.

 

Reverse Standings 1/19/2015:

1. Knicks 5-36
2. Wolves 7-32
3. Sixers 8-32
4. Lakers 12-29
5. Magic 15-29
6. Jazz 14-27
7. Boston 13-25
8. Pistons 16-25
9. Hornets 16-25
10. Kings 16-24

 

We're cementing ourselves in there pretty well. We won't likely catch those Top Three teams, but I think we're going to stay ahead of the Jazz, Magic, and C Bags.

The Pistons and Hornets and Kings are all definitely better teams than the bottom 7 and should stay up away from the Top Five picks. So bad news obviously is that without being in that Top 2-3 area we're not guaranteed a Top 5 pick, but "good news" is that we're still in a pretty decent position to get it.

If we finish fourth here's the percentages of where our pick would land:

1. 11.9%
2. 12.6%
3. 13.3%
4. 9.9%
5. 35.1%
6. 16%
7. 1.2%

So we have a better chance at the 5th pick than anything else, but that might be our best bet. The Top 2 spots are guaranteed a Top 5 pick. The third spot isn't guaranteed a Top 5 pick, but there's only a 4% chance of NOT getting a Top 5 pick.

 

Even if the C Bags do commit, they've got a better team than we do I think.

All we really would need to completely cement ourselves into that spot is an injury to either Young or Kobe. Without them on the floor we have literally no creator on the team. We'd lose every game.

Our tanking strategy is pretty strong: sit Kobe against bad teams, play him against teams we won't beat anyway.

 

DraftExpress has-

1. Okafor
2. Mudiay
3. Towns
4. D'Angelo Russell??
5. Willie Cauley-Stein
6. Porzingis
7. Hezonja
8. Stanley Johnson
9. Justise Winslow

I'm not nearly as high on Russell as all that. I'm not even as high on Cauley-Stein as that. I'd still take Johnson or 4 or 5 if we had the pick.

 

Russell has looked like a nice player two times I caught him. (Not a large sample size, I know ) I think the idea of a star level combo guard with a star level pf (Randle) is very intriguing. When I say star, I'm not saying super star. I'm talking a couple players that are in the all star discussion every year and maybe get in 2-3 times over the next decade. Granted I'm referring to best case scenario, I realize they could both end up doing nothing. Throw in Greg Monroe as our center. Swaggy as our sixth man...That'd be pretty appealing to Durant I would imagine. Heck, maybe even convince Kobe to come back for one more year as a 20 minute a game pg...OK...I suppose Randle winning league MVP has a better chance of happening than Kobe as a 20 mpg pg.

 

I'd take either one in an instant. Okafor provides NBA-level post game already. The guy has been in the system forever, but he's developed as a big man the entire time. Legitimate Center and one of the few still in existence. Towns' ceiling is higher, but his floor is also lower. If we end up with the 1st or 2nd Pick, I'd expect us to go after whichever one doesn't go 1st.

My draft board remains the same:

1. Okafor- Regardless of fit, he's the most talented player in the draft. You take talent over fit. Just ask Portland and MJ.
2. Towns- Probably the one with the highest ceiling in the draft. Athletic, strong, huge body, and already a good defensive player. Best fit with Randle.
3. Mudiay- Crazy talent on the perimeter, but undisciplined. I see some Tyreke Evans here. Needs strong leadership, would work well here I think.
4. Johnson- Insane build physically. All the tools to be Ron Artest 2.0 and he's a California kid. Great fit.
5. Winslow- Expectations are dropping, but he's got NBA stuff. He'd be a "safe" pick to me.

I just haven't seen enough of Russell to put him in my Top 5 and what I've seen doesn't put him there either. Maybe I'm wrong. I'll pay more attention to him, but right now he's outside of my Top 5. And DEFINITELY I don't want any part of Porzingis or Hezonja. Porzingis is at least 2-3 years away from being NBA ready and not only am I not impressed with Hezonja, but what I've seen and read says he's got a bad attitude.