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

i'll be shocked if towns/okafor don't go 1/2.


and people can question it. same logic made me say oden over Durant and that curry was a borderline nba rotation player coming out. but 9 times out of 10, you go with talented size first. you can't teach big. and you can't out-scheme big, smart, and mobile.

maybe philly gets Russell at 3 and he ends up the best player in the draft. I wouldn't feel bad about it later. it's not like towns and okafor are olowokandi or something. they've been under a microscope against top comp for a year. their weaknesses have been dissected mercilessly.

i'll say this regarding Russell: you don't see a lot of nba-level comp in his highlight packages. it worries me greatly that he struggled against rangy athletes. the nba is full of them. towns and okafor will still be among the biggest dudes on the floor in October. Russell will be playing against Arizona's wings every night.

 

He struggled against nationally ranked schools that had better talent defensively. Those teams usually had the talent, length, and athleticism, to take Russell out of those games. I understand the concern, though. I still think he'll translate well.

I still would go with Okafor and or Towns over Russell, though. It's the best way too go. Size is hard to find; size with skill on a cost controlled rookie contract is impossible unless you take a center in the draft. It puts us in a unique position. Take the center. Easy choice.

 

Like Okafor's defense, the talk of Russell struggling against athletic wings is being overblown. Russell had great games against Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan State, VCU, etc. All teams with athletic wings who play great defense.

Russell's struggles were because he was carrying that Buckeye team and defenses could focus on him.

 

Doesn't really matter at this point though because we are taking one of the bigs.

 

Yup. Exactly. I'd love to see Towns draining 3's in workouts or Okafor working somebody over in the post. I can't wait for these next 2 weeks...

 

Completely agree. I think we will make either of these guys into a big time NBA player.

 

Looking at his shot chart, Okafor is a better jump shooter than I think people are giving him credit for (at least from one side of the court).

 

Especially when we have 2 later picks this year. With as good as our scout department has been, I'll gladly roll the dice on finding another stud or need with one of those picks and taking the sure thing with the #2 pick. I mean, you can even afford to be completely wrong with one of the later picks...getting 2/3 right is still much better than over 75% of teams will accomplish in this draft.

 

I think he was such a sure thing so early and that's boring, so people are looking at other options for their mocks and discussions because that's exciting. That sells. That creates buzz and talking points. People are creating and overreacting to problems that aren't nearly as big of a deal as they're making them seem now because the alternative is boring. Overthinking gets people in trouble.

 

Best shooters in the draft:

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/ranking-the-2015-nba-draft-s-top-shooters-012046574.html

 

Lakers slanted Mudiay article worth the read w/ quotes from scouts:

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/201...h-risk-high-reward-guy-after-playing-overseas

 

Pat Connaughton coming in for a workout:

http://www.wsbt.com/sports/pat-connaughton-works-out-for-pacers/33233056

 

Mitch has a very big decision to make, but I trust him and Jim Buss to make the right one.

 

What impact Pek will have on who goes #1

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...mmediate-question-with-minnesota-timberwolves

 

Yes he did.

 

It's more likely we lucked into Clarkson than nabbed him through savvy scouting.

With respect to this draft, I'm cautiously optimistic thanks to everyone else on here, but FWIW, I have zero faith in the Jim Buss brain trust.

 

Fair enough. But any team that's still willing to spend money on Rondo at this point shouldn't be trusted with a #2 draft pick. And that's after we let Dwight and Pau walk without getting anything in return.