people bring this up all the time, but it's the exception that proves the rule. Yes you can be skinny and great at basketball, and Durant is great in spite of his lack of strength. If he was 250 and a physical presence, he'd be very close to LBJ in value.

assani:

:25, :29, 1:27 in transition/on break handling is really sick
:34 nice first step
:44, 1:00, 1:13 pretty absurd crossover and handle
:48/:52 really smooth pullup that i wasn't expecting given his draftex descrip

i would also watch the draftex vid (his defensive clips are very good and it also shows his TOV weaknesses which are kinda pronounced); and the Team USA vs Team World VID w/ him and Gobert is good too

but ya i'm prolly just crushing bc he's german and has a 6'2 / 6'8 wing which is insane. i'm liking a bunch of the players between 6-20 in terms of value. in terms of pick value to slot i think this year its prolly

1 > 2 > 8-12 > 13-20 > 5-7 > 3-4

Such a strange draft.

i dont think its any certain highlight. it's his ability to pretty easily stay in front of pg's when they're iso'd on him. (didn't see too much pnr d) his first step is extremely quick, his neck snap hesitation dribble (that bayless used multiple times last night, and jordan did on that baseline dunk over ewing) looks to freeze defenders, and allow him to utilize that quick first step again. sets up his bigs with easy looks. tho prolly not enough.

his speed and exceptional length for a pg are very good qualities, and he looks to be very intense defensively on the ball. could also play the lanes well with those qualities.

eta: dal, utah, mil, bos pick from 13-16, he'll probably go to one of those teams.

and btw dieng at 20 to chicago could be the steal of the draft. perfect team for him to land with as well.

Yeah that TT writeup is weird, it's all backward. mburke are you basing on that predraft stuff or what? IIRC TT was regarded as kind of a 3/4 tweener like Thad Young but he's developed into a PF/C bruiser.

He's a decent one on one post defender but sucks at help defense/spacing/etc, imo, and offensively he's not very efficient(52% TS%) but he does create for himself quite a bit(49% assisted) off postups that roll into a baby hook or from this weird faceup shotput floater thing he's developed. He's a good rebounder for his height because he's strong and establishes position well.

He has the worst FT form in the league but manages to avoid being an intentional fouling target. He'll be a starter for a while, but he needs to develop a jumpshot to be a real contributor.

A poor mans Zach Randolph would be the comp.

Oh, perhaps relevant to Porter and Noel, Tristan Thompson weighed in at 227 at the draft combine. If you told me he was 272 now I'd believe you. With work ethic and hamburgers all things are possible.

ya i trust victor and wisdom of crowds, so i am probably wrong on TT. it must be the inaccurate grievances from trolling 82 games data and xRAPM data too much. ive only probably watched 8 cavs games all year, and 3 of them were vs miami

hes not close to yaos size. and obv the skill difference is galactic.

the problem with TT is that he can't protect the hoop, can't body strong bigs, and can't score away from the rim. makes it kinda hard to fit him into most starting lineups unless like kevin garnett or serge ibaka is there. he'll be a perfectly useful player but it will likely be in a bench role.

Nfw he can have worse form than Noah's sidewinder, and of course from a results standpoint, there's lol Andre Drummond.

len out 6 months with a fractured ankle? forget it. from afar he looked a lot like sam bowie anyway.

How many players have had major injuries in their early 20s and not lost a lot? Seems like the road is littered with Amares and Roys.

have you ever watched him play?

your analysis is lol. the kid also has developed a nice go to hook shot. he may not be a jump shooter but he scores on more than put backs and dump offs

plus not wasting my time to argue about his defense

edit:
also i expect him to be working with Z on his shooting over the offseason. he will never have a stroke like Ibaka, but he will develop a decent 15 footer over the next few seasons...plus he had drastic improvement from year 1 to year 2 (and from the start to finish of season 2)

idk he just looks hugely big out there and could still grow...kinda reminds me of brook lopez...id take brook lopez #1 in this draft

Len has a similar skill set to Brook IMO. Injuries tho.

I can't find good youtubes of FT form. Drummond's shot seems OK it's just the ball never goes through the hoop. TT's is this real ugly knuckleball line drive that barely gets above the rim.

I did forget about Chuck Hayes, though. Does he still have that hitch?

Schroeder to Mavs, pls.

Conley is faster, but quicker with the ball, no.

Bazzy >>> Bennett >>>>>>>>>>>>> Porter for the pistons pick

Burke generally plays with more pace, but Conley excels at changing speeds and his top gear is pretty fast

Edit: or he appears to play with more pace anyway, can't say I saw him play ton

Conley as a freshman was so so smooth.

http://sports.yahoo.com/photos/2013-...26--ncaab.html

DX has write-ups with team needs in their mock.

If I'm picking late 1st, I'm looking for very specific things, and upside/potential are pretty far down on the list at that point.

- Guy who I know can give bulk scoring against 2nd units and give me 15-20mpg of pretty good offense (Glen Rice, Jamaal Franklin, Allen Crabbe etc)

- Guy who is limited offensively but can hit open 3s in a system and is an athlete with good size length that can be plugged in to a first unit of a good team at times (Bullock, Larkin)

I'd be so hesitant on bigs outside the core group