NBA Draft Thread...

The lottery is tonight...

In the 30th anniversary of the Ewing lottery, Silver should try to top his predecessor and have the Knicks and Lakers pick 1-2.

 

Looking at the 1985 draft, it's amazing how many big man stiffs were taking in the first round.

 

Kobe v Melo in one-on-one, winner gets the pick

 

The Sixers could wind up with three lottery picks. As long as one of those is used on D'Angelo Russell, I'll take back some of the mean things I said about Sam Hinkie.

 

I had season tickets to watch one of them close up for 3 1/2 seasons.

Passing on Chris Mullin to take Joe Kleine is pretty much par for the course regarding my beloved Sacramento Kings.

 

I'm surprised Towns is rated ahead of Okafor. If I got the No. 1 pick, I would take Okafor in a second.

Nothing against Towns, but I think Okafor is a much safer pick.

 

Okafor sure looked pretty soft on defense in the tournament--that may be what dropped him from the top spot.

I'm kind of with you, RJ--His offensive game is so good, I'll take my chances that I can teach him to be a decent defensive player in the league.

 

Granted these guys are so young, but I thought that Okafor looked pretty bad on the defensive end (a lot like Parker did the year before). He's more polished in the post, but Towns really came on late. Towns is clearly raw and had the benefit of not having to play for more than 20-25 most games, but you can see him as great pick and roll guy.

Remember when a big man stayed 4 years and he still wasn't considered ready to start right away? These kids are coming out way before their bodies and games fully develop. If Towns stayed 3 years, he'd have a real face the basket game.

 

I agree that everybody is grading them based on how they think they're going to be in three years. I think Towns has a higher upside, but Okafor is more NBA ready right now.

 

Then why would you take Okafor? Why wouldn't you take the guy with the better upside, if that is who you believe is better long term.?

 

Aside from having a higher upside, Towns is also the only one of the two that defends well. One guy plays both ends of the floor, the other only on the offensive end.

 

Probably depends on the team that wins lottery to a degree. If you are a few years away from contending either way, then maybe (probably?) Towns is the guy.

But if OKC somehow gets the first pick, wouldn't it be awfully tempting to put Okafor on the court with two MVP candidates next year?