ESPN Draft Lottery

[Russ Smith]

NBADRAFT.NET has stopped showing Bud. IMHO, he needs to develop physically, but could be a top three guy in a year or two.

He just needs to improve on defense and extend his range on his jumper, maybe improve his ballhandling. He's pretty well put together for a true freshman.

From what I've heard the only big name freshman in the pac 10 who might come out now is Hawes. There's talk of Brook Lopez but he's said he will stay 2 years for sure. There's rumors about Taj Gibson at USC but it mainly involves his eligibility since more stuff came out about the prepschools he attended. But he's not seen as a lottery pick he's a 6'8" PF that's too skinny, very good college player, iffy pro prospect, especially since he's 21 1/2 already.

 

[mribnik]

The problem is if Atlanta gets a top 3 pick this year that means that they should get an impact player that will probably propel them to the playoffs in the East. Thus, the Suns end up with a similar situation like a couple years ago with the Bulls and end up with a late teen/early 20's pick.

The Hawks have been hoping that their high draft picks would land them an impact player that would lead them to the playoffs for the last 5 years or so. If the Suns don't get their pick this year, I wouldn't be surprised to see them back in the lottery again next year.

 

[azirish]

IMHO the Hawks look a lot like the Bulls the year before they broke through. They had a lot of talent and were too young.

 

[dcsunsfan]

Kevin Durant loves the Suns

Burt(Jonesboro, Ark): Hey Kevin, what is your favorite NBA team to watch?

You must be registered for see images attach

Kevin Durant: I love the Suns. I love how they play. We try to run our offense after them. I love watching the Suns.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=14817

Too bad there's no way to get him here...

 

[azirish]

Burt(Jonesboro, Ark): Hey Kevin, what is your favorite NBA team to watch?

You must be registered for see images attach

Kevin Durant: I love the Suns. I love how they play. We try to run our offense after them. I love watching the Suns.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=14817

Too bad there's no way to get him here...

He's likely to be the number one pick. There is no team he wouldn't fit in with and few he wouldn't immediately start on.

 

[boisesuns]

Burt(Jonesboro, Ark): Hey Kevin, what is your favorite NBA team to watch?

You must be registered for see images attach

Kevin Durant: I love the Suns. I love how they play. We try to run our offense after them. I love watching the Suns.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=14817

Too bad there's no way to get him here...

I trade marion and the ATL pick in a heartbeat for Durant

 

[The Commish]

I trade marion and the ATL pick in a heartbeat for Durant

Yup.

 

[azirish]

Of course, finding someone who could take Marion's contract might be a challenge.

 

[S_Nash]

Phoenix trades

Shawn Marion
Raja Bell
James Jones
Atlanta Pick (#4 - #6)
Phoenix Pick (#29)

to Memphis for:

Mike Miller
Damon Stoudamire
Stromile Swift
Kyle Lowry
Memphis Pick (#1 - #2)


We draft Durant.

Nash/Stoudamire
Miller/Barbosa
Diaw/Rose/J. Jones
Durant/Swift
Stoudemire/Thomas

Then you can chop/change staring lineups with Diaw/Durant/Miller/Barbosa/KT

Meanwhile Memphis gets one all-star and a ready to play SG to join Pau Gasol aswell as a top draft pick.

 

[ActingWild]

Why do we want to trade Marion? It seems anytime there's a trade, it's "let's get rid of our best defender, rebounder and scorer that doesn't need plays ran for him."

Why wouldn't we be able to package all of our draft picks and Kurt Thomas or James Jones or anyone else besides Nash, Amare, Marion, Barbosa, Diaw and Bell?

Wouldn't moving from #2 to #4, gaining 2 more 1st rounders and a decent player be enticing to a team picking in that position? It's unlikely that they're going to turn it all around with just 1 player, but for moving down 2 spots, they're still getting a strong player and 3 more.

(I know, I'm probably a bit of a pie in the sky guy here).

 

[cly2tw]

Why do we want to trade Marion? It seems anytime there's a trade, it's "let's get rid of our best defender, rebounder and scorer that doesn't need plays ran for him."

Why wouldn't we be able to package all of our draft picks and Kurt Thomas or James Jones or anyone else besides Nash, Amare, Marion, Barbosa, Diaw and Bell?

Wouldn't moving from #2 to #4, gaining 2 more 1st rounders and a decent player be enticing to a team picking in that position? It's unlikely that they're going to turn it all around with just 1 player, but for moving down 2 spots, they're still getting a strong player and 3 more.

(I know, I'm probably a bit of a pie in the sky guy here).

When you are talking about Michael Jordan at #2 and Bowie at #4, then? Wait that was the other way round. Anyway, you get the point.

 

[cly2tw]

Meanwhile Memphis gets one all-star and a ready to play SG to join Pau Gasol aswell as a top draft pick.

Grizzs need a franchise player much more than an all-time best complementary player, n-time allstar or not. Durant has the potential to be the former.

 

[HooverDam]

The teams that get picks 1 and 2 are not trading them for anything. I doubt they'd trade them for KG or Kobe or anything other than maybe LeBron.

Durant and Oden will be on rookie contracts, and will be able to become the new face of their respective franchises and become the linchpins to their eventual turnarounds.

 

[Hugh D'Man]

Off topic but......Why is it everyone tacks on the 'and he doesn't have plays run for him' label onto MaidMarion, as if in amazement. Last I checked, we don't run plays for anyone. Nash just dribbles around picks and finds an open man or they fire passes on the perimeter until someone shoots. Seldom are there any set plays...and the Shawnster excels in that environment.

 

[Covert Rain]

Off topic but......Why is it everyone tacks on the 'and he doesn't have plays run for him' label onto MaidMarion, as if in amazement. Last I checked, we don't run plays for anyone. Nash just dribbles around picks and finds an open man or they fire passes on the perimeter until someone shoots. Seldom are there any set plays...and the Shawnster excels in that environment.

Not true. There are set plays between Amare and Nash used all the time. Not to mention that it might look like Nash just dribbles and passes every time but he is using offensive sets. It's just Nash gets to decide which one he uses at any given time. D'Antoni lets Nash call the offensive sets and plays on the court for the most part.

 

[azirish]

I think the "calling plays" thing is a bit confusing. A better concept is that Marion is not a player who needs the ball in his hands to "make something happen". Realistically, the only guys that work that way are Nash and Stoudemire plus to a certain extend Barbosa and Diaw. Bell, James Jones, KT, and Shawn all do most of their work off the ball.

 

[Covert Rain]

I think the "calling plays" thing is a bit confusing. A better concept is that Marion is not a player who needs the ball in his hands to "make something happen". Realistically, the only guys that work that way are Nash and Stoudemire plus to a certain extend Barbosa and Diaw. Bell, James Jones, KT, and Shawn all do most of their work off the ball.

Marion doesn't need a pick and roll called his way to score points. He doesn't need to setup on the block and have someone feed him the ball to score points. Most players in this league either need to have the ball or have someone feed them the ball to score. Marion doesn't. That's what most people are trying to say.

 

[azirish]

Marion doesn't need a pick and roll called his way to score points. He doesn't need to setup on the block and have someone feed him the ball to score points. Most players in this league either need to have the ball or have someone feed them the ball to score. Marion doesn't. That's what most people are trying to say.

Actually, we are seeing Marion targeted more than in previous years for cuts and alley-oop plays. However, it is not clear these were "called" or simply reaction plays.

 

[Hugh D'Man]

and more than 75% of these 'offensive sets' are just that, reaction plays resulting from the NashRambler prying and poking at defenses. Its him , three guys hanging out at the perimeter, and Amare. It's Marion's job to attack the rim once the blender starts churning.

 

[Covert Rain]

and more than 75% of these 'offensive sets' are just that, reaction plays resulting from the NashRambler prying and poking at defenses. Its him , three guys hanging out at the perimeter, and Amare. It's Marion's job to attack the rim once the blender starts churning.

I think it's a little more complicated then that. If you notice that there are all kinds of picks on each one of those. Some of them high picks, some of the off the block. There are even off ball picks setting up lanes for Nash to drive. If Nash just drove the lane without any idea where some of these picks were coming from the offense wouldn't work.

Where Nash shines is if they work or not, the decisions he makes as a result. How many times have we seen this guy make an amazing pass or get an easy layup on twice his size? That stigma that Nash just drives and makes stuff up as he goes is because of his efficiency when things break down.

 

[JCSunsfan]

bump

this thread might deserve a sticky just for the link in the first post

 

[azirish]

Did anyone see Oden today against Purdue. 17 points, 19 rebounds, and 4 blocks. The rebounding broke an Big Ten Tournament record set by Evens.

For the past two and half months, it looked certain that Durant would be the first pick. After today's game, I think Oden may have a shot at #1 (if he comes out) if this sort of play continues in the tournament.

 

[Mulli]

Did anyone see Oden today against Purdue. 17 points, 19 rebounds, and 4 blocks. The rebounding broke an Big Ten Tournament record set by Evens.

For the past two and half months, it looked certain that Durant would be the first pick. After today's game, I think Oden may have a shot at #1 (if he comes out) if this sort of play continues in the tournament.

Has Oden's hand injury recovered?

 

[azirish]

Has Oden's hand injury recovered?

Definitely. Oden is now showing some interior shots other than dunks even though the highlight film stuff was some Amare type crushes over people.

 

[ma_falaa_50]

anyone here that wants to trade marion, and bell you are a bunch of idiots. They are a big part of the suns success most def marion.

I saw someone in here proposing a trade for half of memphis starters/ R u serious? thr is a reason they are slated to selct the first pick of the draft.

We dnt need to trade anyone, we just need to play better. If we get the pick from atlanta- I think Al horford if avaliable should be the suns' pick.