Official 2012 NBA Draft thread

[SunsTzu]

Rivers is about as good on defense as Nash is.

But he makes up for it with his high volume low efficiency offense.

 

[SunsTzu]

1. Lillard
2. Lamb
3. Ross

Guys I'd be happy to get.

Perry Jones III, Terence Jones and Austin Rivers are guys I'd really not want to the Suns draft. Anyone else and I'll just be cautiously optimistic.

 

[Joe Mama]

unlike Griffin though, Robinson measured just 6'8 in shoes. that might drop him

Where did you see that? They reported yesterday on the draft combine coverage on ESPN that he measured 6'9" with a 7'3" wingspan. Unfortunately they didn't give his standing reach.

Height doesn't matter. He has a 7'3 wingspan.

we will see what Robinson's standing reach was, but Griffin is a freak of nature in that regard... and not in a good way. He measured 6'8.5" without shoes, 6'10" with them, 6'11.25" wingspan but just a 8'9" standing reach. If I remember correctly Markieff Morris had a standing reach of 8'10".

Fran Francilla was talking about the Waiters promise earlier today and saying he had told we understand why a team would do this. He was saying that Waiters has an NBA ready body and the skills to be considered a top-five draft pick.

Joe Mama

Joe Mama

 

[asuhoopsnut]

Where did you see that? They reported yesterday on the draft combine coverage on ESPN that he measured 6'9" with a 7'3" wingspan. Unfortunately they didn't give his standing reach.



we will see what Robinson's standing reach was, but Griffin is a freak of nature in that regard... and not in a good way. He measured 6'8.5" without shoes, 6'10" with them, 6'11.25" wingspan but just a 8'9" standing reach. If I remember correctly Markieff Morris had a standing reach of 8'10".

Fran Francilla was talking about the Waiters promise earlier today and saying he had told we understand why a team would do this. He was saying that Waiters has an NBA ready body and the skills to be considered a top-five draft pick.

Joe Mama

Joe Mama

Great ...... I hope he goes before our pick at #13. From what I have seen from him, I don't agree with that assessment.

 

[sunsfan88]

Wrong! He did not say that. What he said was, I doubt that they made a promise to him. Basically, he doesn't know anything!

Wrong! He did not say that. What he said was, Suns are not the team that has a promise deal with Syracuse shooting guard Dion Waiters.

https://twitter.com/#!/Gambo620

You owe the other guy an apology.

 

[asuhoopsnut]

Wrong! He did not say that. What he said was, Suns are not the team that has a promise deal with Syracuse shooting guard Dion Waiters.

https://twitter.com/#!/Gambo620

You owe the other guy an apology.

You are wrong too! He did not say that either. I sometimes wonder what people are listening to. He was just guessing. Gambo just brought up what he thought. He said that he doubts that they have a promised deal with him at this point. With Gambo, if you listen carefully, you can tell when he really knows something versus when he is trying to act like he knows something. His words are quite different!

 

[sunsfan88]

You are wrong too! He did not say that either. I sometimes wonder what people are listening to. He was just guessing. Gambo just brought up what he thought. He said that he doubts that they have a promised deal with him at this point. With Gambo, if you listen carefully, you can tell when he really knows something versus when he is trying to act like he knows something. His words are quite different!

Um, why don't you go on his Twitter, what I got was a direct quote from it.

 

[asuhoopsnut]

Um, why don't you go on his Twitter, what I got was a direct quote from it.

I am going on what he said on the radio yesterday in the afternoon. I heard it with my own ears. He said that he doubts there is a promise. I just went on Twitter per your request. He is now tweeting that they didn't give him a promise, but there is no source mentioned. Gambo, is all about guessing! I doubt that there is any source. My bet is that it is a pure guess! There is a 50/50 chance that he is correct. He loves to do that.

 

[Mainstreet]

I am going on what he said on the radio yesterday in the afternoon. I heard it with my own ears. He said that he doubts there is a promise. I just went on Twitter per your request. He is now tweeting that they didn't give him a promise, but there is no source mentioned. Gambo, is all about guessing! I doubt that there is any source. My bet is that it is a pure guess! There is a 50/50 chance that he is correct. He loves to do that.

I don't listen to him much or weigh the information too heavily because this is my perception... that there is too much guessing. However, it's probably true about many in the sports media.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I am scared to death of Austin Rivers. He shoots high volume and low percentage on a team where he should get good looks. He does not play D.

Bust, bust, bust.

 

[Mainstreet]

I am scared to death of Austin Rivers. He shoots high volume and low percentage on a team where he should get good looks. He does not play D.

Bust, bust, bust.

Well DraftExpress has the Suns picking Dion Waiters at #13. Do you like this better?

Actually if I had my rathers I would have the Suns picking one of the PGs that are supposed to go earlier like Lillard or Marshall.

 

[slinslin]

Austin Rivers won't be a bust. He has legit NBA skills and good athleticism plus the best first step in college basketball which will translate to the NBA plus he is a coachs kid and knows best what it takes.

He is also not an idiot which is worth mentioning in a draft that features guys like Jeremy Lamb.

48% on 2s and 37% on 3s are not a low percentage especially since Rivers takes a lot of shots off the dribble. In fact those are pretty good percentages.

You are completely wrong about Rivers. He is one of the least likely busts in the entire draft.

He has neither beein a volume scorer, nor low percentage shooter. He averaged around 12 FGA per game on a Duke team that had NOBODY other than him being able to create any sort of offense. Considering that he averaged almost 6 FTA and shot a very good percentage from the field. Yeah you are just totally wrong on him.

Rivers is more than just a shooter, he is athletic not as athletic as Ross but who cares he is still 10x better at attackign the rim because he is much better off the dribble, gets in the lane and has more touch around the basket.
Rivers improved throughout his freshman season considerably towards the end. He also has confidence and can hit a gamewinner.

That gamewinning 3 is the definition of what the Suns are looking for when they are talking about finding someone who can close out a game. Austin Rivers to the Suns is a perfect fit with or without Nash.

Without Nash he can quickly be a 20ppg scorer that can excite the fan base while the Suns suck. With Nash , Rivers is still good enough a shooter to play more off the ball.

Could Rivers be a better defender? Sure but he has the tools and lets be honest here. Defensive teams are defined by the frontcourt players not their guards.

 

[slinslin]

to sum it up.. I will be pissed if we don't draft Austin Rivers if he is even there at #13.

I will probably be even more upset if he gets picked a couple spots before us while we end up with choosing between Jeremy Lamb (bust), John Henson (stiff) or other leftovers.

I really really like Royce White. He really has some Barkley in him.

 

[Mainstreet]

Has anyone heard of a "spread Provision" in the NBA. Apparently if a team waives Brendon Haywood, who has a three year contact with $27.22 million remaining, it can be spread out over 14 years. This is new to me. Where was this when the Suns let Amare walk?

http://basketball.realgm.com/wireta...Provision’_In_Deal_May_Be_Attractive_In_Trade

 

[slinslin]

Has anyone heard of a "spread Provision" in the NBA. Apparently if a team waives Brendon Haywood, who has a three year contact with $27.22 million remaining, it can be spread out over 14 years. This is new to me. Where was this when the Suns let Amare walk?

http://basketball.realgm.com/wireta...Provision’_In_Deal_May_Be_Attractive_In_Trade

Yeah but he will still count against their cap I assume so not sure this is all that great really..

 

[SunsTzu]

48% from the field is pretty good for a guard, not so much for just 2 pointers and is among the worst out of all projected first rounders. A negative ast/TO ratio is bad for a combo guard.

Suns could save themselves some time and sign Bayless, who's basically a more physical better play making version of what Rivers will eventually be.

 

[slinslin]

48% from the field is pretty good for a guard, not so much for just 2 pointers and is among the worst out of all projected first rounders. A negative ast/TO ratio is bad for a combo guard.

Suns could save themselves some time and sign Bayless, who's basically a more physical better play making version of what Rivers will eventually be.

lol yeah..

The supposedly great shooter Jeremy Lamb shoots 48% from 2s and 33% from 3s.
48% from 2s is just fine for a 2 guard. Rivers also shot much better over the last 15 games.

Also guys like Lamb did not nearly have as much pressure on them. Rivers was Duke's only creator and offensive option.

#Plus again Rivers goes to the line far more often than Beal, Lamb, Ross or Waiters. In face twice as many times as Ross. What is Ross athleticism all that good for? He is a one-dimensional catch and shoot guy that does not make use of his athleticism offensively much.

 

[SunsTzu]

lol yeah..

The supposedly great shooter Jeremy Lamb shoots 48% from 2s and 33% from 3s.
48% from 2s is just fine for a 2 guard. Rivers also shot much better over the last 15 games.

Also guys like Lamb did not nearly have as much pressure on them. Rivers was Duke's only creator and offensive option.

#Plus again Rivers goes to the line far more often than Beal, Lamb, Ross or Waiters. In face twice as many times as Ross. What is Ross athleticism all that good for? He is a one-dimensional catch and shoot guy that does not make use of his athleticism offensively much.

Now you're just making things up. Lamb shoots 48% from the field, 60% from 2.

With all the time Rivers spends at the line maybe he'll eventually learn to make better than 65%.

 

[slinslin]

Yes I misread one column. Still you can't even compare the difficulty of shots they had to take.
Lamb just passively floated around off the ball for uconn and took catch and shoot jumpshots most of the time while Rivers had the pressure on him on a terrible Duke team to create almost all his shots for himself and off the dribble which are much harder shots to make. Still he shot much better from 3 than Lamb or Beal.

 

[HooverDam]

Rivers is about as good on defense as Nash is.

Not every player on a team needs to be a defensive stalwart, especially not a guy who's best role might be a microwave offensive weapon off the bench type.

 

[sunsfan88]

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[PhxGametime]

I'd like to see Meyers Leonard's athletic testing numbers before pick 1 target player but I like: T Jones, Rivers, Ross, Leonard, Waiters, Harkless, and Wroten Jr. - are my choices, as of right now.


Henson is another guy I'd like to see athletic testing numbers...

 

[WildBB]

Put down Rivers, he won't last, would take Sullinger if he's gone.

 

[sunsfan88]

Yea I'm officially on the Rivers bandwagon...check the sig.

And his interview, he actually seemed like he knows what making it in the NBA is all about...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbC51glIzHE&feature=player_embedded

 

[Mainstreet]

Put down Rivers, he won't last, would take Sullinger if he's gone.

I'm afraid if Rivers goes before #13 the Suns FO will get this glazed look in their eye without having thought through a back-up plan.

Also hoping a top PG falls to #13 as another option.