Narrowing Our Options

Tremendous research, 214. Very good stuff.

If there is ever such a prime example as paralysis by analysis, the month before the draft is a prime example. You see so much talk about this that and the other, and the truth is, most teams have made strong decisions on whom they want to draft by this time. The only thing they’re doing at this point is deciding if they want to go against what they know already, or found something totally discouraging, or another direction that may come up that’s unknown until a certain time (like draft day).

Thanks, again, for the wisdom.

Nice Work Section! Every compliment that I would have like to have given has been said in the above threads!

I have a hunch about this off-season fellas. I strongly believe that as the draft approaches, Petrie will make a solid attempt to jump up in the draft..And I’m not buying Petrie’s, etc assertation that the Kings big offseason is the 09’-10’ seasons. Petrie is a guy who traditionally keeps his card close to his chest. He has also proven over and over again to be “misleading” when it comes to player movement.

Why not now? I fully understand (about as well as any die-ard NBA fan without a finance degree can) the salary cap situation and how that can limit player movement on any given team. Therefore, by packaging the #12 pick with a role player, our ability to move up in the draft this year will not (should not) negartively affect our $$.

I have seen some very interesting trade proposals on here, especially intriguing to me were the ones that involved the Bulls. However, given Petrie’s history, I dont believe hne will make a multi-player deal unless he feels he gets equal production in return. therefore, I see the Kings packaging the #12 and a player (most likely Salmons, Garicia and any combination with Douby) to move up a few spots in the draft with the possibility of acquiring a “throw in” backup PG as well.

I see the Kings attempting to move up in the draft by trading with one of the following teams as a real possibility; The Nets, The Bobcats or the Bucks. I’d be willing to bet that Petrie has his eye on at least one guy in this draft that he really wants (I’m guessing that it is either Love,Westbrook or Bayless) and he’ll do everything in his power to get them. Even if that means parting ways with any combination of Salmons or Garia, and Douby.

So once again, Great post Section!!!!! However, something tells me that the Kings will not have the #12 pick in the draft this year!

is worth watching. Alexander also really shines there.

I too would say Speights should go before Arthur. Speights has some serious question marks, and the scouting at Draft Express particularly noted that he slipped into some bad habits, (especially with his shooting) later in his workout, but his physical gifts are real and his ceiling seems quite high.

As for Westbrook, wow, it’s sooooo tempting if he’s there: a very athletic, super-quick guard who can defend is exactly what we want IF he can dish out assists and run an offense at the NBA level. That is a pretty big if, though. Basically the guy came out of nowhere this year. He’s not a great shooter, and they say his natural ability in terms of seeing the whole court

If Petrie grabs either of those guys I’m content that it’s about as good as we could do with a #12 pick.

However, just to make things interesting I voted for Alexander. If you haven’t paid much attention to him yet, check out that video clip 214 mentioned, or watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YkitJ5-wuQ

Sure, small forward isn’t a priority, but I’m thinking of a post-Artest world, and I do think that we should take the best player in that spot rather than draft for need.

Joe Alexander is an athletic freak, and by that I mean even at the NBA level he has the kind of physical abilities that could allow him to take over a game. His combination of size and length, explosive strength, leaping ability and overall agility would make him a match-up nightmare as a 3.

He has a really sweet jump shot with a beautiful arc that is pretty much unstoppable and that he nails with confidence from pretty much any spot on the court out to about 17 feet.

From his on-line interviews he seems like a very focused and extremely determined kid who is devoted to improving every facet of his game. (The Draft Express scouting report terms it a “maniacal” work ethic). He’s only been playing hoops for (I think) five years, so he really has some serious upside.

I understand that Alexander has not gone unnoticed by the Kings, and if he’s the pick, I’m cool with that too.

That really surprises me. I’m really not convinced that either or the 2 PGs on this list are the answer. It’s not too often that a college SG gets remolded into a top flight NBA PG, that’s just really rolling the dice, and I’m not sure the upside is that great. I’d say the FUCLA guy’s upside is a backup guard in a 3 guard rotation. I’m not sold on DJ either. I’d rather roll the dice on one of the bigs that has Bynum-like potential or trading up or down a bit wouldn’t upset me either.

Is anything tougher than judging a college PG? Usually (though not always), the one’s that get tabbed as “pure” point guards earn that distinction because they can’t shoot, thus making them “pass first” PG’s. Mike Conley, Raymond Felton, and Rajon Rondo would all fit this bill.

Deron Williams’ college credentials did not scream “I’m an assist machine.” He was a shoot first PG because he was one of the better scoring options at Illinois. Guards that have been drafted in the latter stages of the lottery that would fit this bill include Jason Terry, Terrell Brandon and Tim Hardaway.

As TZ pointed out so well, most of the new breed of successful point guards are guys that can score and dole out assists. Can Westbrook or Augustin be one of those guys? I suppose that if the answer were a resounding “yes” then they would both be long gone before the 12th pick, the same way that Arthur would be gone had he been a more consistent rebounder.

Although I voted for Westbrook I too am surprised at the high percentage of votes being thrown at the guards. From the various posts and threads that I have read here over the past few weeeks, perhaps it is because there are more projected FP’s that might be lying around in the 2nd round than PG’s.

Whatever the outcome, rest assured that the player that we draft at #12 will be met with equal measures of excitement and angst.

I don’t follow college basketball very well. I’d like to do better, but it just doesn’t happen. So I get very little information to base my decisions on, very few games watched. I rely on my guts. I’ve been wrong several times, just look at my outrage when we drafted Hawes last year. That being said, though, I didn’t hear a thing about Westbrook until the tournament started. Is he actually that good, or was he part of a good team? If he gets drafted the right NBA team, will the distinction matter? I don’t know the answers to these questions. What I do know is that when I have watched college ball, and caught games involving Augustin, I was very impressed by him. He seems like an excellent young point guard who comes up big when it matters. Again, I watch very little, so if these observations are not the norm, I apologize. I just can speak to what I feel.