This draft just got weaker (as in weak).

[Hoosier]

With Thomas not coming out this year, the Hawks will have little chance of grabbing the power player BK was hoping for. That only leaves Aldridge in the top five (not good odds), and no point guards.

Looks like Gay, Carney, or Bargnani will be wearing a Hawks uniform, all usable players but duplications to what the Hawks already have. Let's hope Gay falls our way.

I think BK will draft the BPA, but trading the duplicated players we already have is what bothers me. I do not think he gets back par value on most of his player transactions.

[1524]

I disagree, what about Tiago Splitter? He is a BK type player

[Packfill]

Quote:

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I think BK will draft the BPA, but trading the duplicated players we already have is what bothers me. I do not think he gets back par value on most of his player transactions.

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I sure hope he doesn't get "par value" back.

[exodus]

Quote:

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but trading the duplicated players we already have is what bothers me. I do not think he gets back par value on most of his player transactions.

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There is a surplus of swingmen in the league and a shortage of pg's and bigs, so the BPA theory falls flat. You can't just draft a bunch of wings and then trade out of the logjam because you aren't going to get a quality big or pg for a swingman of equal ability.

[KB21]

You also don't pass on a much better player just to take a big or a point guard.

Taking the best player available is a fool proof philosophy. It guarantees that you are going to get a good player everytime. When you reach for a big man, you get Rafael Araujo.

Basically, the top draft prospects in this draft, in no particular order are:

Rudy Gay/Connecticut

LaMarcus Aldridge/Texas

Andrea Bargnani/Benetton Treviso

Adam Morrison/Gonzaga

Rodney Carney/Memphis

Ronnie Brewer/Arkansas

[exodus]

Brewer is weak. I doubt he goes top 10. He is a shooting guard who cant shoot.

And to build a team that actually wins games you have to have players that fit well together. Just a collection of talent, no matter how great that talent is, doesn't equal success.

They don't play games on paper.

[thesheedera]

A lot can and will change between now and the deadline to declare for the draft. Thomas may be saying soemthing right now, but its meaningless until the season is over.

[KB21]

Yeah. Wasn't it this time last year that Marvin Williams was saying that he was staying at North Carolina? If I'm not mistaken, Sean May indicated that he was staying as well.

When Tyrus Thomas hears back from the NBA that he will be a top 5 pick if he declares, he will declare, IMO. Now, for those of you who are of the instant gratification crowd, it's going to take a couple of years for Tyrus to realize the potential he has. The reason he will be a high pick is that potential though.

[thesheedera]

May even said AFTER the championship that he would return for another season. After meeting with his dad and Roy, he realized he had to go ASAP.

Marvin never publicly stated that he was thinking of anything other than staying for at least another year, but towards the end of teh season he decided that he would leave no matter how the season finished so his mom could be comfortable.

[KB21]

Sorry, but Brewer is far from weak.

He has no problems shooting the ball. He hit nearly 40% of his three pointers last season, and he has improved his free throw percentage in each year. Just because he doesn't have perfect form doesn't mean he can't shoot.

He's also the best on the ball defender in the draft, is athletic as hell, and can play the point guard position.

[exodus]

If Brewer isn't playing pg for his college team then it is doubtful he will be doing it in the pros.

And he is shooting only 43% from the field which is lame.

[Rexhawk]

Sheldon is definetly a BK player. He is a defensive presence in the paint. Sheldon would bring shock blocking and rebounding to the hawks interior defense. I think he is also averaging close to 20pts a game.I think Sheldon is flying under the radar this year because of JJ.

[Lascar78]

I want nothing to do with Brewer because we don't need another SG playing PG, but he's a decent player. He just doesn't belong here IMO

[AHF]

Quote:

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I want nothing to do with Brewer because we don't need another SG playing PG, but he's a decent player. He just doesn't belong here IMO

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I'm with you 100%.

[exodus]

Some people here prefer projects to players. That way when a guy doesn't perform they can say, "Yeah but he has potential and will be great in a few years".

In terms of productivity Shelden blows away all of the top prospects other than Aldridge,Morrison and Redick.He plays against strong competion and does everything well. Guys like Brewer and Gay are nothing but hype. Shelden is averaging 18/10 with 4 blocks and 2 steals. He has the size, strength and athleticism that the Hawks badly need.

Brewer can't shoot a lick even though he is much bigger than his opponents. Arkansas doesn't have the toughest schedule in the world. He won't have that size advantage in the pros and won't have as much time to get his shot off, which he needs because of his delivery.

Gay is a great athlete but his basketball skills just aren't there. He can't break guys down off the dribble at all. His handles aren't even half of what Carmelo had when he was in college. Gays shooting form isn't the best either which is why he is inconsistent.

I haven't seen much of Carney or any of Bargnani so I can't really judge them, but the one thing the Hawks don't need is another 3 or 3/4.

[Vol4ever]

Being a UT alum and sec fan I have watched UK play a few games. Rondo got his tail handed to him by Chris Lofton of UT and played terrible against Vandy. I think is a version of Armond Hill just a little quicker, he needs to improve a lot to play in this league. Randall Morris just doesn't do it for me, he is weak around the basket and doesn't rebound at all.

I really do not want another small forward on this roster with someone like Gay or don't care for Brewer either. I had rather trade the pick for a veteran big.

[Nicholasp27]

i want us to get shelden williams

shelden/smoove paint combo could be a middle-class-man's ben/sheed

marvin/smoove forward combo could be great

jj is a top sg

just need a pg...al for dre after denver gets franchise...then draft/trade for/sign a young true pg with potential to groom behind dre for the future

best case scenario, we can trade al/delk for dre/1st and then get rondo or another college point with denver's pick

dre/rondo/ivey

jj/chill/slim

marvin/chill/donta

smoove/shelden/batman

shelden/zaza/andersen

once batman improves his english and his knowledge of the nba game and how it's played, he could be our enforcer off the bench

[tmac13]

You can't take another wing player..Its easy to say we can just collect talent then trade for need later, but we all know thats not a real life scenario..There is a lack of bigs and points and a glut of wings in the league..You just can't get equal value in return..If we draft Gay or Morrison, who are you gonna trade? You gonna trade Marvin?, JJ?, Smoove?..Who are you gonna get?..What happens is you have 5 or 6 players for 2 positions and noone ever really developes..Marvin might explode if he got 32 minutes a game, but in our situation that can't happen.

[KB21]

Rondo has to improve his ability to shoot from the perimeter. He's simply not a good shooter. His offensive game is centered around his ability to penetrate and finish at the rim, at which he is very good. However, teams are sagging off him, and there is no motion at all to Kentucky's offense. It's basically a situation where a bunch of guys are standing around. I rarely see any cuts to the baskets or any screens in their offense.

[AHF]

Quote:

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Being a UT alum and sec fan I have watched UK play a few games. Rondo got his tail handed to him by Chris Lofton of UT

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Lofton was awesome against both UK and UGA but Rondo wasn't matched up against him very much during the UT game so I'm not sure how that factors in. The bottomline is that Rondo hasn't played well of late and isn't ready to lead the Hawks right now. We can't use a top 5 pick on him.