2018 Hawksquawk Dynasty Draft - Picks and Discussion

[capstone21]

@AHF is up

[Buzzard]

2 minutes ago, capstone21 said:

With the next pick Capstone’s Crew selects

Blake Griffen PF 6’9

Blake some new facets to his game last season ...averaging 1.9 3pg and 6.2 apg ... yes you read that right he averaged over 6 assists per game with the Pistons.  Blake is also a solid position defender ... he doesn’t get a lot of defensive stats but he does a great job of staying on his man and forcing bad shots.  We are excited to have him with the crew and will nicely with Durant and Jordan in our front court.  We also like to announce a new partnership with KIA where their logos will be appearing on the Crew jerseys This season!  Welcome to the team Blake! 

I was wondering when someone would take him. I have been set at PF/C since the 1st and 3rd round. Other pressing needs but never lost sight of him. This late a steal. Now about a new car....

[Spud2nique]

17 minutes ago, capstone21 said:

Blake Griffen PF 6’9

Spelled Griffin in English ... ? 

I kid Mr. Canada ??!!! Nice pick!

[Spud2nique]

I ? im gonna shoot a few hoops, grab a slurpee at 711 like my main man lw3 and see you all tomorrow refreshed both body and mind. Have a great rest of the weekend all!

[AHF]

Writeup to come but in short:  Maybe my toughest pick so far but I’ve got to roll the dice a bit here and take this year’s #1 pick, Deandre Ayton.  Just too many promising physical tools to ignore and the solid ft and 3pt numbers in college hint at the potential for a tantalizing interior scorer to supplement our dominant interior defenders.

@HopefulHawksFan is on the clock in the morning

[HopefulHawksFan]

With the 55th pick in the draft, I select...

LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE

At 33 years old, Aldridge continues to be a dominant power forward.  In 2017-18, he maintained 23.1 PPG, 8.5 rebounds, and his overall FG% was 51%.

  

@Spud2nique is up.  PM sent.

[AHF]

It was a gorgeous weekend around the state of Kentucky where we spent our time considering which direction to go with the roster following our opening three picks. 

Offense, defense, experience, youth??  Well, with two DPOYs on the roster we felt like some offense was in the cards.  Fortunately, we were able to tick that box while checking the "young veteran" and "up and coming star" boxes on our ballet.

With our fourth pick, we were pretty thrilled to steal a still-improving veteran star from the Raptors / Spurs: 

DeMar DeRozan

We were kind of shocked he was still on the board coming off of 4 consecutive All-Star games and 2 consecutive All-NBA selections at age 28.  Averaging roughly 25, 4.5, 4.5 the last two years looks pretty sweet and the advanced metrics look just as good with him as a top 10 guard over the last 3 years in WS and PER.  Being the second option in the back-court will give DeRozan the opportunity to bump up what was some already very nice scoring efficiency to go with the volume stats across the board (3 straight seasons of .550%+ TS%).

While the Raptors may have done him wrong, the U-Niques are excited to see him do right as part of a highly skilled, highly balanced lineup.  When opponents have to pick their poison between him and Harden they will be saying "D..damn."

You see what we did there, double D.  Wasn't that good but we appreciate your enthusiasm!

On the wing back with our next pick, we had a tough time looking at some nice veterans or some high ceiling youngsters and decided to roll the dice on this year's most physically gifted rookie, 

Deandre Ayton

In college, Ayton dominated his opponents averaging 20 and 12 while shooting over 61% from the field.  In addition to crushing inside, he showed a nice touch on  his jumper averaging 73% from the line and a respectable 34% from 3pt range.  His 32.6 PER for the season was pretty insane and while his production was extremely consistent it was also premier with him having 10+ games with 25 points and/or 14 rebounds.  His back-to-back Conference Tournament games against UCLA and USC were particularly impressive with him charting 32-18 and 32-14.  On a per minute basis, he led all major conference players in both PER and WS/48.  As a highly mobile 7'1'' dynamo, he has all the tools to deliver an impact on defense as big as his display on offense.  We think our vets in the frontcourt will be the ideal tutors for this development and we are thrilled to welcome young Mr. Ayton to the squad!

 

Guard:  James Harden

Guard:  DeMar DeRozan

PF:  Draymond Green

C:  Rudy Gobert / Deandre Ayton

[AHF]

Pick #	Team	Selection
1	Buzzard	Karl Anthony-Towns
2	turnermx	Anthony Davis
3	JayBirdHawk	Giannis Antetokounmpo
4	TheNorthCydeRises	LeBron James
5	capstone21	Kevin Durant
6	AHF	James Harden
7	HopefulHawksFan	Russell Westbrook
8	Spud2Nique	Steph Curry
9	lethalweapon3	Joel Embiid
10	Marvin24Williams	Nikola Jokic
11	pimp	Kawhi Leonard
12	LucastheThird	Ben Simmons
13	LucastheThird	Klay Thompson
14	pimp	Kyrie Irving
15	Marvin24Williams	Jimmy Butler
16	lethalweapon3	Victor Oladipo
17	Spud2Nique	Donovan Mitchell
18	HopefulHawksFan	Paul George
19	AHF	Rudy Gobert
20	capstone21	John Wall
21	TheNorthCydeRises	Kristaps Porzingas
22	JayBirdHawk	Devin Booker
23	turnermx	Damian Lillard
24	Buzzard	Bradley Beal
25	Buzzard	Myles Turner
26	turnermx	Robert Covington
27	JayBirdHawk	Kemba Walker
28	TheNorthCydeRises	Jayson Tatum
29	capstone21	Khris Middleton
30	AHF	Draymond Green
31	HopefulHawksFan	Steven Adams
32	Spud2Nique	Jaylen Brown
33	lethalweapon3	Chris Paul
34	Marvin24Williams	Gordon Hayward
35	pimp	Andre Drummond
36	LucastheThird	Al Horford
37	LucastheThird	Clint Capela
38	Northcyde (from pimp)	DeMarcus Cousins
39	Marvin24Williams	Jrue Holiday
40	lethalweapon3	Lauri Markkanen
41	Spud2Nique	Marc Gasol
42	HopefulHawksFan	C.J. McCollum
43	AHF	DeMar DeRozan
44	capstone21	DeAndre Jordan
45	pimp (from Northcyde)	Kevin Love
46	JayBirdHawk	Jusuf Nurkic
47	turnermx	Hassan Whiteside
48	Buzzard	Brandon Ingram
49	Buzzard	Otto Porter
50	turnermx	Jamal Murray
51	JayBirdHawk	Taurean Prince
52	pimp (from Northcyde)	Luka Doncic
53	capstone21	Blake Griffin
54	AHF	DeAndre Ayton
55	HopefulHawksFan	LaMarcus Aldridge

[Spud2nique]

3 minutes ago, AHF said:

Pick #	Team	Selection
1	Buzzard	Karl Anthony-Towns
2	turnermx	Anthony Davis
3	JayBirdHawk	Giannis Antetokounmpo
4	TheNorthCydeRises	LeBron James
5	capstone21	Kevin Durant
6	AHF	James Harden
7	HopefulHawksFan	Russell Westbrook
8	Spud2Nique	Steph Curry
9	lethalweapon3	Joel Embiid
10	Marvin24Williams	Nikola Jokic
11	pimp	Kawhi Leonard
12	LucastheThird	Ben Simmons
13	LucastheThird	Klay Thompson
14	pimp	Kyrie Irving
15	Marvin24Williams	Jimmy Butler
16	lethalweapon3	Victor Oladipo
17	Spud2Nique	Donovan Mitchell
18	HopefulHawksFan	Paul George
19	AHF	Rudy Gobert
20	capstone21	John Wall
21	TheNorthCydeRises	Kristaps Porzingas
22	JayBirdHawk	Devin Booker
23	turnermx	Damian Lillard
24	Buzzard	Bradley Beal
25	Buzzard	Myles Turner
26	turnermx	Robert Covington
27	JayBirdHawk	Kemba Walker
28	TheNorthCydeRises	Jayson Tatum
29	capstone21	Khris Middleton
30	AHF	Draymond Green
31	HopefulHawksFan	Steven Adams
32	Spud2Nique	Jaylen Brown
33	lethalweapon3	Chris Paul
34	Marvin24Williams	Gordon Hayward
35	pimp	Andre Drummond
36	LucastheThird	Al Horford
37	LucastheThird	Clint Capela
38	Northcyde (from pimp)	DeMarcus Cousins
39	Marvin24Williams	Jrue Holiday
40	lethalweapon3	Lauri Markkanen
41	Spud2Nique	Marc Gasol
42	HopefulHawksFan	C.J. McCollum
43	AHF	DeMar DeRozan
44	capstone21	DeAndre Jordan
45	pimp (from Northcyde)	Kevin Love
46	JayBirdHawk	Jusuf Nurkic
47	turnermx	Hassan Whiteside
48	Buzzard	Brandon Ingram
49	Buzzard	Otto Porter
50	turnermx	Jamal Murray
51	JayBirdHawk	Taurean Prince
52	pimp (from Northcyde)	Luka Doncic
53	capstone21	Blake Griffin
54	AHF	DeAndre Ayton
55	HopefulHawksFan	LaMarcus Aldridge

Not sure why this is coming up with my post..

[Spud2nique]

With the 56th pick in the SDD, the ? erinos select:

 

Trae Young

 

 

I wish Nash was still playing so Trae could learn from him. My second choice, is my starting point guard ?! Who better to learn from that somebody who plays in a similar way. Again, I’m a guy that argued Trae was better than Curry in passing and I’m not even talking about at the same stage. TRAE IS THE BETTER PASSER RIGHT NOW! Part of selecting Trae is getting to give you my 2 cents on him. I love the kid. He is a highly SKILLED and mature young (pun intended) man. Am I looking through Hawk fan ?? Possibly. But this is the most excited I’ve been about a Hawks rookie since Stacey Augmon and that was a looooooong time ago.

The best mentor/mentee relationship since..

And now it’s up to the mighty smooth talkin criminal @lethalweapon3 to come in and steal our ♥️ with his words! AAAAYYYEEEE I SEE U BOI DO YO THANG ?!

 

ps Yall know damn well somebody would have taken Trae soon from fandom love alone ?. 

Pps My point guard situation is set for 15 years. Get back to me during the 2033 WNBA dynasty draft and I might take Riley ?. But for now... we guuuuudd!

[Spud2nique]

@lethalweapon3 has been PM’d! 

[lethalweapon3]

In the 5th Round, with the 57th Pick in the 2018 Hawksquawk Summer Dynasty Draft, the Lethal Tender selects:

 

Thanks to Aaron Addison Gordon (Small Forward/Power Forward, 6'9", 220 lbs., Age 22) here, we can project a mostly sunny outlook in Lethalopolis. With his impressive vertical, he’ll be spending lots of his time up in our clouds, bringing occasional thunder and an improving chance of raining threes as times goes on.

And, now, here’s d*ck Vitale, with his Sports Minute!

 

Thanksss, Dickie.

 

Victor Oladipo’s former team had to learn, the hard way, what happens when you fail to properly nurture, and later abandon, your hard-earned lottery prospects. So there’s no surprise that, under a new regime, there is interest in committing to the growth of Aaron Gordon, the jumping-jack forward who reunites with Dipo on the Tender.

Despite four pro seasons of often languishing when he isn’t making waves with his dunking exploits on SportsCenter, Gordon precedes 2017-18 rookie Lauri Markkanen by just 18 months. AG is committed to becoming more than a dunker, and while his 2017-18 campaign left a lot to be desired, there were signs that he can, under consistent guidance, make big leaps (of a non-dunking nature) in the seasons to come.

Gordon’s last season was interrupted a lot by concussions and injury, as things fell apart swiftly for his team after a promising 8-4 start. Each time he returned, his team grew more mired in morass, and he became more inclined to carry them out of it on his own. Despite lousy shot selection (43.4 FG%), he managed to raise his three-point proportion to a career-high 39.5% of attempts, shooting over 30 percent (33.6 3FG%) for the first time in his career. Despite a predictable uptick in usage, his turnover rate remained solid at 10.0 TO%.

Aaron became less of a defensive liability in 2017-18, his per-36’s of 7.0 defensive rebounds and 1.1 steals career-highs. While he still has a long way to go on that end of the floor, he is still just turning 23 in a couple months. He was sorely needed to shift to power forward last year, on a team lacking options. But on the Tender, the nature of his evolving game will suit him better at the 3-spot alongside Markkanen. Having all-world defenders at the other starting positions greatly alleviates the need for Gordon and Markkanen to overextend themselves and offers ample time to grow into their roles.

On the Tender, with Paul’s steady leadership, Oladipo’s sudden brilliance, and Embiid’s magnetic persona, Gordon doesn’t have to be the face, for better or worse, of the franchise. But if he improves his efficiency on the floor, at the free throw line, and as a committed defender, there is no reason why he cannot be the 20-and-10 headliner he was once envisioned to become a couple years from now, if he so aspires. It won’t take much Magic to make it happen.

“Back to you, @Marvin24Williams!”

~lw3

[Spud2nique]

27 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

In the 5th Round, with the 57th Pick in the 2018 Hawksquawk Summer Dynasty Draft, the Lethal Tender selects:

 

Thanks to Aaron Gordon (Small Forward/Power Forward, 6'9", 220 lbs., Age 22) here, we can project a mostly sunny outlook in Lethalopolis. With his impressive vertical, he’ll be spending lots of his time up in our clouds, bringing occasional thunder and an improving chance of raining threes as times goes on.

And, now, here’s d*ck Vitale, with his Sports Minute!

 

Thanksss, Dickie. We’ll have more meteorological analysis on Gordon’s meteoric forecast with the Tender right here during the next news hour. But first, for the PM, Aaron, would you care to throw it back to the studio?

“Back to you, @Marvin24Williams!”

~lw3

Nice pick lw3..I was staring at his picture this morning for 30 min..

[AHF]

1 hour ago, Spud2nique said:

Not sure why this is coming up with my post..

I don't see it connected to any post of yours.  Should just be a separate post for people on mobile phones (who can't see the formatted tables).

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Just now, AHF said:

I don't see it connected to any post of yours.  Should just be a separate post for people on mobile phones (who can't see the formatted tables).

And thank you for that, because you definitely can't see that table on the phones.

[AHF]

11 minutes ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

And thank you for that, because you definitely can't see that table on the phones.

I added it to the first post of the thread as well for easy access.  

[Marvin24Williams]

With the 58th pick in the draft, the Marvy Marv's select Hawksquawk's favorite controversial prospect

JAREN JACKSON JR

\

This pick is all about upside and fit. There's other players I wanted but I decided to take the risk and take JJJ just in case someone else gets him. JJJ imo is just a tremendous fit next to Jokic. He provides much needed interior defense and shotblocking. Offensively he provides much needed floor spacing. All in all I just love his skillset moving forward with this team.

PG: Jrue Holiday

SG: Jimmy Butler

SF: Gordon Hayward

PF: Jaren Jackson Jr

C: Nikola Jokic

[Marvin24Williams]

@pimp you're next dudee

[Buzzard]

Rookies going like a wildfire now. @lethalweapon3 I took a long look at Gordon. Tough decision but I thought Porter was a better SF choice and Gordon the better PF choice of the two tweeners.

[AHF]

10 minutes ago, Marvin24Williams said:

With the 58th pick in the draft, the Marvy Marv's select Hawksquawk's favorite controversial prospect

JAREN JACKSON JR

\

This pick is all about upside and fit. There's other players I wanted but I decided to take the risk and take JJJ just in case someone else gets him. JJJ imo is just a tremendous fit next to Jokic. He provides much needed interior defense and shotblocking. Offensively he provides much needed floor spacing. All in all I just love his skillset moving forward with this team.

PG: Jrue Holiday

SG: Jimmy Butler

SF: Gordon Hayward

PF: Jaren Jackson Jr

C: Nikola Jokic

Given all the comparisons that JJJ evoked during the draft process, I like that it was Marvin Williams who drafted JJJ in the Squawk draft.