2014 NBA Draft Thread

[jonathanlambert33]

I don't find Chad Ford to be that reliable, tbh

He basically covered his ass, writing that it's strongly believed he will stay, then saying he will ultimately leave.

 

[elcheato]

A projected lottery pick, let alone top 5 should never return to school.

 

[CameronCrazy06]

Give the kids credit though man. Some of them don't want to give up being a kid. College is fun.
 
Life doesn't have to be a business.

 

[elcheato]

College is kinda fun, but you go to obtain a decent paying job. Usually you leave when such job is attainable, as it is with him.

 

[elcheato]

He can do whatever he wants though. If he enjoys school, class and everything else, good for him. I just think he's receiving a lot of pressure from classmates, the Duke staff, boosters, etc., because once they know you're undecided, they're obviously going to put on the full court press. If someone truly was undecided, my advice to them would be don't listen to advice (derp). Weigh the options on hour own without letting people know

I just don't think it's wise

 

[CameronCrazy06]

The NBA will be there for Jabari Parker whenever he wants to go. He's a good kid. He enjoys going to school and the college life. He was Academic All-ACC. He doesn't have the same mindset as your typical one-and-done guy.
 
I don't think the pressure is there though, at least from the Duke staff. Jabari was expected to be a OAD from the day he declared for Duke. The staff is going to support Jabari in whatever decision he makes.
 
--------------------
 
I also think this is a different case than a lot of people who decide to come back to school (i.e. James McAdoo). McAdoo was coming off the bench his freshman year and would've been drafted lottery had he declared. When he came back, his flaws were exposed. Jabari is NBA ready now. I don't think there's much room for his stock to fall barring injuries unless he just falls flat on his face which won't happen.

 

[elcheato]

Everyone has flaws, and the longer you stay, the more likely you get nitpicked. In your inaugural season everyone falls in love and raves about your strengths. Stay another year and the love turns into questions. Can he guard small forwards in the NBA? Is he even a willing passer? Will he be able to score at the same rate in the pros with being only a good athlete, not great combined with an average and at times inconsistent jumper?

He could very well go back, refine his skills and become the first pick. History shows that's not likely though.

 

[CameronCrazy06]

All those flaws are already there though. GM's/scouts aren't just going to ignore those because he's 19 years old. His defense has been a problem for years. I think he's a fine passer who was told to try and take over games at Duke which isn't really something he prefers doing. There were games you could see the passing ability was there and all reports rave about him being a great teammate.
 
The best example of a guy who came back despite being a top pick is probably Blake Griffin. I forget just how high he could've gone in 2008, but he came back and dominated at Oklahoma his sophomore season and went #1.

 

[elcheato]

Blake's an elite athlete with a smooth game and no production problems. Usually the super athletes who go back don't put up overwhelming numbers, and that's the issue. As I stated, while Parker is a good athlete, he's not super athletic.

The flaws were there for Barnes, Sullinger, Perry Jones, Marcus Smart, McAdoo among others, and they all dropped because they gave scouts another 30 games to see how large the flaws were. Being a great teammate doesn't mean you're a willing passer. I guess we'll see if his game changes while playing with more talent, if he decided to stay.

 

[CameronCrazy06]

Harrison Barnes, Perry Jones, and McAdoo are all examples of guys who underachieved in college though. Parker was a first team All-American.
 
Sullinger made a bad decision to come back but there's no way of knowing if his back would've drawn him the same black flags in 2011 that it did in 2012. He was also a guy who enjoyed going to college and never viewed himself as a OAD.
 
I don't think Marcus Smart's stock has DROPPED necessarily, I just think it's a stronger draft class. You can't say that about next year, though.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

"We're looking at a draft that still may not have a single transcendent player," Fran Fraschilla, the ESPN analyst, said by phone Sunday afternoon.

Forget transcendence. What if there were no "game changers" in the draft?

"There aren't any game changers in the draft," Danny Ainge told Boston Celtics season-ticket holders last week.

What if the celebrated class of 2014—Wiggins and Parker, Embiid and Exum—was, in fact, simply not that great?

"I think it's a poor one, myself," Jerry West told ESPN radio in February.

Next question: What if the hype simply outpaced reality for this year's NBA draft?

"The mistake that was made in this year's draft," said an Eastern Conference executive, "was everything was predetermined before the players had an opportunity to necessarily prove it."

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2014807-much-anticipated-2014-nba-draft-class-challenged-as-over-hyped-nothing-special

 

[CameronCrazy06]

17 NBA executives said they'd take Parker #1 overall
8 for Embiid
5 for Wiggins

Here's the link if you're an ESPN Insider:

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft2014/story/_/id/10815977/nba-draft-jabari-parker-favored-embiid-wiggins-30-nba-executives?ex_cid=InsiderTwitter_goodmanparkerno1

 

[elcheato]

To harp on that old article nola posted.
 
Danny Ainge is an idiot and trying to rationalize for when the Celtics don't get a top 3 pick and Jerry West doesn't even have a pick.

 

[CameronCrazy06]

This is a really good draft class. It was helped when basically everyone with first round possibilities declared except for like WCS and Harrell. Some of the guys might not contribute immediately but that's becoming more and more what the draft is about nowadays.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

17 NBA executives said they'd take Parker #1 overall
8 for Embiid
5 for Wiggins

Here's the link if you're an ESPN Insider:

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft2014/story/_/id/10815977/nba-draft-jabari-parker-favored-embiid-wiggins-30-nba-executives?ex_cid=InsiderTwitter_goodmanparkerno1

That's kind of surprising to me, but after what I saw from Wiggins when I evaluated him it's not totally surprising. Haven't watched Parker yet, was waiting to see if he declared or not.

 

[elcheato]

Surprising to me.
 
Strictly on potential mine would be Embiid, Exum, Wiggins, Parker
 
I'm pretty sure I'll be proven wrong, but that's how I see it.

 

[CameronCrazy06]

How much have you honestly seen of Exum?

 

[elcheato]

I've seen a youtube clip and his name is awesome, so I'm pretty much an expert on his future prospects.

 

[CameronCrazy06]

Hahaha well played. I haven't seen much of him either so I can't form a good opinion on him yet.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

Hahaha well played. I haven't seen much of him either so I can't form a good opinion on him yet.

me either