Draft Day Steals

DancingBarry · Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 1:16 am Post subject: Draft Day Steals

Just some thoughts on who ended up as a bargain on draft day. Obviously, there will be better players, but here are a few guys I think are some of the better gambles for the position they were drafted in.

No. 8 - Rudy Gay going 8th in the draft. Great pick up by West. Gay can be a great two-way player given some time. It wasn't too long ago that he was sitting as the No. 1 pick in most mocks.

No. 14 - Ronnie Brewer. The Jazz didn't think they had a good chance at getting him. Picking up Brewer at 14 seems like a minor miracle. Good versatile, athletic type of player...the kind that are seeing a lot of success in the league lately.

No. 21 - Rondo. Change the game defender. If they can fix his shot to make it respectable, it was a complete steal. Still, as a quick defensive guard at 21, hard to go wrong there. He'll give you some freakish skills and have a niche for himself at the very least. He may be buried for a bit on the Celts depth chart.

No. 22 - Marcus Williams. I'm not a huge fan, but picking him up at 22? No brainer. Still surprised he dropped quite that far.

No. 27 - Sergio Rodriguez to Portland for cash? Wow. Where were we? If you can buy a talented international prospect like Sergio for cash, that's a superb asset. Sergio's court vision was the best in the draft. Portland can just stash him overseas now and let him improve.

No. 31 - James White. To be honest, I think he probably gets lost on the court in Indy. But he will make a huge splash at the All Star break in the dunk contest if he's not in the NBDL. If you get him on the right team...like in the Tri or on a team with a great fastbreak point like the Nets, you may have yourself a lot of bang for the buck. In Indy? I'd be surprised. White and his agent were surprised the Lakers didn't draft him.

No. 45 - Alexander Johnson. Another West pickup. I was surprised Johnson fell this far. Great gamble on a rapidly improving bigman. Nothing to lose on this pick.

The late first round had some decent talent that I didn't think would be there a month ago, thanks to some less than stellar bigs going a little higher. Cleveland, LA, Portland, Dallas all got to pick some solid players. Mardy Collins will probably get lost in NY. Guys like Dee Brown and Leon Powe in the second round could also turn out to be solid pickups.

angel · Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 2:09 am Post subject:

Farmar might surprise.

Pinnock seems like someone, who might benefit from being with the Lakers. He's a sleeper pick.
_________________
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that." ~~Martin Luther King Jr.~~

DancingBarry · Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 1:18 pm Post subject:

Yeah, I definitely think Farmar will be around in the league and probably develop into a pretty good player. He has the right mental skills and plenty of physical skills to elevate his game. He went pretty close to where most thought he would go. As I mentioned, those few picks in that section of the draft all could have gone a little higher. Some solid picks there.

Generally what I'm looking at, though, is who really slipped on the day of the draft. Those 7 players listed above seemed to be the biggest slips relative to where everyone thought they ought to go.

DancingBarry · Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 1:19 pm Post subject:

Regarding Pinnock...I'm hoping he'll be a surprise defensive standout for us in the SPL.

ocho · Retired Number Joined: 24 May 2005 Posts: 53790

i actually think memphis getting rudy may come back to haunt them.

shane battier is a very good player. does all the little things. exactly the kind of guy you want on your team. never been impressed w/ rudy's game.

DancingBarry · Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:49 pm Post subject:

I wasn't really evaluating the trade as much as getting Gay at No. 8 because obviously a team could give up all kinds of great players to move up and at the end of the day have it not amount to a whole lot. Whomever got him there...I think Gay at No. 8 is good pick.

ocho · Retired Number Joined: 24 May 2005 Posts: 53790

good point. i'd still rather have battier.

DancingBarry · Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 5:05 pm Post subject:

In the draft chat on draft day, people asked what I felt about the trade. I said I thought it was probably a win-win when you look at it from both team's perspectives. Houston gets that all-around solid player, who can play with TMac and take the tough defensive assignments, etc. Instant value now. What Memphis gets is someone more likely to give the box office a boost...which is what West has been trying to get for sometime. They will take a hit talent-wise in the short term, I'm sure. They won't be better next year because of it...but he has potential and a little more ability to put butts in the seats. So, I think from West's perspective, he gets something he's been after for a while. I don't think they are a better team next year (short term) because of this trade, for sure...

Fan0Bynum17 · Franchise Player Joined: 30 Nov 2005 Posts: 15436

I totally agree, good post!

angel · Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 6:33 pm Post subject:

DancingBarry · Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 9:56 pm Post subject:

DraftX said Mitch had Pinnock ranked in the mid 30's in their mock draft.

angel · Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 11:47 pm Post subject:

angel · Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 10:55 am Post subject:

Utah seems to have a good one in Millsap. He was drafted in the middle of the second round.
_________________
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that." ~~Martin Luther King Jr.~~

angel · Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2006 1:20 am Post subject:

It gets to where you expect the Spurs to pull another great player late in the draft.
_________________
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that." ~~Martin Luther King Jr.~~