We have nine days to go until the fateful lottery balls will be selected in the NBA draft lottery. The way I see it, right now, the Sixers will probably wind up taking one of eight players when all is said and done. I'm going to expand it to nine and list my top nine, from bottom to top. One per day until we reach number one on the day of. First up, number nine on my list, Ed Davis.
Age: 21 (in about a month)
Height: 6'9" (DraftExpress), 6'10" (ESPN)
Weight: 215 lbs.
Position: PF
I'm including Davis here because I believe he is one of the realistic eight guys the Sixers could select, not because I want him. Last I heard, he was still wearing a cast after breaking his wrist.
So this is how the series is going to work. I'll give you the bare facts and then I'll try to project how the player will fit with the Sixers. What immediate impact will he have? How could he fit long term? Does he slot in as another piece to the ultimate puzzle?
In Davis' case, he's got two things going for him. (1) He projects to be a strong rebounder. (2) He's more of a defensive player at this point, with room to grow on the offensive end. The bad news is that he's a big time project and I'm not sure I see the upside with him I do with the other guys on this list. Add that to the injury and, well, I'd be less-than-thrilled if he was wearing a Sixers hat on draft night.
If they do wind up taking Davis, I'm not sure where he slots in this season. I'm sure he'd find minutes, depending on the coach and what other personnel moves are made this summer, he could see significant time. The best case I can come up with in the short term is Davis as an athletic big who can come off the bench and give the Sixers a much better rebounder/shot blocker than they had deeper in their rotation this past season. Of course, we're comparing him to Speights and Smith, so the bar isn't exactly set high.
In the long term, Davis has the potential to turn into a 4/5 hybrid who can clean the glass and defend the rim. If his offensive game ever catches up to his defense and he can put some muscle on his frame, maybe, just maybe he can become a building block. Maybe a good one. Those are a few too many ifs for my liking, though.
Does a core of Jrue, Iguodala, Davis and whoever makes the cut of Thad, Speights and Lou float your boat? Thoughts on Ed Davis in the comments.
It's never good when I'm really confident that I can out bench a 6 10 power forward. I'm not sure his frame will ever allow him to add that much weight, might get abused down low in the NBA.
If bench presses mattered I would be on the all team nba and guys like Kevin Durant posting in here instead of playing. Anyone can get stronger by working out especially a 21 year old kid. At this point I would take Davis over Speights.
Also, for anyone who wants to re-sign Sammy D. Do you actually see him as a winning piece on a winning team? really?
Most of these guys have a disadvantage on the bench because of their freakishly long arms. Of course, using that logic Jason Smith should be able to bench 315 easy.
And yes, Sam can be a piece on a winning team.
Worrying about a guys bench press in the NBA is like worrying about a QB's vertical
I'm just worried that the guy is incredibly weak and won't be able to be an effective presence down low. Obviously its different in Durants case because he's not expected to be physical down low, but I've seen Ed Davis compared to guys like Al Horford, I just don't see it i guess, hes a twig.
Well it's pretty obvious that Spieghts doesn't have the drive to make himself better. We have 2 guys on the team that could be monsters if they would grow up a little with him and Dalembert. I think Spieghts is going down the Dalembert path of having all the tools but lacking the mental game and desire.
Top 15 all time in def rebounding percentage... yes he can be part of a contender- just as long as he is the 5th option on offense.
Remember Bill Cartright? I'd gladly take Sam over him.
I'm concerned if his ability to defend and rebound carries over to the NBA.
At 215 pounds, he would get abused and boxed out by a lot of PFs.
My team played against his is high school and I saw him play 2 other times. I will say that he is an excellent athlete with a great wingspan.
The one thing that he has going for him is the thing a lot of people like with Favors. I think he can be an impact shot-blocking big on defense and on offense he has very good hands and is made to be a finisher on passes from Jrue and Iggy. He was excellent with a guy like Lawson creating for him in college. Unlike Favors, I don't think he has the excellent offensive potential as far as scoring.
I think he will be a good NBA player, but he is more suited to being a role player on a good team. He was UNC's 6th man last year when they won it all. I don't think we have the pieces to be considered 'good' yet.
Really needs to fill out and add strength. Not sure how tall he is. His father was a good Physical NBA player. Seems to project as a Tyrone Hill type player with better hands. Can always use players with his skill set but will take time to develop.
He might have better hands than Tyrone Hill, but he's not as good looking.
The 6!9" mark is key to me with him, if he measures under I don!t touch him, at or bigger he is worth a pick 7 or lower. If we take him he won!t contribute much right away so we may get another decent pick next year.
I love the idea for this. I don't follow much college ball so I really have no idea who any of the players are. Maybe you could link to some youtube clips of these guys in the next ones.
mark me down as another person biased against skinny tall guys without a ton of skill.
let's get fat, short players with a ton of skill. Anyone think of good ones of that ilk?
Ty Lawson?
hahah yesss..
david wesley?
gary payton when he was with the heat...
Mark Jackson. Mario Chalmers. Tim Hardaway toward the end of his career.
Fat Lever... never mind, he was not fat.
Hot Plate Williams? Big Baby? Round Mound of Rebound? Z-Bo? Bonzi? Oliver Miller? Tractor Traylor?
But on a positive note, few if any of these players had their own full time strength and conditioning coach.
:)
I am currently developing in MS paint a colage to all of these fantastic athletes.
Bonzi- how could I forget you...
Ruben Patterson?
MS Paint? Seriously?
Did Ruben have a fat stage? I always remember him looking jacked:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zGTe5MsCVYc/Rszl_B5oLWI/AAAAAAAAAW4/BYJDhSEvbIg/s320/Ruben+Patterson.jpg
I hope we pick a bunch of long athletic freaks so our team looks like a bunch of stick bugs running around out there.
That would mean we'd be taking Favors with our pick which is good because I want Favors to team with Jrue.
Wasn't Fortson fat when he came into the league?
Oakley at the end of his career.
Google search of Fortson linked this old SI cover from Fortson in college:
http://i.cdn.turner.com/sivault/si_online/covers/images/1996/1202_large.jpg
Guess not, then.
Antoine Walker, definitely. Post "Employee #8" days in Bahston.
That was for professional reasons. Without the weight, there was no shimee.
Hows about the real "Big O"? Oliver Miller.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1320/1408067140_236dc13920.jpg
Yeah, he made the original list above. He was Big Baby before there was a big baby.
By the way, I read this morning somewhere that some basketball people think Cousins played this entire season out of shape in college. I'm starting to think that two things may happen:
#1: He's going to put in the month or so of work it takes to get into unbelievable shape prior to the predraft workout. He's then going to look much, much more athletic at the workout.
#2: Someone is going to see this, forget the red flags, forget that he was doughy in college and move him up the draft board. Possibly moving him ahead of Turner (I don't think he has a legit shot at moving past Wall).
#3: I desperately hope the team that's wowed by a month of hard work is not the Sixers. If he drops to us, great. If we get the #3 pick and they take him over Favors I'll be upset, but I guess I could live with that. If we get in the top two and take Cousins, I'm going to lose it.
Sounds like Speights- who got in shape right befoer the draft.
Blair did the same thing last year, and while he was productive this season, I think he's put every pound back on and then some.
Thing is, there is a great chance that all those red flags are just him being a 19 year old kid. I mean he really hasn't done anything that badly.
I read in that article that he doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, and doesn't go out and party. It might just be a little bit of hyper competitve anger stuff that all big men need to destroy everyone.
If he shows up to workouts in great shape, I think I won't be so angry if the Sixers get the second pick and take him over favors. Especially if we get a coach who can take him under his wing and make him into something.
I think that Laimbeer might be able to do that, him being a big man on those bad boys teams. Wouldn't it be great if he could turn our team into a new version of the bad boys? Full of swagger and playing crazy D?
Still think we should take Favors if we get into the 2 or 3 spots though. If we are 2 and we trade Iggy for a good young big man, a pick, and some cash or something, then I'll want us to take Turner and take Whiteside or Udoh later.
We just have to wait 8 days now to see how all of this could shake down. Man I hope the lottery balls fall our way this year.
Jrue is representing the Sixers on stage at the draft lottery.
From the Sixers' PR guy on Twiiter:
For those curious - Jrue Holiday will rep team at podium on stage at NBA Draft Lottery on May 18 ...
Wonder if they chose him because he's the most-likely to still be on the team come opening day.
They really should send Iguodala. That way when the Sixers wind up with the #6 pick, people can blame his unleadership.
Nah, he'd probably botch the pick and we wouldn't get one at all.
How did Jordan have this a week ago?
It's been out there, sort of. A week ago they had a contest to get Jrue to bring your lucky charm with him to the lottery.
Jrue seems luckier. Good choice.
Yeah, Jrue has stellar luck.
1) signs to play at UCLA, close to home, dream scenario. then collison stays for his senior year and forces jrue to play out of position all season
2) drafted by a team who has gone to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, lower than he would've been drafted had he actually been the PG at ucla. looks like good luck until you realize the team that drafted him was the sixers, and they'd recently hired Eddie Jordan to coach them.
to continue the trend, Jrue Holiday's going to get the Sixers the #3 pick in the draft, which is then traded for Randy Foye and Mike Miller.
SF76 just reported that Stefanski has high interest in Sam Mitchell.
Re: Ed Davis, I watched a lot of UNC in his two seasons as they are my favorite college BKB team. While his stats weren't eye-catching this past year, it's worth pointing out that the UNC guards shot about 39% as a group, so teams packed it in against Davis. I tend to think Davis is a more bona fide PF than Marvin Williams, who has turned into a slow-footed, decent-shooting SF in the NBA (in the Tim Thomas mold). My impression of Davis is that he's more willing to "mix it up," is a more physical player, and is a better defender overall than Williams. From what I've seen, he's not a "soft" player as Williams has turned out to be. On the other hand, on offense I don't recall Davis shooting too many jumpers, so he probably wouldn't provide much more than a jump hook and some dunks. Best case comparison? Josh Smith without the passing skills. Most likely comparison? Another recent UNC guy, Brandan Wright (who's been too injured to evaluate over his first three years in the NBA but showed some flashes in his first two).
Release out on interviews with Majerle and Williams.
Stefanski: "Dan has been integral to the success of the Suns on both ends of the court this season. He has played for some of the best coaches in the history of the league (Paul Westphal) and his approach to coaching is the same approach that made him so successful as a player — hard work, dedication and a team-first philosophy."
Stefanski on Williams: "Monty has proven to be a valuable asset on the bench in Portland. "He has a wealth of experience both as an assistant coach and as a player in this league."
Sounds like a pretty weak endorsement for Monty Williams. Tom, do you think there's a realistic chance that they hire any of the rumored assistants?
Majerle played for Riley too, didn't he?
he was on that miami team that got upset by NY in the late 90s
Which was one of the reasons I was intrigued. With ex-players, I always look at the coaches they played for. Majerle has Fitzsimmons, Westphal and Riley as a pedigree.
I would think Casey, Thibodeau and (Spurs assistant) Budenholzer could have the best shot among current assistants.
i can't wait until the lottery i honestly can't stop thinking how happy i am going to be if we get a top 3 pick. i should stop thinking about that because i have to think realistically but still the chance for this franchise to get another young building block that could turn the team around really excites me.
about ed davis: i didn't really get the chance to watch unc all that much this past year and davis was injured anyway, but from what i hear his defense and rebounding are very good. i just don't want another project though and that's what we will get with davis. overall i could deal with the sixers drafting him if they think he is going to turn into a valuable piece on this team but obviously, i would prefer a different player.
on an unrelated note;
Rondo is tearing it up in the playoffs (thanks Mo Williams). but still its interesting to see that he plays like the best player on an obviously aging Cs team.