The clock just refuses to move quickly enough, so how about a best/worst for each possible spot the Sixers could wind up? Why not? Kill some time after the jump (5 more hours, guys).
- Pick #9
Best-case - Ekpe Udoh
Worst-case - Greg Monroe
Likely - Ed Davis
- Pick #8
Best - Ekpe Udoh
Worst - Greg Monroe
Likely - Cole Aldrich
- Pick #7
Best - Al-Farouq Aminu
Worst - Cole Aldrich
Likely - Cole Aldrich
- Pick #6
Best - DeMarcus Cousins
Worst - Cole Aldrich
Likely - Al-Farouq Aminu
- Pick #3
Best - Derrick Favors
Worst - DeMarcus Cousins
Likely - Derrick Favors
- Pick #2
Best - Derrick Favors
Worst - Evan Turner
Likely - Evan Turner
- Pick #1
Best - John Wall
Worst - Evan Turner
Likely - John Wall
Those are my best/worst case scenarios for each pick. What's the worst outcome that you could live with from the draft?
Don't forget the live blog for tonight's lottery right here, the post will be up between 5 and 6pm. Also check out NBA Draft Lottery
viewer's guide.
Did you forget about the Syracuse kid?
Nope, he doesn't really fit as a best, worst or likely at any spot. Cousins could drop to #6, and I have him higher on my list than Wes.
If we are below 6, we should go for Aldrich, not a pick I like, but I could live with it if we could trade/purchase another mid-round pick and take Xavier Henry or James Anderson. With better production this year either one of them, especially Henry, could have been thought of as a top 10 pick. I think Henry is a good value pick in the mid-first round.
Basically if we can't get a stud, let's go with youth, hang tight and hope we can score in the draft next year or in free agency.
KD has the Sixers winning it-
Draft lottery tonight..I wonder who's gonna win...Ima go with Philly...any bets?
Simmons has the Sixers as the team who "most needs it." Who said he wasn't understanding? :)
Here's where being on the west coast makes it slightly easier - i probably won't be home before the lottery and espn will text me the top 3
Brian,
If the sixers fall to 9, how do you feel about trading down to 14-15 and picking up Jordan Crawford from Xavier. He's a pure shooter with a lot of upside... and a lot of baggage.
Last I checked, he was projected to go in the 2nd round.
DX has him as 2nd pick in the second round - with workouts and one impressed GM he becomes a first.
Ford thinks Monroe will slip on boards because of workouts cause he's not athletic
LIke it or not - the nba is becoming a league for athletes
There's a reason for that. There aren't too many stars in the league who aren't extremely good athletes. Poor athleticism puts a ceiling on guys, for the most part. Being a great athlete doesn't guarantee you'll be a star, but being a poor athlete may guarantee you won't.
Athleticism becomes more valued over skill - development (all the way back to high school and AAU) suffers because the game is more about athletics at the lower levels...it's a flaw in my opinion
The flaw is that the athletes are either (a) rushed to the pros or (b) allowed to coast on that athleticism rather than developing the skills to fully utilize it. The skill vs. athleticism debate is more about necessity today, in my mind. The guys who are highly skilled but not such great athletes had to develop those skills to even be in the conversation, to even approach the level of the uber-athletes.
But what I really think we're talking about here is the top of the draft. Guys can be very, very good pros, even low-level stars without elite athleticism. There are tons of them in the NBA right now. But the superstars are all elite athletes. So when you're at the top of the draft, looking for your franchise guy, the athleticism matters more. As you slip further down the draft, teams need to take an honest look at the players and realize the guy with the skills has a better shot at contributing than the athlete who can't dribble or catch.
Anyway, that made sense in my mind, not sure it does when it's written.
I've seen on a few draft boards saying that if he were 2 inches taller then he would be a lottery pick. If you look at Xavier Henry's ppg in the NCAA's (9.9) compared to Jordan Crawford (29.5) I would say he is worth a look in the first round. Too bad we don't have a 2nd rounder.
Positives:
# Big-time athlete
# Explosive leaper
# Excellent finisher at the rim
# Good shooter with deep range
# Can play some point
Negatives:
# Undersized for his position
# Not a committed defender
# Some questions about attitude
Tweener who doesn't defend? Ugh.
That's great - he's not 2 inches taller - and that's what matters
I don't think this guy is the next Lou Williams. Lou is 6 foot. Crawford is 6' 4". And if you can hit 3 pointers 10 feet behind the 3 pt line then I think those 2 inches won't really matter. I think we need a pure shooter that has the scorer's mentality. This kid is not afraid to take the big shot... Now I'm only putting him in as an option if we get screwed tonight in the lottery and possibly look to move down in the draft.
I think people who have opinions i value highly project him as a high second rounder...and he'd be a waste of a guaranteed contract.
look at the range on this kid Crawford. I've never seen anyone hit shots from that far deep.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XejLyk3kJZg
Bilas on Cousins in the Bill Simmons podcast today said he wouldn't take Cousins until later in the first round. Said he's worked with Cousins and he's just so immature, he's really worried that he would be too much of a problem.
They said that you could take him right around where we might pick and it wouldn't be a stupid thing to do.
When would Bilas have worked with cousins...he attended neither duke nor north carolina...
Revel in the awseomness that is chase utley
http://www.thegoodphight.com/2010/5/18/1477130/john-dewan-chase-utley-is
Yep, if he could only be the 3rd starter and entire bullpen the Phils may not have lost the series.
A manager doggedly dedicated to a closer who shouldn't be closing is an issue - you think yo'd understand poor bullpen management.
4 out saves HARD for mariano?
Heh. You really want to start talking about closers?
I am just having a little fun that's all - brad lidge is terrible - but the phillies have found a back up - if mariano breaks the yankees have the hut :)
Course - at least the phillies have the best record in their division :)
At 6 to 9 Cousins is worth taking and waiting for him to mature.
at 6-9 cousins would be a gift
He won't be there unless he punches someone out in his workouts or shows up fatter than tractor traylor
don't think Cousins will fall to 6.
Brian, can we change the title of this post to The Most Awesome Day of the Year?
That is until we do draft Favors/Turner.
:)
Haven't felt this good about the Sixers in a long time.