Draft Review
Posted on Friday, June 27th, 2008 at 6:49 am by Brian Robinson
Trying to offset the 250 post thread as I prepare a little diatribe for today.
Not a very exciting draft. Hard to get really excited about a guy who was a backup so long but work ethic, athleticism, and defense all seem to be there for Westbrook. I think their view of him has to be that he is a guy who will translate better to the NBA than he did in college.
Serge Ibaka was a pick that got telegraphed a while ago and is no suprise. It is hard not to lump him in with the plethora of foreign busts that Sonics fans are accustomed to but that is probably not fair. Very reminiscent of the Ian Mahimi pick by San Antonio a few years ago. If I want to be an optimist I can look at the picture in this write up and say “WOW! That guy has an NBA Body”
One other thing I like about this pick is that it seems as if the Sonics scouted him, targeted him, and drafted him. They may even have had a plan to get him over here from Europe faster than other teams had anticipated. I always like it when organizations demonstrate a plan and a thought process and accomplish their goals. I don’t always agree with the goals but its better than being the Knicks…
Credit where credit is due. The team traded for another first round picka and guaranteed contract and I’m going to assume Clay Bennett authorized the contract. DJ White is an established college player and I expect that they think he will make the team. Not a sexy pick but between him and Devon Hardin there seems to be a theme. The Sonics got players who like to mix it up and do dirty work. In terms of draft philosophy they certainly showed that they are going to load the roster with guys who can defend, rebound, and block shots. Not a bad thing at all.
I like the Hardin pick that low a lot. Both White and Hardin were picked well below where they were projected in mocks so it is hard to argue that they are not both good value picks. I would have really liked to see DeAndre Jordan at #29 but getting Hardin down low makes up for that a lot. We won’t know if Jordan is an athletic stud or simply a tall guy with an imposing frame for a while. We have plenty of tall guys.
Thoughts?
June 27th, 2008 at 7:04 am
This move was all presti, We will come back to this moment in 2-3 years, to see if Presti was wrong or right.
I have no problems with the pick really, if Presti honestly liked westbrook better than Bayless, no issues.
I also don’t have a problem with Ibaka or DJ White
Hardin in the 2nd was nice, Selling Kaun for cash sucks ass.
You think the sonics had a bad draft, feel bad for the Twolves fans.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:09 am
Oh, and people think we might have reached on Ibaka, That might be true, Sure its a gamble, but if it pays off, wow.
So what did we get from this draft? Its obvious we got at least one that will get a good chunk of minutes, and I expect DJ white and maybe Hardin to get some minutes as well.
Store Ibaka in Europe for a couple of years, where you work on his development (I believe presti mentioned that they were going to work on him and put him on a program).
June 27th, 2008 at 7:15 am
“Oh, and people think we might have reached on Ibaka, That might be true, Sure its a gamble, but if it pays off, wow.”
He was projected in the 20’s, the only reason most people think he was going to be an early secound rounder was because of contract issues.
I like the fact that we’ll let him get better in Europe, being at the end of an NBA bench or in the NBDL is simply useless.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:31 am
I don’t know. Westbrook was a timid seemingly nonathletic freshman 2 years ago and he turned into a dominant, passionate goto scorer and defensive player of the year in a loaded PAC 10. The only thing I didn’t see him do last year was to be a consistent playmaker. He handles the ball well for a guard (much better than Bayless at this point). I think he has more upside as well. Seeing that amount of improvement in one year is amazing. You have to think that there may be more…
June 27th, 2008 at 7:32 am
and they don’t have to pay him to sit at the end of the bench.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:46 am
I’m ok with the draft, nothing sexy but I like the emphasis on athletic defensive minded players. Changing the tone from the years of trying to simply out score opponents can’t hurt, the prior philosophy wasn’t too productive.
After reading all the local and national press I’m nervous about the trial. I know a lot of the info is not relevant to the core issues of the case but as I sweat for the next 5 days can anyone offer up an positive spin on the trial to help the time pass?
June 27th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Anyone realized golden time come back?
Westbrook — GP
Ibaka — Kemp
awesome!
June 27th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Anyone realized golden time come back?
Westbrook — GP
Ibaka — Kemp
awesome!
June 27th, 2008 at 8:06 am
to all the naysayers.when your watching the game do you watch for anything more then a garnett dunk or a ray allen 3?do you watch more then a you tube video?did any of you watch the celtics march thru the playoffs?how is it that ray allen considered to be a below average defensive player can be on the best defensive team in the nba.yes they had the best defensive forward in the game but heres a clue.rashon rondo killed.i mean killed and this with the ugliest shot in the nba.this with a player who doesnt have great court vision ala deron paul or kidd or nash.but he killed. he will be all defense for the next 10 years. gee and here comes westbrook with the same touted defence and a better shot.bayliss,mayo give me a break both with issues,you kinow why bayliss slid(shoot first,so-so defence and short arms) and everyones jumping on portlands bandwagon and maybe so, but the only way bayliss works is cause brandon roy runs the team in the 4th quarter.and ogden will cover for his defensive deficences.mayo.(too many issues and westbrook shut him down when they played)meh
they picked the perfect player they needed who fits their team.the premier defensive orientated pass first player.what the hell is not to understand?
as for moving up and down the board does anyone wonder why no players from the sonics didnt get moved?its because their valued differently.every gm in the league knows where the sonics are and their situation,getting fair value is not likely.unlike portland where there is no stigma,no preconcieved advantage.
ibeka at 24 was a smart pick cause unlike all the others touted by this board,aurthur, much too thin and no position in the nba the big fella from texas am he sucks and cdr to slow.
oh and as for dorsey who many people wanted,he shot other then a lay-up,he shoots 35% from the freethrow line.danny forrtson headcase that he was shot 70%from the line and could make a 12 footer.please!
their trade with detroit gave them a 4 year starter from a tough conference and the player has improved every year.
i heard all the same crying about the sonics draft last year and if you cant undestand how good jeff green was then drink another beer.
and now this year its not sexy enough.
what are you 14 looking at your porn sites?
some of you people are duimber then a bag of hammers
June 27th, 2008 at 8:12 am
What are we going to do at the center position for this coming season?
June 27th, 2008 at 8:19 am
You know….I can’t stand Jim Moore, but this line is classic from his piece in the PU today:
5:25 or so: Stephen A. Smith asks Joe Alexander, Milwaukee’s first-round pick: “How’d you get to be such a good player?”
A question for Stephen A. Smith: “How’d you get your job?”
June 27th, 2008 at 8:23 am
Center position? You mean we have one?
Sounds like we’ll continue to go through the growing pains of our matador defense in the paint for one more season.
Sorry guys, I know we all have hopes for Swift being the stuffer in the middle but he’s come up gimpy too many times to rely on him being healthy.
June 27th, 2008 at 8:23 am
I’d have to say my sentiments regarding the draft are pretty similar.
Westbrook is not a sexy, exciting pick. I imagine the Sonics tried to trade back and get some value out of it, but as I tend to say, it takes two to trade, and it doesn’t look like most teams wanted to move into the Sonics spot without Mayo being there to grab. So you target the player you want and do what you have to, to get him. At least now we’ve got a big PG, to join the midget bridgade who can defend. I’m anxious to see how Westbrook does playing PG full time, he’s got some learning to do, but a season workin behind Watson will do him some good and then he’ll hopefully be ready to start full time the following season. I heard on the radio last night that Westbrook lead the PAC-10 in assists during the time he was filling in at PG……makes for an interesting lead into seeing how good of a play maker he’ll be as the lead guard. I’d have to imagine Presti and the crowd focused on those games a lot in determining his ability to run the point.
Ibaka - yes, very easy to lump him in with our other Euro/Congo busts so far, however at least he’s producing in a high level league in Europe already. Give him two years in Spain and maybe Presti hit a home run and maybe he didn’t, but an interesting shot to take given all the picks we had.
Love the trade for DJ White. Blue collar, PF with good length (arm length), despite being a little short for the position at the NBA level. Looks like a quality backup/depth move to me. I definately like the team going that direction with its second round picks.
The Hardin pick is fabulous at that point in the 2nd round. Athletic, shot blocking center. Not much offense other than cleaning up the garbage around the blocks, but if he can defend the paint, we’re already steps ahead of where we have been.
The only thing I would have liked to have seen us get with one of our picks is a defensive minded SG who can knock down the 3 pter. But alas, it was not to be. Chaka Kaun would have been another big body to throw in the mix, but that’s about it. Wish they would have gotten another future 2nd rounder for him instead of just cash.
Overall, definately not a sexy draft, but hopefully an effective one. Adding pieces to surround Durant with that will make the team better.
It will be interesting to follow Westbrooks along and see if any of the Westbrook similar to Payton claims materialize.
Here’s to a B-E-A-U tiful Friday in the Emerald City!
June 27th, 2008 at 8:26 am
What are we going to do at the center position for this coming season?
My money would be on Petro and Hardin playing significant minutes at the center position this season.
June 27th, 2008 at 8:26 am
I LOVE THE PICKS!!
First off, Westbrook is THE Man!!! Anyone who starts the year off in the Pac-10 coming off the bench and ends the year as the Pac-10 Defensive Player Of The Year is amazing. We’re not talking about some soft-ass conference either, it was the best in the NCAA last year, not only in pure talent but in every area possible. Westbrook will be a MUCH better version of Rondo than anyone wants to admit.
Ibaka is a potential-guy, you can’t even judge this pick until several years go by. He’s an athletic freak that can play D. I’m glad we’re starting to do our homework as a team. Bout damn time.
DJ White is a amazing pick. Feel down the draft and we ended up with his right for nothing, we weren’t going to use all the 2nd rounders anyway.
I like getting Hardin that late too. Hell, he could have been a Top 10 pick last year. Great pick.
Selling Sacha Kaun was a great deal as well. He’s already signed a deal with a team in Moscow for several years. Also, he’s not that good. His game would NEVER translate in the NBA. At best you could get a moderate defender in the NBA. Why would he do that? He can play overseas and make at least three or four times the income that he could make here, also he’ll be a good player for them where he’d barely get to play in the NBA. Good move on all ends.
Presti is showing that he’s a smart, forward-thinking, team-first, sort of guy and I really like the picks, no one is crazy flashy, but everyone is solid and a good defender.
June 27th, 2008 at 8:34 am
Is anyone else surprised be didn’t trade any of our current roster yesterday? I thought for sure 2 of these guys would be gone by now:
Wilcox
Wilkens
Ridnour
Watson
Petro
June 27th, 2008 at 8:41 am
“I like the fact that we’ll let him get better in Europe, being at the end of an NBA bench or in the NBDL is simply useless.”
Exactly. I also read(i think it was on Draftexpress) that Ibaka hasn’t signed yet and that the Sonics and his agent will work something out(contract wise) that will allow him to come over in a couple of years without the low rookie salary being a problem.
“What are we going to do at the center position for this coming season?”
I think we’re praying that Petro shows some improvement, that Hardin might be able to help us(at least defensively) and that Swift might be able to make it every 3rd game or so….
Though, with White being in the mix at pf as well, i believe that Wilcox days as a Sonics are numbered and that Presti might try to trade him for a center.
June 27th, 2008 at 8:42 am
I could see Wilcox and Ridnour getting dealt for a veteran center with an expiring contract. Wilkins will be nothing more than trade filler at any point. I imagine they’ll keep Petro around until they have enough young bodies to fill in. He’s inexpensive and can give the team minutes without actually doing much good……that’s the kind of players Satan Bennett likes right now.
June 27th, 2008 at 8:47 am
It’s not what I expected, but in thinking about it and reviewing more info, I think the Sonics had a very good draft. Brian you’re right about Ibaka - I don’t think anyone’s going to be sorry that the Sonics picked him in 3-4 years - quite the contrary. And it is cool that the Sonics had a plan and followed it and accomplished it. It looks like it was a joint plan with San Antonio as the 2 teams conducted a closed-door private workout for Ibaka. I don’t think the Shawn Kemp comparison is a stretch at all - he’s described as “freakishly athletic” and he does have a sculpted body that would get Sherman Alexie excited.
And Scram, your point is excellent as well. Westbrook seems to be improving and evolving at an incredible clip and certainly has much more upside. Elise Woodward liked the pick as well because he’s so athletic and such a good defender. She made the point that shooting is probably the easiest skill to learn with a lot of practice - but all the guys who are better shooters than Westbrook, but less athletic, are not going to become more athletic with a lot of practice (maybe minimal improvement, nothing more). If Westbrook is as dedicated to improving his game as they say, he will becaome a much better shooter - and he’ll be able to shut down or slow down a lot of other big-time scorers.
The Sonics also got capable bruisers in DJ White and Devon Hardin (great pick that low). And Brian, I think that DeAndre Jordan has at least as big a downside as an upside and could easily be a washout - from what I’ve read, he’s not a hard worker. At this point I would give the Sonics a B+ bordering on an A- for this draft, but I’m sure the Sports writers don’t agree. Again 3-4 years from now we’ll really know how good this draft was, but you have to like Sam Presti’s thought process on this getting athletic kids with really good attitudes and defensive skills. That’s what makes a team a winner. They can always add Ryan Appleby to come in and launch 3-pointers for a few minutes per game if they want.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:04 am
Actually ZenDoc, the Sportswriters (at least on ESPN and CBSports) seem to like our draft.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:05 am
ZenDoc nice meeting you yesterday hope u guys had fun at the draft party.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:21 am
bballdeluxe,you are my new hero.well done.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:37 am
did anyone else hear this from Stuart Scott?;
“Owner Clay Bennett wants to move the team to Oklahoma City, some people want to keep the team in Seattle. The vote was supposed to come down today, I believe.”
What fucking vote? SOME PEOPLE? Like the City? The fans? It’s just sad how uninformed the national media is on the whole issue. And that just leads to ignorance on the part of the public at large, because no one is informing them.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:37 am
T, yes, it was very nice meeting you as well. We had a great time at the party and we took it all inside Jeff Green’s room. I don’t think anyone got locked out of it because there were a lot of no shows. Sorry you and Julia disappeared so fast - you would have enjoyed yourselves. In Jeff Green’s party room, we had Brian R., West Seattle Tim, CraigB (Mr. Ning), EricE, SamK, BrickowskiBoom, Steve P. - I think - for awhile, Zonics, Reidster Reid (the big Grand Prize winner in the drawing - he won an autographed Jeff Green game jersey and an XBox, and a several others. Mr. Baker was probably there, but he’s very clandestine & lurks in the shadows (at least I never found him at the trial), and Xteve was probably there, too.
One guy wouldn’t tell me who he was. He said he was “Big Chris” at first (he WAS big), but when I said “so you’re ‘Big Chris’”, he looked at his friend and just burst out laughing and said he wasn’t “the other Chris” either, but I guess he wanted to be incognito. Anyway, SonicsCentral and Save Our Sonics were well represented at Jeff Green’s party and we enjoyed 2 free alcoholic beverages each (actually I had 1 and EricE had 3) and lots of free food and Vitamin Water.
Jeff Green brought 4 buddies with him. One of them (Tyler) played with Jeff on the Georgetown bb team from 2005-2007 & was visiting for a few days from D.C. He said the Sonics should sign John Wallace Georgetown’s point guard, if he wasn’t drafted by the end (I left when they were on pick 40 I think).
He says Wallace is really skilled and underrated, but I haven’t checked out anything about him yet. Anyway, it was great - no one got sloppy drunk except a girl named Lauren (not Jackson) who was slammin’ Apple-tinis and beer, but she was mostly just laughing hysterically. There were quite a few fans of the female persuasion there, which is always nice to see.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:38 am
did anyone else hear this from Stuart Scott?;
“Owner Clay Bennett wants to move the team to Oklahoma City, some people want to keep the team in Seattle. The vote was supposed to come down today, I believe.”
What vote? SOME PEOPLE? Like the City? The fans? It’s just sad how uninformed the national media is on the whole issue. And that just leads to ignorance on the part of the public at large, because no one is informing them.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:38 am
I’m hoping for the best with White & Ibaka - I have not seen either of them play at all - I like the thinking behind the picks that they seem to represent - physical - upside - defenders - potential to grow etc. - time will tell. White will have a cheap contract for 4-5 years - low risk.
On Westbrook - I like the pick alot. From everything I’ve seen and read & heard etc…. the kids can play tough on the ball defense on the perimeter. He could be a first/2nd team all NBA defensive team guy in a few years. The obviouls question is - can his offesnive game grow enough?
Well - I’ve been watching luke and earl get torched on the perimeter for the past few years. Opposing PG’s cruisinginto the paint at will & breaking down out team defense. Time for that to stop. If Westbrook can become an all-star defender in the NBA - his offense needs to be good - but not great - I’m excited to see what he can do and I like the commitment to defense that this pick represents.
also - I have talked to 3 friends this morning who live in LA and have watched the Bruins alot - and they say Westbrook will be great.
I’m optimistic and i like what Presti did in this draft.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:40 am
I hear you TB
Scott’s comment are incredibly unprofessional - he should not be so ignorant - but on this issue he has not done any serious research.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:44 am
You might see a lot of offensive/defensive switches towards the ends of games with Westbrook and… oh… damn.
at least Durant can score.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:50 am
It’s very key to have a PG who can create his own shot when things bog down; I don’t think Westbrook is that guy right now (I watched a lot of UCLA games this year), but no reason he can’t continue to develop that part of his game — he’s got the athleticism, and I trust our mngmt to correctly judge his attitude toward becoming a better player.
I think the DJ White pick totally makes up for the flyer on Ibaka; it’s not realistic to think we can work more than two rookies into the rotation, so this gives us something now, and allows us to let the raw prospect continue working on his game.
In a perfect world, we’d work a trade or sign a FA who could be a reliable 2nd option after Durant. Honestly, I still don’t feel like I know what kind of a player Green is going to turn out to be. If Durant is our SG, I’d like to have someone a bit more offensive minded at the 3.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Nice cap Courtsense.
“some of you people are duimber then a bag of hammers.”
bball, you’ve got some good things to say, but man… comments like this speak for themselves.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Westbrook = Antonio Daniels?
June 27th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Draft Grade = Undecided….
How funny is it that I’m most excited to see our second rounder taken at 50….
June 27th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Craig B, Me, Zendoc and West Seattle Tim with Jeff Green
http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/v-enlarge_photo/story/399006-a399005-t3.html
June 27th, 2008 at 10:31 am
some of you people are duimber then a bag of hammers
…..and someone around here appears to have the social skills of a drunken skunk.
June 27th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Craig B, Me, Zendoc and West Seattle Tim with Jeff Green
Sweet, pic! You guys all look a little confused and now sure how to react to the pick though. haha!
June 27th, 2008 at 10:37 am
“You guys all look a little confused and now sure how to react to the pick though.”
Especially Jeff…LOL
June 27th, 2008 at 10:45 am
We were all a little stunned, not at picking Westbrook per se, but at picking him at #4. There was so much talk about trading down to get Westbrook or Lopez, so it didn’t seem to make sense.
June 27th, 2008 at 10:47 am
HAHA
Don’t show Russell this pick!
June 27th, 2008 at 10:47 am
http://www.nbadraft.net/admincp/profiles/russellwestbrook.html
I like what I see there, lots of athleticism, defense, quickness and potential. Not nba ready yet, that’s good, a lot of upside and he is very coachable.
Is His better better than bayless better? 2-3 years to find out
June 27th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Seated in the photo from Left to Right are CraigB, EricE, Jeff Green, and myself. The guys standing behind are a little out-of-focus (maybe it’s my eyes), but you can see West Seattle Tim with his Jeff Green #32 Georgetown jersey on.
June 27th, 2008 at 10:57 am
A man buys a very nice view home, but overpays by a $million. How do you evaluate this transaction? Yes, it is a nice house, but was it a good transaction. Absolutely not.
In this case, Westbrook is a nice addition. But for the same pick, the Sonics could have had Love or Lopez. Or they could have traded down a few slots and gotten two players.
The Sonics need some talent that can play now. The best thing I can say about Westbrook and Ibaka’s upside potential is that maybe they will grow another couple inches.
June 27th, 2008 at 11:04 am
When does Ibaka come over? is the big question. In the old days the team could bring him when they felt he was ready. But now, if he doesn’t come over immediately I think the odds he comes over when/if he is ready are more iffy. Euro teams are paying more and the exchange rate is reducing the appeal of coming here late when the pay could well be higher to stay in Europe than come here on low rookie contract. Spurs picked Splitter under old way of thinking and may never get him over now. I hope Ibaka comes over right away.
Ibaka needs good coaching.
A report says he is a very hard worker- including study of gametape which I was heartened by.
He says his rolemodel is Kevin Garnett.
I hope it works out for him and the Sonics.
June 27th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Were you at this party or not? If not, how come? It was a lot of fun. If you recognize anyone else in the photo, let us know.
June 27th, 2008 at 11:20 am
I can’t get my TinyURL of the Draft party photo to post for some reason. The Jeff Green party:
http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/v-enlarge_photo/story/399006-a399005-t3.html
June 27th, 2008 at 11:21 am
I agree Crow. Ibaka has an amazing body for somebody that is 18 years old. My jaw literally dropped when I saw his pic and found out his age. By the looks of his body, he looks like the type of guy who is a perfectionist. I have never seen him play before, but I’m hoping he can develop into a shot-blocking Amare Stoudemire type. He and Westbrook may draw comparisons to GP and Kemp sometime down the road.
June 27th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Is Love peaks at PER16-17 then passing on him won’t be a big deal. If he goes 18+ (if accompanied by average defense) for a good stretch then it could be a regrettable move- depending on how good Westbrook does. Neither 18+ PER or average defense is a sure thing for Love but they might happen. But how much you shift your plan for talent is debatable.
If Westbrook gets to 16+PER (mostly offensive stats) and above average on defense he will be a good pick. If he never gets about 14PER or if his NBA defense is not clearly above average (his college defense was aided by one of the best defensive coaches/ college schemes) then it will be something of a disappointment.
But fitting a role in a plan can work out to different degrees and is likely better than no coherent plan.
Presti made his call. Time will tell a lot about the choice and the plan.
June 27th, 2008 at 11:24 am
“The Sonics need some talent that can play now.”
I don’t think this is true. They need talent who can contribute in the 09-10 season (because at some point they need to decide which of the young players they want to pay). But it doesn’t really matter what they contribute in 08-09.
June 27th, 2008 at 11:34 am
I say give Ibaka a year. His body is much better than Sene’s is(was) when we picked him up. From the videos I’m worried he may be a little soft atm, but that is something that can be learned and developed over time. saw him hit a three, thats fun! lol. lets hope he gets a good year under his belt over seas and when he comes over here he may be a solid backup for us. not a wasted pick by any means since we were able to grab some surprising picks in the late 1st/ early 2nd round.
June 27th, 2008 at 11:40 am
If this reviewer is right, no one will ever complain about drafting Serge Ibaka (at least in a couple years or so):
Eurocamp 6-8-2008:
“Serge Ibaka had a terrific start, showcasing his incredible physical tools in nearly every moment he was on the floor, while also displaying a much better skill level than we may have given him credit for. His athleticism looked nothing short of breathtaking, as he showed running the floor in transition, cleaning up the offensive glass by jumping straight over opponents for a put-back dunk, an avoiding an oncoming defender in mid-flight by double-pumping and still finishing above the rim.
Ibaka was very aggressive running the floor in transition, facing up, drawing fouls, and making powerful huge strides every time he put the ball on the floor. He even knocked down a couple of jumpers, one from 15 feet and another a spot-up attempt from beyond the arc. His touch around the rim looked much improved, as he showed on a few occasions with some basic baby hook shots, which he probably would not have been able to convert back when we saw him in New Orleans in August. He was a massive presence in the paint defensively as expected, erasing a number of shots emphatically with his incredible combination of length and explosiveness.
Playing at a strong level of competition with L’Hospitalet all season in the Spanish second division seems to have helped him a great deal, even if there is clearly still a lot more room left for improvement. The release point on his jumper remains inconsistent, as he gets great elevation leaping off the ground but doesn’t always shoot it from the apex of his shot, making him fairly streaky from varying ranges. His overall feel for the game, particularly in terms of his passing leaves a lot to be desired, as does his understanding of team defensive concepts and off the ball movement.
Players who are as freakishly athletic as Ibaka (there are extremely few) are always going to look great in a setting like this, so it’s probably best not to go nuts praising him, but it’s still hard not to be encouraged by the very noticeable strides he’s making. There are still a few days left to go, but from what we could see in day one, it’s very hard to see how we’re not looking at a first round pick here, even if he’s clearly 2-3 years away from being able to contribute at an NBA level. He was the talk of the camp here in day one, and seems to have helped himself a great deal just by showing up to play.”
If that doesn’t get you excited about the next Shawn Kemp, I’m not sure what will!
June 27th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Zendoc asked JG last night what he was hoping for out of the draft and he just said “we need to get better.” lol.
Jeff was a really laid back and approachable person. I’m glad I got the opportunity to attend. Zen and I were with him the most so I hope we didn’t get on his nerves, but I don’t think we did haha.
Thank you for the ticket Brian!!!
June 27th, 2008 at 11:46 am
I LOVE the Ibaka pick. We shouldn’t look at the other 3 stiffs to judge him. Look him up on youtube, this guy has potential to be a solid defender and rebounder.
I think it’s too early to tell how well we did in the draft but so far I am very pleased with the Ibaka pick and the jury’s still out on the Westbrook pick.
June 27th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Yeah it was good times. Nice summary Zendoc. Green didn’t seem to have much of an opinion about much. Watching him and his friends reminded me of the show Entourage. What fun they must have…
June 27th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Bigsmooth, I thought those guys were his friends too but it turns out 2 of them were just kjr contest winners lol. I think his only friend there was the tall black guy in the pink(I think) shirt.
And yeah, Jeff was very pc the whole time. When asked what he thought he would just shrug.
June 27th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Are the odds Ibaka never comes over- 25% or 50% or what? I don’t know but Presti better have an realistic estimate and have factored that in properly.
When Presti tried to stand firm (or even be pushy) with Orlando on Thomas and LA Clippers on a trade down they both said no. Can be get Ibaka here and when he wants him? An executive skill test.
June 27th, 2008 at 11:58 am
I don’t think we could’ve traded down for Westbrook. It seems like NY has him as their N.1 choice as well given that they pass on Eric Gordon.
Let’s not get too crazy with this pick yet, Rajon Rondo has a ring, Westbrook has yet to play a game in the NBA.
Furthermore, Rondo’s deficiency on offense was off-set by the big three.
Westbrook will not have that luxury.
I think he will back-up whoever we keep (Watson/Luke). As much of a ‘defensive stopper’ he is, he will struggle a little bit in the beginning while adjusting to bigger players. Refs will call alot of rookie calls on him.
But eventually, I think pairing him up with the defenseless Durant will be good. We are definitely seeing a trend in our team foundation for defense.
Ibaka looks more fluid than Sene in those youtube clips. He actually has a pretty nice stroke and can dribble a little bit.. I don’t know, he “might” turn out ok
June 27th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
For the people who compare Westbrook to Gary Payton:
25.7, 8.1, 3.4 Steals, 4.7, 50% Senior year Oregon State
12.7, 4.3, 1.6 steals, 3.9, 46% Sophomore Year UCLA
Just stop the comparisons
June 27th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
I agree GP are you with me…..
If Presti could have traded down and been assured of getting the guy he wanted - Westbrook - he would have done it. But it takes 2 teams to do a deal and he likely just could not get another team to work it. Plus, there were reports the Knicks and Clippers both had big interest in westbrook. So if RW was the guy Presti wanted - I do not fault him for not trading down - and I don’t worry about saying #4 was “to high”. Every draft is different - and in this one the difference between 3-8 seemed to be pretty minimal - it was just a matter of who you want for your team. Maybe mayo will be a level above the other guys - but even there the 3-8/9 spots seems to have comperable talent available.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
BigSmooth, hey I didn’t meet you, did I? Or were you the ‘Big Chris’ impersonator? I would have liked to have met the ‘reincarnation’ of “Sleepy Sam” - our very own ‘BigSmooth’. Who else was there? It was also great to meet “T.” (she’s a real cutie) at the trial. I was disappointed that she didn’t make the Draft Party. Maybe next time.
If anyone wants to read a great write up of Serge Ibaka, just go up above and read my post at 11:40AM, if it’s out of moderation by now - hopefully.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTCi4nB_moM&feature=related
Westbrook Workout for Portland
“For the people who compare Westbrook to Gary Payton:
25.7, 8.1, 3.4 Steals, 4.7, 50% Senior year Oregon State
12.7, 4.3, 1.6 steals, 3.9, 46% Sophomore Year UCLA
Just stop the comparisons” Would it not be more fair to compare their sophomore years instead of Senior vs Sophomore. I’m not saying that Westbrook is = to GP just that the data you are using to compare is not the same for each person.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I’m good with Westbrook - We need Defense badly.
We need someone who can hassle Parker, CP3 & Deron Williams and not let them wander into the paint virtually uncontested as Luke and Earl would let them do.
He has great quickness, leaping ability, work ethic, attitude, athletic ability, long arms, big hands etc..
If his offense sucks then he will be a disappointment but if he develops a solid offensive game I think we will have a guy who will play serious and solid ball with KD & JG for years. We know Luke & EW are not the answer at starting PG.
I like this pick.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
For the people who compare Westbrook to Gary Payton:
25.7, 8.1, 3.4 Steals, 4.7, 50% Senior year Oregon State
12.7, 4.3, 1.6 steals, 3.9, 46% Sophomore Year UCLA
Just stop the comparisons
First off, Westbrook isn’t a senior coming into the NBA. He’s just 19. Secondly, Westbrook was never the focal point in the offense. They had four guys take about equal amount of shots. Some of the same qualities that Westbrook has are comparable to GP: defense, athleticism, size, aggressiveness. By the time Westbrook reaches the age in which GP put up those numbers his senior year in college, he will be in his second year in the pros. With his attitude and work ethic to go with that athleticism, I feel optimistic about him improving dramatically.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
GP as a sophmore: 38 mpg, 14.5 ppg, 48% fg, 7.4 apg, 2.3 spg, 69% ft
Westbrook played about 33 minutes a game, had more rebounds, better ft%, more blocks, and almost as many points.
If Westbrook ends up as a slightly worse Gary Payton, I am happy.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Although you can compare the rebounds and steals. I would hold off on the Payton second coming.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
But the Sonics need someone to take pressure off Durant offensively and Westbrook is not that guy. Durant got doubled and the next nest perimeter option offensively was Damien Wilkins. Damien Wilkins used to be our bench scrub.
Those same qualities were appliable to Antonio Daniels and Corey Brewer as well. We don’t hear anything about them now.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
meant assists, not rebounds
June 27th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Eric E, yea, I really enjoyed myself. Thanks for getting the pic posted. I’m sure we weren’t bothering Jeff. When I asked him to sign some more posters and said “we just won’t leave you alone, huh”? He said: “No, that’s OK - that’s what I’m here for.”
Jeff Green was extremely laid back and mostly extremely quiet. If you wanted to talk with him, you pretty much had to drag stuff out of him. He did play Guitar Hero for quite awhile and mostly sent and received text mesages on his cell phone.
Eric and I were talking about how nice it’s been to make so many new friends who are also avid Sonics fans - hopefully we will have our Sonics to rally around and continue to develop these friendships. Some of my favorite people that I’ve met so far are CraigB, Eric E, Steve Pyeatt, Brian Robinson, Reidster, Zonics, West Seattle Tim, Jeff Brown
, Speedcat, Grif, Paul Schneiderman, Aaron Wolf, T. (although we really didn’t get a chance to talk), Sbxsux, JRTKing, and I know I’m leaving some people out, but that’s a good start.
I’m sure that these friendships will continue to develop and grow and it’s definitely a real kick to get together with like-minded people and talk Sonics!
.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
I guess there’s a trade coming involving wilcox and watson for a decent SG, moving KD to SF and Green to PF
PG: Ridnour/westbrook
SG: ?
SF: kD
PF:Green/rookies
C:Collison, Petro
June 27th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
First off, people are saying Westbrook will be our PG even though he spent most of his time at SG with the Bruins.
Yes I compared Senior vs. Sophomore seasons not a good comparison.
I doubt that Westbrook would become the player GP was if he stayed as a senior. Remember GP played when people stayed for college, and thus his numbers are even better than compared to today’s.
Who’s to say that Westbrook would continue to grow like GP did without K-Love. You can’t say the numbers his senior season would match up with GP’s.
I’d be happy too if Westbrook ended up slightly worse than GP. GP is a freaking hall of famer.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
First off, people are saying Westbrook will be our PG even though he spent most of his time at SG with the Bruins.
Yes I compared Senior vs. Sophomore seasons not a good comparison.
I doubt that Westbrook would become the player GP was if he stayed as a senior. Remember GP played when people stayed for college, and thus his numbers are even better than compared to today’s.
Who’s to say that Westbrook would continue to grow like GP did without K-Love. You can’t say the numbers his senior season would match up with GP’s.
I’d be happy too if Westbrook ended up slightly worse than GP. GP is a freaking hall of famer.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
First off, people are saying Westbrook will be our PG even though he spent most of his time at SG with the Bruins.
Yes I compared Senior vs. Sophomore seasons not a good comparison.
I doubt that Westbrook would become the player GP was if he stayed as a senior. Remember GP played when people stayed for college, and thus his numbers are even better than compared to today’s.
Who’s to say that Westbrook would continue to grow like GP did without K-Love. You can’t say the numbers his senior season would match up with GP’s.
I’d be happy too if Westbrook ended up slightly worse than GP. GP is a freaking hall of famer.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Jared, I totally agree. We do need some offense. But one thing that is very rare is a shutdown defender at the PG position like Westbrook. Presti I think will be looking for a SG that can score, and will monitor Ibaka’s development . He probably sees Ibaka as their potential scoring big man.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Got to hear Presti’s press conference and he basically says Ibaka is going to stay over overseas and develop.
Not a lot of strong names picked behind him and taking a gamble there is a decent play… but I would have done something different, most likely tried to trade up.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
First off my bad with the triple post, don’t know how that happened but I feel like a douche anyway.
The thing is Westbrook really isn’t a PG. He can play PG but he usually played SG in college. One thing that irritated me with the GP comparison was that GP was a true lock-down PG. Westbrook is a lock down combo guard.
As for Ibaka, I thnk that’s just an easy way for Bennett to not spend money.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
One thing that irritated me with the GP comparison was that GP was a true lock-down PG. Westbrook is a lock down combo guard.
So being able to lock down PG’s is better than being able to lock down PG’s and SG’s?
HUH?
June 27th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Make that, “So being able to lock down PG’s ONLY”
June 27th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
hey carlos, what’s your source?
June 27th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
I meant that Westbrook is a combo guard who locks down on defense, as Payton was a PG who locked down defenders.
I didn’t mean combo guard as to who they were actually locking down I meant.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
I’d say Antonio Daniels is a much better comp (for now) than Payton. Payton was such a unique, one-of-a-kind type player in his prime. So creative and crafty with a high bball IQ. I like Westbrook but he’s no Payton.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
^^^^
That beings said, Westbrook is a better athlete and much more explosive than Payton….
June 27th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
The thing is Westbrook really isn’t a PG. He can play PG but he usually played SG in college.
That’s also because UCLA had an older player who is pretty darn good in his own right, was already established in their system and ONLY plays PG. So as a team, Westbrook fit where he needed to fit on that team for them to be the best they could be. Its not like Collison was going to play SG for the Bruins.
Bottom line, Westbrook did a pretty darn good job of running the team as the PG, when Collison was out injured. He’s got the skills to do it, but is lacking a bit in the “experience” part, due to who he played with and where. That’s why there is some “projection” that goes with him as a pick. He’s not a “sure thing” by any means but he has some rare skills and ability that can turn him into a very special player at the PG.
In watching his videos I’d say he reminds me of Monta Ellis right now. Whether he’ll develop the leadership skills needed for an All Star level PG or even a full time PG, we’ll just have to wait and see.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Frozen I totally agree with the Collison running the point thing. But we aren’t sure if he can develop into a full time PG. We just don’t know.
He’s only 19, by the time it could take for him to develop into a PG we might be playing in oklahoma.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Westbrook said on draft day that he always saw himself as a true point guard but since UCLA already had Collison he moved to the 2 and now he’s excited to play point.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
He’s only 19, by the time it could take for him to develop into a PG we might be playing in oklahoma.
If that is the concern, then it won’t really matter if he develops or not…….so expecting much from this roster over then next two seasons other than slow gradual improvement is probably expecting too much.
But we aren’t sure if he can develop into a full time PG. We just don’t know.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Whoops! One more time. Forgot to close that last italics.
He’s only 19, by the time it could take for him to develop into a PG we might be playing in oklahoma.
If that is the concern, then it won’t really matter if he develops or not…….so expecting much from this roster over then next two seasons other than slow gradual improvement is probably expecting too much.
But we aren’t sure if he can develop into a full time PG. We just don’t know.
Yes, you are correct, we don’t know. If it was 100% sure that he would develop into a full time PG he probaby would have been competing with Rose for that #1/#2 pick slot. As it is, there are questions marks. Just like there are questions marks as to what kind of PG, Bayless will develop into.
I dont’ think anyone here is trying to guarantee anything, just expressing their excitement that Wesbrook has shown some flashes of being pretty amazing and that he’s got some pretty impressive raw skills to work with. He’s also proven to have a great attitude and to be a gym rat, extremely hard worker. Not much not to like about the kid, other than we haven’t seem him play the PG position as much as we’d like to make us 100% sure of his ability there in the future.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
“If that is the concern, then it won’t really matter if he develops or not…….so expecting much from this roster over then next two seasons other than slow gradual improvement is probably expecting too much.”
Looking at it right now, I expect somewhere between 18-22 wins next year, is that gradual enough?
June 27th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
We have two huge weaknesses right now.
- Our center position sucks
- We are terrible from three point range
What do we have to offer :
- Ridnour or Watson (Ridnour is the one that needs to go but his value is probably awful right now)
- Marshall (expiring)
- Wilcox (expiring and decent player)
- Wilkins
- Picks
Don’t really know what to do.
June 27th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Looking at it right now, I expect somewhere between 18-22 wins next year, is that gradual enough?
I think we need to get out the defilibrator….you’ve flatlined.
;o)
June 27th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
We have two huge weaknesses right now.
- Our center position sucks
- We are terrible from three point range
Agreed. The What to do part to fix it is definately the hard part. Going to take alot of research and noodling to come up with the answer/answers to that.
We should have at least two more seasons to figure it out though. :o)
June 27th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Even if he was a Pg I don’t think he would’ve leapfrogged Rose, Beasley or Mayo. Mayo is just too talented.
That being said I would’ve felt a lot better if we had Mayo at PG, just because he could take pressure off Durant scoring wise and because he’s also a good defensive player, then westbrook at PG.
But if we get a SG like Carlos said we might, Westbrook wouldn’t be that bad of a pick. But right now, KD is getting double teamed and has no other perimeter player to help him out.
June 27th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
The guys that got away that I was hoping the Sonics might be able to get were Kevin Love, Jerryd Bayless, and mostly Nathan Jawai the Aussie “Baby Shaq” all 6′10″ and 277 lbs. of him (and they say he’s very athletic) who was an incredible steal at #41. I hope they at least tried to pull off a trade to get him.
I’m very pleased with our 4 picks, though, and excited for Summer League to start, so we can watch (actually read about) Russell Westbrook, DeVon Hardin, and D.J. White and how they’re doing. I don’t think they’ll have Serge Ibaka play on that team, but it would be really cool if they did. I wonder if they will have Jeff Green play on the team, too, to meet the new guys and play with them some. I don’t think they would put K.D. out there. Maybe Petro. Have the Sonics announced any Free Agent (undrafted players) signings yet?
June 27th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
I’m with Jared on this one. Westbrook would make a great complementary playar ala Rondo, but he’s not a cornerstone IMO. This team still badly needs another scoring option to help Durant. Assuming Wilcox gets traded (likely for nothing of immediate value), who is #2 scorer on this team? Wilkins? Watson?
Hate to be pessimistic, but if the roster stays the same, this team will be every bit as bad as last year, possibly worse with no Kurt Thomas or Wally.
June 27th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Westbrook seems to have alot more upside than Bayless, IMO. Mostly because of the late growth spurt that Westbrook has experienced. I read somewhere that he was sub- 6 ft a couple years ago and grew 4 inches real fast. He may just be getting used to his taller frame and learning how to take it to the hole. I also liked the way he clearly said he was a point guard when Stephen A asked him which position the Sonics are getting.
June 27th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Here’s the Strengths & Weaknesses for D.J. White - the 6′9″ 232 lb. Power Forward from Indiana. Not bad at all except he’s not much of a jumper, not very athletic and “runs the floor like an old man.” Ouch, that hurts. But you have to like his 17.4 ppg, 10.3 rpg, and 1.6 bpg for a Big Ten school:
“Strengths:
• Huge wingspan
• Toughness/Effort
• Physical player
• Back to basket scoring
• Turnaround jumper
• Outstanding finisher around basket
• Shoots high percentage
• 15-foot jumper
• High release point
• Excellent rebounder
• Shot-blocking
• Experienced/Productive
• Young for class
Weaknesses:
• Average athlete
• Average size
• Leaping ability
• Lacks great range on jumper
• Ball-handling skills
• Relies heavily on strength advantage
• Will style of play translate to NBA?
• Injury prone
• Runs floor like old man
• Poor lateral quickness
• Struggles defending perimeter
• Upside?
He definitely sounds like a role player, not the guy at the 4 - He is not going to beat out Nick Collison for PT.
.
June 27th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Frozen I totally agree with the Collison running the point thing. But we aren’t sure if he can develop into a full time PG. We just don’t know.
He’s only 19, by the time it could take for him to develop into a PG we might be playing in oklahoma.
EXACTLY. So why are you writing him off so early?
June 27th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
but he’s not a cornerstone IMO
Outside of rose, beasley, mayo and maybe kevin love, who is a cornerstone?
Westbrook has just as good a shot at being a ‘cornerstone’ as eric gordon or jerryd bayless will be.
June 27th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
DeVon Hardin, the 6′11″ 250 lb. Center from California actually sounds more intriguing, probably more potential here, and we are so desperate for a presence at Center. Heck this guy has a shot at being our starting Center THIS season (although, again, I don’t think he’s going to beat out Nick Collison at the present time):
“Strengths:
• Size
• Strength
• Frame
• Wingspan
• Explosiveness
• Ability to run the floor
• Lateral quickness
• Defensive potential
• Rebounding ability
• Activity on offensive glass
• Finishing at the rim
• Understands limitations
• Jump-hook shot
• Solid intangibles
• Upside
Weaknesses:
• Limited offensively
• Cannot create his own shot in post
• No left hand
• No face up game
• Ball-handling skills
• Perimeter shooting
• Free throw shooting
• Foul prone at times
• Giving up space in post
• Lower body strength
• Hands?
• Not consistent/Productivity wavers
• Still hasn’t put it all together”
Right now he has virtually no offense, though. So I guess we do need Ryan Appleby on the team.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Jared, we still have a whole offseason to make trades to get a scorer. This draft wasn’t going to net us anyone that will outright take the scoring load off of Durant right away. I’m sure Presti would’ve loved Mayo, but he got takent at #3. What else did you want him to do?
Again, there is so much time before the season starts to get some scoring help.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Because when we could’ve traded up and gotten Mayo or Beasley, Westbrook doesn’t look as good.
He’s very young and right now the Sonics suck. Mayo or Beasley wouldn’t make much of a difference in our record but they sure would make a bigger impact compared to Westbrook. Maybe down the line Westbrook can be an all star, but the chances of Mayo and Beasley becoming them in a couple of years is a lot more. With Westbrook at PG right now, thats really not much of an upgrade over watson.
And personally I don’t give a rats ass how the Sonics do in Oklahoma.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Jared,
Why do you the Supes could have traded up to get those players?
If you’re assuming that Minnesota merely wanted Kevin Love at a lower pick then yes I could see it, but there were probably other considerations that Seattle couldn’t have matched
June 27th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
“That being said I would’ve felt a lot better if we had Mayo at PG, just because he could take pressure off Durant scoring wise and because he’s also a good defensive player, then westbrook at PG.”
Completely agree with that. I’d like to assume that Presti investigated the ability to draft Love and make the trade with Minny, but maybe they coveted Mike Miller (or someone like him), rather than any of our movable pieces. Watching Mayo’s highlights, you can tell how much more advanced his offensive game is. He’s built too. I think he’s got a shot at being a Dwayne Wade type.
We’ll see with Westbrook, but in the short term, it’s going to be a long couple years for KD. And if we move Wilcox (which you have to expect, having just drafted two more PF’s), we’ve basically moved our 2nd option — so who takes over that role next year? Green? Not sure that he’s got it in him to be a go-to guy.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
I said earlier I would like the Westbrook pick more if we made some moves this offseason. However, we don’t have a lot to offer and I haven’t heard of any trades that could get us a scoring SG to take the pressure off Durant.
And we could’ve gotten Mayo or Beasley, for instance there were rumors of us giving the #4 and Wilcox for the #2 and Blount. So I’m disappointed we couldn’t get anything done.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
And our MAIN Big man, Serge Ibaka, the 18yo kid from the Congo, who may still be growing, is the most promising PF or possibly even Center at 6′10″ and a very muscular 220 lbs. (he doesn’t look like a beanpole at all):
“Strengths:
• Freakish athleticism
• Frame
• Wingspan
• Shot-blocking potential
• Lateral quickness
• Finishing ability
• Tenacity/Motor
• Perimeter shooting skills
• Range out to 3-point line
• Producing at fairly high European level
• Upside
Weaknesses:
• Experience
• Back to the basket skills
• Decision making
• Basketball IQ
• Fundamentals
• Team defense
• Ball-handling skills
• Passing ability
• Work in progress”
So both Ibaka and Westbrook have the “freakish athleticism” that Sam Presti & Co. are looking for. Good call.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Hey, glad you guys had fun at Jeff’s party. I didn’t make it down there but had a mini roundtable with Brian and Scott this morning.
The Westbrook pick is eerily like Antonio Daniels when he came out. Hopefully he’ll have a better start to his career than AD did. #4 seems a bit high to take him, but since I figure most of the guys at the 4-8 spots are fairly interchangeable in this draft then we’ll see how it works out. But that begs the question that if Westbrook has equal upside as Brook Lopez wouldn’t the team have been better off taking the legit 7 foot 260 lb center? I guess we’ll see. I’m excited to see the guy and no question the Sonic on-ball defense got better.
I have to say I don’t like the Ibaka pick at all. Not with Chalmers and DeAndre Jordan still on the board. This is going to be another Sene type pick where we won’t be able to evaluate it properly for three or four years, provided Sam Presti and the team are both here then. I realize the guy has an NBA body, it’s strictly a high upside pick on a team that really needed quality depth and players. Time will tell.
Tiffany had the line of the night when she watched Ibaka shake hands with Stern and said “there’s the highlight of that guy’s Sonics career.” Ouch!
Love love love the DJ White trade. Ended up combining 2 2nd rounders for a guy I really wanted. Here’s hoping he ends up being the Carl Landry that doesn’t get away this time.
The two shotblockers seem reasonable enough picks for depth in a lineup that isn’t going to feature much offense from the 4 and 5 positions. We don’t run any post up plays for those guys anyways, so if our style is going to be shotblocker/rebounders at those positions I’m cool with a platoon arrangement until something more legit comes along. Scarily enough the dude we took at #50 or whatever is probably going to be our starter next year — Yeesh.
Semi-Realistic Projections:
Westbrook - Greg Anthony
Ibaka - I’ll take average NBA starter. Frankly I’ll be surprised if this guy ever plays one minute in a Sonic uniform.
DJ White - Carl Landry
Well that’s all for now. Oh yeah, Portland’s draft kicked the everliving snot out of ours. That team is so loaded it’s not even funny, and they have an owner who could realistically sign all of those guys past their rookie deals. Nice work Blazers. If they don’t make the Western Conference Finals at least a couple of times in the next five years, get a better coach.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
And with all that said, I see this team winning 25-30 games next year, at best.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
I said earlier I would like the Westbrook pick more if we made some moves this offseason. However, we don’t have a lot to offer and I haven’t heard of any trades that could get us a scoring SG to take the pressure off Durant.
But you think we could’ve moved up to get Beasley or Mayo??? LOL you are contradicting yourself left and right. It appears that the Heat are sold on Beasley, evidenced by them hanging on to him. Anyways, Miami didn’t want Wilcox, Presti just offered. They wanted Green instead, which was the deal killer. The T-Wolves picked Mayo, but had their eyes on Love the entire time. Of course we didn’t find this out until after the draft, so instinctively we took Westbrook.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Here’s another comment from a reviewer after watching Ibaka play last December:
December 11, 2007
We had the chance to take another look at Serge Ibaka this past weekend, as his team faced Plus Pujol Lleida. The African power forward had a so-so game, eventually enforcing our previous opinion on him. His statistical effort was in the line with what he’s used to deliver, in the neighborhood of double digits both in points and rebounds. 9 points and 10 rebounds this time (he averages 10.1 points and 8.4 captures in 26 minutes per game), although he went bananas in the shot-blocking department, with 7 rejections.
The sick athleticism that Ibaka enjoys is well known at this point, but still his leaping efforts leave your jaw on the floor every time he tries at full intensity. Several of those 7 blocks came after amazing take-offs, often coming from behind a guy who was trying to finish near the rim (like in the photograph below). With his reactivity and length, he’s a constant menace for his opponents. But it was not only a matter of flashy efforts, as he did a good job on his match-up.
Ibaka’s lateral quickness is not outstanding (certainly not enough for a hypothetical SF future that doesn’t seem probable at all), and even if he gets surpassed by a rival, he annoys him with his length, so he ends up being pretty effective. On the other hand, he needs to work on his team defense, improving his decision making when it comes to playing in the half-court. But still, you can eventually see him going for a rotation and flying back to his match-up in time to contest a shot that looked open a second before. All in all, his defensive potential is excellent, and we’re not necessarily talking about just the long-term future.”
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Serge-Ibaka-1302/
.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
I wouldn’t be saying we could move up to get Beasley if there wasn’t actual evidence that we couldn’t. You think the Heat are sold on Beasley? Then why would they fly in Mayo and Bayless last second? Why would they have been shopping the #2 if they were already sold on him? Just because they draft a player doesn’t mean they wanted to.
I’m not saying we could’ve gotten beasley, but there’s evidence that there were trade talks going on. So there was a chance. How high of a chance is the question we’ll never know.
The chance that we got Mayo was low, considering what Minnesota was offering.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Here’s a pretty in-depth review of Russell Westbrook from Draft Express:
“There might not be a more improved player in the country over the last year or two than UCLA sophomore guard Russell Westbrook. Considered a mid-major recruit leading into his senior year of high school, drawing scholarship offers from schools such as San Diego, Wyoming, Creighton and Kent State, Westbrook benefited from a late growth spurt that saw him shoot up from just 5-10 to 6-3 late in his prep career, and is now a key cog on a Final Four contending team and one of the hottest draft prospects in the country as of late. Obviously a late bloomer, Westbrook remains a raw prospect as far as his skill-level is concerned, but has just about as much upside to continue to improve as any guard in the NCAA not named Derrick Rose.
Physically, Westbrook is especially impressive, despite his tweener status. He has solid size at 6-3, an excellent wingspan, and huge hands, and is one of the most explosive players you’ll find anywhere in the country. Featuring an outstanding first step and terrific strength once in the lane, Westbrook’s ability to elevate off the floor has made his highlight reels the stuff of Youtube legend.
Offensively, Westbrook’s biggest source of production (nearly 30% of his offense) curiously comes in transition. He plays a fairly small role in UCLA’s half-court offense (only 8% of his offense comes from either pick and roll or isolation plays) , mostly as a complimentary piece—moving off the ball trying to find holes in the defense to get to the rim with his tremendous strength and leaping ability, or shooting wide open jumpers. It’s pretty clear when breaking down his footage that he lacks quite a bit of polish on this end of the floor, even if he is extremely effective at the few things he does well.
Westbrook’s ball-handling skills are fairly limited, as he has the ability the beat players off the dribble with his tremendous first step going left or right, and is solid getting to the rim in a straight line, but he struggles when trying to do much more than that. He lacks the advanced dribbling skills needed to create his own shot and change directions sharply in the half-court (for example at the end of a shot clock), and thus often looks a bit out of control when dribbling in traffic, forcing him to flip up some awkward shots at the rim. It’s not uncommon to see him called for various violations in the rare occasion that he tries to go out and make something happen on his own, be it traveling calls, palming or offensive fouls.
As far as his jump-shot is concerned, Westbrook is mostly a catch and shoot player, hitting only 18 3-pointers on the season (on a 34.6% clip), usually on open looks, in rhythm and with his feet set. His release is not the quickest or most fluid around, and he lacks accuracy when rushed or forced to shoot off the dribble. He has the potential to improve here, but his touch at the moment looks fairly average. In terms of his mid-range game, Westbrook doesn’t show great polish here either, as his shot is a bit flat, and he doesn’t always take advantage of his terrific leaping ability to create separation from his defender with his pull-up jumper. He seems to be showing more and more sparks as the season moves on here, though.
To Westbrook’s credit, these flaws are not always very noticeable, as he is a very smart player who knows his limitations and has no problem fitting in and being just another cog in UCLA’s very efficient offense. He plays within himself, rarely forcing the issue, and thus has done a very good job of not exposing his weaknesses within his team’s system. The fact that he has other highly efficient and extremely unselfish teammates like Kevin Love, Darren Collison and Josh Shipp has also helped him a great deal.
As a point guard, Westbrook is not an instinctive playmaker, but is very much capable of bringing the ball up the floor and getting his team into its offense. He is smart, patient, and highly unselfish, and possesses the court vision needed to find the open man without hesitation, picking up quite a few assists just by getting the ball to the right place in UCLA’s half-court sets. He lacks some creativity when it comes to improvising outside of his team’s offense, though, and it’s here that his inexperience running the point guard position, along with his average ball-handling skills, seem to show the most. It should be noted that despite his very high assist totals (4.6 per game on the season, compared with just 2.7 turnovers), when taking into account only the most competitive games UCLA was involved with (the eleven which finished within a 10 point margin), his assists per game drop to 3.2, while his turnovers remain at 2.7.
Defensively, Westbrook is nothing short of outstanding, as evidenced by the phenomenal work he did locking down the three top scoring guards in the Pac-10 this season, O.J. Mayo, Jerryd Bayless, and James Harden. He is long, strong and very fundamentally sound, getting into a terrific defensive stance on every possession, moving his feet incredibly well, and being absolutely tenacious getting after his matchup. His wingspan, combined with his huge hands and outstanding anticipation skills make him a terror in the passing lanes, and this is a big factor why he spends so much time in transition offensively.
Westbrook is going to have a very difficult decision to make at the end of this season, as there is a tremendous amount of NBA draft hype surrounding him at the moment—to the point that he might struggle trying to live up to it considering the still-early stage of development he’s in. It’s clear that he could use another season at UCLA to refine his point guard skills, but he runs the risk of having many of his warts exposed once people start breaking down his game and notice his not-so-obvious limitations. UCLA also has two and a half McDonald’s All-American guards (Jrue Holiday, Malcolm Lee and Jerime Anderson) coming in next season, which further complicates his decision.
It’s still not quite clear what position Westbrook will play in the NBA, even if it could probably be said that his upside is so high that he can just figure that out down the road. He lacks significant experience at the point guard position, and probably isn’t a good enough shooter/ball-handler/shot-creator to be considered a starting caliber shooting guard, particularly since he lacks size for the position at 6-3. Considering his physical tools, intangibles and how much he’s improved over the past two years, though, a lot of teams would probably have a hard time passing him up in the 10-20 range, since he truly has home run potential if he can improve on his weaknesses in time. He might ideally be suited coming off the bench playing a Leandro Barbosa type role, which would still be worthy of a very high pick.”
This was written over 3 months ago, so some things have changed a little.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Russell Westbrook at a Glance - DX:
“Strengths:
• Freakish athleticism
• Excellent first step/Amazing leaper
• Wingspan
• Huge hands
• Phenomenal in transition
• Outstanding defender
• Can guard 1 or 2-spot
• Understands role/Team player
• Executes offensively
• Strong intangibles/Work ethic
• Brings great energy
• Late bloomer/Huge upside
Weaknesses:
• Not a true point guard
• Undersized for SG position
• Struggles in half-court
• Average ball-handler
• Average shooter
• Ability to create own shot
• Mid-range game
• A starter at PG or SG?
• Needs time to develop”
That’s R.W. in a Nutshell. He needs more time to develop, so we shouldn’t expect too much this season. He will probably come off the bench, most, if not all of this season. He should be very exciting to watch develop.
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June 27th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
I wouldn’t be saying we could move up to get Beasley if there wasn’t actual evidence that we couldn’t. You think the Heat are sold on Beasley? Then why would they fly in Mayo and Bayless last second? Why would they have been shopping the #2 if they were already sold on him? Just because they draft a player doesn’t mean they wanted to.
Probably to get a better look at other players? Obviously they weren’t swayed enough to trade Beasley for either of those players. Look how far Bayless dropped. Nobody was really all that impressed with him. In the end, none of those rumors came to fruition because they felt like Beasley was the best option for them. If they wanted, they could’ve just drafted Mayo.
If Presti was okay with giving up Green and the #4 for Beasley, then fine. You have a point. But the fact is, Presti and many here thought it was too much to give up and Miami did not want any part of Wilcox. Not giving up Green was the deal killer. After that, there was nothing we could’ve done.
June 27th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
“That being said I would’ve felt a lot better if we had Mayo at PG, just because he could take pressure off Durant scoring wise and because he’s also a good defensive player, then westbrook at PG.”
Westbrook was Pac 10 Defensive Player of the Year not Mayo.
June 27th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Mayo and Westbrook are pretty comparable defensive players. But I would give the edge to Westbrook since he’s got the longer arms and is a lot more active. Mayo was just great staying in front of his man, but Westbrook was very harassive and disruptive. In the long run, Westbrook will probably end up being the better defender, Mayo the better scorer.
June 27th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
The bigs taken by Sonics in this draft look to be role players and below average for the position at assist-making as the positions were overall for Sonics last season. (But part of it was due to weak outside shooting by the perimeter guys the bigs were passing out to.)
Durant & Green can play-make some but this year when they played SG & SF they also were below average in this regard for those positions. They’d have to step up pretty big to get to average for starters.
It put all the pressure on the PG. With Ridnour and Watson that was one thing. They got assists.
But the offense still was the worst in the league.
So draft a pretty raw on running the offense guard. Doesn’t sound like a recipe for getting more easy shots.
Assists can be over-rated- but when you shot very poorly (29th in league) they are still important.
Presti’s lineup of the future is a long way from fully or well-assembled.
Westbrook probably means Watson is here for the duration of his contract.
And the 3rd PG is important- if you are concerned about wins over an eventful season.
But we’ll see how well Westbrook takes to executing offense.
June 27th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Craig B, Me, Zendoc and West Seattle Tim with Jeff Green
That’s my phone in the very right corner of the picture. I think I did a good job of staying away from the cameras …
June 27th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Mantra, yes, we wanted Beasley, but also Westbrook and we were not willing to meet Miami’s demand to include Jeff Green. That was a complete deal-killer for Presti. Unfortunately, I was the one that broke the news to Jeff Green that there was a rumor that the Sonics and Miami were discussing a trade to swap picks and include him in the deal.
I asked if he had heard the rumor about the Sonics trade to which he said “yes” thinking that I was talking about the swap of picks with the Clippers, and when I told him which trade rumor I was talking about, he said “no, I hadn’t heard that” and he looked a little stunned. I said that all the fans were crying “NO WAY”, but that Clay didn’t listen to us anyway. Right after that Green moved away and started sending and receiving text messages. I felt bad afterward and thought that I should have told him that this was Miami’s request and was a total deal-killer for us.
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June 27th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Nah, from what every talking head is saying, the Heat weren’t very comfortable with Beasley at #2. If everyone is saying it, and there’s been serious trade talks, then obviously they have some problem with Beasley.
Calabro- I worded it poorly. What I meant to say was that Mayo is also a good defensive player.
June 27th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
I see all the comparisons being thrown around in regards to Ibaka and Sene, but from what I’ve read Ibaka is producing at a pretty high level in Europe already. Was Sene producing anything like that when we drafted him?
June 27th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
I see all the comparisons being thrown around in regards to Ibaka and Sene, but from what I’ve read Ibaka is producing at a pretty high level in Europe already. Was Sene producing anything like that when we drafted him?
June 27th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Of all the positions (other than crappy center project), point guard takes the longest to develop.
We’ve seen the exception in Chris Paul and Deron Williams, but for the most part point guards take 3-5 years to really make an impact in the league. Examples would be Chauncey Billups, Antonio Daniels, Devin Harris, etc.
Westbrook would be well served as Watson’s backup this year so he can come in and learn how to run the team. If he wins the job, great. If not, let the kid develop.
June 27th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Call it like Calabro, the answer is “No”. Were you at the party or not? I was hoping to meet more people. And Jenn, I didn’t meet you, either. Your phone is right over my head there (or behind it). Were you the one who sat down for a little while on the 2-person stuffed chair on the left (right in the photo - the one I’m sitting on there) and I believe shared that chair with Eric E for awhile? If so, then at least I know who you are.
June 27th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
I guess the Air Up There video got left from the previous Sonics front office (I think that was the name of that bad Kevin Bacon movie back quite a few years).
Westbrook’s skill set looks similar to Desmond Mason’s coming out of school, except instead of being a tweener 2/3, he’s a tweener 2/1. We all loved Des, but with the fourth pick?
What kind of a draft was it? Don’t know, we’ll see in a couple of years, hopefully.
June 27th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Ibaka’s numbers were in 2nd division Spanish league which is apparently far better than 2nd division Belgian league Sene was in.
But Sene was about a 30% better rebounder per minute there and Ibaka about a 30% better scorer per minute.
Ibaka probably gets the edge.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
What makes you think the Heat don’t want Beasley? They have had ATLEAST 5 teams trying to aquire Beasley, yet after weighing all of those options they decided to keep him. It seems obvious to me they feel like he is going to be a better prospect than Mayo, otherwise they would’ve just drafted Mayo outright.
I haven’t seen or read anything about Miami questioning this pick at all. You are just speculating from whatever outside source you hear from and making assumptions.
I’m pretty sure Wilcox, #4 pick, and Petro is as good as we can offer. Unless of course you wouldn’t mind trading Green, then that’s a different story. You act like Presti couldn’t do all he could to move up to #2.
Let me ask you this; we all know Durant and Green are untouchables. Miami did not want Wilcox, they wanted Green instead. And Miami is not looking to just add a bunch of picks, they want to win now. So what would you have realistically tried to do? What players can we offer Pat Riley without him bursting in laughter? Honestly
June 27th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Pat Riley would burst in Laughter? Wow - I’d like to see that.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
TB The idea of the trade is just a suggestion, I dont have any insider info. I just think that swapping wilcox with a decent SG could make a lot of sense for the team after the draft
June 27th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
“In this case, Westbrook is a nice addition. But for the same pick, the Sonics could have had Love or Lopez.”
This is true. Lopez was taken 10th. He was definitely available at #4″
June 27th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
I think they put westbrook at some 2 and some 1, then look to move a big guy. I think they live with the guard mess until Earl and Rid’s contracts are in the last year. They are in no hurry staying or going.
They are going with the SA model. Take one superstar (Duncan, Durant) and put some strong secondary pieces around him. They need one of the picks in the next 3 seasons to be a true number 2 player on the team. If that happens then Presti will look like a genius. If they all are #3 and worse, then he will look like Wally Walker and Rick Sund.
June 28th, 2008 at 12:36 am
“I haven’t seen or read anything about Miami questioning this pick at all. You are just speculating from whatever outside source you hear from and making assumptions.”
It’s not an outside source if ESPN and many other people are mentioning it as well.
“I’m pretty sure Wilcox, #4 pick, and Petro is as good as we can offer. Unless of course you wouldn’t mind trading Green, then that’s a different story. You act like Presti couldn’t do all he could to move up to #2.”
I wouldn’t assume what our best offer was seeming how we will never know what it was. Who knows what we could’ve offered besides Green. Money? More Draft picks? Who knows and I doubt you know either.
“What makes you think the Heat don’t want Beasley?”
I’m not saying that they didn’t want him. I’m saying that they had other plans that they were actively pursuing. Just because they draft a guy doesn’t mean that drafting him was their number 1 option.
“And Miami is not looking to just add a bunch of picks, they want to win now.”
I don’t know about that one unless you gave me some proof. I believe they were even worse than the Sonics so wouldn’t rebuilding around Wade make sense? But I don’t know.
June 28th, 2008 at 4:30 am
“I see all the comparisons being thrown around in regards to Ibaka and Sene, but from what I’ve read Ibaka is producing at a pretty high level in Europe already. Was Sene producing anything like that when we drafted him?”
The comparaison is not fair IMO.
Ibaka played basketball as a kid with parents playing for their countries. He is raw but he has some basketball skills to go with his crasy athletism
The league where Sene played is a complete joke and making him come in the NBA right away was an awful call. I’m still looking for a confirmation but I think Ibaka will play in a small team in the best league in Europe next year (the Spanish first division), definitely the best way to improve.
June 28th, 2008 at 4:36 am
http://tinyurl.com/4fjnvw
“So players and agents have wised up, and some guys such as Ibaka, Pekovic and Asik just scared teams away by broaching contract issues and buyouts. In the African’s case, apparently it didn’t work, although it’s not clear whether this was some unconventional maneuvering to dress Ibaka with a Sonics jersey, as he might have a promise from them dating back to the EuroCamp.”
“We’ve been told he has a deal done in Spain if he decides to wait on the NBA, and everything points to Manresa as his destination. It’s a nice situation for him, a relatively humble team, where he should enjoy the chance to gain regular playing time, in the very strong ACB League.”
June 28th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Shawn, thanks for posting the info on Ibaka. I am excited about this pick and will be very interested in seeing how he does in the Spanish First Division. That will be very telling IMO.
Ibaka obviously needs to do a lot of work and further develop, but he’s far more athletic than Sene and as you say, has played basketball a lot longer, and appears to have a much higher ceiling on his upside, which is why some people are saying he’s the next Shawn Kemp. While it’s too early to make that call, he has the same athleticism and could even have a greater potential, although I’d be really satisfied with production pretty close to Kemp’s.
How many years before we see him in the NBA in your opinion? If he does well in the Spanish league this coming year, I’m wondering if they would bring him over and have him play a year in the NBDL the following year, then bring him up. Do you know how the 3-year Round 1 NBA contract works? I believe that it starts whenever they bring him over, right? He won’t sign anything until then? If he stays overseas 2 years and they bring him over then, does he sign a rookie contract that is EXACTLY the same as the one he would have signed now, i.e., the same dollar figure - or would it be adjusted to the number for the #24 spot in the draft of the year in which he comes over here? Thanks.
June 28th, 2008 at 9:05 am
As far as I know first round contracts don’t change with time.
I’m truly scared by Spanish contracts. If he is doing well right there he could have offers with way more money than what we’ll have to offer him. He would have to take less money AND to pay his buyout to play in the NBA.
June 28th, 2008 at 10:08 am
“I haven’t seen or read anything about Miami questioning this pick at all. You are just speculating from whatever outside source you hear from and making assumptions.”
It’s not an outside source if ESPN and many other people are mentioning it as well.
“I’m pretty sure Wilcox, #4 pick, and Petro is as good as we can offer. Unless of course you wouldn’t mind trading Green, then that’s a different story. You act like Presti couldn’t do all he could to move up to #2.”
I wouldn’t assume what our best offer was seeming how we will never know what it was. Who knows what we could’ve offered besides Green. Money? More Draft picks? Who knows and I doubt you know either.
“What makes you think the Heat don’t want Beasley?”
I’m not saying that they didn’t want him. I’m saying that they had other plans that they were actively pursuing. Just because they draft a guy doesn’t mean that drafting him was their number 1 option.
“And Miami is not looking to just add a bunch of picks, they want to win now.”
I don’t know about that one unless you gave me some proof. I believe they were even worse than the Sonics so wouldn’t rebuilding around Wade make sense? But I don’t know.
Then again ESPN reported that we swapped picks with the Clippers and it was dead set in stone. LOL
You claim to not seem to know a lot, but you acted like it was so easy to move anywhere in the draft. Sorry but I like to think realistically.
June 28th, 2008 at 10:14 am
The scary thing about Ibaka is nobody really knows his correct age. But I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
To be honest, I’m more excited about the Ibaka pick than the Westbrook pick. Ibaka is pretty obscure and we might have found a gem at PF that we haven’t had for awhile.
June 28th, 2008 at 10:17 am
BTW Pat Riley was the only iffy one on Michael Beasley only because he said he would like a guard. The rest of the Heat brass was sold on him and convinced Riley to take him. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t like to have a player like Beasley. After he mentioned needing a guard, everyone was speculating it was because Beasley wasn’t his type of guy. That is kind of retarded don’t you think? In the end they drafted and kept Beasley, which means the Heat wanted him. Plain and simple.
June 28th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Mantra, why do you say that no one knows Ibaka’s correct age? He was listed as the youngest player in the Spanish Division 2 League last year at 17 yo, and says he’s 18 now. I’m sure his birth was recorded in the Republic of Congo and both his parents played basketball professionally or semi-professionally, I believe. Are you thinking that he may be younger than 18yo or older? Why don’t you believe his age?
I think he is an extremely exciting pick for the future, but Westbrook has the same kind of athleticism and is a lock-down defender, is really fast, and can dunk over a lot of players. He certainly also has the same kind of potential as OJ Mayo, Derrick Rose, and Jerryd Bayless and will probably be a better defender than all of them. Therefore I’m very excited about Westbrook also.
June 28th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Westbrook and Deron shared at least some intangible similarities during their college careers in that they :
Both played next to similar players in Dee Brown and Darren Collison.
Both were slightly overshadowed on their teams.
Both played second fiddle at PG on thier respective teams and really had to earn their minutes at point..
Both were taller and better defenders than Brown or Collison which bodes well for the NBA.
Both were consided high risk/reward players where they were drafted…
I don’t know if Westbrook can develop the offense of Deron but at least the potential is there, IMO.
June 28th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Ibaka and his agent need to negotiate an acceptable buyout arrangement. It is not signed yet, hopefully they are working to make it more acceptable than reportedly it is right now. If they fail to do that, they hurt his NBA prospects and the Sonics pick.
June 28th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Zen, most of the athletes coming out of Africa and the Dominican Republic always fake their age. Usually using a younger age than they really are to appeal to professional scouts. This is more so widespread in the MLB. Some say Dikembe Mutombo is like 45-50 years old…
June 28th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Mantra, i disagree. Just because the heat drafted Beasley doesn’t mean that that was their first option. Obviously yeah they were fine on settling with the pick, but that was after all their other options didn’t work out.
June 28th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Per Marty Blake, NBA Direct of scouting:
Michael Beasley – In the case of Miami, I think there was some smoke thrown out that they possibly wouldn’t take Beasley, but I think he’s the guy they wanted all along. They added some players later in the draft that I like. I think they’re open to making some deals. I think they’re very happy today. This is the first step. Pat Riley has done an outstanding job. Erik Spoelstra, who’s going to be a fine young coach, he has to put all the pieces together.
Pretty much enforces what I’ve been saying all along. Currently I don’t hear any Michael Beasley trade rumors. And even if there were talks before the draft, it was all moot simply because they can’t deal the #2 pick until the player is drafted. On top of that, Miami held the cards if any trade were to go down. So if they were seriously considering a trade on draft day, it would’ve happened. It did not happen. The Miami organization is happy with this pick and if there were any doubts, he would’ve been traded on that day.
June 28th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
“So if they were seriously considering a trade on draft day, it would’ve happened.”
Dude we were seriously considering trading the #4 to the Clippers on draft day, even to the point that ESPN penciled it in. That obviously didn’t happen.
And I wouldn’t use just one guy to totally back up your argument. For that one guy agreeing with you, there’s plenty that disagree.
“And even if there were talks before the draft, it was all moot simply because they can’t deal the #2 pick until the player is drafted.”
I might be misinterpreting what you said, but I’m pretty sure you can deal draft picks before the draft.
And for the record i don’t think there’s any chance of a beasley trade happening now.
June 28th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
Dude we were seriously considering trading the #4 to the Clippers on draft day, even to the point that ESPN penciled it in. That obviously didn’t happen.
Totally different scenerio. The Heat were the ones askin
And I wouldn’t use just one guy to totally back up your argument. For that one guy agreeing with you, there’s plenty that disagree.
Where’s your proof of this? I watched ESPN that same draft night and they reported that all of the Miami Heat owners were able to convince Riley to take Beasley. That to me sounds like they (the majority of the Heat organization) wanted him all along. You are just speculating, plain and simple. If they did not want Beasley, they could easily dump him. PF’s that can score are a hot commodity in the NBA if you haven’t noticed.
I have read other draft reviews that say the Miami Heat threw up a smokescreen, so that wasn’t the only source, it was just the newest. You haven’t really provided any proof to show that the Heat, not just Pat Riley, were not sold on Beasley.
No offense, but this is going in circles, so I’m done on this thread.
June 29th, 2008 at 2:35 am
Regicide’s Blog - Foxsports.com
“4. Sonics - Russell Westbrook — I love Westbrook … as an energizing defender off the bench. Right now there’s no reason to believe he’ll be an elite point guard, and that’s what the Sonics want him to be so they can dump Watson and Ridnour. This is much better than Bayless, though. Bayless is almost guaranteed to be more productive than Westbrook, but Westbrook will finish his career with a few hundred more wins. Bank it.”
June 29th, 2008 at 6:56 am
PG Westbrook… will develop like GP .. we have time
SG / SF Durrant is the franchise … rebounding will improve
PF Ibaka will develop like Kemp…
SF/PF Green will be Sixth man ….will score and play defensively
Would love to trade Ridnour for Hairison ….. shooter
Love to get applebee for a tryout … need some shooters
White… can’t wait to see him play?
Hardin… just as athletic as Jordan… but harder worker
exciting times remind me of 89-90 but less veterans ??? worried becuase they taught youngters
June 29th, 2008 at 7:02 am
Hopefully we suck this year and Draft
7-3 Thambeet …. 4 inches more than any other center
Defensive center
trade for a shooting Guard ….
draft on with San Antonio pick next year
Would really fill out roster