MoveThoseChains

To me, his defensive issues are very overblown. Given he was surrounded by good defenders in Matt Jones and Justise Winslow, but teams shot just 58 percent in the paint while he was on the floor. He also has great size and the physical tools to become a good defender. Defensive rotations you can learn, but you can't learn his offense. 

Gotta remember he was a freshman at age 19, one year out of high school playing on the biggest stage in college hoops. His defense will improve over time, in my opinion. As he matures and grows towards his full potential, his overall game will improve, and I think he will be a solid to great pro.

Back on the Clippers via Twitter

Definitely. There would be a lot of lost respect if the initial commitment was backed out on.

Can only imagine what Cuban will have to say if Deandre backs out

Isaiah was top of my board. Love his game as a undersized guard

Good choice in Evans. He was high on my short list given his ability to distribute.

Thanks. Yeah I like his ability to distribute as well. He played well as the Pelican's point guard last year while Holiday was out, and he can also play small forward. I like him as a 6th man with the ability to sub in at point guard or small forward, and I could even start him instead of DeRozan at the 3. 

The True Detectives select:

Tyreke Evans, G/SF

I like Noah, and when healthy he is a top defensive center with great passing ability. I decided that the Polish Hammer was a better fit for my team. I like his offensive game, as him and Wall really have great chemistry. I think he could build the same chemistry with Conley and Harden. Also, his toughness is a factor I like. Noah has similar toughness and energy that Gortat brings, for sure. Wizards are my team, though, so I am slightly biased. Gortat has the ability to score 20 and grab 10 boards, as well as force some turnovers with his blocks and occasional steals. Noah definitely has an edge in facilitating/passing and defense, and Gortat has a slight edge as an "all-around" center. Still, I think they are very similarly ranked as far as centers go, as they both have game. 

I'm a fan of Sullinger. He needs to control his weight and conditioning but I selected him with one of my last selections a few years ago and was thrilled to have him at that point. Tim Duncan is likely a one-year rental but I couldn't pass up on the value given how terrific he was on both ends of the floor. My regular starting line up involved starting Kawhi Leonard at the four, which would work perfectly with a small ball line up, but I still wanted a quality big for the traditional look. I was admittedly jelly of the defensive prowess of Challenge Accepted's front court. With how outstanding Duncan was defensively last year, the trio of Leonard, Duncan and Whiteside shouldn't be far behind. I'd also have the capability of throwing out a tall line up with Duncan at the four and Wade at the one.

I like the Duncan pick. He was All Defensive 2nd team last year and All NBA Third Team. Even if he has only 1 year left, 2 years max, he's still a good player and a guy you want on your team. 

I also like the Ariza pick, he's a good glue guy to have. I think he was an underrated part of the Rockets success this past year.

Love checking this in the morning and seeing the draft roll along. Let's keep this thing moving haha. 

Good pick in Noah as well.

Lopez, Gortat, and Noah were my top 3 centers remaining. Knew they were going soon. Also, good pick in Dirk.

Now we get to see your #2 pick. You're up.

Wanted to get a center with this pick. Gortat was next on my board. 

The True Detectives select:

Marcin Gortat, C

Damn Lopez was #1 on my board. Nice pick

Thrilled that Middleton made it back to me, I almost took him over Rose last time.

 

He's 23, shoots over 40 percent from downtown, 52 percent on corner 3's, scored 17 points per game since the all star break when he got real minutes, can pass the ball and is an absolute stud on defense. 

 

Just a fun fact I have two of the top-5 corner three ball shooters in the league. 

 

In my opinion Middleton is the best 3 and D player the in the game right now, and he's only 23. 

Nice pick. He was high up on my remaining shooting guard list. At 6'7, he is capable of playing SF, too. I knew he heated up and stayed hot last season, but had no idea he shot 52 percent on corner 3's. That's pretty sick. I picked him up in every season long fantasy league I was in last year (when he started heating up) and never dropped him. He's an underrated player, and young like you mentioned. I believe people will start to notice his game this upcoming season and into the future.

Removed a few names from the conversation, but I agreed wholeheartedly on the assessment of Conley and how well he fits. Agreed again on the usage of DeRozan. Exactly how I'd personally prefer to see him used. Green stepped up as a passer in the playoffs, so concur that kicking it out to Green would be a smart strategy since he'd either take an open look or pass it out to Conley or Harden if he's being closed in on. Good point about the FT attempts. Always a positive to have that available, especially when you're overcoming a deficit.

 

Agreed once again. Here's how I see my current roster. I also wouldn't label George a P-F neither, though I agree that he's a capable passer for his position. That being said, I thought that George was sometimes stagnant with the ball in his hands during his last healthy season. In fact, outside of scoring in the paint, he was at his best in catch and shoot situations especially from beyond the arc. He converted 43.6% of such attempts, which was ahead of sharpshooters like Wesley Matthews and not far behind the likes of Klay Thompson. George also shot over 46.3% and 52.0% on corner threes, so he should help the offense with spacing when he's moving off-the-ball. That's mostly the reason I went with Wade. As you've mentioned, he has a very high IQ, and he's a slasher with crafty mid-range and post-up games who's more than willing to pass the rock to the open shooters. He built up a rapport with Whiteside last season, whose assisted buckets came mostly from Wade. The duo was a very solid P&R combination and I would expect to utilize Whiteside as the roll man from both the high and low post on a consistent basis. I agree with the points on Whiteside as well. The craziest part about the aforementioned game is that the output happened in just 24 minutes of playing time. Leonard is a very efficient scorer himself and is capable from any area of the floor. I'd like to have him closer to the rim given his rebounding ability, but he could certainly leak outside beyond the arc if the defense closes in on Wade when he's driving. It helps that every member on my team is solid from the mid-range. The roster is obviously far from finished, but I like the way the dynamic looks at the moment. Though I'm sure that's what everyone thinks about their team.

Sorry about the mentioning of names..again. Completely forgot whilst typing that paragraph. And yes, every team in here can think that they have a good team, as they should. That's the ultimate goal, so the more good teams the better. Everyone is off to a pretty good start imo. 

Had Noel as a potential selection for myself. Nice grab.

I'm not gonna lie, I conked out last night, came back and saw a ton of long discussions, and I was just like, "I don't really know basketball, so I'm just gonna skip ahead and find shorter posts..."

 

Anyway, I really have no idea how my team is coming together. I'd like to think I got four top 40, potentially top 30 players, but I honestly couldn't tell you how my team is shaping up or how they'll mesh. My line-up currently is...

PG: Jrue Holiday

SG: Klay Thompson

SF: Gordon Hayward

PF: TBD

C: Marc Gasol

 

And for the person who picked Millsap, I almost took him. I was so close, but at the last minute, I changed to Hayward because I think Hayward has a higher ceiling and I don't know how much more Millsap will grow. He's really solid, but I don't know that he'll ever get much better, I guess.

I liked your first three picks, but I'm not big on Holiday due to injury. I like his game, but he's been too injury prone. With point guard being deep, you could always draft another one just in case Holiday misses extended time next season. Other than that, I could see Thompson, Hayward, and Gasol jelling nicely. Hayward is versatile with room to grow, Gasol is one of the top centers in the game, and Thompson is lethal from three point land. Klay has also turned into a nice defender, so your defense looks pretty solid. Other than the Holiday pick, I think your team is off to a pretty nice start. 

Plan is to start both. I think Thompson is capable of playing center. Depending on how the draft goes, things could change. Regardless, I have two beast who can play PF. He was also my bpa after losing Monroe

Gotcha. Yeah I like Tristan's game a lot. His rebounding is awesome, especially on the offensive glass. He gives your team an extra 3+ possessions every game by collecting offensive boards. He's still young too, so his overall game should continue to improve.

I'll happily settle with Thompson though. Was kind of hoping you'd take one or the other to make it easier.

Interesting to see you go with another power forward even though you have Kevin Love. Are you going to start both, or bring TT off the bench? 

Nice pick in Monroe. He has a crafty offensive game, and I think that compliments your selection of Deandre very nicely. That's a solid front court.

I was praying that Conley would be available but I ultimately wasn't surprised when he went. I thought he was the ideal complement to Harden. Harden was one of the most ball-dominant players and understandably so given his play-making ability. Conley's usage rate was much lower and he didn't require the ball in his hands to be effective, so that dynamic should be a perfect marriage. I thought DeRozan was a bit of a ball-stopper as a ball-handler so the fact that the ball won't be in his hands nearly as often could very well be a positive. Considering that all three of your other players are good-to-great three point shooters, using him more as an off-the-ball cutter will help maximize his athleticism without jeopardizing the spacing. I see it as a terrific group personally.

 

Thank you. That was definitely a focus of mine. While Paul George and Kyrie Irving were my main targets, I couldn't pass on the reigning DPoY in Kawhi Leonard. He was my ideal candidate as a small-ball four. He's one of the best rebounding non-big men and he has the active hands and footwork to deny entry passes and to avoid being bullied in the low-post. George was one of the best two-way players when healthy, and hopefully he returns to form to restart his streak of All-Defensive Team nominations. There are obvious questions about Whiteside's sample size, but from everything I've seen, he has the skill-set to continue being a top tier rim protector. Having hulking size near the paint in order to downplay the potential size differential at PF was one of the main reasons he was drafted. Definitely agree on Dwyane Wade as well. He's not as dominant as he was in his prime, but he's still a very good two-way player and he'll no longer have to be the first or even second option as a perimeter defender, so the decreased pressure should help in theory.

I agree with your assessment of Conley and Harden. I was considering taking Conley in the second just because I felt like he was the best compliment to Harden as well. Conley is a smart, high IQ point guard, and like you said, he's used to sacrificing to Gasol and ZBo. He actually enjoys getting his teammates involved and doing the dirty work on defense, and I love players like that. Having Conley and Harden will help DeRozan out. He won't need to take high volume shots, as he is almost "kobe-like" in the way he shoots for the Raptors. Like you said, DDR is somewhat of a ball-stopper when the ball is in his hands. Conley and Harden will certainly be my primary ball handlers, so the pressure for DDR to create for himself and for teammates will decrease. I won't need him to shoot as much, which means he won't jack shots that lower his field goal percentage. I want him to attack the lane/hoop, as he has length and a decently fast burst to allow him to get by defenders. If he beats his defender, he can take it in or kick out to Harden and Conley who are solid from the outside. A kick out to Green can lead to a potential open shot or Green is a smart player who can dribble in or make the extra pass. I think Harden and DeRozan could draw a lot of fouls on opposing teams due to their style of play. This past season, Harden was number 1 in free throws attempted per game (10.2) with a 86.8%, and DeRozan was 5th (7.2) with a 83.2%. 

Point guard is pretty deep. Getting two of the best SF/wing players is a solid strategy. George is an all-around player, and I like his passing ability. I wouldn't call him a "point-forward," but he likes to get his teammates involved and usually makes the smart pass/play with the ball in his hands. Kawhi is a stud, and his best basketball is in front of him. He, too, is a smart all-around player. With both George and Kawhi being unselfish all-around players, that duo should work nicely. I didn't watch the Heat too much this past year, but Whiteside certainly caught my attention. His potential is certainly their, as he had some monster games this past year. 12 blocks to go along with 14 points and 13 rebounds for a triple-double is no fluke, the talent is there. Putting it together for a full season with minutes is what I'm interested to see. He averaged 23.8 minutes per game, in 48 games played, with a stat line of 11.8 ppg, 10 rpg, and 2.8 bpg. If he plays a majority of games next season with closer to 28-30 minutes per game, he should put together a real solid campaign. Wade is still a good player. And yes, having George and Leonard should help Wade out on both offense and defense. Wade still has the mid-range and in game, and he won't lose his passing ability and high IQ for the game. 

I feel like you've landed a very good trio of defenders to complement Harden.

Thanks. Green was a pick mainly for defense and intangibles. Conley and Derozan were a couple of the top players remaining when I was on the clock, and it happens that their both solid two-way players. 

Your team is looking solid defensively. Obviously Kawhi is a beast on defense, and Whiteside and George are both solid defenders as well. Wade is proven, so age really isn't a problem when you surround him with the cast that you have. 

Harden's lack of defense is overblown. 

Yeah, I mean it's not good, but his offense is elite and he's the top SG in the league in my eyes. That makes up for his defensive flaws. And if you can insert him in a lineup with good defenders, I think that would help.

You're trying to make up for Hardens lack of defense

I'm keeping it in mind, but all of my picks have been the players at the top of my board. Harden, Green, Conley, and Derozan all were towards the top of my remaining players available when I was on the clock. 

Sorry for the wait, I was pretty set on Millsap if he was there so I had to go back and look over the board. This was a case for best talent available. While Derozan isn't the most efficient on offense, I really like his athletic ability to drive to the hoop and draw defenders. He shoots a little too many midrange jumpers for my liking, but hopefully with Conley and Harden he won't have to be too big of a volume shooter as he is on the Raptors. I plan on starting him at the 3, even if he's a natural 2. I think at 6'7 he can play SF. He may also end up coming off the bench if I slide Draymond to the 3. Anyways, I thought the 2013-2014 all star was too good of a talent to pass on here. He was also hurt for part of last year, so maybe with a full offseason and healthy start to next season, his efficiency will rise a little.