Haven't chimed in yet..anyone have mixed feelings?

[CBAreject]

I haven't said much since the draft. Getting the 3rd pick was bittersweet. We were millimeters from getting a franchise-changing talent, but we couldn't get so lucky as the PAC NW teams. The third pick was probably the toughest one to make in the entire draft. Here are a few thoughts.

First of all, on my beloved Hawks:

#3 pick) Horford is solid. He will be a good NBA player. We will be glad that he is a Hawk. Now comes the big HOWEVER. I am in no position to judge Jianlin's potential to be an NBA star. HOWEVER, if the consensus view is correct, he was the correct choice at #3. His post scoring would be just too valuable to our team. On the other hand, I only know what I've seen on YouTube.

IF IT WAS CLEAR to Knight that Yi was hype, then the choice was between Horford and Wright. IF you want a running center for this team, the choice was Horford. The other two players are not suited for the 5. Yi and Wright were gambles. Horford is more of a sure thing. HOWEVER, Yi and Wright have more upside. Horford will not be a 20ppg PF. Yi might. Wright less likely, but still moreso than Horford.

Nothing wrong with taking more of a sure thing. I just think this team needed to gamble. Unless our goal is to secure Woody's job, we needed to take a risk.

#11 pick) Law is one of the top 3 PG's in this draft. We had two choices here, and neither was wrong. He is not a conventional PG. A lot of people are applauding this pick roundly. Some of them are the same people who discouraged Roy's drafting. This is puzzling. I think you'll find that Roy at PG would've worked as well, plus you get more size and scoring.

Law was a fine choice, but I probably wouldn't have chosen him. Crittenton will be the better pro by his 3rd year. Again, that's a gamble, but dear Lord, aren't we shooting for more than being the Wizards II?

I guess these choices are difficult for me to view apart from the previous drafts. I don't fault Billy for taking Marvin (consensus 2), but I do fault him for passing on the consensus player all other years. If he takes the guy that I (amateur wannabe sports analyst internet junkie) recommend each year, we are a playoff team. Even with Marvin's choice (and not saying I would've taken Marvin), we'd have Iguodala over Childress, Roy over Shelden, Millsap over Jones. We'd have 2 NBA all-rookies and the ROY last year. We probably would be too good to draft this high this year, but assuming we were in the same position, we'd be able to approach this draft without feeling we had to plug holes. I'm still feeling the burn of passing on Roy when I had hoped against hope he would fall from the top 4 for weeks (ditto for Millsap hoping he would fall from the 1st round). Perhaps Horford will become more assertive and be a surprise 20 ppg scorer. That's going to have to happen for me to feel good about this run of 4 drafts.

Other thoughts on the draft:

Charlotte should've learned that MJ is not good at running a franchise. He needs to get his grubby fingers off anything that's not a basketball. As magnificent as he was as a player, he's that awful as an executive. Good looks aside, there's nothing he does well. Wright was probably the 3rd best player on upside in the draft. Richardson has peaked. He's expensive. He's an inefficient scorer. Charlotte probably would've been mediocre to poor with either player, but at least Wright is young, cheap, and has upside.

Danny Ainge is just an idiot. Ray Allen is an expensive, aging player. He IS one of the best SG's of my lifetime, but very soon that "IS" will become a "WAS". Boston has been building for youth for years. Now they are trying to win now with an Allen-Pierce duo? They should be formidable, but will doubtless fail to be more than just competitive, and at what cost?

On the other hand, Seattle made out like bandits. Enough said. What an enviable position they are in.

Portland is the envy of the world.

Zeke finally made a decent trade bringing in Randolph. The Knicks got Randolph for little, and they were capped out. There's no way Zeke does better for bringing in a big man. They also dump Franchise which is always a good thing. The Blazers I feel could've done better. Franchise is almost a negative entity. Frye is a good young talent, and he's a key piece. I understand the real motivation is purging the contract to free up FA dollars for 2009. Everyone take note of a team that gutted itself and built correctly (drafting bigs, putting off FA signings for when you are actually good).

LAL got a good one in Crittenton. Let's see if Kobe doesn't ruin his self-esteem by blasting him for not being ready at 19.

[AtLaS]

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#3 pick) Horford is solid. He will be a good NBA player. We will be glad that he is a Hawk. Now comes the big HOWEVER. Horford will not be a 20ppg PF.

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I honestly don't see why everyone says Wright has more potential than Horford. I guess if you mean he has a lot more ground to make up, then I agree. What exactly does he do better? Horford is the better post up player, is JUST as athletic and is already 40 lbs heavier, and MUCH stronger. He's also a much better rebounder/defender. Horford averaged more rebounds his freshman season despite playing less minutes than Wright. When and IF Wright puts on 30-40 pounds, it's a legitimate concern as to whether he'll retain the athleticism that he DOES have.

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I am in no position to judge Jianlin's potential to be an NBA star. HOWEVER, if the consensus view is correct, he was the correct choice at #3. His post scoring would be just too valuable to our team.

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That's just the thing, he isn't a post up player at all at this point. He didn't do much weight lifting in the CBA and is very weak at this point. Exodus pretty much confirmed most of the rumors about him because he watched many of Yi's CBA playoff games.

[Guest Walter]

I agree all around. I too was of the "gamble" crowd although I don't thinl Yi much of a gamble. Look at my sig to get my summed up feelings. No superstar, no mismatch advantage. It's like we're drafting for some other league or simply to be mediocre and save jobs.

W

[exodus]

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Richardson has peaked. He's expensive. He's an inefficient scorer. Charlotte probably would've been mediocre to poor with either player, but at least Wright is young, cheap, and has upside.

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I have to disagree strongly here. When he was healthy in the 05-06 season he averaged 23 ppg and shot 38% from 3. Sure he was a bit of a chucker but that is the way they play in GS.

People keep bringing up his salary but there aren't a lot of 20 ppg scorers who make less. And the Cats had a mountain of cap room and a big hole at the 2.

Wright is the most overrated player in the draft. He is a 200 pound powerless forward who can't shoot a jumper and shoots 56% from the line. How is he going defend the post at 200 pounds? Smith weighs 240 and gets pushed around.

As far as Yi goes I watched 8 of his playoff games. He has great speed and agility but really doesn't have much game at all. He can't play the post well because he is so weak he loses the ball frequently whenever he gets hit. His jumper is average and he has no game off the dribble.

I think Law will have much more impact here than Horford. A lot of people think Horford can play center but i don't buy it. I think the Hawks just spent another top 5 pick on a guy who will wind up being Josh Smiths backup.

[TheDude]

atheletic minus actual basketball skill equal POTENTIAL...i'm not sure how people can think that BWright has a higher ceiling than Horford. Does having more muscle constitute a lower ceiling?

[AtLaS]

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Does having more muscle constitute a lower ceiling?

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According to a certain group of posters here, yes.

[BusBoyIsBack]

Having muscle means no potential and so does playing 3+ years in school

So when you combine the two, Horford REALLY doesn't have any potential

That's the logic that people use.

Never mind he has ATHLETICISM in addition to that strength and mass which just screams upside considering it's the players who combine that strength/athleticism and refine their skills who turn into beast. See: Amare and Dwight Howard

Honestly I think people put too much emphasis on wingspan and reach which is why we are inclined to say Wright has more potential than Horford. But really ignoring wingspan how does he have more potential?

I think they both will be all-stars.

Wright will be sick in that Golden State offense and Horford will be sick as he refines his post game and puts on even more strength as he uses that tough size/athleticism combo that's so hard to match up with.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

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I agree all around. I too was of the "gamble" crowd although I don't thinl Yi much of a gamble. Look at my sig to get my summed up feelings. No superstar, no mismatch advantage. It's like we're drafting for some other league or simply to be mediocre and save jobs.

W

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BK and the FO don't have the luxury to gamble on picks at this point.

[Guest Walter]

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BK and the FO don't have the luxury to gamble on picks at this point.

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Consecutive picks like SW and Horford over Roy and Yi may not boot you out sooner but they should and will later.

W