2017 Dynasty Draft - Pick Selection and Discussion Thread

[lethalweapon3]

I was wracking my brain between Keef, Thad, and JaMajesty (and one other forward, who is probably coming off the board soon). Had a writeup prepped for the other two before circling back to Keef. Great choices, both!

(ooh, and just in case, @capstone21 is up!)

~lw3

[capstone21]

I was taking Green but now he is gone ... 

[capstone21]

Capstone's Crew selects

Dirk Nowitzki 6'10 PF/C

 

Nothing needs to be said about this guy ... he has been there and done it all and is still doing it ... I want that clutch game, experience and veteran leadership added to this roster ... mic dropped

@AHF is up

 

[AHF]

Welp, Ashley is back from her vacation. Enjoyed some time in the sun, phoned in her input on draft picks, and enjoyed some time away from the camera.  Which was, of course, wrong for us to hide this intelligent woman's obvious contributions to the U-Nique's roster or to pretend that she wasn't the driving force behind this roster.

Nevertheless, she is happy to be back in the public eye and ready to take front stage as we make our latest pick.

As an actress, Ashley enjoys occasionally playing against type and subverting expectations.  It adds a bit of drama to the scene and keeps the audience on its toes.  So it is with this pick.

Sure, it makes sense for us to want a perimeter scorer with some experience in case Harden and Kawhi have some down time.  Our next pick does fits that role, having logged over 6000 minutes and a season's worth of starts in his NBA career.  

Sure, the league is starved for talent at the swingman position.  There is an argument to be made that there has never been such a dearth of quality play at the shooting guard position and this young man was the 15th or so best SG last season by every advanced metric - numbers that place him firmly into value territory and well ahead of some other picks at the position that went rounds earlier.  

Sure, this is a young vet who just completed his age 24 season and has improved tremendously setting personal bests the last two years in PER, TS%, WS/48, points, rebounds, steals, assists, etc.; demonstrably improved his play on the defensive end of the court; and became unquestionably stronger both physically and mentally.

That might make sense for us on paper but our pick is:

Tim f'ing Hardaway Jr.

So yeah.  Welcome to the team young man.  Leave that shamockery of a contract in NY and come provide some of the best bench wing play the league will see over the next several years.

U-Niques

Coach:  Gregg Popovich

PG:  Chris Paul / Markelle Fultz / Ricky Rubio

SG:  James Harden / Josh Jackson / Tim Hardaway Jr.

SF:  Kawhi Leonard / Jayson Tatum

PF:  Blake Griffin / Myles Turner

C:  Joel Embiid / Clint Capela

@HopefulHawksFanis back on the clock

 

[HopefulHawksFan]

With my next pick, I select…

 

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

 

Even while playing with ball-hog Andre Drummond, Caldwell-Pope managed to surge offensively.  He averaged 14.1 PPG last season.  He is also a strong perimeter defender.  His ball-handling is improving along with his three-point shot.  At 24 years old, there is plenty of time for him to grow. 

 

With my final pick, I select…

 

Pau Gasol

 

Why not have both Gasol brothers on the same team?  At 36 years old, he’s still effective scoring 12.4 PPG with 7.8 rebounds.  I needed one more big, so he should fill that spot nicely.

 

My final team consists of:

 

Point Guard:  Kyrie Irving / Goran Dragic / Tyler Ulis

Shooting Guard:  Jimmy Butler / Kyle Korver / Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

Small Forward:  Otto Porter, Jr. / Taurean Prince

Power Forward:  Kevin Love / John Collins

Center:  Steven Adams / Marc Gasol / Pau Gasol

Coach:  Eric Spoelstra

 

@AHF You're back on the clock!

Edited August 16, 2017 by HopefulHawksFan

[lethalweapon3]

Junior is finally off the board! Timmy was not among the 224 players taken in last season's draft, and was close to not making the cut in this abbreviated one.

~lw3

[AHF]

There seems to be an embarrassment of riches left at the end of this draft.  A plethora of jewels compared to years past.  It makes Ashley and I smile to pull so many high upside youngsters and get to fill in with young, productive vets at the end of the draft.

We had so many good choices here but felt it came down to reliable production at the end of the draft and this young vet has been nothing other than reliable.  

For his career, he is averaging 17 point and 11 rebounds per 36 and has put up an efficient 18-22 PER every season along with a top 50 range of 5.6-7.5 Win Shares every season.  Indeed, looking at this rookie class it is somewhat remarkable how cheap he is coming in this draft.

Out of his class he ranks #1 in career Win Shares.  #2-5?  Paul George, Gordon Hayward, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins.  Notably, his career win shares are roughly equal to fellow 2010 draftees Derrick Favors and Eric Bledsoe -- combined.  

He didn't do that by starting strong and providing weak performance in recent years.  He has been a steady Eddie, pouring in a nice 18.8 points and 10.6 rebounds per 36 during the last two years, his age 25 and 26 seasons.  Like many of our other players, he did all these things while showing a knack for timely passes on offense. 

His steady play wasn't just reflected in his individuals numbers.  According to 82 games, last season his team was 3.6 better than its average when he was on the floor and 3.4 worse when he was off it for a net +7.0.  His teammate the Greek Freak was net +3.4 by this metric.  We'd still rather have the Freak but that underscores the fact that our latest pick was driving real positive play for his team when he was on the floor.

With our team's depth, we don't need anything spectacular from him.  Come in for limited minutes, beat the boards, make some nice passes, hold the shape of the floor with your polished post game, and be able to flex with our other big men.  We feel very good with the last man off the bench being:

Greg Monroe

U-Niques

Coach:  Gregg Popovich

PG:  Chris Paul / Markelle Fultz / Ricky Rubio

SG:  James Harden / Josh Jackson / Tim Hardaway Jr.

SF:  Kawhi Leonard / Jayson Tatum

PF:  Blake Griffin / Myles Turner

C:  Joel Embiid / Clint Capela / Greg Monroe

@capstone21 is up for his last pick

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

Honestly forgot about Greg.  Great pick this late in the draft!

[Buzzard]

3 hours ago, AHF said:

Welp, Ashley is back from her vacation. Enjoyed some time in the sun, phoned in her input on draft picks, and enjoyed some time away from the camera.  Which was, of course, wrong for us to hide this intelligent woman's obvious contributions to the U-Nique's roster or to pretend that she wasn't the driving force behind this roster.

Nevertheless, she is happy to be back in the public eye and ready to take front stage as we make our latest pick.

As an actress, Ashley enjoys occasionally playing against type and subverting expectations.  It adds a bit of drama to the scene and keeps the audience on its toes.  So it is with this pick.

Sure, it makes sense for us to want a perimeter scorer with some experience in case Harden and Kawhi have some down time.  Our next pick does fits that role, having logged over 6000 minutes and a season's worth of starts in his NBA career.  

Sure, the league is starved for talent at the swingman position.  There is an argument to be made that there has never been such a dearth of quality play at the shooting guard position and this young man was the 15th or so best SG last season by every advanced metric - numbers that place him firmly into value territory and well ahead of some other picks at the position that went rounds earlier.  

Sure, this is a young vet who just completed his age 24 season and has improved tremendously setting personal bests the last two years in PER, TS%, WS/48, points, rebounds, steals, assists, etc.; demonstrably improved his play on the defensive end of the court; and became unquestionably stronger both physically and mentally.

That might make sense for us on paper but our pick is:

Tim f'ing Hardaway Jr.

So yeah.  Welcome to the team young man.  Leave that shamockery of a contract in NY and come provide some of the best bench wing play the league will see over the next several years.

U-Niques

Coach:  Gregg Popovich

PG:  Chris Paul / Markelle Fultz / Ricky Rubio

SG:  James Harden / Josh Jackson / Tim Hardaway Jr.

SF:  Kawhi Leonard / Jayson Tatum

PF:  Blake Griffin / Myles Turner

C:  Joel Embiid / Clint Capela

@HopefulHawksFanis back on the clock

 

I like Tim especially this late and you won't be paying him 17 a year! I like Ashley more!

Edited August 16, 2017 by Buzzard

[Buzzard]

40 minutes ago, AHF said:

There seems to be an embarrassment of riches left at the end of this draft.  A plethora of jewels compared to years past.  It makes Ashley and I smile to pull so many high upside youngsters and get to fill in with young, productive vets at the end of the draft.

We had so many good choices here but felt it came down to reliable production at the end of the draft and this young vet has been nothing other than reliable.  

For his career, he is averaging 17 point and 11 rebounds per 36 and has put up an efficient 18-22 PER every season along with a top 50 range of 5.6-7.5 Win Shares every season.  Indeed, looking at this rookie class it is somewhat remarkable how cheap he is coming in this draft.

Out of his class he ranks #1 in career Win Shares.  #2-5?  Paul George, Gordon Hayward, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins.  Notably, his career win shares are roughly equal to fellow 2010 draftees Derrick Favors and Eric Bledsoe -- combined.  

He didn't do that by starting strong and providing weak performance in recent years.  He has been a steady Eddie, pouring in a nice 18.8 points and 10.6 rebounds per 36 during the last two years, his age 25 and 26 seasons.  Like many of our other players, he did all these things while showing a knack for timely passes on offense. 

His steady play wasn't just reflected in his individuals numbers.  According to 82 games, last season his team was 3.6 better than its average when he was on the floor and 3.4 worse when he was off it for a net +7.0.  His teammate the Greek Freak was net +3.4 by this metric.  We'd still rather have the Freak but that underscores the fact that our latest pick was driving real positive play for his team when he was on the floor.

With our team's depth, we don't need anything spectacular from him.  Come in for limited minutes, beat the boards, make some nice passes, hold the shape of the floor with your polished post game, and be able to flex with our other big men.  We feel very good with the last man off the bench being:

Greg Monroe

U-Niques

Coach:  Gregg Popovich

PG:  Chris Paul / Markelle Fultz / Ricky Rubio

SG:  James Harden / Josh Jackson / Tim Hardaway Jr.

SF:  Kawhi Leonard / Jayson Tatum

PF:  Blake Griffin / Myles Turner

C:  Joel Embiid / Clint Capela / Greg Monroe

@capstone21 is up for his last pick

I took Monroe way earlier than this last season. Another very good late pick! Still like Ashley more especially in this outfit!

Edited August 16, 2017 by Buzzard

[capstone21]

Capstone's Crew selects:

Jamal Murray 6'5 SG/PG

This kid is on the verge of a Devin Booker type breakout party ... he has all the tools ... bbiq, ball handling, 3 point range and scoring ability ... we think his potential is too much to ignore and the fact that he wears the maple leaf doesn't hurt either.

@Diesel you are up

[capstone21]

3 hours ago, AHF said:

Greg Monroe

 

 

Wow, you found the one time he played Defense :)

[AHF]

20 minutes ago, capstone21 said:

Wow, you found the one time he played Defense :)

lol  - yeah, he isn't an elite shotblocker like Embiid or Turner but he did average almost 2 steals and 1 block per 36 last season.  He has active hands and subpar positional D. 

[Diesel]

With our final pick of the draft... the Atlanta Ganstaslappas select:

Jeremy Lin.

 

 

Somebody must have known that I wanted THJr.

[AHF]

20 minutes ago, Diesel said:

Somebody must have known that I wanted THJr.

I was pleasantly surprised when you didn't beat me to the punch.

[LucastheThird]

Last pick:

Buddy Hield

Age: 23

Per-Game Stats: 10.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.1 blocks

Advanced Metrics: 11.7 player efficiency rating (PER), minus-3.62 real plus/minus (RPM), minus-96.04 total points added (TPA)

@lethalweapon3 is due up for his last pick

[AHF]

Sacto absolutely believes in Buddy.  Should have every opportunity to shine.

[lethalweapon3]

With the 123^rd pick of the 2017 Hawksquawk Summer Dynasty Draft, the Lethal Flexibility selects:

How did Cody Zeller (Center / Power Forward, 7’0”, 240 lbs., Age 24 as of 10/1/2017, if only for a few more days) ever become known as “The Big Handsome”, anyway? Beats me. Heck, I’ve been known around town as The Big Doofus and nobody can explain why, either!

We’ll wrap up this thing with a bow around our final selection in this space, tout de suite. Okay, maybe more like tomorrow. But until then, we have a final coaching pick to announce, and for that, it is time to make like Bray Wyatt, and Follow The @Buzzard!

 

THE LETHAL FLEXIBILITY

PG: Wardell Stephen Curry II, Lonzo Anderson Ball

SG: James Khristian Middleton, Gary Harris, Bogdan Bogdanovic

SF: Benjamin Simmons, Robert Covington

PF: Draymond Jamal Green, Markieff Morris, Dario Saric

C: Nikola Jokic, Nikola Vucevic, Cody Allen Zeller

COACH: Jason Frederick Kidd

 

~lw3

[Buzzard]

On one hand it is hard to believe this coach is still here; but on the other I definetely think it speaks volumes to Diesel and I's previous conversation. He is no longer a darling of the league. But I also think it gives credence to my opinion that there are 5 to 10 solid coaches in The NBA. What we are getting here is a seasoned winner with eight Playoff appearances, three Conference finals appearances, and one NBA Finals appearance.

We think this coach will love our bigs while also getting to stretch the floor as far as he wants with our shooters. Pretty much what he did in Orlando; but now he has better players instead of worse like in Detroit. Nothing much to add here; his record and playoff appearances speak for themselves.

Please welcome to the Flock Stan "The Man " Van Gundyyyyy!

Back before Dwight caused him to lose all his hair:

 

 

 

 

@pimp is up.

Edited August 17, 2017 by Buzzard

[LucastheThird]

39 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

 But until then, we have a final coaching pick to announce, and for that, it is time to make like Bray Wyatt, and Follow The @Buzzard!

 

 

Hey...the wrestling puns are my territory