SamFisher, since you think that it's so "easy" to pick players in the high lottery, who has done a better job than Presti? For the past 20-30 years, there have been many teams picking high in the lottery year after year. Which team did better? Presti has drafted not only All-Pro NBA guys, but also drafted well outside of the lotto as well. That was my point. It's not just straight up "luck" as he has hit on so many levels.
You have to remember that Morey's highest draft pick is only at 12, which he used to pick Lamb (Presti picked out Cole Aldrich with a 12th pick once). When you have low first rounders, and you have no superstar on your team, the best you could hope for is a home run talent. Lamb and White are high risk high reward players, and there is no doubt at all that they are supremely talented (White especially is an incredible talent). The problem is they had poor work ethic and questionable personality.
So what about Ibaka? I guess he was a guarantee as well right? Even though how many teams skipped over him?
lol at the homers who claim Morey is a better drafter than Presti lol... morey woulda probably drafted Rubio instead of Harden.. he loves those european players Presti is miles better than Morey as a gm, end of story... this guy is DRAFTING all nba talents and borderline great role players at an alarming rate... and he usually hits on his trades... the only one i can remmeber him messing up was Jeff Green for Kendrick Perkins our best player James Harden is a player that was DRAFTED by presti...
You haven't really been following this thread at all, have you? I can think of plenty of teams that uncovered multiple HOF players in the draft in a short time frame. Any NBA dynasty of modern vintage (bulls, lakers, spurs, celtics etc) has this feature. Many of them didn't even need the lottery. Being gifted Durant required no skill or acumen whatsoever. Picking up Harden and Westbrook required the ability to draft high ranked players high in absolutely stacked drafts, where all NBA level players were available behind them..unless you think they had the foresight to draft highly because of that. So your sample size is basically that he got 2 blackjackso in a row with a deck that had lots of 10s. Man he is good at cards! as for being impressed by late draft role players - I'm not. Pretty much every GM of moderate tenure can point to borderline starters like Steven Adams or Reggie Jackson oN his resume - who gives a ****?
What about Ibaka? How many MVP votes will he get this year? Or all NBA votes? Oh yeah....zero and zero. He's basically plateaued as a slightly above average starter this year. And wit all their injuries, why isn't he taking them on his back? Because he cant and never will bw that kind of guy, most likely. Nice player, solid starter. Thats it. Again, big deal.
Nice player that knows his role and is great at that. Get blocks and shoot the mid range to three. Not only is Presti drafting good players but players that fit and that's what really matters. Players that fit with each other and know their role.
And Steven Adams. He got something for nothing. He didn't have a choice but to trade him because the owners cheap like someone said earlier.
Uhm, Ibaka was a 24th pick. So the criteria to assess a late 1st round pick is now MVP votes and all-nba? You seem a bit biased here, I'd say getting a very solid starter for a contender at pick 24 is extremely good drafting given the careers of late 1st round guys.
You have named 1 person. Good job. Actually, Harden/Westbrook/Durant/Ibaka/Adams is pretty much the same talent level as Parker/Ginobili/Leonard/Duncan/Whoever. Presti has also done this over an 8 year period, as opposed to 15+ years for SA.
Drafting Ibaka at 24 is GREAT. He's a solid starter and that's it? You mean 3x All-Defensive First Team and league leader in blocks for 2 years is just a "solid starter" and "that's it"? Also, why are you speaking about MVP votes with Ibaka? Harden may win the MVP this year. He was drafted by who? Durant won it last year. He was drafted by who? Give me a break, son.
Lakers? You mean when they drafted Magic and Worth with the 1st overall pick? Yeah, that's real hard. Bulls? You mean Michael Jordan. That was the easiest pick in the world once Dream was off the board. Okay, you got me there. Why don't you go through your list and name all the HOF players that GMs uncovered that were not complete "easy" picks at the time (by your definition of course)?
Durant was a no doubt pick. Westbrook moved up the last week before the draft and was considered to be drafted about right. The Knicks were going to take him and other teams were trying to trade into the top 3-5 picks to get him. Harden was also projected as a top 4-5 pick so he wasn't really a reach. Ibaka was a real find and a good draft picks. Adams is meh... He is developing but nothing special. Reggie Jackson isn't getting $15,000,000 a season. Over he has done well in the draft, but keep in consideration to draft picks he has had and the players projected in that area of the draft.
Since many posters are not impressed with Presti, can anyone name 5 current GMs that have done a better job drafting? Also, I don't understand why people are comparing Morey vs. Presti. This is not that thread. Like SamFisher stated, drafting superstars is where it counts, not starters or role players. In this case it would be unfair to compare Morey vs. anyone. However, I included some solid starters drafted by Presti to point out how balanced he can be even when drafting in the twenties.
1) We can't assume anything about what teams would have done. There's so much smoke before the draft every year. Westbrook may not have been on NY's list. Also Bayless, yes Bayless was a highly regarded player and many liked him over Westbrook. He was actually ranked higher than Westbrook. 2) James Harden had a very bad NCAA tourney. There was potential for slippage. Plus, many thought he was not athletic enough to garner a top 5 draft position. 3) We'll disagree on Adams. He may develop into a very nice player, but it will take a few years to find out. 4) Reggie Jackson will get paid this summer. Maybe not $15 million, but his asking price is $14 million plus. Most people thought on here CP25 was going to get only $8 million per year. Yeah, right. Good response though, Nook.
