International under the radar I see I see. Ok but I read/heard about Kanter, Valanciunas, Vesely, Biyombo, Motiejunas, Mirotic, Jeremy Tyler, Davis Bertans, Omri Casspi, Rodrigue Beaubois, Sergio Llull, etc... before they were worked out in the NBA combine. Generally they had enough talent and made enough noise where they played overseas that their names showed in mock drafts. All I've seen/familiarized is Evan Fournier, Augusto Lima, Lucas Nogueira, Alessandro Gentile, and Rudy Gobert. Most are projected in the 2013 draft even though they could enter this draft. Fournier looks ok...has potential but nothing special. I liked Kanter, Valanciunas, Motiejunas, and Bertans(boy can shoot). Maybe I'm mistaken. Is there any international players that can make some noise and raise their draft stock for 2012 draft? Anyone tearing it up overseas that hasn't been drafted yet?
Completely unrealistic, there's no way Knicks are getting 6 or 7 pick. Even if they collapse it will be at best 9 or 10.
Lockout Causing Excess International Drafting ...That is a great point. I still believe all the international players in the first round would have been drafted regardless of lockout. Maybe not near as high...some in the 2nd round...but still drafted. There were 3 lottery picks, 4 if you count Kanter, that were international players. Now 2011 was a "weak" draft class but lottery picks to stash away? There isn't but a couple of players projected to go in the first round of 2012 or 2013 draft. Potentially Dario Saric, Evan Fournier, Lucas Nogueira, Rudy Gobert and a few others might go in the first round 2012 or 2013. MIGHT. And none will be in the lottery. Maybe the 2011 international class is just plain better.
Having 3 mid to low 1st rounders may not be a good thing because it is going to eat up our cap space with a that many rookie role players. Unless... 1. we can flip the three picks for a higher pick, or 2. we draft a couple of foreign players and stash them in Europe for a while.
First round picks outside of the top ten aren't that expensive. Regardless #1 is the best course of action, I agree.
We are having only 2 picks if we make the playoffs if I am right. So only 2 picks to flip for a higher one potentially.
There is always a possibility that the ping pong balls may drop in our favour...I can still remember the Orlando Magic getting shaq with a 41-41 record and 9th place in he east. Who knows, we are due a lucky break.
If their pick does any "moving up" in the lotto due to luck, it's automatically a top 3 pick, in which case they keep it. Not good for us.
Atl L @Cle W Mem L @Was W Cle W Cha W Por W OKC L NYK W @Det W Ind W @Was W @Ind L NJN W Tor W Phi L @Bos L The Bucks last 10 games are 7-3... I can see them going 11-6 to finish off, at worst 9-8. They could / should finish with anywhere from 34-32 to 32-34 record...enough to squeeze out the Knicks if they collapse, as expected. Go Bucks!
Go Bucks! I hope you're right. The Bucks did beat the Hawks last night. Plus they have 10 home games and only 5 away games left for the season. Just don't see them getting two 4 game winning streaks. Just don't see them beating Cleveland and Washington twice. Don't seem like a consistent team to beat teams worse than themselves. Probably will surprise and beat a good though. Knicks need to go on a losing streak. They just keep winning. Knicks have a tough stretch though with 13 out of 17 games being with playoff teams or teams trying to make the playoffs.
Actually, that happened in 1993, after Shaq's rookie year. The Magic won the Chris Webber sweepstakes but ended up trading down with Golden State for the #3 pick (Penny Hardaway) and 2-3 future first rounders. Either way, it was amazing luck and was actually the impetus for the league shifting to the current lottery structure, which much more heavily tilts the odds in favor of the crappy teams and away from teams that, you know, actually try to compete.
I know that its wrong...and I really am enjoying watching the rockets...but I want them to miss the play offs. This is the year...tired of waiting... we have to make a big splash...over pay the bobcats to get the no 1 pick. Trade our pick and the knicks pick and morris ...or give them martin, scola...or heck maybe even a lowry deal if we sign dragic. We have the assets...the glut of good players...and possibly 3 picks. Lets go all in...get the best play in the draft and just pray. Davis is exactly what we need. A super athletic PF...that has potential to be a super star.
OFFICIAL: Amare is out 2-4 weeks! http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/_/id/7746572/new-york-knicks-lose-amare-stoudemire-2-4-weeks
Knicks got a woody (Mike Woodson)! Word play aside, we need another Knicks collapse. Not sure if well see one, even without Amare. Looks like they have a good cushion since the knicks got Mike D to quit in the Morning and got Wood.
Well, the saga continues ....unfortunate for them(and Amare), but predictable nevertheless. They've gone on a heck of a streak since jettisoning Pringles ... Here though,the schedule BUCKS UP as the Knicks come back down to earth finding themselves with Woodson over on the sidelines, Melo, Melo ,Melo on the court along with his buddy Baron Davis (who isn't even in the ball park of being the player he WAS). Jeremy Lin's knee isn't right...tired and lugging into the stretch, the Knicks slow down, hitting freefall and are easily closed out by the Deer. This is the best part of the play/rollercoaster ride .........
Sadly, missing the playoffs isn't going to accomplish any of the things you hope to accomplish. No team holding the #1 overall pick is going to trade it to Houston. Period. Meanwhile, the Rockets have almost zero chance of getting any better than the #12 pick, and that's assuming that the Rockets flat out go in the tank. Who is there at #12 that screams out "superstar" who won't either (a) be there at #15 or (b) could be attained by moving up a few spots using #15 and #22? What will [the #12, #15 and #22 picks] get you that [the #15 and #22 picks plus a young Rockets player] won't get you? Any team willing to trade down will want depth. Otherwise, they'd just keep their higher pick. Sorry, outside of the 0.5-0.7% chance of getting Anthony Davis, I just don't see any sort of huge upside to NOT making the playoffs this year. I don't mean to be a buzzkill to the pro-tanking crowd, but that ship (the one where the Rockets could be bad and hope for a good draft pick) sailed by mid-season. Personally, I'd rather make the playoffs, pay off NJ, and enter the 2012-13 season either as an improved team via offseason moves or as a rebuilding team that can either end up ACTUALLY getting a top pick in next year's draft (and a chance at Nerlens Noel or Shabbaz Muhammed, both of whom would go ahead of anyone in this year's draft except for Davis) or can entice another team to trade us their star in exchange for a package that includes the CHANCE to draft one of those guys.
The thing is I don't see any upside to actually making the playoffs this year. I would guess we have the same odds of actually getting out of the first round if we make it. Do you honestly forsee us winning a playoff series, or having good odds? I'd rather take my minuscule chance of winning the lotto, or even have the pick slotted a selection earlier considering that one spot ahead could be where the guy you want goes. I'd rather take my chances with two lotto picks and a 3rd 1st than a first round exit for us and the Knicks.
