Your assuming the rosters we see now are the rosters that they want to play with and that they don't make any moves besides the draft. Either team could believe Ivey is special and could trade away others to make room. I could see the Thunder selling high on G-A and getting assets and then drafting Ivey. OKC needs star power and are likely willing to make some moves to get those stars locked up for awhile.
Prefer the latter, but can't complain with PB and Kess. Kess would likely see 15-20 mins a game behind Alpi and that would give us some versatility at the 5 spot.
Tate/Garuba Banchero/KJM KPJ/TyTy Green/Mathews Wood/Sengun 3 ball threats in Green, Mathews, Wood, KMJ and KPJ. Midrange threat with Banchero. Inside game with Wood, Sengun, Green, KMJ, KPJ, Tate and TyTy. Key factor is that if you take out Banchero, we are back to not having a midrange threat. We have okay midrange shooter but no actual midrange threat. Banchero comes in with an NBA ready midrange game--even if he looks like a Lord of the Rings extra.
Yea I went to a Big Ten school and still follow my school so I watch quite a bit of the B1G network. I was also in Milwaukee for part of the tourney so I saw him live a couple of times. He is athletic, he is black and he wears his dreads the same way. That's the extent of their similarities. Just my opinion from what I saw.
Because he will get destroyed in the pnr and trying to switch to elite wing players that run the NBA playoffs.
Smith doesn’t need to be a playmaking or passing guard. Yes he needs to polish up his dribble drive and finish in the paint but that’s workable. He is a superior shooter and defender and as long as he plays within his skill set and constraints he will be ok and I liken him to klay Thompson. Doesn’t try to do too much one on one. Drives the lane when there’s an opening. Spot up shoot or pull up shoot. Pass and move behind flares and screens etc. He would be very effective that way. That’s why I think Keegan Murray is better overall. But smith can be a star like klay or Rashard lewis were.
Similar to Green, Mobley, and Cade I think all of Paolo, Smith and Chet are going to be great players. All have weaknesses and unique elite skills. We are damn lucky to get Paolo at 3. Trade Wood for Myles Turner and we are .500 next year. Then Wall and Gordon come off the books and you can add a max FA.
That's what losers do. 76ers drafted center after center after center. Kings draft DeAaron Fox then Haliburton then Davion Mitchell Rockets spending two first round picks and then drafting Banchero..... finding out Sengun -Banchero works much worse than Wood-Sengun. Magic had a ROTY candidate in Franz Wagner.....drafting Jabari is a waste. Teams think they are upgrading when actually they are just going in circles. Still losing. Keep in mind the PG SG position is getting saturated and teams don't want to give a lot as they are becoming plentiful (supply and demand). Being #3 the Rockets are assured of a chance to draft one of the players I prefer, in Jabari or Ivey. Rockets spent two first round picks for Sengun.....they aren't getting equal value back. If you know GM's in the league, none of them want to admit failure. With exception to the Kings GM who drafted Haliburton and then followed up that with drafting Mitchell.......dumb, dumb, dumb. That's Vlade Divac old regime wanting European Eastern block talent. It's just Dumb. Yeah your right, these teams are unpredictable and capable of doing anything.......defies logic to me. You flip houses to make a profit, you flip cars to make a profit, you flip land to make a profit.....in the NBA you draft best player available, invest money (salary), time, effort, development, training......to make a player better for his future team. Most often taking a loss in the process. Edited: my dad would make fun of Gruden and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when they had Brad Johnson, Chris Simms, and Brian Griese. The rule of thumb being when you have two quarterbacks or three quarterbacks.....then you have none in actuality. None get the playing time needed to truly progress. When you have 5 Centers like the 76ers did.....then you have none. Guys like Okafor, Nerlens, R Holmes, Amir Johnson get frustrated and mad.....demand a trade. Value lessens.
Guess I am in the minority and that's okay. I was in the minority last season with Mobley. I was in the minority with Clint. Clint wasn't very popular pick on here. Some fans here were upset when Clint opted to play his rookie season instead of playing in Europe. Anyways .. Jaden Ivey is my pick. Hope Stone won't be making the mistake of not picking Ivey bcse of KPJ. Ivey will be a superstar. I just don't like Banchero. He will be a solid NBA player. I don't like Jabari at 3 or higher.
You are absolutely right. I intended to write elite shooter. If he were an elite scorer (as in also great at driving to the basket and creating his own shots) he would be the first pick no questions asked.
I keep coming back to the restricted free agent class. What if the Rockets were to offer Phoenix a package of something like number 3 and Christian Wood for Ayton and a top 15 protected first like 2 years from now? Would Phoenix take that? I think that works out for both teams as Phoenix is likely to be willing to blow it up and shake things up a bit considering they may lose Ayton anyways. Then, if there's a prospect we like in the mid-lste lottery, you can still trade up for that guy. I think that gives you a chance to shorten your rebuild window by potentially 2 years. You're also getting a known player.
Banchero has big time scorer potential. I would like to see him slim down some and get quicker. If he doesn’t go 1 or 2, I’d be run to podium and pick him at 3. At 17 I’d go for Eason, Leonard Miller, or Kendall Brown.
