We need to tank more. I was high on Donatas last year but after watching him play this year he hasn't gotten any better.
He doesn't remind me of Morris Almond at all. Firstly, one played at Rice while the other plays in the Big 12. Almond was also predominately a shooter. Burks on the other hand is a very versatile offensive player who can score from anywhere on the court. He is a big time scorer (#2 in the Big 12) and more importantly, is a guy that can take over a game. He gets to the free throw line at a high rate (6th in NCAA) and plays big in crunch time. For instance last night, he almost single handedly led a late charge to upset Kansas (ended up losing by 4). He is leading Colorado to a likely tourney bid on a team with a ton of flaws (most notably, they have no center and only 2 forwards, they play a 5 guard set a good portion of the time.) I have watched him a ton over the past 2 seasons and like his game a lot. I figure at 12-14, you take the best player available rather than a positional need.
Are the comparisons to Bargnani accurate? (Big guy that shoots and doesn't do much else) Jonas Valanciunas seems like he could be a defensive presence in the paint. Potentially projected as an Andris Biedrins type defender with legitimate offensive skills. He's only 18 so I imagine he probably won't be contributing to any team right away, or he might not even enter this years draft.
Do you guys think Kyrie will still enter the draft despite missing a majority of the season? I mean we all know dude has game from the little that we did see, but I think he should stay and get a FULL season in. Or maybe I'm just saying that because I want to see how much damage a Irving-Rivers backcout can do :grin:
He'll enter the draft if he is at all healthy by the combines/workouts. He'll be a Top 5 pick despite the injury this year, so I see not reason for him to not come out. There is a chance a lock out could shorten the season, but I'm not sure I could see the NBA allowing an entire season to be lost due to CBA politiking. If it seems the entire season will be locked out, then he would likely go back to Duke, as would possibly most of the underclassmen.
The deadline for underclassmen to declare for the NBA Draft is at least two months before any form of lockout would even begin. There is literally NO WAY that any of these kids will know what will happen with labor negotiations between July and October that would even begin to cut into the regular season. Remember, the first money these kids "officially" get isn't their signing bonuses when they sign their first round rookie scale contracts. It's from their agents and other parties lending money to what is by then a highly credit-worthy borrower (given the impending multi-million dollar contract he will sign). Do you think those kids show up to the NBA Draft is suits that their moms bought them on clearance at K&G??? Guys like Perry Jones, Kyrie Irving and Jared Sullinger will do just fine during a lockout, moneywise. They'll get a bunch of money from their agents and the like, then they'll sign their rookie contracts whenever the lockout ends (teams will want those guys in their team gym ASAP after the lockout) and have their mid-term financial security locked up. Now, guys who are projected as late first rounders? THEY might choose to stay in order to avoid the lockout issues and in order to improve their draft stock for 2012. But even then, some guys have to realize that getting drafted in the first round in 2012 will be even tougher, given the extra class of one-and-doners coming in. Bottom line: Unless there are serious reservations about Irving's injury, he'll be just fine declaring for the draft this year.
I really wish we had an additional mid 1st rd pick from a team like Memphis, Philly or Charlotte. I'd really like to pick one of either Kemba Walker, Josh Selby or Brandon Knight, either via our lottery pick or the additional mid 1st rounder i'd like to get... I'd think getting a high upside score 1st pg to replace Aaron off the bench would be great. Hell, they could even start, if we replace Martin with Williams, who's a natural playmaker himself... (ex: PG:Walker ; SG:Williams) creating a potential mismatch on the offense and defensive end, making our back court awesome, young and explosive!
In one of the weaker draft classes in recently memory, I can't really complain with Donatas Motiejunas at #12. The Bargnani comparisons are scary but the kid is incredibly talented and maybe Rick and the staff can get through to him unlike how Toronto did with Bargnani.
In fairness, while I was not necessarily one of them, there were those who thought that Morey would draft Patrick Patterson as a replacement for Carl Landry. I had figured that Patterson would be off the board before the Rockets picked, though.
