I remember a few years back when people wanted blatche. after 4 yrs or so, he's a legit player and he's what 23 or so. The payoff of getting a high upside guy at 14 spot should trump getting a solid guy. Bynum was an upside guy and although injuries have minimized what he can be, he's still a pretty good player and his talent might land them bosh. GM's always like take talent whether their fully developed or not. If they need to move up a spot or 2 to get him, so be it if they think that strongly about him. I don't want to see another maxed out,solid player. They have those by the dozens.
I would take Whiteside. People are too stuck thinking of now when we need to develop projects just like him. Yao ain't gonna be around forever you know. Heck, we'll see if he is still any good post-surgery first. Basically, I'm ok with a project as long as he has loads of potential. Hassan has that. I just wouldn't spend a top 10 pick on him, that's all. 14? That's almost not the lottery, it's ok then. You guys shouldn't be surprised if someone picks him up before we do to be honest.
If 7'6'' wingspan gets Patrick o'Bryant picked in the top 10, it can do the same for other guys, too.
Ping! It's one thing to say Whiteside is good and I'm sure he's good but another to compare him to freaking KG. And someone said we were underrating him in this thread. Please Raptors, take Whiteside and let Donatas drop.
I think the funniest comparison so far was a bigger Dwight Howard with a jump shot. (Don't remember where I read it though but still funny :grin: )
Physically, He is every bit as freakish as Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett... He also has a natural smoothness about him... All that's keeping him from being a star is the motor, which remains to be seen...
In the end if we cant get bosh or move up in the draft Whiteside is NOT as bad as it looks even if he dosent ever meet his full potential he would still be a good back up center at 7 ft and a great asset to make a good trade
All they said was that he moves(agile) like KG, and its true if you've seen him play ... he can get away with playing the PF position.... Well from the early looks of it, Toronto seem's to like Daniel Orton's size and physical presence to put next Bargnani.... so they probably not going to take Whiteside & Memphis is already full of big's and are probably looking for a wing player at their position In case they lose Rudy Gay.... I was the one who said that and "iconoclastic" made a similar reference as well (earlier in this thread), thank you very much ... and yes I do think he has that type of ceiling ... His athleticism is on par with Dwight(with Whiteside having superior length), but unlike Howard, Whiteside already has a developing jump shot, that despite being in the league for 6yrs Dwight has yet to even remotely develop! With all this said if he impresses GM's at individual Workouts and does good in the interviews, don't be surprise to see this guy go as high as the 5th pick... PS. "saitja2" & "REEKO_HTOWN" .... Spoiler :grin: --RB
I'm not hating the guy and i think that neither is REEKO. What I meant by that "Howard with a better jump shot is funny " comment was that if general managers and professional scouts thought there would be a good chance of that happening, we wouldn't be discussing if Whiteside is a good choice at 14th pick. If Whiteside was that good of a prospect, the discussion would be: In addition to John Wall, what is Philadelphia willing to give up to move up to 1st spot? Dwight Howard, a little bit bigger one at that, with a good jump shot is most likely a top-5 center of all time. There's no way anybody could stop him if he could score from outside the paint reliably. I would say the chances of Hassan ever becoming a superstar in this league are less than 5 percent. He is older than the rest of his class, there are questions about his work ethic, attitude, ability to gain strength, basketball iq, court vision, coachability... etc. With that much questionmarks, most likely he will never reach even an all star game in this league. In cases like this, the ultimate ceiling isn't the best way to assess the player. I would say the more important question is: What is the probable outcome and is it worth the 14th pick in this draft? Of course Morey knows this too and if he finds that Hassan is likely to be a player in this league, I have no problem with picking him and will happily cheer for him when he plays for us.
Thats a sick sick reach and its paired with athletism. Expect this kid to vault up the draft boards the last few days of the draft.
Unless he has basketball instincts and a good basketball IQ, do not want. Especially the instincts...if a guy doesn't have a reasonable sense of what is going on within a basketball game and is just running solo and not within the team game, he's not going to make it. And that kind of thing is hard to teach ... either a guy is capable of comprehending the complexities of the game and knows much of it already after several years of playing, or they aren't going to get it. That kind of reach is remarkable, but we've seen talent flutter out of the league in front of our eyes with Eddie Griffin and Stromile Swift. Not saying that Whiteside doesn't have the instincts, because I don't know. But I am always hesitant to draft a raw big man only based on height and athleticism. The main thing that impressed me so much with Jordan Hill was how well he knew where to be on the court and how to play certain situations...he very much understands his capabilities. It's very hard to explain, but I can just see it in some players and don't in others.
Pritchard and Morey want to move up to #3 or #4. Both teams have injury an injury prone bigman who was taken #1 overall. It wouldn't be suprising that both are going after the same player, i.e. Roy and Fernandez. Whiteside and Cousins would make perfect sense.
Whiteside is a scary pick. He could be a bust. He could be great. He could be average. 14 would be a very good spot to pick him as long as he is sent down to D League to start season and get muscle. I see him as a PF in the NBA until he adds muscle to play center position.
