What player do YOU want to select in the 2022 NBA Draft?

I have Chet at 1. I want Stone to select the player who works the hardest to overcome his shortcomings i.e. physical, mental and skills by draft time.

 

I think Paolo will be Stone's first choice within the top 3. Stone may look for additional scoring, passing and rebounding, size and experience with Paolo, even with Sengun's presence.

I think he might go after Mark Williams with the 17th pick. There is a possibility of packaging Sengun and JC, to move up in the draft for perhaps Ivey, if he's dissatisfied with KPJ. KPJ may be moved afterwards, if Ivey becomes a Rocket.

I wouldn't mind Mark Williams at 17, Chet is my choice within the top 3 picks. I want to retain Sengun.

 

Trade back to Sharpe at #5 & Kendall Brown are my targets. I also want to move Porter, Tate, Wood, Gordon & Nwaba the returns can be now or later just want them gone. Then we only get tall 2 way players that do at least one thing really well on either side of the ball. Start coaching and developing the team. Defense matters more than offense because it’s a mindset that never fails and is always needed.

 

okay let’s have the Kendall Brown debate. Didn’t watch him enough in college but seems like a polarizing prospect. What makes him special in your opinion?

I don’t want to draft Sharpe unless he’s a PG or a wing. Is he either? Drafting shooting guards back to back with two top 5 picks seems dumb.

 

Brown’s size, defense (1-4) and b-ball IQ. He is a 2 way player that plays above the rim & he doesn’t need the ball to be effective, he will make the game easier for our team because he plays team ball. He is a great cutter and I believe his shot will come around quickly.

Jabari Smith or trade back. I am a firm believer Sengun & Garuba are both solid starting players that fit well together & need room and time to grow. The league is guard driven. Brandon Roy is his comparison so I think wing. Shaedon was the best recruit from a year ago. He still should be the best or top 3 player now? He got into politics with Kentucky but that does not diminish his skill and talent. Green will just be better because other teams will have to honor Sharpe, too. I am all about the tryouts to see what happens and where he stacks up (Porter’s role is needed but he is a time bomb just ticking away. It’s not a big deal till he is paid. So we shouldn’t pay him)

Here my thought. If we get the best player and net an asset or two then Stone is doing his job.

 

When you look at the advanced stats ..... its not even close. Chet by a dozen lengths.

 

Problem is advanced stats dont take things like health into account. For example look at Zion and his advanced stats in college. The stats didnt know he'll.put 30 additional pounds between draft and NBA game day.

Chet has ridiculous stats but thats in college env not the NBA. Of coirse most of that will translate and I expect him to be a high impact player but we dont know how body takes the NBA style pounding and if he can gain weight considering he only gained 5 pounds all year.

Smith and Banchero have none of those issues. I'd be happy with any of these 3 but theres no denying Chet's unique frame makes him risker than the other 2 prospects.

 

You're trying to make your point by comparing the complete opposite? Yes, we can name plenty of players that gained too much weight and then got injured. How many players have suffered injuries because of too much paint bullying or being too skinny? I can't think of a single one aside from maybe Shaun Livingston.

The "NBA style pounding" that ruins 99% of careers is the pounding they inflict on themselves by gaining fat or muscle, not what others inflict. Yao Ming gained too much muscle, Zion gained too much fat. Kobe, in his later years lost like 15 or 20 pounds to extend his career. The player that took the most abuse in league history played at 160 pounds and 4% body fat, Allen Iverson. And yes, almost all of his contact was in the paint by much bigger players, in a much rougher era.

I think of all of this gaining muscle talk is warranted, but drastically exaggerated. I also agree that he is riskier to gauge, but we shouldn't ignore that he is the best prospect because of his weight like many did with Durant. Coincidentally, that draft had 2 7-footers at the top, one with a bullyproof body and one who couldn't bench the bar. He we are 15 years later and KD just had probably the best achillles recovery in league history, while Oden hasn't played in over a decade.

This league isn't the Jordan Rules Pistons anymore, it's actually the softest of my lifetime. Let's assume Chet gets bullied like people suggest and gains significant muscle, he may lose something that makes him a Unicorn in his ability to guard 1-5. I'll take my chances with Chet the way he is vs him gaining too much weight and losing his mobility.

 

I think Chet then Jabari. That being said, I don’t think anyone in this class has top 10 or even top 20 potential. I think ultimately it might be a deeper draft than last year, but last year’s draft had 4 guys that I think will have better careers than anybody in this draft. That’s why I think this year we should draft for need. I also think the brain trust is not so sure they want 2 more rookies. My guess is the rockets trade their 17th either with other assets for veteran help or for future draft picks or if needed and possible to move up for Chet or Jabari.

 

How do you quantify Iverson taking the most abuse in league history?

Stop with the KD comparisons he was measured at 6'9" during the combine and he played the 2 his first year in the league.

KD was not expected to come in and be a defensive force. Additional while Chet's advanced metrics look great when you look at those same numbers for his 11 Non-Conference games his offensive numbers drop significantly. Like two different players.

The drop in defensive numbers is negligible, no concern there.

So yea there is huge risk in drafting primarily a defensive player with frame concerns. These predraft workouts will be crucial for the top 5-6 players. There could be alot of movement.

 

Currently AI is 6th all time in Free Throws Attempted per game, behind Wilt, Petit, West, Mikan and Shaq. Every Player on that list is over 6'9, except the 6'3 West. Shaq and WIlt shouldn't count because they were intentionally soft fouled throughout their career just to get them to the free throw line. Also, the conversation is about taking abuse, so there is a difference between fouling a 300lb player and 160lb player.

The only one of those guys that comes close to Iveson's size Jerry West. West played in much softer era, where the big men didn't weight train like the guys in the 90's did. Kevin Willis, Karl Malone, David Robinson, Ben Wallace, Shaq, etc. The NBA body was very, very different in West's era. Wilt, who was a specimen in West's era was nicknamed "the gentle giant" because held back a lot of his strength because he didn't want to hurt players.

I get your point, it's an unquantifiable statement I made. That said, I think I have a strong argument.

Let's move on to KD. We can debate what KD's true height was when he was drafted, as that stat has been dubious for players between 1980-2010, but assuming he grew his rookie season, he has still played 95% of his career as 7 footer. I haven't heard anyone refer to KD as 6'9 since his rookie season.

My point was, people were concerned about KD's ability to be an offensive savant because of his weight, just like people are concerned about Chet being a defensive savant because of his weight. Being an elite defensive center and an elite rim protector used to be the same thing, but not anymore. What makes Chet elite is that he is quick enough to disrupt players on the perimeter and guard positions 1-5. We can't just discuss Chet's ability to guard back to the basket centers(which is rare now) while excluding his ability to guard the other 80% of the NBA that play positions 1-4. Look at the Jazz, we may see the best rim protector in the league get traded this off season because centers that can only guard the paint will still win you 50 games, but struggle in the playoffs when smarter and better teams hunt you on the perimeter.

 

The idea that Chet is primarily a defensive player is simply wrong.


His offensive metrics are better than Banchero top to bottom and the only metric Jabari was better is 3 point percentage - Every other statistic Chet was far and away better.

Chet's Offensive rating was 127. Jabari 116.5 and Paolo 113.8 .... that's 10.5 points higher than Jabari's offensive rating. That's 9 percent better.

With Chet you are getting an elite offensive player who also happens to be a great defender.

 

Watch how they try to spin these metrics QAnon style.

 

Talking about 17 and need (I know I know BPA yeah yeah) kinda makes me angry again about the Eric Gordon situation. IMO the team really needs to be investing in multiple guys that could potentially be that Bam A/Siakem type of modern big man that every team needs.

If we really could have gotten another later 1st this year and Stone just thought… eh we don’t WANT any more rookies, he’s dead wrong. Eason, Butler, Miller, etc…. this is a draft that has depth in it for high upside modern day NBA utility bigs. We need to make sure that when we are good again that we aren’t playing another 6’4” center again and we are able to match up to every other contender who has the ability to kill us inside with length and athleticism. This is the draft to take multiple players when you can get them.

I would hope that Stone is lying and really they are open to acquiring more picks in this draft, and Wood, Gordon, and even Tate are all three being shopped right now to improve our ability to get more draft assets. I say what I said above but also see a need to get more 23 and 24 picks too knowing the Westbrook draft debits are coming.

 

My response was directed to a poster again comparing a freshman KD to a freshman Holmgren. KD was drafted on his offensive ability Chet for his defense.

You can list offensive rating all you want but that's points produced per 100 possessions... Chet was the 3rd/4th option and his offense was primarily out of the dunkers spot or a spot up/trailing 3.

Offensive rating favors players like that. Which is why you see those type of big men with high ortg DeAndre Jordan types or Ryan Anderson. I would imagine if Bruno played more minutes he would have lead the rockets this year.

As a Rocket fan advanced stats are cool but they have to match what we see on court. No one is going to sell me on Ryan Anderson again. Not comparing Chet to Anderson but just stating I don't care too much about people listing ortg for prospects.

 

Chet
Paolo
Ivey
Murray
Mathurin

I'm out on Smith and Sharpe in our range.

 

this is why I was in the Green Gang last summer. You can't teach measurables or work ethic.

 

when CP3 pulled a hamstring against the warriors Murray was as old as Jabari is right now.

 

We need fighters. Players with a burning desire to win and be their best.

Chet has that in spades and also a unique frame that allows him to be a difference maker on both ends of the court. When I hear him talking smack it reminds me of great ones, that use their doubters to fuel their inner desire to be great. When he steps on the court, he's saying you have to beat me and I'm not going to go down easy.

Tate has that kind of fire and I think Green does as well. We need more guys that bring it every play and every day. Chet and Eason would be ideal draft for me.

 

I could say don't you think people foul a 300# player a lot differently than they foul a 160# player. That's an assumption you can't quantify. You're bring up newton's 2nd law and using fouls per game... Not total over a career but per game.

Not to mention this completely negates the defensive side of the ball. Defense is half of the game. Then thirdly and the biggest culprit for stress/abuse on the body, gravity. We can define force m*a we can define work F*D, a guy like Shaq or LeBron would experience more abuse just having contact with the ground like running around at practice than a guy like Iverson.


About Durant. His height predraft is not debatable he was measured with and without shoes. He was a 6'9" (6'10" in shoes)18 year old. He played SG... Not 4/5 and scoring was the reason he was selected so high.