Wednesday, June 26, 2013

2013 Nba Draft

It's that time of the year - time for my annual NBA draft preview. I wish I could feel confident about this year's edition, but with a 6 week old baby that is literally crying while I type this, it is going to be a little bit more of a challenge. That doesn't mean I don't have an opinion on the Timberwolves (#9 and #26) or the Jazz (#14 and #21) or certain prospects. This will be brief, but I want certain thoughts written down for future years.

Thought 1 - Alex Len is going to be terrible. I really have no idea how anyone can look at his stats or watch game film and consider this person to be anything but a late round selection. He is tall and big, but the big issue is that he isn't very good. I'm not a big Mason Plumlee fan, but I would much rather have Plumlee than Len. My opinion comes from watching more than a few Maryland games and wondering why there was so much hype surrounding Len.  He is so awful that it would be the most Cleveland thing to do to draft him instead of Noel and Porter. (And if I was a Cavs fan I would hope for Porter or Noel and nobody else).

Thought 2 - I want the Jazz to get a point guard. I love Michael Carter-Williams, Trey Burke, C.J. McCollum in that order, but assuming those three are gone I would have zero problem with the Jazz using their first pick on Shane Larkin. I hate to use cliche's like "he just knows how to play" but with Larkin I truly believe that cliche is true with him. I have concerns about his size and that he really only had one good year, but he is worth the risk at 14.

Thought 3 - I'm on the Kentavious Caldwell-Pope bandwagon for the Twolves at #9. I know that advanced stats like him, and you might as well take a shot on a prototypical two guard. I wish I had better analysis, but I never once say him play and am only speculating based on other people's opinion.

Thought 4 - Cody Zeller and Shabazz Muhammad are worth the risk. Zeller seems obvious because he has the numbers and is only knocked down because of one bad NCAA tournament game. Muhammad is more of an educated risk because of the UCLA factor (they generally play better) and because he was a top recruit. If I was an NBA team in a weak draft, I'm ok taking a chance on a former can't miss recruit who might just have had a tough year in college.

Thought 5 - Give me Victor Oladipo and I will feel great about my draft. I loved watching him play in college and fully believe that last year's stats is more indicative than the previous two years. I would certainly draft Oladipo over Mclemore, Len and Bennett. For me I lean more towards Porter, but wouldn't fault a team for taking Oladipo over Porter.

I will see if I can translate more thoughts, but my main goal is for the Jazz to get a decent point guard from the draft.