06-29-2012, 02:15 PM
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#14
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The Hard Way
OVR: 23
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 3,836
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Winners:
Bulls
Hornets
Bobcats
Cavs
The Bulls manged to land a solid compliment to Derrick Rose in the draft. Another son of Calipari, if he is even just 75% of Rose, I will be happy. He is in a position that's perfect for him, it may be difficult to lead the offense with Rose out, but ultimately he will be given solid minutes early on and be more of a factor heading into the playoffs than someone like Jimmy Butler (SF). The Hornets landed Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers who both will improve the team dramatically. This could mean that Gordon moves to point or bringing Rivers in with the second unit, neither option is bad. Rivers is a guy with the maturity of a NBA vet which is huge. I don't need to go into detail on Davis, there's more than enough on him. The Bobcats finally have a #1 option on the offense that should be able to create his own shot. At his peak I see Kidd-Gilchrist putting up about 23 PPG, which would be great for the Bobcats. To compare, Gerald Henderson led the 'Cats with a 15 PPG this season, I see Gilchrist being around that range in his first year, but that isn't a bad thing. The 'Cats really need this to pan out and not be another Adam Morrison. I like the players Calipari puts into the NBA, so I have no reason to believe that he would fail to be a great starter and mid-range allstar by his peak. The Cavs pick up two more pieces that can be starters or solid depth pieces which should help them solidify themselves towards third in the Central. Milwaukee hasn't done much this offseason and I doubt they can stay ahead of the Cavs.
Hit or miss:
Rockets
Celtics
The Rockets drafted two players that have ceilings of allstar status, the issue is their work ethic and maturity is called into question. I'd consider Jones more of a safer pick than White. They are both great athletes but their game might not translate to the next level.
The Celtics pick up two ends of the spectrum. Fab Melo is a terrific defender and will either solidify the second unit or start if the C's don't branch out in free agency. Sullinger joins Greg Oden as another Ohio State star that could have his career derailed by injuries. The only difference is Sullinger got hurt in college which hurt his draft stock. If he can come back healthy and strong and get a good post game, this could be the steal of the draft.
Losers:
Heat
Pacers
Warriors
The Heat and Pacers both passed up a better player in Perry Jones at the same position. The Heat and the Pacers both played it safe with their picks of average at best players but Jones who ended up leaving the board 28th, has the potential to be a star, the Pacers despite having Tyler Hansborough really shouldn't of passed up on him, he has the talent to help them contend for the Central title. The Heat have more leniancy coming off their championship year, but the Heat looked anything but superhuman (despite what ESPN will have you think) throughout the playoffs and regular season and could've used a fresh young talent to come off the bench. The Heat really should've grabbed Teague, Norris Cole is on the roster, but two young point guards is never a bad thing, especially when Teague was starting at point with a starting lineup full of NBA players.
The Warriors top pick of Harrison Barnes is a mixed card, he probably could've been the #2 pick if he went to the NBA last year, he fell a little bit as his game was dissected. His game just might not translate to the NBA well. The only benefit is that he is a scorer and Golden State loves their scorers. I want to say they should've grabbed Drummond, but than the trade for Bogut becomes a questionmark. It's not an easy situation.
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