The 2015 NBA Draft

htr10 said:

It's funny. This is literally the 1998 draft all over again, except with slightly different details. A talented, skinny European PF with amazing shooting touch goes to the Mavericks with a top 10 pick and Mavericks fans get angry. Dallas also makes a trade that gets them a young PG in that draft. Other teams' fans mock the Mavericks for not grabbing surer options like Robert Traylor or a plethora of other future nobodies from the NCAA ranks. The Dallas players are Dirk and Steve Nash, both future league MVPs. Believe in history repeating itself, Knicks fans!

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jimkcchief88 said:

Mudiay was by all accounts the top recuit coming out of college last year and Winslow just won a national championship. Not that either guarantees anything, but either would have made a scorned fanbase feel better. A fanbase that has had to endure the Weiss, Vanhorn, Gallinari, Bargiani, now this. None of this is fair to this kid but life ain't always fair. The fact Melo is pissed should tell you something. His brand has taken a HUGE hit partly because of the bums he's had to carry. You think PJAX told Melo that he planned on drafting a skinny Euro project this years first rounder? Nope. I'm sure he promised a legit pick and quality free agents. Phil is lying to everybody but his banker when he cashes his checks and that is what is pissing everybody off. I won't blame Melo if he asks off this shipwreck next year to save his career. PJAx is resting his legacy on his "11 rings" that really belong to Mike/Pip/Kobe/Shaq. PJAx obvoiusly doesn't give a crap about the Knicks or this job besides the $$$$$ as evidenced by the fact he had time to go to Turkey for a wedding, but notice to go up the street for the draft lottery. What a joke

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jimkcchief88 said:

Well I'm trying to give Phil a chance...I want us to do well...but the bad trades with no return now blown lottery picks are starting to add up...this was the WRONG time to try to show how much smarter than the rest of us PJAx by wasting a lottery pick on a 3-5 year Euro project. Every one of these Euros is "the next Dirk" meanwhile there is only one Dirk and he only won ONE title. Meanwhile the Lebrons and Duncan's of the world have multiple titles. Go get us one of them Zenmaster not the next "great white hope" on Chief

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mafra said:

I know it's hard to trust in Phil, after all the moves the last 365 (and some change) days he's been running things. We are so accustomed to failure, it's infused now into our cynical disposition... But we need to accept on faith a few things:

1) Every reputable scout and well-respect front office (GM) exec, who are tuned in and educated on these matters, were unanimous in their evaluation of Pirzingis: a can't miss talent, top 5 prospect in this draft.

3) Pirzingis has been playing Professional basketball for 4 years now. Mudiay has what? 12 post HS games under his built? Do you really believe it's a given, immutable law of nature that Emmanual will offer his team more this season?

4) No way Phil lied to Melo. When would he? Are you telling me the plan last July, the recruiting pitch devised to lure Melo back to NY was to tank the season and procure a lottery pick? And, if so, what player did we pass that was the obvious selection? Winslow? The guy who fell to 10?

5) Every NBA team has 2 guys who are 6"6', athletic, and play some defense. Winslow is a good player, but he is not a franchise player. Not everyone believes in his potential. Especially on the offensive end. If you do not think he's a scorer... or is a shooter, than you have him pegged as a run of the mill, Shumpert like, wing. Maybe he turns out to be James Harden. But, again, like Mudiay and Pirzingis, the kid is 19... A year removed from HS... Wh believes he will have a greater impact in the NBA next year?

6) I would've gone with Mudiay, but once we traded for Grant.... That is a mute point. Phil wanted Grant over Mudiay. Did anybody watch college ball last year? Grant was terrific against the best... 4 years older than Mudiay, same height... A perfect triangle combo guard. So, unless you wanted to see Kaminsky or WCS at 4... I'm not buying that we reached. With all things equal, we grabbed the guy with the most upside, who was the safest and surest bet not to bust.

7) Pirzingis is 7"3', and a freakish athlete who can run and jump. Oh, he is seven foot three inches folks! He can shoot the 3 already... Much better than Mudiay and Winslow. Scratch the notion this kid is 2-3 years away... He is going to surprise some people.

8) What does it say about our petulant star... When you discover Anthony doesn't even text, or reach out to Grant or Poor Zings? Some leader Melo is. The whole "plan" was to lure free agents here to help Melo. If we accomplish that, who really thinks it matters, one way or the other, if we went Mudiay, WCS, Winslow, or Pirzingis?

9) Even if this pick fails... I applaud Phil for thinking long term. And not settling on bunting for a single here to appease and placate Melo. Melo forced us to gut team to trade for him, he ran TC & JL out of town, he refuses to be a locker room leader, he cares more about being an international media mogul of epic proportions, and he demanded the absolute max. Has he recruited 1 significant free agent to join him in NY? I applaud Phil for thinking long term here... Not drafting the candyman Olokando or the tractor Trailor over Dirk.

10) Go tell Utah that a skinny Euro is worthless (rudy gobert). I'm tired of the AAU entitled crowd. The Mozgovs of the world cam play basketball. I watched every Duke game this season... The 1 thing the Knicks have is a SF... It doesn't help Melo to draft a SF. Winslow isn't a SG or a PF. Phil thinks we're better off bringing in David West. A smart, gritty, tough vet to play PF... He drafted us a stretch 4... A Future franchise player... And also drafted a PG. I would say this was a good draft! I guarantee... When we look back on this decision, in 5 years, we'll be praising Phil for having the intestinal fortitude and vision to think BIG. Enough of giving Melo everything. It's time for Melo to give back to us, to stop making excuses. Pirzingis over ? Is not condemning him to losing... His lack of leadership is doing that... Go get us West, Monroe, and Danny Green... Then put them on your back and get the team to the ECF.

11) I'm giving Melo the benefit of doubt here. Melo tweeted out tonight: "what's understood doesn't need to be spoken upon." A cryptic, PJ-esque line that screams... Chill! Don't jump to conclusions here. THjr is disgruntled and leaked something to somebody. I'm not believing this garbage. Melo knows what happens next week is what matters for his success this year... He knows any 19 yr-old is a long shot to help him much in 2016.

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SSj4Wingzero said:

Every single time a team picks a player because that player is going to fill a need on the team immediately, and for that player, they pass on the guy with the highest upside, how does it usually end?

Picking Justise Winslow at #4 would've been stupid. Winslow is 6'4.5" without shoes. That's a shooting guard's height. But he doesn't have shooting guard-type handles or a jump shot. He's an athletic player who stunk it up in workouts. That should give you an idea - usually, players with good athleticism can mask their flaws, especially in one-on-one workouts. Winslow was apparently unable to do that.

Picking Mudiay would've given us a player whose only real body of work was high school. Yes, I understand he was highly regarded. But so was Cliff Alexander. So was Josh Selby. Alexander didn't get drafted last night and Selby is playing in Israel because he sucks too much for the NBA and can't even get a job in Europe.

Picking Hezonja would've been fine. But he too has some issues with his character and arrogance, and it's difficult to tell if that's just swag or if he's just full of himself.

Picking WCS or Kaminsky would've been stupid. Picking anybody else would've been stupid. Porzingis was one of the three best available. And he's not a terrible pick. Pretty much every single mock draft out there had him going in the top 5.

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Broadway said:

Real talk I think Brooklyn may have had a good draft night considering draft position but what's up with this from Plumlee

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SSj4Wingzero said:

I'm slowly warming up to the Porzingis pick. Not because I necessarily think he's going to be incredible, but mostly because, at #4, the players with high potential who were NBA-ready were already taken. At #4 you either could've taken high-potential players who were raw (Mudiay, Hezonja, or Porzingis - let's be honest, all these guys are going to spend a year warming the bench and working on their skills), or you could've taken a safe pick who could've contributed immediately (Willie Cauley-Stein, Frank Kaminsky, Justise Winslow to an extent).

Given that choice, you take the high-potential guy ten times out of ten. Always.

And let's be honest, A LOT of good NBA players don't contribute in their first year. A lot of them don't even contribute for 2-3 years - look at Jimmy Butler and Paul George, for example.

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SSj4Wingzero said:

Every single time a team picks a player because that player is going to fill a need on the team immediately, and for that player, they pass on the guy with the highest upside, how does it usually end?

Picking Justise Winslow at #4 would've been stupid. Winslow is 6'4.5" without shoes. That's a shooting guard's height. But he doesn't have shooting guard-type handles or a jump shot. He's an athletic player who stunk it up in workouts. That should give you an idea - usually, players with good athleticism can mask their flaws, especially in one-on-one workouts. Winslow was apparently unable to do that.

Picking Mudiay would've given us a player whose only real body of work was high school. Yes, I understand he was highly regarded. But so was Cliff Alexander. So was Josh Selby. Alexander didn't get drafted last night and Selby is playing in Israel because he sucks too much for the NBA and can't even get a job in Europe.

Picking Hezonja would've been fine. But he too has some issues with his character and arrogance, and it's difficult to tell if that's just swag or if he's just full of himself.

Picking WCS or Kaminsky would've been stupid. Picking anybody else would've been stupid. Porzingis was one of the three best available. And he's not a terrible pick. Pretty much every single mock draft out there had him going in the top 5.

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Broadway said:

Although I could conceivably see Phil drafting Porz trading him to Orlando and extracting Mo Harkless from them then taking Mudiay.

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Portland will send a future second-round pick to the Magic for Harkless.

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The Celtics offered four first-round picks for the chance to move up from no. 16 to no. 9: that 16th pick, no. 15 (acquired in a prearranged contingency deal with the Hawks), one unprotected future Brooklyn pick, and a future first-rounder from either the Grizzlies or Timberwolves, per sources familiar with the talks.

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Charlotte likely could have had either. Boston may also have included one or two second-rounders, though there is some dispute about that.

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