Official Draft Thread

Peach_NYK_21

Starter
yeah, hes definently going into the draft, he announced it a couple days ago, and i cant imagine no team not wanting him, hes too good a player to go undrafted
 

mrj18

Benchwarmer
NYKnicks15 said:
why dont we have a first rounder? because of the Tim Thomas trade???...we still have one from the Van Gundy ordeal..
Yeah and also when we got Maurice Taylor, we gave up a 2nd rounder to Houston.

I have a feeling we wont be able to draft Villanueva. I don't think he'll go to S.A. (really Phoenix's pick) our pick which will be around 27 and up.
 

Peach_NYK_21

Starter
if we really want too, we can take him with our second 1st round pick and take a guard first.. i dont think Petro or any other centers are that much better than Villaneuva... it will be interesting to see what zeke will do.
 

Peach_NYK_21

Starter
yeah, i think its hard to rate European players because if they're good they're good in Europe not over here.. that doesnt mean they can hang with guys from the NBA, if we do go with Villeaneuva or a guy from collegfe, atleast we know they can play with quality players, and will be more reliable than a european.
 

mrj18

Benchwarmer
Brian_Coleman_21 said:
Yah, taking a European center will be hard. We wouldn't want him to be a bust like Lampe so Villaneuva would be a good choice.
You can't say Lampe was a bust. He got little time and we all know Scott Layden :putting him on the injured list. Basically he was dominating the summer leagues and played in preseason that's it. I mean the guy was 18 years old with tons of potential and talent who got NO burn. You can't call him a bust at such an early stage. He was a project and imagine if we had him and Aguirre transforming him in the post along with that long range shooting. We'd be working with a monster right now! A 7 footer who could shoot a 3 and post up? That would be lethal right there and he had tons of time...he was only 18 years old! People were also saying the same thing about Jermaine O'Neal when he got no burn and when he got the chance to prove himself, look what he turned into. I really think you're labeling as a bust way too soon. He has tons of time to grow.

European big men tend to be more fundamentally sound and also bring a nice shooting touch which will compliment Sweetney very well. But I understand you. Villanueva is kind of Skinny for the 5, but he's really talented and athletic. I wouldn't use a potential lottery pick on him, but I'd definitely draft him if he's around for our second pick in the first round. Many Mock drafts see him being a mid first rounder rather than a lottery pick.

Petro is very strong at 260, is athletic and has a great wingspan, size and speed. That's everything Isiah likes and even though he has no post game or offensive game, neither did a man named Nazr Mohammed. The only difference is that Mohammed was 27 while we have a young guy at 19 or 20. I'd definitely draft Petro. Once reports come in June, I look forward to seeing more of him.
 

NYKnicks15

Starter
yes we gave our 2006 2nd rounder which is our natural 2nd rounder, we had the possiblity of two 2nd rounders this year...we gave away our '06 (to houston) our 05 (to atlanta) and got one whenever we want to take it from Houston in the Van Gundy ordeal...

Yea European players are hard to rate seeing they play a very different style of ball, but then again so did College kids. Of course you would take Villaneuva over Petro first BUT that doesnt mean hes necessarily going to be better..no one can predict that...as you can see in Christian Laettner...

Anyone can be a bust, it just happens with a smaller ratio of foreigners people believe they are naturally worse to take a risk on...but i can guarantee you for the % of bad players that came from other countries (of the total that came here) theres less then the % of kids that came out of college or never made it after drafted for that matter...

i mean we seem to forget people like Yao Ming, Nene Hilario, Emanuel Ginoboli, Tony Parker, Carlos Arroyo, Pau Gazol, Jamaal Magloire, Dikembe Mutumbo, Steve Nash, Peja Stojacovic, Hidayet Turkoglu...i know thats not alot and there are tons more great american players but thats not the point...im just saying theres the same chance of someone coming from college being bad as someone coming from a different country...but we tend to focus on the Frederick Weis (who actually never played an nba game so were not sure how bad he sucked, besides for the one vince carter dunk)...i dont know just a thought...

by the way this is what i dug up so far..

COLLEGE BOUND
Gerald Green
Tasmin Mitchell
Brandon Rush
Daniel Gibson
JR Giddens
Julius Hodge

DRAFT BOUND
Andray Blatche
Byran Hopkins
Marcus Slaughter
Steven Smith
Monta Ellis
 

mrj18

Benchwarmer
So we do have a 2nd rounder this year?

I'd take Petro over Villanueva. Petro is more of what we need now. A good shot blocker and a good rebounder because by the start of next season, Kurt will most likely be gone. The Knicks need a shot blocker to make up for their horrible perimter defense. Villanueva is very good and is versatility is similar to a potential Lamar Odom, but that isn't the best decision. A potential Dalembert with a post game will help us tremendously.

I have a question for people here. If Petro and Villanueva are taken, who would you draft?
 

NYKnicks15

Starter
Id say, and in reasonablity of course, debating if we go for a smaller F or go for the backup guard possiblity

I dont know..I think Chris Taft comes to mind for early first round pick or Hakim Warrick and the late first Channing Frye...2nd rounder (if we use it this year) Luther Head or BJ Elder...remember if we do use our 2nd rounder (atlanta gets the earlier one)..

1st Round--Hakim Warrick & Channing Frye
2nd Round--BJ Elder

I made a mistake on the college bound, i believe Hodge is a senior..
 

a knick fan

Benchwarmer
i agree that petro may have upside potential and become a good center in the future, but dont expect him to do anything in the next 2-3 years. hes a kid. hes got a lot to learn. the only reason he will come to the draft so early is for the money, he probably knows himself that he doesnt belong in the nba right now. the team that drafts him shouldnt be looking to START him at center right away. theres no way he can do that.

i tried looking at his stats in europe, and i couldnt make them out because they were in a foreign language (so maybe someone can get firsthand info and confirm them), but from what i could tell hes not doing much in europe. if he cant dominate in europe, whats he gonna do here.

darko milicic. what about that guy from greece sofokolis shorstiantis or something, the "baby shaq" - whats he done? we shouldnt get so enamored with big men who we know nothing about and cant even dominate in europe.
 

mrj18

Benchwarmer
a knick fan said:
i agree that petro may have upside potential and become a good center in the future, but dont expect him to do anything in the next 2-3 years. hes a kid. hes got a lot to learn. the only reason he will come to the draft so early is for the money, he probably knows himself that he doesnt belong in the nba right now. the team that drafts him shouldnt be looking to START him at center right away. theres no way he can do that.
I don't know, Aguirre can transform him into something very special. He is a kid and he has enourmous potential. If he is good for us right away, he might be able to start for us.

i tried looking at his stats in europe, and i couldnt make them out because they were in a foreign language (so maybe someone can get firsthand info and confirm them), but from what i could tell hes not doing much in europe. if he cant dominate in europe, whats he gonna do here.
The thing in Europe is many players don't get minutes. Martynas (long last name i can't remember) Is thought to being a top 3 pick in the draft even though he's not dominating. The draft is about potential and Petro has that. Remember, in Europe the veterans get the most followed by NBA draft snub college students, then young guys.

darko milicic. what about that guy from greece sofokolis shorstiantis or something, the "baby shaq" - whats he done? we shouldnt get so enamored with big men who we know nothing about and cant even dominate in europe.
But they don't get any time. And there is no way Darko can be a bust already. The guy gets garbage minutes in usual Piston blow outs. He is still a very special player. He just needs time and veteran coaches such as Larry Brown usually don't play rookies. What about big men here? Michael Olowokandi was drafted 1st he put up incredible numbers and did he live up to expectations? What about Kwame Brown, Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler. Haven't they been dissapointing to a certain degree?
 

H20 OFFdaHizZLe

Benchwarmer
When will Darko actually be able to play quality minutes? Will Kwame stop complaining and fighting and play like a 1st draft pick? Can Curry and Chandler lead their team into the playoffs in the up coming years??? So many questions about these young people. I think it's better to take a matured college player
 

NYKnicks15

Starter
First yes if you look at Petro's stats they are less than incredible but he his height, wingspan, athleticism/ability to run the court is outrageous. He is young yes, and does need time to develop, but say he goes somewhere else and they let him develop...they have the possibility of getting a future star and we look like the idiots for not taking a chance...

If you ever get to see him play or watch highlights, hes an amazing athlete especially for his size. remember stats dont mean everything if he can stand in the middle, defend, and block shots we have the rest of our core who can put in the numbers. In no way is he going to be dominant his first year or maybe even two but its a risk worth taking....i was reading a report on him and they said he has the shooting touch and ability if given the minutes to develop into a great offensive game, just no body works with him and teaches him...i think we have those teachers...look at Sweets development. You also have to acknowledge that this kid played for the under 18 national team at 16 years old, its remarkable. yes he only is 18 but that just means he has more upside...and i dont see anyone in the draft that can come right on the court from college and make a dominant presence, starting one at that in the draft so far...unless its for the Hawks, Orleans or Bobcats..

I dont think we should rely on him to be our savior, and i still believe we should trade Kurt or someone for a starting center, its just to gain a youth that could turn out to be great as backup...

by the way heres Petros average so far....
13.24 MPG
5 PPG
46.8 FG%
75FT%
he can improve given more minutes...and if u actually look at some of the bigman around the league that get paid more and play the same amount of minutes...he beats them stats wise and of course age wise aswell...

and Darko? well thats a rough statement...this kid is actually good. we just dont see it because Larry Brown has a history of not playing rookies...OLYMPICS COMES TO MIND!!! He doesnt play them and he doesnt play Darko. Look at his stats, in two seasons hes only played 61 games. for an average of 5.3 minutes!!! can you tell how good someone is in that? especially a rookie? Impossible...
 

mrj18

Benchwarmer
H20 OFFdaHizZLe said:
When will Darko actually be able to play quality minutes? Will Kwame stop complaining and fighting and play like a 1st draft pick? Can Curry and Chandler lead their team into the playoffs in the up coming years??? So many questions about these young people. I think it's better to take a matured college player
What are you doing...playing not to lose or playing to win? Yes, there's a big difference. Those times you give up on a high schooler, you are possibly missing out on a Kobe, Tracy, KG, Amare etc. Not drafting overseas, you are missing out on a Dirk, Peja, Sabonis, Kirilenko etc. We should draft on potential not just playing it safe. Even the "safe" college players sometimes turn out as busts. I'll give you a good one. Olowokandi was #1 in the draft and averaged 22.2ppg 11.2rpg 2.9bpg Those are some solid numbers right there, but look what he turned out to be. He was taken over Dirk Nowitzki. Also Kwame Brown was taken over Pau Gasol. The safe college players were all taken over Amare and he was the rookie of the year. With the Knicks playing it safe, they can be missing out on the next big thing. Let's draft on potential and not play it safe. Besides even if we don't, Tim Thomas and Penny Hardaway's 30 million dollars worth of expiring contracts can get us a good player. Look at this, the Hornets traded Bron Davis for about 14 million or so, now imagine 30. I think we can get some yonug talent or at the very least lock up our own.
 

gknick11

Benchwarmer
First off, nbadraft.net doesn't try to predict who's gonna get drafted where. Not right now, at least. They usually don't bring out the mocks until the season is over. It's just that any team can finish with a decent, good or bad record. We still have a chance to land a pick in the top 5 if we were to lose every single game from here on out. But realistically, we'll get the #7 at the highest and 10 at the lowest. And the draft has become like this: lottery teams draft on 75% potential and 25% team needs. Teams after that go best avaiable unless they really like someone, hence a trade up or down for that player. The the second round is more or less good college players that have a chance to make it in the league, like Chris Duhon or Royal Ivey. I think we got a steal w/ Ariza. I think we go big w/ Petro, then w/ the Suns' pick (though San Antonio) we draft best available big man, then in the second round, draft a defensive-minded combo guard or swingman like Ishmail Muhammad or BJ Elder. In case anyone's really worrying about who's gonna go where, calm down for now. The draft is still three months away. Wait until the announcement of the lottery order. The one thing I liked about the trades was Isiah got a couple picks. Granted, they're gonna be low from here on out, and we won't have another first rounder until 2007, but at least he tried, even though our cap situation is even worse now than it was when we had Nazr, Moochie and Vin. Sadly, the first round is starting to go to youth. Teams are trying to rebuild through the draft, which in the NBA, is hard. Look at atlanta. Even though they screwed themselves over, they still have a chance to land Bogut or Martynas, whichever they like, to give themselves a potential top 5 frontline in Josh Smith, Al Harrington and the Ute Andrew Bogut. I'm fine w/ Petro. We need a defensive-minded center to block the shots of players that Steph and Jamal let by. I'm already making my predictions on the draft, but I'll make a new topic for that. Peace, for now.
 

a knick fan

Benchwarmer
i dunno, ive never seen petro play, so i have no idea how physically gifted he is. i do think that isiah has a good eye for talent though (his gm skills are pathetic, he should become a head scout instead), so if he liked what he saw when he went to see petro play, then i guess he should take him.

but im just saying, be realistic, dont expect petro to do much for the next few years. we will only start to benefit from drafting him maybe near the ened of his rookie contract.

and mark aguire - whats so great about him? why are people so high on him? he doesnt seem any different than any other coach for big men in the league. hes not going to do anything for petro, it will all be on petro himself - if he works hard and improves his strength, shooting, and overall game. a coach can only do so much.
 

NYKnicks15

Starter
i think people well atleast for myself, know Mark Aguirre. No not personally but who he was when he was a player (a big man). In his career he averaged 20 ppg, was an allstar 3 times, and has 2 world championship rings. He was an incredible offensive specialist...thats why im high on him. He knows how to get it done in the NBA and any knowledge he can pass down as a coach must be good. ex Mohammed and Sweetney who both acknowledge him for teaching them their newest moves and improvement...

I dont understand why GKnick is starting his own topic for that..im pretty sure this is the Offical Draft Thread...and the reason were "worrying" about who we are going to take at the moment...is because that WAS the question. We are in here to answer who we think or should take...

Ill have to agree on one thing though, nbadraft.net is not 100% correct nor will it be, hence the "mock draft" title. its not who or what each team needs its just who will probably go in those spots..the number not the team...

now I am cheering for Petro to get picked in the draft by us, and i have a good feeling he will...but i dont want everyone to think im just picking him and not noticing his faults...if i had choice between him and Bogut ofcourse id pick Bogut (even tho i think hes the next Chris Mihm)...

He has a lot of positives though. Petro i mean...His height, his athleticism, his age, his wing span and his ability to become a great offensive/defensive player...

but I have to acknowledge his faults aswell, he has the potential to be a great shot blocker but is NOT. he has the potential to be a great scorer but is NOT yet atleast (i think with coaching and learning and maturing itll come along, plus more mins. he only avgs 13 or so) and he is said to NOT be focused all the time (which ive never witnessed watching him play granted ive only seen him play a couple times)...

Does he have more positives then negatives? YES
Does he need a lot of work? YES
Will Isiah pick him though? Probably

I dont know. Im going to stick with

C Johan Petro
C Channing Frye
G BJ Elder
 
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