Official 2017 NBA Draft Thread - June 22

I think we usually start an annual thread, so I decided to do so now. I'll start by posting DraftExpress Mock and a couple starter player videos highlighting their STRENGTHS.

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2017/


Frank Ntilikina Strengths Video - I like his physical tools

http://www.draftexpress.com/video/12654/


Dennis Smith Strengths Video - I said Kyrieish earlier but maybe should have said a more athletic Kyle Lowry. I'm keeping an eye on him.

http://www.draftexpress.com/video/12667/

They do have videos of their WEAKNESSES too, but I'll only focus on strengths for now. Feel free to click on any player of preference and examine their game. I've watched about 7 videos and Markelle appears to be the best guard in this draft. Dennis Smith most surprising IMO


Other reputable Mocks/Prospect Ranking sites to follow...

http://www.nbadraft.net/2017mock_draft

http://www.nba.com/draft

http://bleacherreport.com/nba-draft

http://hoopshype.com/2017/03/16/nba-mock-draft-2017/

https://www.si.com/nba/2017/03/16/nba-draft-big-board-ncaa-tournament-lonzo-ball-jayson-tatum

https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbe...ospect-stands-at-the-final-four/#281d1a5a7fc7

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/draft/mock-draft

Maybe Rady can combine Mafra's thread and this one. Keep the title of this thread since it's about the draft and not a couple of players the Knicks are looking at.

Nice thread Broadway. Now Smith looks like Lowry, in the other thread you said Kyrie. lol More explosive than Lowry and not the ball handler or finesse player Kyrie is.

Broadway said:

I think we usually start an annual thread, so I decided to do so now. I'll start by posting DraftExpress Mock and a couple starter player videos highlighting their STRENGTHS.

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2017/


Frank Ntilikina Strengths Video - I like his physical tools

http://www.draftexpress.com/video/12654/


Dennis Smith Strengths Video - I said Kyrieish earlier but maybe should have said a more athletic Kyle Lowry. I'm keeping an eye on him.

http://www.draftexpress.com/video/12667/

They do have videos of their WEAKNESSES too, but I'll only focus on strengths for now. Feel free to click on any player of preference and examine their game. I've watched about 7 videos and Markelle appears to be the best guard in this draft. Dennis Smith most surprising IMO

Click to expand...

"Kyrieish" didn't click. I thought this was some Russian PG I hadn't heard about but you meant Kyrie.

I want UCLA 6.6 freshmen PG- Lonzo Ball ....Phil Jackson owe us .. make it happen!!!

Draft Express has Monk Fox Smith falling to 5 6 and 7 probably right where the Knicks pick, all 3 are solid choices.

tiger0330 said:

Draft Express has Monk Fox Smith falling to 5 6 and 7 probably right where the Knicks pick, all 3 are solid choices.

Click to expand...

I don't think I'm going to have any beefs with who we draft this yr, because only a Russian hack picking for the Knicks could mess this up. I'm leaning towards Smith at the moment but not dead set stuck on anyone. Monk's size is somewhat a concern but just the same it could be to his advantage too.

The sad part really in all of this, even should we win the lottery just off single selection alone we still wouldn't have the sure fire talent above the remaining picks after. The only advantage...if we could parlay that #1 into 2 picks. I'd strongly consider trading with Orlando for picks #4 and #22 for #1!

What's your take on draft approach taking into consideration best case(we move up) or worst case(we get bumped down)

Draft?

- Guard
- BPA
- Upside
- NBA Ready
- Trade for more assets
- Triangle Fit

What's most important from the above?

I added some comparison draft reference links to initial post...to provide scope coverage on prospects stocks.


In my potential proposal scenario with Orlando...

I want picks #4 and #22 outright for #1 or Mario Hezonja and #4 for #1. I wouldn't consider any other offer with them, don't want Payton/Gordon/Forneir/Vucevic. This assuming we win the lottery and they hold the 4 spot down. My guess is they'll be locked in on Ball or Jackson

I think it would be a wise move to trade down from 1 or 2, should we be so fortunate. To grab 2 first rounders would be sweet, especially 2 of top 20.... even a future first.

The interesting things Ny to consider is Baker-Randle combo. Based on the triangle's emphasis and PJ's history.... and fact Horn loves Baker.... the braintrust at MSG probably feels a dynamic wing (SG or SF) is a bigger need than PG.

Plus, if we hold on to the hope of flipping Rose for Rubio, by some miracle, we definitely wouldn't need a PG.

This means that Tatum and Monk and JAX and Smith and Trier would probably be targets, and even perhaps some other athletic forwards in this class.

You would think C is set with WHG, KOQ, Noah.... and that it would be redundant grabbing a PF....

I think we keep Lee and we'll see that he'll be a nice vet leader next season.... but, we still need to prepare for the future (and hopefully deal Lee nex Feb)...

If Melo is dealt.... then it becomes obvious that we need a SG or a SF....

Given that the triangle excelled with the best -- MJ & Kobe.... I'm beginning to sense what's coming.... Walsh made that fatal error with Dantoni and his SSOL.... failure to snag a PG.

This draft NYK is in a perfect spot to not repeat that mistake... so, in my final analysis, this means that we desperately need a dynamic wing scorer.... a 2-way stud and potential franchise cornerstone, HOF talent.

I think this means Ball is off the table.... Fultz and Fox probably still qualify b/c both could be combo guards.... Smith probably too short, and I believe this also disqualifies the French kid.

I think our pick comes down to these 6:

Fultz
Fox
Tatum
Monk
Jax
Trier

And knowing Phil..., with Tatum and Jax's length and versatility.... I honestly believe PJax desperately wants Jax (1st) and Tatum (2nd) with a fallback of Fox or Monk as the consolation.

I'm leaning towards the player I think will be on the board when we pick(5-9 range), not necessarily who I think we should pick. It's really simple to me based on need and overall talent.

Knicks landing #1 pick in a dream world...If we lean to position(guard/pg) the pick is Fultz if we lean to who we think will be the best player then it's Jackson. Once again assuming we aren't interested in trading down.

Hell I say take the #1 get #4 and #22 from Orlando and trade Baker #44 #58 and cash into the 1st round wherever(maybe Utah #30th?) and walk away with 3 first round picks to put around #kporzee/WHG. That's what Presti/Hinkie/Ainge/Olshey would do if they were on the brink of rebuilding with this pool of talent looming

It'll be interesting to see if NYK buys a first or a second.... I imagine they'll do a draft and stash, similar to WHG.... unless a talented player falls to them like the kid from Oregon or South Carolina, or even a Kennard/Allen shooter.

Then, what happens with Melo, Lee, KOQ vets. If Phil dealt THjr for a 1st.... we can only hope he finds a way to snag another 1st this draft.

Broadway said:

I don't think I'm going to have any beefs with who we draft this yr, because only a Russian hack picking for the Knicks could mess this up. I'm leaning towards Smith at the moment but not dead set stuck on anyone. Monk's size is somewhat a concern but just the same it could be to his advantage too.

The sad part really in all of this, even should we win the lottery just off single selection alone we still wouldn't have the sure fire talent above the remaining picks after. The only advantage...if we could parlay that #1 into 2 picks. I'd strongly consider trading with Orlando for picks #4 and #22 for #1!

What's your take on draft approach taking into consideration best case(we move up) or worst case(we get bumped down)

Draft?

- Guard
- BPA
- Upside
- NBA Ready
- Trade for more assets
- Triangle Fit

What's most important from the above?

Click to expand...

Thats a great question re: what a team should do in the draft. Depends on the team I guess, the Rockets when they had TMac and Yao thought they were a piece away from making a finals run and drafted Rudy Gay for the Griz in exchange for Battier. Probably the right move for them at the time though it didn't get them anywhere close to a finals run.

In the Knicks case, I don't see PJ drafting someone with the player being the best fit for the triangle, even though the triangle gets a fair amount of focus and buzz in the news because of PJ. He's not taking the best player from Stanford over Fultz just because they ran the triangle at that school.

Position is going to be important for who they draft, probably not going to be a factor in this draft but the Knicks have less of a need for centers and PFs with WHG and Kp on board. They have so many needs, PG, SF, SG, athletes, defensive minded players and this draft aligns well with what they need and who is available where they should select.

Despite them having a need for several players before they can become competitive, I would be reluctant to trade the number one for two picks further down, Fultz is highly regarded in a strong draft class and he could wind up having a great career. Can't pass up a guy like that for guys that maybe WCS, Mudiay or Russell guys that may turn out to be good but not great like Fultz can be.

mafra said:

It'll be interesting to see if NYK buys a first or a second.... I imagine they'll do a draft and stash, similar to WHG.... unless a talented player falls to them like the kid from Oregon or South Carolina, or even a Kennard/Allen shooter.

Then, what happens with Melo, Lee, KOQ vets. If Phil dealt THjr for a 1st.... we can only hope he finds a way to snag another 1st this draft.

Click to expand...

Look who PJ used with that pick who turned out to be Jerian Grant, traded him after a single season and he comes off the bench for the Bulls in very limited minutes. I would rather have kept THJ to tell you the truth.

tiger0330 said:

Thats a great question re: what a team should do in the draft. Depends on the team I guess, the Rockets when they had TMac and Yao thought they were a piece away from making a finals run and drafted Rudy Gay for the Griz in exchange for Battier. Probably the right move for them at the time though it didn't get them anywhere close to a finals run.

In the Knicks case, I don't see PJ drafting someone with the player being the best fit for the triangle, even though the triangle gets a fair amount of focus and buzz in the news because of PJ. He's not taking the best player from Stanford over Fultz just because they ran the triangle at that school.

Position is going to be important for who they draft, probably not going to be a factor in this draft but the Knicks have less of a need for centers and PFs with WHG and Kp on board. They have so many needs, PG, SF, SG, athletes, defensive minded players and this draft aligns well with what they need and who is available where they should select.

Despite them having a need for several players before they can become competitive, I would be reluctant to trade the number one for two picks further down, Fultz is highly regarded in a strong draft class and he could wind up having a great career. Can't pass up a guy like that for guys that maybe WCS, Mudiay or Russell guys that may turn out to be good but not great like Fultz can be.

Click to expand...

#kporzee was drafted 4th WHG #35th...Towns was drafted #1

We are very much behind the curve in talent!

Serious question would you trade both of them for Towns? Is that not fair value for Towns? How close do you think #kporzee is as a talent to Towns?

In essence that's what I'm suggesting in the 2017 draft(#4 & #22 for #1) with forethought considering our needs...except I think the value in this deep draft gets you better ROI. On some mocks Josh Jackson is the #1 pick and I believe his career will rival any other great player from this draft. He could be there at 4 or maybe Ball. Don't sleep on Tatum either.

If we're comfortable with the idea of drafting 7th(our current spot) why wouldn't we feel more comfortable drafting 4th? Looked at the draft picks again didn't bother to check the 2nd round for Orlando but I'd ask them to give us their 2nd rounder(34th) too.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...ek-reiterates-commitment-triangle-next-season

So this either the smartest or dumbest thing I've ever read. So unless MJ, Kobe, or Shaq is in the draft this year, we are in trouble. This is like telling an alcoholic" you were only drunk 40% of the time; you will do much better being drunk 90% of the time". So I'll assume we are going to draft the player that fits the best into an offense that NOBODY runs in college. So who knows???? My bet is still on the European kid that none of us has seen play. PJAx prefers to keep kicking the can down the "building for the future" sidewalk until his contract is over

tiger0330 said:

Look who PJ used with that pick who turned out to be Jerian Grant, traded him after a single season and he comes off the bench for the Bulls in very limited minutes. I would rather have kept THJ to tell you the truth.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't judge too much what's going with Grant after how The Bulls season has gone. Grant can play if given a "real" chance although he might not ever get one. Otoh Phil could have drafted Justin Anderson, Bobby Portis, Richaun Holmes, Montrez Harrell(before he got injured) with the pick. It has more to do with really assessing talent and doing great homework, instead of hoping you get lucky.

With ORL losing in Brooklyn today it appears the 4th spot is pretty much unattainable right now... Philly, NY, & Sac-town pretty much jockeying for the 5-7 spots now.

And, as a NYK fan, we know how this plays out.... Kings will get 5th and the 6th will be on the line that last game... and NY will win.

So, we need to depend on fortune now. Is it possible to jump up from 7?

"Under the current rules, only the top three picks are decided by the lottery, and are chosen from the 14 teams that do not make the playoffs. The team with the worst record, or the team that holds the draft rights of the team with the worst record, has the best chance to obtain a higher draft pick. After the top three positions are selected (from the lottery slotting system), the remainder of the first-round draft order is in inverse order of the win-loss record for the remaining teams, or the teams who originally held the lottery rights if they were traded. The lottery does not determine the draft order in the subsequent rounds of the draft."

So.... if a team from 8-14 jumps up to top 3.... NY could be bumped to 8 or 9 or 10 even (if we finish with 7th worst record)... of course, we might also land the top pick.

Nets, Suns, Lakers, Magic sitting pretty right now.

As for being comfortable at 7....
Obviously, picking in top 4 is a much better scenario.... kind of hard to be upset with Fultz, Jackson, Ball or first choice at anybody else.

After the top 4.... it's not exactly settling for BPA.... but now the bust risk factor soars higher.... there will be gems but there will also be duds....

Sometimes.... you get lucky (if we had 2 not 4 two years ago.... we're stuck with Russell or Okafor)....
In that sense, maybe sitting at 7
is better than 4.... we have less of a choice? Who knows....

Part of me sees it coming where we'll pick 8th, and be stuck with most of the best option off the table and looking at a reach (remember having Curry fall right to the pick before us and we end up stuck with Jordan Hill?.... I'll never forget that awful feeling).

Yeah everyone remembers us missing out on Curry who went 7th in the 2009 draft and taking Jordan Hill at 8th, but y'know, if we knew what the hell we were doing, we still could have had DeMar DeRozan who went 9th.

Any pick can be a bust, any pick can be a gem for us, if we are picking top 9 in this upcoming draft.

htr10 said:

Yeah everyone remembers us missing out on Curry who went 7th in the 2009 draft and taking Jordan Hill at 8th, but y'know, if we knew what the hell we were doing, we still could have had DeMar DeRozan who went 9th.

Any pick can be a bust, any pick can be a gem for us, if we are picking top 9 in this upcoming draft.

Click to expand...

i'm so jaded at this point, i don't think it would've mattered much if we'd picked curry or derozan. this knicks organization is so whack and suspicious, either of those two players would not be playing anywhere near their current level if we'd picked them. the rotten culture surrounding this team would've ruined them. i'm surprised KP hasn't completely flatlined already. maybe they're waiting for melo to be gone before they start ruining him.
lol i know how gloomy that sounds. but hey, can you blame me?

and1 said:

i'm so jaded at this point, i don't think it would've mattered much if we'd picked curry or derozan. this knicks organization is so whack and suspicious, either of those two players would not be playing anywhere near their current level if we'd picked them. the rotten culture surrounding this team would've ruined them. i'm surprised KP hasn't completely flatlined already. maybe they're waiting for melo to be gone before they start ruining him.
lol i know how gloomy that sounds. but hey, can you blame me?

Click to expand...

Had we drafted Curry with his spaghetti ankles first couple seasons we would have traded him for "The Great Carmelo Anthonaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!"

Denver still would've been better post trade as they have been since 2011...so yeah you're probably right and1

Good news is that the Kings prevailed and won in MIN. They are now trailing NYK by .5 for that 5th spot.