2018 NBA Draft

[MavzMan]

Originally Posted by Magnum_3_Ball

I think people make too much of the we already have X, so we can't have Y notion. If Portland thought that way, they never would of drafted CJ McCollum after they already had Damian Lillard. There's proof two 6-3 guards can work together.

It's not ideal, but it can work, and taking a player who works out is always better than taking a player who doesn't even if there's some redundancy.

I would argue that CJ+DL and DSJ+TY is more like X+X rather than X+Y. And the CJ+DL is not entirely working out either as POR is hanging onto the 6th seed, is definitely in the 3rd tier of WCF playoff teams and there was even talk about them trading off CJ to find a more complimentary piece. The biggest argument against drafting TY and going with DSJ+TY long term is just that small ball is exciting and will win you regular season games, but when defenses crank up in the playoffs and referees choke their whistle, the little guys get more abused. However, I'm playing devil's advocate here and I'm not really a big fan of Bamba either.

[Magnum_3_Ball]

Originally Posted by MavzMan

I would argue that CJ+DL and DSJ+TY is more like X+X rather than X+Y. And the CJ+DL is not entirely working out either as POR is hanging onto the 6th seed, is definitely in the 3rd tier of WCF playoff teams and there was even talk about them trading off CJ to find a more complimentary piece. The biggest argument against drafting TY and going with DSJ+TY long term is just that small ball is exciting and will win you regular season games, but when defenses crank up in the playoffs and referees choke their whistle, the little guys get more abused. However, I'm playing devil's advocate here and I'm not really a big fan of Bamba either.

Don't get me wrong. I agree with you that pairing DSJ & Trae Young is not ideal or even really a good idea. However, I'm coming at it from the perspective of, "What's worse?"

If Bamba or some other player who "fits" is a bust, then what's the upside of drafting them because they fit better with DSJ? At that point wouldn't it be better to have an actual asset, then a guy who missed?

That's how I'm looking at it. Like let's say worse case scenario Bamba is a glorified Hasheem Thabeet. Wouldn't it be better to literally draft DSJ's clone again over Thabeet? Yes, there's redundancy, but you have an asset you can use to acquire a better fitting part.

Imo, Trae Young will have more value 3 years from now than Mo Bamba will. So, if I'm the Mavs, I take the most valuable player on the board when I pick. I mean, because I see a roster with lots of open spaces. We're not 1 or 2 or 3 players away, so I don't think we need to be looking at "best fit" with a potential top 3 or even top 7 draft pick. I want to look at best player available only & make it work from there whether that's a trade or adding different pieces, etc.

Not to mention, if POR had different pieces around McCollum & Lillard, then it might work better. Say they had Robert Covington, then they could hide McCollum better on defense, or if they had a shot blocking center then, it could work better too. Not to mention, McCollum & Lillard create a lot of mismatches for opposing defenses too. That's part of what makes it work for them.