2018 NBA Draft

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Magnum_3_Ball

That 2015 draft

21) Justin Anderson - DAL
22) Bobby Portis - CHI
23) Rondae Hollis-Jefferson - BKN
24) Tyus Jones - MIN
25) Jarell Martin - MEM
26) Nikola Mulintov - SAS
27) Larry Nance Jr - LAL
28) RJ Hunter - BOS
29) Chris McCullough - BKN
30) Kevin Looney - GSW
31) Cedi Osman - CLE
32) Montrezl Harrell - HOU


All of the players in bold are either solid rotation players or players their teams are keeping around because they still like their upside. Heck, even Justin Anderson is on a roster & in a rotation, just not for us.

Portis, Hollis-Jefferson, and Nance Jr are significant players. Portis a potential future star & Nance Jr is borderline approaching that territory. Not to mention, Josh Richardson was selected by the Heat at 40.

I normally don't like to play the "you could of drafted player X here" game because you can do that every time & it's a guessing game, but in this game several more talented players than Justin Anderson was taken after the 21st pick & it's not the only time that happened with the Mavs in recent years.

Neat, you're playin the hindsight game, whereas I was talking about how I felt BEFORE the draft... Two different conversations.

[tap2390]

It really doesn’t matter who we would have drafted there, no matter what they were getting traded to Philly for Nerlens.

[Magnum_3_Ball]

Originally Posted by Magnum_3_Ball

Somebody tell me if I have this correct:

We didn't have a 2016 1st round draft pick because of the Rajon Rondo trade with Boston.

We didn't have a 2014 1st round draft pick because of the Lamar Odom trade with the Lakers, which was top 20 protected through 2014, when in 2014 it became the 21st pick & had been acquired by the Thunder from the Lakers in a trade.

We didn't have either of our 2014 2nd round picks because of the Tyson Chandler trade with the Knicks

And the two guys we took in 2015 and 2013 with our 1st round picks we traded less than 2 full seasons into their career.

What's worse is if you look at who was taken after Justin Anderson in 2015, and with the 21st pick in 2014 that we traded to the Lakers in the Odom deal, for the next 10-15 picks literally every other player drafted has turned into either a starter or meaningful role player.

Here's a franchise that doesn't value draft picks and doesn't know how to find value when it does keep its picks.

Originally Posted by Underdog

Neat, you're playin the hindsight game, whereas I was talking about how I felt BEFORE the draft... Two different conversations.

I was talking about this before you posted.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Magnum_3_Ball

I was talking about this before you posted.

Oh, did you? I didn't know we were talking about the 2015 draft until saclare brought up Bobby Portis, since I skipped the 5 posts in a row of you talking to yourself... You're just screaming into the ether, treating this forum like it's an unlimited-character version of Twitter where you do a lot of talking but very little listening. I mean, if you're not going to read people's posts and try to converse with them, then why should anyone do the same for you?

[Magnum_3_Ball]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Oh, did you? I didn't know we were talking about the 2015 draft until saclare brought up Bobby Portis, since I skipped the 5 posts in a row of you talking to yourself... You're just screaming into the ether, treating this forum like it's an unlimited-character version of Twitter where you do a lot of talking but very little listening. I mean, if you're not going to read people's posts and try to converse with them, then why should anyone do the same for you?

Holy shit. Some of you guys around here really need to lay off the estrogen. Acting like a bunch of bitches. Jesus Christ.

"screaming into the ether"...


Ok... have fun with your forum!

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Magnum_3_Ball

Holy shit. Some of you guys around here really need to lay off the estrogen. Acting like a bunch of bitches. Jesus Christ.

"screaming into the ether"...


Ok... have fun with your forum!

[hayth.james.g]

Originally Posted by Magnum_3_Ball

Holy shit. Some of you guys around here really need to lay off the estrogen. Acting like a bunch of bitches. Jesus Christ.

"screaming into the ether"...


Ok... have fun with your forum!

Relax. Count to 10... okay make that 100.

In all seriousness, you have some good contributions here; but you also tend to try to rant and over talk. Remember that just because you have your own (strong) opinions, doesn't mean you are right.

Also, one personal critique would be to lay off the cursing... no need to start calling people names. If that's your MO try twitter/facebook.

[Underdog]

Hawks beat Pacers.

[Underdog]

Mavs back into the top-5... Atlanta was #1 this morning.

[sefant77]

I stopped couting, are we allready at 30 clutch losses with seven points or less?

[Underdog]

@Rrlewis2:

[sefant77]

Last RS game against the Suns....this is going to be epic if the loser probably drops several spots in the final game. This is pretty much the only game within the last several RS games that two Top-8 tank teams play each other

And of course we are going to win it.

[tap2390]

Originally Posted by Magnum_3_Ball

Holy shit. Some of you guys around here really need to lay off the estrogen. Acting like a bunch of bitches. Jesus Christ.

"screaming into the ether"...


Ok... have fun with your forum!

It's always the brightest stars that burn out the fastest.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

I'm getting the 5th pick the most on tankathon. I could live with that if the Mavs stopped winning.

[Underdog]

Kings beat Nets in OT...

[Underdog]

Hello!



EDIT: Aww...

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Great analysis on Bamba. Article is a bit old, but it's spot on.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/1...2018-nba-draft

Btw, he is day to day with a toe injury. Just ask Devin Harris about toe injuries...

[Underdog]

@jeffborzello: Michael Porter Jr. not playing tonight.

[tap2390]

Game log minutes played in February

AYTON: 36, 37, 32, 38, 41, 44, 31

BAMBA: 35, 31, 33, 45, 35, 31, 15, 0

JACKSON: 25, 19, 13, 22, 14, 18, 18, 31, 15

One of these is not like the other. Primary reason I'm bearish on JJJ. My updated top ten:

TIER ONE
1) Ayton
2) Doncic

TIER TWO
3) Porter Jr.
4) Bagley
5) Bamba
6) Jackson Jr.

TIER THREE
7) Wendell Carter
8) Mikal Bridges
9) Miles Bridges
10) Gary Trent Jr.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by tap2390

Game log minutes played in February

AYTON: 36, 37, 32, 38, 41, 44, 31

BAMBA: 35, 31, 33, 45, 35, 31, 15, 0

JACKSON: 25, 19, 13, 22, 14, 18, 18, 31, 15

One of these is not like the other. Primary reason I'm bearish on JJJ.

Yeah, a big reason why JJJ can't stay on the floor is fouls. Which is definitely something that can be worked on, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a concern.

[hayth.james.g]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Yeah, a big reason why JJJ can't stay on the floor is fouls. Which is definitely something that can be worked on, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a concern.

Big stage for JJJ today. I was disappointed with what I saw. Anyone find any silver linings here?

Where is that one guy who posts 5 times to himself? I'm sure he could make a strong case on how Bagley is only beating terrible undersized white guys and JJJ is the man... Come out of hiding

[Underdog]

Just to add onto the conversation...

@preptopros: Jaren Jackson Jr (@MSU_Basketball) has picked up 4+ personal fouls in 54.5% (18/33) of games he’s played in this year. Something to monitor come draft season.

[tap2390]

Ayton with 16 & 13 on 7 shots in basically one half of play vs. Cal.

Dear Lord of Basketball... please bestow upon us the first pick.

[tap2390]

Ayton with 16 & 13 on 7 shots in basically one half of play vs. Cal.

Dear Lord of Basketball... please bestow upon us the first pick.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by tap2390

Ayton with 16 & 13 on 7 shots in basically one half of play vs. Cal.

Dear Lord of Basketball... please bestow upon us the first pick.

Finished the game with 26 points (9-12) and 20 rebounds.

[hayth.james.g]

Bagley sitting at 21 points, 15 rebounds, 2 blocks on 9 - 15 shooting vs UNC.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by hayth.james.g

Bagley sitting at 21 points, 15 rebounds, 2 blocks on 9 - 15 shooting vs UNC.

Yeah, it was fun thinking he would slip for those few days...

[Underdog]

@JonRothstein: Duke's Marvin Bagley III has been named ACC Player of the Year, per release.

[hayth.james.g]

Originally Posted by Underdog

@JonRothstein: Duke's Marvin Bagley III has been named ACC Player of the Year, per release.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHXYdNn3uSA

Bagley highlights from yesterday's Duke vs UNC game.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by hayth.james.g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHXYdNn3uSA

Bagley highlights from yesterday's Duke vs UNC game.

Yeah, Bagley is starting to grow on me a bit... The Mavs two biggest needs happen to be his two biggest strengths: scoring and rebounding. I'd like to see some improvement on his FT shooting and defense, but the kid is super-young, so it's not like he can't turn it around if he puts the work in.

[tap2390]

Bagley has a nice, smooth, consistent stroke. I think he’ll end up hovering around 80% from the line and 37% from three in a few years.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Yeah, Bagley is starting to grow on me a bit... The Mavs two biggest needs happen to be his two biggest strengths: scoring and rebounding. I'd like to see some improvement on his FT shooting and defense, but the kid is super-young, so it's not like he can't turn it around if he puts the work in.

And Bagley has as much superstar potential as anyone in the draft. I know Magnum went off on his defense, but that is definitely second fiddle to superstar potential.

[Magnum_3_Ball]

I'm just going to leave a prediction here...

For some reason, I've come across as a know-it-all or something of that sort to most of the other posters on this forum. Honestly, I just have a different viewpoint than just about anybody else. I am tank AT ALL COSTS.

I've read some posters criticize my posts about how the Mavs aren't doing what they should be doing to tank & then talk about who they want with a top 3 pick. It's just a fantasy. They want their dessert, but they don't want to pay for it.

And then some folks I think literally don't understand what tanking is. Maybe it's become too board of a term around the NBA. The Mavs lose & there's comments about "good tank" when really the Mavs are just so bad that they can't beat a team who is trying to tank---like Friday night in Chicago.

Take a look at Memphis. They're on a 13 game losing streak, and it's no accident. They're damn near re-writing the book on tanking. If they wind up with Ayton, it'll all have been worth it too.

Here's the prediction:

Mavs will go 3-5 over their next 8 games. They will beat Memphis on Saturday & in doing so ensure that Memphis finishes with a worse record than they do. They will either beat New York next Monday and Brooklyn a week from Saturday, or they will win one of those games & win another game you wouldn't expect them to among their next 8---like they did vs Indiana.

From there they'll have 22 wins and have 6 more games that are winnable for them because they're not trying to tank.

Way back when I thought 25-27 wins was going to ensure a top 5 worst overall record. What I didn't anticipate is the Grizzlies, the Bulls, and even the Knicks to go into ultra tank mode. I heard on ESPN this week that before Mavs win vs Indiana the bottom 8 teams in the league were 0 for their last 44.

Teams obviously think a lot of the top talent in this draft, and everyone, excepts for the Mavericks, seem willing to do what it takes to give themselves the best possible odds for that top talent.

These next 8 games are going to be what costs the Mavericks a top 5 pick---barring any miracles in the lottery drawing.

[Underdog]

Hawks beat Suns, Kings beat Knicks, but Nets lose to Clips at the very end... I guess Brooklyn doesn't mind keeping LeBron in the East?

[mac222b]

Magnum- I hope you're wrong!

I didnt watch the game today. Were there any signs of obvious tankage? Did Collinsworth and or Hopson play when the outcome was still in doubt? Its going to come down to whether RC is on board.

[mac222b]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Hawks beat Suns, Kings beat Knicks, but Nets lose to Clips at the very end... I guess Brooklyn doesn't mind keeping LeBron in the East?

Would be nice if Brooklyn could start winning some games again. Not even trying to tank!

[DevinHarriswillstart]

I don't really care how the Mavs lose as long as they do. 1-7 in their last 8 is still encouraging considering Mark's ill-advised comments.

[Magnum_3_Ball]

Originally Posted by mac222b

Magnum- I hope you're wrong!

I didnt watch the game today. Were there any signs of obvious tankage? Did Collinsworth and or Hopson play when the outcome was still in doubt? Its going to come down to whether RC is on board.

I only saw the 2nd half. From what I heard on the post game show on ESPN radio, the game was never really in doubt. Carlisle pretty much used the patented Barea, Ferrell, McDermott (formerly Harris), Dirk, Powell lineup to creep within 4 pts early in the 4th qtr; the only exception is Collinsworth was in for Ferrell because he had foul trouble trying to stop Jrue Holiday. But, then Gentry put his starters back in, they went on a 10-0 run, and the game was over.

Games like this vs a playoff bound team that's fighting for playoff seeding don't worry me. Mavs don't have an answer for the Brow & even if they tried to beat New Orleans, they just aren't good enough. Which is what they proved today. I only saw Collinsworth, Hopson & Mejri get minutes once the Mavs were down by 15+. Noel only saw 2nd half action late in the 4th qtr once the game was out of reach. I think once the Mavs started to get within a few buckets of NO, Carlisle changed up the rotation. Which at this point it's not even about tanking, it's just real, real stupid. Missing talent evaluation opportunities to try & win a meaningless game. Even if the Mavs lucked out & hit the top pick in the lottery drawing, a lot of minutes have been missed since the All Star break where we could of been evaluating these guys at the bottom of the roster. Not to mention, Motley still hasn't seen the floor. Motley has played 8 minutes all season long. It's just stupid, stupid, stupid. Why go into next year not having any better idea what Motley's capable of at the NBA level, then we did at the start of this season?


To better respond to your post, the real problem comes into play next Saturday when Memphis comes in here with a rotation that the Texas Legends could beat a few times out of 10. Seriously, Memphis is tanking at an extraordinary rate. 13 losses in a row & counting. They want that #1 overall pick. Fuck it. They deserve it. They're playing this really, really smart. The Mavs just aren't. The Mavs will win that game next Saturday. There's literally no chance they lose that game. They're just not smart enough to lose a game they need to.

@ New York
@ Brooklyn
@ Sacramento
@ Orlando
vs Phoenix

The Mavs will go 4-1 vs this stretch & everyone here can kiss DeAndre Ayton, Luka Doncic, and Jaren Jackson Jr GOOD BYE! We are not going to get them.

When I think of that it pisses me off so much, and I'm so baffled why everyone (well seemingly) is so quick to defend Carlisle over this. "You can't blame Carlisle" "You can't blame the players" "Are you sure you're a Mavs fan? Player X deserves more respect than that"

Well, who can I blame then? Because Memphis is tanking. They're getting the job done. I don't hear Jarrett Jack bitching to the media about a winning culture. He took his seat on the bench & kept his mouth shut when the media asked him about it. The Mavs are the only organization where the owner gets on a national podcast & telegraphs their intention, the coach is flippant with the media & goes on a little temper tantrum starting only vets for 97% of the time for 7 games, having a little power struggle with the FO, and the players bitch about it in the media. The Mavs are the only team doing that, and it led to a win vs Indiana that we did not need, and it could of led to a win vs the Thunder. LOL @ the comments in the game thread for that one. "Good tank" Lol what?!? The Mavs did everything they could to win that game. That much was super obvious.

Here's the really bad news. The Mavs aren't good enough to beat bad teams when they sit their vets & try to tank, but they're dumb enough to win games they shouldn't & because of that this super talent deficient roster is going to miss out on drafting a player from the top tier & if they fuck around and beat teams like Charlotte, the Lakers, Detroit, etc. then they might miss out a player from the 2nd tier too.

And if that happens, it's going to suck to be a Mavs fan for at least the next 5 years.

How will Memphis look next year with Conley Jr, Tyreke Evans, Parsons, Marc Gasol, and DeAndre Ayton? That's a very real possibility because they will not win 22 games this year. They won't let it happen. Call it a coincidence if you want to, but they see the Lakers beat a banged up Spurs team and an hour later it comes out that Marc Gasol is questionable for Monday's game with San Antonio with a "left ankle" injury, when he sat out Saturday night's game due to "rest".

It's just really concerning because Memphis for sure finishes with a worse record than Dallas. We're about to go 4-1 vs those final 5 games vs the bottom 8, and every other team is trying to lose. It's really not even trying to. Watching these games in the final 5 minutes, these teams like Phoenix, Orlando, Brooklyn, Atlanta, they're just not good enough to close out games. They're smart. They put all of their inexperienced guys on the floor in those spots & they blow big leads. Hell, Brooklyn didn't even need to lose tonight, but they lost when they were 79.4% to win late in the 4th qtr according to ESPN. They're doing what we're not doing with Motley, they're putting young guys on the floor & seeing what they can do.

I don't see how we finished with a bottom 5 worse record in the league. It'll take luck, like we got on Friday vs the Bulls. Outside of luck, we're in a spot with another word that ends in U-C-K.

[Magnum_3_Ball]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

I don't really care how the Mavs lose as long as they do. 1-7 in their last 8 is still encouraging considering Mark's ill-advised comments.

That happened by accident. They tried to beat Chicago, and Chicago is benching Robin Lopez & Justin Holiday. Chicago tried to lose to us, but we suck so bad that we couldn't beat a team who was trying to lose to us. We made David Nwaba look like a freagg'in All Star. But, the Mavs were up by 11 with 10 min to go in that one, and then the Bulls caught fire. We won't get that lucky in very many more games vs the bottom 8.

Vs OKC we tried to win that game. Only the vets played. And a DSJ baseline jumper doesn't find the bottom of the net, or we win that game. Dumb luck. Period.

We're about to play Memphis who's lost 13 in a row, and that's no accident. We're going to beat them because they're going to bring a rotation in here that would have trouble in the G league a lot of nights, and the Mavs are stubborn as hell. Carlisle is going to take the bait, play the vets the whole game & we're going to win that one by double digits. The writing is on the wall.

New York is playing to lose. Look at their minutes distribution since KP went down. Look at how piss poor their guards are. Mudiay, Burke & Ntilikina don't move the ball in the offense. They're point guards who do not get their teammates involved. The Knicks are 1-9 since the unicorn went down. Their only win came vs ORL by 7 points & really only happened because Burke went off for 26 pts on 12/22 FG shooting.

Then we play Brooklyn. Brooklyn is 1-12 in their last 13 games. Unless DeAngelo catches fire or one of their other super scrubs, they're not even in games to even have a chance to win.

We are not going to lose a game to 3 teams who are a combined 2-34 in their last 36 games. It's just not going to happen. Not when we won't sit our vets & play the young guys we need to evaluate, and those other teams are doing that.

Those 3 wins will cost us a shot at Ayton, Doncic, JJJ or anyone else in the top 5. Hell, winning @ SAC, vs LAL and vs IND may have already done that.

[Magnum_3_Ball]

I've been paying close attention to each of the "tank" teams the past several weeks i.e. who's been bought out, who's sitting, which players are getting FG attempts, etc. I went through each of the bottom 10 teams & projected their final record. I recorded the projected win/loss for each time a bottom 10 team played each other, so I couldn't have projected a win for 2 teams when only 1 team could win or 2 losses when only 1 team could lose.


Here's my projected bottom 10 final records:

MEM 20-62
PHX 22-60
ATL 22-60
SAC 23-59
BKN 23-59
DAL 25-57
ORL 25-57
CHI 27-55
NYK 27-55
LAL 36-46


Of note, ORL has a stretch from March 24th thru April 4th where they play vs PHX, vs BKN, vs CHI, @ ATL, @ NYK, vs DAL. In theory, they could go 6-0 during this cream puff stretch, but their management may elect to make some changes. For example, Aaron Gordon & Nikola Vucevic could "sprain" their ankles March 22nd vs PHI. If they don't go after these games, they could drop many of them & then they shoot up to the top of the worst record standings. Fwiw, I have them beating DAL on the 4th, even though it's the 2nd night of a back-to-back for them & they're coming in from New York the previous night when Dallas is off the night before. If DAL wins that game, then they lose the tie with ORL at 25 wins each. I just went with ORL because they're a fiesty bunch, Gordon, Vucevic, Hezonja & now Isaac have all been playing well since the break & they have guys who can make shots in the final minutes like Fournier, so they seem to stay in some of these tight games late & pull a few of them out.

I view CHI as a similar fiesty bunch. They showed as much vs us on Friday. But, I have them winning a few of these games that they're just as likely to break down, have bad turnovers & shoot themselves out of games. I think Portis is a difference maker & he's supposedly getting a 5 game audition in the starting lineup that I don't think he'll relinquish the rest of the season. If CHI doesn't match their bad stretches with just as many good stretches & knock off a team here or there that you wouldn't project them to, then they'll jump in front of the Mavs with a worse record.

In this scenario, DAL & ORL tie for the 6th worst record, and the season series is tied also at 1-1. I'm going to literally flip a coin & see who goes in front, since I don't know what the next tiebreaker would be.

DAL won the coin flip, and in this realistic projection, they finish with the 6th overall worst record. Unfortunately at the draft lottery, the Bulls lucked out & snagged the #1 overall pick, which pushed DAL down to the 7th overall selection.

Good Bye DeAndre Ayton!
Good Bye Luka Doncic!
Good Bye Jaren Jackson Jr!
Good Bye Marvin Bagley III! (Whew! Thank God!)
Good Bye Greg Oden 2.0... I mean Michael Porter Jr! (Double Whew!!)
Good Bye Mo Bamba!

HELLO KEVIN KNOX!!! Welcome to Dallas!!


Orlando reaches on Collin Sexton
The Knicks take Mikal Bridges
And, the Sixers take Trae Young... How effin' scary would that be?