2018 NBA Draft

[tap2390]

Originally Posted by Underdog

I like how you guys are debating players like matters... The Mavs are going to finish #4, but the lottery balls will give us #1 overall and we'll take DeAndre Ayton because I've been making blood sacrifices to the Basketball Gods. You're welcome. #MFFL

How hard was it to hunt down Tractor Traylor?

[Magnum_3_Ball]

Good night coming up tomorrow night.

LAL @ ATL
CHI @ BKN
PHX @ NO (Pelicans on a 5 game winning streak, but lately if Brow doesn't go for 40 they struggle... only problem is Brow's been going for 40)
ORL @ OKC (Thunder's problems vs lower tier teams has been well documented)
IND @ DAL
MIN @ SAC (no Butler & other guys needing to step up, roles redefined on the road with SAC's young players playing well of late)

Definitely winnable games for ATL & BKN. I would say PHX, ORL & SAC all have a puncher's chance too. Unfortunately, so does DAL; especially if Carlisle is going to keep making "coach's decisions" and playing as many vets for as many minutes as he can. Smh...

Worst case scenario, at least LAL and/or CHI will be saddled with a loss.

[Magnum_3_Ball]

LaVine is resting for CHI tonight. Portis & Markkanen are still beasts, but DeAngelo Russell has been heating up lately & that Bulls backcourt w/o LaVine is a defensive dream for opposing guards. Really hope BKN can pull out the W tonight.

[Magnum_3_Ball]

I flip on ESPN & literally within the first 60 seconds of me watching Duke/Virginia Tech, I see Bagley III score a point blank layup when his defender left to cut off Trevon Duval's penetration, Bagley all alone with a 6-6 White dude 2 feet from the basket. The announcer says, "Bagley is scoring around the basket, picking up that loose change as you would say, but creating on his own isn't his thing, yet... YET"

Reminded me a lot of all those box scores I researched yesterday.

[Underdog]

From #2 to #6 in the blink of an eye.


@tankathon:

Suns - L
Hawks - L
Magic - L
Grizzlies - L
Mavericks - W
Bulls - L
Knicks - L

[Magnum_3_Ball]

Originally Posted by Underdog

From #2 to #6 in the blink of an eye.


@tankathon:

Suns - L
Hawks - L
Magic - L
Grizzlies - L
Mavericks - W
Bulls - L
Knicks - L

Ridiculous. None of those other teams with losses tonight played their 6 worse players 18 minutes.

I'm getting to the point with Carlisle where I'm just like fuck him then!! If he hates losing so bad, I really hope he enjoys drafting 8th, picking some guy that doesn't workout here. Welcome to Dallas Kevin Knox!!!

And I really hope he enjoys game-planning for DeAndre Ayton on the Memphis Grizzlies for the next 15 years. I hope he enjoys not making the playoffs again. I really hope his disdain for losing stays strong & pushes him through all of the losing the Mavs are about to encounter when they whiff on this year's draft.

And get ready for upcoming wins vs Chicago and Memphis. Unless the Mavs pull their Dr Jekyl & Mr Hyde routine and decide to tank one night & not the other...

Ugh... It's so, so SO freaking stupid.

[Magnum_3_Ball]

What's sad about the list from tankathon is, we legitimately have to be worried about falling behind the Knicks now... Jesus.

[hayth.james.g]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...tion-team-tank

As a fan who wants to see us turn the corner asap, I am extremely frustrated by the direction this is headed. Cuban has essentially lost the team and as a result we are going to potentially lose out on a top 3 pick in special draft.

I understand Dirks point, but we are at the home stretch now. It's one thing to take that mentality through 40 games. Another entirely to throw away this opportunity after you have already earned your way here legitimately. Our competitors are not this stupid. They WILL lose and many of them are better teams that we are.

[MavzMan]

After Cuban opening his big mouth about tanking, it makes it really difficult to even have legitimate losses now. Cuban has effectively fined himself a draft pick. I've always liked Cuban much more than I've disliked him, but he really screwed himself, the team, and most importantly the fans now. It's honestly too late as the damage is done, but it is time for him to become a lot more of that silent owner type.

We won't become the Mavs of the '90s, but we are definitely going to be The Mediocre Mavs.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by MavzMan

After Cuban opening his big mouth about tanking, it makes it really difficult to even have legitimate losses now. Cuban has effectively fined himself a draft pick. I've always liked Cuban much more than I've disliked him, but he really screwed himself, the team, and most importantly the fans now. It's honestly too late as the damage is done, but it is time for him to become a lot more of that silent owner type.

We won't become the Mavs of the '90s, but we are definitely going to be The Mediocre Mavs.

I just feel like we'll never actually hit the restart button until the triangle of trust is broken up.

It is tough to say, but I'm ready for a new owner, gm, and coach...or at least one or two of them gone. They clearly aren't on the same page.

[Magnum_3_Ball]

Originally Posted by MavzMan

After Cuban opening his big mouth about tanking...

I really don't have a problem with Mark Cuban saying what he did. He was fined $600k, and so be it. Sure, I would prefer he didn't say it, but he did. I don't think it's that damaging. The league isn't going to do anything else about it.

In my opinion, the sexual harassment scandal is another issue totally. I think the SI follow up article that was posted on this forum a few days ago details that very well. There's no excuse for the "I didn't know" mantra for 15 years!!! but since the scandal broke Cuban has handled it about as well as he possibly could & I think the hiring of the new CEO is a great move that's going to help in numerous ways.

As far as the tanking goes, if I'm a player I appreciate the owner sitting down and talking to me, explaining what's going on & being up front about it. Cuban also said next year we're not tanking. I can't deal with this for more than 18 months. It hurts too much.

If I'm a player, I prefer that kinda candor to learning I was traded on Twitter like Blake Griffin did. Seriously, what's wrong with Mark Cuban telling his players we should tank?

He's the owner, for 1, and secondly, it is the smartest thing to do.

And how fucking immature is it for Rick Carlisle to get all butthurt about it & start playing just the veterans? Jesus Christ. I remember a time not too long ago where there were open questions about whether he would stick around for a rebuild. Fine, don't let the door hit ya in the ass on the way out, Coach.

You're telling me come April 11th when the season is over it's going to matter to these players that they won 27 games instead of 23 this year? That's some source of pride to wear on their chest like a badge of honor? Ooooh, we finished 11th in the West this year and not last. Hold your applause please.

It's stupid. brain-dead, moronic, mother loving R-E-T-A-R-D-E-D!!!

Every player, every coach on this team is smart enough to know those extra handful of wins mean NOTHING. They only it doesn't help the organization. It does nothing for them. Hell, Carlisle isn't Frank Vogel or Dave Joerger, he doesn't have to worry about his win/loss record and whether that means his job or not. It should be no issue for him. Now, he's bucking what the owner wants & making this into an issue, and honestly, now it might be his ass, and if so, the only thing I can say is HALLELUJAH!!! I went through a disgusting period of Mavs basketball from 1989-90 to 1998-1999 (actually was not 1998 that season due to the strike). Hell, I remember my first pair of good seats to a Mavs game. I had just started at Susquehanna radio, and one of the sales guys had seats right behind the basket for Spurs/Mavs, and he didn't want them. Nobody was going to games then. He gave me tickets, with a face value of probably $75 a ticket, for nothing. He probably didn't even view it as a big deal. It was like giving someone coupons for buy one get one free tacos at Jack-in-the-Box.

I'm not willing to have this franchise go back to that because our head coach gets butthurt about losing a couple of pointless games in a lost. Anybody, who watched all of those games back then would be hesitant to go back to that too.

[Magnum_3_Ball]

From now on, any post about DeAndre Ayton or Luka Doncic should be immediately deleted from this thread.

Those two are pipedreams. Carlisle & Barea are going to ensure we don't draft high enough for those players. The only way we wind up with a top 2 draft pick this year is if we win the lottery.

So talking about Ayton or Doncic is just cruel at this point. And we probably shouldn't talk about Jaren Jackson Jr, Marvin Bagley, or Mohammed Bamba either. Maybe not Michael Porter Jr either.

It's time to start breaking down Wendell Carter Jr, Mikal Bridges (if he's still there when the Mavs pick), Trae Young, Kevin Knox. Hell we might fall to the 10th selection in this draft, and we might need to talk Lonnie Walker.

It's time to focus on these players. Kiss the top talent in this draft G-O-O-D-B-Y-E!

[Magnum_3_Ball]

Originally Posted by hayth.james.g

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...tion-team-tank

As a fan who wants to see us turn the corner asap, I am extremely frustrated by the direction this is headed. Cuban has essentially lost the team and as a result we are going to potentially lose out on a top 3 pick in special draft.

I understand Dirks point, but we are at the home stretch now. It's one thing to take that mentality through 40 games. Another entirely to throw away this opportunity after you have already earned your way here legitimately. Our competitors are not this stupid. They WILL lose and many of them are better teams that we are.

I agree with every word of this. The only thing I would highlight is, A) Cuban & Dirk have a lot of history, and I think if there is any damage to repair, then Dirk can help in that regard. B) Point blank if Carlisle has to go, then he has to go. I honestly don't give a shit. Carlisle has a bad attitude with the media. He's pretty much an asshole, and I really don't like the power trip he's been on these last 2 games. There's no point to him flopping his dick around in a dick waving contest. The Mavs drafting 8th or drafting 2nd this year is too God damn important for that petty B.S. and C) if Cuban has lost the team, oh well. Outside of DSJ, who's going to be here 3 years from now, anyways??? Barnes can be moved. That's why I don't get this whole "it's bad for morale to teach these guys to lose" notion. Who's going to be here in 3 years to fight on, anyways??? This is a forreal rebuild. DSJ, maybe Barnes (maybe not), and nobody else will be here on the Mavs roster to open the 2021-2022 season when the Mavs have a chance to contend again.

As far as the competition goes, Memphis is re-writing the book on tanking. If anyone should be fined $600k for tanking it should be the Grizzlies. Their list of sins is too long to cover in this post. Hell, Phoenix lost a 15 point lead in the 4th qtr to Portland the other night. Lillard hits the game winning shot on the last possession. The Suns last possession: a 5 second call. They failed to inbound the ball within 5 seconds on their last possession of the game.

We have no chance in hell to finish atop of the tank with opponents like that.

By the way, Underdog, you're more of a cap guy than I am. Atlanta just simply bought out Illyasova, and now the Hawks don't have to worry about him costing them losses the rest of the way. And he wasn't even impacting their games like Barea is for us. Why can't we just buy Barea out???

Lastly, why the hell sign Hopson to a 10-day contract and not take a look at him? Last 2 games there have been next to 0 minutes for Kleber, Motely, Jalen Jones, Collinsworth, and Hopson. What is Carlisle waiting for to evaluate these players? What we'll finally see what Motely can do come April???

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Magnum_3_Ball

From now on, any post about DeAndre Ayton or Luka Doncic should be immediately deleted from this thread.

Those two are pipedreams. Carlisle & Barea are going to ensure we don't draft high enough for those players. The only way we wind up with a top 2 draft pick this year is if we win the lottery.

So talking about Ayton or Doncic is just cruel at this point. And we probably shouldn't talk about Jaren Jackson Jr, Marvin Bagley, or Mohammed Bamba either. Maybe not Michael Porter Jr either.

It's time to start breaking down Wendell Carter Jr, Mikal Bridges (if he's still there when the Mavs pick), Trae Young, Kevin Knox. Hell we might fall to the 10th selection in this draft, and we might need to talk Lonnie Walker.

It's time to focus on these players. Kiss the top talent in this draft G-O-O-D-B-Y-E!

Only 1.5 games separate us from the #1 overall spot with 21 games left to play. Also, picks aren't set in stone because of the lottery rules -- even at #6, we still have a 6.3% chance at the #1 overall pick and a 21.5% chance at a top-3 pick... And on the flipside, even if we finish dead-last there's only a 25% chance of getting the #1 pick.

And I doubt we pick as low as #10 because we're 7.5 games out of that spot and we still suck. I get being concerned about falling from #2 to #6 with one win, but you don't have to always be such an extreme pessimist about everything.

[Magnum_3_Ball]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Only 1.5 games separate us from the #1 overall spot with 21 games left to play. Also, picks aren't set in stone because of the lottery rules -- even at #6, we still have a 6.3% chance at the #1 overall pick and a 21.5% chance at a top-3 pick... And on the flipside, even if we finish dead-last there's only a 25% chance of getting the #1 pick.

And I doubt we pick as low as #10 because we're 7.5 games out of that spot and we still suck. I get being concerned about falling from #2 to #6 with one win, but you don't have to always be such an extreme pessimist about everything.

I'm just being realistic. Look at last night's games.

CHI - Rested Zach LaVine (for no real good reason). They've already benched Robin Lopez. He doesn't even show up as DNP-CD anymore. I'm not certain he's even traveling with the team, anymore. And look at the minutes distribution. Vets sit, young guys play.

ATL - They buy out Ilyasova. They don't even have a "vet" to sit, and they didn't need to buy out Ilyasova, he wasn't costing them losses, but they know how important it is to have a top pick this year. They weren't taking any extra risk of losing that top pick for worthless Ilyasova.

MEM - Tyreke Evans sits for about the 15th time in their last 18 games, with a "rib injury". Conley Jr isn't playing because a bone spur costs you a season now... Hmmmm... never heard of that before. Parsons sits last night with an "illness"... They're playing Boston & getting their ass kicked the whole time, so they play Gasol his regular minutes & get a few young guys some minutes. Any time games get close for Memphis, Gasol plays less, gets less touches & young players minutes go up.

NYK - Jarrett Jack gets a DNP-CD. Here's a novel idea, the Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek said "we're going to play the young PGs & see what they have the second half", and guess what? That's what the Knicks have been doing. Last night, Mudiay 31 min, Ntilikina 28 min, Burke 25 min. They've been getting minutes. It's not like the Knicks owner says something in the media & Hornacek has a god damn temper-tantrum & says fuck the plan! Jack you get in there for 40 min tonight & win us this game!!! Jesus H. Christ... Knicks were actually making a game of it w/ Golden State, so they limited Kanter's minutes, and Hardaway Jr & Beasley last night.

PHX - Tyson Chandler has missed 6 of the last 7 games with a neck "injury", and is currently "without a time table to return". Btw, the only game he did play in was vs Golden State in a 46 point loss. Last night vs NO in a tight game. Jared Dudley with a DNP-CD. I mean credit the Suns, they have young guys like Booker, Warren, Bender, Chriss, and Jackson, and they're letting them play & seeing what they have. Novel idea. They're not letting Tyson Chandler or Jared Dudley stand in the way of their development because they've been "good soldiers" or even lower their chances at adding a difference maker to the mix.

ORL - Mo Speights records a DNP-Personel and Aaron Afflalo has a DNP-CD in a tight game with OKC.

SAC - Zach Randolph, Vince Carter, and Garrett Temple all with DNP-CDs, and this is in a home game vs Minnesota who's trying to figure things out now without Jimmy Butler. A 3 point game at half time. All of SAC's young guys saw minutes.

And then you have our Dallas Mavericks...

Basically, in a very lose-able game, Carlisle plays a 8 man rotation. Starters all heavy minutes, only starting young player is our rookie. Other than that, no young players see the floor excepts for Maxi Kleber who plays 5 min in the 1st half, and then sits the 2nd half. Collinsworth 0 min, Hopson 0 min, and I guess Jones & Motley aren't even up with the team right now because they're not even listed in the box score.

We are the only team that should be tanking that is not. That is Rick Carlisle's awesome choice!!! You don't see Jeff Hornacek, Dave Joerger, Jay Triano, J.B. Bickerstaff, or Frank Vogel making the choices Rick Carlisle makes. And yet the posters on this forum say do not blame Carlisle. He's the only dumbass head coach with a tanking team making "coach's decisions" not to tank, but don't blame the dumbass. Don't blame him. Never mind no other tanking team is pissing away their chance at a top draft pick, no other coach is doing that----just Rick Carlisle. But whatever you do, do not blame Rick Carlisle. In fact, blame the owner, the only sane, logical one who clearly wants the team to do the smart thing. Yeah, blame him

Oh & forget about Friday @ CHI, that's a Win. Forget about Sat March 10th vs MEM, that's a Win. Forget about Tues March 13th @ NYK, that's a Win. Hell, Barea will probably have a field day in that one & put up 30 vs Mudiay/Ntilikina/Burke. It'll be great to see the little soldier have a big game & lead us to victory!!

Forget about Sat March 17th @ BKN, that's a Win. Forget about Tues March 27th @ SAC, that's a win. Hell, the only film Barea will need to watch is highlights from his +17 performance vs SAC back on Feb 3rd. Maybe he'll go for +30 in this one!

Forget about April 4th @ ORL, that's a Win. And forget about April 10th vs PHX, that's a Win too!

There's 7 wins. Because we are not going to lose to teams that are turning losing into an art form when Carlisle turns this into a dick waving contest between him & Cuban and insists on going with an 8 man rotation full of 7 veterans. It's not going to happen.

That puts us at 26 wins + whatever we happen to pick up like the W last night vs Indiana in games you figure we'd lose. We seriously could finish with more wins than the Knicks. It's not saying the sky is falling. It's looking at what the other tanking teams are doing and comparing that to what Carlisle is doing. The tea leaves are super easy to read, actually.

[saclare]

I feel sorry for your keyboard and your mental health if you get that worked up over this.

[MavzMan]

Originally Posted by Magnum_3_Ball

I really don't have a problem with Mark Cuban saying what he did. He was fined $600k, and so be it. Sure, I would prefer he didn't say it, but he did. I don't think it's that damaging. The league isn't going to do anything else about it.
.....
And how fucking immature is it for Rick Carlisle to get all butthurt about it & start playing just the veterans? Jesus Christ. I remember a time not too long ago where there were open questions about whether he would stick around for a rebuild. Fine, don't let the door hit ya in the ass on the way out, Coach.

I find it interesting that you immediately assign 100% of the blame on RC. In fact, I still put more of it on Cuban and possibly the league. I can absolutely see the Silver calling up Cuban and chewing him out followed by Cuban saying "Fine, we'll play our vets more just to give the feel good that we're not really losing games on purpose." The facts are that after Cuban said what he did, we start playing vets and won a game. I would be my savings account, sorry not a lot, that if Cuban had NOT said anything, we would have played rookies/G-league players and lost that game. However, like the center of a tootsie roll pop ... we'll never know.

[Magnum_3_Ball]

Originally Posted by MavzMan

I find it interesting that you immediately assign 100% of the blame on RC. In fact, I still put more of it on Cuban and possibly the league. I can absolutely see the Silver calling up Cuban and chewing him out followed by Cuban saying "Fine, we'll play our vets more just to give the feel good that we're not really losing games on purpose." The facts are that after Cuban said what he did, we start playing vets and won a game. I would be my savings account, sorry not a lot, that if Cuban had NOT said anything, we would have played rookies/G-league players and lost that game. However, like the center of a tootsie roll pop ... we'll never know.

I don't see Cuban being someone who backs down that easily. Like when has he ever done that? You're talking about a guy who fought the SEC for years, spending 10 times what he would of in fines to pay his attorneys to fight a case, where all he had to do was take a slap on the wrist. He felt he was right, he was, and he fought tooth & nail.

I just don't see that.

Carlisle is maybe the only person just as stubborn as Cuban. Well before the tanking comments, Carlisle always had a sarcastic response for the media when asked about rotations & tanking. He's always had an attitude about it. Why is it unreasonable to think he's just on a power trip?

[Magnum_3_Ball]

Originally Posted by saclare

I feel sorry for your keyboard and your mental health if you get that worked up over this.

Lol. There's just a lot of evidence. There's 7 other teams to look at. That's a lot to document. You're right a lot of typing. A lot to look up too.

7 teams doing things one way.

1 team, the Dallas Mavericks, doing it another.



Edit: If the Mavs, were the Memphis Grizzlies, with the kind of lead they had in the standings, they could of relatively easily had the worst record in the league this year. That guarantees you a top 4 draft pick. Even with the 2nd worst record in the league, you still have an 88% chance at a top 4 pick.

"get this worked up over it"... If Carlisle isn't removed and keeps coaching like he has since the break, playing his vets like 12 teams make it out of the Western conference this year, then we will finish with the 9th worst record, and there will be a 81% chance we draft 9th overall, 12% chance we draft 10th.

How worked up should I be that we go from likely adding either Ayton, Doncic, JJJ to our roster to instead adding Miles Bridges or Wendell Carter Jr? Not because of bad luck, but because of a willful, stubborn, deliberate decision by the head coach?

How am I suppose to take that? It's no big deal?

Those names probably don't highlight the impact. How about this...

Would you be cool with the Mavs losing their choice of Karl Anthony-Towns, DeAngelo Russell, Kristaps Porzingis for Stanley Johnson, Justise Winslow or Trey Lyles? All because the head coach refused to sit veterans & play young players??

It's not cool to me & I don't mind saying so.

[hayth.james.g]

To me it is pretty clear that Rick is putting his middle finger in the air since the Cuban comments came out.

[Bryan_Wilson]

Originally Posted by hayth.james.g

To me it is pretty clear that Rick is putting his middle finger in the air since the Cuban comments came out.

If that's true then he's not alone then. Dirk and Barnes both stuck it up after their recent comments.

[Magnum_3_Ball]

Originally Posted by hayth.james.g

To me it is pretty clear that Rick is putting his middle finger in the air since the Cuban comments came out.

Yeah, this is what I think too. I could be wrong, because I can't read Carlisle's mind, but even if you're just reading between the lines, it sure looks like it.

[Magnum_3_Ball]

By the way, DeAngelo Russell's line tonight: 25 pts 5 rebs 6 asst on 9/18 FGs, and BKN was leading by 1 pt with under a min to play on the road vs CLE. Which is significant for 2 reasons, Russell played the 2nd night of a back to back & played well, and played 32 min in a start. Also, CLE had extra motivation to win that game with BKN's 1st round pick going to them this year.

I think with the way Russell & Allen have played of late, and the way Dinwiddie, Crabbe & Carroll have been playing, it's possible the Nets finish with a better record than us, even with us trying to make the playoffs still.

Another detail to point out. The Nets have nothing to tank for, and even they know to sit their veterans. Mozgov is a regular DNP-CD, and Dante Cunningham & Quincy Acy don't get minutes when the Nets other young forwards are healthy & available. They don't even have a draft pick to tank for & they're still playing for the future.

[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.

[Magnum_3_Ball]

Even if we draft 10th, I get the feeling Trae Young will be on the board for us.

By the way, if there really is this big disconnect between the front office & Carlisle, then I think we need to stop saying things like "he's not a player Carlisle would do well with" or "he doesn't fit Carlisle's system" etc. It doesn't seem like the front office knows how to draft to begin with, but they don't seem to care to be drafting for Carlisle either.

[Magnum_3_Ball]

I would be excited about PHX vs MEM tomorrow night, but this organization clearly doesn't give a flying fuck about where we draft this year, so there's really nothing to get excited about. No matter who loses, the Mavs are going to finish with a better record than both of these clubs.

#FireCarlisle

[hayth.james.g]

That moment you realize you have posted 5 times consecutively with no one else replying...

[MavzMan]

I think M3B was in a movie a while back ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPguqGyV4OU

[saclare]

The only problem with the 2015 draft was that I was screaming for Bobby Portis, especially as an Arkansas fan. Guy is coming into his own this season after the preseason drama. Great guy on and off the court, with a mean right hook

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by saclare

The only problem with the 2015 draft was that I was screaming for Bobby Portis, especially as an Arkansas fan. Guy is coming into his own this season after the preseason drama. Great guy on and off the court, with a mean right hook

He was taken a pick before us so there isn't much to fault the FO on that one.

[saclare]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

He was taken a pick before us so there isn't much to fault the FO on that one.

He was taken directly after we picked Justin Anderson.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by saclare

He was taken directly after we picked Justin Anderson.

To be fair, it can be a bit of a mess trying to remember who went where in the NBA draft, since where players are picked is inexplicably favored over where they actually end up after trades and whatnot (remember when we drafted Tyler Zeller?)... Even SBNATION got this one wrong:

Arkansas big man Bobby Portis is heading to the Chicago Bulls with the No. 20 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft after a breakout sophomore year with the Razorbacks.

https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2015/6/...oronto-raptors

[Magnum_3_Ball]

Originally Posted by Underdog

To be fair, it can be a bit of a mess trying to remember who went where in the NBA draft, since where players are picked is inexplicably favored over where they actually end up after trades and whatnot (remember when we drafted Tyler Zeller?)... Even SBNATION got this one wrong:

nbadraft.net > history tab > 2015

3 clicks & the answer

[saclare]

Originally Posted by Underdog

To be fair, it can be a bit of a mess trying to remember who went where in the NBA draft, since where players are picked is inexplicably favored over where they actually end up after trades and whatnot (remember when we drafted Tyler Zeller?)... Even SBNATION got this one wrong:

Oh yea, didn't mean to come off condescendingly. Just informative. I remember that draft and actually liked Anderson pick. Just had some homer goggles for Portis and knew he'd be at the least a very good backup to Dirk in his descent to retirement.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Magnum_3_Ball

nbadraft.net > history tab > 2015

3 clicks & the answer

Yeah, I know that -- but the top hits that come up in a Google search (NBA.com, ESPN, Basketball Reference, SportingNews, MyDraft, Wiki, etc.) have it listed the other way... It's easy to make a mistake when recalling past draft picks if you use any of these sites as a source.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

That's right, it was Delon Wright who I sorta liked taken before Anderson.

[Magnum_3_Ball]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Yeah, I know that -- but the top hits that come up in a Google search (NBA.com, ESPN, Basketball Reference, SportingNews, MyDraft, Wiki, etc.) have it listed the other way... It's easy to make a mistake when recalling past draft picks if you use any of these sites as a source.

Fair enough

[DevinHarriswillstart]

I didn't even look it up. I just thought I remember Chicago taking him before us. GOD HELP US I WAS WRONG!

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by saclare

Oh yea, didn't mean to come off condescendingly. Just informative. I remember that draft and actually liked Anderson pick. Just had some homer goggles for Portis and knew he'd be at the least a very good backup to Dirk in his descent to retirement.

I thought 2015 was a really weak class heading into that draft, at least where we were picking... In hindsight, Portis was definitely one of the better options -- better than Anderson anyway.

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

That's right, it was Delon Wright who I sorta liked taken before Anderson.

Yeah, Wright was definitely a guy I liked at #21, too bad he went a pick before us.

[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.