07-15-2023, 05:54 PM
(07-15-2023, 05:40 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: Sure, you are entitled to your opinion. I just do not understand it.
I agree with your opinion about taking centers high. Ayton and Bagley were both HORRIBLE picks. Just AWFUL. Lively will be better than either one of those dudes, imo, and #12 isn’t all that “high”, is it? I mean, you might have a point if that’s all they did, but they smartly recognized that they could get their guy a couple of picks later while dumping Bertans. Difficult for me to find fault in that.
And, rather than trumpet a TPE that goes unused, the Mark Cuban special, they used it immediately to make another 1st appear out of thin air. With it, they chose a player that the next couple of teams were salivating over. The Mavs, for a change, swooped in out of nowhere to steal a draft darling. It was Desmond Bane in reverse.
The bad money they took on to make this all happen actually has a plausible chance of being rehabilitated. When it comes to the “fallen angel” type, position of need is EVERYTHING. You’re not going to go out of your way and change your play style in order to rehab an asset’s value, but if what he can do actually fits into a need you have within your scheme? THAT has a chance to work.
Other than the Luka/Brunson draft, this might have been my favorite as a Mavs fan.
I mentioned that I liked the moves itself to move down and get a TPE but not the execution in the draft. Actually let me clarify. At #24 or whatever pick they used to get OMax, I would be lying if I said that bothered me. It is a low first round oick and I can’t blame GMs if the pick doesn’t pan out.
My problem is to start draft night they had pick #10. They ended up going for a defensive center. One who is very raw. Offensive skill is where the league is headed. Just because we already have two very skilled players who are not great defensively, to me is not a reason to pick a raw player who even if he pans out cannot be a core piece by himself. If you are talking a defensive forward or a guy like Draymond who can handle the ball quite a bit then ok. Skill at the offensive end should be a priority when you pick that high because that is how the league has been for quite a few years now.
Ayton and Bagley didn’t pan out and there again it was because the teams went for positional need arguing they had Booker and Fox who they felt made Luka redundant. That’s exactly what I am referring to. Of course there was no Luka on the board here but the point still stands. You go for offensive skill when picking that high.