Balsamic_duck
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| Registered on: | 6/24/2017 |
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re: Draft Prospects Thread
Posted by Balsamic_duck on 5/21/25 at 8:19 am
Egor Demin is apparently flying up draft boards. Measured really well at the combine and apparently has been killing workout and interviews.
Had an up and down year at BYU but his skill set is intriguing at 6’9.5
Thomas Sorber is also very interesting to me. Measured 6’9 barefoot and a 7’6 wingspan. He was a monster on defense and flashed some nice passing. Has a little Bam to him.
Had an up and down year at BYU but his skill set is intriguing at 6’9.5
Thomas Sorber is also very interesting to me. Measured 6’9 barefoot and a 7’6 wingspan. He was a monster on defense and flashed some nice passing. Has a little Bam to him.
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re: Tre Johnson @ 7
Posted by Balsamic_duck on 5/19/25 at 9:13 am
quote:
Noa Essengue could be in play at 7. Freakishly long and skilled, one of the youngest players in the draft. Would be a fun upside swing.. why trade for Giannis when we can draft the next one
He’s very interesting. He’s not as raw as many would think. He’s been incredible at drawing FTs. People would probably be pissed if we took him at 7 but he without a doubt has one of the highest ceilings in this draft.
re: Expectations for Dejounte Murray next season?
Posted by Balsamic_duck on 5/16/25 at 3:36 pm
quote:
don't think we're going to have the same level of injuries. The NBA is a very fickel league. The Warriors were set to win 5 titles in a row and only got 2 when kd tore his Achilles. Boston has to blow it up now. The only thing the pels can do to assure a tank is to get crazy and trade Trey Murphy or herb or zion.
I mean we’re already starting next year without Dejounte for a while. One ankle roll or pulled hammy from Zion and the season is over just like that. We don’t have the depth we used to to survive any injuries. We have to assume Zion is going to miss 40-50 games next year
re: Draft Prospects Thread
Posted by Balsamic_duck on 5/16/25 at 3:31 pm
quote:
What are your playmaking concerns? He was the sole creator on that OU team and I thought he flashed really well as a passer.
He really didn’t average that many assists and had a poor ast/tov ratio. He did have some nice passes but he’s definitely a shoot first guy.
re: Draft Prospects Thread
Posted by Balsamic_duck on 5/16/25 at 3:08 pm
quote:
really think Fears is going to be a good shooter. People act like he can’t shoot at all but he was 85% from the free throw line which is a good indicator, and shows he has a shooters touch. Fears was just streaky and also took a lot of really deep and step back threes which tanked his percentage a bit. Wouldn’t shock me one bit if he shot mid thirty percent from three as a rookie
Yeah I’m not worried about his shooting too much. Kinda reminds me of Maxey’s year at Kentucky when he shot I think like 28% but you could tell he was gonna be a good shooter. My concerns more have to do with his size and playmaking.
re: Expectations for Dejounte Murray next season?
Posted by Balsamic_duck on 5/16/25 at 2:59 pm
quote:
Depending on how much we suck next year I can see a 15-30 pels telling DJ to rehab the entire season
If I was running the pels I’d sit him all next season to make sure he’s 100% healthy going into the 26-27 season. I’ve said it before, we have an opportunity to do a quick rebuild by tanking again next year. No reason to rush Dejounte back so we can lose in the play in at best next year, that would be the most depressing outcome
re: Draft Prospects Thread
Posted by Balsamic_duck on 5/16/25 at 2:49 pm
quote:
I'm going to keep banging the drum for Nique Clifford. I wouldn't even mind trading back to the end/just outside of the lottery to take him.
If you like Clifford, you’ll love Cedric coward. He’s flying up draft boards. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go in the teens. He’s got some SGA in him and he has some crazy measurables
re: Draft Prospects Thread
Posted by Balsamic_duck on 5/16/25 at 2:04 pm
quote:
i'm totally out on taking another C... i'm totally cool with rolling with Missi, Matkovic, and Olynyk
The NBA is getting bigger every year. That would be one of if not the worst center rotations in the league. I think center is still a massive hole for this team
re: Past 20 No. 7 Overall Picks
Posted by Balsamic_duck on 5/16/25 at 1:02 pm
quote:
Yes it is a sure thing. Saying the trade didn't work out b/c he got a freak injury, two of them actually, is silly. Are you going to say making the pick didn't work out if the draft pick tears his ACL 2 weeks into the season? You know Murray is a fringe all-star caliber player, that's the sure thing. If you were to trade the pick, you would be trading it for a player that you already know is a successful starter in the league. The odds of getting a starter in the trade is 100%. The odds of getting a starter in the draft is 40% at absolute best.
So every trade works out? Just because you’re trading for a proven guy doesn’t mean the trade works out. NBA history is littered with bad trades.
re: Past 20 No. 7 Overall Picks
Posted by Balsamic_duck on 5/16/25 at 12:04 pm
Trading the pick is also not a sure thing. See the Dejounte Murray trade.
There’s risk both ways
There’s risk both ways
re: The Athletic Mock Draft -post lottery
Posted by Balsamic_duck on 5/16/25 at 12:02 pm
quote:
Either way, they need to get a PG before the season starts. Do not want to see McCollum playing out of position again.
I’m throwing the MLE at Ty Jerome. I know he had a poor playoffs but he was great all year and I’ll worry about him underperforming in the playoffs if we actually get there.
He should be able to hold down the ship till Dejounte comes back
re: Draft Prospects Thread
Posted by Balsamic_duck on 5/16/25 at 11:54 am
quote:
like all those same prospects, but I am more bullish on Fears. He performed at such a high level as a freshman. He’s not really undersized, he measured 6’2 1/2” barefoot, which is fine for a PG, but physically he plays bigger than his 180 lb - he’s very strong. His ability to attack the rim will translate on day 1. Watching Oklahoma, I always felt like he was making big play after big play, at 18 years old, I think he reclassified so he’s young. He’s a guy I would bet on, the biggest swing with him will be his shooting, which is a totally valid concern.
Yeah he’s probably the highest upside guy at 7 after the guys I mentioned.
Who would be a good NBA comp for him. He’s around the same size as maxey but maxey is stronger and longer. I think Fears needs to add a lot of strength at his height to be successful.
re: Expectations for Dejounte Murray next season?
Posted by Balsamic_duck on 5/16/25 at 10:34 am
quote:
would not be surprised if Dumars tries to dump his contract, to be honest
We’d have to attach assets to dump his contract which we absolutely should not be doing at this point.
Draft Prospects Thread
Posted by Balsamic_duck on 5/16/25 at 10:33 am
Assuming we keep the pick, who do yall like at #7?
I really like Knueppel, Maluach and Tre Johnson. 1-2 of them should be there at 7.
Knueppel is interesting, he’s not your normal white shooter. He’s got real on ball skills. I think he’s got untapped playmaking potential that he didn’t get to show at Duke. He was very impressive in the ACC tournament after Flagg went down.
Maluach had similar measurements and athletic tests to Gobert at the combine. I know a lot of pels fans don’t want to take another center but I’m still not convinced Missi is a starting center in the NBA. Great pick at 21 though. We were one of the worst rebounding teams last year and had horrible rim protection metrics. That’s where Maluach comes in. He’s huge and can be a defensive anchor in the league plus he has untapped offensive potential. I like the idea of adding him to Missi and locking down the center position for years to come. Similar to what Dallas did with Lively and Gafford.
Tre Johnson is a bucket and had really good measurements at the combine at 6’6 with a 6’10 wingspan. He’s a little light but unlike Hawkins he has a frame that can add weight. Putting him next to Trey would open up a ton of space for Zion.
I’m not a fan of Fears, he’s a small guard that’s struggled to shoot. I may end up wrong on him but I just don’t like betting on small guards.
I’m out on Queen, his athletic numbers were horrific at the combine and he’s a smaller center. I think his defense is gonna be bad which is hard to build around at the center position.
I really like Knueppel, Maluach and Tre Johnson. 1-2 of them should be there at 7.
Knueppel is interesting, he’s not your normal white shooter. He’s got real on ball skills. I think he’s got untapped playmaking potential that he didn’t get to show at Duke. He was very impressive in the ACC tournament after Flagg went down.
Maluach had similar measurements and athletic tests to Gobert at the combine. I know a lot of pels fans don’t want to take another center but I’m still not convinced Missi is a starting center in the NBA. Great pick at 21 though. We were one of the worst rebounding teams last year and had horrible rim protection metrics. That’s where Maluach comes in. He’s huge and can be a defensive anchor in the league plus he has untapped offensive potential. I like the idea of adding him to Missi and locking down the center position for years to come. Similar to what Dallas did with Lively and Gafford.
Tre Johnson is a bucket and had really good measurements at the combine at 6’6 with a 6’10 wingspan. He’s a little light but unlike Hawkins he has a frame that can add weight. Putting him next to Trey would open up a ton of space for Zion.
I’m not a fan of Fears, he’s a small guard that’s struggled to shoot. I may end up wrong on him but I just don’t like betting on small guards.
I’m out on Queen, his athletic numbers were horrific at the combine and he’s a smaller center. I think his defense is gonna be bad which is hard to build around at the center position.
re: Expectations for Dejounte Murray next season?
Posted by Balsamic_duck on 5/16/25 at 10:24 am
I doubt he plays before January. Achilles is usually a 10-12 recovery before you return to play and even then he probably won’t be back to his normal self.
I wouldn’t expect much. I think by the time he comes back the Pelicans will be in such a hole record wise that they’ll ease him back.
I expect us to be out of playoff contention pretty quickly into next season. Like this past year, the season will be over by new year.
I wouldn’t expect much. I think by the time he comes back the Pelicans will be in such a hole record wise that they’ll ease him back.
I expect us to be out of playoff contention pretty quickly into next season. Like this past year, the season will be over by new year.
re: Alright…. Pels won 21 games last year & we get the worthless 7th pick: Guess 2026 record
Posted by Balsamic_duck on 5/16/25 at 7:44 am
30-52
re: Trailblazers are officially for sale
Posted by Balsamic_duck on 5/14/25 at 10:54 am
Some pels beat guys have speculated that Gayle is waiting to get the expansion team check before she sells.
Silver is apparently meeting with owners this summer to discuss expansion so hopefully our long nightmare is close to being over
Silver is apparently meeting with owners this summer to discuss expansion so hopefully our long nightmare is close to being over
re: The Athletic Mock Draft -post lottery
Posted by Balsamic_duck on 5/13/25 at 12:22 pm
I want Maluach
re: The Athletic Mock Draft -post lottery
Posted by Balsamic_duck on 5/13/25 at 7:49 am
I want a big. Give me Maluach or Queen
re: NBA Draft Lotto Thread
Posted by Balsamic_duck on 5/12/25 at 6:31 pm
I can’t wait to trade this pick for like Sabonis so we can win 40 games and lose in the Play-In
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