2013 NBA Draft

[randymoss1881]

Shabazz is starting to pick it up and he did look more explosive tonight. He is really good comming off screens that has suprised me, he takes jumpers off the pick or drives to the basket. Tonight he showed off his floater a couple times and was really good in the mid-range. His jumps shot has come a long way and for someone who was suppose to be suspect from 3 he is shooting 47% while taking 2.5 shots and he is 6-12 in the last 3 games
tonight: 21point 6boards(4offensive) 7-14


off topic but watching the lakers game and laughing at how they celabrate a win over the bobcats like they won a chip

[Futuredome]

Cavs want top 2 pick for either Shabazz or Len imo. My guess the notice is in for Mr. Stern.

[MGMT]

Shabazz is starting to pick it up and he did look more explosive tonight. He is really good comming off screens that has suprised me, he takes jumpers off the pick or drives to the basket. Tonight he showed off his floater a couple times and was really good in the mid-range. His jumps shot has come a long way and for someone who was suppose to be suspect from 3 he is shooting 47% while taking 2.5 shots and he is 6-12 in the last 3 games
tonight: 21point 6boards(4offensive) 7-14


off topic but watching the lakers game and laughing at how they celabrate a win over the bobcats like they won a chip

Did he do any right-handed driving?

[CleveRocks]

DeShaun Thomas will be a decent bench scorer at best, Imo.

Aaron Craft is going to be a surgeon, not an NBA player.

I would like to understand how you reached that conclusion. Bucks are playing well, with very few real assets. .Craft in my opinion is John Crotty 2.0. has the heart and enough ability to excel at college level, but is a back pro on a good day. Thomas is the only guy with real ability, and scores from anywhere with any hand. He has good size for a three, which is what I think he is at the next level.

[MGMT]

I would like to understand how you reached that conclusion. Bucks are playing well, with very few real assets. .Craft in my opinion is John Crotty 2.0. has the heart and enough ability to excel at college level, but is a back pro on a good day. Thomas is the only guy with real ability, and scores from anywhere with any hand. He has good size for a three, which is what I think he is at the next level.

As for Aaron Craft: http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap...Pro_Basketball I really don't think anything else needs to be said about that.

As for DeShaun Thomas: Yes, DeShaun scorrezzzz pointzz!11 I get that and he has the size of an NBA 3. Okay. He's a below average athlete with poor lateral quickness which is pretty implicit he won't find much success guarding the athletic NBA 3s. Moreover, his perimeter shooting is inconsistent and he's a volume shooter. He doesn't have handles and he's not going to put the ball on the floor and take his man off the dribble.

[randymoss1881]

Did he do any right-handed driving?

No he still didnt do that he mostly worked comming off screans and mid range when he was in iso. He will need to work on that though but with his work ethic it will come just love the way he plays hard

[Futuredome]

Shannon Scott is the Bucks best pro-talent, but he is probably a year away.

[MGMT]

Wrong thread

[Smooth]

With the way the draft is starting to take shape and with where the Cavs are likely to be picking, I'm really starting to pull for Shabazz to be the Cavs 1st pick...

I'm not sure how it would work with Kyrie, Dion and Shabazz and I'm not sure if he's big enough to play the 3 full time (he measured in at 6'4.5" w/o shoes this summer, although had 6'11.25" wingspan & 8'8" standing reach; similar build to Brandon Rush, Tyreke Evans, James Harden; longer arms than Harrison Barnes, BTW)... But with the talent looking to be available, I would have a hard time passing on Shabazz..

Just thinking about it in your head, what sounds like a better trio?

Shabazz, Dion, Kyrie?
Len, Dion, Kyrie?
Zeller, Dion, Kyrie?
McAdoo, Dion, Kyrie?

To me, as much as Len and Zeller are good centers, they don't seem to round out that deadly trio the Cavs are looking for...

Now I realize this would make the Cavs very perimeter oriented and I'm not sure if all 3 could fit in the starting lineup together and work well, but I just don't see the talent at the top of this draft to warrant passing on someone like Shabazz... BUT with Shabazz and Kyrie being the type of personalities and have the type of playing styles that they do, I think they could work... I'm a big fan of Shabazz and I really think he's going to be good in the NBA...

If we're looking at how Grant has drafted, SF is the one big hole left on this team and Shabazz would actually very much complete his future starting 5 quite well if he planned to go that route... The worry of not having a guy to consistently being able to throw it down low to would be alleviated some by being very reliant on Dion, Shabazz and Kyrie, but it would also mean the Cavs would be a very perimeter oriented team... But I'm not sure if a Zeller-Thompson combo would be good enough on the interior defensively to withstand a perimeter of that trio...

Just thinking out loud here but I just really think unless a big man separates himself from the pack, why reach for a big when someone like Shabazz might be sitting there? Now this might be a moot convo come draft night but no big man has made himself the unquestioned best big in the draft and I'm not sure if Zeller or Len have the ability to be a dominant big man, night-in and night-out...

Here's to hoping Shabazz grows to be 6'5" or better come the Combine...

(BTW--maybe throw Millsap in as a FA and how good does that core look?)

[D-Wreck]

Just looking at standing reach and wingspan Shabazz has the size to play SF (6'11"+ wingspan and 8'8" standing reach). In the end it'll just come down to his strength and style of play rather than any sort of size related deficiencies when determining if he can play SF.

[B Mac]

With the way the draft is starting to take shape and with where the Cavs are likely to be picking, I'm really starting to pull for Shabazz to be the Cavs 1st pick...

I'm not sure how it would work with Kyrie, Dion and Shabazz and I'm not sure if he's big enough to play the 3 full time (he measured in at 6'4.5" w/o shoes this summer, although had 6'11.25" wingspan & 8'8" standing reach; similar build to Brandon Rush, Tyreke Evans, James Harden; longer arms than Harrison Barnes, BTW)... But with the talent looking to be available, I would have a hard time passing on Shabazz..

Just thinking about it in your head, what sounds like a better trio?

Shabazz, Dion, Kyrie?
Len, Dion, Kyrie?
Zeller, Dion, Kyrie?
McAdoo, Dion, Kyrie?

To me, as much as Len and Zeller are good centers, they don't seem to round out that deadly trio the Cavs are looking for...

Now I realize this would make the Cavs very perimeter oriented and I'm not sure if all 3 could fit in the starting lineup together and work well, but I just don't see the talent at the top of this draft to warrant passing on someone like Shabazz... BUT with Shabazz and Kyrie being the type of personalities and have the type of playing styles that they do, I think they could work... I'm a big fan of Shabazz and I really think he's going to be good in the NBA...

If we're looking at how Grant has drafted, SF is the one big hole left on this team and Shabazz would actually very much complete his future starting 5 quite well if he planned to go that route... The worry of not having a guy to consistently being able to throw it down low to would be alleviated some by being very reliant on Dion, Shabazz and Kyrie, but it would also mean the Cavs would be a very perimeter oriented team... But I'm not sure if a Zeller-Thompson combo would be good enough on the interior defensively to withstand a perimeter of that trio...

Just thinking out loud here but I just really think unless a big man separates himself from the pack, why reach for a big when someone like Shabazz might be sitting there? Now this might be a moot convo come draft night but no big man has made himself the unquestioned best big in the draft and I'm not sure if Zeller or Len have the ability to be a dominant big man, night-in and night-out...

Here's to hoping Shabazz grows to be 6'5" or better come the Combine...

(BTW--maybe throw Millsap in as a FA and how good does that core look?)

Had to throw your Millsap crush back in there didnt you?

Realistically, he would be a great pickup if they did go the Shabazz route though, so I'm not even mad at you.

[Len]

If the Cavs miss out on Shabazz or Len Imma be pissed. I have been thinking of Wild Dream Scenario's of pairing Kyrie with people from upcomming draft classes. We already missed out on my ADavis dream, then we passed on Drummond, and with 2013 could we pass on Shabazz or Len?

Next think you know, we will pass on Wiggins in 2014.

[Tecumseh]

I think the Cavs have two major needs in addition to acquiring depth.

We need a tough guy. We need a guy out there who makes it clear you don't come into the paint freely and who gives us a defensive identity. Tristan, Andy, and Tyler are nice guys but other teams don't fear them. I'm not saying we need a thug. But we need a presence.

We need another top flight wing player. Someone who can hit open shots, defend well, and take pressure off Irving and Waiters. I am not opposed to taking a SG if they are far and away the most talented player available. e.g. if we were drafting 4th and Len, Muhammad, and Noel were all gone, the Cavs would have to look extremely hard at McLemore.

I like many of our young pieces but we need more talent. I just hope the 2013 draft can provide it.

[Lottery God]

Just looking at standing reach and wingspan Shabazz has the size to play SF (6'11"+ wingspan and 8'8" standing reach). In the end it'll just come down to his strength and style of play rather than any sort of size related deficiencies when determining if he can play SF.

This. With an 8'8" standing reach and a 6'11.5" wingspan on top of weighing 225 and the frame to put on more weight (much bigger frame than a guy like Gee), that's plenty big enough to play small forward. Hell, that's actually longer and heavier than Alonzo, and he's a full-time SF. If he can do it, then Shabazz can do it. Hell, Barnes actually measured in at an 8'6" standing reach, and he's fine at SF. But yeah, here's to hoping that Shabazz grows a little more like Smooth said. If he doesn't, then he'll still be fine at the 3. Really, it's actually quite nice that Shabazz can be looked at as a SF-SG because, if we have him and Kyrie's on the bench and Dion's running point, Shabazz can slide over to the shooting guard position and Gee can come out and play small forward or vice versa.

Shabazz is my favorite perimeter-oriented player right now. Now only if we could get Len on top of that.

Btw, Shabazz was about a week shy of being 18 years, 5 months old when he was measured at the 2012 Nike Hoop Summit this past April. He has plenty of time to grow until next year's combine although I'm not counting on it.

UPDATE: I just found something really neat on draftexpress.com. This puts together the average measurements from the NBA combine of every small forward ever drafted since the 2009 draft.

Average height (w/o shoes): 6' 6.53"
Shabazz's height (w/o shoes): 6'4.5"

Average weight: 217 lbs
Shabazz's weight: 225 lbs

Average wingspan: 6' 10.7"
Shabazz's wingspan: 6'11.25"

Average standing reach: 8' 8.3"
Shabazz's standing reach: 8'8"

Shabazz comes below the average in height (which doesn't really matter compared to these next measurements), but he comes out on top in average weight and wingspan, being 8 lbs heavier than the average small forward in addition to having at least a half-inch advantage in wingspan compared to the average small forward, and he's only .3" lower in standing reach than the average small forward. By these indications, he's actually slightly above average overall in size and really being deficient in the one measurement that doesn't matter as much as the others, height.

Case proven. He has the size for the 3.

Combine that with his above-average athleticism, he will be able to hold his own if not have a physical advantage against most 3s.

[Futuredome]

Shabazz looks like the kind of hybrid the Cavs would love. When Irving is off the court, they can just move Dion to the PG and Shabbazz to the 2. When Dion is off the court, they can move Shabbazz to the 2 and bring in Gee.

Looks like Noel is being considered the consolation prize at 3. Sorta of a rich man's TT. Taller and longer. Needs alot of work on offense.