I'm only gonna post nbadraft.net for now.

At 23, they have isiah drafting Josh Mcroberts. I don't think there is a chance in hell isiah picks him unless he proves himself in the draft camps. Can the guy get over himself and play with the pros? Is he a 4 or a 3?

Well the rest of the remaining projected 1st rounders in order are:
Rudy Fernandez
Javaris crittenton
Arron afflalo
Marcus Williams
Morris "everyones favorite hard on" almond
Marcus wiliams
Alando Tucker
Arron Gray

Out of that group who would you draft at 23?

Alando Tucker just jumps out at me as a dude isiah would go for.

Brandon rush declared do he could go somewhere here too.

Marcus Williams

Because it would be funny.

I just hope Isiah takes the 2 way player that he feels has the highest upside. Forget current needs and think 3 years out.

Posted by Bippity10:

I just hope Isiah takes the 2 way player that he feels has the highest upside. Forget current needs and think 3 years out.

I don't have a doubt that he's already been thinking forward. Balkman, Collins and Morris are exactly those kinds of picks. You have to imagine that he's looking for someone who can eventually be a very good player for this team. He's even said things in a way that gave you that impression. He's not talking like he's only looking for an NBA ready guy with a low ceiling. Perhaps a guy that can play a bit, but will likely get much better as time goes by. Time is on our side at this point. We have a mostly young team, so there's not need to feel panicked and rushed. He's got his extension too. Meanwhile we have vets like Steph, Q and Jamal who if healthy should push us into the playoffs next year and keep the pressure off him. He can look down the road 2 years and see more options.

Posted by nixluva:

Posted by Bippity10:

I just hope Isiah takes the 2 way player that he feels has the highest upside. Forget current needs and think 3 years out.

I don't have a doubt that he's already been thinking forward. Balkman, Collins and Morris are exactly those kinds of picks. You have to imagine that he's looking for someone who can eventually be a very good player for this team. He's even said things in a way that gave you that impression. He's not talking like he's only looking for an NBA ready guy with a low ceiling. Perhaps a guy that can play a bit, but will likely get much better as time goes by. Time is on our side at this point. We have a mostly young team, so there's not need to feel panicked and rushed. He's got his extension too. Meanwhile we have vets like Steph, Q and Jamal who if healthy should push us into the playoffs next year and keep the pressure off him. He can look down the road 2 years and see more options.

I agree with your point except I do have a doubt that Isiah is thinking this way. Jalen Rose, JJ, and Stevie tell me that anything is possible.

Posted by islesfan:

Posted by nixluva:

Posted by Bippity10:

I just hope Isiah takes the 2 way player that he feels has the highest upside. Forget current needs and think 3 years out.

I don't have a doubt that he's already been thinking forward. Balkman, Collins and Morris are exactly those kinds of picks. You have to imagine that he's looking for someone who can eventually be a very good player for this team. He's even said things in a way that gave you that impression. He's not talking like he's only looking for an NBA ready guy with a low ceiling. Perhaps a guy that can play a bit, but will likely get much better as time goes by. Time is on our side at this point. We have a mostly young team, so there's not need to feel panicked and rushed. He's got his extension too. Meanwhile we have vets like Steph, Q and Jamal who if healthy should push us into the playoffs next year and keep the pressure off him. He can look down the road 2 years and see more options.

Look down the road 2 years???

Seriously, if you're not being paid by Isiah, you really should look into it.

So almost 6 years here just to see more options. Then what? Another 6 years to act on those options and build on them?

That's where we are right now. We are clearly on a 6 plan. Nothing we can do about it now unfortunately.

Posted by islesfan:

Posted by TheGame:

IT's draft strategy has been to pick proven college players (other than Ariza). He does not really draft on potential but rather on performance.

You have it completely backwards. Isiah picks on potential, specifically athletic potential. Frye was the exception. That's because he was a lottery pick and Isiah couldn't just base it on athleticism but basketball skills too. That was a failure.

Nate, Lee, Balkman and Collins weren't standout collegiate players.

Balkman was the MVP of the NIT twice, Nate was a star at Washington, and Lee was a well-regarding college player. I am not talking about performance in terms of necessarily being an all-american player. I am talking about performance in terms having shown that you can produce against solid college competition. IT generally is not going for the unknown foreign player or unknown high school (I guess now freshman) player because they have potential. He is going after the guy that proved against college competition that he could play at a high level, regardless of whether that player was necessarily an elite all-american player.

[Edited by - thegame on 04-25-2007 2:49 PM]

Posted by TheGame:

Posted by islesfan:

Posted by TheGame:

IT's draft strategy has been to pick proven college players (other than Ariza). He does not really draft on potential but rather on performance.

You have it completely backwards. Isiah picks on potential, specifically athletic potential. Frye was the exception. That's because he was a lottery pick and Isiah couldn't just base it on athleticism but basketball skills too. That was a failure.

Nate, Lee, Balkman and Collins weren't standout collegiate players.

Balkman was the MVP of the NIT twice, Nate was a star at Washington, and Lee was a well-regarding college player. I am not talking about performance in terms of necessarily being an all-american player. I am talking about performance in terms having shown that you can produce against solid college competition. IT generally is not going for the unknown foreign player or unknown high school (I guess now freshman) player because they have potential. He is going after the guy that proved against college competition that he could play at a high level, regardless of whether that player was necessarily an elite all-american player.

[Edited by - thegame on 04-25-2007 2:49 PM]

Balkman was coming off the bench as a senior for the Gamecocks. And it was the NIT.

Brandon Roy was a star at Washington. Nate was a nice player and oddity.

Lee was well regarded but mostly for his athletic ability.

Like Bip said, you can say that everyone in the draft was "well regarded". The problem is that this franchise needs standout players. Isiah has yet to acquire one via draft, trade or free agency.

If Thabeet falls to 23 do you scoop him up?

The guy I really want is Derrick Byars... I haven't seen anyone mention him yet.

Balkman was the MVP of the NIT and MVP of I think the Chi pre draft camp.
David Lee was the MVP of the Chi pre draft camp as well.
Nate Robinson was a boom or bust type of pick.

What they all had in common that Isiah was looking for was they all hustled, and brought energy. In the Frye, Lee, Robinson draft we had no depth behind Marbury & Crawford and people complained how Marbury was to much a half court PG. Nate was brought in to change the pace, be a pest on defense which he has the potential to be when a guard is bring the ball up the court. Make hustle player. Lee was MVP of the draft camp and wow'd Isiah with his intangibles there.

Balkman was said to be EVERYWHERE doing EVERYTHING in the pre draft camp. So after Isiah watched film of him being the MVP of NIT then watched him personally as the MVP of the pre draft workout and saw some handling ability to bring the ball up the court and driving ability to go along with his rebounding, shotblocking, defense. He fell in love.

As for Frye Isiah saw a lot of skill and liked his upbringing. He felt Fyre would be a good player right away and throughout his career.