EDIT: Disregard my confusion.

nychamp wrote:My bad, misreading the page.

It's a no brainer, obviously KP. The only other guy I would choose ahead of him would be Towns perhaps.

not sure if its a no brainer. Think some don't still don't choose OK4 or Mudiay?

ChuckBuck wrote:I mean you have to pick Mudiay at 2 according to some poster not to be named right?

well ... you did not have to actually select that in the poll

WaltLongmire wrote:The problems with this type of poll this early in their respective careers, is that it is essentially meaningless to evaluate these kids because of the limited sample size of games played.

At this moment I would lean toward Kristaps or perhaps OK4, but it is very difficult to evaluate players who are as young as these guys are, and Jackson's comment about not being able to judge KP's real value without a few years under his belt, applies to any rookie, yet here we are doing this after 10 games.

We have a guy on our team-D.Williams, who would not be considered a top 10 pick in his draft at this point, and he was the #2 pick in that draft, and guys picked well below him have surged by him...who knows where kids drafted this young end up?

2/3 years from now I might feel differently...and maybe a player not on your list emerges as the number 2 player in the draft...

The thing that stands out about KP is that he has significant potential on both ends of the court, while many other players in the draft seem to be strong on either offense or defense, but not both aspects of the game. This is the most exciting thing about him and what he might become in the future.

OK4 is a limited defensive player at this point, especially against a center with any sort of mobility, but with the right fitness training this might change. I think he will become a better passer as he matures, and not the black hole he seems to be at times.

Mudiay is a terrible 1/1 defender. He will get some steals, or even a few blocks, but he has no tenacity on the defensive end...something I commented on in SL, and something that surprises me. Add to this his shooting and turnover issues, and you have a player who might not even belong on your list at this time, BUT who knows how he will develop down the line- he shot is not broken, and most of his issues revolve around his decision making. One thing to consider...if he grows any more, which I believe is possible given his family history, he might be guarding SG's and paired with a smaller combo type guard known for his J. Still, he is extremely young...not sure anyone can be certain of how he will end up as a player.

Russell...Never expected him to be a great defender, but his offensive mediocrity has been surprising...but perhaps not that surprising. Have to figure that the presence of Kobe plays a part in Russell's less than dynamic play. You won't know what kind of player he will be until Kobe is off that team. You also have professional shooters like Young and Williams on that team- have to think that Russell not asserting himself is a product of his deference to the vets on the team, although the speed of the NBA might be a bit too much for him at this point.

Turner might emerge at some point in his career as top 4 worthy in this draft, and I know some folks like Stanley Johnson a great deal. Winslow has been a glue guy, despite his offensive limitations-if he was to ever get his shot down, you would then have to think about him as a top 4 quality guy.

A very interesting draft to follow. I only do significant research when the Knicks have a top 10 pick, and I thought you had a lot of decent players worthy of looking at this year...and I would say the "ranking" of these kids is still in a state of flux.

We got a great player in KP, though... no doubt about this, and my gut feeling is that he will be seen as the second best player in this draft class, and maybe push for the top position at some point in his career.

really great post.

One thing to add about Ok4, I really did not like that he does not stretch the floor and that is a big issue with todays stretch bigs. He also seems to have a bit of an attitude that may flare up in the NBA.

Mudiay will be a good player but his shot is so quirky and many many players just were never able to fix their shot. If he can become a good/efficient shooter, he will be really good. Not sure that he can or will be able to.

Towns is still the clear number one if I was picking today, but KP has a much higher up side IMHO. Much bigger down side too.

Russell ... completely agree. Watch the game last night and I was sick to my stomach how selfish that team is and how bad a coach Scott is. Russell needs to get away from Kobe, Nick Idiot and Scott. Russell still shows that he has a great Bball IQ.

smackeddog wrote:This is looking like such a good draft class, I'd honestly be fine with KP, Mudiay, OK4, or even WCS or Winslow (due to their impact) - only mistake would have been Kaminsky.

What?! No love for Frank The Tank?!

blkexec wrote:

smackeddog wrote:This is looking like such a good draft class, I'd honestly be fine with KP, Mudiay, OK4, or even WCS or Winslow (due to their impact) - only mistake would have been Kaminsky.

Thats exactly my point, and always been my point. This is why I was all over the place during predraft. All of these guys are worth the #2 pick. Is there a category for a draw?

I think at this point (which is very early) they all have the same impactful potential to be an All Star NBA player someday. There aren't too many busts in this draft. Even Russell still has that potential. I think Russell's career will be similar to Nash.....A late bloomer, once he finds the right system / team.

so if drafting number 2 today, who you got?

(I like your Russell Nash comp/theory)

mreinman wrote:

blkexec wrote:

smackeddog wrote:This is looking like such a good draft class, I'd honestly be fine with KP, Mudiay, OK4, or even WCS or Winslow (due to their impact) - only mistake would have been Kaminsky.

Thats exactly my point, and always been my point. This is why I was all over the place during predraft. All of these guys are worth the #2 pick. Is there a category for a draw?

I think at this point (which is very early) they all have the same impactful potential to be an All Star NBA player someday. There aren't too many busts in this draft. Even Russell still has that potential. I think Russell's career will be similar to Nash.....A late bloomer, once he finds the right system / team.

so if drafting number 2 today, who you got?

(I like your Russell Nash comp/theory)

I'm bias because I've seen more of KP and less of the other guys since they entered the NBA. But with this triangle system, I would pick KP. But again, this also depends on who I think I was able to get in free agency. Adding Monroe might alter my pick, as an example. WCS really surprised me with his outside shooting pre draft, but I haven't seen him play one game in the NBA. Mudiay was the popular pick. This would be a public relations pick, trying to please fans. But KP would be my #2....His impact on the game is through the roof. Steals, blocks, rebounds, defense, shooting, driving, passing.....

He has the potential to fillup 4 or 5 stat categories every game. I don't know anybody in the entire draft with that much impact, including Towns (who was my early pick for #1 as a freshmen in college)!

BRIGGS wrote:I dont think rank matters--if you like the player at 26 you like the player 4 9 38 undrafted whatever. I know I was personally aggressive towards Porzingis at the appropriate time but I also like Myles Turner.

I can't say i agree with that. A player you like at #4 you generally like them because you believe they are going to be great. A player you like at 26 or 38 you might not view as a star, but a player who you think will be a very solid NBA player and has one defining skill that makes them a good role player, but definitely not at #4.