re: Who we picking at 8?

Taken from Hollinger's article today:

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Despite that, teams continue to overvalue taking big centers at the top of the draft. We’ve had 18 centers drafted in the top six picks since 2002; only three of them have played in an All-Star Game, and in the case of Chris Kaman, we’re defining this term extremely broadly. Should Mobley and Deandre Ayton eventually make it, we’ll be at five. Woohoo.

Mobley proves the exception to the rule — a 7-foot center who plays as a perimeter player, particularly on defense. Meanwhile the best offensive center in the league (Nikola Jokic) was picked 46th, the best defensive center (Rudy Gobert) was picked 27th, and this year’s other 7-foot All-Stars (Jarrett Allen and Joel Embiid) were picked 22nd and third respectively.

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Again, this is why I think we go with Ochai. Fits the mold of a culture guy who is going to come in and work hard. Adapted to the roles he was given at Kansas, proven winner, fits a particular role immediately. Checks a bunch of boxes. The can also trade back to get him, which Griff clearly doesn’t mind doing. It actually makes the most sense using context of what we’ve done.

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Hollinger just dropped his top-20 prospects and Davis isn't on it

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can i see his top 20 prospects from the last 2-3 years as well for reference?

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Brether Teddy, they’ve gotten a decades-worth use out of that man.

Three DPOY awards, and a multitude of all nba & all defensive tea.

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And yet as good as he is defensively, there's nothing he can do to overcome their shortcomings in the postseason defensively, and they're worst defensively in the postseason for something like 5 straight seasons.

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Brether Teddy, they’ve gotten a decades-worth use out of that man.

Three DPOY awards, and a multitude of all nba & all defensive tea.

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i like Gobert, but every playoffs he proves that he's not worth that contract.
You can have all the individual regular season accolades you want, but if it doesn't translate to the playoffs, then who really cares?

The Pelicans do not have a pressing need going into the draft. So drafting Ochai would signal their belief in his ability to contribute from day 1. The appeal for Ochai for me stems from his ability to be a true movement shooter that we lack.

Out of all the wing prospect in the top 15, I have the most confidence in his shooting translating.

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You can have all the individual regular season accolades you want, but if it doesn't translate to the playoffs, then who really cares?

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I think you probably need 2 players for 1 job unless you can find a unicorn to do both

He had Gobert as his MVP either last year or the year before. There’s no possible way to come back from that opinion. He lost a lot of people’s respect for his player analysis after that

He invented PER, so now he has to be a slave to that stat to validate himself

Ousmane Dieng is starting to get a lot of hype online. Already a projected lottery pick, I could see him moving into the 8-10 range.

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Jonathan Givony
@DraftExpress
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25m
Watched projected lottery pick Ousmane Dieng work out in Chicago today. Super impressed with his combination of size, fluidity, ball-handling and shot-making ability at 18-years old.

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I have obviously not watched him play and have no opinion on him, just regurgitating what others are saying.

French, Point Forward type. Should be in the 6'9" range, apparently very good ball handler for his size, good passer, very young (about to turn 19 this week), very athletic, good midrange, does not have a good 3 at all yet.


People like Shamit have been hyping him up. Tankathon has us taking him now at 8 in their mock.

(also means nothing at all, but Shamit pointed out he shares an agency with CJ and Trey)

Davis or the kid from the Baylor