"You Gotta Love It Baby" Official Jazz thread

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Hmm...Jazz must not be very anxious to get him over here.

18 months ago that pick looked really good. Oh well.

Maybe Tomic re-upping would help keep the Jazz from looking at Vesely, Valanciunas, or Montiejunas this year.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

My Top 5 picks at PG, wing, and big for the Jazz.

Point Guards

1) Kyrie Irving (70% TS% and 1.84 pps...he's going to be great)
2) Brandon Knight
3) Reggie Jackson (will be a big riser after combine and workouts)
4) Jimmer Fredette
5) Kemba Walker

Wings

1) Derrick Williams
2) Kawhi Leonard (defensive ability makes him a safe bet and good fit)
3) Klay Thompson (combine numbers to surprise, reminds of Kevin Martin)
4) Alec Burks
5) Jordan Hamilton (big time offensive ability, needs right coaching/team)

Bigs

1) Enes Kanter
2) Bismack Biyombo (because he seems to want the NBA, not sure on others)
3) Tristan Thompson
4) Valanciunas (is he just going to stay in Europe forever?)
5) Marcus Morris

[Blueintheface]

My Top 5 picks at PG, wing, and big for the Jazz.

Point Guards

1) Kyrie Irving (70% TS% and 1.84 pps...he's going to be great)
2) Brandon Knight
3) Reggie Jackson (will be a big riser after combine and workouts)
4) Jimmer Fredette
5) Kemba Walker

Wings

1) Derrick Williams
2) Kawhi Leonard (defensive ability makes him a safe bet and good fit)
3) Klay Thompson (combine numbers to surprise, reminds of Kevin Martin)
4) Alec Burks
5) Jordan Hamilton (big time offensive ability, needs right coaching/team)

Bigs

1) Enes Kanter
2) Bismack Biyombo (because he seems to want the NBA, not sure on others)
3) Tristan Thompson
4) Valanciunas (is he just going to stay in Europe forever?)
5) Marcus Morris

I'm higher on Knight than others but it may have to do with his age and potential than results. What would you say the gap is between Irving and Knight?

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

I'm higher on Knight than others but it may have to do with his age and potential than results. What would you say the gap is between Irving and Knight?

I think Irving is more advanced right now, and so that takes away some of the unknown. Their ability might be even or Knight might even have a higher ceiling, but since you never know how the kid is going to react to the big stage/money, what kind of coaching staff/team he gets put with, or how dedicated he stays to getting better having someone enter the league already ahead carries some weight.

Knight got a lot better as the season went along but he did have some serious turnover issues early on. My opinion is that he just wasn't (isn't?) comfortable being the lead guard in an actual offensive system rather than just being able to use his physical tools to make something happen. Irving to me already seemed extremely comfortable doing whatever was needed on the court; great vision, mixes up tempo well, a little more natural as a scorer but facilitates things well. Irving was incredibly efficient in his short stint at the beginning of the year.

All indications point to Knight being a terrific kid with a great work ethic. If that is true and continues that way than he may end up being the best PG in this draft, but I can't see any scenario where someone would take him over Irving in the draft.

[Jacob]

A point Locke made. It's possible that the Cavs prefer Irving to Knight, but prefer Knight and Williams to Irving and whoever they are left with at 4.

But the only way the Jazz could take advantage of that is if the Cavs take Irving, Minny passes on Williams and the Jazz draft Williams at #3. Then the Cavs could draft Knight and trade Irving to the Jazz for Williams + something. But the Cavs would have to both really like Knight and be convinced that the Jazz were taking him at 3 (not to mention Kahn's help)

Jazz probably have a better chance of swapping picks with Minny.

[MarkGrace]

A point Locke made. It's possible that the Cavs prefer Irving to Knight, but prefer Knight and Williams to Irving and whoever they are left with at 4.

Was just talking about that with my little brother (Cavs fan) on the phone.

I could see where the may take Williams #1 and then the best PG available at the 4 spot.

[MarkGrace]

Utah GM Kevin O'Connor has been enamored with Knight since the season began and now is in position to grab him as a replacement to Deron Williams. Knight is an absolute gym rat and a tremendous kid who will work hard on his game. The NBA has become a PG-dominated league and Knight has the size and speed to be a standout at the position. He may have some holes and take time to round into a complete point guard, but it's hard to argue with opting for such a strong competitor and character guy here. A clutch shooter, Knight has go to ability with his quick first step and ability to create shots. Long rated at the top or near the top of his class, Knight has elite level speed and quickness for a player his size. Despite lacking much leaping ability, he's a prolific scorer with a killer instinct. Knight has a professional mindset, always looking for ways to improve his game and has worked extremely hard in the weight room resulting in a chiseled physique. He's a big-time shooter, but detractors point to his lack of passing ability/point guard skills. An excellent end to the year guiding UK to the SEC title and two game winners in the NCAA tourney taking them to the Final Four have his stock on the rise.

http://hoopshype.com/draft.htm

[Sizzle]

http://hoopshype.com/draft.htm

Draft Express puts his upside as Chauncey Billups in his prime. There is a lot to like if that is true.

[Blueintheface]

http://hoopshype.com/draft.htm

So what is it that causes you to value him so far below Irving then? I admit to seeing a lot more of Knight than Irving (both were limited) but despite turnover problems all indications are the kid is going to be a decent to great pro.

[smokymountainrain]

For all the love Brandon Knight seems to getting in this thread, 42% FGs and poor TO/Assist ratio are real issues when picking a guy in the top 3 of the draft.

[Jacob]

For all the love Brandon Knight seems to getting in this thread, 42% FGs and poor TO/Assist ratio are real issues when picking a guy in the top 3 of the draft.

Agree. Still, he was an impressive scorer, and was 17 during the first month of the season when he was really struggling.

Anyone a bit concerned that Irving has decided to skip not only the drills, but also the athletic testing? I think that means he won't even do the vertical measurement. That's pretty unprecedented, even for guys guaranteed to go #1.

Also...this was great:

NBA Draft Combine: SDSU's Leonard and Thomas say they'd rather guard K. Walker than Jimmer, any day

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

For all the love Brandon Knight seems to getting in this thread, 42% FGs and poor TO/Assist ratio are real issues when picking a guy in the top 3 of the draft.

I agree, especially when a guy is a junior and shooting only 43% from the field and is fat like Deron Williams.

Knight's shooting was definitely up and down all year long. But at least we saw a trend with his turnovers improving as the season went along. He had a nice stretch during SEC play where he only averaged 2.6 TO/game over 21 games. In the other games he was at 3.8 TO/game.

[smokymountainrain]

I agree, especially when a guy is a junior and shooting only 43% from the field and is fat like Deron Williams.

Knight's shooting was definitely up and down all year long. But at least we saw a trend with his turnovers improving as the season went along. He had a nice stretch during SEC play where he only averaged 2.6 TO/game over 21 games. In the other games he was at 3.8 TO/game.

Deron was also thought of as a true PG much more than a scorer and was considered an excellent defensive guard.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Deron was also thought of as a true PG much more than a scorer and was considered an excellent defensive guard.

Deron was just the first guy that came to my mind that didn't shoot very well at all in college. 43% was his high water mark for FG%. He only hit 40% as a freshman. I bet he would have had more questions about his ability to lead a team and defend if he had tried to come out as a freshman.

But that is the huge gap between Irving and Knight. Irving is already developed and polished. Knight has that ability to get there, and if Barnes/Jones/Sullinger were in the draft Knight wouldn't seem like as much of a risk if he was being picked at 6 or 7 instead of being a likely pick at 3 or 4.

[MarkGrace]

KOC has found his guy.

DraftExpress Jonathan Givony
Enes Kanter was great in the interview session. Very open, engaging. Good sense of humor. Seems like a great guy.