2019 Historical Draft Thread(TIME TO REVEAL THE WINNER!!!)

[gouki88]

My thoughts on the 2nd round:

Pick 1: Oscar Robertson.
The original king of the triple-double alongside the Big Fundamental. I like this foundation a lot. Timmy was able to anchor one of the great defensive dynasties, and we know Oscar can win alongside great big men. I’d like to see this team nab a shooter in the 3rd round.

Pick 2:Kevin Garnett.
Love KG. Think his prime was as good as any 4 to have played the game. Defence, intensity, playmaking, rebounding, leadership and good scoring.

Pick 3: Kevin Durant.
Next to Bill Russell KD is an awesome choice. We’ve seen KD absolutely thrive alongside lesser defensive specialists both in OKC and Golden State.

Pick 4: Steph Curry.
This is who I was hoping would fall to me. Similar to KD in that he’s thrived alongside defensive passing big-men, but none who could defend as well as KG, let alone score or rebound.

Pick 5: Hondo
Hondo next to Kawhi is lots of fun. Great defender, playmaker, scorer and an unreal endurance athlete. Will take lots of the stress of Kawhi, and those two are a nasty defensive duo.

Pick 6: Jerry West.
Can’t go wrong with the Logo. We saw what he could do with non-prime Wilt, so it’s not a stretch at all to say he and Shaq could kill it.

Pick 7: Moses Malone.
Really amazing peak. That early 80’s period saw Moses dominate the glass and the interior at levels that compare with most bigs. Magic will always feed him too

Pick 8: Dirk Nowitzki.
For most teams I thought Dirk would have been a reach, but alongside Wilt you have all his weaknesses covered. Wilt is a top 2 rebounder of all time, a great defender and a great passer. Like the duo.

Pick 9: Bill Walton.
That title run led by Walton is one of the all-time unlikely champions, and Walton’s stellar play was behind it. 18/14/5 with elite defence is a really nice piece alongside MJ.

Pick 10: Dr J.
I like it. Dr J could do it all inside, and has a really varied career. Feel like picking up some spacing should be high on the list, but if so watch out.

Pick 11: David Robinson.
I’m a huge fan of the Admiral. Amazing defender, scorer and rebounder. The destruction he and LBJ could cause is a lot of fun

Wow Gouki, tell me how you really feel lol. Jk you're right, I'm gonna need to get some spacing. I really REALLY wanted Dirk, so Dr. J was mostly a BPA pick at that point. But anyways, Karl Malone was an great pick for you, amazing value. If I didn't draft a big in the first round, I'd have taken him.

No offence intended! Luckily there are still (in my opinion) quite a chunk of the all-time great shooters left available, spread across a bunch of positions too. Even a few MVPs left!

True, although I dunno if I like the draft positions I got. The gap from the beginning of the 3rd round to the end of the 4th round feels rather big. May have to test the waters on trades...

Yeah, that was part of my reasoning for using my 1st to jump up 2 rounds. Trades definitely make it more fun!

[Yoki_IsTheName]

With 2(11) the Celtics select the Admiral, David Robinson

For the record, I am not hating the pick, I think it's great.

With that said, I absolutely debated between three guys on my list. One is John Havlicek, another was David Robinson, and then a third who I can't name because he hasn't been picked yet. And I really tried long and hard to argue to myself into picking The Admiral, and I really almost did. The one thing that prevented me was Hakeem Olajuwon.

It just every time I think about Hakeem dominating David on Robinson's MVP year, I cannot get past that. Robinson is a heck of a player, one of the best we have ever seen. Dominant on both ends. A leader. Excellent teammate. But in the end, that little blemish made pick Hondo over him.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I can't help but think most of these duos could really use a high quality three point shooter. Don't care what position that shooter plays, but a lot of these teams could use one to create optimal spacing, as well as to take advantage of the three point rules.

Or is the third round not the round to address this need?

Well, it's a good thing I have two.

One proven to be good at it, one I could argue could be good at it.

And both are tremendous, relentless defenders on top of that.

[nickagneta]

Yeah, of the older guys I would have West as an elite three point shooter, Oscar a very good three point shooter and Hondo as probably a serviceable to good three point shooter. Bird would be elite too.

[Somebody]

Urg I'm depressed, David was the guy I wanted when I offered my third round picks to trade up. Dominant box scores during his prime when his teams should've muted his impact imo, yet he dragged them to the playoffs as a high seed time and time again. I ranked him #9 on my draft board.

[Somebody]

I can't help but think most of these duos could really use a high quality three point shooter. Don't care what position that shooter plays, but a lot of these teams could use one to create optimal spacing, as well as to take advantage of the three point rules.

Or is the third round not the round to address this need?

Well, it's a good thing I have two.

One proven to be good at it, one I could argue could be good at it.

And both are tremendous, relentless defenders on top of that.

Good thing that I have the player who's the best at it

[gouki88]

I can't help but think most of these duos could really use a high quality three point shooter. Don't care what position that shooter plays, but a lot of these teams could use one to create optimal spacing, as well as to take advantage of the three point rules.

Or is the third round not the round to address this need?

Well, it's a good thing I have two.

One proven to be good at it, one I could argue could be good at it.

And both are tremendous, relentless defenders on top of that.

Good thing that I have the player who's the best at it

Curry was one of the guys I really wanted to pair with Bird! Would've been unstoppable, gah

[Somebody]

I can't help but think most of these duos could really use a high quality three point shooter. Don't care what position that shooter plays, but a lot of these teams could use one to create optimal spacing, as well as to take advantage of the three point rules.

Or is the third round not the round to address this need?

Well, it's a good thing I have two.

One proven to be good at it, one I could argue could be good at it.

And both are tremendous, relentless defenders on top of that.

Good thing that I have the player who's the best at it

Curry was one of the guys I really wanted to pair with Bird! Would've been unstoppable, gah

I was torn between selecting him or Robinson, but I just couldn't pass up Curry's insane three point shooting to warp defenses. Think a Garnett/Robinson frontcourt would've been nuts though RIP.

[RPGenerate]

So can you trade drafted players? Just wondering...

[Moranis]

So can you trade drafted players? Just wondering...

yep.

[Somebody]

So can you trade drafted players? Just wondering...

yep.

Interesting, I might go for some players who got drafted lol.

[GreenFaith1819]

I have one simple request to ALL here -

Let's keep criticisms about our teams to THIS thread...no need to derail OTHER threads with pompous nonsense in order to puff up your own team.

[Somebody]

Thoughts on the second round of the draft: botched opportunity for me, I was too fixated on getting the best possible player to form my duo than look at possible alternatives that would’ve resulted in a more well-rounded team overall. Teams made good to decent picks overall, and the ones I have issues with are just minor quibbles.

1.   Good pick. Oscar had a “strong MVP” calibre peak that had him spearheading elite offenses on subpar teams, and shows strong evidence that his game is at least slightly portable with his work in Milwaukee (although it’s important to note that his efficiency and scoring volume both dropped off after joining a stacked Milwaukee compared to his Cincinnati days, so while he can scale building a stacked team around him in terms of offensive prowess might result in diminishing marginal returns).

2.   Going to toot my horn a bit here, but imo Kevin Garnett was a great pick. His game is perfect in a modern setting with his video game skillset of elite passing and defense at the PF position, especially in an all-time draft-his only blemish was the lack of a “resilient” offensive game (basically an offensive game that won’t be affected much by changes in the quality of a defense, usually because the offensive game already involves making a lot of tough shots), which can be covered by other all-time greats with the aforementioned offensive games. His high post offense is another plus for his scalability-it spaces the floor enough for isolation heavy players to do their work, or allow for a plodding low post savant to work inside.

3.   Excellent pick. Durant’s scoring is incredibly rare-his combination of volume and efficiency for a wing player is among the greats like Jordan, only with a more modern shot profile. His portability is superb for a top flight scorer-his skillset allows him to still thrive next to ball dominant stars with his spot up shooting, and can propel the offense to greater heights with his isolation game. Only concern is his lack of strong passing skills, which prevents him from reaching all time great level offensively (84-88 Larry Bird comes to mind as a big forward who’s all time great offensively).

4.   Decent pick. This is the pick I regretted making-I was so fixated on getting the best possible player that I missed the fact that there was a very steep drop off at the center position after Russell/Wilt/Kareem/Hakeem/Robinson/Shaq. I’m still happy with Curry-his 2016 season is one of the best offensive performances of all time due to his scorching efficiency from 3 on high volume, and is still a good fit with Garnett.

5.   Iffy on this one, but I woke up feeling better about it. I can understand Yoki’s reasoning-Hondo is one of the most scalable star forwards available-his off ball game is fantastic for any ball dominant superstar who can create at an elite level, and his defense and passing are great additive skills to have on a stacked team. Only concern would be that he didn’t have the highest peak to be the guy that can be a floor raiser next to Kawhi, but I do get that there are still many rounds left in the draft to select a floor raiser (I think a certain playmaker who contrary to public perception had strong MVP impact at the peak of his powers would be perfect for them).

6.   Steal of the second round imo. West was the gold standard for offense in the 60s-he scored 25-32 PPG on very high efficiency for his era, and was an amazing foul drawer (had 11 consecutive seasons with 8 or more FTAs). Add disruptive defense and good passing to the mix, and you have the catalyst to one of the best pre 3 point line offenses ever.

7.   Decent pick. Not much to say about Moses-his amazing finishing and offensive rebounding makes him a good fit with Magic, who can feed him a ton as well as cover up his limitations in passing. Would like to see how Moranis builds his team to fix the defense-or go completely gung ho on offense.

8.   Interesting pick. Dirk’s offense is a great fit with Wilt’s, as his shooting and isolation game will likely space the floor for Wilt (as well as give him a great teammate to pass to, with Dirk’s offense being very resilient at his best). The tactic of fitting Dirk next to an elite rim protector is tried and tested too-the Mavericks had at least average defenses when they paired interior defenders like **** and another guy who I can’t name because he might get drafted next to him. I do have my reservations about such a frontcourt facing a lengthy and athletic frontline with skill, but their offense should probably be able to power through most frontcourts.

9.   Good pick. Walton’s peak was extraordinary-he left a huge impact footprint in his prime run with Portland, posting one of the best WOWY scores during his run in Portland (http://www.backpicks.com/2016/08/24/i-historical-impact-wowy-score-update/). His passing makes him a great pivot next to Jordan in the triangle as well.

10.   Decent pick on paper, but pretty weird fit wise for Dallas. The Doctor was best at floor raising-his combination of efficient volume scoring but “only” moderate playmaking was most suited for teams that were staunch defensively but lacked offensive talent, as he could raise the offense to league average levels. But with one of the most efficient inside volume scorers ever in Kareem, how will the Doctor get enough touches to avoid diminishing marginal returns? I like the pick on paper, but the fit is a bit iffy.

11.   Another steal in the second round. David was ranked #9 on my draft board, only behind Russell/Shaq/Hakeem/Kareem. He was dominant on both ends of the floor-he was an all-time defender who was strong in both man and team defense (held all-star centers 1.1 PPG and 5% TS below their averages when he was guarding them, and anchored dominant Spurs defenses for years), and had great scoring seasons with high volume and efficiency. His offensive numbers overstate his scoring game a bit as it wasn’t the best against stingier defenses in the playoffs (his face up/garbage man game wasn’t the most resilient offense to get points against tough defense), but it makes him the perfect running mate next to a transcendent usage inhaler who can create and score at an elite level, which happens to be what LeBron James exactly is. Out of all big men in the history of the league, the Admiral is one of the select few that I’d be confident in retaining his superstar value (or even enhancing it ever so slightly) next to LeBron James.

12.   Good pick. Malone doesn’t have the highest peak when compared to all-time greats, but his skillset is surprisingly effective as a floor raiser. He arguably achieved better results than Hakeem with a similar scoring profile (high volume, moderate efficiency) by being able to zip high leverage passes to bridge the gap between Utah’s poor spacing and Houston’s 1 in-4 out offense, churning out offenses almost a point better than Houston’s due to Hakeem’s “only” moderate passing. Him and Bird as options to be the pop man in a PnP is insane, and Bird's off-ball excellence doesn't present the same problem as Kareem and Dr. J.

[Somebody]

I have one simple request to ALL here -

Let's keep criticisms about our teams to THIS thread...no need to derail OTHER threads with pompous nonsense in order to puff up your own team.

As the biggest fan of your shaq pick I feel offended. What I meant by Wilt running Shaq to the ground was assuming that he'd have the opportunity to do so. It's not possible to play at a 1960s pace in the modern game-defenses have gotten smarter and more sophisticated to stop cheap fast breaks. I don't feel the need to puff up my own team in other threads-I can't get people to vote for my team by doing it, and it's impolite to others.

FWIW Shaq was #2 on my draft board, iirc a dozen spots above Wilt.

[Roy H.]

With 2(11) the Celtics select the Admiral, David Robinson

For the record, I am not hating the pick, I think it's great.

With that said, I absolutely debated between three guys on my list. One is John Havlicek, another was David Robinson, and then a third who I can't name because he hasn't been picked yet. And I really tried long and hard to argue to myself into picking The Admiral, and I really almost did. The one thing that prevented me was Hakeem Olajuwon.

It just every time I think about Hakeem dominating David on Robinson's MVP year, I cannot get past that. Robinson is a heck of a player, one of the best we have ever seen. Dominant on both ends. A leader. Excellent teammate. But in the end, that little blemish made pick Hondo over him.

In fairness, Havlicek would have struggled to defend Hakeem as well.