CB Draft Team of the Future (Poll's Posted)

[JSD]

I'd say the biggest potential star is Brook Lopez.

Again, I go back to my point before, if everyone projects to the lofty expectations held for them you still don't have a championship team.

He certainly has the most size.  


He will likely be a top 5 Center in the NBA for his career.  



But he doesn't have the star potential of a Wall.  

Because of Lopez's size and skill-set, he's a more valuable commodity than Wall for a team of the future.

wdleehi, you are the first one to talk about needing a strong defensive big to win in this league. Those were your arguments against my teams of yesteryear.

[KCattheStripe]

I'd take a frontcourt of Lopez/ Favors over Hibbert/Jefferson.

[wdleehi]

I'd say the biggest potential star is Brook Lopez.

Again, I go back to my point before, if everyone projects to the lofty expectations held for them you still don't have a championship team.

He certainly has the most size.  


He will likely be a top 5 Center in the NBA for his career.  



But he doesn't have the star potential of a Wall.  

Because of Lopez's size and skill-set, he's a more valuable commodity than Wall for a team of the future.

wdleehi, you are the first one to talk about needing a strong defensive big to win in this league. Those were your arguments against my teams of yesteryear.

Show me where Lopez has been strong defensively?


Rose, a PG drafted number 1 ahead of Lopez has been much more valuable in the NBA the Lopez. 

[indeedproceed]

I'd say the biggest potential star is Brook Lopez.

Again, I go back to my point before, if everyone projects to the lofty expectations held for them you still don't have a championship team.

He certainly has the most size. 


He will likely be a top 5 Center in the NBA for his career. 



But he doesn't have the star potential of a Wall. 

Because of Lopez's size and skill-set, he's a more valuable commodity than Wall for a team of the future.

wdleehi, you are the first one to talk about needing a strong defensive big to win in this league. Those were your arguments against my teams of yesteryear.

Show me where Lopez has been strong defensively?


Rose, a PG drafted number 1 ahead of Lopez has been much more valuable in the NBA the Lopez. 

Question: Can you get by better with an above average point guard and an elite (top 10) center, or an elite point guard and an above average center?

My own answer after thinking about it: The Nets got by with an above average pg and an elite center to the tune of less than 20 games.

Basically to me Portland has the bigger range (mediocre to elite in 4-5 years), but Detroit has the better chance to be good, no matter what.

We have not seen a pg with Wall's skill set fail in the last 10 years..it seems like the bottom rung is Russell Westbrook. But, we haven't seen a pg with Rubio's skillset in a very very long time, and there is no way to predict how he'll do.

Rubio could be special or average..or even bad. Wall is pretty close to a can't miss in my mind.

Hibbert though won't ever be special..and neither will Big Al. Lopez already is, and he'll only continue to be so.

So to look at it another way (these are not facts..this is just my own view):

Wall: special, Rubio: Unknown

Gordon/Azubuike: both talented and flawed in diff ways, Turner: could be special, could be average.

Marvin Williams: Rotation player now, Thad Young: not a legitimate NBA starter

Al Jefferson: Best low post scorer in NBA (try and talk me out of that one..I have an Al Jefferson jersey hanging below my Bird jersey in my man-cave..but that is next to a signed Rod Benson South Dakota Wizards jersey), good rebounder, could be really good..but probably never a top 3 PF...
Favors: Could be special, could be average, could be bad

Hibbert: lower tier NBA starter, Lopez: Best big man prospect besides Dwight Howard

Bench: solidly in Detroit's favor, now and going forward

The question is, do you take the long money with Rubio/Turner/Favors/Lopez, or the short money with Detroit, a team that is already likely going to finish in the 30 win or so place marker right now, and only get better?

[indeedproceed]

Another point in Detroit's favor: a frontcourt of Ryan Andersen and Al Jefferson utilizes both players' strong points. The only problem is when they face a taller elite center (like Lopez), they'll have to play Hibbert.

EDIT: Also, I am REALLY pumped to watch some Utah games once Okur is healthy. Big Al playing with arguably the best PG in the NBA and a 7ft stretch center, along with a solid cast of role players? Sign me up.

[Who]

I'd say the biggest potential star is Brook Lopez.

Again, I go back to my point before, if everyone projects to the lofty expectations held for them you still don't have a championship team.

He certainly has the most size.  


He will likely be a top 5 Center in the NBA for his career.  



But he doesn't have the star potential of a Wall.  

Because of Lopez's size and skill-set, he's a more valuable commodity than Wall for a team of the future.

wdleehi, you are the first one to talk about needing a strong defensive big to win in this league. Those were your arguments against my teams of yesteryear.

Show me where Lopez has been strong defensively?


Rose, a PG drafted number 1 ahead of Lopez has been much more valuable in the NBA the Lopez. 

Yep, Brook Lopez has been hugely over-rated so far in his short NBA career. The guy is a third option masquerading as a go-to guy on a 12 win team. What he does on the court simply doesn't create wins ... at least not yet.

The good news is that that should change over time and especially under a top coach like Avery Johnson who will stress defense and finally get Brook Lopez to concentrate some energy on that end of the floor. Lopez is a slightly above average defender but he has the tools to become a very good defensive player.

Lopez was a fairly mediocre rebounder as a rookie (15.8%) and a below average rebounder as a rookie (13.5%). Another area where he needs significant work.

Brook's offensive game is where he is the most advanced but his passing ability to limited, for the time being, to be a go-to guy on a good basketball team. His scoring numbers are also slightly higher than they should be (18.8ppg vs 16/17ppg) from the large number of touches he got while playing on one of the worst teams in the NBA history.

No leadership. A weak work ethic on the court. Lack of determination. Lack of focus on defense/rebounding and gritty interior work.

In summary, Brook Lopez isn't the type of player that creates many wins ... up to this point in his career ... the good news is that he now has Avery Johnson so his game should finally catch up this reputation sometime in the next two years depending on how quickly Avery gets him to understand how meaningful his defense is to the team and how good a player he can become once he concentrates on his D.

[Who]

Portland has three players -- Rubio, Turner and B.Lopez -- who I don't view as having superstar potential. All have star potential and can become a perennial All-Star but I think it's doubtful any one of them becomes an MVP candidate or a top 10 player.

However, I'm not ready to say that about Favors yet. I want to see him play first. A player with his athleticism and focus on defense/rebounding and youth is very interesting. He is a long way away ... but maybe. Need to know more.

Portland aren't built on a superstar model. It's more of a big four. Four All-Star caliber talents (hopefully Favors) or maybe one All-NBA talent (hopefully Favors) and three All-Stars. With great balance of talents between the three of them.

They have very good top tier talent ... it just isn't focused in one or two players unless Favors is the real deal or something unexpected happens with one of the other three.

[JSD]

So... are we voting soon or waiting for more nominations? What's going on?

[wdleehi]

So... are we voting soon or waiting for more nominations? What's going on?

Voting in the future? 

[StartOrien]

We reconvene on whatever date John Cusack says the world is going to end. Silently cast our votes, bid ourselves adieu. One winner, one person who thinks that if the world could only last another year and a half he'd prove all the haterz wrong.

[JSD]

So... are we voting soon or waiting for more nominations? What's going on?

[Roy H.]

So... are we voting soon or waiting for more nominations? What's going on?

I say that we just give it to Portland by decree.

[StartOrien]

1 vote for Portland

[JSD]

So... are we voting soon or waiting for more nominations? What's going on?

I say that we just give it to Portland by decree.

Is that a vote Roy? If so, that's 3 for Portland.  

[nickagneta]

Portland