This kid is undersized, un-athletic and now has medical issues. I will pass unless we buy a 2nd rounder. Wasting a first rounder on this kid is a mistake.
I'm so sick of Danny drafting undersized/un-athletic bigs who we constantly watch get rejected by bigger more athletic players. Baby was useless when he got a offensive board, because the moment he tried to go up he got blocked. Baby wasn't a great post defender and quite honestly (even though I love the guy) neither was Leon Powe, Ryan Gomes, Brandon Hunter, Justin Reed, or Luke Harangody.
Look I know tall/skilled big men are hard to come by late in the draft I get that, but Danny really amazes me sometimes. I remember when we drafted JR Giddens over D'Andre Jordan...D'ANDRE JORDAN. The kid is 7ft with a 37" vertical and was 250 pounds out of a year of college. Yes he was raw, but he was also had a lot of upside, and honestly we could of used him the past few years.
DANNY PLEASE NO MORE UNDERSIZED BIGS!!!!!!!!
Every single player mentioned in your post was a second round pick (other than Giddens, who was #30). When you're pikcing big men that late, you're looking for guys who are:
1. Good size for their position
2. Athletic
3. Smart and dedicated
4. Skilled
5. Good upside
6. No injury red-flags
Problem is, you're lucky if there's anyone at that point in the draft who meets two of those criteria. When picking late, Danny has tended to go for players who have shown a pretty good skillset (and some NBA-ready abilities), rather than picking big guys just because they happen to be big.
D'Andre Jordan would have been a nice pickup, but every team passed on him, not just us. There were big questions about his dedication, IIRC, and now he's getting paid a ton of money to put up seven points and grab eight boards. It's not like we failed to draft an All-Star.
It'd be an interesting exercise to look at all the *big* men (6'10 or taller) who have been drafted in the range of guys you present, how many of them have proven to be actual NBA players. Three of the six bigs you mentioned as Danny picks have had legitimate NBA success, which is a pretty good "hit" ratio.