I'm having a hard time forgiving Danny for not taking Giannis Antetokounmpo

[RJ87]

I agree, I'm not a huge KO fan at all. He's got Troy Murphy written all over him. Giannis looks like he could be a BEAST in a few years.

Troy Murphy in his prime and pre-injury was pretty productive player. If he turned into Troy Murphy 2.0, I wouldn't mind that.

[tyrone biggums]

Giannis was a fave on a number of people around here and he is proving to be a very good choice; however, we wouldn't have gotten him with our original pick anyway. I know we moved up to grab Olynyk and very well could have taken Giannis instead, but that apparently was never in the plans and we really didn't give up anything to move up for Kelly. After summer league last year, Danny was being called a genius for moving up - let's not sell Olynyk short quite yet.

After Avery Bradley's first year this board was calling to cut him. After Sullingers first year people felt that he might never reach his potential. You cannot base anything off year one. Hell people blasted Danny for trading Brooks because he apparently was the next Jordan. I think KO will become a pretty solid player. As far as the Greek I really like him too. It's harder to find size than wings so that was probably the rationale behind getting KO. I have a feeling once Bass and Humphries get traded The opinion of KO on this board will be much different.

[JSD]

Giannis could be really special. So could John Henson. But both guys are turning in their awesome stat lines (well, sporadic highlight plays in Giannis's case) for the worst team in basketball.

If I could choose between anyone taken in the 2013 draft and the 20th pick in the 2014 draft, I'm taking the 20th pick over everyone but Oladipo and MCW.

I would add Len and Noel to that list.

[PhoSita]

Giannis could be really special. So could John Henson. But both guys are turning in their awesome stat lines (well, sporadic highlight plays in Giannis's case) for the worst team in basketball.

If I could choose between anyone taken in the 2013 draft and the 20th pick in the 2014 draft, I'm taking the 20th pick over everyone but Oladipo and MCW.

I would add Len and Noel to that list.

I don't understand the love for Len.  He's done less than KO has to this point.


I think that the point about not needing to make a "safe" pick this past year is a good one.  Giannis was clearly the higher upside pick.

But I also think that IP is spot on when he points out that this is the Bucks, by far the worst team in the league this season.  John Henson has also been putting up great numbers.  Last year, Tobias Harris put up great numbers there, too.

KO, meanwhile, has actual competition for his rotation spot, and has also dealt with injuries.  Giannis is a physical freak; KO is undoubtedly the more skilled player right now.

I still believe strongly that KO will be a useful, quality role player in this league for a while, assuming he stays healthy.  Troy Murphy 2.0 would not be bad.

[Tr1boy]

Giannis stats if u see, isnt all that great. Olynyk if he played 30 min a game scores 13-15 pts, 7 reb i bet

Giannis is a more capable defender due to his physical tools. But still has lots of work to do. Lets just see whatt ko can do with a better body

[kozlodoev]

I agree, I'm not a huge KO fan at all. He's got Troy Murphy written all over him. Giannis looks like he could be a BEAST in a few years.

Troy Murphy in his prime and pre-injury was pretty productive player. If he turned into Troy Murphy 2.0, I wouldn't mind that.

Troy Murphy averaged a double-double in 5 different season. He also was in the NBA for 12 years and played in 700+ games. His problem was that he couldn't stay in one piece.

Kelly Olynyk has to show a lot of improvement before he gets to be anything resembling Troy Murphy. Right now, he's considerably more similar to Adam Morrison than he is to Murphy.

[Galeto]

Giannis could be really special. So could John Henson. But both guys are turning in their awesome stat lines (well, sporadic highlight plays in Giannis's case) for the worst team in basketball.

If I could choose between anyone taken in the 2013 draft and the 20th pick in the 2014 draft, I'm taking the 20th pick over everyone but Oladipo and MCW.

I would add Len and Noel to that list.

I don't understand the love for Len.  He's done less than KO has to this point.


I think that the point about not needing to make a "safe" pick this past year is a good one.  Giannis was clearly the higher upside pick.

But I also think that IP is spot on when he points out that this is the Bucks, by far the worst team in the league this season.  John Henson has also been putting up great numbers.  Last year, Tobias Harris put up great numbers there, too.

KO, meanwhile, has actual competition for his rotation spot, and has also dealt with injuries.  Giannis is a physical freak; KO is undoubtedly the more skilled player right now.

I still believe strongly that KO will be a useful, quality role player in this league for a while, assuming he stays healthy.  Troy Murphy 2.0 would not be bad.

Why is John Henson used as a point of skepticism?  Has he failed elsewhere?  Maybe he's putting up good numbers because he's actually good.  He was a good rebounder and shotblocker at UNC whose offensive game kept improving and he's been about the same player.  It's possible for a bad team to have promising young players.

Tobias Harris did not put up good numbers in Milwaukee before getting traded, well, not the season he got traded anyway.  Towards the end of his rookie year, he got in a few games and played well.  He continued to impress in Summer League and cemented a starting position for the following season.  Whether it was Skiles keeping him on a tight leash as well as hardly being involved with Ellis and Jennings running things, he fell out of the rotation until he got traded.

[D.o.s.]

Giannis stats if u see, isnt all that great. Olynyk if he played 30 min a game scores 13-15 pts, 7 reb i bet

Giannis is a more capable defender due to his physical tools. But still has lots of work to do. Lets just see whatt ko can do with a better body

Per 36 the Kylnyk would be averaging 12.6 points, 8 boards and 3 assists.

Not saying that's what would happen, but that was a pretty solid bit of guessing, triboy. TP.

[fitzhickey]

Giannis' potential is surreal. growth players plates of a 16 year old. He could be a 7 foot mobile small forward. His skills are developing, but I'd much prefer him to KO. not that I don't like KO, just really like Giannis

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

Someone is going to have to tell me what's so great about Giannis and so bad about Kelly... Giannis plays 4 more mins a game and they have pretty much identical stats! Giannis has the better FG% @45-40 but KO is the better 3pt and FT shooter. Another thing KO has to deal with is 3 other bigs in front of him who are clearly better, 2 who aren't rookies and Sully w/o a bad back probably goes top 5! I'm already aware that stats don't tell the whole story (I say it all the time), so I watched Giannis to see what the hype is about... while he should have been a higher pick, I just don't see the love affair going on. He looks miles away from the player you guys seem to think he will be. You people want KO to be amazing in his first season as if he is performing horribly as a 13th pick, I don't get the rush. Most bigs take longer to develop, if Kelly looks the same in 2 more seasons, I would understand but he hasn't even had the chance to become NBA ready. The guy will work hard so if he doesn't get better it won't be for a lack of trying. He has gotten more steady as the season has wore on, he's shooting better too. I'm willing to bet that Danny is still happy with this pick and I'm also willing to bet that the same people in here bashing KO will have a different opinion of him next season! Okay I'm too lazy to give out TPs if I'm wrong but you can just tell me "I told you so!" (quote me) and I'll respond with "you were right, my bad!" That's all I can do as far as bets go lol, I don't have the patience or memory to do much more than that!

[Boris Badenov]

Someone is going to have to tell me what's so great about Giannis and so bad about Kelly... Giannis plays 4 more mins a game and they have pretty much identical stats! Giannis has the better FG% @45-40 but KO is the better 3pt and FT shooter.

I think the idea is that KO is almost 23 and is less likely to improve than Giannis, who is basically the same age as guys like Wiggins and Parker.

The less legitimate reason IMO for the appeal is the "wow" factor. Giannis is more of a highlight reel type of player. I don't go for that personally, but I'd wager that's part of the story too.

I think it's too early to tell, personally. Like others have said, there have been plenty of somewhat similar players (Anthony Randolph, Ty Thomas, Hakim Warrick etc.) with great tools who never took the next step.

[Roy H.]

Someone is going to have to tell me what's so great about Giannis and so bad about Kelly... Giannis plays 4 more mins a game and they have pretty much identical stats!

I think it's too early to judge KO, but I don't think you can only look at current production.  Giannis is 4 years younger than KO, and has a lot more upside.

[guava_wrench]

I agree, I'm not a huge KO fan at all. He's got Troy Murphy written all over him.

You think Olynyk is that good of a rebounder? That would be a good outcome.

[Galeto]

Someone is going to have to tell me what's so great about Giannis and so bad about Kelly... Giannis plays 4 more mins a game and they have pretty much identical stats! Giannis has the better FG% @45-40 but KO is the better 3pt and FT shooter.

I think the idea is that KO is almost 23 and is less likely to improve than Giannis, who is basically the same age as guys like Wiggins and Parker.

The less legitimate reason IMO for the appeal is the "wow" factor. Giannis is more of a highlight reel type of player. I don't go for that personally, but I'd wager that's part of the story too.

I think it's too early to tell, personally. Like others have said, there have been plenty of somewhat similar players (Anthony Randolph, Ty Thomas, Hakim Warrick etc.) with great tools who never took the next step.

I think Giannis' passing ability and overall basketball IQ separates him from Randolph.  I liked Randolph but he was a 4 who saw himself as a 3 but just wasn't skilled enough for it.  He was also extremely error prone and didn't do himself any favors with a face that always looked on the verge of crying.  Giannis' basketball IQ shows up in his movements off the ball and his playmaking off screens.  Randolph really didn't offer much beyond trying to score and he often shoot errantly.

I'm not sure why Hakim is among the comparisons.  I don't think he was ever considered a high ceiling player.  He was undersized, could only play PF and was a huge black hole, none of which describes Giannis.

Thomas may have made more of himself if he actually looked like he enjoyed basketball.  Injuries also played a part.

Giannis is no where close to a sure thing.  I've been impressed with glimpses but he's going to have to improve his outside shot and who knows if his overall shotmaking will ever be high quality.  That said, Olynk looks to be a 7th/8th rotation player.  It made no sense to pass on someone like Giannis, even if he busts, to take Olynyk given where the Celtics are in the rebuilding process.

[kraidstar]

olynyk is still getting used to this league. once he realizes how to use that big frame a bit more forcefully and decisively he'll look a lot better, his intelligence and skill should keep him afloat in the meantime.
let's not judge him too harshly over half a season with limited minutes. almost every one looks terrible their rookie year. and some guys that look good tail off and never live up to their promise.
there's no doubt though that KO is a highly skilled player. with time, the shots will fall. he needs to use his skills as a ball handler and passer more effectively, that will come with confidence.
and of course he needs to be tougher on the boards and on defense, he needs some more strength conditioning and also a little bit of nastiness, which will take some time.
overall, for the 13th pick in a very poor draft, i'd say he's coming along nicely. there was a stretch in the warriors game the other night which i thought was his best as a pro, he looked very focused, and  a little bit angry, and he was finally playing some solid defense, not to mention making quick decisions with the ball on offense.