Robert Upshaw chatter

[acieEarl]

I think Danny stays away from this guy altogether...If I recall correctly, Ainge drove Len Bias to the airport the night before he died....I'm sure he has pretty strong memories of this.

I was looking at that draft today, and it was a pretty crappy draft other than the top 2 picks. Hurts to think how good Bias might have been. We drafted Reggie the next year, so those two could have been the cornerstones of our next generation.

[bdm860]

work with him so his past wont haunt him

I'm not dismissing the red flags, I'm merely saying that we can work with those red flags and keep him in track.

I see the red flags, but unlike the rest of you, I believe the team and Upshaw can work together to carve that kid a career in the NBA. So if you think me believing that is trolling, then I guess it is.

All I'm saying is let's not pass on that potential simply because....we're not willing to work to make sure he stays in track.

Take out the red flags, and he's a great value pick at #16. So why not pick him at #16 and just work with his past issues and make sure it doesn't haunt him back? He seems to be helping himself already.

I think this is a major flaw in your thinking, which I've seen you repeat several times in this thread as well as in other threads.  No matter how much the C's want to, they can't babysit Upshaw (or any player for that matter).  It's just not going to happen.

If it was that easy, the C's would have someone babysitting Sully to make sure he stuck to a diet.

The Lakers and Heat would have had somebody working with Shaq to make sure he was always in shape (or could hit free throws) and they probably would have won 10 straight championships doing so.

Why doesn't Milwaukee just work with Larry Sanders?

Philly couldn't even keep Iverson from hiding out in the bathroom during practice in their own facility!

You don't think teams would have worked with knuckleheads like JR Smith, Josh Smith, Gerald Green, JaVale McGee, Andray Blatche, Michael Beasley, etc.  These are guys with much higher ceilings than Upshaw, and teams haven't been able to work with them and mold them into the All-Stars they should be.  How is this going to magically happen with Upshaw?

Upshaw can sit down with teams, say he has a life coach, says he'll do whatever it takes, etc.  Then once he signs that contract, he doesn't have to follow through on anything  He can fire his life coach, not work out, be an idiot, whatever.  That's the problem.  Everybody says the right thing before the draft or when they're a free agent, whenever there's big money involved everybody seems to straighten up, figure life out, and be firmly on the straight and narrow.  Once they get that long term contract though, what's to stop him from going back to his old ways, which almost everybody seems to do?

Why do you think Upshaw will be different here?

[Denis998]

Javail McGee is the same player but without a cocaine addiction.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

work with him so his past wont haunt him

I'm not dismissing the red flags, I'm merely saying that we can work with those red flags and keep him in track.

I see the red flags, but unlike the rest of you, I believe the team and Upshaw can work together to carve that kid a career in the NBA. So if you think me believing that is trolling, then I guess it is.

All I'm saying is let's not pass on that potential simply because....we're not willing to work to make sure he stays in track.

Take out the red flags, and he's a great value pick at #16. So why not pick him at #16 and just work with his past issues and make sure it doesn't haunt him back? He seems to be helping himself already.

I think this is a major flaw in your thinking, which I've seen you repeat several times in this thread as well as in other threads.  No matter how much the C's want to, they can't babysit Upshaw (or any player for that matter).  It's just not going to happen.

If it was that easy, the C's would have someone babysitting Sully to make sure he stuck to a diet.

The Lakers and Heat would have had somebody working with Shaq to make sure he was always in shape (or could hit free throws) and they probably would have won 10 straight championships doing so.

Why doesn't Milwaukee just work with Larry Sanders?

Philly couldn't even keep Iverson from hiding out in the bathroom during practice in their own facility!

You don't think teams would have worked with knuckleheads like JR Smith, Josh Smith, Gerald Green, JaVale McGee, Andray Blatche, Michael Beasley, etc.  These are guys with much higher ceilings than Upshaw, and teams haven't been able to work with them and mold them into the All-Stars they should be.  How is this going to magically happen with Upshaw?

Upshaw can sit down with teams, say he has a life coach, says he'll do whatever it takes, etc.  Then once he signs that contract, he doesn't have to follow through on anything  He can fire his life coach, not work out, be an idiot, whatever.  That's the problem.  Everybody says the right thing before the draft or when they're a free agent, whenever there's big money involved everybody seems to straighten up, figure life out, and be firmly on the straight and narrow.  Once they get that long term contract though, what's to stop him from going back to his old ways, which almost everybody seems to do?

Why do you think Upshaw will be different here?

You're absolutely right, this is a fair point.

But this should not stop us from taking what is a high upside player. I understand that there are work involved and there are no guarantees, but we are still talking about a player with great potential that also fills a need. It's a gamble we can afford and could pay off for us if it worked. We're also not investing too much, it's a mid 1st round pick.

You're right, it could very well be that once he got his money, he's going to turn back to his immature ways, but I would want to be the team to give him a chance for him to show that he can turn it around. Because if he does, he could be a vital part of the future with what he can offer. If he doesn't pan out, what did we give up? Just a mid 1st, one among many that we have in the next 5 years.

No, I'm not sure if Upshaw can turn it around or not. And while I keep saying that the team should just work with to keep him in track, I'm not sure if it's enough. But what I'm saying is his potential should be worth gambling the #16 pick. Pick him and work with him. If Gerald Green can turn it around, why can't he. If Josh Smith turned it around, why can't he? If Beasley behaved well after realizing he may never have another shot, why can't he? If he doesn't pan out, tough luck, we gave 1 out of about 6 1st rounders we have. If he pans out, we got a Center we can feature for the next years or so.

I'm saying swing for the fences.   

[Forza Juventus]

He is a little over rated by some here but he is a first round talent. I would consider him with one of our second round picks. I would probably draft Dakari ahead of him especially because FiveThirtyEight says Dakari has the lowest bust potential in the draft. Low ceiling but high floor which is great value in the second round.

[KG Living Legend]

Yeah but can someone explain how Dakari is less of a bust potential than Town's or Okafor. Complete Rubbish if you ask me.

[Forza Juventus]

Yeah but can someone explain how Dakari is less of a bust potential than Town's or Okafor. Complete Rubbish if you ask me.

Idk those analytics guys must be smarter than me tho. They are just basically saying Dakari has a high floor and low ceiling.

[Eddie20]

He is a little over rated by some here but he is a first round talent. I would consider him with one of our second round picks. I would probably draft Dakari ahead of him especially because FiveThirtyEight says Dakari has the lowest bust potential in the draft. Low ceiling but high floor which is great value in the second round.

Side note:
In his senior year in HS Dakari Johnson was the #1 center coming out of HS. Ahead, of even Embiid. In fact, Embiid was also at Monteverde HS, but transferred because of Dakari. Johnson's teammates that year at Monteverde were junior D'Angelo Russell and sophmore Ben Simmons.

Embiid did a lot of homework. As a developing big man, he switched high schools this year -- from Montverde (Fla.) Academy to The Rock School (Gainesville, Fla.) -- in search of more playing time, and his college approach was measured. In the end, it came down to player development.

[Forza Juventus]

He is a little over rated by some here but he is a first round talent. I would consider him with one of our second round picks. I would probably draft Dakari ahead of him especially because FiveThirtyEight says Dakari has the lowest bust potential in the draft. Low ceiling but high floor which is great value in the second round.

Side note:
In his senior year in HS Dakari Johnson was the #1 center coming out of HS. Ahead, of even Embiid. In fact, Embiid was also at Monteverde HS, but transferred because of Dakari. Johnson's teammates that year at Monteverde were junior D'Angelo Russell and sophmore Ben Simmons.

Embiid did a lot of homework. As a developing big man, he switched high schools this year -- from Montverde (Fla.) Academy to The Rock School (Gainesville, Fla.) -- in search of more playing time, and his college approach was measured. In the end, it came down to player development.

That's really interesting. I think Dakari is a great opportunity, particularly in the second round and would probably be more well liked if he played more at a smaller school.

[tarheelsxxiii]

Javail McGee is the same player but without a cocaine heroine addiction.

Good point. Made a minor edit for accuracy, though.

[D.o.s.]

if you're going to do that at least spell it right. There's no 'e' at the end (unless you think Upshaw has a thing for strong female leads).

[D Dub]

if this guy really has an H problem we can't go near him.  that never ends well...

[Forza Juventus]

We don't know what's he's done or does. It still is vague speculation until it all comes out.

[tarheelsxxiii]

if you're going to do that at least spell it right. There's no 'e' at the end (unless you think Upshaw has a thing for strong female leads).

Loll. Woops, I kinda like it better that way.

I'll stop, though. Sorry. Related to the above posts, there is no evidence whatsoever that he has that issue, I was just speculating while being very silly. If we are talking about "things coming out about him that you wouldn't believe" that are also drug-related, though, I wouldn't be surprised if it's something other than yayo.

[LooseCannon]

Why am I advocating to pick him at #16? Because he has the potential to be special (to use a FIFA term), compare to the rest of the guys that are slotted to be available when we pick. And I know slamtheking don't like to see this, but again, there's a definite chance that he won't be available in the 2nd round, as there are teams who have their Centers going into free agency that can take a flier at him in the early 20's.

Take out the red flags, and he's a great value pick at #16. So why not pick him at #16 and just work with his past issues and make sure it doesn't haunt him back? He seems to be helping himself already.

But he does have red flags.  I'd feel a lot more comfortable about taking a gamble if he were coming off his second ACL tear in the same knee instead of drug problems.