NBA 2019 Draft

[Demographic Shift]

For the first time the incentive to conscientiously suck real bad as as a strategy went sideways.
The true panzer squad of Knicks, Suns, Cavs, Bulls pick 3 6 5 and 7 respectively.
In what is the best and deepest draft since last year...it looks like there are 3 ..maybe 4 high impact players. Yes there will be a gem or two found in the late lottery or even late teens but on balance the reward for tanking paid off like a show bet on Secretariat.

Griffin in New Orleans with one overall gets a ton of options to work with the Williamson pick......I wish him well..I think this saves that franchise.He can pair Williamson and Davis with Holiday and with Moore, an under the radar 3 ball assassin, and they become legit playoff contenders. Or he can move Davis for a truckload of talent.

Memphis can go in a couple of directions... They can take Barrett and field a young but veteran C in JV...a top tier PG in Conley along with a stud at the 4 in Jackson..or they can draft Conleys backfill in Morant.

The Knicks will get one of Barrett or Morant. In true Knicks fashion it’s prolly Morant and then they will sign Irving and field a 4 point guard lineup with SmithJr., Morant Irving, and Ntilikina....Take that for data.

And with the mantle of the Kings of Comedy now firmly held by the LA Lakers and their front office who are picking at 4 will either draft a bust or trade the pick along with next year’s first and a 2022 first and two seconds along with every single player with promise under the age of 25 to the Pelicans for Anthony Davis.

[GOLDBLUM]

[Apollo]

You're never backed into a corner if you have at least 2 bidders. And the Pelicans will have considerably more than 2 bidders for Davis. Masai only had the Knicks and Nets (maybe) when he raided stripped the Knicks roster bare for pseudo-star, Carmelo Anthony.

Sure they can be. All that needs to happen for such a scenario to play out is for AD to say "I'm signing with only the ________, so don't trade for me or you'll regret it" and they're done, son.

[golden]

This off-season drama is going to be phenomenal......

[Apollo]

This off-season drama is going to be phenomenal......

Damn, this situation has Steve Francis/Vancouver potential. I mean I don't blame him. He's getting huge hype, everyone is telling him going to New Orleans is a horrible situation for him and their star wants out which further validates the idea.

The difference here though is Zion hasn't played his cards and so this is fair game. He's not forcing his way out of anything, he's simply hinting he may not come out this year. Well played if its true he doesn't want to go there. He's fairly working the system.

[golden]

Damn, this situation has Steve Francis/Vancouver potential. I mean I don't blame him. He's getting huge hype, everyone is telling him going to New Orleans is a horrible situation for him and their star wants out which further validates the idea.

The difference here though is Zion hasn't played his cards and so this is fair game. He's not forcing his way out of anything, he's simply hinting he may not come out this year. Well played if its true he doesn't want to go there. He's fairly working the system.

I hate to admit it, but a guy like Zion really should be in a big market. And the Pelicans wasted Anthony Davis' window, so he's got every reason to be skeptical.

[LJ2]

This off-season drama is going to be phenomenal......

Why in the world would New Orleans want to keep AD? They have the perfect opportunity to surround Zion with some up and coming studs like Taytum/Brown and basically set themselves up for a bright future with a long window for contention.

[GOLDBLUM]

Why in the world would New Orleans want to keep AD? They have the perfect opportunity to surround Zion with some up and coming studs like Taytum/Brown and basically set themselves up for a bright future with a long window for contention.

Only reason I can think of is that maybe that convinces Zion to report to them. If Davis softens and wants to team up with the young phenom then Zion chills on any reservations he may have about the Pels. If Davis is still forcing his way out... as has been said by others, maybe Zion will too. (The way things ended with Davis though, I think it’s impossible at this point.)

I think it would be really shitty if Zion doesn’t accept New Orleans as his destination. He could save the franchise. And it’s a city that is supposedly one of the coolest in America, (I wanna check it out someday,) while also having gone through some major hardships since having to rebuild from Katrina. They could use some good news.

I get that it’s been a bit of a shit organization and they haven’t succeeded in pairing anyone to help Davis win.

In this situation, they’d stand to potentially get a pretty great haul for Davis and have a great chance of competing in a few years.

If Zion pulls that Steve Francis bullshit, I’ll lose respect for him for sure.

[KeonClark]

New Orleans come as kind of pathetic here. Like an ex boyfriend who cant accept getting dumped. Fucking trade the guy and start over, you were going nowhere with him on the roster anyways

[LJ2]

Only reason I can think of is that maybe that convinces Zion to report to them. If Davis softens and wants to team up with the young phenom then Zion chills on any reservations he may have about the Pels. If Davis is still forcing his way out... as has been said by others, maybe Zion will too. (The way things ended with Davis though, I think it’s impossible at this point.)

I think it would be really shitty if Zion doesn’t accept New Orleans as his destination. He could save the franchise. And it’s a city that is supposedly one of the coolest in America, (I wanna check it out someday,) while also having gone through some major hardships since having to rebuild from Katrina. They could use some good news.

I get that it’s been a bit of a shit organization and they haven’t succeeded in pairing anyone to help Davis win.

In this situation, they’d stand to potentially get a pretty great haul for Davis and have a great chance of competing in a few years.

If Zion pulls that Steve Francis bullshit, I’ll lose respect for him for sure.

I really can't see Zion pulling a stunt like what Francais did for a number of reasons...first and foremost he's being asked to report to an American city, not to Canada which perhaps some ignorant people would have an issue with. Secondly, he's not an idiot. He's looking at a lucrative career and I don't think he's going to risk all that endorsement money by having a dark cloud over him.

And I don't actually believe New Orleans isn't going to keep AD. Even if he agrees to resign it must be a sign and trade. NO is just looking for the best return possible and I don't blame them.

The NBA just keeps bailing out these franchises with shitty management.

[golden]

Only reason I can think of is that maybe that convinces Zion to report to them. If Davis softens and wants to team up with the young phenom then Zion chills on any reservations he may have about the Pels. If Davis is still forcing his way out... as has been said by others, maybe Zion will too. (The way things ended with Davis though, I think it’s impossible at this point.)

I think it would be really shitty if Zion doesn’t accept New Orleans as his destination. He could save the franchise. And it’s a city that is supposedly one of the coolest in America, (I wanna check it out someday,) while also having gone through some major hardships since having to rebuild from Katrina. They could use some good news.

I get that it’s been a bit of a shit organization and they haven’t succeeded in pairing anyone to help Davis win.

In this situation, they’d stand to potentially get a pretty great haul for Davis and have a great chance of competing in a few years.

If Zion pulls that Steve Francis bullshit, I’ll lose respect for him for sure.

In theory Zion could withdraw his name from the draft by May 29th, so he wouldn't even be giving New Orleans a chance to draft him. That's not exactly the same as a Steve Francis. He'd have to be willing to swallow 1 year of rookie salary, but that should be peanuts in comparison to the endorsement money he'll get if he's drafted into a major market. Even in the Francis situation, he was under no obligation to sign a contract. Francis did nothing wrong - he just exercised those rights to not sign. Fran Vasquez was a first-round pick that never reported to the Magic. Porzingis was apparently on the Sixers radar screen, but he told them he wouldn't sign there, so they avoided drafting him. The only guarantee a franchise gets with a draft pick, are draft rights. It's not Zion's fault that New Orleans is a crappily run franchise, and he should be under no obligation to "save them".

[Shredder]

I could see a AD for Knicks Pick, Knox, some other filler to make it work. The Pels would then have Zion and RJ on an NBA squad together.

[Shredder]

I could see a AD for Knicks Pick, Knox, some other filler to make it work. The Pels would then have Zion and RJ on an NBA squad together.

Or the Knicks just Knick and draft Cam Redish, leaving the Lakers to get RJ. Then they trade a heap of young talent to Pels for AD and try to sign a big name free agent.

[jacobdr4]

Or the Knicks just Knick and draft Cam Redish, leaving the Lakers to get RJ. Then they trade a heap of young talent to Pels for AD and try to sign a big name free agent.

If I was a GM Cam Reddish wouldn't go top ten. Jumper looks nice but he's not very athletic for a guy his size and has been inconsistent all year. Maybe he can show the potential he used to have but I wouldn't hold my breath on him being anything besides a good backup/5th starter.