2021 NBA Draft Safari

Lee said:

I love Barnes, was thrilled getting him at 5, but now sitting where we are at, I really, really want Mobley. I think both will be special, just like Mobley more.

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I tried talking myself out of getting Mobley before we landed the 3rd pick. I figured we would land 5-7 so I didn't want to get my hopes up about him dropping to us.

Now that he's most likely our pick, I'm just daydreaming about Garland-Mobley pick and rolls and how fun our fast breaks will be. That and actually getting someone over 6'4 for once is refreshing.

IronCav. said:

I tried talking myself out of getting Mobley before we landed the 3rd pick. I figured we would land 5-7 so I didn't want to get my hopes up about him dropping to us.

Now that he's most likely our pick, I'm just daydreaming about Garland-Mobley pick and rolls and how fun our fast breaks will be. That and actually getting someone over 6'4 for once is refreshing.

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I really dont suggest this, just fun to think about.

Sexland, nance at the 3, mobley and allen. Think about that shot blocking ability with the small backcourt, lol.

I just can't believe that it looks like we're in position to draft Mobley with the 3rd pick. To me, he's a no-brainer #1. Fingers crossed we don't get screwed here.

Nathan S said:

Westbrook is the comparison that pops out here, tbh. Freak athlete with a great motor and sky-high basketball IQ, but questionable scoring touch and a shaky jumpshot.

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What is Westbrook if he is not a primary ball handler? Or do you think Barnes will be that at the NBA level.

This is more thought exercise here, as I do like Barnes a lot but I'm trying to be realistic with what his likely outcomes are.

howler1313 said:

I just can't believe that it looks like we're in position to draft Mobley with the 3rd pick. To me, he's a no-brainer #1. Fingers crossed we don't get screwed here.

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If we are sitting there at 3, and Cade / Green go 1-2......if we don't draft Mobley, just move the franchise.

I'mWithDan said:

What is Westbrook if he is not a primary ball handler? Or do you think Barnes will be that at the NBA level.

This is more thought exercise here, as I do like Barnes a lot but I'm trying to be realistic with what his likely outcomes are.

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I can't imagine Barnes being a star except as a primary ballhandler. I imagine if you look at 1-and-done lottery picks with similar assist numbers, they're either primary ballhandlers or (gulp) busts.

I'mWithDan said:

What is Westbrook if he is not a primary ball handler? Or do you think Barnes will be that at the NBA level.

This is more thought exercise here, as I do like Barnes a lot but I'm trying to be realistic with what his likely outcomes are.

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The interesting thing about the Barnes discussion to me is that there's almost no argument about what he does well vs what he doesn't, it seems like we're all in agreement on this. The argument seems to center around how effective he can be with his current skill set and how much room he has to improve.

To me, I see major problems whenever you rely on a non-shooter to initiate and create a big part of the team's offense. You even see it with Giannis before he embraced working off ball and rolling more, and Giannis is just about as good as you can possibly be with his archetype. Shooting is the single most important and most synergistic skill in basketball- you can never have enough, and more shooting only makes things easier for your teammates and raises the offensive efficiency as a whole.

I'm also really skeptical that Barnes will ever shoot well enough to justify being a go-to option as his mechanics are a mess on the move, he shoots a low percentage from the free throw line, and I believe he also had really bad touch on floaters and push shots (?).

Even if he settles into a Draymond type player, Draymond has major limitations that really show up whenever he isn't playing with maybe the best off-ball scorer in NBA history. As much as he would allow us to be versatile with defensive personnel, he would also shoehorn us into our offensive personnel as everyone around him would need to be a great shooter.

If guys want to draft him in the top 4 because they believe he can work on his shooting to the point that it isn't a weakness, then I can see that. But if they think the shooting just isn't important for a guy with his skill-set, I just really disagree.

Nathan S said:

I can't imagine Barnes being a star except as a primary ballhandler. I imagine if you look at 1-and-done lottery picks with similar assist numbers, they're either primary ballhandlers or (gulp) busts.

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That pretty much eliminates him for us, no?

Lee said:

I really dont suggest this, just fun to think about.

Sexland, nance at the 3, mobley and allen. Think about that shot blocking ability with the small backcourt, lol.

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I would prefer to keep Okoro at the three. IMO Isaac will be a candidate as most improved player in the league . An off season pumping iron , working on his shot and handle, We are going to see huge improvement from him, especially with his Sexton type work ethic.

If it were my team Mobley will start from day one at the 4. Mobley looks to be a combination of Danny Manning and Chris Bosh from my unprofessional evaluations.

Nance is great coming off the bench with Hartenstein (if we resign him, an improving Kabengele (another shot blocker) and hopefully a healthy Dylan Windler

Mcreek said:

I would prefer to keep Okoro at the three. IMO Isaac will be a candidate as most improved player in the league . An off season pumping iron , working on his shot and handle, We are going to see huge improvement from him, especially with his Sexton type work ethic.

If it were my team Mobley will start from day one at the 4. Mobley looks to be a combination of Danny Manning and Chris Bosh from my unprofessional evaluations.

Nance is great coming off the bench with Hartenstein (if we resign him, an improving Kabengele (another shot blocker) and hopefully a healthy Dylan Windler

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I was just saying Nance at the 3 because of shot blocking. In no way do I really want to start Nance at the 3. But Allen, Mobley Nance in at one time, that is some incredible rim protection, lol.

daddywags said:

That pretty much eliminates him for us, no?

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Sexton probably shouldn't be a primary ballhandler. Garland's a little bit more interesting in that regard, but could probably be good playing off Barnes in an off-ball role much like Curry when the Warriors run the offense through Green (not that Garland's that caliber of player, but the idea would be the same). So I think drafting Barnes would probably mean trading either Sexton or Garland (juggling all 3 would be tricky), but that may be in the cards regardless of who we draft.

I know it's highly unlikely they trade down but what would it take for them to even consider swapping picks with ORL?

daytripper said:

I know it's highly unlikely they trade down but what would it take for them to even consider swapping picks with ORL?

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Garland

Chris said:

Seems like we cant really lose as Green or Mobley should be there.

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You can't imagine how many people in here can't grasp that.

All4One1ForAll said:

Not drafting Mobley because you have Jarrett Allen is the kind of stuff that gets your whole front office fired a few years later.

I’m so confused why people - including maybe our own GM - see Allen as some massive cornerstone for the franchise that dictates whether or not we should take the best prospect in the draft or not. We acquired Allen for nothing. He doesn’t bring anything irreplaceable to the table. And if he wants $20-25 mil per year I would honestly prefer to let him go because I generally don’t think teams should feel so obligated to pay role players near-max contracts.

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I absolutely agree. That is a situation that gets acted on AFTER the draft. Why do I have bad feeling they're going to fuck this up?