Who's your biggest reach/steal of the First Round?

[indeedproceed]

Biggest reach: Jason Thompson at 12
This guy to me is a born and bred role player. The Kings already have Shelden Williams and Abdur Rahim hasn't looked good since 2004. A pick like JJ Hickson or Darrell Arthur would've made way more sense. Even a guy like Anthony Randolph.

Biggest steal: (Tie, cuz I say so) Darrell Arthur and Donte Greene
Darrell Arthur is a great pick at number 27. There is no way this kid is anything less than a decent starter in a couple of years. He's got some problems turning it on sometimes but he played for a national champion. Very good scorer in the paint and has decent size for the 4

Donte Greene is an all upside pick but the kid has a ton of upside. The Griz did well here and although he's a couple of years from being an every night contributer, who isnt on the grizzlies right now?

[bigtyc55]

Donte Greene is an all upside pick but the kid has a ton of upside. The Griz did well here and although he's a couple of years from being an every night contributer, who isnt on the grizzlies right now?

Greene was traded to Houston, which is good cuz they will need some help for tmac and battier at the wings.

Biggest Reach: Jason Thompson, your right with that one. I think he will be better than sheldon williams cuz he has more size and he seems like a better all around player, but at 12 i just dont see it here for the kings, when arthur, randolph, hickson, ajinca, koufos were there.
I really like Koufos and I would have taken him over thompson.

Biggest Steal: Jerryd Bayless, for the blazers to acquire him and ike diogo who i think is underrated and not given enough time to show he can play. Bayles avg. 20ppg 3rpg 5apg in college as a freshman in a very good conference. He can flat out score and dish it out, extremely athletic, and could you imagine a backcourt of Bayless and Roy with a frontcourt of Aldridge and Oden. At 11 i feel he was a steal

[Who]

Biggest Reach - Russell Westbrook

Biggest Steal - Possibly DeAndre Jordan. If going for a proven guy - Mario Chalmers. First round right, keep the head screwed on.

Biggest Steal - Jerryd Bayless because he transforms that team

Remember how we stifled Steve Blake on the screen and rolls and completely stopped his dribble penetration? How easy will that be with Bayless? How much will that change their team? Wow.

There's actually a bunch of steals late in this draft. It's the top that's dubious and lacking all levels of certainty, the back end has a bunch of interesting talents.

[indeedproceed]

Donte Greene is an all upside pick but the kid has a ton of upside. The Griz did well here and although he's a couple of years from being an every night contributer, who isnt on the grizzlies right now?

Greene was traded to Houston, which is good cuz they will need some help for tmac and battier at the wings.

Man...I sat there on ESPN reading for 5 minutes trying to make sure I'd gotten the team right on Greene too. I knew he'd gotten traded. Duh.

Still see him as a good steal though.

[ma11l]

I'm sure many people will say Thompson at 12 but I would disagree.  I have a bias here as I go to Marist and love seeing anyone from the MAAC Conference make it in the draft.  I was really happy for Thompson.  He is a well-schooled scorer of the ball and seems to have a great head on his shoulders.  He will struggle on the defensive end early on in his career.  Of course the biggest question mark is making the jump from MAAC competition to the NBA, especially as a big man.  I think he will do it, and I'm cheering for him. 

[hardlyyardley]

biggest reach = george hill in first round
biggest steal= brook lopez at 10 and late ryan anderson....both by the nets

[bbc3341]

Beasley because when we look back we'll be shocked that anyone passed on him...

[footey]

Biggest steal: JR Giddens. Call me a homer, but I really believe he is the best value pick, given where Danny was picking. It will take a few years to bear out, given he want get alot of minutes for a while.

[cordobes]

Biggest reach = Ajinca
Biggest steal = I don't know... Maybe Bayless converted into Rush+Jack+McRoberts.

[fairweatherfan]

<snip>

Donte Greene is an all upside pick but the kid has a ton of upside. The Griz did well here and although he's a couple of years from being an every night contributer, who isnt on the grizzlies right now?

As a Syracuse fan who watched nearly every game this year, Donte Greene has a ton of talent but is physically and mentally soft and unmotivated - it's clear he models himself after Carmelo, but he plays like a poor caricature of how Carmelo played in college.  Greene mostly just jacked up bad 3s in transition or with the shot clock running down, and was reluctant to go into the paint for most of the season.  He was only really effective running the break with Johnny Flynn, and in defensive rebounding. 

The guy's got the talent to excel, and hopefully Houston has the veteran influence to keep him in line, but I really don't know if he's got the mindset to be much more than a taller Gerald Green.  I hope he does well in the NBA, but I was honestly not upset to see him leave - I think the team stands a better chance of playing cohesive, smart basketball without him.

For the biggest reach:  has to be Thompson
Biggest steal: Darrell Arthur - the kid can play.

[Who]

<snip>

Donte Greene is an all upside pick but the kid has a ton of upside. The Griz did well here and although he's a couple of years from being an every night contributer, who isnt on the grizzlies right now?

As a Syracuse fan who watched nearly every game this year, Donte Greene has a ton of talent but is physically and mentally soft and unmotivated - it's clear he models himself after Carmelo, but he plays like a poor caricature of how Carmelo played in college.  Greene mostly just jacked up bad 3s in transition or with the shot clock running down, and was reluctant to go into the paint for most of the season.  He was only really effective running the break with Johnny Flynn, and in defensive rebounding. 

The guy's got the talent to excel, and hopefully Houston has the veteran influence to keep him in line, but I really don't know if he's got the mindset to be much more than a taller Gerald Green.  I hope he does well in the NBA, but I was honestly not upset to see him leave - I think the team stands a better chance of playing cohesive, smart basketball without him.

For the biggest reach:  has to be Thompson
Biggest steal: Darrell Arthur - the kid can play.

It's freakish how similar Donte Greene is to Rashard Lewis both in strengths and flaws and both of those at that age.

I love the pickup for Houston. Big steal. Houston are desperate for one more wing who has good size (ding ding), can shoot the ball (ding ding), can score a bit (ding ding). It's a fantastic fit for him too because they've got a great team and great unity in the locker room.

He'll have Tracy McGrady (good defender, can be great defender when he puts his mind to it) and Shane Battier (best perimeter defender in the L) to lean on. Both players are able to play shooting guard so Greene can earn all his minutes at his best position. Houston also have Hayes, Landry, Scola at power forward so he's unlikely to be forced out there either. Rick Adelman is a brilliant development coach who'll nurture the kid and teach him how to play more intelligently.

Excellent situation for Greene and for Houston

[libermaniac]

If it's possible:

Biggest reach:  JR Giddens
Biggest steal:  JR Giddens

Don't think anyone else took someone slotted to be picked 15-30 picks later, but I think when it's all said and done, Gidden will be one of the top. 10 performers from this draft class.