STARTING FIVEPG JAMEER NELSON:
2008-09 STATS: PPG: 16.7, APG 5.4, RPG 4.1, 47% FG, 42% 3PT FG
WHO HE IS: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Weight 190 lb (86 kg)
What he does: In 2008-09, Nelson had his best season as pro. He was elected to the All-Star team despite being hurt in game 42. He did return for the NBA Finals vs. the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite his size, Nelson is more of a half-court player than a transition guy, preferring to use pick-and-roll plays to set up drives going right or pull-up jumpers. He's also a good 3-point shooter who can hit off the dribble when opponents go under the screen. However, he has a scorer's mentality and despite last year's assist jump his decision. Defensively, he does have a tough time matching up bigger PGs, but has shown the toughness to give up his body, drawing 27 offensive fouls in 2007-2008 season.
SG John Salmons
2008-09 STATS: PPG 18.3 APG 3.2 RPG 4.2 47% FG 42% 3PT FG
WHO HE IS: 6-6, 207
What he does: In addition to his slashing ability, Salmons is a very good defender who can guard three positions. He's quick and has good size at 6-7, and ranked in the top third of shooting guards in both blocks and steals per minute. He was often used as the primary stopper against elite scorers and he held his own in those matchups.
Offensively, he likes to attack off the dribble for layups or short-range jumpers. He's a mediocre spot-up shooter and isn't a good shooter off the dribble, plus he tends to have high turnover rates because he's driving into traffic so much. However, he's a good enough dribbler to play point guard in a pinch.
SF RICHARD JEFFERSON
2008-09 STATS: PPG 19.6, APG 2.4, RPG 4.6, 44 % FG, 38 % 3PT
WHO HE IS: 6-7, 225
What he does: Jefferson is an explosive driver, especially going to his right from the right side, and is among the best in the league at running the floor -- again, virtually always on the right side. The change is that he now has become a good enough midrange jump shooter that teams have to respect his shot.
He's not a great ball-handler and will make bad decisions and/or take poor shots when he's put into positions to create; as a result, he's much better used finishing what other players start, as he did to such great effect with Jason Kidd while in New Jersey.
Jefferson was the Nets and Bucks top wing defender the past three years, but seemed to pay less mind to that role last season; in fact, the Nets allowed 5.6 points per 48 minutes more when he was on the court. Now with the Spurs, Jefferson could flourish being surrounded by championship players and we expect his defensive numbers to improve
ZACH RANDOLPH
2008-09 STATS: 20.8 PPG, 2.1 APG, 10.1 RPG, 47.5 %FG
WHO HE IS: 6-9, 260 LBS.
What he does: Offensively, Randolph is a huge talent. The lefthander has outstanding size and a soft touch that he can take as far as 20 feet from the basket, plus he can handle the ball and score off the dribble, usually going to his left from the right block. However, he's a notoriously selfish offensive player who either doesn't read double teams well or doesn't feel like passing out of them. He can battle down low with most power forwards and defend as well as he wants to. With Zach, it all depends on how hard he wants to play. This is a concern.
C ERICK DAMPIER
2008-09 STATS: 5.7 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 1.2 BPG
WHO HE IS: 7-0, 265; 34 YEARS OLD
What he does:: Dampier has become extremely one-dimensional offensively, as he doesn't bother himself much with shooting away from the bucket, or getting post-up touches. The Mavs occasionally bring him out high, but that's only so he can pass to somebody else with an interest in shooting, after which Dampier runs toward the rim so he can chase down a board.
He's a solid post defender, though, as his size and decent mobility combine to present an obstacle for opposing centers. At 34 he's not as quick as he used to be, but he blocks shots at a high rate and still has pretty good straight-line speed getting back in transition.
THE BENCHPGs
JORDAN FARMAR
WHO HE IS: 6-2, 180 LBS, 6.4 PPG, 2.4 APG, 23 YEARS OLD
WHAT HE DOES: A quick, athletic guard who can also shoot from long range, Farmar has the makings of a very good shoot-first point guard, especially when one considers he was only 21 years old last year. He has a good first step he can use to breeze to the basket, though palming violations are an issue, and he's comfortable spotting up on the catch, too. Though he's not big, he also rebounds quite well for his size, ranking 19th among point guards in rebound rate.
Defensively, Farmar is a work in progress. He cut his tendency to pick up silly fouls in the backcourt and did a decent job pressuring the ball, but in the half court he had trouble staying in front of his man and wasn't much of a factor in help situations. His quickness did help him to the 10th best rate of steals among point guards, and he should eventually be quite good as he gains experience.
CJ WATSON
WHO HE IS: 9.5 PPG, 2.7 APG, 1.2 SPG, 25 YEARS OLD
WHAT HE DOES: Though he's a 6-2 point guard, Watson is more of a slashing scorer in the Bobby Jackson mold than a pure point guard. His assist ratios were quite low at both Golden State. e's a good foul shooter too, so if he can get to the stripe in the pros he'll stick around for a while.
SHOOTING GUARDSGERALD HENDERSON
WHO HE IS 6-4, 215 ROOKIE FROM DUKE
WHAT HE DOES: As a shot-creator, Henderson looks excellent, both in terms of the volume of shots he was able to create in isolation situations (ranking 5th), and in his ability to convert these opportunities, at 42%. He also appears capable of making some plays on the pick and roll, which is a nice bonus. Like a lot of college players we looked at, Henderson is much better operating with his strong hand (his right)—converting 51% of his drives with that hand, compared with just 37% with his left. This part of his game is going to be key for him moving forward, as he ranks quite poorly as a jump shooter compared to his peers in his ability to catch and shoot (.7 PPP guarded, 1.15 PPP unguarded) or pull-up off the dribble (.79 PPP). Henderson made big strides with his perimeter jump-shot this past season, but he obviously still has a long ways to go.
In terms of his ability to contribute immediately, there are a lot of reasons to like Henderson. He does not turn the ball over much at all (5th) and draws fouls at a nice rate (5th). His athleticism hives him some considerable upside, and his defensive ability and playmaking skills are important to his stock as well. At this point, Henderson’s limitations are abundantly obvious, but they also appear to be highly correctable, and he does other things well enough to make an impact while he rounds out the rest of his game
JODIE MEEKS
WHO HE IS 6-4, 211 LBS, ROOKIE FROM KENTUCKY
WHAT HE DOES: Meeks’ catch and shoot ability looks a lot like AL Thornton’s, only he takes more open shots and forces less. He can hit tough shots, but is not as deadly as you might think when left open, at just 1.21 PPP. Unlike Thornton, Meeks is quite a shooter off the dribble, scoring .99 PPP on 4.7 pull up jumpers per game. His 1.11 PPP in spot up situations is above average, an indication that his ability to hit the three somewhat compensates for his inefficient in other areas.
Meeks didn’t get many touches on isolations or pick and rolls, but was relatively efficient in both situations. He ranked second in transition possessions per game at 5.5, and was slightly above average at 1.2 PPP looking good in the open floor. His ability to finish around the rim came out a bit better than we might have anticipated, as he both got there often (4th most), and was ranked 2nd in completing plays once there, at 1.2 PPP. He also showed the very valuable ability to do some damage coming off of screens in half court sets, scoring 1.04 PPP on a third ranked 2.9 shots off of screens per game. Turning the ball over on a little more than a tenth of his used possessions, Meeks didn’t score quite as frequently as some of the other players on our list, but his three point shooting prowess helped him look very solid in this analysis.
SMALL FORWARDSPeja Stojakovic
WHO HE IS: 6-10, 230 LBS; 13.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.2 APG; 32 YEARS OLD
WHAT HE DOES: One of the sweetest shooters to play the game, he's deadly spotting up from the wings or corners, however, and because of his size he can usually wriggle free for a step-back J at the end of the shot clock. The Hornets also run pin-downs for him to keep him involved, but he's better off on a straight catch-and-shoot.
Defensively, his size helps him make up for some of the quickness shortfall and nobody posts him up because he's so big, but he's increasingly vulnerable to speedy wings. It would be easier if they could move him to power forward, but his inability to rebound or block shots would be a glaring issue there.
POWER FORWARDJOSH POWELL
WHO HE IS: 6-9, 240; 4.2 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 26 YEARS OLD
WHAT HE DOES: Powell is really a power forward and is far too undersized to be playing regularly at center, but he makes opponents work on defense and if the size mismatch isn't too great he does a solid job overall. If he can establish his 15-footer as a threat he becomes a much more plausible offensive option, and that may be his ticket to staying in the league.
DERRICK BROWN
WHO HE IS: 6-9, 225 LBS; ROOKIE FROM XAVIER
WHAT HE DOES: Much has already been written about Brown's athleticism, so there is no need to go into extreme depth here. He has a freakish wingspan to go along with quick, explosive leaping ability. The aforementioned athleticism resulted in 73 dunks last season. Not just a leaper, he also possesses an outstanding first step and excellent lateral quickness. There is very little more that one could ask for athletically out of a 6'7 combo forward.
The vast majority of Brown's damage on the offensive end was done around the rim last season, usually off shots created for him by teammates. Over 80% of his field goal attempts in fact came off shots right around the rim, which tells you quite a bit about his role offensively. An incredibly efficient player for that reason, he shot nearly 61% from the field. Proving capable of finishing at the basket with either hand, he showed a limited ability to utilize mismatches by posting smaller opponents. At the same time, he was able on rare occasions to use his great first step to blow by slower defenders off of the dribble. The bulk of Brown's scoring is predicated off of his athleticism and energetic style of play at the moment, rather than any kind of high skill-level.
On the defensive end, Brown has all of the characteristics of an eventual lockdown defender. Able to guard both forward slots, he appeals to NBA scouts because of his versatility on this end of the hardwood. Owning the quickness to stay in front of smaller defenders, while also possessing the length and strength to guard bigger players, he offers a large amount of intrigue on this end. Just an average rebounder, Brown is capable of improving upon this area with more of an emphasis on boxing out rather than just relying upon his athleticism to snag rebounds. Getting stronger would probably help as well.
/PF/CENTER
MATT BONNER
WHO HE IS: 6-10, 240 LBS, 8.2 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 29 YEARS OLD
WHAT HE DOES: His biggest obstacles to more minutes for Bonner are his defensive limitations. He's 6-10 but doesn't elevate and isn't particularly mobile, so it's tough to find acceptable matchups for him. Additionally, he doesn't provide much in the way of help-side defense or shot blocking. He is physical, however, and does a decent job on the glass.
Offensively, Bonner is a spot-up 3-point shooter with a quick release off the top of his right shoulder. If defenders run him off the shot he'll head fake and drive into the paint for a shorter look, but he's not a deft dribbler and if he takes more than one bounce a turnover becomes increasingly likely.
INACTIVE PLAYERS
MARCUS HAISLIP AND
NATHAN JAWAIDRAFT STRATEGYThe Timberwolves were to pick 8th overall but failure of the original ownership to show up put us in a bind. Our group didn't have time to construct a draft strategy in the days leading up to the draft. We were unable to move around picks because we didn't have ownership until midway through the second round. If we would have had the 8th pick, we would have picked Brandon Roy.
We decided to grab a legit PG and SF with our first 2 picks in the second round. We feel lke we did a good job blending some vets like Dampier and Peja with some young players and feel we can compete now as well as in the future. Our plan was to get the best players possible in the situation we were in.
TOUGHEST DECISION:Trading David Lee for Dampier and Peja was a tough call for us. We love David Lee's game and hustle. But we felt we needed a legit center to match up with the bigger bodies in the NBA. Dampier can provide that. We also received Peja in the deal. We felt we had a massive hole on our bench at SF and a 6'10 pure shooter like Peja went a long way to fill that.
BEST MOVE/WORST MOVEI think getting John Salmons when we did was our best move. We love the fact he can play the 2 and 3. He is a very good defender and can be a solid offensive choice. He has shown he can take over games and will complement the other players on our team well. Getting Zach Randolph in the 6th round was something we like. We watched him slip each round and finally had to pull the trigger on him. Yes, he can be a problem but he is a double-double guy that can bolster our frontline.
Worst move? might be trading David Lee, but time will tell.
OUTLOOKWe are not the propaganda machine that some of the other teams are in our division. We feel we can be one of the top 8 teams in the West. We think we have a very solid base for now as well as the future with our 3 rookies on the team. We prefer to quietly go about our business, winning basketball games and working toward getting into the playoffs.
Topic: CB Draft '09 Mock Press Conference: Northwest Division (Read 92752 times)