Atlanta Hawks: Elite talent, not ‘Detroit model,’ still best path to title
Assuming the favored Heat beat the Celtics tomorrow and advance to the Finals, it will add to the mountain of evidence suggesting the best way to build a championship team is to acquire elite players.
Yeah, I know: radical statement. But before you lump me with Captain Obvious, remember it’s at odds with the “Detroit model” currently favored by the Hawks.
My view is that there are two kinds of NBA teams–those with top 10 players, and those without–and everything an organization does should be in an attempt to be the former rather than the latter. The Hawks’ view is that they can build a team with three not-quite-elite talents and keep knocking at the door until they become championship contenders.
That’s assuming the Hawks do have aspirations of winning an NBA championship, something that’s not always clear. The franchise often seems more preoccupied with dinging its critics and demanding credit for its successes (and there are many) than raising the bar. That perception is fueled by superficial-but-telling tendencies (such as statements boasting about making the playoffs) and the embrace of a team-building philosophy that rarely leads to a championship.
In a league where superstars contend for titles, the Hawks have tried to do it without one.
“It is going to be very hard for us to get that MVP candidate unless you pick one or two [in the draft],” Rick Sund said last summer. “Or unless you happen to have … free-agent money, to get one in free agency. It’s going to be tough, so we are going to have to do it the hard way.”
The Detroit model certainly is that.
There have been 62 NBA championship teams since 1950, and 57 those teams placed at least one player on one of the top two All-NBA teams in the season they won it. In fact, only 15 of those champions failed to have at least one player voted first team All-NBA (a third five-man All-NBA team was added starting with the 1988-89 season).
Furthermore, only 10 of 62 finals runner-up teams failed to have at least one player considered among the top 10 in the league. That means just 15 of 124 teams to make the finals — 12 percent — did so without a player voted to be among the league’s 10 best.
The Heat or Thunder would add to those totals while the Celtics would not. And chances are if Boston advances it’s because Kevin Garnett or Paul Pierce once again rekindle their form from the recent past and/or Rajon Rondo plays to the level that has him on track to reach top 10 status.
The Hawks tried to do build a contender the way the Thunder have done it. They executed the first part of the plan by getting bad enough to get a chance at a high draft pick and lucky enough to land one. The second and most important part, drafting the right players, didn’t go so well.
Making the wrong pick hurts, but it happens. Worse is that instead of cutting their losses and turning Marvin Williams et al into assets they could use to take a shot at acquiring an elite player, the Hawks doubled down. And instead of using Joe Johnson to acquire more assets (draft picks, relatively cheap and productive players, cap space) that hey could parlay into a top 10 player, the Hawks gave him the richest deal in the league.
Now the Hawks aren’t projected to have real cap space until after next season, by which time Josh Smith and Zaza Pachulia could be gone, Johnson will be a year older and they’ll have no more than four players under contract. Tough to get an elite talent and complementary players with $15 million or so in cap space.
I understand the calls for a new coach as the answer with this group of Hawks. Sometimes, though, I think that’s the most popular thing because it’s easier to change coaches than acquire a top 10 player. I’d rather have the elite talent–Scott Brooks just beat Gregg Popovich and I’ll go out on a limb and say that had more to do with OKC’s two top 10 players to San Antonio’s one than any Thunder coaching advantage.
The Hawks could try to trade for an established top 10 player. There’s precedent for this with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julius Erving (who was actually “sold” to the 76ers by the Nets), Tiny Archibald, Moses Malone, Charles Barkley and Jason Kidd.
Going that route would almost certainly mean the Hawks would have to trade away part of the proverbial “core” and perhaps take a step back in the short term. My feeling is this is less likely to happen if Sund returns as GM. After a season in which injuries legitimately hurt their chances to advance in the playoffs, the Hawks under Sund probably would stay the course.
That’s a defensible position insofar as it keeps a good team intact. It’s not a proven plan as far as contending for a championship, unless you believe Johnson, Josh Smith, or Al Horford can be top 10 players next season. Essentially, the best way for the Hawks to become true championship contenders is for one of their players to be good enough to transcend the Detroit model.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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768 comments Add your comment
SteveW
June 10th, 2012
11:49 pm
OB – I said Billups only made 2 mill from the Clips last season – I didn’t say he didn’t make more money from the Knick by being amnestied.
The reason this is germane is because a team could have paid Billups anything they wanted – and the most he got was 2 mill for 1 season. His Knicks situation was irrelevant in the bidding for him – except for himself of course.
So with a torn achilles, and not coming back until at least January, and once again on the open market, a 35, 36 year old Billups may not get much.
But he would be a great addition for the Hawks.
northcyde
June 10th, 2012
11:57 pm
I didn’t finish the thought . . .
Example: Who is a more efficient basketball player, according to NBA.com
Josh Smith or Kenneth Faried?
The answer according to NBA.com efficiency is Josh Smith.
The answer according to Hollinger’s PER, is Kenneth Faried.
NBA.com’s efficiency rating vs Hollinger’s PER ( in bold )
1) Lebron . . . Lebron
2) Love . . . Paul
3) Durant . . . Wade
4) D-Howard . . . Durant
5) Bynum . . . Love
6) Paul . . . D-Howard
7) Griffin . . . Griffin
8] Al Jefferson . . . Rose
9) Gasol . . . Westbrook
10) Aldridge . . . Bynum
(( shrugs )) . . two different statistical ways of looking at efficiency. One simply values overall production more
Buddy Grizzard
June 10th, 2012
11:59 pm
“Played the last three games of the playoffs on a busted knee and guarded the opposing team’s best big man nearly the entire time he was in the game, but sure, whatever.”
I guess he was resting the knee when he was arguing with refs while his teammates played 4-on-5 defense.
northcyde
June 11th, 2012
12:07 am
O’Brien
June 10th, 2012
10:04 pm
Najeh, northcyde
What do you think about Melvin’s proposal of trading Al for Tyreke Evans and the #5 pick (which hopefully turns into Drummond)?
********************
For Horford? Not a fan of that at all, especially if Josh may be on his way out next year. Gotta have at least one solid dude on the frontline. Now if that were a deal for JJ, we may have to take that.
Talks are restarting
June 11th, 2012
12:18 am
Call it” Stat pimping”
cp
June 11th, 2012
12:33 am
@O’Brien. I doubt Harkless will be around when the Hawks pick. He defends and he rebounds. He played out of position a lot at St. Johns .
@KevinM. I dont think Terrence Jones is anything like Marvin. Jones is a better finisher and handles the ball a lot better than Marvin. He actually uses his length well to block shots. The one thing Marvin does better than Jones is shoot and thats about it.
Bobby
June 11th, 2012
12:46 am
I thought we were moving to get a center to replace Al Hoford
Buddy Grizzard
June 11th, 2012
12:48 am
“I think the Hawks benefited from his “FU” after the All-Star selections. I think Josh’s drive to be considered among the best in the league will keep him motivated.” – AJ
“What do you think about Melvin’s proposal of trading Al for Tyreke Evans and the #5 pick (which hopefully turns into Drummond)?” – O’Brien
I’d pass on that trade. Al is a proven commodity. He’s an All-Star and 3rd team All-NBA Center and led the league in shooting percentage on long jumpers two seasons ago. There’s a reason Evans isn’t getting extended. He’s a tweener and doesn’t play either position well enough to justify an extension. The #5 pick could be fun, but it’s an unknown. You don’t trade the 3rd team All-NBA center for a known tweener who can’t shoot or distribute and a shot in the dark in a 1-man draft.
“My guess is the priority is not a bench scorer.”
Unless you want Pargo to be the full-time backup point guard next year, replacing Hinrich had better be our priority.
“So go swallow a turd.”
LOL! Confirmed 15 years old and hasn’t been between a woman’s legs since he came out of his mother.
Buddy Grizzard
June 11th, 2012
12:51 am
“I think the Hawks benefited from his “FU” after the All-Star selections. I think Josh’s drive to be considered among the best in the league will keep him motivated.” – AJ
AJ I hope you are right. I hope his desire to be an All-Star will motivate him to take more shots closer to the basket and not try to compete with Al and Joe for most jump shots. However, I suspect that Josh is extremely jealous of the fact that Al is an efficient jump shooter and will keep firing away, hoping that they will one day start to fall at a rate that’s not embarrassing.
tb3ignite
June 11th, 2012
1:01 am
I told everyone 7 years ago when the Hawks took Marvin Williams over Paul and/or Deron it was setting this franchise back 7-8 years down the road and that’s exactly what has happened. You can’t continue to let bad GM’s make bad choices over & over and the owners have no clue about the what’s going on. Even if the owners have no idea how to build a franchise you have to be smart enough to listen to a top executive & put someone in charge of making good sound decisions. Please help!
Ali
June 11th, 2012
1:02 am
“Oh OK, I see we are talking about NBA.com’s fantasy stat again, not actual efficiency (as in how efficiently a player scores). Never mind, then.
I would caution against using that stat for anything other than fantasy basketball. Doesn’t really tell you much about actual efficiency. They should call that stat something else.”
“PIMP MY STATS” ?
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
June 11th, 2012
2:17 am
“You can’t continue to let bad GM’s make bad choices over & over and the owners have no clue about the what’s going on. Even if the owners have no idea how to build a franchise you have to be smart enough to listen to a top executive & put someone in charge of making good sound decisions.”
-tb3ignite
They make bad decisions and blame injuries and the fans for their failures. Where is the accountability?
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
June 11th, 2012
2:28 am
Hawks give excuses instead of holding people accountable.
KevinW
June 11th, 2012
2:31 am
“What do you think about Melvin’s proposal of trading Al for Tyreke Evans and the #5 pick (which hopefully turns into Drummond)?”
I take that trade. Al while popular is not the type of player to take you to the next level His career stats are awful…. average at best. Actually Al is the main reason we need a center. Getting someone to help Josh is what this is all about. Drummond will be better than Al. 50% of the centers are Already better than Al, who is more of a project than an impact center.
Make that trade.
Sugar Ray
June 11th, 2012
4:40 am
You have people using some basic stats when it helps their argument, like all the categories Josh led the team… but when somone else posts advanced stats to blow up their argument, those same people say “well stats aren’t everything!” hahaha.
Sugar Ray
June 11th, 2012
4:48 am
Deandre Jordan? LOL overrated dunker who can’t shooter or defend.
Tony Wroten? LMAO another jumpshooter who can’t shoot.
Yall don’t want to win championships, yall wanna win the And 1 Tour.
Marcus
June 11th, 2012
7:00 am
Get SF Jeff Taylor (Vandy)
See if HOU is willing to part ways w/PG Kyle Lowery and F P. Patterson for Marvin (money works in ESPN Trade Machine)
Gives flexibility at PG with either Lowery or Teague serving as No. 1 option, and also gives backup PF for Josh. If Josh is traded, hopefully get a serviceable C in return, and slide Horford to PF and Zaza to starting C.
Maybe even get a developmental C in 2nd round this year, R. Sacre (Gonzaga) . K. O’Quinn (Norfolk State) or H. Sims (G’town) or give another shot to Kito Benson see if he can stick (presuming we don’t load up the back end of the roster with min. vet contracts.)
*shrug*
BRAD
June 11th, 2012
7:34 am
So basically, only 4 or 5 teams have a legitamate shot at a championship every year. However, in the NFL and MLB, different teams win every year?!?
KevinM
June 11th, 2012
8:11 am
cp: “@KevinM. I dont think Terrence Jones is anything like Marvin. Jones is a better finisher and handles the ball a lot better than Marvin. He actually uses his length well to block shots. The one thing Marvin does better than Jones is shoot and thats about it.”
I don’t see the resemblance to Marvin either, but I haven’t seen a comparison to anything but that. Me, I compared him to Zach Randolph going forward but got talked down on that on the UK boards.
I still see his future more as a PF than a SF. He has a better presence around the rim. He can arguably shoot the 3, but the release is not very quick.
I want Terrence to succeed as much as any UK Cat, and there is no #8 title in Lexington without him. I just don’t see him as a face the basket on the perimeter game. Kinda like Josh; I would rather see him in his best place down low creating mismatches.
Ray
June 11th, 2012
8:19 am
Josh Smith won’t be traded nor will he leave what I do see happening if ASKG finds a way to move Marvin without using Amnesty on him. Then there is a real chance Joe Johnson gets the Amnesty.
KevinM
June 11th, 2012
8:39 am
“Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
June 11th, 2012
2:17 am
“You can’t continue to let bad GM’s make bad choices over & over and the owners have no clue about the what’s going on. Even if the owners have no idea how to build a franchise you have to be smart enough to listen to a top executive & put someone in charge of making good sound decisions.”
-tb3ignite
They make bad decisions and blame injuries and the fans for their failures. Where is the accountability?”
I think they call this the ‘NO’KC model.
KevinM
June 11th, 2012
8:49 am
“The Hawks are by and large younger than the Celtics, but they were the ones that looked gassed in Game 4.”
Not the kind of comment you want to see down the stretch of the playoffs. All this talk about how athletic we are and how we create mismatches can be thrown out the door.
HawksHeroZero
June 11th, 2012
9:05 am
“So basically, only 4 or 5 teams have a legitamate shot at a championship every year. However, in the NFL and MLB, different teams win every year?!?”
———————————————————————————————————————————–
That’s because most of the young player’s and early draftees egos seem bloated…Unless they a PGs (Rose, Williams, Paul), most aren’t ready.
If they are not drafted in the Top 5 picks, the rest should be allowed to return to school..
And those that are good, they are Free Agents at 24-25, and try to go pile-on a major Market Franchise with 3 other similar players..
The NBA can say, “Look at The Oklahoma City Thunder!”…Well, The Thunder won The NBA Draft Lottery..lol.
***Too many young players are trying to prove that they are phenoms to sell over-priced shoes, and fast-food.***
HawksHeroZero
June 11th, 2012
9:12 am
““The Hawks are by and large younger than the Celtics, but they were the ones that looked gassed in Game 4.”
Not the kind of comment you want to see down the stretch of the playoffs. All this talk about how athletic we are and how we create mismatches can be thrown out the door.”
——————————————————————————————————————————–
I said 5 years ago….
The young Hawks seem to be:
“The Most Tired Young Team of All Time!”
They are not resting in-between games, site-seeing on the road, to far into the night-life, and skirt-chasing….Maybe, they were eating garbage food. Fired foods..Arteries clogging..
Maybe, Woodson practiced them hard, but they would run-out of gas too often back then..Some turn-overs were due to trying to make dumb plays, but they seemed exhausted.
When they lost like this to a good team, they were blown-out by 20+ points..
O'Brien
June 11th, 2012
9:51 am
Braves had an ugly loss yesterday. They brought in Livan Hernandez, and he sucked big time. As a result, he was booed by fans. His response after the game?
From ajc.com;
“Crazy game,” said Hernandez, who was charged with seven hits and five runs in in 1-2/3 innings, not including the first three runs he let in that were charged to Teheran.
“We’re supposed to win that game, and I let it go easy. But I’ll come back. I understand, the fans they’ve got to boo. I’m supposed to get booed, because I didn’t do a great job today. This is what happens. I deserved it” .
This is how I want JJ and other Hawks players to take responsibility. Don’t give me the “I don’t care if fans show up or not” or “I don’t get the credit when we win, so why should I get the blame when we lose” stuff. Hold yourself accountable.
Mike C.
June 11th, 2012
10:01 am
Actually I am laughing right now. Some of those post is just crazy. We are talking about “Elite talent” vs “Detroit Model” not Al Horford fans vs. Josh Smith fans
And about that situation, Josh Smith has one more year left and do you think that he can get a better value somewhere else and might have a chance to become the man in the process or be back here with Joe’s contract and they still have to pay Zaza and Teague as well. Plus he might still be angry about not getting reup before Al. Food for thought
About the original topic, if this team wants to be a “Detroit” model then they need to go all the way, not half and half. They need to make better decisions or we will be in limbo.
Astro Joe
June 11th, 2012
10:18 am
OB, I think Joe’s comments from a few seasons ago we’re exactly what you say you want. He was saying (IMO) that the fans are not what will make a difference… the team needs to play hard irrespective of the fans’ reactions. He was holding himself and his team accountable to improved play not based on the fans but because they are professionals.
Changing subjects, I think it is likely that the ASG will announce that Sund is not going to be the Hawks GM either draft day or a day or two afterwards. If dude doesn’t want the gig, he seemingly could have announced his retirement int he apst week or so. If they had negotiated a new contract, that should have been done by now. SO my guess is that Sund will answer the phone for any possible trades up to draft and then they will hand things over to Pendergraft. It is hard to believe that the delay is based on salary, contractual terms or power (i.e. Sund wants the power to hire/fire the head coach). My guess, he’s gone and they don’t want to rock the boat before the draft. I think OPortland did something similar a few years ago witht heir GM (waited until the draft before formally making the change).
Reality Check
June 11th, 2012
10:37 am
“Do the Al for D12 trade can you really imagine Josh and D12 playing together?”
“Championship!!”
LMFAO. Cover D12 and bait Josh into the 15-23 footers he already loves. He’ll shoot 32% and the opponent will laugh their way to a sweep. But hey, at least he and Dwight will be together.
doc
June 11th, 2012
10:38 am
o’b livan is old world old school, not from special world we live in now. wish we had some big boys who felt the same way and played harder for adulation rather than feel entitled to it. only problem is the owners are the same way. thanks for bringing this into discussion.
got to laugh a bit as you reframed jj’s thoughts though i dont think that was what he was saying at all. jj usually is speaking exactly what he thinks without any pretense or underlying meaning. interesting how you went into protection mode of our players stupidity, just so it wasnt josh.
aj, agree with your assessment as to what might happen to our gm and his hire as well as how it will be handled. doubt these guys want to go outside and have had a quiet agreement as to what will happen in succession. only odd thing was they refused to let sund talk tp portland thouh i dont think sund fit what they wanted based on who they hired.
o’b you think we can see queen compete to the end with a force even if it is in a losing cause? heh heh not saying the okc will win just wanting to see the queen not quit on his team again or go hide. his three from the suburbs was a killer though and he better be ready to do mre of the same. interesting read that queen a kd practiced hard at each other this summer. wonder who has the mental edge on the other guy.
Reality Check
June 11th, 2012
10:58 am
Sugar Ray
June 11th, 2012
4:48 am
Deandre Jordan? LOL overrated dunker who can’t shooter or defend.
Tony Wroten? LMAO another jumpshooter who can’t shoot.
Yall don’t want to win championships, yall wanna win the And 1 Tour.
—————————————————————————————
Best post of the night
Astro Joe
June 11th, 2012
10:59 am
doc, yeah, that whole thing about a team not being able t speak to a paid employee kind of rang familiar, huh? Only one common denominator between then (LD) and now (Sund). The ASG. But, like you said, it it unlikely that Portland would have hired him anyway. If I ever caught wind that someone was contemplating retirement, I would immediately remove said individual from my list of candidates. I need a guy who is always thinking about how to improve a roster, not someone who thinks about that while also thinking about reading books on the beach.
High-sider
June 11th, 2012
10:59 am
blog monster
SteveW
June 11th, 2012
11:00 am
Marcus – Many trades work on trade machine that no one would ever do in reality.
Houston probably wouldn’t give us Patrick Patterson for Marvin, much less Kyle Lowry and PP.
Rashard Lewis for Dwight Howard works on Trade machine also.
Ain’t happening.
SteveW
June 11th, 2012
11:03 am
AJ – I’ve kinda been thinking the same thing about Sund – the only other scenario (faint hope) is that ASG has found buyers…
SteveW
June 11th, 2012
11:07 am
Tony Wroten looks like Josh shooting J’s (seriously)
Draftexpress now has Fab going #21 to Boston
Moutrie at 19
It also has Henson and that C from Illinois ahead of Zeller – has Zeller falling to 16
Has us drafting Royce White – just what we need another PF!!
Has us taking a flyer on Miles Plumlee at #43 – sounds good – may develop.
Jeff Taylor is still at #26
Wroten is at #30
Ra'mon
June 11th, 2012
11:12 am
O’B, say Josh does want to sign somewhere else (which is possible). Wouldn’t it be even more valuable to get a CONTRACT YEAR OUT OF Josh, than what you would get in a package deal for him now? Josh in a contract year would be a top 15 player hands down. Seriously though, I really don’t see that many teams giving up that much for Josh without him committing. And I only see Josh committing to long term contracts in a few teams.
SteveW
June 11th, 2012
11:14 am
Nicholson is at #24 – I’m not against taking him either.
Wroten has elite handles to his left, almost non to his right – He looks like Jeff Teague to me when driving left – great speed and very fluid.
His J is broke pretty bad whoever.
SteveW
June 11th, 2012
11:18 am
Northcyde and Najeh – My eye test tells me that the Efficiency rating on NBA.com is a little better gauge (notice I said little) than Hollinger’s PER. I have no idea why that is.
SteveW
June 11th, 2012
11:19 am
OKC In 6
SteveW
June 11th, 2012
11:26 am
Ra’mon – I see your point, and that may be exactly what ASG is thinking. We’ve got 3 guys on contract years, so we may expect 3 very good seasons from them.
I still say, after re-signing Ivan, our top off season priority signing is…Andre Miller.
That guy can still play.
Funny that Kidd, Allen, and Nash all want multi-years and some decent cash. I say Nash may be worth it, but word is he wants to stay in Phoenix for some reason.
Kidd wants to go to Chicago to lead the team without DRose.
SteveW
June 11th, 2012
11:30 am
Don’t worry about Boston – They’re reloading. Good job Danny Ainge.
They re-sign Garnett, Green, and a FA C, maybe Asik or Kaman.
Two 1st picks.
Their team looks like this:
Asik (maybe)
Garnet/Bass
Peirce/Green
Bradley
Rondo/Marquis Teague? (currently projected at #25)
And another 1st pick.
Not a bad team
SteveW
June 11th, 2012
11:31 am
That Boston team probably still beats the Hawks. Sigh
Ed Gray
June 11th, 2012
11:31 am
Even if Joe, Josh, Al and Jeff all have career years next year, the Hawks still aren’t winning anything.
SteveW
June 11th, 2012
11:32 am
So another summer of can we win a championship without championship players. Sigh
KevinM
June 11th, 2012
11:33 am
AJ, if what you think about Sund is in the works to simply just promote Pendergraft, then there are continued issues with this organization.
If Pendergraft was the guy de-facto in charge of the draft, then what has he brought to this organization that justifies his hiring as the next GM?
How long are these GM training courses going to go on here in Atlanta? So many guys that do not have the qualifications to be in a GM position.
Comments about aswering the phone through the draft just irks me knowing that Sund will do the minimal possible to get past this month. I feel that way as well even if Sund decides to come back and ride out the next year.
And do you think the Hawks would agree to film ‘The Association’ this next year? HAIL no, this entire organization would be exposed to their ineptness.
SteveW, 2 questions:
1) Nicholson at 23? You’re seeing him as a PF correct?
2) If Pendergraft takes Wroten at 23, then he may be the 1st 1st rounder ever to be drafted, guaranteed 5 years of money for having more turnovers than assists his last year in college.
Where the HAIL were these guys last week when Wroten was on display in Chicago? Did they see what we saw?
SteveW
June 11th, 2012
11:35 am
Northcyde – The funny thing is on the Lakers blogs their fans are all saying ATL wouldn’t be stupid enough to trade Josh for Pau. Most say Josh is better than Pau right now, is much younger, and is paid less, so ATL would have to be stupid to trade him for Gasol. They are accusing there on fans of overvaluing Lakers players.
Interesting take. Not saying I agree with it – but it was an interesting take.
KevinM
June 11th, 2012
11:37 am
“Ed Gray
June 11th, 2012
11:31 am
Even if Joe, Josh, Al and Jeff all have career years next year, the Hawks still aren’t winning anything.”
Ed, what happened to you big fella? You were a huge draft pick for us out of Cal a few years ago? I watched you fill it up at Berkley.
I expected big things out of you at the next level.
Did you clash with the coaching staff?
SteveW
June 11th, 2012
11:38 am
KevinM – On Draft Express it has Nicholson listed as PF/C. NIcholson said no teams at the combine asked him about playing C, but that he was willing nonetheless. I’ve been told he can play 3-5 legit, and has room to grow to be a C with his frame.
But I guess I was going more with his ball skills, than what we need right now. But your right – another PF is pretty much what we don’t need at this point.
SteveW
June 11th, 2012
11:48 am
Tony Wroten – I looked at a lot of film on him. Can’t drive right, no decision making skills, can’t shoot. But he still looked like a prospect to me in other areas. I would be more concerned with his attitude and his willingess to work more than anything, because he needs to work on his game.
cp
June 11th, 2012
11:55 am
From watching the draftcombine, Nicholson looked a little weak in the post. He was better when he was facing up and knocking down jumpers. Dude really has to bulk up.
@KevinM. I also think Terrence Jones is better off down low. He does have a funky release but it looked a lot better during the combine. It looks like he has really been working on it. Im still thinking if Quincy Miller is there at 23 that maybe the Hawks should take him. He would be a top 10 pick if he stayed another year in school so if you can get him at 23 it would be great value. Harkless, Miller. and Lamb from Kentucky are the guys I like at 23 right now. Taylor wouldnt be bad either but I dont know how much his lack of length will hurt him at the next level. In the second round I like a few guys like Miller from Kentucky, Kyle O’Quinn, Henry Simms, Drew Gorden, and Cunniungham the guard from Oregon.