James Plowright and James McNeill answer our random questions of the week.
1) Who has the most bust potential in the 2014 draft class?
JP: As bizarre as this might sound I think my pick might have to be Andrew Wiggins, the buzz has been building around Wiggins for the last 3-4 years and the Lebron comparison has been used more than once. If Wiggins went pro, won Rookie of The Year and gained 1-2 all star appearances in his career most would probably see him as an underachiever. Wiggins is going to come into college with a lot of pressure on him, and expect that pressure to grow as he moves into the NBA. How Wiggins handles the weight of great expectations will be key to his development.
JM: To begin to answer this I tried to determine what makes a bust? This led me to five criteria for bust potential, listed below:
- More potential than actual ability.
- Injury Concerns
- Drafted for superior athleticism than never develops into ability
- Bad situations or fits
- Size/Tweener status
Joel Embiid. He fulfills the criteria of: more potential and athleticism than ability, and limited experience. He also could end up in a bad situation in his draft range, as he will most likely need time to mature into a better player. He reminds me of many other freak athlete big men who haven’t been playing that long and lack any semblance of polish or post understanding.
2) Which team will be better, the Cavaliers, Pelicans or Pistons?
JP: The answer to this depends on how you interpret the question, does it mean better this season or better in the future? As none of these teams figure to be competing for the 2014 NBA championship I will choose who will be better in the future, and that is the Cavaliers. I really like what Cleveland are doing, despite the bizarre draft selections that have left most fans, analysts and even GM’s scratching their heads, they are building a very talented and deep roster. Their core of Irving, Bennett, Thompson, Waiters, Karasev, Zeller looks promising and the pick ups of Earl Clark, Andrew Bynum and Jarrett Jack in free agency cannot be underestimated. If the Cavaliers can stay healthy (and that is a big IF with Irving and Bynum on the roster) then the future looks bright in the city of Cleveland.
JM: I’m going to go with the Cavs based off both talent and continuity within their squad. Not only do they sport major skill at point guard in Kyrie Irving, but Andrew Bynum, Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters, and Anthony Bennett are all legitimate starters. The best part being ⅗ of that group scrapped together at the end of last year to some success and now add skilled players at other positions while still having Anderson Varejao, Jarrett Jack, Alonzo Gee and Earl Clark on the bench. The combination of Irving’s play, continuity, talent, and depth will make the Cavs dangerous this year.
3) Which team will have a better record in the 2014 season, the Boston Celtics or LA Lakers?
JP: This is a tough question, there are a lot of ifs buts and maybes for both teams regarding injuries, such as how quickly will Kobe and Rondo come back? Both rosters seem relatively scarce of talent compared to previous years, but this time I will give the edge to Boston due to them playing in the Eastern conference. Make no mistake, the East is improving with the Wizards, Pistons, Cavaliers, Bobcats all getting better this off season and only really the 76ers looking to have got worse on paper… Much worse. If Jeff Green can become more consistent then I can see him pushing Boston close to the 8th seed, but ultimately I see very little chance of the Celtics making it. This of course is all reliant on Rondo not getting traded, which seems very likely as the Celtics GM danny Ainge guts the roster for expiring contracts and draft picks. Again, this is just another maybe, there are just too many variables but hey, its August, if we can’t make early speculations about the upcoming NBA season what are we supposed to do?
JM: First let’s state the obvious; the West is better than the East. That being said, I think the Lakers will be better but possibly finish worst in their respective conference. The Lakers, assuming Kobe is able to play at an acceptable manner (which I expect for 1-3 more years) will also have Chris Kaman and Pau Gasol still. With those guys down low and Kobe and Steve Nash up front will be a more talented team than the Rondo and Co. being built in Boston. Who is a starter on that team besides Rondo and Jeff Green? Marshon Brooks and Kelly Olynyk could be good players but this is a team of bench players and Rajon Rondo, who is also coming back from injury.
4) Which second round pick is going to have the most successful season?
JP: With the new CBA in place a large number of teams are sending their second round picks overseas for a year or two to gain some experience, already eight of the thirty second rounders selected have made such a move. However, my pick is going to be Grant Jerrett of the Oklahoma City Thunder, in the Orlando summer league he averaged 10.8 PPG, 49% FG, 50% 3PT, 3.5 RPG, 1 SPG, 1.3 BPG and excelled in pick and pop situations. Jerrett brings something different to OKC; a big man who has a pure stroke from range. In the modern NBA the stretch four is becoming ever more fashionable. Jerrett would help stretch the floor for OKC’s guards and could make opposing bigs choose between helping on defence and leaving Jerrett alone on the perimeter. As a rookie on a contender I understand the argument that Jerrett won’t receive playing time, but he might just fill a void that nobody else on that Thunder squad can.
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