2008 Draft Day Thread: 7:30 ESPN

[jemagee]

This is one of the more precipitous drops I've seen in a LONG time.  It wasn't more than a month ago that he was a consensus top 5 pick.  I ALWAYS thought he was extremely overrated and a bust, but 7 footers who can walk and chew gum almost always get taken in the first round

Weren't his work outs pretty terrible?

[Stanford]

I heard some of Speights workouts were horrible too.

[jemagee]

I bet a guy like Diop gets 4M.

Rumor is that the Mavs will offer the FULL MLE to him

[Derek Bodner]

I heard some of Speights workouts were horrible too.

Speights' workouts were generally very positive.

[philbe311]

Ok, I now officially want DeAndre Jordan.  Make it happen Ed.

Still not worth a pick...

I'd take Chalmers in a heart beat over him...  I'd also be looking at a second for Richard Hendrix, Devon Hardin, Jamont Gordon, JR Giddens, Kyle Weaver...  All of whom I'd take ahead of Jordan...

I'm happy to stick with Calvin Booth...

I wouldn't mind those other guys, but even as a back-up defensive center Jordan is worth going after.  Guys who are athletes and that big are always good off the bench as extra defenders- if even to hack Howard.  I bet a guy like Diop gets 4M.

[JD76ers]

Nicolas Batum was traded by Houston to Portland in exchange for the rights to Darrell Arthur and one of Portland?s early second round picks.
 

[TheGuiltyParty]

I heard some of Speights workouts were horrible too.

CSN just ran a clip about Speights with a Hawks' scout, some internet scourt, and Dick Jerardi talking about him. The two scouts both said he's a solid player but his BBIQ and motor are in question. This picks has me torn. I mean... I guess we're drafting Speights for depth and not to be a franchise 4 so I guess that's fine.

We really need to get Josh Smith in 2 weeks.

[Derek Bodner]

I heard some of Speights workouts were horrible too.

CSN just ran a clip about Speights with a Hawks' scout, some internet scourt, and Dick Jerardi talking about him. The two scouts both said he's a solid player but his BBIQ and motor are in question. This picks has me torn. I mean... I guess we're drafting Speights for depth and not to be a franchise 4 so I guess that's fine.

We really need to get Josh Smith in 2 weeks.

We'll see.  In high school he was a lower level recruit, and he didn't play his freshman year.  I think it's hard to make a definitive declaration of his bball IQ, or even his work ethic.  I don't like making definitive declarations about 20 year old kids, and at 16, his talent level is too high to pass up.

[Derek Bodner]

Arthur going to Houston for Batum.

[PhenomThad31]

suprised to see Deandre Jordan drop out of first round

[TheGuiltyParty]

Dei Lynam on CSN talked about Speights with a scout and like last year, this guy said that had Speights stayed for his Junior year, it's possible he would have been a Top 5 pick in the 2009 draft similar to how Thad might have been a Top 5 pick this year.

No sign of Stefanski to which Dei said that it's very possible that he's working on something or he doesn't want to come down to talk to the media in case something does pop up.

[jemagee]

When i first heard/saw speights i looked him up on dx, they had him in the top 10 in 2009 but i still hoped he'd come out early and that rawness would help him slide down a bit.

He may not have been heavily recruited or anythi8ng, but he was at florida, florida can probably recruit anyone they want...

[TheGuiltyParty]

Great... just great. CSN is running a clip about how the Sixers work out prospects and guess who's in the feature... Darrell Arthur. Apparently Iguodala and Thad were at his workout. Oh what could have been....

[Westbrook36]

DJ White dealt. Maybe to us?

[tk76-]

I don't know if Speights will be a good pro- but he was extremely productive last year when he was on the floor.  Look at the DX piece breaking down centers.  His production compared very favorably with the top C and PF in the draft.