Hoops Rumors Polls

Poll: 2008 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 15)

Scouting players and predicting how their skills will translate to the NBA is one of the more difficult tasks front offices have on their plates. Looking back over past drafts and how many lottery picks never evolved into stars, or even made a significant impact in the league, illustrates just how often stats, combine numbers and pure gut instinct often come up short.

Of course, we get the opportunity to critique these moves with the benefit of hindsight — a luxury that GMs don’t have on draft night. Having said that, it’s still fun to go back in time and take a theoretical look at how these drafts should have/could have gone.

We’ve been revisiting 2008 draft, which had a number of players who have gone on to post big numbers in the league. This was the year of Derrick Rose (No. 1 overall), Russell Westbrook (No. 4), Kevin Love (No. 5), Brook Lopez (No. 10) and Nicolas Batum (No. 25). Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting a series of polls asking readers to vote on whom teams should have selected in each spot.

We’ve arrived at the No. 15 overall pick, which was held by the Suns. Phoenix had acquired the pick via a 2005 trade with the Hawks. The details of that swap were: Phoenix nabbed Atlanta’s first round picks in 2006 and 2008, plus Boris Diaw, in exchange for Joe Johnson.  In the “real world” draft, the Suns nabbed center Robin Lopez. With Lopez off the board already to Indiana at pick 13, the team will have to go in a different direction in our draft.

So cast your vote for who the Suns select and check back on Sunday to see the results, as well as to vote on whom the Sixers should have taken with the No. 16 pick. Also, don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. If we fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and we’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.

  1. Bulls — Russell Westbrook [Actual Pick — Derrick Rose]
  2. Heat — Kevin Love [Actual Pick — Michael Beasley]
  3. Wolves — Derrick Rose [Actual Pick — O.J. Mayo]
  4. Sonics/Thunder — DeAndre Jordan [Actual Pick — Russell Westbrook]
  5. Grizzlies — Brook Lopez [Actual Pick — Kevin Love]
  6. Knicks — Serge Ibaka  [Actual Pick — Danilo Gallinari]
  7. Clippers — Nicolas Batum [Actual Pick — Eric Gordon]
  8. Bucks — Goran Dragic [Actual Pick — Joe Alexander]
  9. Bobcats/Hornets — Danilo Gallinari [Actual Pick — D.J. Augustin]
  10. Nets — Ryan Anderson [Actual Pick — Brook Lopez]
  11. Blazers (from Pacers) — Eric Gordon [Actual Pick — Jerryd Bayless]
  12. Kings — George Hill  [Actual Pick — Jason Thompson]
  13. Pacers (from Blazers) — Robin Lopez [Actual Pick — Brandon Rush]
  14. Warriors — Courtney Lee [Actual Pick — Anthony Randolph]
  15. Suns — ?? [Actual Pick — Robin Lopez]

If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here to vote.

Poll: 2008 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 14)

Scouting players and predicting how their skills will translate to the NBA is one of the more difficult tasks front offices have on their plates. Looking back over past drafts and how many lottery picks never evolved into stars, or even made a significant impact in the league, illustrates just how often stats, combine numbers and pure gut instinct often come up short.

Of course, we get the opportunity to critique these moves with the benefit of hindsight — a luxury that GMs don’t have on draft night. Having said that, it’s still fun to go back in time and take a theoretical look at how these drafts should have/could have gone.

We’ve been revisiting 2008 draft, which had a number of players who have gone on to post big numbers in the league. This was the year of Derrick Rose (No. 1 overall), Russell Westbrook (No. 4), Kevin Love (No. 5), Brook Lopez (No. 10) and Nicolas Batum (No. 25). Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting a series of polls asking readers to vote on whom teams should have selected in each spot.

We’ll finish off the lottery portion of the draft with the Warriors, who held the No. 14 overall pick that year. In the “real world” draft, Golden State nabbed forward Anthony Randolph with its pick. Will he be the pick once again? That’s for you to decide. So cast your vote for who the Warriors should have selected and check back on Saturday to see the results, as well as to vote on whom the Suns should have taken with the No. 15 pick. Also, don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. If we fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and we’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.

  1. Bulls — Russell Westbrook [Actual Pick — Derrick Rose]
  2. Heat — Kevin Love [Actual Pick — Michael Beasley]
  3. Wolves — Derrick Rose [Actual Pick — O.J. Mayo]
  4. Sonics/Thunder — DeAndre Jordan [Actual Pick — Russell Westbrook]
  5. Grizzlies — Brook Lopez [Actual Pick — Kevin Love]
  6. Knicks — Serge Ibaka  [Actual Pick — Danilo Gallinari]
  7. Clippers — Nicolas Batum [Actual Pick — Eric Gordon]
  8. Bucks — Goran Dragic [Actual Pick — Joe Alexander]
  9. Bobcats/Hornets — Danilo Gallinari [Actual Pick — D.J. Augustin]
  10. Nets — Ryan Anderson [Actual Pick — Brook Lopez]
  11. Blazers (from Pacers) — Eric Gordon [Actual Pick — Jerryd Bayless]
  12. Kings — George Hill  [Actual Pick — Jason Thompson]
  13. Pacers (from Blazers) — Robin Lopez [Actual Pick — Brandon Rush]
  14. Warriors — ?? [Actual Pick — Anthony Randolph]

If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here to vote.

Poll: 2008 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 13)

Scouting players and predicting how their skills will translate to the NBA is one of the more difficult tasks front offices have on their plates. Looking back over past drafts and how many lottery picks never evolved into stars, or even made a significant impact in the league, illustrates just how often stats, combine numbers and pure gut instinct often come up short.

Of course, we get the opportunity to critique these moves with the benefit of hindsight — a luxury that GMs don’t have on draft night. Having said that, it’s still fun to go back in time and take a theoretical look at how these drafts should have/could have gone.

We’ve been revisiting 2008 draft, which had a number of players who have gone on to post big numbers in the league. This was the year of Derrick Rose (No. 1 overall), Russell Westbrook (No. 4), Kevin Love (No. 5), Brook Lopez (No. 10) and Nicolas Batum (No. 25). Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting a series of polls asking readers to vote on whom teams should have selected in each spot.

In our latest poll, you chose George Hill as the Kings’ pick at No. 12 instead of their actual pick, Jason Thompson.

We’ll continue on with the Pacers, who acquired the No. 13 pick in a trade with the Trail Blazers that year. Indiana probably would have taken someone else in hindsight. They selected shooting guard Brandon Rush, who lasted three seasons with the Pacers and never averaged more than 9.4 points per game. Rush, who played college ball with Kansas, had a good run with the Warriors last season en route to the NBA Finals and is now in the Timberwolves organization.

So cast your vote for who the Pacers should have selected and check back on Friday to see the results, as well as to vote on whom the Warriors should have taken with the No. 14 pick.

Also, don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. If we fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and we’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.

  1. Bulls — Russell Westbrook [Actual Pick — Derrick Rose]
  2. Heat — Kevin Love [Actual Pick — Michael Beasley]
  3. Wolves — Derrick Rose [Actual Pick — O.J. Mayo]
  4. Sonics/Thunder — DeAndre Jordan [Actual Pick — Russell Westbrook]
  5. Grizzlies — Brook Lopez [Actual Pick — Kevin Love]
  6. Knicks — Serge Ibaka  [Actual Pick — Danilo Gallinari]
  7. Clippers — Nicolas Batum [Actual Pick — Eric Gordon]
  8. Bucks — Goran Dragic [Actual Pick — Joe Alexander]
  9. Bobcats/Hornets — Danilo Gallinari [Actual Pick — D.J. Augustin]
  10. Nets — Ryan Anderson [Actual Pick — Brook Lopez]
  11. Blazers (from Pacers) — Eric Gordon [Actual Pick — Jerryd Bayless]
  12. Kings — George Hill  [Actual Pick — Jason Thompson]
  13. Pacers (from Blazers) ?? [Actual Pick — Brandon Rush]

If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here to vote.

Poll: 2008 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 12)

Scouting players and predicting how their skills will translate to the NBA is one of the more difficult tasks front offices have on their plates. Looking back over past drafts and how many lottery picks never evolved into stars, or even made a significant impact in the league, illustrates just how often stats, combine numbers and pure gut instinct often come up short.

Of course, we get the opportunity to critique these moves with the benefit of hindsight — a luxury that GMs don’t have on draft night. Having said that, it’s still fun to go back in time and take a theoretical look at how these drafts should have/could have gone.

We’ve been revisiting 2008 draft, which had a number of players who have gone on to post big numbers in the league. This was the year of Derrick Rose (No. 1 overall), Russell Westbrook (No. 4), Kevin Love (No. 5), Brook Lopez (No. 10) and Nicolas Batum (No. 25). Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting a series of polls asking readers to vote on whom teams should have selected in each spot.

We’ll continue on with the Kings, who held the No. 12 pick that year. They took senior power forward Jason Thompson out of Rider in the “real world” draft, but may go in another direction given a second chance.

So cast your vote for who the Kings should have selected and check back on Thursday to see the results, as well as to vote on whom the Pacers should have taken with the No. 13 pick. Also, don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. If we fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and we’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.

  1. Bulls — Russell Westbrook [Actual Pick — Derrick Rose]
  2. Heat — Kevin Love [Actual Pick — Michael Beasley]
  3. Wolves — Derrick Rose [Actual Pick — O.J. Mayo]
  4. Sonics/Thunder — DeAndre Jordan [Actual Pick — Russell Westbrook]
  5. Grizzlies — Brook Lopez [Actual Pick — Kevin Love]
  6. Knicks — Serge Ibaka  [Actual Pick — Danilo Gallinari]
  7. Clippers — Nicolas Batum [Actual Pick — Eric Gordon]
  8. Bucks — Goran Dragic [Actual Pick — Joe Alexander]
  9. Bobcats/Hornets — Danilo Gallinari [Actual Pick — D.J. Augustin]
  10. Nets — Ryan Anderson [Actual Pick — Brook Lopez]
  11. Blazers (from Pacers) — Eric Gordon [Actual Pick — Jerryd Bayless]
  12. Kings — ??  [Actual Pick — Jason Thompson]

If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here to vote.

Poll: 2008 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 11)

Scouting players and predicting how their skills will translate to the NBA is one of the more difficult tasks front offices have on their plates. Looking back over past drafts and how many lottery picks never evolved into stars, or even made a significant impact in the league, illustrates just how often stats, combine numbers and pure gut instinct often come up short.

Of course, we get the opportunity to critique these moves with the benefit of hindsight — a luxury that GMs don’t have on draft night. Having said that, it’s still fun to go back in time and take a theoretical look at how these drafts should have/could have gone.

We’ve been revisiting 2008 draft, which had a number of players who have gone on to post big numbers in the league. This was the year of Derrick Rose (No. 1 overall), Russell Westbrook (No. 4), Kevin Love (No. 5), Brook Lopez (No. 10) and Nicolas Batum (No. 25). Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting a series of polls asking readers to vote on whom teams should have selected in each spot.

We’ll continue on with the Blazers, who acquired the No. 11 pick from Indiana in a draft day trade. The details of the swap were: Portland acquired the draft rights to Jerryd Bayless (No. 11) and Ike Diogu from the Pacers in exchange for the draft rights to Brandon Rush (No. 13), Jarrett Jack and Josh McRoberts. Since everyone involved in trade is still on the board, we’ll have the swap go through in our draft as well.

So cast your vote for who the Blazers should have selected and check back on Wednesday to see the results, as well as to vote on who the Kings should have taken with the No. 12 pick. Also, don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. If we fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and we’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.

  1. Bulls — Russell Westbrook [Actual Pick — Derrick Rose]
  2. Heat — Kevin Love [Actual Pick — Michael Beasley]
  3. Wolves — Derrick Rose [Actual Pick — O.J. Mayo]
  4. Sonics/Thunder — DeAndre Jordan [Actual Pick — Russell Westbrook]
  5. Grizzlies — Brook Lopez [Actual Pick — Kevin Love]
  6. Knicks — Serge Ibaka  [Actual Pick — Danilo Gallinari]
  7. Clippers — Nicolas Batum [Actual Pick — Eric Gordon]
  8. Bucks — Goran Dragic [Actual Pick — Joe Alexander]
  9. Bobcats/Hornets — Danilo Gallinari [Actual Pick — D.J. Augustin]
  10. Nets — Ryan Anderson [Actual Pick — Brook Lopez]
  11. Blazers (from Pacers) — ?? [Actual Pick — Jerryd Bayless]

If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here to vote.

Poll: Trail Blazers’ Future

While most teams with significant cap room this summer pursued outside free agents, the Trail Blazers focused most of their efforts on securing their own players. Portland did bring in Evan Turner and Festus Ezeli on pricey, multiyear deals, but the team’s other major investments were players who were already Blazers. Here’s a breakdown of the in-house players who got lucrative, long-term contracts from the team:

Throw in the fact that Damian Lillard‘s new five-year, maximum-salary contract extension goes into effect for the 2016/17 season, and it’s no surprise that Portland has more guaranteed money on its cap in future years than any other NBA team.

As Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders details, the Blazers were able to do what some other teams haven’t been able to, ensuring that their top players will remain under contract for the long haul. But the club may have also painted itself into a corner to some extent, since its flexibility to make future additions will be limited. The Blazers’ long-term outlook may come down to how far Lillard and McCollum are capable of taking the team, writes Kennedy.

The Blazers are coming off an excellent season, in which they finished fifth in the West and won a playoff series before being knocked off by the 73-win Warriors in the second round. With at least one of the teams ahead of them in the West – the Thunder – expected to take a significant step back this season, the Blazers will be gunning for a top-four seed with a roster packed with young players on the rise.

Still, a skeptic could point to the fact that the Clippers squad beaten by Portland in the first round was decimated by injuries. It’s also fair to question whether or not the Blazers have enough frontcourt talent to complement their star guards.

That brings us to this morning’s poll question: Is the Blazers’ roster strong enough for the team to improve upon last year’s results? Barring a major trade or two, Portland’s core appears to be locked in for at least the next two or three years. Will the team take another step forward and become a championship contender during that time?

Weigh in with your vote, and feel free to leave a comment below with your thoughts on the Blazers.

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Poll: 2008 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 10)

Scouting players and predicting how their skills will translate to the NBA is one of the more difficult tasks front offices have on their plates. Looking back over past drafts and how many lottery picks never evolved into stars, or even made a significant impact in the league, illustrates just how often stats, combine numbers and pure gut instinct often come up short.

Of course, we get the opportunity to critique these moves with the benefit of hindsight — a luxury that GMs don’t have on draft night. Having said that, it’s still fun to go back in time and take a theoretical look at how these drafts should have/could have gone.

We’ve been revisiting 2008 draft, which had a number of players who have gone on to post big numbers in the league. This was the year of Derrick Rose (No. 1 overall), Russell Westbrook (No. 4), Kevin Love (No. 5), Brook Lopez (No. 10) and Nicolas Batum (No. 25). Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting a series of polls asking readers to vote on whom teams should have selected in each spot.

We’ll continue on with the Nets, who still resided in New Jersey and who held the No. 10 overall pick that year. In the “real world” draft, the Nets selected Lopez, but will have to go in a different direction in this draft since the Grizzlies nabbed the center with pick number five.

So cast your vote for who the Nets should have selected and check back on Tuesday to see the results, as well as to vote on who the Pacers should have taken with the No. 11 pick. Also, don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. If we fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and we’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.

  1. Bulls — Russell Westbrook [Actual Pick — Derrick Rose]
  2. Heat — Kevin Love [Actual Pick — Michael Beasley]
  3. Wolves — Derrick Rose [Actual Pick — O.J. Mayo]
  4. Sonics/Thunder — DeAndre Jordan [Actual Pick — Russell Westbrook]
  5. Grizzlies — Brook Lopez [Actual Pick — Kevin Love]
  6. Knicks — Serge Ibaka  [Actual Pick — Danilo Gallinari]
  7. Clippers — Nicolas Batum [Actual Pick — Eric Gordon]
  8. Bucks — Goran Dragic [Actual Pick — Joe Alexander]
  9. Bobcats/Hornets — Danilo Gallinari [Actual Pick — D.J. Augustin]
  10. Nets — ?? [Actual Pick — Brook Lopez]

If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here to vote.

Poll: 2008 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 9)

Scouting players and predicting how their skills will translate to the NBA is one of the more difficult tasks front offices have on their plates. Looking back over past drafts and how many lottery picks never evolved into stars, or even made a significant impact in the league, illustrates just how often stats, combine numbers and pure gut instinct often come up short.

Of course, we get the opportunity to critique these moves with the benefit of hindsight — a luxury that GMs don’t have on draft night. Having said that, it’s still fun to go back in time and take a theoretical look at how these drafts should have/could have gone.

We’ve been revisiting 2008 draft, which had a number of players who have gone on to post big numbers in the league. This was the year of Derrick Rose (No. 1 overall), Russell Westbrook (No. 4), Kevin Love (No. 5), Brook Lopez (No. 10) and Nicolas Batum (No. 25). Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting a series of polls asking readers to vote on whom teams should have selected in each spot.Read more

Poll: 2008 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 8)

Scouting players and predicting how their skills will translate to the NBA is one of the more difficult tasks front offices have on their plates. Looking back over past drafts and how many lottery picks never evolved into stars, or even made a significant impact in the league, illustrates just how often stats, combine numbers and pure gut instinct often come up short.

Of course, we get the opportunity to critique these moves with the benefit of hindsight — a luxury that GMs don’t have on draft night. Having said that, it’s still fun to go back in time and take a theoretical look at how these drafts should have/could have gone.

We recently finished revisiting the lottery portion of the 2005 NBA Draft, which was one of the weakest in recent memory. In drafts light on impact talent, the GM who can find a diamond in the rough is king. But drafts that have a number of star-potential players can also be difficult and many an executive has made what turned out to be the wrong call. Greg Oden over Kevin Durant immediately springs to mind (sorry Blazers fans), likewise taking Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan…ouch!

The 2008 draft, which is the one we’re tackling now, had a number of players who have gone on to post big numbers in the league. This was the year of Derrick Rose (No. 1 overall), Russell Westbrook (No. 4), Kevin Love (No. 5), Brook Lopez (No. 10) and Nicolas Batum (No. 25). Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting a series of polls asking readers to vote on whom teams should have selected in each spot.

We’ll continue with the Bucks, who held the No. 8 overall pick that year. In the “real world” draft, Milwaukee selected Joe Alexander, who has career averages of 4.2 points and 1.8 rebounds in just 67 NBA games. This is one pick I’m sure Bucks fans are still lamenting, especially given the talented players who were still available at that slot.

So cast your vote for who the Bucks should have selected and check back on Saturday to see the results, as well as to vote on who the Bobcats/Hornets should have taken with the No.9 pick. Also, don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. If we fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and we’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.

  1. Bulls — Russell Westbrook [Actual Pick — Derrick Rose]
  2. Heat — Kevin Love [Actual Pick — Michael Beasley]
  3. Wolves — Derrick Rose [Actual Pick — O.J. Mayo]
  4. Sonics/Thunder — DeAndre Jordan [Actual Pick — Russell Westbrook]
  5. Grizzlies — Brook Lopez [Actual Pick — Kevin Love]
  6. Knicks — Serge Ibaka  [Actual Pick — Danilo Gallinari]
  7. Clippers — Nicolas Batum [Actual Pick — Eric Gordon]
  8. Bucks — ?? [Actual Pick — Joe Alexander]

If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here to vote.

Poll: DeMarcus Cousins’ Future

DeMarcus Cousins has been a popular topic of trade speculation for multiple seasons, which comes as no surprise. Cousins is one of the NBA’s more talented big men, but his Kings haven’t won more than 33 games in a season during the six years he has been in Sacramento, and he hasn’t always seen eye-to-eye with the team’s head coaches.

With another new coach – Dave Joerger – taking over for 2016/17, the Kings and Cousins have agreed to take a “fresh-start approach” to their relationship, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who noted this week that Cousins liked the hiring of Joerger. As Kyler details, Sacramento has been turning away any inquiries from rival teams on Cousins, and expects to play out the ’16/17 season with Cousins as the cornerstone of the roster.

Still, Cousins is only under contract with the Kings for two more years, and if the team doesn’t become a playoff contender soon, that summer of 2018 could begin looming larger and larger. As Zach Harper of CBSSports.com writes, many people around the NBA believe Cousins will leave Sacramento when his contract expires, and think the Kings need to seriously consider moving him at some point before then.

“They’re fooling themselves if they think he’s sticking around,” one league executive said to Harper. “The good news for them is his value will always be high. There isn’t a point of no return in which you’re not getting high value for him. Teams will bid against each other in the trade market. Maybe [Cousins] doesn’t go for the biggest money in free agency, but you’d love to have that card to play.”

As dysfunctional a franchise as Sacramento has been for the last several years, Joerger is a well-respected coach, and the team made some solid moves this offseason, inking veteran free agents Arron Afflalo, Matt Barnes, Garrett Temple, and Anthony Tolliver to multiyear deals, and adding three first-round prospects in Georgios Papagiannis, Malachi Richardson, and Skal Labissiere. If the Kings start playing well, Cousins trade rumors figure to remain on the back burner for the foreseeable future. But if the team struggles out of the gate, the rumor mill figures to be more active than ever.

What do you think Cousins’ future holds? Will the Kings ultimately decide to trade him? Will he leave in two years as a free agent? Or will Cousins remain in Sacramento long-term after a rocky first few years with the franchise? Vote in our poll, and weigh in below in our comment section with your thoughts on the All-Star big man.

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.