THN Mock Draft: With the 24th pick, the Thunder select…

Tyler is not an efficient scorer by any means. At all.

Just say no mr Presti,,,,please?

DXL :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6zWd-MFOLE&feature=related
Tyler Honeycutt looked terrible at the NBA combine. At the 3:10 mark of the video watch Tobias Harris, a real prospect, cross over and destroy Honeycutt. Also note the size difference between Harris, who is 223, and Honeycutt who is 187. These two are not playing the same position in the NBA!
Also, at the 4:55 mark watch Honeycutt miss like 10 3-pointers in a row. This guy is awful.

Thanks for posting this and I agree with you. I'd be disappointed if Tyler Honeycutt was the pick. He doesn't do anything extraordinarily well and he doesn't seem to make up for that with a great motor. He seems timid and the Association eats up timid players. The one thing he has going for him is UCLA players do seem to perform well in the NBA.

Of course you guys probably know by now that I'd rather take Justin Harper, who may have his deficiencies on the boards, but at least we know he can hit a jump shot.

We are a jump shooting team that's seriously devoid of reliable jump shooters. Dallas is also a jump shooting team, but the difference is they have unbelievable shooters.

Harper would be someone who could come in and make shots from Day 1. 45% from 3 and 53% overall last year? A guy who could spell KD and provide some much needed offense off the bench? Sign me up.

I have a feeling if we pass on Harper, Dallas will laugh and snatch him right up 2 picks later. And then he'll be part of their 3-point rain-making parade and we'll be stuck with Tyler Honeycutt.

@ Keith
It probably would have made more sense for me to say, if you can find a talented player who you can find minutes for, go for them (I think tobias qualifies), If you can't, get out of the draft, because drafting for need over talent in a weak draft gets you neither.

@ DXL

I chalk a lot of this up to his age and experience playing in the Duke program. He's going to look good because he has a huge advantage over most everyone else from the standpoint of playing in a great program for four years. Many of these players who don't take charges in the combine will gain experience in the NBA and learn to do those things. You can't teach talent and skillset and Singler's is just a bad fit for this team.

There have been some knocks on JaJuan's rebounding but they might be overdone. Some knocks on his post defense but that is partly a function of guarding players heavier with a lower center of gravity. As a PF he looks pretty good on paper.

@ DXL

I'm pretty sure Alabi had Hepatits B which is a big reason why he fell so far in the draft.

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/jajuan-johnson

Does anyone have any downsides for JaJuan Johnson? Any reason there is no talk about him? He is my favorite pick for us. Turn him into a 3 and he could turn into a complete monster...

It's highly unlikely Burks is available at 15. Maynor won't be traded yet. The time to do it would be next year after a Finals appearance/Championship.

If anyone's traded this offseason, other than the obvious Nate and Mullens, it'll be Thabo. Maynor's value could increase even more if he picks up some of the scoring load left by Harden on the bench.

@Thunder S
Sure you can judge from the combine--you see these guys next to each other and see the obvious differences in size, energy and skill.

Last year I saw Solomon Alabi at the combine and I wrote here that he looked awkward, slow and lackadaisical. I didn't think he deserved to be a first round pick and it turned out nobody in the NBA really thought much of him either. Lots of people on this board considered him a first round pick.

This year I see Tyler Honeycutt at the combine next to full-sized small forward prospects and he looks tiny. He's a shooting guard (not a particularly skilled one) and the Thunder don't have a need at shooting guard.

Singler at the combine stood out in this sequence. In a drill with the small forwards he runs hard down the court, finishes against two players, then runs back on defense and takes a charge. Who takes a charge at the NBA combine? This guy is refreshingly different, check the 2 minute mark:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE1MBZlxIzA&feature=related

Sam Amick mentions us taking the mystery man Reggie Jackson.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/sam_amick/06/22/mock.draft.4/index.html

Could we get a pick like 15 in exchange for Maynor and then pick someone like Alec Burks(who I love).

@Bryson

Ive watched him play and he does many things well. IF he could play the 3 in teh NBA, id be totally down with tha move

Again, i reiterate, you guys act like experts on these guys when how many of you have actually seen honeycutt play a game?

DXL , you cant base your judgment on just the combine. i mean, i guess You can but it would be inaccurate.

@ DSYIII
I see it the exact opposite way. If you know players are more likely to be out of the league than in the rotation, you have to take who fits. A late round talent with nowhere to play on your team will never develop and definitely bust. A less talented player that fills a specific need (outside shooting, defense off the bench, steady ball-handling) is much more likely to stick.

Your approach of talent over fit makes a lot of sense at the top of the draft, where a team generally has a bunch of holes and no stars, but not here.

@DXL

Sounds like Honeycutt took somebody's gf

I don't know why we don't get JuJuan Johnson and convert him to a 3/4 combo...he's such a monster...

I think we should select Singler, Bertans or Honeycutt in this order, we need points and a shooter from the bench, I don't want Cook in the team the next year. It would be fine to pick Tyler, but I think that Kyle is exactly what we need, also he is very high IQ, which we don't have so much in the team

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6zWd-MFOLE&feature=related

Tyler Honeycutt looked terrible at the NBA combine. At the 3:10 mark of the video watch Tobias Harris, a real prospect, cross over and destroy Honeycutt. Also note the size difference between Harris, who is 223, and Honeycutt who is 187. These two are not playing the same position in the NBA!

Also, at the 4:55 mark watch Honeycutt miss like 10 3-pointers in a row. This guy is awful.

@ diddychubbz

You could be the most unintelligent basketball fan ever. Please stop breathing my air.

Jimmer is not worth a lottery pick

Not only will Harper not be drafted in the first round, he won't make it through training camp. Soft perimeter players don't make it in the league anymore.

the only players that are worth picking up are kemba jimmer kyrie or derrick williams nothing else no one would fit our style and are actually good in the NBA. this is the nba we are talking about here.

Harper>Skeen>Honeycutt>Singler>Mirotic

Harper>Honeycutt>Singler

@ Greg
Yeah, I didn't do any pick other than OKC's.

@justin

Fair points. Like I said, I see TH as a Prince-lite, which would not only be great but also better than Thabos role, whick is, mmm, I dont have an analogy for it.

This low in the draft, you have to look for talent more than strictly fit, because most players drafted this low won't make it in the league, let alone into a contender's rotation. The most talented player projected to go in our draft range is tobias harris (obviously IMO), and I don't think it would be very difficult to move up 5 or so spots. He can play either the 3 or 4 off the bench, and has the combination of work ethic, size, and touch around the basket that usually produces at least solid players. His game is like that of carmelo without the j, but lacks melo's mental issues. He's a late bloomer, and a great dude, and seems exactly the type of guy that presti loves.
Check out these videos and tell me you don't get a serious RW vibe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRD8491U0O8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfP3Roe4rYw

I'll be happy with moving up a few spots to get Hamilton or staying at 24 and drafting JuJuan, Harper or Butler. Even better if we could trade our 24th to Cleveland for their 2 second rounders and get Butler @ 32.

I'm not sure how I'd feel about us drafting a PG, but it would be interesting.

I would be disappointed in Singler, Mirotic or Honeycutt.

Honeycutt would be my second or possibly third choice. Harper would be my first. If we stashed Mirotic, I would pick up Singler with a second round pick.

I'll post my thougts again...I see Montejunas going 2 picks ahead of OKC. I have heard him compared to Bargnani, and most people see that as a bad thing (little defense, rebounding). However, at 24th (or trading up a few spots to grab him) it makes a lot of sense for us. We have 3 other big men that can play defense and rebound but cannot score. If we could grab Bargnani 2.0, I think that would be a steal. I wouldn't particularly care if he couldn't defend or rebound with the supporting cast around him...

Greg :Jimmer to the Warriors? Not sure about that one, Royce.

It's based on the idea that Monta will be shipped out before the start of the season (hopefully for Iggy). Still, I think it'd be a royally dumb pick. Even without Monta, the W's have more than enough scorers. The biggest loss to the Warriors if Monta left would be losing someone who can create his own shot at will. Jimmer, even if he becomes a solid scorer in the NBA, won't be able to do that.

That makes sense.

I'd rather have Honeycutt than Singler, at least there's more upside. Preferably though, we'd take Harper/Butler/Jackson/Mirotic.

Tayshaun Prince is a freak of nature, I don't think you can make those comparisons. He played every game for six straight years + a lot of playoff games. Honeycutt is only 20 so he can get a little bigger even if his fame is small, I wouldn't eliminate him from consideration based on his current size. But I think there are others that offer the Thunder better fits skill-wise.

Royce Young :@ DXL Weight never hurt Tayshaun Prince.

Or KD, but, I am not trying to cmpare the two.

Prince is an excelent example. What he did for those Detroit Championship teams, which was MUCH, is precisey what H-Cutt can do for us.

@Royce Young
Tayshaun Prince was listed as 215 pounds, and he was considered too skinny, when he came out of college. Honeycutt is waaaay smaller. He'll be fine at shooting guard.

@ Greg

I think each blog made their own selections.

Jimmer to the Warriors? Not sure about that one, Royce.

@ Royce Young

He calls himself the second coming of Tayshaun Prince. He said it in an interview that I cant seem to find.

@ DXL
Weight never hurt Tayshaun Prince.

I'm sold on JuJuan.

Tyler Honeycutt is 187 pounds, lighter than Kyrie Irving and Nolan Smith! This guy is waaaay too skinny to defend NBA small forwards.

His turnover and shooting efficiency statistics are some of the worst in this draft class. He was an inefficient shooter and a turnover machine in college.

Me too Justin. JuJuan is a destroyer and Harper fits better in our system.

Would have preferred either of the next two picks.