Looking at Life Through Leon Rose-Colored Glasses: The 2020 NBA Draft Thread

Welcome to the 2020 NBA Draft!

I figured we should have a draft thread.

And since all of our content now is polls, I figured I’d throw some polls in here for kicks.

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment. Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment. Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

And now, let’s have fun talking about this draft!

184 replies on “Looking at Life Through Leon Rose-Colored Glasses: The 2020 NBA Draft Thread”

I just want to say Shump Shump, for old times. and hope that’s the worst thing that happens all night.

I’d be OK if we took Covid at #8 because then at least we know it would disappear in 2 years.

I am surprised Houston, which has very few assets, traded away the number 16 pick so they could use the mid-level exception. That means they think they can get a better player with modest money in free agency than by drafting (or maybe they are I totally win now mode, which I doubt, given recent news. Mid level exception players are often not great, so that’s a real indictment of this draft.
,

Here we are! There’s 0% chance that I got this right – I would be surprised if it’s close, but for kicks and giggles….

1. Anthony Edwards
2. James Wiseman
3. LaMelo Ball
4. Deni Avdija
5. Obi Toppin
6. Killian Hayes
7. Onyeke Okongwu
8. Tyrese Haliburton
9. Devin Vassell
10. Issac Okoro
11. Kira Lewis
12. Aaron Nesmith
13. Aleksej Pokusevski
14. Jalen Smith
15. Precious Achiuwa
16. Jaden McDaniels
17. Saddiq Bey
18. RJ Hamption
19. Cole Anthony
20. Tyrese Maxey
21. Tyrell Terry
22. Malachi Flynn
23. Isaiah Stuart
24. Leandro Bolmaro
25. Nico Manion
26. Daniel Oturu
27. Robert Woodward
28. Zeke Nnaji
29. Josh Green
30. Desmond Bane

And other than my Knick pick, I did not consider the team drafting, just my guess at where they belong in the pecking order. I’ll be curious, looking back on this next year, how these players did.

@chriskzipcode

Yes, I’m still around! Waiting for the Knicks to play meaningful games again, and saving a few haikus for that moment.

I just realized Houston got a future first back in their trade, do ignore my comment above

If we want Toppin, we should just wait for him at 8. Cavs need an SF, Hawks have Collins, Detroit has Doumbouya and Wood.

I’d rather have Hali/Okoro, but Toppin could easily fall.

Farfa!!!! I will dedicate a Haiku based on our first pick to you, assuming I’ve ever heard of the guy before.

Wow, the Bucks really DID fuck up the Bogdan Bogdanovic situation. What a shitshow.

Klay appears to have torn his Achilles. Looks like we won’t be the only fanbase in need of some Leftovers gifs tonight.

Klay appears to have torn his Achilles. Looks like we won’t be the only fanbase in need of some Leftovers gifs tonight.

GEEZ. That’s insanely awful. Poor bastard.

Bogdan Bogdanovic DOESN’T want to go to Milwaukee?? (What, he’d rather stay in Sacramento??)

We could’ve done that Detroit trade and still have a lot of cap space left. Why wouldn’t Rose want the #16 to take Ariza?

Sounds like they plan to do some heavy lifting in free agency.

Toppin + pricy free agents = “win now” mode

Do you just take Anthony Edwards then, if you’re Golden State? He’d fit perfectly there if Klay is hurt.

So, who is this year’s Mike Sweetney? Jordan HIll? Renaldo Balkman? Fredrick Weis?
Sorry about the negative vibes. I’m trying to get them all out of my system. Please be considerate. It’s for my mental health…

Bogdan Bogdanovic DOESN’T want to go to Milwaukee?? (WhT, he’d rather stay in Sacramento??)

He wants to test free agency (he’s restricted).

Can Milwaukee back out of the Holiday deal, then? Or is there someone roughly as good a fit as Bogdan whom they can get for the same package?

***Klay appears to have torn his Achilles. Looks like we won’t be the only fanbase in need of some Leftovers gifs tonight.***

If he was on the Knicks, he would have torn his Achilles the day AFTER the draft (because #dolansrazor). It’s pretty good timing for GS, all things considered…

That Bogdanovic news is tough for Milwaukee but I would love to have him on the Knicks!

Do you just take Anthony Edwards then, if you’re Golden State? He’d fit perfectly there if Klay is hurt.

i mean they have to like him. fit is an ounce of it. i kinda doubt they like him. but they traded for wiggins, so maybe.

It’s also possible the Bogdan thing is an attempt to cover for the fact that the Bucks tampered to set this up before free agency began.

Ball goin to the Hall
Picking James would be Wise, man
Tony is no baloney
Tyrese is the golden fleece
Kong is King
Deni ain’t worth a penny
Isaac will shaft Hayes
Vassell will answer the bell
Toppin will not be floppin
Killian ain’t worth a million

I also don’t understand why we couldn’t have done that Ariza trade.

Sucks for Klay. That is terrible.

The NBA would really impress me if they find a way to get some virtual Knick fans to boo the Knicks’ pick.

It’s really amazing what a crapshoot this particular draft is. No has any idea who Minnesota is going to take here. When was the last time we didn’t basically already know who was going 1st overall? The Anthony Bennett draft?

The Rockets are getting a future first of some kind back from Detroit in the Ariza trade. Unclear what protections are on it, but it’s not as clean an example of renting cap space as we usually root for.

the protections on the pistons pick are 1-16 for 4 yrs, then 1-10ish for i think two yrs until eventually turning into two seconds

vincoug: It’s really amazing what a crapshoot this particular draft is.

You could almost Just shuffle about 30 cards and deal them out.

i’m sure tonight will suck but i’d also be pretty bummed if we finally won the lottery and ended up with anthony edwards

Nothing will beat the excitement of drafting John Wallace.

Ah, John Wallace. One of several instances during my long and stupid fandom where it seemed the Knicks had lucked out by someone talented falling to them. See also Cleanthony Early, Macej Lampe, Monty Williams…

Minnesota gets to find out if Anthony Edwards really does care in any way about basketball. Fun times.

“let’s agree to let Adam Silver make the announcements”

Silver’s had a good run. It’s Silky’s time.

That’s the Anthony Bennett of the draft. Wondering who the Jonny Flynn will be.

(A prediction which may bite me in the ass)

Who’s to say that Silky and Adam Silver aren’t one and the same?

Shit, since Ball is here, then the Hornets can’t still want Westbrook, right? Shiiiiit.

4th pick is interesting, i won’t spoil for z-man who i know is struggling with his rabbit ears atm

Wiseman was the one guy at the top who was a clear cut useful NBA player. The Warriors need a decent center. They did the right thing to draft him. And he could be great. People complain about how few games he played, but he played more college games than Mitch did.

With Williams going to Chicago, at least we’re going to be spared of one stupid decision. Still a very strong chance for another stupid decision.

Wow! I have no idea how bad our draft is going to end up being but at least I can always say we didn’t draft Patrick Williams 4th overall!

as bad as the bulls pick is…. trading wendell carter for two more spots probably would’ve been worse….

Akkk! I left Williams off my list! Good news for the Knicks and Haliburton. My fingers are crossed!

@JonKrawczynski
The Timberwolves are in talks to trade the 17th pick to OKC for Ricky Rubio and picks 25 and 28, sources tell
@TheAthleticMIN

I won’t front, Chicago wanting him has seriously made me rethink my position on Williams.

Hello everyone. What is the Knickerblogger consensus on our trade up this draft? Shouldn’t we have kept the picks?

This is the position where rumors of Knicks trading up start. I don’t know who the Knicks want, but since Williams went fourth I’m sure whoever it is is still on the board.

Let’s see if Rose can show some patience here. Odds are good that Cleveland might take Deni now, and Obi would still fall to 8 if we really want him.

Not holding my breath, but…

New Orleans looks like it could be a real fun fastbreak team with lots of fullcourt passing and running now that they have Lonzo, LaMelo and Zion.

We are going to have good options which is rarely a good thing but maybe this is our moment?

Ntilakilla:
New Orleans looks like it could be a real fun fastbreak team with lots of fullcourt passing and running now that they have Lonzo, LaMelo and Zion.

Wait, was there a trade? Lamelo got drafted by Charlotte.

I expected this draft to be kind of wild. There really wasn’t a good consensus and the players not taken definitely have holes in their games.

I really want Haliburton but I know they’ll take Obi if he’s still there but at 8th I don’t mind drafting him.

Brian Cronin:
I won’t front, Chicago wanting him has seriously made me rethink my position on Williams.

EVERYONE wanted him. I really like him. He looks like a force on defense and a smart player on offense.

4 feels too high, but by the time he’s Obi Toppin’s age, everyone is going to wish they had him.

Teams are going most upside possible aka guys that most closely resemble LeBron and can dunk real hard.

I sneaky liked Okoro, but I’m definitely rooting for Hali now.

I’d much prefer Hali or Hayes or Vassell to Obi at 8, but I can also live with them taking Obi there. It was trading for him that seemed incredibly dumb.

Am I behind in this draft? Still on Okoro.

I prefer him in that red suit to orange and white

And I have no opinion whatsoever of Deni, who is improbably going to be sitting there for us.

I’m going to be sad if we don’t take Haliburton and go with Obi, we should really try to trade down at this point

Owen:
Am I behind in this draft? Still on Okoro.

I prefer him in that red suit to orange and white

Yeah, I’m a little confused. Just announcing ATL now.

Actually, I’d really like Vassell. Hayes would be interesting too. But let’s be real, it’s going to be Toppin.

Now we all know Hayes will be the next Steph Curry. But we will always have that overtime win over the Hawks.

Am I behind in this draft? Still on Okoro.

Shams and Woj are reporting the picks early on Twitter (Shams directly, Woj by saying teams are “targeting” or “zeroing in on” various prospects). I can stop mentioning that here if it’s annoying o people who just want to see it live.

I almost hope that Detroit drafts Haliburton here just so I don’t have to deal with the Knicks passing him up.

Ntilakilla:
That Bruce looks like Jim Helwig, the Ultimate Warrior.

How do you know it WASN’T him?

Could there be a Kosher Unicorn in NYC?

I think Okongwu will do great in Atlanta. Happy for him, that’s a good spot. Seems like a nice kid. Crazy story about his brother.

Fucking hell, we’re drafting Obi Toppin, aren’t we?

Yep. But hey, maybe he’ll surprise us and be good! At least they didn’t trade up for him!

this isn’t as bad as knox or frank… but this is still pretty bad….

we know what we got with this front office now….

If they take Vassell, I’m going to throw my laptop against the wall and smash it to little bits.

Wow, that blew up Knickerblogger for a second.

Fuck Rose, fuck the Knicks, fuck everything.

He fell further than anyone thought he would, so at least there’s that. Never thought he’d be there at 8.

We spend most of the day panicked the Knicks are going to trade up for Obi (or Williams), and instead he falls to us, and now a bad outcome seems at least acceptable.

Knicks management: underpromise competence, overdeliver mediocrity!

Wait – wasn’t there a good deal of “pro” and “con” arguments here on the board re: this kid Toppin?

There’s really no one prospect I could really get behind or root against drafting, except maybe that Patrick Williams. So I can’t get too up or down about the pick.

Hopefully our next pick will be some sort of lead guard.

Does this at least mean that they are trading Randle? And maybe Knox, or are they still under the delusion that Knox can play the 3 and RJ the 2?

I guess upside is that if the rumours were true we were going to trade up for Obi, we have potentially saved from ourselves. That’s about all I can get into this pick given deni was still there and Haliburton.

I’m neutral as to the logic, but rooting extra-heavily for him. He’s from Ossining, my neighboring town, and I actually may have played with him when he was younger at Club Fit in Briarcliff Manor. The good thing is that we didn’t trade up for him, he’s a perfectly fine pick at #8.

I mean, this isn’t Knox-level bad, but it’s very, very bad.

Y’all thanked god we didn’t get Williams, but I’ll bet you wish we could swap soon enough.

Halliburton potentially falling to the Spurs pending if the Suns want him to sit behind CP3

JK47:
I’d have preferred Haliburton but I don’t loathe this pick.

Ditto. I think the Knicks will have a choice of point guards available at 23.

I mean, he might be okay, but he’s going to be older than like half the team already and he’s another power forward who doesn’t play defense. Maybe he’ll be what we hoped Randle would be.

DRed:
Literally drafting the new President’s son’s client.Fucking idiots.

This is why you never hire an agent as your GM. Everyone swears they’re getting a Bob Myers championship situation when what they’re really getting is Bodie Van Wagenen, spending valuable assets to get former clients and friends installed into the organization.

Who do we like 23? I wouldn’t mind getting a shooter-maybe Isaiah Joe? I guess we should take the best PG available. Wish we had more picks!

That was a very endearing interview. Obviously, interviews /= talent or fit or whatever, but I’ll root for the guy. He looks to be really good on offense, and O’Connor said teams were impressed by his improvement in lateral quickness in pre-draft workouts. If he can become at least a passable defender…

it isn’t a terrible pick…. it’s pretty uninspired though… and very much like the jordan hill pick with a potential superstar getting selected right before….

we’ll see what we get with the later but it needs to be something major to make up for this….

***Literally drafting the new President’s son’s client. Fucking idiots.***

At first I thought you were talking about Hunter Biden and this was some kind of Barisma comment. But now I get it, and, yeah…

Here’s the summary of Vecenie’s scouting report on Toppin:

Ultimately, right now Toppin is a dominant offensive player where teams will have to figure out how much he’s going to give back on defense. His role is tailor made for the modern NBA on offense. He will score points and play well within a team construct as a mismatch problem at both the 4 and the 5. But where you fall on Toppin ultimately comes down to how much you think his defensive game can improve. He’s a mismatch problem for his team on both ends. College coaches who spoke with me think so much of it came down to the offensive role. That because he’s a good kid and good teammate, he’ll work harder on defense at the next level when held accountable. But the tape is the tape and it’s not particularly positive. And the ways in which its not positive create massive concerns for his NBA future. I’m such a fan of the offensive game’s translation that I have him rated this high in the hopes that a young player can figure out how to use his athleticism in a positive way to at least not be a disaster on defense. He’s one of the few guys in this class who have legitimate 20-point-per-game upside in the right situation, which means it’s worth taking a flier on it and hoping it’ll get figured out. But he’s potentially a role player, microwave offensive option if it doesn’t.

Obi seems like he’s got legitimate offensive talent, which to be fair we don’t have a lot of, but I don’t like the process-Haliburton was for my money a significantly better prospect. Vassell too

I liked Jalen Smith a lot. Higher than I expected for him but I think he will be a solid nba player at the least.

The crying makes me want to root for him, but all the scouting reports talking about him playing D and rebounding only “when engaged” are a bit concerning.

Y’all. Obi Toppin was the national player of the year and dragged Dayton to a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Do we HAVE to act like he’s Kevin Knox?

The problem with that scouting report on Toppin is he’s not that young, he’s going to be 23 in March. Time to dust off the Amare ‘I never was coached how to play defense’ stories

yeah, jordan hill feels familiar.

this hurts on a lot of levels. It makes you wonder if they know what league they’re playing in. Bigs who can’t defend better be special. This guy looks like he ran up his numbers by dunking on undeveloped kids bc he was more grown up.

Damn Halliburton sliding. I like what that does for our PG prospects at 23. Maybe Kira or Hampton fall as a result?

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