Hard to even write a thread regarding the draft until you know where we will wind up in the lotto, but I thought I'd give people a forum to participate in.
I have 2 basic thoughts regarding the draft. The first is regarding Yi Jianlian.
The video I have seen of Jianlian really suprises me. While I try not to read too much into highlight films I do believe that you can get some idea of the players basic style of play as a result of watching them. People may say "Yeah but we got fooled by the highlight real of Sene last season!" and I will say not at all. Sene is exactly what I thought he would be if not better. He's raw, relies on physical ability, has tons of energy, and is naturally a shot blocker. That type of info you got from his video. None of it negated the fact that he was too inexperienced to expect much from last season. I still think the kid will produce.
When it comes to Yi I am just suprised at the fact that he defies so many stereotypes I have in my head. When I think foreign player I think finesse and jumpshooting. When I think Asian player I think finesse and lack of aggressiveness. Yi breaks those molds by looking like a guy who is balsy, aggressive, and physical. If he really can handle the ball that well at 7'0 and likes to get a bit nasty then I think he could be a real find. The workouts will have to bear this out, but I think he has the potential to add a second teir to the top of this draft with the first teir being composed of Odon and Durant and the second being Yi and Brendan Wright. Doesn't help us much when we currently pick #5 but in the case of somebody leapfrogging us, us moving up a spot, or a suprise pick being made in the top 4 it could help land us a good player. Concievably Horford could step into that second teir which helps us ot at #5.
Secondly lets talk about how darn valuable that #30 overall pick we got from Memphis could be. All accounts have Tiago Splitter as a bonafide top 15 pick, possibly lotto caliber. However his reports on his contract are starting to sound problematic. It is seeming more and more likely that if he is not picked top 10 he could slide all the way down to #30 and become one of those great value picks that are only available at the first pick of the second round. The reason being that the mandated rookie contract is not sufficient to buy him out and a team needs to use the mid-level. Honestly if that happens I am not sure that you don't trade his rights. We have enough young players and our frontcourt is crowded. You either trade him or you trade someone to make room for him. That is all debatable.
Post your general draft thoughts here.