Keep an Eye on Jakob Poeltl, and not just as a center

In another thread just now, Bob H said something about Porzingis being a great example of how height doesn't necessarily dictate best position. Porzingis at 7'3" is plenty nimble enough to play and thrive at PF, and he might even be best long term there.

In this year's draft Poeltl, the 7'1" Austrian, is considered the top center, and isn't discussed in the PF mix.

But like Porzingis, Poeltl is plenty nimble enough to play PF in the NBA, and it might even end up as his best position.

Jordan Mickey dropped to the second round in part because he played center full time in college and never got to show off his rock solid shooting range. At 7'1", Poeltl obviously wasn't going to get many minutes at PF, and while I seriously doubt Poeltl has deep shooting range, I do think his playing center full time may end up hurting his draft stock.

Poeltl is no tougher than Tyler Zeller, and that doesn't scream elite NBA center to anyone. But Poeltl is a little more nimble than Zeller, and has a lot more length. Now that I think about it, Zeller himself probably wouldn't make a bad PF if he had a bigger guy playing center next to him, though not as good at PF as Poeltl will likely be.

Poeltl could single handedly replace Amir, Zeller, and Jerebko next year, and while that might not be a draft gold mine, it might be about as much as we could hope for in a pick outside the top 2.

And before the Celtics throw 100 million dollars at Al Horford, who himself isn't a full-fledged center by any means, it might make a whole lot of sense to take a long look at Poeltl to bring the same level of impact on a much cheaper contract.

arambone wrote:In another thread just now, Bob H said something about Porzingis being a great example of how height doesn't necessarily dictate best position. Porzingis at 7'3" is plenty nimble enough to play and thrive at PF, and he might even be best long term there.

In this year's draft Poeltl, the 7'1" Austrian, is considered the top center, and isn't discussed in the PF mix.

But like Porzingis, Poeltl is plenty nimble enough to play PF in the NBA, and it might even end up as his best position.

Jordan Mickey dropped to the second round in part because he played center full time in college and never got to show off his rock solid shooting range. At 7'1", Poeltl obviously wasn't going to get many minutes at PF, and while I seriously doubt Poeltl has deep shooting range, I do think his playing center full time may end up hurting his draft stock.

Poeltl is no tougher than Tyler Zeller, and that doesn't scream elite NBA center to anyone. But Poeltl is a little more nimble than Zeller, and has a lot more length. Now that I think about it, Zeller himself probably wouldn't make a bad PF if he had a bigger guy playing center next to him, though not as good at PF as Poeltl will likely be.

Poeltl could single handedly replace Amir, Zeller, and Jerebko next year, and while that might not be a draft gold mine, it might be about as much as we could hope for in a pick outside the top 2.

And before the Celtics throw 100 million dollars at Al Horford, who himself isn't a full-fledged center by any means, it might make a whole lot of sense to take a long look at Poeltl to bring the same level of impact on a much cheaper contract.

Arambone,

I don't watch college sports, so I nothing of any of this, but how would you compare Poetl to Dragan Bender?


bob


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I don't know a whole lot about Bender, but a European bball fanatic I know through a web forum claims he's not a super hard worker, and that an Andrea Bargnani comparison might Finally actually be accurate in this case. Though, Bargnani with even mediocre intangibles would be a good player to have on a team, as he'd actually try on defense and try overall.

My opinion could change before the draft, but I look at Poeltl as a much safer, and much more ready to contribute pick than Bender.

It might even come down to how they both look shooting 3 pointers in workouts, but as of now I'd have to go with Poeltl out of ignorance if nothing else.

Comparing anyone to Bargnani is the kiss of death. Does Bender have all the toughness of a wet paper bag surrounding a marshmallow core?

Outside wrote:Comparing anyone to Bargnani is the kiss of death. Does Bender have all the toughness of a wet paper bag surrounding a marshmallow core?

outside,

If he does he's still grittier than Barf-nani.


bob



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If we keep at least two of our first round picks, I think there's a good possibility we're going after that PF or C we badly need.  Jacob Poeltl would be a decent choice and should be available outside the top 5 in the 6 to 12 range.  We could conceivably get him with our second pick in the first round, should we look for a wing who can score with our top pick.

If Danny and Co. didn't go for Poeltl, my own preference and hope would be to look at Diamond Stone at C, who should be available mid 1st round.  Poeltl runs exceptionally well and is OK as a defender but needs to use his size and develop better strength to be an intimidator.  He also needs to pick up some nasty genes.  Stone is more or less a Kendrick Perkins type build at center with good hands and also runs well for a big.  Stone does have a nice nasty disposition on D, and uses his large frame well/has decent footwork, but isn't the worlds best rebounder.  He really needs to work on gaining better position to be stronger on the boards.  Of the two, I think Stone is the better overall value for our roster needs and style of play and Poeltl may take more time and have some difficulty adjusting to the NBA game.

To me, Bender, Zimmerman and Labissiere all get lumped together as bigs with a slighter build.  If we're looking for a monster in the paint, none of them qualify.  Bender could be this year's version of Porzingis, if you're looking for a big with outside shooting.

AJ Hammons is another C possibility if both Poeltl and Stone are gone, and he should be around late 1st to early 2nd round.

My own draft order of preference for a C/PF would be...

Stone
Poeltl
Bender/Labissiere/Zimmerman
Hammons

Labissiere and Zimmerman need to develop, may be worthy projects, but I think would be better off staying in school.  Stone, Poeltl, Bender or Hammons give us a C (Stone, Poeltl or Hammons) or a PF (Bender) who can step in and play more significant minutes and roles now.  Any of those six would probably improve our front line fairly fast.

For what it's worth, 3 months before it actually takes place and before the NBA Combine and individual workouts:

nbadraft.net has us taking A.J. Hammons @ 22 and Philly taking Diamond Stone @ 26.

draftexpress has A.J. Hammons going at #38 and Diamond Stone at #23. They don't assign teams but, because there is no lottery with 2nd rounders, #38 belongs to Houston.

mynbadraft.com has Diamond Stone going #11 (to Orlando) and has us taking Jaylen Brown @ #4, Devonta Davis @ #16, Damien Jones @ #22 and A.J. Hammons going to Atlanta @ #42.  We have two 2nd round picks before 42 (#31 and #35).  If Danny doesn't take Hammons with either of those two 2nd rounders (assuming he's still available) I think Cowens will have a fit so serious he'll try to throw himself on the floor and miss.

Anyway, one draft board has Hammons in the mid-late first round, two that have Stone later in the 1st round and another who has Stone going in the lottery and Hammons MID-2nd round.

If I try to make some sense of all that, without knowing anything about the players or college ball or the style their school plays, etc I'd say that Hammons will be lucky if he is picked early 2nd round (like DeAndre Jordan was).  The board saying he's going 22nd seems like an outlier. Stone seems to be all over the map but likely late 1st round. In short, both of them should be available to us @ either #16 or #22 and Hammons should be available at #31.

Love that #31 pick. It's 2nd round, so there's no CBA obligation to sign him and keep him on the roster, you can do a Euro draft-and-stash, so you can roll the dice and take chances with it, swing for the fences, but it's just barely outside a first rounder. Thanks, Philly.

I'm going to leave it to our college and draft projection gurus from now on. I just wanted to see where NYCelt's guy Stone fit in.


bob


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Bob,

'...Cowens will have a fit so serious he'll try to throw himself on the floor and miss'...?

You paint quite the picture of Rich being phenomenally frustrated there!

Regards

NYCelt wrote:Bob,

'...Cowens will have a fit so serious he'll try to throw himself on the floor and miss'...?

You paint quite the picture of Rich being phenomenally frustrated there!

Regards

If that's the picture you're seeing, then I'm Rembrandt.


bob


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bobheckler wrote:

NYCelt wrote:Bob,

'...Cowens will have a fit so serious he'll try to throw himself on the floor and miss'...?

You paint quite the picture of Rich being phenomenally frustrated there!

Regards

If that's the picture you're seeing, then I'm Rembrandt.


bob


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It is, Mr. van Rijn.

Although its no Return of the Prodigal Son.