2015 Philadelphia 76ers Off Season Thread

[Don Ho]

Centers R' Us

[Don Ho]

This dude they cut to right after the picks on ESPN is hilarious. 

[PhillyPhreak54]

Someone tell Hinkie that it's ok to pick PG and SG

[ice grillin you]

Gudaitis's intrigue as a NBA prospect and his ability to score inside and pull down rebounds at a respectable rate start with his physical tools. Standing around 6'10 in shoes, with a 255-pound frame and big hands, the physical, slightly undersized center is built similarly to the newly trimmed down Mitch McGary. Despite the knee injury he suffered right around two years ago, Gudaitis is a terrific athlete for his size. He has exceptional mobility for his size, runs the floor extremely well, and is often able to compensate for his average length inside with fairly impressive leaping ability.

On top of his sheer size and athleticism, Gudaitis is a very physical player. He dives to the rim with purpose after setting screens on the perimeter, gets extremely low and looks to move bodies when posting up, and throws himself recklessly into contact when looking to score. Much of his production is based on his effort, athleticism, and physicality.

Offensively, Gudaitis plays a modest role in the Euroleague, and a larger one when Zalgiris competes locally in the LKL. In general, Gudaitis's point production is predicated on his ability to move without the ball, set screens, and crash the offensive glass for finishing opportunities inside. Though he's far more consistent finishing against lower quality competition, the young Lithuanian has converted 62% of his shots inside on the year according to Synergy Sports Technology, as his mobility and assertiveness pay dividends against far more mature and experienced players. A threat to catch and finish explosively rolling to the rim or tip dunk the ball when he isn't boxed out effectively, Gudaitis is capable of making the occasional highlight reel play inside.

He lacks great touch and overall feel around the rim, which makes him a bit predictable as he often looks to simply power the ball over the front of the rim inside, which limits him against bigger, more disciplined interior defenders. Embracing contact, his FTA/FGA of .84 is among the highest in this draft class regardless of league and position. Even as only a complementary option, Gudaitis averaged a tremendous 8.85 free throw attempts per-40 minutes in the Euroleague to rank third among all players, while hitting 72% of his shots from the line.

Though some 72% of the soon to be 22 year old's field goal attempts come right around the rim, he flashes some pretty interesting skills offensively. Lacking a degree of polish and an ideal grasp of the limitations of his skill set, Gudaitis is prone to forcing things on occasion from the inside and out. At times, that results in ill-advised jumpers, wild shots in close, and botched dribble hand offs, but it also leads to an occasional driving dunk, deft shots from the midrange, and impressive hook shots in the post.

Making just six of the 17 jump shots he attempted this season and 44% of his shots operating one-on-one on the block, Gudaitis seems to have a number of budding skills offensively and manages to be a very efficient scorer overall despite the amount of room he has to improve his decision-making and polish on this end of the floor. He ranks as one of the worst passers in the draft, posting a very poor 3.8% assist percentage and turning the ball over on 15% of his post-up possessions.

Finishing fourth in the Euroleague in offensive rebound percentage, Gudaitis's energy and athleticism translates nicely to the glass, especially on that end of the floor. He doesn't have the best instincts on the defensive boards, but he's a strong area rebounder, as evidenced by his 7.8 defensive rebounds per 40 minutes pace adjusted, even if he was far more productive in this area against weaker competition than he was against real big men.

Defensively, Gudaitis struggles at times with the fundamentals, taking poor angles to recover to the ball and being a bit overaggressive on the perimeter. Despite that, much like on the offensive end, he has some promising tools to build on defensively even if he's unpolished. He has potential as a pick and roll defender thanks to his foot speed, competes every play, and was one just 5five players in this draft class to average over 1 steal and 2.5 blocks per 40 minutes pace adjusted.

Though he doesn't have outstanding length, Gudaitis provides a shot blocking presence inside. Not afraid to put himself in position to get dunked on, Gudaitis doesn't hesitate to challenge finishers right at the front of the rim, and his combination of explosiveness and strength have allowed him to send back a number of would-be highlight reel plays this season. The Lithuanian big man's 2.7 blocks per-40 minutes puts him right around the same block rate as a number of far longer players at the college level, specifically Willie Cauley-Stein and Rakeem Christmas. Committing 5.3 fouls per 40 minutes pace adjusted, Gudaitis lacks a degree of discipline and experience, often leaving his feet when contesting shots, but does flash good timing sliding over the weakside.

A highly productive player despite remaining unrefined in a number of areas, Arturas Gudaitis is one of the more interesting international prospects in this draft class after the elite tier of players slated to go in the lottery. A bit of a late bloomer who lacks experience and a great feel for the game, Gudaitis held his own in the best competition outside of the NBA for stretches, and despite his advanced age relative to some of this draft's international prospects, retains intriguing potential due to how many of his weaknesses are correctable. If he were 6-11 or 7-0, he would surely be a lock to be drafted in the first round, but even at 6-10 he remains a very interesting prospect. It will be fascinating to see what kind of trajectory his career takes in the coming years.

[ice grillin you]

i actually like michael frazier better than hunter

id be thrilled with any two of these guys when the nights done

tyler harvey
joseph young
frazier
chris mccullough
connaughton
jordan mickey
jp tokoto

[ice grillin you]

its an absolute joke that the nba draft takes almost 5 hrs to complete

[ice grillin you]

i actually like michael frazier better than hunter

id be thrilled with any two of these guys when the nights done

tyler harvey
joseph young
frazier
chris mccullough
connaughton
jordan mickey
jp tokoto - WIN

[ice grillin you]

k to tha j part II

[ice grillin you]

One of the most athletic players in college basketball, J.P. Tokoto decided to declare for the NBA Draft after his junior season. He'll hope to show he has a refined skill set to match his athleticism and be a productive shooting guard at the NBA level.

Measured at 6'6.25" with an impressive 6'10" wingspan and a developing 196-pound frame at the NBA Draft Combine, Tokoto rounds out his athletic tool kit with great explosiveness, agility and quickness. He'll be able to match the size, length and athleticism of most NBA guards which provides him an interesting foundation as a prospect heading into the season.

Tokoto gets a significant portion of his production in the open court, with 24.8% of his offensive possessions coming in transition according to Synergy Sports Technology. He can run the wings with ease and is also able to handle the ball in the open floor and make smart decisions on the break. He's an above the rim player and a capable finisher around the basket when given the opportunity, especially in transition.

Tokoto is somewhat limited offensively and scored the fewest points per 40 minutes pace adjusted of all prospects in our top 100 at just 10.6 points. Most of his struggles stems from his struggles from the perimeter, as he converted just 20 3-pointers in his college career, which spanned over 100 games and more than 2300 minutes, but he was also a below average scorer inside the arc as well, hitting 43% of his 2-pointers and 61% of his free throws.

Tokoto doesn't have the quickest release on his jumper, which will make it difficult for him to him to find openings to shoot against NBA defenses. He also has inconsistent mechanics which hurts his consistency, as he shot 31.7% on all jump shots according to Synergy Sports Technology. He's an equally bad free throw shooter, converting 61.5% of his free throws, demonstrating again how far he has to go to become a better shooter. To stay on the floor in today's NBA, he will need to improve his jump shot quickly to help stretch defenses. To his credit, he has been working hard on this part of his game over the course of the pre-draft process, and showed significant improvement at the NBA Combine, which is an admittedly small sample size. Being able to carry over this improvement to real game settings will be a huge key for his ability to carve out a niche at the NBA level.

While Tokoto is extremely athletic, his ball-handling skills are still catching up to his physical tools, which limits his effectiveness as a shot creator in the half-court. He does have a quick first step that can get him past his defender in a straight line, but he isn't capable of getting into the paint on a regular basis against a set defense, particularly when forced to execute advanced moves.

Although he struggles at times creating his own offense, he does a nice job of moving the ball and finding his teammates in spots where they can score. His 5.5 assists per 40 minutes pace adjusted ranks second among shooting guards in our top 100 and will help him provide value offensively since he isn't a great scorer. He's calm on the ball, sporting great vision that helps him find open teammates and he delivers very accurate passes that demonstrate an extremely high basketball IQ.

With his leaping ability, he can track down offensive rebounds and gathered in 2.1 per 40 minutes pace adjusted. This is yet another indication of both his strong physical tools as well as his excellent feel for the game, as he anticipates well and shows nice timing tracking down loose balls.

Tokoto also shows great potential on the defensive end, where he can use his athleticism to lock down either guard spot. He's a ballhawk defensively, as his wingspan allows him to get steals (1.9 per 40 minutes pace adjusted last season). He can also help rebound defensively, as he pulled down 5.1 defensive rebounds per 40 minutes pace adjusted.

Although he has the tools to be a lockdown defender at the next level, he'll need to show some improvement in his defensive fundamentals to realize this potential. He has the tendency to give up dribble penetration too easily and get lost in screens. With his limited offensive game, he will need to be an elite defender to earn playing time in the NBA which means that learning the nuances of NBA schemes and improving his focus will be key for him as he moves to the next level.

Tokoto will need to make some significant improvements to his offensive game to find a niche and stick in the NBA, which he certainly seems to realize and is currently looking to address. Despite his limitations, he is still an intriguing draft prospect as he brings a unique set of athletic skills and versatility. If his offensive tools catch up, he could be a nice rotation player over the course of his career. While he may need some time to develop, he could end up as a key player for a NBA team at some point down the line.

[PhillyPhreak54]

its an absolute joke that the nba draft takes almost 5 hrs to complete

Yeah really - we watched the first couple of picks - drove to dinner and sat down and ate and drank several drinks and by the time we got home the second round was just starting

Tokoto is a nice pick

[MDS]

shoulda picked jj avila....i covered him in high school

he also banged a friend of mine. she wasnt impressed.

[smeags]

shoulda picked jj avila....i covered him in high school

he also banged a friend of mine. she wasnt impressed.

do you always ask your female friends how good their men farg ?

[Rome]

do you always ask your female friends how good their men farg ?

Comparing notes.

[hunt]

okafor was bpa...can't complain about that pick. now you have 3 bigs with different skill sets (1 with questionable health).  you mix & match them, find out what works, & hope one blossoms into a superstar.  teams always want bigs so the one/two who don't fit can be moved later on.  assets.

the 2nd round is a waste of time...those picks are worthless. 

[smeags]

i actually like the tokoto pick.