So now, on with my quick take on the 13 rookies picked in the first ever JBL Rookie draft...
1. Montreal - Kyrie Irving - he should have plenty of minutes in Cleveland with Baron set free. He only has to beat out Sessions and Gibson and it only makes sense the rebuilding Cavs play him. He has a chance to put up some nice rookie numbers.
2. MBB - Derrick Williams - everyone is raving about this kid. He's the 'most NBA ready' player in the draft. He has a chance to play 25-30 minutes a night depending on match-ups. I can see a lot of Beasley-Williams-Love out there at times. He should have a very good rookie season. I like this pick a lot.
3. Golden - Kemba Walker - he's the player I was hoping to get at #3 when I moved up. Charlotte is relying on Corey Maggette to be their scoring leader?? That's why I went and got this kid. Someone else has to score in Charlotte. I'm hoping it's him.
4. Bangkok - Tristan Thompson - another good draft from Bangkok. The tall CDN can rebound and block shots and should play a lot for the rebuilding Cavs. I can't see Antawn Jamison remaining in Cleveland all season so this could get the PF reigns sooner than expected. Plus, he helps in the always difficult blocks category.
5 - Yuma - Jimmer Fredette - Yuma gets Jimmer time! He's in a crowded back court situation in Sacramento but you know there are going to play him while they try to keep the crowds up and get approval for a new stadium. The question is - does he turn out like Steph Curry or Trajan Langdon. He's worth the risk...
6 - Arctic - Kenneth Faried - I think this could be the best rookie pick of the bunch (yes, I realize I forgot to include him in my latest poll). Faried could be the next Dennis Rodman. He could also play some serious minutes for a Denver team that lost Kenyon Martin to China and is apparently talking about playing Kosta Koufas and Timothey Mozgov??? Come on, you know Nene will be back playing Centre and this rebound-machine will be starting at PF in no time. And yes, I had a deal with Chilliwack if Faried fell to #7.
7 - Chilliwack - Jan Vesely. Did you know that Blake Griffin is the American version of Jan Vesely. Did you know Vesely stuck his tongue down his girlfriend's throat when he got picked at the NBA draft? Did you know he's been compared to Andrei Kirilenko? Do you know how much playing time he'll get in Washington?? Yeah, me neither on the last one. But if he's an athletic freak and plays best on the run - it seems teaming him with John Wall, Javale McGee and the other track stars in Washington is a good idea. This kid has potential.
8 - Juan de Fuca - Brandon Knight - I'm liking this pick more and more as we build up to the season. Stuckey has not signed yet and the only other PG on the roster is Will Bynum. Knight could be playing huge minutes right away for the Pistons. Another rookie pick I really like.
9 - Brussels - Klay Thompson. A young guy who can shoot that gets drafted to a team that loves to score. Hmmm. Seems like a good fit. And when your new coach (Mark Jackson), who has to prove he can coach in the NBA, comes out and says he will be rookie of the year - you know Coach is going to be playing him lots of minutes. Another good rookie pick here at #9.
10 - Idaho - Markieff Morris. A bit of a surprise pick here in my view by Idaho. However, Morris goes to a PHX team that needs size, likes to run, and could use an injection of youth. Can Morris push Frye for playing time? It seems Idaho thinks so. There aren't many big men in PHX so Morris could get some run. And if he doesn't - he's only a $2 dollar risk.
11 - French Lick - Enes Kanter. One of many big men in the crowded Utah front court situation. This kid looks like he's about 28 years old and has been in the league for years. He could be a factor in Utah if there are any injuries. Also, with the condensed schedule and games close together he has a chance to eat up minutes as Utah doesn't want to over-extend guys like Okur. A project in the works but he has a chance to be very good and he could force Utah to move one of their many big men part way through the season.
12 - Seoul Brothers - Kawhi Leonard. Have you seen the size of this dude's hands?? Can you imagine how small your wiener would look if he grabbed you? This is an interesting pick because just like the NBA draft (where he was projected as a top 7 pick but fell to 15) he fell farther than I thought he would in the JBL draft. The Spurs are in desperate need of youth and Richard Jefferson clearly hasn't done his job as the SF in Spurville. That's why I think Leonard could get some minutes here. I think for $1 dollar this is definitely a player you'd want to keep an eye on...
13 - Maui Ribs - ??????. OK, so Maui hasn't made his pick yet. I had thought for sure it would be Bismack Biyombo but he recently learned he won't be able to get out of his Euro contract for another year. I think Biyombo would have played a LOT of minutes in Charlotte due to their lack of big men. There are several options here for Trev at #13. He could look at a kid like Iman Shumpert in NY. Or Marshon Brooks in NJ. Or he could take a real sleeper like Norris Cole in Miami. It's a $1 dollar pick and with Maui building from scratch (did you notice he dropped AK47) there is really no risk whatsoever with this pick.
So - there you have it. The JBL Rookie Lottery and Draft is complete (well 99% complete)...
The next idea/concept around this Lottery and Draft recently came from Brussels owner Timmy P. He is hoping the JBL implements a 5 year rookie protection window. I know you read about it on the JBL poll but I think it requires a little more explanation. I actually like the idea and don't think it really changes much to the JBL because of the limited number of players that would be affected by this '5 year rookie rule'.
Tim's idea is this:
- any rookie (taken in the lottery or at Auction) would be eligible for 5 years of protection (with $5 dollar increments) as long as they were on the JBL team prior to the start of the NBA season and remained on that same JBL team for the entire 5 year span.
- If, during the course of the JBL season, that rookie is traded - he would no longer be eligible for 5 years of protection (normal protection rules would apply)
- If, during the course of the JBL season, that rookie is dropped and then signed to a JBL team (even the same one who drafted him) - he would NOT be eligible for 5 years.
- In very simple terms - if you have a rookie on your team before the start of his NBA rookie season - you can keep him for 5 years. If he moves to another team or the waiver wire at any point in those 5 years - he is out of the 5 year window.
This rule would only affect 13-15 rookie players. And of those, how many will actually stay on the same JBL team all year?
If a JBL team wants to keep a rookie on his squad hoping he will breakout in year 2 or year 3 and use up a roster spot on him - I think that's fine. It means more FA's available for the rest of us.
We could easily keep track of this on the team pages in the JBL site. You'll notice right now that all rookies are tagged with 'R1'- this would indicate the player is eligible for the 5 years of protection. If the rookie is traded once the NBA season begins - the status would change to '1' - just like all the other players.
I think this rule also creates more excitement around the actual JBL lottery as well. Can you imagine getting the #1 pick and he's only going to cost you $15 bucks. You could keep him for 5 years with salaries of 15-20-25-30-35? How excited would you be if you got that pick? And for those other teams that didn't get the #1 pick - you could still trade for the #1 pick before the NBA season started and be eligible to keep that rookie 5 years.
Like right now for example, if this rule was in place, the NBA season doesn't start until Dec 25th - so under this rule - I could trade Kemba Walker to Ben for Jan Vesely and both rookies would still be eligible for 5 years of protection - because they were on their JBL teams before the start of their NBA rookie season. Get it??
So, what do you think? Is it worth a try? I think this is the perfect season to try this because this rookie crop isn't regarded as outstanding. We put it to a vote and see if it passes. Then we have all year to try to it and see how many players are actually affected by it and how many rookies would be eligible for 5 years protection. I would guess less than 10 by season's end. Then, during the season we will be working on the JBL Lottery process for next season and we can figure out all the necessary tweaks needed. Your thoughts?
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