ESPN Insider: Trey Burke should go #1 overall
Title basically says it all. One of the ESPN Insider writers (in this case David Thorpe) makes a case for why Trey Burke should be the overall #1 pick, backing it with STATS!!!
I don't believe this is part of a series where they have different writers make cases for different players. I believe this is his honest opinion.
He was taken No. 1 overall by the Magic and then immediately traded to Golden State, IIRC.
A trading card that is split with webber on one side and shaq on the other. Was a short lived relationship...
Queen probably would have been if he had been able to avoid attacking people with belts.
Just curious how you know which team is going to be picking #1 overall.
meeeee the mooonneeeeeyyyyyyyy
I just hope he does go #2 overall its like a cursed draft position
need a point guard......besides the blazer curse only works on players 7 feet tall.......
I don't think Brandon Roy was a 7 footer.
they got Durant at #2
The Thunder didn't draft Durant. The Sonics did. The curse caused not the failure of a single player but the entire franchise.
Simmons actually just wrote about this yesterday:
Since Portland stupidly passed on MJ for Bowie in 1984, we've seen the following draft calamities at no. 2: Steve Stipanovich, Len Bias (R.I.P.), Armen Gilliam, Danny Ferry, Shawn Bradley, Stromile Swift, Jay Williams, Darko Milicic, Marvin Williams, Michael Beasley, Hasheem Thabeet, Evan Turner and Derrick Williams. Not counting MKG, that's 13 of the last 27 no. 2 picks! Even weirder, 12 other no. 2 picks (Anderson, Mourning, Kidd, Van Horn, McDyess, Camby, Bibby, Francis, Chandler, Okafor, Aldridge, Tisdale) were traded by the teams that selected them within five seasons. Only Kevin Durant and Gary Payton became franchise players for the teams that drafted them … only that franchise no longer exists. So if you're counting Seattle's murdered franchise, if MKG doesn't make it, we'll be 0 for the last 28 in the "pick him second, pencil him as your franchise guy for the next 12-15 years, retire his jersey" department. There's a reason they call that pick "Number Two."
Have to take issue with some of Simmons's points here.
First, drafting Bowie over MJ was not that bad of a move. Portland already had Clyde Drexler (who is now in the Hall of Fame), so why would they draft another shooting guard? Bowie, when healthy, was a good player. He just couldn't stay healthy.
Second, it's clear from the list above that about half of those guys actually did turn out to be good players. Yeah, it's weird that a lot of them were traded, but they didn't have to be. It's just an odd coincidence.
And then the Seattle thing is just dumb. Payton and Durant don't count because the franchise happened to move (after Peyton retired, no less)?
it explains why it was a dumb pick, mostly because bowie had missed the year before and that he took an 8 hour (!!!) physical for the blazers. I mean if youre so scared that someones going to get hurt, why draft him?
Bill Simmons this week....
Tarring and feathering has not historically had an explicitly racial connection. It goes back to medieval times.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarring_and_feathering
You do realize it's almost entirely white people who have been tarred and feathered?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarring_and_feathering
Are you thinking of the "tar baby" or something?
No God, please God no. No. Nooo. NOOOOOOOOO!
the next Isiah Thomas? Just not as much of a jerk?
I don't think he's quite as quick as Isiah. OTOH, he may be a better shooter at this point in his career.
He's probably going to be a solid starter for some team for a number of years, but does anyone really think we were looking at one of the 50 greatest NBA players of all time?
I think some people are setting themselves up for disappointment when following his career.
I agree. Burke is great but people should realliy look up a highlight tape for Isiah. It's simply jaw-dropping some of the ball handling and scoring plays he had earlier in his career.
He's Ray Felton ---> Andre Miller (good years) impact level.
Not bad, that's a long career. That's all start games. That's just not All-Time NBA.
I think he can be a Top 10 PG in the league for the next years.
Ty Lawson is much more athletic. Trey's NBA analogue is Jameer Nelson. Their college stats are mirror images of each other too.
those stats in the B10, especially this year's B10, is a lot different that putting them up for whichever conference St. Joe's was in at the time.
Trey may not have Lawson's athleticism, but he's got way more than Jameer Nelson ever had. Jameer Nelson had a killer crossover and stepback, but he never had Trey's court vision and he could never have blocked a ball a foot above the rim.
Now let's consider all the 6'0" guys who AREN'T in the NBA...
So much ignorant homerism in this thread...... some people take a Jameer Nelson-Trey Burke comparison as a slight to Burke when the truth is Burke will be lucky to play at that level in the NBA. Most guys, even those taken in the lottery, don't get to start 7+ years for a team that even made the finals one year and become an All Star.
I just think Nelson is "slow and fat." Okay, that was an exaggeration...but I feel like you know what I mean.
Impact wise, I can certainly see what you're saying. I just say somewhere between Ray Felton and Andre Miller (good years)...so Nelson fits in there, so does Ty Lawson for that matter.
Burke's a lesser version of Chris Paul if we're doing playing style comparisons. I mean, he models his entire game after Paul. I think Deron Williams is another player who Burke compares with. Deron
I know people say "well at this point in Paul's career, he and Burke were on the same level." This is true. Paul wasn't NEARLY the player he is today. But his ceiling was WAY higher than Burke's.
Trey's great, but I don't see him becoming NBA elite (for his entire career). That doesn't mean he's not going to be NBA ROY like Paul. It doesn't mean he won't make all-star games or even be considered a top 3 PG in the league for a fews years. It just means I don't see him on the level (career wise) as Paul, Nash, and Parker.
But if his career is Chauncey Billups...is that a bad thing?
As long as he is a high lottery pick, I will be very happy for him. I would almost like to see him go to Cleveland so that Ohio fans would have to cheer for a Wolverine.
Not with Irving there... but it still would be funny...
If that happened, I wonder if they'd stop flashing the Michigan logo on their scoreboard when they want fans to boo.