Originally Posted by
kAzE
I don't quite see the McGrady comparison, because I just don't envision Wiggins becoming the type of shot-maker T-Mac was at his prime. Wiggins will probably never lead the league in scoring, but defensively, he's probably going to be much better. He's way more scrappy and hustles, so I see him grabbing more rebounds than T-Mac's career average of 3 per game. Harrison Barnes doesn't strike me as a good comparison either. Aside from the fact that Barnes sucks at basketball, Wiggins is way more athletic, and just has so much more upside. Really, I think the best comparison for him is Paul George, because of his elite legnth and athleticism, streaky offensive game, and really solid play on the defensive end.
I'm a long time Cavs fan, and I really don't think it's possible to go wrong with this pick. It's gotta be either Wiggins or Parker, and either guy would be a spectacular fit. Embiid is an option, with Varejao getting older, and being injured 120% of the time, but I think the smart, long-term choice would be Wiggins. You can quote numbers, but I think we all know that Parker will never be an elite defensive player, whereas Wiggins has a real chance to become a dominant 2-way player. As much fun as it would be to have Parker and Irving on the same team (If that happens, they should trade for Corey Maggette and Austin Rivers and then re-sign Luol Deng, and it would be the Duke 1-and-done all-star team), I think the fact that they are both defensively challenged would be too much of a liability for the other 3 players on the court to compensate. All that said, I'm glad I'm not David Griffin, though, because I would not be able to resist taking Jabari #1. The best basketball decision seems to be Wiggins.
I've got no delusions about my team, the Cavaliers organization is a total mess. I honestly feel like they will somehow mismanage all of this and the whole thing blows up in their face again, Kyrie leaves for free agency, and Lebron stays in Miami. Because I'm a bigger Duke than any team in the NBA, I would much prefer to see Jabari land in Philadelphia, where I think the management has a good plan. He's going to be a great player wherever he lands, but I think he's set up really well to be the go-to-guy and develop with a young team in Philly that has some guys who look like they could become good enough defensive players to cover for Parker. The ideal fit I think would have been the Celtics, but at #6, they're pretty much out of the running for Jabari. But the Sixers is a really good situation too. They've got crazy amounts of cap room, the #3 and the #10 pick in this year's draft, and a pretty nice young core with Carter-Williams, Noel, and Young. If they got Jabari and then a shooter with the #10 pick, maybe Stauskas or even McBuckets, that could be a playoff team in 2 years, even if they didn't land a big free agent with all that extra money.