IF we're drafting in the top 5-7 of the draft again this year, you could say that about pretty much any position on our roster, because we have a guy drafted in the last 5 years at each of those positions.

He does have potential, but you could say the same thing about dozens of other big men over the last 10 years or so, and like many of them his skill level is seriously lacking at the moment. His performance right now doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Heck, he may be best served staying another year, though given where he'd go in the draft I doubt he would.

He may pan out, he may not, the bottom line is I'd rather not wait 3 years to find out when there are other decent options, especially given the makeup of our roster right now. Guys like Beasley, Rose, and Gordon don't exactly have low ceilings and all of them have shown quite a bit so far. You could throw Mayo, Green, Bayliss, Harnden possibly even Patrick Patterson or Brook Lopez in that group as well (can't decide if I like him or not). Jordan is the only big man that appears to have elite upside in this draft right now though (personally I like Speights a lot because of his size/athleticism/skill combo, but his ceiling is a bit less defined because he's not an athletic freak), so he'll go early regardless.

I just know that if we ever got Chase freaking Budinger I think I might kill myself.. That would be a definite suicide.

And yes, I would pick Beasley, or Rose over Jordan if they were ever available but I don't know about Eric Gordon. He seems to me like a bigger version of Ben Gordon?

I'm not a real big Budinger fan either. He has good size and leaping ability and a pretty good shot, but he doesn't strike me as a guy that's going to be able to drive in the NBA, or consistently stay in front of 2-guards. If by some miracle the choice is between him and Jordan, then okay, take Jordan. That's pretty unlikely though.

Eric is sort of like Ben, but better. They're both shoot-first 2-guards that are a bit under sized and don't have PG-level ball-handling ability, but Eric is much stronger, quicker, a better leaper (he's a pretty explosive dunker), and it looks like a better overall scorer. He'll take it inside a lot more, which should result in a higher field goal percentage and more free throws. His better athleticism and strength should mean he isn't as big a defensive liability as well. He should easily be a 20-point scorer, so unless he measures in at like 6'2" at the combine (listed at 6'4" or 6'5" in most places), he should be a pretty explosive scorer with the possibility of improving his ability to create for others as he develops.

I would take a bigger version of Ben Gordon right now...as long as he could actually, you know, shoot. Ben Gordon has lost that ability. And he's never developed the ability to create anything by penetration, which is what he really ought to be working on.

I wouldn't go THAT far, his averages still stand at 19.6 points on 42.1% shooting and 38.5% from behind the arc. Granted that middle one isn't stellar, but it's not exactly unsightly for a guy that's mostly a jump shooter either. If anything Kirk has forgotten how to shoot, especially from behind the arc.

Shooting is definitely one of the other Gordon's strong suits, his percentages currently stand at 48.1/84.7/40.4 (and that's after a sub-par game against UConn), and driving is definitely a strength as well.

By the way, it seems this became official today.

What about Hasheem Thabeet he is a massive tall guy that stands at 7'3" and has developed so much since he first stepped on to a college floor.
Offensively he has developed a nice jump hook that he threw up a few times in the Indiana game and can also get lots of offensive boards if he gains more weight and learns which comes with experience.
Defensively what else can he do better with a 7'3" frame then to have almost 4 blocks per game, which is outstanding in my mind it is what tyrus can do but is about 7 inches taller the tyrus he could use some work on his post and all around defenve but that will also come with experience as well.
You can't teach size and this guy has that plus some what do you think?

Just wondering how it helps us to have a roster of 4 big guys sitting behind Wallace and Smith and trying to divy up 20 minutes a game instead of 3.

He's gotten better, but that's not saying much, and big men averaging 11 and 7 IN COLLEGE generally aren't the answer. He plays more than guys like Speights and Jordan that have somewhat comparable numbers as well. When you consider how much bigger he is than everyone he plays in college (Indiana's best big man is 6'8" and they don't really have anyone other than White) it's really not all that impressive. He didn't exactly dominate that game either, he finished with 12 points and 5 boards. He can just shoot over everyone in college and doesn't really have to worry about getting good position. In the NBA he'll actually have to get that position and block people out effectively, which is why he's projected to go so much lower than Jordan despite similarly drool-worthy physical attributes. Unless he gets a guarantee in the top-10 I could easily see him staying another year.

I've also got basically the same gripes with Thabeet as I do with Jordan, he's still considered a project and unless we trade at least two of Wallace/Smith/Noc (or trade one of the other young guys) there just aren't enough minutes to go around up front.

I think the simple fact is that if we get a lottery pick this year, we're going to have to consider moving someone or moving the pick with someone, because even after Duhon and Khryapa walk this offseason, we're already at a point where there aren't enough minutes to go around, and adding in yet another top 10 pick (or, while we're at it, using the MLE again) will just keep making that fact worse. Either we try to bundle the pick with one of our guys (Gordon + pick in sign and trade?) or we move a couple of our guys outright. If we're still sitting around next year watching Thomas, Noah, Thabo, and a top 10 pick from the 2008 draft all try to divy up 25 minutes a game every time that everyone is healthy or the game is close, then we're really screwing up.

I would say it'd be easier/make more sense to take a perimeter player and deal one of those guys. We're not quite as deep at those spots so you really only have to move one guy to free up significant minutes, and it'd be a bit easier to get fairly decent value for Gordon or Kirk (more likely the former), or Nocioni as well, though he kind of splits his minutes between SF and PF. Up front even if you get rid of Smith and Noc you're probably stuck with Wallace unless you catch some GM at a weak moment, and even then you'll probably have to take a nasty contract back (though you may be able cut that guy or just leave him in-active). He's unfortunately going to play around 30 minutes a game as long as he's here, which would leave 66 minutes a game for Noah, Tyrus, Gray and any new guy to split. Even if you assume Gray maxes out at 6 a game that's only 20 a piece, and it'd probably be more like 25-25-10 or 30-20-10. The only guy I'd do that for is Beasley (he's probably a better SF but should be able to play the 4 next to Deng), and since he's a 30+ MPG guy that'd still crowd things an awful lot and might require dealing Tyrus or Noah (the former would make more sense there).

Edit- Actually, I guess if you unloaded Noc and Smith that's about 48 MPG that is off the roster (though those averages are a bit higher than reality due to injuries). Beasley could take the 10-15 MPG that Deng doesn't play at SF as well as around another 20 or so at PF, and it'd still leave around 10 more minutes for the other young bigs that you don't have now. You'd have to get pretty damn lucky to get him though, and he's really the only guy that can play the 3 and the 4 well early on.