2012 NBA Draft Prospects

[Newz]

I hardly watched any of the tournament this year. It was too depressing knowing that we are likely going to pick 12-15th and have zero chance at any of those top guys, especially Davis. What a gem that guy will be in the pros. Total franchise changer ala Duncan level impact IMO.

I don't think he's going to be as good as Tim Duncan... as I rank Tim Duncan as one of the top 10 players to ever play the game.

But I do think he's going to be a legit "superstar", that's for sure.

[mattg]

I said it earlier this year, but Davis is a future HoFer without a doubt.

[DocHoliday]

Percy Allen ‏ @percyallen
Tony Wroten Jr. is leaving Washington and will enter the draft. #UWHuskies

Chad Ford ‏ @chadfordinsider
Weber State guard Damian Lillard declares for the NBA Draft. http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/sports/538 ... t.html.csp

[LUKE23]

Ford on draft ranges for guys that are in:

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft201 ... draft-list

Barnes: 3-10
Harkless: mid to late 1st
Henson: late lottery
Leonard: late lottery to mid 1st
Lillard: 8-14
Marshall: 8-14
Melo: mid to late 1st
Rivers: 10-20
Ross: late lottery to mid 1st
R. White: 15-30
Wroten, Jr: late lottery to early 2nd

[worthlessBucks]

Wroten is a lottery talent in any other year. No jumper, but he's great at going to the cup, distributing, and boarding for a guard. Whoever gets him in the tail end of the first round will be getting a steal at the spot. Cheers to the Bucks for amassing first round draft picks. Oh wait.

[LUKE23]

Wroten is horribly inefficient and turnover prone, but he's big and athletic, and if he improves his jumper, could be a steal. He was .488 TS and only 1.0 A/TO this year though, although only a frosh.

[JayMKE]

I hardly watched any of the tournament this year. It was too depressing knowing that we are likely going to pick 12-15th and have zero chance at any of those top guys, especially Davis. What a gem that guy will be in the pros. Total franchise changer ala Duncan level impact IMO.

get that 8th seed baby!

[DanoMac]

Wroten has top tier talent with pretty bad IQ. If he gets under the right coach, he can be something extremely special. Think a Rondo-type steal.

EDIT: And in no way am I comparing his game to Rondo's. He obviously hasn't shown anything close to what Wall did in college, but based on his skill set, Wall is really the only comparison.

[RiotPunch]

I think Wroten Jr. goes Top-20. Got a lot of John Wall in him with better passing ability.

[JayMKE]

I haven't seen actually seen Wroten play but generally I'd stay away from a guard that can't shoot, especially on this team. Guy like that need to be ball dominant to be effective.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77KHufejD1Y

watched this highlight video of him. Reminds me of Tyreke Evans with more finesse but less power. Not seeing John Wall.

Getting that type of player at 15 wouldn't be worst thing in the world however.

[Rockmaninoff]

I haven't seen actually seen Wroten play but generally I'd stay away from a guard that can't shoot, especially on this team. Guy like that need to be ball dominant to be effective.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77KHufejD1Y

watched this highlight video of him. Reminds me of Tyreke Evans with more finesse but less power. Not seeing John Wall.

Getting that type of player at 15 wouldn't be worst thing in the world however.

Evans is exactly who I would compare Wroton to statistically. Poor man's Evans, though. Wroton is easily a 1st round pick. I could see him go top 20 if a team liked him enough.

[Ayt]

I hardly watched any of the tournament this year. It was too depressing knowing that we are likely going to pick 12-15th and have zero chance at any of those top guys, especially Davis. What a gem that guy will be in the pros. Total franchise changer ala Duncan level impact IMO.

I would bet a large sum of money that he is not a Duncan level player (it sounds absurd to even make that argument).

People can make different arguments as to why, but one huge reason is that Duncan is simply bigger. I watched him toss around Shaq in the playoffs as a 22 year old. I've never seen a player use subtle hip checks and forearms to move Shaq around like Duncan did back then. Duncan has always been C sized. According to DX, he entered the league 6'11" barefoot, 249. Davis' frame is a big factor in determining the type of player he can be in the NBA. If he's a PF (and I think he is), it really changes his impact. He's not going to be able to have the same impact defensively guarding the perimeter against modern PFs in the NBA, and his post game offensively is primitive.

Davis couldn't even get off a decent shot against Withey, and that guy isn't even a very good NBA prospect. I'm not trying to bash the guy, but he could average only 8-10 points offensively playing 30+ minutes a night as a rookie in the NBA.

[Whiteman]

Davis might have some trouble scoring in isolations early in his career, but he can get his points in transition, off rebounds, and from pick 'n pop/pick 'n roll situations. If he gets big minutes, I doubt he'll score less than he did this season (unless he ends up on the Wizards maybe).

I agree that he looks like a PF - both physically and skill-wise. Much more Garnett than Duncan.

Defensively, he probably won't end up patrolling the paint like Howard or Bogut, but there's still plenty of opportunity to get a lot of weakside blocks, Ibaka-style. With his hands, agility and anticipation, he can still have a huge impact on D.

[steger_3434]

I think Davis will be a lot more like Tyson Chandler than Tim Duncan.

[paulpressey25]

I would bet a large sum of money that he is not a Duncan level player (it sounds absurd to even make that argument).

He might be a "different" player stylistically, but I think when his career is all done, he'll be in that same league. I understand others may disagree.

I just go back to watching some of those games this year where he completely dominated everything that was taking place on that court. The defensive anticipation was tremendous and he looked like a guy who had the skill set to develop a really shifty and effective post game ala McHale.

I think Duncan stayed all four years, so it is harder in this era to compare what a frosh big would do since you don't have the benefit of seeing a more finished product. Remember that Duncan averaged 9/9 as a frosh with 4 blocks a game. The next three years are when he broke out as a scorer.