2012 NBA Draft Prospects

[Baddy Chuck]

I'm having a lot of problems ranking my top 12 right now.

Not where I think they'll be drafted, but how I'd rank them.

1. Davis
2. Kidd-Gilchrist
3. Beal
4. Robinson
5. Barnes
6. Lamb
7. Drummond
8. Marshall

Trade Down (I don't want any of these three really but feel they hold value to other teams)
9. Rivers
10. Sullinger
11. Jones III

12. Harkless

[mattg]

I think losing weight made Sullinger worse. It's not like the pounds he dropped gave him quicker feet or anything, and without the extra girth he struggled more in the post because he couldn't throw his weight around the same way and ha more difficulty sealing guys off.

[LUKE23]

I actually have the same top 7 as you do. After that is where I'm having issues. I'm not a Marshall guy. My 8-12 are probably Rivers, Ross, T. Jones, Sullinger, Lillard, although there are others that are right there.

[Baddy Chuck]

I actually have the same top 7 as you do. After that is where I'm having issues. I'm not a Marshall guy. My 8-12 are probably Rivers, Ross, T. Jones, Sullinger, Lillard, although there are others that are right there.

Ross I don't hate, I just don't see a lot of potential there. He seems like a smaller Dorell Wright to me. Rivers and Sullinger I don't want anything to do with. Jones is also someone I honestly don't want anything to do with and don't think he would have trade value to other teams like the previous two. Lillard I'm not sure about. My gut feeling says he'll be an inefficient bench player like Foye.

[mattg]

Davis
Mkg
Beal
Robinson
Rivers
Barnes

Then I have a group of guys who are interchangeable

Ross
Lamb
Leonard
PJ3
Drummond

[xTitan]

Sullinger = Dujuan Blair.....bigs will own him, average bigs at that.

[Rockmaninoff]

Sullinger = Dujuan Blair.....bigs will own him, average bigs at that.

DeJuan Blair is still a starter on one of the best teams in the NBA, or did I miss something?

That is to say that Sullinger can be the same thing. He's at least a guy that has a high probability of playing effective NBA minutes. I don't see a lot of bust potential. In my mind, at worst he's Hansborough. If Sullinger gets in phenomenal shape while keeping his wide base, and if he develops that midrange game, he's more than that.

I don't think he'll be a great post up player, but he'll be effective facing up and rebounding.

[xTitan]

Sullinger = Dujuan Blair.....bigs will own him, average bigs at that.

DeJuan Blair is still a starter on one of the best teams in the NBA, or did I miss something?

You would like Dujuan Blair on your team starting in the pivot?

[Rockmaninoff]

Sullinger = Dujuan Blair.....bigs will own him, average bigs at that.

DeJuan Blair is still a starter on one of the best teams in the NBA, or did I miss something?

You would like Dujuan Blair on your team starting in the pivot?

I would like 8 or 9 guys that are above average at what they do best, like what the Spurs have. I'd rather draft players that can contribute positively at some point, the sooner the better.

[xTitan]

Personally I don't want Blair or sullinger...short, large, unathletic bigs just don't do it for me....it is laughable to compare him to Kevin Love, as it appears some have done.

[Ayt]

I think people, especially at this time, underestimate the enormous difference in the physicality of the game on the NCAA level compared to the NBA. I think many of us would agree that NBA refs tend to let too much contact go for most players (except stars), but the jump from the NCAA to the NBA is massive.

My main issue with Davis is his physique. He is unquestionably gifted when it comes to his basketball IQ on both ends. His defensive instincts are the best I've seen since Duncan. Still, he's a PF prospect who may not be able to maintain his athletic edge (which is very important to his game) above 240 or so. If he's stuck at around that weight, he could very well not be a dominant one on one defender, and his offensive post game could be severely limited. He may be stuck as a face up PF, which is okay, but those types of players have a lower TS% because they take more long range shots and they don't get to the line as much.

My main point is that people really underestimate the athletic jump from the NCAA to the NBA and the impact it can have on how a player plays. Davis had a very hard time getting off good shots one on one in the post against Withey. He is going to struggle immensely against NBA level post players, and it isn't guaranteed, despite his skills, that he'll develop a counter to that beyond simply being a mid-range shooter.

[mattg]

Honestly, it sounds like you haven't seen enough of Davis and are putting too much stock into 1 game.

[Bernman]

Personally I don't want Blair or sullinger...short, large, unathletic bigs just don't do it for me....it is laughable to compare him to Kevin Love, as it appears some have done.

Nobody here said he'd be as good as Love I don't think. They simply said they share several similarities, which in fact they do. And I said he's closer to Love/Barkley than Gooden/May. The latter are unfair comparisons as proven by statistics, unlike JayMKE said.

Sullinger ts%'es: 59.1, 59.1
Gooden ts%'es: 49.2, 55.2
May ts%'es: 48.7, 51.1

May and Sullinger had similar rebounding percentages (statsheet separates offense and defense), Gooden's wasn't even close to theirs.

Height-wise, Sullinger measured an inch and a half taller than May in shoes.

And the biggest reason why Gooden sucks is his help defense. You can't find a interior player in the NBA who plays as poor of help defense as he.

Sullinger was statistically a poor man's Love in college, a notch below in just about every important category, but his official height/reach measurements were a notch above Love's. That should help him in the projectibility department.

[MikeIsGood]

Leonard and Burke both going pro, also.

[VooDoo7]

With the right coaching and maturing, I think Perry Jones could be the steal of the draft if he's taken outside the top 8-10.