Jabari Parker will be the best player in the 2014 Draft

[Agent Blue]

His versatility, leadership, and effort will make him the top prospect and best player in the 2014 NBA Draft. Nothing against Wiggins and Randle, as I'm sure they will be superstars and would love to have them on my team.

Parker is the guy who has the most polished game, the most versatile game, the highest basketball IQ of any of the projected top 5 players. Think about how valuable that combination is. He doesn't have the athleticism and speed like Andrew Wiggins has, but he is most likely to lead a franchise and most likely to make everyone around him better. And I hate to do this, because I like Wiggins, but he does have a reputation of not giving his best effort on the court while Parker has been pegged as the guy who refuses to lose. Parker has good small forward size, can shoot, and a post up game. And I know the knock on him has been his body, which gives him lazy comparisons to Carmelo, but a lot of that was due to with his foot injury. With NBA and College Strength and Conditioning programs, he'll bulk up and be just fine.

Parker will be a perennial all-star and the best player in this upcoming draft.

[LloydFree]

I love when fans decide they can judge the Leadership and intangible qualities of players in HS. Someday someone will have to show me how to recognize that, from my iPad screen.

[Kabookalu]

I think it's a misinterpretation that Wiggins doesn't give his best effort on the court in the sense that he's dogging it. He's just so damn athletic that sometimes it's overkill, so he doesn't always exert 100% of his energy all the time cause he doesn't need to.

[brackdan70]

May very will be...will see how next year goes for these players in College. At this point I'd take Wiggins #1 still.

[fredericklove]

He arguably has the best ball skills in this class, it's incredibly polished so you can only imagine what more moves he'll add once he's in the NBA. However, he really needs to improve his inside/outside game. Since he doesn't attack the lane explosively, sure ya'll seen it on youtube clips against high school defense but he focuses too heavily on his outside game. He has an okay post up game, but he doesn't use it too often since he's overconfident in his face-up ball skills. In high school he posted up quite abit due to his superior size/strength, but once he played in U17, he was put at PF, and shown to be equal size or slightly bigger than his opponents, but he didn't take advantage like he rarely posted up on the block, rather settling heavily on catch and shoot from pick&pop, or just two steps dribble pull up and step back. These are fine, and he's still learning, but that's the thing I've noticed from watching his game in every level, he bases his game too much on the perimeter.

Also knowing he doesn't try to dominate his man by athleticism, rather by ball skills, but sometimes he forgets that he has the size and strength. W/ those two physical attributes, a post up game will make him dominate the game much easier, if you look at some of the best wings like Lebron, Melo and Pierce, they all have inside/outside game. To be best player in this class, Parker will definitely need to add strong post moves in order to maximize his offensive repertoire.

[Durins Baynes]

It's certainly ridiculous that draftexpress has him at #7. This is not Harrison Barnes or Shabazz. Those guys did not have offensive games close to as developed as Jabari Parker. He's the closest to Melo I've seen from a prospect. I'll be amazed if he isn't at least an all-star in the NBA.

[nicnac215]

People say Jabari isn't athletic enough, but if you look at highlights from his junior year he is really athletic, just not as bouncy and wiggins

[Mik317]

My biggest fear with Parker is his athleticism.

My team drafted Evan Turner. A guy who has a lot of skill and such but because he is a mediocre athlete he is unable to use said skill the way he wants to.

Basically is Parker athletic and dynamic enough to be the focal point? There are very few unathletic superstars anymore. Dirk isn't LeBron or Blake but dude is a freak because he is 7'0 and can shoot from everywhere so that kinda cancels out any potential issues. With Parker one wonders what his ceiling is. Carmelo may be a bit chunky but dude is a pretty damn great athlete and some still wonder if he is a true superstar. Plus is Parker that kind of scorer?.

I also always wonder about dudes with the "he can do it all, point forward, lololol" stuff. That to me reads like he doesn't do anythign great.

I haven;t seen dude play so I will hold off any true critique but I do wonder sometimes. I joke about all the draft buzzwords like jump outta the gym ability and such but just looking at the past few drafts dudes with the "he is an average athlete" don't seem to pan out.

[Durins Baynes]

Again, Turner is nothing like Parker. Here are some comments on Turner's draft profile prior to being selected:
http://www.nbadraft.net/players/evan-turner

A better scorer than shooter, while Turner shot 44% from 3 as a sophomore it was on a low volume of shots ... Should look to improve his catch and shoot ability and expand his range and consistency from the perimeter ... His effectiveness going towards the basket with the ball probably keeps him from polishing his outside game, but with such efficiency driving it's hard to ask him to shoot more from the perimeter ...

In contrast, Jabari Parker is an incredible shooter, as well as an incredible scorer. He's also bigger and stronger than Evans.

Here's a clip of Jabari Parker playing the Oak Hill game (the biggest HS game of the year). He hits from everywhere effortlessly, long range and close. No two shots are the same. Turner could never shoot. That's a huge difference.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT-pZcBj-gY[/youtube]

[Mik317]

Cool that will obviously help.

i wasn't directly comparing the two. But I'm just saying I wonder if Jabari's precieved lack of elite athleticism will prevent him from doing great. Turner can't shoot is obviously an issue but his lack of athleticism also prevents him from doing the things he is good at consistantly too. Adding a jumper would help but he will never be elite. Which is what my pause is with Parker.

Let it be known, I would take him in a heartbeat as unlike Turner dude will probably beast from day 1.

[LloydFree]

Jabari Parker may very well turn out to be the best player in this draft. But if Parker is the best player in this draft, this draft won't be remembered as the great draft that many are anticipating. It would probably mean Wiggins, Randle, Embiid and Smart didn't develope any further.

Parker is the safest bet in the draft to be a solid contributer (especially early in his career) because he can shoot with range. But I doubt he will be the best player from this draft, after 2 or 3 seasons. Parker probably has the highest 'floor of the potential draftees, but he doesn't have close to the highest ceiling.

[Colbinii]

Parker is most definitely the most well rounded prospect in the draft. That however doesn't mean he has the most potential (Think Carmelo vs Lebron). Melo was in most eyes, a better player at the time, just putting up a fantastic Freshman year leading his team to the title. Lebron on the other hand had MJ potential. That is the same situation here. Wiggins has more potential due to his athleticism, and if you are drafting #1, you are picking potential. Parker could go anywhere from 2-5 imo, depending on if teams think Exum and Smart have more potential.

[fredericklove]

Cool that will obviously help.

i wasn't directly comparing the two. But I'm just saying I wonder if Jabari's precieved lack of elite athleticism will prevent him from doing great. Turner can't shoot is obviously an issue but his lack of athleticism also prevents him from doing the things he is good at consistantly too. Adding a jumper would help but he will never be elite. Which is what my pause is with Parker.

Let it be known, I would take him in a heartbeat as unlike Turner dude will probably beast from day 1.

I truly don't think lack of elite athleticism is a roadblock especially to those who have highly advanced ball skills plus the ability to shoot. Most guys w/ elite athleticism and ball skills but lacking that jump shot are just as easily preventing them from doing that much better. Think of all the past elite wings that aren't elite level athlete, a lot of them have great shooting touch to back them up. Turner as mentioned, is only a jump shot away from being a high level player, Brandon Roy who lacks elite athleticism but has the range to accommodate his ball skills is good enough to make him a star. James Harden doesn't have elite athleticism but the guy has other elite skills. So many elite star players going into the league dominate w/ athleticism, but as years go on, they work hard to improve their shots and shift their focus onto their ball skills than relying heavily on their athleticism. So ball skills and shooting, plus Jabari got ideal size/strength and bbiq, he has all of that so I don't think lacking that one "elite" level athletic component will make it a roadblock.

[trainwreckog]

should be a very good leader... but not sure if he has an "alpha" personality... also not sure if that is necessary, but it could be.

however, he is the most nba-ready right now.. and in the end, he could be the best from this class, but only if wiggins is at least a minor bust.

[Knighthonor]

when do the college games start? I am ready for some games...and the debates that come with them.

[LloydFree]

when do the college games start? I am ready for some games...and the debates that come with them.

Not sure of the official start of season, but there is a good one early:
Kansas at Duke, November 12th.

[Prospect Dong]

Think of all the past elite wings that aren't elite level athlete, a lot of them have great shooting touch to back them up. -

OJ Mayo is a pretty good counterexample. Obviously, with the benefit of hindsight he didn't have the ball-handling skills necessary to dominate, but at the time it was thought that his great shooting was more than enough to make up for his average athleticism.

I think it's hard to be a top-tier slasher without a really blazing first step.

[TheGoodDoctor]

Wouldn't surprise me.

I think he is the safest pick imo to do well in the NBA...I think each guy in the top 3 has a unique niche that will be proven right or wrong this year in college. As I see it (just my 2c):

Jabari Parker - Most Likely to Reach Potential
Julius Randle - Showing the Most Potential
Andrew Wiggins - HAS the Most Potential

If I'm a GM picking today I may lean towards Randle because his likelihood of reaching his potential seems greater than Wiggins even if his potential isn't as high (but not that much off of him really anyways) and his potential is just simply higher than Jabari's.

[ManualRam]

Think of all the past elite wings that aren't elite level athlete, a lot of them have great shooting touch to back them up. -

OJ Mayo is a pretty good counterexample. Obviously, with the benefit of hindsight he didn't have the ball-handling skills necessary to dominate, but at the time it was thought that his great shooting was more than enough to make up for his average athleticism.

I think it's hard to be a top-tier slasher without a really blazing first step.

mayo had more working against him than just a lack of a blazing first step. he also didn't have great size and his bball iq was suspect.

[thardawayfan]

Again, Turner is nothing like Parker. Here are some comments on Turner's draft profile prior to being selected:
http://www.nbadraft.net/players/evan-turner

A better scorer than shooter, while Turner shot 44% from 3 as a sophomore it was on a low volume of shots ... Should look to improve his catch and shoot ability and expand his range and consistency from the perimeter ... His effectiveness going towards the basket with the ball probably keeps him from polishing his outside game, but with such efficiency driving it's hard to ask him to shoot more from the perimeter ...

In contrast, Jabari Parker is an incredible shooter, as well as an incredible scorer. He's also bigger and stronger than Evans.

Here's a clip of Jabari Parker playing the Oak Hill game (the biggest HS game of the year). He hits from everywhere effortlessly, long range and close. No two shots are the same. Turner could never shoot. That's a huge difference.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT-pZcBj-gY[/youtube]

Here is what was said about Adam Morrison during a pre-draft workout, a guy who was certainly less athletic than Jabari Parker, but whose career (or lack there of) should be a warning for anyone who thinks that a player with less than great athleticism will somehow become a transcendant player because of his skill level and leadership qualities:

"Morrison started most of the competitive 1 on 1 possessions from behind the college 3-point line, and used an incredibly wide array of offensive moves to put the ball in the basket nearly every time. His ball-handling skills are phenomenal and he possesses a wonderful arsenal of shot-fakes, jab-steps, hesitation moves, change of speeds and other crafty moves that made him the toughest player to defend in college basketball throughout his career. He mixed up his mid-range game with plenty of slashing, taking the ball strong to the rim and finishing with either a dunk, or a pretty floater or finger roll. When Trim would deny him the angle to the basket, Morrison would calmly and quickly pull-up off the dribble for an incredibly difficult fadeaway shot off one foot. The type of crazy floaters from 14 feet out on the baseline, one handed step-throughs off one foot from 18 feet and other ludicrous moves are things that would get most NBA players benched immediately, but these are things that Morrison practices everyday until he’s reached perfection and made it an art form. Those are shots he’s made throughout his career and he knows exactly what he’s doing when he’s taking and making them. His footwork and touch are off the charts and he can release the ball with consistency from a half dozen or more different release points, which again makes him a nightmare to defend."

From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com#ixzz2hSIjW5wd
http://www.draftexpress.com