Official 2013 Draft Thread - Part III

[The Consiglieri]

My top 10 & bottom 10...

TOP TEN
1. Noel ... Uber athletic big in Tyson Chandler/Joakim Noah mold. Raw offensively but excellent passer.
2. Porter ... do it all SF. Does nothing poorly. May have career similar to Tayshaun Prince.
3. Oladipo ... better slasher than McLemore. Unmatched athlete. Should be deluxe role player at worse
4. Burke ... A ton of heart & smarts in small package. Doesn't have top line athleticism but will be solid.
5. Olynyk ... Highly skilled big that can do it all offensively. Defense & rebounding are concerns.
6. McCollum ... very capable combo guard. Best shot creator in draft. May not be an ideal point though.
7. Bennett ... May be the best phyiscal talent. I question his maturity. Doesn't give effort defensively.
8. Len ... Has the best frame of any of the pro prospects at C. Still raw & developing slowly.
9. McLemore ... overhyped due to athleticism, shooting ability. No dribble creation skills whatsoever.
10. Saric ... Ultra skilled 6-10 prospect who will likely transition to PF. May not come overseas right away.

BOTTOM TEN
1. Carter-Williams ... broken jumper, poor decision maker, not very athletic
2. Plumlee ... Garbage early in his career. Not a ton of skill. Didn't play well until he got his grown man body
3. Mitchell ... fell flat on his face after impressive frosh season. Noting short of terrible this year.
4. Goodwin ... broken jumper & poor decision maker... but better athlete than Carter-Williams
5. Muhammad ... living off HS rep. Showed that the college scouts get it wrong too.
6. Leslie ... still hasn't developed perimeter game to satisfactory point after 4 yrs of college
7. Young ... combo guard with once again, questionable shot making & decision making
8. Pressey ... speedy PG with broken jumper. Will be lucky to stick
9. Crabbe ... soft perimeter shooting guard that shies away from contact. Poor mans Klay Thompson
10. Larkin ... tiny PG that may be physically overmatched at NBA level. Not sure about him yet.

Agree on your bottom 10 other than Mitchell and Muhammad. I think Mitchell represents massive potential. I love buying low on formerly hot properties, and the situation at North Texas was anything but ideal last year. Reminded me quite a bit of what happened with Muhammad and with Drummond, playing in really volatile, unstable environments. I just passed by the school in March as my girlfriend's family has lived their since '89. I think he's worth looking at in round if he falls that far because he has an NBA skill set and athleticism even if he prat falled this past season. I like Muhammad too as I think he's one of the few guys that can get the job done consistently at the NBA level amongst the prospects, I understand that you think he's a bit of a fraud though.

[DCZards]

Consig, your top draft board pretty much mirrors mine, except that I’d put both Len and Muhammad ahead of Burke and Oladipo if I’m drafting for the Zards.

While the Zards could certainly use a combo guard and someone (other than Wall) who can create for his teammates and himself, I just don’t see Burke filling that role. I see Burke as strictly a PG (given his size and strength) and not someone who can log a lot of minutes playing next to Wall.

VO is a tremendous defender and athlete, but he’s just a so-so shooter (at least at this point) and at his size (which I expect to be 6-5 or less) I don’t see Oladipo playing anywhere other than SG where Beal will be getting the lion’s share of the minutes.

Len has an unreal upside, imo, mostly because of his size and athleticism. I would find it hard to pass over that potential for a Burke or Oladipo, particularly given the value of a shotblocking, glass-eating big man in today’s NBA.

I think a lot of people on this board are sleeping on Muhammad. As you point out, he has a “high end NBA skill,” and that’s his ability to score in a variety of ways. Muhammad’s got a nice shooting touch from the perimeter and he’s very good at using his toughness and strength to score in the paint. And, according to all reports, he plays hard ALL the time. Does Muhammad have shortcomings (passing, ballhandling, shooting efficiency), of course. But I think he can improve in those areas. It would be a mistake to look at him as a finished product after one year of college ball.