Officlal Prospect thread

[Foye]

After the Gophers game, I'm off the Evan Turner bandwagon. Now I just want to hit him in the head with a blunt object.

You'll regret it if we pick 2nd in the upcoming nba draft and go for another horrible season just to miss out on Harrison Barnes.

[Casperkid23]

Favors is legit. He's been playing better than Cousins as of late.

Post-Conference, Pre-NCAA Tourney Big Board
Tier 1
1. Evan Turner
2. John Wall

Tier 2
3. Greg Monroe
4. Derrick Favors
5. DeMarcus Cousins
6. Cole Aldrich

Tier 3
7. Wesley Johnson
8. Hassan Whiteside
9. Xavier Henry
10. Jan Vesely
11. Al-Farouq Aminu
12. Donatas Motiejunas
13. Ed Davis

Tier 4
14. James Anderson
15. Paul George
16. Ekpe Udoh
17. Darington Hobson
18. Jeff Taylor
19. Patrick Patterson
20. Larry Sanders
21. Luke Babbitt
22. Devin Ebanks
23. Kemba Walker
24. Jarvis Varnado
25. Damion James

Tier 5
26. Quincy Pondexter
27. Stanley Robinson
28. Gordon Hayward
29. Solomon Alabi

Tier 6
30. Jerome Jordan
31. Elliot Williams

I like the uniqueness of your board, and I can understand your order for almost every pick.

Nice.

[horaceworthy]

Greg Monroe making the big jump. I love his game, just shocked he's that high. I can't argue too much with it, but I'd probably prefer him in the 5-8 range.

It's a big jump in comparison to where the various draftnik sites have him, I guess, but I've had him there for about a month. He looks better conditioned than he did last year, and I think he's put some of the athleticism/motor concerns mostly to rest. Favors is nipping at his heels, though.

The back-to-back games against 'Cuse and 'Quette were extremely impressive. Two completely different teams and styles of play (Syracuse has a big, physical frontcourt, while the Warriors rely on quickness and don't start a player taller than 6'6"), but he dominated both of them, and not just by doing the same thing in both. I also think his defense can get underrated at times. Heady guy with quick hands that moves his feet well. Not a dominant shot blocker, but he's done a good job closing off the paint.

I like the uniqueness of your board, and I can understand your order for almost every pick.

Nice.

Thanks. This year seems more funky than most, I think it'll end up being a very eye-of-the-beholder class. I tend to place more value than most on smart, skilled, unique players, which is why I like guys like Monroe and Hobson more than most.

The guy that I have the most trouble finding a place for is Babbitt. 6'9" guys with 50/40/90 potential are pretty rare, I just wonder who he'll guard and it's tough to see a shaggy haired west coast guy and not have the mind immediately drift Ammo.

[Casperkid23]

I like the uniqueness of your board, and I can understand your order for almost every pick.

Nice.

Thanks. This year seems more funky than most, I think it'll end up being a very eye-of-the-beholder class. I tend to place more value than most on smart, skilled, unique players, which is why I like guys like Monroe and Hobson more than most.

The guy that I have the most trouble finding a place for is Babbitt. 6'9" guys with 50/40/90 potential are pretty rare, I just wonder who he'll guard and it's tough to see a shaggy haired west coast guy and not have the mind immediately drift Ammo.

He's got no 'stache, so I can do it. Though then you have Jackson and Ridnour to think of...

I dig Monroe and Hobson, but not on the same level as you, though I understand why you like him.

Babbitt, if he declares, I like as a mid/late-first guy depending on how many guys come out, but like you said he's kind of stuck without a position to guard. He doesn't exactly play stellar defense in college, so I'm not hung up on that point as he's likely going to be an offensive role player who hopefully doesn't play awful when he's asked to guard PFs. Athleticism shouldn't affect his offensive game too much, nor his work on the boards, but it will affect how he deals with PFs (or occasionally SFs) in the NBA since he's not an extremely strong player either.

Quality Opponent Numbers per36mins for 12 games are 1.07 PPP (tops for SFs, second for bigs), 21.9ppg (19/43 on 3s), 9.2rpg, 1.7apg, .6spg, .7bpg, 2.0TO, and 2.3PFs in case anyone wants to know.

[horaceworthy]

I remember when Jackson recorded a 40" vertical at pre-draft camp and then all of the sudden Chad Ford was like "OMGZ, HE'S A MORE ATHLETIC WALLY Z!!!" Good times.

[jpatrick]

Talent wise I think Cousins is at worst the #2 pick in the draft but because of fears about attitude, work ethic, weight, anger managment, etc. alot of people, me included, think he's more likely to go in the 3-5 range. I don't think he's a great fit on this team but here's a pretty lengthy article that puts his past problems in a much better light.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=jn-cousins031610&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

[Sid the Squid]

Favors would be a great fit on your team if you can dump Jefferson for a wing .

[jpatrick]

Is Favors long enough that he can play some center, ala Dwight Howard? If we bring back Darko, could a Milicic, Love and Favors mix between the 4 and 5 work?

[john2jer]

Athleticly and defensively I think Favors has a lot better shot of playing center than Jefferson. I think his measurements will probably end up very similar to Jefferson's, except he'll be at least 15 times the athlete of Big Al.

[Krapinsky]

Is Favors long enough that he can play some center, ala Dwight Howard? If we bring back Darko, could a Milicic, Love and Favors mix between the 4 and 5 work?

Confused by this comparison. Play some center ala the most dominant center in the NBA? Probably not. Maybe like Al Horford though.

[jpatrick]

I meant in the sense that Howard was listed as a PF by the draft sites because of his height (was listed as 6'10" like Favors) but has played center pretty much fulltime since he came to Orlando because his incredible athletic ability has allowed him to overcome any height deficiencies he may have.

[Krapinsky]

I meant in the sense that Howard was listed as a PF by the draft sites because of his height (was listed as 6'10" like Favors) but has played center pretty much fulltime since he came to Orlando because his incredible athletic ability has allowed him to overcome any height deficiencies he may have.

You're memory is better than mine. I really have no idea. I'm not sure if Howard as grown since being drafted or what, but given the eye test Howard looks a lot taller and longer now than Favors. Using their DX draft measurements as a comparison Howard's standing reach was (at draft time) 2.5" greater, which is somewhat significant.

[cpfsf]

I'm hoping Vesely can fall to #17 thanks to the contract situation.

There are still some question marks about whether or not he’ll be able to come over to the NBA right away, due to the fact that he has a prohibitive buyout clause in his contract for this summer, which fluctuates depending on where he gets picked.

Is someone familiar with this clause? I read he's under contract until 2013 and Vesley already let it be known that he wants to play in the NBA. We could of course offer 500K, but I don't think that will do it. Does anyone know if his teammate Branislav Djekic will declare, so we can offer an additional 500k?

[jpatrick]

DX has tweeted that Whiteside has the worst off the court issues in this draft class. As they put it, "worse than Cousins even," and that he will not be eligible next year so coming back to school isn't an option. Any idea what these issues are? I know he's two years older than everyone else in his freshman class but didn't really think anything of it.

Here's the link. You're going to have to scroll down quite a bit to get to the couple on Whiteside:
http://twitter.com/DraftExpress

Edit: And now they've posted a review of his season - http://www.draftexpress.com/article/NCAA-Weekly-Performers-31710-3417/

[Jazzfan12]

Intelligence and work ethic seem to be the obvious issues. There could be more.

[Klomp]

There goes one prospect.......

(For the record, I don't think we were going to target Monroe, but him gone means one less player available at our last two 1st rounders)

[Worm Guts]

Don't believe it, at least not yet. If in 2 months, he's still saying he's going to stay, then their might be something to it.

[PeeDee]

Yeah, it could be the emotions of coming off a hard loss in the tourney. Didn't Melo say he was going back too?

[john2jer]

I really like Monroe. Obviously not at our pick, but if by some stupid slim chance he dropped, or we moved up, or whatever, sure... Of course it would mean moving Jefferson, but whatever. As Klomp mentioned, him staying in the draft just means our later picks are stronger.

But as Wormy said, I'll believe it 2 months from now, tough to believe right after an emotional loss. He's a potential top 7 pick, that's tough to turn down. Especially two years in a row.

[Danimals]

I want two top picks again this year. I want them used on two of Turner, Favors, Aminu, Johnson, or Aldrich- in that order.

Sessions, Ellington, Gomes, Hollins, Jefferson, Pekovic, CHA or UTH picks, and capspace should all be on the table one way or another. If we trade our capspace, I only want it traded for guys on the last year of their deal if at all possible.