RealGM

First off, apologies for bringing up someone who is A)Not in the draft until 2012, and B)A fringe player. Still, I'm a huge fan of his game and his NBA potential intrigues me. I wanted to get others' takes on him as well.


Weaknesses:
He doesn't have an NBA body (6'6, 235). Despite his height, a big part of his game is around the basket. I guess the most similar body types that have been successful are Charles Barkley and Jason Maxiell?
Too short to guard bigs, too slow to guard SFs?
He's not going to dominate you.

Strengths:
B-Ball IQ off the charts.
Lots of heart.
Versatile - Bangs down with the bigs, can hit the 3, has great ball handling skills.
3rd player in MSU history to get a triple double (Magic Johnson, Charlie Bell). Was 1 assist away from getting another in the 78-76 tournament loss to UCLA.
Averages as a Junior: 12.6p/8.6r/4.1a/1.8st/1.1bl/36.6%3pt

To be honest, I was surprised nbadraft.net gave him so much respect. They have him as the last pick of the 1st round of the 2012 draft. Personally, I think late first round would be perfect for him, since my prediction for his career is dependent on where he goes. If he latches on with a contender, his value will immediately show as someone who can enhance the talents of everyone around him and make the team better and he can become a niche player with a long NBA career.. If he ends up with a lousy team, he doesn't have the individual skill to shine and will probably be out of the league in a couple years. I really hope the best for him.

What's your view on him?

the obvious comparison would be to boris diaw, but one of boris' greatest attributes is being a matchup problem for PFs. he can either take the smaller ones down into the post or take the slower ones off the dribble. i dont think draymond is big enough to play PF. he'll have to lose some weight and gain some lateral quickness somehow to play the SF full-time. there he should be a valuable role player as a ball mover, 2ndary ball-handler and playmaker.

Really like his skill set and the way he plays the game but he's just too short. If he was 6'8/6'9 he'd be a first round pick. He should get picked up in the 2nd round just because of how skilled he is. But unless he loses a bunch of weight and learns to play SF I don't think he'll make it. But who knows he could turn out to be a Chuck Hayes like player, i'm not saying he's a similar player to Hayes just that he's a got a similar body and a great work ethic. So he could carve himself out a role in the NBA.

Not that it's of any consequence, but I think that the scorers gave him the triple-double.

Boris Diaw in Jason Maxiell's body. He will get paid handsomely in Europe.

He is cool and attractive