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What do you guys think of Isiah Austin as a early-mid 2nd rounder? Seems to be good value if taken there. He has tremendous upside, often compared to a one eyed version of Anthony Davis (has a glass eye from a baseball injury). 7'1" with a 9' 3" reach and a 7'3"wingspan.

Despite his disability he has been able to succeed at basketball and carries with him a tremendous work ethic. I like his story and his potential. Watch scouting videos here: http://communitywebline.ca/torontoraptorsbasketball

idk about him having tremendous upside. he's painfully weak with one of the worst builds that a big man could have. he's got super skinny, long legs which means he has a very high center of gravity (affects agility, balance, ability to hold position). he also has hunched shoulders, which points to a narrow upper body.
he was billed as a shooter, but his shooting touch is overrated and i don't see how he could ever hold his position in the post. defensively, he doesn't move well laterally (again, high center of gravity), he'd get bodied in the post and knocked off balance.

maybe there's a chance he can become a stretch, like an austin daye type chance, but that's about it imo.

First Walker, now Austin, you seem to fall in love with terrible basketball prospects, any reason why?

Not a fan. He'll get murdered in the post on both ends, his shot isn't that great and he isn't quick enough to properly utilize that length.

Nolan wrote:Not a fan. He'll get murdered in the post on both ends, his shot isn't that great and he isn't quick enough to properly utilize that length.

like at all. dude moves like he's a good 30lbs heavier than he is.

Fischella wrote:First Walker, now Austin, you seem to fall in love with terrible basketball prospects, any reason why?

Walker I am very high on and I'd take him in the first round. Austin I'm talking g about taking a flyer on with a 2nd round pick, hardly falling in love with the guy. Lol. For a 2nd round pick and at a position of extrem importance in the NBA, selecting a guy with his potential late in the draft isn't a bad idea.

Fischella wrote:First Walker, now Austin, you seem to fall in love with terrible basketball prospects, any reason why?

No need to be rude. Neither are terrible prospects. Austin would be a lottery pick if he put weight on his bones last summer. He slipped down people's boards after some scouts said he was lazy for not putting on any weight on the off-season. His eye-issue is the only other big problem.

Walker was projected to be as dominant as Wiggins before the season started. Problem is, he wasn't eligible till the second semester. He's been given really few minutes because Florida doesn't want to lose. He also needs to gain weight, learn the system and he needs to play more basketball. He could still end up being a beast next year.

So relax and stop being so mean.

doordoor123 wrote:

Fischella wrote:First Walker, now Austin, you seem to fall in love with terrible basketball prospects, any reason why?

No need to be rude. Neither are terrible prospects. Austin would be a lottery pick if he put weight on his bones last summer. He slipped down people's boards after some scouts said he was lazy for not putting on any weight on the off-season. His eye-issue is the only other big problem.

Walker was projected to be as dominant as Wiggins before the season started. Problem is, he wasn't eligible till the second semester. He's been given really few minutes because Florida doesn't want to lose. He also needs to gain weight, learn the system and he needs to play more basketball. He could still end up being a beast next year.

So relax and stop being so mean.

austin would've had to do more than just put on weight. and no, scouts weren't calling him lazy for not putting on weight. he couldn't because he was recovering from injury. given his sickly frame, you have to wonder how much weight he can actually put on and if he does how it would effect his mobility as he's not the most agile player to begin with. what scouts are saying about austin is that he's extremely soft with a terrible frame. he was once considered a possible stretch, but even that aspect of his game looks overrated. dx still had him in the lotto to mid first during the season, but as the season wore on and he continued his mediocre play, he started to slide...all the way to the 2nd. that had nothing to do with him being lazy. it had more to do with him not showing much improvement and reinforcing his rep as a very soft player.

and no, walker was not projected to be as dominant as wiggins. anybody who knew anything about his game knew he was extremely raw and physically weak, not ready to make a major contribution at the college level.

ManualRam wrote:

doordoor123 wrote:

Fischella wrote:First Walker, now Austin, you seem to fall in love with terrible basketball prospects, any reason why?

No need to be rude. Neither are terrible prospects. Austin would be a lottery pick if he put weight on his bones last summer. He slipped down people's boards after some scouts said he was lazy for not putting on any weight on the off-season. His eye-issue is the only other big problem.

Walker was projected to be as dominant as Wiggins before the season started. Problem is, he wasn't eligible till the second semester. He's been given really few minutes because Florida doesn't want to lose. He also needs to gain weight, learn the system and he needs to play more basketball. He could still end up being a beast next year.

So relax and stop being so mean.

austin would've had to do more than just put on weight. and no, scouts weren't calling him lazy for not putting on weight. he couldn't because he was recovering from injury. given his sickly frame, you have to wonder how much weight he can actually put on and if he does how it would effect his mobility as he's not the most agile player to begin with. what scouts are saying about austin is that he's extremely soft with a terrible frame. he was once considered a possible stretch, but even that aspect of his game looks overrated. dx still had him in the lotto to mid first during the season, but as the season wore on and he continued his mediocre play, he started to slide...all the way to the 2nd. that had nothing to do with him being lazy. it had more to do with him not showing much improvement and reinforcing his rep as a very soft player.

and no, walker was not projected to be as dominant as wiggins. anybody who knew anything about his game knew he was extremely raw and physically weak, not ready to make a major contribution at the college level.

You do realize that you are being highly critical about players that are projected to go in the second round right? If they didn't have flaws they would be lottery picks. Of course they are raw and of course there are concerns. But you need to look past the flaws and see what could be when drafting that late. Most second rounders don't stick around In the nba and it would be pointless to draft a low upside senior with a little more skill and experience that can produce a bit now but won't give you anything more than a min contract vet signing.

It's not that he has flaws, we're just having a hard time finding what he does well. You say he has so much potential, but he's both extremely weak, and not athletic, and really hasn't shown any skill that is close to elite.

He blocks shots, that's about the only thing he has going for him, but he just seems way too exploitable on defense for it to matter. Slow, plodding feet, and 0 power to stand in the post with anyone.

That said, I'm going to draft him late in NBA 2k14 and develop him, but not every team can develop players like I can.

Dukenukem23 wrote:

ManualRam wrote:

doordoor123 wrote:No need to be rude. Neither are terrible prospects. Austin would be a lottery pick if he put weight on his bones last summer. He slipped down people's boards after some scouts said he was lazy for not putting on any weight on the off-season. His eye-issue is the only other big problem.

Walker was projected to be as dominant as Wiggins before the season started. Problem is, he wasn't eligible till the second semester. He's been given really few minutes because Florida doesn't want to lose. He also needs to gain weight, learn the system and he needs to play more basketball. He could still end up being a beast next year.

So relax and stop being so mean.

austin would've had to do more than just put on weight. and no, scouts weren't calling him lazy for not putting on weight. he couldn't because he was recovering from injury. given his sickly frame, you have to wonder how much weight he can actually put on and if he does how it would effect his mobility as he's not the most agile player to begin with. what scouts are saying about austin is that he's extremely soft with a terrible frame. he was once considered a possible stretch, but even that aspect of his game looks overrated. dx still had him in the lotto to mid first during the season, but as the season wore on and he continued his mediocre play, he started to slide...all the way to the 2nd. that had nothing to do with him being lazy. it had more to do with him not showing much improvement and reinforcing his rep as a very soft player.

and no, walker was not projected to be as dominant as wiggins. anybody who knew anything about his game knew he was extremely raw and physically weak, not ready to make a major contribution at the college level.

You do realize that you are being highly critical about players that are projected to go in the second round right? If they didn't have flaws they would be lottery picks. Of course they are raw and of course there are concerns. But you need to look past the flaws and see what could be when drafting that late. Most second rounders don't stick around In the nba and it would be pointless to draft a low upside senior with a little more skill and experience that can produce a bit now but won't give you anything more than a min contract vet signing.

so what if they're 2nd rounders? they're not immune to criticism. those flaws that i see in austin are good enough reasons to not even want him in the 2nd round. the bulls have a 2nd rounder and i wouldn't even want them considering him because i think that some of his main weaknesses (lack of strength, bad frame) are insurmountable. because i think so lowly of him, imo, the likelihood of him ever becoming a valuable rotation player (not just playing out of necessity) is very slim. the only way i can see him making it is if he becomes a stretch. say, he becomes a better shooter, what happens when teams start to close out hard on him, is he capable of countering? i'd say no because he moves like he's running in sand. you could say that standstill shooters can make it in the league, but does austin project to be good enough defensively to justify only being a 7' standstill shooter? i'd say no, because he is slow laterally and will get manhandled in the paint. i simply don't see the upside in a player like him. i'd rather draft a player in the 2nd who i think has a better chance at eventually becoming a rotation player.

Him and Quincy Miller have similar strengths/weaknesses for his position. Isaiah is talented in the maybe 1/3 of physical tools that is length and crap in the remaining 2/3s or so that is athleticism+strength. So on the net his physical tools are not +value, which makes it hard to like him as a prospect.

I do think he has potential as a stretch big with feel for the game, Channing Frye style. Albeit as mentioned his shooting is overrated. In the 2nd round, why not?

I won't touch them even in the 2nd round, not if I'm running a pro basketball team.
Walker and Austin future is in China/dleague.
Not even worthy of a 2nd round pick.

Fischella wrote:I won't touch them even in the 2nd round, not if I'm running a pro basketball team.
Walker and Austin future is in China/dleague.
Not even worthy of a 2nd round pick.

Right now, both would probably play in the D-league. Austin might be at the end of the bench, but the two of them have high upside.

If Walker were to enter the draft only based on skill, I wouldn't draft him at all, but there is more to him than that. He has high upside.

Austin, right now, I would take him early second. But I'd push him back for his inabilities. Probably late second.

2 problems besides his narrow frame - poor shooting touch and he's regressed. He was a good rebounder as a freshman, and now he's a bad rebounder - granted he's playing on a good rebounding team. And he makes less than 50% of his 2's and less than 30% of his 3's. The shot isn't there for him to be a stretch 4. He and McAdoo are 2 PF's wildly overrated from that class that I wouldn't touch - in large part because they don't have shooting touch.