Dalek wrote:Kevin Willis wrote:Is Kobe Bufkin as good a prospect as Jett?
I went into the draft watching Howard film but then kept noticing their off guard Bufkin takeover games. Different roles, but I think the biggest difference is the extra year at Michigan.
Bufkin had a minor role last year until he blew up this season. But you do notice when Howard is out Bufkin steps up even more and they typically win. I really don't see any flaws with Bufkin. He's a really good player and might be capable as a Jordan Poole type.
I just think Howard is basically a 6'8 two guard with all the skills you need, except a little seasoning. I'd draft him first without question.
Bufkin high floor, lower ceiling. He was really young last year as a freshman, so struggling wasn't surprising. As you say, well rounded game without an obvious flaw, though he might not have a thing he does at a high enough level, and slightly below average size for an NBA 2 guard.
If Jett gets stronger (so he can finish inside) and learns basic defensive fundamentals (which 19 years old often don't have) then yeah he could be a nice offensive player with his length, shooting and an okay bag, but I think there's a good chance he busts. He's much better than Caleb Houstan was offensively last year, but Bufkin is the same age and just seems like a guy who goes 35th and has a 10 year NBA career as a bench 2-guard.
On the other hand, I thought Stauskas would not only hit be a top 10 shooter from 3 in the entire league, but also able to run a pick and roll okay for a 2 guard since he started to do that nicely as a sophomore. The Big 10 perimeter players might just be bad.
With Poole and Wagner, you could see that they were NBA talents, since Poole could get separation and is very skilled and Wagner just did pretty much everything the way a boring 30 year old average NBA starting SF should, but as a sophomore, and had fairly special length and footwork (should have won conference DPOY but didn't block shots and voting for that trophy is bad), just didn't have the confidence or strength to just take over games, and was also getting used to playing non-European basketball.
I like how Bufkin reads the game, and he can shoot and is fairly athletic and works hard on D. I think he's better than the guys we've looked at as backup 2 guards lately (Armoni Brooks, Ron Harper Jr, David Johnson) but it's gonna be tough for him to get to good rotation player I think, unless he really turns into a deadeye shooter.