2014 NBA Draft Prospects Thread #5 | Raps picking 20th

[m83588333]

I'm not sure that being better than Hands is enough justification to pick McGary.Ennis, McDanials, Payne, Payton, Porzingus, Grant, Inglis and some others are the players to compare value to. Also drafting a 6'10" widebody for C may not be enough with Stokes available second round.

[SkywalkerAC]

Honest question for the board because I'm conflicted on this:

Do Kyle Anderson's defensive issues become less pronounced if moved away from guarding guards exclusively and instead having him guard any position 1-4 on the opposition with the least dangerous mixture of assertiveness, speed, dribble penetration, height or bulk? He could probably get away against many of the non-super star SFs.

When we think of the position we often think of Lebron, Durant, Melo and perhaps even Johnson after the Raps playoff run but there are plenty of SFs out there who don't attack a whole lot off the bounce. So, in the interest of trying to figure out how Kyle Anderson may fit into the league here's a list of SFs that play significant minutes that I think wouldn't exploit his lateral weaknesses, allowing you to enjoy his unique offensive talent on the other end of the court. Some are old. Some don't have attacking styles. Some just aren't all that athletic themselves.

Dunleavy Jr
Leonard
Barnes
Parsons
Granger
Miller
Brewer
AK47
Marion
Aminu
Arizia
Batum
Battier
Chandler
Barnes
Dudley
Webster
Tucker
Singler
Prince
Green
Harris
Jefferson
Budinger

On the PF side of things he could probably guard:
Channing Frye
Ryan Anderson
Kevin Love
Josh McRoberts
Marvin Williams
Ersan Ilyasova
Terrence Jones
Brandon Bass
Kris Middleton



Does knowing that you could probably play him and largely mask him for 24-30 minutes per game against a considerable amount of SFs and PFs change your opinion on the idea of his potential to carve out a niche in the league at all? He does have an 8'11.5 standing reach to close out on shooters and quick hands from guarding out on the perimeter.

The SFs that would give him the most problems are:

Lebron
Durant
Iguodala
Wiggins
Evans
Johnson
Melo
George

Truthfully, not many teams have answers for those guys even if they do go pure 3&D specialist. For a time, Turkoglu was a net positive player despite being a poor defender. What if Kyle Anderson ends up being a better Hedo without the attitude or motivation issues? These are questions I am wondering as I think about him as a player. Freakish players often find a way and a place in this league. It's a league of freaks but the ones with the especially freakish attributes and skill do tend to figure out how to play solid minutes. Say what you want about Anderson but the guy is a freak.

I feel like the range we're at is one where a team could afford to gamble on him as a SF that could also play some point forward for you against second units. I understand the concerns but looking at that list again makes me realize that it may not be as hard to hide him against certain matchups as I had previously thought.

The concerns with him have been obvious from the start but have they been overstated given the lack of SFs and PFs who have the ability to exploit it nightly? And in those matchups, can his pros outweigh the cons due to his ability to make teammates better in addition to his own scoring and rebounding? Can his unique size allow him to be masked against opposing team's least aggressive or physically intimating player 1-4? With his once in a decade mix of length/feel/offensive skill Is there a chance he could end up a rich man's Hedo? I'm curious to hear what others think. He's a very unique prospect. I've went back and forth on him all year long as I imagine him in the league in a few years.

Thinking a few chess moves ahead, is he the type you could let put up stats, get a name for himself, and trade in a few years for somebody with less concerns? In other words, is there the potential for a quick return on investment from him? Fantasy basketball is massive. Anderson's ability to fill up the box score could help him get press in fantasy circles which could therefore make him a more known commodity throughout the league and become a little more popular than some of the other guys who are in that range? Share your thoughts.

Right? and he's not quite the slower than molasses player that he's made out to be. From over a year ago:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjYYns3paKY&feature=kp[/youtube]

Theres some untapped potential in that body of his. Get him with the right trainer and I'm not sure he isn't Saric's level as a prospect.

[SkywalkerAC]

I also have no interest in Mcgary. If he drops to 37, then sure. But he's still not the type of centre prospect I covet at this point.

[SkywalkerAC]

Really not sure why draft express has us taking in Payne when Masai is the opposite of in a hurry.

[SkywalkerAC]

I mean, this is not an unathletic dude:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EoxHiXIqfQ[/youtube]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgKDPE8X5IM[/youtube]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVnoJ7CyVSw[/youtube]

You just can't do that stuff at 6'9 without being a stud. With the ball in his hand he's a better basketball athlete than Inglis, and D can round into form. There's a very good chance that he's either the best player available, or the best prospect available, or both.

[ATLTimekeeper]

LOL, no. He's a horrible athlete and he'll have to convert his game in the NBA. Saric is also a bad athlete, but a year younger and has already proven he can adjust his game to the post. The one good thing I'll say about Anderson is he really improved as a shooter from last year, so maybe there's hope that he can figure out how to make it work at the next level.

[SkywalkerAC]

I'm sorry but you can't draw comparisons to Magic and be a horrible athlete, just not possible.

[ATLTimekeeper]

I'm sorry but you can't draw comparisons to Magic and be a horrible athlete, just not possible.

If he was drawing legitimate comparisons to Magic, he would be going #1 overall without a doubt. He is an awful athlete, but that doesn't mean he can't make it in the NBA. I'm saying it's going to be a hindrance and he'll likely have to make a significant adjustment to his playing style. I used Saric as a comparison. He adjusted already to the post. He competes hard on both ends of the floor. He led grown men as a teenager. Higher chance of success at the pro level.

[Double Helix]

I think part of the reason I'm intrigued by Anderson and trying to work through his place in the league has a little to do with Chandler Parsons actually. I remember Parsons at Florida. He played 4 years there and tested his max vert at 25 inches and his running max vert at 31. He wasn't fast either. He was a ton of skill in an usually long body and he was a steal in the second round because he was so easily discounted. I watch Saric at times and wonder how Kyle Anderson would look if he had played in Europe.

There have been some excellent questions raised about how important it will be to see him running through screens and guarding switches but I wonder if those same concerns would have also applied for Parsons as well. Still, these are areas teams will probably want to test.

[ATLTimekeeper]

I think part of the reason I'm intrigued by Anderson and trying to work through his place in the league has a little to do with Chandler Parsons actually. I remember Parsons at Florida. He played 4 years there and tested his max vert at 25 inches and his running max vert at 31. He wasn't fast either. He was a ton of skill in an usually long body and he was a steal in the second round because he was so easily discounted. I watch Saric at times and wonder how Kyle Anderson would look if he had played in Europe.

There have been some excellent questions raised about how important it will be to see him running through screens and guarding switches but I wonder if those same concerns would have also applied for Parsons as well. Still, these are areas teams will probably want to test.

I watched Parsons in college, too. Those vert numbers are surprising to me and probably just a bad test, because he could play above the rim. I don't really care too much about combine results, because they vary, but Parsons looked like an NBA athlete, Anderson looks like a below average NBA athlete. That's a knock that's hard to improve on and I think he'll have to make some significant adjustments to his body and mentality. Watch Saric play some more. That dude's as intense as Scola.

[TNRaps4life]

I think part of the reason I'm intrigued by Anderson and trying to work through his place in the league has a little to do with Chandler Parsons actually. I remember Parsons at Florida. He played 4 years there and tested his max vert at 25 inches and his running max vert at 31. He wasn't fast either. He was a ton of skill in an usually long body and he was a steal in the second round because he was so easily discounted. I watch Saric at times and wonder how Kyle Anderson would look if he had played in Europe.

There have been some excellent questions raised about how important it will be to see him running through screens and guarding switches but I wonder if those same concerns would have also applied for Parsons as well. Still, these are areas teams will probably want to test.

I watched Parsons in college, too. Those vert numbers are surprising to me and probably just a bad test, because he could play above the rim. I don't really care too much about combine results, because they vary, but Parsons looked like an NBA athlete, Anderson looks like a below average NBA athlete. That's a knock that's hard to improve on and I think he'll have to make some significant adjustments to his body and mentality. Watch Saric play some more. That dude's as intense as Scola.

I like Anderson a lot. He is likely going 15 to atlanta .



yle Anderson’s workout with the Atlanta Hawks went well enough that they want him back for a second showing, his father told SNY.tv Saturday. The 6-foot-9 New Jersey native and former UCLA star worked out for Atlanta on Thursday and he will go back again, although no date has been set. The Hawks pick at No. 15 in the June 26 NBA Draft. “It went really well,” Anderson told SNY.tv. “I think I played as well as I could and I enjoyed it.” ZagsBlog.com - See more at: http://hoopshype.com/rumors.htm#sthash.H7brlLyA.dpuf

[Raptorfan2012]

I'm sorry but you can't draw comparisons to Magic and be a horrible athlete, just not possible.

Kyle is no Magic, but he is more like Jalen Rose; tall lanky SF who can handle the ball and shoot

[TNRaps4life]

I'm sorry but you can't draw comparisons to Magic and be a horrible athlete, just not possible.

Kyle is no Magic, but he is more like Jalen Rose; tall lanky SF who can handle the ball and shoot

They compare him to magic for his passing abilities. Maybe we can hide him under d zone . Demar is a great athlete but a terrible defender

[Dr Positivity]

I think Diaw is a solid comparison for him

[TNRaps4life]

I think Diaw is a solid comparison for him

Diaw at 20 is a steal. He won this serious for spurs.

[Volcano]

I think Diaw is a solid comparison for him

current Diaw? or younger Diaw? He's gotten fatter and is slower than before. Current Diaw only gets 20-25 min a game too.

Diaw was able to limit Lebron when switched onto him while KA gets burned by college scrubs.

They compare him to magic for his passing abilities. Maybe we can hide him under d zone . Demar is a great athlete but a terrible defender

a great athlete would be Ross..good lateral quickness, speed, explosiveness, hops. I'm not sure if there's a single thing athletically that DD is better at.

Demar's practically below average at everything aside from his hops, which is average

We can't play zone D all the time either and it's not smart to rearrange our roster and style of play for a bench player. This is a Bargnani situation.

[AngryDad]

I think Kyle Anderson is too intriguing not to take a chance on him. Tall, has length, solid shooter, good passer, and just seems like he has a high IQ for the game. I like the comparison someone made to Hedo in terms of more of a point forward with very limited athleticism.

[Double Helix]

I think workouts for Anderson will be huge. Teams will want to see how he compares to some of the other SFs defensively and if he works hard and doesn't get blown out of the water in his defensive drills somebody will become intrigued by his unusual attributes.

The closer he gets to the second round the easier it is to accept his concerns and flaws and hope that he can overcome them. 15 seems too high and 25 seems like a relatively low-risk BPA decision for some GM.

[aminiaturebuddha]

I guess I'm definitely in the skeptics camp when it comes to Anderson. I would love to see him do well, because I'm a big fan of great passing and ball movement, and there's no question that he's tremendously skilled in that area of the game, and the NBA needs more of it.

However, I would be scared to take a chance on him in the draft because I'm just not sure that even his offence is going to translate in the NBA, and his defence will probably always be sub-par. In any of the games I've seen him play, and even the numerous "highlight" videos out there, I almost never see him get separation from his defender. This is going to be magnified in the NBA where super athletes will be able to stick to him like glue and basically not let him get anywhere on the court that he wants to go.

His height will help a little bit, because he'll almost always be guarded by shorter players, so he should be able to shoot or pass over them. But even then, he doesn't exactly have the quickest release, and if he's got the ball in his hands looking to pass, with his defender in his face, NBA defences will be able to front the post player resulting in a more difficult and dangerous pass susceptible to steals and tips.

I would like to be more positive about his game, because, as I said, the NBA needs more players who see the floor well and whose passing makes for more interesting offence, but sadly, I just don't see the rest of the package working out for Anderson.

Just one man's opinion...

[Undefeated]

Anderson is a taller Andre Miller lol