Julian Wright

[DaAlex]

A friend of mine said that he will become very good . What do you guys think?

[Bobbcats]

no argument here. he is already a sick defender. he's extremely active off the ball but also has some major skills you don't expect in a guy his size, mainly his passing and handles. If he solidifies that jumper watch out. Still trying to figure out when Byron's gonna unleash him I'm guessin next year.

[Ballings7]

Multi-dimensonal player on both ends, I really like him, have since his last year at Kansas

Going to be good

[blazersmaniac8]

I wanted the blazers to take him at 7 before they won the lottery. He is a stud and I like Kansas players.

[conleyorbust]

He seems kind of like a poor man's AK47.

[Bobbcats]

He seems kind of like a poor man's AK47.

I wouldn't call him a poor man's AK just doesn't play many minutes, but he has enormous potential. He's more like Tayshaun. The term is overused but I think poor man's Pippen might work some day he has the exact same strengths.

[conleyorbust]

-= original quote snipped =-

I wouldn't call him a poor man's AK just doesn't play many minutes, but he has enormous potential. He's more like Tayshaun. The term is overused but I think poor man's Pippen might work some day he has the exact same strengths.

He's a lot more like AK in my opinion. He has great basketball instincts and a funky shot. He probably won't ever be a first or second option, he wasn't a top-notch scorer in college and probably won't be in the pros.

I guess he could evolve into a Prince type of player if he tightens his J a little bit. He seems to be more of a Prince-style defender than AK47-style shot blocker.

I don't think he's as athletic as Pippen or Kirelinko.

He'll be good, I just think people tend to overate the potential of rookies that only play a few minutes a night and have a big game here and there. Remember the end of last season when people were saying that Ty Thomas was going to be a combination of Ben Wallace's D and Shawn Kemp's offense?

When rookies play selectively like that, their flaws aren't as evident.

I'm not saying he has not chance to be a star, I just think its more likely that he evolves into a role player on a team that has a shooting big man.

[NO-KG-AI]

I think he's more athletic than Kirilenko, he's already thicker.... not a bad shooter, except from the line, certainly has made huge leaps here.

He's more naturally talented than Tayshaun, the kid has great upside.

[Real Talk 07]

I think he can definately be something special....he was my favorite player on the Jayhawks during his short stay there.

He's athletic, a good rebounder, a very good passer for a foward, has to work on his range a bit but he seems to be money from 3 right on the left side of the arc...not necesarrily an isolation/off the dribble type of scorer, but can score if needed too..he used to be somewhat passive at times during games back in college, but has stepped that up a bit...a good defender

[2poor]

Wright isn't as athletic as AK?

Kidding, right? If there was a "top 10 freakish NBA athletes," I'd wager that Wright's name would be in the mix.

He's made enormous strides with his jumper and is knocking down 3's consistently. I don't think his stroke is any more unorthodox than Tayshaun or AK, and certainly less so than Pippen's.

[conleyorbust]

Wright isn't as athletic as AK? :confused:

Kidding, right? If there was a "top 10 freakish NBA athletes," I'd wager that Wright's name would be in the mix.

He's made enormous strides with his jumper and is knocking down 3's consistently. I don't think his stroke is any more unorthodox than Tayshaun or AK, and certainly less so than Pippen's.

AK in his prime was a 16-8-3-3-2 guy. He put up a season with a PER at 24.5, he made 3 all-D teams. His length is comparable to Wright's and his athleticism is what allowed him block around 4X more shots per than Wright if you made minutes equal.

... "top 10 freakish NBA athletes"? Are you serious? His draft class alone probably had 10 guys who are as "freakish" as athletes in one way or another... in fact lets try and count:


Oden, BWright, TYoung, Yi, Durant, Strawberry, NYoung, Tucker, Conley, Crittendon


Cook in Miami, he's a freak athlet too. Lasme.

Oh forgot Sean Williams. He's definitely more athletic.

Hell, what about guys like Horford and Noah? Horford is 6'10, can run the floor, and built like an ox. Noah is a 7-footer with a 40-inch vertical. Even those guys have a claim to be as athletic in some ways.

Come on man, can you seriously not think of 10 guys int he NBA that are much more athletic than Wright?

If his peak comes anywhere NEAR prime AK, you will be absolutely thrilled. If Josh Smith's peak gets near that AK, I'll be thrilled (another guy who is a far superior athlete to Wright).

Again, every year people overate their young prospects. I saw a guy on our board compare Horford to Tim Duncan. You believe that?

Wright probably be good but don't get so offended when I compare him to AK. Look what happened to all the Ty Thomas as Ben Wallace + Shawn Kemp comparos.

[NetsForce]

He displays great energy and defensive inituition. The key for him moving forward is going to be maintaing that energy as he moves forward.

His style of play is different, but the energy he brings to the court reminds me of a young Josh Howard.

[2poor]

You listed a few guys who've had serious knee injuries...

I'm not "overrating" a young prospect, I'm just baffled that you seem to think he has the athleticism of any ol' wing player. Then you compound that by listing guys who clearly aren't "more athletic" than him, either due to sheer size or due to injuries.

AK put up good numbers on a bad Utah team. Where's he been since they got good? What allowed AK to block so many shots is porous interior D and freakishly long arms (much like Wright - minus the porous D).

edit: maybe I over exaggerated on the "top 10 freakish athletes," but he's up there, regardless of whether or not you've taken the time to see for yourself. Calling AK "more athletic" is a gigantic red flag that tells me you haven't. I've certainly never seen AK come anywhere close to finishing like this.

[A.J.]

He will be a very versitile player in the NBA.

[conleyorbust]

You listed a few guys who've had serious knee injuries...

I'm not "overrating" a young prospect, I'm just baffled that you seem to think he has the athleticism of any ol' wing player. Then you compound that by listing guys who clearly aren't "more athletic" than him, either due to sheer size or due to injuries.

AK put up good numbers on a bad Utah team. Where's he been since they got good? What allowed AK to block so many shots is porous interior D and freakishly long arms (much like Wright - minus the porous D).

edit: maybe I over exaggerated on the "top 10 freakish athletes," but he's up there, regardless of whether or not you've taken the time to see for yourself. Calling AK "more athletic" is a gigantic red flag that tells me you haven't. I've certainly never seen AK come anywhere close to finishing like this.

Yeah, I listed guys who aren't wing players in his draft because "top 10" in the NBA in terms of freakish athleticism would include everyone in the NBA which includes guys like Oden and Sean Williams who are both bigger and more athletic.

... as far as blocking shots, if you think that AK only blocked more shots because his team has porous D you have absolutely no clue what you are talking about. 6'9 guys don't block 3 shots a game without hops, in AK's heyday he was one of the better transition players in the league on both sides of the ball because he could finish on the break and he was fast enough to chase down ball handlers, elevate above them, and block their shots from behind.

Julian Wright isn't a particularly impressive shotblocker. Part of it is timing but the reason AK gets more blocks is because he is a much better shotblocker than Wright will ever be, not because he is on a team with porous defense.

You showed a good dunk by Julian Wright, that doesn't make him more athletic than anyone.

He's certainly a good NBA athlete but he's not a Tyrus Thomas or Josh Smith sort of athlete that can be incredibly useful without possessing a lot of skill.

[2poor]

It shows a 6'8" guy capable of handling the ball, capable of controlling his body, and capable of finishing strong. I guess I probably generalized "athleticism" too much, but by that same token I wasn't "overrating" him because nowhere did I make any outlandish predictions on how he'll pan out. The Hornets have had the luxury of bringing him along slowly, and they're doing a fine job thus far.

edit: Sean Williams is a freak, no doubt. Oden...yeah I don't know. I don't doubt the strength is there, but I'm curious to see what toll the microfracture takes on him, be it physically or mentally.

6'9" guys don't block 3 shots a game without hops, obviously. But I'm sure the 7'2" wingspan helps.

[conleyorbust]

It shows a 6'8" guy capable of handling the ball, capable of controlling his body, and capable of finishing strong. I guess I probably generalized "athleticism" too much, but by that same token I wasn't "overrating" him because nowhere did I make any outlandish predictions on how he'll pan out. The Hornets have had the luxury of bringing him along slowly, and they're doing a fine job thus far.

edit: Sean Williams is a freak, no doubt. Oden...yeah I don't know. I don't doubt the strength is there, but I'm curious to see what toll the microfracture takes on him, be it physically or mentally.

6'9" guys don't block 3 shots a game without hops, obviously. But I'm sure the 7'2" wingspan helps.

The hops+handling+passing sense reminds me a whole lot of Kirelinko. The filled up the stat sheet like no one else in the league. It is not an insult to be compared to him.

I think Wright will be a fine player in the end, I'm just cautious about making predictions on rookies who don't get many minutes. Every year I hear about how Amir Johnson/Adre Blatche/Renaldo Balkman is the next KG/Pippen or something, I'd like to see the guy play 20 minutes per game before I say he compares favorably to any full time starter, let alone and allstar or HOFer.

[Harry Palmer]

Oozes talent.

[Goldbum]

[quote="conleyorbust"][/quote] You could copy and paste this post in nearly every thread that involves draft pics or young players. Great post and 100% true.

[theTHIEF]

Looks Very Impressive To Me